Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Lol Hammond is a former member of Spiral Tribe and early live techno act The Drum Club who now makes music on his own as Wah Wah Planet. Back in 1990 is when he penned this fantastic five track Balearic house EP alongside Russell Crone and with female vocal contributions from Lucy Sian. It very much lay out an early blueprint for UK street soul and the opener on the A-side 'Jewel' explores a romantic theme with hooky pop lyrics. Things get more left of centre on the 'Love FXU' with three trips into a smoother sound world perfect for sun kissed island dancing and with influences ranging from early breakbeat and trip hop to elements of dancehall music.

Review: Originally part of a 1975 charity compilation LP raising money for environmental charities in California - which later became a collectors artifact changing hands for silly money (which didn't fit well with the Deja Vu Kid team) - so this Balearic nugget, the crown jewel of the album, was released on 7". More in keeping with its original spirit, not to mention its exquisite sound, there's no better way to share it again than on it's own 45 release at a fair price. 'Metropolis' and its B-side, 'Before I'm Gone', are pristine, hi-fi wilderness folk ditties, both of which evince an incredible mood of streamside Americana.

Review: The crucial Original Gravity label is busy this month with three red hot new 7"s all dropping in quick succession. The top-notch funk crew has this spilt 7" from Umoza Music Project and The Woodfield Road Allstars up here on limited wax. The a-side is a sunny bit of original rousing 70s reggae direct from the islands. Backing vocalists provide plenty of butter while the lead laments a love lost and the rhythm rolls on. On the back side is a much more stoner-paced and funk drenched laidback instrumental with Balearic guitar licks that look to the stars as organ chords warm you through and the rocksteady rhythm gently sways to and fro. Two gems for sure.

Review: Niklas Wandt is a Berlin-based man of many talents including drumming, singing, playing synth and percussion and DJing, as well as crafting delicious techno depths such as those on this latest EP from the fledgling Viscera Transmissions. Initially, 'Mehr Phett' veers towards hi-tek soul a la early Detroit with its surging pads and sleek percussion. 'Feuerwerk Der Rhythmen' is another quick and kinetic cut but one with great meaning in the musical synths. 'Subcutaneous Dance' then gets more wild and free with layers of synth pulses, scintillating drum programming and a driving bass line that will lead to dancefloor lift-off. Eden Burns remixes the opener into a tropical, dubby, elastic house workout with an off-balance bassline.

Review: Waxwood generally likes to keep his identity on the down low, though it was confirmed recently that he's a Brooklyn-based Russian with a penchant for cosmic and spiritual music from around the world, as well as layered ambient experimentation and intoxicating house and techno beats. All of these traits come to the fore on "Kama", which sees him pepper a rolling, head-nodding hypno-house groove with simmering strings, relaxed electronics and chiming melody lines. It's rather good, all told, as is the more obviously Balearic flipside revision by Swiss crew Fuga Ronto, which adds guitars, electric bass and new backing vocals for an even wider-eyed listening experience.

Review: Stefan Schwander is known for aliases like Harmonious Thelonious, A Rocket In Dub and Antonelli Electr and now strikes once more with his third EP, 'While My Sequencer Gently Bleeps'. Entirely crafted on Elektron's Monomachine, this one delivers deep basslines, ravey bleeps, piano chords and synth melodies that evoke the sounds of Jamaica, UK and Chicago while looking toward the future. The EP opens with the groovy 'Title Track' followed by the minimal, dub-influenced 'Sublime' with shuffling beats and a smooth synth line. On the flipside, 'Definition Of ...' combines deep bass, lively percussion and subtle melodies that are both danceable and storytelling.

Review: Repping Sugar Records and Tanum Sounds, Winsome comes through with three really interesting perspectives. 'Tab' is a unique and highly springy piece of work as it works and wriggles its away around some well sculpted table drum hits and sub plunges. '24gb' takes us down a much dreamier pathway, sitting somewhere between Indian Ropeman and Chicken Lips. Finally 'Who' closes this stunning EP with a faraway drone. Intense.

