Riding a wave of critical praise and positive feedback for his most recent Emperor Machine album, the fabulous Island Boogie, Andrew Meecham returns with a typically wild and dancefloor-focused set of dubs, ‘versions’ and remixes.

According to Meecham, Island Boogie is his most personal set to date – a full-length excursion that not only delivers perfectly formed expressions of his dub-tinged, off-kilter synth-boogie sound, but also tracks that draw deeply on his earliest influences and long-held musical expressions.

It’s fitting, then, that this remix EP begins with his own sparse, stripped-back ‘version’ rework of ‘S-S-S-Single Bed’, a fine cover of the mid-80s Fox single featuring the vocals of Michelle Bee. Meecham’s dub-wise revision is a skeletal and driving affair, with snippets of echoing guitar, colourful synths and Bee’s distinctive vocalisations rising above a weighty dub disco bassline and rock-solid percussion.

It's followed by two revisions of album favourite ‘Wanna Pop With You’ from A Love From Outer Space main man Sean Johnston under his now familiar Hardway Brothers alias. Combining his own love of raw, analogue-sounding electronics and trippy dancefloor psychedelia with select elements of Meecham’s original – percussion, synth sounds, crisp guitar licks and elements of Severine Mouletin’s lead vocals, Johnston’s main ‘remix’ is a weighty, mid-tempo treat. Arguably even better is his accompanying dub, which is more groove-and-effects focused and makes more of Beecham’s superb original bassline. It’s heavy, spaced-out and undeniably intoxicating.

To round off the package, long-time friend of the label (and sometime contributor) Rose Robinson dons her Tigerbalm pseudonym and gets to work on ‘La Cassette’. Brilliantly cutting up Severine Mouletin’s vocals, she delivers a driving slab of spaced-out, synth-heavy dub disco that adds more weight and energy to Meecham’s original. It’s a fittingly on-point way to close out a superb selection of club-ready revisions.
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March sees studio wizard & cult UK live artist The Emperor Machine serve up his latest thrilling full length, Music Not Safari. Opener '?C.C.?' is a colourful synth opus, with skyward chords and disco beats all getting you up on your toes. The shimmering synths continue on '?What You Need?', which has hip swinging claps and perfectly squelchy boogie bass that goes back to the future. Recent single, '?House Des Lowe?' is full of trickery, reverb, and peerless sound designs, with its rubbery bass and elastic grooves all lit up by darting chords and dancing percussive patterns. The Emperor Machine's tracks are never less than luxurious and ebullient and that's the case again on 'Moscow Not Safari,' a cosmic adventure filled with lithe synth work and sonic definition of the highest order. After more rumbling drums and rugged bass that are designed to ignite disco lovers from all eras on 'Stiff Poly' comes the latest single. '?Danse Blanc?' is an electrifying track that speeds up as it unfolds, with a knotted baseline and organic, wooden percussion all tumbling freely beneath celestial synths and keys. Like all recent singles, when this one gets its standalone release it will be in three forms;?‘Extended’, ‘Version 54’ and ‘Warehouse mix’. ?Former singles '?Function?' and '?Two Voice?' then keep the good times alive with the prickly and upbeat disco charm of '?You Two?' sandwiched in between. A1. C.C. A2. What You Need . B1. House Des Lowe B2. Moscow Not Safari . C1. Stiff Poly . C2. Danse Blanc . D1. Function D2. You Two , D3. Two Voice More

Returning to the Southern Fried home, machine loving disco oddball Andy Meecham aka The Emperor Machine is back with a new single from his album, and it comes ahead of a full new EP in 2015. 'Pop The Lid' comes with remixes by hotter than hot international talent Jacques Renault, with whom Meecham has also collaborated on a new EP forthcoming on Jacques' 'Let's Play House' label, and will come in the form of a hand stamped and numbered white label 12", limited to 300 copies. The Emperor Machine has been busy off the back of his latest album, Like A Machine, released back in May: he's continued to play around the world, has remixed Groove Armada's 'Look Me In The Eye Sister' for their Little Black Book album forthcoming on Moda Black and still sounds like no one else when it comes to off kilter and psychedelic disco sounds. 'Pop The Lid' is a full fat, hugely colourful nu-disco gem with thick, twanging guitars, proper vocals delivered with lots of style and attitude and louche drums that couldn't be more inviting. Arp'ed melodies step up though the scale, whirring machines add texture and the whole thing is a masterpiece. As well as an LP edit, Renault steps up with slightly more pumping, dancefloor aligned versions that are riddled with withering synths, shooting chords and perfectly DIY percussive sounds. He layers the vocal in effects and filters to lend a spacey feel and also turns out a vintage instrumental version. This is modern disco at its finest and is a nice teaser ahead of some brand new music from the one and only The Emperor Machine.
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