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Youandewan has returned to U.K. label Butter Side Up with a compelling minimal house record. The Thyme Capsules EP is all the more impressive considering that all four tracks were purportedly “made purely on ’90s grooveboxes and recorded live to cassette.” No release date has been announced at the time of writing.

A common thread tying together each song on the EP is elastic, resonant synth plucks that stand out as the centerpiece of each arrangement. This element is perhaps less present in the melodious title track and “Beyond My Ken,” but the flip side sees it in full force. “Scissor Juice” and “Slow Down” featuring Art Feynman fully utilize it to take the listener on an aural journey through rhythm, timber and tone.

Youandewan (real name Ewan Smith) was born in Scotland, raised in Yorkshire, and has lived in Berlin since 2018. His discography extends back to 2009, however, with his music landing on imprints such as Moma Recordings, Aus Music and Eclipser Chaser.

Smith was previously enlisted to remix “Green” off of Christian Jay‘s Running EP, the first-ever Butter Side Up release. The label is run by Hugh Bailey and Hamish Cole, the latter of whom also does booking for Dimensions Festival in Croatia.

Preorder the Thyme Capsules EP in vinyl record format via Subwax.

There’s a magic in a great groove that sticks to your bones and the trio has touched upon that enchanting kind of moment. Sandy’s soulful swagger accents all the right notes above pulsating, airy synth stabs. In a time when most of us can’t dance inside a dark, sweaty warehouse, “Just Look” takes us back there – at least in spirit. Gomi, Ivy, and Sandy B have captured the blissful ethos of early rave and transported it into a post-rave world.

Each of the three NYC-based artists has a proven track record in dance music. DJ Gomi, a consistent fixture in dance music for nearly three decades, boasts remixes for the likes of Madonna, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion. NYC native Mike Ivy has in the last decade appeared on stalwart labels like Toolroom and Skint, and Sandy B first reached number one on Billboard’s dance charts with “Make the World Go Round” and “Ain’t No Need to Hide” in 1996, and 1997, respectively. Since then, she has become a regular of the Nervous Records family.

“Just Right” is available to stream and download across platforms here.

The song’s chorus – a duet between Miller and Anderson .Paak – undulates softly in the background for a completely different take on the modern breakup song. Remixes are at their best when they reimagine a song within a new context. SÖTTO and UNDTKG realized the rhythmic groove of Miller’s flow and allowed it to shine atop thumping percussion.

SÖTTO and UNDTKG are part of a league of young house producers that hail from Brasília, Brazil. Like their friend MKJAY, who’s spent the last few years destroying the charts with groundbreaking productions on Insomniac Records and Dirtybird, SÖTTO and UNDTKG have found the balance of bass-forward beats and classic house grooves.

“Dang” (Remix) is available as a free download via Soundcloud.

The original mix opens with two minutes of uplifting melodic bliss. Thumping kicks, syncopated percussion, vocal shouts, and a joy-inducing arpeggio set the tone. While the vocal is teased to great effect several times, the dancefloor-blazing drum breakdown leading into the full vocal is a moment that would undoubtedly bring any dancefloor to its knees. And then with a near-perfect blend, the chugging melodic ecstasy returns again.

Mijangos’ “Afro Latin Remix” amps up the energy and ads a splash of tech. Because he’s spent the majority of his career pushing a sound that has his Latin roots at its heart, he was the perfect producer to enlist. The drums, while mostly pulling from the same elements as the original, have an added sparkle – they are the centerpiece of this remix.

The package is rounded by a heavy “Drum Dub,” also from Mijangos. On this round, the bass line comes out full force with far more rhythmic vocal accents than before. The melodic elements are purely accents in this remix, while Mijangos pays full attention to a rhythm that hits you right in the chest.

You can stream and download “Baila Gana” across platforms here.

“Can I Turn Too,” features the hallmarks of the Bay Area-born artist’s trademark sound. It opens with a tuned-down soul sample, almost foreboding, and all at once, a sultry wall of Rhodes offers a stark juxtaposition that doesn’t feel out of place in a year like 2020. “Can I Turn Too” is really a marriage of the deep house cuts that brought her into production and the more hard-edged Berlin sound that she’s picked up while living there. The synths and bass line are bright and airy, but the beats are heavy and throbbing.

Lady Blacktronika’s music runs through waves of darkness and light. It’s music indicative of a life that has been met with intense joy and extraordinary heartache and austerity. She was born and raised in San Jose, California, and throughout her life, she has experienced periods of drug addiction, homelessness, and prostitution. Through it all, her music was a solace.

In the late 90’s Lady Blacktronika got her start lending her vocals to numerous house records that never saw the light of day. After years of feeling left out of the writing process, her own smoothed-out deep house cuts were discovered by Mike Huckaby on MySpace, and he introduced her to the world in 2007.

“Can I Turn Too” and the entire Drum Control EP are available via BandCamp.

It’s apt that Jefferson and Brightledge have chosen Smeddles to help provide a modern twist for this house classic as he’s not strayed too far from the feel-good piano house style of the original. Smeddles has reimagined “It’s Alright” for the modern dance floor, with some added punch in the drums and bass line. While the original maintains an air of nostalgia, after all, the mix and master leave something to be desired in the context of contemporary house music.

