Panorama Bar regular Bwana will soon release a three-track EP with an additional Avalon Emerson remix.
The release follows on from Bwana’s homage to the soundtrack of iconic 1988 anime film “Akira”—Capsules Pride—on LuckyMe, and also EPs on Aus and Fort Romeau’s Cin Cin. In addition to, he appeared on 17 Steps with a remix of Dusky’s “Ingrid Is a Hybrid.”
On this EP, according to the label, the Canadian producer “presents three contrasting but cohesive tracks” which unite “his dual loves of vintage ‘90s electro and classic progressive trance.”
Completing the package, Avalon Emerson bends “Three Way Is The Hard Way” into a “glitchy, percussive groover that builds crunchy layers of dark drums around the original’s twisted sonics.”
Tracklisting
01. Three Way Is The Hard Way 02. Three Way Is The Hard Way (Avalon Emerson Remix) 03. On Patrol For Their Control 04. Hell Is Other Robots
Three Way Is The Hard Way is scheduled for April 21 release.
In the world of electronic music, few artists can boast a resume as long and storied as Philipp Jung and Patrick Bodmer (a.k.a. M.A.N.D.Y.). The duo formed at the Monza Club in Frankfurt as a DJ-collective, before taking the plunge into production with a string of remixes—Bodmer and Jung’s debut release was a 2001 remix for French Formation Galleon. Not long after this, the duo moved to original productions and, along with Booka Shade and Thomas Koch (a.k.a. DJ T.), formed Get Physical, one of house music’s most influential labels.
In the years following, alongside Booka Shade, Jung and Bodmer would go on to release one of house music’s most recognizable hits with “Body Language,” a cut that still sounds as fresh today more 10 years after it was released. “Body Language,” Get Physical, and a string of lauded mix compilations—check 2006’s At The Controls or 2007’s Fabric 38 for case in point—would propel them to the upper echelons of house music and consistent bookings throughout the world.
Due to the extensive touring and a slight indifference to the album format—Bodmer has been quoted as stating an album is “not the most important thing in the universe”—their debut LP, Double Fantasy, arrived in November of last year, 16 years after the duo formed. From a collection of around 50 compositions, Jung and Bodmer whittled the album down to 12 tracks, including a 2016 rework of “Body Language.” Drawing on their years of experience, Double Fantasy is an elegant and introspective ride through their various influences and includes guests appearances from Brett Johnson, Bob Moses’ Jimmy Valance, Francesco Tristano, Nonku Phiri and Afrika Baby Bam of Jungle Brothers fame.
For the latest edition in our podcast series, Jung and Bodmer eschew their typical 4×4 club music for more broken beat pastures. As you’ll hear, it’s a timeless mix that is as fit for the dancefloor as it is home listening.
M.A.N.D.Y. will be performing at this year’s Rapture Festival, a special one-day event on Thursday, March 23 in Miami, with an awesome lineup that includes DeWalta, Dave Seaman, Ellen Allien, Petre Inspirescu, Rhadoo, and more. More information and tickets can be found here.
When and where did you record the mix? Did you have a particular idea or mood that you wanted to pursue?
First of all, we wanted to divide the mix into two completely different sections, one more eclectic and mellow and left and right, and then one other one which shows more our dance side. Unfortunately, we ran out of time due to heavy traveling this month. But there are so many dance podcasts out there, so we thought we are doing something a bit more for listening again.
Could you tell us about the idea behind it? How did you choose the records in it?
We are trying to involve records which have a meaning to us in terms of vibe and diversity—something you can listen to over and over and even in five years time.
There is a song from a German krautrock band Can which we always adored but hardly anyone knows nowadays. So we just wanted to have music in there that makes sense for us.
How does the mix compare to one of your club mixes?
As you can hear, it’s very different and it’s music we would play in bars. We started in bars and small places and that is in there in there; you can shake your bum a little, but you don’t have to. You can just chat with your date or friends and sometimes get lost in the music to just come back again to the conversation. It should be stimulating… but not with 4/4 bassline.
You’re soon to play several gigs across the US. How did you pack your bag for the trip?
We only ever do carry on. We never check in luggage, even if we are gone for weeks and months. You can wash on the road and buy some pieces in nice places all around the world. By now we are true professionals, but we still loose a lot of stuff on the road too.
What have you got planned for 2017?
We are still touring our album Double Fantasy for some time and working on the club edits as we speak. And as always, taking care of the label too, finding time to write new music, and enjoying life.
M.A.N.D.Y. will be performing at this year’s Rapture Festival, a special one-day event on Thursday, March 23 in Miami, with an awesome lineup that includes DeWalta, Dave Seaman, Ellen Allien, Petre Inspirescu, Rhadoo, and more. More information and tickets can be found here.
Opal Sunn is the live-performance project of Al Kassian and Hiroaki OBA. Having started to work together in 2015, the pair have now recorded countless hardware-driven improvisational sessions. The aim, they say, “is to transcend the improvisational magic of the studio jam and funnel it into the live performance.”
