Поиск:hold me down

Fides Records continues its 10-year anniversary with the second chapter X2 following the monumental 10Y OF FIDES: Mixed by Z.I.P.P.O. True to the label’s decade-long pursuit of underground sound and vision, this new instalment deepens the narrative with six striking contributions that embody the raw, hypnotic, and modular essence of the Fides universe.

The A-side opens with Setaoc Mass’s “Quanta” a stripped down, mental techno piece driven by tension and precision. Seddig follows with “Seismic” an intense, driving composition marked by rugged modular energy and deep rhythmic focus, while Casual Treatment’s “Hoover” injects elasticity and bounce through detailed sound design rooted in French minimalism.

Flipping to Side B, Holden Federico’s “Tactics” timeless track based on a 909 framework and a melodic core that balances power and elegance. Augusto Taito’s “No Eye Contact” unfolds as an immersive, restrained groove while Asymptote’s “Encounters” closes the record with cinematic precision, a contemplative yet physical finale true to the Fides aesthetic.

a fascination flows down the chemical gradient. songbirds take flight from a colonial square in montevideo and fall as acorns in the foothills of the sierra nevada. the moon aches, holding a teeming darkness to the edges of the clearing as we make quick work for the machines. first a pulse, then an armature is spun up around it while the whipping plasma of virtual half-thoughts cools and hardens into something more familiar. a gleaming clash of frogsong begins to reveal its cadences, unspooling into regular striations. it forms a grid in the air, the water rises to meet it, and pressed between these mirrored planes of disappearance we find our vector and glide towards the horizon.

A DJ, producer and prolific collaborator, Greg Paulus’s musical career has led to a truly enviable discography. Born in Minnesota and now an essential part of New York’s sprawling musical landscape, Paulus has taken the foundations of an organic childhood education by his father, the composer Stephen Paulus, and seen it blossom into an unpredictable musical journey encompassing house, soul, jazz and hip-hop.

While touring as a trumpet player with indie band Beirut, as well as in Matthew Dear’s live ensemble, back home he was helping to redefine New York’s underground dance scene as one half of No Regular Play. Alongside childhood friend Nick DeBruyn, the pair brought their deeply musical sound to no less than fifty countries across the world. A decade on, and Paulus arrives on Seth Troxler’s Slacker 85 imprint for his long-awaited debut solo LP, ‘Close To Home’, a deeply felt long-play celebration of his personal cornerstones; family, trust and hope.

From the opening, organic swell of ‘Perot’, arranged with Seth Troxler himself alongside John Camp, ‘Close To Home’ introduces itself as a focused, conscious trip, it’s languid trumpet spilling over into the reflective ‘World Keeps Changing’, which introduces Paulus’s philosophy of music as a constant. ‘Midtown Mirage’ meanwhile leans into the idea of the city itself as a collaborator, resisting pressure and finding its own restful groove. Back over the river, ‘Bond’ roots itself in Brooklyn with a contribution from resident Dillon Cooper, flipping rap standards amid psychedelic flourishes.

Paulus nods toward his dancefloor form on ‘NRG’, a slinky, lo-slung club groove that seamlessly evolves to meld the artist’s nocturnal and studio instincts. In contrast, ‘Real Job’ switches the tempo on Paulus’s MPC to embody an old-school, beatdown flavour, subtly teased out alongside composer and sound designer, Taylor Bense. Doubling down on this languorous groove, ‘Hat Down’ introduces a full-scale No Regular Play reunion, the first of two collaborative tracks that recall the duo’s imperial phase of confidently minimal productions, while evolving their craft.

Following a few missed calls made with love taken from Paulus’s answering machine on ‘$1000’ the minimal, reflective arrangement of ‘Hold Dear’ finds the artist stripping back his layered sound for a skittering, vulnerable exploration of intimacy and life’s devotions.

For a memorable finale, Paulus recruits jazz prodigy Michael Feinberg to deliver upright funk on the deliciously rich ‘Sometimes It’s About Us’. A purely celebratory collage of bopping rhythms and vocals, sharply plucked guitars and archive samples, ‘Close To Home’ concludes with Paulus leading his friends, ensemble and many influences in rare harmony.

