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* Arikon is a solo project of Berlin-based drummer & producer, Arik Hayut - half of doom-tech duo Gainstage with Pierce Warnecke. Loyal to the sonic concepts of Gainstage, Arikon presents The Prophet's Blood Is Boiling, a solo enterprise into deepest 'drum & drone'. Hypnotizing distorted polyrhythms puncture through shards of fragmented melodies, producing potent mixtures of desperate tin can banging, a panoramic sonic scope, and the bleakest of soundsystem nightmares. Across the album, Arikon deploys an arsenal of samples plus electronic, acoustic, and self-constructed percussion instruments, constructing eight powerful productions that manage to embody both brute force and delicate decay.

* Formerly active in Tel Aviv's leftfield experimental scene during the 90's, Hayut made Berlin his permanent home for working on his own projects while composing and performing music for off-theater and contemporary dance. In 2004, a severe health crisis initially threw Hayut into crisis, slowing down his activity to a standstill. However, the precarious process of his fortunate recovery contributed to Hayut involving himself more deeply with concepts of time, death, and decay.

* Inspired by the decadent still life paintings of the Flemish Baroque, the cover artwork for The Prophet's Blood Is Boiling comprises a bowl of decomposing fruit. Like the music, its aim is to illustrate the beauty and perfection of the decay process, whilst also referring to the West's hyper-capitalistic, technology-centric culture. In recent years a new form of 'digital life' has been born, whereby all data - regardless of its worth or importance - is mummified, reproduced, and distributed with no real disintegration or loss in quality. This new digital life is resulting in a sort of 'frozen death', ending the hitherto natural cycle of life.

* The songs on themselves are inspired by the 'beasts of holiness' - mythological monsters that appear   in the Hebrew bible and the Jewish apocrypha (non-canonical scriptures). There's the punching of bassy thuds out of an oceanic ambient swell throughout 'Tanin Gadol', named after the ancient water monster of Babylonian times. The dense net of fumbling scrapes and amp-busting hits of noise on 'Nahash Akalaton' similarly refer to a titular sea-snake monster, its tendrils lashing out of the speakers aggressively. These demons symbolize a force of evil equal in power, yet in direct opposition to the monotheistic deity of their time. They were therefore neither acknowledged nor canonized in much dominant scripture. Arikon invokes these demons across The Prophet's Blood Is Boiling, setting them loose across these gnarled noisy chambers of pummeling percussion and cracked sampled detritus.

Left of centre experiments from the Dutch underground of yesteryear. Muziekkamer was the name of the home recording studio that gave birth to the twelve tracks on 'Popmuziek', an intriguing document of sketch arrangements and primitive, fairytale sampling wave cuts. This is music which excels due to its inherent naivety; the limitless ambition of 'Black Box' almost sounding like a precursor to the 90s ambient techno of Likemind or Stasis. On 'Being Home Tonight' we can hear an early form of what the likes of Tolouse Low Trax have been bringing to the forefront of contemporary club culture whilst the erratic art-rock of 'Walkman' mirrors what Leven Signs & co were doing over the pond. In trying to create something which represented 'intrusiveness' as a contrast to an earlier ambient tape the trio incidentally blurred the lines between various musical fashions to come. An amazing snapshot of time and place!

Ground Tactics arises with a transformative release, building bridges between sonic fields. Immaterial Breath EP raises energy levels by creating peculiar momentums of inner reflection. Spanning from IDM to conceptual techno, every single element in his sound is hand crafted, transmitting intimate feelings through grainy textures and subtle distortions. Immaterial Breath projects disorder in construction, inducing a chronic loss of established conditioning, extending the mind to unfamiliar perspectives.

Music Mania and Indica Dubs is proud to present the third release in their Mania Dub series. Following the classic 'Almighty Dub' (MD001) and 'Rastafari' (MD002) comes another of the UK Dub scene's most renowned producers; The Bush Chemists, with one of their most popular anthems from 1996: Light Up Your Spliff. Douglas Wardrop began creating music using a 4-track recorded in 1989, before forming The Bush Chemists in 1993 with Paul Davey and Culture Freeman.

