Craig Alexander - Inside My Mind

After years spent running his own digital-only imprint, Oblique Records, Craig Alexander has decided to launch a vinyl offshoot, Oblique Records. Naturally, the long-serving - but frequently overlooked - Chicago house producer is at the controls for release number one. He begins with the chunky and potent 'Groove Your Body', where a funky, low-slung bassline works in perfect unison with his heavy TR-909 drum machine beats, before peppering a sludgy and raw electronic bassline and crunchy breakbeat with deep pads and mind-mangling electronics on 'Short Cuts'.

Over on the flip, 'Welcome Home' sees him use starry synth-strings and electronic orchestration to usher in a jazzy broken beat rhythm, while 'Who's Laughing Now' is a tight, percussion-rich techno stomper with added hallucinatory sounds and audible nods to the Motor City of Detroit.