Red Axes

Review: And so Especial comes to its 30th release. As with the EES010 and EES020 the 12" is given over as a "Sampler EP" of alternate versions, dubs and unreleased cuts that deserve their time in the spotlight. Again featuring a label's who's who, with Fairplay, Paton and Baha appearing, but also new crews in vogue with Roy Of The Ravers back, joined by the esteemed Freeform Five plus a debut from Bal5000.

First up, sees the return of Junior Fairplay in the mixing desk hands of the ever kenetic Roy Of The Ravers. After turning in a twisted bleeptastic remix on Junior's recent "Faxes From The Future" EP (EES029), here in the aptly titled Remix 2, Roy strips everything back for a succinct and short stormer. Deeper, dubbier, dirtier, Roy does the acid-tinged bass and kick better than any, snapping those hats to ride.

Next comes another of those Jamie Paton reversions that slowly seep in your brain for days. He's all there and more, taking Freeform Five's digi-only Throwing Stones and with drudge beats, soft keys, drunk-funk pads, snap-claps and 909 kick all underpinning (Ali Love's) dubbed vocals to the haunting refrain only he can find. Another Paton love dub for the more open-minded DJ to melt hearts and minds.

On the flip, we are delighted to release on vinyl Kris Baha's now cult retake of those brightest stars, Red Axes. Only previously released by brethren Multi Culti as an digi-only for the Waiting For A Surprise Remixes EP, after many years of cat calls and reminders, here at last for the vinyl heads is this monster drug-thug. Recorded some 3 years back when Baha was a relatively unknown, now a debut LP imminent for dem CockTail's boyz, this is right time for such a club killer to be spun loud and proud.

To close, a new "Kids" on the block. Picked up on and then sat on for too long, Bal5000 has since had an acclaimed EP for our Invisible Inc. friends in the north and so it's right to let this pure electro flyer...fly. Coming on like a 6am party lifter, the electro beats nod to Geist and Jesrani, but with it's own funk and vibe that just keeps going higher and higher until the nods are smiles and smiles are skips and shuffles to the beat (the street).

After 26 releases in 3 crazy years, last years solo (Paton) release was a nice stop and breath, so where Especial goes next is unknown. With some discoveries now flown the coup and new headz bringing their own new sound, plans are afoot to keep on keeping on and to bring something old and new to the floor...or the door. You choose.

Review: Israeli duo Red Axes have been on their travels, stopping off in far-flung locations to record with local musicians and create thrillingly wayward new cross-cultural hybrids. The first fruits of these labours can be heard on Trips #1: Africa, a 12" that contains music made with players and singers from Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast. Our highlight is probably rubbery-but-rolling A-side "Abidjan (featuring Yakomin)", where boisterous hand percussion solos, mazy xylophone lines and jaunty accordion blasts dance evocatively above a typically chunky rhythm track. Also worth checking is "Musica Electronique (featuring Insaac Students)", a brilliant fusion of raw analogue bass, bustling Afro-tech beats, psychedelic electronics and bold African vocals.

Review: The second installment of Multi-Culti's Moon Faze Sun Gaze series is a typically psychedelic affair, with an impressive cast of producers delivering a quintet of trippy workouts. Von Party & Dreems join forces to present "Wet Raga", a spaced-out combination of delay-laden drums, space disco electronics, and Eastern mysticism. The ever-reliable Red Axes fuses heavy post-punk bass, with punchy percussion and minimal wave melodies on the excellent "Boosha Gdola", while Dreems go solo on the weirdo acid-electro bubbler "Sine O'The Tymes". Nick Murray and Kris Baha underpin psychedelic disco electronics with the heavyweight throb of house on "Say Something", before Cocolo draws proceedings to a close with the pitched-down shuffle of analogue wobbler "F33lings".