Needs (not-for-profit) Vinyl & CDs

Review: Needs' commendable charity drive continues to bring forth the goods, both in terms of good causes and world class club music. Rallying round in support of World Mental Health Day 2020, Shanti Celeste kicks the record off in style with the rapid fire, deep-diving workout 'Fantasma'. OCB keeps the pressure up with the psychotropic techno of 'RS3', while Michelle works up some delightfully freaky synths on playful jacker 'Aesthetic'. Bobby's 'Free Your Mind' is a 90s-tinged, full fat techno production indebted to Detroit, Peder Mannerfelt keeps things stripped and raw on 'Our Levels' and Yu Su weaves a beautiful tapestry of interweaving rhythms on 'Brittney'. Adam Pits' trippy techno sounds resplendent on 'Wind Tunnel' and DJ Sports completes the set with the inventive, dembow slanted funk of 'Needs Dub'.

Review: Needs (not-for-profit) is a new label that aims to raise awareness about different issues within society with each release. Their first offering highlights the importance of mental wellbeing, with all profits being donated to mental health charity Mind, and calls upon a strong cast of deep house producers to impart the kind of Smallville-friendly sounds that discerning heads should snap up in a heartbeat. Hubie Davison's "I Know" is a melancholic affair with heart-nagging strings, while Johannes Albert injects a little spice into proceedings with a choice breakbeat and some excellent bird song on "Vigilia". DJ Swagger's "21st Century Slow Jam" is a peppy little shuffler with warm acidic bass and a kick ass swing in the beat, and then Bobby Pleasure finishes the record off with the wistful but tech-edged "Cloudspotting".

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Needs is back with its fifth installment of charity-raising goodness from some seriously quality producers. This time the gauntlet is thrown down by the increasingly prolific DJ Normal 4, who wields some of his signature breakbeats over a cheeky synth that nods to Da Hool for a dark and deadly roller. Israeli duo Red Axes pop up fresh from outings on !K7 and Phantasy Sound for the worldly percussion and mystical atmosphere of "Treacksheni" before Bristol bass-wielding techno titan Hodge finishes the package off with the stunning, dramatic undulations of "Signal," making this a collection of tracks that all feed into the same vein of rhythmically adventurous, moody club music.

Review: The ever-charitable Needs project continues apace with another stunning cast of characters offering up their dancefloor creations to help a good cause - the environmentally-focused Cool Earth NGO. On this 12", Eris Drew delivers the uplifting breakbeat celebration of "See You In Snow", while Edward takes things deeper with the tripped out minimal house groove of "Mind Loop". D. Tiffany brings a particularly crafty approach to her own drum funk science on "Sun Trip" and Henry Hyde cools things down with the mellow, new age 2 step stylings of "Every Day's A Good Day For A Swim."

Review: The reach of not-for-profit label Needs continues to impress as they link up with Peggy Gou and Juju & Jordash in a collaboration with UN Women for an expertly curated 12" of interstellar sonics strapped to a 4/4 beat. Gou is on typically strident form on "Shero," presenting her keen instinct for 90s house and more fluttering, psychotropic tones distilled into dancefloor manna as intriguing as it is easy on the ears. Juju & Jordash meanwhile channel their own learned approach to live jam improvisation into a true trance-out of strafing arpeggios and spongy FX for the trip-out crew to get lost in.

Review: Bobby Pleasure's Needs label continues to gather steam behind a message of togetherness, raising money for worth causes and trying to help those less fortunate in society. On this third instalment Lord Of The Isles leads the way with a typically romantic swoon of analogue bass and gorgeous 80s synth strings, while Mehmet Aslan lays down an earthly prowler powered by organic instrumentation. "Trust The Mountain" introduces Petwo Evans with a daring strain of broken electronica heavy on the crackling signal processing. Bartellow's "1001 (Skrillex Theme)" is a craft machine disco workout, and then N-Gynn takes things tropical with the exotic tones and bold drum machine hits of "Jumanji".

Review: Needs have done a fine line in charitable releases in the last few years and here comes another one, this time in the form of a various artists release. Maara's 'Lose Control' is a bumpy techno workout with nice pinging kick drums, Priori then slows it down to a more predatory crawl on 'This Multiple' and Rudolf C allows the aliens in his machines to take over on the deep cyborg techno of 'Bugs Life.' HearThug's cosmic workout 'KillAcidKill' brings a tense vibe to the floor.

Review: The 9th EP from not for profit label Needs is a historic one which embraces the future of vinyl production by partnering with Green Vinyl Records in Holland. Together, they have produced a 100% recyclable record which, we're told, uses 60% less energy costs when compared with traditional vinyl production methods. Musically it bangs, too. Saoirse kicks off with a chunky techno cut with dazzling melodies and Pugilist fires up an electro spaceship and heads off to the future with 'Gluttony.' Reptant is in more rueful mood on 'The Last Laugh' and there are still three more cuts on the flip with the highlight being the percolating beats of 'Flex.'

Review: Charitable acts carry more significance than ever right now, and Needs are on hand with another instalment in their brilliantly curated series to give something to those in need while also presenting some wonderful, exclusive music. This one leads in with a truly uplifting blast of sunshine from Telephones before dropping into the edgy, swinging tech-funk of Ciel's "Faye Wong Plays The Strings". Al Wootton is on point with another of his fresh and dynamic twists on the soundsystem blueprint, with a dubby, percussive vibe that should appeal to those who miss proper dubstep. Eliphino completes the set with a squashed and feverish garage thumper that sounds like it has an iconic vocalist chopped up somewhere in the signal chain.

Review: Bobby Pleasure's Needs label has been launched as a not-for-profit concern aimed at raising money for worthy causes, and on this second instalment they're setting their sights on British homelessness charity Crisis. They've called upon a cracking cast of deep house operators to help donate their jams to the cause, kicking off with Tilman's infectious, looped up heavy-grooving "Without Your Love". Jonny Rock takes a boogie-inflected, 80s approach on the aptly titled "Oldschool Funk Edit", while Lucky Charmz heads into swooning edit territory on the beautiful "Sun Mountain". Pletnev rounds the record out in fine style with a tripped out bongo roller in the shape of "Babunde'.