Say What Selections
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SW Selections

Artist: Basement Space
Track: Equilibrium 
Title: Neptune Sunrise EP
Label: Butter Side Up

Butter Side Up is one of the most reliably high-quality labels operating at the moment, privileging quality over quantity in some of the prettiest packages you’ll see (thanks to their enduring collaboration with designer Sophie Douala). The latest EP from Stockholm’s Basement Space continues this streak, leaning into the more musically and rhythmically interesting side of house and breaks. The broken beat force is strong with this one, but what really stands out is the incorporation of rave gestures into the equation, be it crafty sirens and lasers or pulsing acid on the B side or the rolling hip-house groove and scratches on the lead track ‘Cosmonaut’. We’ve picked ‘Equilibrium’, with its sophisticated jazzy breaks, taking our imagination to a beachfront situation. This is music being made with intelligence, shot through with a real sense of fun, and all backed up by serious musical chops. 

Say What Selections 
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/006

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. Not suitable for club use.

Selection | Basement Space – Equilibrium [Butter Side Up]

Opik follow up their debut ‘Feel Yourself’ release on Pork Recordings from 1992 with more gold from the archives. Featuring two unreleased gems in ‘Lovekraft’ and ‘Oscillator’ backed with a special 15 minute version of ‘Travelling Without Moving’, originally featured on the cult ‘Feed Your Head’ compilation.

Label: OPIK ‎– OPIK2
Format: Vinyl, 12", EP, Limited Edition, 33 ⅓ RPM, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: Nov 15th 2021
Genre: Electronic
Style: Progressive House, Ambient, Tech House

Travelling Without Moving

A1. Opik - Lovekraft

Artist: Jared Wilson 
Track: Positivity
Title: Positivity
Label: RAWAX @dbh-music

We’ve chosen a classic ending with underground dance music royalty: Detroit native and acid mastermind Jared Wilson on ‘major’ label RAWAX. You can count on Jared to produce solid bangers that hone in on the essence of dance music, with the Roland drum machine as his main weapon of choice, releasing on a plethora of established labels such as Super Rhythm Trax, Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Dolly, Furthur Electronix, Lux Rec, Undersound and his own 7777. He’s clued up and keeps it fresh, reinventing his style yet staying true to his roots.

A DJ would get a run for their money with the 4 out of 5 peak time tracks on this EP, with their sexy grooves, tight hats, slapping snares and fun acid melodies. 3 out of 5 tracks are named ‘Lynnwood’ with a few mostly numbered variations on each. Lynnwood first appeared on all the tracks on Jared’s new label Jason, Jared & Brians’ Records. The tracks are named after Lynnwood city in Snohomish County, Washington, which is where Jared moved to a couple years back. The label’s debut release New Era represents a new chapter indeed, with a fresh new sound combining solid Detroit techno with atmospheric, fairy-tale melodies inspired by the woodlands around his new family home.

For this most recent release on RAWAX, Lynwood vibes are present but with raw house sounds suiting the label. We’ve picked the A1 ‘Positivity’, which is also the name given to the EP. We can’t get enough of this unique, catchy, sexy, emotional bomb! The composition is just so beautiful and it’s never tiring. It’s got DMX Krew vibes with its wormhole melody, but with a Detroit edge.

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. Not suitable for club use.

Buy RMCE 018

Selection | Jared Wilson - Positivity [RAWAX]

Artist: Exterminador @exterminador_official
Track: Deep In The Mess Of Night
Title: Age Of Consent 
Label: Bad Manners

We move to young Berlin based artist Exterminador, who has really captivated us. We first heard him a few years ago on YAY’s podcast series, and he was also a key figure in the establishment of The Record Loft. In 2016, he opened his own Exterminador Records label and in 2019 he started collaborating with Marcel Dettmann on new imprint Bad Manners, being responsible for the whole output so far with one EP and recently a whole album, from which we have picked a track for this edition of selections. We really enjoyed the first EP: A techno and electro release with EBM tendencies rather than acid wormhole melodies.

