Various
Past Present & Future

Shine Grooves (Hanagasumi, ФАКТУРА) is a specialist in live and experimental electronic music, blending software and hardware in his studio in Yekaterinburg, Russia. On this sophomore full-length he cultivates an otherworldly Space Garden on a distant planet, populated by alien organisms that move to their own extraterrestrial groove. Dawn breaks and the garden slowly comes to life on ambient opener ‘Morning Mood’, setting a promising tone for the day ahead. A kick shuffles in to work on the dubby ‘Tribal Acoustic’, which builds and builds before leading us into the industrious bounce of ‘Japan Sequencer’. This latter, first optimistic and later frenetic, ends the A-side’s warm-up and primes us for action on the B. ‘Tool’ is self-explanatory, a refined, stripped-down dub techno weapon honed for an afternoon’s hard work. After that exertion, ‘Evening Radio’ is the perfect cool-down, its delicately skittering percussion contrasting with sweet, improvised synth melodies. Finally, the ambient ‘Night Reverberation Jam’ is the sound of darkness falling, our garden’s lifeforms settling down to rest before the cycle begins afresh.

Since returning to action a couple of years back following a near two-decade hiatus, 1990s deep house survivor Ewan Jansen has barely put a foot wrong. With this in mind, it's perhaps unsurprising to find that this outing on IILE is packed full of evocative, melodious and floor-friendly gems. The Australia-based producer begins in confident mood via the darting synth bass, sun-kissed chords and melodious positivity of the wonderful "Reefing 101", before exploring slightly deeper pastures on the huggable warmth of Motor City influenced bumper "The Blackhawks". On the flip you'll find the Larry Heard style lusciousness of "Twinpole" and "Swarbourne", a jazzy and percussive workout smothered in deep space chord progressions. All killer and no filler: job done.