There's a truly diverse array of quality records in this week at Primalrecords.com and I'm psyched to see it. I'll wax prolifically about all that in a second, but first, let's make the announcement formal: White label copies of the very first release from our PR2 Recordings imprint are finally here! You can pick it up only and exclusively at Primalrecords.com, so don't blow it. Here are the details:

DJ ADNAN & AMIT SHOHAM "Searching" (Original & Jay Tripwire Mxs) PR2 Recordings [House, Tech-house, Tribal House] When I first heard this track, I knew I had to sign it. Local DJ/production duo Adnan Sharif and Amit Shoham (of Tarantic Records fame) stir up one of the dirtiest tribal house cuts to ever come out of the West Coast. The vocals are liberally sampled and truly hookworthy, while the dark drums cut through any soundsystem with righteous indignation--obviously sparking enough dancefloor response to get early chart support from Chicago tech-house star Mazi and Tribal Gathering resident Greg Vickers as we speak. Meanwhile, Vancouver tune machine Jay Tripwire gets busy with both a full-on remix and a classic sampling of bonus beats. It's deeper and dubbier than the original, but its spirited percussion drives the point home eagerly and just as effectively. Most of all, however, I put my money where my mouth was and started a label just to sign these tracks. Doesn't that say enough about how much I believe in this record?

www.primalrecords.com/pr2/index.html

NATURAL RHYTHM "Your World / Raw 13th Grade / Droppin Drums / Rare" Dufflebag [House, Tech-house] Thomas White and Pete Williams come in strong this week with remix work for the latest Lowdown release (also worthy of checking out) and this brand new 4-tracker for Wally Callerio's much-loved Dufflebag label. The result is nothing short of brilliant: Side A alone, with the electronic soul of "Your World" and the Chicago-esque "Raw 13th Grade," will find airplay with sophisticated deep and funky house DJ sets alike, while on the flip, Natural Rhythm go for that early evening mindset with "Droppin Drums" before finding their way with a cut-and-paste latin groover called "Rare." There's not a dud in this lot.

www.dufflebagrecords.com

CHRIS COCO feat. PETER GREEN "Albatross" Pt. 1 (King Britt & Alpinestars Rmxs) [House, Breaks] / Pt. 2 (Hybrid & Christian J Rmxs) [Progressive, Breaks] This one kinda came out of nowhere and smacked the crap out of us. Seriously. Downtempo and leftfield breaks maestro Chris Coco gets the remix treatment over two plates and both records have transcendent moments so diverse that almost every staff member here at Primal picked up one or the other. On Disc 1, Philadelphia's King Britt hands in what might be the most gorgeous mix of his career--deep and slightly percussive drums groove underneath an array of synth washes and sitar tones to create a truly hypnotic and almost emotional effect. Best of all, this is like no other record I've heard in recent memory. Truly outstanding stuff. Disc 2 hands in a Hybrid remix that boasts a very similar quality to Britt's, this time geared more for the progressive set. Ethereal and dubby, but Balaeric at heart, it's early morning dance music that sounds as good at the club as it does at the afterparty. Thumbs up all around here.

www.distinctiverecords.com

V/A (LEXICON AVENUE) "Nite: Life 012" Unmixed Vinyl 2x12" (feat. Marisa Turner, Ctrl, Weekend World, Global Communications, Funk 198, DJ Sense, Jay-J & Chris Lum, Nick Holder, and Lexicon Avenue) NRK [House, Progressive, Tech-house] Don't have $100 to spare on the classic Global Communications cut "The Way" on Ebay? Well, then, thank God for the ever-reliable NRK label and this unmixed vinyl version of the latest mixed CD from UK house favorites Lexicon Avenue. Over 2 plates you'll get music from Weekend World, Casa Del Soul's DJ Sense, Jay-J & Chris Lum, and Lexicon Avenue's fantastic remix of Nick Holder's "Inside Your Soul"--which, when all is said and done, is quite a package in and of itself. But the money shot here is no doubt the full-sided repressing of Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard's tech-house classic which has been, up to this point, unavailable for years. A fave with everyone from Joshua and Derrick Carter to Sasha and John Digweed, Global Communications struck a real chord with house music fans in 1996. You'll still need to find the loot if you're looking for this track's equally inspired counterpart, "The Deep" (or if you're looking for the Deep Dish & Joshua remix packages), but for now, this record is more than enough. You need this.

www.nrksounddivision.com

Also in this week is remix and production work from Oscar G, Chus & Ceballos, Tony Thomas, Wyatt Earp & DJ Foxx, Tiefschwarz (with Joshua & The Beloved on the remix), David Duriez, Chicken Lips, Polefolder & CP (with a Flash Brothers mix), D. Ramirez, Asad Rizvi, and the latest from San Francisco's Psychofunkodiscodelic crew, which--take my word for it--will be one of the year's finest (though most likely hidden) funky tech-house gems. Check the Real Audio.

New label releases are also in tow from Lowdown, Classic, Hochokai, Future Groove, Special Needs, Honchos, Hi-Phen, Bamboo, Bedrock, Choo Choo, Functional Breaks, Twisted, Peng, Baroque, and Shva Muzik, amongst others.

More records to come this week, including new pre-release music from respected deep house label Tilted and NYC's leading tech-house label Matter Form. Keep an ear open and an eye out and be good!

(Norman Arenas)