Phonica レコード& CD

Review: London's vital Phonica is a store and record shop of great repute amongst underground music fans. It is now a mighty fine 20 years young and to mark the occasion has put together a series of fine samplers that explore the sort of varied and vital sounds it deals in. This first one kicks off with the evergreen Nya and bouncy piano house bumper 'Broken Needs'. Ninos Indigo's 'Luna' then gets a nice future-facing electro rework from Shanti Celeste that gets you on your toes and Dam Swindle then bring some loopy and feel-good house vibes to 'Allright (Just A Tribute)', a real nod to Chez Damier's early sound. System Olympia's 'A Mezzanotte" is twinkling nu-disco with Italo arps to get lost in.

Review: London wax institution Phonica continue to celebrate their 20th anniversary as a label in deep-digging, highly eclectic style. This fourth sampler continues to hint at a much larger VA album with a wide range of sounds across the techno/jungle axis. Tim Reaper & Comfort Zone get us in the groove with the savage drum funk of 'Subterranean' while Toby Tobias eases down the tempo and takes us to some mystical places on the Balearic-on-Mars funk of 'On My Mind'. Meanwhile on the flip Shy One goes full-on Co-Op / Bugz vibes with its sparse broken beat jazziness while Orphic's Kieran Jandu closes the EP on a bumping early 90s-inspired techno roll-out. Happy anniversary Phonica.