Tartelet Records rounds out 2018 with ‘Minor Forms’ by Urulu, a bumping EP that winds up the label’s roster of ambitious releases to celebrate its tenth year in business. The California producer and DJ has made his mark this year with a string of standout releases on Kalahari Oyster Cult, Voyage Recordings and his own Amadeus imprint, showcasing his affection for euphoric nostalgia and tight grooves. Urulu stretches out with signature key changes and an elegant hustling tempo across four tracks, reflecting the diversity of touches and influences he has become known for. On ‘Minor Forms, he teases the straight and the breakbeat with elements of jungle, electro, ambient and old school, delivering a satisfyingly moody resonance amidst the dancefloor functionality. On title track ‘Minor Forms’, the sounds of the past and the future exist in the present. Reeling melody lines with hints of acid, dreamy pads and drops ensure that it all makes sense on the dancefloor.
‘Destino Tikal’ is all about the sensuous and mysterious ‘Cuerpo Pulsante’ mix, which suggests shimmering sex toy flickers and takes a percussive route across its insistent 4/4 bop, adding chops, keys and Vox for a big atmospheric strut of a groove. ‘DRM’ wraps deep and dubby minimal bleeps, rolling breaks and a straight kick into a louche swing and funk gloop, while EP-closer ‘Quasimidi’ starts with a breakbeat before the thump adds the backbone and the hi-hats speed up. Pads whirl and dubby chords underpin a high speed exit from 2018 into the future. Urulu follows Max Graef, Glenn Astro, Space Ghost and others in Tartelet’s 10th year, celebrating the label’s commitment to work across genres.

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Taylor Freels has built quite a strong catalog over the years. His work under his Urulu moniker, is widely regarded as top quality deep house and 'The Banshee EP' continues in this fashion. The title track has a dreamlike atmosphere to it. 'The Banshee' is a work that will strike a chord with lovers of the ocean-influenced sounds and hazy atmospheres. A strong presence of strings and dubby sounds, create a certain laidback mood that is perfect for sun drenched days in the park. Chicagoan producer "Garrett David" builds on the hazy atmospheres of the original, while adding some melodic elements to his remix of 'The Banshee' where he cleverly shifts between scales and different moods. 'Quadrant Beat' is a warm track that is built around warm chords and fashionable drum sounds. Again, Urulu makes sure to weave some outgoing dub elements into this b-side opening track. 'Romance Track' is most likely one of the Berlin based producer's most melodic works to date. Beautifully executed piano hits flow together seemingly easy over a sturdy rhythm that serves as the track's backbone. "The Banshee EP" is a work of lush deep house and an excellent addition to both Urulu's repertoire and the SAFT label catalog. More

Brand new label South Street kicks off with everyone's favourite Californian homie, Urulu. Having previously contributed to Andy Hart's Voyage Label as well as Dirt Crew and Let's Play House he steps up and delivers four upfront house cuts for the labels inaugural release. A sublime start for this one to watch label. More

For some ageing producers, the nineties represent a lost land of hazy parties, forgotten nights and emotion-tugging tunes. But for the fresher-faced end of the dance music spectrum - such as the LA-based DJ and producer Urulu - those post acid house, pre-MP3 days are a neverland of the imagination, something to be relished vicariously through the mags, memories and music of 20-odd years ago. Two years back, Urulu - aka Taylor Freels - even released a single called '1991'. It might have made some grizzled club kids feel a bit old, but the love and euphoria in his music are there for all to hear. But jump right up to the minute, and Urulu is back in action for Sheffield's Shabby Doll label. His new EP, called 'Banshee Boardwalk', is an effervescent four-tracker that tingles with that gleaming, glitzy mid-nineties house sound, but that adds a tantalising 21st century twist to the mix. Snipped vocal clips, pulsing melodies and rattling build-ups crash over a compellingly crisp house groove, always with the ghost of disco dancing somewhere out back. The tracks 'Banshee Boardwalk' and 'Heaven Unlimited' both deliver a solid, pounding take on classic house, while 'BeforeHandMan' features a sumptuous vocal turn from Daj (New York's DeShawn Jenkins), before being twisted into darker, harsher remixed shapes by Shabby Doll labelmate James Welsh. Urulu might not have been there first time around, but with the nineties' house sound lifting hands aloft once more, he's giving it an original sheen that makes it matter all over again.ic. More

