Freestyle Records compile a killer overview of rare & undersung UK street soul & boogie tracks from across the 80s and early 90s, selected from the creme of the label's recent 12" reissue programme. Features an exclusive mid-90s cut from Manchester street soul act Gold In The Shade, along with photography from Andrew Holligan and notes from Kevin Le Gendre. "The sleeve of this album has faces that tell a thousand stories. In Hackney, east London, where photographer Andrew Holligan created a series of inspired pictures, every day people developed a vibrant culture, enlivening a part of the capital that was much maligned during the Thatcher years. The street was a lounge, a place to meet, talk, laugh, and, generally, hang. This was also the golden age of the house party. At the dawn of the 80s the sound of black popular music that these good folk were listening to was in the grip of change. For the most part bands with horn sections were scaling down and the 8-10 piece unit gave way to much smaller ensembles with a less orchestral sound, as saxophonists, trumpeters and trombonists who provided finely shaded harmonies and counter-melodies were being replaced by keyboard players. Indeed the rainbow of colours fashioned by an arsenal of synthesizers, from Prophets and Korgs to Rolands and Yamahas, brought preen and sheen to soul, which, with a lower tempo and heavy bouncing bass lines, was being referred to as boogie. Needless to say the new sub-genre caught on in the UK and became another form of vocabulary for audiences to embrace in the slipstream of the Brit-funk movement of the mid '70s, which was spearheaded by groups of mostly young Britons of West Indian heritage. During this transitional period, which also saw the emergence of lovers rock, there was a certain amount of movement between genres, and a cursory glance at the total output of black British music reveals the presence of female vocalists recording in several styles. Lines were crossed. Furthermore, there was an increase in the amount of one-off studio projects, in which a producer-composer wrote a track, played keys and called in a singer and some additional sessioneers to add finishing touches. This is one of the main reasons why the era is so fascinating, and is still the subject of the extensive research that has led to an album such as The Way U Make Me Feel. Rather than being a scene that was centred around several marquee bands, boogie Brit-Funk was more disparate and fragmented, and therefore far harder to pin down and document. The other term that was coined for the slew of releases was Street Soul, which also resonated with a certain spirit of independence, as the bulk of the artists who stood under this umbrella were releasing their work on small labels that did not have the reach of the majors. It meant that they were often consigned to obscurity, for the most part. The story is all too familiar. But low key can be high grade. Big labels and large venues serve a purpose but the real good times are to be had at house parties on the street where people live. The Boogie is always funkier when it drops in the basement."

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15 years after it's original release, Freestyle Records serve up reissue for The Apples' Kings LP - fully remastered with a fresh new cut, it's sounding better than ever! In a musical first for the band, they wrote, arranged and recorded Kings with specific collaborators in mind. They held sessions with two of their heroes; a congregation with two musical and spiritual father figures from opposite ends of The Apples rich spectrum: Fred Wesley (pioneer of funk trombone in particular and funk horn arranging in general with James Brown, The JBs) Shlomo Bar (vocalist, percussionist, godfather of Israeli world music). The exciting process of these recordings exposed the band's many roots and influences; elements of The JB's funky foundations, cut 'n paste, soul, middle eastern and dub are all clearly displayed - strained through the band's unique decks-horns-sfx-bass-drums lineup. This release signified the next step in The Apples ever thickening groove stew, primed for festival and club stages with a relentless live set filled with runaway grooves, countless twists and turns, dizzying transitions, spontaneous arrangements, the occasional reworking of early 90's alt-rock fist shakers - plus the basic jump-up-and-down crazyness for which The Apples are known across dancefloors, soundsystems, playlists, films, televisions, cars and ears worldwide.

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Freestyle Records drop another UK boogie 12" rarity from Eddie Capone's Treatment, this time the previously white label-only "Only You Know What I Like" from 1985. Limited to 300 copies worldwide.A mainstay of the UK's reggae, soul, funk & rock circuits since the early 1970s, Eddie Capone has played with a diverse and revered collection of acts; Chairmen of the Board, The Foundations, Black Velvet, The Elgins, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, Arthur Lee's Love, Billy Preston and Edwin Starr to name but a few. Eddie was also part of short-lived group Casablanca, with David Costa & Barry Clarke of early 70's folk-rockers Trees, signed to Elton John's Rocket Record Company.