Örtmek comes back round, presenting another vinyl only pressing of three invaluable edits of vintage Turkish funk, rock and disco delicacies. Following the raw, percussive experiments of the first release. Opening track 'Özil Dans' rains down crashing cymbals and freak-out-worthy wah guitars, maintaining an irresistible and authentic groove that doesn't falter for five minutes of Eurasian hypnosis. 'Dokuz Sekiz' weaves traditional string elements alongside bursts of wild chanting. Finally, 'Mozart'in Davul' stitches a frantic, dense rhythm from the fuzz and feedback of an unknown slab of Turkish psychedelia.

We are glad to intruduce you this new joint venture, CRVEL are P.E.A.R.L. and Tensal colliding in the studio with the aim to create cyclical weapons for the most osbscure dancefloors. Raw synth lines, crispy high frequencies, continuous sequences and plenty of details and subtle twists that keep the flow going. Four exercises of futuristic techno with no turnabouts, straight to the point with a timeless attitude.

Fresh on Francis Harris' Kingdoms imprint comes Rasmus Juncker's 'Ophold' - six tracks of sublime atmospheres and textures. The Danish musician, sound composer and DJ fits perfectly with the label's aesthetic, joining the dots between ambient, leftfield electronica and modern classical.

Juncker has a background in studying jazz drumming and has been playing improvised music within the jazz domain for many years. He also started to DJ at the age of 14 and was introduced to the world of electronic music production at the same time.

When Rasmus started to think about his debut album he spent several months trying to find his own way to combine his favourite musical influences, improvisation, electronics and classical music. 'Almost a year later', Juncker says, "I went to a sensory deprivation floating tank in Copenhagen while researching for another performance and while I was lying there, floating in the water, deprived from most of my senses, I got the idea to do something drastic in my musical process. Philosophers like Immanuel Kant describe this deprived state as a mental 'Cesura', which became some sort of guideline for the album."

So Juncker decided to start working on the album by leaving the process as well as the final result completely open. 'I wanted to create sounds and music that I had no idea what they would sound like, but would feel like a mental 'Cesura', an 'Ophold' (in Danish)' he states.

He invited musicians, one after the other, to his studio. "I had an electronic musician to improvise patterns and new interesting sounds based on my experience in the deprivation tank. I chose some of the takes and some weeks later I invited a jazz guitarist to listen and improvise on top of what he heard. Then a classical string quartet and a double bass player came to my studio months later, and finally I recorded myself on percussion and drums.

Throughout the recording process I've been experimenting with special microphones in various setups, used noises from the recordings and the room became absolutely essential for the pieces." Juncker states.

"The material I used was all first take improvision which I arranged, layered and edited into compositions. The final pieces were mixed by Andreas Pallisgaard with the same improvised and experimental approach of the recording and the production. None of the musician met each other, but their sounds developed into something completely fantastic I think. The presence of the acoustic instruments and the depth and complexity of the synthesized layers gave some kind of an indescribable sounding music from another galaxy.

Track by track:

'Norddrum' starts proceedings - ethereal, grainy sounds merge and disassociate, as a distant rhythm gradually finds its way to the fore.

The second track, 'Sora' , clocking in at under 2 minutes, is an interlude full of strings, pads, and percussive hits, rich in feeling. This strong sense of sound design and seemingly disparate sounds woven together into a whole carries through into 'Eksotisk Tirsdag' - the strings, plucked instruments and electronics harking back to 4th world adventurers like Jon Hassel and Brian Eno.

'Cyklus' dives into drone textures, pulsing and modulating to create an unearthly soundtrack.

'Havekunst' is another 2 minutes interlude, this time bringing a fully charged rhythmic barrage to the front.

