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Review: There's lots to get your teeth stuck into on this new and blistering collection of electro from Adepta Editions. And don't let the title fool you - it's not all accessible summer festival fare, in fact none of it is. It is all head down and serious tackle. 7053M4R14's '4 N3W HUM4N' is a driving, dark, visceral sound with raw breakbeats powering through the cosmos. Rec_Overflow offers a moment to catch your breath with some slower, dubby rhythms on 'Pocket Dial' and Pauk explores twitchy future synths capes and post-human transmissions on 'Shiawasena Fukushu'. Promising/Youngster shuts down with a sense of optimism and hope with the airy melodies and slithering electro drum patterns of 'Arbey.'

Review: Musek return for another V/A release, flaunting their artists' variegated hitmaking capacities. Fronting the release is a wonderful rework of Stockholm trio Art Fact's 'Rain In The South' from 1989, to which Francesco Farfa and Hamsa bring extra electronic-bodyweight to an originally dripping synth tune. A mystical mood is continually proferred across 'Mystic Perc' through to 'Blue Yes' by Roberto Manolio, traversing chime tinglings, acid breaks and dreamy vocals: "pretty blue eyes... you're mesmerised... don't look to hard... you may never come back from that..."

Review: Spain's Tensegrity Records makes its debut with a release that locks together rhythm and atmosphere like well-fitted joints in a wooden lattice. Founded by Babu, the label takes its name from the concept of tensegrityistructures held in equilibrium through tension and compression. That same principle underpins these five tracks, where restraint and release shape the groove. 'Tensegrity' sets the foundation, interlocking elements with a patient, tensile flow. 'Erase una vez' nods to electro and new wave, its synth lines tinged with nostalgia, while 'Meritocracia' stretches out into lush, contemplative territory. On the flip, 'Romi' leans into shadowy, percussive minimalism, its tribal pulse threading through negative space. 'Structural Stress' closes with a rawer energy, drawn from personal upheaval yet channelled into something direct and resolute. With only 200 copies pressed, this first transmission from Tensegrity Records feels not just meticulously crafted, but necessary.

Review: Deeper shades of a finely sifted pedigree. Irish label Appian Sounds, helmed up by Al Blayney, champion only winnowed techno sounds, not threshed. A welcome international team huddle in, with these six artists from locales as far-flung as Amsterdam and Valencia contributing the likes of 'Tsuneo' and 'Persist'. The tunes verge melodic as they move through and beyond jankiness, distending die-cut acids and subtly synthetic humanisations, especially in the percussion department. 'Fuego' is the zen roshi's choice, its gaffered, glass-smithed pads topping off a naturalistic percussive surging forward, one best experienced with your eyes closed.

Review: Classic deep house here by Beanfield, an outfit comprised of Compost Records chief Michael Reinboth with Jan Krause, Michael Mettke and Tobias Meggle, who released one of their biggest tracks 'Tides' with vocalist Bajka back in 2004, taken from the album Seek. Featured is the timeless Beanfield Chant Mix and of course Detroit icon Carl Craig's now legendary rework, as well as Swiss deep house hero Ripperton's impressive perspective. Providing newer reinterpretations is veteran of the Toronto scene Art Department, and Italy's Toto Chiavetta who injects the track with his signature brand of high tech soul.

Review: A neat selection jungle and drum & bass gems by Fuze, also known as Dave Ivy i one half of Blinded By Science alongside Rob Pearson. It's the first time these DAT-sourced tracks have seen the light of day since their early 90s conception, and the result is a razor-sharp, brilliantly preserved insight into the raw energy of the era. Based in the US but with deep ties to the UK scene, 8205 specialises in archival material, and this one lands fully intact: 'The Alpha Omega' and 'Like The Thunder' are tough, rolling and atmospherically heavy, all punchy breaks and moody subs. 'Substrata Phase' feels slower-burning and eerie, while the Dev/Null remix flips it into something far more breakneck and manic. '6am' and 'So Damn Fresh' capture the looser, rave-adjacent side of early jungle, full of snap and character, and Tim Reaper's closing remix of 'The Alpha Omega' is the final blow i tight edits, deep pads, and that unmistakable future-facing precision. A new release, but one that's been waiting patiently for decades, finally given the care and context it deserves.

Review: Stefano Di Carlo' delivers a diverse mix of upbeat, energetic techno tracks perfect for the dancefloor. The first side kicks off with the Andy Perfetti Tribal City remix of Mad DJ, an uptempo burner with a catchy lead hook that immediately hooks the listener, setting the stage for high-energy vibes. The Alex Neri DJ Mad remix takes things in a more trance-like direction, with euphoric, psychedelic elements that create a distinct uplifting feel while maintaining a strong club rhythm. On Side-2, 'The Conversion' brings a vintage, rave-inspired melodic sound, with a nostalgic yet fresh feel. Finally, the original 'Mad DJ' track offers an otherworldly, alien vibe, with early 90s techno influences and a surprising house twist. Di Carlo's ability to blend different styles and eras offers something for both old-school techno lovers and those craving a more modern, experimental edge.

