Artist: Toby Simpson Title: That’s The Way Label: Hottrax Cat. #: HXT110 Format: Digital Release Date: 21st July 2023 Tracklist: 01 That’s The Way 02 Retro Bass
Breakout UK artist Toby Simpson returns to Jamie Jones’ Hottrax this July.
Previously appearing on Hottrax, The Martinez Brothers’ Cuttin Headz, and many more, Toby Simpson’s music has seen support from the likes of Marco Carola, Lee Foss, and of course, Jamie Jones. Returning now to Jones’ label with ‘That’s The Way’, the UK-based DJ/producer brings another two tracks built with energetic drum grooves, wobbling basslines and trippy percussive elements.
He kicks off with ‘That’s The Way’, a tight and steamy house cut with bristling drum funk, turbocharged stabs, and addictive vocals for an intense yet stylish heater. The brilliant ‘Retro Bass’ is a fiery cut with explosive energy, hard-hitting drums meet tough synth stabs and wild vocal loops all add to the colour and character.
Artist: Benchek & Moshem Title: Your Everything Label: connected Cat. #: connected128 Format: Digital Release Date: 21st July 2023
United for the first time, Benchek & Moshem converge to deliver their new and enigmatic ‘Your Everything’ on connected.
Benchek was born in Casablanca and brings together the classic sounds of melodic house with the groovy beats of Afro-tech. Early in his career he won a Defected Records competition and played at the Ministry Of Sound and has been on the rise ever since. Malaga-born Moshem is a versatile artist whose music has been played by the likes of Marco Carola, Jamie Jones and Solardo among many others. Bringing their own vision of sound plus fresh dance floor energy into this new coalition, these friends and artists serve up a dynamic synergy of mesmerising Afro rhythms, captivating percussion, and dreamy electronic melodies.
The sublime ‘Your Everything’ starts off with a symphony of emotion, movement and groove. Sultry vocals transport the soul as they ride over a harmonious synth progression and vigorous drum rhythms that add compelling grooves to the track.
Engaging and poignant, the seductive ‘Your Everything’ is a deep journey through smart progressions and powerful Afro vibrations that will captivate any dance floor.
Artist: Mata Jones, Alfrenk & Mikey V Title: Love EP Label: Paradise Music Cat. #: PDS004 Format: Digital Release Date: 21st July 2023 Tracklist: 1.Mata Jones & Mikey V – Nope! 2. Mata Jones – Love 3. Mata Jones & Alfrenk feat. Mikey V – So Serious
Jamie Jones’ Paradise Music imprint welcomes a stacked EP as Mata Jones, Alfrenk, and Mikey V combine across three tracks for ‘Love’
The newly-launched musical hub and platform for his world-renowned event series, Jamie Jones’ Paradise Music imprint has quickly become a premiere outlet for quality productions across the house sphere, and unsurprisingly so, given the ethos of the label to replicate those magical dance floor moments created in Ibiza and beyond. Diving right into the heart of summer with a trio of tracks made for sun-soaked, blissful moments, the label’s fourth release welcomes three talents from across the globe as Italy’s Mata Jones and Alfrenk link up with California- based DJ, producer and vocalist Mikey V as they combine to deliver ‘Love’.
“For me, Paradise is the label of dreams. I’ve always identified with Jamie’s projects and his vision as an artist, both musically and in how he conceives and approaches his DJ sets during his Paradise parties.” – Mata Jones.
Opening the release, Jones links with LA’s Mikey V for the bumping grooves of ‘Nope!’, with vibrant guitar riffs, shimmering hats, and crisp drum licks working alongside the infectious vocal hooks to guide the production for a resonant and playful trip. Next, Jones steps out solo on the title track ‘Love’ as he draws for classic house influences and iconic melodies while introducing rousing strings before linking with fellow Italian Alfrenk and the returning Mikey V for ‘So Serious’ – bringing rolling organic percussion, sonorous bass patterns and further alluring vocals for a terrace heater.
Artist: Confidential Recipe Title: Rave Generator EP Label: Rekids Special Projects Cat. #: RSPX55 Format: Digital Release Date: 14th July 2023 Tracklist: 01 Confidential Recipe – Rave Generator 02 Confidential Recipe & Dagga – U Can’t Hide 03 Confidential Recipe – TUUL2 04 Confidential Recipe – Minimalz 05 Confidential Recipe – LAB01 06 Confidential Recipe & ELO – Everyday 07 Confidential Recipe – Once Again
Venezuela’s Confidential Recipe returns to Rekids Special Project with a strong seven-track Techno EP.
Carlos Siu has been making jacked-up beats for over a decade, combining rave, techno, electro and breaks to perfection under his Confidential Recipe alias. To date, all six of his EPs on Rekids’ techno-focussed Rekids Special Projects offer a subtle evolution of the last and are always at the cutting edge of potent dance floor rhythms. On his latest offering, ‘Rave Generator EP’, Confidential Recipe offers up his most accomplished works, featuring collaborations with Dagga and ELO.
