Back in stock: Breakbeat

Review: Passenger have embarked on a limited edition run of instrumental 10" releases. These will be issued in strictly low quantity for the DJs who prefer their tracks without vocals. First, we strip down the first two tracks from the Teamplayers series which did global damage on original release. Grab them while you can because there will never be another chance.

Review: The Future Sound Of London are well-known for their intense sectioning-off of various albums into sagas. Conceived as far back as the late 1990s, the 'Environments' album series has been routinely topped up on a slow but steady basis, and has thus far manifested as a grand total of seven psychedelectronic odysseys. 'Environments Seven', which came out earlier in 2022, is testament to the duo's madcap penchant for sagaizing; indeed, this seventh instalment in the LP is split into a trilogy, and 'Environments 7.02' is the second in said trilogy.

Review: Mike Paradinas doesn't need to prove anything to anyone, having helmed Planet Mu since electronica's breakthrough years while weaving his own idiosyncratic path through various strains of braindance along the way. Still, when he delivers an album it feels like an occasion, and Grush maintains the pace with a spectacular reflection on the broader sonic ideas he's been toying with for nigh on three decades. This album was crafted with live energy in mind - some tracks were written in the aftermath of particular gigs, some were written specifically to be played out - and the arc of the album is intended to evoke the flow of a live set. Along the way his instinct for sparkling melodies and needlepoint drum programming shine through, nailing a vibe between classic nostalgia and restless innovation like only he can.

Review: Little is known about Needlework, save for the fact that this new fifth installment to their eponymous breaks series reissues two lesser-known (but no less beloved) breakbeat classics for the present day. DJ Mink's b-boy minimalizer 'Hey Hey Can U Relate' (indeed we can) appears on the A-side in the utmost quality - showing off the precision sharpness of its core break and vocal shouts - while legendary b-boy crew Tuff Crew hear their flauting, noiry instrumental version of their track 'Soul Food' get added to the B.

Review: Having appeared recently on a self-titled label with the blissed-out delights of the Travelling Without Moving 12", emergent artist Opik is back with a fresh dose of trance-licked house music which aligns neatly with the contemporary trippy crowd. This release appears on the KMA60 Rezpektiva label in the wake of releases from Denia and Cosmic Underground, and it easily fits into the label's interests around 90s-influenced club sounds. From dreamy roller 'Orson' to the ravey reverie of 'Serotonin', there is all kinds of sublime gear here to get a crowd moving in unison.

Review: With a run of knockout singles on XL reaching back to 2016, Tom and Ed Russell finally deliver the album we always knew they had in them. Overmono is a project which happily gorges on the best bits of rave culture and spits back out something fresh, universal and yet still headsy enough to keep the underground faithful happy. Good Lies builds on that promise in every way, threading in anthemic vocal hooks and massive emotive brushstrokes without losing that legit bite which has made them so enduringly popular. 'Is U' has an eye on the charts for sure, with plenty of big festival moments bagged along the way for their live shows and everyone else DJ sets. 'Walk Thru Water' hits a more melancholic note with St. Panther on vocals, but it's still masterfully crafted to bring out joyous escapism with gnarly synth flex on top. Something for everyone, then.

Review: Last year, and to mark the passing of a quarter of a century since the release of their rather colossal album The Fat of the Land, the Prodigy commissioned a swathe of new reworks of key cuts from the popular set. Now those remixes - or at least their favourites - have made it onto silver vinyl. The headline attraction is undoubtedly Andy C's revision of 'Firestarter', which retains many elements of the original (including the snarling guitars, twisted vocals and mind-mangling sounds), while adding a touch more d&b swing and a suitably sizable wobble bassline. Elsewhere, Mefjus joins forces with Camo & Crooked for a frankly nightmare-inducing rush through 'Breathe' - think thrash techno, and you're close - while Rene LaVice lays down a wobble-meets-jump-up revision of 'Mindfields' that's as gargantuan as it is brain-melting.

Review: Cold-pressed 'Juice On Wax'! Voodoocuts' reshapes series hears the DJ and producer reimagine his many hip-hop, Latin soul, breaks, cumbia and funk favourites for the modern ear. This time, we've a verdant detoxifier hand-blending sonic spinaches, gingers and pomes, taking form as a two-gulp mixture, 'Yes You Can' and 'Bailen mi Cumbia'. The former is a Tribe Called Quest repro deconstructed and reconstructed from scratch, with only the original verison's acapella surviving the blade; otherwise, we've a restorative hangover cure of vibraphone and tremolo-crunk. The second reworks Jimmy Fontanez into a psychedelic post-cumbia come organic house medpak, a second burst of discoid dialysis for the ear otherwise deprived of sweetness.