Review: Seb Taylor is a veteran of the UK's coastal psychedelic and goa trance circuit, operating under many a name but none doing so much justice to the sound as that which came out as Digitalis. Madrid's Organic Signs know this, and have set about paying tribute to Taylor's influence with a sequel release to 1998's The Third State LP. Its psycho-spiritual successor, The Fourth State now makes up a pair, both of which are ascendant trance trouncers, aural aids for the psychonaut music fan's life's work of escaping systems of global social control.

Review: Mark Grusane presence on Disctechno brings with it a compilation of five unique house tracks from Chicago and Detroit-based producers, as you will probably have guessed from the title. The A-side features DJ Slush's synth-driven 'Memory Blank' and Deon Jamar's bass-heavy 'AYYYO' which offer different but both killer sounds. The B-side opens with Jordan Zawideh's reverb-drenched 'Axolotls' followed by Grusane's intense, atonal 'The Recoil' and concludes with Thomas Xu's groovy 'School Street.' All of these are the sort of off-kilter sounds you would expect of these revered and enduring electric hotbeds. Raw, stripped-down and authentic, this is the contemporary Midwest underground.

Review: This special green slab of wax brings together two Emerson, Lake & Palmer tracks, one of them with a fresh twist from a legendary US record store. The classic ballad 'From the Beginning' is rich in warm acoustic guitar and Greg Lake's evocative vocals so it stands as one of the band's most beloved and accessible moments. On the flip, 'When the Apple Blossoms Bloom...' receives a bold Dope Jams Kaatskill Mountain take, which flips it into a sprawling, psychedelic-drenched remix that infuses the instrumental with hypnotic grooves and experimental textures. With both cuts on one 12", this one is both a nod to prog rock's legacy and a bridge to new sonic frontiers.

Review: Last year BBE released the latest project from nu jazz titans Jazzanova. Strata Records (The Sound Of Detroit Reimagined By Jazzanova) was an ambitious project which took the formidable troupe into new territory while doing great credit to the hugely important original works. Now we're being treated to a single pulled from the album with some additional remixes of 'Saturday Night Special'. The first of these comes from DJ Amir, who also served as executive producer on the album project, working alongside Re.decay, and on the flip you can hear Atlanta legend Kai Alce doing his thing with that high grade house sound that just gets better and better as the years go by.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve, plastic sleeve crumpled in one corner, but otherwise in excellent condition***


A powerful visual statement is presented on the front cover of the latest I:Cube and Jim Ka Ray release, on which McDonalds' french fries are likened to mollifying injections. Though the political conclusions we might glean from this are obvious and many, there is also an irony to the conceit; 'Jim Ka Ray' presents music that is almost equally as mollifying. Perhaps, however, the new alias of Jay Ka (aka. Kogui, who has formerly released with of Saft, As It Is and Phonogramme) would like to suggest that there are different forms of mollification; some that simply placate the soul so as to distract it from the world's injustices, and others that are more genuine, in that they serve to relax us by helping us articulate solutions. Music, luckily, is always part of the solution, as it resists the course of the world by form alone: 'Forever Sunshine', 'Fibber' and 'Moon's Man' ostensibly sound as mollifyingly Balearic as can be, but further listens reveal an attention to detail, a polish, that is not only rare in contemporary downtempo but evokes a subtler sense of emancipation, in that only the freer spirits among us could possibly have the talent or wherewithal to polish such gems. Enough blather; the remixes by the likes of Soup Less and Aardvarck (a name we haven't heard from in a while) are equally as subtle and tasty; dare we say far more nourishing than a L1.99 fry-fest.

Review: This six-track EP, crated between the late 'Cloud rap' icon and producer Nedarb Nagrom, is a miraculous refind and repress. The EP originally dropped in 2016 during the early wave of Peep's rise to the broth cream of the etherground emo rap and SoundCloud scene. Peep was still in the thick of lo-fi, punk and emo experimentations, and fellow traveller Nedarb had already been a frequent collaborator. The Katy Perry song referenced in the title is a red herring, as these tracks are original internet artefacts through and through, bearing none of the same pop sensibilities; they're loose and aerated, packing slipshod 808s and drawly hooks from the pink-haired icon.

Review: Prince De Takicardie delivers a new four-track set of tachycardial heart-racers as reinforcements to his own Prince's Castle, which is both a label and a proverbial princely citadel. This is also the Barceloni producer's second edition to the powered 'Force Bleu' EP series, matched colourfully by the equally propulsive 'Force Rouge' counterpart, for which there have also been two records so far. Increasing in both pace and intensity, this raw and jammy follow-up reaches its crescendo at the rough 15-minute mark with the hypnotic 'EX-ecute (Execution Mix)', which conclusively yields to mesmeric acid and mystical three-tone entrainments, contrasting the first three track's relative utilitarian sense.

Review: Label regulars Roberta and Trilaterals are back on Worldship Music to take part in the latest Herald Tarccs instalment. Reelsoul is a new name to join the fun and pens up with 'La Costa' which is a throwback disco house sound with wild melodies and big horn leads vying for attention and getting hands skyward. Trilaterals bring plenty of percussive funk and jumbled drum brilliance to 'Flo Jo' and Teflon Dons taps into a Philly sound with the string loops of 'DONTWANTU2GO.' Roberta's "Hang Back' is a classy little jazz-house number.

