OrderingOrdering ProblemsFAQContact Us (Customers)Contact Us (Suppliers)Gift certificatesAbout JunoManage accountMy ChartsJuno Download PlayerFeedbackPrivacy PolicyTerms and ConditionsJuno Marketing and PR departmentArtist / Label Profile SubmissionPromote your label / releasesHow do I download via Dropbox?
Filter
Phonica
Browse the latest digital releases on Phonica
Similar labels:
Rush Hour, Running Back, Permanent Vacation, Delusions Of Grandeur, Ostgut Ton Germany
Various
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!
from $1.89
PHONICADD 002
01 Dec 23
Deep House
01 Dec 23
Deep House
Played by: Kraak & Smaak, Superbreak, Chris Coco, Juno Recommends Funky House, Teen Daze, James Bright
Review: Fresh from a fine EP on Razor N Tape Reserve, Voyeurism founder and Delusions of Grandeur regular Ben Sun pops up on Phonica's in-house label for the very first time. The 'Alluvial Sketches' on offer showcase four differing tweaks of the house music template from the talented, London-based Australian. There's 'The Trip', a slowly building, sun-splashed, glassy-eyed disco-house loop jam; a chugging, dream house-influenced shuffle through hybrid analogue deep house/nu-disco territory ('Mellow Madness'); a drift through ultra-deep, ultra-dreamy, tribal-tinged sunrise house ('Glow'); and a bleeping slab of Sir James-sampling proto-house-goes-early UK house excellence ('Siren').
from $1.89
PHONICA 033
25 Nov 22
Funky/Club House
25 Nov 22
Funky/Club House
Review: Nuage has taken an unusual shift towards broader horizons, after making his initial name in drum n' bass. 'Pink Television' is definitely an EP that shows off this change in direction; they are meticulous exercises in ambient techno, house and breaks, humanized to Nuagey nuance. 'Don't Forgive Me' is the highlight: filtered out soul vocals and monotone FMs provice a Bicep-like sense of urgency, before flourishing arps build to faux-elysia that never quite peak.
from $1.89
PHONICA 032
21 Oct 22
Funky/Club House
21 Oct 22
Funky/Club House
Review: Eli Escobar's previous release was a dusty mixtape full of J Dilla-inspired hip-hop head-nodders, so it's nice to see him return to the dancefloor via a first EP for Phonica. Opener 'FindAWay2Day' is sunny and life-affirming, with the NYC producer adding smile-inducing chords, loved-up pads, sampled vocal snippets, disco guitar licks and eyes-closed sax sounds to a solid bass of shuffling house drums and boogie bass. 'Something Inside of Me is a tech-tinged chunk of hazy late-night deep house hypnotism, while 'Down All Day' is a rushing, ultra-bright chunk of piano-house retro-futurism and 'Daywun' is a contemporary deep house take on hip-house. Luscious stuff all told.
from $1.89
PHONICA 031
25 Mar 22
Deep House
25 Mar 22
Deep House
Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House
Review: Welsh deep house hero Harrison BDP is back on London's Phonica with this nifty new four tracker. The Easy Tiger EP is yet another impressively crafted release, as the label best described themselves, packed full of his idiosyncratic take on several styles. Serving up some emotive late night mood music on the title track, which is in that classic Stateside '90s style, to the undeniable UK flavour of "RIP Ralph" with its snappy broken beats and garage motifs. He switches gears on "One For The Club" up next, a glacial and cavernous expression in dub-infused tech house, before delving deep into the afterhours on the heady minimal house groove of "Snake In The Grass".
from $1.89
PHONICA 029
23 Apr 21
Deep House
23 Apr 21
Deep House
Review: Alexander Berg has put out records on Northern Electronics and Hivern Discs under his Dorisburg project, and now he lands on Phonica. The title track is a wonderfully dreamy affair, based on tight, stripped back drums and featuring warm melodies and traditional pipe playing. The overall result is like a more mystical version of producers like Lawrence or Efdemin. "Fumana Prophecy" sees Berg venture into a different direction: the drums are stripped back and when combined with the track's layered, rasping percussion, make for a mesmerising sound. Similarly, on "Rhythm Paint", Berg uses complex percussion and rolling drums to create a tripped out dance floor track.