Dot / Stephan Bazbaz - Split EP Vol. 2 (Depthful002)

Depthful returns with its second release, following the success of the first release by label owner and artist Dotan Bibi aka Dot.

In the second release, Dot returns to collaborate with his close friend and artist Stephan Bazbaz for their second split EP, following the great success of the first one released back in 2017 on Stephan's label, "No waves"

A1. opening With Dot's track 'Hoag’s Object'. is an intriguing fusion of house and dub influences, balancing the pulsating energy of house with the relaxed, spatial vibes of dub. From the start, listeners are greeted with a deep, groovy bassline and lovely acid line, that immediately establishes a rich foundation for the track.The rhythm section and congas is tight and persistent, with the signature rolling beats of Dot's sound laying the perfect backdrop for the track's sonic landscape.

A2. 'Fading Fast' isn't just a track; it's an experience. If Hoag’s Object laid down the groove with subtlety, 'Fading Fast' fully submerges you in its rich, atmospheric depths. From the very beginning, there’s a sense of movement - like something slowly emerging from the mist, with deep, resonating bass frequencies that pull you into the track.The rhythm section feels almost submerged, like you’re hearing it from underwater. The inclusion of short, scattered vocal samples in 'Fading Fast' adds an extra layer of intrigue and emotional depth, without pulling focus from the track's atmospheric core. Rather than traditional, lyrical verses, these vocals appear like fleeting whispers - fragments of a larger story, almost like half remembered phrases.

B1. opening with Stephan's track 'Overload' and it feels like an immediate shift in energy, where the vibe ramps up with pure house power. This track is all about the rhythm, the groove, and, most importantly, that bassline that keeps you locked in.
From the first beat, it’s clear 'Overload' isn’t messing around. The drums hit with a sharp, punchy attack, but it’s the bassline that truly makes this track shine. Deep, low, and relentless, the bassline pulses in a way that feels almost like it’s driving the entire track forward. There’s something about the way the low end sits in this track that makes it feel alive especially with the warmth of the lovely deep pad Holding the whole track underneath.

B2.'Better in Space' is the closing track of the record, it feels like a natural continuation of the vibe that’s been built, but also a final statement that allows the listener to fully sink into the deep, spacious world Stephan is known for. With this track, we’re stepping into a place where dub and deep house collide seamlessly, creating an atmosphere that's both expansive and intimate - taking us out there but also pulling us inward. From the very first moment, 'Better in Space' sets the stage with a warm, enveloping bassline that instantly grounds you.

Mastered By Pheek
Designed By Idan Am-Shalem

One of contemporary ambient’s preeminent figures lands on its leading label, enacting a transition into a new phase of rhythmic noise and tonal shadowplay laced with peculiar sensitivities, wrangling Dilloway-influenced tape noise thru ASMR ambience, fritzed dub techno, layered vocal drone and ritualistic mantras.

Perila steps up solo with a heavily satisfying debut for West Mineral, investigating negative space and states of subconsciousness. The shift in tone feeds forward into arcane realms of resonant dark ambient and dream-pop, harnessed in amorphous structures using dub-as-method. It’s wholly immersive stuff in a way that’s long been Perlia’s calling card, but here more careful in its command of personalised, atmospheric physics from the Coil-esque ‘cheerleader’, thru the deeply smudged and sexy trip hop of ‘lava’, and the oozing, sloshing OOBE-like spectres of ‘give it all’.

The title of the album is a reference to Carl Jung’s phrase "all haste is of the devil” which informs Perila’s writing process here; she slows down in an attempt to feel more and tap into her shadow self. Album opener 'cheerbleeder' is a doomed, tremolo-heavy mass of ghost notes, while the rattling chains and strangulated voices on ‘metal snax' sounds like they belong on a Wolf Eyes tape. 'grain levy tep dusk' strikes closer to recently unearthed industrial plates from Tolerance and Mentocome, with rusted clangs threaded into deflated, half-speed pulses. The album keeps growing from there, shifting and expanding as Perila exhales and absorbs her cognitive blind spots. She credits "trance states" for helping her let go, and we broadly get to experience that on the mantra-like 'thunder me' and the blurry all-vocal highlight 'hold my leg', which sounds like it could have been snatched from Grouper's 'Way Their Crept' sessions.

