OUT OF PLACE ARTEFACTS, the collaboration alchemizing the sounds of german producers Rødhåd and .VRIL, embarks on a new sonic exploration with “II” on Rødhåd’s label WSNWG.
This second longplayer ventures significantly deeper into the spheres of electronic music - exploring a wide range of abysmal drums and breaks as well as focusing on flickering sound sketches and elusive noises whose origin will have to remain a mystery for the listener. It aims to leave them in inexplicable realms between the dance floor and deep listening, unfolding its magnetism beyond genre definitions.
Throughout the listening experience, one is exposed to bewildering surprises such as traces of lightheartedness and stronger use of samples, vocals and strings. “Universian” invites a softer tone, revealing a more seductive, gloomier and poppier facette of the duo.
The closing track “Triskaideka” concludes the journey by featuring classical musicians Angelina Delgado (Violin) and Alexandra Ivanova (Viola).
OUT OF PLACE ARTEFACTS considerably developed the rapport between both artists' contributions for this LP- merging them into a more harmonious, yet very distinct expression. Each of the 13 tracks showcases layered, intricate arrangements so that they become their own microcosms, forming a radiant universe as a whole album.
Suche:ex
"Delivering his first solo EP in over two years, Blue Hour releases Origins, the 21st release on Blue Hour Music. Following a succession of remixes, V/A contributions and an EP under his Tracing Xircles alias earlier this year, the Berlin-based producer and DJ shares four tracks diving deeper into his UK roots. Channelling breakbeat, techno and trance with the hallmarks of 90’s rave, Origins builds upon the foundations created from his EP ‘Devotion’ in 2020.
In this eclectic EP, Blue Hour explores several sonic palettes. The title track blends celestial chords with urgent drums and acid basslines, while uplifting vocals and subtle melodies wind through the track. ‘True’ dips more heavily into breakbeat territory with evolving and immersive pads, soaring strings and a twinkling synth-line. A dynamic fusion of fast-paced energy and soft touches.
On the flip, ‘Emergence’ dances a delicate line between melancholia and elation, as dystopian chords pool with a squelchy acid sequence and a classic house vocal. ‘Searching’ closes on an ambient tip with spell-binding pads and an angelic melody, conveying a bright side to Blue Hour’s aesthetic, akin to Origins as a whole."
Welcome to Dazion’s Grooveboxxx – a maxi-sized love letter to The Hague’s 80s and 90s club scene crafted with minimal tools and loaded with vibe. It’s no coincidence it arrives on Dekmantel, a label with its own roots in the same Dutch city’s electronic music culture.
Dazion is The Hague’s Cris Kuhlen, previously spotted releasing on Second Circle, Safe Trip and Animals Dancing. He cut his teeth clubbing and working at long-since closed clubs like Eau, described in Kuhlen’s own words as, “clubs with blocks to dance on, lazers, decorations, crazy extravert sic parties.”
In capturing the spirit of Eau and the other formative parties of his youth, Kuhlen limited himself to just one machine to make his longest work to date – the Roland MC-303 Groovebox. While these entry level units from the mid-90s had stripped down functionality in the wider spectrum of studio gear, they contained all the iconic Roland sounds in a Rompler style, giving the user access to everything necessary to make raw, immediate club tracks without requiring an entire studio’s worth of hardware.
The brash gear of choice set the tone for a record of rough, ready and playful jams which end up more sophisticated than you’d expect from such limited means. ‘La DS’ jacks with a freaky, bleep techno intensity, while ‘Kimberly & Nance Backstage Rehearsal’ rides an angular groove tooled to inspire the weirdest dance moves of the night. Every track is named in reference to a particular nightspot, a hazy memory or moment from Kuhlen’s formative raving years.
This is the sound of Dazion having the time of his life. You might well hear a nod to the odd rock totem being given a re-version in irreverent new beat style or some gnarly US acid breaks vibes riding underneath helium rap licks. But for all the cheekiness, the tracks stand up both as nods to halcyon days and relevant workouts for the sweatiest parties in the here and now. As MC Paul T says in dramatic style heralding the intro of Grooveboxxx, “This movement will live on forever.”
