Phillip Jondo
Little Princess EP

Misha Sultan offers a twin set of deeply mystic shapeshifters for his outing on Patience, entitled Translucence. On both sides Sultan mines the depths of the mystery to summon two unique cuts both earthly in origin but stirring with an undeniably cosmic energy. Incorporating sounds arising from the Far East of his Russian origins, Sultan displays an affection for the esoteric and a mastery of instrumentation that, combined with a deft grasp of contemporary production, makes for a lush, beguiling trip out of time.

2022 RepressFor the fourth release on DJ Koze and Marcus Fink's Pampa imprint, hyperactive hotshot house hunk Axel Boman steps up and delivers a stunning debut EP for the label. Since many years an important force on the small but friendly Swedish club scene, and one third of the Studio Barnhus crew together with Kornél Kovács and Petter, Axel is as experienced a producer as his ideas are fresh. This tattooed Swede often talks about creating "worlds" rather than "tracks", and on his "Holy Love" EP we are transported to three very different places indeed. The title track, a collaboration with vocalist J Jonason, invites you to take part in a lazy afternoon cocktail party onboard an old sailing boat in Gothenburg's archipelago. Ten City are mixing up the White Russians and Giorgio Moroder's estranged Swedish grandson is peeling the shrimp. You fall asleep on the patio and wake up in a sweaty basement later that night. Through the shabby speakers of one of those small but friendly Stockholm night clubs, you hear "Purple Drank", a sleazy, sexy number that draws influences from Houston style screw music, classic deep house and hypnotic techno. The irresistible vocal hook - "I woke up with your name on my lips" has already echoed across dance floors from Tokyo to Amsterdam. Bouncy yet unsettling, this track is probably the most obvious DJ's favorite on the EP. Morning comes yet again, and for the after party we head to Axel's private rooftop terrace in sunny Gröndal. The laptop speakers are banging out the most loved up piano loop you ever heard. "Not So Much" is as simple and naïve as Axel Boman's haircut, a perfect ending to a perfect night and a perfect little record from this imperfect genius of a dance music producer.

It’s been twenty years since West London techno producer and Continual Records co-founder Tommy Gillard released his last solo record. He’s now back with a bang - and a pretty scary one at that.After spending large parts of the last decade in the studio with fellow UK techno veteran Oliver Ho (better known nowadays as Broken English Club) releasing work as Zov Zov on Ho’s Death & Leisure and the ever reliable Berceuse Heroique, Gillard now joins Interstellar Funk’s Artificial Dance roster as Curved Needle.Opening with the ominous and icey cold title track, Gillard makes it clear straight away he’s not here to make any new friends - he’s out for blood with six bone-rattling slo-mo post-electronic body music exercitions of the bleakest kind. Did anyone say ‘horrorwave’?An aggressive half-speed drum & bass-hoover (think Ed Rush & Optical anno 1997 sawn in half) underlays the dystopic yet blatantly brilliant electro nightmare that is ‘Change-Power’, before things get even more sinister on ‘Sworn in Blood’ and ‘The Blind Leading the Blind’.This may be a tad too slow and low to serve as your average dancefloor fodder, but it’s perfect torture room material. Now excuse me while I go mop up some blood. (RO)

Solar Suite has something to say about liminal spaces. It’s that eerily familiar transitory state between here and there, where a shift occurs and the thrill of the change perforates through the atmosphere like a dreamy fog. Some find this anticipatory realm uncomfortable, but some find it as the means for creative inspiration. For the 17th release on Welsh imprint Haŵs, Naarm-based DJ/producer Solar Suite explores the playful liminality of dusk and dawn, taking locked grooves and prog sounds as the tools to transform the strange into something exhilarating.

Banoffee Pies Records, in its eighth year of operating, hit the 20th release milestone in their Original Series. Joining the roster, Cairo based producer Hassan Abou Alam steps up with a 4 track solo EP entitled "Fasla".A decisive selection of attitude packed wormhole bass lines and dark basement jams.

Freude am Tanzen is back for a very special occasion. In 2022, three Various Artists EPs will bereleased, celebrating the 24th anniversary of the label from Thuringia. Whilst occasions like this would normally be celebrated on the quarter century, this release makes sense not only on the mathematical level. 3 compilations with 4 tracks provide the half of 24.The release however also makes sense in terms of history. Freude am Tanzen is showcasing a broad range of electronic music, never neglecting their history but also looking into the future.