quête:g transition

“Einsteigen Bitte!”

After more than six years of collaboration between label and artist, Feines Tier and Luca Musto bring to you the highly anticipated first full length LP “Nice Place, Bad Intentions”.

Musto’s first LP “Nice Place Bad Intentions” departs from the conventional 4/4 time signature. Instead, the album’s structure and the tracks themselves are reminiscent of a 1990s/2000s Hip Hop long play release. This becomes evident in the fact that the LP not only features 17 tracks, including skits and interludes, but also that they make up the framework of a conceptual album. Here, listeners will be encouraged to follow the track list and listen to “Nice Place, Bad Intentions” in one go.

“Nice Place, Bad Intentions” was produced over a period of 1,5 years. Besides the majority being original samples and vocals from Luca Musto, the LP also features a number of studio musicians, including bass players, trumpeters and guitarists. Cologne-based guitarist Simon Bahr can be found on several tracks, including the three singles “Infiltrate”, “Boogie Angst” and “Real Name, No Gimmicks”. Moreover, the skits and interludes are spoken by professional voice actors from the US and Canada.

The Berlin-themed album follows the characters Mick and Richie, who are all about partying and come to the city for one weekend in hopes to have the time of their lives. When the characters’ expectations meet reality, their naiveté (or bad intentions) lead them to getting screwed, robbed and even arrested. These stories about their journey through Germany’s capital are found in the interludes and skits. Listeners can follow them passing infamous places and metro stations in the city based on sampled BVG announcements, which gives the album a radio play vibe.

Sound-wise, Luca Musto’s unique sounds include scratched hooks that meet original lyrics and melodies, resulting in distinctive genre-bending tunes. As Mick and Richie stumble through some of Berlin’s most in-famous places, their expectations repeatedly clash with the reality of the capital’s nightlife. Similarly the liste-ners’ expectations are twisted and turned. Yet, the soundtrack underlining the characters’ journey never disappoints and brings its listeners on a rhythmic trip of old and new sounds. From rapping on downtempo as in “City of Grind” to merging the classic structure of electronic music with funky guitar licks and unconventional chord transitions as in “Infiltrate”, the LP feels at once like a daring experiment and like the beginning of a developing new genre.

After being championed by John Digweed on his iconic Transitions radio show, London duo The Pressure team up with Digweed and his long-time studio partner Nick Muir on Counting Down The Days, a soaring, hypnotic, emotive progressive house cut that points to brighter times ahead.

The Pressure are a London-based electronic band. Diverse production and energetic performance form the pair’s foundations, with influences from rave culture and performance-centric dance acts such as Depeche Mode and Underworld prominent across their releases and live shows.

2020 saw them self-release Ride and Planes: two tough club tracks with songwriting at the heart of them. A statement of intent from the duo, both cuts showcased a varied production approach reminiscent of the Bristol-era of UK electronica. Earlier in 2021 they made their debut on Undisputed Music with Saturday Night, a distinctive dance cut that sat somewhere between deep house and crossover electronica, and has to date clocked up more than a million streams across all platforms.

John Digweed is one of the most celebrated electronic artists of all time, and alongside Nick Muir is responsible for an incredible catalogue of music, so even before you listen to it you know this is going to be something special. Counting Down The Days is a stunning collaboration, combining the pure, driving progressive house of Digweed and Muir with the poignant emotion and raw talent of The Pressure to incredible effect.

Passionate about breaking records and being immersed in the music that fuels our most cherished dancefloor moments, Undisputed Music is doing just that with a coalition of existing and new artists spanning many electronic genres, lining up releases to illuminate audiences across the globe.

Founded by industry aficionados Tony Garvey and Marc Thomas, they share over two decades of experience between them. From currently running the UK Electronic roster for world renowned management company, Red Light, to many years within the walls of, Island Records, Def Jam, Priority Records, MCA / Motown, AM:PM, Defected Records, Strictly Rhythm and Universal Music Publishing, their wealth of knowledge is well earned.


