Suche:contras

In the Company of Serpents traffic in sonic catharsis. Their music inhabits the strange fringes between sludge metal and sprawling spaghetti western scores, constantly striving for visceral power and raw intensity, contrasted with eerie, spare instrumental passages. Founded in Denver, Colorado in 2011 the band quickly managed to establish a name for themselves. Several releases followed in the years to come and In the Company of Serpents managed to impress the masses on stage as well. Late 2019/early 2020 the band started to work on their album ‘Lux’. It turned out to be one of the most impressive Doom/Sludge Metal albums ever recorded. The band self-released the album in limited edition during 2020 but soon afterwards Petrichor noticed their supreme musical qualities and decided to offer the band a chance to release the album worldwide. A deal was made, hands were shaken and you now all have to face the impending doom before you. The music of In the Company of Serpents is so intense it mimics the gravitational pull of a black hole.

Analha was one of the first approaches I had with the design of analog basses and drums, to understand the way in which we can involve so many sounds and transform them to our own liking, to give it its own narrative, a sense, an identity in which it can be navigated about different styles without problem.

They are two pieces that make up totally different break paths where "Mi ama Dic K no" A1 is my own exploration and vision of the break beat, three melodies written in F # that count the subtlety, while the bass contrasts in an aggressive idea to the beat of many changing rhythms in the drums, which sorfs between a Mpc, 808, Dsm & V Modular ; Classic trip hop voices samples that guide the way this own idea progresses on the breaks and pads that generate a more complete environment with a very energetic atmosphere that is constantly on the rise in the active and natural development of the track.

Towards the B side "Run mami run" B1 is composed by a classic intro of acid cut while some seconds of drums interpose which are accompanied by a radio narration of a chase, a return change is present with a vinyl spin between voices from GTA & WU TANG CLAN which make an intro for an infusion of breaks fully aligned to the beginnings of oldskool drum and bass which are accompanied by voices recorded, treated and edited to connect more directly between the spaces interrupted by the glitch acid chords.

Among contrary structures "Analha" contains hidden but marked criticisms, it is a project that comes from 2018 and ended at the beginning of 2019 which made him think about how to involve more than music within his own sound narrative.

The sonorous identity of rachiid today is different, he understands his environment but does not believe in adapting, he tells us that each exploration and discovery during these years have led him to think how this first release was born until now but is not connected at all with what nowadays, describes his sonority today as changeable, essential and highly with IDM, experimental and breaks.

The core tenets of Morgan Wright's music have long tested club music's context; the rituals and customs that define it, and how each of those genres change once removed from their traditional settings.
It's a space Morgan Wright feels at home in; one where he's constantly asking questions of the structure club music resides within, and what it means to create a new space for familiar sounds. And over the course of his debut album, Class Tourist, Morgan has found new ways to elevate those same questions - whether by way of intention, or a pandemic-induced coping mechanism.
In Class Tourist, Morgan again borrows from familiar strains of the subgenres which have come to form his musical identity. This time, he fuses sounds of post-punk, IDM and breakbeat, hopeful they converge to form a bastardised rendition of the latter, with "Australiana" at its core.
It's a sound that was made possible by a change to his songwriting approach, after pivoting from a loop-based production style - one which he has applied to a slew of other projects, for the better part of five years - to one which lends itself to a more standardised, contemporary format.

Moving through the record, Morgan toys with musical tropes of contrast with a calculated refinement unheard throughout his previous work. The coalescence of melodic optimism and bleak, mournful soundscapes feature on Class Tourist again, as you would expect. But this time, contemporary structure - with the exception of a few songs - along with the features of label-mate, Purient, and frequent collaborator, ENDL355, breathe new life, and even a new genre, into Morgan's work.

