Somehow Klasse Wrecks has made it to 50 official releases, not bad for a label that wears its ignorance for others and 'the norm' proudly on its dirty sleeve. Over the years the label has released a multitude of various sounds, spanning bleep, rave, deep house, down tempo and the 50th release does well to encapsulate that free spirit and openess. Without much planning and totally by way of coincidence the responsibility lies with label co-owner Luca Lozano and its sonically a typical mixed bag as to be expected. Kicking off with restless acid stomping, the title track barges through the door...knocks over a few drinks before blossoming into a breakdown that propels the 303 deep into space and back again. On the A2, Lozano shows off his love for creaky breakbeats and DX donks on a track called 'Re-Mix'...which as far as we know isnt a remix of anything at all. The flip contains more raving beauties, 'Save Me From The Rave' might be a desperate plea but by the sounds of it he's still enjoying the madness, the producer makes an epic breakdown that might well signify the end of all Trance homages. Then the final track of the EP sounds like it could be played in a field in Glastonbury in 1993, its haunting vocal harmonies signify the sun is coming up soon and likely that we're about to start Chapter 2 of the Wrecks Wrebellion. The special edition sleeve artwork features examples of previous artwork from the last 50 records, overlaid in a typically chaotic manner by the label's designer, PLANETLUKE.COM. More

Klasse Wrecks continues its expedition through the wilderness of early 2024 with a release from your favourite producers' favourite producer. Bufo Bufo continues his golden run after sterling records for the likes of Cabaret with a unique 4 tracker for Wrecks. Distilling all styles and influences into one record, 'Beelzebufo' sees the producer capture rare species of electro, breakbeat and mangled rave together...resulting in a supernatural sonic hybrid. Play with caution...the sounds you hear maybe devastating to your ear. More

For the first Klasse Wrecks release of 2024, the label looks back to 2020 and a previously digital only track from label co-owner Mr. Ho. During the first lockdown of covid Mr. Ho released '000Baby' as part of the digital 'Homeboys' EP alongside Luca Lozano. An alternative version popped up on the 'Michaelsoft' album in 2021 but the much lauded original has never seen the light of day on wax....until now. The first 10inch on Klasse Wrecks also features a suped and sped up interpretation from Om Unit, who expertly increases the pressure with deft 808 bass subs, a half time swagger and dubbed out atmospherics. More

It's the one you've been searching for....new white label action from Klasse Wrecks in the form of BOY1. The boy-wonder behind the music is none other than Seoul's favourite soulful son, Mogwaa. It's dubbed out pianos, forget-me-not vocal hooks and classic breaky House with a sprinkle of acid to sweeten the pot. More

Always exciting when Klasse Wrecks comes with a new label project!! This one they do together with Kid Who and is a series of records showcasing previously unreleased house, techno, acid and more from the 90s Amiga Demoscene. Created using early sample sequencers such as ProTracker, these tracks radiate the authentic energy of techno's golden era - and they've been hiding in plain sight in Demoscene web repositories for many years. It was during the long days of the 2020 lockdowns that Kid Who began to explore these archives, sifting through thousands of tracks to eventually amass a collection of several hundred of his favourites. Curated by Klasse Wrecks and Kid Who in close collaboration with the talented artists behind them, the .NFO project aims to bring some of these finds to the broader dance music community via a series of VA 12"s and mixes. Tip!! Vinyl comes with A4 insert and stickered sleeve. More

For it's 46th outing, Klasse Wrecks recruits the Brooklyn based producer Gee Dee to it's ranks. Gee Dee aka Greg Droggitis turns in a wonderful and fully fledged collection of tracks that burst to the brim with atmosphere and sunny vibrations. True to the label's ethos, the music is as always, hard to pin down under one specific genre but instead slyly calls on various classic House, Electro and Acid tropes. The overall sound is one that is both universal and transcendent, feeling familiar but still surprising. 'Dream In Colour' is indeed an apt title for the EP as it spans the musical spectrum and is a lucid and vivid trip into the imagination of this new and exciting producer. More

