Search results: Space Master

Review: Volume One of a label retrospective of pioneering early 90s Prog House label Interactive Test Compiled by Alex from Utopia Records and enigmatic Interactive Test founder Franco Falsini. Falsini, responsible for many of the underground classics on the label he founded in Florence in 1991 was first known for his 70s Italian Prog / Cosmic group Sensations Fix. A trailblazer who continued to push the boundaries of electronic music two decades later with Interactive Test, accompanied by the up-and-coming talents of Trance hero DJ Miki the Dolphin, his brother Riccardo and an host of cult Italian music producers. Here we start with 5 tracks from the archive, all highly collectable, remastered for DJs and psychedelic music enthusiastic alike from the best sources possible. Authentic and original dance sounds still hitting the spot in our times.

Review: Anyone with an ear to the underground will be familiar with the name Kenny Hawkes. The late great house artists had a great influence on the scene and that legacy lives on through close friends such as Classic Music Company boss Luke Solomon, with whom he ran the legendary Wednesday night party Space from 1995-2002. Here Luke has linked up with Space regulars Jonny Rock and Leon Oakey to curate a loveling selected mix of tunes that pay tribute to Hawkes. Space Part 1 is a must for house fans - there is steamy deep stuff from Hawkes himself, post-rave dreamscape material from Cine City, punchy tech house done right and booming, and loopy grooves for dancefloor hypnosis. We hope there will be many more to come after this great first installment.

Review: Everything But The Girl have transposed themselves from fragile indie pioneers to cross-fertilising their unique songwriting with drum & bass and house in the 90s, with the likes of 'Walking Wounded' becoming unexpected dancefloor anthems. True experimenters, the duo of Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt now continue to tap into today's zeitgeist - making their comeback in 2023, and arriving without prior announcement, this time they turned their tender production choices to styles such as future house and UK garage. Echoes of Bicep and Overmono teem on this record, as heartfelt retellings of personal strife and brushes with death make up its lyrical subjects.

Review: We're always going to be here for a new compilation series from Soul Jazz Records and Space Funk - Afro Futurist Electro Funk In Space 1976-84 is as good as it gets - even the artwork is killer. This second edition in the series is another twist trip to outer space on body-popping Afro grooves and obscure space funk that was all originally put out on small indie labels in the US between 70s and 80s. Plenty of these bionic joins still sound super fresh and they come from a host of artists you might not have heard of including Alien Starr, Maggatron, Tribe, Rich Cason and the Galactic Orchestra. Strap in, it's quite the ride.

Review: UK garage will never die and will always get any dancefloor pumping. It is just one of those genres that is so sweet and utterly and irresistible to all, which is no doubt why there are so many collections of the classics. Demon Records has assembled this collection featuring 24 cuts all bought together on four sides of vinyl for the very first time. It's fair to say these are massive, well-known tunes but they all still make a mark from artists including Shanks & Bigfoot, The Streets, Craig David, MJ Cole, Artful Dodger and Sunship.

Review: Armin van Buuren's A State Of Trance Year Mix 2023 is yet another meticulously crafted journey through the best trance music of the year from the Dutch genre king. Spanning over two hours, this mix showcases the genre's continued diversity and evolution and features tracks from both established artists and rising talents. With seamless transitions and expertly curated selections, van Buuren captures the essence of the trance scene in 2023 with all the usual hallmarks - from uplifting melodies to driving beats, euphoric atmospheres to epic synth lines. As such this it a must-listen and more proof no one quite knows the genre like Armin.

Review: After a succession of impressive releases on top labels like Hot Creations, Gruuv and Eastenderz to name but a few, Dutch producer Luuk Van Dijk presents a debut LP titled First Contact on his newly inaugurated Dark Side Of The Sun label, which represents a vivid sonic snapshot of one of electronic music's ascending talents. From the emotive UK 2-step vibes of 'Love You' (feat Dawn Richard) or the slo-mo mood music of 'Wolf' (feat Oneofmanysteves), to the druggy afterhours tech house of 'Master Plug' featuring Chicago's Kid Enigma and the deep late night affair that is 'Lightining Striking' - this is the end result of a long and intense voyage of discovery.

Review: Singer-songwriter John Batiste thoroughly expands his horizons with World Music Radio, his seventh studio album to date. A concept album revolving around an interstellar alter-ego named Billy Bob Bo - who creates "potpourri of the far-flung musical languages of Earth and transmits it to the cosmos with chuckling" - Batiste's latest effort is a globetrotting revelry in genre tourism, aiming for a redefinition of fraught terms like "world music," but also retaining an enduring sound of optimism throughout, and subverts the well-trodden path of the concept of trawling the megahertz.