in winter 2016, taumel and the ensemble adapter met for several improvisational sessions to develop an evening of music in which the contrasts and boundaries between composition and improvisation, freedom and determination, chaos and structure were to blur or collide. the sessions focused on the development of a specific, sound-gestural musical language. in a way, each musician developed kind of a character on his instrument and its own specific soundgesture. we recorded these sessions and used them as a basis for "in pieces". "in pieces" consists of the remixes of these sessions, as well as additional studio material produced by taumel. "in pieces" can be understood as a sureal sound poem, an abstract sound story that wanders through the most different states - from greatest happiness to frenzy and madness. in the 2 mutating sound fields, the associative story revolves around the theme of linguistic inalienability and thus also around the theme of 'chaos and order'. this ambiguity, the attempt at beauty and its overturning into destruction and failure. attempts at writing, attempts at speaking, stammering, stuttering, screaming, constriction, drifting away, humming... in the mutation of states, heterogeneous sound events meet or are mixed to a new kind of soundmash between song, voices, melody, harmony, instruments, noise, beats, riffs, words, electronics and alienation. the action of the instrumentalists (the instrument playing) is on the same level as any other sound producing action or vocal expression as well as any electronic sound production and is always meant gesturally, performatively, as action, as acoustic dance. "volume one" is the first part of a musical context planned as a two-part work (in pieces - volume two). in two sound parts (side a, side b) "in pieces - volume one" is not a song cycle like our other series, e.g. TRAUM, but rather a musical 2-act, later altogether 4-act. here the overall form of the musical series is not divided into albums and songs, but into albums and their a+b sides, like act 1, 2, 3 and 4. perhaps, therefore, "in pieces" can also be heard as an acoustic theater, or as a radio play without words, or as a soundtrack without a film, or as a film without a picture, or simply as an order of changing sound events . "off the record" in "off the record" taumel meets other musicians and develops albums in collaboration. here different forms of musical interaction can be tried out. in this case of "in pieces" the collaboration with the ensemble adapter consisted in these sessions, which form the basic framework and skeleton for the whole album.

Yellow Vinyl

Next up on Just Jack Recordings mul.apin provides us with 3 contrasting tracks, the rolling infectious beats of 'A moment in Between' take the synths to another level whilst the bass screams 'BIG SYSTEM!!!!' at the top of it voice. A2 ‘From Earth’ is a darker more brooding affair, trippy and with a late night tribal feel but with the dance floor fairly in its sights. One for the more twisted among you!

Finally on the B mul.apin goes deep and techy with some beautiful synth work and his good friend Youandewan smashes the remix out the park as he jacks things up another level for the dancefloor.

Fractal City, the latest Cubenx album is a collection of terrestrial jams and arachnean ambient ballads that are particularly apt for urban listening. If its predecessors cracked the musical codes in force and shone by the versatility of their references, this new opus offers its listener an intense and symbolic sound environment.


The raw material of Fractal City was first conceived as a series of sound patches, designed to run in parallel with Canadian digital artist Maotik's installation. Broadcasted in real-time by generative patches reacting to various external and non-human data, those musical excerpts have been rendered in hundreds of nuances and extended over infinite durations. This unusual approach confers to the recording of the finished album's outstanding immersive strength.

Recorded live on a single track over a short period of a few weeks, the nine compositions of Fractal City capture the obsessions of its author for postmodern urban landscapes, and the revelation of new perspectives on the city of Paris.

The opening piece `Ssarg´ seems to hide the figure of the Mexican ambient producer Jorge Reyes. Cubenx built a cocoon of energetic layers, a new home of the mystical kind harmoniously integrated in a flourishing rainforest ecosystem.

`Transect ´refers to the urban development model of the same name, which is based on a division of the city into autonomous "fractal" zones. It also echoes the concept of "metro polarities" which considers the city as a mosaic of social groups. "By cycling in the evening with a friend, we could get away from the city centre to the suburbs of Paris. The contrasts are striking. You move from chic districts to bedroom communities, from industrial zones to improvised caravan camps. But there is a kind of energy in this heterogeneity that pushes you to always pedal further."