Wrekcs045 blurb.... Somewhere in the dark corners of Barcelona, hidden away from the relentless sunshine and perfect weather there exists a group of friends. All veterans, skilled DJs and legends of the local scene, the friends have slowly been building up a powerful body of music that defies generic categorisation but at the same time somehow perfectly encapsulates the Mediterranean spirit and positive energy of the great Catalan city. Their debut EP 'Mi Yoyo', is a short selection of some of that wealth of music and centers around the epic title track. A summer anthem of good vibes and positive energy, 'Mi Yoyo' builds on a catchy vocal hook and a bassline reminiscent of French filter house. Ladies and gentlemen please keep your eyes firmly placed on the horizon and your heart open....enter Limit Blau. More

Klasse Wrecks is happy to welcome new Berlin-based producer Jotel California to the family. The emerging young artist provides a strong and varied EP that introduces his deft production skills and understanding of balanced sonics. 'Borrowed Time' traces the lines of traditional electro but stirs the pot with new flavours and the result is something that is both unique and powerful. Late 90s Techno is referenced on the title track, a dark and haunting driver that emerges into euphoria later on in the journey. While the A1 features the cut up vocals of Babyblade and takes the listener on a pulsing trip that thrashes back and forth before restlessly settling down More

It was maybe only a matter of time before DJs Luca Lozano and Dawl collaborated on a record, the two artists have been circling each other in orbit for years now. 'Cybernetik Synergy' plays on the virtual space created between the two producers while working online, the tracks on the EP were sketched out, passed back and forth in folders until they were finished...meaning the artists never actually met in person. The result is both bleepy and breaky, its a rave record that takes in the duo's influences and love of old classic dance hits. The theme of technocractic collaboration is developed further by the final (vinyl-only) track, a collection of separate stems from the A1 that enable the listeners to be able remix the tracks themselves and then send in to the label via the QR code on the sleeve. More

Klasse Wrecks' sub-label Junglish Massive returns for a third installment of breakbeat beat chaos, this time brought to you by friend of the label..Alphonse. The 'Android Mash' EP is an epic ode to Jungle, mangled and squashed together through a lens of classic drum and bass references. The title track spans over 15mins and invites the listener to join in on the journey of constant shifting and movement. Its Jungle...but not as we know it! More

Hot release alert!!! WRECKS041 is a sampler of Luca Lozano's recent 'Man of Science' album. Previously only available on compact disc the EP now puts together four of the most successful and sought-after tracks on wax. The title track, 'Man Of Science' opens with sampled words from astrophysicist and planetry scientist Neil Degrasse Tyson and hints at the overarching theme of the original album. Tracks like 'Prognosis' and 'Make Peace' show off Lozano's flair and interest in early Progressive House and Tribal Techno, with addictive grooves and unique collages of familiar but new sonic elements that hark back to dance music's history. The result is, as usual with Lozano's work, defiant of genres and difficult to pigeon hole but always irresistably tasty More

Klasse Wrecks' first release of 2023 comes storming out of the gate, hot on the tail of Mr. Ho's previous album and his collaborative 'Eu-Li' EP with Mogwaa. 'Angel Number 909' is a collection of three versions of one track, the over-riding element in the EP is an incessant and catchy acidic synthline that bounds across racketing breakbeats and galloping basslines. Alongside the 'US Breaks' version is an old school influenced 'Acid House' version as well as a moodier 'House' mix. Three pedigree tracks that will be sure to go the distance on any dancefloor... More

