dreamcastmoe is the recording project of singer, songwriter, producer, and DJ Davon Bryant, a lifelong resident of Washington, DC. His music moves freely between moods and modes, hypnotic, romantic, traversing electronic, R&B, funk, soul, and hip-hop _ Resident Advisor dubs it "soulful, cross-genre dance music." This ability to adapt and finesse, to twist in different directions while staying true and coherent in vision, can be traced to his home city and its complex cultural history. "Most Black kids in DC don't ever get to this point," he says. "This is what I am making this music for, in the DC tradition of soul and empathy and love that is rooted in this city. My music is for real people dealing with shit every day." A versatile, modern artist and collaborator, dreamcastmoe has thrived in the underground since his first uploads to Soundcloud and Bandcamp in 2017 and subsequent releases with labels like People's Potential Unlimited, Trading Places, and In Real Life Music. Bryant's laid-back personality, emotional honesty, and infectious energy shine through his work and how he talks about it, as Crack Magazine notes in their 2021 Rising feature: "a steady combination of confidence, creativity, and calmness." He grew up playing drums in church; he's worked dead-end jobs, had ups and downs, even sold off all his gear one time, but never stopped reinvesting in himself. He is quick to praise his co-producers, rattle off influences _ the visual feel of NBA 2K, the comedic timing of Bernie Mac, the savvy legacy of Duke Ellington, for starters _ and credit resourceful DC breakouts like Ankhlejohn that showed him the roadmap. His voice, a steady instrument, seemingly connects it all, capable of slow falsetto flow, swaggering talk-rap, and outright croon. His storytelling style is choppy yet fluid, like a mixtape, which is how Bryant sees Sound Is Like Water, his debut on Ghostly's International's freeform label, Spectral Sound. The two-part project culminates as a full-length LP release in November 2022. The first side, released as Part I, opens on the blurred beats of "El Dorado," which dreamcastmoe dedicates to his journey. It's a head-nodder, an off-kilter earworm co-produced by Max D (Future Times, RVNG Intl, etc.), with Bryant harmonizing hooks with synth jabs and a pitched-down presence. "Complicated" is the slow jam, delivered smoothly from a Saturday night crossroads. dreamcastmoe is contempla- tive and committed _ gliding and locking ad-libs into skittering rhythms courtesy of co-producer Zackary Dawson _ but also willing to let something go, "acknowledging that everything in life IS NOT easy." "RU Ready" takes off from the jump as a tribute, challenge, and promise to his partner and his city ("The times you sat with me when I needed you the most / Told me the things that I needed to see / Young black man, really trying to be what I can be / And I'm really from DC). In its potent two-plus minutes, the sonics (co-produced by ZDBT) press the message, all cymbal crashes, breakbeats, and serrated synth lines. "Cloudy Weather, Wear Boots" is a blitzing dance-punk track made in collaboration with Jordan GCZ on Bryant's first trip to Amsterdam. The album's flipside opens on "Much More," the first of two synth-and-beat ballads co-produced by ZDBT. Later on "Long Songz," he claims, "I'm not writing love songs no more," prioritizing the vibe with "all my day ones." He calls it "a cry for more normal moments. Everything doesn't have to be a fantasy love story, more time spent getting to the money, growing, and making a way." He saves two of his most propul- sive cuts for the finale, co-produced by Sami, co-founder of DC dance label 1432 R. As their titles suggest, "Take A Moment" and "Make Ya Mind" operate as anthems for movement, with Bryant free-flowing commands above wildly-styled percussion. Per Bryant, the latter is both "wake & bake jam" and a "dance floor bomb." His parting line: "Action / You got to show me action / Reaction." The world of dreamcastmoe straddles virtual reality and the realness of DC, images both imagined and lived-in. Bryant has a knack for unexpected melodies but what makes his music so exciting is his capacity to defy the expectations of genre and image. A fluid ingenuity and vulnerability bottled by Sound Is Like Water, and this is just the beginning.