The searing title cut ‘Rave Generator’ opens up with edgy stabs and fiery vocal cries before the powerful low-end kicks in. ‘U Can’t Hide’, a collab with Dagga, is full of raw texture and propulsive kicks. ‘TUUL2’ is a more stripped-back rhythm with ice-cold drums and hits rocking back and forth beneath a hypnotising spoken word vocal.
After the wild, cosmic synth lines and slamming drum sounds of ‘Minimalz’ come the freaky and unsettling synth sequences of ‘LAB01’, locking the listener in a state of paranoia and high-speed machine funk. Elo then joins Confidential Recipe for the unhinged synth madness and stomping techno of ‘Everyday’ before ‘Once Again’ locks you into a crisp and snappy techno groove with wonky leads and chopped vocal stabs.
“For me, this is a record especially aimed to turn any dance floor on fire, inspired by early rave sounds with Chicago and Detroit underground textures and my personal touch, it is also very special for me as it is my longest EP with seven dance missiles I’ve been testing on clubs since a long time, so I’m happy to see them come to light!” – Confidential Recipe.
Artist: Catz ‘n Dogz ft. ZenSoFly Title: Can’t Stand Remixer: Robag Wruhme Label: Crosstown Rebels Cat. #: CRM294 Format: Digital / Vinyl Release Date: 14th July 2023
Tracklist: 1. Can’t Stand ft. ZenSoFly 2. Can’t Stand ft. ZenSoFly (Robag Wruhme’s ‘Flodder Buck’ Rehand) 3. Wake Up
Catz ‘n Dogz make a standout debut on Crosstown Rebels with two compelling new house tracks on ‘Can’t Stand’, complete with a remix from leftfield innovator Robag Wruhme.
A pairing whose renowned reputation has been built and shaped across an illustrious career, Polish duo Grzegorz Demiañczuk and Wojciech Tarañczuk, aka Catz’ n Dogz, have been serving up their own diverse and varied take on house for more than fifteen years. Founders of their own Pets Recordings imprint, in that time they have released on esteemed labels, from Diynamic to Defected, Glitterbox to Watergate and more, while playing at almost every major club and festival across the globe. Their fresh in-between sounds and knack for cooking up curious and impactful sounds have made them mainstays of the scene, and that run of stellar releases continues here with a debut appearance on Crosstown Rebels as they link with ZenSoFly for ‘Can’t Stand’ – with longstanding German favourite Robag Wruhme on remix duties.
Opener ‘Can’t Stand’ sees the pair reunite with vocalist ZenSoFly, a talent they’ve worked with on notable hits like ‘Wave.’ Her vocals bring soul and attitude over a tight, rubbery and sleazy house beat, underpinned with a heavy bassline – providing the sort of chunky cut to lock in a dancefloor and make it march in unison.
Robag Wruhme has been a Pampa label mainstay and famously curveball producer for many years with his scintillating blend of minimalism, melody and unusual sound sources. That is the case again with this remix, a dark workout that hurries along on snappy drums, detuned vocals and scuzzed-up, droning synths to ensure maximum impact.
The EP is closed out with ‘Wake Up’, a widescreen and atmospheric cut packed with detail. The bassline is taught, freaky vocals echo within the mix, and synths spray about to dramatic effect, delivering another full flavour house cut with a dark soul and futuristic designs.
Artist: Crackazat Title: Senses Label: Heist Recordings Cat. #: HEIST073 Format: Vinyl/Digital Release Date: 14th July 2023 Tracklist: A1. I Need to Know A2. Do You Think About Me A3. Freddie’s Groove B1. Phantom (Feat. The Potash Twins) B2. Endless Life B3. When We Last Met
Crackazat drops mini LP ‘Senses’ on Dam Swindle’s Heist Recordings. The stunning release sees the artist deliver six tracks of heartwarming contemporary electronic music.
On ‘Senses’, we see the pure talent of Crackazat come to life like never before. We’ve all danced to ‘Alfa’ or his most recent hit on Heist ‘Demucha’ and have seen his musicianship & songwriting abilities on his 2022 debut album ‘Evergreen’ for Freerange. For ‘Senses’, Crackazat takes you on a sonic journey, further exploring his musical personality with live keys, vocals, bass, horn arrangements, and production all coming from his studio in Uppsala, Sweden. The horns featured throughout were recorded by Adeev and Ezra Potash, better known as the Potash twins, who took a sidestep from their recordings with John Legend, Robert Glasper and even Diplo to dive into this project with Crackazat, helping him deliver arguably his best work to date.
The six-track album starts with the low-slung groove of ‘I need to know’. The atmosphere is warm and dreamy, with plucked strings, arpeggios, and long horn notes, subtly supported by lo-fi drums and bass licks. ‘Do you think about me’ keeps the energy tight with a lovely drum groove and a sparse bass section, crafting a track filled with emotion. ‘Freddie’s Groove’ is Crackazat in full-on jazz mode. The nod to Freddie Hubbard is clear, with ideas from the jazz legend and his legendary French sampler, Pepe Bradock, taken for this track. The horns are deep and moody, the groove is jazz-house at its best, and Crackazat’s soft vocals have the perfect amount of fragility.