Nuron makes a spectacular return on De:tuned with a compilation of hidden treasures! Nurmad Jusat aka Nuron / Fugue, one of the originators of the UK emotive techno sound, went on a quest for archived material and unearthed a handful of DAT tapes with previously unreleased music from the early to mid 90s. The tracks offer a deeply melodic and unique masterclass. Nuron combines a pulsing four-on-the-floor signature beat of the traditional techno sound with his characteristic rhythm and harmony elements. Classic Likemind-esque material that comes with an exclusive Stasis remix of 'Contrapoint'. Essential purchase!
Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis and pressed on 180 gr vinyl. Al White created all the graphic work. Stay tuned!
Hot on the heels of last year's Dear Diary EP on Lobster Theremin, explosive performances on HOR and an intimate interview with celebrated German publication Groove Magazine, frequent Berlin & Leipzig DJ Narciss comes through with four deep and groovy cuts of bass-driven techno.
'Feather Boa Constrictor' features one of Copenhagen's most exciting emerging producers in recent years - Vixen - fresh off her own acclaimed release, Hard Magik For Soft Souls, on Lobster Theremin in December. Now the pair link up on the DJ Mag Breakthrough Label of the Year imprint that blends all the best elements of the Berlin and Copenhagen scenes in a highspeed trip through psy-trance, synth-wave and techno.
Narciss is on his ones as we enter the A2; 'Lovechild' (Outrun Mix) is aptly named with its reference to the 1986 arcade game Outrun, which featured some of the best video-game music to ever be created. Deep basslines, swirling synth-stabs and a soothing deepness and contemplativeness that can only come with driving a virtual car down a never-ending highway. 'Tokyo' makes use of polyrhythms and textures blended with what sounds like an old Sampha record. It's a wonderful combination of dark, deep and forward-thinking sound, before Copenhagen producer Repro comes through with a typically EBM-focused remix combining elements of every track.
After our last release titled “jazz Baileys” we are back with House Experience Vol.2., this time in Ep format, presented by Bs As deep.
The previous volume was clearly dedicated to being a various artists, also with the participation of Bs As deep.
We have been working since vinyl number 4 with musicians, who have a participation in almost all the tracks released.
When we talk about musicians, we are including keyboardists, saxophonists, percussionists, guitarists or bassists.
Our goal or common thread has always been to achieve a warm and forceful sound, so that it can be heard in any environment, and at the same time be used at any time of the night, on a dance floor.
With those involved in both past and current releases, we share a common idea, which guides us in the interpretation of each song.
We also base ourselves on house influences from the late 90s (96,97,98,99)
Personally, we are moved by those times in which the sounds become more sophisticated, more elaborated in detail, and that is when we believe that the house that we listen to today with soul and jazz sounds, take on more relevance.
They also promote Afro and Latin percussion, leaning towards that New York and Puerto Rican fusion.
For all this, we like to include classic instruments, such as roland rhodes, the much-loved Juno, or korg packages with their inevitable M1.
Many shots are made live through a session expressed by the musician, who improvises for a while, from there we extract some part, which can be used several times in several tracks.
It is always necessary to do an editing job to adapt and correct any dissonance or variation in time that implies desynchronization in the beat. All this working in the sequencer of the daw to use.
On this album you will be able to hear soulful house sounds strongly impacted by keyboards, flutes and session basses, as well as some perfectly adapted percussion samples.
Age Eternal is the solo project of producer and visual artist Lissa Benno. She uses guitars, electronic hardware and her voice to create an hypnotic and heavy haze.
Familiar pop structures collide with organic apparitions of experimental electronic sounds. Layers of choral vocals and synthesizers move as ethereal mass through textures of heavy bass and percussive rhythms.
„Be The Enemy“ delivers an introspective view on transpersonal experiences and supra-naturalistic phenomena.
"Monks In A Club" from the Repeat Orchestras album "Infamous Lost Tracks" is a perfect example of elegant dancefloor understatement, smooth, minimalistic and groovy as hell; no wonder that Superpitcher got thrilled and created not a remix but his own track inspired by Repeat Orchestra, reworking the essence of "Monks In A Club". And Superpitcher did what only Superpitcher can: "Monks In The Sky" is an epic ride, expanding, stretching, ebbing and flowing, ten minutes of levitating groove hypnosis that goes in depth. Fascinating.
Some records just stop you in your tracks. They resonate with you and feel instantly familiar like an old friend, even on the first listen. SOYUZ's third album ‘Force of the Wind’ is one of those records. It holds all the trademarks, beauty, and eccentricities of classic Brazilian recordings, from the 60s and 70s, that we have come to love. Think artists such as Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, Burnier e Cartier, Arthur Verocai et al. But this record wasn’t made in Brazil and is in fact a brand-new release.
