Various
Vinyl Only Tools Vol. 4

Listening notes

Vinyl Only Tools Vol. 4 is a 2016 various artists release on Innocent Music, carrying the catalog number IMV007. The record presents four tracks across two sides, with a total running time that places it firmly in extended-play territory suited to DJ use.

The release sits across the genres of dub techno, electronic, house, and tech house, a combination that reflects a particular strain of club-oriented electronic music attentive to both texture and dancefloor function. The tracks are identified by number rather than conventional titles — 017, 018, 019, and 020 — a sequencing that positions this record explicitly as part of a larger, ongoing series. The numbering picks up where earlier volumes would have left off, suggesting a structured catalog approach from Innocent Music rather than a standalone project.

Side A opens with 017 at eight minutes and twenty-one seconds, followed by 018 at seven minutes and twenty-three seconds. Side B carries 019 at seven minutes and thirty-two seconds and closes with 020 at seven minutes and twenty-five seconds. Each track falls within a similar duration range, and the consistency across all four pieces points to a release designed with programmatic DJ application in mind, where track length and format matter as much as any individual selection.

The vinyl-only designation embedded in the title makes the format itself part of the release's identity. Innocent Music's choice to name the series this way signals a deliberate commitment to the physical format at a time when digital distribution was the dominant mode for electronic music. As the fourth volume in the series and the seventh catalog entry from the label, the record represents a measured, ongoing output rather than an isolated statement.