DJ Support:

Pete Tong, John Digweed, Nick Muir, Taiki Nulight

Boasting the awesome "Chemical Warfare," a regular staple of Slayer's live shows, the Haunting the Chapel EP was a more crucial stepping stone in the legendary L.A. band's career development than many give it credit for. Issued in between the band's very promising debut and the following year's more sonically ripened Hell Awaits, Haunting the Chapel offers important clues about this transition period, which saw Slayer's rock-based song structures give way to the non-linear, genre-defining style thereafter regarded as thrash metal's signature sound. Among the uniformly solid cuts here, the enduring fan favorite "Captor of Sin" is another highlight, making this a well-recommended release for committed Slayer fans. - AllMusic

Kiefer is one of the US jazz and beat scene’s most
exciting artists, with a broad international fanbase.
He won a Grammy for his collaboration with
Anderson .Paak and has also collaborated with
SiR.
‘Between Days’ is the final instalment in Kiefer’s
trilogy of EPs (with 2019’s ‘Bridges’ and
‘Superbloom’).
With the exception of the final track, all the songs
on ‘Between Days’ were recorded in quarantine,
between 2020 and 2021. While the EP reflects the
time in which it was written and recorded,
‘Between Days’ is about transition, nostalgia,
finding purpose and remaining hopeful.
Artwork by Mason London.
Includes the Roy Ayers classic that’s also a fan
and radio favourite, ‘Everybody Loves The
Sunshine’.
For fans of Alfa Mist, Blue Lab Beats, Thundercat,
D’Angelo, Knxwledge, Mndsgn, Samiyam, Sam
Gendel.

Following critically acclaimed releases with Dance Regular and Rhythm Section (releasing under SAUL with Jack Stephenson-Oliver), London-based producer/DJ Footshooter lands on Astral Black with his full-length debut, the 'Southside Hymns' LP.

'Southside Hymns' is a decadent tribute to the community, club nights and culture of London that Barney Whittaker (Footshooter) is intrinsically a part of. This ethos is embodied in the skippy, broken-beat of the MA.MOYO featuring 'Passing Clouds' (a tribute to the community-ran venue of the same name), whilst the piercing synth stabs and horn laden grooves of 'Juno Café' is a nod to the South East London club space it's named after.

Following the Albertina-featuring single 'Twilight', the EP transitions from a dusk drive through the city - taking in the sights and sounds of Whittaker's favourite foliage-flaunting haunts, to parking the listener firmly on the dance floor with the trunk rattling bass of 'Untether' and the Natty Wylah featuring 'Bloom'.

Through enlisting a guest cast including the likes of vocalists MA.MOYO, Natty Wylah & Albertina, guest instrumentalists and long-term collaborators Wilf Petherbridge, Isobel Risk, Ebyan Rezguli & James Mollison, as well as artwork by Illustrator & NTS resident Anu Ambasna - Footshooter has ensured that 'Southside Hymns' at once embodies the contemporary London music community that it is also a dedication to.

'Southside Hymns' drops October 1st on 12" vinyl & digital DL via Astral Black Records.

Emboss Star is the new album by Kochi-born, Kyoto-based artist Kazumichi Komatsu, the first to be released under his own name following a prolific run of material as Madegg.
Informed by a range of earlier work including EPs, installation works, video works, as well as live appearances at fashion shows, parties & raves, the material collected on 'Emboss Star' has been prepared and refined over the past four years, its final collation described as like arranging the pieces on a chess board; every piece strategically placed.
In its entirety Emboss Star is intended to emphasize the fundamental aspects of sound, and its relation to the material processes of playback; the grain of a rough recording, the jump and skip of a needle, the backwards gargle of a rewind. Individual parts shift suddenly, mirroring the abrupt transitions of everyday life. In this Komatsu attempts to reconfigure our response to sound, and the associations it often evokes; to reconsider the exchange of information and image, to alter perceptions.
Inviting a state of subconscious reverie – a mood often linked with ambient music but rarely matched as it is here – Komatsu adds an element of resistance to Emboss Star, as if depicting the tranquility of a dream, as well as its inevitable disturbance.
With creativity now compressed into a form of contemporary communication often ruled by vanity, redundant hashtags and tiresome jargon, Komatsu navigates the noise, recognizing technological ennui yet finding beauty, folklore & imaginative possibility.

