In 2021, we welcomed Endrik Schroeder to the Bordello family with his Second Breath 12”. The memorable hooks and attention to detail that characterised his first appearance run deep in his latest. The Hope sees the French producer accompanied by a true legend of electronics, Caroline Hervé aka Kittin. Hervé’s penchant for combining brighter tones with darker shades is evident from the needle. Industrial hiss pierces swirling vocals. Clean claps, warm bass and crystalline chords give way to woe-streaked lyrics, lyrics that ascend into an arc of pulsating synthwave pain. Schroeder takes the reins on the flip. A beam of light is cast over throbbing arpeggios and a slicing snare, notes drifting ever higher as “The Dogs” takes hold. Strings swim as a spread of sounds grow, a palpable energy building under Schroeder’s watchful ear and hand in this seven minute plus odyssey into his
Cerca:arp 1
2024 Repress
Straight in the wake of their eponymous debut LP released on the label back in 2016, Weval return to Kompakt this year with their sophomore album, 'The Weight', breaking their pop-mellow, nostalgia-friendly facet further out in the open as they arrive "at this place again were everything felt spontaneous, new and exciting, like we had in the beginning". Orbiting around that ever luminous yet wistful melodic halo that surrounds their music, this second full-length effort sweeps an extra-wide and languidly woven palette of emotions and moods, making for a uniquely ambitious and generously coloured mosaic of sound. If the recording sessions "often started grumpy and emotionless" by Harm and Merijn's own admission, the pair was "surprised by the joy it gave us, which can be compared to the emotions we felt back in the first days of making music together"; subsequently reconnecting with that fresh, naïve feeling of "absolute creative freedom" they were after. The album is also the fruit of a whole new working process for them - more playful and unpredictable - which saw them switch from "guitars lying around to piano, onto our own synths and the most cheap quirky toys synths you can imagine", and involved "recording all of our own samples, voice and almost every instrument out of the box - which for us was a totally new way of working". "We've always wanted a narrative for the album, and finding the right order perhaps took the most effort" they explain; "we felt anxious, felt insanely positive, felt heartbroken again, felt in love again, and there was death, and even suicide around us. It was quite chaotic. As a whole, 'The Weight' breathes with that transformative richness, free of limits and rules, except perhaps to "do quick and not think too much". Amidst this collection of songs and instrumentals that live by Weval's singularly positive take on music - one that can "lift you up, and make you feel hopeful without being necessarily straight out 'happy'" as they define it, the title-track and lead single stays true to the duo's dynamic approach, putting on a fine balance of floor and dream inducing adaptability that sound engineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.) subtly made palpable. There's heavy showers of funk drops pouring from endless bars of thunderstorm clouds and laid-back riffs beating a restrained poolside-party kind of pulse, but also sensual vocals rising from beneath the sheets and rueful polaroid-filtered ambiences to soundtrack all possible moments in life - from the most euphoric to those when music seems the only viable healing potion. More on the post-KLF, BoC-inflected electronica side of things, 'Are You Even Real' takes its listener for a round-trip across the star-studded dome and beyond, before songs like 'Someday' and 'Same Little Thing' head back down to a state of pulsating, earthly organicity, tense and mercurial as get. An arpeggiated slice of piano-strewn kosmische, 'Heaven' is another invitation to an epic-scale odyssey from the inner-spheres into the distant fringes of the outer-world. Weightless and airy, yet texturally dense and widely magnetic overall, Weval second LP is a synthesis of the duo's multi-angle take on electronics: blissed-out, heartening and infinitely free.
Nur zweieinhalb Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung ihres selbstbetitelten Debutalbums finden sich WEVAL zurück "an jenem Ort, an dem sich alles spontan, neu und aufregend anfühlt - so wie als wir anfingen zusammen Musik zu schreiben". An diesem Ort entstand "The Weight", ihr zweiter Longplayer, auf dem Weval sich ganz den Pop-verliebten, Nostalgie-freundlichen Facetten ihres Sounds öffnen. Stetig um den sehnsuchtsvollen Strahlenkranz ihrer Melodien tanzend, legt diese Platte noch vielschichtigere, mit feinster Präzision gewobene Gefühlswelten frei.
