The best new singles this week
Singles you won’t want to miss

SINGLE OF THE WEEK
Blake Baxter – Purple Planet EP (Suspected)
Let’s hear it for Blake Baxter, one of Detroit’s true originals doing it from the beginning. His debut EP remains one of the finest to ever emit from the Motor City, featuring two indelible hits in ‘Sexuality’ and ‘When We Used To Play’ that sound as vital now as they did 34 years ago. Those tracks also spelled out Baxter’s particular approach as ‘The Prince of Techno’ – an erotically-charged vocal style that avoided tipping over into the lewd or even downright crass come-ons you might find in other corners of club music.
While his productive peak may have been in the 90s, Baxter’s still active within the scene now, largely via collaborations. It’s not every day we get a fully-fledged new EP from him though, making this surprise release on German label Suspected all the more special. Strangely, the title Purple Planet seems to call back to a one-off promo he released in the early 90s, not to mention the colour chiming with his alignment with Prince. But the six tracks on the release are all previously unreleased, spanning a range of moods and approaches within Baxter’s repertoire.
‘Dark Frequency’ has a distinct electro slant which harks back to Cybotron’s ‘Clear’, ‘Esoteric’ turns up the funk with a perfectly chiselled slab of loopy techno and ‘Creative Energy’ piles on the Detroit drama, all big futuristic synth slabs and plenty of choppy flair. On the B-side, Baxter’s Prince demeanour re-emerges as he whispers into the mic on ‘Work Baby’ while a slamming peak time beatdown thumps away in the background. ‘Sexy Dancer’ follows suit, albeit with a slightly housier slant to the groove, and then ‘Where Were You’ swerves for a more sentimental reflection on the role of music in all our lives. Baxter sounds as full of vitality as he did in his nascent years, with a masterful touch in the production and that irrepressible personality that makes him one of the all-time, albeit somewhat overlooked, heroes of Detroit dance music.
OW

Dam Funk – Architecture III (SAFT)
Modern electro-funk maestro Damon ‘Dam Funk’ Riddick presents the third and final instalment of his ‘Architecture’ series on Spanish label, Saft, with a typically slick EP of richly atmospheric warm-weather cuts. Though his catalogue meanders through low-slung sunset sleaze into backroom deep house jamming and beyond, his retro-futurist synth-funk is so recognisably his that the words Dam Funk could almost be attributed to a sub-genre all of its own. The LA-based artist blends a feel-good funk atmosphere with his home city’s rich electro and hip hop heritage, condensed into productions that are at once shimmering with boogie gloss while uncompromisingly raw and direct. Since announcing his arrival on the production circuit in around 2008, he’s maintained a prolific release schedule, collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Steve Arrington, and garnered a reputation as a cultured selector while manning the platters at venues the world over. ‘Architecture III’ opens with ‘Grow’, where bit-crushed vocal rhythms combine with silky smooth chords and chocolatey bass, with the less-is-more arrangement allowing the loops to do the bulk of the work.
Similarly, ‘Night Kruise’ unfolds as a virtual locked groove, with the hypnotic bass hook, dreamy pads, and crisp drums barely shifting from their precise course throughout the track. The grubby bass and distorted kick of ‘Think’ provide the weight as intergalactic sweeps and sparse instrumentation endow the track with a dubbed-out nocturnal quality. Next up, ‘Feel’ bursts from the speakers with its sugary synth melodies, low-fidelity bass and hard-hitting 808 drums, before the jerking rhythms and freeform organ solos of ‘Sun Gospel’ lift spirits with their life-affirming positive charge. Finally, the brisk tempo of closing track ‘Shine’ propels the groove as the freaky distorted synth lead twirls and evolves over trademark chords and rough and ready house drums. As with most all of his work, there’s a free-flowing feeling of effortlessness about the music here, leaving zero doubt that bumping out sonic fire is exactly what Dam Funk was put on this earth to do.
PC