'Cesura', the final track is in essence the EP's centerpiece - a sprawling 8 minute journey that traverses tense, fibrous sections and on into pulsing modular passages, before opening up into glorious moments of wonder and brightness. It's a hugely bold yet fragile endeavour, in line with the whole release.

Suns out, guns out: Darkroom Dubs ease into 2018 slowly with a new addition to their limited vinyl series courtesy of Madrid analogue scientist Eduardo De La Calle.

Last spotted on Planet E and boasting a 15 year back-cat on the likes of Cadenza, Biologic, Just This, Hivern Discs and Mule Muziq, Eduardo is a man you're already well acquainted with. And you're going to want to get even closer once you've digested these four straight-to-business stripped-back traxx. Each cut designed for deep mix tailoring that you can really bend minds with.

'It's Me... The Apple Knocker' ignites the fire with a flash as we're hurled into a hypnotic frenzy from the first loop. A whirlwind comprised of so few parts yet causing a riot in your senses, this stutters and slurs with a precision sense of unease. The troubled ebb and flow of 'Opsimath' follow suit with a twinkling feeling of unknown. An extensive groove weighing in at nearly nine minutes, its unhurried nature alludes to its title; the longer you leave it sizzle, the more enriching it gets.

Flip for 'Breatharian'. The deepest, most disarming cut of the collection laced with yearning strings and poignant chords, it's a solar-inspired sunset piece that gradually morphs into something much darker and serious as the track progresses. Finally we conclude with 'Cybersquatting', a timeless mildly dubbed-out darkroom groove that flows with liquid insistency. Subtly mutating and rotating, forever pumping, it's a true calm before the storm piece, tailored for those moments when you need a little suspense and space in your set.

Four crystal jams. Endless variations. Infinite mixes: Darkroom Dubs have delivered once again. And there's more en route... Watch out for a new Deadstock 33s release and a new compilation 'Darkroom Dubs Presents Summer Love'. Both due before the summer is out. Don't put those guns away anytime soon...

Danny McLewin (Psychemagik) and Jamie Cruisey have a new label of original signed artists called SPIRITS. The first release is from Mexican hotness 'Lokier' of She Made Monster and 'Jason Greer' aka 'The Machine', one of the Californian undergrounds best kept secrets. They met in 2015 at a festival in London and after spending a few days together, became musically obsessed with each other. That summer, as Jason bounced around Europe, he stayed with Lokier in Barcelona for some weeks and after long night walks, some tapas and absinthe bars they came up with their first EP together.

A1 "White Room's" slo-mo headnod film score, kick starts the EP, brooding synths buzzing with electric cocaine gloss, their oscillators fluttering like cyborg butterflies around the pulsating strobelight beat. Creepy.
A2 "Stained Glass" hits tough straight out the gate with subterranean bubbling acid bass and charges headlong into deep psychedelic territory with a goth-inspired guitar, reverb on 11, turning the track into a next-level robo-Giallo monster!

B1 "Pearly Hate" begins as if a menacing swarm of bionic rave bees is slowly surrounding you, the tension of their impending drone amping up steadily as your brain thinks: Do I run This midtempo Carpenter-esque jam is atmospheric putty in the hands of sleazoned DJ's and sounds like the beginning of a long, strange trip.
B2 "Red Floor" is a chugging, barely restrained dark disco beast, flagrantly wearing its Weatherall and Neu Beat-ing heart on its tattered sleeve, elliptical melodies keeping you from your sanity with a solid drop for the dancefloor - another one for DJ's who ride it rough.

Thus completes the first release for new label SPIRITS. Four tracks exploring another corner of otherworldly analogue hedonism for extra-dimensional travel. Keep your ear on "Red Floor", as its potential for dancefloor uplift is proven and Machine-ready! Stay jacked in for more missives soon...

