Kicking off the EP we have a Jungle Techno track from 2007 ‘Revolution’ made by Persian & DJ Staf, ‘Kool London’s finest DJ’...

‘D dub retwist’, see’s a minimal Break Heavy Dub amidst a Trippy background soundscape from a Japanese Movie.

‘Rumbling interlude’ There’s some interesting Organ at play over modern D&B being played here, al be it with the room vibrating (hence the title) this short segment is a nice escape!

‘Milton 21’ This track dates from 2001, this is a rare glimpse of what Jungle Techno may have become, a direction of futurist sound play amidst Bone Crunching Heavy Bass! Again, Genre pioneering stuff, from True Underground Artists.

‘Not nuff time’, feature’s Lauryn’s freshly sounding Tone, over one of Persian’s Breakbeat projects...

This has variations of electronic shades of what a deejay would love! These tracks were found & lovingly remastered for this ‘ Collector’s Breaks’ EP.
The cross over has been kept!

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‘We Should Shout’ features Nicola Duncan over a classic House vibe with a beautiful moody organ rolling over a hard house bass line

‘Babylon Fall’ classic – beautiful – sweet stuff from the Persian featuring vocal snippets from the talented Sevi G

The name of the next track is the same as the label: ‘Existence Is Resistance’ this has electronic tinged synths with a hard electronic bass riff, it has glimpses of the Authentic early Electro sound of 83-84 complete with vocoder

‘Pot Of Gold’ : Disco sounds of the roller skating era.

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"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the bassbins, Mysticisms brings the latest in its Dubplate series. After the success of his first digital dubb excursions on the version, Persian returns with a second 10” of reggae inspired electronics, covering Bass, Breaks, Digidub and now also, Jungle.

Taking no prisoners with the massive opener Survival Dub, Persian marries classic breakbeats and toasting to bouncing, dance floor effect. THE party starter. This is followed by Smoke Mari, a looping steppas of FX and breaks to lay down the Dubplate clash.

As ever the link between rave, breaks and sound system culture is explored, this time with the Roots’n’Lovers opening of There Is No Love giving way to a Junglist drop, before risin’ to a beautiful soul sermon.

Finally, taking it all down, tings wrap with the deep, sampledelic dub of Zatoichi’s Troubles. With a bass to destroy many a speaker, it’s lanquidity morphs from the EP’s hedonism of sound clash styles to a gliding “tokers delight”.

Smoke the Mystery. "

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UK Garage Classic. Repress Alert!

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Presented here are unreleased mix’s of Old Garage Classic’s, lifted from Old Dubplates.

‘Omid A Man’ fusing East & West in a Heavy Techno format and ‘Brand New Slam’ Ft UK Apache’s driving vocal being the other.

Finally there’s a UKG version of ‘Morning Sun’ you’ll remember Shanti Celeste using it on her ‘Love International’ Album.

Gritty Sounding E.P. from the Persian with the forth runner being ‘Rockin With The Best’ it has arguably everything identifying it as an Instant Breakbeat Classic!

Top Bits here, one for the keeper’s... Tipp!

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Born October 1966. Break Dancer in 1984, under the moniker Mad Max, started a crew named the Back Street Warriors, Busking all over the UK at places such as Covent Garden/Leicester Square Performing on stage & in clubs. They once jammed with the Rock Steady Crew in Camden Palace in front of an audience.

Then in 1987 he became a DJ, playing all genres of music, he first played on
RJR Radio, playing Electro, Hip Hop, Soul, R&B & Reggae. Moving forward he started playing Acid House & Four to the Floor Music styles, by the early 90s he played on Weekend Rush and then went onto Defection, Touchdown, Don & Passion FM, playing Acid & Hardcore Jungle.

In the early days MixMaster Max was one of the Innovators of Jungle music by mixing Hardcore, Reggae & Hip Hop together, helping others to produce, fuse & gain ideas in the music industry. He was by Far the most Original, Innovative, DJ anybody had ever heard.

In 1991 he played alongside John Saunderson at the Camden Palace on a Friday night, he also played at the famous Hacienda club in Manchester.
He was the First DJ to create the Topsy Turvey, which is one turntable on top of the other, he came runner up in the DMC world championships in the early 90s.

He played at some of the Biggest Raves back in the day, Pirate club 93, Fantazia 92, Dungeons 91/92, Turnmills 92, to mention a few. He also played on Avenues FM & People's Choice, which were legal Radio Stations, not forgetting Kool fm & Centreforce.

