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Since forming in 2006 post-punk experimentalists Sebastian Melmoth have been on a thoughtful and adventurous musical journey. In a constant state of aural evolution, the London-based four-piece has a delivered a string of albums and EPs that variously touch on everything from garage-rock, grunge and lo-fi pop, to electro, new wave, dark ambient and music concrete, all the while drawing on a myriad of literary and artistic influences.

The band’s first release for Artificial Dance digs deep into their admirable and eye-opening catalogue and draws together some of the Amsterdam-based label’s favourites from the more electronic end of the band’s output. Entitled “The Dynamics of Vanity” – a comment on Western culture’s obsession with rehashing the past and the band’s own in-built distrust of artistic naval-gazing – the set is not a ‘best of’ retrospective but rather a ‘sort of’ selection of stylistically interconnected cuts that gives a very specific snapshot of the band’s work.

Check for example “Icarus”, a drowsy, hypnotic and sample-laden soundscape that effortlessly joins the dots between post-rock, pitched-down electronica and early morning ambient, or the slowly unfurling throb of thought-provoking opener “The Engineering of Consent”, a swelling, melancholic post-jazz meditation on propaganda and governmental mind control featuring spoken word samples from William S Burroughs in conversation with Brion Gysin, Timothy Leary, Les Levine and Robert Anton Wilson.

The showcased songs are typically hard-to-pin-down, too, with the re-imagined gothic horror break-up cut “Prosopagnosia’ and slow-burn audio addition of “Waiting For Godot” being joined by the wide-eyed morning dream-pop hallucinations of “Seeds (Descent Into Decadence)”. It all adds up to a collection that expertly showcases one engaging thread – of many – running through Sebastian Melmoth’s esoteric body of work.

Deathprod, a.k.a. Helge Sten, has been deeply embedded in the Oslo music community for decades, but his brooding soundscapes and deliberate process make him seem sometimes like a phantom. Sten is a founding member of Supersilent, adding his sounds and treatments to the avant jazz leanings of that powerful collective, and he has collaborated with artists as diverse as Biosphere, and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones.
But Occulting Disk is the first new Deathprod album in 15 years; his attention to detail is next level, and the darkly powerful soundscapes arch and swell like the shifting of the Earth’s tectonic plates. Raw, emotional, political and deliberate, this is ambient music with deep intention.

Fans of Arca, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tim Hecker, Steve Reich, Autechre, Swans, and GAS will all need this record – Deathprod makes some of the most powerful experimental ambient composition of our time. His last LP, Morals and Dogma, from 2004, was listed as one of Pitchfork’s top 50 ambient albums of all time. FACT calls Sten the “dark ambient master.” The New York Times said “Sten loves to summon up thick, often ominous clouds of sound, gesturing at everything from avant-garde composition to black metal without ever quite revealing his hand.”

There Existed An Addiction To Blood" ist das insgesamt vierte Album von Clipping und ihr drittes für Sub Pop. Es ist der Nachfolger des von Kritikern und Publikum gleichermaßen gefeiertes Album ,Splendor And Misery" aus dem Jahr 2016. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" enthält die Singles ,Nothing Is Safe", ,Blood Of The Fang" und ,La Mala Ordina" (Feat. Benny The Butcher, Elcamino, The Rita), die von Clipping produziert, von Steve Kaplan gemischt und von Dave Cooley bei Elysium Masters in Los Angeles gemastert wurden. Das Album enthält auch Gastbeiträge von Ed Balloon, La Chat, Counterfeit Madison und Pedestrian Deposit. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" ist Clippings Interpretation eines neuen Rap-Splitter-Genres unter Zuhilfenahme ihrer einzigartigen Lupe. Clipping wenden sich auf dem neuen Werk intensiv dem Horrorcore zu, eines bewusst absurden und kreativ bedeutsamen Subgenres, das Mitte der 90er Jahre blühte. Einige der bemerkenswertesten Pioniere hießen Brotha Lynch Hung und Gravediggaz, aber es umfasst auch bahnbrechende Werke der Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony und die nahezu vollständigen Veröffentlichungen des klassischen ,Memphis cassette tape rap". Der wahrscheinlich subversivste und experimentellste Rap hat sich oft als ,Alternative" zu konventionellen Sounds präsentiert, aber Clipping verzerren das Ganze respektvoll in neue Konstellationen. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" absorbiert die hyper-gewaltigen Horror-Symboliken der Murder Dog-Ära, stellt sie aber in einem neuen Licht dar: immer noch dunkel getönt und düster, aber in einem seltsameren und lebendigeren Farbton. Wenn der traditionelle Horrorcore mit ,Blacula", dem populären Blaxploitationsfilm-Klassiker aus den frühen 70er Jahren, verwandt war, so ist das neue Output von Clipping analog zu ,Ganja & Hess", dem blutrünstigen Kultklassiker von 1973, der als unbesungenes Wahrzeichen des schwarzen Independent-Kinos gilt, dessen Score von Sam Waymon, Clipping als Inspiration zum Titel des Albums diente und auch Samples auf dem Track ,Blood Of The Fang" lieferte.ENG The science-fiction visionary Octavia Butler once declared that "there is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns." The aphorism could apply to any art form where the basic contours are fixed, but the appetite for innovation remains infinite. Enter Clipping, flash fiction genre masters in a hip-hop world firmly rooted in memoir. If first person confessionals historically reign, the mid-city Los Angeles trio of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes have spent the last half-decade terraforming their own patch of soil, replete with conceptual labyrinths and industrial chaos. They have conjured a mutant emanation of the future, built at odd angles atop the hallowed foundation of the past. Their third album for Sub Pop, There Existed an Addiction to Blood, finds them interpreting another rap splinter sect through their singular lens. This is Clipping's transmutation of horrorcore, a purposefully absurdist sub-genre that flourished in the mid-90s. If some of its most notable pioneers included Brotha Lynch Hung and Gravediggaz, it also encompasses seminal works from the Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and the near-entirety of classic Memphis cassette tape rap. The most subversive and experimental rap has often presented itself as an "alternative" to conventional sounds, but Clipping respectfully warp them into new constellations. There Existed an Addiction to Blood absorbs the hyper-violent horror tropes of the Murder Dog era, but re-imagines them in a new light: still darkly-tinted and somber, but in a weirder and more vivid hue. The album contains interludes with hissing recordings of demonic invasions, and guest appearances from Griselda Gang's Benny the Butcher and Hypnotize Minds horror queen La Chat. Other tracks feature contributions from noise music legends The Rita and Pedestrian Deposit. It all ends with "Piano Burning," a performance of a piece written by the avant-garde composer Annea Lockwood. Yes, it is the sound of a piano burning. There Existed an Addiction to Blood fits neatly into the broader scope of the band's career, which has seen them expand from insular experimentalists into globally recognized artists. Since the release of their first album in 2013, Diggs has won a Tony and a Grammy (both for his acting/rapping work as Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in Hamilton), as well as co-written and starred in 2018's critically hailed Blindspotting, while Snipes and Hutson have scored numerous films and television shows. Clipping's last album, the 2016 afro-futurist dystopian space opus Splendor & Misery was recently named one of Pitchfork's Best Industrial Albums of All-Time. Commissioned for an episode of This American Life, their 2017 single "The Deep" became the inspiration for a novel of the same name, written by Rivers Solomon and published by Saga Press. But their latest masterwork embodies what the band had been building towards - a work that finds them without peer. This is experimental hip-hop built to bang in a post-apocalyptic club bursting with radiation. It's horrorcore that soaks up past blood and replants it into a different organism, undead but dangerously alive. It is a new sun, blindingly bright and built to burn your retinas.