Ivan Smagghe:
"When your best Mexican chola low-rider meets our favourite Californian mechanic, you get a proper slice of (Lokier and) Machine funk. This is grease electronics, black leather under the very dark sun of 'Pearly Hate' or in the bright isolation tank of 'White Room''

Since his 2015 Night School debut E.P. Nouveauree, James Donadio - aka Prostitutes - has been traveling stages and rigs from Los Angeles to Berlin, from prestigious festival slots to slimy Glasgow basements, burning his own path through the modern techno and electronic scenes. On Aluminum Garage, Donadio is at his most playful, laying down unmistakably mid-tempo BPM early-electro jams indebted to early sampling before crashing the soundsystem with frantic, detourned Gabber. Unlike his previous LP for Spectrum Spools or indeed his Night School debut which rankled with austerity and minimalism, here Prostitutes is instinctive, multi-layered and unashamedly, brilliantly borrowing from myriad genres.

In past 3 years, Donadio has racked up critically praised releases on labels like Diagonal and CGI, refining his wares into a precise, bludgeoning toolkit that surprises and develops with each release. Aluminum Garage creeps into life with Born Wanderer, before a sub-heavy kick and bongo pattern blasts into a heavy break that feels like the earth moving from under your feet. With the utmost clarity, the track builds disparate layers - a white noise solo, warped sample piano chords straight from 1986 - into a Rave-o-matic climax, holding steady with the BPMs and immeasurably funky. Jah Elegant further blows apart any image we have of Prostitutes' music as austere' with a loping intro based on teased drum samples and a ghost MC. The Jungle break comes in by stealth before the heavy drop blasts the music into Drum + Bass momentum. It's both blistering fun and undeniably cheeky, a driving track that cuts up Remarc on a dimly lit table in suburban Ohio.

On Side 2, Errant Seagull takes the genre mess into techno territory though put through a heavily distorted grinder. Built around a skeleton of sampled bass guitar and thumping kick, the track layers drums upon drums, building in saturation until a searing synth strafes the criss-crossing rhythms. The effect is dizzying, insuring both a propellant, heavy forward motion and a grimey, angst-ridden climax. Before we're at the end of the track, the stereo field is so filthy with distortion and analogue muck the listener is desperate for a palette cleanser. Final track Shroud of Cellophane however, doesn't let up. With a ramped up BPM we're in a Cyberpunk Gabber club, nothing but 160 beats per minute, layers of frequency-tweaked noise and the light at the end of the tunnel racing towards us. It's sweet oblivion and we've earned it.

eturning with renewed force after Henning Baer's unbreakable debut LP, MANHIGH's sixth release comes from a name already well-known in techno circles. Sciahri is the Italian producer whose luminous 2014 debut on the celebrated Ilian Tape's ITX experimental series immediately announced his presence, followed by another on the label and two EPs for the highly-rated Black Opal offshoot of Opal Tapes by 2016. He was simultaneously occupied with his ambient-leaning UNKNOT duo with Emanuele Porcinai, better known as WSR on Samuel Kerridge's Contort label. 2017 saw the launch of his Sublunar imprint and a tripartite release from him featuring a more streamlined sound than the craggy broken-beat style familiar from Ilian Tape. Sciahri's MANHIGH EP opens with 'Demur', showcasing his most dour, industrial sounds, scraping metallic highs against the unrelenting impacts of reverberating kicks and subbass drone. 'Forbidden' holds its forces more in reserve, the cycling, mechanical soundscape maintaining a spacious, ambient aspect, worked against a broken rhythm more implied than explicitly stated. Returning to full intensity for 'Reliance', he tightly coils the core elements around deftly-deployed percussion and a militaristic, pounding rhythm in the bass and kicks. Henning Baer's reinterpretation of 'Demur' saves little from the original apart from its overriding tension, instead adding a layer of nearly-tonal pads and an unremitting acidic bass throb pushing forwards inexorably.

Very cinematic, tunnel visioned & on-going arpeggiated synth-techno in two versions by Stiletti-Ana (half of Jesse from last years Twotinos LP on Keys of Life). A-side with steady kick and feedbacked percussions riding through a deep, analogic, cloudy and live drummed landscape. B-side highlights the scope with no drums, except the ever lasting cymbals.

