A great week for dance and electronic music here last Sticky Black Tarmac, as we see a few iconic preorders we had in our sights some weeks ago finally land - Salt Queen anyone? Acid Trac?
To top it off we've just bought in a fantastic crossover track house music with a tinge of Afro-street soul - thank you Simple Symmetry & Asandisa, long may you continue your collaborations.
Let's kick off, here's what's landing this week.
Simple Symmetry / Asandisa - Inkwenkwezi
It was Cape Town that brought together Simple Symmetry and Asandisa Siswana, their styles melding and morphing on this incredible crossover record.
‘Inkwenkwezi’, the original mix, is a cross between street soul, dub-infused bass lines, deep house synth pads, and powerful African vocals.
The Lipelis Remix takes the track to house-y new heights, with a rolling bass line, funky keyboard lines and some nice 909 drum machine work.
Fans of the more heads-down, UK-funky sound will draw for the Multi Riddim Mix on the flip side, and Peaking lights delivers a chugging, slo-mo hip-mover to round off a fantastic EP that shows just what you can do with 4 mixes of the same track - an art often lost on modern productions!
Salt Queen – ARE U OK
When Terry Farley, James Holroyd, Francois K, Marcel Vogel, Sean Johnston, Ron Basejam, and Crazy P back a new record, you know it’s got the goods. Fat, analogue acid lines, druggy vocals, and straight-up beats with fog machine effects solidify this record as an after hours weapon for night people.
Equipped with an instrumental and a warped ‘Freak Nasty’ club mix featuring an SH-101 bass, this acid debut from Salt Queen is for the clubbing heads.
Triad – Tsunami / Full Flight
Progressive House from 1992 that still rocks the spot today, Tsunami has been getting support from Paula Tape, Make A Dance and Sean OD.
This record's spiky, euphoric synth stabs (Part 1) are simply irresistible for the high-chasing, strobe-loving raver. Part 2 picks up on the A1’s vibe and takes it further. On the flip side ‘Full flight’ is an excursion in early digi-dance, whilst ‘Dub Flight’ does what we’d expect with a reduced, focused version featuring an attitude-fuelled vocal sample.
Unknown – Énergie Hystérique
Two massive reworks of clubland classics here from the DMENJ crew. With huge early support from stalwarts Graeme Park, Tall Paul, Paul Oakenfold & Danny Rampling - it’s got the raving seal of approval.
iiO’s ‘Rapture’ gets a house edit with a feel-good French Touch feel, while on the flip it’s Hysteric Ego’s ‘Want Love’ that gets the treatment for 2026. Ultimate party material for DJs controlling the crowd at Summer parties.
HMC - Acid Trac EP
Acid Trac #1 & #3 were originally released in 1996 on the Dirty Acid Tracks imprint, and this release from Reflector kindly gifts us with a third bonus track, ‘Cum On’, which was originally the b-side to Phreakin’ back in 1995.
This one’s for lovers of stripped-back, acid house and dancefloor tools. Personally, even though you can’t deny the power of those Acid Trac cuts, it’s ‘Cum On’ that’s the real price for me, with its combination of wet acid lines, energising vocal sample, and giant reverberated warehouse kick drum. A real powerhouse of a record.
Minoru “Hoodoo” Fushimi / Milk Talk / XL Middleton – In Praise Of Mitochondria / Funkin Me Up
*In this week - you might've heard us bigging this one up last week, well now you can have it!*
Minoru ‘Hoodoo’ Fushimi sits in that sweet spot of cult Japanese obscurity that record collectors can't get enough of. Operating alongside the city pop era but very much doing his own thing, his sound blends lo-fi electro funk, drum machines and early hip-hop attitude into something completely unique.
Tokyo Love Song brings one of his standout cuts, ‘In Praise Of Mitochondria’, to 7” for the first time. On the flip, XL Middleton links up with Japan’s modern funk oddballs Milk Talk for ‘Funkin’ Me Up’ - a playful rework packed with squelchy synth funk, off-kilter vocals and enough groove to keep both the boogie heads and left-field disco crowd happy.
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Until next time,
Tom