The Sabres of Paradise

He might have had a hand in some 19 albums, but Andrew Weatherall rarely works alone. From Keith Tenniswood (in Two Loneswordsmen) to Gary Burns and Jagz Koone (as Sabres of Paradise), the best chapters in this auteur's proud discography are results of collaborative partnerships. As The Asphodells, he pairs off with Timothy J Fairplay, a cohort from the near mythical Scrutton Street studio where the likes of fellow analogue alchemists Death in Vegas and Daniel Avery also do their dirty do. The resulting partnership gives rise to music that is a gauzy, coal-stained mesh of various guitar genres all married to a chugging electronic beat and dub-wise swagger…

Originally, Café Del Mar was a bar located in Sant Antoni de Portmany, a town on the western coast of Ibiza. The collections of the music played at the bar were first sold on cassette at the end of the 1980s. In 1994, the first official "Café del Mar" CD was released on React.
The best Cafe Del Mar albums date mostly from DJ Jose Padilla's time as curator of the series (1994-1999) and they remain essential snapshots of warm, tech-savvy, post-dance chillout music… an oasis of old-school ambient, warm Arabian strings, liquid dub, Latin melodies, nu jazz and lounge. Each is spread over a wide, blissed-out canvas that's as bright as a sunny day.

The Café del Mar is perhaps most known around the world for its chill-out music compilations. The songs are described as balearic ambient, easy listening music. The collections of the music played at the café were first sold on cassette at the end of the 1980s. In 1994, the first official “Café del Mar” CD was released, which included works by world-renowned artists. Following the great success of the first release, a total of 18 volumes of the main compilation series have been published.

The Dubnology compilation is a two-disc, 21-track collection of spacy late-'90s electronic dub, heavy on the bass, demonstrating that the music has become more techno-influenced and reliant on electronics and technology. Highlights include tracks by System7, Loop Guru, Zion Train, Meat Beat Manifesto, and Banco de Gaia; the booklet includes biographies and photos of all the artists.

Pinkshinyultrablast, Russia’s finest export, have announced their third album ‘Miserable Miracles’, out May 4th digitally and on vinyl through Club AC30 (UK) and Shelflife (USA). With vocalist Lyubov recently moving to LA, the band have been exploring new ways of composing and collaborating. Partnered with a line-up refinement, the new material sees Pinkshinyultrablast venture down a more electronic path while experimenting with new sounds and genres (including inspiration from Japanese pop such as Chiemi Manabe and Yellow Magic Orchestra).