All genres charts

Review: D Dan is fast becoming a fan favorite in the techno scene, with multiple releases on the high profile Lobster Theremin label. This is the third release on his own label, Summerpup, and the second from himself. 'Rising' is a white knuckle ride of hard techno reminiscent of Ben Sims, Surgeon and Bryan Zentz, while 'Freak' and 'Hide & Seek' are demented storytellers in the science fiction genre. Think Jeff Mills and Axis. For the second side, 'Organic Mechanism' is a percussive and eerie workout for the headstrong. Fans of Tresor, Johannes Heil, Regis, Oliver Ho and the like should feel right at home with these uptempo loops and late 90s sounds.

Review: You'd be hard-pressed to find a collection of euro house and dance music more chock-full of hits than this. In the vein of the early 90s dance compilations, Music On Vinyl gathers two discs packed with landmark dance records and massively popular crossover tracks like Haddaway's 'What Is Love', 2 Unlimited's sports arena classic No Limit', Snap!'s timeless 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' and the worldwide hit 'Pump Up The Jam' by Technotronic. The great thing about this release is the inclusion of many other lesser known but memorable gems like T-Spoon 'Sex On The Beach' and Twenty 4 Seven's 'Slave To The Music'. A whopping 27 tracks in total to take you back to the days when dance music owned the airwaves and the clubs.

Review: Greyscale unveils its latest endeavour, the Spectrum Series, as a way to continue to evolve its offerings and this time it is with something that makes a vibrant departure from its traditional black-and-white aesthetic. The inaugural release features the iconic Lithuanian dub track 'Kasdienybes Sventykla' by grad_u & Eazystyle MC as a way of commemorating its 15th anniversary. It came as a double CD in 2011 but now gets a first vinyl pressing on a nice 10" slab of wax. The track itself taps into the earliest roots of dub in the 70s and traces a line through the 80s with its heavyweight drums and endlessly echoing bass topped by great mic work. A pared-back instrumental features on the flip of this latest crucial drop from the dub dons at Greyscale

Review: Big Love records assembles four talented artists for the 5th edition of A touch of love. The compilation opens with Seamus Haji's 'Dance With Me', a spirited house track featuring Kathy Brown's powerful vocals and a driving beat. Illyus & Barrientos contribute 'Wait' featuring Phebe Edwards, a melodic house track with disco influences, soaring strings and rhythmic percussion. The B-side features Richard Earnshaw & Mr V's 'This House Is Yours', a party-ready disco house track perfect for the dancefloor. DJ Meme's 'Century' concludes the compilation with a deeper, more melodic offering. Together, these four tracks offer some great opportunities to make a dancefloor happy.

Review: Stevie Wonder's 'Pastime Paradise' has thus far been less recognised as an original soul wonderwork, and more so as a sample by American rapper Coolio on the derivative 'Gangster's Paradise'. Though still having been covered by many artists over the years, Major Keys records highlights this enduring 1981 cover of Wonder's 'Paradise' by Latin percussionist Ray Barretto as among their favourites, if not their absolute favourite. Now the label reissue the gem, flaunting its up-to-date, nigh timeless feel; it's the opposite of a miracle that this has never before been released on a 12" single record, despite the fact that it is a favourite on the floors of jazz and soul rooms the world over. It also flips it with Barretto's own 'La Cuna' and 'Mambotango', taken from the same 1981 LP.

Review: The cult favourite Dark Entries hits 15 in style here and celebrates in the only way it knows how - with more great music. This time it is the legendary synth-punk yahoos Crash Course in Science aka Dale Feliciello, Mallory Yago, and Michael Zodorozny who are in the spotlight. The group formed back in 1979 and set out to make music using toy instruments and kitchen appliances. Their punk-y, aggressive, angular sound soon found a hardcore fan base and gave rise to big tunes like 'Cardboard Lamb' and 'Flying Turns.' In 1981 they recorded Near Marineland, a full-length that never actually saw the light of day but does now and shows the band moving into more diverse and polished territory.