Hamburg-based Mireia Records is ecstatic toannounce their thirteenth release: Julian Stetter’s “Sensual EP”.
You’ve probably crossed paths with Julian in thelast couple of years. Not only because he’s the tallest guy in Cologne, but the producer and DJ has been actively shaping modern dance music
with his flourishing, melancholic sound. He’s been releasing music with Permanent Vacation, Kompakt, Correspondent and hometown labels Ancient Future Now and PNN.

It’s also not his first time on Mireia Records. Remember the beautiful “Porto” on “We’ll Sea
Pt.1?” Here, Julian presents two original tracks which are reinterpreted by SONNS and Matt
Karmil.
The title track “ Sensual ” manages to erase the mundane, the world’s vanishing around you.
It’s pitched shaker and airy bells evoke introspective tones. The bassline on the other hand
keep you steady - the dancefloor is still visible through the clouds!
“ Rumors ” picks up the pace. Kick drum and syncopated hi-hats set the stage for a serious
bassline, interwoven with fleeting melodies.
Bright and euphoric brushstrokes from Julian’s synth elevate the pace and catapult the track
towards a crescendo. Booming snares signal the peak.
New Release Information
Strobe lights, sweat and ecstasy.
SONNS opens up the B side with the first remix by whispering “ Rumors ” in your ear. A
brooding bass line takes you on a trip to the dark corners of the city. Hypnotically chugging
toms highlight the sights. Let’s get lost tonight!
With his releases on Kompakt and strong DJ Sets SONNS’ been a long time favored entrant
into Mireia Record’s catalogue.
Matt Karmil’s version of 'Sensual', although on B2 of the vinyl, doesn’t hide its assets.
Kicking off with frantic high hats and a distorted glitch, he pushes the track forwards
intriguingly. Arpeggiated melodies layered supremely over the percussion drive the track
forwards, the simplicity of the track and sharp cuts and drops create an interesting dynamic
to the single creating a perfect juxtapose to the other tracks on the release.
Matt’s also been on Mireia’s radar for a long time. His atmospheric adventures for Studio
Barnhus, Smalltown Supersound or Beats in Space always convey a spirit of living, breathing
leeway.

Durban gqom ambassador DJ Lag and London-based Okzharp combine over four club heavy tracks rooted in their long-term long-distance connection, the EP’s title originating from the Durban nickname for the local clubs where much early gqom-style music was played. Opener ‘Now What’ layers a wooden percussion scraper with a ticking cow bell and chants. Set at a slightly faster pace than most gqom, the track harbours a dark energy at its core generated by a low rumbling background synth and pitch shifting claps.

‘Steam One’ - inspired by DJ Lag’s set at Hyperdub’s club night Ø after he brought the heavy steam room vibe - has a slow and entrancing build up with a subtle melody layering on stabbing syncopated kicks, leading up to awoozy synth breakdown. “We were inspired by that moment in the club when things get hazy and bendy and glowy. It has South Durban via South London DNA, so inevitably there's a heavy kwai-gqom vibe with a grimey funky London twist running through it”. ‘Nyusa’ opens with a grinding acidicbass line overlaid with a metallic and gravelly melody with suppressed chants.

Sharp kicks drive the track leading up to a wobbly synth breakdown and back up synth stabs raising the energy. Finally, ‘Sambe’ pairs menacingstrings with a steel drum melody, displaying characteristics of both funky house and gqom in a subtle meeting of the two styles. ‘Steam Rooms’ is a collection of dancefloor heaters set to make the club sweat, the amalgamation of a London / Durban link up reflecting both producers environments and sound palettes for icey cold gqom tracks with funky house shadings.

