Bobby Peru
War Games

Vels Trio has been bubbling away for some time on the London jazz underground, wowing audiences with a suitably deep, cosmic and gently colourful take on jazz-funk shot through with musical spirituality. Celestial Dreams is the former Total Refreshment Centre regulars' first full-length excursion and it's very good indeed. After beginning with the Tangerine Dream style synthesizer soundscape that is 'Dormant Days', the talented threesome flits between dazzling, jazz-fired workouts (see 'McEnroe' and the similarly skittish, high-octane 'The Winter Games'), laidback downtempo groovers ('The Wad', the deliciously deep 'May as Well Be'), cuts smothered in vintage synthesizer sounds ('Pop Stuff', the drowsy '40.2') and spacey, quick-fix bursts of energy ('Ceegee').(Juno Review)

UK techno legend Mark Broom returns to Rekids Special Projects with Vol. 2 of his ‘Mutated Battle Breaks’ series.Following the acclaimed ‘Funfzig LP’ on Rekids earlier this year, as well as the first volume of ‘Mutated Battle Breaks’, UK stalwart Mark Broom returns to the Rekids universe with another set of eight fully charged techno bombs for Radio Slave’s techno-focussed imprint in ‘Mutated Battle Breaks Vol. 2’.From the punchy stabs of opener ‘Recessive’ through to the deep and bumping ‘Pump’, Broom turns in masterclass in high-energy techno tools. With the quality remaining as consistent as the 4/4 kicks across both sides of the record, ‘Mutated Battle Breaks Vol. 2’ is set to make an appearance in the record bags and USBs of any techno DJs worth their salt worldwide.Releasing on labels such as Rekids, M-Plant, and Blueprint, the wildly prolific Broom has consistently been at the forefront of the techno scene for decades with his gritty, groove-based output while, away from the dancefloor, his The Fear Ratio project with James Ruskin continues to win critical acclaim.

A reference work, a body of knowledge, a record of human endeavour: this archival release of works from Arcarsenal's fertile collaboration in the period 2011–2016 is all of those things. Pressed on its two discs you will find, in the duo's own words, the 'broken flowers that needed just a little care and attention to bloom'. And exquisite flowers they are, rooted in the reduced formality of minimalism, yet prone to frequent and unabashed florescence. Ranging from their very earliest productions, made with limited gear, through to later recordings from a fully-equipped studio, the tracks move from techno to dub and house and into blissful after-hours and ambient, all with the rich and spacious imprint that is their own. Most of these tracks have been firm favourites on the dancefloor, whether played by other DJs or Arcarsenal themselves, yet this is the first time any of them have seen an official release. This 'Compendium' is a record of Arcarsenal's past achievements; only time will tell what new endeavours the two may pursue