‘Phantom’ moves into a shuffling Latin-dance vibe. Here, the song reaches its full potential through the horn section, so it’s only fitting that this is the feature track for the Potash Twins. ‘Endless life’ is a track that feels like it’s building momentum with every repetition. Whether it’s the broken beat groove, the offbeat keys, the horns, chords, or leads, a specific energy in this track takes hold of you and simply doesn’t let go. The outro ‘When we last met’ is built around vibey keys and a downtempo hip-hop groove. It’s a perfect ending to a record that showcases the beautiful world that Crackazat has crafted.
Artist: Booka Shade Title: Darko (Nils Hoffman Remix) Label: Blaufield Music Cat. #: BFMB124 Format: Digital Release Date: 14th July 2023
Nils Hoffman heads to Blaufield Music as the next artist in the ‘Booka Shade Reworked’ series, delivering his take on their 2006 track ‘Darko’.
Continuing to celebrate the duo’s landmark 20th Anniversary with an in-depth series of remixes landing across the summer, Booka Shade welcome their next guest to the ‘Booka Shade Reworked’ project as Berlin-based DJ/ producer Nils Hoffmann joins the project. A classically trained artist experimenting and creating deep and melodic house music, his productions via Anjunadeep and Cercle Records have seen support from Maceo Plex to Above & Beyond while racking up over 100m streams across platforms. Originally released as part of the iconic 2006 album ‘Movements’, with remixes at the time from Hot Chip, Tiefschwarz and Alex Niggemann, plus their own ‘Booka’s Funk Da Funk’ Remix, which hit Beatport’s #1 spot, mid-July sees the arrival of a fresh interpretation of ‘Darko’ on Blaufield Music – a cult favourite for followers of the pairing.
A blissful and euphoric production capturing bright soundscapes and merging them with arpeggiated leads, glossy synths and refined percussion, Hoffmann’s remix veers towards light and dreamy territories and unveils a slick and resonant take on a classic.
Artist: The Groove Room Title: Apheck’s Groove EP Label: Manual Smiles Cat. #: MANUAL002 Format: Digital Release Date: 7th July 2023 Tracklist: 01 Sit Back 02 Apheck’s Groove
Manual Smiles announces a nostalgic techno two-tracker by The Groove Room Support from I. Jordan, HAAi, Physical Therapy, Truncate, Luke Slater & more…
Kickdrums slam through restless organic rhythm in ‘Sit Back’, distorted synths crashing onto its groove while acidic techno stabs rear their head throughout. The title track then submerges, serpentine 303s venturing through its aquatic pads and deep, dubbed-out hits, a nostalgic vocal beckoning to the surface.
The Groove Room consists of Jack and Jordan, two impassioned techno producers honing their take on percussive techno from their Manchester studio: an excellent blend of retro sampling, tribal grooves and modern sound design. ‘Apheck’s Groove’ on n_o‘s fledgling Manual Smiles imprint is a true statement of intent from the duo, showcasing their vision in a gritty, funky and playful form.
Artist: George Tounisidis Title: We Don’t Leave Our Dead Behind Label: Symbolism Cat. #: SYMDIGI031 Format: Digital Release Date: 7th July 2023 Tracklist: 01 Albedo 02 Rubedo 03 Citrinitas 04 Dies Irae 05 Nigredo
George Tounisidis returns to Symbolism with the ‘We Don’t Leave Our Dead Behind’ EP.
George Tounisidis is no stranger to Ben Sims’ labels. Having first appeared on Hardgroove back in 2015, he’s since had an EP on Symbolism in 2016, returned to Hardgroove in 2022 and featured on Sims’ Synchronicity compilation on Machine, making him one of a handful of artists to have appeared on all of the UK techno don’s roster of active labels. Opening with the gently evolving hypnotics of ‘Albedo’ that contrasts with the barrelling, joyful clatter of ‘Rubedo’, ‘We Don’t Leave Our Dead Behind’ doesn’t stay in one place too long. ‘Citrinitas’ sees Tounisidis turn in a stripped, acid-licked stomp before switching up to classic, stab-driven sounds on ‘Dies Irae’ ahead of the intense, bleep-driven closer ‘Nigredo’, which brings the EP back full circle. A varied, classy EP from a Sims favourite,
Artist: NODEN Title: Just Won’t Do Label: Not Another Disco Cat. #: NAO001 Release Date: Friday, July 28 2023
Alright folks, mark your calendars for this Friday, July 28th, because “Not Another Disco!” is dropping a groove-bomb with NODEN’s classy single “Just Won’t Do”. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill edit. Oh no, this track takes you on a vibrant journey into the heart of the disco house realm, and leaves you there to dance.
“Just Won’t Do” channels the classic brass section vibe that we all love, then masterfully fuses them with a modern house beat. It’s like a musical time machine, marrying the past with the present in a blissful union of funky basslines, irresistible grooves, and brass. A love letter to the unending vitality of disco, penned in the language of music.
It’s NODEN, and it “Just Won’t Do” to ignore this epic release. Now, who’s ready to dance?
