No rest for the wicked! Part 17 of sketchy sonic adventures at the Brew HQ. Half the experience is just on wax... Masterd by the Bastard. OG Art by Alyss.

To celebrate our 50th release, we dug deep into Juan's back catalog and rediscovered four gems that had never been repressed since 1993. After a proper restoration, a new mastering and a precise cut, we are happy to re-introduce those incredible tracks on vinyl and digital. The Future Sound EP is a great example of Juan Atkins' curation for Metroplex Records. Different artists were invited to the studio to give their interpretations of what the label is about.

Drum Major this conceptual production from new klan member Nico Babylon creates a hypnotic electronic blueprint focused on vintage synths and syncopated movement of rhythmic dimensions and craftsmanship. plainly said..this is the next level of jakbeat moving forward! This Nasty Possession The Jak collaborates with Nico on this uber old school formula from the days of chicago underground in the mid 80s along the timeline of gherkin/gene hunt era. everything u hear on this tune was created by hand… No samples were taken!

Drum Major this conceptual production from new klan member Nico Babylon creates a hypnotic electronic blueprint focused on vintage synths and syncopated movement of rhythmic dimensions and craftsmanship. plainly said..this is the next level of jakbeat moving forward! This Nasty Possession The Jak collaborates with Nico on this uber old school formula from the days of chicago underground in the mid 80s along the timeline of gherkin/gene hunt era. everything u hear on this tune was created by hand… No samples were taken!

An Announcement Of A Miracle This tune is about a specific idea.. not using a 303 to make a timeless piece of Chicago Seriousness. The Jak & Nico Babylon lays out the foundation of vintage electronics righteously snapping Kode with an intense amount of energy and balance paying respect to the underground tribes. The sermon included throughout the song is about the truthful miracle in the lives of OUR humanity everyday. listen, absorb and realize! Roman Romance 4 The Drum Kidz This is a honorable homage to Fred Brown from Rocking House Records (Chicago).. The Jak & Nico go head to head with this dark and melancholic slab of pure chicago created by hand… Showin Ultra Respect.

The new Ripen series was inspired by the live, percussive & soulful dance releases from Salsoul records and a curiosity of what Roy Ayers would sound like with a 303 in the band. All the sounds including string quartet, horns, choir, percussion, flute spoken word, drums and synths were recorded in Sampology’s studio on the south side of Brisbane, Australia. The 12” EP includes four songs + extra DJ tool creating a lush and live environment, bringing his previous nature themes further onto the dancefloor. ‘Spirits Ripened’ featuring NMMWL is a spoken word and string arrangement, a pause between kick drums and congas on the remainder of the release. The second 12” volume of Ripen series set to release in the second half of 2025.

Eko, or Eko Roosevelt, is a Cameroonian composer, pianist & vocalist. He was born in Kribi in 1946, the son of a local Tribal Chief. Eko developed his love for music at church, later pursuing his growing passionwith music studies abroad, first in Dakar and then in Paris. After concluding his studies in France he went on to a recording career and between 1975 - 1982 released a number of full-length LPs, 7" singles and albums on cassette, before returning to Kribi to take over the role of Tribal Chief from his father, a role he holds to this day. While the name "Eko" may not be immediately familiar to all, his music will be well known to many, from the DJs to the dancers, the heads to the home listeners. Evergreen classics like “Kilimandjaro My Home”, have remained a mainstay in the record bags & USB crates of disco jocks since its release in the late 70s, while numerous of his other crossover Afro-disco gems have been bootlegged, edited and remixed by a seemingly endless number of both greater & lesser-known producers who have all paid tribute to his work. Eko Roosevelt’s position in the ranks of Cameroon’s great musicians cannot be overstated. As a composer, songwriter, pianist and singer he has influenced generations of musicians both in Cameroon and France and further abroad, while he has written & arranged for many of the Cameroonian musical community. Here Canopy, with the benediction of Eko himself, officially reissues two of his works that have not been rereleased since their first outings. Stylistically the two songs straddle the line between Afro-disco, funk and pop, with a slightly Balearic, almost AOR sensibility. “Phone Me Tonight” is taken from a 7” record that has barely resurfaced since it was self-released in 1981 on the “Eko Music’ imprint. The song is an uplifting opus that demonstrates Eko’s deftness for creating catchy songs that succeed in their songwriting prowess and melody crafting, both on and off the dance floor. It is a stripped back composition that employs the key elements to great effect. The groovy bass line is underpinned by a tight Afro-disco beat as Eko’s unmistakeable voice draws us in and with a masterful use of repetition and hooks, creates a song that feels familiar from the outset, while being brand new to almost all listeners. As the song develops, the synth lines lift the song higher and higher, culminating in a euphoric transcendence perfect for elevating the mood of any dancefloor. “Take Me As I am Now”, is sourced from Eko’s first album, “Nalandi” which originally came out in 1975 on Dragon Phenix. Here we have another fine example of Eko’s ability to hone compositions that blend thelines between pop song writing and more loopy dance floor orientated structures. The vocal hook repeats throughout the song, with only minor variations, making the song feel comfortingly familiar from its early bars. An instantly appealing bass line sets the stage for the sleek guitars and taut horn arrangements. The end result is a feel-good balance of melody and groove that makes for a timeless feel with a positive message!"

