Various Artists
SKM003

Through 35 hedonistic highlights stretched across three volumes, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac delivers the first ever deep dive into The Netherlands’ colourful house sound of the 90s and the under-celebrated producers and record labels whose music soundtracked a countrywide cultural movement.Plenty of books and documentaries have celebrated the riotous raves, legendary clubs, high profile DJs and promoters who shaped The Netherlands’ hedonistic house scene throughout the 90s. Music For The Radical Xenomaniac dares to challenge these narratives by shining a light, for the first time, on those who created the scene’s kaleidoscopic, game-changing and globally influential soundtrack.Leading the charge were a disparate group of key creators who not only forged links with their counterparts in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom, but also became celebrated figures on the worldwide electronic underground (Eric Nouhan, Aad De Mooy, Orlando Voorn, Stefan Robbers and Steve Rachmad). Alongside key underground imprints (Stealth Records, Basic Energy, ESP, Prime and Outland Records included) and lesser-known producers, these pioneers gave flavour to a radical musical movement via open-mindedness, unheard-of creativity and a genuinely futuristic ethos. All of these artists and labels are represented throughout the series.So, what defined this hedonistic house sound from The Netherlands? Stylistically, it was varied – as the series so emphatically proves – but was defined by a set of distinctive sonic characteristics: emotive musical motifs, high-frequency synth sounds, mellow basslines, pulsating rhythms and more than a touch of hallucinatory intent.Volume 1 boasts a wealth of notable tracks and slept-on gems. There’s ‘No Strings Attached (Freedom of the Soul Work)’ by Marionette, a magical spell of percussion-rich fairy-tale house from 1991 courtesy of R.o.X.Y Amsterdam resident DJ Dimitri and mellow pioneer Eric Nouhan, and the sole single by Eindhoven techno producer MAX404 as Faceless Techno Bastards, the rushing excellence of ‘Go Mellow’.Other highlights include Rachmad Project’s ‘Summer Breeze’, a chirpy house masterpiece from foundational producer Steve Rachmad that first appeared on Outland Records offshoot Spiritual Records, a genuine oddball obscurity from John Krengiëlczak as Land of Fantasy, Tales And Myths (‘And They Lived Happily Ever After’), and a seriously sought-after cut from Rotterdam duo Space Trax, 1992’s ‘Aura’.Packed full of forward-thinking 90s gems remastered for today’s dance floors by Alden Tyrell, Music For The Radical Xenomaniac Volume 1 is a life-affirming celebration of a distinctly Dutch musical movement, whose rich textures and melodies are still inspiring new generations of DJs and dancers today.

JiveTalk - Still Guv’nin EP (inc. Voigtmann and Thoma Bulwer Remixes).Fresh off the back of their release of the Ghost’s label (Ghost Rec) Jive Talk deliver a naughty bassline driven A-side “Still Guvn’in’” and deeper garage flex on the B-side. Voigtmann’s remix is probably the house-iest or Claus-iest we’ve heard from the top draw selector and producer. It’s a hands up in the air ‘Classique’ sounding remix for “any-time of the night track”, to quote Enzo.

"I couldn't exactly explain why these tracks created under my Lips Vago guise remained unreleased for so long. I didn't mean to 'hide' them of course, I always considered them on a par with my experimental music that had more luck instead. Perhaps the real reason is that during the years when I was most active there was not much room, and consequently interest, for these kinds of sounds in my social circles, and these pieces never reached the 'right' ears. Then the years passed and I never really tried to 'push' them anyway... I am really glad that things are changing now."Mostly recorded in 1996, the four tracks on the "Fictional Selfs" EP exhibit an attention to melody that is skillfully declined in different ways. Whether it is the epic build-up and refrain of "The Mobility of Her Features" - a track which the author admit was "dedicated to a girl larger than life, in many ways..." - or the incredibly cheesy keyboard solos in "Filler 4" - inspired by no less than Mike Paradinas / Mu-Ziq's alias Jake Slazenger: "I've got my Alesis HR16 drum machine just because I knew it was on his kit list..." - Marutti clearly knows his stuff and the entertaining qualities of his music ooze from every note.Anyone curious to hear the original version of "Laughing Stock" will have to wait a little longer, but the Remix gracing the second side of the EP offers a thoroughly enjoyable version, in which multiple organ parts playfully chase each other over a forest of assorted percussion and synthetic laughter. The last track, "VST Atlas", the only one in this collection dating to 1999, expands the sound range by using various samples - "That was the very first track I recorded using Cubase VST, hence the title." - and opens a window on the more recent productions of the project.As already mentioned, Lips Vago's "Fictional Selfs EP" only manages to scratch the surface of the author's large archive of unpublished recordings, but judging from these four pieces the 'dark side' of Andrea Marutti looks so bright you would not believe it.