SOYUZ (which translates as 'union') is a creative collective from Minsk, Belarus, led by composer, arranger, and singer, Alex Chumak, multi-instrumentalist, Mikita Arlou, and drummer, Anton Nemahai. SOYUZ's previous albums explored and reimagined the legacy of jazz-oriented, non-English-language pop music of the 20th century. For their third album, there is a stronger focus, and it is influenced by 70s Música popular Brasileira and building bridges from it to present-day Belarus. Alex notes that from the moment he first encountered Brazilian music, he found in it a kind of concentrated emotion that felt as if it were familiar to him from his childhood. This non-verbal emotion and connection between the listener and musician echoes in the music, regardless of understanding of the language the album is recorded in.
‘Force of the Wind’ includes songs sung in Russian and Portuguese as well as instrumental compositions. Its musical palette is both acoustic and electroacoustic: rich warm Rhodes piano, soaring string arrangements, and a controlled drum swagger sounding both relaxed yet super tight. Alongside Alex's sublime vocals, that grace the majority of the tracks, the album features guest performances by multi-talented musician and vocalist Kate NV and rising Brazilian star, Sessa. Alex also recently arranged a number of tracks on Sessa's highly praised 2022 album 'Estrela Acesa'.
On the album, the trio is joined by a cast of friends; NY-based musician of Turkish origin percussionist, Cem Mısırlıoğlu, classically trained composer, Simon Hanes, who aided with string arrangements and conducting the string players, Netherlands-based Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, Gabriel Milliet, on flutes. With the collaboration of these friends SOYUZ have created nine songs/suites that are subtle and plenitude and like the best albums, leave you aching for more.
‘Force of the Wind’ is an enigma, Brazilian yet not Brazilian, vintage yet still contemporary, out of sync with modern culture yet completely relevant and necessary.
Horsey’s critically acclaimed debut album Debonair arrives on vinyl via London label untitled (recs). Made up of Jacob Read, Theo McCabe, Jack Marshall and George Bass, Horsey have built a cult live following having toured with the likes of King Krule, Goat Girl and Hinds, as well as playing sold-out shows across their hometown venues with the likes of YOWL, Hotel Lux, Norman, Ugly, Lazarus Kane and more. Horsey refused to be pigeonholed at every turn. “Debonair” is propelled forwards from the opener with an incomparable wide-eyed intensity that blurs the lines between dark, glam inflected noise-rock, surreal jazz breakouts, wonky apocalyptic pop, emphatic rock opera-esque histrionics and melancholic lo-fi without abating. The juxtaposition between maturity and immaturity is central to the album’s themes, and this contrast is not only found in the album’s dynamic instrumentation but is also prominent in Horsey’s intoxicating and coltish lyrical prose, which is all at once deeply personal, tumultuous and utterly abstract. Though often delivered with overtones of sardonic humour the subject matter carries a sincere message, one that channels the spirit of when the band first met in nursery whilst tackling the tropes of modern living. The result is a gripping and exuberant reminder that there is great value in applying some childlike lateral mentality to the all too serious events of adult life. Tracklist: A1/Sippy Cup A2/Arms and Legs A3/Underground A4/Everyone’s Tongue A5/Wharf B1/Lagoon B2/1070 B3/Clown B4/Leaving Song B5/Seahorse (Feat. King Krule)
Serious Trouble label presents a mind bending record that brings together forward thinking jams from the early 80’s into present time with reworks of Tiffy L’Amours’ „Follow Me“ and „Film Musik“ from Die Gesunden. Both received an editorial treatment by Benedikt Frey, Menqui & Philipp Otterbach. With kind allowance by the original composers this 12“ marks the editorial spirit of Serious Trouble and waves tribute to moist cellar jams.
The A-Side „Follow Me“ Rework by Frey & Menqui is a wild extension of the original which gently adds a weird drummy cowbell intro before it introduces the chanting eccentric original. That got enhanced with an extra electronic bass recording and relooped cut & phrases emphasing you to hit the bell just one more time.
On the flip side „Film Musik“ Frey & Otterbach dived into the artists main motive and layerd it with a lyra, sh101 and external drums in an 8 hour session. It respectfully keeps the spirit of the playful original. In comparison to that though they managed to built a seamless endless „escheresque" staircase to mad mountain. An Immortal Acid exploration.
