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Review: If you ever needed to understand the core principles of Detroit electro, then look no further than this timely reissue from Underground Resistance. In light of the new music coming out in these times that is indebted to this particular side to the masked crew, it's refreshing to hear how vital and uncompromising a track as well worn as "The Final Frontier" sounds now. The pace doesn't let up as the cosmic surge of "Entering Quadrant Five" takes over, but hold tight for "Base Camp Alpha 808" as it sports perhaps the most compatible structure of all the tracks in light of more modern juxtapositions.

Review: Hiphouse classics from The Wildchild back in stock here, featuring mixes from Fatboy Slim, Tall Paul and Urban Takeover.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Japanese jazz great Takehiro Honda began his career with a series of classical hard-bop albums and ended it with a swathe of fine fusion sets. Sandwiched in between you'll find a series of excursions into different sides of the jazz spectrum, including this rare - and genuinely brilliant - set of instrumental and soul-jazz tracks recorded with the assistance of a big-band style 'jazz orchestra'. With Honda's killer keys-work (both on piano and organ) at the centre of the action, the assembled collective dashes between energetic run-throughs of original compositions ('Ain't Tell You A Good Way But', 'Ain't Funky Now') and some genuinely killer covers. In the latter category you'll find a thrilling rendition of Curtis Mayfield's 'Check Out Your Mind', a deep and emotive take on Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On', and a life-affirming interpretation of Otis Redding's 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay'.

Review: 53 Year Old Manuel Göttsching can easily be called a living Legend. In 1981 he recorded "E2 - E4" completely solo in his West Berlin Studio, live, in "one go" and without any later editing, over-dubs or such. Inspired by American minimal music artists like Steve Reich, Phillip Glass and Terry Riley. A piece of Music was created that would years after influence and change the whole electronic music scene.

Review: As long as there is hip-hop, debate will rage as to which album by A Tribe Called Quest is their finest. Of course, they're all superb, but 1993's "Midnight Marauders" - their third full-length - may well be the best of all. That's a big call, but we'd ask any doubters to give it another listen. The New York crew is in particularly fine form on the mic throughout, while the backing tracks, which make great use of crunchy, head-nodding beats and hundreds of superb, hand-picked samples, are amongst the most intricately produced, groovy and deep ever committed to wax. It's one of those hip-hop sets that should be in the collection of any committed music head, and not just rap fans.

Review: More killer ghetto tools from Dance Mania, this time from Drewsky under the Sneaky Tim alias. On the A-Side "Planet Wall" sees horn samples drifting across a firm rhythm and looped organ, while "Mental Kombat" goes in hard with killer synth lines rolling across each other. On the flip, "Ever Body" samples the 1977 Bumblebee Limited disco track "Everybody Dance" to great effect, while "Bad Connection" provides a tough finish with its razor sharp claps and malfunctioning Millsian techno vibe.

Review: An essential Dance Mania doubler header here - The A-Side is given over to the original master of ghetto house, DJ Deeon, with "U Can't See Me" and "Wigged Out" both providing plenty of vocal cut-ups and distorted kickdrums turned all the way down, and "Groovin Around" offering a mid-tempo number laden with funk bass. On the flip, Drewsky takes over for something more relaxed in comparison, with "4 U All" providing jazzy undertones, "Half of Bat" offering a surprisingly smooth piece of rolling future-funk, and "Shouts Out" taking things down to a hip-hop tempo which sounds like Dilla gone chopped and screwed.

Review: A classic Juan Atkin's electro masterpiece.

Review: Originally released in 1995, Joe Pippen's "Shake That Booty" may not be the most well known Dance Mania cut but its frenetic cut-up style and ultra-minimal 808 beats seem like the logical missing link between footwork and ghetto house. It's joined on this rare warehouse find by "Soul Train", a more conventional Chicago house jam filled with hands in the air soul samples, "Crazy Edit", which combines a twisted up melody with a "Bang't" vocal that may well have inspired Geeeman's track of the same name, and "Get Buck Wild", which closes proceedings with another distorted piece of ghetto leaning house.

Review: Next in the series of Downwards re-releases is a big one. After a long time out of press, Surgeon's debut LP "Communications" gets re-rubbed with brand new label art and a limited edition clear vinyl pressing (400 copies only). Anyone who knows the history of either Downwards or indeed of Surgeon himself will recognise what a landmark release this was, a clear statement of intent that caused dramatic ripples in the larger techno pond, and ultimately led to his further relationships with Tresor, and high-profile remixes for the likes of Dave Clarke and The Advent etc. Essentially this is an album that shows a hugely important point in his artistic development. Six tracks of raw, metallic techno, created using incredibly simple equipment (usually just one drum machine, one keyboard, and one reverb unit) but where the whole is considerably more than the sum of its parts.

