Phantasy 100: PH21 – PH30

Daniel Avery: "Again, I don’t have the most crystal clear memories of this time other than it being an incredible rush. This one really felt like a mission statement. Water Jump started life as some dull prog house track that was going nowhere but I always liked the vocal. James Greenwood (aka Ghost Culture), my longtime studio partner, encouraged me to rip it up and start again. The track was finished in about three hours. For some reason the studio had a club system set up in the room and we listened to the drop about fifty times in a row late into the night. Drone Logic was done in the same place and felt like some kind of magic from the off. The track was made with Weatherall in mind (his name continues to come up but with good reason) and he was the first person to have a copy. He called me the morning after his club A Love From Outer Space: “That thing you gave me. It was the biggest record of the night.” I immediately rang Erol to tell him, almost dropping the phone. He calmly replied “I think it’s time we made an album.”"

Erol Alkan: "The 'Water Jump' EP was a natural continuation from 'Need Electric', and felt like a major step further into the world which I felt Dan was dreaming of. Part of the mix process was to make this sparser, more intricate tracks be as heavy - or heavier - then the simple, and effective dominating club records of that moment. I remember Dan ringing me up after his first play of the mixed version of 'Drone Logic' and telling me it 'had the biggest bass end' of any record that night, so when we mastered it, we made sure that was pushed to the absolute limit without sounding flabby.

We fast tracked to working on a full length album as it felt like whatever was in the air - or in Dan's head - needed to be captured with a wider lens, not limited to the vehicle of another EP or club record."

'Water Jump' EP was released on 29th October 2012. Gabe Gurnsey put his touch on 'Drone Logic', completing the remix in Erol's studio, which was the first time they met. Perc also loved ‘Reception’ so much that he asked to remix it.

We've re-pressed Daniel Avery's debut album 'Drone Logic' on gatefold double vinyl, and you can add it to your record collection here

PH22

Phantasy hit its weirdest spot yet at PH22, in the form of BTU’s ‘Without Armour’. A beguiling collaboration between Babe, Terror and the emergent London producer, U, ‘Without Armour’ was a meeting of minds across continents, culminating in a truly indescribable sound and electronic psychedelia in its purest, trippiest form. Rooted in a mysterious cassette, Babe, Terror and U explained the record’s intriguing origins at the time of release...

Babe, Terror:

"I lived 6 months in England, years earlier I recorded a tape with sounds in a apartment i used to share with a girl. U meets girl, in London

Girl gives tape

Year after, with a copy of the tape, I made the music, inserting some beats. Years after, U remixed the other tape the girl has given

We met at phantasy. We discovered the plots. We went like "whow". U remixed all the things retransforming everything again (3rd time)"

U:

"I met a girl in London. She took me for a ride in her car on the north circular. There was a tape playing in the car, the tape was old but I liked it.

She gave it to me and told me it had a hidden meaning, so I studied it for a long time. I did experiments with the tape but couldn't find out.

Years after, BT reveals the mystery to me"

'Without Armour' was released on 12” vinyl on 11th March 2013 and all copies have sold out.










PH23

The first project on Phantasy from the mind and studio of Andy Meecham (Bizarre Inc, The Emperor Machine), Future Four was established upon discovery of three boxes of old S950 and MPC60 floppy discs full of sound sets dating back to the early 90s. As such, the entirety of EP 1 was recorded entirely on a vintage MPC 30000 in Staffordshire, then mixed by Erol Alkan in London.


Their debut release was out on 8th April 2013, and all copies have long sold out.

Andy Meecham has most recently returned to Phantasy with the reformation of Chicken Lips in 2020.

PH23RMX

An analogue paean to the strangeness and diversity of the UK sound at that time, each of the distinctive three tracks on Future Four's 'EP 1' reliably caused dancefloor chaos upon release. The original EP was quickly followed by PH23RMX, with said sounds landing in the hands of Jacques Renault, Tuff City Kids (aka the industrious partnership of Gerd Janson and Phillip Lauer) and Dark Circles, whose remix of ‘Into Orbit’ became a consistent favourite of the late Andrew Weatherall.

