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Optimo Music
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OMDD 22
28 Feb 20
Experimental/Electronic
28 Feb 20
Experimental/Electronic
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OM LP 26 D S 1
13 Apr 23
Ambient/Drone
13 Apr 23
Ambient/Drone
Played by: Juno Recommends Experimental
Review: The ultra-magnetic, ultra-talented trio, Factory Floor, team up with Peter Gordon for their second release on the sublime Optimo Music. Gordon is one of those guys who can play just about anything and "Beachcombing" is one of those sultry synth rides that'll leave your brain melted on the side of the subwoofer - aided herein by the additional contributions of Gabriel Gurnsey and Nik Kolk Void - now that's a package! The ride is majestic as it is dark and mysterious, with waves of polyphony wrapped all over its ominous and crumbling arrangement - a marvel! "C Side" features Dominic Butler and takes a slightly lighter approach to things, combining a crooked half-step slant to more cheery pastures - a field of sax melodies and cascading synth bleeps! CHECK!
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880319 623318
13 May 13
Experimental/Electronic
13 May 13
Experimental/Electronic
Played by: Kiwi
Review: For the seventh volume in Optimo Music's Disco Plate series, JD Twitch has recruited Alex Warren AKA Kiwi, whose previous releases on Blase Boys Club were particularly well received. "Throw Down" is arguably his most ambition cut yet: a cover version of Carmen's cult 1986 electrofunk jam of the same name that comes in two contrasting versions. On the virtual A-side you'll find Warren's original version, where Ciara Holder's confident, nuanced vocal rides a chunky synth bassline, clipped guitars, sparkling synthesizer flourishes and an unfussy, toe-tapping drum machine rhythm. Arguably even better is the Latin Freestyle mix, which sounds like a long lost Latin Rascals production with additional, spine-tingling piano riffs.
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OMD 07D
26 Aug 16
Disco/Nu-Disco
26 Aug 16
Disco/Nu-Disco
Played by: Discothèque Credits
Review: For the second instalment of the occasional Optimo Music Disco Plate series, JD Twitch has decided to reissue two classic cuts (both initially released in 1996) from Reel Houze - a hook-up between DJ D and Rob Mello. Opener "The Chance (DJ D Dub Plate Mix)" is something of an overlooked, hard-to-find classic - a wild, unwieldy, delay-laden dub-disco romp based around a cheeky sample from Dinosaur's "Go Bang" and "toilet seat percussion" from DJ Harvey. Flip for the similarly epic "No Difference (Real Houze Dub)", which has a looser and deeper feel. Despite the trippy vibe, it's every bit as potent as its predecessor, with military drum rolls, heady vocal samples and jaunty clavinets drifting in and out of the duo's delay-laden mix.
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OMD 02
17 Nov 14
Disco/Nu-Disco
17 Nov 14
Disco/Nu-Disco
Golden Teacher meets Dennis Bovell
Review: Not all remixes make sense, but there's something fitting about British dub-reggae and post-punk producer Dennis Bovell reworking tracks by Glaswegian misfits Golden Teacher. Put together by Bovell at Glasgow's infamous Green Door Studio on a day off from touring, these dub revisions take the hard-to-pigeonhole six-piece's adventurous productions and add an extra layer of spaced-out goodness. While Bovell has provided some overdubs - mostly dub organ stabs - for the most part he's just made everything extra-dubby, extra-freaky and altogether weightier. The results are, predictably, mesmerizing, turning "Like a Hawk" and the previously unreleased "Instigator" into dancefloor dub masterpieces.
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OM 026
11 May 15
Disco/Nu-Disco
11 May 15
Disco/Nu-Disco
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OM 52 D
11 Nov 22
Indie/Alternative
11 Nov 22
Indie/Alternative
Played by: Chrissy, Flash Atkins, Alkalino, Roberto Rodriguez (Manolo), Juno Recommends Disco, Richard Rossa, Alien Disco Sugar (Leonidas DeeJay), Casino Times
Review: Ever since JD Twitch rebooted Optimo Music, it's been the irregular transmissions from Glasgow act Golden Teacher that has hit the spot each and every time. The amalgamation of two diverse bands from the city -noise punk outfit Ultimate Thrush and analogue house duo Silk Cut, Golden Teacher first emerged on Optimo Music early last year with a pretty apt description of sounding like "Arthur Russell's Dinosaur L jamming with Bobby O, K Alexi Shelby, Liaisons Dangereuses and Imagination, with some voodoo drummers and Sly & Robbie". Steadily building up a reputation for some riotous live performances, Golden Teacher are a class above because they manage to distill this energy into their recorded output too. Party People features three such examples, with A-side cut "Love" the kind of production that sufferers of LCD Soundsystem withdrawal will embrace and cherish for years to come.
