Butter Sessions Vinyl & CDs

Review: Red Ember Records main man Ewan Jansen may have been serving up dusty deep house and tactile dancefloor workouts since the late 1990s, but he's not released many full-length excursions. In fact, this outing Butter Sessions is his first longform release for nearly 16 years. It's a proper album, too, with the Perth-based producer using the opportunity to experiment with different rhythms, tempos and sounds whilst retaining his usual melodiousness and keen sense of atmosphere. Highlights include, but are in no way limited to, off-kilter opener 'Mussel Hustle', the acid-flecked, early morning dancefloor fever dream 'Kooka', the melodious electro sea breeze of 'Watertable' and the mid-80s Japanese synth-pop/electrofunk eccentricity of 'Proteus vs Yoshimitsu'.

Review: One year after dropping back in 2023, Jennifer Loveless's bonafide anthem 'Pleasure' is back in the form of three thrilling reworks and a dub mix which expand its appeal into new realms. Parisian maestro Bambounou kicks things off with a jackin' remix bursting with energy while Lisbon-based veteran and Ibiza favourite tINI follows and offers up a bass-heavy electro-inspired rendition nodding to old-school vibes. Jennifer Loveless and label heads Sleep D close the EP with an 'Indubm-3ntal mix' which is a hypnotic, dubbed-out techno journey layered with deep and atmospheric textures. Together, these fresh interpretations are primed to ignite dancefloors once more.

Review: Since debuting a decade ago, Sleep D has refused to settle on one specific style or sub-genre, though in recent years the duo seems to have settled on a sound that prioritises hallucinatory, TB-303-driven sounds, weighty techno grooves and nods towards mid-90s ambient techno. These elements are much in evidence on the Australian outfit's latest EP, though there are also audible nods to neo-trance and the formative years of the psy-trance movement. They first join forces with Ivy Barkakati and Furious Frank on the constantly rising, mind-altering neo-trance throb of 'Border Control (Ahora Si)', before reaching for seriously trippy electronic motifs, creepy chords, metallic-sounding electronic bass and sturdy house beats on 'Post Pump'. Closing cut 'Bass'd in Berlin', meanwhile, immerses us in ambient electronics and mutilated choral samples before introducing a seriously pulsating, trance-style groove.

Review: Cracking the back window open, Sleep D aerate our inner herbaria with a gas exchange in progressive techno, letting us in again on their outdoorsy brand of photosynthetic dance music. Always deepeneing their connection to the natural world, the EP opens with 'Green Thumbs' before vine-whipping us into the curious perks of 'Mountain Ash'; both nail a blithe, fairylike spirit, and the flushed-out, unencumbered feel of braving a hike after a cucumber face mask. 'Acheron Cauldron' carries the listener to a volcanic peak, where relentless kick and pulsating bassline brings us to seismic climax, leaving only eerie whispers. Closer 'Magma Flow', finally, is a trance-inducing finale hearing a slowed but thicketed texture, as brambles and stamens cloud our vision of a synth aurora.