To celebrate two decades of Skylax Records, label head Hardrock Striker teams up with long time friend and co-worker DJ Sprinkles as SKYLAX HOUSE EXPLOSION (S.H.E.). They present the second of three exclusive vinyl releases accompanying the Mix CD for the 20 Years Compilation. All three EPs will feature previously unreleased music curated by DJ Sprinkles and Hardrock Striker. “I think of one time in New York when they wouldn't let me into the Loft, and I could hear they were actually playing one of my records on the dance floor at that very moment. I shit you not.” – DJ Sprinkles, Midtown 120 Blues (2008). Few spaces have had such a formidable influence on dance music culture as David Mancuso’s The Loft. Mancuso stripped the space he used for his invite-only parties of commercial value; ensuring they were legal, and navigating away from any bureaucratic licenses that come with selling food or alcohol. He insisted that people from all economic backgrounds had access to his space, the price of entry just about covering overheads and employing an IOU system on the door for those that needed it. Under The Loft EP enlists DJ and producer from Istanbul, Sinan Kaya, who opens up the A side with a peak time stomper at 117bpm. His use of vocal sample lifts the track into an energetic contemporary house frenzy only to be re-contextualised on the flip by Slowdawn, whose early morning pads cushion the same sample under sparkles of vibraphone. Based in Canada, Slowdawn recently caught the eye of Hardrock Striker and Jus Ed and will be releasing more music for the latter this coming year. Flabaire, like Hardrock Striker, is a fellow Parisian who has been co-running D.KO Records since 2013. On Riders In The Sun Flabaire employs a latin-style beat with bounce, and psychedelic organ runs all at 110bpm before giving way to the B side opened up by Love Island. Better known as Michele Lamacchia and previously releasing on Skylax’s sub label A Fistful Of Wax, Love Island makes use of old skool mix names on Love Connection (Afterhours Mix); the sorts of mix names that, upon seeing a tracklist, you skip to and indulge in warm, “deep” facets sure to be found on anything suited for the Afterhours. Closing the EP on the B3 is Sameed Alexander Rezayan who back in 2015 had his second release out on SKYLAX. His closer, See Ma Thing On You cuts up the funk and channels one of the many sounds of the Loft. Mancuso loved disco and championed rare cuts of the genre in the 70s and the house that sampled it in the 90s; an apt remembrance of a space now lost.