Review: Eleven miasmic, brooding tape meditations from the legendary Bryn Jones, reissued and packaged by Ukrainian label I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free. Recorded in the immediate wake of the Oslo I accords, the album both bares Jones' stance on the peace pact and eerily predicts its aftermath, with humming, resonant drones, tinny vocal fragments and reversed percussion colliding in aural analogues of political tension, distrust and cyclicality. Overall it is an equally meditative and ominous listen, peppered with many of the hallmarks of mid-nineties Muzlimgauze productions, from swung, steppy, proto-DMZ ride cymbals, to plucked FM synth MIDI earworms, to his ever-present swathes of darkly churning string drones. Essential!

Review: Hardcore trad house devotees Chixwax keep it nostalgic once more here with a new EP from Nacho Marco that ticks all the boxes for party start house without ever getting trite. Each one makes bold use of the celebrated Roland 909 drum machine and so they all come with booming low ends and punchy drums. None more so than the chord laced and bumping opener 'File 1.' 'File 2' brings dreamy pads and soft focus xylophone melodies Roy Ayres would love and ' File 3' taps into a 90s New York sound. 'File 4' brings a low slung and more dubby rhythm topped with Detroit chords.

Review: Seclusion debuts with its first vinyl release here and it decides to use the opportunity to showcase four remixes from three different techno titans. UK favourite Ben Sims goes first with his turbocharged take on Elyas/Anta's 'Real 13130 G's' and then Elyas offers the first two remixes. His version of Geto Mark and DJ Deeon's 'In This House' is seriously heavy, with rock solid kicks and muted acid spraying about them, then he remixes Player's 'Player Three' into a funked up and loopy house banger for the peak time. Mark Broom is the last to remix and goes for a fusion of smeared Detroit-style synth soul over hefty techno drums.

Notes: Blank Album Jackets, White, 20x 12 Inch LP Vinyl Covers

Vinyl Is Forever

... That is if you take good care of it! Big Fudge is the leading brand in the protection, storage, and display of vinyl records - like this set of 20 Glossy Black Album Covers!

It's Time to Replace Those Sad Old Vinyl Jackets

You, and those who came before you, loved those albums so HARD the jackets are now tattered. So replace them with blank album covers that let you spend less time with the sticky tape and more time listening to perfectly protected tunes. Unlike other jackets with thin spines that bunch up your sleeves, these jackets let you write ON the spine and keep the sleeves smooth and flat.

20 Blank Jackets for 12" Vinyl
350gsm Thick Glossy White Cardboard - Acid-Free
Compatible With Standard 12" Inner and Outer Sleeves
3.5mm Spine To Label Your Albums with Thin Chalk Market

Fits Your Favourite Sleeves

These Covers fit 12" albums like a hug from Tony Bennett. Some jackets make inner sleeves bunch up, but Big Fudge covers let plastic or paper sleeves slide in like a dream and then fit snugly to prevent them from falling out.

Add Your Artwork

Thin spines are annoying. But these jackets have a 3.5 mm thick spine, so you can label it. The front lets you glue or sticker art and then slide it into your outer sleeve. Use thin chalk markers that require a solvent to remove.

20x black Jackets

Your order includes 20 vinyl covers. Acid-free, 350 gsm glossy black cardboard jackets with the same quality you expect from Big Fudge. These will fit all your vinyl, even 180g pressings.

They've Had a Hard Life

You've dragged them around town, listened to them a million times, or found them already pre-loved and worn-out; now give them a new start at life with these Album Covers from Big Fudge - the brand that thousands of vinyl fans love and trust.

Review: Fouk, the Dutch production duo based in Zeeland, Netherlands, presents their latest EP, 'Mirage,' on Heist Recordings. This EP is an excellent blend of deep house and disco elements, showcasing Fouk's signature sound. The title track, 'Mirage,' is a driving main floor masterpiece, featuring sweeping disco strings and a hypnotic groove. 'Coffee' exudes positive house vibes, while 'Tapioca' brings in Balearic influences and a beachy atmosphere. The Elisa Bee remix of 'Mirage' adds an upbeat twist, and 'Abalone' serves as a smooth and elegant outro. Throughout the EP, Foux demonstrates their versatility and expertise in crafting deep house tracks with a distinct disco flair.