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Fronted by former South London lovers rock vocal harmony group, Alpha (sisters Jackie & Jean Heron and Marlene Richardson), Take Three was the brain-child of writer/producer trio "S.H.E." - Steve Sinclair, Peter Hinds & Kevin Ellis. Meeting each other at The Factory community centre in Paddington (now known as the Yaa Asantewa centre and in the last few years, The Yaa Centre) Steve & Kevin began a partnership writing and directing their own theatre productions as part of The Black Theatre Co-Op, which called the centre home at the time. When a song they had written together for one of their productions received praise and plaudits, the path toward writing and producing records began, bringing in more seasoned hand Peter Hinds - formerly a member of key brit funk groups Light of the World and Beggar & Co, and player with Incognito, Imagination & Loose Ends - to complete the circle. Take Three represented the first project for a creative partnership that would spawn multiple projects/aliases spanning the UK soul, funk & dance scenes, and still continues to this day. With this compilation we showcase for the first time the group's combined output as Take Three, complete with previously unreleased material.

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Freestyle Records drop a killer UK soul/early street soul reissue LP from 1988, in the form of Rick Clarke's hard to come by 'Time Keeps Moving On' album.
Originally appearing on the Raven label in 1988, Time Keeps Moving On constituted Rick Clarke's first LP following his work in the earlier eighties as part of brit-funk groups Potion and Side On, and solo output including Love with a Stranger (released on The Specials' Ghost Town's producer John Collins' Local Records imprint) and a few singles for RCA. Largely co-written and co-produced with Peter Hinds (Take Three, Atmosfear, Light of the World) and a guest turn from Master T aka Toyin Agbetu - this is foundational street soul that appeared at a time when the likes of Loose Ends were starting to break through to the US, and Soul II Soul just emerging.

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Freestyle comes correct again with a killer slice of 1987 UK Street Soul from Purely Fizzycal, originally issued on the duo's own Pure Impact Productions label.

North Londoner Trish Langley met South Londoner Ash Kamat initially in the the mid 1980s on Tin Pan Alley, while Ash was working at Rod Argent's keyboard shop and running UK soul-focussed zine Soul Trade, and the quickly began working together. Handling the programming and production, Ash says his inspiration came from a mixture of London pirate radio sounds and the US-based sounds of Kashief, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis etc. While Trisha's vocals and melodies were influenced by growing up listening to her parents reggae records, plus her brother's taste for the likes of Brothers Johnson, Maze, Isley Brothers, and a little lovers rock such as Janet Kay - which, together with Ash's raw drum machine sounds, bears all the hallmarks for this uniquely UK take on soul.credits

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Roy Hamilton, Cosmo Bowen and Dennis Palmer go back a long way to the early 80's when they were members of a 9 piece funk outfit called Breeze - playing regularly Upstairs at Ronnie Scott's along with bands like Hi Tension and Gonzalez. In 1984 they linked up for this one and only 12" on their own HBS imprint - a laid-back stomper that has become in-demand on the UK soul/funk collectors scene - now given a fresh new cut & press thanks to Freestyle Records' 12" reissue initiative!

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Freestyle drop a much needed and fully licensed 12" repro from 1984, in the form of Midnight Energy's Front Line b/w Saving All My Love originally released on Wal-Brooks Records. Two slamming sides of spenny electro-boogiefunk from out of New Jersey, written and produced by Tony McLachlan of the Fresh Band (of 'Come Back Lover' fame) - dig in!

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Following it's inclusion on Athens of the North's fabulous new compilation of underground UK soul Just A Touch, Freestyle Records drop a sorely needed 12" reissue of Sonja Ryshard's Step Back - mastered direct from the 1/2 tape, and served with the killer dub on the flip. Grab it quick!