A few miles away, it would look like Art and urbanism have tried to level the cultural and social discrepancies of the outskirts of Paris. "Architectural sites like the Arcades of Bofill are splendid. There are completely extravagant projects, which seem to emerge from nowhere."
These buildings with ambitious aesthetics off the beaten tourist track, deteriorate over time and often remain far from the expectations of the local population. A feeling of nostalgic beauty is particularly perceptible on the slowest and most introspective ballads of the album as 'Urban Decay', 'Hagel' or 'Axe Majeur'. The producer leaves nonetheless no room for melancholic emptiness. "Every time, I have the impression that urban culture is taking its rights back and that young people appropriate the places in one way or another."

Just like `Transect', ` Quantified' and `Fractal City' present themselves as mirrors of a daily urban life in constant motion. All three are empowered by an overheated factory, which dispatches hypnotic beats and burst of analogue compressors with a clinical precision and direct them straight away to the reptilian areas of their listener's brains.

The sequencing leaves however space and time to take breath and makes way for aerial sonic excursions of spiritual and enlightened nature. On `Human Dilemma', Cubenx shows some concerns to opening the Pandora's box of transhumanist theories. While a long cosmic wave gives the listener a feeling of perfect fullness, a dizzying guitar distortion cast doubts on long term outlooks. `Smash Other' on the other way alternates gentle dissonances over an ocean of white noise and concludes the album on ethereal note.

With ´Fractal City", Cubenx eludes his irreconcilable love for shoegaze pop song and techno to concentrate exclusively on the production of mutant experimental materials. The result is an uncanny musical object, rich in image and sensation. Cubenx give us a guiding framework, enthralling enough to engage the listener to a tour of town. But he leaves it to the sole listeners to design their own projection of the city.

Over the last 3 years, original 90’s D&B imprint Odysee has been steadily building its profile, both through its ‘Remix/Remaster’ series as well as a growing number of new releases. Label Partner Andy Odysee continues to develop his own unique sound with this third solo E.P. All three tracks work together as a triptych, whilst simultaneously maintaining their own unique identity.

Ruthless (In Purpose): Insidious (In Design) immediately establishes an ominous mood of brooding menace with its creeping bass stabs. As the drums enter, the track builds towards a drop of deep subs and driving breakbeat fury, punctuated by the ripped synth basses and curling drum edits that are fast becoming characteristic of Andy’s productions. There are subtle nods to the later Hokusai releases such as Sculptures Hide and even Black Domina; with eerie chiff-flute phrases, and those signature Mirage-style film-noire and dark avant-garde Jazz sounds nestling amongst the tapestry of beats and basslines.

As a contrast, Provocateur has a sweeter, almost sexier feel. A dreamy oscillating pad soon gives way to razor-sharp curling Jazz breaks and deep subs. The vocals border on the ‘saucy’ with their tantalising suggestions of ‘who thinks the technique is to make love to me’ and ‘the sexiest thing about me is my a**!’ There is a subtle darkness nonetheless to this track, with its plethora of dark film-noire samples. Although the framework of breaks & bass is strident enough for the dance floor, it is also the kind of track that is loaded with all those little production details that will reveal something fresh with each hearing.

The third track Status Anxiety is a frenetic, tense piece of music. Underpinned by a relentless bass synth stab that slips and slides throughout the track, the drum patterns are more elaborate, cutting between several different breaks, with abrupt stops to expose dark string sweeps, hammered Rhodes strikes and shimmering china cymbals. Again there is a subtle reference to the Hokusai releases, but with a fresh twist on that darker Jazz-infused style of Breakbeat D&B.

DJ Support
Source Direct, Law & Ben Repertoire, Mister Shifter, Basic Rhythm, Voodoo & Sensenet

