Review: In 2003, amid a shifting landscape of closing record stores and evolving electronic music genres, Phonica Records emerged as a haven for dance and electronic music enthusiasts. Founded by Simon Rigg, Tom Relleen, and Heidi Van Den Amstel with backing from The Vinyl Factory - Phonica aimed to be a welcoming hub for all genres. Starting quietly, the shop gradually gained a strong reputation, fueled by the founders' ties to Koobla Records. Phonica thrived in its early years by championing emerging genres like electro house and minimal-micro house from labels like Kompakt and Perlon. In 2007, the Phonica record label was born, evolving into a platform for both staff and emerging talents, featuring early releases by now-established artists such as Peggy Gou and Four Tet. In 2023, celebrating its 20th anniversary, Phonica showcases its journey with 20 Years Of Phonica - a compilation boasting 18 exclusive tracks from established and rising artists across the label's diverse musical spectrum. Hot tips include tracks by Willow, Dorisburg, Ron Basejam, Roman Flugel and more!
Review: There were slim pickings in 2016 for fans of Steve Huerta. After a prolific few years, the Los Angeles-based producer seemed to take a step back, releasing just one 12" single in 12 months. Happily, LK Tapes - his first outing on Brooklyn's Let's Play House - was worth the wait. Rich, melodious, woozy and analogue-rich, its' four loved-up tracks are amongst the producer's best work to date. Highlights are plentiful, from the woozy, sunset-friendly chords, glistening melodies and Larry Heard bottom-end of "LK Tape Track" and hazy, toaster-warm shuffle of "Lindos", to the fuzzy analogue beats, tactile chords and dream house sensibilities of sublime opener "Umbanda".
Review: You can tell the age of a horse by counting its teeth, the age of a tree by counting its rings, and the age of a dance music reviewer by counting how many 'Cafe Del Mar' comps are stored away in his/her/their memory banks! That sadly makes this writer about 250 years old, but thankfully the series has recently hit a serious run of form and this latest volume is a delight from start to finish, kicking off as it does in dubwise territory before veering briefly into lo-fi hip-hop and then bringing the classic-style Balearic vibes. With detours into fluffy pop, pointless ambience or self-indulgent neo-classicism conspicuous by their absence, it's everything that's good about the Ibiza sundown experience distilled into two hours of chilled listening pleasure.
Review: Out of Australia Andy Hart's Voyage label has been drawing up a new picture of exotic new age and electronic sounds since 2014 with a highlight of releases from Uluru, Albrecht La'Brooy, and most recently Rings Around Saturn. The label now introduces the sweet, sublime and subtle ambient sounds of newcomer Huerta in what could be considered a crowning release of the label so far. This superb debut album presents a swathe of sweet, twinkling synths and mellow undertones of warms pads and smooth leads that dive into an unknown world of wildlife flitted with sketches of house, breakbeats, percussion and tribalistic dub. Take a trip into the undergrowth a new age future music.
Review: Congratulations to Germany's Dirt Crew Recordings, which marks a century of releases with a celebratory volume of the popular Deep Love compilation series. As befits the momentous occasion, the 11 tracks on offer are all exclusive and previously unreleased. Predictably, there's plenty to enjoy, from the dusty, crackly deep house warmth of Felix Leifur's "Feels Like", and classic U.S garage swing of Ponty Mython's "New York, New York", to the sweet, jazz-flecked haziness of Harry Wolfman's "Rainbow Set", and Huerta's dreamy, glassy-eyed Balearic deep house cut, "Blvrd". Throw in fine contributions from big hitters Detroit Swindle, Nachtbraker and The Revenge, and you have an undeniably essential collection.
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