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Freestyle Records presents the greatest hits and rare grooves from legendary UK lovers group, The Investigators. First issued in 1991, this compilation collects together the groups late 1970s to mid-1980s recordings.

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Freestyle Records proudly present a reissue of Gloria Weems' ace 1983 long-player "Lovelight" - previously only available on a rare South African pressing, and featuring the single "Wanna Dance With You" (licensed for a 12" on storied NYC label Prelude in the same year). The record was written and produced by Jim Duncombe and Chris Palmer - owner of London's legendary Groove Records and also the man behind UK funk/disco label Groove Production (Surface Noise, Linda Taylor, Caché etc). Chris & Jim had met earlier in the year at the Midem music conference in Cannes, and started writing together shortly after. The initial recording sessions were completed at Duncombe's Powerplay Recording Studios in Switzerland, with American vocalist Gloria Weems (then on a club tour of Switzerland) brought in on vocal duties. Palmer then added additional recordings and mixed the record down at Groove Production's London base. Criminally it was only ever picked up for release in super limited numbers through the South African label CCP Records - though Chris, through an ongoing licensing relationship via his Groove Production label, managed to license "Wanna Dance With You" and it's dubbed-out b-side "Wanna Version" to the legendary NYC label Prelude. Nevertheless the Lovelight LP represents a lost classic and a rare example of a transatlantic disco-boogie project in the era's golden period, in it's linking up of UK, European and American elements.

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Australian 9-piece Spiritual Jazz group Menagerie announce their highly anticipated fourth album 'The Shores Of Infinity' - representing the 3rd LP to be released by Freestyle Records from the Melbourne-based Jazz ensemble, founded by producer, songwriter, guitarist, DJ and recording artist Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos, Lanu, Rare Groove Spectrum, Machines Always Win). Menagerie released their debut album They Shall Inherit in 2012 via Tru Thoughts, before releasing The Arrow Of Time on Freestyle in 2018 followed by the critically acclaimed 'Many Worlds in 2021. Inspired by both the post-Coltrane generation of the 70's and the current "New Wave Of Jazz", Menagerie have made serious waves internationally, being championed on Worldwide FM, Jazz FM and Jazzwise. They were nominated in the Best Jazz Act category of the 2021 Music Victoria Awards, and in 2022 performed as part of the esteemed Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Now, two years on from their last full length album, Menagerie are back with The Shores Of Infinity, further expanding their sound out into the music universe - a forward-looking, rhythm-heavy expression of contemporary Jazz that is steeped in the tradition but somehow also defies genre pigeonholing.

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Freestyle Records presents Albert "Alchemist" Thompson's Promise Land, an EP featuring vocals from reggae & dancehall greats Frankie Paul, Joseph Cotton, Prince Malachi & Anthony John, representing a musical collection that has gradually evolved, matured & marinated over the course of the past 32 years - now finally seeing it's first ever release. Albert Thompson (brother to the great Peter Chemist) was chief engineer at the storied I&I Sound Recording Studio after it moved it's base from Los Angeles to Jamaica in 1989, working with a wide range of heavyweight artists such as Dennis Brown, Bunny Wailer, Mighty Diamonds, Gregory Isaacs & many many more. During some studio downtime in early 1991, Albert laid down the rhythm track (itself a take on Aswad's Love Fire riddim, made most famous by Dennis Brown's iconic Promised land vocal track) with musical assistance from Tony Thomas. 16 years and a move to London later, Albert had founded his Alchemist Recording Studio on Brixton's Acre Lane in a space above the legendary Supertone Records - recording dubplates with talented local artists and touring Jamaican artists alike. Digging out the Promise Land tape, he proceeded to cut these 4 vocals on the version during the course of 2007. Another 16 years gone, and after hearing the tracks following a chance encounter with Albert in South East London, we felt they were finally ready to see release!