Obwohl die Aufnahmesessions nach eigenem Bekunden oftmals "miesepetrig und emotionsarm" begannen, so war das Duo überrascht darüber, wie schnell sich bei der Arbeit jene Freude einstellte, die sie aus ihren künstlerischen Anfangstagen kannten, eine Woge des frischen, naiven Gefühls der "absoluten kreativen Freiheit". Dieses Album ist die Frucht eines verspielteren und unvorhersehbareren Arbeitsprozesses innerhalb der Band, in welchem alles zum Einsatz kam, was ihnen in die Finger kam - von der ollen Gitarre, die in der Studioecke stand, über ein Piano und den bandeigenen Sythesizern und den sonderbarsten Spielzeuginstrumenten, die man sich vorstellen kann. All dies sowie zahlreiche Vocalaufnahmen dienten als alleinige Samplequelle - "was für uns eine völlig neue Arbeitsweise war". "Es war uns wichtig für das Album den perfekten Erzählbogen zu spannen. Die richtige Reihenfolge zu finden war ein extrem aufwendiger Vorgang", erklären Harm und Merjin. "Uns war bange, wir fühlten uns total selbstsicher, uns zerbrach das Herz und wir verliebten uns erneut. Wir waren sogar von Tod und Selbstmord umgeben. Alles war Chaos. Insgesamt atmet "The Weight" die Reichhaltigkeit dieser sich ständig verändernden Gefühlslagen, frei von Einschränkungen und Regeln - außer vielleicht "mach es schnell und zerdenke die Dinge nicht." Inmitten dieser Ansammlung von Songs und Instrumentals, die aus Wevals einzigartiger, von Zuversicht geprägter Herangehensweise entstanden sind - "Musik, die dich hochzieht und Hoffnung spendet, ohne dich notwendigerweise happy zu machen. Der Titeltrack "The Weight" steht exemplarisch für Wevals ambivalenten Ansatz, die feine Balance zwischen Dancefloor und Traumzuständen, perfekt in Szene gesetzt von Soundengineer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The XX, FKA Twigs, Caribou… etc.).
Der schwer aus gewaltigen Gewitterwolken tropfende Funk, die eine verhaltene Poolparty suggerierenden Riffs, die sinnlichen, geisterhaften Vocals und ein verwaschenes Ambiente, das wie ein Album alter Polaroidaufnahmen alle erdenklichen Momente des Lebens festhält - von den euphorischsten bis hin zu jenen, in denen Musik der einzige Trank ist, der Linderung verheißt. Das post-KLF und Boards of Canada evozierende "Are You Even Real" führt den Hörer auf einen imaginären Flug ins Sternenzelt, während organisch-klingende Songs wie "Someday" oder "Same Little Thing" wie Quecksilber am Boden haften. "Heaven" ist eines jener "kosmische" Stücke mit wilden Arpeggios und Pianosprengseln, die Weval in den vergangenen zwei Jahren zu einer Live-Sensation werden liessen. Wevals Musik ist schwerelos und luftig, aber gleichermassen von dichter Struktur und von einer magnetischen Anziehungskraft. Ihr zweites Album "The Weight" ist eine Synthese aus dem multi-perspektivischem, kaleidoskopischen Verständnis von elektronischer Musik: Herzerwärmend, alles umschmeichelnd und unendlich frei.
Toronto-based artist and co-boss of Parallel Minds, Ciel, known for her distinctive, precise, playful, and intricately crafted electronic productions, delivers a vibrant new EP on SUZI titled "Sada’s Dream". Originally performed during a live set at MUTEK Montreal, Ciel has refined these initial ideas into a five-track journey that showcases her unique sound palette, marked by meticulous attention to rhythmic and melodic interplay.
The EP opens with "Be That As It May," setting a contemplative tone with complex rhythms and a haunting flute-like melody that gradually unfolds into a brighter, expansive atmosphere.
Following this, the second track "Viral Load" shifts towards a tougher sound, featuring digital bleeps and arpeggiators that swirl around modern dubstep elements, creating a dense auditory texture.
The third piece, "Divide and Conquer," blends airy textures with a robust, infectious bassline and glitchy, compelling melodies, demonstrating Ciel's ability to balance delicacy with power.
Moving forward, "Bubble Gum Pop," the fourth track, adopts a clubbier vibe with its vigorous house vocals and lively breakbeat drums, offering a sharp contrast to the preceding tracks.