Emboss Star is a collection of folk songs for lost connections. A vivid form of refuge.
3 vinyl only bonus track included. Mastered by Sean McCann.
The artwork for Emboss Star depicts an object created by Kazumichi Komatsu using 3D printing.












l 12: Umi Ga Kikoeru (Extremely Raw Version) [feat. Dove & Le Makeup]

Dax J's 3rd studio album Utopian Surrealism LP, observes our transition into a new dystopian era, with a soundtrack of Techno, Acid, Amens and IDM. Essential Selection!

Freestyle Records will release Dan Berkson's debut LP, Dialogues, on September 17th on LP & digital.

Following a move to London and an immersion in the city's deep house scene, Dan Berkson's subsequent rediscovery of his earliest musical foundations and the drawing of inspiration from London's buzzing contemporary jazz scene would lead to Dialogues - an accomplished and rewarding body of work pulled together during his final days in London before relocation to California.

"It was inevitable that Dan Berkson would make a jazz album like Dialogues: joyful, danceable, entertaining, driven by the pleasure principle, and filled with virtuosity. It represents Berkson's experiences in London, where jazz is a living, breathing, dancing scene. It's his love letter to the city, bristling with British talent such as bassist Andrea di Biase (Heidi Vogell, Maria Chiara Argiro, Bruno Heinen) and drummer Jon Scott (Kairos 4Tet, Sons Of Kemet, Mulatu Astatke) and recorded in his final days in the city before relocating to California. It's also rich with history: the musical journey that brought him to this point covers almost 40 years and 4,000 miles.

Berkson received lessons from Chicago boogie-woogie veteran Erwin Helfer - who in turn had learned alongside foundational legends such as Mahalia Jackson and Glover Compton. In 2001 he came to the UK, throwing himself into the deep house scene of East London, his duo with James What signing to Steve Bug's legendary Poker Flat.

But eventually he felt that he'd achieved what he could in the house format. Rediscovering the piano and discovering that jazz provided him the opportunity to keep learning, he enrolled in Trinity College in South London just as South London's jazz scene was exploding into the public consciousness.

Dialogues is a jazz album, not an electronic one – but all the groove-based influences, from the rootsy blues and ragtime of his youth, through the funk he played at college and the house he imbibed in London can be heard, as can his love of the studio as an instrument and mixdowns that suit a club soundsystem. Detroit dons Theo Parrish and Moodymann are every bit as important to this record as Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Giuffre, and Herbie Hancock. There's 50s and 60s cool modernism (just listen to the elegant ripples of "Sketches"), there's 70s funk fusion ("Unity" kicks things off with a spring in its step), and of course there's the pumping blues heart of "Live Bait". Above all else, though, it's a personal document: a life of music and collaboration crystalised in a magical, transitional moment. Where Dan goes next musically is as uncertain as anything in these times... but this one record tells you everything you need to know about where he's been."

2021 sees the release of the long-awaited third album from Pola & Bryson - ‘Beneath the Surface’. Since their debut release in 2015, Pola & Bryson have transitioned from the exciting ones to watch to the unquestionable leaders of new school liquid drum and bass, grabbing the attention of the scene's greats in the process.

“Masterful production and musicality throughout, I love that the album has been made just as much for the home listener as for the clubs. For me, these guys are leading the new wave of liquid drum & bass.” Sub Focus

As digital streaming services continue to dominate as the primary source of music consumption, the wildly contested ‘death of the album’ debate continues to burn throughout the industry. To counteract the current trend of single tracks and playlist placements, Pola & Bryson wanted to experiment with a concept album.

