Phonica Records

VINYL: https://www.phonicarecords.com/product/snad-labyrinthine-ep-feat-huerta-remix-pre-ord-phonica-am/190938

DIGITAL: https://phonicarecords.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinthine-ep

No stranger to the limelight with a string of forward-thinking, sought-after releases under his belt, Snad joins the roster of cutting-edge artists bringing his spark to Phonica AM under curation of Luther Vine.

The 'Labyrinthine EP' opens with a relentless 4 to the floor club ready firestarter. Aptly titled 'Quark' hits the spot in all the right places. Its swinging drum work out and oscillating chords swirl to a frenzy and guarantee to set any a dance floor ablaze.

The A2 'Labyrinthine' boots off with Snad's unique take on UK 90s Tech-House, full groove, snare syncopation and whirlwind of off-centre synth cords, adding to his effervescent sound design.

The flip side opens with a killer remix fellow Berliner expat, Huerta's take on 'Quark'. The remix retains the destructive dance floor potential of the original and adds somewhat in the hypnotic trip out department. Full engagement is guaranteed from start to finish even for the more of an absent-minded listener on this one.

Snad closes the EP with 'Revival'. This cross-genre juggernaut effortlessly marries puncy breaks with dubbed out echos while the resonant synth chords and muddled vocal chops expand listener's perception of sonar possibilities to places few have imagined possible. One of the rare tracks which hovers on the fringe of experimentation but guarantees to move the peak time crowd of the most discerning listening habits.

Long time label Friend and Phonica White artist Keisuke steps up next on our Friends and Family mix series with some driven numbers inspired by Berlin where he has resided for years. We had a chat with Keisuke about the mix, about what he has got coming up and more!

The fast up and coming Brazilian DJ & producer Bárbara Boeing steps up for our latest Phonica mix dedicated to the gates of heaven. If you have not heard of Bárbara yet, fear not, you will; Having just dropped her killer debut release on Toy Tonics in May and already having smashed sets out for the likes of Dekmantel Selectors, Boiler Room and Permanent Vacation we can clearly see this is nothing but an up hill trajectory for the talent. For this set Bárbara is bringing us to the day party, the closing of the Summer set if you will. Perfectly built up with a a solid mixture of taste and fun. This is one to get on before you go out but also one for a couple of wines in the park bidding fairwell to the Sun for another year. We chat to Bárbara about the mix, her approach to DJing and what she has coming up next:

For this months Off The Record mix we humbly rest our hands and our ears with Death Is Not The End. Luke Owen's long running label digs up the oldest of the old, serving up your gospel, blues and folk with a crackle. The label has been known for its deeply dug out tapes and records in the forgotten and unheard from the early years of records on gramophones to the London Rave era advertisements. For this mix Owen dives into some well sought after rare groove and soul / blues. A change of pace in this series for sure but a very welcome one from a keen London selector who we have had on our list for this series for a long time. We had a quick chat with the man behind the mix and the label to see how it all came to be and what the future holds.

The Nous'Klaer Audio affiliated Dutch & German DJ and producer Oceanic, known for his sets at his residency at the prestigious Amsterdam institution De School, steps up for the latest Phonica mix. Over the hour and a half Oceanic, real name Job Oberman, takes us on a journey of soundscapes, electronics, tech house, percussive rhythms and techno. This mix shows not only Job's musical range, having released Ambient live recordings on De School's De Nieuw label all the way to driven bassy techno on Rush Hour, but his undeniable skill behind the decks as well as his understanding of music and how various genres can be brought together harmoniously.

@oceanicocean

We take a plane over to Madrid for the next Off The Record mix to hang with Mario G.R. AKA Glossy Mario, the head honcho at Glossy Mistakes; the record label that has been reissuing and unveiling the undiscovered.

With legendary names like Finis Africae, Susumu Yokota and Akira Ito recently getting some of their cult favourite releases reissued, this has proven Mario's ear is a thriving force of wisdom and knowledge showcased through his label with love and care. For this mix Mario focuses on percussive sounds and older gems with modern takes to combine together a mix that is intuitive as well as club ready! He sat down with our own Alex Egan for a quick chat about the mix as well as what he has coming up!

Phonica Mix Series 109: Hidden Spheres by Phonica Records

The next mix in our Friends & Family series comes from the head of Barcelona's hottest dance music distributor and record store; Subwax.

Baldo has been at the forefront of club records in the Spanish capital for many years starting in Subwax under the faithful hand of Jimi Disko in 2013 going on to take-over the company entirely in 2020. In recent years Subwax has started to focus mainly on dealing with labels under tech, deep and garage house sounds from the likes of some our favourites Limosine Dream, Mindhelmet, Sunset Drifters & Spaziotempo to only name but a few but the quality list very much goes on & on.

Baldo also handles many of his own imprints through the illusive distro, Physical Education, Curated By Time and BLD Tape Recordings. His thought provoking productions have also seen him appear on Gerd Janson's Running Back as well as Unknown to the Unknown's rave ready E-Beamz off-shoot! We are delighted to have Baldo on our F&F series where he is showcasing plenty of what has come and gone and what will come to be on the distro that he has dedicated his career to. @baldo

Next up on the Phonica mix series we head out West, State side all the way to Washington DC to hook up with James Bangura.

James or by his real name Timothy has dropped some extremely interesting heat as of late on labels like !K7, Incienso and World Building to name a few. With a musical style that mashes inspirations from stems of US house and UK broken up beats and techno leaning sounds it goes without saying that Bangura's sound is one of the most unique out there in the current club circuit. Off the back of a recent trip around the UK and Europe we hooked up with James and got him to lay a mix down for us that is very much in itself inspired by his trip to the UK. Featuring a mesh of 2-step, broken beat, jazz influences and moulded together with a refreshing house and bass sound we are very excited to welcome to Phonica mix 108; James Bangura.

We had a chat with Bangura about his trip, his mix and about what he's got going on.

Our Friends & Family Mix series is back in action and this month we welcome all the way from Berlin; Tom. You may recognise Tom as the booker and resident DJ at Kottbusser hot spot Paloma or from his recent release on the club's in house label "Lose Yourself". With a new release forthcoming on Frank Music we were delighted get Tom to supply a mix for us which of course is recorded live from inside Paloma. We had a chat with Tom about Paloma, what he has going on and the mix. Check that over on Off The Record now!