Bonander is the shorthand for Ellinor Sterner Bonander. Sporting the role
of musician, arranger and producer, the native Swede is a woman
unchained, injecting darkness into the vein of candied pop with her tropes
of existentialism and feminist revolt.
Following the arc of ‘Backseat’ and ‘Martha’, Bonander’s latest single, ‘Gone
In The Wind’ leads the way for the album with its emotional outpour of lost
sisterhood. Tribal thrashes of drums, pipe organ and soaring vocals combine to
manifest the pain and frustration at the heart of the song.
She says, “The song is about abandonment of a person who’s been like a sister
to you, someone you admire and cherish... The pipe organ and strings are the
most emotional instrumentation I can think of. They represent that suppressed
feeling of anger and frustration, that later in the song is set free.”
The album tells the stories of women both from history and her personal life
whose contributions have previously been overlooked.
“The idea for the album is to create a musical, cinematic and dramatic journey
full of contrast between intimate string sections and huge synth landscapes,
between mechanical rhythms and flowing tempos.
The lyrics will together speak of the identities and emotional life of different
women, both through private and historical perspectives. All of the songs discuss subjects concerning women that ought to be talked about more, but sadly
are not...” // Bonander

During the 1950s, ‘Father of Exotica’ Martin Denny helped American audiences expand their horizons by incorporating Asian, Polynesian, and Latin instrumentation into his group’s easy-listening repertoire, along with birdcalls and other sounds, spawning a new genre that took the nation by storm; he toured South America and had a residency in Hawaii earlier on, embedding such elements. Third LP Primitiva is a total delight, Julius Wechter’s vibes and marimba contrasting Tak Shindo’s koto and August Colon’s Latin percussion; ‘M’bira’ and ‘Mau Mau’ draw us to Africa, ‘Llama Serenade’ to Peru and ‘Bangkok Cockfight’ to Thailand, the closing ‘Jamaica Farewell’ a reconfigured Caribbean sunset. Strap in and enjoy this wild, mild ride!

Natalie Chami and Whitney Johnson perform as a duo under the
name Damiana.
Both artists have built their own catalogs as multi-instrumentalist improvisers
and composers in the Chicago experimental scene, exploring the intersections
between ambient, electro-acoustic improv, and more legible songcraft based
around their voices and their work with synths and electronics -- all filtered
through their backgrounds in classical performance and education.
Chami’s solo recordings under the TALsounds moniker have appeared on labels
such as NNA Tapes, and Ba Da Bing!, and her collaborative projects include
the trio Good Willsmith. Johnson has released a series of solo LPs as Matchess
on the label Trouble in Mind, and has contributed to recordings and live performances by Ryley Walker, Circuit Des Yeux, and Tortoise’s 20th anniversary
performances of TNT, among other artists.
After meeting in the early 2010s, Chami and Johnson embarked on multiple US
tours together, and their informal duo collaborations naturally crystallized over
time into the Damiana project The duo’s debut album Vines presents their first
recordings after years of live sets and home recording sessions.
The album strikes a balance between the realms of deliberate compositional
sculpting and free-form improvisation, as Damiana’s evolving sessions of looping synth phrases and harmonized vocal lines emphasize austere beauty and
meditation as much as spectral disorientation and instrumental complexity.
While the tracks on Vines create the illusion at any given moment of a standing
cloud, often colored by Johnson’s lush viola and Chami’s effect-manipulated
electronics, a zoomed out perspective of each session reveals an undulating
story arc with contrasting emotional resonances and constantly shifting timbral
focus.
Treading the line between transportive stasis and upward motion, the duo has
honed their sense of when to push forward with a new texture or melodic
flourish without disrupting the atmospheres that they meticulously build together. Packaging: LP Black vinyl. Artwork by Heather Gabel (from the band
HIDE). Manufactured at 8Merch in Poland.

The Staples do it again with another Ska classic that is guaranteed to get you singing along. This song is something of a good time anthem with happy vibes contrasting with some of the negatives that are around right now. With this song Neville and Sugary Staple really know how to put a smile on people’s faces. I can see this becoming a live favourite.

Dr Pete Chambers BEM, Coventry Observer

My goodness, the best of two huge talents. Husband and wife team Sugary & Neville Staple haven’t disappointed again! Feel good ska-based melody, toe-tapping and butt-shakingly good!TRISH ADUDU, BBC RADIO CWR

Well known for changing the face of music not once, but three times, 2Tone music legend Neville Staple (From the Specials), also known as the ‘Original Rude Boy’ and his super sidekick wife, Sugary Staple, release their brand new song, ‘Be Free Baby’, on the highly respected, Pickout Records.

