John Manhard
The Park After Dark

After a few silent years, the Beau Mot Plage crew is finally relaunching its label with a kick ! The record showcases the skills of BMP’s co-founder, Alexis Namur. The Frenchman has been crafting his sound quietly for many years, finding influences in the music he digs. The result is a 4 track debut EP that oscillates between straight-forward tech-house groovers and subtle slow-burners, sprinkled with that 90’s progressive vibe that we love so much.

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.

New label Bubblin Fresh kicks up with 4 slinky summer bubblers unreleased from 2001.

Next up on EYA's series Lonewolf is UK producer Nay. "Pattern of Thought" takes us on a hallucinatory excursion into deep minimal textures, acid-tingled beats, blissful grooves and dubby trips. A remarkable debut from an artist we'll be hearing a lot about in the future on a label capable of consistently delivering the fresh, cutting-edge sound of the underground.

From deep inside the inner workings of L3 Liverpool comes the latest instalment from the city’s very own, Aerofunk. An EP built through atmospheric melodies, break scattered percussion and the heavy sub-driven, relentlessly shifting basslines he is becoming renowned for. The EP opens itself out into true break-funk fashion with ‘The Definition III’, setting off via back-and-forth percussive movements with hints of hypnotising, atmospheric keys, that pave the way for one of his signature hard hitting, scattered basslines. Moving in an ever forward style, ‘Funky Breaky West’ cranks up the level for the A-Side. The repetitive bassline layered beneath a kick that skips itself in-and-out of various timings throughout the track, alongside staple, party worthy snare and hat crashes, guide the music on course before delightfully introducing an added touch of flavour with two competing basslines that work together perfectly, hand in hand. To the flip, there’s no time for pause, as ‘Zezwa’, a track built upon a differed style to its predecessors yet sugar coated in the unmistakeable A-F style, noticeably designates itself in a groove to make its listeners relentlessly move. Throughout and just in ear shot, riding their way throughout that background, is the unmissable sound of scurrying hats and cow bell strikes that seem to make spontaneous decisions for their choice of inclusion.The B-Side close out supplies an ending filled with a stripped back groove, plied by guided reverberating horn sounds that give off a sense of alarm aimed to draw a mind to the fullest attention. All the while, the music shifts itself on in true, groove driven funk fashion. The keys and atmospheric tones that work themselves in midway through the track are worthy of noting, as if to cultivate the way for that melody one could easily mistake to have been designed by the touch of a musical robotics lab.