Rush Hour Holland Vinyl & CDs

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


During a record digging trip to South Africa a year or two back, Rush Hour co-founder Antal stumbled on an obscure local cover of Klein & MBO's Ron Hardy and Larry Levan favourite, "The MBO Theme". The Warrior version, which was recorded at some point in the early '80s, is a little slower and breezier than Klein and MBO's original, with even finer fretless bass flavours and the track's famous melodies re-played on some particularly spacey synthesizers. Helpfully, the Klein & MBO version is on the A-side, so you can easily compare the two: Warriors' little known cover is definitely our pick of the pair.

Review: Helmed by Kid Batchelor and Keith Franklin, Bang The Party were one of the first UK groups to capture the acid house explosion as it found a foothold in the legendary RIP parties and other seminal early spots. Their sound bridges the gap from the prior rare groove warehouse scene and gives it a sweaty Chicago injection, and it's captured brilliantly on this, their breakthrough debut record from 1987. There's a strong soulful edge to 'I Feel Good All Over', while 'Jacques Theme' has a dreamy, surreal tint, and 'Release Your Body' channels a little Motor City flair in its twitchy synth lines and drum programming, but crucially this was one of the first indications of house and techno finding a distinct character across the pond ahead of the wider house culture that would blow up in the years that followed. Truly pioneering music.

Review: Rush Hour has been one of Europe's independent musical powerhouses for decades now. Now only does it have Amsterdam's best record shop, but it throws the best parties and puts put the fresh new records from several different genres. next to that of course they also know how to dig deep and unearth vital reissues, which is what they do here with a triple headed Japanese house affair. Katsuya Sano keeps it OG Chicago with his 'I Need Luv', then Junichi Soma offers the analogue depths of 'Ubnormal Life' and Shuji Wada shuts down with more brilliantly atmospheric sounds on 'Endless Load.'

Review: Dutchman Tom Trago has somehow been away from what was once his home label for a full decade now. He makes a welcome return like a long-lost son on new album Deco, a superbly accomplished record that takes its name from a sauna he frequented when he needed to decompress. Eventually, he put his musical career on hold and went to speed time with his young family and so this album was recorded after a long time away from club dance floors. It is delightfully whimsical with airy melodies, curious chords and majestic synth craft all drifting over barely-there rhythms. It's an album that provided musical therapy for Trago, and now us.

Review: Lars Bartkuhn sonically portrays his recent relocation to Brazil on his latest ambient / new age LP Dystopia. It's an ironic title for sure, since it hardly sounds like what we'd usually imagine a dystopia to sound like. Perhaps the LP's making could shed some light on this paradox; Bartkuhn's first solo LP for almost nine years, it was born out of two interlinked ideas: a desire to create improvised music without the aid of computer sequencers or an electronic drum set, and a deeply held love of storytelling through sound. It's this revelling in imperfection which perhaps makes the album 'dystopic' - bits like 'Largo' and 'Do You Know How To Get Out' are beautifully rhythmic and driving, despite their apparent lack of computerisation going into the process. Sonically, it's aquatic, malleting, tactile, bubbly, serene.

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