He performed on stage with the We Papa Girl Rappers in 1990 at the Notting Hill Carnival. This Legendary Cult figure is a Master of the Nunchuckers & TurnTables!
His innovative Mixes were ‘legendary’ he was a pioneer precursor to the Art form known as Jungle Music, not to mention his Scratching abilities, which was ‘extraordinary’!

For those that listened to pirate radio back in the day, he was the legendary cult
figure that inspired us all, giving us the freshest musical styles that had never been heard before!

He can still be heard on OriginUK.Net Radio today... What an inspiration this unsung hero has been to us All!

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Mysticisms presents Dubplate, a series of (sporadic) releases to showcase the blurring of genres between breaks, house and dub, even techno, wrapped around and within that oft-misunderstood take on digital reggae, the sound of Digidub.

To begin, label favourite Persian acts as selector, with 5 rare archive cuts that typify the producer and sound of the series. From the digital dubbing of Dunya - here in a previously unreleased Extended Mix - to the warped groove and monster bass of D Dub Retwist, this unique link between rave, breaks and sound system culture is clear.

As always Persian aka Peter Reilly, moves across styles with ease, offering the warm roots vibrations of Jacob Dub and Augustus, alongside title cut, Space Within Art - here in Dubplate Mix - a street soul breakbeat and sampledelic mash up, all touched with the heavy hand of dub.

An open expression within a loose framework, Dubplate #1 acts as guide and educator. Where cultures clash, morph and grow, embracing the diaspora through music; Arabic melody meets Jamaica riddim meets English hedonism in a Soundclash.

Digi the Mystery.

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Persian, the man who launched the label in 2017 returns, again offering classics from the archive tapes in the Garage bounce of Feel Da Vibe and the Jungle tinged Silver Spaceships.

Since appearing on Acetate 10" back in (where were you in) '92, Persian, Persian Prince or Artist Formerly Known As PP, aka Peter Riley, has been following his own path, breaking ground with self released, slabs of dynamite wax.

Delivering a myriad of styles, from Breaks to House, Digidub to Jungle, here, as with MYS001, the original masters were handed to contemporaries to work their magic. Brother Nebula is a secret non de plum of a producer who has been around long enough to know the score, switching continents and releasing music on a myriad of labels before setting up his new Legwork label, creating a fresh wave.

The respectful but wonderful spacial dub house remake of the anthem Feel Da Vibe builds perfectly before snaps bring it back down to Earth. Alphonse (Especial / Klasse Wrecks) however, heads for the heavens with an expanse of floating percussion that explores the line between Breaks and Jungle to move Silver Spaceships in to a new decade.

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These run of releases on ‘Existence Is Resistance’ comes from the Legendary Proto Garage Record Label ‘Same People’, and see’s Persian & Long time musical partner DJ Texsta, repressing some of their most pioneering UKG E.P.s.

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Break dancer, Body popper, Graff Artist, brought up in B Boy / Sound System Culture, transitioned to Deejaying at a young age, Deejayed during the Rave era, began production in the early 90’s under the moniker ‘Persian Prince’ releasing pioneering Jungle on Labels ‘Haul & Pull’ & ‘Nagmeh Records’.

Then made ‘Dangerous’ in 1995 which inspired the Grime, Dubstep & Speed Garage scenes. Under the moniker ‘Artist Formally Known As PP’ & ‘Persian’ (which he still uses today) later released many Underground UKG tunes on different label’s such as ‘Same People, S.J.L., Mixing Potions & Locked On’.

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[Emotional] Especial reaches a landmark with its 50th release. Started in 2012 as a “dancier & trippier”, club friendly spin off, sub label to Emotional Response, it has gone on to forge a path, releasing a myriad of artists including the opening release by Jamie Paton (Cage & Aviary / ESP Institute) to Richard Sen (Bronx Dogs), the debut of Khidja (Malka Tuti / DFA) and on to unearthing the breaks masters Alphonse (Klasse Wrecks) and Junior Fairplay (Crimes Of The Future), the uplifting Italo influenced Lauer (Robert Johnson), the new wave anthem of Sfire (featuring Sophie), plus perfect remixes bt Kris Baha (CockTail D’amore) and INHALT (Dark Entries), the NYC pop-rave-vox of Kim Ann Foxman, through to showcasing upcoming artists like Berlin’s Giraffi Dog (Aiwo Recs) and the global acid adventures of Akio Nagase (Chill Mountain) to most recently, the slo-mo trance muscle of 53X and post-rave uplighters of Remotif (Space Lab) and DJ 1985.

