quête:dark m

Liquid G. (Liquid Garbage) is the project of EBM stalwart Peter van Bogaert from Melsele, Belgium. In 1987, he began to record music and self-release limited cassettes on his own label Liquid Produkts. Between 1987 and 1990, Peter composed over nine albums, in addition to a split release with Vomito Negro. Liquid G. made their first vinyl appearance on the 'Expo 87' 7' compilation, courtesy of Dirk Ivens' Body Records. 'Liquidation' is the first ever vinyl compilation of Liquid G.'s cassette recordings, taking you on a journey through the underground of the Belgian Electro Industrial scene. Each song was written, produced, recorded and performed by solely by Peter between 1987-1989. Liquid G. captures the DIY synth-punk ethos of Cabaret Voltaire, The Screamers, and Nervous Gender.

Finale Sessions is really pleased to launch new series Finale Sessions Limited with Berlin up and coming act Arcarsenal. Duo comprised of Alan Mathias and Etienne Dauta, both founders of Bass Cadet Records and its dedicated vinyl store located in the heart of the german capital, they are also active members of the large Underground Quality family. Arcarsenal have already started to establish themselves as proponent of a crossover sound, mixing many influences from jazz, house, ambient to dub and techno. They are always giving a prominence to jam, improvisation and textures work in their studio routine. This EP called « Dark Skies & Wetlands », even if slightly grittier than usual, is no stranger to the rules of the duo. The opening track « Different Planet » is an epic dark deep house cut which develops itself over a course of 8:40. Starting with a stamping ground bassline and hazy atmosphere, the track opens up with synth attacks, dub echoes and slowly brings in a blissful melody that ends up linking all the elements. « Substance Of Arjuna », the following track on the A-side, is a-contrario a short but intense ambient work. Shot in one take, this subtle cut showcases the kind experimentations that Mathias and Dauta can end up doing late at night in front of their machines. The b-side of the EP leaves all the space to « Racoons », one of the weirdest and yet most powerful work of the duo to date. Tribal techno could be a short try to define what they achieved here, but the track goes far more than this. Built on a gritty mental acidic bass and a huge drum kick, the frenchmen bring over aggressive synth work that could sound like an orchestra on rehearsal, pachydermic screams or an overdriven guitar larsen. Underlined by a complex percussion pattern recorded live in their nest and chopped up to the best effect, the track ends up in a looping transe from which the listener might not leave in a normal state.

Dark Entries is proud to release the sophomore EP from BEZIER entitled Telomeres. Bézier is the moniker of local SF musician ROBERT YANG, who also is part of the illustrious HONEY SOUNDSYSTEM crew. Telomeres is the follow up to Bézier's debut EP Ensconced, released in 2013. The title relates to themes of time, science, analytics and procedures. Bézier integrates the refrains of Spanish new wave and Italo disco with the attitude and aggression of underground styles like synth-punk and industrial. These six tracks were written, produced and mixed by Bézier at his home studio in San Francisco between 2014 and 2015, and feature the debut of his own vocals. All songs have been mixed by Mark Pistel (of Meat Beat Manifesto fame) at Room 5, San Francisco and EQed for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl comes housed in a jacket featuring an illustration by in-house designer Eloise Leigh riffing on early 80s computer graphics. The matted sleeve is meant to resemble the side panels of early computing instruments like Macintoshes or the Commodore 64. Each LP includes a postcard with a photograph of actual telomeres captured by a microscope camera by the Blackburn Lab at UCSF. Telomeres' are life's building blocks, changing the lengths of chromosomes to determine lifespan. This music is an investigation of a future in which time elongates as well as contracts.

MISS KITTIN & THE HACKER are the Electro duo of CAROLINE HERVE and MICHEL AMATO from Grenoble, France. The pair met during the early '90s at a rave and soon after bought turntables and began DJing. In 1996, they began writing music heavily influenced by '80s synth and post-punk bands like Fad Gadget, DAF, Liaisons Dangeuresues, and Yazoo, as well as Italo Disco. Bored by the techno scene at the time, they set out out to lighten the serious tone and bring a campy sexiness to the dour musical landscape. Upon hearing their demos DJ Hell signed them to his Munich-based International DJ Gigolo label and released their first 2 EPs in 1998 and 1999. Their debut album First Album was released in 2001. Lost Tracks Vol. 1 contains 4 previously unreleased demos recorded between 1997 and 1999. The duo fused '80s European New Wave/Italo Disco with '90s Detroit Electro acts like Le Car and Dopplereffekt. By utilizing verse-chorus structures, they playfully shook up the loop based hard techno and electro that was popular at the time. Their studio set up at the time was a Korg MS-20, Roland SH-101, TR-606, TR-808, Siel DK80, and Boss DR-660 drum machine. The songs are direct, spontaneous, seemingly improvised in places. Miss Kittin sings about falling in love with an alien, sexy nightlife in Berlin, and explicit S&M leather play, all in her cheekily derisive French accent All songs have been transferred from the original DAT tapes by the band and mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl comes housed in a glossy jacket featuring a black and white photo of the duo taken in 1996. Each LP includes a postcard with liner notes from Miss Kittin and The Hacker designed by Eloise Leigh. As Miss Kittin says of these demos, 'We were naive, innocent, adventurous and we didn't expect anything in return."