Concluding the EP is "Sada's Dream," the title track. This fast-paced, playful composition marries minimalist rhythms with whimsical bleeps and snippets of vocals, ending the EP on a note that feels both conclusive and invitingly open-ended. "Sada's Dream" is a sonic tapestry that weaves together the subtle complexities of Ciel's signature style with a narrative that is both intimate and expansive, capturing the essence of her artistic vision.
repress !
Four years after Nuova Napoli, Nu Genea are back with Bar Mediterraneo, a new album and journey, which projects the sounds of the Neapolitan duo formed by Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina even further.
Nu Genea's Bar Mediterraneo is an idea of a shared place where people meet and fuse together; a space that leaves its doors open to travellers and their lives, always exposed to the whims of fate. Some of this can be experienced through the multitude of sounds that come together in the tracks, layers of different acoustic instruments, voices and synthesizers merging in a unique musical blend.
Opening up to the voices of many different people, separated by languages but united by the sea and the music, Nu Genea's hometown, Napoli, becomes a true place of encounter.
You can hear this all along. In "Gelbi", a gorgeously deep and propulsive Ney flute plunges into murky waters of the melancholic Tunisian dialect sung by Marzouk Mejri. In "Marechia'", unbridled happiness and sun ooze from the delicate vocals of Célia Kameni and create an acrobatic bridge between French and Neapolitan language. In "Straniero", your soul is arrested from the moment the slow spell-binding mandolin ignites the hypnotic patterns recorded by the legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. In "Bar Mediterraneo", the title track, bittersweet guitar’s riffs, analog waves and choirs are overwhelming the song giving you what you would like to hear on a boat trip along the Amalfi Coast.
Nu Genea couldn't afford to overlook their firmly anchored roots into the Neapolitan culture and its dialect with "Tienaté", where the power of neapolitan language (interpreted by Fabiana Martone) supports those quarter-tone strings and the uncessant folk-disco groove that spreads to the entire song. In "Praja Magia", repetitive mandolin riffs lead the song, giving space to a choral yet tight vocal line that speaks of Varcaturo, a village close to Napoli. In "Rire", a volley of poetic, deceptively laidback, lyrical fury interpreted by Sicilian Marco Castello intimately combines with a highly musical, multi-textured instrumental backbone and the swoon of a chanson in its heart. In "La Crisi'', the lyrics of a Raffaele Viviani’s poem from 1930 have been adapted to a laidback jazz-funk groove in full NG style. In "Vesuvio", revaluing the evocative verses and powerful mantra of Vesuvio, Nu Genea re-adapted to the dancefloor a folk song by the working-class band E’ Zezi from Pomigliano D'Arco, combining the voices of a school choir with Jupiter-6 arpeggios and bold percussions.
Bar Mediterraneo is the place where people constantly return to transform curiosity into participation, tradition into sharing, unfamiliar into familiar. When travellers come through its “doors”, carrying their treasures of words and emotions, they aren’t strangers any more. They take part in a shared experience, enriching themselves and others by leading to unexpected musical journeys.
Repress!
Early ‘80s boogie business from De De, ‘S & M (Sexy Music)’, gets a much-deserved, official reissue. OG copies regularly trade hands for £30+ so it’s high time this sweet sexiness found its way out of more sound systems.
With a title like ‘S&M (Sexy Music)’ it was only ever going to be a sleazy, sexy, synthy heater, drenched in tantalising keys, spacey arps, funk guitars and salacious vocals. And with the production prowess of George Kerr & Reggie Griffin behind it - who produced, wrote and arranged for the likes of The O’Jays, Treacherous Three, The Whatnauts and Patti Labelle to name only a handful – it had certified party starter written all over it!
Two mixes take either side of this full frontal 12 inch. The A side houses the ‘Rated G’ mix, where layered vocals trade off from male to female and sleazed up saxes parade through the later stages as that short but sweet rap rolls around. The B side’s ‘Rated X’ mix adds even steamier verses with ever more female power behind them and extra unadulterated, squelching bass into the pot.
Sensuous offerings from De De that will get any crowd crying out for more.
Upfront business from London’s Baby Rollén. Kaleidoscope EP is a club ready four-tracker exploring a fusion of sounds from the dazzling arps of the title track, to the groovy bassline pulse throughout Nerve Glider.
