Buy / Stream: ffm.to/black-hawks-of-panama-hurts

Did someone order a piano banger? Black Hawks Of Panama debuts on Exploited with an absolute monster in the form of ‘Hurts’ that’s set to get pulses racing and fists pumping skyward, ready for the Ibiza season.

Supremely chunky ‘90s house beats with a gently distorted techno undertone pummel away underneath the phat bassline whose tone is perfectly balanced between weight and melodic overtones. Piano chords bang a jaunty, rave-influenced hook, and Bisi’s sweet vocals provide a sensual, soulful counterpoint. Little else is needed to make this track thump hard except subtle sustained strings and big cymbal crashes, and there’s an instrumental available which cuts to the meat of the track.

And who is Bisi? She’s better known as British actress Victoria Ekanoye, a woman of many talents who featured on Black Hawks’ previous single on Future Disco ‘Mercer Street’. She starred in the West End musical ‘The Lion King’, toured the US with ‘The Blues Brothers’ and fronted the show as Mistress of Ceremonies at both the London and New York infamous nightspot ‘The Box’. She takes her influences from blues, jazz, Stax-era soul and trip-hop.

“Our mutual friend Lisa Forshaw had worked as a PR for Victoria whilst she was on the nation's most popular TV show” says Black Hawks Of Panama. “Lisa got in touch with me and explained I should work with Victoria. Immediately I was struck with vocal range but also her presence as a performer. So I hired a commercial recording studio in Manchester as we didn’t know each other then and we agreed 'Feel For You' would be a great track to do as it’s a joint favourite! Although I didn’t want a carbon copy of the Chaka classic—I don’t see the point in that—I wanted something more lowdown and sultry! After a great first session we discussed Bowie, Prince and Patti Labelle, so it was pretty clear from this point this was going to work out well!!”

The Mancunian producer behind the track took his name from an inspirational time spent in Panama City and its surrounding rainforests. Born to parents who both had influential roles in the Manchester music scene of the 1970s and 80s, he has spent time living in Ibiza and DJed under another name for many years. Black Hawks of Panama is a project that’s going from strength to strength, and this hot new single looks set to break down yet more doors for him.

Artist: Black Hawks of Panama
Release: Hurts Feat. Bisi
Label: Exploited Club
Cat: EXP117
LC: 96788
Publisher: Exploited Ghetto Music Publishing
Beatport Pre-order: 17.06.2022
Releasedate Beatport & Streaming: 24.06.2022
Releasedate Global Download: 08.07.2022

Hurts

Buy / Stream

Black Hawks Of Panama - Hurts Feat. Bisi (Radio Edit) | Exploited Club

Studio 56's first E.P. in association with Night Waves proudly presents 5 dancefloor tracks on the edge of the atmosphere. DM for WAV.

Night Waves - Double Vision

Buy / Stream: ffm.to/take-me-back

Mancunian musician, DJ and artist Danny Ward dons his 'Moodymanc' hat to work vocals he recorded with legendary vocalist and old friend Diane Charlemagne (Goldie, Moby, High Contrast, London Elektricity) to produce a poignant EP of retro futurist deep and soulful music. In his own words:
"I had always known Diane as one of the 'older' musicians and artists we all looked up to when growing up in Manchester. We became fast friends and partners in mischief when working and touring together with Urban Cookie Collective when 'The Key The Secret' became an accidental hit (a semi guilty secret!). When I started my solo production career as 'Dubble D' Di was always a mentor and collaborator, taking time out from working with the likes of Goldie (Inner City Life) and touring and recording with Moby to record with me and also to work on our 2020 Soundsystem project, singing live and recording our cover and homage to the timeless Frankie Knuckles anthem 'Your Love'. We remained close up to her untimely loss in 2015 which, for me as so many, hit really hard.
It was on the tail end of one of these sessions that we recorded the vocals for 'Take Me Back' over some beats I had been working on at the time. They had been sitting on a hard drive, being revisited from time to time without anything solid coming together until lockdown, when the spirit and sentiment of the lyrics seemed to resonate so much on both a personal and global level, and inspiration hit in a big way!
The original mix harks back to soulful breaks and broken beat times but (hopefully) with a forward thinking and futuristic outlook. I revisited the vocal once more when I'd done this to do some deeper versions, with a little more space. It's a release that has a lot of personal meaning and emotion for me. I sincerely hope that you enjoy it."

Artist: Moodymanc
Release: Take Me Back
Label: Exploited
Cat: EXPDIGITAL236
LC: 15799
Publisher: Exploited Ghetto Music Publishing
Beatport Pre-order: 16.9.22
Releasedate Beatport & Streaming: 23.09.22
Releasedate Global Download: 07.10.2

Take Me Back

Moodymanc Feat. Diane Charlemagne - Take Me Back | Exploited

Out September 30th.
Pre-order: https://lnk.to/WATERGATE28_EP2

@biesmans / https://soundcloud.com/mathew-jonson / https://soundcloud.com/johannesalbert / https://soundcloud.com/kidsimius https://soundcloud.com/joy-wellboy

The final sixer from ‘Watergate 28’ LP mixed by Biesmans inside 3 months, a testament to his talent and intense focus. Featuring collabs with Mathew Jonson, Johannes Albert, Kid Simius and Joy Adegoke, and two solo cuts from the Belgian producer’s 17 original tracks for W28, arguably the label’s most ambitious to date. And this EP’s a banger. 
 
