Two Opposites
Sunday Morning On Saturn EP

Berlin-based French selector Shonky adds a new dimension to his music career with the launch of his brand new label, Stoned Pilot. Inspired by his love of collaboration, the platform will focus exclusively on collaborative projects with each new release. At his studio in Berlin Shonky has assembled a mouthwatering array of equipment; vintage synths, drum machines and sequencers. The set up allows him to cultivate a highly creative atmosphere - a playground for those who visit - and the resulting productions exude the kind of energy that you typically find during liberating jam sessions. Shonky cites the studio, and its many playthings, as a key part of his growth as an artist. While everyone he invites to join for a session leaves feeling invigorated by the experience. On the first release he appears with Otis, an Italian producer who lived in the same building as him. Through lockdown the two men became better acquainted and they decided to hit the studio together. The result is the Humanizer EP, featuring four cuts that encompass the merging of Shonky and Otis’ individual styles into one cohesive body of work. On the EP the duo delve into the deeper side of the dance floor, utilising bass, rhythm and energy to explore varying styles and tempos, tinged with an air of mystery.So the stage is set, Stoned Pilot heralds a new phase in Shonky’s career, from global tours, to his exemplary back catalogue and now label owner with a core ethos centred on creative collaboration.

As they were working their asses off on their respective projects last year, these two lads came together to deliver a not so formal four-handed introductive dance record. The purpose is crystal clear : one record capturing through three maximalists club tracks, both their obsession for digressive New Beat, Rave-infused House and in the background, dirty breakbeats bumping into thick Emo pads of Italo Disco or some leftfield Post Punk music. Those two were too young to experience the post-Disco big bang which occurred between 88 to 94, but they manage to embrace the spirit and twist it without any shame. Far from contemplating the European dance legacy, they bend it to create a second merciless big bang, right to the face. By that way, they offer you, happy raving people, these three restless pieces that are 200% coherent on their holy belief of a « Maximal Dance » aesthetic.

Tresydos presents Time For Spirits EP, their release número 7. German producer Atree is in charge of delivering this 4-tracker filled with fresh housey vibes and contagious grooves.

Ikävä Pii’s vinyl debut is a collection of three original songs, complemented with two recent remixes by Arif and Monty DJ. The three original works (Palau Figment, Rampage and La Conga Di Corto) are some of Ikävä Pii’s early productions – but were recovered in London between 2020 and 2021, to be released on Flippen Disks. Opener Palau Figment is a dive into a non-chronological sonic archive, a reluctant visit of a time past. Its saturated, driving drum machine beat is hesitantly accompanied by floating synthesizer play and takes us right into dream-land, grounded by a mono bass line that throughout the song is joined by a doubling replica in stereo - a memory of itself if you will; A nostalgic narrative told by a hardly comprehensible voice, while “Rampage” does a good job shredding it it right up, exposing the distortion of memory in its growing destruction of it’s driving force, the synthesized string sound that is eventually rendered nearly unrecognizable.This painful process of acknowledgement finds its cathartic reconciliation on the flip. “La Conga di Corto” combines the tropes of the A-side into an ecstatic 5 minutes of loopy, shifty drums and broken up synthesizers. Arif’s Woo Reduction keeps it’s titles promise, taking few elements from the original track into a minimal club track that will make dancefloors pause and bounce alike. Monty DJ’s Transformation Dub is a much less minimalistic approach, stacking layers of percussion on top of each other, shifting form constantly.

Step Ball Chain continues to shake the system and flip the skritch with its third offering via MYKI’s follow up solo release “Delenya”. The undeniably intriguing Tel-Avivian Producer & DJ, also part of the Tofistock label family and member of Shen band, shares a consensual glimpse into his fevered brain over the course of a spellbinding week. Progressively exposing sensations rooted in paranoia and isolation of recent dystopian life, the EP is sonically metamorphosed into conscious expanding club explorations, percussively advanced and masterfly frenzied dance tools for the globe's memorable dance floors. With an additional likeminded remix from label-head Roza Terenzi, the 4 tracks embody a staunch riot signalling the optimistic restoration of movement and ferocity, highlighting the crucial role and release these sentiments provide.Establishing the overarching atmosphere, Vertigo opens with a humble vigor; the commanding clunk of bassline leading the way for the solid stride and dynamic rhythmical transit Myki specializes in. Strictly snapped snares in conversation with auxiliary percussion and textural vocal splinters, the personality and flair that continues evidently through the release, alongside the subtly encompassing arpeggiated swells circulating overhead and the dipping lurching distortions breeding below. Roza’s remix bumps the rush of the original, preserving the frisky spirit through a stripped spine of sultry throb; then creating space for experimental evolution of rhythmic and melodic concepts. Existential breaks skip through the middle of a structural swell and switch up in kick patterns later down the line for endless mixing potential.The temperature continues to rise on the B side as Myki ascends into 140+ club territory. Puma Snap snatching your ears instantly with rudely harsh distortion, abandoned abruptly for a quick & slick stripped back drum pattern, gently teasing in extra percussion and light pad timbre. The infectious rolling bass pokes in underneath, locking effortlessly in union to drive the levitating hypnotic flow; the magnetic power of strutting feet to the floor. Bleeding Tooth shadows this stamina for the conclusion; yet with a murky roughness seeping through severe shaded drums and growling low end. Brace yourself for curious revelations and structure ambushes, keeping the innovation gushing with a jarring guitar disruption and gnarled vocal mumblings to stimulate physical combustion.Here lies a new age era of perc heavy prog-dance-trance, a twisted and tweaked high energy evolution from historical roots, the kaleidoscoping euphoria and playful aural punishment that trickles through Step Ball Chain’s ethos.

After a year off, Increase the Groove Records is back in force with a release eclectic AF, like the vibe that has instilled into this label since its creation. The EP of ALYHAS & LIAM FATTORI, includes 2 remixes of the very tallentuous : Idris Bena and Harry Wills ! Lowride & enjoy it.