Exterminador’s album Age of Consent certainly doesn’t disappoint! He takes the electro and 80s influence from the earlier release and presents them on a delicious platter. At first our ears perked up to ‘Broken Glass Door’ with its rolling 80s influenced bassline and sharp synths. To be honest it’s a challenge to pick just one track but ‘Deep In The Mess Of Night’ got the trophy – it’s a brilliant composition and there just isn’t any track quite like it! There’s a uniqueness and playfulness to it all, starting with the funny as hell title, drum rolls and even laughing in the track itself. It’s not silly though, and actually very new wave with its yearning synth, knock out bassline and broody vocals.

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. Not suitable for club use.

Buy BM8

Selection | Exterminador - Deep In The Mess Of Night [Bad Manners]

Artist: Frak @Borft
Track: Scientific Bella-Donna
Title: Formless Obstruction
Label: Futurepast @futurepastnosenseoftime

We continue on the ‘experimental’ thread with Swedish electronic group Frak on Futurepast. We have chosen ‘Scientific Bella-Donna’, which really seems more techno-house than heavily experimental. When listen we picture the scene in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis where Maria the robot is surrounded by a moving, buzzing electric field, while also imagining dancing in an after-hour, with the track’s edgy and sexy, deep and minimal sounds. It’s an interesting balance between the machine and the soul, two styles which are also reflected in Frak’s previous discography as a group that has been producing dance tracks since the late eighties, and sharing their own funky hardware sound through their label Börft.

While listening to Frak we can’t help but recall Futurepast founder Davy’s own long after-hour sets, which we adored while he was still living in London a few years ago: dark, industrial and hypnotising yet deep, playful and groovy!

A reunion of the group members also occurred for this release: “We hadn’t met for some time, as we live in different cities. So, when we joined forces for this recording, it was all from scratch and a bit of fumbling at first. But it struck us that this is it, this is the pure reason why we do what we do. Jamming our way through machines and ideas is what it’s all about.”

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. Not suitable for club use.

Buy FP006

Selection | Frak – Scientific Bella-Donna [Futurepast]

Artist: Broken Audio
Track: 6BrokenBones
Title: Nocturnal Entropy EP
Label: Perty @djoctopus-2

The second release on this Selections list is another Bandcamp oriented production: Nocturnal Entropy EP by sound engineer and electronic music producer Broken Audio is the first edition of a series of cassette tapes led by DJ Octopus. For Octopus, tape carries a special meaning as it was the first media he used to record music, from the radio and from machines when he started producing music. You can even hear a grainy effect throughout on the digital files.

The style of Nocturnal Entropy is categorised as “breakbeat” but, he explains, it really stands out as a complete journey into sounds. Emotional pads and atmospheres glide through the piece, mixing with the diverse audio sources used, including thunderstorms and ASMR! We couldn’t resist picking the dance-oriented track on the release: ‘6BrokenBones’ is a solid UK garage track with a banging attitude.

The vocals are the producer’s own, having first experimented on the opener ‘Baio’, an ambient track dedicated to his friend who sadly drowned in a lake near his hometown last year. “It was a really tough time for me and right after he passed away I decided to honour his death and to reflect all my sorrow on a track. I recorded some vocals, a piano line and a lot of reverb in around an hour and suddenly felt better.”

“Once I started to experiment with my voice like I did in ‘Baio’, I wanted to include it more in my tracks and I remember having this garage tune in the making and said to myself: ‘Why not pitch it down some semitones and see how it sounds in here?’ Hahaha.”

The second edition on Perty has just been released on Bandcamp – a different yet still beautiful mix of atmospheres and textures.

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. File quality not intended for club use.