from $1.89
PHONICA 028
23 Oct 20
Techno
23 Oct 20
Techno
Review: To date, John "Yak" Randall has released a string of superb singles for the likes of Version, 3024 and R&S that giddily blur the boundaries between techno, bass music and densely layered tribal drum workouts. Somewhat predictably, the Sheffield-based producer is at it again on the "Gerudo EP". Opener "Zip" peppers African style tribal drums and raw Motor City techno bass with the kind of ear-catching bleeps that were once a Steel City staple, before the jumpy and upbeat "Guevenne Groove" wraps positive, glassy-eyed synthesizer motifs around sweaty, loose-limbed live drumming. "Fret" is a spaced out, bass-heavy two-step number laden with intergalactic electronics and undulating bass, while closing cut "Gerudo" brilliantly joins the dots between tribal rhythms and shimmering deep house.
from $1.89
PHONICA 027
18 Oct 19
Deep House
18 Oct 19
Deep House
Played by: Chrissy
Review: Over the last few years, Polish Pair Earth Trax and Newborn Jr have crafted exquisite singles on Rhythm Section International, Echovolt, Dopeness Galore and Shall Not Fade. Here they add another label to their impressive CV via a typically retro-futurist EP for Phonica. As you'd expect, it contains a couple of fine examples of their breezy, Balearic and hugely melodious sunrise deep house sound (see the deliciously tactile "Old Way, New Way" and "And Then", which sounds like a long lost Keys & Tronics Ensemble track). More surprisingly, the EP also boasts two versions of the sleazy, strobe-lit throb that is "Truth" - a turn of the '90s inspired foray into warehouse-ready peak-time pastures rich in foreboding riffs, old school female vocal samples and ragged, mind-mangling acid lines.
from $1.89
PHONICA 026
05 Jul 19
Deep House
05 Jul 19
Deep House
Played by: Kraak & Smaak
Review: Over the last few years, it's become increasingly difficult to second-guess what Will Saul will put out next. While his work remains undeniably dancefloor focused, recent releases have drawn inspiration from a wide variety of retro-futurist, turn-of-the-'980s sounds. He's at it again on the "Lakeside EP", which makes the scene stalwart's first appearance on Phonica. He opens with the tactile, string-laden retro-futurism of "For JOannie", where delay-laden vocal snippets and sunrise-ready electronic flourishes ride a suitably rubbery groove. "Drama" sounds like a long lost relic of the rave era - all elastic Italo-house bottom end, sweeping strings and yelped vocal samples - while "Never Enough" sees Saul put his twist on the mid-80s NYC freestyle sound with typically melodious results.
from $1.89
PHONICA 025
01 Mar 19
Deep House
01 Mar 19
Deep House
Played by: Catz 'N Dogz
Review: Isaac Delongchamp's last North Lake outing on Phonica five years was rather good, so hopes are naturally high for this belated follow-up. He begins in suitably subdued mode on the deep and dreamy "Hearing Voices", where twinkling music box style melodies relax over dusty drums and a chunky bassline reminiscent of the early Chicago house greats. Having shaken out his limbs, Delongchamp opts for more rubbery drums and elastic boogie bass on the similarly deep and picturesque "Vibing To Your Ride", before doffing a cap to the restless electronic hypnotism of German deep house on "Magic Ride". Perhaps best of all, though, is closing cut "Teenage Heartbreak", whose lilting, alien-sounding synth lines attractively wrap around a shuffling but energy-packed deep house rhythm.
from $1.89
PHONICA 024
07 Dec 18
Deep House
07 Dec 18
Deep House
Review: Spanish producer Pional has an incredible track record to date, delivering must-have releases for the likes of Hivern Discs, Young Turks, Permanent Vacation and Ninja Tune offshoot Counter Records. Here he continues this rich vein of form with an EP for Phonica that simply sparkles from start to finish. Check, for example, the darting, chiming synthesizer melodies, toaster-warm chords and bubby beats of "XME", which is subsequently turned into a psychedelic disco chugger on the similarly wonderful "A Quiet Ceremony mix". Heavier dancefloor thrills arrive in the form of "One Night Stand", where spine-ingling, manipulated vocal samples and stretched out chords come underpinned by heavyweight drums. The latter can be admired on the brilliantly throbbing "Slow Drumapella Version".
