Cerca:le freak

All Music Written & Recorded by David Drucker at The Skinny Apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, 2017
Featuring Mike Green (Mezzanine Swimmers) on guitars on "I Took Too Much Acid in 7th Grade," Cop Funeral on
electronics on "Seafood Special," Chris “Mr Transylvania” Shields on background vocals on "Massachusetts Is a Magical
Place," Eva “Nighttime” Goodman on violin & backing vocals on "The Ridgewood Ripper"
Painted Faces is the long (strange/trip) running voyage of weirdo David Drucker, began in Florida in 2009 and decamped
to NYC in 2011. It has sometimes been a loose band in the past with a revolving lineup of outsiders and interlopers
(known as The Freak Band), but is usually a solo endeavor, and the bulk of the recordings have been done as such. PF
has always been a home recording solo project, one-man-band style heavy on psychOdelic/outsider
folk/noise/experimental vibes. He started self releasing CD-Rs in the early days and quickly jumped to tapes on a variety
of labels including Already Dead, Lava Church, J&C, Null Zone, Tall Tapes. A "legendary" CD compilation on Gulcher
Records and an LP from Already Dead and Almost Halloween Time in Italy brings us to the here and now. Tales from the
Skinny Apartment is somewhere around the 20th or so Painted Faces release...he has long lost count.
Drucker runs/curates gigs (and records at) the Skinny Apartment, his dwelling place in Ridgewood Queens,
which some folks have called the "realest DIY zone in NYC." He also rips in Dead River Company, Big Hiatus, Shecky,
Canyon River Blues and countless other unknown subterranean improv zoner outfits. "Ripping" involves keeping it
freaky and weird and ripping sets wherever/whenever, i.e. always being down to perform whether in a kitchen or a
packed ballroom....no diva bullshit, just plugging in (or going sans electricity) and playing...always giving it your
all...Ridgewood Rippers are the crew of artists that populate Ridgewood and the loose "scene" around the Skinny
Apartment...much of it is in jest, a self-inflated mythology of nonsense which is pervasive in all rock and roll "scene"
histories. As a student of rock/pop history, Drucker is fascinated by the loose associations that connect folks from
various zones together...i.e. Miles Davis and The Grateful Dead...it's all the same though, the labels and genre
distinctions are completely arbitrary. We're all in this together, now more than ever...to be a "ripper" is simply to
"rip"...no nonsense!
Painted Faces has toured all over the USA and Canada numerous times, spreading the ripper gospels, and is
gearing up for their second European tour. He is known for falling apart on "stage," with performances heavy on humor,
horror, stoned digressions, and cathartic bouts of therapy, part performance art/part standup comedy, eradicating the
lines between performer, performance, and audience one show at a time

It's a strange new post-everything musical landscape we occupy.
The machines - you could argue - have been playing the humans for some time, and the conversation became pretty one-sided.
But you know, not everyone is singing from that hymn sheet. That Man Monkz enjoyed the apprenticeship at House PLC more than the opportunity to progress to middle management. Itchy musical feet meant extended exploration of fertile avenues of interest like the Madison Washington & Pan Amsterdam Hip Hop projects, meanwhile the pull of the 4/4 was never far from the studio door, and all accomplished with an assured versatility that shines.
Musical alliances formed in the disparate but related playgrounds of Detroit, Sheffield, Berkeley and Atlanta, all underpinned by an emphasis on seeking out collaborations and gigs, which represented a real exchange of energies, rather than a bank raid.
Letting things percolate in this more measured way means we've arrived here, a follow up of sorts to 2016's 'Columbusing'
This is Monkz allowing the ear ringing of gigs to feedback organically into bright dance floor flashes, which by virtue of their careful crafting are destined to last much longer.
On Zero Sum, we get a much greater economy of elements on the pared down dance floor ammo like 'Freaks N Prophets' & 'Chai Tea', a perfect counterpoint to beautifully realised pieces like 'Them Thangs feat Ms Fae' & 'After Dark with Nikki O' interspersed with funk-heavy workouts and sample jams like 'Easy Still', 'LvnLmtd' & the unashamedly KDJ influenced shamanism of 'WhatUthinkIDo'
It's a pick 'em and stick 'em ride of individual gems and a cohesive whole too. The opposite of thrown together, this has been worked and weathered, naturally. The House always wins, but sometimes...just sometimes.

