Yet again digging deep into the forgotten corners of dance music history, Sex Tapes From Mars is back with an essential reissue of 1997’s “Liquid Squid” by Victorious - a long-lost gem from the hazy heyday of mid-90s US house. Originally pressed in small quantities, the EP quickly became a cult favourite among vinyl purists and house music heads, with original copies going for hefty sums on Discogs, and as little as 50 members listing it in their collection. Now, after years of obscurity, “Liquid Squid” returns, bringing unfiltered, raw energy, and bolstered by a killer remix from Canadian duo Boomtang Boys, adding a respectful rework that breathes new life into the original track without overshadowing its original spirit.

Deep, driving, and dripping with analogue warmth, with chunky, rolling basslines that sit under warm, sweeping pads. The productions are stripped-back but loaded with texture, featuring subtly layered percussion that builds with precision, creating a spacious, immersive sound. Throughout the record, what’s consistent is low-swung, rolling rhythms, and rough-and-ready keys. It's dance floor-centric, but there’s a level of emotional depth in this singular to its era, and one you don’t find in contemporary sonic palettes.

Victorious provides a deep stroke into the realm of dubby, atmospheric house, revolving around hypnotic, evolving grooves, with spaced-out chords, lustrous vocals, and key tinkerings, perfect for more introspective sets. It’s a direct nod to the grit of Detroit along with clear remnants of early Chicago house glimmers - dreamy but yet still functional.

Sex Tapes From Mars has always been a label with a nose for the weird, slick, and the rare, and this reissue is no exception, crafting tantalising soundscapes that pull you into its orbit. “Liquid Squid” offers a snapshot of a time when the lines between genres were still fluid - it’s rich, warm, and dripping with sultry swagger - a piece of history that’s been given a second life, ready to work its magic on dance floors once again. More

Bristol-based Sex Tapes From Mars continues its vinyl-only odyssey with the latest transmission from Ukrainian, half-Syrian, Nizar, whose Naked Groove EP fuses minimalist techno with a surreal twist, backed with vintage hardware and delivered with robotic precision. An exercise in controlled chaos, the EP embodies the label’s ethos of pushing boundaries through unconventional sound design, where abstract and wiggy, skipping grooves drive forward.

Across its four tracks, the EP navigates through a warped sonic terrain, stitching together fragmented rhythms and glitch-infused textures with a hypnotic, purposeful pulse. Nizar masterfully dismantles familiar late 80s and 90s techno frameworks, creating space for alien melodies, stuttering beats, and deeply physical low-end. The result is a sound that feels both stripped-down and intricately detailed—dance music at its most unhinged, with a raw edge that demands attention. The track's taut frameworks often build tension without release, offering a disquieting and strange dancefloor experience.

Among the highlights is a standout remix of "Mon Amore" by Hearthug, who twists the original into an even more disorienting version of itself—manipulating rhythm, space, and atmosphere to create something warped yet irresistibly groovy and swooning.

With Naked Groove, Nizar solidifies his status as a purveyor of leftfield techno curiosities, delivering a record that’s equal parts alien and captivating, uniquely exploring the fringes of a plethora of genres, and delivering a body of work that’s as unsettling as it is danceable. More