DELPHI Vinyl & CDs

Review: Celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year, Dixon Avenue Basement Jams are back with a terrific new outing on their Neutralizer sub-label. Longtime friend of the DABJ crew Delphi (who is also one half of Tiger & Woods alongside Marco Passarani) presents a four-tracker of Roman style, forward thinking machine driven funk on the Don't Assume EP. From the classic Trax Records sound of opening track 'Magnolia' on the first side, to the dark basement vibe of B side cut 'Love Until' reminiscent of early K. Alexi - there's certainly acid house vibes abound, while 'Dark Riviera' takes its cues from the Motor City on this dark techno soul epic.

Review: The third volume in Tiger & Woods Unleashed Tapes series is a rare solo outing from Larry Tiger (real name Valerio Del Prete) under his occasional Delphi alias. As you'd expect, it boasts the same loop-based, synth-heavy, house-not-house style as the Tiger & Woods material he produces with Marco Passarani, albeit with more of a focus on sounds more often found in Italo-disco and new wave records. Highlights include the spacey robo-disco thrust of 'Vector', the mid-tempo Italo-disco shimmer of 'Silicone Emotion', the hard-wired heaviness of 'Riscio' - all undulating sequenced bass, echoing drum machine hits and mutilated talkbox vocals - and the squelchy, Bobby Orlando-influenced 'Metropole'.

Review: An extremely limited one-time pressing of the fourth instalment in the Incognito Trax catalogue. A purposefully mysterious series, number four is yet another mystery box of songs - Incognito Trax is truly like a box of chocolates. We flit from traditional synth-pop to nu-disco, all the way to classic clubhouse and piano house and back around to an intriguing rock and jazz fusion all in one trip. The ambitiously titled 004 features a return of Macchianera, but is mainly filled with fresh faces in the most daring and longest project yet. The fifth installment will be waited on with bated breath too, no doubt.

Review: Flexi celebrated 40 years of energising dancefloors and championing underground music back in 2024. What began as a haven for vinyl lovers and evolved into a cultural force dedicated to high-quality sound. To mark the milestone, Flexi's indie off-shoot Flexi Cuts assembled this limited-edition compilation across several 12". Minimono opens this one with some super smooth deep house on 'Before Morning' and Delphi then switches it up with more twitchy, synth-laced and tense house while DJ Rou's 'Elastic Body' brings acid charm to steely mid-tempo beats. Relative's 'The Piece' shuts down with a darker heart and prying synths.

Review: Running Back presents the fourth edition of the Swallow This various artists series, featuring five tracks by five different producers, all straddling the line between 'remodeled deep house techniques and floor mechanics.' On the first side we have the deep, down and dirty retro house shenanigans of Yungruzt's 'Starlight' (feat Eluize) followed by strobed-out rave energy of Baldo's 'Human Connection'. Over on the flip, 9th House delivers the EP standout on the glassy-eyed and bittersweet 'Ara', while Delphi gets a vibe reminiscent of Sueno Latino on the epic '7_11 House'.