It's hard to keep up with the hugely prolific output of UK don Burnski and his several different labels these days but one thing is for sure - Pilot keeps on serving up the goods. For its 15th release, the tech and minimal focussed label welcomes Robin Graham who opens up with the lively and colourful synths of bustling groover 'Check Me Out'. 'Spark Plug' is more business-like - the dry drums and hits overlaid with retro chord stabs that amp up the crowd and 'For You' then gets loose and funky with some twisted and sugar synths over garage-flecked beats and 'What's That' (Refix) offers a jumbled percussive sound full of dynamism.

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The rather naughty Pilot label is back and ready to take you on a trip to the heart of the dancefloor here as Wodda steps up with more fresh garage, minimal and tech fusions. 'T Total' is a perfectly infectious swinger with rasping bass notes and crisp percussion that will get faces screwed up and floors pumping. 'Aphrodite Curse' picks up with more damn sexy sound designs and super silky grooves that will take any crowd for a cruise. There is some bright and old school piano action to 'With Me' while 'Keep It' then offers a turbocharged future house excursion that is all about the good times.

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Johannes Kolter is Kolter and is also a producer who went under the name DJOKO. He's been busy this year with plenty of goodness dropping including an album and three EPs. Now comes hit sone, again on his home label Pilot. It is inventive stuff that functions well on the floor as it straddles the worlds of breaks, house and plenty more. 'Got High Again' is lively and dynamic with its squealing leads and dusty breaks, then 'Weirdo' layers up leftfield melodies and blurts of playful synth modulation. 'Prospekt' is a wild fusion of rock riffs and high-speed funky breaks and 'Duck Concert' closes with hardcore drum breaks and soulful synths next to mad scratchinG.

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Johannes Kolter is Kolter, as well as being the artist formerly known as DJOKO, and here he follows up on his very recent Between Fragments album with a cheeky three tracker, once again for the Pilot label. This 12" kicks off with 'Techno Life', which ironically is a breaks/electro hybrid affair with all the hallmarks you could ask for from vocoder vocals to electronic cowbells. 'Can't Stop Rocking' borrows some serious chunks from a very famous electro record made by one of jazz music's legends - that description must surely narrows it down - and adds some tempo and the occasional vocal hook. Then we see proceedings drawn to a close by 'Sorry You Had To Wait So Long', every bit as lively as the other two, spaciously produced and peppered with the subtlest of electro flourishes. All round good work, you have to agree.

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After this pair of Leeds residents made waves last November with their first EP for Pilot, Bobby O'Donnell and Reeshy return to lay down four new tracks that definitely stray towards the electro end of the breaks/electro spectrum. There's a sense of continuity, as the first EP's tracks - labelled 1-4, are followed by tracks 5-8, as well as being executed with a proper human touch that not all such machinefunk can boast. '6' is full of spiralling Drexciyan mystery, before being pared down to an LFO-style bass prod. '8' also echoes the former legends of Leeds with its dreamy pads and acid backdrop - something in the local water supply. Definitely funky enough to keep the breaks DJs onside, but with a thorough knowledge of love of 40 years of electronic music heritage at its disposal too, this is one release you should make sure you not miss.

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Johannes Kolter is Kolter, an artist formerly known as DJOKO, and now a hotly tipped breaks and garage head who has already got plenty of attention. Here though he makes a grand and widescreen statement with the first release on the all-new Pilot label. It is a stylish and adventurous record with plenty of killer cuts from the downbeat hip hop opener to the deep house delights of 'Journey' via the elastic and energetic future house kicks of 'Roboflow.' Showcasing both a knack for well craft synths and expert drum programming precisions, this record plays out like a mini DJ set with all the twists and turns you need to keep you on your toes and fully engaged.

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Cologne's DJOKO has been exploring breakbeats and electro formations under the Kolter banner over the past couple of years, dropping some serious heat on Talman, Pilot and Body Movement. It's Pilot he returns to for this bang tidy two tracker of taut and crisp breaks which wouldn't sound out of place in a Plump DJs set circa 2005. 'Ying Yang' slips some vocodered spirituality in amongst a punchy beat and warm splashes of analogue synth work. The slightly saucier 'Drop De Tiddies' rides a break and works an old-skool hip hop sample before ripping into some chirpy lead lines, making for a fun and fruity dancefloor delight.

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Four tracks of juicy, cheeky breakbeat action with an underlying hint of skippy two-step synchopation going on, overlaid with elements from the more musical end of house and the most dancefloor-slanted side of P-funk. 'Giftig', with its Bollywood string flourishes, is the most exotic beast among the pack, while 'Cllosing Time' boasts searing 80s disco stabs and some neat tickling of the Hammond very much in jazz funk style. That said, it's all action across all four tunes, so get stuck in.

