Underground house and disco maestro Mark E makes a welcome return to Delusions following hot on the heels of last years Leaning Into The Light EP. The revered producer has been steadily doing his thing for almost two decades now, racking up releases on Running Back, Golf Channel and Spectral Sound to name just a few. His sound is a unique, sublime vision of US deep house which transcends the dance floor and he proves his salt once again on the four new tracks that make up this stunning EP. Title track Enchantment Under The Sea sets the mood with a minimal, low slung drum machine groove laying the foundation for layers of Rhodes and synth chords conjuring up images of a sub-aquatic vision of depth and beauty. Up next we have Zone Tonight, the epitome of a late night city scape driving track utilising heavily saturated drums, subtle acid line, distant piano melody and moody Detroit pads to draw you into its deep confines. Flipping over we have Vertigo which treads a similar sonic path as Mark effortlessly fuses rich harmonies and entrancing melodies, inviting listeners to lose themselves in its depths. Closing out this blissful journey we have Bodymap which drops the BPM a little more with simple understated drums, melancholic string line and pulsating bassline. The Zone Tonight EP is a testament to Mark E's unparalleled prowess in crafting immersive, uncompromising and emotive soundscapes for your aural pleasure. He also created the original artwork for this release. More

We’ve been loving underground UK house hero Mark E for time so it’s a great pleasure to welcome him to Delusions Of Grandeur for his debut release for the label. With killer edits and sublime releases on esteemed labels such as Running Back, Golf Channel, Ghostly/Spectral and his own MERC, Mark E has crafted a distinct and original sound that is uniquely blue collar and utilitarian classic, deep house, with a tinge of disco warmth. The Leaning Into The Light EP has more an LP feel and is definitely one for the heads, taking us on a deep trip across five stunning and expansive productions which will leave you well and truly spellbound. From the opener Swimming Through A Diamond with its raw and minimal groove, glacial FM electric Piano and naive synth melodies you know you’re in for a real deep treat with what’s to come. Compact Object treads a similarly subtle yet captivating path with a stripped back groove and entrancing synth pads and stabs which intertwine and bounce off of each other like light refracting through a prism. Heartaches loops up a live electric bassline and jazzy piano chords to brilliant effect, creating a blissed out mood and feeling of being suspended in the air, at once muted, otherworldly and contemplative. The title track follows taking us deeper still with majestic chords and a tone palette which calls to mind Larry Heard and the inimitable sounds of Black Dog, B12 and the golden era of ambient techno and IDM. Closing out this incredible collection of tracks we have Mirrored Cube, another example of Mark E’s mastery of his craft, everything sitting perfectly in its own space and perfect pace rewarding you with its simple beauty. Mark E also created the original artwork for this release. More

The third release on 18437 features one of UK's finest producers and DJs, Mark E.

While many struggle to find their sound or try to reinvent themselves Mark keeps on doing what he does best, deep and atmospheric house music, full of synth pads and warm chords.
It's never been about fast tempos or high energy with Mark, each track is good enough to stand on its own.

Patrice Scott, who always brings a huge amount of passion and soul into his music, provided a remix of Rain that's beautiful.

Excellent late night listening music...

How deep can you go? More

The 12-inch starts on a bone-chilling note with the titular track, a spartan warm-up that’s a creeping bass on the low end, wispy pads in the mids, and a scratchy looped vox sample on top designed to haunt your dreams. A freaky intro that unnerves as it allures. On the move now, Mark burrows deeper into a hypnotic groove with “Shelter,” a midtempo cyborg cut, half round, warm, organic percussion, half cold-tothe-touch synth chord sustains. The energy and urgency feels like new territory, but the execution is signature Mark E. On the reverse is a pair of more melodious tunes, the shuf?ing cyberpunk groove that is “M-54,” then the prickly “Shinkansen,” which has a sputtered and bleary-eyed thrust to make feet jitter and hips shake. A twist on the man's disciplined studio workmanship that we've come to know—arrow-straight arrangements, celery-crisp drums—that’s spiced with a few pinches of psychedelic, inside-out wickedness, devilishness to keep you wired, buzzing More