A super ska track which mixes the original influences of Jamaican sounds, along with the 2Tone style that this dynamic ska duo, take on tour with them globally, alongside their top band of musicians.

Written by Neville Staple, who has scores of music awards from 40 years of 2Tone & Ska hits and albums, and his super talented sidekick, Sugary Staple and acclaimed record producer Lloyd ‘Pickout’ Dennis this song is a truly happy song, to take our minds away from the difficult days of Covid lockdowns, into a party mood of freedom and dancing. Fans will love the irresistible skanking beat, along with super feel-good lyrics to sing along to.

“After recently writing a song about the Lockdown, which related to the tough days of staying home and following rules and so on, I decided we needed some uplifting music too.” Explained Sugary, Frizzle TV Award Winner and Skamouth Festival Founder. “There is so much doom and gloom about in the news and we know how music can really be so good for the human soul. This tune has a lot of love and feeling behind it, as it encompasses all the fun, freedom and thrills that we have on stage, when we perform live. A whole year of global touring has been postponed, so we put the vibrance of a live show into this song.

Neville agrees, “I love writing with Sugary, as we are both on the same wavelength. We feed off each other. We were both in need of getting out there and performing for the masses but have had all our 2020 shows moved to next year, so we decided to bring the party to everyone through this song. We love the traditional sound and the bluebeat vibes too, with a twist of 2Tone magic. It makes me think about our holidays back home in Jamaica and beach parties, street carnivals, gigs and festivals. This is a happy tune for dancing away the blues!”

In 2020, 4AD turned 40. Never one to be on time for a party, the label is
commemorating that landmark this year with the release of ‘Bills & Aches & Blues’.
The compilation features 18 of its current artists covering a song of their
choosing from 4AD’s past: a creative experiment rooted in the spirit of
collaboration and a snapshot of 4AD, 41 years after its inception.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ will be released on double CD and double LP. The
first 12 months’ profits from ‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ will be donated to The
Harmony Project, a Los Angeles-based after-school programme for children
from communities and schools that lack equitable access to studying the arts
or music.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’’ 18 recordings contain fascinating connections
between artist and track. The earliest song chosen (by U.S. Girls) is The
Birthday Party’s ‘Junkyard’, from 1981; the most recent are the two Grimes
covers (‘Genesis’ and ‘Oblivion’, respectively by Spencer. and Dry Cleaning)
from 2012. Suitably, for the one band that bridges 4AD past and present, The
Breeders are all over ‘Bills And Aches And Blues. They’re covered three
times - ‘Cannonball’ by Tune-Yards, ‘Mountain Battles’ by Bradford Cox of
Deerhunter and ‘Off You’ by Big Thief, whilst The Breeders cover ‘The Dirt
Eaters’ by their ‘90s contemporaries His Name Is Alive.
Landmark songs such as ‘Cannonball’, ‘Song To The Siren’ and Pixies’
‘Where is My Mind?’ will feel comfortable to casual fans, however by
contrast, much joy can be found in the album’s surprise choices, such as Air
Miami’s ‘Seabird’ and the Lush B-side ‘Sunbathing’, covered respectively by
new signings Maria Somerville and Jenny Hval.
‘Bills & Aches & Blues’ is named, arguably (as Elizabeth Fraser never
published the lyrics), after the opening line of Cocteau Twins ‘CherryColoured Funk’. Perhaps too unique and uncoverable in their own right, their
legendary take on Tim Buckley’s ‘Song To The Siren’, under the name This
Mortal Coil (along with Buckley’s pre-Starsailor acoustic version) informs
SOHN’s cover.
Some tracks unearth hitherto hidden shared DNA, such as Future Islands’
and Colourbox’s ‘The Moon Is Blue’; other tracks are more akin to
reinvention. Aldous Harding distils the melodic essence of Deerhunter’s
‘Revival’ and recasts it in her own uncanny image. U.S. Girls’ future-disco
‘Junkyard’ and Bing & Ruth’s neo-classical instrumental ‘Gigantic’ are even
more radical interpretations. Leading off the album, Tkay Maidza brings both
her Art Rap and R&B game, but also an unexpected ‘80s synth pop template,
to Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind?’, a perfect title for these chaotic times.

