Black Rave Culture - Black Rave Culture Vol 3

Tracklist:
1. Full Circle
2. Blood Omen
3. One Way Ticket
4. Dat Jaunt Go Pt. 2
5. Crazy Legs
6. Run It Up
7. Blowin Os
8. Amtrak
9. Ama Beat That
10. Track Hawk

VA - Revolution of the Giraffe

Diffrent Music roars back into action after an extended hiatus to raise a couple of young giraffes with the electrifying new compilation, ‘Revolution Of The Giraffe’ LP.

Launched in 2010 with the aim of bringing something new to a drum & bass scene that had become overly formulaic, the label has continuously pushed in new directions, often incubated tomorrow’s stars, and evolved beyond even that original grand ideal. ‘Revolution Of The Giraffe’ unleashes 17 tracks of bleeding-edge electronic music, proving that after 13 years, Diffrent still sounds like nothing else.

Core artists from the label’s distinguished history bring their expertise, such as drum & bass mainstay Arkaik and sound architect Fearful, who team up with label boss Dexta for the MC GQ-sampling ‘Old Skool’ — a new track with a classic Diffrent sound. And there are numerous debuts: A.Fruit reworks an all-time Diffrent classic, ‘Boxgroove’ by Dexta & Hyroglifics, into a glitchy halftime stomper; none60 bosses Silent Dust turn Dexta’s ‘SE4’ into a rebellious dancefloor juggernaut; and the mysterious Gaunt’s ‘Firefloor’ becomes locked ‘n’ loaded rave artillery in the hands of Pepsi Slammer.

Label stalwart Mauoq puts his signature psychedelic future dub spin on ‘Departed’ by Cuelock, who in turn delivers the ice-cold, grime-indebted ‘Pages Of Snow’. Lakeway conjures the epic ‘Even Though’, nearly eight minutes of ecstatic, spell-binding, hyper-rave wonder. Dexta goes solo with squelchy techno jungle stormer ‘Giraffes On Acid’. Even Sense MC makes an… appearance.

New-gen Diffrent acts are in fine form too. The inimitable BrandNewTrumpets opens the album alongside Macc; ‘We Are The Tightrope Walkers’ is a powerful spoken word piece that erupts into a hail of punishing breaks. No Nation, Sheba Q and BK Balance, meanwhile, turn out explosive, hi-tek junglism on ‘Too Late’. From Diffrent’s industrial-toned sister label Are We Really Alone? (A.W.R.A.), Amir De Bois joins forces with Fearful for the paranoid, jittering ‘73’; Tokyo’s Itti summons thunderous bass on the ritualistic ‘Rumbling’; and Croatian artist Spaj.A.S.E.’s competition-winning, mind-mashing remix of the first ever Diffrent release, ‘Everyones Mad’ by Chills, finally sees the light of day.

Always looking to the future, Diffrent also welcomes modern jungle visionary Eusebeia, who puts his ethereal touch to Crypticz’s ‘Could Have Been’, and Stateside up-and-comers Illexandra & TGRbass, who deliver the supercharged, elastic bounce of ‘Swampy Swami’.

Closing out with one from deep within the vaults, ‘Aftaparty’ is Beezy and MNTX’s ode to seeing where the night takes you. It’s a fitting note to end on, as a new era of Diffrent Music begins. Where will it take you? Join us on the ride and find out.

"I've loved every moment of the label so far: the fast-paced release schedules, the slow years, the podcasts, albums, singles, EPs, parties, etc. This compilation album signposts where we are at — a bunch of classic Diffrent artists, a load of new faces, and a few remixes thrown in for good measure. Each tune stands alone, but stands tall next to each of its siblings. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we have! The revolution is here, join the revolution!"
- Dexta