As one half of the Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia Robbert Heynan helped define the burgeoning sound of Tribal Techno in the early 90s, the duo produced a slyly conceptual and wonderfully cohesive body of work which included, amongst others, 3 classic albums, many groundbreaking singles and a Radio 1 Peel Session. In 1992 Heynan left to pursue a solo project under the name Exquisite Corpse and continued to release an inimitable string of House and Techno tracks, his production techniques and meshing of styles resulted in a unique signature that refuses to be categorised still to this day. For WRECKS042, Klasse Wrecks is proud to present a repress of one of Robbert's most hidden records, long out of stock around the world and well under the radar is the 'Chief' EP. Originally released in 1996 on Dutch label Prime the two tracks from the original EP have been remastered and are presented alongside two brand new and unheard versions, which have been laying dormant since waiting for the right time to peer out into the daylight. The resulting record is a wonderful capsule and insight to the body of work and creativity of Robbert, at times dark and hypnotic, introspective and heady but with the crosshairs always firmly set on the dance floor. More

DJ Steve's third EP for Klasse Wrecks delves deeper into the sonic universe of the Sheffield producer's arsenal, a slow but deliberate progression can be traced from the previous EPs. Whereas 'Secret Touch' and 'Mainline' ploughed a path made more by the lighthearted genres of UK Hardcore and Yorkshire Bleep, 'Reality' sinks lower into heady vibrations of psychedelia and heavy acid hallucinations. The producer again shows off his musical flair and control of his machine kingdom, every sound perfectly placed on the sound canvas. Classic 303 lines writhe under 101 basslines whilst 808 hihats shuffle over recognisable breakbeats, proving some things never go out of style. More

Swedish born, London based producer Hans Berg provides the title track 'A Floor of Stars' for a brand new white label from Klasse Wrecks. Starry-eyed rave nostalgia for the 2020s, produced and presented without a cheapshot gimmick in sight. Luca Lozano provides a startling interpretation on the flip, increasing the breakbeat pressure slightly and taking a left turn into the hoover-vortex continuum. Its a space race journey of sorts, with the producer adorning the track with more rave decoration and climactic piano flourishes. This item is vinyl only and limited to 500 copies. More

Karlos Moran, the wunderkind from Kansas City returns to his own Moran Music Group label (helmed by the people at Klasse Wrecks no less) for his 5th release. Showcasing the producers flair for classic US Deep House tropes and a deft talent when it comes to singing and playing instruments live, MMG005 is collection of 4 tracks of wonderful and positive vibes. Trainspotters might notice something familiar and newcomers might discover a new favourite artist, step into the house of Moran and enjoy. More

Repress!

Mr. Ho shows again why he is a favourite producer for so many! A double album full of bleepy breakbeat tunes and robotic electro, all with a strong focus on the dancefloor. His debut album 'Michaelsoft' is a perfect and sophisticated summation of the talented producers skill at making sonically slick groove-led music, ranging wide in genres and moods. The album is a journey of sorts, kicking off with the dreamy breaks of '000Baby' and the slightly broken beats of the spine-tingling 'Ngomee' before venturing into hectic and threatening electro with 'Quit Startin' and ghetto-funk stylings of '14me'. After listening to 'Michaelsoft' the listener is reminded once again of the subject of time, specifically the time the producer has spent silently honing and calmly perfecting his craft whilst the rest of the world seems to descend into chaos. Recommended! More

Tracklisting:
A1 Levzon - Mambata
A2 Levzon - Bang The Drums
A3 Levzon - Bang The Drums (Phil Berg remix)
B1 Levzon - Baraa
B2 Levzon - Baila
B3 Levzon - Baraa (RUIZ OSC1 remix)

Sales Note:
Seasons are changing - energy is shifting. The next Frenzy release is here, presenting the next-best-local talent on the block: Levzon. This born-to-be gearhead from the outskirts of Amsterdam began experimenting with electronic music as a youngster. Immersing himself in a variety of genres throughout his early years, he decided to take the next step and provide an output for his vision on techno as 'Levzon'. For our next Frenzy adventure, he is going all out for the first time, profiling his sound through a 4-track heavy-hitting EP with old-school-induced cuts and loopy basslines, including two remixes by like-minded associates.