As with all of Alexandra Zakharenko’s work under various aliases - Aseptic Stir, Baby Bong, Wedontneedwords, Perila - her allure is self-evident to lovers of textured, diffuse electronics, and never more so than on this lip-bitingly potent suite of delicacies and primordial urges, perfectly balancing ancient and techngnostic aspects with an x-amount of seductive strangeness left in the margins.

For their first album as Gilla Band (formerly Girl Band), the
foursome have redrawn their own paradigm. ‘Most Normal’ is like
little you’ve heard before, a kaleidoscopic spectrum of noise put in
service of broken pop songs, FX-strafed Avant-punk rollercoaster
rides and passages of futurist dancefloor nihilism.
Lockdown robbed Gilla Band of any opportunity to try the new
material out live, but the pandemic also incinerated any idea of a
deadline for the new album. They were free to tinker at leisure, to
rewrite and restructure and reinvent tracks they’d cut, to, as
drummer Adam Faulkner puts it, “pull things apart and be like,
‘Let’s try this. We could try out every wild idea.’”
The group also fell under the spell of modern hip-hop, “where
there’s really heavy-handed production and they’re messing with
the track the whole time,” says Fox. “That felt like a fun route to go
down, it was a definite influence.”
‘Most Normal’ opens with an absolute industrial-noise banger that
sounds like a manic house party throbbing through the walls of the
next room as a downed jetliner brings death from above. What
follows is unpredictable, leading the listener through a sonic house
of mirrors, where the unexpected awaits around every corner.
The common thread holding ‘Most Normal’’s ambitious Avant-pop
shapes together is frontman Dara Kiely. Throughout, he’s an antic,
antagonistic presence, barking wild, hilarious, unsettling spiels,
babbling about smearing fish with lubricant or dressing up in binliners or having to wear hand-me-down bootcut jeans (“It was a
big, shameful thing, growing up, not being able to afford the look I
wanted and having to wear all my brother’s old clothes,” says
Kiely).
‘Most Normal’, then, is a triumph, the bold work of a group who’ve
taken the time to evolve their ideas, to deconstruct and reconstruct
their music and rebuild it into something new, something
challenging and infinitely rewarding. It’s a headphone masterpiece.
It’s a majestic exploration of the infinite possibilities of noise. It’s a
bold riposte to your parochial beliefs on whatever a pop song can
or should be. It’s the best work these musicians have put to
(mangled) tape.

For their first album as Gilla Band (formerly Girl Band), the
foursome have redrawn their own paradigm. ‘Most Normal’ is like
little you’ve heard before, a kaleidoscopic spectrum of noise put in
service of broken pop songs, FX-strafed Avant-punk rollercoaster
rides and passages of futurist dancefloor nihilism.
Lockdown robbed Gilla Band of any opportunity to try the new
material out live, but the pandemic also incinerated any idea of a
deadline for the new album. They were free to tinker at leisure, to
rewrite and restructure and reinvent tracks they’d cut, to, as
drummer Adam Faulkner puts it, “pull things apart and be like,
‘Let’s try this. We could try out every wild idea.’”
The group also fell under the spell of modern hip-hop, “where
there’s really heavy-handed production and they’re messing with
the track the whole time,” says Fox. “That felt like a fun route to go
down, it was a definite influence.”
‘Most Normal’ opens with an absolute industrial-noise banger that
sounds like a manic house party throbbing through the walls of the
next room as a downed jetliner brings death from above. What
follows is unpredictable, leading the listener through a sonic house
of mirrors, where the unexpected awaits around every corner.
The common thread holding ‘Most Normal’’s ambitious Avant-pop
shapes together is frontman Dara Kiely. Throughout, he’s an antic,
antagonistic presence, barking wild, hilarious, unsettling spiels,
babbling about smearing fish with lubricant or dressing up in binliners or having to wear hand-me-down bootcut jeans (“It was a
big, shameful thing, growing up, not being able to afford the look I
wanted and having to wear all my brother’s old clothes,” says
Kiely).
‘Most Normal’, then, is a triumph, the bold work of a group who’ve
taken the time to evolve their ideas, to deconstruct and reconstruct
their music and rebuild it into something new, something
challenging and infinitely rewarding. It’s a headphone masterpiece.
It’s a majestic exploration of the infinite possibilities of noise. It’s a
bold riposte to your parochial beliefs on whatever a pop song can
or should be. It’s the best work these musicians have put to
(mangled) tape.