from $1.89
PHONICA 021
13 Jul 18
Deep House
13 Jul 18
Deep House
Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House
Review: Having tickled our fancy last year with their first Secretsundaze production, "Motorway Jam", Gilles Smith and James Priestley return with their debut single proper. In its original form, "Still Hope", featuring distinctive spoken word vocals from Anthony Anaxagorou, is a sweeping deep house treat, with atmospheric orchestration rising above a chunky but shuffling rhythm track. Smith and Priestley deliver their own driving, bassline-driven peak-time revision (the "Poems In The Heart Floor Version") before handing over the parts to Detroit veteran Wajeed. Surprisingly, he revisits the tail end of the '80s on his warehouse-bothering, riff-dominated Hardcore Dub, before utilizing the duo's electronic orchestration to the full of the more musically intricate Motor City deep house vibes of the Searching Dub.
from $1.89
PHONICA 022
15 Jun 18
Deep House
15 Jun 18
Deep House
Review: As Stereofuse, Martin Worner and Thorsten Diegel released a handful of well-regarded EPs during the early to mid 2000s before splitting to concentrate on solo work. Undoubtedly the most sought-after of these is 2003's Casino EP, a Teutonic tech-house classic that has recently been changing hands for large sums of money online. Here is gets a new lease of life via a Phonica reissue. Opener "Black Jack" remains a near perfect exercise in bouncy, hypnotic deep house/tech-house fusion - all trippy looped riffs, breakbeat-house beats (very popular back in '03), spacey flourishes and booming bass - while "Hot Slot" and "Royal Flash" sound like they may have inspired the recent Parisian tech-house movement. We could go on. Suffice to say, you need this in your life.
from $1.89
PHONICA 020
25 May 18
Deep House
25 May 18
Deep House
Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House
Review: Sheffield selector Al Zanders stamped his authority all over 2016, delivering acclaimed EPs for Wolf Music and his own A-Z Records stable. Here his seemingly unstoppable rise continues via a fine two-tracker for Soho store Phonica's in-house label. First up is the magical "There is Rhythm", a warm, trippy and pleasingly bass-heavy deep house cut rich in saucer-eyed synthesizer arpeggio lines, layered hand percussion, sparkling pianos and astonishingly loved-up breakdowns. The glassy-eyed feel continues on the virtual flipside, where he underpins psychedelic-era dream-pop samples - drenched in copious amounts of reverb - with a crunchy drum machine beat. By rights, it shouldn't work, but it most definitely does (thanks, in no small part, to the righteousness of his mind-altering analogue bassline and sweaty percussion hits).
from $1.89
PHONICA 019
27 Oct 17
Deep House
27 Oct 17
Deep House
Played by: Juno Recommends Deep House
Review: Since making his debut on Rhythm Section International in 2016, Polish producer Earth Trax has proved to be one of the major players in the revivalist dream house movement. He's at it again here, delivering another swathe of tactile, ear-pleasing and mood-enhancing cuts. "L'Aventura" is available in two tasty variations, both of which are underpinned by snappy drum hits and thickset synth bass. The "Main" mix makes great use of fluttering synthesizer flute lines and cascading pianos, while the "Dub" is a little more stripped back and percussive despite the presence of plenty of humid synth sounds. Elsewhere, "Nokturn" is a masterful exercise in eyes-closed sunrise nostalgia, while closer "HG" massages your ears with all the sensuality of a forgotten Morenas production.
from $1.89
PHONICA 017
09 Jun 17
Deep House
09 Jun 17
Deep House
Played by: Domshe
Review: Roman Flugel has been making electronic music for about a quarter of a century, but as Black Acid demonstrates, his productions show no sign of getting stale. "Too Hot To Sleep" is the big dance floor cut here; centring on a jittery, shaky minimal house groove and a sub-bass that's inspired by 2-step's darkest excesses, it's an unforgettable, individualistic track. "Troubled Mind" is slower and more abstract, but provides a neat segue into the title track. There, Flugel brings together many of his influences, including electro drums, minimal house and the melodies of IDM. "Work & TV" features one further surprise, with Flugel reverting to the minimal sounds of "Sleep", this time without the foreboding London bass.
from $1.89
PHONICA 018
10 Mar 17
Techno
10 Mar 17
Techno
Review: The sixteenth release from Phonica Records' offshoot label comes from occasional shop worker Will Lister. As debuts go, the Phantom EP is very impressive. Packed with fluid, rising and falling synth lines, rich deepness, jazz-flecked drums and rush-inducing electronics, all three tracks sound like they were inspired - in part, at least - by Floating Points' early house records on Eglo. This is particularly noticeable on the slowly building closer, "Agency", where jammed-out synth lines are smartly used to increase energy levels throughout. The EP's best moment, though, is undoubtedly the title track, which ranks among the most gleefully positive and well-produced debut tracks we've heard all year.