Acid Dad is an American alternative-rock band composed of singer-guitarists, Vaughn Hunt and Sean Fahey, and drummer, Trevor Mustoe. Vaughn first started recording the band in his Bushwick, NY basement releasing singles “Brain Body” and their first EP “Let’s Plan a Robbery.” Appearing live in the New York City rock scene in 2016, Acid Dad quickly moved to a world stage with their self-titled debut album, released by Greenway Records in 2018. During 2020, the band spent their time building a new studio space in Queens, NY, while continuing to independently produce all their own music, art and even building their own guitars. With a new space and vision, the band produced their second LP, “Take It From The Dead,” set to be co-released in June 2021 by Brooklyn’s Greenway Records and psych powerhouse LEVITATION’s label, The Reverberation Appreciation Society. “Take It From The Dead” features an array of different influences ranging from 90’s neo-psych, modern post-punk and 70’s rock-n-roll. Acid Dad has crafted a record that sounds new, yet feels nostalgic. In contrast to their earlier work, they make use of slower tempos and expand their sound to include songs that are both more intricate and more hypnotic. To accompany the new record, the band spent the last year collaborating with video artist Webb Hunt, producing psych and glitch art videos that form a visual counterpart to the dreamy distortions of their sound. Take It From The Dead is out June 11th via Greenway Records / The Reverberation Appreciation Society on Deluxe LP & CD.

For more than five decades, John McLaughlin has deployed his peerless guitar technique, compositional gifts, and imagination in service of a deeply personal higher calling, forging a vast legacy unmatched in improvised music. Now as the world reels from the toll of the ongoing viral-induced global lockdown, McLaughlin reflects on both the perils and potential of this challenging moment with ‘Liberation Time’. Characterised by both joy and reflection, ‘Liberation Time’ finds McLaughlin harnessing his frustrations and redirecting that energy. “The result,” he explains in a candid liner note, “was an explosion of music in my mind.”. Unusual for McLaughlin’s recent projects, ‘Liberation Time’ is not the work of one fixed ensemble. With physical proximity no longer a prerequisite, McLaughlin drew upon decades of experience as a bandleader to select musicians best suited to each composition. “That is a choice that can only be made correctly if you know how the musicians play,” he explains. “Not just how well they play technically, but how they play intuitively. Only then can you make the right decisions.” “As the Spirit Sings” introduces the album by contrasting churning rhythmic tension (stoked by drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bassist Sam Burgess) with McLaughlin’s soaring guitar figure - all underpinned by Gary Husband’s subtle,expansive piano. Knotty post-bop figures form the basis of “Right Here, Right Now, Right On,” one of the most jazz-inflected performances McLaughlin has laid down in some time, featuring Nicolas Viccaro (drums), Jerome Regard (bass), Julian Siegel (tenor saxophone), and Oz Ezzeldin (piano). It is impossible to ignore the profound brotherhood that exists between the members of 4th Dimension - McLaughlin’s current ensemble, which includes Husband along with Etienne Mbappe (bass) and Ranjit Barot (drums). They are featured on the soulful “Lockdown Blues,” a playful refraction examination of blues tropes first released last summer to benefit the Jazz Foundation of America.

Bertrand Burgalat's first album 'The Sssound of Mmmusic', also known as TSOM, is released in an expanded reissue, twenty-one years after its first publication, on June 12th 2021 for the Record Store Day. Bertrand Burgalat combines lush arrangements, dreamy atmospheres and pop culture with class and humor.



In 2000, Bertrand Burgalat decided to evolve openly by releasing his first solo album 'The Sssound of Mmmusic' which had been in the works since the creation of the label 5 years earlier. This album, a true melancholic and sensual sonorama, reveals the very essence of Burgalat's art, fragile, nuanced, with a rare humility. Dotted with banjos and club bass, cascades of synthetic strings and soprano saxophone, geisha choirs and unblocked beats, 'The Sssound of Mmmusic' appears as a contrasting work where opposites unite in perfect alchemy.