Limited to 200 copies. Sturqen is a highly overlooked techno duo from
Portugal … they have been releasing their own style of techno since 10
years Has been the style of Sturqen since they started … This new EP
showcases their style of dark beats … from EBM orientated to
pounding industrial to flirt with … Review: This is exactly the kind of
techno that also goes down well with the EBM and industrial group:
analogous, somber, hypnotic. The most important track here is
probably “Nik”, a high-pitched song, interspersed with atonal noise and
driven forward by a whipping 1987 EBM beat. Especially through this
song and also the experimentally broken “Absoluto”, “Marginais” owns
the weirdness of old EBM / Industrial records from the early 80s and
also the works of the legendary Alien Sex Fiend … Maybe “Nik”
became so after their own named by crazy singer; said “Absoluto”
certainly reminds more than a little bit of ASF’s old street tunic
“Hurricane Fighter Plane” … Either way: The Portuguese Sturqen fit so
well as a techno act on that label, that in the past has given us the
works of Agent Side Grinder, Sulfur Yellow, and the crazy techno /
EBM mystics Newborn Night Music. On vinyl, limited to just 200 copies.
Uwe Marx for Sonic Seducer

Meda Fury welcomes Tom Wrankmore aka Eliphino to the imprint for a stunning EP of thunderous breaks, 303’s and serious sub-bass pressure. Hailing originally from the Leeds, but with wider travels to settle down in both London and Berlin, Wrankmore’s music embraces hip-hop, rave, and UK garage. He now serves up
a pungent confection pitched between the Hessle Audio crew, Joy O and Demdike
Stare’s most recent efforts. Having released heaters for Brownswood and Hoya Hoya over the years, Eliphino now debuts as part of the Meda Fury family with the Realistic Sex EP.

Wrankmore has been locked away in his studio for the last 1.5 years, abstaining from gigging and releasing records to knuckle down and produce, emerging with a new darker edge and a much more hardcore sound. Tom explains: “The theme of the EP
is trusting your intuition in an information flooded world. I’ve collaborated with visual
artists Tom Pounder & Jon Harris who have created two videos for the release, one for Disc Rhythm and one for Realistic Sex." Meda Fury boss Nick Williams; “Tom's new music epitomises to me what modern club tracks should sound like - wild, energetic, deadly. He’s discovered his own dark new world of sound fusing breakbeat, acid, speed garage and even industrial stylings”

For their sixth release London based record label and clubnight Snap, Crackle & Pop return with another slice of the post punk and kraut influenced electro/techno sounds that are coming to define the label. The latest release comes from Niv Ast and it serves as a follow up to his appearence on this summers Relish compilation. The EP leads with an ice cold slab of post punk swagger in the form of Quebec / Makolet which gets the remix treatment from previous collaborators Khidja, the Romanian duo strip the percussion back for the dancefloor and tease out the track's darker side with more than a hint of acidic malevolence. For the B-Side Disco Monroe offers a nostalgic slice of pitched down French Electro undoubtedly influence by the Djs recent residencies in Paris. Optimo Music's Mr TC rounds off the EP with his unmistakably left field vision to give the track a dark tropical re-imagining.

Since Danielle Mana's 2017 debut EP for Hyperdub, 'Creature', which was a taut, evocative suite of beatless, almost neo-classical electronics, we now find his music has caught an alien virus and started hallucinating. On 'Seven Steps Behind', the borders between reality and the weird have collapsed on each other, and with each listen through its zigzagging course, you're rewarded by its strange twists and turns. 'Seven Steps Behind' is an electronic album that doesn't always sound electronic; a great deal of the record has been created to sound like prepared pianos, harpsichords, cellos and flutes. At other times, sampled acoustic instruments and specially recorded sessions have been processed through software and careful editing. It's this sophisticated layering of contrasting versions of the same sources that help give this record its uncanny balance. The album also plays with your sense of time in its mostly drum-free hall of mirrors, pulling from minimalism, chamber music, dark jazz, and synthesiser experiments. Mana's singing voice also makes it's debut here, albeit adorned by abrasive FXs. His lyrics are encrypted in noise, in fitting with the music's chimeric character, casting images for the listener to decipher. His heavily manipulated voice enters on second track 'Myopia For The Future', sounding something like a singing motorbike pitched over bouncing ostinatos, or on 'No Body's inhuman, word-less range, where it's impossible to tell where the human finishes and the machine starts. Or in the case of 'Leverage For Survival' it's animal and machine. Here, as with the album's eponymous final track, a sensory assault subsides to reveal a heart-wrenching melancholy that anchors the record. Listening to 'Seven Steps Behind' is like stepping into a dream, with all the curious emotions and buried meaning that involves. Yet for all its restless, shifting energy it manages to hold both dissonance and melody in sweet proportion.

