May 2025 Bundle
LLL - "State Chumps b/w Laying In Slime"
Star Creature's Global Caress series started this year off with a bang with newcomer Arsene's "Jack Shit" 7" selling out before we could even hit release date. The follow up here just might do the same: another gruesome twosome of hard hitting, left field, electro acid.
The half-Finnish, half-Estonian duo LLL add a distinctly Baltic outsider edge to the classic combo of Chicago Jackin' House meets UK sound system culture. The fellas tap an arsenal of original gear rescued and revived over the years to create hyper-saturated textures, thuggish rhythmic beats, squelchy acidic synths and mischievous microphone miscellany. "
Brian Ellis - "Your Love Is The Drug"
Prescription Grade Funk just what the doctor ordered. Brian Ellis may be best known as the instrumentalist producer behind Star Creature's Birdbone Unlimited and main synth wizard for Egyptian Lover's band. Here, he returns to the Chicago label with a heavy dosage of West Coast Italo Slap reimagining Bobby O's Ronnie Griffith collab with a 2025 that might not help you kick the habit but certainly assist kick a jam. No Co-Pay required for the Clear Orange Vinyl curiously resembling the familiar US Prescription Bottles alongside a full color label looking that'll make you thankful you in the right funk network.
Byron The Aquarius - "Jamajama b/w Higher (w. Steven Klavier)"
Two Sider - lert field gangster synth jazz with a deep house nu-boogie banger on the flip. This one makes sense. Byron The Aquarius made their Star Creature debut with a few remixes on Belgrade's Igor Jadranin's "Contemporary Movement" EP earlier this year. The buzzworthy producer has been machine over the past few years with genre defying releases across a bevvy of genres. Here he flexes some new directions fitting to the Windy City's vibezone - The A Side hits that squelchy synth bouncey stank face that's heavy in the bass but light on the feet. Not sure whether to 2 step or house-dance. The B Side collabs with Steven Klavier on vocals which one may recognize from his disco-forward collabs ranging from Moon Boots, Kenny Dope, Soul Clap, Kon, Eli Escobar, Anjunabeats and much more.
Arsene - Jack Shit EP
We didn't know Jack Shit but we do now - this is a big one. Arsene's debut 7" kicked off this year with his bang-the-box underdog smash hit "Jack Shit." The song went underground-viral seconds after the test presses started circulating garnering commented support ranging from Classic's Luke Solomon, Deeper Shades Lars Behrenroth, Mark Grusane, Radioslave, Danny Krivit, Stones Throw's JRocc, Marcellus Pitman, Darryn Jones even Stretch Armstrong. Lefto debuted it on his Kiosk Radio show while a chance run-in with Moodymann at the airport seems to be the source of it's club debut. Record was sold out weeks before release date.
FOMO-not though, as here Arsene returns to his native Chicago with a 4 piece slab of the real Windy City house sound - this time appropriately sized up to 12" and including the full length version of "Jack Shit". We've heard many youngsters try their hand at tracky analog house deep sound of the 2nd City only to fall well short of the greats that paved the way. Here Arsene manages to not only stay true to the vibe but also deliver a fresh perspective and energy that separates both this record and him as producer from the imitators. A student of the game, looking forward to more from this potential Rookie Of The Year.