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Pilot comes correct with a third new release in quick succession. We were big fans of the first two and this one is another muscular, action packed slab of wax from North Phase. Once again he draws on many different genres to cook up his floor filling beats. 'Electronic Funk' is a bit of a throw back to when the Plump DJs were good, while 'D1000' then gets more down and dirty on scuzzy bass and electro pops. 'Escape & Evasion' is the most heady of the lot with its sparse atmosphere and old school breaks and 'Halo' closes on a cosmic borne beat wig out.

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Last seen sharing vinyl space with 100Hz and Voightmann on his own E Numbers imprint a couple of years back, Bobby O'Donnell resurfaces via a collaborative outing with Reeshy, a fellow Leeds resident who is seen by many as a rising star of the Yorkshire scene. In keeping with the PILOT label's breakbeat-driven, retro-futurist feel, each of the four cuts on show doff a cap to turn of the '90s rave culture. This is arguably best exemplified by weighty, funky and spacey bleep & breaks jam '2', though the arguably even more sub-heavy, UK garage influenced opener '1' comes a close second. Elsewhere, '3' delivers subtle nods towards Rob Gordon and Richard H Kirk's short-lived XON project (look it up, kids) while '4' is an acid-flecked warehouse shuffler.

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Pev swiftly follows up the Pulse EP with another four tracks of sprightly club gear that continue to shape out his current areas of exploration in the studio. As ever, there are no fixed concepts or approaches - just an instinct for energising, inventive tracks taking in a range of tempos and rhythms.

The first half of Pulse Modulation EP is marked out by linear rhythms which showcase the most techno aspects of Pev's sound. 'Pulse V' is charged with the kind of alien synth lines which could only come from his studio, but also draw a line to the hi-tech soul of foundational Detroit techno. 'Pulse VI' has a starker, bleep-led sound pitched towards tougher dancefloors.

'Pulse VII' strips things back in comparison, leaning in on a blanket of bass and keeping the drums sparse and to the point - a study in soundsystem pressure. Widening the spectrum of the record, 'Pulse VIII' sees Pev make a rare push up into 160+ territory - something normally reserved for his DJ sets. Swerving obvious break edits, his take on jungle is lean and crisp, delivering a fresh slant on the sound while maintaining the sharp focus of his current output.

Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.


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The Brighton-based producer and creative mastermind, Caldera, lets us delve into his multi-faceted personality with his new EP, 5D Worlds. No VR set needed, Caldera follows the chant of the sirens and the shamanic incantations but never directly references them: a psychoactive journey without the psychedelics. Caldera’s 5D Worlds is a hyperreal ride, from his signature dubby grooves to his lesser known Tech-Trance whopper fantasies – As the BPM evolves, the sound designs morph and the gentle percussion give way to sonar-like synths and binary rhythms. Are you finally hearing the sirens ? Good, you have arrived at your destination.

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Repress!

2x 12” 180g black vinyl
gatefold cover
mastered by Noel Summerville
original artwork by Theo Ellsworth.

A year on since the collaborative Mystic AM project in 2022, Rod Modell returns solo to Astral Industries with AI-35. The album - entitled 'Ghost Lights' - comes as a gatefold 2x vinyl LP, showcasing the latest epoch of Modell's signature soundscapes. Spread across four parts, 'Ghost Lights' draws out a wide, cinematic sound - with long arching contours, rippling textures and cavernous sound design.

Woven with layer upon layer of hidden fragments and supernal transmissions, each chapter takes the listener successively deeper into the twilight zone. Harking to dramatic off-world topographies and interstellar spaces, the work glistens with opulent sound treatment and monumental grandeur. Dense pulsations move with oceanic force, marked by washes of celestial light and subterranean drones. Exercising another side to Rod Modell's typically atmospheric productions, this album comes with an ambitious framework and a more assertive sound. Featuring some of Modell's most epic storytelling to date, 'Ghost Lights' delivers a powerful immersive experience.


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Dez Andres must have had a busy year in the studio because he has a few new joints dropping at the moment. Beretta Music has his latest and it comes in the form of a 7"to follow up his 'Back in My Space' from back in Spring. Once again here the Motor City native, former Slum Village DJ and house maestro dips into his more soulful side with some fresh breakbeat tunes that are sure to get the floor popping. Yelping vocals and some signature Andres basslines finish it in a fiery fashion. Fellow Detroit talent Brian Kage steps up with a booty-shaking remix that gets even heavier on the drums to make for another fine 7".