Imagine an era where speed has no limit and the night knows no dawn. That's about the atmosphere 'Mambata' is creating at the start of the A-side. Followed by drum-led 'Bang the Drums', Levzon continues to ride the wave of heat, pressure, and movement. The adventure doesn't end here yet: talent on the rise Phil Berg is providing a perfectly executed dubby remix of 'Bang The Drums' Enter the B-side where a body-heavy peak time experience is awaiting you with 'Baraa'. A true weapon on the dancefloor. At the end of his story, Levzon leaves us with the beautifully composed 'Baila', casting a subtle rhythm of basslines with funk-induced vocals within a more subtle tempo. To close off the record in style, Ruiz OSC1' provides a remix of 'Baila' - throwing her 90s rave techniques into the battle. More

Tracklisting
A1 OFF/GRID - One Stab Ahead
A2 Gunjack - Memory Man
B1 Antic Soul - Mandalore
B2 Lenny San - Hedonist More

Tracklisting
A1 Sonic Propaganda - Native
A2 Sonic Propaganda - Soul Pressure
A3 Sonic Propaganda - Terminal
B1 Sonic Propaganda - Basic Path
B2 Sonic Propaganda - Body Empire

Sales Note
SHDW's Mutual Rytm imprint is back with its third release of 2024, marking a full label debut from Sonic Propaganda with their 'Native' EP.

Sonic Propaganda comes from the collaborative minds of Earwax and Rosati, a pair who favour dark and intense techno sounds and take inspiration from Jeff Mills and Robert Hood. In the studio, they blend analog and digital technologies into smoky warehouse atmospheres and immersive journeys that connect with listeners on an emotive level, and this full EP lands following their contribution to the third instalment of the Mutual Rytm's Federation Of Rytm compilation series in February.

The powerful 'Native' opens up at high speed with tightly coiled drum loops that never let up. Sleek metal percussive sounds peel off the grooves and lock listeners into a perfect state of hypnosis. 'Soul Pressure' is just as absorbing, with a tense bassline keeping you on edge as the train-like drums march under incendiary hi-hat ringlets. There is plenty of perfect machine funk to 'Terminal', which has more rusty synth textures and chopped-up vocal fragments humanising the turbulent grooves. 'Basic Path' brings an extra skip to the kicks as they enter, scuffed up and flowing just above the groove, while vocal pulses and twitchy synth modulations bring the detail. 'Body Empire' closes the vinyl package with a deeper vibe and pensive synths that add warmth and soul to the brilliantly mechanical grooves, while digital bonus 'Acid Riot' closes with squelching acid lines amongst a swell of analog crunch and laser-sharp percussion.

Sonic Propaganda 'Native' drops via Mutual Rytm on 5th April 2024.



More

Tracklisting
A1 Muzmin - Altta
A2 Muzmin - The Bulb
B1 Muzmin - Yuklem
B2 Muzmin - Kran More

Klasse Wrecks continues its expedition through the wilderness of early 2024 with a release from your favourite producers' favourite producer. Bufo Bufo continues his golden run after sterling records for the likes of Cabaret with a unique 4 tracker for Wrecks. Distilling all styles and influences into one record, 'Beelzebufo' sees the producer capture rare species of electro, breakbeat and mangled rave together...resulting in a supernatural sonic hybrid. Play with caution...the sounds you hear maybe devastating to your ear. More

Tracklisting
A1 Coyu - Drunk Calls
A2 Bailey lbbs - Manic Room
A3 Antigone - Push
B1 Hurdslenk - Starting Fresh
B2 Rebecca Delle Piane - Dulzura
B3 Dylan Fogarty - 4Am
C1 Steve Redhead - Pantonone
C2 Juri Heidemann - Kesema
C3 Chontane - Reoite
D1 Remco Beekwilders - Afsauzen
D2 Juan Sanchez - Miles On The Meter
D3 Vromo - Means The World More

