Collection: New Releases

For the 13th volume in their occasional "Store Jams" series, Amsterdam's Rush Hour crew has turned to Superior Elevation Records chief Tom Noble, a producer best known for his re-edits and remixes. "Flashlight" is not a cover of the famous Parliament/Funkadelic jam of the same name, but rather a similarly and colourful revivalist disco jam rich in low-slung grooves, flanged guitars and kaleidoscopic synth lines. Sometime Jamie 3:26 collaborator Masalo handles remix duties on side B, brilliantly re-imagining the track as a muscular slab of starry-eyed late night Italo-disco. Whisper it quietly, but it could well be even better than Noble's original version.

Berlin's heroic selector Hunee has started his own imprint named Lifetones, and it's inaugural release is the Archipelago EP by Hydromantic: a collaboration between Junior Boys' Matthew Didemus and German producer Martin Maischein (Sandbenders) that combines 'fourth-world acoustic rhythms with divergent techno futurism' to explore timbre, rhythm and space. From the tropical electro funk of the title track on the A side, to the hypnotic polyrhythmic minimalism of B side cut "Paranormalisation", which is followed by even more reductionist fare in the form of the off-kilter effort "Drip By Drip" - this is an impressive debut and we very much anticipate what the label has in store next.

For their latest delve into the archives, Music From Memory offshoot Second Circle has decided to focus on Sandoz, a celebrated Richard H. Kirk solo project that generally joined the dots between dub and then contemporaneous styles of electronic music. The four tracks contained here were originally released on the earliest Sandoz 12" singles (1992-93), all of which are now frustratingly hard to find. Kirk's healthy obsession with Afro-futurism can be heard in the tribal chants, dub-wise bass and glassy-eyed electronics of opener "Human Spirit", while "Beam" sounds like a deeper, dreamier take on the Yorkshire Bleep sound he helped to create. "Chocolate Machine" is another deep, drowsy and melodious workout rich in clanking percussion hits, and "Steel Tabernacle" is Sweet Exorcist style "clonk" with added ghostly melodies.

Mid '90s veteran Crazy Bank is back with the label he dropped his original heat on, Blahh! Records. Al Temper has been otherwise engaged since the turn of the millennium, but now he's back in action with some heaters that carry a torch for classic garage but don't get lost to nostalgia. "One, Two" is a 4x4 bumper with some deadly diva chops and organ keys to die for, but it's also fresh in its execution. The "Beforethebeatsbreak" remix of the track nudges the key down and makes for a slightly more sultry affair, while Perception's take sends the original in the direction of mellow, soulful 2-step. CB Step completes the set with another chilled version that works a little house shuffle into the mix, not to mention some artfully chopped breaks.

Lumberjacks In Hell welcome Croatian producer Andrej Laseech to the table following his promising early outings on Be Yourself and Sound Exhibitions. On this release, Laseech has reached out to the mighty, eternally prolific Javonntte for a little vocal magic, resulting in the utterly sexy deep house burner "More Than Friends". It's a track that Marcel Vogel & Tim Jules clearly dig, judging by the light touch they applied to their own remix of the track. "Take You Away" on the flip is another sweet and sultry warm-up or backroom jam that gets lifted even higher by Javonntte's stellar vocals.

The first Archivators 12" featured some choice remixes from Joey Negro amongst others deep cover gems from the deep house fraternity. The theme continues on this second 12", which leads in style with a shimmering remix of Vincent Inc by Julian Sanza. Next up comes the eternal, infectious anthem "Music Is My Life" by Colonel Abrams - the seriously deadly club dub no less. Nu jazz veteran Nigel Hayes kicks off the B side with the uplifting broken beat flavour of "Jabawaki", before DJ EFX closes the record out with smoky chords n keys aplenty on "Gravity".