Echo Conscious - Emotional Patterns (Harmonious Discord)

What do many past releases on Harmonious Discord have in common? They are all blessed by the multi-alias shape shifter Echo Conscious (Molecule, Dorian). Brad Dale is a full-time sound engineer and head of the label's mastering strategy. In addition, he is an early shaper of the Harmonious Discord sound. However, this time, Brad is the one changing shape. Emotional Patterns is an 11-track exploration of the deep understanding that Brad has for sonic invention predicated by his work as a mastering engineer, audio instrument designer, and film soundtrack composer. In this album, Brad steps away from the console and into an expansive palette, infusing his love of dub electronics, UK bass beat construction, and catchy melody hooks.

"Now Then" bursts the project into existence with fluttering circus melodies and rough and rumble kick construction. "1997" follows with blissful synth intros before cascading to an expertly crafted liquid jungle beat. Melodic dancing abounds as chimes collide with synthesis amid a backdrop of mellotron tension. "Blue Berry" follows trend flexing stuttered vocal programming with a dial into dubbier constructs. "Mycelium" dives deep into theory, as the main rhythm pattern is an electronic impulse measured from a mycelium network. Looped, applied to a kick drum and side-chained. "Daughter" delivers rich piano interplays on top of lush soundscapes and is layered periodically with cut-up home sampling. The album's namesake, "Emotional Patterns", derives strong feelings of anger, excitement, and bliss. Starting with thundering kicks and bass accompanied by dark synth melodies, suddenly shift into light rhode-laden reprises. "Orbital Sunrise" plays deeper on the melodic tension, cycling through lush beds, mellotron patterns, and dub percussion, giving it the lofi downtempo feel with a hint of edge. "Acrosonic" resets with a tine-tinged piano melody that dances with processed and reversed synth calls. This aerial display bubbles into floating arpeggios as the underlying patterns rotate and combine. "Season No More" enters a somber realm, expertly captured piano artifacts in contrast with the mounting arpeggios and washes of cinematic drums. "Space Squirrel" enters with a playful coloring, driving the drum programming into the IDM atmosphere only anchored by the signature drum construction. "Arrive" lands in an expansive atmosphere with pulsating radio waves and synergisticly melodic swells. This album is deserving of a listen from beginning to end, a true testament to a life of sonic creation.

Nick Warren (Hope Recordings) – “This is a cracking album.”
Rory Hoy (Super Hi-Fi) – “An extremely creative and original album.”
Adrian Lugo (WEFT 90.1 FM) – “Solid album. Quirky production gives it’s sense of airiness while still hitting kind of hard. On Air support.”
DJ Firefly (WRCT 88.3 FM) – “Love all the creative details on here.”
DJ Doubles (Freestyle Fusion / Urgent FM) – “Love this! Joyful, emotive and greacefully diverse.”
Hober Mallow (Mighty Reel Show) – “Love this. Incredible sequencing. Just really fresh vibes all the way, will support here.”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.

Ursula 1000 - The Glass Dragon (Insect Queen Music)

New York producer Ursula 1000 is known for his signature retro-future electronic dance fusions, but it's less known that he started off as a jungle and drum 'n' bass DJ during the scene's golden era in the early '90s. For Insect Queen Music's first release of 2023, Ursula 1000 decided to pay homage to some favorite elements of that period by mixing that sound with what he thinks is the perfect theme: classic martial arts movie vibes!

Early inspirations for Ursula 1000 were producers like J. Saul Kane's proto-trip hop stylings in Depth Charge and Photek's initial series of 12"s. Both producers often deployed the sound of whizzing shuriken throwing stars, whooshing swords, high-flying kicks, and karate chops for percussive hits. One should also mention the amazing Wu-Tang Clan, who also championed this recipe. With this sound palette in mind, Ursula 1000 has created the ultimate kung fu meets spy movie suspense thriller. Who is and what is … "The Glass Dragon"?