Fervent followers of LPH will immediately recognize this record as the second from Berlin-by-way-of-London-by-way-of-L.A. producer, Urulu, to grace the label. (If you want to get technical, yes, the first did arrive via LPH WHITE, an LPH imprint.) Where Left Coast-an ode to Taylor Freels' home state-was all high-octane, jacked party-ignitors, its follow-up, the provocatively and aptly dubbed Moon Unit, is a spacier, loopier, and looser offering. The title track is a dense, syncopated, seven-minute-long jam that assuredly, confidently builds to an organic and euphoric climax, thanks to the live feel of the drums, the nuance of the bass, and the improvisational vibe of the arrangement as a whole. "Moon Unit" is, uniquely, equal parts peak hour decimator of dancefloors and music for, say, cross-country drives or 10K morning jogs. "Sounds Like Sumo" feels like an epilogue of sorts. More noodling and melodious than the lead-in cut, "Sumo" finds Freels stretching out a bit. It's like a waltz composed by Esquivel for use on The Jetsons that's been edited and rejiggered for inclusion on this undeniably modern EP. "Lunar Larry," which kicks off the flip, is both the 12"'s most luscious and its most abstract. A fuzzy, woozy synth melody wafts through the whole thing. About halfway in, a theremin-esque line enters giving the entire piece a trippy, psychedelic tone. The record is concluded with Ben La Desh's remix of "Moon Unit," which is especially propulsive and trackier than the original without feeling hollow or soulless. If the three songs that precede it are explorations through alien terrains in outer space, Ben's remix is the explosive return trek-via rocket ship, of course- back home. More

LPH WHITE’s second offering picks up where the first one, by Waze & Odyssey, left us. That 12” featured a remix by London-by-way-of-Southern-California house up-and-comer, Urulu, who produced all four of the tracks included on this EP. Left Coast is an ode to Taylor Freels’ home turf, but don’t think it’s all blissed-out Balearic burners one might listen to while rolling down a palm tree-lined stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. Every one of the four songs is a cranked-up, high-octane, peak-hour monster.
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Rings Around Saturn’s debut for Voyage delivers four spacious impressions of classy techno & IDM. From the swirling melodies of “Circling Architecture” to the introspective atmospheres in “Decompression” and “The Edgelands”, RAS taps into the obscure-ozone of the outer limits. More

Andy Hart launches a new series for Voyage with two dubbed out club tools. 'Neutron Capture' is a chuggy acid number with crisp drum programming, glitched out synths and a weighty 303 line. On the flip 'LFTR' offers up a hypnotic roller complete with reverberating stabs, crunchy hits and expansive textures.
If this is a sign of things to come for Hart's new outlet expect a string of club ready, dancefloor orientated cuts from Australia's golden boy. More

Perth native turned Melbourne local Roza Terenzi is one of Australia's exciting new electronic artists. Her debut for Voyage delivers a three-piece suite of experimental, rhythmic workouts; forward thinking with a heavy lean on early rave nostalgia.
The EP is rounded off with a fast-paced remix of the title track from Vancouver's D. Tiffany. More

Over the past three years Melbourne's Albrecht La'Brooy have patiently cultivated their own space within Australia's prolific electronic music scene. Deeply rooted in techno's ambient influences, the duo improvise their compositions with an overarching approach that breaks away from techno's conventional presentation. Recorded in one take from beginning to end, Escape Velocity sees Albrecht La'Brooy take on the Voyage aesthetic and principles to create a twenty five minute odyssey spanning four passages, to be played continuously across the 12 Inch medium. Utilising both sparse, drifting ambient palettes and driving, machine-led rhythms, Escape Velocity is a pensively uplifting account of future travels through space and the ninth installment to the Voyage catalogue.

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Flori's Life Signs marks the eighth release for Voyage and the UK artist's debut for the label. An ode to the unexplored landscapes of Mars, Flori uses a refined aesthetic, not dissimilar to the original star gazers of Detroit, to imagine and encapsulate the reality of being alone on Point Lake. Two driving explorations, accompanied by a pensive ambient excursion, Life Signs takes Flori and Voyage into the areocentric orbit of our closest terrestrial neighbour.
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Andy Hart returns after an almost two-year hiatus from the studio to release his first EP on the Voyage imprint. Following on from Urulu's Greetings From Namek, Mistress In Your Mind is the sixth release and adds to a growing collection that already includes releases from Harvey Sutherland, M5K and CTEPEO '57. Mistress in your Mind loosely stems from the intertwining influences of a love-induced delusion broken down over four tracks. Hart draws sentiment from several aspects of his record collection, giving subtle nods to break beat, soul, acid and space-laden house.
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Voyage returns with the discovery of an until now unknown artist. Unearthed from the hull of an abandoned discovery probe, the origins of Ausländer are undisclosed and unlikely to be uncovered. The three artefacts revolve around what is only understood as Ausländer's Theme, which is twice reinterpreted on the flip. No doubt made with machines, this wondrous exploration of thought, rhythm and undiscovered worlds is a welcomed addition to the Voyage catalogue. More

VYG03 introduces a new member to the Voyage fold In Melbourne's analogue beat-maker M5K. Five tracks spanning beats, boogie, house and funk, the EP is a great snap shot of who M5K is as an artist. The flip features a heavy remix from Germany's IMYRMIND and his MPC. Voyage returns with a six track EP from Melbourne's M5K. featuring a lush, swung-out remix by Box Aus Holz' IMYRMIND on the flip. An exploration into analogue boogie, Marcy Ave shows M5K's versatility with five tracks paying homage to his hip-hop, boogie and house roots. More