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Review: A 10" featuring the finest that highlife has to offer, Crentsil was a figurehead of Ghanian music during the 70s and 80s who was introduced to highlife music at the turn of the 90s - a combination of pop, jazz, disco, and funk. 'Obi Baa Wiase' and 'Sika Be Ba' are two tracks with a close-knit message of gratitude, hope and faith between them, with the former being the staple track of Crentsil's long career after being played at weddings, festivals, and live concerts by local bands. A pair of incredible tracks produced by Charles Amoah utilising limited equipment to create an authentic party atmosphere, jovial flutes and plucky strings are the accompaniment to A.B. Entsils's proclamation of joy - put this on at the party and the room are sure to start moving.

Review: While there's no doubt the Middle East has stepped into the electronic music limelight in recent years, catalysed by good (a rebalancing of media focus within dance culture) and bad (controversy surrounding events like MDL Beast and the media's desperation to keep 'breaking new territory' in a world growing smaller by the day), Fatima Al Qadri is not part of this wave. A Senegal-born Kuwaiti, the US-based artist has been doing very good things for well over a decade (2010's 'Muslim Trance' mix is a must hear), creating everything from music exploring meeting points between Arabic traditions and contemporary synth work, to sound installations for renowned galleries. No stranger to Kode 9's Hyperdub, her third outing on the imprint since 2014 puts dark, atmospheric ambient out on the streets of Dakar after dark. Or something like that.

Review: NOUN Records is a brand new sub-label of the much love Undersound Recordings, and it is all about serving up electronic music exclusively on 10" format. Caramel Chameleon opens up with a couple of tunes that he says are inspired by memories he has of childhood when he would walk on green hills. 'Sugary 2096 (Acid mix)' sure has a nostalgic feel, with its conversational synth leads and subtle acid lines washing over a crisp, punchy electro beat. O the flip is the more downbeat 'Apulian Feelings' with its rasping bassline and gentle, smeared chords bring a cosmic feel. A fine first EP.

Review: Vade Mecum welcomes Soft Traffic for a debut release here and it is one that suggests the producer has a soft spot for the warm, deep and heady end of the dubbed out techno spectrum. Those are certainly all the words you would use to describe the quiet brilliance of opener 'Find Ya' (feat Prince Morella) which is icy cool and hypnotic. On the flipside, 'Night Drive' is another sublimely soft focus and supple techno roller with infinite horizons and milky pads that dissolve your soul. A superb debut.

Review: Breakbeat maestro Hooverian Blur returns for Triple Menace, an EP which, as the title suggests, spans choppy breaks and dastardly bleeps-and-bloops for a 2HKO wielding a stylistic drum & bass greatsword. A singular 10" record houses these twin audio-imps, with the titular 'Triple Menace' occupying older-skool junglist territories, and the latter bringing things forward in time to a future-soundsy rave minimalizer.

Review: The Disciples and Boomshackalaka Sound Systems 'Mission of Dubs' comes from the early 90s and is an in-demand and seriously heavyweight instrumental in a Jah Shaka style. Now it is reissued on a strictly limited 10" as three different but equally deadly versions. 'Mission Of Dub' comes on strong with its warrior leads and swaggering drums all overlaid with dreamy little keys. 'Dub Ammumission' is more dark and driving, with crashing hits to wake you from your reverie. 'Missions Dub" (part 3)' closes out with a straight up dancefloor assault.

Review: Fresh from his mind-melting album Terraform on Yuku late last year, Tenebre returns to his heavier breakbeat roots with this killer dancefloor dispatch on WNCL. Going in hard on the breaks both 'Half Stab' and 'Full Stab' go all-in with no compromises. Both armed with big distorted, bruising basslines, the former is characterised by dubby echoes and shattering breaks while the latter eases up on so many of the bouncing bass hits lets the breaks do more of the talking.

Review: Jurgen Paape has a brilliantly characterful sound and wrote one of our favourite silly records in 'Ofterschwang' some 13 years ago (go check it out, it's brilliant.) We're glad to hear some new music from the long time Kompakt legend and co-founder and once again it's not what you would expect. 'Allein' is a downbeat piece with oriental melodies and gently plucked strings over warm bass. It's not for the club, that is for sure, but the flip side version 'Allein In Italien' sure is. This one is a chugging and brit Italo disco number with retro 80s synth sounds and plenty of joyous grooves.