After a short hiatus the ever-dependable Mark E returns to his own Merc label with three new tracks in his own inimitable style
Displaying a depth and flair for aural innovation like no other, Mark plots a course through a heady trio of beautifully constructed machine-funk jams. 'Twilight Fade' leads us seductively into a slowly unfurling Sound Signature style voyage through the soulful circuits. 'Quarttz' is a super deep, all enveloping synth-led workout, while 'First Thing' on the B, stretches a few simple ingredients into a sonic banquet of heady dancefloor bliss.
This one's super limited folks, so we encourage panic buying ! More

The last of Public Release’s single-digit records is the first from the British West Midlands’ most famous DJ and producer, Mark E. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. If anything, the fact it didn’t happen earlier should; Mark appeared as a remixer on Jeffrey Brodsky’s 2014 Public Release EP, which has earned him the status of esteemed member of the outfit’s inner circle and prime candidate for an extended play of his own. That little bit of context behind us, let’s move on to the actual music that’s been pressed to Sky Horn. The 12” kicks off with the titular track, an abrasive number built around a meaty, sawtoothed synth line that sits snugly atop a hypnotic beat. Happy Family’s remix—Happy Family, for the uninitiated, is Eric Duncan and Justin Van Der Volgen—is a more psychedelic reimagining of the original cut that’ll knock you into an exhilarating stupor. Speedy and demented, it’s an explosive, tantalizing cap to the first record. The second begins with “Midnight Equatic,” a tense yet propulsive number that’s somehow paranoid industrial, tropical disco, and prototypical synthwave all at once. The duo comprised of Dennis McNany and LCD Soundsystem’s Pat Mahoney, Museum of Love, wrap the four-tracker with their remix of the song, which zeroes in on the electro component so elemental to the original and runs with it, taking it into Depeche Mode Violator territories—before making a sharp left turn and exploring the wild sounds of the early 90s UK rave scene. A final hoorah for the party that is this record. More

Mark E has a vivid imagination and everybody knows it. This is his first offering for the ESP Institute. Laurentian Abyss undoubtably conjures narrative images from the depths of a man's soul, trudging through an array of rhythmic pulse, percussion and arpeggiation that resembles the inner workings of a grandfather clock, based on a disorienting 5/4 timing yet culminating in a singular stroke. On the flip side, the title track Emergency begins with the formula for which we know Mark E best, the ultimate tease winding us up for the big payoff, yet here we're forced into a cyclical trance which diverts our attention so effectively that we never actually receive what we've been waiting for, Mark's elusive drop. When a limitless producer such as Mark E, who's spread his talents widely across the face of dance music, seeks a home away from home in the ESP Institute, we consider it an honor to open our doors and present works that stray from not only his celebrated repertoire, but from reality in general.
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Producer Mark E hails from the West Midlands, an area of the UK that was at the heart of the industrial revolution and was also hit hardest by the decline of UK industry in the 1970s, and again by the economic crisis of our own time. It's an area with a distinct sound and atmosphere, one that manifests in the music of artists as diverse as Black Sabbath and The Specials, and one that plays into many of the ideas behind Mark E's 2014 full-length, Product Of Industry. Following that release, Mark E presents a late-year surprise with AVION EP. Featuring two new tracks from the producer plus remixes on two Product Of Industry highlights: "Bog Dance" and "Being Hiding". First up, White Material affiliate Alvin Aronson brings his minimal ambient productions to "Bog Dance" while the collaborate duo of Leon Vynehall and Christian Piers aka Laszlo Dancehall fire things up on "Being Hiding" to close out the EP. More

As the Autumnal nights draw in, Futureboogie show off a slightly darker edge to their ever expanding roster of artists, welcoming re-edit king Mark E to the fold. The Birmingham based DJ and producer has risen steadily through the musical ranks over the last few years, cropping up on a multitude of top drawer labels like Sonar Kollectiv, Running Back, Golf Channel, his own Merc imprint, and most recently a brace of albums for the US label Spectral Sound (home to Matthew Dear, Osborne et al). Title track, 'Activity' chugs at a house music pace but with plenty of techno swagger, bridging the gap between the two genres with ease. A simple and minimal beat is doused in a pacey acid bassline riff that's constantly morphing and transposing, layers of synths join in the infectious melody whilst soaring pads rise up with all the familiarity of a Detroit techno classic.

