Gudu Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Akua Grant's outings as Lady Blacktronika are always worth checking, and her first full outing on Peggy Gou's Gudu label is no different. 'Baby I Got It' is full-on aural madness - a bombastic blend of beefy, redlined house drums, ghostly chords, pitched-up vocal samples and discordant minor key melodies - while 'Sing The Blues' is a deliciously drowsy chunk of wayward, dub-flecked deep house that's as beautiful as it is trippy. Best of all though is the locked-in deep house hypnotism of 'Hold My Hand', which features some superbly soulful vocal samples, metronomic bass and spacey electronic textures. Octa Octa provides a fine remix of that cut, too, re-imaging it as a stomping slab of lo-fi, funk-fuelled breakbeat house headiness.

Review: Given her runaway success in recent years, it was almost inevitable that Peggy Gou would launch her own record label sooner or later. Wisely, she's chosen to kickstart said imprint - the freshly minted Gudu Records - with her first EP of fresh material for over 12 months. A-side "Starry Night" is an unashamedly positive and life-affirming affair, with Gou placing bouncy piano riffs, sultry South Korean and English vocals and Boyd Jarvis/Paul Simpson style synth-bass atop a snappy, late '80s style house rhythm. There's a similarly retro-futurist feel to the equally loved-up "Han Pan", where Gou's attractive vocals once again catch the ear alongside heavy analogue bass, chiming synth lines and Kwaito influenced drums.