“‘A La Sala,’ I used to scream it around my house when I was a little girl, to get everybody in the living room; to get my family together. That’s kind of what recording the new album felt like. Emotionally there was a desire to get back to square-one between the three of us, to where we came from–in sonics and in feeling. Let’s get back there.” - Laura Lee Ochoa

The title makes it clear. A La Sala (“To the Room” in Spanish), the fourth studio album by Khruangbin, is an exercise in returning in order to go further, and do so on your own terms. It extends the air of mystery and sanctity that’s key to how bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson, Jr. and guitarist Mark “Marko” Speer approach music. Yet if 2020’s Mordechai, the last studio album Khruangbin made without collaborators, was a party record whose ensuing post-lockdown tour enhanced the band’s musical reputation far and wide, A La Sala is the measured morning after. It’s a gorgeously airy album made only in the company of the group’s longtime engineer Steve Christensen, with minimal overdubs. It is a porthole onto the bounties powering Khruangbin’s vision, a reimagining and refueling for the long haul ahead. A La Sala scales Khruangbin down to scale up, a creative strategy with the future in mind.

It is also a response to the unique moment Khruangbin finds itself in now: following a decade spent cultivating extraordinary music paths, beginning a year when they'll perform for more people, in more iconic spaces, staging a live show that pushes a creative envelope peculiar to them alone. (Look for the band at major festivals and venues near you.) 2024 feels like both marker and pivot, cementing Khruangbin’s stature as a commercially and critically successful group that continues to be guided by creative possibilities.

Such crossroads are familiar for iconic artists throughout the rock era — your Dylans, Stevies and Bowies, up thru turn-of-the-century Radiohead, all have navigated these straits. On A La Sala, Khruangbin also pulls exploration inward, spurning the din of the crowd’s expectations, mapping a personal direction home. The trio’s collective musical DNA and the years spent constructing it in Houston’s local-meets-global cultural stew ensure the band carries on sounding like no one but itself. A La Sala may in fact be Khruangbin’s purest distillation. A cascade of crisp melodies still emanates from Marko’s reverb-heavy electric, dancing gently around Laura Lee’s minimalist almost-dub bass triangles, while DJ’s drums serve as the tightened-up pocket and unwavering dance-floor on which all this movement takes place.

Where prior album-by-album growth seemed to point the narratives towards music’s polyglot edges, such inquiries now sound like known intimacies. What once seemed like sonic invocations — spaghetti-western film scores, found-sounds, dancing moments more living room than rooftop disco — are ingrained characteristics. This is who they are! And there’s a freshness to the instrumental interactivity on A La Sala that’s less concerned with getting further out than going deeper in. That depth is not about therapeutic self-reflection, but a profound desire to celebrate the world’s external wonders.
A La Sala invites intimate intercontinental partying. The first single is, after all, called “A Love International.” “Pon Pón” holds the band’s table at the West African discotheque; yet the joy now moves to the corner left of the dancefloor, where the back-and-forth between Laura Lee’s bass, DJ’s hi-hat, and Marko’s tuneful rhythm scratches, is a marvel of knowing head-nods. There’s “Hold Me Up (Thank You),” a familial sweetness in its spare lyrics, feeding off the rhythm section’s sturdy funk shuffle, and a chorus on which Marko’s guitar evokes both sides of the Atlantic in confident unshowy rhythms. They’re on “Todavía Viva” too, next to DJ’s noir-soul rim-shots, synth strings and a pregnant pause that is Laura Lee’s favorite moment on the album, the mood kin to the band’s glorious live interpretations of G-funk fantasias. And the rocked-up miniature, “Juegos y Nubes,” demonstrates Khruangbin’s Houston-born superpower to culture-mix, a dancing mood less concerned with worldly glamor than communal grooving.

