Miguel Migs Lisa Shaw
Lose Control (Micky More & Andy Tee Remixes)

Popping The Cherry of 2020’s latest modern-contemporary record label; Step Ball Chain, is Roza Terenzi with “Stylish Tantrum”. Suggestive title to set the tone; the 5 track EP insisting sharp, sassy, high-tempered bombs with full bodied bounce. Unexpected tempo and timing variations, flared-up bpms, half time drum cuts and slicked modular flourishes, Terenzi’s signature cheek ramps up to an extra twisted club climate, atmospheric and evocative in texture as always. Featuring collaborations with D. Tiffany and Saoirse, the release covers extended dancefloor territory, assertive anthems delivering femme finesse, choreographed to perfection.The A side fires up with an exuberant 4-by-4-2-the-floor routine, Cosmology. Vocal cuts from the queen Fiorella, billowing bells and dramatic synthetic sweeps to form fluidity over the tight bouncy low end. Whilst flirtatious melodic notions come and go, zip-lock percussion and commanding drumwork hold it down; squeaky steeze not-so-politely letting you know what’s to come. Deceivingly dubwise introductions soon furiously interrupted with Stylish Tantrum. Ricochet rhythms and bone breaking clap backs echo around your head, electrifying percussive fills and vocal spills snatching your attention before the everything glues together vicious harmony, baseline pulsating underneath a whiplash drum display - one for the dangerous deejays.Chosen Family Feud opens the B side, a collab with seasoned associate D. Tiffany, showing off a bossy stomping brigade. Mumbling voices, waspy sirens and spooked out synth lines haunt the beginnings of the track, stripping back to a bassline breakdown before wailing vocals and clattered percussion take over, cymbals bursting. B2 is a moment to reflect, Illusions brings the energy down, low slung metallic backbeats thrown over encompassing, effortless pads and soaring resonance. The downtempo atmosphere crept up on by a double time d’n’b re-jig, softly gliding in over the growling sub, chopped breaks reflecting and falling. Closing out the record is another joint effort, recorded in Melbourne with Saoirse; Sxc saloon dashing back to the dancefloor, hot and deep. Throbbing bass married with slick galloping drums, sensuous fleeting whispers looping to draw you into hypnosis before a climactic tempo plummet intended to turn heads.STEP01 is kicking its heels up, stomping, strutting and trailblazing for what’s to come.

Ripping its way through the space-time continuum, Tel-Aviv based producers Asphalt DJ and Gzardin surface on Oddysee for the release of their anticipated debut outing, ‘Now & Zen’. The 4-track opening salvo embarks on a transcendental trip of deep and propulsive club bouncers. With the cuts firmly landing on the intersection of the 90s spectrum and fresh-minded sound design, the package offers a clear view of where the two newcomers are headed, as well as the Oddysee label.

Bouncy deep house bizness out of Perth, WA.A 6 track EP of unheard, unreleased archival tracks taken from Ewan "Red Ember" Jansen's vast DAT collection spanning the period 1999 - 2004.

Brotherhood Sagats and Ludovic, together with Steve Murphy & Dj Octopus, are another duo coming from the Venetian school of the now Berlin based Lucretio & Marieu aka The Analogue Cops.Their sound reflects the typical approach where drum machines, synthesizers and samplers are recorded directly on tape without being digitalised.

Back in 2021, when Volodymyr Gnatenko agreed to work on his debut album, none of us could have predicted it would be released, post-pandemic, against the backdrop of war. At the time, the 23-year-old producer from Lutsk was riding high on a string of well-received 12s for labels such as Where We Met and Animals On Psychedelics, besides local Ukraine labels such as LSS557 and Rhythm Buro. He was, between covid closures, playing live at Kyiv clubs such as Closer and Kureni, looking to tour in Europe, and spending every spare second making music.How things change. When missiles began to rain on Kyiv, Gnatenko, alongside a few friends from Closer, hid in his studio. For a while, the bombings did not stop. But for the producer, neither did the music-making. Choosing to stay in the city, he continues to make beats, managing only to mix down between bombing raids. He changed his first name to match that of his president, ditching the previous spelling of his name because it was the same as the aggressor, “[the same as] my worst enemy, I am ashamed and disgusted that I started my career with it”. The album speaks of softer, easier times. A combination of rich ambience, and laidback breaks alongside loose progressive and trance-fused dancefloor tracks, this debut brings together all the strands that Gnatenko plays with. The process, he says, was exhausting and long. Yet the results are lighter, fresher. Maybe because, he says, “it is dedicated to my future wife. All the tracks are my words of love for her". Deeply hypnotic and freely moving between ideas, it feels like it was made a lifetime ago, not a matter of months. Now, it resonates with a new defiance. It is a debut with an extra layer of meaning.