Spin and sin! Steel City Dance Discs Volume 19 gets you 28+ minutes with the recordings of Lyon’s master of erotic electronixxx, LB aka LABAT. Forget foreplay – for those that haven’t heard of LB, this ve-play EP is the perfect place to start experimenting. Rude rhythms, spanking percussion, bang-for-your-buck bass and dirty talk vox; feel the wrath of LABAT’s French nesse in this kinetic MPC-driven House offering that explores the deep ‘n dark corners of the sound through late night and red light motifs. 303? 808? 909? It’ll have you screaming “Oh” whichever you pine. Hot hardware action is just a play away! Plug in and dial it now: SCDD019. TRACK LISTING: A1. Oh Shit, A2. Mugman, A3. Come Baby Cum, B1. THX Hood, B2. OG Xavier More

Fifty releases in the bag, WOLF Music come correct with a second drop in their 10th year release schedule from French wizard LB aka LABAT, as hotly anticipated as anything Palace could even begin to dream up.
‘Scanner’ opens the EP with LB bringing that trademark MPC crunched, sample-heavy style he’s become known for. Dusty jazz loops, distorted percussive hits and vocal cut ups, sounding like they’re straight outta forgotten VHS movies, are laid over the top of a monstrous bassline and emotive strings for a contorted house bomb.
Next up ‘Track One’ hits with some Theo Parrish inspired, full frontal synthwork as tight drums and an effect-laden melody are interjected with soulful vocal snippets and a fervent kick. A surefire dancefloor destroyer with a big bass breakdown for good measure.
Flip it over for a heads down, late-night ‘Dirty Walk’ with fizzing percussion blending behind sublime Rhodes, overdriven kick drums and that acid infused bass, ready set to be a club staple this year. ‘Shut The World Down For A Moment’ rounds things off, capturing the syncopated mind of LB with a half-time drum loop in the background, slightly off kilter, that he somehow just makes work into hazy jam.
Half century complete and kicking off the next with a bang from the man they call LB aka LABAT.
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After his successful releases on D.KO, BFDM & Wolf Music. La Bat sign the first release of his new label “Le Petit Zoo Records” run together with Pablo Valentino. “No Money No Honey” is a 4 tracks EP coming straight out of LB’s MPC. A powerful combination of drums, samples and arrangements from outta space. Track A1 “Something” has been played and supported by Motor City Drum Ensemble.
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WOLF welcome another new member to the pack, this time in the form of producer LB aka LABAT. The young Frenchman has already caused a stir in the two years since his first release, clocking up appearances on Faces, Robsoul & D.KO Records. For his debut on WOLF he delivers four tracks in his trademark style of dusty jazz and hip-hop sample infused house music. This one’s for the heads!
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Following on from his standout debut EP with Steel City Dance Discs back in 2021, G-TOWN’s gold-toothed Prince is now set to be crowned with the arrival of Fallen Angel, KETTAMA’s second EP via Steel City Dance Discs. Fly Away XTC is the diamond-plated lead-track from the EP, with anticipation for its release reaching new heights after a successful series of tests on the tour. The track blatantly showcases KETTAMA’s defining characteristics, as the producer bleeds ethereal vocals and masterful percussion into the fold, while the featured G-TOWN remix is driven by a series of piercing rave stabs and gut-hurdling bass. The otherworldly nature of Fly Away XTC is set to be further echoed on screen too, with a music video directed by Hugh Mulhern, who has previously worked for the likes of Fontaines DC and Hak Baker, set to explore themes of extraterrestrial beings and pagan practices within a rural setting in KETTAMA’s native Ireland. Having been released as a single two months prior to the full EP, Feeling Emotions ignited the flame for Fallen Angel, ultimately laying the foundations for the eagerly-anticipated project that would follow. The track again reinforces the unfailing relationship between entrancing vocal samples and a boundless drum pattern, something that is then echoed and mastered in the colossal closing track, Found My Angel. More