With Recent Appearances On Boiler Room And The Groove Magazine Podcast Plus Sets Across Asia And Europe, Jamaica Suk's Fearsome Techno Sounds Are Winning Fans Far And Wide. A Year On From Her Debut Release On Her Own Gradient Label Comes This Stunning Second Volume.
A1 Stinger Ray Kicks Off The Ep With Zingy Modular-style Synth Sounds Pulsing Over A Bubbling, Murky Bassline. Sheet Metal Snares Punctuate The Beat, With A Switch-up Halfway Through Into Gnarled, Distorted Synth Crunches Catching You Unaware. These Brutalised Rhythms Morph In And Out Of Hypnotic Arpeggiated Pulses To Make For A Hallucinatory Ride With Ample Dashes Of Psychedelia Throughout.
A2 Fallen Sets It Outs Stall Immediately, With Filtered Down Acidic Bass Playing Out A Jagged Groove. A Manic Counterpart Mimics Its Rhythm But Dizzyingly Delayed Off The Beat To Create A Rugged, Funk-fuelled Feel. Cymbal Rides Pitch Up And Down, Unidentified Snarls Of Fx Mutate Around The Edges, All The While The Sharp Hi-hats Keep The Metronomic Heartbeat Going.
B1 Whispers Ups The Intensity. Delicate, Arpeggiated Chime Sounds Set A Crystalline Mood Before Swathes Of Intense, Darkly-tinged Synths Swell In And Out Of Focus Atop The Throbbing Kick Drums. The Effect Is That Of A Factory Full Of Machines Growing A Mind Of Their Own, Malfunctioning In A Pleasing Harmonic Dissonance.
B2 Twilight Rain (vinyl Only) Completes The Set With Infectious Triple Kick Drum Patterns Underpinning Dramatic Drum Hits And Warped Atmospheric Shivers That Create A Spooky Feel As Droning Bass Tones Carve A Path Through Your Speakers.

Neville Watson returns to DBA with The Midnight Orchard, his first full-length in five years. Watson is a key figure on the electronic music scene at large and has made regular appearances on Don't Be Afraid, as well as on celebrated imprints such as Crème Organization, Clone and Rush Hour, where he released some of his best-known work alongside Kink.

In a crowded landscape of factory-line jack trax and synthesis for the sake-of-it, it's little surprise that Watson's physical, arresting takes on house and techno have been such a staple in the record bags of the world's leading DJs for the past twenty years. Throughout The Midnight Orchard, Watson seamlessly bridges his futurist leanings gleaned from a lifelong commitment to electronic music with the anarchic spirit of his acid-house heritage.

The record still finds catharsis in the relentless pulse that has defined Watson's life since his early residencies where he peddled ecstatic escapism to towns on the commuter belts of London, notably via his involvement in seminal Reading party Checkpoint Charlie. However, there's a more somber, arguably introspective and perhaps even somewhat wistful tone at play throughout. This might surprise those who've invested their feet and hearts in tracks with titles like Night Of The Inflatable Muscleheads and Everything I Know About House (I Learned on Facebook).

In a move away from his previous musical leanings, The Midnight Orchard embraces a distinctly more UK sound, unapologetically chronicling the paranoia that can be found skirting the euphoria of rave. And while Watson has avoided the eyebrow-arching pitfalls of the self-serious DJ full-length, it must be noted that the rhythms here are more skittering, the atmosphere less jubilant and the signature lo-fi hiss, fully popularised and bastardised since Watson's last album, has taken on a more fore-boding tone.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere elsewhere harks to a more idealistic world, particularly on the cascading and subdued Eine Kleine Emusik, and the euphoric We Own The Night. Twin Tub and Reet Dux provide dubby, sensual moments of escapism. There's uncompromising, hard-nosed rhythms on Dee Sides, and cosmic electro throughout 4am in the Trees. The album then concludes in a bold fashion with Displays of Brotherly Love and the resolutely hopeful atmosphere of Phosphorescent.

Reflecting decades of immersion in club culture and taking inspiration from wider-found sounds, The Midnight Orchard is loaded with thrilling parallels and a sense of genuine unpredictability. Tracks like Come On In and Anarcho Midnight are layered with unease, utilising pitch dark arpeggios and skittish, growling electronics to devastating effect.

Having dedicated the last eighteen months of his life to the studio, Watson has rec-orded what is undeniably the most unexpected music of his career. Amid the dark-ness, The Midnight Orchard has borne fruit.

Skin Town's unexpected return with their new album 'Country' finds the duo upping the already high bar set on their striking dark pop gem debut 'The Room' with a dauntless artistic statement that trades clever posturing for vulnerability. Yielding their prowess with more restraint, Skin Town's 'Country' hits harder and cuts deeper - doubling down on their narcotic cocktail of strong R&B hooks, spacious bewitching productions, and marked sense of melody that puts vocalist Grace Hall and multi-instrumentalist Nick Turco in a class of their own.

Many saw that potential on their debut with support from Dazed, Interview, The FADER, KCRW, as well as artists like Tinashe shouting out Skin Town. Lamenting on the duo's unmistakable chemistry, Pitchfork says, "Turco's synthscapes are huge and scene-stealing, while Hall's husky voice strikes a glorious medium between Abel Tesfaye and Sade." Their latest is even more potent, a particular strain of sad dance music that feels timeless and raw.

'Country' refines Skin Town's minimal framework of tethering hip-hop/R&B rhythms to Hall's smoky, precise phrasing exploring richer atmospheres and darker concerns. Written and recorded over 3 years, the album touches upon depression, loss, hedonism, poverty, rebellion, sex work, empowerment, and love's contradictions. The album's completion was sidetracked many times with Hall suffering a string of life-threatening mysterious immune system ailments, as a result there is a lot of pain and joy in this record, made with literal blood and tears.

The opener "Bad" signals at this departure from their upbeat predecessor stripping away the beats, relying on the interplay between Turco's ringing chords, the enveloping synthwork and Hall's melancholic, rhythmic intonations. "Mute" brings back the drums, couched in a slinking hip-hop beat and a creeping synth lead. Throughout the record, Turco's productions glean from an eclectic, disparate mix: melodic Amiga tracker music, Metro Boomin', New Age, The-Dream while Hall seems ever more comfortable exploring syncopation and half-rap/half-sung excursions. This is inventive, uncanny pop music where Enya, Offset, Zola Jesus, and Future inhabit the same space.

