Martinez
PICNIC001

Sweat Ur Prayers, the next wavy addition to Radiant Love’s catalogue, is the first solo-EP of Byron Yeates. In their messaging, their timbres and grooves, the 4 tracks speak faithfully to Yeates’ inclinations as a DJ and label-head: the playfulness and buoyancy, a constant nod to the roots of rave, and a faith in dance music’s transformative power.Opening the release is the title track, a bubbling and breakbeat-laden 8 minutes. Mantric repetition is a running theme throughout the EP, and we hear “Raindrops falling all around, freeing me from other sounds; trickling down my weary eyes, bringing me back, I’m ready to fly” as an opening salvo. Yeates’ is known for his vast, enduring DJ sets, inducing sheens of sweat from all involved – with these tracks, it’s clear he’s unafraid to take his time to build tension as a producer as well. The percussive conversation between hi-hat and snare complexifies until a clap enters near the 2 minute mark and suddenly we’re in the main, driving groove.“Waves” is a dial-back to downtempo, floatation and introspection. The dancer and writer Gabrielle Roth is sampled, speaking on her 5 Rhythms movement meditation technique – the term “sweat your prayers” comes from her texts on ecstatic physicality. The track shimmers and sways in bright pads and delayed-out drum breaks, setting the reflective tone for “Dreaming is Essential”, co-produced by Eoin DJ. Opening with Radiant Love co-founder Ruin, her candid vocals are perfectly aligned for the dancefloor’s vulnerability: “What am I avoiding? I wish I could hold myself, like the dance holds me.” The track unfolds through layers of percussion and shadowy texture, taking a pivot to optimism halfway through, as a warm synth-line accompanies Ruin’s repetition: “Dreaming is essential.”Lawrence Lee’s remix of “Sweat Ur Prayers” adapts the bounce of the original’s bassline to a classic, stabby rave synth. Again there is a percussive focus, but force and warmth are foregrounded, rather than polyrhythm – a shot, rather than a spritz. We hear again the opening mantra, and although “I’m ready to fly” may seem in opposition to Ruin’s “Let the dance hold me”, Sweat Ur Prayers seems to say they are one in the same movement.

Life is Worth Living, officially a second LP from El Niño Andrés, comes 9 years after its debut LP "Más Dinero Más Problemas", but sound wise it's still walking on the borderline between house, jazz and soul. El Niño's usual combination of Rhodes and Moog improvisations on top of house and jazz-funk drum-lines is present on all album tracks, with live sax additions on "Come Closer" and "Mercy Mercy". Album is an uptempo affair, but as usual with Jackie Brown releases, not your straightforward 4x4 routine - poly-rhythms and percussion drive "Wasting Your Life" and "Soul", while "The Approach of Midnight" sounds like it could have been placed straight into a Tenet soundtrack LP.

The first freshly cooked EP from the Toulouse-based collective Microondes, "Chaleur Tournante", is a 4 tracker filled with energy, floor filling vibes. Influenced by House, Deep House, Acid House and Minimal. Familiar piano House riffs, acid tones, broken rhythms and retro synths are combined to recreate our missed club universe. The well-known Deborah Aime La Bagarre and his track "Effort Patriotique" wrap up this release with an explosive mix.

After debuting on Flippen Disks in 2018 and a follow-up track on Bradley Zero’s Rhythm Section, PTDD is back on Flippen Disks with this debut solo-EP called „Sizipin“.
Melting PTDD’s signature minimalist sound with a welcoming harmonic world in Hoe Je Het Snijdt, taking a wide array of influences from UK-bass and broken beat in Sizipin to HipHop in N Btj Blvn Dnsn or more progressive club sounds in Kajuit, this EP is a clear big step in PTDD’s development as a producer. 
„Sizipin“, a made-up term for an adaptor that you don’t know the use for anymore, it’s a rather fitting name considering the circumstances of the creation go this EP. A connector for quitting his day-job to focus fully on audio and music work, building his studio in deep pandemic lockdown-Utrecht and most importantly becoming a father. Also features a vocal performance of PTDD’s son Olivier. Can you find it?

Pretty Sneaky indeed!