Detroit based multi instrumentalist Jimmy Edgar brings his unique electronic vision to Items & Things for the label’s keenly anticipated fourth release. Edgar’s versatility is well documented with influences ranging from jazz, funk and R&B through to Chicago house and of course Detroit techno. For this outing he puts his distinctive R&B tinged electronica to one side, laying down some timeless acid house grooves that pay homage to the founding fathers of the genre. The sublime techno soul of the title track Funktion House kicks off the 4-track EP with sweet chord stabs and laid back laser sweeps dominating the intro. A gentle yet infectious background melody that’ll pull bodies to the dancefloor like bees to honey completes the summertime vibe with each element effortlessly evolving as Edgar applies subtle ring shifts and delays to the down tempo groove. The tension gradually builds with some acidic tweaks eventually emerging to complement the squelchy bassline but the track never loses sight of its soulful origins, keeping the floor ticking over and soothing the collective spirit in a wash of old school nostalgia. Dark acid tones abound on Young Thing with its dirty, scratchy vocal parts posturing over a sparse, razor sharp 808 groove in a return to the days of Phuture Fantasy Club and Fast Eddie’s Acid Thunder. The nervous tension resonates back and forth between the liquid acid and the pitched down vocals creating the perfect late night dancefloor moment that’ll turn the most innocent of clubs into a heaving sweatbox, maintaining the high standards and left field agenda set by the label’s previous three releases. The beats get nasty as another of Detroit’s next generation, Thrill Cosby aka Seth Troxler goes to work on reforming Funktion. The mood is relentless from the off with another twisting acid line accompanying a host of peripheral bleeps, efx and reinterpreted retro synth stabs from the original version. The groove pushes forward urgently, cloaked by freaky pitcheddown vocals that repeat hypnotically into a full-on electro funk breakdown that disorientates and seduces in equal measures. Edgar’s own acid remix of Funktion offers a more toxic take on the original theme. It’s raw, stripped down with urgent snare rolls, machine gun claps and cavernous reverberating vocal efx. The jacking bassline becomes embroiled with the splayed hi-hat pattern before a complimentary second bassline fleshes out the sequence. The powerful acid rush continues to ebb and flow, teasing the floor constantly before he finally drives it to point of climax, tweaking the controls to oblivion until the track dissolves into a sea of delay. More

TRACKLISTING:
01. Fight For Us
02. Not Gonna Make It
03. Devil Inside
04. No Honey
05. Been So True
06. Hearts In Danger
07. Loosen Up
08. Dub Of
09. Brother Forest
10. Hurts So Bad
11. Ask Me

Hotflush Recordings is delighted to announce the arrival of a second full length from Sepalcure, the American duo made up of Travis "Machinedrum" Stewart and Praveen "Braille" Sharma. Arriving four and a half years since their acclaimed debut, 11 track album Folding Time is a singular and tender statement that lands in May 2016.

This special coming together of distinctive musical minds produced a much-loved, self-titled debut LP in 2011, plus six EPs between 2010 and 2013, all of which suggested a penchant for broken beats and bright melodics. Both have since furthered their accomplished solo careers - Braille released his debut solo album Mute Swan, while Machinedrum's experimental exploration of Vapor City landed on Ninja Tune - that have kept them busy in the studio as well as on the road. As such, and owing to their insistence that any production work had to be done in person "since that results in a certain sound and experience you just can't recreate remotely", the new record took some time to come together.

The album, written over many bottles of whiskey, is made up of brand new music, but also tracks that have been worked on, forgotten, then revived over many years. Its title comes from the fact that, "it felt like we were connecting the present with the past. Going through each session was like digging through old memories." Stylistically, of course, this pair have very different musical DNAs, but that means studio work cooks up many surprises along they way and results in an album that is awash with everything from field recordings to guitars and electric piano. It is a mix of playing and programming, has many multilayered tracks full of intimate and personal easter eggs and is, essentially, "two homies hanging out and having fun; a meeting of our minds."

Right from the distant vocal mutters and blissful guitar licks of opener 'Fight For Us' featuring Rochelle Jordan there is an seductive r&b sensibility to proceedings. Tumbling drums and pained vocals have you in a love locked free-fall before 'Not Gonna Make It' gets to the point with Sepulcure's trademark stuttering drums and fractured vox. 'Devil Inside,' featuring the pair's long time friend and collaborator Angelica Bess, is future pop from a perfect world, 'No Honey' strips things back to a harmonic headspace of bumpy rubber kicks and percolating jungle percussion, then 'Been So True' shows a playful side, lovable sense of sampling and broken reggae rhythm. The second half of the album explores direct dance floor grooves on 'Hearts in Danger', snaking synths and reverb rich beats on 'Loosen Up' and deeper, more introspective moments on tracks like 'Dub Of' and 'Brother Forest' before closing down with a brace of blissfully melodic and dreamy excursions to a beach during sun down.

With plenty of well paced peaks and troughs along the way, as well as a underlying sense of humour and a very real human warmth, this is an album that works on both head and heel in equal measure.
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