Hitting hard on the A1 with Psychology which takes equal measure from early Detroit techno and fuses with the steadily popular Baby Rollén blueprint of contrasting pads and melodies. Voodoo combines influences of jungle with euphoric piano hooks, scattering throughout an extended arrangement.
Repress.
One of Stockholm’s finest exports, Elfenberg arrive at Bordello with four slices of synthesizer goodness. The duo open with “Forever Alone”. A cruising arpeggiator steers its way through glistening snares, rolling kicks and classic italo vocals. Night falls in the jungle “Conga Coronation”. The treetops bristle with birdsong, thickets of bongos, toms and rain sticks lead a path to dawning melodies. A wonderfully textured percussive piece, the track is intricately carved and demonstrates the diversity and depth of Elfenberg. The disco dipped futurism of “Sphere Of Missing Out” follows. Echoes of “Conga Coronation” rhythms are countered by beaming synth bars and vocoder lyrics with the Swedish pair pushing for the floor. “Cosmic Tribune” is the curtain close. Astral chords, spiralling key shifts and incising drums coalesce in this space inspired finale. A truly stunning debut from this talented partnership.
We are delighted to present our first Split Series and to welcome three notable artists to the label.
FDEZ takes charge of the A side with three dancefloor tunes fresh from Barcelona.
A1/ ABSTRACT FUNK is an Electro House track with arpeggio synths and classic hi-hats following a fat bassline.
A2/ SUN FIGHT is inspired by a hot summer's day in the summer of 22. Including a vocal sampler from another planet and 303 notes.
A3/ RAVAL NOCHE is flush with hypnotic and spooky synths, making for an after friendly house track.
Two french producers who require no introduction, Chris Carrier and Le Loup, aka AV1 put thier mark on the B side.
B1/ MYSTIC POINT is a powerful track with mysterious melodies and a forceful rhythm, right at home in an underground warehouse.
B2/ TROPICAL EXCURSION is a hypnotic voyage inspired by the golden age of trance. Ideal company during an endless after.
Only 200 copies
Excelsior Ruth is a composer, DJ and producer born in the North-East of England but who currently resides in South London.
On her eponymously titled debut, she combines a life-long love of euphoric trance with echoes of her live performances as exlRuth, which incorporate sound recordings, drone, traditional choral music and the makina backdrop of her youth. Embedded in community heritage, it’s a record that probes connections between the classical and contemporary.
Gossamer harp drifts across time on ‘Haunt’, leading to the affecting arpeggios, strings and high BPMs of ‘Dream Of Night’, programmed, as much of the EP was, on classic 90s synthesisers, including the Roland JP8080 and Quasimidi Rave-0-Lution 309. Drinkwater’s ‘Dawn Return mix’ reduces ‘Dream Of Night’ down to a moment of 6am E-motion, limbs weaving through dry ice like mist on long-forgotten moors.
A cathedral of angelic voices swells in ‘Dream Of You’, their hymn to oceanic feeling rooted to earth by a raining cascade of kicks. And ‘Sleepy Hollow’ journeys further into deep, unspeakable bodily knowing, pushed and pulled between propulsion and stasis as fizzy high hats and restless melodies weave through shrouds of ambient pads.
Words by Joe Roberts.
vol 1[12,40 €]
Revisiting Duncan Forbes’ debut solo album ‘Return Of The Strobelight Kid’ on 49North we now have three wonderfully fresh takes on three different tracks from the album.
First up we have Kassian who tackle ‘Floating’ and they step up to the mark with grace and turn in a peak time, hypnotic, yet melodic, tech house groover that will light up any dancefloor.
Next Borai takes on ‘Another World’ and using the sweeping analogue strings from the original he lets them soar over funk fuelled shuYling hats and clattering snares. He draws you in gently and when the bass drops, buckle up for the ride !
The third and final remix comes from none other than Legowelt. His no holes barred high energy take on ‘Serendipity’ is full of analogue warmth and grabs you right from the start. Layers of electro charged arpeggiated lines fuse with the strings from the original underpinned by a driving rhythm to propel you forward into the future and beyond.
The 49North journey continues..........
DJ Elephant Power (Nicolas Baudoux) based in Brussels, Les Octaves de la Musique awarded musician, is returning with his new EP ‘Blowing From Above’ on May 2024 with limited edition vinyls. The abundantly creative producer never tires of exploring the possibility of new sounds and rhythms. This time he delves deep into numerous genres from breakbeat to bass and he added more colours on each track which composed, performed and produced by himself. Mastering was done by Beau of Ten Eight Seven Mastering in UK. This new EP will be the first page of the upcoming album in June 2024.
