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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Andy Meecham returns once more under his Emperor Machine guise with a freshly delivered 4 track vinyl Ep of experimental peak time & back room jams on his brand new label Vertical Tones. Side A1, We play Perfect & A2 Dry Down the Middle sees a return to the vintage analog sonics & dusty warped House sound of Emperor Machine made with love on the MPC. Side B1, Back to the electronics and Modulars with Got to warm ride a mid 80s style re-edit of the original unreleased 15 min track B2 Leggwork an electronic disco funk cut thats sees Andy with his multi-instrumentalist head on locked in a solo jam session full of original Llama Farm flavour. 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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Mzylkypop ( Miz-ilky-pop) is the music of Michael Somerset who leads an ensemble of multinational musicians based in Sheffield. Ursula in Regression is the first single from the 2nd Myzlkypop LP "Threnodies and Ad Hocs" and features the golden vocals of Julia Calvo. In its original form it is an energetic, jaunty pop masterpiece but was taken down a darker & clubbier route by Crooked Man. As the song writing element of The Crooked Man project Michael cashed in his free remix voucher with DJ Parrot who delivers three exceptional club mixes. Bent Crooked 1 inspired Luke Unabomber to get evangelical - calling it one of the best tracks he’s heard in the last 20 years. Michael has a rich musical history beginning his career with industrial funksters Clock DVA before up sticking to Detroit to work with Don Was and his mutant disco orchestra Was (Not Was). He has written world-wide hits for Alison Moyet, Take That and Roisin Murphy. More

Slinky and sassy, offbeat and sexy, “My Baby Just Cares For Me”, the new single by Lou Hayter, sneaks in on a cloud of off-kilter synths and airy vocals, just in time for the last few rays of this year’s Indian summer. Already renowned as a DJ, musician in New Young Pony Club, writer and producer, London based Hayter now harnesses the full extent of her idiosyncratic pop prowess on her hotly anticipated forthcoming debut LP on Skint Records, from which “My Baby Just Cares For Me” is the first, tantalisting taste.A glorious retro-futurist mélange of 80s Rn’B circa Jam and Lewis and starkly modern underground electronica, “My Baby Just Cares For Me” sounds quite unlike anything else out there, a delicious slice of sparkling electro-soul with a heaped teaspoon of astringent Gallic froideur, whose sweet exterior hides something darker, more melancholic within. TRACK LISTING: A1. My Baby Just Cares For Me, A2. My Baby Just Cares For Me (Rheinzand Remix), B1. My Baby Just Cares For Me (Decius Remix), B2. My Baby Just Cares For Me (Decius Remix Dub) More

Track Listing
A1. Raise Me Up (feat. ANOHNI) (Hercules 2019 Mix)
A2. Change
B1. My Offence (feat. Krystle Warren) (Hercules 2019 Mix)
B2. Are You Still Certain? (feat. Mashrou’ Leila) (Hercules 2019 Mix)

After over ten years of Hercules & Love Affair, Andy Butler offers three reimagined versions of classic Hercules tunes and a piece of new music on the ‘Change EP’. Producer with current partner in crime Alec Storey (aka Second Storey), the two have been touring the Hercules catalogue with an approach that incorporates a proper dose of techno while duly engaging Storey’s penchant for breaks and intricate percussion work. Butler decided to put a few of these reworks out for DJs and dancefloors, offering the chance for these great Hercules moments to shine once again.
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Influential UK artist Man Power makes his Skint Records debut this December with a thrilling new offering featuring Berlin’s Private Agenda. Man Power is a true electronic virtuoso who has proven he can do searing acid, raw techno and expressive disco with equal elan. As well as running his own Me Me Me labels, he has appeared on top outlets like ESP Institute and Correspondent and now impresses once again with the help of Berlin’s Private Agenda. The electric original version of ‘Do It Thin’ is an intense and steamy affair with Eurobeat synths and Italo piano chords that are sure to make a huge impression on the crowd. Vocals that Bronski Beat would be proud of soar to the heavens and get hands in the air whilst the hard hitting drums drive things forward. Dramatic chords build the suspense, leading you towards an epic, guitar laden breakdown with well sequenced synths adding weight and colour. Edgy and expressive, it is a real stomper with a fusion of myriad different styles. An instrumental version is also supplied that removes the vocal and allows the studio skills and musicianship to really shine, this was a showstopper in Man Power’s recent Boiler Room set and it not to be missed. Man Power marks his Skint debut here with the same sense of timelessness and quality that has defined his career to date. More