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OM 23
14 Apr 14
Disco/Nu-Disco
14 Apr 14
Disco/Nu-Disco
Review: Given that JD Twitch has long been a fan of this near-legendary chunk of sparse electronica from Throbbing Gristle man Chris Carter, it's no surprise to see the track getting a deserved re-release on his label. The brilliant 1984 original - all industrial electro pulse and icy Balearic melodies - still sounds remarkably fresh, and is here joined by two wildly different remixes. New York combo Neurotic Drum Band stick closely to Carter's 1984 formula, emphasising the moodier elements of the original on a decidedly cosmic dancefloor version. Oneohtrix Point Never goes in the opposite direction, turning in a discordant ambient version full of intense white noise and droning vintage synths.
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OM 14
07 Nov 11
Disco/Nu-Disco
07 Nov 11
Disco/Nu-Disco
Review: NYC's The Golden Filter, a duo made up of Penelope Trappes and Stephen Hindman, are naturally infused into the genetic code of Glasgow's Optimo imprint. Not to be confused with Golden Teacher, the pair also delve into the depths of dance music, merging the boundaries of house, techno and outernational. Their recent EP, End Of Times, is what has produced this latest outing, also on Optimo. Dub Of Times, as you can imagine, is a three-version offshoot that developes and evolves the title tune into some pretty killer territories, with the Golden Dub deploying a warm, driving bassline that's rich with a hedonistic euphoria all too often forgotten these days, and the Silver Dub ups the tempo, while the accapella does its duty with some fine voices and wondrous drones. Absolute magic.
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OMTGF LTD 001 D
08 Dec 17
Balearic/Downtempo
08 Dec 17
Balearic/Downtempo
Review: Having previously impressed with a trio of EPs on Tim Paris's Marketing Music label, Sex Judas (a duo comprising an "anonymous Norwegian producer and his trusted sidekick Ricky") pops up on Optimo Music. The duo's contribution to the ever-growing Disco Plate series is a deep disco delight, with the unpronounceable A-side delivering a delicious blend of loose, organic instrumentation, stoner-rock influences, cheeky pianos and eccentric, Mungolian Jet Set style vocals. The comparisons with Pal Nyhus and company are even greater on "Pope Naked The First", which picks up the pace via rubbery slap bass, spacey synths and classic electrofunk touches. That track gets a twisted disco-acid remix, too, a trick that the Mungs have played on more than one occasion.
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OMD 04
01 Jun 15
Disco/Nu-Disco
01 Jun 15
Disco/Nu-Disco
Review: Irish tech house hero Phil Kieran has been throwing some curveballs at us in recent times, appearing with sunny house music on Hot Creations, some punky indie dance on L.A.'s Machine Ltd (with SONNS) and now some Afro tribal grooves that'd make even Daniele Baldelli stand up and notice - his new one for Optimo Music. With a name like "Polyrhythmic" it pretty much does what it says on the tin, but this trance inducing use of syncopated rhythm is definitely the most restrained of the bunch. "Polyrhthmical" and "Polyrhythmica" respectively go for some seriously intense latin carnivale rhythms - in particular the latter which is reminiscent of the Good Men or more directly the legendary Sergio Mendes.
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OMD 10D
23 Mar 18
Disco/Nu-Disco
23 Mar 18
Disco/Nu-Disco
Played by: Juno Recommends Downtempo
Review: Newcomer Feon up next on Optimo Music, with some some gorgeous and sunkissed balearica. The London based producer wrote these tracks in a brisk 10 day session, shortly after the experience of Ayahuasca ceremony - which is evidenced in the psychedelic sound of the first track. He has explained that the production involved his vocals being layered 30 times in different harmonies, then put through a space echo and you can sure hear it! This one was awesome. Then we have the trance inducing muscle disco of "Holland Fly By" with its super cosmic influences enough to propel your mind into the stratosphere. Finally there's something much more experimental on the solemn, breaks-driven tripper "Without Sound".
