quête:control z

“Media Burn” is the debut EP by TOTEM – 4 succinct slabs of industrial electronics and rhythmic noise forged in the spirit of hardcore punk. The project is loosely based on themes of media consumption, symbolism, illusions, and control. The artist embraces an austere process born of limited means: samples mangled beyond recognition and rearranged according to some obscure logic.

The results are self-described as “industrial skronk” – sculptures made entirely from audio debris that had another life, now twisted and repurposed by an unseen hand into something new and unfamiliar.

Das Dessauer Harzfein-Kollektiv meldet sich mit der ElectroEP "Phasen und Frequenzen" zurück. Die 6 Songs zwischen
klassischem Electrofunk, Breaks, 808-Trap-Beats, VocoderVocals und Scratches sind in Zusammenarbeit von DJ Magic
Mayer mit Magnetic Bass Force, Chris Bert und Selecta Ras
entstanden. Seit 1992 ist Harzfein ein Netzwerk kreativer
Akteure aus verschiedenen musikalischen Genres des HipHop.
Ein Großteil dieses Netzwerks zählt bereits seit Beginn der
1980er Jahre zu den Pionieren der HipHop-Kultur in der
ehemaligen DDR. Seit 1994 veröffentlicht Harzfein in immer
wieder unterschiedlichen Konstellationen Schallplatten als
Beleg einer stets lebendigen Idee: sich gemeinschaftlich
musikalisch frei ausleben und ausdrücken zu wollen.

Kniteforce and Just Another Label (owner of the Bear Necessities Sub Label) have been friends since the early 90’s, so when JAL wanted to remaster and repress some old and much sought after classic EPs, it was only natural for Kniteforce to take on that roll. Here we have the third of those EPs, and its another one that many have been looking to get hold of for a long time! A timeless old skool EP and one that has been high on many a collectors wants list for decades!

Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others

Kniteforce and Just Another Label (owner of the Bear Necessities Sub Label) have been friends since the early 90’s, so when JAL wanted to remaster and repress some old and much sought after classic EPs, it was only natural for Kniteforce to take on that roll. Here we have the fourth of those EPs, and it’s a 4 track stunner that many have been looking to get hold of for a long time! A timeless old skool EP and one that has been high on many a collectors wants list for decades!

Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others

Yes, we know the soul and funk world of the glory days, big labels, radio shows and bands amid a social context of segregation. A context that starts becoming less important when this music genre enters the mainstream in the late 70’s to eventually fade away at a fast pace in the 80’s until its complete disappearance in the 90’s and beyond. This time though, we dive a bit deeper into the hoods, because the social context of today ain’t no greatly different and it has its very own music, deeply rooted in the sounds of the early days, although more immediate and dense of beats and urban feel.

We are in Chicago, a place where every 2 hours someone is shot, and every 14 hours someone is murdered. It ain’t no Iraq or Afghanistan but one of the biggest and most sophisticated cities in the world. In the city’s west and south sides, which are considered the heart of Black America, gang rivalry is tearing its people apart. It has become so brutal that both police and perpetrators agree that this urban warfare is out of control. I started this release process after Yann sent me an heads up on this song and it took me most part of last year to build some mutual trust with Lay Lemons aka Biggz from North Lawndale, main area in the west side of the city and one of the most dangerous places in the world. When I first contacted him, Lay was having a hard time (and still does) as his daughter Raven was caught innocent in a gang shooting crossfire.

After the following investigation, the FBI (yes, big gangs are federal business) arrested and charged some members of The Four Corners Hustlers, yet Raven’s murder has no responsible and Lay suddenly lost his daughter overnight in the summer of 2017. He simply couldn’t concentrate on music, and the silly requests from a mad Italian with his crooked english were probably sounding to him like aliens speaking from outer space. I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Lay’s cousin, sound engineer and recording studio owner living today in Detroit, so accept my gratitude Mr. Tony Amos.

Lay Lemons has never been involved with gangs nor was Raven, nowhere near that business. They are people of music, family and religion trying to survive in one of worlds toughest places. This song, its vibe, the beats, the voice... Are coming straight out of their hood, written around a fire bin on the side of the street and put together with 3 instruments. It has no chorus, it’s verses all the way through, it is a kind of prayer to the unknown in the hope of salvation through everyday strength.

Lay Lemons I salute you.

Sotomayor is the electronic music project with afro latin influence by siblings Raul (music production) and Paulina (vocals). It is a dance music project that fuses rhythms like cumbia, afro beat, dancehall, Peruvian "chicha" and merengue with futuristic electronic beats.

