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Following the release of their debut ’Bodyclock‘ series in 2020, Singaporean label Darker Than Wax now unveil the second volume of the series, presenting the identity of the label’s sprawling worldwide family. The first volume, a natural extension of the label’s DNA, illustrated an attack of nocturnal club sounds, rooted in the culture curated by the pioneers of dancefloor music. BodyClock Vol.2 sees the new school of producers push the limits of musical self-discovery.

Compiled by DTW label co-founder Dean Chew, ‘Bodyclock Vol.2’ sees Darker Than Wax curating a cross-continental offering, highlighting the work of eight producers living around the world - dipping into the respective scenes of Vancouver, Osaka & Tokyo, Cape Town, Vienna, Karachi, Amsterdam & beyond. ‘Bodyclock Vol.2’ takes listeners on a globally diverse and greatly vivid dance journey.

Opening with Laza’s ‘WTBWH’ (the project’s first single) - the record’s pace is quickly set, with intense, driving drum patterns and soulful reverberating keys. Throughout the project, acid laced tracks from label alumni Akio Nagase and newcomer Tollcrane meet left-field ethereal movements from B.Visible and Teo Mattress. Joined by RGL’s 80’s-esque sleazy sonics and UNOS’s 2-step drums and oscillating basslines. BodyClock Vol.2 is closed out by Tiro!’s ‘Charcuterie’ - which rolls gently through the ether, supplying icey keys and calming frequencies. Another essential slice of worldwide dancefloor action from the Darker Than Wax camp. – Darker Than Wax

Cosmic Suite is a long 35 minute jam cut in two pieces, it blends house, techno, jazz, reggae and dub. It's a collaboration with iconic musicians including the legendary Jeff Mills, Osunlade, Mutabaruka, Tanaka Tomoyuki(FPM), Yashiki Gōta and Watusi (Coldfeet), among others.

Is it a multi-genre ‘hybrid’, or is the ‘Astral Love’ LP a compound in its own right? It is, most certainly, a composition of sound formed from a very rich heritage that we’re about to examine in abridged form. ‘Astral Love’ is an awesome, inspiring collection of skillfully performed pieces that draw heavily on hip hop, nu-disco, funk and, of course, soul.

Those of non-Antipodean persuasion won’t require, nor appreciate this overly-simplified initial commentary. But, ‘down under’ gifts us with some truly spellbinding interpretations of the arts; food of course, and certainly, very firmly, music. Initially cultivating his craft from Adelaide, to cherry-pick ‘just some’ of the ‘feathers’ in Jules Habib’s cap, might go something like this: 2011 releases on Amsterdam’s BOOGIE BASH; a plethora of remix work from there onwards; outstanding releases on Dopeness Galore; notable ‘tech’ releases on RUSH HOUR’s ‘Store Only’ series; Hot Shot Sounds which included a collab with REGGIE B; Outerspace Connection on the monumental BBE; Planetself on TOKYO DAWN. And now, ‘Astral Love’, on UK-based Atjazz Record Company. But, relax, this will all make perfect sense soon. Very soon.

‘Astral Love’ bears all of the aforementioned ingredients, crafted by Jules Habib under his Inkswel moniker. It’s a bold, accomplished collection of skilful tunes, featuring talent spanning a global alliance of like-minded performers, all of whom are now very much at home, together on Atjazz Record Company. - Bandcamp

As mellow, warm, and welcoming as the day they patented the Ultramarine sound, the duo of Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond return after a long 15 years off with This Time Last Year, an album filled with enough high-grade, home-listening electronica to rival their beloved debut, 1992's Every Man and Woman Is a Star. The difference here is that big, hooky, Blue Room numbers like "Saratoga" and "Honey" have given way to smaller, more meditative music that reflects the indie, post-Boards of Canada world outside, but it's still sweater weather out there, and if Ultramarine have lost their "cute," they've certainly filled that space with grace and sophistication. Soft, broken beat gems like "Technique" are more complicated and artistically rewarding than the average Every Man cut, as that opening number suggests that Tangerine Dream's synths, Carl Craig's sequencers, and Prince's drum machines have all surrendered to Ultramarine's control. "Find My Way" anchors the album with some hazy, '70s-flavored vocals that represent the duo's equal love of the acoustic and the electronic, while all the analog moments give the album a nostalgic, wistful spin, as if these electronica spacemen have embraced home after years of orbiting Earth. The drifting here is all slowly downstream and not the weightless, otherworldly kind an astronaut experiences, so fans who always thought of them as a transitory, Orb-like, pre-club group should turn the car around and head toward the couch. It's best to trade those dancing shoes for comfy slippers, because This Time Last Year is the mature, delicious, and filling sound of the elder Ultramarine. - All Music

“From an artist in their seventies, you probably wouldn’t expect to hear an album like this. But Brazilian drumming legend Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti has been experimenting and innovating for the last half a century. As one third of cult Rio jazz-funk trio Azymuth, Mamão was at the root of the group’s ‘samba doido’ (crazy samba) philosophy, which warped the traditional samba compass with jazz influences and space age electronics. Even with his lesser known jovem guarda group The Youngsters, Mamão was experimenting with tapes and delays to create unique, ahead-of-its-time sounds, way back in the sixties. More recently Mamão recorded an album with hip-hop royalty Madlib under the shared moniker ‘Jackson Conti’.

With his first album in over twenty years, and the first to be released on vinyl since his 1984 classic The Human Factor, Mamão shares his zany carioca character across eleven tracks of rootsy electronic samba and tripped out jazz, beats and dance music. Featuring Alex Malheiros and Kiko Continentino on a number of tracks, the Azymuth lifeblood runs deep, but venturing into the modern discotheque (as Mamão would call it), Poison Fruit also experiments with sounds more commonly associated with house and techno, with the help of London based producer Daniel Maunick (aka Dokta Venom) and Mamão's son Thiago Maranhão.” – Bandcamp

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