As with every 10th release on the label, the label present a various artists “Showcase” of what and where the label is. Aptly it is recent signing 53X who opens Gracias Especial with the bounce of Radar. Finland’s Jonne Lydén debut EP on Especial, Zen ’23 came out of nowhere, more than simply riding a zeitgeist of the “Trance Revival”, his all-live analogue symphonies drop the bpms, presenting widescreen beats, darkroom bass, sirens and tripped out vox all mix to propel a singularly driven.

Taking things much deeper has been the hallmark of Jamie Paton’s remixes for the label. As well as providing the opening EP in 2013, designing every sleeve and producing 20 remixes and counting another 2 for the label here, it’s impossible not to associate Especial with Jamie’s music. First, he reworks rising star DJ, but recent break out producer Chez De Milo, with a trademark dub excursion that takes the ethnic origins of Kremer to a space echo wonderland. Space is the place, the lulling beats, see you falling through the gaps, true dub style.

Alphonse makes a rightful return to Especial, with Raze Rave highlighting the allusive producers’ unique understanding of the varied history of rave culture via a techno-suite of soundscapes, perfectly mixing uplifting breaks, memory inducing vocal samples and dub bass, with a nod to the pop sensibility that rave encompassed, while being that allusive “lost chord” moment of man and machine.

The finale returns to the trance acid expanse of 53X, with the mastery of label stalwart Jamie Paton. An apt marriage, Paton takes the title cut from Lydén’s debut EP and crafts a trademark durge-dub, where TB303 and space echo intertwine with the De Witte vocal, hinting at touches of dub, new wave, trance and acid house all in one melting pot of sound the label optimistically termed “Protoid” back at inception of summer 2013.

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(Emotional) Especial looks to the emergent producer that is Chez De Milo for a new EP that collides the energy of Glastonbury, historic echoes of the free party scene and the psychedelic electronics of Bristol and the West Country into four fresh new cuts here. 'Et Al' is a mystic late-night house cut with crisp hits and spooky synths keeping you on edge, while 'Gieser' is dark and paranoid as the churning beats and snaking leads tempt you into the shadows. 'Kremer' keeps you locked in a synth-heavy and transcendental suspense at the heart of the dancefloor with Egyptian folk samples and ethnic grooves and 'Thus One' is a razor-sharp electro closer.

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Especial is a label always on a mission to unearth left-of-centre perspectives on club music. This new EP, Be Honest, is just that from long-time friends Lipelis and Arsenii, who are based in Belgrade and New York but seek inspiration in the New York sounds of the 80s and hook up with Gayana for some woozy and lovelorn vocal additions. 'Be Honest' is a dubbed out and swaggering deep disco groove that comes as long, dub and cappella versions on the A-side. The 12" dance mix brings some superb house drums into the picture and the Dubplate VIP is a fresh jungle rhythm. This is an EP with something for all.

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The always adventurous Especial label is back on its world travels once more for another cultured EP, this time from Jonne Lyden aka 53X. This is a widescreen bass exploration with trance-tinged steppas looking firmly to the future from the Finnish-born artist. He has a background in punk bands but a trip to Berlin turned his ear and now he makes experimental fusions that draw on everything from industrial to Berghain to Detroit for inspiration. His tunes are mostly started out as live jams and then edited into what we have here - club-ready sounds, rich atmospherics, acid, breaks and hypnotic rhythms.

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(Emotional) Especial and Giraffi Dog join forces once more to offer up the second installment of their concept EP series. It is focussed on live and studio collaborations and this one comes in two halves: the first half kicks off with '6th Chakra' (feat DJ Deflektorschild) - a fully live deep house and hi-tek soul exploration with mind-expanding synths and Detroit drum sounds. 'King OTN' is a jack dup acid cut ripped with cosmic synth details and 'DX Metero' has sheet metal synths lashing about next to ethereal synths and busted drum breaks. 'Starfather' is a star-facing closer with elegant piano notes dancing over serene grooves. A vital showcase of this essential live artist.

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Frankfurt's celebrated producer, Philip Lauer returns to Especial, this time teaming up with Berlin based vocalist Dena for a special collaboration, covering Julie Stapleton's soulful House classic with a modern interpretation across a number of versions (vinyl and digital).

After the success of the Hotel Lauer EP on Especial way back in 2016, Lauer has continued his ascendency with albums for Permanent Vacation and Running Back, as well as releasing a string of sure-fire, dancefloor friendly EPs for the likes of Cin Cin, Futureboogie and Skatebard's Digitalo Enterprises.