Emotional Rescue returns to the music of British "pop" band Furniture, with an EP of the band's own extended versions, remixes and unreleased takes of their particular output.

Taken from three 12"s that followed When The Boom Was On (ERC072), the songs included cast a light on their development from 3 to 5 piece, adding Sally Still (bass) and Maya Gilder (keyboards) and the new male/female frontline. The subsequent broadening of their line-up and sound meant they could start to address the kind of pop music they wanted to play.

After the early releases garneered radio play and reviews, Furniture were launched into the melee of '80s pop. An anomaly, the band found they attracted a specific kind of "intense" follower, who were often beguiled by Furniture's freaky normality. This was addressed on the 1984 release, 'I Can't Crack'. A more urgent version of the sound Furniture had debuted with 'Why Are We In Love', the track, sung by Tim, was based around a sequencer-like rhythm played live by drummer Hamilton Lee, and a clarinet part played by Tim's brother, Larry Whelan. A mix of bleakness and euphoria, the song was and is a favourite of the band and considered one of their best self-productions, as well as becoming a latter day club play.

This is followed by the studio experiment 'Throw Away The Script', where the band wrestled with sequencers and synth-pop, but then countered it with a free-jazz sax solo. Found on the flip of the double A -side of 'Love Your Shoes' 12", this instrumental version too became an underground club hit, including a cult play at Fran Lenaer's influential Valencia club, Spook Factory. Played loud, the studio mastery, trickery and oft-accidental discoveries come to the fore, with tissue-damaging frequencies giving extra sound system shaking bottom end.

The B-side continues the band's love of making extended mixes with 'Dancing The Hard Bargain'. Co-produced with Tim Parry (formerly of Blue Zoo), they threw everything at these 12" versions. Able to relax and focus on the sounds they really liked, rather than the ones thought more commercial, this can be clearly heard on this compelling, percussive mix, a stop-start breakdown becoming a band hallmark.
To close this collection is the mammoth 'Bullet'. Again sung by Whelan, an edited version of which debuted on the 1986 Survival compilation of Furniture tracks called 'The Lovemongers', here this previously unreleased original take is centred on a mesmeric tape loop, live drums and a guest appearance by violinist Helena Bjorelius.

Vinyl only! For our third physical release, Colkin joins the House Running family with two detroit influenced house banger. 'Central 13' is a 90ties vibe track with grand-piano chords played underneath groovy 909 drums made for the dancefloor, while 'Gonna Be' with the lovely voice feature of Detroit's rising artist Javonntte also get's you back to the golden era of 90ties classic house. On the B face, Meemo ensure his soul mood with this 'Untitled' gem while Yoshiko Okabe leave towards a darke, based on strings samples and freaky sounds. Sure thing!

UK duo Wayward continue to turn heads after a big 2018 and return with a fresh new EP that features a remix from cult minimal man, Voigtmann. 

 For their latest offering, they turn once more to Silver Bear Recordings as newly announced co managers of the label and in the process remind us of the depth and talent that remains a hallmark of their output.  Opener 'The Energy' is a driving cut with lush drum layers carrying you along as distant pads flesh out the groove. Soft female whispers add layers of soul and the whole thing will make close-knit floors go off. 'Space Marines' then gets more edgy, with techno-leaning drums and freaky samples that make for a pumping but classy groove, finished in style by some heavenly sounding, uplifting pads. Voigtmann is a long time underground figure, releasing on a range of vital labels and has a superbly reduced sound, showcased here on his druggy, infectious remix. Notable for its swirling pads and zoned out vibes, it rounds off another expert Wayward release.

Glenn Astro conquers new territories with Naturals, fusing elements of Balearic and leftfield house with tribal and acid sounds on Tartelet Records.

In an impressively short amount of time, Glenn Astro has created a musical universe that’s entirely his. With full-length releases making waves on Ninja Tune and Apollo Rec, the sister label of R&SRecordings, the Berlin-based musician assembles a perfect pastiche of influences on his forthcoming EP Naturals, coming out on Copenhagen’s Tartelet Records this September.

Exploring the outer fringes of the Balearic sonic spectrum, Naturals delves into unexpected sound territories without losing touch with planet home. Sub-heavy drums mix with private oceanic field recordings, futuristic synth, and effect pedal workouts, delivering a four-track EP that is novel but honest to the bone.

“I tried not to take any direct influence from any particular music I was listening to,” Glenn Astro says. “Instead, I tried concentrating on where the instruments and effects were taking me, experimenting with different ways of using the gear that I know so well.”