from $1.89
PHONICA 016
24 Jun 16
Deep House
24 Jun 16
Deep House
from $1.89
PHONICAWHITE 011
16 Oct 15
Techno
16 Oct 15
Techno
Review: Previously responsible for an excellent release on Willie Burns' WT label last year, Art Crime's Obsession proves that his 2014 debut was no fluke. The title track kick-starts the release with a classic deep house sound as a warm, fluid bass provides the backing for melancholic pads and dreamy keys. It's like Chris Gray in serene form. "Rise Fall Run" is tougher and involves harder beats, steely drums and razor sharp percussion, but clearly he can't resist himself and similarly dreamy keys work their way into the arrangement. The only exception to Art Crime's musical house approach is "Show Interest", where tough drums and a murky bass see him pursue a more malevolent sound.
from $1.89
PHONICA 015
25 May 15
Techno
25 May 15
Techno
Played by: Juno Recommends Techno
Review: Although the phrase 'rings of Saturn' will be forever associated with Jeff Mills' benchmark album of that name, S Moreira & Xinner do a good job of providing an alternative view of the cosmos on Phonica's latest release. The pair favours a less dramatic approach than the Detroit artist, but their release is still reflective and esoteric. The title track sees a stripped, metallic rhythm evolve from dreamy textures, while jazzy keys noodle their way over the sparse drums of "Orbiting Around". Best of all though is "Communication Breakdown", where hypnotic electronic sequences seep through a robust framework of doubled-up claps and staccato drums.
from $1.89
PHONICA 014
02 Mar 15
Techno
02 Mar 15
Techno
Review: It's been almost two years since we last spotted LOTI on Phonica. Since then he's made some awesome documents on the likes of Permanent Vacation, Firecracker and Catune, constantly whittling his sharp, timeless techno stick with the perfect amount of subtle drama. "Greane" leads the charge with a majestic 10 minute production; lolloping with equal amounts of comic soul and techno attitude, he conjures a powerful sense of atmosphere before dropping into a moment of guitar-shimmered bliss (in a way that's not too far from his fellow countrymen Silicone Soul) Meanwhile on "Gigha" we're treated to a softer palette of sounds as a tubular riff slowly evolves into a string-drenched serenade. As the original riff morphs into a sinewy acid lick, the strings take hold with classical theatrics. Drop at the right time and there won't be a dry eye in the house.
from $1.89
PHONICA 013
21 Jul 14
Deep House
21 Jul 14
Deep House
Review: In line with the ever present allure of coldwave synths and soundtrack sensibilities in house music, Phonica serve up this colourful trio of jams from emergent Michigan producer North Lake. Following on from appearances on Sweatshop and Resista, here Isaac Delongchamp gets to further demonstrate his gift for warm synths and intricate melodies over the simplest of grooves. "Marlborol Noir" is all fuzzy basslines and haunting leads, while "Suomi Kutsusu" is of a much sunnier disposition with its open-topped chords and nagging open hats. "Moonwalker" veers towards electro territory with its illustrious arpeggios and uptempo strut rounding off a rich and varied EP of up-to-the-minute synth house.
from $1.89
PHONICA 009
11 Nov 13
Techno
11 Nov 13
Techno
Played by: Owain Kimber (Owain K)
Review: Since surfacing with prime fromage-free edit material for Cole Medina's American Standard label, Scottish producer Lord Of The Isles has graduated to fully fledged original productions with some great releases on quality imprints like Cocktail D'Amour, Ene and the lesser spotted Unthank label. A freshly announced debut on Shevchenko adds to his growing cache, as does Year Of The City, this excellent four track induction on the newly relaunched Phonica label. A hallmark of any release from Lord Of The Isles is a nice balance of styles and this EP is no different. The title track sets the tone, as the producer invites us on a journey into the dark heavily arpeggiated future, one driven by some brilliantly loose rhythms. Following this, "FS01" eschews the need for drums, instead implementing all manner of atmospheric drama via some brilliant synth play, while "Forkx" is a full on Motor City Soul epic. "Lost Empire" is an ambient outro whose brief duration has you begging for more.
from $1.89
PHONICA 008
12 Nov 12
Deep House
12 Nov 12
Deep House