Review: Wrekin Havoc does just that with its second release from the artist of the same name. After a big first EP that really announced the label's arrival in style this one is another tasty disco collection. 'Heavy Breathing' has toting old school chords and Italo drums and 'Work It' bring glossy vocals, crashing hits and a libidinous vocal. Things get slow and seated but just as steamy on the flipside cut 'Dirty Devil' then last of all is the glorious bit of exotic and tropical, boogie tinged disco freshness that is 'That Is The Question.'

Review: Wrekin Havoc has been in no rush to get to their third EP - this one comes almost 18 months after the debut - but the music is worth the wait. It is another one from the in-house production team of the same name who describe themselves as crate diggers turned re-editors from deepest Wales. Here they set off on a Balearic-minded disco trip with the soul-drenched 'Double Deb' before 'Boon Rocks', boasting an electric boogie feel with its staying analogue lines and stiff drums. 'Kool Keith' is a low-slung and swaggering dub with classic house samples and 'Splash Gordon' shows yet another side with blissed-out electronic soul.

Review: Is It Balearic? presents the second EP from the Wrekin Crew, continuing where the first left off and delivering two original tracks, 'Vapour Trail' and 'Broken Wings'. 'Vapour Trails' has the trademark nod to the Italo Disco & emotional pop bombs that are a staple of their DJ sets. Goldsuite remixes Vapour Trails and create a softly mesmerising balearic pop twilight shuffler. 'Broken Wings' keeps the same feel, poignant vocals over slightly more late night beats and Woolfy brings a cosmic arpy feel and dubs it up for a more electronic groove.

Review: Fusion Sequence is a new offshoot from the Mellophonia label that kicks off with a heavyweight release both literally - its 180g vinyl - and metaphorically. It features seven different artists offering up one track each on what is a widescreen exploration of fresh deep house. They are A Vision of Panorama, Eternal Love, Pool Boy, Wolfey, Laseech, Larry Quest and Jay Sound and between them everything from cuddly depths to more moody late-night deepness is covered on an EP that brings plenty of new perspectives. A fine inaugural 12", then.

Review: 'A Shared Sense Of Purpose' is a fittingly collectively-minded name for a new Gordon Chapman-Fox aka. Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan release. The first glimpse of his latest full-length LP, Your Community Hub, this first sampler hears the artist continue to develop his totally singular vision in eerie modernist electronica, deploying lilty arpeggiations and contradictorily Utopian, yet at the same time, sinister, melodies and ambiences; all with a view to producing an uncanny deja entendu. These are deployed to mourn the slow, increasing privatisation of Chapman-Fox's native Warrington-Runcorn, specifically its singular bespoke town centre - its walkways, its local postal system, its gridded shop lots - which were all designed to make it a five-minute city, long before the concept of fifteen-minute cities had entered town planning discourse. Though, perhaps this lament masks a more sinister sense of enjoyment, as there is indeed a perverse sort of pleasure that arises in the bittersweetly uncanny perfumes that waft from this latest haunted mood piece. Perhaps just like the experience of revisiting Warrington-Runcorn after having known it in childhood, we hear both sadness and euphoria, at the same time, in the face of its ostensible loss.

Review: Charles Webster's 2020 album Decision Time, his first for decades, was widely praised for the depth, soulfulness and densely atmospheric of its hazy and tactile sound. Those with long memories pointed out that Webster has form in this regard, with the legendary British deep house producer taking a similar approach with his 2001 solo debut album, Born on the 24th July. That album was overlooked at the time, so it's fabulous to see it finally get reissued on vinyl. Shot through with woozy, soft-focus, ultra-deep soul, trip-hop and gorgeous downtempo beats, the set is not only immaculately produced and full of inventive instrumentation, but also boasts some seriously inspired guest vocals. It's genuinely an overlooked classic that deserves any belated attention it finally receives.

Review: Sven Wunder's new album Natura Morta (which translates as dead nature) finds him joining the dots between nature and "the human ability to judge and observe in eleven musical compositions." The Swedish artist really excels on his mission here with serene and sophisticated strings on grandiose and sweeping opening track 'En Plein Air.' From there, the airy sounds continue with melancholic chords and exquisite strings all soothing the soul as they take you on a journey through the great outdoors. The lush title track is a particular standout with its widescreen feel and romantic acoustic sounds.