Andy Cerutti (Fort Knox Recordings) – “REWIND & come again … This is wicked, nice beats & fun groove. Let’s go!”
Kassi (Stereo de Luxe) – “Refreshing funky beats and excellent vintage martial arts vibes.”
DJ Moneyshot (The Allergies) – “Hi-Yah! Dope little cut of slickly sliced Shaolin soul samples for all you kung-fools to get busy with.”
Morphososis (NSB Radio) – “Yep! Will be supporting this fo sho!”
Mikebee (Vinyl Dreams) – “Nice vibe, definitely sounds like a throwback to 1997 jazzy D&B, not a bad thing at all.”
mister (Green Arrow Radio Show) – “Can’t break this Glass Dragon down. The entire piece is da FUNK.”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.

Kohib & Kahuun - EP2 (Beatservice Records)

Phase two of the Bergen-Tromsø house alliance! For the second time on Beatservice Records, Kahuun and Kohib – two beardy and nice chaps – have put their heads together to collaborate, but not as a duo as one would expect. It's the same procedure as their first shared EP: one track each, and then a remix of each other's respective track.

Kahuun is a part of the electronic scene in Bergen. He released his debut EP in 1999 on Paper Recordings, and has released a string of EPs on various labels. His early tracks were in a jazzy broken-beat style, but lately he's been leaning more towards four-on-the-floor house and techno. "Sangefjell" is a potent four-on-the-floor groover, complete with a solid bass foundation, layers of percussive elements, and a rising 303-ish filtered synth line. After hours night club funk, indeed.

Kohib is an important member of the Tromsø electronic music scene, equally as a club organizer, DJ, and producer. His debut was on the Prima Norsk 3 compilation in 2005, followed by an album, a remix-album, and a string of highly regarded EPs and digital singles. Kohib's contribution, with the un-Norwegian title of "Pittsburgh", moodily moves through synthesizer swells and pulsations as reverbed percussion and stereo effects populate its sonic space. The tension is eased by a pleasant, almost theremin-like lead line.

The remixes are playful reinterpretations, with Kohib accentuating the funkiness of "Sangefjell" through heavy hand claps, a tighter entwining of the bass and 303 lines, and a dreamy vocal phrase. This one's got maximum boogie appeal. Not to be outdone, Kahuun surprises with a tough drum n' bass rendition of "Pittsburgh". More than half the track is taken up by its intro – which, upon listening, seems the perfect length – before the breakbeats come in over the throbbing bass and swirling, melodic psychedelia. It's a brilliant cap to this EP, and shows how these two producers continue to inspire each other in wonderful, off-beat ways.

Larry Tee - "I'm loving this!"
Severino (Horse Meat Disco) - "So good!"
Flash Atkins (Paper Recordings / Into The Valley) - "The two handsomest men in Norway deliver four damn fine cuts."
Sleazy McQueen (Whiskey Disco) - "Icy techno!"
Hardway Bros (A Love From Outer Space) - "Great stuff!"
Sumsuch (Colour and Pitch / Mega Jawns) - "I love the build on 'Sangefjell' … in fact both originals are tickling me in all the right places."
Anthony Mansfield (Roam Recordings / Hector Works) - "Deep and chuggin' … this is my jam!"
Atish (Desert Hearts / Robot Heart) - "Nice subtle acid touches on 'Sangefjell'."
Al Bradley (3am Recordings) - "Superb vibes. It's really tough to choose just one … all four cuts are sonic joys!"
Adam Warped (Whiskey Pickle / Strange Days) - "I'm really feeling both original versions and loving the retro vibes of the Kohib remix. Looking forward to playing these out."
ROBOT84 (Paper Recordings / Under No Illusion) - "Oh, yes. Superb."
DJ Firefly (Couch Dancing Radio Show) - "So groovy and complex … I could listen to this all night."
Simon Kirk (Stag Beetle Radio Show) - "Awesome again from these techno futurists … lethal!"

