Kelly Lee Owens
Oleic

Rhythm Section International's bumper Shouts 2021 sampler has been split into two and spread of a pair of vital 12"s. This is the swooned half and it is just a good as the first with our favorite being from the hugely prolific and mega-on form breakout artist of the year, Kareem Ali. His 'Black Futures' is a steamy, surging house track with kicking kicks and astral synths that speak to the soul. Hassan Abou Alam's 'Hella Mega Drive' spins hi hats, drums and bass into a tightly woven groove of no fixed genre and the swing in Pookie's 'Beast Mode' is simply irresistible. Big ups one and all.

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.

The debut LP from duo Sunflower Aquarium offers a full spectrum bloom into the electronic ecosystem. Dylan Batelic (Paper-Cuts) and Thomas Martin (Furious Frank) fuse together for a 7 track collection of low-slung immersive deepness, embodying a cycle of life via the ebbs and flows of sonic seasonal evolution. A collaboration of cyber synthesis; written simultaneously Melbourne through Adelaide during late 2021, the result a refined yet spontaneous take on dubbed downtempo through to driving dance deviance.Beginning with a birth, the stand alone Intro’s saturated glow cultivates a vivid timbre and sun kissed sub-stratosphere. Sprouting melodic constructions continue to blossom throughout the record and growing pains are welcomed with open arms, a mature moodiness brooding delicately through assured drums and fleeting Janet vocal fragments. Broken beat patterns group together and tessellate, the woven sunken bass leaves space for flickering hi hat fissure in SA-124, this groove based atmospheric momentum evolving cohesively track after track. Bright, refined concepts that linger and dissolve in your subconscious for weeks. The B Side preserves the introspective tip but dives deeper, faster; Birds Of Paradise melting organic field recordings into blissful synth voices and ricochet breaks. Bubble (Contagious Mix) feels like a midnight highway dub drive, shooting and gliding fluently; coloured lights iridescently blurred as if it was all a dream… then the closing track, which induces a sharp sense of hypnosis. Traditional techno expressions flirt with your ears, layers of repetition locked and loaded, dwindling into the abyss; conclusion of the cycle. creditsreleased April 11, 2022Words by Katie CampbellMixed by Eugene PelozaMastered by Marco Pellegrino‘Flower Dancer’ by Hugo BernierSleeve Design by Dylan Batelic