Iceberg
Fresh Ink

To survive the AI’s purge, humanity encoded its memories into sound and launched them to the farthest corners of the galaxy. Planet Boom is one such archive. A world made of dreams, memories, and fractured timelines, reassembled through sonic fragments.Planet Boom is the arena. The Serpent has issued a challenge: four warriors, one chance to shift the balance of power through sound alone. Each codebreaker brings their weapon. Sweater with his nimble footwork and striking rhythm combos. Reyer with a crushing, tactical onslaught. Poten with cerebral unpredictability. Lukey with a flowing, adaptive style that reads the room like an open circuit. Only one will decode the final key. The rest will be echoes. Planet Boom is the battleground. Let the soundclash begin.

A new player has entered the game. The Austrian born Miles delivers the next 12” in the Squid Recordings series, a deliciously curated palette of club music programmed for the Euro-mind and beyond.The five tracks, all bubbling though various stages of analog circuitry, are a sonic sampler in the young producers archives. From Aside opener “Cruel Carbo’s” twisted techy drumwork, to the freaked out breaks sprinkled throughout “Are You Ready?”, SR003 is as serious as it gets. No filler all killer.

Gladstone Deluxe is one of the most exciting musicians in the US right now. They make futuristic, deep, percussive yet smooth techno, deep house and electro. They also play timbales in NYC queer and trans salsa band Las Mariquitas, and are a frequent collaborator with fellow East Coast sonic trailblazers Kiernan Laveaux, Johnny Zoloft, and Mira Mira. They have released on Black Techno Matters, Data Disk, Misc, Innocent Music, How Things Are Made, and now Fixed Rhythms is excited to add to the Gladstone lore with their new offering, “No Haterade EP”.A1 “Cleanse” is zippy tech-y house…think groovy, up-beat, sexy, like something you’d hear in a Titonton Duvante set. A2 is a remix, “Teakup – Where’s My Snare (Gladstone Deluxe Remix)”. Now the EP takes a turn towards psychedelic electro. Spacey trippy vocal manipulations, swelling deep space gravitational waves swelling and resolving. The B side opens with the “No Haterade” track. Arpeggiated electro that slaps with swagger. The final track is a longer, 9 minute driving deep housey techno tune. A bass line that you never want to stop, luscious pads, brain-tingling pings, melodic percussive synth runs, and a touch of acid.If Gladstone is not already on your radar, take heed! Big tunes here!

SPF 50 aka Stephan Kimbel has been working the club circuit in NYC and abroad for years now. His approach to techno often incorporates breakbeats and a psychedelic attention to sound design details. He has released killer 12”s on Dzungla, Bliss Point, and his own label, Professional Music. Fixed Rhythms is now excited to present his latest 12” EP offering–”The Rush”.The titular track, an acid breakbeat techno party starter for the heads, absolutely breaks down the door of the A-side. A2 “Deep Woods” descends into tasty, wiggly, spacious techno. B1 “Kinetic Ritual” is just that…you have arrived in the Zone, a dark corridor leading straight to One and Everyone. Then B2 “UV Got Me Faded” whips you wonky with a modular drumless wobble slap. This is well-crafted dance music that can plunge any crowd into the deep end.

Yet again digging deep into the forgotten corners of dance music history, Sex Tapes From Mars is back with an essential reissue of 1997’s “Liquid Squid” by Victorious - a long-lost gem from the hazy heyday of mid-90s US house. Originally pressed in small quantities, the EP quickly became a cult favourite among vinyl purists and house music heads, with original copies going for hefty sums on Discogs, and as little as 50 members listing it in their collection. Now, after years of obscurity, “Liquid Squid” returns, bringing unfiltered, raw energy, and bolstered by a killer remix from Canadian duo Boomtang Boys, adding a respectful rework that breathes new life into the original track without overshadowing its original spirit.Deep, driving, and dripping with analogue warmth, with chunky, rolling basslines that sit under warm, sweeping pads. The productions are stripped-back but loaded with texture, featuring subtly layered percussion that builds with precision, creating a spacious, immersive sound. Throughout the record, what’s consistent is low-swung, rolling rhythms, and rough-and-ready keys. It's dance floor-centric, but there’s a level of emotional depth in this singular to its era, and one you don’t find in contemporary sonic palettes. Victorious provides a deep stroke into the realm of dubby, atmospheric house, revolving around hypnotic, evolving grooves, with spaced-out chords, lustrous vocals, and key tinkerings, perfect for more introspective sets. It’s a direct nod to the grit of Detroit along with clear remnants of early Chicago house glimmers - dreamy but yet still functional.Sex Tapes From Mars has always been a label with a nose for the weird, slick, and the rare, and this reissue is no exception, crafting tantalising soundscapes that pull you into its orbit. “Liquid Squid” offers a snapshot of a time when the lines between genres were still fluid - it’s rich, warm, and dripping with sultry swagger - a piece of history that’s been given a second life, ready to work its magic on dance floors once again.