Kalahari Oyster Cult 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: The latest release on Colin Volvert's Kalahari Oyster Cult imprint is something of an epic: a triple-vinyl retrospective of the early '90s deep house productions of X-Ray Records founder Raymond Castoldi. The 11 tracks featured originally appeared on a series of 12" singles released by Castoldi between 1992 and '94. What's most remarkable about the compilation is how well those tracks have aged. While Castoldi variously pays tribute to numerous then contemporary producers, labels and sub-genres - think Dream 2 Science, Nu Groove, Pal Joey, Jovonn, the Italian dream house movement and the deeper end of New Jersey garage - none of the tracks feel dated. In fact, thanks to Castoldi's expansive musicality and on-point production, most of the tracks sound timeless. Recommended.

Review: While much of Volodymyr Gnatenko's album was produced during the worst points of the ongoing global pandemic, it sounds scarily contemporary - not least because the Ukranian producer's love of poignant chords, melancholic melodies and heart-aching aural textures are as emotionally resonant as the horrors currently unfolding in his homeland. Rainalice, his debut album, is undoubtedly a triumph: a thrillingly retro-futurist collection of IDM, electro and ambient techno excursions completed in his Kyiv studio (where he now shelters during air raids), that inadvertently offer a reminder of the vibrancy of the pre-war electronic music scene in Ukraine whilst sonically transporting listeners to some distant plant or galaxy.

Notes: Long sleeve T-Shirt designed by Jonathan Castro.

2 prints, back and front on Stanley and Stella Drift.

Set-in sleeve

1x1 rib at neck collar and sleeve hem

Inside back neck tape in self-fabric

Bottom hem with wide double topstitch

Single jersey- 100% organic ring-spun combed cotton

Weight: 200 gsm

Notes: Long sleeve T-Shirt designed by Jonathan Castro.

2 prints, back and front on Stanley and Stella Drift.

Set-in sleeve

1x1 rib at neck collar and sleeve hem

Inside back neck tape in self-fabric

Bottom hem with wide double topstitch

Single jersey- 100% organic ring-spun combed cotton

Weight: 200 gsm

Notes: Long sleeve T-Shirt designed by Jonathan Castro.

2 prints, back and front on Stanley and Stella Drift.

Set-in sleeve

1x1 rib at neck collar and sleeve hem

Inside back neck tape in self-fabric

Bottom hem with wide double topstitch

Single jersey- 100% organic ring-spun combed cotton

Weight: 200 gsm.

Review: After starting the year with a fine EP of fresh Italian deep house dreaminess from rising star Rhythm of Paradise, Colin Volvert's Kalahari Oyster Cult label dips its toe into the reissue scene via a new edition of a legendary Kwaito full-length. Mpumi's Singapore album has long been considered one of the most important releases from the early years of South Africa's indigenous, pitched-down house movement - a joyous expression of the "freedom dance" vibe full of saucer-eyed synthesizers, tweaked New Jersey garage influences, luscious vocals and more colourful dreaminess than your average Sueno Latino 12". Wisely, Volvert's label has not only given the album a deserved re-master, but also stretched the tracks across two slabs of wax to allow for louder, DJ-friendly cuts.

Review: The intriguingly named Kalahari Oyster Cult deals in music that is just as interesting and this new album from OK EG is no exception to that. Rivulets manages to be both perfectly designed for an indelible impact in the club, but is also nuanced and detailed enough to work in headphones in a range of other settings. It's minimal in design but never cold and abstract - the synths are warm, the drums rubbery, the rhythms lovely and compelling. 'Circular Arc' for example is bumpy and bouncy with a killer bassline, 'Matched Grip' is melon-twisting halftime brilliance and 'Endless River' is a super deep and silky jungle workout drenched in soulful vocal swirls.

Review: One of this year's clear dancefloor trends has been the emergence of countless artists willing to draw influence from mid 1990s progressive house, and particularly the more psychedelic, ambient techno influenced end of the style (think Moody Boys circa 'Product of the Environment' and other Guerilla Records releases of the period). Sohrab's first full-length, which also doubles as his Kalahari Oyster Cult debut, explores these sonic pastures, occasionally mixing in elements of pre-rave breakbeat hardcore, bleep, formative psy-trance, 'Brown Album'-era orbital (see 'Fool's Demise'), acid and electro. The results are simultaneously nostalgic and undeniably contemporary, offering an impressive range of hallucinatory and mind-altering club cuts tailor-made for hazy sunrises and dark, smoke-filled basements.

Review: DJ soFa continues his Elsewhere compilation series on Kalahari Oyster Cult with a superb sixth instalment that showcases a load of exciting and hybrid electronic styles. These are tunes that are ripe for club play but are rooted in odd-pop, synth-punk, DIY and post-kraut styles. The artists hail from all over the globe and include the twisted funk of Seytan Tuyu's 'Anita,' hall of melodic mirrors that is Cilin's 'An Abhainn Mhor' and Mytron & A Von F's soot-black and gritty motorik thriller 'Confiture.' This series has been going since 2017 and this proves, it is still as strong as ever.