2LP Gatefold EcoRecord
Listening link: https://listen.k7.com/6785299e-07e2-474f-8a2f-f64c579a1117

LP & CD TRACKLIST
A1/01 Emergence
A2/02 Spiral
B1/03 Drift
B2/04 Off Axis
C1/05 Swarm
C2/06 Flicker
D1/07 Exhale
D2/08 Bloom

TEXT
Bridging the sound of two distinctive auteurs within modern electronic music, Exhale is the natural convergence of Batu and Donato Dozzy's revered, distinctive sonic signatures. With techno in the broadest sense as a framework, the pair have created an immersive listening experience that celebrates the flashpoint of inspiration and thrives on experimentation.

As Batu, Omar McCutcheon has made a huge impression on modern club music by channeling the soundsystem-rooted principles of dubstep into inventive mutations that defy easy categorisation. Donato Dozzy has been a leading figure in European techno since the mid 00s, helping pioneer a culture of deeply immersive, subtle dance music charged with ambient atmospheres. The pair first connected in Japan in 2019, discovering a mutual appreciation for each others' work and a curiosity about how their distinct sounds might intersect.

In February 2025 Batu visited Dozzy's studio in Rome. Within that Aladdin's cave of hardware, the pair mapped out a continuous, instinctive flow of sketches that became the bedrock of Exhale.

Between Dozzy's gear-focused practice and Batu's detailed software manipulations a dialogue emerged between the duo's distinct styles, making space for each other and learning along the path to a record both unique and innately connected to their respective musical legacies.

The eight fully-formed pieces that make up Exhale bear the hallmarks of both creators in equal measure. True to their musical mission, there are no one-dimensional approaches taken throughout Exhale. Transcendental sequences are laser-guided by kinetic drum science, and even the most bruising moments are balanced with a delicacy that leads straight to the heart of both producers' profound appeal. The album that has emerged feels like an honest, instinctive celebration of Batu and Dozzy's respective strengths, made all the sharper in unison.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

2LP Gatefold EcoRecord
Listening link: https://listen.k7.com/6785299e-07e2-474f-8a2f-f64c579a1117

LP & CD TRACKLIST
A1/01 Emergence
A2/02 Spiral
B1/03 Drift
B2/04 Off Axis
C1/05 Swarm
C2/06 Flicker
D1/07 Exhale
D2/08 Bloom

TEXT
Bridging the sound of two distinctive auteurs within modern electronic music, Exhale is the natural convergence of Batu and Donato Dozzy's revered, distinctive sonic signatures. With techno in the broadest sense as a framework, the pair have created an immersive listening experience that celebrates the flashpoint of inspiration and thrives on experimentation.

As Batu, Omar McCutcheon has made a huge impression on modern club music by channeling the soundsystem-rooted principles of dubstep into inventive mutations that defy easy categorisation. Donato Dozzy has been a leading figure in European techno since the mid 00s, helping pioneer a culture of deeply immersive, subtle dance music charged with ambient atmospheres. The pair first connected in Japan in 2019, discovering a mutual appreciation for each others' work and a curiosity about how their distinct sounds might intersect.

In February 2025 Batu visited Dozzy's studio in Rome. Within that Aladdin's cave of hardware, the pair mapped out a continuous, instinctive flow of sketches that became the bedrock of Exhale.

Between Dozzy's gear-focused practice and Batu's detailed software manipulations a dialogue emerged between the duo's distinct styles, making space for each other and learning along the path to a record both unique and innately connected to their respective musical legacies.

The eight fully-formed pieces that make up Exhale bear the hallmarks of both creators in equal measure. True to their musical mission, there are no one-dimensional approaches taken throughout Exhale. Transcendental sequences are laser-guided by kinetic drum science, and even the most bruising moments are balanced with a delicacy that leads straight to the heart of both producers' profound appeal. The album that has emerged feels like an honest, instinctive celebration of Batu and Dozzy's respective strengths, made all the sharper in unison.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

1LP (EcoRecord, incl. playing card)
Next in line for the DJ Kicks series is Orlando Higginbottom, AKA TEED with four new exclusive tracks by him and more exclusives by Joe Goddard, Jacques Greene, Austin Ato, Casino Times and Oscar Farrell

Listen: https://on.soundcloud.com/osXJM3ZAeH1L7QYuxj

LP TRACKLIST
A1 TEED - Never Seen You Dance (DJ- Kicks Version)
A2 Chloe´ Caillet & Nyra - B Good (Shanti Celeste Remix)
A3 Casino Times, DUANE - Everybody! (House)
A4 TEED - Persuasion (DJ-Kicks Version)
B1 Jacques Greene - Lily Pad
B2 Joe Goddard feat. Findia - Collide
B3 TEED - Under The Metal
B4 TEED - Another Day

