From the catlogue of Italy's charismatic Interactive Test label, helmed by the Falsini brothers, Sound Metaphors Records compiles a selection from the two volume "How To Use The World" series. A collection of raw, experimental proto sounding house numbers composed and played by Marco Calderoni with help on production and writing by Giacomo Brunetti. Originally released in 1991, these releases have since then become deeply craved items amongst collectors and specialists of Italo House. With a sound so unmistakably unique, these productions will be hard to forget, from a time when house music wasn't even concretely established as a genre, these experimental proto nuances in club oriented sound played a defining role in Italy's emerging club sound. Thoroughly remastered at manmade mastering in Berlin, same sound new body.

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Dan Lacksman is a Belgian electronic music pioneer who co-founded the Electro Pop Dance formation Telex and is credited for their classic 'Moskow Diskow.' He also worked under the Transvolta name but put out only one single, 1978's impossibly hard-to-find classic 'Disco Computer.' Dan himself has carefully remastered the original for this special 12" reissue. It's still a retro-future sound all these years later with the signature talk box vocals and sleek drum machines under cosmic synths. On the flip is a long version of 'You Are Disco' which is a similar vibe but with a slightly more lively groove and vocal. Two serene dancefloor gems by any standards.

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Eight years on from his last After Dark compilation for Late Night Tales, font of all musical knowledge Bill Brewster returns with a fourth instalment. According to the man himself, it's a 'freestyle' selection with 'low and slow' the overriding theme. That loose but logical concept allows Brewster to showcase a diverse range of selections that defy easy categorisation. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, with our current pics including the synth-heavy Balearic voodoo of 'Idle Hours' by Idle Band, the Weatherall-esque chug of Hotel Motel's terrific remix of Jeb Loy Nichols' 'Don't Drop Me', the dub disco-goes-cosmic disco squelch of Ray Mang remixing Khruangbin, the deep synth-pop sweetness of Debbie & The Code's 'Code of Love', a terrific Naill edit of Gilbert O'Sullivan's 'So What', and the deep electro of Carl Finlow.

Tracklisting:
A1. Island Band – Idle Hours 4:55
A2. Chaz Jankel – Manon Manon 4.56
A3. Gilbert O’Sullivan – So What (Nail Edit) 8.44*
B1. Rheinzand – Kills And Kisses (Scorpio Twins Remix) 8.10*
B2. Canada High – Le Chiffre 5.02*
B3. Lanowa – Burning Up 6.38*
C1. Khruangbin – So We Won’t Forget (Mang Dynasty Irreverent Dub) 7.16*
C2. Fernando – 1998 7.00*
C3. Debbe & The Code – Code Of Love 6.02
D1. Jana Koubkova´ - Nija´na 6.15
D2. IPG V Hot Toddy – Open Space 7.32*
D3. Smashed Atoms & Backdoor Man – Hey Dreamer 6.50*
*After Dark Vinyl Exclusive

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2023 Repress!

Out of the clear sky, the vinyl nerds from skylevel deliver two beautifully crafted gems of dance music, keeping the overall vibe of the originals alive without being afraid of deconstructing and rearranging heavily.

The A Side features a concentrated, groove oriented arrangement that slides from part to part smoothly, playing with a certain rock attitude while holding back a few surprises. The flipside, well, obviously lifts things off the ground balancing innocent melodies and sheer funk madness.
Very DJ friendly.

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2023 Repress!

Originally released in 1993, this record is representative of the first steps towards what is now regarded as progressive trance yet still remaining very much faithful to the percussive fundamentals of house music with early tribal influences. This EP comes with 4 versions of the same production ranging from euphoric trancey no beat moments to full on percussive driven beats. This reissue is made in honor of the late Roby J. who participated in producing this project. Remastered for maximum output.

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Putting a pigeon amongst the cats we are back with that good shit. An out of step, incidental artifact of peaceful sophistry: YS - Brutal Flower (2 x “12 LP). A no airs and graces piece of cool future-proof ambience. A modern ballad for brave young clubbers, local pubbers, slipstream warriors, and emotional doggers.

The distinctive aesthetic hallmarks of YS are all here: slabs of urban flavor from emotional interior; raw data straight from the interface. ‘Untethered’ and ‘Down’ are chopped-up cuts of searching R’n’B - jaded jams of lustful erasure. On the flipside, blunted desire lingers in ‘Fading Memory’. Both hopeful and mourning: this is the lay of the land in Brutal Flowers sharing that rare strain of underground synesthesia best located in dark undercurrents of early Mo Wax.

The orchestral ambience of ‘Autumn OST’ is a potent stupor of end credit cinematics. Coming up for air. It feels young in an ancient sort of way: pure as first snow. And from here in the album unfolds with the patience, tranquility and the expansive poise of a work that is for now and always. Pulsating gently to assured ending with ‘Be Together’ - a flickering skyline, swarming with warm memories. In between there’s flashes of heartbreak reminiscent of Beltran's Ten Days of Blue and Blunt’s Stone Island (‘Look Up’ feels like a sort of spiritual successor to ‘Wake up’), that being said, when push comes to shove it only it ever flirts with its own reality.