‘Quantum Computing’ with Biesmans’ hero Mathew Jonson - a visit to his studio birthed the pumping piano-laden, growly bass driven houser. ‘Luft’ with Johannes Albert is a synthtastic, frantic-fast feast of builds, breaks and hooks. 
 
‘Me Gusta Acid’ with Kid Simius – a funky nu-disco gem catching Kid’s vocals in one take. ‘Hipster Paradise’ a lively Biesmans solo of scattergun percussion and jazzy synths. ‘Macrodosing’ is like the steroid-crazed love-child of Moroder bass and Kraftwerk melody – in the best way. The second Biesmans solo effort on the EP.
 
‘Vanishing Flowers’ with Joy Adegoke closes the release – a change of pace to a breathy, sweetly sinister song with Adegoke’s vocals, disturbing lyrics, and heavy synth support.

Biesmans - Hipster Paradise

Biesmans & Johannes Albert - Luft

Brussel's beat smith DC SALAS is back on the block - the Robert Johnson block that is! His 3rd release for LIVE AT ROBERT JOHNSON is also his 20th official release so far - so we have two things to celebrate spread over Diego Cortez Salas' powerful four-tracks EP called »Voces«.

Let's start with the title track: »Voces« is a call to alarm right from the beginning with its stabbing synth bass line and sirens. Add a couple of drum breaks and a heavy beat - et voilà: You have the first of four tunes to jump up and down to. Et oui, Salas surely knows how to built tension in a track - even in a voiceless track named »Voces«.

Next up is »The Lights« - and oh boy does Salas turn them on! These are quite trippy lights with a sound that could easily come from a twisted didgeridoo … The beat of »The Lights« is (of course) groovy as f*** - excuse our French. So let's turn on »The Lights«!

B-side opener »Metallic Glow« does just that: The track glows in bright metallic from the first second and features plenty of crazy sounds to do a crazy dance. Did we mention the groove? No? Well … just listen.

For »Safe Pace« Diego pulls out beautiful percussive elements and the 303 thus surfing on a not so safe pace to be honest: The last track of »Voces« is as fast and demanding as all the others.

DC Salas again managed to build four really solid stompers here to set any dancefloor on fire - without using any voice or vocal - these are REALLY SERIOUS SOUNDS you all should listen and dance to. NOW.

The Lights

A2 - DC Salas - The Lights - Snippet

A1. Krystal Klear - Essentia

B2. Krystal Klear -  Winnie's Karaoke - Sundown Mix

Four excellent reinterpretations of Benjamin Fröhlich's Dance Imperative "Do You Wanna Dance?" by Belfast's rising star Jordan Nocturne (who comes correct with two version), Barcelona's finest Baldo, who turned dancefloors upside down this summer with his Hit "Ride The Night" and Rosa Red, who just released her stunning debut EP on Permanent Vacation. Four variations of one track, that will serve their purpose during different parts of the night.

Benjamin Fröhlich - Do You Wanna Dance - Jordan Nocturne House Remix

Tracklist:

Ekkah - Wendy's Yard (Giligan Moss Remix)
Marco Resmann & Lee Jones - Tone Trails
Thee Suka - Mano Mano
Birds of Mind - Mi Pena
Moritz - Flying Saucer
Pablo Fierro - Camaleon
Adjuma - Feelings
Drake - Tie That Binds (Balad Remix)
Fahlberg - The Light
Sébastien Léger - Extassy
Roman Kyn - Can't Let Go
Tal Fusmann - Oh, Ok
Mironas - Adam
Ivan Masa – That Feeling (Andy Bros Morning Ravers)
Ankhoï - Hallelujah
Echonomist & Avantgart Tabldot - Secret Places
AWEN & Caiiro - Your Voice (Adam Port Remix)

Photo by FollowAlice

Winter in Africa

P.F.B - Leave

Shir Khan started Exploited in 2007. Exploited Rec now plays host to some wide-ranging and innovative electronic talent - including Adana Twins, Claptone, Budakid, Joyce Muniz, James Curd, Shir Khan (to name a few) - and its artists have been receiving numerous supportive spins from the likes of Solomun, Pete Tong, Soul Clap, Wolf&Lamb, Azari&III, Jesse Rose, Axel Boman and A-Trak.
This is serious dance music at it's most cutting edge with all the juice to really get you going. It's totally contemporary, innovative and has a chunky dirty feel. "Exploited" take you on an invigorating roller coaster ride back to your youth when you first listened to dance music with all the thrills and spills you so enjoyed about clubbing. It's heavy, exciting and special.
'"Exploited Records" is a seamless melting pot of varied styles that simply can't fail to please even the most discerning ears. Highlights here are plentyful. Not to be missed at any cost.' (Clash)
'Musical hybrids are truly the flavour of today, but few have managed to capture the atmosphere of an unpredictable microcosm of a night out on a recordlabel - until now. Shir Khan's label "Exploited" bottles the zeitgeist's giddy thrills with plenty of style and substance. This is dance music hybridism in all its most glorious forms, and Shir Khan is an expert at making square pegs fit round holes.' (DJ-Mag)
'"Exploited Records" boss Shir Khan has been gaining a lot of acclaim recently, and deservedly so - as he has shown us the high quality, diversity and forward-thinking nature of his label. Engaging, riveting and diverse.' (Data Transmission)