Review: The dream team Dogger & Mindstate return to TNQ wax with this hearty package of soulful, hip-hop-influenced D&B flavours that was originally unleashed digitally last summer. Representing both their pathways into this music, from north to south, the duo recruit the likes of London's Verbz and Manchester's Sleazy F Baby to vocal and narrate their delicate, subtle but ultimately heavyweight rhythms. From the deep jazz of 'Different Roads' to the symphonic dynamics of 'From The Concrete', this is one of the hardest hitting and emotional records Dogger and Mindstate have made so far.

Review: Sister Candy's lost gem 'Keep Bubbling' has been dug out from some forgotten vault lost in time, and we're here fort. The killer jam was originally released 1984 on Raiders Records. It's that one which has been remastered here under special licence from Sir Lloyd and Sister Candy. It's got the flabbiest of bass ends you can imagine with great ragga vocals up top. The version is a real head twisting, filter heavy workout and the a DJ Sports remix brings a mad jungle breakbeat to blow your speakers apart and end the EP in style.

Review: Hoavi (Kirill Vasin) lends his services to Ghost Zvuk to deliver a disordered series of IDM 'Phases', which are intentionally numbered incorrectly throughout the record, as if to suggest something got broken in transit. That being said, these are remarkable textural explorations for the synaptic and deep-thinking listener; 'Phase 10' is an incessant repeat ricochet, sounding like the internal workings of a plasmic ball bouncing around inside a supernatural lead pipe; 'Phase 5' is more beat-driven, with pressurised pink noise bursts sounding to escape the alloyed confines of a ritual dubbing chamber.

Review: Velour's much loved album on Wolf Music gets the full remix treatment here. Four of the cuts get reworked by label associates old and new and it is mainstay Hulk Hodn who goes first. His take on 'Tom's Garage' is a noodling chords and late night seduction. South London's Footshooter then brings some big broken beat work and swirling synths to a floor facing jam, and Frits Wentink follows up his big recent Dekmantel release with a high energy stomper that bubbles with dreamy vocal charm. Last of all is super cool and jazz heavy 20/100 remix of 'Luminate' that is space age, Detroit tinged, sunset house.

Review: Hyperdub founder Kode 9 has always operated at the vanguard of his own musical world. The author of the hugely dense and academic Sonic Warfare boss approaches making music from a different perspective and shows that again here. This new 10" on Flatlines features two 12-minute plus tunes. the first of which 'Astro Darien" (part 1)' opens with a dialogue about space travel before glassy melodies, solar winds and cosmic ambiance take over and another dialogue starts. There are no beats on 'Astro Darien' (part 2) either - it's another atmospheric bit of cinematic mind-movie music.

Review: Whoever is behind these STEDIT drops is striking upon pure gold, bringing a legitimately underground techno crunch to the pop edit practice. Having previously tackled the likes of Brandy & Monica and Ultra Nate, now two of the biggest pop divas of all time are getting some low down and dirty reworkings which tread the fine balance between earworm familiarity and the heads down moodiness of a locked-in dancefloor. 'Slow' becomes a slippery acid abstraction peppered with all kinds of sonic freakery, while 'Justify My Love' becomes a brooding, steadfast workout tipped towards the minimal crowd.

Review: Oceanvs Orientalis and Ilhan Ersahin first entered each other's orbits by chance at a performance at Turkey's Cappadox Festival in 2018. Orientalis is renowned for his fusion of Eastern musical motifs and traditions with cutting-edge electronica, while Ilhan Ersahin has long plowed a unique path uniting assorted musical strains from around the world via an exploratory jazz-improv sensibility. Following two tracks ('Mesta' and 'Pire') co-written by Ilhan and OvO and released as collaborations, as well as two more Ersahin / OvO co-writes ('Revenge Of The Wankers' and 'Television') released under OvO's name alone, a fresh and exciting new song, '1980', now heralds a full-length collaboration slated to land in Spring 2024. The track's title hints at a certain nostalgic bent, all while still keeping its gaze firmly fixed on the future as it evokes sun-drenched, bygone good times. The 10" edition adds several extra versions, one of which spotlights the multi-instrumental mastery of Darkside's Dave Harrington, and the other the mesmerizing vocal stylings of Gaye Su Akyol.