Step into the emotional landscapes of Saudade’s new EP Expensive Noise, a multi-textured journey where analog machines speak louder than words. Each track captures a different state of mind, blending depth and groove with raw, honest sound design. The EP opens with “Expensive Noise” — direct, grounded, and hypnotic. No detours, no hesitation — just raw analog power locking into a loop with magnetic tension. The groove builds steadily, shifting your state of mind as the rhythm takes hold. “Anyway” brings a dreamy, bittersweet touch. Exclusive to vinyl, this extended version unfolds like a teenage memory you never shared — warm, nostalgic, somewhere between electro and pop, glowing softly from within. “Colored Life” dives into detailed minimal deep house territory. Rounded and generous, its sound design sculpts soft clouds of melodies against crisp, syncopated snares — floating between dream and presence, like a cushion made of rhythm and light. “Porte de la Villette 45” echoes the EP’s birthplace — a raw area near the Parisian périphérique, where engines roar, people hustle, and concrete weighs heavy. Yet within this urban friction stands Studio Villette 45 — a funky, soulful shelter where the machines find their groove. The record closes on “Cœur” (heart in French) — a stripped-down, heartfelt outro. Just a Prophet 5 pad, no tricks. A moment of vulnerability, stillness, and truth — as if the music had finally dropped its armor. Between analog heat and emotional honesty, Expensive Noise is Saudade at his most sincere — building bridges between power and softness, body and soul, sound and silence.

With its 10th edition, Dalmata Daniel's split series brings together two artists who have both left their mark on the label's compilations, now presenting their first full releases on the imprint. Anatolian Weapons and The Spy approach electronic music from different angles, one rooted in hypnotic techno rituals, the other in raw electro and post-punk energy. Both craft sounds that thrive in the shadows of the dancefloor.

On the A-side, Anatolian Weapons delivers three cold, hypnotic cuts. "Trapped" opens with heavy EBM percussion and a buzzkill bassline, setting a tense, mechanical tone. "Further Spiralling Down" sinks deeper into darkness with a grinding low end, tight drums, and electro-tinged claps, forming the side's relentless highlight. "Apathy Through Shock" closes with pounding, catatonic rhythms and a mournful, otherworldly melody, pushing the listener into disorienting depths.

Flipping over, The Spy's raw, electro-driven energy takes hold. "Same Blur" channels sharp electro beats with a punkish sneer and cosmic synth lines. "Falling", featuring The Spy's own vocals, leans into melancholic new wave, pairing bouncy rhythms with bittersweet melodies. The closing "Pretending" drifts into the darkest corners, offering low-slung, haunted electro layered with distant, spectral harmonies.

Sex Tapes From Mars sister imprint, Hot Plates turns to junglist misbehaving, with chopped and screwed, pitched down and twitchin’ vocals, merging with ragga choruses. It’s hardwired to the dance but swerving every expectation - soulful chants spiral out like smoke in UV, tangled in a fever dream of gun finger pressure and rewound fragments.

The flip is driven by a deep, bellowing bassline, paired with ominous yet soaring strings. Each part contradicts the next, but somehow it holds, glued together with that early jungle lawlessness. Still sounds raw, still sounds vital - as grittily dangerous now as it was in ‘93.