Born and raised in Bulgaria, before making the move the music mecca of Berlin, Denitza Todorova has a carved a path with her electronic, dance pop stylings across releases for the likes of K7 and Kitsune Music. First appearing on Make It Stay from Lauer's last album, it jumped out as the perfect partnership to bring the raw, soulful and uplifting sounds of the cult V4 Visions label up to date. Founded by Alex Palmer, the label was part of the UK's early 90s club sound, releasing street soul, deep house and more, in Where's Your Love Gone, Palmer and 18-year-old writer/vocalist Julie Stapleton hit on the perfect marriage of Lovers Rock and Street Soul yearning with the haunting sounds of US House. Presented as a new take on the classic, but with utmost respect, the EP starts with the Club Mix, a Larry Heard bassline joins a marimba melody, lifting Dena's vocals of youth's lost love and pain. This is followed by the Demo Mix, a warm, beautiful string laden original take that Lauer and the label felt had to be included.

DJ Slyngshot is welcomed to provide a deep, tech remix. A name to watch via his releases on his YAPPIN label and recent EP for Workshop, his remix is an analogue twist of hypnotic, raw dub techno percussion and counter breaks builds as string and piano join. The EP ends in the Synthapella, as bongos, cowbell and whistle are added to create a drifting Balearic version for late summer nights and dawn that highlight Dena's vocals in a 'sunrise' light.

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Ever since the first white labels appeared at the end of Summer 2013, [Emotional] Especial has been putting out music that is slightly left of (club music) centre. Influenced as much by and including dub, electro, disco, proto-house, house and techno, guided more by a feeling than a sound.

This thinking has been that exemplified by every 10th release being a label sampler - a showcase of unreleased tracks or remixes of what has come before, plus the odd one off cut by an artist to watch. Some 4 years since the last Sampler, the label's 40th release presents new label heads Giraffi Dog, returning after their recent "live" Multiverse EPs, here teaming up with GF Rich for a breaks anthem. Sub bass rising, the persistent build leads to piano before drop and Acid mayhem ensues, highlight why G Dog are such a producer to watch.

Label mainstay Alphonse returns, with White Pepper from the "Stolen Sunrise EP", here remixed by House stalwart Toby Tobias. Having released for a who's who of labels including REKIDS, ESP Institute, Delusions Of Grandeur and Futureboogie, the illusion these past years of who is Alphonse can finally revealed as Toby himself. The remix of his alter ego takes the 'Balearics' of the original and adds breaks and 303, all retaining a laid back feeling for summers return.

On the flip, the label welcomes rising star, Remotif. With a series of EPs showcasing a growing talent, his recent Coymix release sealed the deal. Here, his comedically titled Beam Me Up Softwoiii belies a party anthem, where breaks and arps rise in unison before an Aphex sunrise burst, drops and heads down in pure dance.

Akio Nagase returns to close with another of his Japanese folk meets lilting 303 Acid House. An Okinawa traditional folk song, conveying a life lesson, here to Hosenka flower is laid across slo-mo acid bubbles to quirkily and perfectly complete another 10th release of the Especial path.

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Especial presents a 2 EP live concept collaboration with Berlin's Giraffi Dog. With live tours cancelled due the on-going changing world, the idea of bringing their live set to vinyl - an opera for your innerspace, while constrained from outerspace - was born.

Setting up Doom Chakra Tapes with DJ Deflektorschild in 2016, Max Webber's project first released the L'Existence Du Reve cassette album as a blueprint for the Giraffi Dog sound, with some tracks appearing on the acclaimed vinyl debut for Aiwo Recs, before a split 7" for the WARNING label series followed.

Teaming up with friend Max Heesen (Dessous, Poker Flat) to take the project live, their backgrounds in punk and hip-hop shine in their take on breakbeat driven club culture.

Recording live in the studio, as a different state of meditation, MCPs trigger drum machines, the duality of live synth and vocoder, while tape machines, reverb and FX looped, twisted and filtered for an inter-mind festival

Cut as a continuous mix, tracks like Concorida, Jam X and Multiverse, are a manifestation of their sets dropped from small basements in Berlin to fields in the outskirts of Paris, this first EP acts as a hypothesis for the parallel, the other, the alternate, the infinite.

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Especial returns to Alphonse's masterpiece with a 2022 repress of this EP of afro-dub-house to basement breaks, backed by imperious remixes from then rising stars The Pilotwings and DJ Normal 4.

While Alphonse debut techno-breaks-poem Same For Me came with its own soliloquy of life and the transcendental mediations of dance. Head-scratching and indifference ensued as the EP, backed with Junior Fairplay's monstrous-amen remix, slipped by all but the most 'switched on' heads - thanks Zaltan!