Review: Ghanaian/UK outfit Isaac Birituro & The Rail Abandon won plenty of fans with the first two albums Kalba and Small Small now return with this seven track opus. It explores the traditional West African roots of their sound but also adds some freshness in the form of Birituro's xylophone as well as Sonny Johns' folky touches and the powerful vocals of Ghanaian songstress Wiyaala. You might well have already heard some of this on 6Music and will likely hear much more because it is hugely appealing and accessible music with devastating soul.

Review: It's pretty hard not to fall in love with Macadam Mambo at first contact. The French label represents the cream of Lyon's underground, a city that has for some time now been a quiet powerhouse of electronic and dance music, developing a reputation for strange, leftfield floor-filling sounds spanning slow burn chug, experimental tropicalism, Balearic and cosmic house.

Enter Axel Larson to prove our point with real precision. L'Ete Noir is an incredible EP, packing a generous six tracks on its wax, all of which are awesome. From the knife-edge atmosphere of poised and percussive rumbler 'Hygiene Du Squelette', to the downtempo joy of a track that feels like it's built largely on the sounds of dripping water and reversed rave keys ('Le Pyromane Du Chateau Rouge'), there are so many layers here you'll be busy for days.

Review: Vladislav Delay can manipulate sound like few others. Where he gets his ideas from is anyone's guess but we're presented with a laid more of them here in the first of five EPs in a series. This one finds the man born Sasu Ripatti deconstructing his soundscapes into whirring machines, metallic textures and chopped dup dubs. It is sound art as much as club music but will still work on the more adventurous dance floors out there. 'Three-Room Problem' in particular is an eerie and unsettling piece but one that leaves you wanting more.

Review: There is an awful lot of heat packed into this 10" from Room In The Sky, with six new tracks backed by the in-house Room In The Sky Riddim Force on an original called 'Fletchers Land'. Jah Walton aka Joseph Cotton opens up with 'Ganja Man' which pays homage to the weed smokers over fat drums. Goody Gap's 'I Smoke Weed' is another ode to the magical green herb and Michael 'Megahbass' Fletcher then steps up with a more stripped back and percussive dub. Ras Ranger, Ed Cubitt & Kodjovi Kush then feature on a trio of B-side gems.

Review: WNCL is back to provide more high grade dance floor explosives here in the form of a potent 10" battle weapon from Skin Teeth. Up on the A-side is 'Void 93,' a terse mix of busted breaks, heavy bass hits and jungle energy that's run through with dark vocal snippets. It's a hard-ass cut that will fill the club with a caustic sound. On the flip is 'Knuckle Bone' with more dub-wise vocal elements and heavy, tumbling drums and neck-snapping hits. It's as physical and uncompromising a beat track as you could imagine.

Review: Fizzy styles! Planet Wax co-founder Sicknote shakes up a new alias and ping off the lid, getting us all sticky with his breaks/hardcore fusion. Bone rattling business with breaks so heavy they carry the weight of a jungle vibe that would usually be much faster, it's a timeless weapon. Comes complete with a much faster, rave-minded jungle twist from his inter-Planet Wax-ary partner Dexta. Trust us, this one's gonna pop.

Review: A 10-inch vinyl release from the mysterious Jane in Palma - allegedly one of the many solo aliases of producer Julian Smith - who opens up a fresh series from the WMCL Recordings label. 'Arabs Version' and, on the reverse, 'Mixup Blender', are pair of heavy modern breaks and dubstep cuts respectively, with the former following the tradition of 'Hackney Parrot' or 'Trigger Finger' and the latter laying down a punkish, industrial steppers' forward-march, in which the satisfying shift of cut-up drum samples and vocal stop-starts are heard loud and clear.