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‘My Noise is Nothing’ is the collaborative LP between Lord of The Isles and Scottish poet Ellen Renton, set for release on the 29th September 2023.

For the pair, both the poems and music came to them in a quick and concentrated period.

Renton's poems were written during 2020 and capture something of that time- that feeling of having no obstacles between ourselves and our emotions. Especially the feeling of anger, which is expressed by Renton as a feeling that is not wholly negative but complicated, necessary, unifying and even joyful.

Likewise, Lord Of The Isles’ dusky and unfurling production refuses obstacles- embracing experimental live recordings using pedals and vintage synths. It is warm and fuzzy, but most importantly organic, with all the imperfections and character of a living entity.

A1 - Let the Colours Flood In
A2 - A Discovery (feat. Ellen Renton)
A3 - For a Burning World (feat. Ellen Renton)
B1 - A Portrait (feat. Ellen Renton)
B2 - Last Day
B3 - Don’t You Ache (feat. Ellen Renton)
B4 - My Noise is Nothing (feat. Ellen Renton)

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We don't know who Your Ex is (lol) but what we do know is that they go beautifully deep here across a pair of jazz-tinged and seductive deep house delights. First up is 'Lima' which opens with swirling pads and steamy sax motifs that drift up top and mean love is in the air as the lush chords melt the soul. On the flip is 'Keep Shining' which is a more dynamic cut with a well-swung groove and the sort of rich piano chords that really hit home. Add in some crisp percussion and more mellifluous sax licks and you have a pair of timeless and truly musical house gems on a vital little 7".

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Balmat co-founders Philip Sherburne and Albert Salinas have been fans of Shy Layers’ lilting, Balearic pop for years, so when Shy Layers’ JD Walsh asked us to listen to a set of demos he was working up with fellow Atlanta multi-instrumentalist Jeff Crompton, we jumped at the chance. And once we heard their work in progress, the decision was almost immediate: We have to release this.

Together, Walsh and Crompton are Anagrams, and their debut album together, Blue Voices, might initially seem like a departure from Balmat’s habitually electronic terrain. It’s not ambient music, but it’s also not not ambient music, at least to listeners in the right frame of mind. The two musicians, who met when Walsh moved from Brooklyn to Atlanta in 2016 and began collaborating a few years later, see the music in similarly ambiguous terms. “I like it because it’s not jazz,” jokes Crompton, a veteran and credentialed jazz player. “And JD likes it because it’s jazz.”

Crompton is a musician (and former high-school band teacher) with deep roots in Georgia’s improvised and experimental music scenes; his credits include shows with Eugene Chadbourne, a guest appearance with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and a collaboration with Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel’s 12-hour drone performance at Knoxville’s Big Ears. On Blue Voices he plays alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet, electric piano, and organ. Walsh has been releasing music as Shy Layers since 2015, when he started self-releasing on Bandcamp; the following year, Germany’s Growing Bin packaged his first two EPs as a self-titled album, and in 2018, Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space label put out Shy Layers’ sophomore album, Midnight Marker. Where those records channeled Walsh’s playful harmonic instincts into wistful songwriting with tropical overtones, on Blue Voices he lets his experimental tendencies take the lead. Playing acoustic and electric guitars, electric lap steel, bass, Moog Matriarch, modular synth, and programmed drums, he concentrates his energies on richly textural layers and abstract assemblages of tone color.

Across the album’s 11 tracks, there are faint echoes of familiar touchstones: the atmospheric twang of Daniel Lanois’ pedal steel on Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks; the mercurial modal runs of Ethio- jazz; the late-summer calm of Fuubutsushi; the versatility of players and composers like Patrick Shiroishi and Sam Gendel, who are asking similar questions about where jazz ends and some other, nameless territory begins. Mostly, though, what Blue Voices captures is the quixotic sound of two restless musical imaginations making it up as they go along, two voices discovering a shared language in a hitherto unexplored shade of blue.

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UK Garage producer located near Portland, Oregon is one of the new-age international producers of UK Garage. Tanyn brings a 4x4 vibe reminiscent of that of garage royalty MJ Cole, although developed and updated since original 90s releases. The name of the EP was inspired by the Cascadia movement, a bioregional independence movement based in the Cascadia bioregion of western North America.

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Although inspired by the legendary cartoon, Spyro the Dragon, this fantastic EP has nothing to do with dragons. Hailing from Birmingham, although now residing in East-London, Dr. Shemp provides three speed-garage future classics are accompanied by a weekend 2-step gem (What Must I Do) which will guarantee packed dancefloors and selectors pulling for these gems for months to come. My Selecta has been lauded for its re-imagination of the jungle classics Mutant Jazz and Demon’s Theme.

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