On March 10, the Japanese duo released a new EP on the Planet Sundae imprint which included four “selected works” that were recorded between 2015-16 in Berlin. Each track, continues the label, is “aimed squarely at that rift between the stark light of the every day and the flurry of the dancefloor.”
Following the EP’s release, an additional unreleased Opal Sunn cut is downloadable via the WeTransfer button below, with the entire EP streamable here.
The Frankfurt-based collective and imprint has shared details of an upcoming triple-pack by some of the label’s co-founders, Cedric Dekowski & Felix Reifenberg. The German producers put their first EP together out back in 2012 and have released several others since. The forthcoming 11-tracker L’Albüm is their first collaboration to land on HardWorkSoftDrink (having both put out several solo EPs via the imprint).
The Frankfurt-based collective and imprint has shared details of an upcoming triple-pack by some of the label’s co-founders, Cedric Dekowski & Felix Reifenberg. The German producers put their first EP together out back in 2012 and have released several others since. The forthcoming 11-tracker L’Albüm is their first collaboration to land on HardWorkSoftDrink (having both put out several solo EPs via the imprint).
On April 1, Sub Club residents Harri & Domenic will DJ all night long, 30 years to the day it first opened its doors. The celebrations will roll through the rest of the summer, with a live show from KiNK on April 8, and DJ sets by Kerri Chandler on April 15 and The Black Madonna on May 6. Larry Heard is booked in for his first UK live performance for over two decades, at local venue The Barrowland Ballroom on July 15. Later in the summer, the Sub Club SoundSystem invites the likes of Dixon and Maceo Plex for a two-day festival (on August 26-27).
“The music still batters the senses, pushing boundaries, constantly reinventing and hopefully setting the tone for what’s coming round the next corner. This is the space where underground clubs really exist, breaking new music, creating new energies, inspiring new ideas, and forging new friendships all along the way,” said Mike Grieve, the club’s director. “Having the Subculture boys bossing the booth for the April 1st birthday party pays due homage to their influence and the spirit of the Subbie! 30 years? Easy Peasy!”
First opening its doors back in 1987, the Scottish venue has become a legendary institution over the years, for its parties with the likes of Slam and Optimo.
Soundtrack composer and producer Nate Connelly will release Fragments, a conceptual album based around the idea of a broken and scratched CD, on new Felt Music offshoot Blurred Recordings on March 31.
Following a stint studying at Leeds College of Music, Connelly went into scoring films and now boasts a resume of over 20 multi-award-winning short films from all over the world. On the release front, Connelly has dropped a handful of EPs and albums, most notably the acclaimed A Dream About Being Lost and experimental long player Di Skyver.
For his latest effort, Connelly turned to the idea of creating compositions out of the stuttering, skipping effect of broken CDs. Elements that may not make sense alone but as part of a larger picture work in harmony with one another—”with each part completely and utterly depending on the other.”
In support of the release, Connelly has offered up a remix of “The Sound Of You Stood” by Frequent Traveller, available via WeTransfer below.
Originally from London but now residing in Berlin, Sison and Antonio first popped up on our radar with two outstanding EPs on Bade and Safer At Night—Timerunner and Annexe. Their latest effort, Network, finds the duo in typically fine form with three groove-led originals and a remix from Sept—each cut brilliantly combines emotive content with sheer dancefloor power.
Network kicks off what will be a big year for Sison and Antonio, with releases forthcoming on Counter Pulse, Gynoid Audio, Bade, and regular label homes Safer At Night and Voxnox Records. Alongside the studio work, Sison and Antonio have also announced a residency with London crew We Concur.
In support of the release, Sison and Antonio have offered up a full stream of EP cut “Analog Relief.” You can stream the track in full below, along with an hour-long mix.
Marc Houle is soon set to release the first part of his new three-part album series on his own Items & Things label
Sinister Mind sees the Canadian artist serve up “nine tracks that once again stand as a fine testament to his studio skills,” according to the label. “The series,” continues the label, “is an autobiographical studio project” that spans “several moods and styles, showing the different sides of Marc Houle, both as a person and as an artist.”
“After over 10 years of making music, I felt it was a good time to stop and assess my musical journey. I didn’t plan on a trilogy but I realized I had so much to say that limiting it to only one LP wouldn’t get the whole story across. The first album reflects more the dark tendencies and tones of my sound” – Marc Houle
Tracklisting
01.Don’t Think of Me 02.Sinister Mind Maskatron 03.MaskatronLoafers 04.LoafersFailure 05.FailureBassorrific 06.BassorrificDark Tom 07.Dark TomConbular 08.Conbular 09.Paligama
Sinister Mind is scheduled for March 24 release, with “Paligama” streamable in full below.
The acclaimed Italian DJ-producer, according to the label, has transformed the “two original tracks from our favorite Russians into two club monsters.” “Plane Goes East” is described as a “disco winner, that just bangs with percussive bravado”; while “”Voodoo Your Ex” is an emotional journey that elevates the original to new heights.”
Tracklisting:
A. Plane Goes East (DJ Tennis Remix) B. Voodoo Your Ex (DJ Tennis Remix)
Plane Goes East (DJ Tennis Reworks) EP is scheduled for April 13 release.
