Dj Gamba
Infinity

Six years, fifty releases, countless artists and multiple subsidiaries; the Oyster Cult’s reach extends far beyond what sceptics once thought possible. It’s only fitting, then, that we gather some of our finest under the Kalahari banner in celebration.The anniversary release is upon us. Six whole years since Jacy helped inaugurate the label with a spin on Midwestern house, OYSTER40 signals a landmark occasion. 18 tracks, quadruple vinyl boxset action, and in true Oyster Cult tradition, it comes bearing pearls.Dancefloor squarely in focus, the Cult assembles on a compilation spanning alumni and new inductees alike. It’s an assemblage of the fractal, explorative and ritual-ready; at once a focused distillation of the Kalahari sound and celebration of its many acolytes. Big on atmosphere, heavy on groove, we delve deeply into the musical DNA shared by all who grace the label.Tough, direct cuts (Sansibar, Roza Terenzi, Big Zen, Maara & Priori) to the pristine and widescreen (S.O.N.S., Volodymyr Gnatenko, Adam Pits), this is all quintessentially Kalahari. Elsewhere though, the likes of D. Tiffany and SW. journey further into realms of abstraction: the former opting for hi-tech, dreamstate IDM, while the SUED co-founder dissolves a house template into dubby introspection.Calling upon contemporary talents for the most part, there are also exceptions. Raymond Castoldi - the one-time house producer best known as Madison Square Garden’s music director - returns with an unreleased nugget from ’91, while an ‘Aliens’-sampling track from Detroit-indebted techno outfit Syzygy gets the reissue treatment.

For their third release SAISEI present a reissue of highly respected Japanese producer Suzukiski’s 1993 debut album Thought LP.The full 12 tracks from the original release will be released on vinyl for the first time - with the majority of tracks exclusively re-edited for vinyl extended play.Takahiro Suzuki is hugely prolific within Japanese electronic music culture yet has remained under the radar despite releasing over 9 albums between 1993 and 2006. Thought was his debut long player and is a perfect example of his minimal and poised approach to production. Across the 12 tracks he shows off his aptitude for creating delicate yet effective house and techno, referencing the Detroit sound that was eminanating and revolutionaising electronic music at the time. For sleeve notes of the release Suzukiski lent this quote, speaking of the Detroit influence “These artists created these simple and minimal tracks that were so beautiful and gave me joy, yet I’d never seen their faces before.”Based on a solid groove and created on the limited hardware setups which were key to the time of its creation, the album carries all the charm of minimal all hardware made music. The result is a timeless collection of tracks that show a serious commitment to refined sound with a joyous and carefree uplifting feeling.SAISEI - run by London based, Japan born DJ Junki Inoue continues to unearth and present vital and special recordings from the 90s era of Japanese electronic music production. In this case Thought was first self released by the artist as a private CD that was literally delivered hand to hand or by post until it was licensed by Soup Disk licenced the music in 2003 and received a wider CD release with some export outside of Japan.The double pack vinyl package is accompanied by two sets of liner notes by Rei Harakami and Soup Disk label owner Masaaki Hara written for Soup Disk’s 2003 reissue with a English translations and will be released in October 2021.

The 90’s San Francisco underground electronic scene always commanded a great deal of love and respect here at OCD. It played an important role not only in the development of the global electronic music scene, but also in our personal, never-ending journey of discovery. Back in 1996, between the early releases of one of the SF’s scene most important and pioneering record labels, Sunburn Records, an EP titled “Plum Pudding EP” by an artist called “Trailmix” appeared. It featured 4 tracks spanning between early hours progressive-house and more gentle, mellow breaks with a hint of electronica. For many years it has been one of our most favourite record from that scene and era.27 years later, we’re beyond stoked to have being able to successfully track down that gentleman by the name of Alan Aronoff (Trailmix) who, with no hesitation, allowed us to reissue that special EP on The Secret Sun.

Fluid, perspicuous, hypnotic, deep, Amsterdam's Human Space Machine, co-founder of the renown De Lichting collective, offers up a Swiss Army Knife of poignant techno tracks perfect for the mid-day festival set when the afternoon sun beats down and for the dark corners of the night when all you want to do is disappear. Record opener "Mopo" thuds hypnotically with a digital, crystallized, acid-tinged bass line into the second track "Arp", whose squishy chord stabs punctuate a mesmerizing rolling shuffle. Penultimate track "Lyf" plays out like a high speed pursuit- where pulsating tension propels the listener deeper into the groove while record closer "Newendam" bubbles around a bouncing bass hook offering teetering glimpses of light and bliss as the sun rise teases. Comes in a special duo-pantone printed jacket by Rotterdam based artist Tim Mastik. With words by Gregory Markus.

Powerfully epic breaky sound hailing from the UK during the early 90s. Beautiful tempo juxtaposition of fast passed driving beats pushed by low ph bass lines under slower piano riffs and patient vocal elements making it a hard one to forget. Low end elements clearly carved from primordial UK Bass aesthetics taking the amen break to new plateaus already very much overlapping with Drum & Bass territory. Ultra dreamy vocals on some kind of The Mamas and The Papas reincarnation, UK dreaming all the way. Heavy ending track vibes. In addition, Juan Ramos' masterful half tempo remix offers the listener a completely different experience with full respect for the original, what else to expect from someone with this caliber of dance floor education <3 meticulously remastered.

Perth, capital of Western Australia, sits where the Swan River meets the southwest coast. Sandy beaches line its suburbs giving purpose to hot summer days, but after sundown, the city is where it's at... if you know where to look. It's possible that this double-life is what inspired the deep, melodic, futuristic sounds of one of Australia's most mysterious electronic dance music labels of the 90's - Red Ember Records.Helmed by Ewan Jansen and Justin Zerbst (with contributions from Steb Sly and Andrew Carpenter) this micro label powered through the latter half of the 1990's with a slew of back-room productions; barely existent releases that were mainly pressed onto poly-plastic discs and hand distributed at a handful of near mythical live performances and local record spots in their hometown. Suffice to say it's the unique quality of the music contained on these lathes (chiefly produced by Jansen and Zerbst) and the sheer rarity of the physical items that has driven Red Ember firmly into the minds of vinyl fiends the globe over.Deep. That is one word that can be safely used when discussing the sonic bounty contained on a Red Ember record. Ewan Jansen's loose, harmonic style sits perfectly next to Justin Zerbst's faster paced, frenetic Techno sounds. The two's styles complimenting each other perfectly. This is most apparent on this special sampler 12", the precursor to a wider archival compilation of Red Ember rarities entitled "Embers Only: Selected tracks 1997 - 1999", where a track from each artist has been carefully selected from their enviable archive. Culled from 2 of the most sought after titles in the catalogue both "Clearance" and "Red Silicone" are top shelf all the way, enough to get even the most hardened vinyl aficionado cracking a smile."Embers Only: Selected tracks 1997 - 1999" - An insight into the extremely exotic sound world of Red Ember Records, forthcoming on double vinyl, fully remastered from all original DAT tapes and compiled with the full cooperation of both Ewan Jansen and Justin Zerbst.