Skymark – Easy Saturday Night (Mike Huckaby Remix) (Nsyde)
Mike Huckaby wasn’t as flamboyant as some of his Detroit peers, but his understated legacy lives on following his death last year. His role was more that of a mentor, bringing up new talent and imparting knowledge with generosity and modesty. That shouldn’t get in the way of his own artistic contributions though, and he had a particular touch that couldn’t possibly be imitated (though many might try). His was a style for the club, to be mixed by DJs, but also brimming with elegance and emotion ahead of brute force.
Sensing the need for sensitivity in their timing, German label Nsyde decided to postpone releasing Huckaby’s remix of deep house pianist Skymark which was scheduled for last year. Now it comes out as a single-sided 12” carrying just Huckaby’s remix, adorned with an image of the man in action, and it feels like a fitting tribute. Beyond the presentation, the remix itself feels like the perfect Huckaby joint. A no-nonsense kick-off straight into the groove, riding steady on a bongo-inflected beat and softened by dub tech chords and ascendant keys swirling in between the treated vocals. It’s a blissful Detroit house fantasy for the floor, utterly clear in its intention and wholly embodying Huckaby’s exquisitely shaped sound.
OW

STR4TA – After The Rain (Brownswood)
STR4TA’s ‘Aspects’ long-player landed in March this year, and here UK disco/house icon Dave Lee jumps in with a pair of remixes of one of the album’s sing-along standouts. The vintage-leaning STR4TA project is a collaboration between Gilles Peterson and Incognito’s Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick – providing a safe space from where the pair can channel their combined Brit-funk enthusiasm into forging revivalist sounds that celebrate the distinctly UK-flavoured phenomenon with a respectful contemporary flourish. Rooted in street culture, Brit-funk represented a glorious blend of soul, funk, disco, Latin and jazz with Afro rhythms and punk attitude, and the irresistibly fusionist sound has been enjoying something of a reassurance in public awareness of late. Dave Lee is no stranger to the movement, with the producer, DJ and celebrated collector long being attached to the sound – notably releasing a pair of essential ‘Back Street Brit Funk’ compilations via his Z Records label in 2010 and 2018 respectively. Who better, then, to be entrusted with crafting a set of subtly floor-focused remixes than the man himself.
True to form, the ‘Alternative II mix’ sees Lee approach the task with a sensitive touch, retaining the body of the original instrumentation while stretching out the arrangement into a club-ready epic, before embellishing the music with his own complimentary refrains. The drums are straightened up just a little, adding a discreet bottom end bump to help the track stand up sonically when played alongside club-focused house jams. On the reverse, the ‘Alternative II dub’ dispenses with the bulk of the vocal to allow the gorgeous orchestration maximum room to breathe and pulse. There’s more than enough going on musically here for the dub to stand up proudly, and it’s sure to find its way into the boxes and playlists of instrumental lovers and vocal deniers alike. The impeccably polished and soul-rich music journeys through space-age builds and breakdowns, with infectious piano, synth, and bass solos proving blissfully captivating throughout.

Cressida – Can You Sleep Like This (Voitax)
As Simo Cell or Bambounou are to France, Cressida is perhaps one of bass music’s best ambassadors to Germany. His stylistic meandering reminds us of Black Sabbath, in that the best artists dot between styles quickly; a popular artist and DJ in Berlin thanks to his downbeat industrial techno made on ‘Borneo Function’ several years back, he’s now moved on, with his new EP ‘Can You Sleep Like This’ owing to more of a grime, garage, drill and breakbeat palette.
Despite his unlikely overseas trajectory, it doesn’t surprise us that Cressida (real name Jenagan Sivakumar) is a Brit, not a native Berliner, and grew up on this post-Y2K urban music umbrella as a youngster. Nor is it a surprise that he’d dot between clubs in Brighton and London to figuratively drink from the twinned nectars of bass and techno. Voitax is his homestead, a breakbeat label contemporaneous to the likes of Lobster Theremin and Cyberdome, so it’s refreshing to hear them work in those realms.
Take this EP’s lead track ‘Semtex’. Rather than the straight, harrowing breakbeat and electro Voitax have formerly pushed – like from recent releasee Luz1e – this track operates in echoic grime, halftime beats and spastic soundscapes. And thanks to the low-stepping umbrance of track 2, ‘Same Dance’, we now think of Cressida and Voitax in the same breath as the bass and graf label Seagrave, with the track reminding us of some of that label’s recent, future-dystopian Brighton bass artists such as Etch and Low End Activist. Hurtful, distant soundscapes prevail. Despite each track working in a different style, from UK funky to future garage, nothing except their vocal samples sound familiar. There are no cheesy dub bloops or riser sound effects, only metallic scrapes. No stock ragga voxes, only synthetic wails into an unresponsive night.
On the closer ‘Purple Hayes’, we do reach some kind of hopeful dub techno climax. Each of this track’s drowned, watery vestiges of R&B vocals sound at least somewhat more hopeful than the EP’s other cuts. But overall, ‘CYSLT’ is like the sonic equivalent of NieR: Automata concept art. It sounds like a giant, ruined vision of technoized London, sodden beneath piles of concrete rebar and wires, and with Dizzee Rascal’s dead hand poking out of the rubble.
JIJ

