Collection: New Releases

Roisin Murphy has finally become a genuine top-tier star - an artist capable of packing-out venues with dynamic live shows, and whose every new musical move is headline news. Hit Parade is not, as the title suggests, a solo retrospective but rather a brand-new album produced not by regular collaborator Crooked Man, but rather another masterful maverick, DJ Koze. The pair has worked together before, so Murphy is in safe hands. Musically, it's a genre-straddling, style-bending affair whose strong songs - rich in sing-along choruses, thoughtful lyrics and musical hooks aplenty - are presented in vivid colour (with plenty of sparkling organic instrumentation). Recent singles 'Cuckoo' and 'The Universe', both instant classics, offer a neat summary of the album's many qualities.

Levat has been around for a minute, sneaking out electro-techno crossover gear here and there, but this marks the mysterious producer's most sizeable release to date. It's Andrew James Gustav's Marginal Returns label which is carrying this sizeable double pack, which should give you an idea of the flexible party tackle on offer. There's personality bursting out of every one of these full-fat joints, at times touching on bleep techno and even swerving back to an 80s tinted sound on stand-out track 'Vai'. It's absolutely an album of club cuts, but with more than enough variety to keep all listeners engaged whether you're packing a record bag or vibing out at home.

Carl Hardy's Animals On Psychedelics label is catnip for lovers of freaky late-night sounds and serving up the latest sauce is Mathew Dexter. 'Mercurial' kicks off in snappy fashion with jittery synths panning about the mix over turbocharged breaks and next to cinematic vocal musings. 'Pro Nobis' is just as high octane and rhythmically restless, with plenty of psyched-out colours and retro motifs then 'Uplink' closes down with some moody atmospherics that take you to the edges of space. Another adventurous EP from this always-fresh label.

The Fuori Orario label is back after making a fine debut with another notable EP. This one fuses electro, acid and breaks into something fresh and comes from Trascendance, who you might better known as Riccardo from fine EPs on labels such as Imprints, Metropolita and Elma Rivaga. 'Ultraverse' is the sleek and serene opener with its gurgling acid lines and progressive melodies over tight, pent up beats. 'Glifico' then ducks and dives with a spooky and haunting late night feel and 'Sonicsenses' layers in all manner of freaky vocal whirs. 'Temporaton' is last up and has a dark heart and real menace.

Passport is the inter-Atlantic duo of George Btp Dan Piu and Roger K. Versey and their all-new album is a truly global voyage of musical adventure. Wonderful Elixir is all about seeking the deeper grooves in dance music from a range of different genres. It's a seamless fusion of jazz and acid, deep house and street beat with special appearances from DJ Nata, Jesus Gonsev, and Grant. The likes of 'Prelude Turismo 97' is a Balearic beauty, 'Oceans of Emotional Wealth' is a shimmying groove with sensuous vocals and lush keys and 'Dream Delivery' is more prickly for those late-night dances.

Off The Grid unveils the second chapter of its label, this time with two tracks (A1 and B1) from Mataemon, an alter ego of Tolga Fidan, who puts his years of experience into forging two powerful cuts that balance the strengths of the past with the visions of the future, laying driving, deep and playful elements over steady grooves, raving straight from the heart.

For this release we decided to go back to the golden era of house, where we found an old misterious producer called Zeno Pisu. You might know him from his obscure EP called “Electric Voyage” made in 1995, but we decided to dig a bit deeper then that. The track A1 “Waiting For A Train (Crystal Edge) is a reissue from the Train Driver record made by Zeno in 1996, a super weapon that we have been playing for some time now, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see this remastered specially for our label. We also went through old cassete tapes and some lost files to find the tracks A2, B1 and B2, which are some of Zeno’s unreleased productions made in the 90s, that are now finally seeing the light.

SAIS005.5 — a companion piece to the PMA EP by B-2DEP’T released on SAISEI earlier this year — is a unique one-sided 10” EP featuring a remix by Uruguayan producer Z@p. The Phonoteque resident reworks ‘BSMH’ with a classic 80s electro beat and bassline, funking up the groove for all the breakdancers in the crowd. The original vocodered lyrics — “Body/Sonic/Mental/Health” — resonate today as much as they did back in 1993, acting as a mantra for a new rave generation.