Clone Classic Cuts Holland Vinyl & CDs

Review: The seminal Drexciya duo was active from 1992 to 2002 and crafted some of Detroit's most original electronic music using basic Japanese hardware. They built an entire underwater mythology inspired by Afrofuturism around the sounds and imagined aquatic descendants of enslaved Africans thrown overboard during the Middle Passage. Their music is raw, funky and sci-fi but sub-aquatic, so defined the genres of the day, and still do now, decades on. Their urgent rhythms and cryptic transmissions play out like a movie for the mind and Clone's excellent compilations reintroduced their sound to a new audience when the first pressing landed. This latest reissue preserves again the music's analogue warmth and mystique as Drexciya's legacy remains as enigmatic and influential as ever.

Review: Stone-cold classic here from the iconic Detroit electro duo Drexciya. Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller II is part of the reason they have such a mystique and are so revered by fans and artists everywhere. They lay out their own singular electro blueprint, heavily influenced by a conceptual backstory about a lost underwater world. The tracks, drawn from early singles, throng with irresistible analogue funk, wild filters and sci-fi undertones which drag you deep inside the music and leave you free to dream. From the maniacal 'Danger Bay' to the haunting 'Davey Jones Locker,' the compilation's strength lies in its raw, timeless power and Clone Records' careful curation only heightens the trip and allows Drexciya's sonic depth to speak purely for itself.

Review: As it often does so well, Clone Classic Cuts revives two key early 90s gems from Toronto's Strobe Records here, in turn spotlighting the city's crucial but often overlooked role in North American dance music. The Hayden Andre Project delivers deep, percussive house with Detroit techno undertones so it's full of raw yet refined grooves that remain floor-ready decades on. On the flip, Ron Allen's 'Kingdom Come' alias channels New York-style soulful house with lush piano, swinging drums and a distinct Canadian warmth. These tracks showcase a moment when Toronto helped blur regional lines in the evolution of house music.

Review: For an all too brief period between 1991 and 1994, Jovonn's Brooklyn-based Goldtones imprint was a shining light for a particularly positive brand of underground US house. Musically expansive but focused on the dancefloor, many of the label's releases occupied the middle ground between Nu Groove style New York deep house (think Bobby Konders and the Burrell Brothers, in particular) and the kind of shuffling, organ and synth vibraphone-laden material popular with acolytes of New Jersey legend Tony Humphries. This surprise retrospective on Clone Classic Cuts showcases many of Jovonn's productions for the imprint, joining the dots between the supple grooves and heady melodies of "Flutes (185th Street Mix)", and the intense percussion and tribal yelps of "Back To House (Jovonn's Classic Goldhouse Mix)".