Skin Town's unerwartete Rückkehr mit ihrem neuen Album "Country' hebt die sowieso schon recht hohe Messlatte ihres markanten Dark-Pop-Juwelen-Debüts "The Room' noch ein wenig höher. Skin Town's - Country" schlägt härter zu und schneidet tiefer - und verdoppelt ihren narkotischen Cocktail aus starken R&B-Hooks, einer großzügigen, betörenden Produktion und einem ausgeprägten Sinn für Melodie. Das ist erfinderische, unheimliche Popmusik, bei der Enya, Offset, Zola Jesus und Future im selben Raum leben.

Viele sahen dieses Potenzial bei ihrem Debüt und so gab es reichlich support von Dazed, Interview, The FADER, KCRW sowie Künstlern wie Tinashe. Pitchfork hob die unverwechselbare Chemie des Duos vor und sagte: "Turcos Synth-Landschaften sind riesig und szenenraubend, während Halls heisere Stimme eine Klasse für sich ist, angesiedelt zwischen Abel Tesfaye und Sade.'

Country' verfeinert den minimalen Rahmen von Skin Town, Hip-Hop/R&B-Rhythmen mit Hall's rauchigen, präzisen Vocals, die weitere Atmosphären und dunklere Anliegen erforschen. Das Album behandelt verschiedenste Felder von Depressionen, Verlust, Hedonismus, Armut, Rebellion, Sexarbeit, Empowerment bis zu den Widersprüchen der Liebe. Die Fertigstellung des Albums wurde mehrmals aufgeschoben, wobei Hall eine Reihe von lebensbedrohlichen, mysteriösen Immunsystem-Krankheiten erlitt, was dazu führte, dass viel Schmerz und Freude auf dieser Platte zu finden sind, die sprichwörtlich mit Blut und Tränen gemacht wurde.

North East duo Forriner are back with their third and final instalment in the samurai trilogy on their eponymous 'Forriner Music' imprint. Following a couple of impressive showings with previous EP's 'Condor' and 'In the B' they return for their hattrick with '17:17 Neon'. A four tracker of experimental club music for powerful dance floor experiences that offers two originals as well as a banger from Bird Of Paradise and a mouthful of mathematics from Legget and Suade for the remixes.

First up, 'The Jungle Is Deep' which immediately sets off at a rate of knots! Its sharp pace is tempered by the sound of the drums: dull kick, wooly clap, rattling hi-hats while its bassline bleeds in slowly as a dark repeating tone and subtle chord swell and a haunting, cautious vocal reminds you that 'The jungle is dark and deep'. The second half of the track balances its steamrolling kick with an intricate, hypnotic lead as a growling synth line shuffles and recombines over its rumpled techno groove. It's feeling is transportive, the kind of music that makes you close your eyes on the dance floor.

Fellow Northeast alumni take up the remix for 'The Jungle Is Deep'. Steve 'Four Hands' Legget and Suade Adapted hammer a hefty slice of future dub techno from the skeletal remains of the original! Its chunking, discordant drums and manic echo chamber combine with a lilting bassline making sure you know that this is tough music but that it also has a tender heart. Clipped vocals squelch and flutter throughout but these are more textural than melodic, adding extra depth to the track. This trip is all about striking, psychoactive grooves, pushing the swing settings to extremes. Equal parts sinister as it is are playful. Fitting the typical tradition of winsome, weird dance music.

Over on the flip is the title track '17:17 Neon' featuring vocalist Louis Adams and violinist Late Girl (Laura Stutter Garcia) Breathy melancholic vocals and pitched down, endorphin flooded electronica. This is techno in a state of dewey eyed delirium. The neon of the title is very much instructive here, with the vocal being the scattered, shining light that the track playfully hangs itself from.

Jo Howard aka Bird of Paradise takes the reins for the final remix delivering a charging peak-time club tool with relentless batteries of percussion setting the stage for a trippy soundscape. Other than their Northern roots, what these producers have in common is a distinctive approach to rhythm. The restlessness of the sharp stabs of static perfectly guiding the darkly pulsing mood.

Blackfilm is an anonymous Hungarian artist who introduced himself with his self-titled debut in 2008, sold out in a few months and later reissued on both CD and vinyl format via Denovali in 2010. His debut has garnered widespread attention - "Evolving from downtempo electronic music to orchestral paroxysms and, insanely, passing from down-pitched nothingness to frozen urban landscapes, it becomes inevitable to resist." / "Dark and brooding, Blackfilm envelopes you like a thick fog creeping off a cooling swampland." (Headphone Commute) - and is still a classic.

Since then, he has relocated to London and released the collaboration master-piece - Along the Corridors' with Italy's heavy dub producer Eraldo Bernocchi in 2010. After eight years of silence Denovali now proudly presents his second solo album - Zero One Seven', in line with a re-issue of - Along the Corridors' on vinyl for the first time.

On - Zero One Seven', Blackfilm merges tracks spanning across drum and bass, dub and electronic. The sounds on the album are built from the ideas on the original Blackfilm - S/T' and - Along the Corridors' and progress to a sound built on new ground mixing modern production techniques and influences while at times referencing the Blackfilm sound we know from his previous releases.

The album maintains a consistent focus on atmospherics, beats and heavy bass ranging from darker dub and drum and bass influences to vocal tracks and complex ambient soundscapes. Production wise, the familiar Blackfilm style incorporating the use of synthetic sounds mixed with samples enables the album to create an intriguing, shifting atmosphere as the album progresses. A dystopian journey through haunting vocals, hypnotic drum patterns and complex sound design.