Inspired by Sicily’s natural beauty, the juxtaposition of its rough landscapes and clear blue waters, Naturals takes listeners on a journey into unfamiliar sound; a conscious diversion from his usual style and yet an instant dance floor cracker infused with the artist’s signature panache.

“I made most of the record while being in Sicily,” he says. “In retrospect, it is easy to hear that the volcanic landscapes contrasting the idyllic beaches were a major influence.”

The EP opener “Naturals (Unsweetened Mix)” is a beautiful freak – a peak-time cut – starting out with tranquil ambient melodies and water drop percussion followed by a beasty acid line and slick drum programming. Next, “Naturals (Dance Mix)” slows it down to 116 BPM, taking a completely different route with a hypnotic dance between tribal and dub – a wonderfully weird closer.

On the flip side, “Slarutan (Pristine Mix)” emerges au natural with Sicilian field recordings, layered pads, playful melodies, and crisp drum programming. Saving the best for last, “Slarutan (Water Mix)” dips its toes into the early days of dance music, shifting into futuristic, ambient dub territory with divine melodies and filtered percussion.

“This one is for the plants and the trees. Return to planet Tartelet,” Glenn Astro says.

After S3A's "Pages" double album earlier this year we asked some of our friends to re-interpret and re-construct their favorite original track off the album and deliver these fine remixes. We aimed to have a nice variety in styles on this record and hope you enjoy these tunes as much as we do!
Starting off with the live disco funk of "Lorenz Rhode" who sets the tone for a class dance floor EP and followed by the soulful deep house vibes of French master "Art Of Tones" aka "Llorca" who delivered 3 different mixes to this release. The main mix is on the vinyl and there are two bonus mixes added to the digital release, a "Beats" and a "Dub" version. Ending this brilliant first side is London's newcomer "Dampé" with that deep and jazzy electronica approach we got to love him for on his first debut Dirt Crew Recordings release.

On the flip we pick up the pace and present you the faster dancefloor tracks of Amsterdam's "Nachtbraker" with his freaky hallucinating sounds placed atop of one of these irresistible bass lines only he can come up with and leading towards an "end with a bang" in best Detroit ghetto house style by our own Icelandic fire "Felix Leifur".

Each artist perfectly transported his own unique styles into these tracks and we hope this release with its broad approach will serve any dance floor to its best!

“ To know Lerosa is to have a huge amount of respect for him. The Dublin-based, Italian producer isn't concerned with the limelight. Rather, his studio philosophy resembles the Japanese concept of “kaizen” a workmanlike, incremental improvement.



Leopoldo Rosa's debut for Acid Test is the producer's first album in eight years, but since then he's put out in the neighborhood of 15 EPs for the likes of Idle Hands, Ferox and Saft, homing in on his own lush sound, which weaves effortlessly between deep house, acid and electro.



He applies all these patient lessons on “Bucket Of Eggs”, the ten masterful tracks fit perfectly within the label's concept. Yet Rosa, like the label's stable of 303 auteurs (Tin Man, Recondite, John Frusciante, Pepe Bradock) opens up bold new vistas for the subgenre. On "Conjurors," he spends half the track building up atmosphere so thick and dubby you could cut it with a knife, before introducing an acid line and jack track heralding back to the acid's maddening, revolutionary roots.



About halfway through the set, Lerosa is done setting the stage, and thusluy delivers a string of freakishly good late night tracks. For Lerosa, the hips and the head work in concert—"One Is Too Short"'s no-nonsense rhythm section perfectly balanced by the track's dreamy synth and zero-grav piano breaks. On "Self Inflicted," he joins a rarified class, synthesizing electro funkiness, widescreen ambience and acid counterpoint.



On initial contact, Lerosa's “Bucket Of Eggs” feels astonishing, an expertly-paced, near-perfect LP. But for those who have been following the low-key producer, it feels like a natural culmination. “

Untameable Anatolian feline fuzzy folk funk finally uncaged. A spontaneous Turkish-Norwegian-Dutch expedition, where seafaring jazz cats entangled with fugitive roadies and Tee-Set mods, makes the story of Durul Gence’s highly anticipated/ill-fated Asia Minor Mission group the stuff of lost-rock legend and remains one of Turkish music’s great “what ifs?” The black cat is finally out of the bag...