The original release came as a limited white label 32 years ago, now grailed and silly bob on ‘cogs, lovingly remastered and cut loud, restoring the bite while adding clarity and bottom-end heft that rattles ribs.

With the planet in free fall and the dance scattered, the sentiment hits harder: “All we need now is love and unity”.

Proper summer system tackle. Not a repress - a resurrection.

'A Senegalese Griot singer, an Amsterdam improviser and a Puerto Rican jazz drummer find each other on an open playground, a stage built for improvisation, an old cinema now used for minute made story telling.
'Equipped with an m'bira, a xalam, a drum kit, a voice, percussion, house hold tools and an electric clavichord on 220 volt, they sit down and take off: Wrrrrrraaang!
'Singer and percussionist Mola Sylla is in many ways a musical explorer. Born and raised in Dakar, Senegal, he grew up in the tradition of the griots. Griots play conveying stories – sometimes decorated with music, theater and dance – which all play an important role in West African culture. His rhythm and melodic compositions differ from the western agreed schedules and provide surprising twists.
'Puerto Rican drummer Frank Rosaly has been involved in the improvised and experimental music scenes since 2001 when he became an integral part of Chicago's musical fabric, navigating a fine line between the vibrant improvised music, experimental, rock and jazz communities.
'Oscar Jan Hoogland is the sound of Amsterdam in person. He is an instant composer and inventor of his own instrument by joining a clavichord, a keyboard instrument from the 17th century, to 220 Volt electricity. As the last student of the late pianist, composer and improvisor Misha Mengelberg he tears like a tornado through the Amsterdam jazz and impro scene.
'Together they are Mother Tongue.'

Carly Simon’s quietly intense sophomore album comes across like an assertive notice nailed to a telephone pole for all to see. Bold, personal, and autobiographical, Anticipation announces the arrival of an artist who won’t back down. While Simon stands her ground on her eponymous debut, she elevates her passion and persona to heightened levels throughout this gold-certified record, dealing in private matters related to love, relationships, and desire. At times, Simon is nothing short of primal. She reflects on the difficulties of retaining your own identity while also giving yourself to a partner. Simon’s connection to her folk roots would never be stronger.

Sourced from the original master tapes, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Anticipation lays bare the rich tapestries afforded by the spare blend of soft guitars, mellow orchestration, and dreamy melodies. Audiophiles and record collectors, take note: This is the first time Anticipation has been available on 45RPM. The wider grooves and dead-quiet surfaces prove extremely rewarding.

The rhythmic framework anchored by session pro Andy Newmark’s drumming sounds dynamic and balanced, with songs benefiting from a focused midrange and taut low-end. Simon’s attachment to and investment in each lyric is made evident by way of the intimate, hushed atmospherics and expansive responsiveness. And just as Simon’s vocals feel more transparent and direct, so, too, do the supporting choral arrangements.

Released before the singer-songwriter movement reached full bloom, Anticipation remains remarkable for the high-quality songwriting and Simon’s gutsy stance. The album cover — depicting the vocalist holding the gates at Queen Mary’s Garden in Regent’s Park and seemingly defying anyone to take her on — serves as a metaphor for the content within.

Known for having relationships with high-profile partners, Simon was heavily involved with Cat Stevens leading up to the recording of Anticipation. She draws from her experiences to craft tunes that resonate because of their honesty, realism, and strength. Few of those moments are better known than the Top 20 title track, which Simon composed in just 15 minutes as she waited for Stevens to pick her up for a date. Imbued with the nervousness, tension, and excitement that accompany the moments when a romance could go either way, the Grammy-nominated song presages the feminist-minded vulnerability and burning longing that informs a majority of the record.

On the soulful “Legend in Your Own Time,” also inspired by Stevens, Simon harnesses yearning as a conduit to feel-good paradise. Deemed by Rolling Stone an “absolute clincher, an awesome description of the psychic ravages of gone-nuts, know-nothing love,” her cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “I’ve Got to Have You” moans with no-holds-barred desire and breathtaking sensuality.