Blawan – Soft Waahls (Ternesc)
Comprising of six varying high-tempo tracks, English DJ and producer Blawan’s new record sees him continuing to explore the modular techno scene that has characterised so much of the work released on his own Ternesc label. It’s not your usual hard techno dance some will expect, however, the ’Soft Waahls’ EP sees him working off and around the kicks in freakier permutations of his hardcore style to date.
The bass drum diehards will get theirs in the offset, from the immense pressure of ‘Fizz City,’ as it makes you feel as it’s aptly titled, while those open to wilder styles will get it everywhere from the syncopated rattler ‘Justsa’, with its swirling drum beats and calculated breaks. Following the supremely warped tackle of ‘The Sithe,’ the buckled, ratty funk of ’Silver,’ and the killer swivel of ‘Fourth Dimensional’ that makes the pads ’n bass style of Ilian tape seem as tame as they are compared to this. To be fair ‘Micro’s’ over eggs it into undanceable complexity that makes you wonder how you got there to begin with, but the rest stands for some of Blawan’s most ingenious work. Not withholding any bars, Blawan presents a great medium of work that holds all 29 minutes it deserves. Definitely not for the faint of heart that likes their music to be too predictable. Buckle in for the ride.
AY

Tor Dietrichson – Carnival Rhumba (Neppa)
Norse disco colossus Prins Thomas takes on Tor Dietrichson magnificent ‘Carnival Rhumba’, working his undeniable meta-disco magic into an already immaculate piece of music. Percussionist and composer Dietrichson’s 1987 album ‘Global Village’ is something of a fusionist masterpiece, fusing elements of jazz, Latin, folk and progressive rock to form a 10 track new age jewel. One of the brightest shining tracks of a uniformly exquisite collection is ‘Carnival Rhumba’, and the remastered original is presented here alongside Thomas’ pair of lovingly sculpted interpretations. Prins Thomas rarely puts a foot wrong when it comes to his frankly intimidating remix output, and – even by his exacting standards – he does inspired work injecting cosmic Balearic wonder into Dietrichson’s mind-melting rhythms and melodies.
Satisfyingly reminiscent of Derrick May’s ‘Sueno Latino’ remix, the ‘edit & overdub’ version builds around the infectious keyboard riff, with weight added to the drums and percussion to emphasise the track’s dancefloor credentials. The epic guitar solo takes centre stage, soaring like a psychedelic eagle high above azure skies before intertwining with the rousing string melody for an electrifying crescendo. The wonderfully named ‘edit & overdub dub’ strips things back for a percussive deep house workout, before the irresistible energy of the original version brings the EP home in fantastic style.
PC

Various Artists – Remix EP (Pudel Produkte)
The Golden Pudel crew always put a particular mischievous spin on everything they do, and that goes for their record label too. The Hamburg underground beacon has long stood for punky irreverence and experimentation, and they foster a sense of community around the music they release. As such, they’re the kind of crew who can pull off a brazen play on The KLF’s iconic Chill Out album cover for a release which expresses its own madcap agenda in terms of sonic content.
On the first side you might think this is intended as a kind of callback to early 90s ambient house and electronica, as Warp titans Plaid deliver a curiously kosmiche remix of Carsten Meyer with their trademark melodious instincts present and correct. Suction Records legend Lowfish maintains the delicate vibe with a synth-rich remix of Quadratschulz which diffuses like a back-room incense fug.
Don’t get too comfortable though – undefined collective Thee Church Ov Acid House (reportedly from Frankfurt and possibly featuring Alter Ego’s Jörn Elling Wuttke) are on hand to shake you off the bean bag with some wild style junglism plastered with a multitude of car noises. That leaves it to John T. Gast to deliver the final sermon, remixing Rosaceae’s ‘Zozan Cudi’ in a visceral blend that teeters between raging rave energy and dislocated ambience with the sparkling flair Gast is rightly praised for. Don’t be fooled by the bucolic cover, this poodle has teeth.
OW