‘Blowing From Above’ feat Eunsol
Now you entered the city where you can feel the atmosphere of heat with full of energy. Under the welcome sign of breakbeat and bass, you breathe the dopamine of electronic dance deeply. Alongside baseline skyscrapers covering the sound of this city, mysterious Korean words lead you to hyper pop buildings. Across the traffic lights with barking dog and staccato synth arpeggio on the road, you reach the futuristic bridge between jungle and grime.
‘I Got You’
Under the repeated street lights of ‘I Got You’ scratch samples, you are in the car passing through continuous cowbel 808 sounds on the techno road. In front of the funk graffiti wall, a powerful metal guitar sprays the paint with no compromise. Buildings of synth grab you to follow the new banging club anthem.
‘Shades’
Curly hair architect, who is well known for perfectionism of repeated linear, built a new Mantronix satellite laboratory. This is located on the mountain of Detroit and built on the solid ground of analogue synth signals. Filtered synth and bassline are the main columns of the building. In the main lab, the next satellite has been developing on woah woah sound mattress. Visitors can experience zero gravity in the room in the middle of kick and snare which provides perfect unbalance.
‘Infinity’
A colourful new dish is ready for you. You will feel beautifully balanced and harmonious tastes of progressive techno, trap and bass. This astonished dish was sourced the very best of heavy bass and synth melody for well balanced scent with thoughtful contacts. Geomungo, a traditional Korean string instrument, enhances and amplifies stunning ingredients and it makes a highlight with amazing pairings.
naive's 20th release epitomizes what the Lisbon-based label, run by Violet, has become cherished for: imaginative yet timeless, soothing yet moody, melodic yet sonic music. Entitled 'Computer Hermetics', this new record is an EP by UrbnMowgli, a fairly new Berlin-based artist who began releasing music in 2020. The opening track, 'Fast Love Life', is a 145 bpm electro-bred, breakbeat-driven emotive dancefloor banger. It features menacing stabs juxtaposed with beautiful pads and acid-drenched arpeggio motifs that lend it a oneiric quality. 'Oracle Algorithm' picks up the 303 spirit and delves into trippier territories, densening the dreamlike, expansive atmosphere while infusing the record with electro-driven grit. Closing side A is 'Warschauer Rush-Hour', a futuristik, high-tempo twisted electro banger that's both tough and playful. 'Immaterial Desires' inaugurates side B--an ode to adventurous drum programming and intricate sound design in the form of a percussion-punctuated curveball belter. 'Digital Dawn' brings it all back home to the heart and closes the record with its deepest, most immersive moment, giving us big bass lines that alchemically converse with angelic bleepy melodies as if soundtracking a soulful sci fi movie that doesn't exist yet.
One of the most consistent new labels around, Cyphon Recordings, marks double figures with another standout release that gleans from the past, but faces the future. This time they look to the talents of Emotive Technology, a new alias from Chilean Massiande who provides a five-track EP of machine-wielding, soul-rousing techno from across the spectrum.
Although this may be the first release under his new moniker, Massiande has spent the last decade putting out productions with labels such as Housewax, Phonica, Freerange and Groovin. Firing on all cylinders from the get-go, ‘Rise’ kicks off the Walk Into The Light EP. A hyperspace melding of new beat, Italo and arp-operating techno that opens out into a slice of peak-time revelry.
The swirling textures of ‘It’s On’ follow, pushing you into the next dimension. A hypnotic, entrancing and arresting heads-down powerhouse. Crunchy and considered it's the kind of strobe-stuttering basement jam that turns heads inside out.
Two Detroit-leaning tracks ‘Your Zone’ and ‘Walk IntoThe Light’ are up next. The former is a heavyweight machine workout. Layered synth lines and crisp drum programming transfix, as that grooving low-end powers bodies into bedlam. The latter, a Motor-City-influenced tour de force. One that sees Massiande recode the circuitry to hit with a piano-laden stunner, balancing power and presence, with emotion and nuance.
Closing out proceedings, ‘The Swing’ sucks you in deeper. A resonating world of synth stabs, pulsating basslines and atmospheric electronics.
