Darker Than Wax Singapore 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Captain Over (real name Greg Surmacz) rather brilliantly describes himself as an "intergalactic skengman" who crafts "broken beats out of space debris". Here he makes his label debut on Darker Than Wax with his first fully instrumental EP (much of his previous work featured grime MCs). He opens the 12" strongly via the shuffling broken beats, alien electronics, warm chords and eight-bit melodies of "4D", before skewering the drums further on the wonderfully bass-heavy and out there "Deep Blue". Over on side B, "Mind's Eye" is an off-kilter chunk of spacey bruk positivity, "New Life Forms" boasts some sparkling synths and bleepy "space debris", and "Take It Too Far" is an on-point broken beat roller rich in Sinclair Spectrum beeps and rich, jammed-out chords.

Review: Darker Than Wax welcomes back Malik Hendricks for a new EP that was recorded in Brooklyn in 2020 and 2021 by the American-born, Lisbon-based producer. And it marks something of a shift in his musical journey as he moves away from the sample-heavy sound he is known for and towards more organic grooves with hints of Midwest funk and techno. There is an electro flavour to the opener, sleazy ghetto house flourish to 'Fiyahverkx' and broken beat minimalism to 'Totem.' On the flip comes 'The Money Dance' which is the best of the lot - a soul-drenched and elastic house jam with quality chords and keys.

Review: Munir straps in for a full throttle ride through some brilliantly cosmic disco grooves here, with opener 'Racer' being a super cool and super smooth ride on glossy arps and far-sighted pads that will elevate anyone's sprits. 'Pit Stop' is a more broken journey on rugged drums and rickety hits and then 'Finish Line' smooths out once more and goes intergalactic. 'Interlinked' is the explosive melodic closer, with tough arps and pixelated pads all adding up to a thrilling and hi NRG ride that is part retro, part futuristic, fully awesome.

Review: Singapore label Darker Than Wax have been doing a sterling job in carrying crucial, headsy cuts from contemporary funk artists, and now they're providing a handy overview for all those curious about the past, present and future vibe of the label. Teymori brings a woozy mood to "Running For You" with some sweet and sassy leads and a stunning vocal turn from Jace XL. Malik Hendricks brings a dreamy kind of jack to "Umore", while Ricky Razu ups the house pressure with a pumping beat fit for the likes of Chez Damier on "Soul Slide". Kaye gets heavier and freakier with the bass on tribal roller "So Much Soul", and then Halal Soul finishes the EP off with the subtly red-lining thrust and swing of "Contusion".