The band debuted in 2015 with "Salvaje," an album that allowed them to perform in several festivals around the globe in countries like England, US, Mexico and Colombia.

The album received excellent reviews from foreign media in countries like Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Chile, United States and Colombia. They also appeared in more than 25 lists of the best of the year from medias from all around the world. 2020 will see the release of "Orígenes" their 3rd studio album trough the NY based label Wonderwheel Recordings.

This album was recorded between Mexico and Puerto Rico, and was produced by the 28 times Grammy Winner Eduardo Cabra aka "Visitante" from the legendary band "Calle 13." In this production Sotomayor explores a new Afro Caribbean vision in the music, much more dance floor focused, and highly influenced by percussion

The first release under Richard Wilson's Rognvald alias kickstarts the new WIFE series with four solid punches of breakfueled rave mania. The pitch black title track "R.O.G.N.V.A.L.D" serves as a fierce introduction to his fresh material with its epic scale combination of relentless drum work and meticulous arrangement. Up next is the hefty chunk of "Whistle Posse", all rude basslines and rave whistles finely tuned for maximum dancefloor damage.

"Lowcol Junglist" opens the B-side with it's masterfully slick drum control and enormous bass drops followed by the subterranean drum hypnosis of closer "Asbiorn". This is bass charged jungle warfare apparatus with a modern ruffneck flex from a man who knows how to murder the dance with precision.

'P&F Recordings' returns with it’s fourth release. This time they are coming at you straight outta NAPOLI, ITALY with a four track EP by MILORD (known to many as one half of the duo “The Normalmen” and one-third of “The Mystic Jungle Tribe”).

M • E • T • A / M • U • S • I • C is one part vintage library-music studio wizardry another part lowkey house. Imagine a slinky G-funk synth at a new-age retreat, a spacey kraut jam at an eighties video arcade - all at once familiar, yet unglued from any particular moment in time.

DJ SUPPORT: “Bro, I’m finding it hard to control the sunset with this damn Japanese remote,” said Crockett. “Can you lend me a hand?” Tubbs side-eyed with extreme shade and replied, “You’re such a k-hole, dude, that’s not a remote. It’s the car phone and you’ve been staring at it for an hour. Put that shit down and let’s hit the sauna.”

-Lovefingers (ESP Institute)

Meditative sunset sounds I could also use whilst taking an Epsom bath or a Hawaiian hike at dawn. Artwork also 10/10 another epic release from my fave new label.

-Danny McLewin (Psychemagik)

Thanks for the music - its right up me alley. I’m also already a fan of Mystic Jungle Tribe and Normalmen, so that is a formula I can definitely chemicalize with.

- Dreems (Multi-Culti)

Worked this album in the studio with Milord and I never got sick of listening to the tracks! "The kemetist" brings me in that fabolous druggy-place I would like to be at every weekend …
- Manny Whodamanny (Periodica - Naples IT)

The Death To Digital series comes to a (perhaps temporary) end with volume 5. And what a way to end, with four slamming tracks that maintain the original concept of diversity in style while staying true to the Kniteforce ethos of, well diversity and style!”. Sunny & Deck Hussy drop a traditional styles beakbeat piano anthem, while Shadowplay brings something that is not quite everything. Abyss shocks us all by making something a little happier than usual while retaining the heaviest of beats and bass, and Idealz brings a rolling, thoughtful d’n’b tinges lick to close the series. Big stuff.

Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others

'WRWTFWW Records' is insanely excited to announce the first ever vinyl release of Tom Raybould’s award-winning movie soundtrack for excellent AI-themed sci-fi thriller The Machine (2013). The limited edition LP boasts 16 superb tracks and is housed in a special glow in the dark sleeve.

"Tom Raybould’s Music For The Machine Is Amazing" - Bloody Disgusting.

Undoubtedly one of the greatest (and most overlooked) movie scores of the 2010's, The Machine finds its influences in the works of John Carpenter, Vangelis, Brad Fiedel, and Tangerine Dream, but presents its own unique twist, one that cleverly evokes the thin line between man and machine that haunts the whole film.

Cold and tenacious rhythms suggest mechanical killer instincts, brooding synths crystallize the fear of an AI-controlled future, but the warm and gentle sounds of guitar and piano ease the tension and bring hope of humanity. From its menacing introduction to it's tender ending, Tom Raybould’s masterwork ingenuously blends ambient, electronic, neoclassical, and synthwave to recontextualize and upgrade the classic 80's sci-fi movie score template, holding it's own against mammoth soundtracks like Blade Runner or The Terminator. Truly.