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Next in line for the DJ Kicks series is Orlando Higginbottom, AKA TEED with four new exclusive tracks by him and more exclusives by Joe Goddard, Jacques Greene, Austin Ato, Casino Times and Oscar Farrell

Listen: https://on.soundcloud.com/osXJM3ZAeH1L7QYuxj

CD TRACKLIST
01 oliver - Coastal
02 Casino Times, DUANE - Everybody! (House)
03 TEED - Never Seen You Dance (DJ- Kicks Version)
04 Junior Sanchez - Move (Dub)
05 Convertible - Like The Rain
06 Yu Su - Foundry
07 Hercules & Love Affair ft. Hips & Lips - Crossed Lines
08 Margaux Gazur - Agata
09 Decius - More 2 Luv
10 TEED - Please Don’t Go
11 Ode To 97 - First Day In Time (Tigerskin’s Alternative Mix)
12 Dennis Ferrer feat. K. T. Brooks - How Do I Let Go
13 TEED - Persuasion (DJ-Kicks Version)
14 Jump Source - Sad Salad
15 The Martinez Brothers - Tree Town
16 TEED - Another Day
17 Chloe´ Caillet & Nyra - B Good (Shanti Celeste Remix)
18 Tiga & Hudson Mohawke feat. Channel Tres - Feel The Rush (Johnny Aux Remix)
19 Austin Ato - Waiting Room
20 Oscar Farrell - This Was Yours
21 Alexander Skancke - Alright Alright
22 TEED - Under The Metal
23 David Vunk - Purple Light
24 Joe Goddard feat. Findia - Collide
25 D.H.S. - I Am Your Control
26 Jacques Greene - Lily Pad
27 Malibu - Spicy City


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Trusted Rhythm Records seeks to live up to its name right from the off with a debut vinyl compilation that explores deep house from multiple angles. Yuu Udagawa first comes at things from a soulful perspective, with diffuse pads and jazzy melodies heating up a nice soft groove. DFRA's 'Give Me' (Masaki Morii remix) is a playful, musical sunset sound for when you're dancing by the Med somewhere and the flipside begins with a tropical deep house heater that is organic and baked in sunlight. Trinidadian Deep keeps things dialled in and spiritual with his mix of Jean-Jez and a Coflo remix closes with more bold rhythms but no lesser depth. Sophisticated stylings all round.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Steady Weather is a Melbourne-based disco-house-jazz project led by jazz violist Tamil Rogeon (also known for recent releases Wave Theory and Son Of Nyx ), blending loft part atmospheres with, jazz with a modern live electronic approach and improvisational flair. Featuring collaborators Ben Grayson , Rita Satch , and Graeme Pogson ( The Bamboos ), the project has become known for its packed-out live shows across Melbourne's dance scene. Their 2022 self-titled EP on Darker Than Wax (featuring Allysha Joy and CC:DISCO!) earned support from tastemakers including Jamz Supernova , Mixmag, NTS Radio , and Rinse FM, establishing Steady Weather as a distinctive voice in contemporary hybrid dance music. The outfit now return with their new single "Walk Into The Light", lifted from their forthcoming EP'Golden Child'due to be released via the group's own Steady Records imprint. 'Walk Into The Light' hits the dancefloor with a confident strut, as punchy synths lock into a rock-solid rhythm section, providing a driving backdrop for Rita Satch's smoother-than-silk vocals to glide atop Hedonistic and luminous, it harks back to wild nights and moments of dancefloor euphoria.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

ALERT: BIG 90s ITALIAN RAVE COMP - a lot of very in demand tunes on here.

Navigators

Franco Falsini and the Interactive Test Universe

There are musicians who follow their time.

And then there are those who seem to move along a different trajectory—like navigators crossing sonic eras without ever truly belonging to any one of them. The story of Franco Falsini belongs to the latter. It is a story that begins long before raves, before techno, before the word “electronic” had even become a recognizable musical genre. A story that moves across continents, technologies, and sonic visions, eventually arriving at a small creative laboratory born in Italy in the early 1990s: Interactive Test. This compilation is a fragment of that universe. But as often happens with the hidden histories of music, understanding it requires going back. Far back.