“I read something long ago, attributed to Miles Davis. He said, ‘When they play fast, you play slow. When they play slow, you play fast.’ And it's definitely how I've approached looking at music: Don't follow the trends. And if the trend is this, then do something else.” - Marko

From the get-go, Khruangbin’s journey has been emphatically its own: a sound and visual representation with few precedents, ignoring pop expectations, relying only on internal inspirations, and a multitude of visions. It’s a mindset of penetrating the self, connecting to the surrounding world, modeling your own life experiences. This ethos is threaded throughout A La Sala, audible in the album’s form and function. (It’s even visible in the vinyl version’s physical package, which will be released as a set of seven distinctive covers and color-sets — more on which in a sec.)

The building blocks for the album’s 12 songs were jigsaw pieces found in Khruangbin’s creative past. Having stockpiled ideas originally set down as off-the-cuff recordings (voice-memos made at sound-checks, on long voyages, as absentminded epiphanies), they began fitting those pieces together in the studio. Which parts were apt? Which could be massaged and stretched out? Which inspired new sections or rhythms or musical interactions? Once more, Khruangbin’s familial DNA kicked in. Layer-by-layer, the intimate work, rework and re-rework bore new fruit. They also brought back a strategy once foundational to their records: seeding an album with field recordings.

Some results fold directly into A La Sala’s down-home feel. “Three From Two” and “May Ninth” are wistful mid-tempo numbers, with guitar melodies that reside somewhere between Bakersfield and by-the-riverside, cues that, for all its borderless inclusivity, another core Khruangbin value is being steeped in American roots. And in the landscape that music comes from. Like all albums prior to Mordechai, Marko made sure environmental sounds — natural and man-made — appeared as textures. (At times philosophically: the group recorded while cricket chirps played in their headphones, presumably for terroir.) It’s how A La Sala achieves such interconnected set-and-setting-ness.

Other results are more metaphorical, especially in Khruangbin’s flirtation with ambient spaces. The dramatically beatless “Farolim de Felgueiras” and “Caja de la Sala” both feature only Marko’s unmistakable guitar dueting with Laura Lee’s Moog, lightly layered with sounds of shoes on stone steps, and cicadas in an open field. The closing “Les Petits Gris” more fully reduces and fleshes out the ambiance, with a piano and a simple single-note bass pattern, Marko’s plaintive spare guitar echoing the melody of a ballerina-turning music box. It feels an apt way of ending — as a passing of this particular moment, preparation for the next one, soon-come.

Even the seven different covers that adorn A La Sala’s various vinyl editions offer a throughline from the music into Khruangbin’s current frame. Designed by the band using Marko’s multitude of travelog photos, they are windows from the band’s living room onto a set of daydreams, scenes of impossible skies, external glances illuminating what is going on inside. These are also directly related to David Black’s images of DJ, Laura Lee and Marko which accompany A La Sala, and to Khruangbin’s live staging reinvention. It’s all about looking out and looking back, in order to better look ahead.

“All the little moments you capture. You don't see how impactful they are until you hear what eventually comes of them. A lot of those scraps end up being the thing — and you don't realize it until it's ‘The Thing.’” - DJ
credits
releases April 5, 2024

Produced by Mark Speer & Steve Christensen
Written, Arranged & Performed by Khruangbin
Art Direction: Tiny Frees
Mixing: Steve Christensen
Mastering: Chris Longwood More

Kon steps back up to the plate with a sumptuous 12" offering, digging into his stash of disco, funk and boogie to bring us more heat! 'Alright' kicks things off, a huge anthemic soulful piano led disco stomper that will undoubtedly be a real highlight in your DJ set. This is some peak time feel good music for the dancefloor, London even gets a shout-out! 'Stars' is our B-side, and it's beamed right in from the cosmos into our eardrums, it has it all from cosmic synth melodies to ultra heavy drums and beyond! Get lost in space to this one, you won't regret it. Both cuts here definitely bring it, and as always - they sound amazing. File under 'must cop'. In true Kon fashion, these tracks have been respectfully remixed by Kon from source, and they won't stick around for long. Don't sleep! More