Wild Slide’ is the debut album from techno supergroup, Better Lost Than Stupid, aka 3 of the world’s finest producers and DJs - Martin Buttrich, Davide Squillace, and Matthias Tanzmann. Released on 13 September by Skint/BMG, the 11 track album follows a slew of singles - ‘Back From The Desert’, ‘The Sky Is Too Low’, and ‘Inside’ – which have won praise from the likes of Mixmag, Dancing Astronaut, RA, Radio 1 (Pete Tong and Danny Howard), Marco Carola, Dubfire, Nicole Moudaber, Kolsch, Joris Voorn, Claptone, Eats Everything, Adam Beyer, and many more.Electronic music underpins ‘Wild Slide’, but Better Lost’ look beyond it with a varied collection of songs that combine synth-pop (‘Inside’, ‘Wild Slide’), electronica (‘Boys & Girls’, ‘Harder Than Gold’), indie rock (‘Back From The Desert’), and downtempo (‘Without The Feeling’, ‘Bender’), with the kind of euphoric techno moments they’re individually known for (‘Inside’, ‘Right Now’). ‘Wild Slide’ shows that the comparisons made between Better Lost’ and stadium techno acts like The Chemical Brothers, and Underworld, stand up. The production quality is every bit as good as you’d expect from Buttrich and co, and the songs have been crafted and written by three people who’ve spent their lives making music and then playing it to hundreds of thousands of people. More

Four of the strongest club mixes from the Deluxe version of PBR Streetgng’s ‘Late Night Party Line’ will make their way to their rightful vinyl home on March 15th.
The four tracks here have been hand-picked for maximum musical power and all bring something different to the floor. PBR Streetgang - Montu’ (Paul Woolford Remix) is the first, with a signature Woolford piano powering this pristine house music instrumental all the way from Leeds. Next up is a particularly percussive production from fast rising Berliner Cinthie. ‘I Left My Heart’ (Cinthie Remix) is one for Panorama Bar and Peckham floors alike.
Then ‘Money, Casino, Brass’ (Hercules & Love Affair Remix) steps up on the flip, a decidedly daring and different take from Love Affair disco legend Andy Butler. And then finally, Gerd Janson and Philip Lauer take us down an almost Green Velvet coloured house road for their peak-time TCK vocal take on ‘Everything Changes’. The Tuff City Kids remix of PBR and former Rapture vocalist Mattie Safer closes this exclusive vinyl package off in fine style. More

This summer, Skint Records serve up a brilliant package of remixes of Midfield General’s huge 1999 smash ‘Reach Out’ with Linda Lewis. The new remixes come from the one and only Crooked Man and feature vocals re-recorded by Linda in 2000 which were consigned to a draw waiting for the right person to use them. Crooked Man is that person, aka Richard Barratt, a uniquely inventive house and disco producer whose self-titled 2016 album on DFA was one of the most revered of the year. The results are 2 typically unusual new dance floor bombs. The classy Remix #2 is down and dirty, with warped bass twisting and turning underneath metallic drum hits. The vocals are more aloof here and lend the whole track a feeling of effortless cool as synths gently undulate and carry you late into the night. Another standout effort, Remix #3 is somewhere in-between. It’s an airy track with driving house drums and hits, and elegiac synths that bring real dynamism and musicality to the track. It’s clean and soulful in design and one to bring the whole floor together as one.


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KDA’s ‘Hate Me’ (featuring playwright and poet Patrick Cash) is the freshest sounding British house music record for years. First given to a select handful of DJs, including Jackmaster, Seth Troxler, Jamie Jones, Tiga and Pete Tong (Essential New Tune on Radio 1), ‘Hate Me’ has dominated their sets since IMS. Originally slated as the first single on KDA's new label ‘The 35 Records’, ‘Hate Me’ has been picked up by BMG and will be available as a collaborative label release from 8 December (impact mid-Feb). Whilst ‘Hate Me’s pulsing bassline immediately commands any dancefloor; the lyrics here provide a lot more food for thought than your usual club banger. Though echoing the spoken-word house records of old, in contrast ‘Hate Me’s’ lyrics are delivered in Cash’s British accent. More

Better Lost Than Stupid have announced their debut single, ‘Alto’, for new label, Skint/BMG. ‘Alto’, is the first new material from their as yet untitled debut album, which is set for release in 2018. More

The moniker of acclaimed production/DJ duo Bonar Bradberry and Tom Thorpe – have been making moves and making music together for almost a decade now. But the time has firmly come for them to release their long-awaited debut album ‘Late Night Party Line’, which features guest vocals by Mattie Safer from The Rapture on future single ‘Everything Changes’, Danielle Moore from Crazy P and hotly tipped newcomer Lilly Juniper. More

Dave Clarke returns to Skint Records with his new single "Charcoal Eyes" Backed with remixes from DFA's Factory Floor and Terence Fixmer. More