12“ 180 gr. heavy Vinyl, Limited to 300 copies. Artwork by Cid Hohner.
Two decades since they formed in New York City and over ten years since their last album, Tel Aviv based quartet Shotnez are back with Dose a Nova, an album of 10 exhilarating jazz filtered jams, with vibrations indebted to tuareg desert blues, Ethiopian-jazz, 1950's Afro Cuban recordings, surf- rock and folk from across the East Mediterranean basin.
Featuring the original Balkan Beat Box producers Ori Kaplan and Tamir Muskat alongside Uri Kinrot from Boom Pam and Itamar Ziegler from The Backyard, four musicians who are all producers and share love and deep connection to hip hop and jazz, Shotnez reunited in 2020 meeting up for improvised sessions and jams, once a week over a period of about four months at a carpentry turned music studio in suburban Tel Aviv.
Downing midi cards, triggers and synths, the day to day tools for these four producers and picking up and playing their respective traditional instruments - saxophone, clarinet, guitar, bass, percussion and drums – the group was immediately liberated by the moment. In the middle of a strict lockdown, they had no preconceptions, no deadlines, no labels or managers knocking on the door. This was an opportunity to rebuild the camaraderie that developed on the other side of the world two decades back, to reconnect as brothers and seek a higher spiritual plane, all the whilst fully encouraging each other to express their diverse musical backgrounds channelled within, during their time apart.
Magnificent Wolof drum music, performed by an extended griot family over seven consecutive days, in the mystical setting of Lac Rose, outside Dakar.
Doudou Ndiaye Rose — who died in 2015 — is a key drummer in the musical history of the world. He developed a system of five hundred original drumming patterns, ancient and new. Amongst the modern rhythms here is Bench Mi — ‘under the Baobab tree,’ a spot where problems get solved. Also Hibar Yi — ‘passing on information’ — the theme-tune of Senegalese TV national news for decades — and Les Rosettes, the signature rhythm of Senegal’s first ever all-female percussion group, convened by Doudou, and named after his grandmother.
These original compositions sit alongside important traditional rhythms, familiar to every Sabar player, such as Farwu Jar (a courtship game sometimes resulting in a wedding), Ceebu Jin (also the name of the national dish of fish and rice), and Gumbé, often played after a successful harvest.
Recorded in joyful single takes, with no overdubs, mastered by Rashad Becker, the music is deep and thrilling, polyrhythmic to the bone, with a complex, pointillistic intensity at times evoking Jeff Mills in full flight.
feat. Sea Shepherd
This is the 5th installment of Inch By Inch by the young and ruthless Jotel California. Hailing from Berlin and being part of the Warning Crew he's an expert in crispy electro sounds with the special ingredients. Check him out cause this is just the start!
Salomo brings a double EP of tech and progressive house to R.A.N.D. Muzik Recordings. This disc, RM12018.2 (Land) takes you up for a cruise through unknown landscapes before RM12018.2 (Water) takes you deep down into the depths. Both EPs are pieces of an entire work but are availably individually.
I’ve started to work on this album before I knew it.
During June 2018, I was in Japan for a month to release my previous album "Cairn" as well as my first solo exhibition of drawings in Tokyo.
Everyday on my way to the gallery I passed in front of the same building, its name kept haunting me : Rogue Hill.
Back then I was digging for cheap 80’s Japanese CD’s (Balearic, New Age, Ambient,...) in second hand stores. Most of them set the tone of this album and the direction I wanted to follow. I feel there’s a direct connection between these original sources and the sound I pursue by their meditative aspect.
Most of the demo songs were done before my daughter’s birth on August 2019 and were finalized since then. Many of the titles refer to this main event and relate to how it changed my position in life : being a link through time by becoming a father.
An elusive producer comes back with a new mantle: Ruff Cherry, last seen on the label in 2017, returns with an EP of shredded halftime drum & bass with jungle accents that etches out a dominating stance in the producer’s first foray outside the thresholds of techno. Hugely distant from a meager first stab at the genre, the Cork-based producer’s ‘Phantom Fortress’ EP proficiently demarcates a sparse battleground for conflicting and rhythmically harmonic drum flairs, enveloping bass, and taut sound design that is as compelling as it is exhilarating.