Coletivo Vandalismo kick-start a new 12" series for the Contort Yourself label. Hailing from the city of Porto the duo also DJ under the name GAM and released their debut LP on Lake Haze's Eye For An Eye label. Their music has an immediacy that seems to stem from a background in live performance as opposed to polished studio sessions - an improvisational punk aesthetic that manages to carry this EP so strongly. Wild, crashing fx and unrecognisable vocal distortions layer atop wonky 90bpm drum machine grooves and the pair even show off what may be their turntablism skills on 'Zombie Zombie'. There's a nod to early concrete on the closing track 'Black Sun's Demise' with whirring, mechanical noise motifs suddenly jolting us into punishing gabber-at-33-minus-8 territory. The DIY spirit is alive and well here and the feeling that things could fall apart at any minute just adds to the tension.

Matt Edwards' newly launched reissue label, R-Time Records, prepares its third release, the second instalment of Sir Lord Comixx 'Retroactive'.

R-Time Records shines a light on classic tracks that didn't always get the recognition they deserve, with the label's first two releases coming from Sir Lord Comixx and FBK. Real name Amoon Andrews, Sir Lord Commix's discography has been in high demand for many years, evident by soaring market prices. The A-side of 'Retroactive (Part Two)' features two tracks from a rare untitled release on 'Hard Up', whilst the B-side is made up of 'Chicago Jazz' from the 'Funk Box EP' on Eukahouse (under his a.Moon' moniker in '98) and 'Motionvibe' from 'Azid Jazz EP' on Cynic in '05.

Cosmic synths join wonky arps in 'UR My Omen' before moving into the more up-tempo 'Fog Horn' with its robust drums, off-beat bleeps and filtered effects. 'Chicago Jazz' takes things into deeper territories with crystalline Rhodes and jazz-influenced samples until 'Motionvibe' concludes the package with its syncopated structure comprised of twisted sounds, murky atmospherics and effervescent nuances.

Crying Bamboos is a translation of the pidgin description of the sound of sacred flutes: "Mambu i cry, i cry, i cry".

Sacred flutes are blown to make the cries of spirits by adult men in the Madang region of Papua New Guinea. Pairs of long bamboo male and female flutes are played for ceremonies in the coastal villages near the Ramu River. There are seven male initiation flute cries from Bosmun, four flute cries from Bak: Borai with occasional single garamut percussion and two flute cries from Kaean, one with vocals and hand drums. The flute players were of the last generation to have learned this skill during a complete cycle of male initiation. These previouslyunreleased recordings were made in 1979.

Recorded by Ragnar Johnson

Notes by Ragnar Johnson and Jessica Mayer

Photographs by Ragnar Johnson

Tape to digital transfer and mastering by Dave Hunt at

Dave Hunt Audio, London

Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin

165 to 180 BPM Hardfloor Dancefloor acid sound. Thick Kick !

Transmitting treacherous local energy into his new creative undertakings, Bogdan now joins the Not An Animal force keeping the flame well and truly ignited. A'Parovoznikov' fires across all cylinders with a vigorous Italo-arp bass motor, driving it further down the cosmic highway, engine doused in fully-lubricated synth-pad oil.Justin Van Der Volgen's remix swiftly rips the wing mirror clean off with a zealous two-to-the-floor-hitting blowout. On the B, 'Listopad' cruises top down with a more Balearic approach. A dreamy square bass glissades alongside percussive hats and succulent pads that shuffle within the horizon, whilst computer bleeps chomp and add an intensifying clarity. Kito Jempere's remix closes the release with his first contribution to the label. It lifts up the original and drives towards sundown into moonlight. Warping bass tones squelch against fetching stabs and brash breaks keeping this track fully pulsating.

Three tracks of pure UK electronica from the much-respected Darren Harris. 180g vinyl. This will not be released digitally.