Doing the Emotive Technology namesake proud, Walk Into The Light is machine music hardwired with a heavy sense of soul.
In 2020, L'Osmose began its artistic collaboration by combining 70's psychedelia with catchy rhythms.
Blending auto-tune, electric guitars, percussion, and analog synthesizers, their music is a reflection of their incessant experimentation and their desire to explore new sonic avenues.
After several radio appearances (couleur3, Worldwide FM, Radiovostok), and opening acts for international artists (Chilla, Yin-yin, OBF, old Farka Touré, Arp Frique), the Geneva sextet has built a certain reputation within the Swiss cultural scene.
Spotted by L'Éclair in 2022, the group continues its rise by recording, with their help, a promising first album which they will sign on the Stone Pixels Records label.
While waiting for the release of this project, immerse yourself in the raw, sincere and captivating energy that their performances emit.
For our 50th release on Delusions Of Grandeur we're pleased to bring you seven exclusive tracks from a mighty-fine collection of both existing DOG artists and veritable newcomers alike.
Kicking off Part One we have Rush Hour regular Nebraska who manages to successfully combine elements of wait for it... trance and broken beat into an altogether more exciting and amazing way than that actually sounds on paper. Organic, sampled drums with plenty of grit and dirt lay down a groove whilst spacey synth arps and an almighty break (in a subtle way) make this something of an epic which all of us here have fallen for in a big way.
Quintessentials and Kolour LTD favourite Ugly Drums steps up next digging deep in his seemingly bottomless collection of brilliant of disco and soul to mine some killer samples and conjuring up a masterclass in deepest ravehouse in the process.
Rounding off Part One DOG mainstays and bona fide Retreaters Session Victim do what they do best on Came To Be Alive, turning in a completely blissed-out, dusty soul jam tailor-made as much for cozy nights in front of a log fire as for antipodean BBQ's under a hazy sun.
On "The Best EP", Chengdu-based artist B.AI shows she can not only write memorable hooks but can do so while covering a broad array of registers. One of her most enticing feats is her ability to make the minimal, electro and tech house genres she navigates her own by injecting them with a unique sense of melody. "Nightdreaming" is a moody builder: although new, sturdily patched layers keep being introduced and the pace never slows down, a sense of restraint remains. This atmosphere quickly changes on "Satisfy", which, with its tapestry of indeterminate arpeggios and EBM-evoking vocals, takes a nervous turn. "The Best" on the B-side is a slab of vigor tailored for the peak time. Set to an effective bass groove, modulated chords, white noise sweeps, delicately mixed moans and bright pads nearly trip one over another. On "Crash Landing On Nimas" B.AI , together with Diego Santana, unleashes a batch of detuned and portamento heavy square wave patterns. The EP, diverse yet balanced, ends on a note so ominous...
microCastle’s first offering of 2024 welcomes Adrian Roman back to the label for his second artist showcase. Hailing from Spain, Adrian Roman first rose to prominence in 2021 with a string of superlative releases which redefined his sound, resulting in an aesthetic that was both cutting edge and effortlessly cool. F, nmully formed within the creative confines of his Castello studio, Adrian’s first microCastle project, 2022’s‘ Disturbing the Perception’ succeeded in showcasing his inventive approach to composition, while remaining club-effective, and in turn earning play from Aera, Fideles and Jimi Jules, amongst others. Moving forward the next eighteen months have proved to be impactful for the young Spaniard, recording standout projects for AZZUR and Sum Over Histories, releases which continued to build on his creative acumen, while remaining in the playlists of underground tastemakers Ame and Dixon. With 2024 beginning with Adrian’s latest Sum Over Histories vehicle ‘Oratorical Ability’, the Spaniard now makes a welcome return to microCastle with a six-track showcase entitled ‘This Is What I Was For A Moment’.
From the opening monochromes of ‘Le Sabbat’ Adrian’s craftsmanship reveals itself across this slow-burning piece, one where grating growls, granular flares and panoramic arps ultimately set the pace for the groove-centric ‘Customized Reality’. It’s here where Adrian puts a greater focus on the dancefloor, marrying hopeful vocal phrasing and silky chord stabs for a rejuvenating experience, while a drum-driven drop ultimately charts the course for a finale of deconstructed sonics and post-rave bliss. The haywire electricity of ‘Faces of Belmez’ finds the Spaniard once again flexing his creative muscles, as corrugated bleeps and cataclysmic rhythms provide a vast sense of space, creating the ultimate backdrop for distorted synths to propel choppy rhythms into dark underground passages, and perhaps onto some of the world’s most adventurous dancefloors.
