Sprechen Fest

Chris Massey's Sprechen label started ten years ago, run out of a spare room at his home in Bolton. Since then it's had a decade of releases and parties, a record label that's become a home for life enhancing, psychedelic/ electronic music that is always interesting, always changing, never standing still. To celebrate this Sprechen are releasing an album called Ein Null: 10 Years Of Sprechen. The album has a really strong line up of artists- A Certain Ratio (with a track, Faster But Slower,  not available anywhere else), Bagging Area favourite Psychederek, The Utopia Strong (featuring former snooker champion Steve Davis), Lena C, PBR Streetgang, Gina Breeze, and Low Pulse. 

As well as this Norwegian producer Lindstrom has joined up with Chris' band The Thief Of Time on a song called Escape Into Neon- a title that sums up much of Sprechen's vibe- with an instrumental and vocal version of the song. The instrumental is available to listen to here, Lindstrom's Scandi-disco synths and The Thief Of Time's 80s indie- pop combining in a flare of light and arpeggios. Ein Null is out on vinyl and digitally and can be ordered here. 

The other track on Ein Null is Walk... Now Walk, a slow mo acid disco chug romp with vocals from RuPaul and Supernature that builds and builds without ever quite exploding, the tension kept in check. 

Also on Sprechen but back in June, was an EP from Ed Mahon called Recreations, a trio of edits and covers. The first is the Poolside Rerub of Voice Of Africa's classic Hoomba Hoomba, the original's beatific piano set over a 98 bpm chug and the chanted vocal fading in. 

Following that there's What You Deserve, a hard edged, uptempo early 80s number from the EBM/ Nitzer Ebb/ DAF sound- sweaty industrial proto- house with a vocal from Snem K. The EP is completed with a version of Corina's Temptation, originally out in 1991, and done by Ed with a vocal from Louise Spiteri, stripped back and full of end of the night/ under the stars love. Get Recreations here. 

The Knack

There is a lot of new music around right now and keeping up with it sometimes feels like a job in itself. Bandcamp Friday, the first Friday of every month, brings umpteen emails to my inbox, many of which are essential. The difficulty is in keeping up and not missing something good. One of yesterday's Bandcamp Friday treats was a new release from 10:40, a track called The Knack. Built around crunchy drums, a deep piano two note riff and a snatch of a female vocal, The Knack is a steamy, insistent thumper, the sound of pressure building and bodies moving. There's some Belgian EBD inside it's grooves/ bytes and the feel of darker, sweatier house music. The more you listen, the more it gives.

The Knack comes with two remixes, one by Ed Mahon and another by Jezebell. Ed pulls the deepest of synth basslines to the fore and crashing handclaps with a rhythm that is both fast and slow (as Martin Hannett might have demanded). The Jezebell Feeling Moody Remix strips it back to the core, streamlining it in a house rocking and the body rocking. The rhythm that comes in at one minute thirty takes no prisoners, puts its head down and thumps.  All three can be bought here. 

Also out this week is a new release from Jezebell, an EPs worth of edits out on Buenos Aires label Diavol, four tasty 2022 takes on Laurie Anderson, Herb Alpert, The Notorious B.I.G. and Kajagoogoo. All four are worth the price of entrance but in particular the digital stutter and bump of Re-birth (originally Laurie Anderson's Born Never Asked) and Vibrations Hitatchi Dub, a sleek electro stepper edit of Tijuana brassman Herb Alpert with muted wah wah trumpet, synths and timbales bouncing around. Buy here. Then press play and replay all weekend. 

Edit: all the edits are now available at Jezebell's Bandcamp site here, name your own price/ free.