Ryuichi Sakamoto
Neo Geo

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF THE RECENTLY DISCOVERED MUSICAL RECORDINGS OF THE ESCAPED EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIFEFORM KNOWN AS DARLING', WE HAVE UNEARTHED TWO MORE AURAL EXPLORATIONS THAT WE BELIEVE THE SAFE TRIP ORGANISATION MUST MAKE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC..THE FIRST WE ARE CALLING SIM'. IT IS THE SUBJECT'S MOST ALIEN AND OTHERWORLDLY COMPOSITION YET, COMBINING MIND-ALTERING RHYTHMIC ELEMENTS WITH ELASTIC ELECTRONIC BASS AND CHORDS FROM BEYOND THE STARS. THE SECOND, MOON FLEET', CAN ONLY BE DECRIBED AS NEXT-LEVEL SCI-FI DAYDREAMING. SINCE DARLING' HAD NO ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC HARDWARE OR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DURING HIS TIME IN OUR HOLDING FACILITY, WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA HOW THIS MUSIC CAME INTO BEING.

A slab of the very finest Techno from Mark Archer and a slice of heavy Acid from Scott Hallam.

Lowkey but pivotal Bristolian duo O$VMV$M supply No Corner with their first 12”, some 6 years after their debut ‘Memoryz Ov U’ in 2015Part of the sprawling but loose knit Young Echo collective, Amos Childs (Jabu) and Sam Barrett (Neek) have been in the shadows recently, producing for Manonmars and Rider Shafique, but ‘Weekend Saviour’ marks their sultry return to the fray via six slow and eazy downbeats in signature style. Chopped & screwed rap instrumentals, R&B, and dancehall inform the vibe, although skewed with a lilting South Western accent and perfectly skudgy, stoned appeal that oozes from every cut, working with a paucity of ingredients in an unshowy manner that’s made them clear favourites of red eyed night owls.The ghosts of Avon’s trip hop and heritage gloam large over proceedings, with perhaps obvious comparisons to be between Portishead and their dusty, creaking opener ’116 Greystoke,’ but there’s also something more fugged out to the likes of their dungeon bunkered title cut that’s more intimation, not imitation, as they pursue a perpendicular style of bluntedness between the slompy ‘Deathphone,’ plus the pastoral dancehall of ‘Bird Ride’ nodding to Equiknoxx, and an outstanding closer of cartoonish samples and groggy groove like a Metal Fingers meets Wiley screwball in ‘Codzilla Outro’ pointing to new angles of their sound.

The third album on Black Focus continues the South London tradition but this time in the form of one of the originators: a triple OG, Steve Spacek. Spacek recently released a solo record through Alexander Nut’s imprint Eglo, dBridge’s Exit Records as Blackpocket, following on from his work with Ninja Tune under the Beat Spacek moniker and collaboration with Mark Pritchard as Africa HiTech on Warp.He’s also made formative work with legendary artists J Dilla, Raphael Saddiq, Q Tip and Common and made early drum & bass tunes with his brother dBridge. It’s an incredible career resume and an honour to be releasing this new work. ‘Houses’ sees Spacek return to his Detroit influences, with house music at the heart of this record as it's foundation but as with all Spacek’s releases, it transcends genre and focuses more on swing, melody and feeling.There are elements of soul, jazz and R&B interlaced within the DNA of his electronic music, alongside his signature falsetto vocals. The entire project was produced using iPhone and iPad apps, an approach Steve champions and feels liberated by using technology to join the past with the present. Describing the project his own words: “It’s been well overdue for me to be releasing some 4/4 House vibes!This music has been a big part of my musical journey from dot. Mainly from two angles. The first is, of course, the early rave scene in London and the UK in general, with all its early iterations. Techno from the D, acid, (happy) hardcore, what we use to call dub house (pre jungle), coming into Garage and Balearic to name a few. The other angle is the music production angle: I’ve always used the basic 4/4 template as a means of being able to learn a new piece of recording equipment.Whenever I get any new beat making hardware or software, I’d always make a house beat. I find it the easiest music to make and have always joked about how I can knock up a house beat in 10 minutes! Well now I have an LP’s worth to share! Taken a tad longer than 10min but hey ;) Enjoy.”

They may have expanded their musical horizons in recent years, delivering albums packed with glossier productions, soulful songs and revivalist boogie gems, but it was with funk-fuelled, party-starting breakbeat workouts that they started their career. This seven inch single boasts two killer cuts from their 2005 debut album, Boogie Angst. A-side 'Money In The Bag (K&S Remix)' brilliantly joins the dots between cowbell-driven funk, squelchy 1980s electro and hip-hop, in the process delivering a timeless slab of dancefloor hedonism. 'C'mon People (7" Edit)' is more straightforward - but no less incendiary - slab of mid-noughties funk breaks goodness laden with ear-catching samples.