Following her contribution to this Spring’s Gudu & Friends Vol. 1 compilation, Lady Blacktronika steps out with a full EP for Peggy Gou’s Gudu label. Whether operating as Lady Blacktronika or her Femanyst alias, Akua Grant has built a deserved reputation as one of house and techno’s most daring and unique artists - one that dates back 25 years now, when she first debuted as a vocalist. “House and techno” can be a cliched catch-all term, but in Grant’s case, she really has explored the extremes of both sides. Her early Lady Blacktronika work, when she earned the nickname The First Lady of Beatdown, saw her produce and narrate a style of deep house that was both sensitive and transgressive, while as Femanyst, she explores some of techno’s darkest corners, all distorted kicks and serrated edges. Her EP for Gudu kicks off with some serious intent: ‘Baby I Got It’ chops its vocals rough and raw, pairing them with marching drums and the sort of idiosyncratic synth-work that feels like a Blacktronika signature at this point. ‘Sing the Blues’ and ‘Hold My Hand’ take things smoother, but without ever deferring to type — as ever with Grant’s music, she works with such sleight of hand that it’s easy to skip back three minutes previous and wonder how the hell we got here. Her tracks are just that hypnotic and hallucinatory. Closing the EP, Octo Octa provides a remix of ‘Hold My Hand’ that extends things to a full 12 minutes (note: slightly shorter on the vinyl due to time constraints), taking us out with crushed percs and held pads over some undeniable drum work. This EP marks the final release of Gudu’s busiest year to date, with music on the label in 2023 coming from Special Request, Matisa, Mogwaa, Hiver, Matrefakt, DMX Krew, Dukwa, Brain de Palma, Lady Blacktronika, Salamanda and Closet Yi. More

Lady Blacktronika shows two totally different sides to her character with her return to Bass Culture via a potent EP full of deliciously dark, bass-heavy productions placed side by side with more soulful explorations of the house sound. Following the ‘All In Vain’ EP, which landed earlier this year, Lady Blacktronika comes correct once again with a collection of four of the finest quality cuts. Our introduction to the EP is a thorough dip in the deep end of tech house, with the marauding ‘It Rains’. Full of darkness, the venomous track stomps along with a powerful, darkside bassline and razor-sharp percussion. High-pitched keys add to the malevolent flavour of this raw cut. After that, we get a more measured, yet mysterious and unsettling slice of minimal funk. ‘No Good’ is a hypnotic trip inside Lady Blacktronika’s murky world with snarling synth lines, clever percussion, eerie FX and a naughty little b-line. On the flip we have retro-inspired ‘Call My Name’, with a very old school feel as the 808 gets a proper workout in tandem with a familiar female spoken-word vocal layered over the top. This is bound to send the dance floor into uproar with its killer vocal sample. Finally ‘Set Out Your Luv’ gives the EP a heady ending; light airy pads are placed alongside a grooving bassline, soulful vocals, diamond-cut beats and squelchy effects to create a lush, dreamy soundscape which will get those hips moving…. More

SKYLAX 136 arrives in the form of a killer EP from none other than Lady Blacktronika. Most will know her from her own imprint, Sound Black Recordings, where she has served up some of the best deep house and slo-mo beatdown to come from the US since the label’s inception in 2010. Such a stellar output has led many to refer to her as the ‘First Lady’ of both the genres she frequents, and with this new offering of pure-grade deep house, she shows no sign of letting go of that title. Right Direction’ begins with a stuttering piano stab pattern that could mislead people into thinking they are in for a seven minute long throwback to yesteryear. However, before the thought begins to linger, Lady Blacktronika introduces her signature stamp of deepness and soul with chilling pad sounds and vocal slices. The mood is carried forward into ‘Deee With It (How Do You Say)’, where layers upon layers of percussion give it that extra bite to ride above a bassline that you will be dying to hear on a club system, all whilst sacrificing none of the inherent deep nature of the track. Flipping over to the B side, ‘Cheat & Lie’ is one of those tracks which can suit any time of the day (or night). The moody vibe it evokes is a product of each element working together harmoniously in the mix; the wide kick drum, swirling chords and soulful vocal cuts show that Lady B knows her way around the studio. The EP closes with ‘Fantasize Me’, another solid piece which rounds off the release perfectly. Here, Lady B proves that less is more by keeping out any ancillary elements so that the main features of the track can flourish on their own

More

The lady is back with new great EP & Fred P remix !

