Optimo, in all their forms, have and continue to be a massive influence on me. From frequenting their nights in The Sub Club (and various other places), to listening to the NTS shows as well as buying pretty much anything that has their stamp on it. Rather than resting on their laurels they continue to go from strength to strength.

One of their sub-labels is about to be put on ice for a while, Optimo Trax – pausing/stopping after 33 releases to make way for something else. I for one can’t wait to hear what’s in store next.

Below are 5 that I particularly love…

There is a wave of great electronic music coming from certain parts of the world right now that is mixing idiophone instruments with futuristic synth sounds and we can’t simply get enough of it. It’s obviously not the first time cowbells, wood block instruments and Middle-Eastern sounds have crept onto the dancefloor but there is something ridiculously fresh about the live instruments meets wires & cables output that is coming from the likes of Red Axes, Fango, Moscoman and more that is properly standing out in modern music.

Here are five that always seem to set the floor alight!

Dissident was DJ and producer Andy Blake’s short lived label. I always had a soft spot for these releases. Quality over quantity, made by and for those who eat, sleep and breathe this music. They reminded me a little of what was coming out of Holland at the time from labels such as Viewlexx. These records just don’t date and can unbelievably still be picked up for a decent price.

Andy also runs a club night in London called World Unknown, which is meant to be life changing and he has just resurrected the World Unknown label. Everything he does is done for the love.

Below are 5 of my favs.

Despite the fact that chicken’s don’t really have lips, these chickens seem to know their way around dubby drums, p-funk guitar and synths with ease.

This remix never leaves our record bags because it’s a guaranteed party starter and is such a fine piece of work.

In Emperor Machine mode Andrew Meecham shows once again how to bring it to the remix table, coming over like Liquid Liquid after a night in the Paradise Garage. That string break…

Dean Meredith dons his TRO cloak for a team up with Eric Duncan on the ace Golf Channel. First class lesson in how to turn out raw acid funk here!

Let’s not forget this early beauty, if only all UK Rave records had dated this well!

Dirty Sound System are french diggers, editors and compilers of the good stuff. These guys know what works – from expert edits of dance floor disco to compiling the more obscure finds from flea markets and forgotten b-sides.

Bon Appetite!

The most perfect theme that encapsulates a flawless film. It gets into your head and lives with you.

Plank and Moebius at the controls on this production. Genius.

Taking the scissors to Can is a brave move but Pilooski nails it.

Pure dance floor filth.

Quite a strange Swedish tune. Certainly don’t make them like this anymore…unfortunately.

Finally made my first trip to ADE and i’m now kicking myself as to why it hadn’t happened much sooner. Such a great city with an abundance of line ups every single night! As a lot of my favourite electronics and repress action seems to be coming from the Dutch these days, one thing I was keen to make happen was hunting for records. Top of the list was Rush Hour and I couldn’t believe my luck when a daytime thing i’d been invited along to had a pop up store from Clone in Rotterdam nestled in the corner.

Here are a few of things I scooped…

Two of my all time favs, sleazed out electro and acid in one.

Had been meaning to pick this up for a while (Larry Heard in Kraftwerk mode), but was building up to the £30 price tag. So jumped at the decently priced red vinyl repress, cheers Clone.

Delroy Edwards with a proper cut and paste choppy sampled club bomb, the kind of thing I love to pick up on vinyl because like Soundstream et al these records remain timeless.

Great deeper house thing on a weird little imprint out of Greece I wasn’t aware of, called the “Ethos Series”.

Again something i’d been meaning to pick up for a while was the great Muscle Up compilation by Patrick Cowley. Compiled from the era when Cowley was creating porn soundtracks (hence the name), packaged up & remastered etc by Dark Entries. A proper trip from start to finish!

I really enjoy finding records to play at doors open and the earlier stages of the night. At that point you can really play from a wide range of sounds. Here are five pulled from a recent record bag.

Taken from his latest album. This song doesn’t do a huge amount but works the blues sample beautifully. It could easily have been total cheese, but manages not to be.

I could listen to this on loop all day. Hippy dance.

This sounds very balearic to me. Lovely stripped back production on this dub and sounds like they had been listening to Eno/Byrne.

Norwegian classic. Very addictive, but I wish it was longer!

Krikor continues to deliver again and again. Prince meets DJ Screw in a perfect sleazed out jam.

There was a period in the early to mid nineties when loads of great club music emerged from Italy. Most notably warm deep house music with amazing keys, quite often with the piano taking centre stage. These records have remained timeless and are often imitated but few come close. Here are five that are still good to go…

David Cunningham is an underrated producer. He manages to combine peculiar kitchen sink percussion and a love of dub with an ‘art-school’ experimental cut and paste sensibility. I’m certainly not an expert on his many productions but if I see his name on something it’s always worth a listen. Below are five that have caught my attention from his extensive back catalogue.

This to me sounds like a David Cunningham tune that he has had The Electric Chairs play on. I wish I could find more music like this. The drums are amazing.

Covers and humour played a big part in his Flying Lizards project. Here he turns Sex Machine into something very different. Always makes me smile and dance.

David’s Wall of Sound.

Something to ease the pain. This beauty was recently put on a comp by the ever enlightening and reliable Optimo label.

Do you fancy hearing a strange dub version of Sun Ra? Well you’re in luck.