Broken Audio - Nocturnal Entropy EP

Buy perty001

Selection | Broken Audio – 6BrokenBones [Perty]

Artist: Lagowski @lagowski
Track: Scatter 4
Label: Self Released

We start the selections with this beautiful opener by Lagowski, Scatter 4, a track uploaded to his bandcamp as a single release, and originally intended to be part of his wonderful album Smokescreen (but which really stands on its own).

The track features captivating and angelic strings that could easily be played at the gates to heaven. Lagowski’s new wave punk band roots are present in the very analogue bassline, which brings a sense of realness to the piece. There’s adventure in the track too, from what sounds like a didgeridoo instrument, stomping, military drums and fluttering sounds, evoking images of The Outback and authenticating the connection between machine and the environment. Heaven, human, nature. There’s soul and spirit in this hardwired track.

This particular musical genius has been recording electronic music and playing live analogue shows since 1982 (following his earlier work drumming in punk and new wave bands). His name holds a safe spot in the 90s GPR hall of fame, his early nineties releases on Chromium Industries are DJs’ favourites, and in the past few years he’s released twice on Sleepers as Clans of the Alphane Moon and Project Ghost. Fortunately for us, Lagowski continues to be prolific today with a library of updated material on his bandcamp page. He’s also just uploaded ‘Scatter 1 + 2’, premixes to the finished ‘Scatter 4’. It’s interesting to hear the previous versions, which are also very good! We will be switching back and forth between these three for a while – but will we get to listen to number 3 too?

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. File quality not intended for club use.

Buy Scatter 4

Selection | Lagowski – Scatter 4 [Self-released]

Eleven-Up for our home label Rezpektiva this time releasing Suggestive's one & only floor shaking 'Wildlife' release originally from their Piranha Records imprint. 4 playful house groovers released in limited vinyl numbers back in 1995.

Rezpektiva features select cuts from the past that have made an impression on us over the years, released with the maximum respect. Rezpekt to Suggestive !

Label: KMA60 Rezpektiva – REZ11eleven
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: Germany
Released: May 2022
Genre: Electronic
Style: House

A1. Suggestive - Wildlife (Club Tabasco Mix)

Artist: Neoser                                                       
Title: Open Senses
Label: Pa’volar
Cat No: PAV001
Format: 12” Vinyl

Tracklist: 
A1. Lucid Dreaming
A2. Unlocked Perception
B1. Relax
B2. Moving On

Pa’volar is a new label from Barcelona which aims to act as a collaborative platform for creative minds and positive souls. 

The label kicks off its catalog presenting the debut release of label’s head Seb under his alias Neoser. 

Open Senses EP is a versatile record with four original tracks full of eclectic sounds blended with house, breaks and downtempo beats, which makes it suitable for party and chill situations. 

Now turn up the volume and enjoy!

Neoser - Open Senses (PAV001)

Phil Evans is here to improve your life. Less work, more free time. Freizeit für alle!

Phil Evans - From Da Attic EP [FREIZEIT01]

Artist: Brother Nebula
Title: Brother Says Relax	
Label: Legwork
Cat No: LWK11
Format: 12” Vinyl

Tracklist: 
A1. Brother Says Relax	
A2. Turn Off
A3. The Light
B1. The Burden Of Proof
B2. S.I.S. Feat. Solar (Bro Nebs In Dub)

Legwork is back with a new single from our favourite cosmic crusader, Brother Nebula. 

The A-side consists of a tape-crushed lysergic stormer, on which the Brother helps us to be mindful, and a couple of useful DJ tools from the same session. The B-side starts with a broken affair with pensive chords floating around bleeps and sounds of the universe, and finishes with a dubbed-out version of the previously-released and extremely well-received S.I.S. featuring San Francisco stalwart Solar.

Brother Nebula - Brother Says Relax (LWK11)

The fourth release from the Shuffle Valley will be the extension of our Shuffle Blends Series, which aims to gather new talented artists from all the latitudes around the world. We invite all the listeners to explore once again the sound journey we prepared for this volume, this time with a four track split EP from KAWAII SAN, a new brilliant producer from the UK and Donnie Cosmo, the new alias shaped by our label head DCM during the pandemic.   