X-Press 2 have been dictating house trends for years now. Despite their heritage, though, they are still at the top of their game, still heading the finest clubs and festivals and still serving up high impact club tunes. Here they join London’s Leo Zero, a long time remixer of acts like Bryan Ferry and Paul Weller as
well as the owner of his own underground club label, Leo Trax. Known for his great skill as a cosmic and balearic DJ, this is a fine hook up with great results.
High impact opener ‘Metrowave’ is a full fat house track with firm drums, raved up synth stabs that fire across the groove like a machine gun and buffed metal percussion that really works you into a frenzy. It’s sweaty, features some wild melodies and is sure to get floors moving as one. Next original ‘Um Bah Be’ again sets a swift, physical pace with its bulky drums, train track like synth´details and afro tinged, free flowing drums. The afro vibes continue when an ad libbed vocal joins the fray and some golden, luxurious chords add plenty of heat and colour to the track. Remixing is Matt Karmil, who has released on Idle Hands and Studio Barnhus as well as having put out two great albums. His organic, fresh sound finds the Englishman flipping ‘Metrowave’ into a brilliantly
sun fuelled house jam with lush smeared chords, bouncing rubber drums and lots of energetic dynamism, this is a massive mix that is certain to do damage. More

Marshall Jefferson, one of the Godfather's of house music drops a new EP via SKINT. More

As if Coyu hasn't given us enough with his 2011 floor filler remix of "X-Press 2 - Muzik Xpress", he's back again to pay homage to one of the greatest and most celebrated Skint releases of all time. Fatboy Slim - Right Here, Right Now. Coyu takes the iconic string / sitar loop, laces it with a shimmering hi-hat rhythm over a pounding kick drum and punctuates it with choral stabs, to create a funked up club banger that manages to retain all the drama of the original. Take that dance floor; see if you can better this. Hands will be lifted, feet will be stomped and parties will peak.
Can anyone contain the possibilities of this track? We don't think so. It's stamped its place in dance music history and who better to reaffirm its position than Suara boss man, Coyu. More

SKINT LEGENDS ALBUM! Fatboy Slim's legendary label drafts together some of their biggest and baddest tracks from over the years! Think Eric Prydz, Groove Armada, X-Press 2, Herve, Chemical Brothers and loads more all in full length, unmixed glory! Here we have the first of 3 ep's with some seriously big names and remixes X-PRESS 2 mixed by CARL CRAIG / FATBOY SLIM mixed by JON CARTER & speed garage classic RIP GROOVE given an amazing remix from the one and only CIREZ D More classics than you can shake a stick at - HUGE! MIXES: A1. X PRESS 2 - KILL 100 - CARL CRAIG REMIX, B1. FATBOY SLIM - JIN GO LA BA - JON CARTER REMIX, B2. DOUBLE 99 - RIP GROOVE - CIREZ D MIX
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Tracklist

A1. 100hZ - Catching Spyders (In This Place)
A2. Airtight - Housewerk FXTC

B1. Detroit Diesel - Dreams For Santiago
B2. Techno Grooves - Hiawa

C1. The Moody Boys - Jammin' (Ital Mix)
C2. Shaka - Pussyfooter

D1. Fortune & Fame - Is This Your Life
D2. Nagai Eri - Delta

File under house, breakbeat, techno and warehouse rave music. The Mental Groove Classic series returns with a treasure trove of rare and hard to find tracks plucked from the personal collection of label founder Olivier Ducret, a pivotal figure in Switzerland's acid house and rave-era party scene.

On Volumes Two and Three of the series - the first installment hit stores in 2017 - the Mental Groove and Musique Pour La Danse label founder takes us back to the turn of the '90s, a time he spent promoting parties in fields, squats, forests, warehouses and former factories in and around Geneva and behind the counter of a record shopof the same name. While others in Switzerland's emerging dance music scene gravitated towards US house and garage, Olivier and his crew opted for a bass, breaks and techno-focused sound inspired by regular trips to clubs, raves and record shops in the UK.

Drawing directly from his own record box and a memory bank full of snapshots of euphoric dancefloor moments, Mental Groove Classics volumes Two and Three sees Olivier reaching for cuts of near-mythical rarity, genuinely overlooked gems, and undeniably brilliant tracks that have left a long-lasting impression on the local raving landscape. It's an autobiographical audio document, historical archive and personal musical statement all rolled into one, inspired by a moment in time where musical boundaries were being redrawn in a wave of carefree optimism and freedom inspired new rave scenes across Europe and far beyond. - Matt Anniss


Original artwork by Soho's Brain Club co-owner and artist of early British club culture Mark Wigan.
File under house, breakbeat, techno and warehouse rave music
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