Sex Tapes From Mars Vinyl & CDs

Review: Sex Tapes From Mars come back a year after their last EP with a third one on the small but well-formed label and this one is handed over to Jata. Opener Stutter '(I)' is pure funky techno and mind altering cosmic synth work for the peak time. It's a bright and vivid sound world that's as good for the head as the heel. 'Midstate' then gets more dirty with warp synth riffs and smeared chords over industrial tech beats. It's restless and kinetic and another dancefloor bomb. Last of all comes the wonky closer Stutter '(I)' which is full of trippy effects and freaky little synth motifs over squelching basslines.

Review: Bristol's vinyl purists Sex Tapes From Mars continues its journey through the underground with the latest EP from Suburbia main man Cam Stockman. This four-track release is a raw and hypnotic dive into vintage analogue synthesis, acid-soaked basslines and sultry vocal hooks. Stockman shows he is unafraid to push into new relays here as he mixes up classic and contemporary sounds. 'Dreams In The RS' is turbo-tech with charming melodies, 'Chicktikka' brings lithe broken beats and cosmic rays and 'Useless' brings some twitchy acid playfulness before 'The Acceptance Speech' is a more whacked out deep house joint sent back from the future.

Review: Sicilian electro-contemporary Monica Venturella steps up for Sex Tapes From Mars' seventh outing, serving four acid-bleeding, delirious cuts. A1 'Talk Dirty 2 Me' is a masterclass in rhythmic finesse, navigating the delicate balance between the syncopated shuffle of two-step drumwork and the subterranean swell of an early 00s growlbass. Then 'Don't Think About It' forays through bouncy, playful energies underscored by a distinctively corrupt acid line, not long before 'Oh Shie' flaunts a deranged, bumpy groove on the flip. Layers soon unfold with intricate detail, bespeaking the record's jilted finale, 'Espionage', which begins with a filmic, detuned set of vintage synth swells before dropping into no less than a seminal standout joyride in greezy waft. Verberating bleeps, clever pitch play and raunchy vocal stabs join in on the trip.

Review: 'How Do You Do It?' We'd like to ask Victorious much of the same question, as his reissued four-track EP via Sex Tapes From Mars is a serious befuddler, leaving us with just that question at the tips of our lips. First released in 1997, this is a long-lost soulful vocal house seducer from the genre's golden era. The record became a quick cult favourite, and its status among heads has remained exalted to this day, going for obscene prices on the 'ogs (there should, of course, be more regulation). Victorious aka. Victor Davies hailed from Canada and had already released one other EP before this one, via the serendipitously named Sex Records. But 'Liquid Squid' is really the teuthid oozer of choice, its lustrously sweet vocals sounding as if they'd been sung in secret by an illegitimate lover and its various analogue knocks and hums working to splashy effect.