BIGGIE VS James Brown – The BIG Payback: Sex Machine Gun Funk (Reissue) (Soul Mates)
Driving up dancefloors and getting into the groove comes this glorious remix of James Brown’s most famous hit single, Sex Machine against Notorious BIG’s Gun Funk beats and lyrics. Slowed down slightly in tempo, the track works well as a good party starter, and manages to catch attention immediately. Although it’s an unofficial remix and release, the mash up of works by the late New York native and legendary soul musician gives us a taste of what could have been two greats vibing in a mash up of dreams. Coming through as a feel good hit, it is worth noting that it’s an absolute winner all round.
Considering however, that The Soul Mates Project traces the roots of hip-hop and the history of music by imagining “collaborations that never were”, this label has found a niche in the market that will keep them on top for a long time. Alongside this record, and a remix of critically acclaimed musician Fela Kuti and award winning group De La Soul, Soul Mates have unlocked a way to keep winning. With Piano sounds tinkling throughout the record with heavy guitar riffs and saxophone tones, still expect to hear the kicking drum beats hip hop fans will love.
AY

Noise Factory – The Fire (Kemet Records)
Kemet are the label behind the Ibiza affiliated supergroup Noise Factory, who single-handedly pioneered the microgenre “jungle techno”, causing the hardcore continuum to… well, continue, and then some.
As of late, the trio’s lead brain James Stephens has been firing out reissues. We’re by struck by a new one this week, recalling a selection of tracks made all the way back in 1992. Not as well-known as ‘Box Bass’ or ‘Jungle Techno’, ‘The Fire’ is still one of Stephens and company’s most endearing records, being a quintessential slice of the string-shearing, piano looping, shabby breakbeat hardcore shenanigans that today’s newest generation of dance music fanatics now crave. In keeping with every proto-DNB producer’s approach to music making, ‘The Fire’ follows a tried and true formula. Pitched-up soul vocals; overcompressed amens; shabbily sampled orchestral samples repurposed via a sampler to create an apocalyptic lead hook; and last but not least, alien spaceship sound effects.
As popularised by Chase & Status in the early 2010s, Loleatta Holloway’s ‘Love Sensation’ vocal resounds throughout the lead track. It still sounds mangled and texturised by vinyl, despite this EP being given the remastering treatment. The rawly titled ‘Skin Teeth’ follows, hearing the twin bleeds of ragga and bleep techno seep into the cracks between its breaks, which are unusually juddery and rattly. They sound like trap hi-hats, but they precede trap itself by a good 10 years or so.
As if we didn’t know already, ‘Set Me Free (Remix)’ assures us it’s “party time”, while touching on religious motifs with “I feel the light” vocal one-shots. It’s Bacchanalian heaven. And perhaps we’ve found where the dubstep producer got his name from; ‘Breakage 2’ is a pure bass and breaks dub flip the prior track. In classic jungle techno fashion, this track melds 4×4 kicks with time-shifting breaks – and likewise causes paradigm shifts in the process.
JIJ

Skymark – Easy Saturday Night (Mike Huckaby Remix) (Nsyde)
Mike Huckaby wasn’t as flamboyant as some of his Detroit peers, but his understated legacy lives on following his death last year. His role was more that of a mentor, bringing up new talent and imparting knowledge with generosity and modesty. That shouldn’t get in the way of his own artistic contributions though, and he had a particular touch that couldn’t possibly be imitated (though many might try). His was a style for the club, to be mixed by DJs, but also brimming with elegance and emotion ahead of brute force.
Sensing the need for sensitivity in their timing, German label Nsyde decided to postpone releasing Huckaby’s remix of deep house pianist Skymark which was scheduled for last year. Now it comes out as a single-sided 12” carrying just Huckaby’s remix, adorned with an image of the man in action, and it feels like a fitting tribute. Beyond the presentation, the remix itself feels like the perfect Huckaby joint. A no-nonsense kick-off straight into the groove, riding steady on a bongo-inflected beat and softened by dub tech chords and ascendant keys swirling in between the treated vocals. It’s a blissful Detroit house fantasy for the floor, utterly clear in its intention and wholly embodying Huckaby’s exquisitely shaped sound.
OW
This week’s reviewers: Jude Iago James, Patrizio Cavaliere, Oli Warwick, Ava Yusuf.