Having forged a celebrity status as one of Turkey’s premier percussionists and bandleaders, Durul Gence assembled the underground fusion group known as Asia Minor Mission (AMM) in early 1972 (with Irfan Sumer, Oguz Durukan and Ugur Dikmen) while trying to escape the constant daze of paparazzi camera flashes that followed him across Turkey. During a far-fetched post-gig brainstorm the group pondered relocating to Norway (based on fact that none of them had ever visited the country) when a local seaman who claimed to have recording studio connections in Oslo overheard them. Enlisting the roadie services of a streetwise Istanbul taxi driver friend on the run from the police AMM took the plunge, accepting the sailor’s offer of passage on his next sailing.
In these new idyllic surroundings, the same region that played host to fellow Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz, Durul found the peace he desired discovering a muse in Norway’s welcoming creative climate. Much like Barıs Manço and Mogollar in France, Cem Karaca and Gökçen Kaynatan in Germany, Gence’s relationship with Norway rekindled a passion for composition in ways he couldn’t have imagined in his homeland, opening doors thought previously unreachable. As a potential prodigal son for Anadolu pop Durul joined a wider pop-cultural diaspora alongside electronic pioneer Ilhan Mimaroglu, Tülay German (aka Tuly Sand) Kardasllar’s “Alex” Wiska (collaborator with Krautrockers Can) and Maffy Falay from the band Sevda.
Despite a blooming fan base and original repertoire the Nordic dream was not to be and after two years without a studio session, AMM called it quits during a tour of Holland after which Durukan and Dikmen went home to join Cem Karaca’s band Dervisan - Dikmen’s keyboards feature on Finders Keepers releases by Turkish singer Selda (FKR011). Retreating to the city of Delft to ponder his next move, Durul met Peter Tetteroo, former vocalist from successful Dutch psych-pop combo Tee-Set, who also found himself in a lonely boat after the demise of his long-running group. As an AMM fan, Tetteroo suggested they record two Gence penned AMM demos for Dutch Philips signed exotic songbird Sasi Naz at Peter’s home studio. A session was hastily arranged and a talented, yet unconfirmed, guitarist was enlisted. Durul maintains it was the work of Ferry Lever from Tee-Set/After Tea, something Ferry has denied, and with Tetteroo having died in 2002 the question remains. Upon entering the humble studio Durul stumbled upon a skeletal drum kit. Lacking hi-hat, toms or even a snare he cobbled together a bongo and a tambourine and set to work. Together, under the watchful eye of Tetteroo, the pair jammed stripped back versions of the AMM live staples Black Cat and Boo Song, with an added freak factor otherwise missing from their jazzier approach. Laid down in just 30 minutes, with Gence’s accomplished guide vocals and fuzzy overdubs, the rudimentary but professional recordings never made it to Philips execs and the tapes returned to Turkey under Durul’s arm as one of only two documented AMM recordings (the other being a live performance in Oslo’s Hennie-Onstad Art Centre in May 1973).
Unintended for commercial release, curiouser and curiouser, Finders Keepers proudly present these previously unheard tracks sourced directly from original tapes, which stand as a testament to the inimitable talent of Gence and the only studio document of the mythical AMM Turk jazz funk troubadours, representing a pop-psych Hollandaise holiday postcard which has taken five decades to be delivered. 45 revolutions later... The cat’s got the cream.

2025 Repress

2019 marks the year that Music for Freaks has officially been running for over 20 whole years. Two decades of topsy turvy, downright Freakish behaviour. How the hell did that happen?

So, what better time to delve deep into the labels vaults again and uncover more of its hidden treasures. Back in 2015, we approached some of today's most discerning producers, those who truly "get" the label's ethos from old, to let them loose on tracks old and new. It brought to the fore the "Freaks - Let's Do It Again" series of releases and we're super chuffed to bring you the 3rd in the series to kick off the label's 20th anniversary celebrations; a new collaboration with likeminded artists and we think you'll agree it's another testament to the divergent & insouciant house music that has always been the beating heart of this label.

First up, we welcome back the Chilean anti-hero Ricardo Villalobos.

When we sent Ricardo the parts to the Freaks album, "The Man Who Lived Underground" a few years ago, he sent back 5 interpretations which blew our collective minds. This is the 3rd of his journeys. Edited by head Freak, Justin Harris, it delivers a tripped out, discordant tech mix of the Freaks track, 'He's Angry' and is a wonderfully warped and highly hypnotic jam, that drives deep down into the subconscious.