More

Lady Blacktronika proudly presents the debut release on her own personal Deep House imprint Sound Black Recordings. She is about to set it off. Side A is the title track Black Girl 2 ways, slo n' moody then deep and fast. Sure classics. The B side is a slo buring, psychadelic beatdown track created in Ms. Tronika's signature style, its a trip."

More

Meda Fury is so gassed to welcome Silvestre back for a virtual hug and a 5 track EP of new jams and remix fire! The Lisbon boy done good has been enjoying some well earned praise for his last few releases - his '...is boss EP' on Secretsundaze, 'Girar' on Diskotopia, and 'Yeah' via yours truly. Gigs in Amsterdam, Bristol, Porto, London and Lisbon followed - including his debut on Boiler Room. For this new EP we are served 3 brand new Silvestre tracks and 2 huge remixes from one of the most respected labels in Lisbon - Príncipe! 'Todos Bem' starts as an organ led scratch-fest, with a tight auto-tune vocal from Silvestre himself, before mutating into an anthemic/hedonistic 303 acid and whistle banger! This euphoric string-laden track equally at home in Ibiza or Notting Hill Carnival! 'Paga O Que Deves' is up next; Joao's love of grime and UK bass culture is evident from the drop, twisted synths and breaks recall everyone from Eastman to Wiley. On the flip we find serious remix pressure from Silvestre's friends and contemporaries - the Lisbon crew of Príncipe! DJ Firmeza is up first, pushing the tempo way up on 'Yeah', turning it into a banging kuduro rave monster, propulsive batida drums upping the temperature. DJ Lilocox follows with an intense remix of 'Demónios Na Cabeça', converting it into a percussive trancey big-room bomb. Layers of mixed afro/gqom drums follow a strict samba-like rhythm forcing hands and possibly the ceiling higher. TRACK LISTING: A1. Todos Bem, A2. Paga O Que Deves, B1. Yeah (DJ Firmeza remix), B2. Demónios Na Cabeça (LiloCox remix)
More

Bruise is the brand new musical project of Christian Campbell (Sona Vabos) and Darren House aka Diesel (Xpress-2, Ballistic Brothers). Born out of a shared love of the Motor City and all things deep, dusty and electronic, Bruise aims to present a broad palette of stirring electronic soul. Under his Sona Vabos alias, Christian has released House, Dub and Techno on labels including DFA, Mad Decent and Southern Fried Records, and has remixed artists including Todd Terry, The Black Ghosts, Chicken Lips, and The 2 Bears. His music has been supported by Radio 1 (Annie Mac, B-Traits, Diplo and Monki) and DJ’s such as Kerri Chandler, Sinden, Eats Everything, Shadow Child, and many more. Diesel, together with Rocky and Ashley Beedle, formed House music titans ‘X-press 2’ in the early 90s and rose to underground prominence through classic tracks such as ‘Muzik Express’, ‘London Xpress’ and ‘Smoke Machine’ (Junior Boys Own & Skint Records). Gaining plaudits on the club scene with their multi-decked DJ sets and performing everywhere from Ibiza to Brazil and Japan to New York, X-Press 2 shot to fame with their Ivor Novello award winning single ‘Lazy’. Featuring vocals by David Byrne (Talking Heads) the single reached No 2 in the UK singles chart. Diesel is also a founding member of the jazz influenced electronic band the ‘Ballistic Brothers’ and as a solo artist ‘Yellow Sox’ on Nuphonic Records. Diesel also presents an irregular show on know-wave.com as well as running legendary re-edit label Moton Records Inc. He can also be found playing DJ sets at Spiritland and ‘We Are The Sunset’ parties as well as running his own parties under the name Heavy Disco.
More

