Audio Love #6

Feast your ears on this week's selections, easing you into the christmas period with a spring in your booze soaked step…

The Marx Trukker Sky So Broad, No Vinyl Left Greta Cottage Workshop

Described as "electronic folkart", this EP is a natural match for the idiosyncratic West Country based Greta Cottage Workshop. And it's a joy to hear so much original acoustic material being used to produce such quirky and involving dub techno and dream house. While disjointed, perhaps even self-endulgent sometimes, every track manages to engage. The droneful depth and live instrumentation of A For You B For Me and Tape Be Good To You, the floating and calmly euphoric International Air Conditioner, the trippy lo-fi wooziness of The Sky So Broad No Money Left and the floppily romantic, almost shoe-gazing skiffle of The Bishop Of New Hampshire remix…it's an eccentric ride but definitely worth it for those who like something a bit challenging. (Joe Bonez)
 

Red Rack'em In Love Again Wolf

Originally released in 2010 on Untracked, In Love Again was an instant standout B-sider. Forming an essential part of the Wolf Music posse's repertoire since then, it's no surprise that they convined Red Rack'em to revive and rejuvenate it. An appendum to the original, this "Fast" version keeps the sweeping chords and idyllic vocal intact, picks up the tempo by a bpm or three and lays additional percussion on top of new structural elements while enriching the bassline. The completely original Latin Techno acts as a counterpoint and reminds us of Red Rack'em's drumming heritage, with a staccato kick and motive snares driving a looped-up vox and brassy stabs. Its this juxtaposition of wonky ghetto brashness to swooning emotive depth that makes the EP work as a whole, providing something for those who own the original to get their teeth into.  (Joe Bonez)

V/A Halal Prepared vol.2 Boe

Hackney based Boe Recording's been on a bit of a roll recently, with its lost gems offshoot For Those That Knoe engaging with the house fraternity and putting the label back on the map (not that it was ever really off it to be frank). Riding high on that success, it's great to see founder Ben Boe taking the ultimate step and releasing one of his own productions, a fluid slice of joyful deep house. Accompanied by Arnaldo's bohemian, mesmeric dub and Anaxander's tribalistic techno foot-shuffler, it's a solid continuation in the saga of one of the UK's best underground house labels.  (Joe Bonez)

Jack Dixon Those Questions EP ft.Skudge White Asega
Choosing to launching his own label, White Asega, with a triad of tracks made whilst battling an insomniac winter hibernation surrounded by echos of the former industrial sectors of Berlin, Jack Dixon continues his development away from the UK bass origins that first got him noticed and edging towards more techno-inflected territory. Heirloom is a big visceral reaction to sleepless nights, a brash, aggressive stomper. Skudge mold this into a more restrained, straight-laced classic techno number. Nothing too subtle so far. It's on Park Row and The Things I Gave You that the EP really shines, with the cavernous acid lines corruscating with caffeine-buzzed bells that drive the former, and the slow, dolefully voiced and garage influenced sections of latter reminding why Jack Dixon was one of the most intriguing producers to emerge from the UK's bass/house hybrid scene in the last few years. A firm debit for the label, and a pleasant return to form for the man behind it.  (Joe Bonez)

Daniel Trim – Odet EP (Glasgow Underground)
This is the second time I've featured Daniel Trim on this site in recent months – the man is prolific; always seeming to take a slightly different angle.  No one track does quite what you expect, and they're all the better for it. (Mike Boorman) 

Moodymann ABCD: The Album 

A new Moodymann record is always a source of great joy to me, even when he's not on top form he still towers above almost everyone in the field. From the bits and pieces I've heard of the ABCD LP (Due out on 30 December), he's firing on all cylinders – raw, idiosyncratic hi tech soul of the highest order. I love the mann. (Joe Evans)

Buy the vinyl