Review: Mad About Records officially reissues super rare private press Quintessence's 1981 LP. Surprisingly for the level of talent and production / recording wit that it flaunts, Quintessence was one of many original jazz LPs to remain in private circulation and thus completely wanting of the public ear. Led by Ron Ancrum, with George Sovak, David Gaedeke, Winston Johnson and Steve Muse, the band nonetheless recorded an exceptional slice of artistic pie here, bringing Rhodesy, tritoning sundowners to the then already well-fleshed milieu of 80s jazz, an unmistakably bulbous and gaudy sound to which Quintessence do much justice; our favourite here by far is 'In My Apartment', a tssking blue-jazz suite for boughed double bass and noir piano.

Review: In 1980 Tina Weymouth was playing bass for the Talking Heads while her husband Chris Frantz played drums. The couple were vacationing in the Bahamas when they met Monty Brown and Stephen Stanley. Together the four set out to make the kind of music that David Byrne and the Talking Heads stayed clear of: romantic, sunny, dance-able pop music. Their debut single, "Genius Of Love" is that classic early 80s cross between synth-pop and hip-hop, and went right to the top of the dance charts, securing them an identity separate from that of Talking Heads. It found a home in the samples of several hip-hop aficionados and was even nicked by Mariah Carey for her 90s hit, "Heartbreaker".

Notes: Replacement JNP110 stylus with elliptical stylus and aluminium alloy cantilever.

Fits MP110 cartridge.

Review: After 1972's seminal Ege Bamyasi, the German Krautrock legends released what is one of our personal favourite Can LPs. Aside from being the last work of theirs to feature the vocals of Damo Suzuki, it's a seriously deep and full-bodied piece of work, as you'd expect from the band. The title track itself is a hypnotic, visceral journey through space and time, but all the tracks on this are pure classics. You even get their poppier of moments in the form of "Moonshake". Don't ask any questions, just cop it. Essential gear.

Notes: The legend is back. Updated and re-engineered for the 21st century, the classic Technics DJ turntable remains the industry standard. Top sound, top build quality.

Supplier notes:
The SL-1210MK7 is the newest model of the SL-1210 Series. For the development of this model, all that modern-day DJs need and want was reviewed from the ground up. At the drive section of the MK7 is a coreless direct drive motor. While achieving both stable rotation and powerful torque, this has successfully eliminated a rotation irregularity called cogging, which was the only drawback of the direct drive system. As a result, sound quality was further improved. The pitch control incorporates digital control to achieve improved tracking performance and accuracy. The buttons and tonearm are black to complete the all black design, and the LED light can be set to illuminate in red or blue. A reverse play function has been added to expand the breadth of DJ play style. With those features and functions, the MK7 aims to set a new standard for DJ turntables.

Review: Black Key return from a four year hiatus in style, with 4 sublime tracks from Australian ultra deep house don, Planisphere, aka David Swatten. Following an incredibly well received LP on reissue label, For Those That Knoe, Swatten returns here with more expansive, smokey and utterly consuming deep house cuts, stamped with his unique sound but offering a different flavour from his Definitive Transmission LP - one which immediately stands out from the crowd. Being only his third release in 20 years, there's an understandable sense of anticipation around Swatten's output. This release undoubtedly puts Black Key firmly back on the map, picking up their deserved reputation for releasing only the very best deep house, aimed well and truly at the heads.

Notes: Master protection: You worked hard to collect it, kept it safe and look forward to each moment you get to listen to it. Now, keep your tunes scratch-free for the next 30+ years like good collectors do with Big Fudge Premium Master Inner Record Sleeves.

Increase their value: Are you sitting on a rare album? Is it still inside its dust attracting paper cover, or polyprop bag?! Why depreciate the value, when you can use the same accessories recommended by pro collectors.

Static-reducing inners: Big Fudge Premium inner vinyl sleeves feature protective 3-Ply Polyethylene on one side and Archival Rice Paper on the other. The negative ion technology reduces friction and repels dust for "long play" protection.

Fits like a glove: Premium Master inner LP record sleeves (set of 50) are an exact 7" square.

Review: Alleviated's Larry Heard reissue series has previously brought us the rough and tough acid of Gherkin Jerks and, more recently, the intergalactic downtempo grooves of his largely overlooked Alien LP. Here, they revisit one of Heard's later aliases, Loosefingers, dusting down and reissuing tracks from 2003's Glancing at the Moon EP. All three tracks are deep, warm and melodious in typical Heard fashion, with the title track delivering a sultry blend of wide-eyed chords, darting electronics, Latin-influenced percussion and tactile keys. "Deep Inside" delivers a hazy, sun-kissed take on soulful house - all jazz bass, sensual chords and gentle vocals. Best of all, though, is the tougher, synth-heavy "Lamentation", which rolls along at a near techno-tempo and is blessed with thrilling bleep melodies.