Cold with a touch of humanity like the perfect machine, Tom Raybould’s movie score won the BAFTA Cymru award for Best Original Music in 2013.

When was the last time EDMX served you what you expected? Maybe you drop the needle down in anticipation of some slick boogie-inflected synth pop and get walloped in the face with hellfire techno. Perhaps you were itching for body-popping electro and got cerebrally hijacked by pagan coldwave.

On this latest magnum opus, his first on Queen Nanny. Ed Upton is in the mood to get down low in every sense of the word. On the frequency range, this is a record dripping with lard-fed bass at every turn. The arrangements too are devilishly low in channel count – raw riddims with just a few key ingredients to do the necessary damage. Then there are the tempos, which predominantly set cruise control at 90 BPM and glide.

It’s not hard to tell where EDMX’s inspiration has sparked from on this album – in the spirit of celebrating the compatability of oddball sonics from all corners of the globe, he’s patched his sound into a specific vibe and struck gold with some of the most distinctive riddims you’re likely to hear all year.

A really, banging hardcore sound! At the frontier of 'Raw and Gabber' . Defenilty a rare style nowaday on, vinyl! Get your chance to catch one! ...This LP, regular pressed & designed on Green Coloured Vinyl.

Stargazer is a huge tune beloved by ravers all over the world, but for a long time the rights to it were in legal limbo. Kniteforce/KFA un-limbo-ed them to create this superb EP of remixes, featuring the classic original, the also classic Reese remix, a fresh new … err … old take by Dj Luna-C, and a proper tough remix from Audio-X. All in all, this single record covers everything anyone could want in an EP …

Club/DJ Support: Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Liquid, Hyper On Experience, Ant To Be, Ponder, and ... many others.

A multifaceted and detached balancing act between
electronica and breakbeats, with a touch of minimalist
elements and spherical sounds, describes the first release on
NL by the currently living in Leipzig, Natalie Luengo. In her
early youth infected with house and techno, she simply never
gets tired of this long-standing double relationship. A touch of
breaky grooves and acid with a breeze of electro and provided
with melodic elements define their mixes and productions.

This double 10" vinyl features some absolutely enormous remixes that are not to be missed! Hamilton (Dj Ham) steps up to the plate and delivers a blisteringly dark remix of an already dark tune. Tough and rough, this one has a bassline that shakes the speakers to death and is built to last in his customary RAM records style.
Abyss gives us a glorious old skool drum and bass remix, in line with the 1994 sound, full on amen cuts, heavy sines and deep atmospherics.
Lowercase and Psycangle move the whole track into early 90's Ruffneck Records / Malice territory, with a furious old skool gabber remix, hard as nails and noisy as hell.
But perhaps the best is saved for last, because Sunny & Deck Hussy do the near impossible and take a dark tune and flip it on its head, making it euphoric and deep without losing the essential character of the original.

Club / DJ Support
Shimon, Andy C, Randall, Ray Keith, Chase 7 Status, Zinc, Jack Frost, Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Liquid, Hyper On Experience, Ant To Be, Ponder and many others

The hyper talneted Stellar Om Source (NOT NOT FUN, RVNG, NO 'LABEL) blowing up new styles on this one!

"If there is one thing that leaps out from Stellar OM Source’s music, it is the sense of a highly active mind at work. There is an indivisible feeling that a real person is behind this dynamic flurry of tones, waves, vibrations and modulations. On I See Through You, the first full Stellar OM Source release in over four years, the spark that first LP piqued the interest of so many listeners is glowing stronger than ever.

In the 2010's, Christelle Gualdi carved a name as one of the most essential live electronic musicians around, dazzling dancers and home listeners in kind with her bombastic, acidic hardware jams. Circumstances outside her control forced a stop for the Stellar OM Source project. It was touring, including two shows in the summer of 2019 at Dekmantel Festival and Listen! that Gualdi credits as year highlights, which proved to be the integral jump-start to the engine.

Inspiration came rushing back thanks to the human connection of performing. Seeing a younger generation connect with her put fresh charge into the circuitry of her gear. All this accrued into new material on the road, and thus I See Through You was born.

The spirit of 2013’s cult favourite Joy One Mile is alive and well on I See Through You. There is once again immediacy, urgency and lust. But Stellar OM Source stepping into a comparatively more poppy and playful mode on these four tracks could also throw some. Fundamentally she says, it comes from a similar place, and ends with an enmeshed and positive outcome. Gualdi credits both “1995 rave” and “the clarity, bass and breath” of hi-def hip-hop productions as being twin northern stars for her to follow.