The Beginning: Machines, Tape and Space

In the late 1960s Franco Falsini leaves Italy and moves to the United States. It is not merely a geographical journey—it is also a journey into a new idea of music. At the time, synthesizers are only just emerging from research laboratories. Multitrack tape recorders allow musicians to build entire sonic worlds on their own. Technology is still far from standardized: every studio is almost an experimental workshop. In Virginia, Falsini builds one of his own. Among cables, oscillators, electric guitars and reels of magnetic tape, a kind of music begins to take shape that resembles nothing else being made at the time. It is not simply rock, and it is not yet truly electronic. It moves somewhere in the space between the two. Out of these explorations emerges Sensations' Fix, the project through which Falsini releases a series of albums during the 1970s. Records that seem to come from a parallel dimension: cosmic landscapes, electronically treated guitars, synthesizers drifting like satellites. Many years later those albums would be rediscovered as visionary works. But at the time they were simply the result of relentless curiosity. A curiosity that would never fade.

The City That Never Sleeps

In the 1980s Falsini’s trajectory leads him to New York. The city is a sonic organism in constant transformation. In its clubs and recording studios something entirely new is beginning to take shape: music built from drum machines, sequencers, and samplers, created for the body before the living room. It is the dawn of modern dance culture. Falsini works as a sound engineer, producer and experimenter. From close range he observes electronic music transforming into a global language. Machines become more accessible, computers begin entering studios, and rhythm takes on an increasingly central role. Yet even in this phase Falsini does not simply follow what is happening. He absorbs. Observes. Reimagines. When he eventually returns to Italy, he brings back not only technical experience but also a clear vision: the conviction that electronic music is an open space, a territory still waiting to be explored.

Tuscany, Early 1990s

At the beginning of the 1990s something is happening in Italy as well. In clubs, abandoned industrial warehouses and clandestine parties, a new scene is beginning to form. It is rave culture: a spontaneous movement bringing together DJs, producers and listeners in a collective experience driven by rhythm, technology, and creative freedom. It is within this context that Franco Falsini, together with his brother Riccardo, creates Interactive Test.

The name almost sounds like a scientific experiment. In many ways, it is. Interactive Test does not emerge as a traditional record label. It begins as a laboratory—a place where ideas, sounds and musical identities can be tested and explored. Around the Falsini studio in Tuscany a small constellation of artists and DJs begins to gather, helping to shape the sound of Italy’s emerging electronic scene. Among them are Andrea Giuditta, Francesco Farfa, Gabry Fasano, Roby Mastelloni, Roby J and many others. Each brings a different musical sensibility. But they all share the same intuition: electronic music is not a genre. It is a language.

The Laboratory of Identities

One of the most fascinating aspects of the Interactive Test universe is its constant play with identity. Franco Falsini releases music under several different names: Open Space, Youth Wave, Agent Fylfoyt, Man Myth Magic. These are not simply pseudonyms.

They are different sonic perspectives, as if each project were a window opening onto a parallel musical universe. Open Space, for example, explores more atmospheric and visionary territories. Youth Wave moves between electronic groove and club-oriented rhythms. Other projects experiment with digital psychedelia or hypnotic techno textures. Interactive Test becomes something more than a label. it becomes an ecosystem.

Domestic Machines, Infinite Worlds

Looking back today at the technology used in those productions, one might almost smile. Many tracks were created on Amiga computers, MIDI sequencers and analog synthesizers wired together in home studios—tools that appear modest when compared to today’s digital possibilities.

Yet precisely these limitations became a creative force. Every sound had to be built, shaped and reinvented. Sequences developed slowly, almost like living organisms. The tracks did not always follow traditional dance music structures; often they felt like genuine sonic journeys. Music built from space.

A Hidden Constellation

Many of the records released by Interactive Test in the 1990s remained for years almost invisible objects, circulating quietly among DJs, collectors, and devoted listeners. Yet it is precisely this underground existence that helped preserve them. Listening again today, one perceives something rare: the feeling of music that does not fully belong to its own time. Music suspended between different eras. Perhaps because it comes from a vision that both precedes and transcends trends.

Continuing the Journey

Looking at Franco Falsini’s entire path—from the electronic psychedelia of Sensations’ Fix to the rave culture of the 1990s—a surprisingly coherent line emerges.

A line defined by exploration.

Each project, each pseudonym, each record appears as a new route within the same great sonic voyage.

Interactive Test was one of its stations.

A laboratory.
A community.
A creative platform.

This compilation gathers some of its traces.

Not as a simple archive of the past, but as a map of a musical territory that continues to expand even today.

Like all true sonic explorations.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More