For all the wanting Simon pursues on Anticipation, her way of staying in control — vocally and personally — make the record a courageous statement of contemporary femininity. For further evidence, look to the bossa nova of “Summer’s Coming Around Again,” somber “Share the End,” soothing “Three Days,” and sincere “Julie Through the Glass,” a tribute to her young niece.

Simon would achieve international fame with her next album, No Secrets. Yet as this definitive reissue shows, Anticipation suggests the rest of the world was just a little late catching up to her.

Off hours, A new imprint series from Metro Beirut Records run by Nephews, focused on what happens when everything else fades out, the in-between hours, the last stretch, and the moments that aren’t meant to be documented.

The Berlin-Beirut duo delivers five unpolished cuts built for the dance floor, crackles running through and a raw edge with 90s energy throughout. Made to hold weight on a system, and simply dialed down to the essentials.

On the B-side, Nephews link with ICTV on B1, locking into a steady, rolling zone, while B2 brings in a collaboration with Emanuele Barilli, pushing things further out, stretching tension without losing grip.

A central figure in Belgian techno, Border One's work has also been an international reference for consistency and direction since his early releases. An artist for artists with true commitment to his sound, Steven Petit's impact in the studio and behind the decks is admired by anyone who has done their homework. His music describes tight pressure under curious, modular-like sequences that stretch through the timeline of each track. The scale of minimalism remains key here, and the Belgian wastes no time when tunneling through his erratic tracks. Jazz-like dissonance drives his tension and although each element is carefully measured, the records truly command dancefloors. 'Inner Radiance' is no different. The Fuse resident takes his game one step further, pushing harmony to hysteria at every turn.

The EP skips foreplay and dives straight into the extremities of Border One's sound. In 'Reducing Valve', sustain is the key ingredient to this chaos. Slowly ripping the synth sequence into chords, Border one maintains a firm hold on the track's tension while remaining playful with the main theme. 'Sensory Reset' is more of a lurker with its shifting pad that spreads across the stereo image. This track is characterized by a grim urgency as opposed to its predecessor's progressive spiral. Keeping things low to the groove, the A2 swings about satisfyingly while Border One tinkers at his 909 constructions. Continuing his work on resonance, 'Transfigured' balances obscurity and surrealism. With a sequencer on the loose and a drum machine to emphasize it, the Fuse resident guides his audience into twists and turns at a constant pace. Here, we explore the dichotomy between the warmth and cold of a modular sound in techno, something frequently done but rarely mastered. Border One puts his years of experience to work to provide a combination of flair and balance to his tracks, something that is clearly translated in this EP. Of course, the final track - the title track - 'Inner Radiance' brings something very special to the table. The power of simplicity can never be underestimated and Petit knows just how to use it. With a strong core to an already sturdy track, the conclusion is spectacular. Emphasizing the electrifying nature of the record, Border One adds vintage chord stabs that fit right in with the sharp lead to create a powerful and memorable dancefloor experience. Not as much of a wind-down more than it is a gripping cliff hanger for his future releases, Border One provides once more an EP that underlines the true ethos of techno music.

