LIES US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Ron Morelli's long-running and always forward-thinking L.I.E.S label looks to prolific producer Orion Agassi who hails from Spain and has proven himself as a real house mainstay. He backs up that reputation with six cuts of "straight up beat tracks for the club." They are inspired by the legacy of early WBMX mix shows and come with a hint of Latin flavour, with hammers percussion, snappy drum patterns and fiery vocals all making for a nice and wonky workout across a range of inviting tempos. A very useful album that has something for a wide spread of dance floor moments.

Review: UK producer Tom Carruthers really impresses with this full length for Rom Morelli's revered US imprint LIES. It is steeped in bleep traditions and old-school electronic sounds, but all with a fresh new perspective. Right off the bat, this record draws you in: there are early Chicago jack tracks like the opener 'Can You Feel It', melon-twisting deep cuts such as 'Cyclone' and chattery melodic jams like 'Fantasies' which all hark back to a different era. 'Forge' explores a mysterious world of interplanetary house, 'Quest For Rydm' echoes the sound of LFO and 'Channel Control' is pure dance floor heat. This is music for getting E'd up and losing yourself in the middle of a warehouse, and we love it.

Review: Jersey City-based Jorge Velez has long been one of the US underground's most revered figures to those in the know. Largely predating the current fascination with lo-fi analogue productions, something shown on the excellent MMT Tape Series compilation which delved into his early archives, his work as Professor Genuis on Italians Do It Better and Thisisnotanexit was followed by the conceptual Hassan LP on L.I.E.S. which provided a soundtrack to an imaginary film based on a shadowy Middle Eastern cult formed in the 11th century. Here Velez return to Ron Morelli's stable with Territories, a six-track LP that passes through "menacing drones to EBM influenced floor tracks to Sakamoto-esque melodic experiments," with a "distinct atmosphere suitable for home listening or adventurous club play." Even for those who are familiar with the odd structures Velez creates with his hardware, this is a wild trip worthy of much closer inspection.