“We envisioned a landscape to act as inspiration to us whilst writing this album. The landscape is made up of 4 distinct sections, each representing a different emotional state. The first being Shinrinyoku (a Japanese term for forest bathing), represented by a dense, peaceful forest environment. Mangata (loosely translates to moon river) takes you to the edges of a cold, misty lake which eventually leads you to Toska, representing a dark and endless cave. All transpiring with Yuugen, a vast and epic mountain range. The album, paired with bespoke animated visuals, paints the perfect reflection of the journey.” - Pola & Bryson

‘Beneath the Surface’ features collaborations with the drum and bass scene's hottest vocal talents, with each being selected to effortlessly meld with the respective soundscapes. After previously working with both Lauren Archer and Ruth Royall with beguiling success, Pola & Bryson knew that they wanted to send some ideas to both artists. This resulted in the creation of two beautifully blissful tracks ‘Under’ and ‘Friend’, which became the first two singles to be released from the album. While Solah and Kojo were specifically picked with their tracks in mind, Manchester favourite Strategy’s appearance on the release was an altogether more organic stroke of serendipity. The duo were unsure whether 'Anaesthetist' was going to make the cut as an instrumental, and were floating the idea of working with a vocalist when Strategy messaged them seemingly out of the blue. They knew in an instant that his sound was the perfect fit for the track.

Over the last five years, Pola & Bryson have steadily ascended from promising newcomers to well-respected leaders of the next liquid generation. The London based pair’s production credentials are now so well-respected that they have recently been commissioned for huge remix projects for Sub Focus x Wilkinson and Camo & Krooked and released a collaborative EP with Brazil’s legendary DJ Marky. Since their debut album ‘This Time Last Year’ on Soulvent Records and then 2018’s award-nominated Shogun Audio LP “Lost in Thought'', punters and peers have been on tenterhooks, anticipating what the duo would bring to the plate next. Effortlessly living up to its hype, anyone who journeys through the ever-changing soundscapes of ‘Beneath the Surface’ will be immersed into a new world of sonic expression.

For his sophomore EP and first on wax, NYC based producer and audio engineer Andrew Nerviano aka Plebeian serves up a psychedelic sound system workout designed for deep and explorative club contexts. Opening up with the luminescent soundscapes of ‘Enzymes’ he transitions seamlessly into more rugged and stripped back territory on ‘Tannins’. Flipping over we find hypnotic sub-killer ‘Neutrinos’ before closing the excursion with ‘Quantum’ which slithers and jitters its way through a variety of hyperdimensional wormholes. Shimmering and crystalline yet durable and robust this is fully dosed gear for the session, please use responsibly.

VERY LIMITED COPIES OF THIS PREVIOUSLY RSD U.S. ONLY RELEASE

Engine Kid, the post hardcore collective featuring Greg Anderson (Southern Lord label owner, also in Sunn O))), Goatsnake & Thorr's Hammer) announce a special Record Store Day 6 x LP box set release Everything Left Inside, featuring the Novocaine/Astronaut 12 inch, Bear Catching Fish 2xLP, Angel Wings 2xLP and Split w/ Iceburn / Everything Left Inside 12 inch.

Almost 30 years since the inception of Engine Kid and the trio find themselves comprehending the enormity of their creation, honouring and celebrating the mountains they formed and the canyons they created.
Engine Kid was born in Seattle, WA 1991. The band's original lineup consisted of guitarist/vocalist Greg Anderson (Southern Lord, Sunn O))), Thorr's Hammer, Goatsnake), drummer Chris Vandebrooke & bassist Art Behrman. The three had all been in hardcore/punk bands around town and all had a burning desire to create a sound that was unlike anything they had done in the past. After just a few months of existence they quickly recorded and self-released the Novocaine 7”. Circa 92’ a close friend and bassist Brian Kraft (Krafty) replaced Behrman, and at that moment the entire aesthetic and execution of sound became heavier, darker and extremely dynamic. The power trio was picked up by local label C/Z records and set out upon recording the new music they were quickly creating. In 1993 the band had two releases on C/Z; their first offering was the Astronaut five song EP recorded by John Goodmanson. The songs were primitive and exemplified the bands worship of Slint and their loud/quiet song dynamic In the summer of 93’ the band drove all the way to Chicago to record with their hero Steve Albini in the basement of his house. They emerged with the eight song album they called: Bear Catching Fish. Albini intuitively captured the band exactly as they were at that moment: raw, vulnerable and mammoth.