An aesthetic reflection of a creative process that is delicate and restless. Created in the edges, where long distances, fast cities and global melancholia are wrought large. Burning the midnight oil Berlin-Singapore style: from real to reel. A sentimental exercise of modern faith by old friends. With a nudge and a wink, Brutal Flowers is a (de)coded map of memories wavering with familiar intrigue. Patient listeners and the already initiated will be rewarded on re-visits - as playful & profound as you please, as deep as the heart.

The scathe that cuts is clean and deep. There are no sleight of hands to be found in this opus, only hearts are worn on the sleeve here.

A hill we’d gladly die on. Pace & luv,

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Close your eyes and merge into Benedikt Frey’s 'Fastlane'. Imagine sitting in the driver’s seat of a an automobile, one with exceptional horsepower and torque, as you stare out the windshield at the red light, warping in fata-morgana a mile down the road. It’s a straight-away, a black top with two lanes, and against your better judgment you decide to floor the gas. No hesitation in your muscle, your ankle or the ball of your foot, which you now realize is some kind of universal pivot, the first point of contact fusing your body with the will of machine. In this moment you’re in awe that you, a human, an animal, grew from pond scum into something so advanced as to engineer this thing, a mechanical beast capable of overwhelming power and exhilaration. But you also feel a seductive dread, an outside force diverting you from caution toward a dangling carrot of curiosity, asking yourself, ‘How far can I take this thing?’ The dread, now a constant, is numbed, equalized by an adverse intoxicating gratification. You feel both sensations in real time, however, rather than take responsibility for yourself, friends, family and innocent bystanders, you cement your foot to the floor and lean your head back. Noise around you fades to mute. Smell the benzene-scented air, feel the wind on your face, the menacing vibration of the vessel you control beneath you and every grain of asphalt under its tires. This mile has now lasted an eternity and you’ve left your body for some objective view, as if watching climax of a film. Past the point of no return, you embrace abandon and lean into fate. The film becomes slow motion, a crawling pace so mesmerizing you convince yourself of an option to eject yourself from this madness, but as you finally let go of your last morsel of fear, you run the red light head-on into the nucleus of a fantastic glistening sculpture of torn metal, glass, oil, broken dreams and heartache. 'Fastlane' may be just drum machines and synthesizers if you’re timid, but listen harder and know the catastrophic reality of existence, a wreckage so gruesome we dare not rubberneck, but afterall it is our nature to stare.

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Eli Escobar returns for his 9th full length LP. While his last few projects found him exploring downtempo beats, EBM and ambient influences, this latest offering of Eli's studio craftsmanship marks a return to the sound of his early releases like Up All Night and Happiness. Warm samples expertly woven into classic drum machine rhythms and searing synth lines, The Beach Album takes listeners on a journey through golden era hip hop beats, feel-good NY-styled house grooves into sweaty techno bangers. Similar to Eli's DJ sets, the 16 track long player has something for everyone. Created during the uncertainty of the pandemic when as Eli put it, "It didn't feel like the right time to release dance music," The Beach album celebrates the return of NY nightlife and optimism for the future.

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Classic Soul, remastered von den Originaltapes. 'Stay With Me' (1980) war der erste Release der Female-Formation Crystal Clear, kuratiert von dem gefeierten Jazz-Multiinstrumentalisten aus Philadelphia, Morris 'Mo' Bailey, und produziert von Doug King. Originalexemplare wechseln für 500£ den Besitzer.

Soul startlers Crystal Clear (not to be confused with the many house and drum & bass artists of the same name) laid down 'Stay With Me' in the mid-1970s. The song is a sweet and romantic, yet no less punchy, ditty, packed with contrasts between flitty, fay vocals (from an unknown singer no less) and a heavy-set drum recording to juxtapose. Now re-released via Soul Brother, we're reintroduced to the song in all its hip-swanging glory. Just as its themes deal well with reconciliation, we feel to have been reunited with its charms, as we eagerly oblige the command to "stay"...

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Repress!

Twelve on Hank Jacksons Anno label by Loidis aka Huerco S. aka Pendant aka The Royal Crown of Sweden.

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Shortly after the great Envision EP (Xistence 001) Dublin based Phil Robertson DJ/Producer alias Arbilla back with it’s second release on his own imprint Xistence Records. This 4 tracker EP brings some dark Detroit Techno where classic meets the modern sound. The title track “Moving Forward” is from the deeper side of techno, futuristic synth melodies with heavy claps and bleeps. Detroit’s techno legend, lifetime member of Underground Resistance, master of the darkness James Pennington aka Suburban Knight on remix duty... pure Detroit machine funk, more groove oriented version with filthy bass. Flip side track called Windjana is solid but with a classic claps/hihats which driving by a massive bassline. Life Scenario with dark melodies,heavy percussions, and killer bassline inspired by James’ sound and shows mad respect & much love for Motor City underground.

Talking about quality...!

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