“Dreams of a Dancefloor” is the latest EP by Octo Octa (aka Maya Bouldry-Morrison) on her label T4T LUV NRG. Maya spent the last 3 years perfecting her engineering on these three sensual, beautiful and enveloping songs. For the opening track, “Late Night Love”, we hear Octo Octa capturing not just the subjective experience of dancing together, but also what happens after the party, making love and holding her partner close. It has none of the formalism of “big trance” and is instead an extended house-trance missive all her own with beautiful resonances that evoke Motherbeat and the ineffable softness of true connection. The second track “Let Yourself Go!” raises the tempo but maintains the mood of the record. The song is a classic Octo Octa ecstatic breakbeat acid jam written for building heat in the body and for speaker-dancing under a starlit sky. The E.P. closer, “Come Here, Let’s Commune”, is an invitation to explore togetherness. The essence of the track is a gorgeous piano theme, grounded in Maya’s belief that the dancefloor experience can be not only exciting and ecstatic, but also deeply moving and generative—a reminder that underground dance culture offers permission for connections unsanctioned in the dominant society.

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When Octo Octa sent us the demos for her first full-length record since 2013, we were floored by how many tracks were single worthy. But, there was one that stood out as something entirely on its own, a song that in many ways sounded like nothing Maya had ever released. Since the beginning, we always knew we wanted to do something special with "Adrift," the 8+ minute space-age synth-dub techno tune. When we asked Maya about doing a 12" with remixes we were blindsided to learn she has NEVER had any of her music remixed before. With some remixers in mind, she asked two of her favorites and they said yes. So, here we are to present HNY-016 Octo Octa - Adrift, remixed by Avalon Emerson and Dorisburg."

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Ahead of the release of a full length album by the same title, Honey Soundsystem records presents 3 breakout tracks on 12" vinyl from Octo Octa's "Where Are We Going?". Side A features the "new school" breaks pumper "Move On (Let Go) (De-Stress Mix) and the peak-time synth heavy tear jerker "On Your Lips." On the flip we share the 9 and a half minute aquatic house opus "Where Are We Going? Pt. 2" “Do you feel better?” — is the line Maya Bouldry-Morrison aka Octo Octa repeats like a mantra on the final track of “Where Are We Going?” her newest and second studio LP. “It was the question every single person asked me after coming out as transgender,” she told us “Overall I do, but no, I don’t feel better at every moment, which is why the track slips out with a dour bass drone in addition to a beautiful pad. These days, both emotions are ever-present for me.” It is precisely this candor and intensity that immediately drew us in when Maya sent over the LP to consider for the Honey Soundsystem label. As DJs we are always looking for music that can speak in our sets, not just the highest caliber productions, but songs that represent the changing landscape of the queer dance-floor. “Where Are We Going?” reads like a diary. With track titles like “No More Pain (Promises To A Younger Self)” and “Move On (Let Go) (De-stress Mix)” you can’t avoid the autobiographical messages of these songs, but Maya leaves no booty un-shaken - this is still 9 four-to-the-floor house and techno beauties to rock your body. Her willingness to even model for the cover art of this LP, proved this is a side to Octo Octa we've never seen or heard before, an artist ready to let her fans experience an intimacy as deep as the synths and lead lines she has gained notoriety for. Applying her years of international DJ’ing, this album flows with intention and has effortlessly found its way back into our headphones and home stereo systems repeatedly - Pro-tip: you can even have sex to it. Needless to say this is the first time in a decade Honey Soundsystem has thrown itself at a contemporary LP and we know once you hear it, you will know where we are going…

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Guess whose back on SKYLAX ? The great & ultra prolific brooklyn based producer Octo Octa ! You know him from his releases on 100% Silk, on Gerd Janson’s Running Back label, Deepblak, Argot, Love notes & of course on our beloved Stay Undergroun It Pays sub-label, that was his first introduction to the Skyalx fans & world. The man from NYC serves up 3 slices of that U.S. experimental house sound we love so much. This ep delivers an amazing quality close to perfection for us on all levels. All in all, another killer release that feels straight at home in the Skylax records impressive catalogue