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Zach Phillips & Olia Eichenbaum met online in late 2018 and quickly began collaborating remotely, and in France and Brooklyn. First working together under the name the Pearly Gates, they toured western Europe together in 2019 with a common band shared between Olia's project Œ & Zach and Ma Clément's group Fievel Is Glauque. After taking a year off, it was during the early months of the pandemic that they started sending music and lyrics back and forth. Before they knew it, the entire Perfect Angels album was written and recorded in under a month, with Olia & guests' remote overdubs taking a bit more time. It was recorded entirely to Tascam 388 1/4" 8-track tape with computers intervening only during guest overdubs, mixing & mastering.

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Freestyle Records are proud to reissue Ambiance II Fusion's mid-80s fusion rarity "Come Touch Tomorrow" - originally recorded in Hollywood CA October/November 1984 and released in 1985. Following a yearly run of 4 albums self-released between 1979 and 1982, Nigerian-born saxophonist, flutist, and clarinettist Daoud Abubakar Balewa then took a few years off before returning with 1985's "Come Touch Tomorrow", the first of two albums issued under the updated name of Ambiance II Fusion. Combining the afro-spiritual jazz & be-bop inflected fusion of his earlier work as Ambiance, this record took the project into more modern & distinctly cosmic planes with the introduction of spacey pads and drum machines working alongside somewhat tighter arrangements and solid rhythm sectons. Of particular note here is the B1 track "Boy What a Joy" on which a sublimely funky synth & drum machine throwdown is presented in prophetically lo-fi fashion - recalling recent stylistic approaches from the likes of Dâm-Funk among others.

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Fronted by former South London lovers rock vocal harmony group, Alpha (sisters Jackie & Jean Heron and Marlene Richardson), Take Three was the brain-child of writer/producer trio "S.H.E." - Steve Sinclair, Peter Hinds & Kevin Ellis. Meeting each other at The Factory community centre in Paddington (now known as the Yaa Asantewa centre and in the last few years, The Yaa Centre) Steve & Kevin began a partnership writing and directing their own theatre productions as part of The Black Theatre Co-Op, which called the centre home at the time. When a song they had written together for one of their productions received praise and plaudits, the path toward writing and producing records began, bringing in more seasoned hand Peter Hinds - formerly a member of key brit funk groups Light of the World and Beggar & Co, and player with Incognito, Imagination & Loose Ends - to complete the circle. Following on from Freestyle's reissue of the group's first single around this time last year, in the form of 1983's Tonight's the Night, we decided to drop another killer 12" from the Take Three vaults - this time it's their last single released as Take Three in 1985. Can't Get Enough (of Your Love) was originally licensed out to, and released by Andy Sojka's seminal Elite label. It features two super extended mixes - the A side's "Soul mix" showcases the girls's harmonies pinned down by a big & heavy synth bass groove before moving into boogie-dub territory, while the B side "Reggae mix" introduces an ofbeat skank heightening the vocal stylings' lovers-esque tendancies.

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Two big 12" drops this week on Freestyle Records, in the form of both impossibily rare singles recorded by early UK street soul act Pause. Dating from the late 80s these 12"s represent some of the finest music to come out of this period of british soul music, and represent the entirity of the trio's known output! Pause was a boogie/soul side-project born out of popular lovers rock group The Administrators - who recorded a multitude of sides for the foundational Harlesden producer/imprint Cha Cha before going on to found the Groove & A Quarter label recording a series of hits on the lovers scene during the latter part of the decade. Pause's Hugh Pomells recalls a desire to take the music in a new direction as being the driving force behind the project, with the group also counting vocalist Sinclair in it's ranks (who would go on to record a series of hit singles for the Dome label in the early-to-mid 1990s). Alongside the seminal electro-boogie of 1987's "It's Just Amazing" came this, the smooth space-age soul jam "Got to Know" in 1988 - an absolutely killer jam, I'm sure you'll agree, and really quite ahead of it's time production-wise. As the only two singles ever recorded by the group, originally self-relesed in very small quantities, they have gone on to command massively inflated prices on the secondhand market. The first ever officially licensed reissues of these lost british soul classics will not hang about for long, so grab them quick!!!