Making their debut appearance on Steel City Dance Discs, Clouds, an irrefutable powerhouse of sound consisting of Liam Robertson and Calum Macleod, exercise their intensely unapologetic musical personality with their latest venture with Mass Hysteria, for SCDD040. The Scottish duo have become recognised for their heavenly balance of euphoric soundscapes, ladened with break-neck percussion, ecstasy-induced melodies and rupturing drum patterns. All of these highly characteristic elements are found in Mass Hysteria; an EP that highlights the hard-edged nature of Clouds’ ever-evolving style. Mass Hysteria is a five-piece project that is nothing short of atomic. Typically energy-fuelled, the duo coordinate a masterful blend of hard-hitting, four-to-the-floor basslines: a seemingly perfect marriage for an EP that sets the listener deep into a cosmic whirlwind of electronic emotions. More

Steel City Dance Discs presents the ‘Wonder’ EP from fast-rising Italian artist Matisa. Fresh and filled with spirit, Matisa kicks off the EP with the transcendent, IDM-meets-Bingo Beats energy of ‘Brilliantine’, where twisted modulations fuse in harmony with angelic abstract vocals. Her original ‘Eyeliner’ is a euphoric breakbeat hardcore stomper, whilst Mall Grab’s take on the same track goes in harder with jacking drums, ecstatic rave stabs and menacing bass. Closing the EP is ‘Lip Plumper’ – a hypnotic stripped-back house cut which nods to UKG. This EP represents a significant moment in Matisa’s musical journey, as she evokes a combination of discovering yourself through creative expression with losing yourself on the dancefloor. More

Egyptian-Australian DJ/producer moktar announces his second boundary-pushing five track EP, ‘Immigrant’. An expressive and considered journey that combines his Middle Eastern heritage and influential club sounds in one. ‘Immigrant’ sees moktar continue to bring traditional Arabic instrumentation into the club by weaving samples like polyrhythmic drumming and the Arabic Oud into experimental club music which has captured the attention of many tastemakers. Giant Swan, Anz, Tash LC, Raji Rags, Jamie XX, Bonobo, Groove Armada, Hudson Mohawke, Mary Anne Hobbs and Jamz Supernova all championed his highly favoured self-titled EP in 2021, which topped the Australian community radio charts as a number #1 most played alongside the global support it received. The release represented re-learning the value of his Egyptian heritage following racism and stereotyping growing up. ‘Immigrant’ expands on the story. More

After going AWOL, the elusive DJ Boneyard checks back in with 'Bonestyle' – a six track ruckus of raw techno jaunts. More

As far as debut EP’s go, Life In Exile is a spellbinding introduction to the sounds of CRTB, a producer and DJ whose name is beginning to burn hot on the tongues of punters up and down the land, with good reason. Characterised by pulsating, bass-driven grooves and masterful percussion, Newcastle born, London based CRTB has unveiled a monster of sound with his latest venture, where the producer flexes an ungodly blend of four-to-the-floor basslines, contagious melodies and synths to create a visceral soundscape, infectious enough to cause dance-floor destruction wherever these sounds land. From the pulsating percussion of It Never Ends, to the rattling rapture of Nothing Moves You; a track that erupted in Mall Grab’s Melbourne Boiler Room set, this EP has energy coursing through its veins. This energy fuels the hypnotic sounds of Temper, and the radioactive rhythm of Nature Boy, where CRTB brings fellow heavy-hitter KETTAMA into the fold, resulting in an unforgiving, atomic anthem. Life In Exile is an EP that sees its creator, CRTB, conduct wild, electronic experiments of sound to devastating effect: a sign of things to come from one of Newcastle, aka the Steel City’s most exciting prospects. More

‘Pulse Love/Heaven’s Passage' is the latest EP from Ireland’s Tommy Holohan and is a direct, personal insight into the personality and diversity of the Irish producer. Tommy Holohan joins forces with KETTAMA for the first time and sets a bold precedent for what is another scintillating project from the young heartthrob. More

Somewhere in the deep blue Caribbean Sea, between reality and illusion, lies an island: X-Coast. More