The keeping of pets marks humans' attempt at taking possession of a part of reality that is not at his disposal. Dressing a piece of the real that lives according to entirely non-human rules and which only in the saddest case does not resist the discipline of the human symbolic order vehemently and in a sustained matter, is a violent act of protection. Because in the non-place of the real, all that which we are helpless in the face of looms: the non-logical and the nameless, the violence and the noise, yet also the unrestrained and unfiltered desire.The innocuous figure of the pet marks a gateway to an investigation of these eerie milieus, while electronic dance music lends itself to this investigation in an outstanding way. This constellation marks the subject of Column's 'Pets II.'

Column is the name of Cologne based renaissance man Jan Philipp Janzen, who, as chief emissary of Cologne's pop internationalism, has been playing the field in various functions for Von Spar, Cologne Tapes, Urlaub in Polen, Owen Pallett, Scout Niblett or The Field, and who has also, in one way or another, been involved in most relevant records coming out of Cologne for the past number of years. After his excellent solo debut 'Pets I' (Areal, 2016), Janzen presents another extraordinary record in 'Pets II,' perfectly complemented by another ghostly oil work of Burkhard Mönnich on the cover.Sonically, 'Pets II' marks a clear development for Column. In its exploration of the thresholds of the real, it sets two points of focus, corresponding with the split in sides A and B.

Side A, on which Janzen teams up with long-time friend myr. (PNN), explores the uncanny as a fissure of the symbolic order, and the subsequent breaking in of the real. It opens with two peaktime rockets that have their wooden, nether-regional groove narrated by grim, down-pitched vocals. The ethereal remix by Leibniz (hundert) seems to be observing the situation from a hiding place, and is the side's clandestine and no less dark closer.

Side B, for which Janzen invited studiomate Marvin Horsch (Dorfjungs/Beats in Space) along, delivers two swaying synthesizer workouts, the second of which, 'Molly and Swerve,' is directed firmly at the dancefloor again. What is at stake here is the transition between a free, undirected jouissance of the real and a more ordered becoming-lust. Here, as in Map.ache's (Kann/Giegling/Altin Village) remix which closes out 'Pets II,' it becomes clear what connections dance music can foster between a free, impersonal desire and the sphere of interpersonal wanting, but also the losses that are negotiated in it. Above all, however, it becomes evident what a courageous daring project 'Pets II' is in all of its conceptual and aesthetic determination; with Von Spar's standout 'Garzweiler' 12' (Altin Village & Mine, 2017), it documents a New Cologne Realism.

* "Of all the dubplates in my bag from this last few years, the ones I've selected most often have Walton's name scribbled on the sleeve. 'Black Lotus' is a unique creative statement; I'm very proud to release it on Tectonic and to support Walton, who I believe is a true talent." Pinch

* On July 6th Tectonic recordings presents the game-changing second album by 26 year old Mancunian Sam Walton, better known as simply Walton.
* 'Black Lotus' follows his inclusion on Tectonic's landmark 100th release - Riko Dan's 'Hard Food' EP, plus the 'Praying Mantis'/ 'Koto Riddim' 12' (also on Tectonic) and the 'Taiko' EP on Kaizen - the latter two of which hinted at the album's sound, but didn't fully prepare us for the brilliance to come.

* Abstract electronics, grime, dubstep and new styles that don't even have a name yet coalesce perfectly on this classic in the making. It finds Walton at peak power, reaching just as far (if not more so) than anything on the Pan, Different Circles, Boxed or Tectonic catalogues for pure futurism and new-terrain-traversing brilliance.

* Spacious and modern sounding, with just the right amount of grit, on 'Black Lotus' Walton has taken things the next level - setting an impressive new high bar. This is the best music to take inspiration from far eastern culture since Photek's seminal 'Ni - Ten - Ichi - Ryu' and 'The Water Margin'.

* Cinematic may be a term bandied about too often, but on this record it unquestionably applies, with the whole thing playing out like an epic movie, full of highs, lows, action, reflection and changing scenes.

* The album kicks off with 'Black Lotus', which makes it quickly evident that this isn't just another generic longplayer; a weightless/sino style intro segues into a mystical kalimba line, which is then is enveloped by huge waves of synthesized, pitched-down brass.

* 'Point Blank' offers locked, harsh mechanical funk, full of aggravated excitement, before sleek, spacious grime and disguised pop garage achieve twisted anthem status, on the hugely satisfying 'Koto Riddim'.

* 'No Mercy''s Yakuza crime riff is perfect for Riko Dan's threatening menace, especially at the point his voice gets distorted into a guttral and unsettling, demon-like wretch.

* 'Mad Zapper' is abstract, comprised of simple yet challenging beats, tones and stutters, whilst 'Angry Drummer''s taiko/kumi-daiko style percussion has a rousing, heavy thump.

* 'Pan' sounds equally enthralling whether soundtracking a dark movie scene of impending danger, or carying enratptured ravers on a danceflor journey, especially one suited to the synapse-prodding drama of a high production, lazer-heavy festival set.

* Choppy drums and bouncy bass tones are laced with the georgeos melody of 'Ehru', and 'Vectors' is sleek 'n' deep breakbeat-garage-meets-IDM.

* Although already known for elements of musicality, Walton raises his game even higher with the beautiful closing track 'White Lotus', which has a wow factor akin to hearing Aphex's Twin's 'Jynweythek Ylow' for the first time.