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OMD 11D
28 May 18
Balearic/Downtempo
28 May 18
Balearic/Downtempo
Review: Golden Teacher's first 12" for Optimo Music, Bells From The Deep End, remains one of the most startling releases of 2013; a brilliantly executed fusion of analogue electronics, post-punk sassiness and industrial attitude. This follow-up, full of heavy live percussion, voodoo chants, tropical pagan attitude and dense atmospherics, is similarly impressive. "In Stoney Sleep" is something akin to a hallucinogenic trip through a dark, tropical jungle, while stand out "Like a Hawk" somehow blends dubwise electronics, Afro-influenced vocals, acid tweakery and landestine atmospherics. The skittish, high-tempo "Sweat Bath With Saturn" and deeper, spaced-out "Dringhouses" are also superb.
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OM 20
29 Jul 13
Experimental/Electronic
29 Jul 13
Experimental/Electronic
Played by: Wanda Jackson
Review: Given that they describe their sound as "occult insomnia sex music", Glaswegian duo Organs Of Love are probably a good fit with JD Twitch's Optimo Music imprint. Coming on like a latter-day Bauhaus after a particularly degrading swingers' party in a seedy Glasgow squat, the music that makes up this four-track EP is undeniably impressive. Like much horror-fixated music, it's concerned foremost with atmosphere. Yet the delay-laden organs, clicking drums, droning guitars and pained vocals offer much more than mere aural textures. The mournful "Someone's Dead" and "Let's Talk To Bobby", in particular, are excellent songs.
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OM 15
16 Jan 12
Disco/Nu-Disco
16 Jan 12
Disco/Nu-Disco
Review: Originally released on legendary outsider label Staalplaat smack-bang in the middle of the '90s, sounds of the post industrial & ambient duo O Yuki Conjugate have been recalled once again, this time by Optimo Music. Until now the original Staalplaat 12" was a near impossible record to find, with Optimo giving its 2021 reissue a slightly reconfigured version. Cherry picking "Bismuth", "Carbon" and an original album version of "Sunchemical" itself, the album dusts off a time capsule of exotica, percussion and hand drumming music amid a stream evolving textures, subtle drones and other new age instrumentation. Bonus to this comes a timeless remix from Sheffield and Peacefrog producer Charles Webster!
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OM 46D
23 Apr 21
Balearic/Downtempo
23 Apr 21
Balearic/Downtempo
Played by: Dicky Trisco, YAM WHO?, Superbreak, Juno Recommends Disco, In Flagranti, Tonbe, Empresarios
Review: Here JD Twitch, head honcho Glasgow institution Optimo, proudly presents a rarity from the unique artist Dennis Bovell. Described as being a 'musical polymath, top flight producer, dub legend and one of the finest artists the UK has ever produced', Bovell released an album in 1981 called Brain Damage which was an absolutely bonkers fusion of Afrobeat, funk, dub, jazz, blues and more. Everybody bought Duran Duran's record instead of course, but justice prevails here as both "Heaven" and "Smouche" are rescued and re-released from the LP. Also featured is the awesome Garland Jeffreys experiment "Escape Goat Dub". Absolutely essential.
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OMD 08D
23 Sep 16
Disco/Nu-Disco
23 Sep 16
Disco/Nu-Disco
Review: Disconnection's 1982 debut single, Bali Ha'i, has always been one of post-punk disco's most bizarre and brilliant moments. For starters, it's a cover of a Rodgers & Hammerstein number originally featured in South Pacific, re-cast as an acid-fried blur of rubbery punk-funk bass, liquid synthesizers, razor-sharp violin lines and tongue-in-cheek female versions. This tidy Optimo Music includes all of the tracks from the original, sought-after 12", including the contrasting 'US' and 'UK' disco mixes (for the record, it's the slightly more electronic and dub-wise UK version that you should head for). Bonus cut "Aaaah", a thoroughly bonkers and out-there fusion of freestyle female vocals, odd orchestration and strange noises, is worth a listen for its' sheer insanity.
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OMD 06D
03 Jun 16
Disco/Nu-Disco
03 Jun 16
Disco/Nu-Disco
Review: We've been waiting on this pearl for quite some time. Optimo frontman JD Twitch steps out his more usual, disco-tinged house affairs and lands on some next level dub for the heads. As a project, Lo Kindre kind of reminds us Jah Wobble at his best, without the added pinky frills, and completed by a fine layer of dark industrialism. "Torment Of One" and "Mardi, Ennui" are both cold, brooding digital steppers backed by some sci-fi lion vibes, while "Wisdom Teeth Dub" and "Distant Dreams" branch out a little further into the electronic sphere. What a fine release - warmly recommended!