The 20th anniversary wouldn't feel right without some brand spanking new music from Freaks themselves.
This track was properly hidden in the Freaks DAT vaults from the 1990's and Justin & Luke have dusted it off, mixed it down and "Unbeknown To Us" will finally see the light of day. It's safe to say Freaks have always had a timeless feel to their music and this track, despite being 20 years old as an original production, is no exception.

Next up, The Martinez Brothers make their MFF debut and to say we're chuffed to be releasing this one after 3 years of it being in the vault, is a huge understatement. There's nothing but good vibes, cranked to eleven, on this cut and the brothers have cooked up a true rip snorting tech house remix of "Time", that will charm the roof off any self-respecting club or festival tent.

And last but by no means least, fellow previous collaborators on Let's Do It Again, Part 1, Gerd Jansen and Phillip Lauer, aka Tuff City Kids, have graced us with another superb remix of a firm Freaks favourite from back in the day, "Turning Orange". The duo have whipped up an excellent stripped 808, electro-hop mix with low slung electro beats, minor key atmospherics and nostalgic 80s vocal pitch-shifts. Villalobos, Martinez Brothers, Tuff City Kidz and Freaks all on the same record? This is the type of house music madness that dreams are made of.
A fitting start to the celebrations - we reckon you'll agree!

Exhausted Modern from Prague (Endless Illusion founder) and the techno veteran DimDJ from Thessaloniki are going together on this split EP, the fourth release on Lyon's imprint Blue Night Jungle. With their strong analog approach, they each explore the infinite possibilities of raw sound materials, going from wild acid aesthetics to classical Detroit's electro aesthetics. Two universes that are largely complementary, strengthening each other, and therefore creating a beautiful representation of what BNJ "Dance" sublabel aims to focus on. With this new release, Blue Night Jungle goes fully European by letting these two underground artist express themselves through a common way.

A wonderful reminder of Big Boi's unparalleled prowess in the rap game. He has literally been doing this longer than some rappers have been alive.' - High Snobiety

Big Boi is one of the OGs of hip-hop and he's still reinventing himself more than two decades after entering the game.' - XXL
An all-star affair.' - Rolling Stone

Big Boi reveals June 16 as the release date for his highly-anticipated third full-length solo album and first release for RCA Records, Boomiverse.

Tonight, the seven-time GRAMMY® Award-winning, RIAA diamond-certified hip-hop luminary, producer, and member of OutKast takes the stage at NBC's The Voice for the very first time. Big Boi and Levine will team up to perform Mic Jack' live during the semifinals. In addition, he's set to debut the song's official music video in revolutionary fashion.By Shazam-ing the performance, fans can unlock the exclusive premiere of the visual. The Voice airs at 8pm ET/7pm CT on NBC.

Kill Jill' and Mic Jack' have already begun to amplify excitement for the album's arrival. Kill Jill' has racked up over 3.1 million Spotify streams to date, while Mic Jack' garnered 1.5 million Spotify streams in just a few weeks. Big Boi unveiled the songs during a high-profile Apple Music Beats 1 premiere before performing Mic Jack'' on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In addition, both tracks continue to draw critical praise.

One of history's tightest and most clever rhyme mavericks, Big Boi's indelible influence courses throughout two generations of rap music. As one-half of OutKast, he achieved seven GRAMMY® Awards, sold 25 million records, and created a string of music's most influential work, including Aquemini, Stankonia, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzikand Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—which went RIAA Diamond making OutKast the first and only hip-hop artist in history to win the GRAMMY® for 'Album of the Year.' Big Boi's 2010 solo debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, bowed at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and received unanimous critical acclaim with Pitchfork proclaiming it one of the "100 Best Albums of the Decade 'So Far'" and topping year-end lists from Time, Paste, Vibe, and more.

His 2012 follow-up Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors enamored tastemakers and fans alike and boasted collaborations with A$AP Rocky, Killer Mike, Kid Cudi, and more. In 2015, Big Boi collaborated with Phantogram to create supergroup Big Grams. Their debut self-titled album was released to critical and fan delight.

Music collective Africa Express announce the release of a brand new studio album titled EGOLI, coming on the newly created Africa Express Records imprint.

Hailed as the most revolutionary force in popular music for two decades, Africa Express was founded in 2006 and brings together musicians from different cultures, genres and generations to break boundaries and offer a new perspective on Africa and its music.