Tracklisting: 1. Activity 2. Night Heart 3. Shapes
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Producer Mark E hails from the West Midlands, an area of the UK that was at the heart of the industrial revolution and was also hit hardest by the decline of UK industry in the 1970s, and again by the economic crisis of our own time. It's an area with a distinct sound and atmosphere, one that manifests in the music of artists as diverse as Black Sabbath and The Specials, and one that plays into many of the ideas behind Mark E's new record Product of Industry. The album's title is a subtle nod to the producer's past and heritage. He explains, "The name lies in the manufacturing past of the area I grew up, [and] the manufacturing past of my family. [It references] how the decline of industry in the Midlands UK changed the landscape physically and socially — I'm now a music producer and DJ, and this is totally different to my grandparents who were truck drivers and sheet metal workers. [The title discusses] how things have changed, and it's also about how I came to be in this position, due to the current global financial situation. I lost my job due to it, [which led to me] trying out music — and here I am, a product of industry, both currently and historically." As befitting its genesis, there's something distinctly mechanistic to the music on Product of Industry — as Mark E says, "The music is grinding, continuous, heavy, relentless." You can hear this idea in the industrial clatter that underpins "Kultra Kafe," the grinding rhythm of "Bog Dance," the pounding beat of "Eganix." Part of this sound is generated by the album's reliance on classic machinery of a musical kind: "My approach was very different on Product of Industry compared to Stonebreaker," Mark E explains. "I approached it with an album in mind. The technique is [also] different — this is majority analogue, whereas Stonebreaker was 100% digital." But just as importantly, this reliance on classic analogue synths also means that the sound of Product of Industry is shot through with a certain warmth, a reminder that there's humanity at the heart of this industrial environment and this industrial sound.. The music, explains the producer, was designed to be "soulful and delicate," and in many ways its abiding warmth is a throwback to the classic sounds of Chicago house. They're firmly located on the other side of the Atlantic, though, and several tracks incorporate "vocal snippets of the language and accent of the West Midlands." The result is an album that's steeped in history — both musical and social — but also sounds utterly contemporary. It's a testament to the way the creative spirit can flourish even in the most adverse of circumstances, and also an album-long evocation of the idea that the machines we build are ultimately expressions and extensions of ourselves. More

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. More

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. More

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. More

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 More

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. More

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: More

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. More

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. More

Light Year came to be, many aeons ago, in a celestial orb - just slightly to the east of Australia's dance music capital, Sydney. His first release "Night/Vision" on Sydney powerhouse Bang Gang 12's, gained worldwide praise and support from Soulwax, 2manydj's, Erol Alkan, Tiga and Brodinski. The Night/Vision EP was the first step on a road that has seen him innovate his way from electro through to the rebirth and reimagining of techno and house. His next release "5GIRL5", gained even greater acclaim, with high-rotation on BBC Radio 1, and a thorough working-over by disc jockeys the world over. Light Year's final release on Bang Gang: "Moderation" made waves within the electronic music scene with Tensnake & Tiga calling it one of their favourite tunes of 2012. Moderation later received remixes courtesy of Paul Woolford's Special Request project and Jori Hulkkonen (of My Favourite Robot and Turbo fame), which resulted in further worldwide acclaim. Light Year himself has turned his own hand to remixing, with impressive reworks for global sensation Tame Impala and indie darlings Flight Facilities. 2013 saw Light Year make a definitive move to the UK to allow himself to settle and hone his craft. The move paid instant dividends as Light Year enjoyed a very successful year in the studio with noteworthy releases on distinguished labels Turbo, Convex Industries and This is Music. Outside the studio, over the last 12 months he has supported a wide variety of some of the worlds most in demand DJ's including Simian Mobile Disco, Damien Lazarus, Tiga, Cosmic TRG, Claude Von Stroke and Skream. Including gigs throughout the UK, Europe and North America such as BPM festival and Holy Ship. In March this year, Light Year will be releasing his highly anticipated first EP with seminal electronic music record label Ghostly/Spectral. As he continues to work hard behind a rack of drum machines and synthesizers, in his studio, making sounds to merge the global dance floor community into a singular consciousness of light, sound and dance. More

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. More