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For over five years, Canadian artist Patrick Holland has developed an inimitable perspective on melodic, freewheeling house music. And the myriad tracks he writes as Project Pablo have come to embody both the sensibilities of the producer and the environs of his Montreal home. Inside Unsolved, Project Pablo's dynamic four-tracker for Spectral, specifically looks to Holland's local clubs and Canada's dance music past for inspiration. The old records of labels such as Steel City and Map Music course through the lush synths of emotional roller "Pressure No Impact" and the light-footed swing of "Big Room Delusion." While standing on the dancefloor at MUTEK two years ago, Holland dreamt up "Pill" in all of its billowy, percussive charms. Lead track "The Solution" cooly and confidently kicks things off with the kinds of earworm synthlines, rich atmospheres, and effortless grooves now synonymous with Project Pablo. Inside Unsolved is yet another classy and classic record from an unstoppable force of quality dance music.

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Brooklyn's SEER is the live electronics duo of Maroje T and M Parent, two budding artists who explore the outer edges of dance psychedelia. Their otherworldly electro is brought to life by conjuring the unknown in a live dancefloor setting and then further honing that magic in the studio. With No Resurrection, the duo presents its most fully realized expression of this process. Steely 808 drums cut through spacey pads and disembodied voices on the likes of "Electrolytic" and "Principle of Casualty"; the driving, squelchy basslines in "Polaronic" contrast the low-slung grooves of "No Resurrection" and "Surface Normal." Throughout SEER's 12-inch for Spectral, freeform sound experimentation meets gold-standard electro on the astral plane.

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Since completing his two-decade-long hip-hop trilogy as Dabrye in 2018, Ann Arbor-based artist and Bopside label head Tadd Mullinix has engaged his arsenal of aliases with renewed heat. First came the debut of X-Altera, a new project flexing a wildstyle hybrid of drum & bass and deep techno. Now, he returns to James T. Cotton, a moniker which dates back as far as Dabrye and helped define Spectral Sound, the dance imprint of Ghostly International. While historically tagged as Mullinix’s acid house alias, JTC has always expressed with a more pliable sense of genre, freely fusing an eclectic blend of classic electronic sounds; helpings of Chicago acid, Belgian New Beat, and the leftfield techno stylings popularized both in Berlin and Detroit. With Indigo, Flesh and Fire, Mullinix moves closer to the latter city, adopting a bright, optimistic tone informed by minimalism and futurism. The EP is packed, but still playfully ambiguous; a club-ready set built to max out mixing boards with spacious and nuanced melodies and motorized percussion. Five tracks, each with roughly five-minute run-times, offering all but a few breaths in a quest for highly operative dancefloor hypnosis. The record wastes little time locking in; on the first track, “Innerloire Rendezvous,” a dense square kick plows through a brisk four-on-the-floor routine phasing over harmonious synth stacks of rubbery fifths and sevenths. The title track splatters a lenticular static spray between thumping kick, billowy melodic swells, and staticky clicks, snaps, and claps.

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Under the alias Ciel, Xi'an-born/Toronto-based producer, pianist, DJ, and Discwoman affiliate Cindy Li embodies the social conscience of progressive electronic music. She is at once a local and global artist, having flourished at the fringe of cutting-edge club culture since 2015, firmly rooted in her adopted city while reaching increasingly outward, her sets echoing from Berlin’s Berghain to Chicago’s Smartbar to Lisbon’s Lux Fragil. Back in Toronto, she co-runs the label Parallel Minds and event initiative Work In Progress, an extension of her radio show in both name and M.O. to improve female representation in the scene. She’s helped write safe space policies, hosted DJ workshops, and applied activist pressure on promoters through varying methods with a single-minded resolve. Those efforts have evoked responses, which Li has spent time reckoning with over the past two years. Now, manifesting as a self-guided reaction to her experiences as an artist and activist is Ciel’s Spectral Sound debut, Why Me?, a deeply personal and physical work

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Todd Osborn returns to Spectral Sound in his Osborne guise with his first release on on the label since 2013's Hold Up (feat. Joe Goddard). Fools finds Osborn in his best self, as a shapeshifter bringing together strands of various genres. The title track is a lesson in house reduction, while "Different" is a chunk of bassline-led techno. On the B-side, "Back Whenever" kicks off in proto-IDM electro form, all melody and light, and "Integrate" slows it down to a walking pace for a dash of synth funk.