Meda Fury are buzzing to welcome Silvestre to the fold for a 6 track EP of low-slung party starters. This Lisbon native and London resident has been on several tastemakers lips for the last year now, serving up no-nonsense but seriously fun dance music, comparable to the spirit of mighty Portuguese scene labels Principe and Naive. Joao’s tracks are mind bending hybrids of breakbeat, reggaeton, R&B, rave and house. His recent artilary coming via Seceretsundaze, Diskotopia and his own Padre Himalaya, he now adds the Yeah EP to his weaponry. The EP's title track has been the soundbed for the recent Boiler Room Festival 2019 promotional videos, sparking a huge amount of interest and ID requests, its remained secret until now. Add to this another 5 tracks of slow rave-tinted kuduro and faster baile funk blends for a truly monsterous set of club heaters! More

Meda Fury welcomes Tom Wrankmore aka Eliphino to the imprint for a stunning EP of thunderous breaks, 303’s and serious sub-bass pressure. Hailing originally from the Leeds, but with wider travels to settle down in both London and Berlin, Wrankmore’s music embraces hip-hop, rave, and UK garage. He now serves up
a pungent confection pitched between the Hessle Audio crew, Joy O and Demdike Stare’s most recent efforts. Having released heaters for Brownswood and Hoya Hoya over the years, Eliphino now debuts as part of the Meda Fury family with the Realistic Sex EP. Wrankmore has been locked away in his studio for the last 1.5 years, abstaining from gigging and releasing records to knuckle down and produce, emerging with a new darker edge and a much more hardcore sound. Tom explains: “The theme of the EP is trusting your intuition in an information flooded world. I’ve collaborated with visual artists Tom Pounder & Jon Harris who have created two videos for the release, one for Disc Rhythm and one for Realistic Sex." Meda Fury boss Nick Williams; “Tom's new music epitomises to me what modern club tracks should sound like - wild, energetic, deadly. He’s discovered his own dark new world of sound fusing breakbeat, acid, speed garage and even industrial stylings” More

Rimbaudian is back once again for a late summer Meda Fury release. Euphoric house with dreamy vocals, earth shaking basslines and breakbeats are the order of the day on this no nonsense club destroyer. Vinyl only release for DJs.

More

Ryota O.P.P aka Ryota Arai delivers his debut album ‘Pale Lux’ for Meda Fury. Ryota is based in Tokyo - at the nexus of the Japanese house / future disco scene, alongside cohorts such as Cos/Mes, Inoue Shirabe, and KZA he blends eastern mysticism, jazz spirituality, and cosmic disco with classic 4:4 rhythms. A highly respected DJ, promoter and producer the opaque discoid-stomp of his Future Life EP marked him out as an original oddity but a vital new voice in the now global electronic music community, but with ‘Pale Lux' he’s enlarged the scope of his musical canvas to incorporate new fresh textures and atmospheres. As Meda Fury head honcho Nick Williams explains: “‘Future Life' was built from some quite dark, abstract demos, some of which ended up being a bit overproduced for his self made debut cd only album. The Pale Lux LP is a Ryota’s fully realised eclectic vision, with a mood that is more optimistic and playful - much more reflective of his personality." ‘Pale Lux' indeed has a real narrative flow - dance floor tracks such as the chunky balearic vibes of ‘Wood’, and banging future techno of ‘Bird Flying Over The Rainbow' nestle alongside home listening ambience - witness the backroom/chill-out vibes of ‘Origin’, the cute hip hop bounce of ’Soft Touch’ or the delicate trinket box chimes of outro ‘Drops'. Oscillating between light and shade, slow and fast, the influence of Japan's history and native instrumentation runs right through the record; his fascination with Balearic, Disco, Deep-House, Hip Hop, Ambient and blunted beats parcelled into a glorious, sweetly considered listening experience. More

