Kalahari Oyster Cult Vinyl & CDs

Review: 'Felt Cute' debuted on Kalahari 12 months ago and now the producer behind it, Blu:sh, is back with a new record that captures the electric tension of a dancefloor caught between peak-time euphoria and a vision quest. The Pinky Promise EP pushes the limits with six powerful, groove-driven tracks that maintain the seductive essence of its predecessor but with added intensity. The album channels Benoit's signature exploratory style and delivers some of his toughest material yet. With strong influences from Eurocentric sounds, particularly trance, the record starts with a bang and maintains a murky, psychedelic vibe throughout that keeps listeners entranced and moving from start to finish.

Review: If you ask us, Kalahari Oyster Cult is a label as unique in sound as it is in name. You can never quite be sure what they might serve up next, but you can be sure it is worth dialling into. Alfred Czital & Ayu step up for this one, which starts at high speed and has drums and hits skating along the surface at compelling pace as warped vocal fragments loop to trippy effect. 'Talk To Me' is another groove with real urgency but plenty of inventive sound designs and clipped, underlapping bass. It's hyper modern and dead good. The Sleep D remix is more zoned out and smooth for the afters and Roza Terenzi brings a signature sense of wonkiness.

Review: Astonishingly, 18 years has now passed since Gilles Aiken - probably more celebrated these days for his work under the alternate Desert Sky alias - first offered up off-kilter tech-house tracks as Edward. Last year, he impressed with a wonderfully deep and unctuous EP on deep house imprint Smallville; here, he makes his bow on another must-check label, Kalahari Oyster Cult. In keeping with the imprint's love of all things trippy and otherworldly, opener 'Tentacle' sees him wrap chiming lead lines, psychedelic synth motifs, weird noises and layers of percussion to a chunky, locked-in house groove. Aiken then goes off piste via a skewed, druggy and at times dreamy tech-house remix of Trybet's 'Moodsetter'. Arguably best of all though is impossible-to-pigeonhole flip-side 'Dr Octo', which is immersive, unsettling, tactile and eccentric in equal measure.

Review: Furious Frank makes his "all killer, no filler type biz" Kalahari Oyster Cult return in cheeky, slapstick, neo-breaks wideboy fashion. As is characteristic of the label on which no artist ever quite takes themselves too seriously, Frank moves from musings on 'Photosynthesis' to acting the 'Raving Lunatic' in quick succession, betraying an interest in flora, then psychopathology. The former track is the most measured, its alarming lead line churning forth like a desperate message in fungal morse code, while 'Lunatic' and 'Blue Meanie' hark back to relatively earlier days, eschewing bonhomie for a relatively devilish two takes on UK hardcore. The 3AM Acid Mix of 'Wize Guy' does similarly, though it also indulges an ecstatic free-party-rave-at-night feel; transcendent pads, all-important crescendos, even a few kinesiological bongos for good measure.

Review: Juaan's debut on Kalahari Oyster Cult channels the Argentinian producer's ability to merge gritty, hypnotic house and electro with an unmistakable dark edge. With these four cuts, he expertly navigates a sonic landscape where urgency and allure coexist in perfect harmony. 'O Bianco O Negro' opens with a deep, rolling bassline, leading into acidic bursts and sharp percussive hits. It's a track that demands the dancefloor's attention, moody and relentless. 'Ladron' takes a slightly more sinister turn, with rumbling synths and a touch of tension, while still maintaining Juaan's fluid, dancefloor-driven momentum. Over on the B-side, 'Puntual' drops into an intricate mesh of stuttering rhythms and hypnotic arpeggios, perfect for those late-night sessions. Closing with 'Apego,' he draws the EP to a close with a darkly seductive groove, laced with eerie atmospheres and an unyielding forward motion. Informed by 90s influences but firmly grounded in the present, the EP delivers the kind of atmospheric, high-octane dancefloor heat that's made Juaan a standout talent in the underground scene. It's dark, sleek and perfectly calibrated for the dancefloorian intoxicating blend of funked-out futurism and dystopian allure.

Review: Barna mainstay Oma Totem dishes out the cerebral and dubby like it's nobody's business; on 'The Trick', we hear three tripped-out accelerators courtesy of the Oyster Cult debutante themself, on which there's also an OK EG rework for good measure. It's a clever trick, naming your EP 'The Trick'; not least since it invites the would-be listener to listen more intently, lest they miss it - what is said "trick", dear Oma Totem? They won't answer this, much less dish out pure, wordless, implicative sonic shellage. Somewhere in the gap between the graver underside of acid trance and the equally deep lacunae of UK bass in the large, the likes of 'Choreos' and 'Mania' likewise add to the trick's wilful missive. In other words, we don't get a message from this music much as we do feel a vibe: in this sense, we're happy to miss the trick.

Review: Danish prodder S.A.M. shucks out a meaty new one through Kalahari Oyster Cult, urging 90s Eurodance down a spiritual path. Having already led several labels to fruition, S.A.M. now moves as a solo artist between bold anthemic highs and intimate, meditative lacunae. 'Right To Disobey' evidences his desire to wrench the best frequent and amplitudinal possibilities affordable to the modern day producer, with hugely scooped vocal hooks and widescreen pannings bringing a next generative mood. It's only up from there, with 'Mastermind' maintaining a mindful but still detail-hungry stasis, and 'Crush' ending on moody minor second chords and raw, tweaker-jank percussions.

Review: SUED co-pilot SW offers up a six track MyDefinition of techno on Kalahari Oyster Cult that is utterly fresh. He starts with dubbed out rhythms and percolating percussion before getting tripped out and break-y on 'Moonnewso On', with its alien effects and squelchy bass. 'Goiossee' is another slow motion braindance the 'Massless' recalls the early work of Two Loneswordsmen. There are hectic rhythms and wild detuned chords tumbling all over the place on 'J JustMUST4y' before closing salvo 'VFXpeaksTWIN' is an ambient piece pairing church chords with breaking waves. Weird and wonderful.

Review: Ray Colino's steady hand on the tiller at Kalahari Oyster Cult has led to it becoming one of the finest, most distinctive labels operating in the wider techno-sphere. Notching up its 40th release in only five years, the collective energy of the cult doubles down on its spiritually-charged trance leanings with this righteous 18 track sermon featuring an impressive cast from close family members to headline acts. Whether it's the acid bubblebath of Volodymyr Gnatenko or Maara & Priori throwing down some deadly hand drum tech for the peak time, your sets are about to get a serious re-up of wiggy wonders. At a time when the early techno-trance sound has become so en vogue, Kalahari's clarity of vision and commitment to the vibe marks it out as a true scene leader.