Review: Return to 2001: Swiss brothers Shakedown drop an iconic house anthem that debunked the standard XXL funk du jour with a much spacier, synth-based 80s boogie sound. Still relevant and heavily played, Defected have commissioned three on-point artists for the 2018 contemporisations: Peggy Gou gets her acid tweaks on, Tiger & Woods pitch down the vocal and dust off the Street Sounds electroid feel and Purple Disco Machine cooks up an unapologetic funked up house jam that wouldn't have gone amiss on Classic back in the day. For good measure Shakedown return with their own signature Galactic Boogie version that pumps with strong Moroder tendencies. Good night.

Review: What more needs to be said about this timeless disco hit? A staple of DJ sets by everyone from Derrick May and Laurent Garnier to James Murphy, this Harvey Fuqua and Patrick Cowley production from 1979 is a truly timeless classic whose spirit still lives to this day on modern dancefloors. Here we are treated to a rework by Britain's undisputed king of funky house Michael Gray (Full Intention) on his Sultra label. With full respect to the original, Gray's rework injects some dancefloor dynamics for the modern sound system. You even get a bonus instrumental "Dub Mix" on the flip!

Review: There's been much debate over the years about whose version of this seminal track was in fact the best. Laurent Garnier's 1997 classic "Crispy Bacon" gets a vinyl re-issue and it still stands the test of time. You can just imagine how innovative and futuristic this adrenalised peak time weapon sounded like in the mid-nineties. On the flip, the equally legendary Jeff Mills delivers his take on the track, keeping in mind that this is one of only a handful he's ever done. There's relentless and punishing cyclicality on offer here; the sharply resonating loops, that brutally overdriven 808 kick.. it's one of those secret weapons that never leaves the bag of the best techno DJs. Choose your side, but either way it's a definitely a classic!

Review: Remote working is not new - artists have collaborated by exchanging files since Internet connection speeds allowed it - but few have pursued it more enthusiastically than Sons of the Sun, a duo made up of South East London beat-maker/multi-instrumentalist Maverick Quest and Texas-based singer and rapper JTronius. The duo initially met online and decided to spark up a Transatlantic collaboration. The results, as showcased on this fine debut album, are rarely less than inspired. Casually joining the dots between future soul, synth-powered P-funk, Afrobeat, jazz and hip-hop, it's a set that oozes musical quality from start to finish. At times it sounds a little like Plantlife or Thundercat, at other times like a hip-hop head's take on 21st century London jazz; throughout, you'll be royally entertained.

Review: There are seemingly no limits to the music Emotional Rescue will put out. This time they look back to the post punk scene of Bristol in the early 80s. Mouth was a short-lived outfit that put out just a couple of releases, but each one blazed a trail though leftfield percussive sounds, wave, weird jazz and electronics. Andy Guy and Rob Merrill were the main members with the likes of Nellie Hooper also in the band's orbit. This record is packed with tribal drumming and floating horns, broken dubs and avant-jazz but all with a proudly DIY attitude. It's packed with heady moments and wild steppers that havent aged a bit and still sound future.

Review: Purple Disco Machine is the alias of Tino Piontek, a German DJ and producer who has become quite the staple of Aussie label Sweat It Out! in recent years. Exotica is his third album to date, and features a bunch of scorching disco numbers all delivered in his renowned style; from the infectious vocoder funk of 'At The Disko' with Lorenz Rhode, the neon-lit Italo euphoria of 'Dopamine' (feat Eyelar) as well as a collaboration with Italian deep house heroine in the form of 'Loneliness' and bonus track 'Twisted Mind' featuring Agnes.

Review: Neapolis is a brand new label that kick off with some brilliantly seductive Balearic sounds for the warmer days and nights that are fast approaching. The accompanying notes tell us that 'the intoxicating songs of the Sirens found in the bay of Napoli are irresistible to all' and these tunes are no different. 'Boulevard' kicks off with icy drums but balmy synths all rolling smoothly onward to some distant imagined horizon. Delicate vocals add the key hooks while a dubbed out version on the flip is more fleshy and heady.