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Russell E.L. Butler is a non-binary experimental artist and DJ based in Oakland, California. Originally from Bermuda, Russell has developed a process of improvisation that draws from a rich cultural history rooted in their island and the black, queer diaspora. Following releases on Left Hand Path, Jacktone Records, Black Opal, and CGI Records, Butler enters the Spectral Sound fold with Petty, a 4-track EP of pummeling machine techno. SPC-141, presented by its producer:

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Spectral brings the past alongside the present with its latest release, a compilation that offers a vibrant cross-section of the current moment in underground dance music. Despite the wide-ranging selections on Spectral 139, a throughline of classic style and infectious energy emerges from the up-and-coming and established artists alike. Rising talents such as Minimal Violence, Russell E.L. Butler, and Earth Trax x Newborn Jr. bring unique perspectives to their hardware-centric productions. Veteran producers bring their own edge as well: D'Marc Cantu blows the roof off with the outsized funk of "Regularly People," and Nigil Caenaan's "January's End," a low-key Detroit classic from the late '90s, closes Spectral 139 with a whirlwind of manic rhythms and sedate synths.

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For his debut on Spectral Sound, San Francisco DJ/producer Matrixxman presented a strong and versatile four track EP, Amulet. Rich with analog ideas, the EP explored his interests in deep Chicago moods and with techno futurism. StuxNet follows the futuristic path Matrixxman has carved out with two new acid-leaning cuts: StuxNet I and StuxNet II paired with two Amulet EP stand-outs, Venetian Mask and The Caravan, remixed by Hieroglyphic Being and Silent Servant.

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Adding to his extensive and diverse catalog, Alexi Delano delivers his first release for Spectral Sound. My Busted SH-101 is an ode to the beloved and portable synthesizer made by Roland in the early 80s, not long before Delano started DJing. As a producer, he's earned a reputation for being a bit of a machine himself, churning out records on a wide variety of labels over the last 20 years. He holds his own in house music under his A.D.N.Y. moniker, but it's with tracks such as this one that show off his love for dark, weird techno that sits comfortably alongside Spectral's finest. "My Busted SH-101" flutters and pulsates wildly throughout, with a heavy bass kick driving from the start. The sonic rabbit hole soon opens up to crackling, crunching melodies – Delano pitching up and down, making the synth sing in his own experimental fashion. The b-side remix is also a gem, provided by Alexi's long-time friend and occasional production partner Jesper Dahlbäck. Going by his revered alias The Persuader, Jesper's interpretation adds beautiful, sweeping dub echoes and pushes the lower end to the front, creating a strong dancefloor vibe with warmth and attitude.


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if you thought the English-accented voice singing the hook on Ann Arbor/Detroit producer Todd Osborn's new single "Hold Up" sounded familiar, you'd be right — it's Joe Goddard of UK globeconquerors Hot Chip. The match might seem counter-intuitive — Hot Chip are best-known for reinventing rave sounds for a new generation, while "Hold Up" is all about the warmth of classic house — but it works a treat, with Goddard's surprisingly soulful delivery slotting seamlessly into the mix. "Hold Up" is the first that the world has heard from Osborn since 2009'sÊHovercraftingÊEP and 2008's self-titled debut. It comes backed with a remix from Goddard that's entitled, appropriately enough, "Joe's Dub" — as the title suggests, it furnishes the original with suitably spacious reverb sounds and atmosphere, although it's more a case of a subtle reworking rather than a full-scale dubplate deconstruction. There's also another new track on the b-side: "All Night," which also sounds exactly like its name. It's a track that's made to soundtrack dancing all night, based around the sound of an insistent 4/4 kick and a decidedly groovy walking triplet bassline. The remix byÊTuff City Kids, the duo consisting of Gerd Janson and Phillip Lauer,Êadds atmospheric synth stabs and long, luxurious filter sweeps, giving the track a spacier feel without losing the energy of the original.

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