Accompanied by previously unreleased tracks for the first time on vinyl, the album features songs like 'Gris métal' with a text by Michel Houellebecq, 'Vision of Love' his cover of Mariah Carey, or 'Kim' five minutes of intoxicating music.

Etruria Beat founder Luca Agnelli unveils his long-awaited debut album, ‘Source Drops’ – presenting a ten-track journey through techno and beyond.
A name at the centre of Italy’s rich house and techno scene for over a decade, Etruria Beat head-honcho Luca Agnelli continues to showcase his talent as a leading DJ, producer and label boss on the international stage. With releases via a host of globally renowned labels, plus standout remixes including Moby’s iconic ‘Porcelain’, the Tuscany native’s reputation has seen him become of the genre’s leading artists when combining energetic, entrancing productions throughout his powerful DJ sets. Yet, the core of his work has always found a perfect home on his own Etruria Beat imprint, with July now welcoming the arrival of his highly-anticipated debut album ‘Source Drops’ – an in-depth musical story presenting growth, development, self-reflection and raw emotions via a collection of ten tracks ranging from powerful peak-time anthems through to EBM influenced cuts and slower, hypnotic productions.
“This is the journey that traces my musical evolution of the last 20 years, discovering more conceptual, deeper musical territories; taking inspiration from what influenced me in my career as a DJ and from my continuous research without musical barriers. A journey always in equilibrium, at times dark and sharp, solar and fluid, that develops a different creative vision in each track trying to convey my most intimate and strongest emotions". – Luca Agnelli
Opening via the slow-blooming builds and atmospheric and waves of ‘Black Mirror’, before diving into the heady and menacing tones of ‘Mutant Circle’, the ten-track project quickly showcases a wide-reaching range of influences and nuances central to Agnelli’s development as an artist over his career. Productions such as ‘Balance’ and ‘Oxigen’ contrast with one another whilst bringing space to proceedings, guided by breaks-influenced percussion, minimal arrangements and warping leads, whilst the driving ‘Resistance’ harnesses classic techno tendencies to provide an energetic and lively, snaking journey through rich soundscapes.
Title cut ‘Source Drops’ brings that trademark Luca Agnelli energy to the heart of the project, merging scintillating melodies, acid-tinged stabs and icy hats to unveil a high-octane ride into the peak-time, whilst ‘Raw Surface’ keeps the tempo high with sweeping leads, oscillating basslines and resonant lasers. Next, ‘Omega’ spirals into an off- kilter ride through glitchy echoed vocals, crunchy percussion and rumbling low-ends, with the epic ‘Losing Control’ welcoming an infectious lead melody at its core guided by punchy kicks and slick drum licks. To close, the package veers to an eerie yet ethereal close as hazy, celestial vocal chants meet panning sirens and swooping electronics – punctuating an expansive and diverse offering from the Italian favourite and shaping up an impressive debut LP in the process.

Hailing from Rotterdam, DJ Crisps returns to Time Is Now with another hot and heavy four tracker, teasing experimental genre play on the newest addition to his fast-growing discography. This exciting collection of modern garage reinventions is not to be missed.

No Dirty Money EP showcases DJ Crisps' clever production style, a mix of drama and fun; "Don't Need No Dirty Money" kicks the record off with staccato minimalist percs that have a metallic edge, effervescent vocal samples contrasting the momentous sub bass. "Dynamic Reflections" creates an icier soundscape, juxtaposed arpeggios echoing each other across a calm, deep bassline and cavernous pads - gentle, but still alive and kicking.