Review: It would be fair to say that post-disco outfit Unlimited Touch's 1980 single "I Hear Music In the Streets" is one of the greatest boogie/electrofunk records of all time. Louie Vega clearly agrees, because late last year he decided to gather together the remaining members of Unlimited Touch and record a fresh 2020 version. The A-side "Touch Mix" is the bomb. It features a more organic-sounding disco-boogie groove than the 1980 original, with delicious guitars, bass and electric piano/organ underpinning seriously good group vocals from the sometime Prelude-signed outfit. Over on the flip, Vega serves up an electric piano solo-laden dub mix, as well as a "Classic Boogie" take that naturally sounds very similar to the band's much-loved original version.

Review: Twenty years ago it sounded like an oddly poignant evocation of pre-millennial tension. Two decades later it stands as an eerily prescient glimpe into the technological alienation and dislocation of of a new era. Yet more importantly, OK Computer is no more or less than a sparkling, dramatic and moving collection of songs that haven't lost any of their impact in the interim. The sound of a band stubbornly refusing to follow up the stadium-strafing stylings of its predecessor The Bends - and instead bursting headlong into experimentation and wild creativity -is portrayed in still more vivid colours by the alarmingly strong collection of out-takes and B-sides collected herein, Yet there's no getting away from the chill and spark that marked out OK Computer from everything surrounding it in the post-Britpop malaise, and continues to do so in the pre-Brexit counterpart.

Notes: Big brother to the excellent MicroFreak, the MiniFreak is a hugely impressive hybrid synth, teaming dual digital sound engines with analogue filters for creative approaches to polyphonic sound.

Supplier notes:
MiniFreak is a 6-voice polyphonic hybrid keyboard that fuses two digital sound engines with analog filters, outside-the-box sequencing, and instant-access modulation in a playful, curious, and sometimes unpredictable way. MiniFreak encourages users to escape the ordinary and explore the unconventional with a 37-note velocity-sensitive keybed with aftertouch, weave intricate evolving performances with multiple modulation lanes, and discover endless sweet spots with a built-in digital FX engine - a wildly creative experience.

Unprecedented hybrid polyphony

With over 20 modes to choose from including Virtual Analog, FM, and Additive, the interplay between MiniFreak's two oscillators can result in truly unique compound sonic behavior. With 6-voice polyphony, analog filters, and the ability to process engine 1 through engine 2, MiniFreak puts premium polyphonic synthesis exploration into a compact & tactile instrument that's as addictive as it is powerful.

Customizable & experimental sound design

Embellishing the popular Freak modulation matrix, MiniFreak gives users even more control over shaping, transforming, and evolving their sound, with features like polyphonic ADSR envelopes, customizable multi-segment LFO shapes, FM & Ring Modulation, and the familiar Spice & Dice randomization.

Mix-ready stereo sound

MiniFreak comes with stereo outputs and 3 digital FX slots with 10 FX types to choose from. From stereo-enhancing chorus, to surgical 3-band EQ, to gritty 6-mode distortion, users will have everything they need to push their sound over the edge while keeping it mix-ready.

Expression, meet chaos

Despite its penchant for wild & exploratory sound design, MiniFreak is also built as a responsive instrument of expression. Its velocity-sensitive 37-note keybed with aftertouch and spontaneous Seq/Arp functionality makes it a dream to perform with, while its randomization features and modulation lanes put playfulness and sonic momentum immediately at users' fingertips.MiniFreak VMiniFreak comes with a dedicated VST counterpart, letting users totally integrate its unique hybrid sound into their DAW productions and vice versa. Using identical sound engines and architecture, it offers a like-for-like virtual experience of the synth itself, at no extra cost.

