Mya & The Mirror
Hesitation

Despite productions appearing here and there since 2015, Yuzo Iwata has kept a relatively low output. Contributing tracks to compilations and releasing singles under aliases Fabio Lazaro and Almost East, Iwata is also affiliated with Junki Inoue’s recent SAISEI label, editing pioneering early Japanese techno from the likes of Suzukiski and COLOGNe for rerelease. After ‘Acid House’ appeared on the Butter Sessions Come Together 12” in 2020, the label now play host to Yuzo Iwata’s first ever full length. The 10 tracks span a wide variety of tempos and show a consistent approach to unusual sound design first evidenced in Iwata’s RA Mix of the Day for Clubberia (100% originals recorded circa 2017).Kaizu unfolds with dense environmental ambient textures before ‘Neverland’ takes us into broken dancehall rhythms and acid-tinged dub. ‘Funclub’ is reminiscent of Japanese video game soundtracks and 80s fusion whilst further into Side A the balearic energy continues to captivate, closing with the beautiful ‘Heroes Show Up Late’. This short piece is built around a looping vocal sample and shuffling drum work that all come together perfectly. There’s even a trace of Brazilian MPB influence at play with the vocal/synth interplay. It’s Iwata’s knack for percussion that is most evident across the album however, with Side B opening cut ‘Gamelion’ taking an Indonesian inspired approach to modern techno. It runs in a similar vein to Komodo Kolektif’s work and might be the dancefloor highlight of the whole LP. ‘Sundance’ follows with more Japanese motifs, recalling Haruomi Hosono’s F.O.E project. Another strong rhythmic workout suited to the floor. The environmental ambient textures return with the closing piece ‘Time 2 L’, strings, bird calls and droning synthesiser winding down the proceedings. Letting us know it’s time 2 leave?

long overdue reissue with rock city pioneer Billy Jones.. here's what he had to say about his crew....in the early 80's Billy Jones was the lead guitarist for an outstanding group of touring musicians who called themselves 'The Incredible Rock City Band'. They performed on military installations all over the United States for the U.S. Dept. of MWR for more than ten years during the 80's and 90's. ...I'm sure that there are many veterans out there who remember seeing this band at NCO and Officer's clubs back in the day.

Debut album from Melbourne's own Harvey Sutherland! Take the vinyl of Boy, the debut album by Harvey Sutherland, flip it over, and on the back sleeve, you’ll find a diagram – an elaborate collection of graphs, vectors and philosophical theory that dissects the very nature of what it means to be funky. “It’s not that the player plays funk; it’s that the player is played by funk,” reads one cryptic line. “Even the most unfunky moment can be funky,” goes another. Trace the line of obsession through the unfunky valley and eventually, you end up at a place: ‘neurotic funk’.

Released independently, Open Your Eyes combines elements of Caribbean beats with electronic, psychedelic and hip-hop sounds bringing a new kind of tropical funk sound. The album ascents as a revolutionary soundtrack in opposition to Colombia’s mainstream cultural exploitation seen in TV series Narcos and movies like Escobar. It is inspired by a generation that grew up in Colombia between the 70s and 80s and gradually flew out to become rooted within the world’s modern cities countercultures.Miss Colombia band is at the forefront of an emerging genre of music where Latin beats and rhythms fuse with Australian urban sounds. Open Your Eyes is the result of alliances between more than twenty-five Melbourne based artists including producers, musicians, performing artists and video artists.