Shortly after the albums’ release Jade Devitt replaced Vandebrooke on drums. This transition was extremely crucial in the “second phase” of the group. Devitt was an absolute beast and his power helped launch the band miles beyond where they had ever been before. The sound of “The Kid” started to transform into a sound much more of their own. The three dudes were hellbent on pushing the bounds of sonic exploration to its absolute fullest. Suddenly there was an abundance of depth within the sounds they were creating. Eclectic influences of punk/hardcore (Black Flag, Die Kreuzen), Metal (Entombed, Carcass) and even jazz (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis electric era) were in a full collision course with the already dynamically heavy foundation of the band. The levee had broken and the resulting flood of sound completely saturated everything in its path.

Engine Kid toured relentlessly. They were constantly on the road playing every nook and cranny they possibly could. Any moment not spent on the road was instead spent focused on making their new material as potent as possible. Early in 94' the band decided to pay homage to their mutual love of jazz/fusion and recorded three instrumental pieces that would become a split album with like minded powerhouse Iceburn. The Engine Kid/Iceburn album showcased each group's love of jazz loosely framed by the intense enthusiasm of underground music. The album was released by Revelation records in 1994.
During the summer of 94’ the band reconvened with producer John Goodmanson at Bad Animals & AVAST! studios to record the new material that was literally bleeding out of the reinvigorated trio. These recorded songs were much more progressive, heavier, harder and more focused than past works. They even tackled John Coltranes’ “OLE” adding saxophone and trumpet from their brothers in Silkworm. In March of 1995, Revelation Records released these recordings as the Angel Wings album. Unfortunately "the Kid" flew too close to the sun and broke up very shortly after the album's release.

Everything Left Inside 6xLP box set (RSD release) includes:
LORD 288.1 Engine Kid-“Novocaine/Astronaut” 12”
LORD 289 Engine Kid-Bear Catching Fish 2xLP
LORD 290 Engine Kid-Angel Wings 2xLP
LORD 288.2 Engine Kid-Split w/ Iceburn /Everything Left Inside 12”
16-page color photo/liner note booklet.

We are thrilled to announce the first release in 25 years on Suzanne Ciani's Atmospheric label, which focuses on her live electronic music. Improvisation on Four Sequences was performed live in quadraphonic on the Buchla 200e and the Animoog at Festival Antigel in Geneva, Switzerland on January 25th, 2020. This record is specially encoded to be played back in quadraphonic sound and is also stereo compatible.

Early support by: Laurent Garnier, AME, Marco Bailey, Jennifer Cardini, Terrence Fixmer, Kyle Geiger, Marcel Dettmann, Apparat, Richie Hawtin, Vril, Charlotte De Witte, Sasha, Benjamin Demage any many more..



Fresh off of a remix for Grimes’ “My Name is Dark”, producer Julien Bracht has been powering through CV19 studio seclusion on full-power, with a distinct vision for brighter days ahead. Bracht’s new album, “Now Forever One,” an emblem of dark analog synthwave, is set to drop June 11. Bracht’s first solo album under his own namesake is cut with surgical precision for the shoegazing astral sound travellers who long to break out of their pandemic quarantines, and reconvene for techno-induced ascension. The album’s first single, “Melancholia,” and it’s accompanying video, is already breaking hearts and charts. An exquisite sonic hybrid of communal revelry and profound introspection, “Now Forever One,” focuses Bracht’s multilayered craftsmanship on resolving this era’s angst with sensory exploration and optimism.



As a lifelong drummer, Bracht’s insatiable musical energy lead him to bang out his first 3 EPs within one year of first being signed in 2011-12. In 2015 he founded the band Lea Porcelain with Markus Nikolaus in London. Their hypnotic post-rock debut release in 2017, “Hymns to the Night,” gained instant acclaim from UK tastemakers Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq and Zane Lowe, to name a few. The lads broke back onto the international stage with dates on several major festivals around Europe, including the Leeds/Reading Festival, Great Escape Brighton and Latitude. Rich output combined with the inclusion of live drums in his solo live sets quickly gained Bracht recognition and slots on the global tour circuit.