Tracklist:
1. Donnie Cosmo - House on Asteroids
2. KAWAII SAN - Distortion
3. Donnie Cosmo - Drift
4. KAWAII SAN - Ordinary Fool

Artist: KAWAII SAN & Donnie Cosmo
Title: Shuffle Blends Vol. 2
Label: Shuffle Valley
Format: Digital
Release date: May 6th 2022 Bandcamp Exclusive.

Shuffle Blends vol 2.

Shuffle Blends Vol 2.

Shuffle Blends Vol. 2 [KAWAII SAN & Donnie Cosmo]

SHR006 • Young Adults • Anxiety Bar EP
@seven-hills-records @youngadults-1

Next up on Seven Hills, we have an original release from the Holland-based Timo Faber and Jeffrey Baardolf AKA Young Adults!

Serving up 4 slices of tech’d out wiggle, melding: techno, minimal, electro, and a splash of noxious chemicals, the Anxiety Bar EP comprises a variety of heavyweight d-floor weapons.

Threat Level Midnight blends a combo of idiosyncratic drum samples with an infectious bubbling synth line, a prime example of peak-time tech-house tackle. While the title track Anxiety Bar takes a dark, moody, almost gothic turn, seriously phat bass for seriously phat systems.

On the B, Integrated Lizard People slithers and slinks about gurgling synth lines and features unsettling reptilian almost-vocal sounds. Serving as a high-class closer, Fermented Feelings reigns in the trip with satisfying electro-ish drums, sauntering atop a sophisticated, warping melody

[PREMIERE] Anxiety Bar - Young Adults | Seven Hills [2022]

Artist: DJ Fary
Title: Flux EP
Label: Magic Carpet
Cat No: RIDE08
Format: 12” Vinyl

Tracklist:
A. Flux
B. Punjabi Fantasy

Episode 8 in the Magic Carpet saga sees our intrepid explorers venture back in time in search of forgotten magic. Following a series of hare-brained escapades through the mid-90s they encounter the mighty DJ Fary.

Once revived from his shock at modern day Discogs prices, Fary entrusts our travellers with the DAT tapes of his most original work. Two timeless tracks, brought back to the future and arranged back to back. Enjoy the ride!

DJ Fary - Flux EP (RIDE08)

Artist: Skat
Title: Skat Mode
Label: Euphoric State
Cat No: EPHCS005
Format: 12” Vinyl

Tracklist: 

A1. Is Dis Love
A2. Dinowarp
B1. Jamaica
B2. Jump Around

OPIA sister label Euphoric State steps up this autumn with more unearthed gems from the 90s, this time at the controls is Skat aka Andy Panayi & Alec Stone, Skat being their name before they took on what became their acclaimed A2 moniker in 94. The “Skatmode” EP spans across innovative strains of house and electro, packed with energy and charming emotions.

On the A side you can find two slabs of reissued heat from the versatile duo, packing more of a punch than ever. Cruising on an irresistible house groove is “Is Dis Love”, tight drum work and elastic bass lines teased by the nostalgic vocal. “Dinowarp” is a pure example of a hazy deep house chugger for the early hours of the morning, taking you on a trip of blissful synths and melt in your mind textures.

Taking up the B side are two unreleased diamonds from the vast archives of the UK duo, “Jamaica” and “Jump Around”. The first being a playful and animated outing, classy house dynamics driving the dance floor up a notch. “Jump Around” maintains the depth and emotion but at the heart lays a pulsating sub heavy bass to keep you on the move, conversing with the pacey and crisp drum patterns within.

Euphoric State continues to propel dusted off beats for the dance floors of modern day!

Selection | Basement Space – Equilibrium [Butter Side Up]

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