Back catalogue: Balearic/Downtempo

Review: While Brown Fang (Jon Thompson and Henry Scott) have worked with Huw Costin as Torn Sail before, this tidy two-tracker marks the first time a record has been jointly credited to their two projects. Naturally, the Nottingham trio has pulled out all the stops to make sure that the release is as memorable as possible. They set the tone with 'Exit', a suitably gorgeous, sofa-ready shuffler in which glistening guitars, bubbly electronics and dreamy chords ride a warming bassline and sparse, minimalistic beats. On 'Endless', the three East Midlands-based friends explore their ambient inspirations, laying down an immersive soundscape that you'll want to get lost in again and again.

Review: Renowned for the immersive nature of his sunset-ready blends of ambient, Balearic, deep house and new age sounds, Soshi Takeda is best-known for Floating Mountains, his cassette-and-digital only 2021 album on 100% Silk. Soon, it may be this mini-album - his first outing on Studio Mule - that people cite as the Japense producer's best work. Rich in colourful 1980s new-age synths and sparse drum machine sounds, twinkling piano solos, and oodles of enveloping ambient textures, the six tracks on show draw some inspiration from Japanese ambient pioneers (Midori Takada especially) and contemporary crews (Coastlines in particular) while delivering a distinctive musical voice. Inspired stuff all told.

Review: London's Rose Robinson aka Tigerbalm delivers a stunning debut EP on New York's Razor-N-Tape, showcasing her versatile and soulful sound. 'Nina' arrives in three different mixes, all infused with her smooth vocals and lush keys.The original is a low slung affair (feat Farafi) that provides ample mood music, while the thumping Elado mix sets its eyes on the main room, and finally the Voilaaa remix is definitely our favourite - which infuses Afro boogie elements for one seriously infectious version.

Review: Todd Russell and The Dangerous Coats (aka. Scotty Coats and Erick "Todd" Coomes) are destined to impress with their of psychedelic rock and ethereal electronics on their latest single, Playa Larga. Touted as "in very real danger of being lost forever", this is an unearthing of two of their private downtempo-ish recordings, which both come on a double A-side 12" adorned with artwork by Arizona artist Frank Gonzales. Hailing from LA, they wear their hometown on their sleeve here, charting the mood of heat-hazed convertible sweats and brand boulevard cruisings, albeit with a humid rainforested twist.

Review: Jasper Tygner is making moves, and fast, and is now one of the most interesting new names to have emerged in the underground. His Off Season EP is a case in point and is a multi-faceted work. 'Ready' is a standout and features Art School Girlfriend with its lush ambient synth craft and glitchy keys suspending you in a vibe while the vocals activate your heart. Later on this master of deep and downtempo sound worlds hooks up for a second time in 2023 with DJ Boring for the excellent 'So Unknown' which is another irresistible gem.

Review: Last year Detroit techno stalwart Jeff Mills launched a new project, The Zanza, an ever-changing collective of jazz, Latin and electronic musicians who could help him explore his love of a wide variety of styles and genres. Following on from the project's debut release, Mills has now delivered a debut album that once again proves not only his versatility as a producer, but also the vivid, widescreen nature of his musical vision. Wonderland is not an ambient or techno album - though it does contain multiple nods to the latter - but rather a hybrid affair that draws great influence from Latin music (and samba in particular), jazz in many forms, dubbed-out electro, jazz-funk and, on the rushing 'The Time Is Tight', organ and piano-heavy gospel house.

Review: The album that everybody is talking about. 'Sexuality' is produced by Sebastien Tellier, alongside Daft Punk's half Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo.

Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from deep house legend Ron Trent. Over the years, he's fine-tuned his musically complex, emotion-rich sound to a tee. This fourth album, the follow-up to last year's more mixed up Dance Floor Boogie Delites, sees him at his most cosmic and melodic. Think smooth pads, darting synth doodles, hypnotic - and occasionally percussively complex (see "Atmosphere" - grooves, and twinkling piano melodies. For those who appreciate his slightly soft focus approach, it's a delight, with some genuine gems to behold. "Sweetness", "Space Dance" and the darker, clubbier "Blood & Fire" are arguably among his best tracks of recent years.

Review: It's been 40 years since Michal Turtle released his seminal, ground-breaking album Music From The Living Room into the world and promptly disappeared back into the aether. An extremely obscure cult classic known only to deep diggers and aficionados of the finest order, it wasn't until Music From Memory reissued some of the tracks from it via retrospective compilations of Turtle's unreleased music almost 30 years later that his name become more widely known and a new generation were able to discover the artist's unique and pioneering style of experimental electronic music production, the majority of it very much ahead of its time, and to this day still timeless. Invisible Inc. contacted Turtle in the summer of 2023 about releasing something else by him, and it was during this exchange of emails that ideas were expressed about releasing not simply a straightforward reissue of Music From The Living Room to mark its 40th anniversary (the album has never been reissued in full), but rather a re-imagined and re-constructed take on the album, bringing contemporary techniques, styles and newly recorded vocal and instrument parts into the mix and breathing new life into these wonderful compositions. Collaborators old and new were brought into the studio and the songs re-created from the ground up. Familiar songs like 'Are You Psychic?' and 'Village Voice' are overhauled and echo remnants of their original counterparts, but simultaneously sound like completely new tracks. The always mesmerising 'Phantoms Of Dreamland' is represented through a live recording at Cafe OTO, featuring original album vocalist Lucianne Lasalle and regular collaborator HOVE on electronics. The remaining tracks, however, will be completely new to the ears of most people, never having been reissued or heard in these new forms ever before.

Review: French label Macadam Mambo has always operated at the fringes of electronic music. Whether doing disco, world music or experimental sounds it has always had its own odd but alluring musical identity. For this one Tutu Ta goes deep the world of dub and electronics across 12 dark yet nuanced cuts on the Lonely Eyes album. It's a world of wonder with warped synths and ghostly vocal fragments, DIY rhythms and smeared pads that bend space and time. Lighter dubs like 'Talk Of Da Town' sit next to menacing shanks such as 'Krunk (Woody Flute mix)' while the percussive swagger of 'Kilburn Market Dub' is one to get you moving.

Review: The Mellophonia label offshoot Fusion Sequence won us over with its well-presented and great-sounding first EP, and now a quick follow-up does the same. This one is another various artists affair that starts with some nice futuristic robot disco from Vanity Project. There is more organic and lush Balearic from Bobby Bricks and Pacific Coliseum follows that spine-tingling Ibiza sunset vibe. On the flip side, there is everything from late-night electronic house to lazy disco via Sorcerer's blissed out 'Just For Love' which would entrance any dance floor. There's as much quality as there is variation on this one, which makes it a useful EP indeed.