Available now from Bandcamp, Beatport, Juno Download, iTunes, and Spotify.

Mark Graham feat. Jean Honeymoon - Passion (Smooth Agent Records)

Smooth Agent Records is proud to release the long awaited single “Passion” by UK-based producer Mark Graham with Glasgow’s Jean Honeymoon on vocals. Having released most of his music on his own Rehab label since 2008, Mark is a producer who likes to blend classical, jazz, latin, and hip hop into his stew of dance music sounds, influenced by everything from Aphex Twin to Thelonious Monk. The vocals on the jazzy, liquid drum n’ bass of “Passion” are by Ms. Jean Honeymoon who has a unique, almost whisper-like singing style. Jean has released numerous productions from house to downtempo chill-out, and has worked with producers such as Monodeluxe, Rubberlips, Union Effect, Victor Maximilano, and Burkina Lounge.

The strong songwriting of “Passion” has lent itself to a number of exceptional remixes, touching on deep, soulful house, broken beat, and drum n’ bass styles. Smooth Agent’s own Sean Smith delivers a dreamy and soulful afro-flavored house remix that will delight the deepest of DJs. Chicago’s Union Effect (Mindfood, Smooth Agent) reveals a spacious, classic sounding deep house mix with melodic piano complimenting Jean’s lovely voice. Canadian DJ / producer Scott Totem adds a splash of tech-house to his deep treatment resulting in a pulsing, bass fueled ride while Don Clark aka Re:search (Re:direct Recordings, Deep Hype Sounds) presents a bright, cascading interpretation of “Passion.” Italy’s Monodeluxe (Little Angel, Vibe Boutique) flips the script with a broken beat, downtempo version that’s soulful and chill. Also, Cleveland’s Quentin Allen unveils two remixes under two different guises - a shuffling Deep Tech mix as Karu and a meaty drum n’ bass remix under the name of Illform. There’s a lot of variety here, courtesy of Smooth Agent Records … sit back and dive in.

Ron Trent - “I like the Moondelux, Union Effect, and Sean Smith versions.”
Graeme Park - “A very cool and interesting selection of grooves … particularly feeling the Monodelux mix.”
Alton Miller - “Very nice music … I’ll support this for sure.”
Glenn Underground - “The original of ‘Passion’ is hot on its own.”
Abicah Soul - “Love it!”
Mr.V (Sole Channel Music) - “Dope! Great vocal.”
Davidson Ospina - “It’s all about Scott Totem Remix for me … slammin’!”
Andy Compton (The Rurals / Peng) - “Lovely!”
Daz-I-Kue - “Yep, I’ll be playing a number of these mixes.”
Jaymz Nylon - “Incredible mixes all tied together with soul and heart.”
Edground (Grooveland Music, Brazil) - “Amazing release. Great remixes here.”
Fish Go Deep - “Good range of mixes with Sean Smith’s standing out. Nice vocal.”
Groove Assassin (Pacha / Defected) - “Super dope … a slamming set of mixes.”
Christos Kedras (Kapa Music) - “Strong package with lots of great mixes. Sean Smith, Union Effect, Monodelux, and Karu all have done excellent job.”
Andre Harris - “I’m loving the Scott Totem mix.”
Dean Serafini (JJazproJect) - “Such sweet vocals. It has to be the Union Effect Mix for me.”
Alex Dean (Low End Theory Radio Show) - “I’m loving the Sean Smith mix … beautiful vocal house music.”
Joey Silvero (Distant People) - “I like the bounce to the bass. The Re:search mix is really cool.”
Jamie Topham (CDPool) - “Cool release from Mark Graham with the Smooth Agent label delivering a heavyweight mix package.”
Michael Fossati (Spirit of House) - “The glamorous remixes by Union Effect and label head Sean Smith are by no means to be missed.”

Available now from Juno Download and Traxsource.