Review: The transformation of Basic Channel into Rhythm & Sound reflects both a changed vibe and focus within their musical work. This release leaves the techno concept behind but keeps the branded Basic Channel sound. The combination with Paul St Hilaire's vocals adds a new dimension to Basic Channel's room of musical expression. A dub version is provided on the B-Side.

Review: A re-press of the first ever Balihu, "Look Ma, No Drum Machine", by Daniel Wang! This is painfully brilliant house music with wonderful textures and distinctive vocals samples. Sexy, hypnotic, undeniable and unique.

Review: With 'I'm Your Brother' Basic Channel initiates its deep house label Main Street. The A-side features the original vocal track which production is orientated on the classics of the genre. As one would expect the result is outstanding. This fact is even more true since the dub mix on the B-side has been done by Chez n Trent - a producer dream team of the early/mid 90s.

Review: The Maurizio story continues with two more techno dub tracks of astonishing width, depth and presence of every single sound element. Some chords appear after a break in the middle and gives the ongoing groove even more drive.

Review: Responsible for one of the longest running and most respected underground techno nights in the UK, Steve Bicknell first produced the much sought after EP "Flame In Darkness" in 1993. Highly respected by techno aficionados and perceived to be ahead of the game, Steve received requests by a number of techno luminaries to remix the original. The result, first released in 1994, was "The Remix EP" featuring definitions of the classic by Luke Slater, under his Planetary Assault System moniker, Dave Angel and Andrew Wetherall in his Lords of Afford guise. Now it is back by popular demand, being sought out by a whole new generation of music heads. A history lesson in the making that defies the limitations of time, as refreshing now as it was pioneering in its conception back in the day.

Review: An extensive treat for fans of silky smooth funky house as Sean McCabe's mix of Bah Samba's glorious "Reach Inside" gets a release from Restless Soul. The main vocal mix has all the elements of a great soulful house tune all wrapped up - long lingering strings, jacking percussion, smooth guitar and an anthemic female vocal all come together wonderfully. With accompanying instrumentals, dubs and bonus beats on offer too, this is one classy tune you can enjoy in a variety of ways.

Review: 'Music A Fe Rule' is the opener for the Rhythm & Sound label. The tune in its two parts is driven by an offbeat groove combined with a bassline that gives the impression of an electro-esque 2-step track. R&S takes their famous dub processed sound sphere to new heights and Paul St. Hilaire delivers an almost psychedelic, fragmentary vocal track. Killer!

Review: Originally released in July 1994, the legendary "Waveform Transmission Volume 3" has returned! This CD version of the landmark release has been retouched with a new cover and disc artwork from the original vinyl with the original master recordings being recut for higher fidelity.

Review: Re-press ahoy! And what a re-press... This standout garage double A from 97 gets a new life and both cuts stand the test of time impressively well. If you don't know Armand's Dark Garage mix then you need a schooling. One of the most influential records Van Helden's ever made, the deep sonorous bassline still carries the same weight and impact as it did all those years ago. Tuff & Jam's Unda-Vybe take on "Walking Zero" is equally as solid. Nowhere near as big as Armand's mix, but still huge in its time, this is a lesson in quintessential four/four garage with added vocal sexiness. Not feeling the vocal? Then flip for the instrumental. Keep spinning...

Review: The LP that broke them all over the world... retro chillout francais!!!!

Review: A-side with technoid super bleep disco track, a tribute to James Brown. James Brown-loops for sophisticated intergalactic disco mixing and also a filtered jazzy downtempo track, Killer!

Review: Theo Parrish classic from 97 repressed.

Review: The Rhythm & Sound label in association with NYC based legendary reggae label Wackies - a relationship full of musical respect. This release brings a previously unreleased reggae tune by the Chosen Brothers. The B-side contains the R&S dub interpretation: one of the deepest R&S production so far!

Review: The R&S label has many similarities to the legendary Basic Channel label. Although the vibe isn't 'that technoid' anymore, an astonishing range of tracks is presented here. Every 12" so far stands for itself. 'Roll Off' is a deep shaped and pulsating ambient tune in two parts with a unique sound scape of organic chords and coloured noises.

Review: Limited edition version with hard gate-fold sleeve and booklet picture inserts

Review: Thomas Bangalter's 12"s on Roule remain the most potent examples of the early 90s French Touch sound, and some two decades after their first release the Frenchman is re-releasing some of the prize picks from his formidable oeuvre. Trax On Da Rox Vol 2 follows the reissue of the first volume last month, and for what it's worth we reckon this instalment is even more essential. Tracks like "Club Soda" - perhaps the smoothest example of filter house ever committed to wax - as well as the abrasive ripples of "Extra Dry" and b-boy cut ups of "Shuffle" set a blueprint for a generation of producers who tried (and largely failed) to replicate the pumping, visceral energy displayed here, while Bangalter moved on, donned a mask and took over the world.