Each record and event is unique, based upon on-the-spot collaboration and filled with unique moments of magic; the collective have hosted trips and concerts in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali and UK to date.

Africa Express travelled to South Africa in January of last year to complete an electronic album in just 7 days, a week of discovery, collaboration and music-making. The result is EGOLI - 18 tracks capturing the fresh, joyous sounds of Afro Futurism, straight out of Johannesburg.

Featured artists include Damon Albarn, Blue May, Gruff Rhys, Georgia, Ghetts, Mr Jukes, Nick Zinner, Remi Kabaka, Otim Alpha and Poté as well as emerging and established stars of the buzzing South African music scene including BCUC, Blk Jks, Dominowe, Faka, Infamous Boiz, DJ Spoko, Mahotella Queens, Moonchild Sanelly, Muzi, Morena Leraba, Nonku Phiri, Radio 123, Sibot, Sho Madjozi, Zola 7, Zolani Mahola (Freshly Ground) and Maskandi guitar legend Phuzekhemisi.

Founded by Larry Akles in 1971 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, The Chocolate Buttermilk Band, has been one of the busiest and most successful cover and backing bands in the Southern United States for the last 5 decades.
While they’re little known outside the region, their handful of singles from the early 1980s are, for record collectors, among the best and most desirable in Modern Soul and Boogie Funk.

Jerome Derradji & Past Due Records are proud to present “Head Games (The Story of Larry Akles & CBM Records)”. Released on a DLP / CD with printed inner sleeves (or booklet) that include never seen before pictures of the band and a story written by Jacob Arnold. Artwork is by the mighty Al Kent. As a companion to the compilation we are also reissuing the incredibly rare and sought after “Head Games” 7” with a picture sleeve.

This compilation includes every song released by the Chocolate Buttermilk Band, remastered and reissued for the first time.

Needless to say, this is an essential release for fans of Boogie, Soul and Funk as the Chocolate Buttermilk Band releases are known to fetch thousands in the collectors market.

In Larry Akles own words, “This girl in Atlanta told me one time, she said ‘Larry, I heard on the radio that Chocolate Buttermilk was going to be on the show, and I told my girlfriend, Oh, it’s gonna be onnnn if Chocolate Buttermilk on there, ’cause whoever come behind them, they got to go!’” He continues, “When we hit the stage, boy it’d be some fire. We wouldn’t have to get warmed up. We’d start off hot!”

LTD to 300 / SPLATTER VINYL. Planet Mu Recording artist, Gobstopper label boss, and Boxed club night founder Mr.Mitch provides the third PRESSURE release of 2019. This strictly limited, blue and yellow splattered vinyl platter is futurist dancehall at its most exhilaratingly demented. Random synth patterns, chaotic bleep emissions and all round oscillating madness ensures this furiously fresh track, flows freakily, like a bogle frenzied droid transmitting from Kingston, Jamaica, year 2049. Kevin Martin aka The Bug, nagged Mitch into submission, to release this Acid Ragga killer, after the PRESSURE label CEO, heard ‘Not Modular’ standing out clearly from Mitch’s gobsmacking one hour ‘Techno Dancehall Mix’ at the end of 2018. And as a tribute to South East London don dada Mitch, The Bug himself decided to slice, splice and dice ’Not Modular’ into two additional atomised remixes. The Bug’s ‘Straight’ remix, is sub aquatic bashment, pulsating deeply from the bottom of the ocean, buried in a blizzard of white noise and disembodied, hypnotic chimes, with panic sirens set to stun. Whilst the ‘Raw remix’ is no less disorientating and funky, sounding like Lenky’s classic ‘Diwali’ riddim rewritten by an 808 clap addict, with hips set to full rotation. Conclusively alien and ridiculously infectious.

Bristol stalwarts October & Borai join forces once again for their second outing on Happy Skull. The pair join the dots between sleazy EBM and rugged, hardcore atmospherics.

Lead track 'Fatal Rumba' is a titanium plated slab of latin funk for freakier, late night dance floors. On the B-Side 'Swipe Left' drops the tempo but turns the pressure up to boiling point, a chugging drum machine workout complete with pulsating 303's and dub techno chords. To round things off, Conch bosses Bash & T give 'Swipe Left' the full UK treatment, flipping it to a mutant funky roller.

For the second release on the Galaxiid imprint, a label of electronic music archeology and quality, we are transported to the strange sonic world of an elusive 90s pioneer. Solar X's 1997 album X-Rated will be released for the first time on vinyl, as well as reissued digitally, with new artwork by the Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami. Two worlds connecting sonically, visually and culturally.