The artwork comes from friend and highly respected photographer & director Pierre Debusschere, whose work similarly flits between arresting close-ups and, well, the widescreen luxe of Beyoncé videos. “I’m definitely not a purist anymore,” Gualdi laughs – and with club-ready impact meeting human warmth, this shows in abundance.

“Night Alone” wastes no time in getting the listener up to speed. Is that an LFO sample running through “Night Alone”? Is this a lost Metro Area classic? Is that Stellar OM Source taking a diversion into searching Ibiza-rousing vocal for a moment, or did we imagine that in a heat haze? Where are the kicks? Oh there they are. How many elements are buried and revived within just over five minutes?
It’s hard to tell. Before we know it, “Lost Codes” is up and away, keeping pulses racing. A pitter-patter of baby kicks feel like a pre-tremor before a welting electro-Italo lead crashes into play. With fizzing energy, rasping synths and a frisson of danger, fans of Unit Moebius and The Hacker will be doing somersaults of joy.

“White Echoes” wastes kicks off the flip side with low gurgles descending briefly like a UFO reverse parking into the spot SOS had vacated. Soon, 303s are twisting like Chinese burns while warm chords offer a salve. The mood maintains on “Wild Palms”, the only song on this record not to feature additional mixing work from Peaking Lights’ dub-wise sensei Aaron Coyes.

True to form, the B2 is all Stellar: elements switching up and out, with all the fun and frenzy of capital-L Live action. Kick drums and bassline darting back and forth like a synchronised swimming routine, all elements in concert. The momentum of a runaway mine cart that you can’t help but strap yourself to. I See Through You is one for the dancers who have given Stellar OM Source the motive to move forward once again."

“We seem to be caught! Trapped, somehow…”
Published for the first time on audio, Demon Records presents a narrated full-cast TV soundtrack, starring William Hartnell as the Doctor in one of his most weird and wonderful adventures!
In this vintage 6-part adventure, first shown on BBC TV in February and March 1965, a strange magnetic force pulls the TARDIS down to the craterous surface of Vortis. The Doctor and his friends learn that the planet has been invaded, and the parasitic Animus is slowly enveloping it in a web-like domain. The giant ant-like Zarbi are under its control, whilst the butterfly-like Menoptra are battling to reclaim their planet.
Presented across 3 x heavyweight 180g pieces of pink vinyl, this narrated TV soundtrack evokes a classic Doctor Who adventure in all its aural magnificence. The alien ambience of Vortis, the insistent chirruping of the Zarbi, and the supernatural voice of the Animus are all accompanied by the eerie sonics of Ron Grainer & Delia Derbyshire’s theme tune.
Written by Bill Strutton, this was the Doctor’s most exotic and lavish adventure yet. Linking narration is provided by Maureen O’Brien (Vicki) and the cast includes William Russell as Ian, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara, Martin Jarvis as Hilio and Roslyn de Winter as Vrestin. Accompanying the pink vinyl LPs are full episode billings, cast and credits, and eight illustrated
panels form a superb artwork montage. This is a first-time audio release for this very special
adventure. Dummedy-dum, Dummedy-dum, Dummedy-dum, Dum-dum…

"The first series comprises six related movements, usually organised in pairs, electronic sounds with instrumental and more rarely, concrete sounds: Incidences/resonances brings into play controlled resonances akin to sounds of concrete origin in a process that helps to expand the variable electronic sound sources.

Here, 'incidents' are opposed to one-off 'accidents' in the second movement: Accidents/Harmoniques (Accidents/Harmonics). In the second movement, very short events of instrumental origin change the harmonic tone of the continuum they interrupt or overlap.

Moreover, the high notes are underplayed, which stimulates the attention given to other phenomena generally hidden by the melodic form applied to the instrumental play. Géologie sonore (Sound Geology) is similar to a flight over an area where different 'sound' layers come to the surface one after the other.

When seen from high above, instrumental and electronic sounds seem to fuse ... Dynamique de la resonance (Dynamics of Resonance) is a microphonic exploration of a single sound resonating through different forms of percussion. L'Etude élastique (Elastic Study) places together various sounds produced by 'touching' elastic or instrumental skins (baloons, doumbeks) or vibrating strings and a number of instrumental gestures close to this 'touch', using electronic processes to generate white noise.