'EP1' was released 26th August 2013 and copies of the 12" vinyl sold out a while ago.




PH24

PH24 arrived courtesy of Tom Rowlands, one half of an act who truly need no introduction; The Chemical Brothers. Having forged a friendship over the years, Erol was often the first to road test and feedback tracks that would go on to become bonafide Chemical Brothers classics. On this occasion, Tom offered his solo productions straight to Phantasy. As you might imagine, this was a very agreeable prospect, and ‘Through Me’ and ‘Nothing But Pleasure’ fired on all cylinders with immediate rave impact.

Erol Alkan: "Tom had sent me 'Through Me' back in 2011, and I found myself playing it in every set. When the opportunity appeared to release it on Phantasy, it felt like a pivitol moment in our history. The Chemical Brothers have been very influential to me and remain such a positive presence in our world of music, being able to release Tom's music was a very clear voice telling us we were doing something right leading up to that moment. Both 'Through Me' and 'Nothing But Pleasure' still sound brilliant and can take a room apart, so many years later."

'Through Me' was released 10th May 2013, and copies of the 12" sold out a while ago.





PH25

PH25 was a limited-edition remix single from Night Works, a project of London-based talent Gabriel Stebbings. Taking a cut from his debut LP, ‘Urban Heat’, the record contains two remixes from two staples of the label. On one side, Erol Alkan provides a choral, spectral extended rework of ‘Long Forgotten Boy’, arguably one of his most delicate but sometimes slept-on remixes. On the other, Daniel Avery’s interpretation of ‘The Evening Time’ is a pleasingly acidic, spacious trip in and of itself.

The limited edition remix 12" was released 18th March 2013 and copies are no longer available.




PH26

Originally released as a Record Store Day exclusive in 2013, PH26 was a live recording of Connan Mockasin at legendary Parisian venue, La Cigale, recorded on 25th March 2012. Featuring ‘Unicorn In Uniform’, ‘It’s Choade My Door’ and ‘Quadropuss Island’ on one side, the flip sees Connan tackle an intimate, extended take on ‘Forever Dolphin Love’.




PH27

PH28

Released in 2013, PH28 was ‘Virtual Lover’, the debut single from Nadia Ksaiba, the East London DJ icon best known for her joyous sets at beloved queer space Dalston Superstore.

Fast-forward to 2020, and Ksaiba’s ‘Rhythm Connection’ with Dan Beaumont, is one of NTS Radio’s longest running shows. Meanwhile, ‘Virtual Lover’ still sounds timeless, masterfully channeling boogie, Italo and disco reminiscent of early Madonna to classic Midnight Star.

Representing a different end of the funk spectrum, remixes came from Detroit visionary and Ultramajic founder, Jimmy Edgar, whose take on ‘Virtual Lover’ was stripped back electro glory of vintage calibre, with or without vocals.

PH29

Presented on see-through ‘ghost’ vinyl, ‘Mouth’ was the debut release on Phantasy from Ghost Culture. Having helped bring Daniel Avery's acclaimed ‘Drone Logic’ to life earlier in 2013, PH29 was ‘Mouth’, the first single from Ghost Culture, beginning a continuing journey with Phantasy.

Somewhere in between Depeche Mode and Deetron, ‘Mouth’ was a vulnerable, brooding slice of electro-pop that announced a clear and impressive vision. A dub took things even more towards the dancefloor, but the record’s secret weapon in undoubtedly it’s B-Side, ‘Red Smoke’, a euphoric and ethereal acid techno dream that still ranks as one of the high points in the rave-ready end of Phantasy’s back catalogue.

The limited edition see-through vinyl was released 21st October 2013 and is long sold out.