Solar X enjoyed a burgeoning career in post-Perestroika Moscow making playful, low-tech electronica from Soviet analogue instruments, which he masterfully configured to forge animated compositions and dancefloor rarities. Fascinated by chaos and complexity, his music explores the ways in which our minds can be manipulated by structure - an endeavour quite plausibly linked to his other career as a lecturer and researcher of AI, information theory and cognitive science, his interest in which was in turn triggered by his young experiments in computer music.

Solar X gained international attention at a time when Russia was (quite unfairly) seen as a vacuum for electronic music, but was exploding in the period of piracy, poverty and freedom following the collapse of the USSR. Young Russians had benefited from the soviet education system and there was a strong DIY computer programming and music scene, fuelled by hackers, gear freaks and party animals. Viewed from today, the album is reborn at a time of further political and social strife, which many see as fuelling the huge creativity and radical thinking of modern Russia's young creatives.

X-Rated treats tempo and form as fluid concepts, administering sudden changes to its sonic landscape with disorienting effect, underlain with a subtle dose of humour and experimentation. Downtempo trip-hop sits alongside frenetic IDM and blistering electro, all bound together by peculiar melodic inflections and lively distortions. Warm, trippy harmonies and robotic synths are offset with angular drums, shifting erratically through moods and genres with cunning intent. Much like his contemporaries from the era, it's his ability to breathe life into a humble production setup that makes his music so compelling some twenty one years later.

The track titles are from a book of call girl cards in London phone booths, that reached the artist in Moscow in 1995. "I liked the titles from these cards, which were self-promoting and offering pleasure (e.g. "Mistress awaits you"). So, I thought since my tracks also offered some kind of pleasure, they might as well advertise this through their titles.'

Label head Nina Kraviz was introduced to the work of the 83 year old sensei Keiichi Tanaami by Ukawa Naoshiro, founder of Dommune in Tokyo, one of the brightest figureheads for the arts in Japan, responsible for the graphic design of the cover. In September 2017 Nina played for the opening of Tanaami-san's first exhibition in Moscow at Gary Tatintsian Gallery. Nina performed a live sound palette, to accompany the looping 7 minute animation, of experimental music from the Soviet Union, Russian pioneers of electronic music like Species Of Fishes and SolarX, Soviet-time pioneer Lev Termen, Kuryochin, avant-guard rock mixed with some Stockhausen and just pure abstract sounds, as well as treasured artists like Biogen.

Tanaami's illustrative work has strong sexual elements, so out of the five art pieces Nina selected and commissioned for Galaxiid, the first fits perfectly for 'X-rated'. The vertical line of text on the left is the traditional form for Japanese covers of foreign releases. The cover, together with the accompanying poster and sticker, are printed in Japan to ensure the highest print quality and purity of the colours.

Rock Sucks! is back with three mad boogie bangers made by three killer ladies. The Boogie Freakdown is real with this one.
Don’t sleep.

Musique Exotique’s Ayden Vice teams up with Czech upcoming star Andreas Rund and The Egyptian Lover to create a hypnotic fusion where West meets East, meets Middle-East. The Egyptian Lover leverages this hypnosis and casts some of his own with his signature 808 sound and enchanting vocals, a serenade if you will, which is guaranteed to seduce the freakiest of listeners.

Quintessentials has a long history in putting out those nice little (or sometimes big...) compilations. It was 'deep, raw and real". Then 'thank you freaks". After that 'gentlemen cuts". Now it's 'enjoy your cuppa"! Vol. 1 starts with 4 new and refreshing faces on Quintessentials. Marc Bianco is for sure no newcomer, as he's a part of the famous Moonrise Hill Material crew with Folamour and other top french producers. 'Wet Scott' is a smooth yet freaky tune with tight beats in a best MB manner. For german Effgee, 'feels like ding' is his first track ever released. Happy lad! And we're sure it won't be the last. Italian air man Wearing Shoes is quite new to the scene, but has a quite impressive list of releases already. For Quintessentials, he teams up with...well yeah, Javonntte (check his two Quintessentials releases, 59 and 61). Proper house music guaranteed! Last but not least, Roy Vision (another french artist who just released on Roots for Bloom) goes deep and dusty, with lovely Rhodes and snares! We hope you enjoy your cuppa!