* 'The title came from the idea that I wanted it to be sweet and melodic in areas, but dark and grimey at the same time', recalls Walton. 'I never really listened to much Japanese and Chinese music before working on this, and that element originally came from listening to a lot of Sino grime stuff. It wasn't until I was deep into the process of making the album that I started listening to loads of traditional stuff on YouTube for melodic ideas, which changed how it turned out. The whole dubstep techno crossover thing was also a big influence.'
* 'I'm really happy to have Riko Dan & Wen on there', he adds. 'I've done a few remixes of Riko tunes which have had a great response, so it's been wicked to get some original material done together. The track with Wen was first started a while back, so I'm glad it was finally finished and will see a release.'
* Walton has been steadily gaining serious clout through releases since 2011 on Hyperdub, Keysound, Tectonic and Kaizen, with supporters including Mumdance, Logos, Slimzee, Laurel Halo, Wen, Hodge, Mary Anne Hobbs, Giles Peterson, Paleman, Teki Latex, Commodo, Loefah and Kode9. Key club, festival and radio shows include FWD at Plastic People, Fabric, Outlook, NTS, Rinse and BBC 1xtra.

Tachyon Audio is a vinyl label that's focused on sounds in the techno realm targeting sweaty, dark dance floors, with large, high-quality sound systems.

Inhabitants come back strong in Mutations Volume II, Tachyon Audio's second offering. These two primates are often found inhabiting dark spaces, forging ahead on complex math equations. Their distinct, driving, mathematical, and drumming techno is a result. Expect more solid work and performances from these two mysterious beings on Tachyon Audio as the label continues its progression.

Tachyon Audio's second release follows a similar format to the first, in that, TAC002 is a diverse EP that touches on techno sounds that are helping to lead the march forward into the future of sound production and style. The second Tachyon Audio release also comes from the mysterious dark studio of Inhabitants, who build off their first, and display their precise, technical forms of production.

The A-side track, Mut11 (A1) is a sci-fi exploration that pleases the ear with thick sub and low basses, along with a pitch-twisted melodic element, and the Inhabitants distinct sound effects and automation. The track has a strong impact immediately, as you can feel the intensity of elements being added, manipulated, and combined, and a sturdy, grimy feel pervades the piece with an interesting driving rhythmic percussion.


Side A ends with two separate open-source NASA samples. The first, Sounds of Enceladus - Radar Echoes from Titan's Surface (A2), is a locked groove and according to NASA, 'was produced by converting into audible sounds some of the radar echoes received by Huygens during the last few kilometers of its descent onto Saturn's moon, Titan. As the probe approaches the ground, both the pitch and intensity increase. Scientists will use intensity of the echoes to speculate about the nature of the surface.'


The second sample, Cassini - Saturn Radio Emissions #2 (A3), is another locked groove. The sound as described by NASA, 'Saturn is a source of intense radio emissions, which were monitored by our Cassini spacecraft. The radio waves are closely related to the auroras near the poles of the planet. These auroras are similar to Earth's northern and southern lights. This is an audio file of radio emissions from Saturn.' These samples are poised for reuse in production and make for good intro and looping material during performances.


The second side of the EP starts with Mut1 (B1), a track that is well-rounded percussively, with a strong kick drum driving the track forward. A simple looping and effected tom drum also helps keep a good movement to the track. An ominously melodic pad that evolves subtly throughout the track helps to keep the Inhabitants err present throughout the track.


Mut8 (B2), is another acidic venture with solid percussion. The looping and other melodic elements provide a solid stricture, with the more adventurous sounds being placed and effected incrementally with distinct Inhabitants flare throughout the track.

Two dark, adventurous and intense mid tempo mind benders by the mysterious producer K100 SIGNAL.
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(...The signal was lost along ago. A "slowtard" rhythm surfaced. as you get deeper into alignment you discover the deconstructed beats from another decay. K100 signal is an elusive project produced in the pitch black code of indulgence...)

"It was the most beautiful summer of my life."

Memories — places, vacancies, allusions — are fundamental characters in Mary Lattimore's evocative craft. Inside her music, wordless narratives, indenite travelogues, and braided events skew into something enchantingly new. The Los Angeles-based harpist recorded her breakout 2016 album, At The Dam, during stops along a road trip across America, letting the serene landscapes of Joshua Tree and Marfa, Texas color her compositions. In 2017, she presented Collected Pieces, a tape compiling sounds from her past life in Philadelphia: odes to the east coast, burning motels, and beach town convenience stores. In 2018, from a restorative station — a redwood barn, nestled in the hills above San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge — emanates Hundreds of Days, her second full-length LP with Ghostly International. The record sojourns between silences and speech, between microcosmic daily scenes and macrocosmic universal understandings, between being alien in promising new places and feeling torn from old native havens. It's an expansive new chapter in Lattimore's story, and an expression of mystied gratitude. A study in how ordinary components helix together to create an extraordinary world.

Awarded a residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Lattimore spent two summer months living with 15 fellow artists — writers, playwrights, musicians, poets, painters, activists, curators — in a cluster of old Victorian military buildings on the Northern Pacic Coast. Days offered solitude, Lattimore set up in a spacious barn, able to arrange her instruments at will. Nights welcomed new perspectives. "Hanging out with a lot of accomplished artists with poetic ways of looking at the world was really inspiring. My heart was in a bit of a tangle after leaving Philadelphia. I was holding onto things instead of moving forward. My time there was a nostalgia detox, a way to press reset in a healthy way. Also breathing in the freshest air in America, straight off of the ocean, felt good."

Throughout the shifting locales there is one consistent companion Lattimore engages: a 47-string Lyon and Healy harp. The instrument wires directly into her psyche. Pitchfork's Marc Masters posits, "she can practically talk through it at this point, she's created a language." The space and stillness of the Headlands afforded Lattimore freedom to her expand her vocabulary, to stretch out and experiment with layers of keyboard, guitar, theremin, and grand piano. Lattimore's voice sweeps beneath the plucks and washes of opener It Feels Like Floating,' enraptured by the winding current, and reappearing in the second minute of the immense "Never Saw Him Again." The track elevates towards a shimmering apex of static and percussion before organ drone yields to signature halcyon utters. As with much of Lattimore's work, the track titles are telling, "Baltic Birch" is a somber windswept march that sways gracefully out of step, a remembrance of a recent trip to Latvia where she was struck by the abandoned resort towns along the Baltic Sea. Hello From The Edge of The Earth' is an earnest reection of Lattimore's love of the natural world, recognizing the thresholds of varying terrains.