Now back, but still keeping to the shadows, with more sound system shaking cuts via the afro leaning Smokey and breaks pump of Glint AM. Smokey is a true heir to a unique British take on House. Congas, bongos, kick, dub bass lines and chants riding twisted fx - a true Warriors Dance.

Next Glint AM takes things back. Skipping hats atop an 808 throb before Detroit inspired strings and Akai vocals await a Mayday bass to lift hands and hearts. This is no pastiche but born of life's love and experience, of misty mornings, standing on beaten up trucks, arms a lot, higher and higher.

Time then to hand remixing duties to rising brothers from other mothers. The Pilotwings retake of Smokey shows a crew at the height of their powers, stripping the beats back to allow time and space to ascend - letting it all float away. Things are closed by - one to watch - DJ Normal 4. An old head at heart, member of Cologne's Aiwo Records and name to check, his deeper take on Glint AM includes a nod to the atmospherics of Biosphere and Leiner while keeping things, always, always, always looking to the future.

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Especial welcomes the return of Akio Nagase, Osaka's own 303 specialist, with a second EP of acid infused world music. After the success of his Asia orientated EP, here his ethno-inspired dance comes to and from Africa, the mother.

With a history of making reggae influenced electronics under the Makedub alias, his development to acid master continues to showcase a skill at fusing samples, effects and found sound in a dub-desk mix that is body moving and catchy at the same time.

With a mission to bring the music of the world closer, Acid Maasai Collecthiv sets the scene with TB 303 weaving around dub heavy bass, crossing the Athi river, seeking spirits to bind. Countries and continents are tribes and with a reopening world, the dance can encompass all; open minds to bring unity.

This is exemplified on the ethereal Morisyen Acid. Sound design, Mauritian samples and creole vibrate perfectly with Akio's acid work and simple but effective "predominately" repetitive beats to uplift like the Tamarind sunrise.

Acid mantra as mind-gateway continues with Serengeti Summer. An heir to Whoktish, this is Not Reggae, the 808 and 303 in harmony; a jam of man, machine and samples to bring today's ethno-blue storytelling through consciousness.

Closing is Jua, interweaving the fabric of life, passing down from generations the primal with the psychedelic beat to communal gathering, Akio presents the music with love and respect.


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Whitelabel!!
Especial presents a 2 EP live concept collaboration with Berlin's Giraffi Dog. With live tours cancelled due the on-going changing world, the idea of bringing their live set to vinyl - an opera for your innerspace, while constrained from outerspace - was born.

Setting up Doom Chakra Tapes with DJ Deflektorschild in 2016, Max Webber's project first released the L'Existence Du Reve cassette album as a blueprint for the Giraffi Dog sound, with some tracks appearing on the acclaimed vinyl debut for Aiwo Recs, before a split 7" for the WARNING label series followed.

Teaming up with friend Max Heesen (Dessous, Poker Flat) to take the project live, their backgrounds in punk and hip-hop shine in their take on breakbeat driven club culture.

Recording live in the studio, as a different state of meditation, MCPs trigger drum machines, the duality of live synth and vocoder, while tape machines, reverb and FX looped, twisted and filtered for an inter-mind festival

Cut as a continuous mix, tracks like Concorida, Jam X and Multiverse, are a manifestation of their sets dropped from small basements in Berlin to fields in the outskirts of Paris, this first EP acts as a hypothesis for the parallel, the other, the alternate, the infinite.

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Akio Nagase joins Especial with an EP of global acid tracks. Centred around his heritage, Osaka based Nagase infuses his sounds with a mixture of dub and ethno-dance, wrapped in 303 infused mid-tempo 4/4 grooves.

Making music for over 20 years, as well as running his Makedub parties, Nagase has released for Sound Channel, Darker Than Wax and cult Japanese digital label Chillmountain. It is here, on the latter, that the connection was made and his tracks unearthed.

Rearranged, re-edited and remixed especially for vinyl, Jurassic Shanghai Acid starts, fusing sound effects, dialogue and samples atop squelching acid beats. Following is Mongol 303, as Khoomii throat singing and acid vibrations loop and flow across the Altai Mountains down to Steppe Plains - Madrugada Eterna.

Okinawa Yunta crosses the South China Sea to home, perfectly mixing unique folk song from Taketomi Island reconstructed with Nagase's gentle, wiggling acid accompaniment. The incessant repetitive groove an Acid mantra, flowing through consciousness to move mind and body.