For Steel City Dance Discs Volume 28, we’re honoured to be welcoming Collector – the deep-rooted output of Jason Campbell of Newcastle, Australia AKA the Steel City. Uncompromising, bone-crushing, Industrial sonics built entirely on hardware. The EP titled ’Pacing The Perimeter’ serves up a 5-track onslaught of metallic havoc. Harsh, droned excursions on the A-side and slammers on the flip! More

Nite Fleit steers a course through electro, breaks, techno and acid to deliver a debut LP made up of two distinct halves, exploring contrasting emotional states and new sonic territories. Shifting between styles, emotions and eras with ease and hiding surprises around every corner, Nite Fleit owes her rapid rise as a DJ and producer to an ability to keep dancers perpetually on their toes. Coming up through Sydney’s underground club scene, the Australia-born, London-based artist started producing as recently as 2016, making her production debut for Steel City Dance Discs in 2018. Since then she has appeared on labels across the globe including Return to Disorder, Planet Euphorique, Unknown To The Unknown, International Chrome, Acid Avengers and her own imprint, Atomic Alert. ‘Day Fleit / Nite Fleit’ is an LP with no front or back cover - depending on the listener’s intended destination the album’s two discs can be listened to in either order. ‘Overload’ wastes little time in setting the tone for ‘Day Fleit’. Densely layered, soaring arpeggiated acid lines twist and dance around Nite Fleit’s spoken lyrics, inspired by Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange’s iconic 1964 ‘The Dreams’ sound collage. On ‘Like I Used To Be’ warm, dreamy chords are decorated with sparkling synth melodies and vocals from Nite Fleit’s friend and fellow producer Mesmé. From the triumphant EBM textures of ‘The Flower Dance’, which features a theatric monologue by Partiboi69 reciting an Alan Watts speech, to the video-game pop melodies of ‘Dark End of the Street’ and ‘Morning Song’, on ‘Day Fleit’ Nite Fleit infuses her sound with a new buoyance and musicality. On the flip, those rich colourful harmonies make way for the imposing, mechanical rave energy on punishing percussive techno and electro cuts like ‘Double Digits’ and ‘Nah’. Nite Fleit’s graceful acid lines turn feverish and frenzied on ‘Airs & Graces’ and ‘Paranoid Energy’ - a pair of break-heavy, mutant club tracks fine-tuned for dark and manic basement raves. ‘Bold Poke’ provides a moment of brooding, melodic respite, before ‘Serious Effect’ a cinematic closing electro workout. Across these 12-tracks, taken from a vast pool of demos sketched out over the last two years, Nite Fleit provides a sonic snapshot of swinging emotions and dancefloor yearnings, delivered with uncompromising energy, melody and contrast.

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Buckle in for Steel City Dance Discs Vol. 26 with KETTAMA! The G-Town heavyweight ticks all the boxes with this 5-track barrage of head-thumping House and Techno. More

Moktar is a DJ and producer effortlessly combining club and techno with traditional Arabic instrumentation, sampling and producing to emphasise his Egyptian-Australian background. Steel City Dance Discs Volume 25 sees him embrace complex and traditional rhythmic ideas while traversing emotive melodic states. More

Maruwa logs back on to infiltrate the S.C.D.D. network, disrupting systems with a 5-track cluster of interface-melting dance music. The Saint Petersburg programmer re-codes Techno – encrypting it with hypnotic acid lines, dreamy Trance atmospherics and her very own vocal processing on ‘Dvizhenie’. No firewall can stop this complete anatomical takeover. More

Pick your poison! Skream bites down for Steel City Dance Discs Volume 23. The Croydon (London, U.K.) native strikes hard with a 3-track injection of heaving dance floor venom. A motley of pumping rhythms courses through the veins of this EP as he reaches into his diverse repertoire of soundscapes. The record opens up with Doolally – a euphoric House shaker intoxicated with nostalgia. Now in its grip, Space Ghetto swells up with tight breaks and aching bass; the tune is peppered with head nods to early hardcore tropes and a voice recording of Big Miz. Symptoms persist with Drago The Destroyer, which finishes us off with a rapid onslaught of chest thumping kicks and off-kilter synth rushes. More