The collection’s midway point is marked by the hypno-architecture of ‘Mind Design’. Trickling reverberations and long sighs of tonal tension wade through its pulsating framework, with frayed effects and thumping rhythms submerged beneath a buzzing panoramic glow. Played by Ame and sitting as one of the project's most enigmatic tracks is ‘TAGDI’ (They Are Gonna Do It). Tinted with contemplative synths and guttural vocals, Adrian’s unique emotionality peaks here, as he crafts a low-slung, slow-building dystopian romance, all while weaving in cerebral manipulations for an unforgettable ride. The mist breaks instantly on the collection’s final piece, as your thrusted into the muscular grooves of ‘Fear Track’. Horrifying vocal stabs strike, leaving the gauzy purple skies of ‘TAGDI’ behind for a more robust romp, one where anabolic bassline, retro-arps and off kilter percussion bring the release to a feverish peak. A fitting conclusion to a diverse collection of music, one where Adrian creates a journey that speaks to the complexities of life against an immersive and challenging backdrop.
Artwork: Maurcio Seidel
Vinyl only. Limited
Enter the realm of sonic enchantment with Mixcult Records' latest offering, MCRV015 - VA - Tripping Dubs 3. This exquisite 4-track EP features a diverse array of artists, each contributing their unique vision to create an immersive auditory experience.
Arph kicks off the journey with "Forma Trium" (A1), a hypnotic blend of pulsating rhythms and intricate melodies that set the stage for what's to come. As the music unfolds, listeners are transported to a dancefloor drenched in mood and atmosphere, where every beat is a revelation and every note a moment of pure bliss.
Holm Torrance follows suit with "DP1" (A2), a mesmerizing exploration of deep basslines and ethereal textures that unravel like threads in the fabric of sound. With each passing moment, the music draws listeners deeper into its spell, revealing new layers of emotion and intrigue.
On the B side, Overt's "Square" (B1) injects a burst of energy into the mix, with its sharp beats and infectious grooves igniting the senses and driving the mood to new heights. As the colors of the music dance and intertwine, listeners find themselves swept away by the sheer power and intensity of the track.
Closing out the EP is Martin Aquino's "Apex" (B2), a hauntingly beautiful composition that showcases the artist's impeccable production skills and keen sense of melody. As the music unfolds, listeners are taken on a journey through sonic landscapes that shimmer with emotion and depth, leaving them in awe of the sheer talent on display.
Tripping Dubs 3 is more than just a collection of tracks—it's an invitation to explore the boundless possibilities of sound and rhythm, a testament to the transformative power of music. So step into the groove, and let the journey begin.
Dominik Krammer's EP, "The Fields As She Left Me," stands testament to his unique style and profound grasp of electronic music and each track within this collection serves as a portal to the human experience. In this musical journey, Dominik Krammer takes the listener on a relentless ride through the depths of longing and the ecstasy of fulfillment. The EP's four tracks, though diverse in their individual flavors, are interwoven by an undeniable red thread—an overarching conceptual foundation consisting of the complex realm of human emotion, ranging from heart-pounding energy and bittersweet melancholy to raw passion and intense rage.
The EP kicks off with its main track, "The Fields As She Left Me," a sonic journey initiated by ecstatic synths and heavy drumworks that set the pace for what follows. The driving arp and caressing lead of "Nocturnal Desires" embody the ambiguity of being lost and simultaneously feeling at home in the night. "Ketaigel" follows suit, featuring a memorable melody that etches itself into your memory, guiding you through a sinister journey of joy and fulfillment. The remix by David Heine for "Ketaigel" introduces a different sonic sphere compared to the rest of the EP, yet excels in capturing and releasing the fundamental emotional world that defines this musical exploration.
As you immerse yourself in the emotional, melodic, and at times, disorderly soundscape of 'The Fields as She Left Me,' Dominik Krammer's prowess becomes evident. His EP not only resonates on a visceral level but also leaves the audience craving for more.This sonic journey is destined to linger in your memory long after the final note fades away, creating an enduring impact that transcends whatever boundaries of electronic music.




















