Great little edits label run by John Talabot. Nice to hear some leftfield cuts rather than the disco norm. Lots of personality on display and just the type of records that never leave the bag.

US band Zru Vogue have been recording for decades, I love them most in woozy guitar, weird drum programming and tripped out vocal mode. Kinda touches of Talking Heads, Simple Minds, ACR & other bands who make club music in a unique way.

Here are 5 from their back cat that sound great in the dark.

Platform 23 is probably my favourite label ran by Stuart Leath aka Chuggy. He actually co-runs this one. Everything he touches is pretty much gold, but to my ears this stuff finds my sweet spot every time. A bit more left field in general but still with one squinty eye on the dance floor.

There’s been a lot of reflective posts on here of late but Mr Black and I are always on the hunt for fresh music, whether that means an old often overlooked cheap record or something brand new and expensive, it’s the style of music that draws us in never the era.

Someone from the new school that’s caught both our ears of late is Guglielmo Barzacchini, a man with a great understanding of percussion and nods to the 80s and Detroit on his synth lines.

Five speaking our language below…

Magazine is a pretty interesting label coming out of Cologne. Thankfully they have avoided the polite posh trance that has seemed surprisingly popular amongst clubbers and disco dads alike. They have a strong visual narrative and wide musical palate that takes in grinding techno to ambient and krautrock. 5 that have stood out below.

Derrick Carter is a man truly doing his own thing with a definite sense that zero fucks are given for any trends and fads that can often populate DJ culture. His music packs so much personality, often including his own hand penned lyrics and vocal delivery that I’ve been drawn to his quirky productions for decades.

Five favs from the DLC vaults below, including one for Belfast’s own EPI.

Cabaret Voltaire are underrated in my opinion. Always ahead of the curve and when they got it right they were as good as anyone, managing to nail the sweet spot of experimental and avant garde with the commercial. Definitely worth digging through the back catalogue top listen to how their sound mutated and evolved. Also can someone do a nice vinyl reissue of Plasticity please?

For a period in the ninieties Jim Masters ran and provided A&R services via Open records, a sub label to the Ministry Of Sound night club & record label. Licensing & re-releasing US house & techno gems as well as giving a platform to great afro & disco edged material from the UK including artists Glen Gunner & DJ Harvey.  In his role there Masters also conceptualised the first really amazing afterhour compilations that I was aware of, in the “Late Night Sessions” series, check the X-Press 2 and Harvey contributions for some perfect late night into early morning woozy scores.

Five below that sound as fresh today as they did back then…

Melvin Oliphant 111 knows where it’s at. Raw, stripped back Chicago sleaze, acid, house… You know the stuff we like, the stuff influenced by Ron Hardy! Great DJ and producer. Melvin understands the importance of keeping ‘dance’ music rough, not polishing the soul out of it and keeping the true spirit of house alive.