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The mighty Casey is up to bat once again for Love Notes from Brooklyn. This time, though, it's a more complete three track artist EP on offer. The music, of course, encapsulates everything that's great about Casey's sound: the lush pads, the crispy percussion, the emotional strings, and the dance-floor destroying basslines. Alternative Faction utilizes one such dancefloor destroying bassline to create a real fist pumping moment in the title track; That Time of Year uses a wriggly acid synth line over the aforementioned emotional strings, and to great effect; and New Mission ends the EP in a unwavering fashion; with heartstring-tugging, terk jerking, emotional pads over an acid line in signature Casey Tucker fashion. Dare we say yet another classic both artist and label's catalog?

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Derek Carr is smoldering hot at the moment. His every release is being greeted as an instant classic by the Deep House community. So it seems well-timed, then, that he'd run headlong into Love Notes (from Brooklyn), who have been on a not unimpressive run themselves. Perhaps expectedly, this Detroit vibes abound on the record; from the rich strings of Sidewinder (the most dancefloor friendly track here), through the spaced out breakbeat of the title track, down to beautiful, UR-esque closing strains of Indigo. A well curated EP from an artist at the pinnacle of his game.

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These are Love Notes" from Chicago this time as the Brooklyn based label offers a platform for a glimpse into the state of the Chicago undergound. Three original tracks from Chicago man-about-town, Shmoo, and a remix from one of the brightest lights in Chicago's modern scene and one of the more exciting young American producers out there, Garrett David. Standout tracks are Sidehacker, which opens the EP and is a wild ride through swirling pads, with a bedrock bassline that holds everything together, and David's remix of Intuitive Intellect's Waste, wherein he crafts the track into a very modern sounding slice of uplifting house. Another choice EP from this label.

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A great pairing here as the rugged basslines, emotional melodies, and vintage percussion of Perseus Traxx seem right at home on the Love Notes stabel, who seem to be taking a quick break from showcasing artists from their homebase of Brooklyn, as they have on their last 4 records. More Songs About Girls is a cohesive EP of 4 original tracks and neither fans of this artist nor fans of this label will be disappointed.


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The first place the world heard the lead track from this new Love Notes from Brooklyn release, "Where Pathways Meet", was on Deep House legend Mike Huckaby's My Life with the Wave show volume 2. Pascal Viscardi was one of many great artists to take Huckaby's warm tones and turn them into a work of art. "Pathways..." wriggles with deep funk and soul, and is paired with 3 other likeminded tracks for this very well-rounded EP. "Oshakusan" is the dancefloor track, juxtaposing warm chords and an insistent sax sample over the a tough bassline and rhythm combination that's aimed staight at the floor. "Free at Dawn" is the fathoms deep effort, going miles below the surface in a emotional expression of soul, and "And I Showed the Clouds (How to Cover Up a Clear Blue Sky)" provides a perfect outtro, and end to the statement made, making this EP feel truly complete.

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The second Love Note from Brooklyn is with us and this time it's the all-hardware stylings of DJ Octopus and Steve Murphy of Chiwax fame. All tracks show serious depth, though Untitled 02 is the stand out for its dancibility and force.

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New label from Brooklyn's Nathaniel Jay, also known for his Love Revolution label, and his work as half of Soho808. Original music by Casey Tucker, whose recent releases on Boe off-shoot, For Those Who Knoe, Inspired Jay to seek him out. On remix duties, Italy's underground don, Nick Anothony Simoncino, of L.I.E.S., Echovolt, Skywax, Quintessentials, and his own label, Hotmix, to name but a few. Nathaniel is promising big things for his new Love Notes imprint: "This is going to be the best thing I've ever done". We'll take him at his word until he gives us reason not to.


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