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Pause was a boogie/soul side-project born out of popular lovers rock group The Administrators - who recorded a multitude of sides for the foundational Harlesden producer/imprint Cha Cha before going on to found the Groove & A Quarter label recording a series of hits on the lovers scene during the latter part of the decade. Pause's Hugh Pomells recalls a desire to take the music in a new direction as being the driving force behind the project, with the group also counting vocalist Sinclair in it's ranks (who would go on to record a series of hit singles for the Dome label in the early-to-mid 1990s). cPreceding the smooth space-age soul of 1988's "Got to Know" was this, 1987's seminal electro-boogie jam "It's Just Amazing". As the only two singles ever recorded by the group, originally self-relesed in very small quantities, they have gone on to command massively inflated prices on the secondhand market. The first ever officially licensed reissues of these lost british soul classics will not hang about for long, so grab them quick!!!

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Originally stated to be released sometime during the year 2019 here you have what was originally planned to be the last of an iconic series of unofficial edits & overdubs produced and performed by Joaquin Joe Claussell. This release will also mark the end of a concept that has garnered massive interest and till this day highly sought after, but also the beginning of what’s coming next.
Stay Tuned

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Originally released on Relief Records in 1995, "Midnight Express" is the peak time Chicago warehouse Sound. Just brilliant, raw, tracky house music.


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In his own words:

"Traffic Jams are really coagulation and inflammation in the body.
Mental stresses are Traffic Jams.
Moments where there is no flow are all due to Traffic Jams.
Within the Mind Fear and Doubt are Traffic Jams."

The first song of the EP, " Positive Mental Attitude Solves All,"is a tribute to the eternal elder and stalwart, Amp Fiddler.

"Hey, we got that P.M.A.!"
- Bad Brains in "Attitude"

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Note: this one will come without picture sleeve and will be the final repress

Peter Brown’s ‘Dance With Me’ is a memorable disco track from the late 1970s. Brown’s album ‘Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me’ was released in 1977, and its second single ‘Dance With Me’ was the quintessential disco anthem. The song had a funky groove, a repetitively sexy and fun lyric, and some brilliantly performed and produced vocals, led in backup by Betty Wright. The song was a smash hit in America and made it to the top 10. Dr Packer has added his disco-boogie magic in three seriously good versions. Packer’s grooves are hypnotic with a hip-rolling chug and a funked-up vibe that marries the old and the new with perfect synergy.

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Straight from the Warsaw underground comes Kampinos with two killer Jungle / Drum 'N Bass reworks beautifully packaged together on a 7inch release.

On the A-side, we have 'Golden Eggs', a classic Tenor Saw jam transformed into a 90's Jungle track together with amen drums and big bass drops...proper!
On the B-side 'Menino De Outro Mundo' a cut which fuses the Brazilian sounds of Caetano Veloso, samba rhythms and rollin' Drum 'N Bass rhythms.
Big toooon!

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Fred Ventura and Rafal Lachmirowicz, aka Also Playable Mono, have teamed up, All We Need being the pairing’s audio vision of italo disco. Steady kicks and cascading cowbells pave the way for an infectious synthline before a vocoder-enveloped Ventura smoulders with a burning intensity. Bold chords and pulsating rhythms are at the robotic heart of “System Breakdown On Wikileaks”. Bombastic and brilliant, this electrified disco dreadnaught swings with the power of a wrecking ball; a power that only amplifies the track’s impacting message of our very civilisation’s future. Scaling notes spiral ever higher in the addictive groove of “In The Night”, A.P.Mono’s computerised words adopting the mantle of his machines. Circling samples introduce “The News”. Rhythms are clean and tight, snapping at the tails of soaring synthwork with Ventura’s smoky social commentary, coupled with the silken and sonorous Chelsea Muller, offering something better for us all.