The bpm's rise for the close. Saigon Acid mixes tradition and Acid House for fun, a 3AM basement jam where Dan Nhi meets 808 and Nagase presents his ethno-acid love in.

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Moscow duo Odopt debut on the label with an EP of discordant, darkroom bangers for the end of days. Following acclaimed releases for Born Free, Discos Capablanca and Hivern. Ivan & Grisha - former residents of the infamous Denis Simachev Bar who glided aboard the Salon des Amateurs, Sameheads, Opium, Golden Pudel, 20:44 caravan with ease - present a 4 tracker of propulsive techno-house chamber music for these modern times.

Starting with A14 their nefarious, sonic industrial funk is on max. Samples reverberate around a dystopian shell, before playful tonalities swirl you higher. As hands to the sky as Odopt will ever witness. There is true beauty in the night.

A dense atmosphere prevails Keylat, it's darker EBM variations jack the master; voices scattering over schematic, metallic melodies before percussion is tamed, fading to a soporiphic realism.

Rolling, squelchy, acid, we embrace Sample Commerce Shot. Bending, growling, dive-bombing limbs and minds, its sleazy pursuit hard to resist as cavernous flashes lung from neo arpeggios to lock you in the groove.

Holy Motor$ the perfect finale. Brooding, virulent, hulking. A monage of momentum, menace, machine music; its haunting nervy bass for the slaughter. Take my hand. Let's walk. Most likely we'll laugh in the next life.

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Kris Baha had a big year in 2019 with the release of his debut album on CockTail d'Amore and an EP on Pinkman, and now the Australian body music man in Berlin is back with a high-pressure heater for [Emotional] Especial. "Barely Alive" is the kind of sinewy proto-industrial cut that will appeal to fans of Ministry's earlier work, when the synths reigned supreme and there was pop to match the noir. Especial then call on a cast of remixers to interpret the track in different ways, from Timothy J Fairplay amping up the dystopian disco tropes to Das Ding creating a sleek electro-funk twist with the original's gothic undertones intact.

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Project Runaway brings together two of Tel Aviv's new breed of talented DJ / producers in a meeting of tripped out, expansive, psychedelic, club music. Landing on Especial to expand horizons is Met, their debut EP of deep, percussive dubs for late night tribes.
A name on many leftfield lips, Alek Lee's journey continues following two acclaimed solo releases for the wonderful Antinote crew and new project, Shame On Us (alongside Naduve and Yovav Arzi) for that brightest star, Hivern Discs. Teaming up with the sound production skills of Stephan Bazbaz they create Project Runaway. Holding down his own citywide residencies, Bazbaz has developed a studio mastery of minimal dub, crispy house and trippy techno via a growing stream releases on numerous labels, as well as setting up his own No Wave records in 2016.
After their welcoming, simple, yet wall quaking remix of Persian (EES031), Met, or 'dead' in Hebrew, bring their strands together as one sound. In original form, a vibrating drum takes on bass backbone is broadened with tight layers of percussion overtones and warped vocal interplay. Lee's psychedelic imaginings are a perfect fit across Bazbaz's wide production expanse, before horns raise the heat to extreme.

For deeper DJs and big system dwellers, Met (Dub) does as it should, stripping away and opening wide. Hand percussion and vox ride the channels, coming in and out of the mix, while dub stabs transfix and could run for days. A meeting of minds, drums, psychedelics and pure club love.