Tracklist:
1. Brandnewtrumpets & Macc – We Are The Tightrope Walkers (original mix)
2. Arkaik, Dexta & Fearful – Old Skool (feat MC GQ - original mix)
3. Lakeway – Even Though (original mix)
4. Dexta & Hyroglifics – Boxgroove (A.Fruit remix)
5. Amir De Bois & Fearful – 73 (original mix)
6. Itti – Rumbling (original mix)
7. Cuelock – Pages Of Snow (original mix)
8. Illexxandra & TGRbass – Swampy Swami (original mix)
9. Crypticz – Could Have Been (Eusebeia remix)
10. Dexta – SE4 (Silent Dust remix)
11. No Nation, Sheba Q & BK Balance – Too Late (original mix)
12. Gaunt – FireFloor (Pepsi Slammer remix)
13. Cuelock – Departed (Mauoq remix)
14. Dexta – Giraffes On Acid (original mix)
15. Chills – Everyone's Mad (SpajA.S.E. remix)
16. Sense MC & Dexta – Please Hang Up (original mix)
17. Beezy & MNTX – Aftaparty (original mix)

Khalab - Layers

Every person we meet, every moment we live through, all the love we feel, and the losses we endure, add another layer to the intricate pattern of our lives. Like multicolored threads, these layers twist together to form a complex, vibrant tapestry - a reflection of our life journey until this point.

On his new album Layers, Khalab acknowledges and celebrates the encounters that have shaped his ever-evolving musical vision. The record represents the culmination of a creative journey that began with Eunoto EP (Black Acre Records, 2015), evolved with the Afro-Futuristic soundscapes of 2018’s highly acclaimed album Black Noise 2084 (On The Corner Records), and has since developed further through a series of experiences and deep musical collaborations. Layers summons all the alchemy of Khalab’s live performances, and embodies the transcendental power of music-making as a collective art form.

“Since the release of Black Noise 2084 I’ve increasingly developed the stage and band dynamic, focusing on arranging with the musicians in mind, and this album was almost entirely conceived together with musicians I’ve collaborated with”, says Khalab.

In a testament to the label’s close-knit and highly collaborative nature, Khalab's live band includes a cadre of musicians from the Hyperjazz family, including David Paulis and Enrico Truzzi of Phresoul, as well Pietro Santangelo, Fabio Sasso, and longstanding creative-partner Nicola Guida.

The album’s nine tracks feature an impressive lineup of collaborators old and new, including UK drummer and producer Emanative, Burkinabe singer, guitarist, and m'bira player Gabin Dabiré, Italian producer Clap! Clap!, multi-wind instrumentalist Tamar Osborn, drummer and producer Tommaso Cappellato, British-Bahraini trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, Bristol’s vocalist and producer Grove, multi-instrumentalist Tenderlonious, Italian jazz singer Alessia Obino and British-born Nigerian spoken-word artist Joshua Idehen.

Layers still revolve around the key components of Khalab’s sound - dark and trancey electronics and his research into Black music and all its evolutions - but with a bigger emphasis on harmonic arrangements. Across the record, Khalab’s productions twist and pulsate into mesmerizing motifs, as the interplay between different instruments coalesce into focused melodies and rich, complex textures. Khalab and his collaborators masterfully blend gloomy and radiant tones, eliciting feelings of both doom and hope.

For Khalab, Layers represents the end point of a journey that began with the synthesis of ancestral rhythms and electronic experimentation on Black Noise 2084 and has taken him on a meandering route through a Mauritanian refugee camp (M’berra, Real World Recordings, 2021), and deep into the catalogs of legendary Italian labels Soul Note and Black Saint (for the Hyperituals compilations).

Tracklist:
1. Drone Ra (feat. Yazz Ahmed/Alessia Obino)
2. Conscious Friendship (feat. Emanative/Tamar Osborn/Grove)
3. Tunnel Of Jealousy (feat. Lady Blue Eyes)
4. Acid Vaccine (feat. Clap! Clap!)
5. Layers (feat. Joshua Idehen)
6. Female Side (feat. Tommaso Cappellato)
7. Mental Coach (feat. Gabin Dabire)
8. Romantic Loco (feat. Tenderlonious)
9. Tribal Noise

Javano - Metropolis

Tracklist:
1. CPU
2. Cubes
3. Origin
4. Croydon Pheasant
5. Stopgap
6. Rare Earth
7. Javano & Sub Basics – Floating
8. Currents
9. Looping Over
10. Angel
11. Wanderer