Lazy sax and ghostly pads open the expansive B side; "Release the Pain" then flips the energy with a Niche style bassline and cheeky garage synths. The jazz samples remain to create a real fusion sound. To end, "Sweet Melodies" pairs dirty garage with funk n soul, chopped up vocals and a classic James Brown sample making this high energy track even more vibrant - a joyous end to the EP

Ex-Voto is the first page in a new story, where French techno artist Nao Nhil looks inwards to find pools of sonic hypnosis. Taking inspiration from both techno and ambient music, Nao Nhil explores the outer reaches of contemporary, dancefloor expression, striking a delicate balance between body and mind. Contrasts between percussive roughness and slick execution, or between brooding darkness and beams of radiance, colour the sound and hold your gaze. The pristine techno construction of "Ex-Voto" tunnels deep into Nao Nhil's core, unearthing the roots from which the laser-cut drone of "Primal Atom" and the stepping kaleidoscope of "Psylle" were born.

Up to kick off 2021 in the most adequately frenzied, thoroughly corrosive fashion, DDS04 serves up a quintet of chrome-tanned, hi-velocity beats courtesy of Italian hardware fetishist Anna Funk Damage (previously heard on the likes of Mind Records, Lux Rec, Lazy Tapes and more) and Austrian-Hungarian outfit Dutch Courage - alias Superskin & Új Bála - each of whom step up to the plate to deliver an exquisitely ear-wormy slice of their deranged industrial gospel.

A-side starts off to the sound of AFD's hard bouncin' "48 Hours Death" - a raw-cooked deluge of head-reducing EBM grit, flaring binary signals and Giallo-infused arpeggios out a blood-stained Suspirian tale. Fear for the deadly scalp hunters lurking in the club's darkest nooks, they've just sniffed out your trail.

Brutal churner "Youssef" picks up the torch and pulls out the quake-inducing breaks without further ado, dressed out with languorous Orientalistic melodies and steely distortions tailored to bend mind by the dozens. Forged in the furnace, the full-out punk-minded "I Come From Fire" rounds off the side on a drum and bass-heavy note, drawing as much from 60s psych-garage as it does from 80s deconstructionist tape music.

Flip sides and here's Budapest unit Dutch Courage taking the reins with the off-kilter treat "Hand Of The Sword" - navigating a weird zone of its own, floating astride post-apocalyptic Bristol bass, sliced-and-diced abstraction and overly textured yet equally bone-bruising riddims.

Wrapping up the journey with both force and serenity, "Neo-Soulmates" follows a similar path with its warped synth flexions and raucous machine cries making the rounds from one end of the spectrum to the other effortlessly, merging to give birth to something genetically contrasting from any contemporary. A most fitting finale to an EP that celebrates and encourages sonic bizarro in all its forms and manifestations.

Made during summer 2020, Loraine James’ second Hyperdub album, ‘Reflection’, is a turbulent expression of inner-space, laid out in unflinching honesty, offering gentle empathy and bitter-sweet hope. ‘Reflection’ further develops a unique pop sensibility realised on last year’s ‘Nothing EP’, while tones of Drill and R&B seep through into this collection too. In contrast to the brash splashes of 2019’s ‘For You And I’ LP and the grimey anger of ‘Nothing’, ‘Reflection’ is pared-down and confident, taking the listener through how last year felt as a young black queer woman in a world that has suddenly stopped moving, the arc of the album peppered with Loraine's diaristic confessions. Starting positively with the gentle pop-trap of ‘Built To Last’ ft Xzavier Stone, into the bumpy instrumental of ‘Let's Go’, the album switches tone with ‘Simple Stuff’, followed by regular collaborator Le3 bLACK amplifying Loraine's vulnerability on the downcast drill of ‘Black Ting’, then ‘Insecure Behaviour And Fuckery’ is a techno glide which pairs Nova's confrontational plea for respect, delivered in monotone autotune, against deep Drexciyan chords. With Baths on vocals, the weightlessness of ‘On The Lake Outside’ soothes numb feelings, and Eden Samara explores the shadow world of anxious dreams on the airy R&B of ‘Running Like That’. Closing track ‘We're Building Something New’ with Manchester rapper Iceboy Violet brings the album together, confidently suggesting a new world is in reach. ‘Reflection’ is a brave step forward for a unique and creative 21st century musician.