Review: With the release of Hallucinator's 'People' EP Chain Reaction establishes itself in the more listening orientated or leftfields of electronic music. 'People' features ambient soundscapes which have the dramatic of a movie score. Significant is the ability of the producers to create certain moods.

Review: The A-side introduces vocalist Savage with a beautiful, relaxed spoken word tune. Savage's reasoning over these subtle pulses combined with its rather restrained produced sound sphere is full of hypnotic power. The B-side contains two noise exploring ambient tracks.

Review: One of the classics. Repressed due to being the soundtrack Worldwide Sony Vega TV ad. Andrew Weatherall mix.

Review: Re-issue of the classic! The one with the sample from Kraftwerk that went on to become the basis for the entire Miami bass industry.

Review: Boom! Finally another reissue of Boards Of Canada's seminal Hi Scores LP from 1996! Along with the likes of Aphex Twin, LFO and Squarepusher, these guys have helped to define how we see electronic music today and this particular LP is arguably their most complete when it comes to the dancefloor. The title track is a twisted, floaty bindle of breaks and beats, but it doesn't end there. Tracks like "Nlogax" are inherently Detroitian in nature thanks to the bleepy drum machines inside, and all we can say is that if you haven't laid hands on this album yet, you shouldn't miss the opportunity to cop it now. It's still so relevant and contemporary, it hurts.

Review: The fifth release on Main Street leaves the deep house scene behind and offers an ultra deep and slow grooving' huge dub tune with rare fragmentary vocals by Paul St. Hilaire. A 12" that would fit in the Rhythm & Sound label discography as well.

Review: This CD is a compilation of the first five Main Street 12"s and therefore a guide to the deep house sound produced by Basic Channel. Included here are all the main vocal tracks and the instrumental versions. The latter appear in edits to fit the media.

Review: 'The Man-Machine' is closer to the sound and style that would define early new wave electro-pop. Less minimalistic in its arrangements and more complex and danceable in its underlying rhythms. Like its predecessor, 'Trans-Europe Express', there is the feel of a divided concept album, with some songs devoted to science fiction-esque links between humans and technology, often with electronically processed vocals ("The Robots," "Spacelab," and the title track); others take the glamour of urbanization as their subject ("Neon Lights" and "Metropolis"). Plus, there's "The Model," a character sketch that falls under the latter category but takes a more cynical view of the title character's glamorous lifestyle. More pop-oriented than any of their previous work, the sound of 'The Man-Machine' in particular among Kraftwerk's oeuvre had a tremendous impact on the cold, robotic synth pop of artists like Gary Numan, as well as Britain's later new-romantic movement.

Review: Native-Detroiter Terrence Dixon's longtime alliance with godfather of Techno Juan Atkins has helped forge his own powerful sound in the world of minimal techno. Since 1994, Dixon's presence has become well-established in the global underground for having produced some of the deepest atmosphere in the genre, surfacing especially in the co-production of Juan Atkins' "Skynet" album from 1998 (Tresor 105). This album is essential!

Review: "Disco Juice" is a handpicked collection of tracks that came out of Peter Brown and Patrick Adams' Harlem based P&P label. This Counterpoint release is compiled by DJ/record dealer, Nick The Record, who has one of the best 12" single collection in the world, and owns most of the P&P catalogue. This compilation makes the point that disco was very much a street level thing. Many of it's greatest moments came out on independent labels, and were geared primarily towards a marginalised audience. This is a world away from the anaemic generic disco fodder that poured out in the wake of "Saturday Night Fever".

Review: In a week where Murder Capital drop news of a debut album from MF Gesloten Cirkel, poppa label Viewlexx come through with a timely repress of the I-F classic Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass. First issued back in 1997, if you are not familiar with the title track from this record you might as well stop fronting you know about Dutch electro because you bought the last Legowelt LIES release and give it up. Raw, brutal, alien electro at it's finest, "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" is a classic that will lift any set, and is of course complemented by three further jammers of the highest order. "Playstation #2" still sounds mental almost twenty years on. Essential.

Review: Two absolute deep killer Monolake-grooves - a must!

Review: "Jazz Bizniz 2" uncovers the obscure gems that inspired the nu-jazz generation. With tracks coming from each of the last four decades, it's a bit like a history lesson for jazz-breaks DJs. There's some wonderful deep jazz, excellent skewed-soul and irresistible Afro-boogie grooves. The lack of driftwood is particularly noticeable - each of the 14 tracks here is a bona fide classic.

Review: "Super Tuesday", by System 360, is smart Detroit influenced moody downtempo-techno.