1987 was yet another tumultuous time in the world, and Brightledge’s vocals spoke to that: “Dictation being forced in Afghanistan/Revolution in South Africa taking a stand/People in Eurasia on the brink of oppression.” Meanwhile, the song’s bright and uplifting piano riffs support the overall message of hope. Brightledge joyously sings that “Music will last/Never dissipating, but giving us strength.” It’s surely a sentiment that we can all use in a year that has been rife with uncertainty.

A portion of the royalties from “It’s Alright” will be donated to St. Catherine’s Hospice, located in England’s northwestern city of Lancashire. The palliative care facility helped a close friend of Smeddles who passed from cancer last year.

“Last year, I lost one of my best friends,” Smeddles said in a statement to Mixmag. “He spent his last few weeks in a hospice and from spending time there with him it completely shocked me to find out how selfless, gracious, and humble these people are that work there. The attention and care Matt received at St Catherine’s Hospice was seriously out of this world.”

“It’s Alright” is out now on Ultra Records.

Now, we finally get to experience the full span of her journey into the broken with the Dance Night EP. It’s out now on Christian Martin’s Trippy Ass Technologies.

The title track, “Dance Night” is a spacious foray into classic electro. The drums are dirty with a bit of extra weight on the 808. VNSSA (real name Vanessa Barnes) toys with a multi-faceted array of psychedelic melodic motifs with a gritty 303 at its core. A hallmark of VNSSA’s tunes and a source of their allure is her own voice giving the song a hook. It’s worked so well on hits like “Word” and “Rave Grave,” and she continues to prove her songwriting ability by crafting a fun spoken word that only adds to the quirkiness of “Dance Night.”

She continues the electro onslaught with “Out Of My Head” featuring Bianca Gardner. This one has a heavy dose of acid and a spicy countermelody. What’s most fun about it is the balance of crispy clean drums and increasingly dirty and wonky synths. It’s the best kind of weird.

Label head Christian Martin joins brother Justin on the final tune to remix “Out Of My Head,” Evening out the EP with a bit of 4/4 action. The boys grab the melodic elements, make them even dirtier, and then repurpose them as a rollicking bass line, offering a perfect example of paying tribute to the original while making it the remixer’s own.

Dance Night is available via BandCamp, Spotify, and Beatport.

“Skull Island” showcases the young producer’s ability to tell a story in sound. ’96 was asked to write this one for the launch of the Mad Ape Records imprint. With the name of the label in mind he set to work crafting something with a jungle theme.

With a thunderous kick as its centerpiece, “Skull Island” tells the story of the tribespeople of the mysterious island. As they beat on their bongos and chant in time, you can envision the steam rising as a monstrous ape looms in the distance. The tension builds as their drumming intensifies with chords building in anticipation of the arrival of the island’s gargantuan monarch.

Those living in and around San Francisco can catch ’96 Vibe live on November 17th for the Space Yacht Open Air. The outdoor gathering is at The Midway SF, San Francisco’s largest socially distanced event. Find “Skull Island” as a free download here.

If anything is evident from listening to Byron The Aquarius, it’s that he draws from a rich history of musical influences. Melody, counterpoint, soul, and rhythm come together in his eclectic, jazz-infused deep house cuts. The last 15 years have been a whirlwind of high-profile production credits, world tours, and beat making from his home in Alabama. It’s all culminated in an album titled Ambrosia, his debut release on Jeff Mills‘ Axis Records.

The almost improvisational nature of “Spirit of Juju,” exemplifies the Byron The Aquarius (real name Byron Blaylock) style to a T. His skills as a classically trained jazz pianist are on full display. He deftly navigates a nearly seven-minute excursion through a multitude of bluesy, syncopated motifs. All while, a lightly thumping kick drum and frenetic snares keep the time. Byron plays all the parts of a futuristic jazz trio beautifully here.

Blaylock began his journey as a student of jazz and classical. While he was in college and mostly making hip-hop beats, he had a chance meeting with Detroit’s Kai Alcé. The fortuitous introduction not only allowed him to explore the less mainstream side of dance – it also was an education in the inherent Blackness at the core of house and techno. The meeting with the Detroit producer also helped him along a path that led to him working with Eminem, and helped Blaylock begin to forge a career in music that would allow him space to truly be himself in his musical output.

You can purchase Ambrosia in its entirety via Axis Records.

Amidst a global pandemic, and an economic crisis the start of the summer was set ablaze with an avalanche of actions for racial justice. At the time the release of Emissive and Immigrant Muscle’s “Real Free,” the track made for an appropriate call to action. The song’s rousing lyrics had been penned months earlier, illustrating the ongoing struggle between POC communities and police.

The nearly eight-minute song comes alive with influences from across the diaspora. Afro-Caribbean rhythms set the pace while a BMore kick holds down the weight. As the trio of producers casually float through washes of soulful R&B, sun-soaked reggae, and synth-laden deep house, they remind the listener that dance music can be both political and moving.

As one of the most important social justice movements in our lifetime continued to boil, Emissive had this to say about the process of creating such a poignant and timely piece of work:

“When we started making this track a few months ago, we never could have anticipated the events that followed or the shape that the lyrics would take. Today its words carry a deeper meaning that we hope will resonate with you all and inspire the change that we need in our society. Stay strong and may you stand on the right side of history.”

In true activist fashion, the song is available for sale on Bandcamp under their Pay What You Can model. While streaming is free, all proceeds from sales of this record will go directly to Black Lives Matter initiatives.