“Now Forever One” forges Julien Bracht’s transition from techno djing, while continuing the explorations of texture and timbre over functional song structures from Lea Porcelain, to a more open-ended search for the aural sublime — the substrate on which music, life and light glide to create momentary nodes of meaning in an increasingly meaningless sociopolitical atmosphere. These are crucial themes to Bracht’s process and approach. “The intention in my music is to strengthen people’s awareness and minds… I want us all to gather in spirit and stick together.”

The album exemplifies Bracht’s hunt for elemental juxtaposition with the warm Prophet 6’s sawtooth howls and bright pads against chillingly indifferent pulsing basslines and percussion. Clocking in at just under 65 minutes, “Now Forever One’s” tracks are sequenced to take the listener through the full emotional arch of a 15-hour rave, with an emphasis on those moments of collective epiphany where heaving techno floors become the perfect microcosm for an idealistic and interconnected future. Interspersed with improvisational one-takes, the album submerges the listener in polyrhythmic meditations, of which “Streets” and “Nocturne” are standout examples, and soars on the vaulted synth melodies of future dance floor favourites “Melancholia” and “Dreams of Euphoria.” Sascha Ring of Apparat & Moderat puts it perfectly: “I played “Melancholia” the night I got it at Mutek Festival in Mexico City, and instantly knew it’ll shine on a big floor at the right time. It’s just the right balance of majestic melodic deepness.” The sounds are both triumphant and exploratory.

Greater than the sum of its parts, Bracht’s latest release hints at the artist’s emerging potential for nailing our moment’s zeitgeist; learning to live smaller while constantly seeking higher heights. Inhabiting the fertile ground between solitary rumination and dance-floor convenance, the launch of “Now Forever One’s” lunar expedition into the techno oblivion of pandemic lockdown is oddly fitting.

"BOKASSA are one of Norway’s biggest up-and-coming exports when it comes to groovy and catchy rock music. After millions of streams on their last full-length album, Crimson Riders, and supporting tours with METALLICA, BOKASSA are ready to take on the next chapter of their career! On the new single "So Long, Idiots!", BOKASSA come through with a tight, dense rock banger, displaying the band’s undeniable energy while seamlessly transitioning into melodic choruses and tasteful guitar solos. BOKASSA are a serious rock’n’roll powerhouse to be reckoned with in 2021!"

New Kscope CD Edition Of 1997 Top 30 Album This Strange Engine
“Atmospheric, melodic music that played to all of that band’s strengths... Marillion’s finest album of the last 15 years” - Classic Rock Marillion formed in 1979 and have sold over 15 million albums worldwide.
Rightly regarded as legends of progressive rock, the band have continued to evolve and have been keen to embrace the possibilities of the internet, using innovative ways to interact with listeners resulting in an incredibly loyal legion of fans around the world.
Originally released in 1997, ‘This Strange Engine’ was a top 30 hit in the UK and reached #10 in the NL album charts. The album features the singles “Man Of A Thousand Faces” and “80 Days” and shows the band exploring a revitalized sound featuring more acoustic elements.
‘This Strange Engine’ is the first of three recordings that Marillion made on a contract with Castle between departing EMI in 1995 and eventually going independent in 2000. Widely regarded as one of the most well produced Marillion albums, it finds the band in transition, ditching some of the lengthier compositions of previous albums in favour of a more succinct, commercial sound.

Berlins herausragende Technoterrestrial Ellen Allien bringt uns die letzte Ausgabe der Mammut-Compilation-Serie We Are Not Alone, insgesamt drei Teile mit jeweils 11 Tracks. Jede der Compilations enthält brandneue Sounds von Künstler*innen, die entweder bereits auf der legendären Veranstaltungsreihe gespielt haben oder zukünftig auf We Are Not Alone-Partys auftreten werden. Hier kommt das Abschlusskapitel, schnallen wir uns an für ein freakiges Finale...

