Panabrite
Soft Terminal LP
Digitalis

Panabrite is the project of Norm Chambers -- not a household name to most people, but for those who have been reveling in his music for the last few years, he is absolutely adored. He is also, we should add, the man responsible for one of the most-loved synth albums of the last few years, although that's a journey he took incognito and we just aren't at liberty to divulge that identity quite yet. Some will be quick to chalk Soft Terminal up as just another Kosmische record, but that's just the surface dressing. There is something deeper happening here: vivid, liquid dreams are sculpted into intricate fantasy landscapes, each layer revealing another aspect of Chambers' production prowess. The thing with Chambers, is that he has an innate ability to write richly-textured, melodic compositions that have as much in common with vintage electronic library music as they do with minimal synth-pop and '70s prog. Soft Terminal opens with "Rainbow Sequence" and "Index Of Gestures." The former remains understated, moving simply and slowly while pulling open the curtain on the rest of the album. With "Index Of Gestures," Chambers opens up the sequencers and lets them fly. Dizzying passages resonate and when the piece finally feels like it will lift off, he tightens the reins and dives straight into an underwater sequence. But that's only a small part of the story. "Janus" opens with finger-picked guitar arrangements augmented with synth chords and rising leads. The guitars return on "Sound Softly" while Chambers' ghostly, robotic vocals float away unscathed. On "Beta Axis Terminal," pointillist tones flutter in and out before sharp, sequenced chord progressions overtake them. As the piece continues to build, vocoder hovers above thickened basslines and you feel lost in a dystopian sci-fi novel. But ultimately, Chambers' pop sensibilities are most evident on the mini-masterpiece, "Camembert Symphony." Pushed along by the constant thrum of a drum machine, multiple melodies are interwoven, wrapping themselves tightly around you. Each soaring synth glues the song deeper into your mind before fading away into the sonic ether. Cut to vinyl at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Limited to 500 copies only.

Sistol/Pole
The SYNTH Huckaby Remixes 12"
Slices Of Life

Slices Of Life presents tracks from Vladislav Delay's Sistol and Pole projects, remixed by Mike Huckaby. To start, "Keno" is transformed into an outstanding, dubby, Detroit-house masterpiece -- exclusively released as an extended version. On the B-side, Huckaby remixed a track originally produced in the same time period: Pole's "Silberfisch." In 2011, Mike Huckaby keeps the dubby and slightly melancholic, crackling atmosphere of the original, but his "S Y N T H Remix" beams "Silberfisch" straight onto the dancefloor.

Purchase Synth Remixes here



Portable
Into Infinity 2LP
Perlon

On the fifth album by Alan Abrahams aka Portable, he teams up with Efdemin, Johannes Schön and Süd Electronic label-mate Lakuti, to lead us Into Infinity. During the last 15 years, Alan has lived and composed in South Africa, England, Portugal and Germany. He has released records on Background, Context, Karat, Musik Krause, ~scape, Spectral, his very own Süd Electronics label and Yore.

Purchase Into Infinity here




Theo Parrish / Burnt Friedman
Meet Mancingelani and Zinja Hlungwani 12"
Honest Jon’s

Kai Alce/Theo Parrish/Loosefingers
Assorted Elements EP
NDATL Muzik

We don't need to tell you how massive this will be. Theo Parrish, Kai Alce, and Larry Heard, under his Loosefingers guise, all on the one EP. Limited as always -- and you'd think at this price, you'd get more than a paper sleeve....but the tracks are great and not available for download!

Purchase Assorted Elements EP here




West Norwood Cassette Library
Blonde On Blonde 12”
Teal Recordings

Following the critically acclaimed debut-release of Bob Bhamra's West Norwood Cassette Library alias, Teal Recordings presents Blonde On Blonde as its seminal release. This one is surely meant for the dance floor: an addictive bassline and a stomping house beat executed as if it were a hidden gem dug out in a New York pawnshop. The ubiquitous Ramadanman hits the flipside under his Pearson Sound moniker, with a rehash of 'Blonde On Blonde;' with subtle references to the original version David Kennedy takes the remix to quite different, but equally interesting, places. Lush early morning vibes! A must have! Support from Untold, 2562, Ben Ufo, Shortstuff, Mosca, Pariah." 

              

Even five short years ago, many clubbers, ravers and dance music fans would be hard pressed to recognize the names Ron Hardy or Larry Levan (above, R-L), let alone acknowledge African American influence on the music they get freaky to on the weekends. Even in the black community, whole generations seem completely oblivious to this part of their musical heritage. Thankfully, that's changing. With a renewed interest in disco, 80's uptempo R&B aka boogie, techno and early house music over the past few years, knowledge of dance music's history and the role blacks (and gays and latinos) played in its inception is growing. Nightclubs where the music was allowed to evolve, like Levan's Paradise Garage (right) in New York, Hardy's Music Box and Frankie Knuckles' Warehouse in Chicago (the latter being where the name House Music was coined) and Detroit's Music Institute remain legendary not because of the venues themselves or the people who owned them, but due to the DJ's who made those places immortal by performing an aural alchemy that transformed the American soundscape.