Mr Bongo presents a reissue of one of the rarest releases on the illustrious and now ultra-rare tax scam label TSG Records. A label with a checkered past, operated by Lloyd Price and with alleged ties to boxing promoter Don King. The album in question, Disco Party by Reality, is a stunning journey through ‘70s dancefloor-focussed funk into early proto-disco grooves. Back in mid-‘70s Manhattan, Dr. Otto Gomez and a group of fellow New York musicians including Tony Dixon, Norman Drayton, Tony Dupree, Al Jones and Fred Nanton were brought in for a recording session by songwriter and producer, Billy Nichols. Laying down one of Nichols' songs and a selection of the group's own, they were paid as session musicians and thought little of it. The tapes came to the attention of Lloyd Price who struck a deal with Nichols unbeknownst to Gomez and the rest of the band. Price then pressed the album and put it out in 1976 on a newly formed subsidiary label, TSG Records, that would later be documented as one of the US tax scam labels of the ‘70s. Such labels were created to exploit a loophole in the US tax system, running up inflated production costs / losses that investors or the parent label could write off against their tax bills. Releases on these labels were never intended to have commercial success. They would usually be produced in incredibly limited pressing numbers and have little to no promotion or distribution. As such many of these records instantly fell into obscurity, becoming mythical amongst DJs and record collectors. Sadly, this meant that artists like Dr. Otto Gomez and friends never had the chance for their record and their talents to shine at the time. In fact, it was only when Jazzman reached out for their 2022 reissue that Dr. Otto Gomez became aware that the album had ever been released and heard the story behind it. Disco Party is a time capsule where ‘70s instrumental funk edges and intertwines into an early disco sound. The sessions are for the dancefloor, minimalist and groove-based. The bass and drums are at the forefront, providing the pulse of the album. Driving funky guitar licks, and a brilliant horn section weave their way in and out of the productions. Highlights include the uplifting feel-good ‘Let's Party People’, the early disco swagger of ‘Reality’, and ‘Disco Party (Let's Have A)’ with its wah-wah groove and percussion break, which could easily have found its home on a Blaxploitation film soundtrack of the period. It’s not just rarity that makes this record so sought after, but rather the fact that it is a superb example of dancefloor-focussed mid ‘70s funk and disco.

Just when you thought every holy grail must have been unearthed by now, here come Basic Unit with their deep cover late 90s masterpiece Timeline, the dankest darkcore-electronica-tech step album you've likely never heard.

Ben England and Rick Dallaway formed Basic Unit and debuted on Moving Shadow in 1997. They also moved on Nocturnal, a cult label that reached beyond D&B to platform some more experimental sounds. It was a short-lived label with some ominous footnotes — 'Several people involved with Nocturnal have vanished or are dead' reads the label's Discogs description. But in 1998 Nocturnal put out Timeline, a CD-only album from Basic Unit that cut a sharp, scathing figure against most D&B of the era. England and Dallaway embraced the album format as a chance to go deep, inhaling their inspiration from early days Autechre as much as Source Direct and boiling down the results to a steely, minimalist framework.

The likes of 'Resolution' are desolate, stark workouts that feel fractured and raw enough to align with early grime, complete with the strings, but the rhythms move in mysterious formations designed to confound like the most bloody minded electronica artists of the late 90s. Blown out bass and scattered flurries of machine gun breaks, squashed tundra drones that sound like they were pulled from 10th generation VHS b-movies and bit-crushed animal grunts fit for a Mega Drive beat 'em up. The sonics are redolent of the times, but Basic Unit chisel them mercilessly into their spartan vision, deploying brain-frying beat science with a stern restraint.

It's the kind of record that gives so much while holding so much back — a deadly tease that has flown under the radar for too long. This is the sort of shock reissue material that gets us gassed at Sneaker, and we're proud to be giving it a re-boost and a first ever outing on wax, all the better to shock you out.

2025 Repress


Australian music devotees András and Instant Peterson hold a candle to overlooked avant-pop and electronic works by antipodean artists and outsiders working through the 80s and 90s. Through co-presenting weekly radio show Strange Holiday, the duo slowly upturned their locale for inspiration - archives, country bookstores, private collections and convenience stores, searching for a place to anchor their own identities in the oceans of the island continent. The 10 tracks acknowledge a minor history, passed on via a network of friends, friends of friends, the libraries of radio station 3RRR and more often than not, the artists themselves. Renowned mixed media artist Maria Kozic enters with the mysterious downbeat of Trust Me, her husband Philip Brophy responsible for digital and analogue sonic construction. A recurring character in András and Instant Peterson's investigations, Brophy reappears with a score piece from his divisive feature film Salt, Saliva, Sperm and Sweat, recorded as (pronounced 'Tch Tch Tch"). Other links are thread under the surface. Melbourne inner north experimentalist David Chesworth explores his Australiana songcraft leading Whadya Want. The short lived project also featured Philip Jackson, whose husband-wife duo The Couch is restored from Fast Forward's dance issue - a pioneering cassette fanzine published by early-80s 3RRR personality Bruce Milne.