Echocentric Vinyl & CDs

Review: Fresh from serving up a superb set of off-kilter house cuts from Newcastle-based maverick Man Power, Timo Rotenen's Echocentric imprint has turned to regular Belters contributor Dominik Marz. The long-serving producer has delivered an EP of nostalgic, energy-packed delights that variously doff a cap to dance music sub-genres of the 1990s and early 2000s. For proof, check the gargantuan 'Honesty', where mind-bending noises and sharp, trance style stabs rise above stomping beats and deep, sub-heavy, bleep & bass style low-end pressure. Similarly excitable and mind-altering is EP-opening slammer 'Honesty'. Elsewhere, 'Only One' sees Marz pepper a stabbing bassline and hissing house beats with raw bleeps and nostalgic samples, while 'Never Use Quantize' is pleasingly wayward - like early Chicago house crossed with NYC freestyle.

Review: Vyvyan is the solo project of Bonar Bradberry, a perennial underground perfumer with roots in disco and house and plenty of great releases to his name as half of the acclaimed Leeds duo PBR Streetgang. Here, he delivers music for dancefloors when the night turns uncanny by stripping club sounds to their raw essence. Following his 2022 debut album Y, which fused rough percussion with warped melodies, the 'Waterslide EP' pushes on further. The standout title track is minimal and wonky house with synergic synths that burrow deep into your brain and it receives a powerful remix from Gallegos, while 'Kindness' is an amped up rhythm with plump kicks and trippy lines spraying throughout the mix.