The X CLUB. beasts have busted out of Brisbane, Australia with Steel City Dance Discs Volume 22. Buckle in as the renegades, known individually as DJ Speed/Jesse Patrick and NORA DRUM, take us on a manic hoon through electro, rave and jungle-informed techno. Although this is only their first vinyl offence, their criminal record is a hefty one. The delinquents are charged with lawless breaks, aggravated synth chaos, verbal sample assault and series of twisted bass infringements. More

Handle with caution: Steel City Dance Discs Volume 21 sees London’s Yazzus carve up a razor-sharp 4-track boost of jacking club music. With a history of mind-bending dance offerings, Yazzus continues the saga – fusing Techno, Footwork and Juke-leaning sounds into a blistering ball of high-energy rave. More

Following the 7” revisiting Candi Staton’s much-loved gospel anthem, this Glitterbox Recordings 12” features four diverse remixes of ‘Hallelujah Anyway’, three of which are new to vinyl. Kicking off with Larse’s Vocal mix, touching deeper territory with a mid-tempo house rendition, Dr Packer’s indulgent piano-littered mix is next, picking up the energy and re-introducing the disco beat. Italian producer Moplen delivers a 90s-influenced Classic Club Vibe mix, maximising Candi’s uplifting vocal. Finally is FK’s Director’s Cut Signature Praise 12” Edit, a Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper production which is available here on vinyl for the very first time. Picking up the pace with soaring synths and a grooving beat, the mix takes the anthem firmly back to the dancefloor, compelled by the original song’s call for jubilation. Four must-hear mixes from Glitterbox, breathing fresh energy into this timeless record. More

Italian-born artist Riva Starr collaborates with New York-based DJ and producer Todd Terry on This Is The Sound. Previously, the pair have remixed each other’s solo productions, but their joint project on Hot Creations signifies a new beginning for the acclaimed producers. Together, the pair bring Riva’s vision to life on the title track, weaving a classic-house-tinged melody with crisp claps, penning an irresistible groove. Peak-time in every sense of the word. Riva Starr serves his solo offering on Creator, evoking a darker vibe. Chugging drums thump between a squelchy acid melody, paying homage to the birth of acid house in the late 80s, chopped with more contemporary textures. Based in East London, Riva Starr’s roots lie in Naples, Italy. Having moved to London in 2008, Riva immersed himself in the UK tech house scene, playing across the country in Printworks, Motion, and Orange Yard to further afield in Pacha, Watergate and Space Miami. As a multi-dynamic producer, Riva’s discography boasts remixes of work by Dennis Ferrer, Fatboy Slim, and Claptone and solo releases on Defected, Black Book Records and his own Snatch!Records imprint. Grammy Award-nominated artist Todd Terry is a stalwart on the global house scene, breaking through in the mid-90s with the classic house heater “Keep on Jumpin” ft. Martha Wash and Jocelyn Brown. Since then, Todd has produced a colossal body of work on Defected, Inhouse, Freeze Records and several others, keeping his sound aligned with his New York heritage and reinventing it with a fresh flavour. More

Robohands, aka Andy Baxter, joins the Bastard Jazz family with a new EP titled "Giallo." Partly inspired by Italian Giallo (meaning "yellow") film soundtracks of the late 70s and 80s, as well as the experimental sounds of pioneering krautrock bands like Tangerine Dream and NEU! Armed with an old Juno 60 synthesizer, Andy wrote, recorded, and mixed all the parts himself, including the live drums, adding in multiple layers of effects. Spread across 8 tracks, "Giallo" spans atmospheric meditations ("Giallo;" "Claws;" "Relax") to jazzy improvisational explorations ("Fear"), interwoven with brief solo instrumental tapestries ("Horror;" "Float By Like Clouds;" "For the Different"). There is an elegant cinematic quality to the EP, further refined by Robohands' production prowess and technical chops. "Giallo" builds on the Robohands sound, taking it in an exciting, more experimental direction. More