Various
Super V/A

Limited one time pressing hi-pressure dubplate. Pure destruction.

Linda “Babe” Majika’s insanely brilliant Don’t Treat Me So Bad is a tight six tracks of blistering electro-flavoured bubblegum and synth-drizzled solar-powered machine-funk. It has become increasingly hard to find, with copies currently moving for over £200. But this is definitely a case of eye-watering price equalling heart-thumping quality.The enormous “Let’s Make A Deal” is probably the best known track here, and it’s definitely the best one if you ask us. Linda’s vocals drip with attitude over warm, breezy synths and an urgent, edgy electro beat to create a timeless club-ready bomb that sounds as fresh as ever. But the rest of the album is far from filler.Don’t Treat Me So Bad is the work of one badass woman who can hold her own, and then some.

After four technically and aesthetically impressive salvos of eclectic electronics, the 5-year anniversary compilation from Stroboscopic Artefacts reaches its terminus with this new release. Worrying about whether or not the series ‘goes out with a bang’ seems unnecessary, since the series has always felt pleasingly unconventional, and thus not too concerned with the conventional act of providing listeners with a grand finale. Simply put, this high-quality ‘retrospective’ series has been more about challenging the S.A. constellation of artists to forge new paths than it has been about nostalgically revisiting the past, and so it’s better to approach this last installment as a statement on the past informing the future. Donato Dozzy, Lucy, and the Sendai duo are the parties responsible for bringing us the final report of the series. Those already familiar with these artists’ past works for S.A. will understand immediately that these artists are not all cut from the same cloth, and those who didn’t know that will soon find out. As with the previous ‘anniversary’ records, the intent here is to synthesize significantly different sounds into a uniform or seamless listening experience, to the point where the record seems more like a genuine collaboration between the artists than a mere ‘sampler’ record offering eclecticism for its own sake. Donato Dozzy’s entry here is very much in keeping with the spirit of his S.A. release Terzo Giorno. It is as propulsive as any of the best techno music of past decades, exhibiting a marked indifference to the inessential and a knack for smashing together percussive atoms of a thick and bombastic quality. To do so without punishing speakers completely into submission or turning everything into a fatiguing mess is more difficult than it sounds, but Dozzy is certainly up to the task here.

Diskotopia is extremely proud to kick-start 2019 with Girar, a four-track EP of new kaleidoscopic productions from Lisbon-born, London-based producer Silvestre.