What's in the box:

Box content
MiniFreak Unit
Universal PSU - 12V 1A
USB A to USB 2.0
Registration card

Instrument dimensions
Size : 22.75 x 9.09 x 1.57 inches (578 x 231 x 55mm)
Weight : 6.48 lbs. (2.94 Kg)

Review: Fledgling boutique vinyl label Creative Soul continues to endear itself to soul lovers with this third lovely 7". It might be the best yet. It looks to 1979 album Lawdy, Lawdy, Lawd by a band from Alabama called Centaura. They were Budweiser Comp winners in 1983 and featured on the beer brand's Showdown singles as a result of winning. But before that came the album from which these tunes are taken. They were produced by Bob S Riley with the involvement of a then-prison co-inmate Johnny Bragg. The whole album got reissued in 2013 but Numero Group but this is the first time these two singles have been on one 7" and superb they are too.

Review: It looks like Damien Chazelle, the young, impressive director of Whiplash and the more recent La La Land, likes to surround himself with equally talented youngsters. For the latter film, he's chosen Justin Hurwitz to compose the score for his successful musical featuring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and we have to say that this is a real keeper. There's a bit of everything in here, a little vintage pop, some classical elements here and there, but jazz is what's at the core of this original score, and that's why we think it's great. What's more, you can listen to Gosling and Stone sing on your turntables. Check it out.

Review: Disco Dub Band's "For The Love of Money", a one-off collaboration between producer Davitt Sigerson and reggae musician Mike Dorane, has long been considered something of a classic by those who like their disco to come with a big dose of dub-wise flavour. Here the instrumental O'Jays cover, which originally appeared on the Movers label in 1976, is given the remix treatment by long-time fans Mr Bongo. The superb A-side, in which Dorane's instrumental talents take centre stage, naturally comes accompanied by the frequently played Dub interpretation, a typically wild and bass-heavy affair that sounds like it was mixed "live" in one take in true Lee Perry/King Tubby style. If it's not already in your collection, it should be.

Review: Bassex Records emerged as a niche haven for electronica enthusiasts in the mid-90s, championing and, more importantly, blending genres like trance, breaks, acid and techno, the label's initial influence remained confined to the West Coast. However, as trancey breakbeats gained traction in Europe over the past 15 years, Bassex has ascended to cult status. Rebirth was label owner Mike Knapp and DJ Jason Blakemore (DJ Trance) and this compilation specifically gathers a few very desirable gems from three different releases by them and places them here. Bassex Selections is an important window into the label's enduring legacy and snapshot of the west coast scene circa 1994.

Review: Delia Recordings is a new micro-label from Nottingham that launches into the world with this very tidy new album, Then Horizon Is On The Horizon. It's a various artists collection of absorbing works curated, mixed and produced by lifelong gear collector Matt Horobin and it comes on vinyl and CD and includes postcards. The tracks are all taken from three upcoming albums the label is working on by artists Brown Fang, Torn Sail and Shrinkwrap, and bridge the gap between the local evolving Balearic scene and Laurel Canyon escapism. Gentle grooves, downbeat dub and delicate drones all feature.

Review: Due to persistent demand and soaring prices for the original pressing, this reissue of 'Why Don't You Go Home' on striking red transparent vinyl could not be more essential. Featuring the dynamic vocals of Diane Ward, the title track delivers a powerhouse performance echoing the King and Federal r&b sound. On the flip side, 'Cocktail De Medianoche' serves up a delightful blend of Boogaloo and Northern Soul, a cherished favourite among aficionados of Latin grooves and Uptempo Soul. With two phenomenal tracks, this reissue promises a perfect double-sider experience! for lovers of soul.

Review: A saxophonist at the pinnacle of his game, Shabaka Hutchings presents 'Afrikan Culture, on which he explores the rich musical traditions of the African continent and combines them with contemporary, self-affirming themes. Remarkably for how well-touted his name is, this is Hutchings' first ever solo LP, bringing it to the masses under the name Shabaka (following on the smash success of Sons Of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming). It's a stunning, existential album which not only pays tribute to the Afrofuturist greats who precede him, but which, of course, looks squarely into the eyes of Afroftuture that will come after him.

Review: This is an indie exclusive version of Heroes & Villains, the long-awaited new album from Metro Boomin that comes with a special insert. It is a widescreen and cinematic long player that will not leave fans wanting as big names like Chris Brown, Travis Scott, The Wknd, 21 Savage, John Legend and Don Tolliver feature. The 15 tunes flow well despite the many different names on it and intricate yet accessible beats define much of the rhythms. There are dramatic and dark moments next to moments of real hope with plenty of humility from Metro along the way.