Lotic 'Formation' (Election Anxiety/America Is Over Edit) / 9 November
It's been some year, eh? Brexit and trumpeting trump-boy, Donald, have made plenty of us want to sulk in the corners of dark, gloomy clubbing haunts to wipe the world's lunacy from our minds. However, you can't creep about Berghain and fellow long-haul hotspots forever. Back out here you'll find that there's a wealth of politically-charged music hitting our streams that are pleading for a listen. Houston-born, Berlin-based electronic producer dropped just that with a chaotic, apocalyptic remix of Beyoncé's 'Formation'. The aptly titled track might scream doom and gloom, but his intention was to offer some measure of hope. The producer, who has performed for Björk, said that it kept him sane, so give it a listen for your mental health should you need.
A Tribe Called Quest 'We The People' / Epic Records / 11 November
For millions of hip-hop fans across the planet, Friday 11 November was a whopper of a date for the 2016 music calendar. On that Friday, A Tribe Called Quest ended their 18-year hiatus with their sixth studio album, We Got It From Here, Thank You For Your Service. You've got Donald Trump out there at large, and so their track 'We The People' feels all the more relevant as deportation, racism and homophobia appear to be roaming the streets with a new felt ease. It's the first track off the full-length to get a music video and in there you'll see late founding member, Phife Dawg, in animated form, so he too can take aim at our pantomime-esque planet.
Private Press 'X' / Technosoul / 1 November
We're bosh and right into the disco swinging beat with this cut from Private Press – an artist who Google can't catch for a biography of any form. Landing on Polish record label, Technosoul, it's a hyper disco bruiser that feels oh so sweet to those ears. If the boogie is what you've been begging for, then you may thank Private Press for this groovy giant.
David August 'The Spell' / Counter Records / 4 November
Circoloco and Afterlife managed to bag Señor August this season and he left us with high hopes that he'd be back in 2017. But will we be able to identify the German artist by the sounds he emits behind that booth? Potentially not. This EP, The Spell / A Golden Rush, marks a juncture in his work which he explained earlier this month as “closing a musical chapter” and putting to bed the way he's previously approached producing. He isn't yet sure what the future holds, so wrap your ears round 'The Spell' and take it all in. His synth foreplay warms you up briefly before the skip of a groove-packed breakbeat core takes over. Highly addictive.
Illum Sphere 'Thousand Yard Stare' / Ninja Tune / 4 November
Ryan Hunn, a.k.a Illum Sphere, is back on Ninja Tune with his second full-length, Glass. Give this one less than 60 seconds of your undivided attention and you shall be rewarded, because the progression the British producer waves into motion here is truly mesmeric. It stands as the album's longest statement at almost nine minutes long and each added ingredient is woven in with the ever present, unaltered piano melody.
Ellen Allien 'Landing XX' / BPitch Control / 11 November
Here we have Allien's latest clubbing thumper and it's 8 minutes of chaotic savagery. Before she embarked on her festival season in 2016, she made it her mission to lay down some tracks that would airlift her sets. Taken from an EP of the same title, it´s a raw beast that got airplay again and again to become the soundtrack of her summer. Describing it as “hypnotic and freaky” she employed her favourite instruments – the 303, the 909 and the Minimoog – to define the classic Allien sound. If you didn't hear it blasted over the summer months, make up for lost moments on the dancefloor and get it on your MP3 player immediately.
Seb Zito 'Return Of The Foot' / VL Recordings / 28 November
Mexican producer, Hector, proudly welcomes Fuse mainstay, Seb Zito, to the playing field with a five-tracker EP titled My Sound. With the EP he's captured the trademark sound of his London roots which harks back to his initiation into the early garage rave scene. 'Return Of The Foot' is a bumping roller that serves to get arses off seats and onto that laser punctured dance floor.
Alan Fitzpatrick 'Friday Night Dancing' / We Are The Brave / 25 November
Fitzpatrick launched his new label, We Are The Brave, with a track that became an unofficial summer anthem, 'We Do What We Want'. Hot on the tails of that fierce statement is 'Friday Night Dancing' and it's got rave stamped all over it. This unrelenting monster lands just in time for a busy winter season in the clubbing calendar, and we reckon thousands of you will be rocketing into 2017 with this one grabbing at your ankles.
David Morales 'Don't Go' (Head High Remix) / Rekids / 18 November
Berlin record label, Rekids, has brought in Head High for a remix of Morales' recently released The Red Zone Project Vol. 1. The original is a powerful deep house drill and with Head High - who you may also know as Shed - you're on the receiving end of a nostalgic rave anthem.
Gold Panda 'Time Eater' (Fort Romeau Remix) / City Slang / 24 November
Earlier this year British producer, Gold Panda, released his fourth full-length, Good Luck And Do Your Best. It hit the sweet spot with the fans who added it to their Panda collection and now he's back giving us more with companion-piece EP, Your Good Times Are Just Beginning. This fresh in the charts EP is loaded with a remix of 'Time Eater' from Panda's colleague, Fort Romeau, who reworks the Japanese influences and implants a little house magic.
WORDS|Aimee Lawrence
