Public Releases hits the lab for some aural alchemy and to turn out its first release of 2017. A four-tracker from Moscow’s Phil Gerus, Scenes—or, in the producer’s native Russian, ?????—manages to have a makeup that’s both peculiar and magnetic. The title’s a fitting one; every track feels like a vignette in a collection of short stories. Separately, they’re self-contained, but a rich narrative arch is added when they’re sewn together. If there is a theme here, it’s of viewing the future through the dusty lens of the past, and each of the songs explores this in its own fashion. The kick-off, “Ohashi Sky Garden,” starts as a hyped-up Italo space epic, pumped full of swirling synth licks and sharp, tight drums, but it mutates into something completely its own when vocal samples (90s R&B?) and warm keys (prog rock Rhodes?) enter. After the original’s brisk five minutes, the legendary Richard Sen—graffiti guy, breaks guy, house guy, disco guy, half-of-Padded-Cell guy—steps in to give it a trance-y tinge while doubling its runtime and adding a dancefloor-destroying Hi-NRG coloration. The B begins with “Naha Swim,” a crunchy funk foot-stomper that might as well be an unreleased Idjut Boys or Ray Mang ditty dug up from the Noid catacombs. Fiery and furious, yet utterly cheeky. Serving as a sort of coda to “Naha” is “Kiss of a Kind,” a Gerus take on 80s adult contemporary, replete with sleazy sax and sensual pads. A gentle nightcap to a zigzagging, antic 12-inch. More

Release no 31 finds KAT Records on a European tour with 3 reworks based on 80's Belgium, Italy & Germany disco & new wave with man of the moment Moscow producer Phil Gerus (FutureBoogie, Sonar Kollektiv) taking centre stage. Well, 3 really obscure one's here from KAT with Mr Gerus pulling no punches - 80's Soul, (punk) funk, disco, synth pop & new wave are just some genre's that may well get thrown around here but as ever with KAT, quality prevails. We're going to do a sneaky one here and protect the names of the originals (jus' cause we can!) but suffice to say, these are ace! Agent Yuri is a mid-tempo boogie melter with buckets of soul - A killa groove, silky tinkling piano and a vocal that could sink ships - Pure summer lovin' and then some. When we mention 'pulls no punches' then Mr Hero is what we mean - Full on, no holds barred 80s Belgian new wave bordering on punk/funk with raging guitars to boot - A real grower and when heard on a decent sound system we won't be held responsible for any outlandish actions that may well prevail. Be my Lova couldn't be more Italian if it tried apart from the fact that it's actually German ! Italo vibes with super bloody marvellous vocal, synth's all over the show with a chorus more catchy than the common cold. More

Lumberjacks Boogie is back! Phil Gerus is a natural musical talent who oozes sound from every pore. Fusing together cassette pop, house, soul, r&b and funk, his sounds are effortless but hugely emotive and have come on labels like Sonar Kolkektiv, ManMakeMusic, Futureboogie, Madtech and Bastard Jazz before now. More

Those disco specialists at To Rack & Ruin are back in business, kicking off their 2016 campaign with an absolute scorcher from Moscovite producer Phil Gerus. After making waves with a string of releases for the likes of Futureboogie and Sonar Kollektiv, Gerus arrives at the Mancunian edit institution in fine form, ready to take over the world with a quartet of fully loaded floor movers for all you dancing fools. Going hard and heavy from the off, Phil introduces himself with the tumbling toms and zero gravity sequences of 'Delicious Wishes', a neon tinged reshape of an Angelic original. Working the loops and FX like a pro, the Russian sprinkles space dust all over this camp cosmic classic, packing a whole host of extra oomph in the warp drive! "Bossy Lady" Phil turns his attention to Italo, setting pulses racing and feet stomping with the space age sound of . Playing free and easy with the pitch control, the Moscow magician conjures up a space disco body mover complete with tripped out vocals, chunky guitar and nebulous synth lines. Sticking with the moods and grooves of the Mediterranean, Over on the flip we have "Stop! Let's Slow Down" powering into the peak time in a shimmer of sequins as it supercharges a boogie vintage for the modern DJ. The finest floor shaking boogie reheat since Tiger & Woods last hit a hole in one, this is gonna raise the temperature at any party worth its salt. Phil takes us home with a spaced out version of an all time Italo classic. Reworking the percussion and looping up that low slung baseline, our host supercharges the groove for modern club deployment, rounding off another essential release from your favourite edit imprint.
More

Tokyo-based composer Phil Gerus gives Man Make Music a summer record par excellence, warping classic r'n'b and disco into five highly original and up-to-the minute tracks. The latest signing to the ManMakeMusic roster, from Moscow via Tokyo, is Phil Gerus. A classically trained pianist, Phil grew up heavily influenced by jazz music before progressing into electronic performance. Gerus is an avid listener of jazz legends such as Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea & Brad Mehldau, as well as funk & boogie records of the 80s & 90s. Inevitably, these sounds translate directly and smoothly to his own production: sensual 80?s vibes with tunes that are brimming with rhythm and funk. Gerus' use of synthesizers, looping, and heavily filtered vocals on the E.P are distinctive and he's marking his own sound in what is becoming a very hazy genre of music. The Opposites Left Together EP will be released on limited edition 10" vinyl

More