Review: While the other recent Theo Parrish reissue, "I Can Take It", is largely considered a Detroit deep house classic, "Lights Down Low" - released around the same time - is nowhere near as celebrated. This has always been a little puzzling, since the 2001 cut remains one of his most intoxicating and enveloping moments. Peppered with barely audience spoken word samples, twinkling pianos and tough-but-shuffling drums, the "Full Mix" is the aural equivalent of a slow, soapy rub down from a cherished lover. The more electronic, flipside "This One Mix", built around dancing synth bass and throbbing tribal drums, is, if anything, even better, dragging beatdown towards the dancefloor for a sweaty shake-down.

Review: In the four years which have elapsed since 'Loop Finding Jazz Records' first shuffled out of his ambrosially dusty speakers, Jan Jelinek has been collaborating with Antiopdean jazz-monkeys Triosk, converting his lint-like sound into a live proposition through The Exposures and releasing a royal flush of solo LP's which culminated in this year's delicious 'Kosmischer Pitch'. Yet for all these undoubted achievements, Jelinek's crowning glory stoically remains 'Loop Finding Jazz Records'; a situation we can't see changing any time soon. As far as albatrosses go, it ain't a bad one to have around your neck. Whilst it's all too easy to over-intellectualise the output of artists such as Jelinek, a simple fact tends to shine through the adjective heavy prose; it sounds utterly fantastic. Taking what reads like a pretty austere set of ingredients, Jelinek's technique revolves around a trilogy of elements which consists of second long cuts of 1960s-70s jazz recordings, the loop-finding modulation wheel (do your homework!) and the Moiré effect; albeit rendered in the acoustic as opposed to the image and spectral domains. If all this sounds like unbridled 'ball-ache maximus' to you, be assured that on record it is anything but; as crumbling edifices of mealy rhythms slowly pulse into life and swirl around your head like snow storms clashing with a dust devil. Taking sediments of fathom deep static then skimming the best stuff from the top, Jelinek opens through the dampened echoes of 'Moiré (piano & organ); wherein a slow-motion thrum of spiraling clicks, rustles and analogue tones conspire to give the impression of recondite perspectives that extend well beyond the constituent elements. Elsewhere, 'Rocky In The Video Age' instills a gratuitously optimistic blush to the aquatic micro-sound ebb, 'Moiré (Strings)' is a perfect companion to Basinski's disintegrating tape archive, whilst 'Them, Their' represents an aural crease so slight you can only catch its distinctive gleam from the corner of your eye. Inventive, intelligent and utterly invigorating, 'Loop Finding Jazz Records' is a genuine modern classic whose re-release is anything but a cynical mortgage repayment exercise. Consider this a second chance, then pretend you had it all along.

Review: Top of the pile in a slew of Perlon represses that have been out of stock for a long time is this classic slice of Villalobos! The a-side of Perlon release number 22, "Bredow" takes the listener on a never-ending trip that reaches its unexpected climax in a sophisticated piano solo. On the flipside, ultralow frequencies meet South American rhythm structures in the bass-driven sound-monster entitled "Damm3".

Review: very limited quantity back in stock!

Review: 'New Day' is the second deep house anthem produced by Basic Channel. Included is an main vocal mix and an instrumental mix on the B-side. The sound aesthetic presented here is undeniable Basic Channel alike. The instrumental version is not just the original tune without the vocals but a stripped-down-to-the-bones groove monster which lasts.

Review: Ltd classic re-press. One of the most manic and mental techno/acid records ever created. Aphex Twin has created replica sounds of the Aboriginal 'Didgeridoo'. The best of Aphex Twins early 90's creations - pure resonating madness.

Review: This is the deepest tune produced by R&S so far. The veteran singer Colonel Campbell provides a song with undeniable beauty. The backing track laid by RS makes clear that a world class production team has been on the job. Detailed refinements in every aspect of the sound sphere are showing that R&S did not rest. The dub version is featured on the B-side.

Review: very limited quantity back in stock!

Review: Oh yes, we love it when Theo represses some of his most sought after tracks and this one is particularly well-timed. Leron Carson is still an unknown figure, a kid who used to make viciously raw and futuristic techno tracks in the late 1980's! "China Trax", alongside the rest of his tracks on a different Sound Signature double 12", is totally ahead of its time and if it was truly made in 1987 then it is nothing short of amazing. Of course, it's not just the year it was made in that's interesting but also the fact that it's music without an age, able to be appreciated by any generation of techno freaks. Theo's own "Insane Asylum" on the flipside is also pretty monumental; rigged beats, off-kilter grooves and that familiar spontaneity so heavily associated to the label.

Review: R&S together with long time associate Paul St Hilaire produces a tripping laid back disco dub anthem. The rather fragmentary vocals are complemented by a subtle and improvised guitar. Quality guaranteed!