Ryan James Ford - EQ 10MG Base - Kybernetische Assimilatoren dringen in die Exosphäre der Erde ein.
LADA (Dasha Rush & Lars Hemmerling) - Kassi - Dichter kosmischer Minimalismus
Cosmin TRG - Sourde - Unorthodoxe Renegaten-Snares
Heidi Sabertooth - Innergaze - Introspektive Präzision eines Lasers
Henning Baer - Nightwing Microlight - Donnernde kataklysmische Vibrationen
Setaoc Mass - Silent Tension – Urzeitliche, rituelle Praktiken
Truncate - Basic – Straff, Athmosphärisch und druckvoll
Shlomi Aber - Terrified - Schauriger Technoterror!
Hemka - Culture - Der Traum von einer wilden Fahrt durch die Nacht
Bertrand. - Midsummer Dream – Raue Beats und fluffige Pads
Adriana Lopez - Chaos Transition – Fehlfunktion, Schmelze, Supergau

With or without a drink in hand, moderate temperature, no need to jump into the wet. One night AT the pool, not inside. Palm trees or succulents - not far from here, the vegetation has adapted to the situation. A soft rustling: Possibly crickets, probably also the wind. No traffic and certainly no civilization, which right now would probably only disturb with its long agenda of responsibilities. HYPNOSIS AND MUD - Healing hypnosis, healing mud. The half-frustrating, half-liberating feeling of saturated soil between the toes. A state of inner peace. Instead of a voice, you hear primitivist percussive explorations. A groping and grasping of the bare feet, with delicate toes. Abstraction is followed by the concrete: a walk through the ORCHIDEENGARTEN RUSE, an orchid garden close to the Bulgarian town and not far from the Romanian border. Digitally, but not unreal. Perhaps even better than reality - anyone can do that. The (unofficial) soundtrack to this would not only make the Canadian composer Mort Garson happy. A lady‘s shoe kindly looks at us. If you turn around, you arrive on the other side: A LINE HAS TWO SIDES. Conundrum-like images, dissolved one-dimensionality. Candid narrative ambiance. A clarinet calls to duty. Civilization and traffic after all? SUNBEAMS ON YOUR CAR. Urgency, a clamor of voices - both in their best form. Yet again – the clarinet, the blunt reality: ONE NIGHT AT THE POOL. We are still standing here, we probably never left. A three-part journey – with delicate transitions. Three destinations: Now forever united. Dissonant and yet pensive. In the far distance the advertisement for the collected works of Meredith Monk. Hair erect, the little skin nerves contract, goosebumps - at last!

A producer with 20 years of experience perfecting his craft, we’re excited to welcome Ramon Tapia to Drumcode for his debut EP.

The artist previously contributed a pair of cuts to the A-Sides series in recent years with ‘Sonic Therapy’ and Drum Control’, while also playing the Drumcode stage at Tomorrowland in 2019. Elsewhere he’s dropped heat on Truesoul, led by the crisp groover ‘Manipulate’. His ascension to Drumcode for his first full-fledged solo EP release is richly deserved.

As with so many during the past year, Tapia’s taken his studio work in colourful and interesting directions. ‘The Future of Mankind’ is a multi-faceted beast. The title track is a straight-up weapon, driven by an ascendent riff that’s energetic and hopeful in equal doses. ‘Song of Sirens’ sees ambient pads and rolling percussion combine for a quality cut every DJ needs. ‘Screwdriver’ does what it promises on the tin; guttural and textured, it’s a necessary transitional tool for every techno set. ‘Hold On’ is the kind of emotion charged dance music that’ll make us go collectively weak at the knees when raving returns. We’re already excited to hear it rinsed at Drumcode Festival in Malta this September, when Tapia joins the party.