Home is a powerful concept with an abstract definition. This solo album takes those subjective ideas and unifies them under one roof. Evolving from Jerve’s #dailypiano posts in 2019, ‘The Soundtrack of My Home’ relays thoughts and improvisations that trace his journey from childhood home to adult and now, father. Nurturing a mood or feeling, each song begets a sonorous story of someone close to him, expressed through the language of piano playing.
Jerve makes use of his hands as a human step sequencer, often programming two or more motifs of varying lengths in a polymetric fashion. These melodic patterns and arpeggios evolve at varying rates but grow around clear progressions with standard 8-bar forms.
The first track - ‘Kjetil’ enters with an earnest, gentle and endearing character - like a young river near its source. As with such a river, it will grow to varied sizes throughout the album but must begin as a humble expression from the source. The following titles sketch his interpretations of the people that have made up his home.
There is a theme across the album that unites the songs, so much so that differentiating tracks can at times be difficult. Though, Jerve punctuates this overarching mood with a few distinct structures, as found in tracks ‘Karoline’ (wife), ‘Espen’ (brother) and ‘Sven’ (father). ‘Turid’ (daughter) and ‘Jon Eirik’ (brother) seem less directive and welcome more intrigue, reminiscent of a curious child wandering through the dappled light of a forest.
‘Iben’ (daughter) and ‘Eivor’ (daughter) have a hypnotic, three-pointed melodic structure that leaves the listener suspended; transfixed - while ‘Sussi’ (cat) carries unique momentum and suitably feline autonomy. ‘Mette’ (mother) has a mood of ascending, like that of a child's upward gaze at their maternal carer. Utterly nuanced in structure, Jerve leaves ample space for subjective interpretation and allows the listener to weave their own life into the tones.
As expected from the founder of Dugnad rec - this album signifies a deeply personal sentiment. Sometimes we are forced to confront the music and other times, we are left to wonder. Here, we find a balance and unity that allows little thoughts and worries to drift away, bringing us warmly to rest in the present. The LP edition's bonus track features producer/performer extraordinaire Stian Balducci, drawing a line to the next chapter of piano-based music from Dugnad rec: TOKYO TAPES: PIANO RECYCLE.
Drawing from a strong history of electronic influence, Tomashevsky has created his own underworld of foreboding techno. We enter this EP with Incoherent, which exudes ominous sounds - reminiscent of murky radar blips that may be heard deep underwater in the metallic bowels of a submarine. Bubbling electronic delays remain adjoined to these metronomic blips and oer lateral, spontaneous movement around an otherwise sturdy song structure. Jittery melodies scatter nervously under lead elements, remaining disjointed and resulting in increased energy and a darkened excitement.
As we move through the EP, we face ups and downs, both in tempo and mood. Leading on from the first, Rollback is destabilizing, energetic and mean in all the right ways. Wobbling low ends open into a mood of uncertainty, held in place only by the stability of the drums. Rollback suits a peak-time club atmosphere thanks to the gritty synth leads and fast-paced feel.
Ending with the two tracks on the B-side, Tomashevsky still seeks to surprise. Rejected seems to be a distant relative of the Incoherent, following the synthetic blip structure but allowing snares and other percussions to build more prominently. Finally, we arrive at the closing track which marks itself as more obscure. Leaning on kick drum patterns initially reminiscent of electro/breaks, the use of half-time tempo gives a change of pace and a platform for a slightly different song structure and mixing potential.
Mesmeric and entrancing, these songs give any DJ or listener to chance to turn mind chatter o and lock into a hypnotic groove. Drawing on classically techno foundations, Tomashevsky has tipped his hat to the founders of the genre whilst adding his own flavour and subtle techniques that make this EP shine.
Taken from the forthcoming album ‘Prom Nite’. The opening single of ‘Prom Nite’ is a sermon perfect for log cabin lock-ins and losing yourself across the Balearics: 'Feel Like Home' is spirited, euphoric and thoroughly satisfying, not to mention an advertising executive’s dream. London’s House Gospel Choir, endorsed by Annie Mac and The Blessed Madonna, provide the salvation that everyone is looking for right now, their heavenly harmonies aligned to Yoda’s gentle grooves and keys leading you to the light, encouraging the linkage of arms and for its soulful soothing properties to wash over you. Cover Art by ENDLESS..




















