Carl Finlow
430.790

Limited, hand numbered 10" from Pola T on Traditions, you know the deal...

Third iteration in OEW’s VA series, WITNESS03 brings over a fresh new quartet of heaters from another of its carefully curated cast of up-and-rising producers. Delving in the vaults of 90s rave, and spanning all things from atmospheric techno to spine-tingling bass, via electro, acid and further afield electronics.Engaging first, CLJL flings a brick of breaksy sedition into the matrix with the mighty “System Research”. Fusing 303-emulated traction with jaw-crushing freq shifts, ruff snares and fluttering synth spirals gone astray, this one is pure woofer-busting material. Second in line, Naone “Silhouette” is an aggressive slice of dopey, bass-heavy cosmonautics, tailored to have the listener zoning out into a magnetic field of alien echoes, delays and reverbs.Flip sides and here is LVCA and Sidd taking over your brainwaves with “Stranger” - a squelchy joint connecting the dots between Bochum Weltian spaciousness, pop-laced ethereality and a propulsive programming bound to astral project yourself into a whole other dimension. Last but not least, N-GYNN’s “Fire Rave” engineers a jagged and easy-going carnival of funkster machine talk, weird organic noises and sleazy boogie.

Roberto Agosta, or just Agosta as he likes to be called, is a Sicilian DJ and producer from Catania active all along the eastern coast of Sicily, a place that proved to be a soulful place and a training ground for a long career, making him an excellent music selector and a reference point in the spread of alternative music.A soundtrack music enthusiast since he was a child, now a vinyl "serial gathere", Agosta has always put his vast knowledge at the service of a very personal sound that sums many different music styles and contaminations, simple and profound but straightforward and direct at the same time.Agosta’s eponymous album, released on LP, CD and digital formats, was conceived during the Covid-19 lockdown, thanks to the precious collaboration of friend DJ and producer Massimo Napoli aka Galathea, with whom Roberto has already started another project called AN-AN that will produce a new record for Space Echo at the end of 2022.This record highlights a typical chill-out aesthetic, thanks to its trip-hop and ambient rhythms and atmospheres, while a deeper exploration reveals the psychedelic essence of the entire work, a daring and exciting journey in the most primitive Sicily, and the energy that sustains all of its ten tracks.Much of their author and his lifestyle - mainly based on meditation, the search for spiritual elevation, the relationship with nature and the regaining of contact with those particular places and with the people who live there - is revealed by those tracks that constitute a soundtrack for this spiritual but also extremely physical journey.The song titles are, in fact, intrinsically linked to Roberto’s real life: the Gorna and Ilice mountains at the foot of Etna, the Carricante vineyard and its excellent wine, Unna, Three Chestnuts, Varanni, Don Alfio, Lady G. Each of them represents a pleasant and dreamlike narration and the escape from the complex dynamics of a city like Catania, among echoes of the most dreamy Pink Floyd, the softer side of ’70s krautrock, but also the Massive Attack and Tricky’s Bristol scene.There’s also an excellent choice of synthesizers and overdubbed guitars, thanks to the talent of the multifaceted musician and producer Salvo Bruno Dub, and of Manuela Amalfitano, Loredana Poidomani and Deran Obika’s voices.Agosta is an introspective, deep work with a cinematic vocation, perfectly rooted in the territory where it took shape, among sunny landscapes, lush with vegetation but also deserted and arid lands. From Sicily to the cosmos... enjoy!

While volume two of Dat Pressure's Rip N Run may have already hit the streets, now they're back-pedalling to volume one - OCD garage heads rejoice. As ever label boss Noodles is on hand with more essential wares from the vaults, this time enlisting the mighty Dub Child as a partner in crime. These jams veer towards the breakstep end of the garage spectrum, all boom bap drums and stuttered grooves, not least on the massive but spacious "We Go." "Zip It Up" packs in plenty of rootsy dub tones and soul vocal licks to match the skittering drums, and "Smoking Circles" gets into an almost techy strain of broken beat honed for serious dancefloor consumption. Just hold tight for the bass drop on that last one - it's a monster.DPR Recordings · Groovechronicles Zip It Up Rip n Run vol 1

azz-Funk ReissueFrench multi-instrumentalist Teddy Lasry's story is noteworthy not just in regards to the music he released, but in the ways that he approached the craft of composing and experimenting with sounds and sonics.Always intrigued with the capabilities of instruments, their groove and their feel, it was very much his family’s influence that helped to fuel these lifelong affections. As a performer in a Parisian cabaret, Teddy’s father Jacques would mingle with giants like Serge Gainsbourg and Charlie Chaplin (impressed by his ability to improvise, Chaplin wanted him to become his accompanist, but the pianist politely refused). Jacques and his wife (Teddy’s mother Yvonne), would later become members of the innovative experimental group Les Structures Sonores, and surround their children’s lives with sounds. Electronic music was still in its infancy and Les Structures Sonores, with their resonators that produced long, mysterious tones, were deemed ‘cosmic’. It was the era of the launching of the first Russian Sputnik and every time a radio or television station wanted music for their science fiction programs, they turned to one of their compositions. Showing a natural ability with multi instrumentalism, Teddy was rewarded with a spot in the band, allowing him to really explore unconventional methods of composition.