Dance Regular Vinyl, CD & Tape 3 Items

London’s own Trev appeared on our first release, Body Music Vol 1, as well as other key releases on CoOp Presents and Local Talk. We’ve been fans from the start and, after Trev joined the family, his music went from strength to strength. It was already out-of-this-world production, with serious attention to detail, and this EP is nothing short of excellent! He told us 'there’s no hiding that this EP is, in essence, a long love letter to Brazil', but that it’s also written to 'Iran, London, Lisbon, Japan, probably more - too many to remember!'. Trev described his process as 'listening, learning, combining my favourite elements of all this music that has brought me so much joy over the years'. Right on! This EP is fresh, different and sonically on point. It’s Bruk, it’s Brazilian, it’s Bass, it’s… all-round-really-good dance music! Trev is a real modern musician, an awesome keys player as well as a producer. He understands the importance of musicality and originality, together with weighty beats and bass, working just as well on the dance floor as they do at a house party… or dinner party, for that matter! 'Nightjar', the title track, draws you in with hypnotic plucks like crickets on a hot summer’s night. Eerie pads float in building tension before the beat drops - Pandeiro and Caxixi serving broken-beat with the kick - pumping the sonic palette and pumping the dancefloor. Deep sinister chords pulse in and out, percussive melodies bring love from the middle east, and we reach a beautiful jazz-harmony break - then it’s straight back to the body movement - this time letting loose with the cowbells and the shakers. Think Brazil, think Persia, think Jazz, think dance-floor, it’s all in there! 'Late Flip' pulls us into a more ethereal intro, with the Koto and skate sounds laying our dream scene. Morphing out of flutes, modular synth plucks pay tribute to the sounds of Lisbon as we drop - a rolling broken beat punch, playful Rhodes and distant vocal chops ring out with the Koto dripping in warm echoes. A truly amazing composition and arrangement that leaves you wanting more! 'Beijo' is one of our faves on this EP. We’re straight in with a kiss - Mwah! - a classic Baile rhythm gets a warm Bruk embrace. It’s passionate and dark and tells a story as old as history. Get lost in the movements between drums and percussion, in the flutes and cicadas, until the organ bass calls it - time to get moving. This really is Trev’s signature dance floor style. A banger with a naughty-yet-subtle bassline, and its own game of perspective - feel this rhythm in more ways than one. Vocal chops and Tamborim place São Paulo’s influence front and centre. 'Grey' takes us on a dusty House/Bruk journey with filtering chords that grow patiently until the beat drops - getting your feet moving and neck bopping! Burning slow, Trev is playful with the harmony, keeping the fun with a roller of a bassline that pulls it all together. It’s a six-and-a-half-minute rich musical journey that feels more like half that time!? Complete your Dance Regular Vinyl collection with this absolute killer EP from the one called Trev.

It's no secret that we've been fans of Dukes music for time! All the way live from Groningen Netherlands, Duke Hugh is a multi-genre instrumentalist. He has a real musical understanding and a unique ability to mix genres in a way that makes perfect sense. Connecting Broken Beat, House, Reggae, HipHop, Electronica, Jazz and even Folk in his DJ sets and productions. He’s been making his mark for some time and isn’t afraid to do things his own way, it’s unique. He stays in his own lane, yet remains accessible. We’d been rinsing his Music of Color release ‘Broken Samba’ on Worldwide FM on the CoOp presents show. It was a track that got all the Bruk heads attention. As well as key releases on Rhythm Section and Hw&w (home to the likes of Kaytranada, Ta-Ku & Pomo) Duke has always delivered a certain quality and unique style which had our attention for a while. So when he sent through the tracks for Common Ground we got really excited! We were playing the track ‘Common Ground’ out and it was getting the dance floor hot! It was an instrumental at the time and Renato Paris was in the dance (a singer that EVM has been working with, plays keys with Moses Boyd and is one of Gilles Peterson's one to watch) he came up and asked, “What's This?” grabbed the mic, peak time and layed down this dope freestyle vocal, it was a jaw drop kinda moment for us all! That was it, we had to make it happen! So we linked up Renato and Duke and it became the lead track on the EP. An infectious song that literally drips in soul and future R&B, and just fits perfectly over the strings on this killer broken beat track! It’s one that will stick in your head and make you play it twice! The whole EP is nothing short of quality. From the sultry jazzy Bruk vibes of '2017 Heat Wave' to the monstrous club track ‘ Nighthawks’ an up front stomper with live drums and a bassline that'll make you shiver inside that funky top line. ‘Got My 606 Back’ has been getting rinsed by the Summer dance Forever crew’s KC The Funkaholic and was well received by dancers worldwide when it was used for an SDF promo earlier in the year. We’ve since had many of them asking when this is coming out! This one is a real body mover, sweat towel advised! Finishing up on ‘ifz Shuffle’ a wicked little house shuffler that almost takes you back to the 90’s. It has this sweet piano breakdown that then introduces synths and congas until the groove kicks back in again. This track and the whole EP for that matter, works in a multitude of situations. It wont fail! Trust us!

Stepping Hill EP Kicks off with a classic cut ‘Planets’ a straight up Bruk workout, reminiscent of the original CoOp days when Seiji’s Loose Lips was running the dance red hot! These crunchy Bruk step drums keep this jam running with vocal chops, talking philosophy about the planets and language, while lush chords, bleeps and a fat round bassline roll through to keep the energy moving, what else does one need to fling foot on the floor! (Try saying that fast!) One for the steppers! The second track takes us on a more 2 step UKG vibe, baring the other strings to Szajna’s bow. ‘Pavement groove' is a proper soulful roller featuring London born, Manchester based Yemi Bolatiwa, a talented vocalist and songwriter who is a leading light of the Manchester music scene. Working with orchestras, bands and DJs in a range of different genres, a versatile performer as her recent single, ‘Water’, showed. On Szajna’s ‘Pavement Groove’ Yemi’s soulful vocals flow in and out of the 2 step rhythm and jazzy chords with low end sub basses laying foundations to the groove. Then to finish off the A side Szajna pulls out Tape Cut, another sweet roller, more breakbeat than Broken-beat but still chopping it with that Bruk essence. Chords and percussion dance with the drums until a hypnotic flute introduces itself. It’s uplifting, playful, beatsy, bassy with dubbed out FX, a perfect bridge to the B side. B1 rolls in with D.R Juice, a fave in the office, hitting all the right buttons in a Bruk dance floor sense. Dark and moody with proper chunky broken drums syncopated with this stab that gives the whole thing a kind of wobble while dubbed out sirens bleed through the tight hi-hats and deep bassline. We’ve been playing this one for a while and can’t wait to mash the dance with this one ! All you Bruk Steppers, S P R E A D O U T ! Like you’d need any more after that, Szajna lays down more soothing soulful garage esq beats on ‘Feeling’ with singer songwriter for The Darling Mundaring, London based, Crystal Alice, who has gathered a wide respect for encapsulating music that draws the listener into an unforgettable and intense experience, vocalist Crystal entices the listener with her soft sultry melodies that tell stories about love, loss, life and redemption. Finishing off with Low ft Rosco G, skippy drum patterns once again keeping up that nod to UKG with piano chords and a muted Miles Davis style trumpet from Manchesters Rosco G. Smooth as you like, a laid back head nodder, that gangsta lean shit. Early support from IG Culture (CoOp), Worldwide FM, Tuck Shop Music, Alex Nut (Eglo Records), Don Pascal, Mark Tilley, Mikey Do