Review: ?aru is a non-profit label from Romania that sits at the sharp edge of the minimal underground. This new double pack of striped back tech gems will see all proceeds donated to dog shelters and NGOs supporting stray pups. Sensek opens with a slithering and groaning groove, 'Machine Morality,' for shadowy afterparties and Gringow brings a haunting melody to 'Towards The Dark & Cold.' Broascka's 'Epitelius' is an abstract affair with microscopic details scattered over a deep, dubby grove and Dragomir closes with two cuts - 'Alone With You' is a woozy late-night roller and 'Illusions feat Adina Oros' is a blissed out downtempo sound for the post-club hours.

Review: Legendary Reading shoegaze band Slowdive had s short but powerful run from 1989 until 1995 (during their first spell) and that included the 5EP. In the same year, it was remixed to perfection by Bandulu and Reload and now it gets reissued on limited hand numbered vinyl. First up, Bandulu stretch the original's heavy minor chords and fatten the track out into a dubby masterclass and then the Reload version from Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard (better known as Global Communication) is even more impressive. It's a supremely blissed out cut with a slow motion rhythm and futuristic sense of soul cut on 45 rpm but just as suited to 33rpm playback.

Review: The return of Sorrow, characteristically with a gracefully morose new six-tracker, 'Unrequited'. "How can I forgive?" goes the rheum-smeared vocal sample opening out the Bristolian artist's new opener 'Monologue', after which amnestic choral lines follow like heavenly flights, singing thee to thy rest. Many a temporal restretching of the 2-step grief-garage paradigm follow, as on the slo-mo dancehall of 'Fallen Angel', the pan-fluting, blossom treeing dubstep of 'Unrequited', and an unlikely future downtempo saudade, 'Hedron'. It's nice to hear Sorrow back in action; without his continued presence, we might otherwise drown our own in other, less musical liquids.

Review: Surface Access is a newly emerging French duo that craft rich dub techno and this is their debut to prove it. Each tune is given a whole side to play out, like all dub techno should. 'Drainage Overflow' rides on supple drums that you can feel more than hear while grainy textures and wispy melodies add the detail. 'Basic User Charge' is even more dee and cavernous - a masterful explore of diet yet profound artistry with wide open spaces extending all around you as the dusty hi-hats keep time. A duo to watch for sure.

Review: Released as a special picture vinyl, this collaboration offers two versions of the track that reimagine its infectious energy. Talla 2XLC, a celebrated figure in uplifting trance, teams up with Fragma (Ramon Zenker) for a stunning rework of the iconic trance anthem 'Toca's Miracle'. The A-side features the Extended Mix, a high-octane, 138 BPM version that drives with relentless basslines, booming kicks and tight percussion. The uplifting Ibiza-style piano synths combine with balearic percussion and bilingual vocals, creating an instantly euphoric vibe. As the breakdown introduces the signature Balearic guitar riff, the track builds to a peak of vocal trance intensity, leading into a powerful instrumental finish. On the flip side, the previously unreleased RRAW mix adds an exciting twist to the classic, presenting a fresh, dynamic take on the original. 'Toca's Miracle' continues to resonate as a timeless anthem, evoking memories of beachside raves and sun-drenched nights. With this new release, Talla 2XLC and Fragma successfully reignite the spirit of the track, breathing new life into a classic.

Review: 2025 trip hop done right. From the anthro-floral creatures depicted on the front cover, to its overarching muted parchment paper sound, Canadian debuters Teal portend a bright future career with their first ever LP Original Watercolour (Spiritual World). Comprised of Ashleigh and Melissa Ball, known as the Ball Sisters, together with producer N1_SOUND, this bi-coastal trio affirm a fresh, genre-bucking release. Themed around the innate interconnectedness of life as well as the personal journeys of the three artists, this winsome release celebrates subbing and dubbing both past and present, adult and childlike, as the jovial street soul jaunts of 'Sleep On It' contrast the barmy blear-waves of 'Locked In 2 Love' and 'Can't Shake The Feeling', to name a sweet few.

Review: Probably most known as the hook sampled in Zhane's breakthrough 1993 R&B smash hit "Hey Mr. DJ", it's only in recent years that it has been recognised as being from Michael Wycoff's 1982 sleeper hit "Looking Up To You". Taken from his second album Love Conquers All, Wycoff's short lived solo career sadly hit a dead end shortly after and he apparently went through tough times. That is until getting back on his feet via a new found faith and these days he is a Minister of Music at several Los Angeles area churches. "Looking Up To You" is a timeless soul classic featuring his signature vocal style, a lush string section, an even tighter brass section and powerhouse backing vocal team: you just don't get music like this anymore! B side cut "Diamond Real" (Tee Scott instrumental mix) is a more upbeat boogie number, with P-funk style elements plus neon-lit synths and disco guitar licks - wouldn't have been out of place on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack actually!