Meda Fury welcome back Oakland resident Damon Bell for another accomplished EP of rugged cosmic grooves and tribal pressure. Bell is riding a rich wave of form with a killer recent release on Don’t Be Afraid, and even more fire on the Burek label, not forgetting his impressive debut last year on his regular home, the mighty Deepblak - he’s a proven master at fusing Afro-centric rhythms, rich keys and off-kilter pads into an urgent and contemporary form of house music that deftly eschews cliche. ‘Akebu-Lan’ commences the ritual with a gospel vocal loop over pumping 808 kicks and tranced out swollen pads, giving way to ecstatic fender rhodes chords and climatic piano, reminiscent of Robert Hood - is this Bell's fastest bpm track yet? Loose/live jazz keys riff throughout ‘Ether’ creating a warm rich miasma of sound against the distressed percussive gyrations and sinister drones. Hypnotic synth riffs tumble over the powerful drum-track in ‘Altered Visions’ creating a deliciously hypnotic chug. Drawing the EP to a close, Deepblak and PAN cohort African Sciences joins Bell for the sizzling ‘Kinetic Energy’; a sleazy, skronking cut of slurred moog bass and atonally pitched toms wrestling with thumping kicks and whispered vox pummel the listener. More

Meda Fury presents "Remember Every Moment EP" by Pearl River Sound due for release on the 16th February 2015. Fury continue to bring the heat with their first release of what could quite possibly be a banner year for the label. Pearl River Sound is the moniker of Italian musician Roberto Semeraro. Based in Rome he emerged on the scene with a cassette release on the Seattle label Further Records. After a further cassette release on Indole Records which again explored his classic 90's electronic and IDM influences, his Media Fury debut sees him bring in some 4/4 beats to channel classic deep house sounds without losing his signature pure and melancholy sound. More

After their departure to Russia with OL Meda Fury head south west to Holland and visit star in the making D-Ribeiro, fresh from early releases on Midlight, Syncom Data and Finale Sessions. He kicks things off with the slow jam EP title track ‘Purple Ghost Dance’. Smoke trails of the LA abstract scene twist amongst eerie wind chimes and disembodied cartoon voices. MPC beatdown drums carry the tone and support an adjoining jazz-funk bass motif. Upping the tempo with compressed breaks and fantasy staccato bleeps comes ‘Nightosphere. More half heard voices and shakers precede the double drop of rubbery moog-like bass and a woody hip-hop kick and rimshot. An array of filtered samples and offset hats and claps intro ‘D4NGR’. Before the stumbling Detroit style groove and disco-funk jelly bassline slap you giddy! A seriously off-kilter floor-filler, for the freaks only! Dilla-esque beats and skyward game console melodies unite on the head nodding ‘Subliminal Seducer’. The mangled squelches of a twisted P-funk bass guitar keep pace while drifting R&B vocal samples float above and around, while more interplay is created by extra lashings of percussion. The hyperactive day-glo set closer ‘Lumpy Space People’ starts with bone rattling percussion and breaks, the rasping pitch-bent bassline doing junkyard battle with various animated characters, and no clear outcome.

More

Meda Fury welcome OL from Moscow, Russia. This follows many varied contributions for labels such as Faces, Fine Grains, Phonica and Capital Bass. Lum Edit barges in sirens blaring, banging out machine like kick, hats and toms. The heaviest raw funk bassline is unleashed, and lumbers amongst Rap TV show samples and gunshots. Industrial gangster house. Around has a broken, jazzy Detroit feel. Sparing R&B vocal samples and afrocentric percussion ride the wah-wah and heavy bass guitar. Rimms comes straight out of leftfield, cutting edge drum machines rubbing up against Baltic art-rock samples. Its a strange claustrophobic affair with ghostly vocals. East European dancefloor paranoia. Myxa breaks the tension wide open, building a coiled spring of whistle-like riffs. R&B vocal snippets hype it up further before snapping and spilling its own elastic sub-bass. Fine feelgood ghetto-house action. Podumay's glitchy raw drums stomp forward towards all kinds of unknown sci-fi sounds and Kraut synth backgrounds. The contrast is a Detroit soul bassline and house percussion. Melt Down brings the tempo and mood way down to a mysterious close. The echoing sound of water and eerie isolationist synth washes recall BOC. The beat is straight current-day Hip-Hop, tight snares rolling over dangerously low Miami-strength bass. Game over.

More