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OM 37D
28 Apr 17
Experimental/Electronic
28 Apr 17
Experimental/Electronic
Played by: Juno Recommends Techno
Review: With a name for the ages, Isolating follows his recent remix of the Golden Filter with this dystopian record on Optimo. It starts with the stepping rhythm and noisy analogue riffs and howling vocal samples of "Protomartyr", a wayward take on techno. In a similar vein, "But Please" features gloomy sound scapes and a repetitive vocal unfolding over a stuttering rhythm. Isolating makes a move of sorts towards the dance floor on "Expatriotism", where the focus is on a low-slung EBM groove, while the release concludes with "Lesser Free", a comparatively serene affair featuring dreamy, neo-classical ambient textures.
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OMDD 027
08 May 20
Techno
08 May 20
Techno
Review: The revolving door between Glasgow's legendary Green Door Studio and JD Twitch's Optimo Music continues, with more graduates of the legendary recording space making their debut on the imprint. If this is EP is anything to go by, Junto Club could well go the way of Golden Teacher and become firm favourites of those who love their dance music eccentric, off-kilter and hard to pin down. Over the four tracks here, the Glaswegian fusionists variously doff a cap to baggy Balearic pop ("Freedom From The Known"), hard-wired, Italo-influenced industrial funk ("Leaving Forever"), the sax-laden post-punk throb of Chakk ("SCG"), and wonky gothic pop ("Let Me In"). That, though, is only half the story, given the combo's unique and enthralling musical vision.
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OM 027
15 Jun 15
Disco/Nu-Disco
15 Jun 15
Disco/Nu-Disco
Played by: Juno Recommends Experimental
Review: Rudolf Abramov is a duo based in Berlin that are said to have ticked all the right boxes for a release worthy on Optimo Music, with strong elements of post punk being one of the main facets so appealing about their sound. Losing Perspective features five diverse tracks: there's the low slung junkyard funk of "Agent Kink", some Kraftwerk-ish robot minimalism on "Fragments of a Marching Stone" and the alternative dub of "Last Soldier" being just some of its finest moments
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OM 48D
01 Apr 22
Experimental/Electronic
01 Apr 22
Experimental/Electronic
Played by: Juno Recommends Techno
Review: Following on from his 2017 Lonely Planet long player, Optimo has teased a mini-album from Tornado Wallace. Focusing on the earth and its place in the cosmos, Midnight Mania is an expansive affair that starts off with the psychedelic, swampy title track, before moving into the blurred chants and dense drums of "Atoms". "Mundane Brain" is by contrast a deeper piece, with melodic chimes and rickety back beats prevailing, while he ups the tempo on "Png (Praise No Ghosts)", which resounds to a pulsating electronic groove, hollowed out break beats and mesmerising electronic melodies. This highly conceptual piece concludes with the rolling breaks and techno bleeps of "Jungle Dream".
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OMLP 17D
20 Mar 20
Techno
20 Mar 20
Techno
Review: Deep and exotic folk trips from the prevailing alias of Rena Rasouli, Venus Volcanism, whose traditional chants, bird songs and field recordings combine with shaded and evolving synths to deliver Optimo Music a most enchanted EP. Beats are few and far between here, if at all, allowing sustained chords and deep pulsations of bass to create emotively-moving atmospheres made all the more luminous by Rasouli's rich vocal passages, doubled down by progressive harmonies and nebulous undertones. With a heavy set of Greek inspirations, the artist lifts her sound from the depths of an enchanted terrain otherwise neverheard gaining us access to a deep-reaching bliss.
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OMWEAPON 2D
13 Mar 20
Ambient/Drone
13 Mar 20
Ambient/Drone
Review: Optimo Music Archiv is a new offshoot label for revisiting music JD Twitch has been a big fan of for a very long time. This first release takes a selection of Force Dimension favourites and reconfigures them as an extended EP reissue. Cited as the first EBM duo to spearhead what we now know as Belgian new beat, Feel The Tension comprises four bangers and the one, dazzling, B-side hit "200 FA" ( described by Optimo as a perfect and sought after piece of '90s rave era E-music). It's poppy lead track "Tension" comes in two forms, 'Red' with its gnarly bassline and 'Blue' with sweet synths, complimenting the gothic riffs in "Aqua 2000" and industrial neo-punk of "All Systems Out". This is Belgium.
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OMARCHIV 01D
04 Jun 21
Coldwave/Synth
04 Jun 21
Coldwave/Synth