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And so Especial comes to its 30th release. As with the EES010 and EES020 the 12" is given over as a "Sampler EP" of alternate versions, dubs and unreleased cuts that deserve their time in the spotlight. Again featuring a label's who's who, with Fairplay, Paton and Baha appearing, but also new crews in vogue with Roy Of The Ravers back, joined by the esteemed Freeform Five plus a debut from Bal5000. First up, sees the return of Junior Fairplay in the mixing desk hands of the ever kenetic Roy Of The Ravers. After turning in a twisted bleeptastic remix on Junior's recent "Faxes From The Future" EP (EES029), here in the aptly titled Remix 2, Roy strips everything back for a succinct and short stormer. Deeper, dubbier, dirtier, Roy does the acid-tinged bass and kick better than any, snapping those hats to ride. Next comes another of those Jamie Paton reversions that slowly seep in your brain for days. He's all there and more, taking Freeform Five's digi-only Throwing Stones and with drudge beats, soft keys, drunk-funk pads, snap-claps and 909 kick all underpinning (Ali Love's) dubbed vocals to the haunting refrain only he can find. Another Paton love dub for the more open-minded DJ to melt hearts and minds. On the flip, we are delighted to release on vinyl Kris Baha's now cult retake of those brightest stars, Red Axes. Only previously released by brethren Multi Culti as an digi-only for the Waiting For A Surprise Remixes EP, after many years of cat calls and reminders, here at last for the vinyl heads is this monster drug-thug. Recorded some 3 years back when Baha was a relatively unknown, now a debut LP imminent for dem CockTail's boyz, this is right time for such a club killer to be spun loud and proud. To close, a new "Kids" on the block. Picked up on and then sat on for too long, Bal5000 has since had an acclaimed EP for our Invisible Inc. friends in the north and so it's right to let this pure electro flyer...fly. Coming on like a 6am party lifter, the electro beats nod to Geist and Jesrani, but with it's own funk and vibe that just keeps going higher and higher until the nods are smiles and smiles are skips and shuffles to the beat (the street). After 26 releases in 3 crazy years, last years solo (Paton) release was a nice stop and breath, so where Especial goes next is unknown. With some discoveries now flown the coup and new headz bringing their own new sound, plans are afoot to keep on keeping on and to bring something old and new to the floor...or the door. You choose

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"[Emotional] Especial returns in 2018 after a supremely quiet 2017 as batteries were recharged and life happened. In mind is the introduction of new duo, Weird Weather and their debut EP, Bamboo Room. Slotting perfectly in the label family with 4 cuts covering dark basement club music through to calmer, balmier moments. LJ Horstman and D Thornley, conjoined metal nerds from opposite ends of the London suburbs who bonded over love of dub mixes, create Weird Weather. This debut collects tracks from four years of jamming, constructing, dubbing and re-dubbing. Cheap synths played with strict finger musicianship; deep bass over 4/4, clattering Roland drum boxes and analogue pads and submerged vocals calling out over the noise of the digital Coffee Maker. Full spectrum of influences are apparent for the heads with nods to Yello, Jah Shaka and the Horn "Megamixes" of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and ZTT alumini - all go in the dub blender with a slug of 80s rock bombast. 4 demos passed down and the mixing desk skills of homeboys Mr TJ Fairplay and Mr J Paton are added for good measure. To start, Sequence 5 is a one-take body-music desk dub. The relentless riding rhythms and faint harmonics pull you to the floor in unknown fashion. Trash Dolphin follows as an aquatic New-Wave meets NY-house in-joke that went too far. Sample bits out the window to reach nirvana. Taking the flip is Bamboo Room. A sub 90 bpm, euphoric mind-melter for the post Ambient House generation. The true winner with tranquil(ity) bass and psychedelic (research) lab trip shifts. Seamlessly completed with the poolside 'Ormus Mix' for the suave recliners. Thanks to Eric Dan for phantom support via the LCD screen. Onwards and upwards. "

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Format:
- Limited edition gold 2x12” vinyl LP.
- Housed in 2 x PMS printed inner sleeves, featuring custom fonts by No Format and spot gloss abstraction of the original album artwork.
- Accompanied with a double sided 2-panel insert and double sided 4 panel poster.
- All sleeved in a custom PMS 7mm wide spine reverse board outer sleeve with die cut square centre panel and belly band.

Magic Thread is Susumu Yokota’s deeply soothing and delicate debut release on the Skintone label. With a spartan palette of sounds and textures, Yokota taps into a fundamentally human need to fuse and connect disparate fibres, magically forming work which glistens and pulsates with life.

Magic Thread originally came out in 1998 as a limited-edition CD release of 500 copies. Initially intended for the Japanese market, it came without any artwork in a standard transparent CD case adorned only by a sticker containing essential album information and a quote:

‘Somewhere in the process of evolution, the spinning and weaving of thread became possible for humankind. How did this come to pass? It can only be that the thread is possessed of magical properties.’ – Yokota, 1998.

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Phantasy are delighted to introduce Greek duo Boys' Shorts for their debut EP on the label, ‘Athena’. The project of music obsessives Vangelis and Tareq, the Boys’ Shorts sound has helped redefine timeless strains of disco, house and Italo for Europe’s queer club underground, with similar charisma spilling into their collaborative productions on labels including Live at Robert Johnson, Permanent Vacation and Polari. Boys' Shorts appearance on Phantasy is coupled with their most ambitious and fulfilling songwriting to date. Featuring a rare vocal performance from beloved selector and cosmic disco expert Budino, appearing alongside Elisa Paradiso, the instantaneous lead cut ‘Summer’s Here and Summer’s Missing’ recounts a sun-drenched romance cut short. The duo’s soft, bittersweet synthesis mingles with Budino’s Italian-language lyrics, gently pulsing to find closure, or at least further pleasure, while up late in a Balearic discoteque. Under those same hot lights, Boys' Shorts go deeper still with the leading oscillations of ‘Stereo on Acid’, in which classic, wobbly-hearted 808 sounds flirt playfully with a bassline that bumps like downtown traffic on a sweltering Athens afternoon. Reflecting the hidden pleasures and true underground culture of the city after nightfall, title track ‘Athena’ is a sensual and sophisticated groove with an epic yet understated touch, that one can imagine soundtracking a future soiree or centuries of ancient history alike.