In September of 2019, Deliluh took flight with sights set on new horizons.
A long plotted scheme to uproot the group from their Toronto home and
airlift them into the touring bastion of Europe seemed like a pot worth
gambling their stack on.
Their future in the old world was read with wide-eyed optimism, emboldened
by two albums newly waxed and tour dates rolling in. Greener pastures with
foreign allure, a promised land chalk full of experimental art and sound, and a
plethora of unconventional venues ripe for the picking... it’s open season, what
could possibly go wrong?
Well, the best laid plans... ‘Amulet’ is the first release since Deliluh’s departure
from Toronto, an opening document of the group’s transition to Europe. Mirrored images of the same composition occupy each side; ‘A’ performed by their
previous four-piece lineup (Kyle Knapp, Julius Pederson, Erika Wharton, Erik
Jude) and ‘B’ by the current active two-piece (Knapp and Pederson). ‘Amulet’
is set to be released July 30th on 10” via Tin Angel Records.
The lyrics depict a jewel thief committing crimes with the conviction of a merciless zealot, and justifying them with a spite for the status quo. The protagonist
amuses with the threat of being “caught”, a fate seemingly imminent and yet
laughable in the crooked context of societal greed. Knapp delivers sharp criticisms with a swagger liberated of fear, imploring us all to root for the anti-hero
in a time when danger is craved en masse.
The tonal contrasts between both versions testify to the group’s versatility.
The A side pulls tension by way of minimalism, leaning into a sinister synth
sequence that navigates a pitch dark sonic terrain. Swooning guitar, plucking
violin, whispering synths and darting tape effects peek in and out of the periphery, circling with unsettled starkness around Jude’s gloomy bass drone, through
until Wharton-Shukster’s string soaring climax.
Flip to the B side, and the immediate motorik groove turns the sequence on its
head, snapping to a gritty dance track for nights long yearned for. Pedersen’s
modular synth takes on a fresh persona of dusted drums and otherworldly high
hats, cracking on the beat while guitar scratches, processed sax, and string
synths build with harmonic euphoria, all until the tape slips and pulls the rug
from under the DIY dance floor.
‘Amulet’ demonstrates Deliluh’s potential growing fearlessly in the face of a
tight game. They promise a plentiful stash of recordings soon to be unearthed,
giving the sense that their recently tested process of creation has been far from
hindered. What comes next is anyone’s guess, though Amulet at the very least
reassures that we’re still, as always, in trusted hands.
Knapp: “It’s ‘adapt or parish’ these days.. We’re fortunate to be safe and
healthy, and thankfully, we’re not afraid of taking risks or evolving.”
Pedersen: “It isn’t the end goal that matters, but what you learn while exploring the paths that lead into unexplored terrain.”

"Transitional Being reveals another side of XVARR’s production palette — characteristically tranceinducing, this release highlights the transformational potential of dance music.

Spanning the last ten years, these six tracks handpicked by Aural Medium align with a particular relationship to technology that has formed the central pillar to the XVARR studio set up. Often starting with a drum pattern and sequenced bass-line, the physical rhythm is stripped out and surrounding elements are drawn out and manipulated to convey the ‘hidden’ intention behind the track. With the tracks compiled here, he lets the rhythms ride. The influence of more ‘club-orientated’ music has remained firmly embedded in XVARR’s psyche, although typically the trip has been more introverted. The approach here may differ from other XVARR outputs, but the mood most definitely remains the same, with an overarching desire to channel emotion and passion from the other side of nowhere.

XVARR recognizes the parallels between the ritualistic dance of the Witches’ Sabbath and a dark room filled with sweat, smoke, and sound. It is in this parallel void of transcendent possibilities that tracks such as “Running out of Time”, “The Crooked Path” (a nod to Andrew Chumbley) and “Universal” reside. There’s also a subtle presence of influences from Industrial music, with groups such as SPK, Conrad Schnitzler, Chris Carter and Cabaret Voltaire paving the way for XVARR’s early experiments with electronic music. The alchemical results on this EP float in a universe populated by such luminaries as AFX, Drexciya, and the constellation created by Chain Reaction, within a cosmos governed by the gravitational pull of Baldelli and Weatherall."