La Rat steps up to the center circle with a collection of funk and soul-soaked loops and bars, soundtracks for a late night drive through a rainy city. The La Rat aesthetic weaves wider than a drunken cyclist on a busy gracht, delivering ripostes to the status quo across eight tracks, with nods to psych and blues, jazz and latin. The resulting beat collages then laid the foundations for a flurry of outer-limits raps, beamed in from the mind of a cut ‘n’ paste lyricist. The collaborative duo take inspiration from such varying sources as Georgia O’Keeffe, MC Hellshit and DJ Carhouse, Pauline Oliveros, and Rammellzee, and end up reclaiming a slice of hip-hop’s supercharged universe for themselves.

La Rat steps up to the center circle with a collection of funk and soul-soaked loops and bars, soundtracks for a late night drive through a rainy city. The La Rat aesthetic weaves wider than a drunken cyclist on a busy gracht, delivering ripostes to the status quo across eight tracks, with nods to psych and blues, jazz and latin. The resulting beat collages then laid the foundations for a flurry of outer-limits raps, beamed in from the mind of a cut ‘n’ paste lyricist. The collaborative duo take inspiration from such varying sources as Georgia O’Keeffe, MC Hellshit and DJ Carhouse, Pauline Oliveros, and Rammellzee, and end up reclaiming a slice of hip-hop’s supercharged universe for themselves.

Afrosynth Records is proud to release J.E. Movement's groundbreaking ‘Ma Dea Luv’, out in mid-2025 on vinyl and digital platforms. Toward the end of the 1980s South Africa's recording industry was booming. Searching for a sound that could cross over to all in the country's segregated society while also eyeing international success, a new duo emerged that quickly rendered its 'bubblegum' predecessors obsolete. Drawing on international trends and crafting lyrics for local ears, J.E. MOVEMENT — a duo made up of James Nyingwa and Elliot Faku — exploded onto the local scene with their debut album, 'Ma Dea Luv'. The future had arrived. A talented bassist and composer, Nyingwa was at the time employed as an in-house producer at TRS Studios in Plein Street in downtown Johannesburg, run by two Greek immigrants, George Vardas and Chris Ghelakis. Together they formed a close bond as friends and musical partners at what would become CSR Records, recording original hits with acts like the NEW AGE KIDS and SIDNEY, while also cashing in on cover versions as BLACK BOX. The six tracks on J.E. Movement’s 1988 debut give firm nods to UK Street Soul, New Jack Swing and Stock Aitken Waterman's 'Hit Factory' sound and infuse them with an African rhythmic flair and homegrown lyrical sentiment. Though not expressly political, the title track was received by many as a play on words referencing then-jailed and banned Nelson Mandela (coming after the similarly styled 'I'm Winning My Dear Love' by Yvonne Chaka Chaka in 1986 and 'We Miss You Manelow' by Chicco in 1987), giving it an added potency for those in the know. 'Jack I'm Sorry' was an underground hit in the townships, while 'Marco', 'Friends', 'Funkytown' and the eponymous closer are similarly bass and drum-driven, with hiphop-styled vocals.

This one-off Belgian New Beat project from The Zodiacs at first glance seems like standard fare from this time and place in dance music history - even with call to action, commanding listeners to ‘Move & Dance To The New Beat!’ that could well have earned a place at one of the slogans of the entire movement in an alternative universe where this record was a hit. However, a hit it was not - what we have here is an obscure piece of music shrouded in mystery, previously released only on 7 inch, and its enigmatic nature only adds to eerie quality of the children’s voices throughout the record. This, alongside its higher tempo not usually associated with New Beat as a musical form, come together to bring forth a bizarre oddity of the genre that also has the potency of a modern, peak time weapon. Anatolian Weapons on remix duties takes the material and reduces the speed but increases the malevolence and is a testament to his skills as one of the great producers working today!

Take It Easy! We need more taglines like these in such trying and self-recriminatory times, where the stresses of a part-imagined urgency prevent us from decompressing in the way our social lives really should allow for. But is dance music, whose traditional motto is to "jack", compatible with such a mantra? DJLMP shatters these apparent antinomies of relaxation and danceability with three new edited heaters here, designed for triumphant joie de vives of the kind that do not poke, prod or demand too much from us. A later Diana Ross sample is put on heavy opening rotation on 'Diana's Loop', while similarly echoic verboffs are exchanged on 'Spring Touch', where dub delays haze the mix into something a little more convulsive. Space for wonky downtime is reserved on the B's 'Reggatronic', in a rare case of hip, lo-fi breathing room reserved for a dance record.