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Experience the profound legacy of The Last Poets with their new release, "Africanism", set to be released on November the 29th. Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan revisit and re-energize some of their seminal works such as "When The Revolution Comes", "Gash Man" and "Niggers Are Scared of Revolution", infusing them with fresh and potent new soundscapes. Joining the Poets are the late, great Tony Allen (Fela Kuti) - laying the album's foundations with legendary Afrobeat rhythms - Egypt 80 guitarist and bassist Akinola Adio Oyebola and Kunle Justice, jazz keyboardist Kaidi Tatham (dubbed as 'The UK's Herbie Hancock') and saxophonist Courtney Pine."Africanism" is the result of vibrant live sessions in Brooklyn and London, recorded and mixed by producer Prince Fatty. The album bridges spoken-word poetry with a bold fusion of Afrobeat and contemporary jazz, where live instruments amplify the Poets' raw and unflinching verses."Together, this stellar band of musicians completed an album that has few real predecessors and seems destined to become a cult favourite for many years to come."

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Laurent Garnier is joining the ‘fabric presents’ mix series, and details are now out on this bespoke milestone release. The trailblazing DJ and producer is doing not one but four mixes as he embraces an opportunity to go even bigger for the London institution in its 25th groundbreaking year. A full-spectrum and multi-genre release, there’s a UK-focus, house, techno and downtempo mix. In his words, “diversity makes it richer, makes it better.” Eager to pay homage to the vitality of club culture, his vision is to take us through a rapturous weekend at fabric from Friday through to the afters. Making it even more unique, he’s also dropping an original four-track EP - one track per genre. Garnier: “Clubs have been my second home since the start of my career. Once you’ve witnessed that unique connection you can create in a club with a crowd, once you’ve experienced it from behind the decks, you just know you are where you’re meant to be. This special journey with fabric is of course a tribute to the legendary London club - a place that’s been a home to so many clubbers, DJs and music-lovers for so many years - but most of all, a tribute to all the dancefloors and all the clubs around the world.” Ploughing through hundreds of records a day, it’s no surprise to hear Garnier describe the track selection process as being “complicated”. His enriching trip through fabric spans over five hours with each mix coming in at 1 hour 20 minutes. Across all four, it’s clear that he’s immersed in the present and future-focussed with a majority of the chosen records dropping only in the last three years. The House Odyssey mix kicks off with afro house via South African producer Mr. Blasé, and the vibrancy continues through cuts from Cape Verde to Chicago as newer faces Culoe De Song, Neinzer and Tal Fussman meet linchpins DJ Spen, DJ Lady D and Mike Dunn. In techno, his Rhythmic Resonance mix is searing with high impact moments from Red Axes, John Tejada, Electric Rescue, Works of Intent, and himself as three of his own epic productions feature. A UK-focus underpins Garnier’s nod to fabric’s fervent bass devotees with the Into The Low-End session featuring Skrillex, MC GQ, Sami Virji and Martin Badder. On The Way Home sidles up to clubbers for a downtempo dust down with stunning explorations from Daudi Matsiko, Adriano Koch, Richie Culver and Melody Gardot, among others. His EP further showcases his mastery of genres. Luminous house cut ‘Odyssée Maison’ is in for spirited dancefloor grabs with Dan Diamond on vocals, while ‘Resonances From The D’ is for techno heads, glued together with tumbling rhythms, soaring synths and scattering hi-hats. ‘Playing With The Low-End’ is the bass-doused maze that looms large before ‘On The Way Home’ brings a shower of orbiting synths. One for collectors, especially as the uniquely-packaged deluxe vinyl and CD are limited editions, it drops as physical-only on 29th November. The deluxe LP includes a bespoke box, coloured vinyl of the mixes and 12” EP and a picture booklet of Garnier. The CD comes with embossed ‘25 Years of fabric’ aluminium cases and the booklet. Experience the essence of Laurent Garnier with this exquisite 4xLP sampler, featuring a selection of 24 tracks meticulously chosen by Laurent from his house, techno, UK, and ambient mixes. This release captures the full artistry of his mixes, providing a deep dive into his musical journey. Plus, with your vinyl purchase, you'll receive a download card for the digital mixes, available in 2025.

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