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Fully Equipped Beach Wanderers

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Almost fifteen years since the release of her self-titled debut LP on Mr Bongo, reggae’s orator of love Hollie Cook is returning to the label for Shy Girl, her fifth studio album and her most authentic yet. Woven with tight grooves, beautiful vocals and catchy melodies, Shy Girl hears singer and songwriter Hollie Cook revel in her contemporary lovers rock sound, more confident and open to vulnerability than ever before.

A sun-drenched exploration of love in all its guises, Shy Girl tells stories of the magical and the melancholy, the heart-lifting and heart-breaking, across 12 luscious, analogue reggae compositions - the culmination of a soft-hued and instantly recognisable “tropical pop” sound that Cook has made her own.

Put together across three years and four cities – from LA and NYC, to Vejer de la Frontera in Spain and Cook’s hometown London – Shy Girl was written with long-time collaborators, The General Roots Band, and features a contribution from legendary dub MC, Horseman, who lends his voice to the album’s first single ‘Night Night’.

The album opens with the title track ‘Shy Girl’, a buoyant and elastic slice of lovers rock that was written in a moment of spontaneous intuition, and bubbles with a charisma and positivity that Cook radiates. “I’m not a natural show-off,” Cook explains. “The Shy Girl theme is me. It’s just about being my most vulnerable self and being as true to the music that Iove as possible.” It is this honesty which shines throughout, from the chugging deep dub of ‘Frontline’, complete with raking electric guitar lines, to the bittersweet roots ballad ‘We Share Love’, which closes out the album.

It's clear to see that Cook’s songwriting draws on a lifetime of musical influences and inspirations. From her father, Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook’s record collection and touring with post-punk icon Ari Up’s The Slits, to her love for strong female-led pop music and the bassweight of London’s sound system culture. Enamoured with the music of Janet Kay and Phyllis Dillon, Shy Girl represents a homecoming and a coming-of-age for Hollie Cook, distilling and refining a shimmering reggae sound that will capture your heart, as it first captured hers.

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Tracklisting
A1 Balearic London - Stuck Like Glue
A2 Balearic London - Just Keep Swimmin'
B1 Balearic London - Touchy Feely
B2 Balearic London - Holy Innocence

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a long-awaited reissue of an ultra-rare 7-inch single, originally released as a promo-only item from handsome boy, the 1990 masterpiece by inoue yosui—widely regarded as one of the greatest singer-songwriters in japanese music history.

“pi po pa,” arranged by haruomi hosono and used in a tv commercial at the time, was featured on heisei no oto, a compilation released by music from memory. the album’s standout track, “shonen jidai,” remains one of japan’s most iconic and beloved songs. also included on this 7-inch is “yume migokochi,” a pinnacle of japanese balearic sound, arranged by yuji kawashima—keyboardist of ep-4, a kyoto-based band essential to the history of japanese new wave.

and exclusive to this release is “kurenai suberi,” an overlooked gem that might best be described as inoue’s take on cold-funk.

remastered from the original master tapes by kuniyuki takahashi, and housed in the ori-ginal artwork.

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In 2011 Kevin Saunderson, Ann Saunderson and Paris Grey, collectively known as the legendary band Inner City, released ‘Future’, their first entirely new material since taking a break in 1996, written and produced in collaboration with another Detroit legend, namely Kenny Larkin, and the very talented producer / remixer Orlando Voorn. The track marked a welcome return for a group that combined the tough, futuristic grooves of the Detroit scene with the vocal energy of R&B and gospel and helped to define the period in which house and techno moved from underground phenomena to top 10 material, paving the way for hundreds of dance hits to come. The Kenny Larkin remix devastated dancefloors at the time and continues to do so over 10 years since its release. Now fully reissued backed with the Carl Craig edit from the original pressing and the MK AW Deep Dub which had previously only seen a one-sided hand stamped white label vinyl outing.

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