Sounds Benefit Vinyl & CDs

Review: Sounds Benefit founder Tom Joyce cast his net far and wide when sniffing out cuts to include on the label's latest multi-artist EP. There's plenty of little-known talent on show across the four tracks that make-up the EP, which come from artists based in Frankfurt, Paris and - most surprisingly - Casablanca. We're particularly enjoying the hybrid electro/spacey tech-house bounce of Peter Raw's wonderfully swinging "Brotherhood", though the deep and melodious electro bounce of Kosh's "The Mess" is also really rather good. Elsewhere, Manuel Schatz and Rob Amboule offer up some bold and snappy Motor City techno/acid house fusion, while HDV's "Digital Delight" is raw, analogue, funky and decidedly alien in tone.

Review: Tom Joyce's, Paris-based Sounds Benefit came through last year, and we're glad to see the label back and healthier than before thanks to the addition of two new names to the catalogue; oh, and there's an opening remix by German deep house stalwart Iron Curtis, a bouncy, penetrative version of Leaves' "Alley 4". That tidy lil' banger is followed by Tom Joyce's own "Roland In Space", an electro-leaning firebomb that wouldn't sound out of place in the middle of a DJ Stingray set, but things take a different turn on the flip. Newcomer Stojche bursts through the place with the high-tech, late-night synth melter that is "Subway Stress", and "Time Is Destiny" by Ben Cohen goes for a rugged, hybrid kind of techno sound that is supported by a menacing bubble of low frequencies. SICK TIP.