SOLID STATE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Voodoos & Taboos unveil their anticipated new LPs series with Human Aventura, the debut self-titled album from the promising Corsican producer. An unusual dance release modelling itself on electro and chiptune, but finding itself somewhere in the hidden interstice between them, this is a self-described "libidinous Mediterranean spoken disco" album, giving elements of Telex or Kraftwerk, albeit with a progressive bent best heard on pithy cuts 'Solid State Scouter'. Not one to be missed for those who like it intelligent, fidgety and FMmy.

Review: Beyond Paradise releases tend to achieve that most difficult of tricks, ticking both danceable and laid-back boxes, but when you see the pedigree of names they've got on board it's no surprise they're able to. Solid State aka Richard Hardcastle has a history which stretches back to Sheffield's post-punk scene and releases on 90s tech/deep house label Toko, not to mention running the All Out War and Society labels. There's more than a hint of the Steel City's industrial funk/pre-house sounds in his two tracks, be that the muted nightdrive that is 'Seven More Minutes Of Funk' or the wonderstruck new beater 'Rhodes To Nowhere'. Richard Sen joins The Veteran Delinquents on the B-side, the former laying down a carpet of impeccably classy electro grooves, the latter going for a slightly more sinister remix of the A1, all arpeggiated neon rainshowers and chiptuney waves of synth respectively.