Blue Russell was the husband/wife duo of Manlio Cangelli and Lorella Ghilardi from Milan. Cangelli was a session musician and composer for many Italian singers, making music for commercial TV and working long days in the studio. He had a strong passion for the analog synthesizers of the time and discovered the latest drum machines. 'I Wanna Fly Away' was recorded in Milan in the Spring of 1984 and released later that year on Disco Magic Records.

Nologo is back with 2 essential, tried and tested underground club tracks. Orlando B serves up Side A with 'Dark World', an epic, slow burning, dark-house journey. 'Dark World' begins completely stripped back before the main hook, an eerie hypnotic vocal is introduced. Funky percussive elements creep in which drive the piece forward and a deep minor pad heightens the tension setting the tone for the rest of the track. The energy builds gradually with the addition of a 303 bass line peaking just before the end, taking the listener on a dark hypnotic trip.

On the flip, is none other than house & techno legend MR G who uses the Dark World vocal but takes it somewhere new providing his own unique and distinctive flavour. Mr G's Rum Remix is a dark and twisted peak-time banger, the high energy from the off set perfectly complementing the slower vibe of the original. Plenty of sub and twisted synth action keeps the momentum high and the dark stab he uses punctuates the vocal nicely giving it a raw edge. 'Dark World' is an essential addition to the record bag for darker dancefloors.
Dj Deep: I love this, your remix is super Funky and Dark at the same time!!! Dope! Tom (Panorama Bar): Ufff nice and dark.....another Mr G gem.To be served with the Rum Rush

Trek With Quintronic are the duo, formed from the ashes of prog rock band Masque in 1979. They recorded two pioneering albums of unique electronic rock. 'Landing Plus' compiles the complete discography of Trek With Quintronic on a double vinyl for the first time in over 30 years. Trek With Quintronic wrote songs with a powerful sound, myriads of compositional ideas, synthetic noises and catchy melodies. Paul's rather unique vocals lie somewhere between David Bowie and Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs.nThis collection highlights a lost duo with a big sound on par with Ultravox, Human League, OMD or Devo

Late Night Tales welcomes back the cult figure and ultimate musical connoisseur, Bill Brewster to compile his second episode of the curated compilation series 'After Dark'. An obscure and timeless DJled journey which begins somewhere out in the near ocean, the waves are rolling and lolling gently into the shore, while a full moon shines on the surface. It's only faint, but somewhere nearby is the sound of bass, pulsing slowly, almost in time to the waves. Welcome back to 'After Dark: Nightshift'. Once again Bill Brewster comes armed with a sensitivity and sense of occasion that few other DJs possess. Delivering another batch of slow cooked musical stews, making sure the tempo stays nice and steady and the emphasis is on funk, soul, grits and corn fried chicken, Brewster has done so much digging, Late Night Tales had to hire a forklift truck and tractor. Among the unreleased nuggets, there's the Fernando mix of The Detachments; inordinate excitement about Gino Fontaine, a tune spotted a year ago but has languished in Andy Meecham's Stafford catacombs ever since. Also unearthed are some hitherto secret recordings between Robert Fripp and The Grid, and there are also some proper club faves here, too, like the daft but brilliant 'Mopedbart' by Hubbabubbaklubb and the luminous 'Boutade' by Mugwump, as well as killer oldies like Salsoul Invention and General Lee

Art Fine was the duo of Fabrice Bellini (electronics, vocals) and Rush Blakemann (guitar, synthesizer) from Tuin, Italy. They met in art school and became friends, inspired by New Wave, dance and electronic music. They recorded their only single 'Dark Silence' in November of 1984, which was released by Discomagic in 1985. It is now remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl is housed in the original jacket featuring a photo of the duo and that Art Fine logo in puzzle pieces. Each copy includes a double sided postcard insert with lyrics and liner notes by Fabrice Bellini

Dark Entries release the debut vinyl EP from Bézier entitled "Ensconced." Bézier is the moniker of all-live-analog electronic wizard Robert Yang from San Francisco. Enchanted by the Cybernetic Broadcasting System (CBS), Robert started DJing as Robot Hustle, joining the Honey Soundsystem collective in 2007

