Various
Liquid Memories II

Stroom pull out two early Belgian Trance burners from '93. Tracks by FURYON & ANYMUS respectively. This is the the good shit. Mine's a Mitsubsihi.

After a short break, renowned underground label Bass Culture is back. The outlet has been a source of high quality electronic music since 2009, building a solid reputation over the past 13 years. Label boss D’Julz leads the charge with the first Bass Culture EP since mid-2021.The Est. 1992 EP sees the seasoned Parisian delving into his own history to produce four cuts that epitomise the sounds present in the early nineties, all wrapped up in contemporary packaging, so they sound fresh, polished and vibrant.The EP kicks off with ‘Highway’, which merges a 4×4 beat with rolling breaks. A funky bassline drops in along with a vintage melody. As the track develops, D’Julz adds more layers to create a symphony of retro sounds, all bouncing off each other to produce a delightful, uplifting cut.Next up, ‘Your Mom’s Fav DJ’ also utilises breakbeats to drive the track forward, with a solid groove undulating in the low end. Sultry pads add depth, while Rhodes keys usher in the jazzy second half after a short breakdown. A smooth, mesmerising cut full of flavour. The title track begins with a mysterious riff, gradually introducing that iconic nineties organ to form the bassline. The atmosphere is enchanting, D’julz building the tension and energy with a considered approach. A cut that has a relatively simple arrangement, which creates maximum impact as it hypnotises the listener with its mystical allure.Lastly, ‘SFUMATO’ closes the EP with a touch of high class funk. This is deep house with funkadelic rhythms straight out of the seventies era. The track emanates warmth, wrapping you up in its smooth, comforting composition. A great finale for an EP that epitomises the depth and range of Bass Culture… And we’re back.

Off The Grid christens its record label with a first release composed by very close people to the heart of its functioning. On the A1 we find a melancholic optimist house cut, made in collaboration by Ancut, head-mastering engineer from Analogcut, and Onirik, OTG’s head honcho. A2 features Onirik’s solo offering, a trippy dreamy off kilter cut, ideal for warm-up or early hours. The B-side belongs to Views, already responsible for a couple of releases on Garage Hermétique, one of the founding labels of Off The Grid, who wraps up two tracks full of atmospherical punchiness, clubby IDM, with his signature acid basslines and storytelling.

Idris Bena with the repress of his full length album on Forest Ill.x

Bizarro Records returns to its Australian roots for three functional tracks from Eora/Sydney local Eastern Distributor, alongside a remix from Montreal prodigy Maara. Drawing heavily from the psychedelic influences of our country’s bush doof scene, ‘State of Equilibrium’ alludes to trance and techno relics of the past whilst accelerating into a hybrid psy-tek sound. ‘Affinity’ delivers a functional, peak-time psychedelic motion, ebbing and flowing into dark resonant euphoria. ‘Balance’ sticks closer to the modern Australian scene; an upbeat, bubbling tech-house influenced track, presenting a futuristic psy take on a sound marking contemporary dance floors. The third track ‘Endorphin’ is a bouncing techno tool, infinitely ascending from powerful low-frequency buzz to progged-out elation. The EP comes to a close with a taste of Maara’s signature sound - characterizing her take on ‘Endorphin’ with an irresistible dancefloor oriented bassline, filled with the angelic pads that define her discography.