The Swedish/Dutch label De Vloer is back with its signature sound of floor focused dub, produced by the label owners themselves.

Spray retires the eponymously, to instead seek Punctuality; a new label for ‘dastard club elegies in the dark’ hosted by the maestro himself. Blu:sh clocks in to provide the imprint’s inaugural extended player with U is for U and me, a pentagonal suite of nocturnal seductions for ‘U’, our dear listener, from ‘he’, its rosy-cheeked conductor.B is for Blu:sh (sometimes Benoit B and Terra Utopia), a froward node in the artist’s trilateral soul whose previous charm offensives for Roza Terenzi’s Step Ball Chain and Rey Colino’s Kalahari Oyster Cult under the alias signalled the arrival of a new challenger to the ‘hits parade’. U is for U and me provides distinct variations on the theme of ‘club allure’, five tracks of sparkling body music that captivate in its relentless drive for kinetic salvation.“A quick glance at the watch, and they’re off!” 
AM PM strikes first more night than day, its throbbing bass line locks shoulders with precision rhythms within its psychedelic landscape. Whirlwind Mindsets is sassier, opting for more bump while the track’s aural mesh is grazed by sharp textures of live wires and melodious bleeps. 
“... and they get back under way!”Magnetized Your Soul soundtracks the self-actualisation of sonic sophistication, applying the rave pressure with a current of discordant pads and haunted vocals bound by twisted attraction. Pixelated Pleasure Dome is pure sleaze, a wiggle-fested romp of leering subs and thunderous groove of pure self indulgence. High In Cloud City offers the finale of heads-down speedy exuberance with faint breaks and non-stomp pump right up until curtain call.Written & Produced By Blu:sh
Mastering & Cut: Marco PellegrinoDistributor: One Eye WitnessArtwork: Lucia DominguezRelease Text: Nevan Jio

The next jewel to be unearthed from Planet Euphorique is the much anticipated debut ep from London based eoin dj. This stellar release is an anything goes collage of samples, moods and grooves from all corners of the dance music spectrum, all the while going steady and keeping it club-ready.Play Nasty puts its money where its mouth is; titillating vocal chops flit and flirt around fiercely precise drums and throbbing bass notes; modern sound hacks are diced and spliced with classic techno motifs. The end result sits somewhere between a punctual club tool and a peak time hot-and-sexy-moment-on-the-dancefloor number, with Pulsing Crystal taking the same hybrid approach. Basslines and kick drums come in and out and change positions - the track is an amalgam of hard house, electro and techno primed for any hour of the night.On the flip comes Artificial Intelligence, the second collaboration between eoin dj and Byron Yeates. A tried and tested no frills tek stomper made to rattle and shake, with peaks and troughs stationed around an irresistible vocal sample: Heads down, hands up, say no more. The tempo is bumped up a notch for title track Fantasi, the creation mix flexes phased arpeggios that drift around a simple but sultry hard house bassline, which barely relents for the duration of the track. Kaleidoscopic vocal chops, prototypical stabs, skittering percussion; the B side comes together with a deliciously unified sound palate, sitting in the sweet spot between psytrance, hard house and techno.