Cute Heels is the solo project of Bogota´ born, experimental producer Victor Lenis. Since the early 2000's Lenis has been working on a myriad of electronic projects, including the management of the labels Black Leather Records and Romance Moderne, in his current home of Brussels. Drawing on the influences of the radical punk scene that surrounded him growing up in Columbia while nurturing his passion for synthesizers and drum machines, Lenis developed the broody, gloomy brand of electro-techno that is Cute Heels. Deemed by Juan Atkins as ''the new blood and spirit for the next step in techno music'' Cute Heels has released various digital only releases over the years, as well as his first vinyl release, an EP on Gooiland Elektro. His debut album Spiritual, rides the line between cold electro-techno and left field electronic body music. Inspired by equal parts Liaisons Dangereuses and Drexciya, Spiritual takes the listener on a journey over 8 tracks and 40 minutes of music. Listening to "Spiritual" you can see why. The songs on this full length reveal a sublime influence from Detroit techno, early Chicago house and new wave; advanced electronics for the dance floor, pumping and sophisticated. The album was recorded and mixed by Victor at Sensorium Studio in Zagreb, Croatia in November 2013. Each song has been mastered for vinyl at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley by George Horn. Each LP is packaged in a custom-made jacket by our in-house designer Eloise Leigh and incorporates the geometry of analog synthesizers and celestial rose patterns. 

Next up on Magic Feet is a release by Dark Strands.

Tony's first release came via the first Magic Feet label sampler. Since then his releases have caught the attention of a number of acclaimed DJ's, with Daniel Avery citing one of Tonys tracks as one of the best he had heard last year.

This is Tonys first full vinyl release and shows exactly what he is capable of.
The title track 'Return Of The Oscillator' has had people running to the booth every time its been played from London to Croatia, as well as being fully road tested at ALFOS by Sean Johnston who also provides a superb remix under his Hardway Bros guise.

The second track 'Galactic' slows the pace down and is perfect for those warm up sets.

Alexander Kowalski is someone you should know. Not only is he a resident artist at our club, but with uncountable EPs and several albums on Heiko Laux' label Kanzleramt and others, he has contributed more to electronic music than many others. To have a separate platform for the darker and harder productions of his, he created the alias D_FUNC. a while ago. When he approached us with the tracks that are now on the record in hand, we immediately fell in love with the Mills-like energy of them. Perfect drum programming, driving synth lines two perfect tools for any proper techno set. The Dirt Mix of Revalism which is included in the digital release package puts the original in a more modern jacket with its stompy beat - another proof of how well Alexander knows what the djs need to please their crowd.
Let the dancefloors burn!

Terror Danjah's second Hyperdub album is 'The Dark Crawler', a well-paced and much more upfront and energetic journey through his musical world than his debut 'Undeniable'. The album revolves around the 'Dark Crawler' theme, a blistering grime track that pops up several times, vocaled by MC's Riko Dan, Mayhem, Deadly and Saf One, and then lastly Trim and Kossie. That's not to say the album is one dimensional or relentless. It's subtley balanced with the 'Dark Crawler' thread of tracks allowing the album to spin off in a web of directions without losing any focus. It's a much more contained body of work, paced to keep the listeners interest. From the 'Dark Crawler' intro into the cartoonish horror soundtrack of 'Mirror's Edge', which tricks you into thinking its just any dubstep tune, before scattering into Terror's signature broken kicks and claps. 'Dark Gremlinz' featuring D.O.K. is a classic peak-era asymmetric grime instrumental. The album then drops down into the 130ish speed of 'Air Max 90' featuring Champion, which builds from a soca-like drum drill stretching the rhythm to the point of collapse with a wonky synth, before concluding on a driving baseline house 4/4. The first 'Dark Crawler' vocal is next, with a ferocious performance from veteran Roll Deep MC Riko Dan, who drops bloodthirsty threats at a breakneck pace. Next, the tempo drops down again to the drunk funk of 'Full Hundred', with criss cross claps and a rasping bassline breaking down into live drumming and tight trap door edits. Things speed up a little again with the intricate 8 bar funky of 'Rum Punch', a hard drum tattoo rolling out over a heavy detuned bassline and intense bleeps. On the second 'Dark Crawler', mic duties are shared by Birmingham MC's Mayhem , Deadly and Saf One. Their hard vocals contrast with lush styled R'n'B of 'You Make Me Feel' featuring Meleka. The album then rolls out into the galloping drums and smooth G-Funk synths of 'Baby Oil'. Trim and Kossie drop the final 'Dark Crawler' vocal, with Trim dropping deadpan threats contesting with Kossie's focussed hysteria. Next up 'Delicately', with Ruby Lee Rider, starts in slow motion R'n'B mood, sweet Rhodes chords drift and bubble up as the track doubles up into dreamy drum and bass with a fluttering tabla keeping the time, and Ruby's tender vocals tempering the pace and aggression. Overall, it's a brilliant exercise in breathless rhythmic arousal. 'Moschino', on the other hand is a darker, chunkier and grimier mirror image to 'Delicately', switching up into a ferocious metallic riffage, before the album closes on an outro of 'Dark Crawler' again. Form, function, energy and talent fuse perfectly over 'The Dark Crawler' s length. Enjoy the ride.