Conjugaison du timbre (Conjugated Tone), the last movement in the series, uses the same substance to apply rhythmic forms onto a perpetually varying tone continuum. "The second series of movements draws its inspiration from concrete and electronic sources rather than instrumental ones. Incidences/battements (Incidences/Beatings) is a reminder of the first movement in the first series which then quickly moves into Natures éphémères (Ephemeral Natures): ephemeral play on instrumental and electronic sounds, singled out by their internal trajectory rather than by the material itself. Matières induites (Induced Matters): just as molecular effervescence triggers a changes of state, it seems that the different states of these sound materials can be generated by each other or through induction processes.

In Ondes croisées (Crossed Waves), the pizz vibrations interfere with somehow 'visible' water drops on the surface of a similar material. Pleins et déliés (Downstrokes and Upstrokes) can be listened to as the energies absorbed in the motion of bouncing bodies, while hollow 'bubbles' and points bring together some people's gravity and others' downwards movements. The work finishes with Points contre champs (Reverse Angle Points).

Here, the notion of perspective of the different sound threads weaving a kind of network, or field, traps the occasional iterative elements in the foreground and progressively absorbs them, giving more space for the angle - and the chanted sound - to grow." (B.P.).

ALTA’s debut release, 'Reasons' is the product of many long nights making music together in a back room at Hannah and Julius’ Brunswick home. It was self-recorded over 10 months, from January 2018 to November 2018, using midnight sessions, tape delay effects and a literal room full of wall to wall synths to carve out a world all their very own. "It's a collection of songs written together in our home studio - No cowriters or anything, just us two experimenting making the music,” says the band.

The album was later mixed by Seekae’s George Nicholas in Sydney and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound (Rihanna, Janelle Monae, Chvrches).

Thematically, the album’s title alludes to the sense of complacency that often sets in when people start making excuses for themselves.
“It’s this internal thing,” Julius explains, ‘always coming up with reasons why things did or didn’t happen, or reasons why someone else did something. Often it’s self-preservation but it’s also bullshit.”

‘Push’ follows on from previous singles ‘Figured Out’, ‘Back On It’ and ‘Twisted’, which have just under 2 million streams on Spotify since their release and are receiving global attention, with spins on BBC Radio 1 and praise from the likes of The Line of Best Fit and CLASH.

At streaming, ALTA have seen huge support locally and internationally, with their 2019 releases featuring in Spotify’s New Music Fridays, Indie Arrivals, The Local List, Just Chill, Front Left, New Dance Beats and The Office Stereo, plus Best Of The Week on Apple Music.

Melbourne fans will witness ALTA performing tracks from Reasons for the first time ever at Northcote Social Club on Saturday 5 October. Tickets are on sale now via Northcote Social Club’s website.

Reasons is an intricate and emotional body of work that will see ALTA step out from Melbourne’s underground scene, and into the international limelight. Pre-order your copy today.

Since forming in 2006 post-punk experimentalists Sebastian Melmoth have been on a thoughtful and adventurous musical journey. In a constant state of aural evolution, the London-based four-piece has a delivered a string of albums and EPs that variously touch on everything from garage-rock, grunge and lo-fi pop, to electro, new wave, dark ambient and music concrete, all the while drawing on a myriad of literary and artistic influences.

The band’s first release for Artificial Dance digs deep into their admirable and eye-opening catalogue and draws together some of the Amsterdam-based label’s favourites from the more electronic end of the band’s output. Entitled “The Dynamics of Vanity” – a comment on Western culture’s obsession with rehashing the past and the band’s own in-built distrust of artistic naval-gazing – the set is not a ‘best of’ retrospective but rather a ‘sort of’ selection of stylistically interconnected cuts that gives a very specific snapshot of the band’s work.

Check for example “Icarus”, a drowsy, hypnotic and sample-laden soundscape that effortlessly joins the dots between post-rock, pitched-down electronica and early morning ambient, or the slowly unfurling throb of thought-provoking opener “The Engineering of Consent”, a swelling, melancholic post-jazz meditation on propaganda and governmental mind control featuring spoken word samples from William S Burroughs in conversation with Brion Gysin, Timothy Leary, Les Levine and Robert Anton Wilson.

The showcased songs are typically hard-to-pin-down, too, with the re-imagined gothic horror break-up cut “Prosopagnosia’ and slow-burn audio addition of “Waiting For Godot” being joined by the wide-eyed morning dream-pop hallucinations of “Seeds (Descent Into Decadence)”. It all adds up to a collection that expertly showcases one engaging thread – of many – running through Sebastian Melmoth’s esoteric body of work.