The album's fth track borrows its name from Lattimore's favorite line in Denis Johnson's short story Emergency' from Jesus' Son. A character, lost in a blizzard, reassesses a disjointed universe, a clash between curtains of snow and angels descending out of a brilliant blue summer: it isn't an apocalypse, it is a drive-in movie, with stars hovering above the lot, off the screen, in the throes of the Midwestern storm. This mix-up is disorienting and existentially tragic, Lattimore's darkly strummed piece is a melancholic parallel, mimicking Johnson's elegant suture attaching two remarkably discontinuous spaces.

Micro-revelations, not quite as bright as torn skies but nonetheless enlightening, were everyday occurrences during Lattimore's residency. Living small days with small tasks — feeling little dramas within the arcadian universe of a national park — rendered her the sense that disjointed spaces can be interconnected no matter the enormity that divides them. It's in this elastic scale of perception that something as simultaneously simple and intricate as Hundreds of Days can ourish.

- Second solo album for Ghostly, past releases on Thrill Jockey
- Recently toured w/ Sharon Van Etten, Jarvis Cocker, Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, Julia Holter, Iceage
- Mary Lattimore has been featured on Pitchfork, NPR, The Wire Magazine, and more

Anklepants Introduces His Brand New Album For Detroit Undergroud, A Collection Of Ten Cuts, Made With His Very Own Arsenal Of Digital And Hardware Toys, Most Of Them Self Made And Customised For His Purposes. This Multi Faceted Artist Creates A Blend Of Twisted Ryhthms, Synthetic Melodies And Weird Textures And Noises, Yet Danceable Stuff But With Heavy Focus In Experimentation And Risk.

Pollen Opens The Release With A Weird Arabic Style Riff And Arpeggiated Clean Synths Over A Simple Beat, Until More Melodic Layers Complete The Equation.

Chowsey In Upstyled Onesy Minor Follows With Sampled And Morphed Traditional Instruments, Laying Over Destructed Beats And Rythms.

The Perfect Adult Man Relies On Atmospheric Stabs, Four Four Kick And Analogue Bubble Bassline, Dark, Grey And Melancholic.

'lé Cavé_isnt It Funny To Think Once Apon A Time People Thought The World Was Blue White Flat And Squaré' Is Made Of Twisted Samples, Asymetrical Grooves, Organic Instruments Decimated And Multiple Sound Layers.

808 Frapé Is An Homage To The Classic Drum Machine, Electro Shaped Drum Patterns, Floating Sounds And Crispy Metalic Glitches Dance With Random Sequences And Bleeps In A Robotic Exercise.

Reecard Farche The Torture Of Credo Mutwa And The Theft Of The Necklace Of Mysteries_noel Goes Again To Weird Random Bleepy Fields, Alien Grooves, Heavy Sound Processing And Glitched Details.

Industrial Kingpins Und Drachoen Is Dark, Obscure Number, Clear Rythms, Strings And Resonant Bassline Collide, The Groove Transforms To Broken Beats After The Break Bringing New Life To The Overall Feel.

Sharkblood, Sure The Sharks, Repeats This Phrase In Different Pitches Over A Solid Kick Pattern While More Vocal Layers Are Added Progressively In A Voice Madness.

Golife_refracto Relationé Again Plays With Samples In A Mad Style, Altering Every Parameter, Creating Granular Efects, Destroying The Audio Files Creating An Asymetric Tune.

Attila's Own Photos From The Shoot It's The Epilogue, In A Relaxed Mood, Sound Textures, Various String Samples Melting In Different Pitches And Crunchy Atmospheres.

Some Years Ago An Album By Dutch Band Milligram Retreat (enfant19, 2011) Was Released On Enfant Terrible. The Album Got Raving Feedback From Press And Music Enthusiasts. Sadly
The Project Was Short Lived... But Straight After The Project Came To An End Maurice Hermes, The Mastermind Behind It, Started His Solo Project Called Neugeborene Nachtmusik. Now Is The Time To Pour His Debut Album Out Over You... An Album Simple Entitled neugeborene Nachtmusik' And Highly Awaited...

Residing In Berlin Neugeborene Nachtmusik Has Shaped His Music More And More These Past Few Years Into An Unique Style Of This Own... Some Results Of This Were Displayed Already On The Various Artists Releases Exploitation (et017, 2012), I Am Enfant Terrible (etx, 2014) And Post-everything (et034, 2014)...

This Album Is A Pitch Black Experience... A Shamanistic Ritual And A Dark Trip Which Takes You By The Hand And Leads You Beyond And Back... You Get Served Six Long Tracks With Effective Minimalism And Trance Indulging Sounds... Influences From Elektro, Techno, Industrial, Noise And (black) Metal Can Be Traced... The Album Is Diverse But Coherent In Displaying The Specific Personal Style Of Neugeborene Nachtmusik...

Berlin-based Pascal Hetzel returns to Caduceus Records with a new slice of gritty industrial-tinged techno and finely tuned sound design. "Noxious Stimulus", the EP's title track, is a heavy peak-time filler with a mesmerizing bleepy modular sequence on top of rough monochrome beats. On her remix, rising talent Denise Rabe cranks up the paranoia and turns "Noxious Stimulus" into an unrelenting pitch black grinder. "Pain Tolerance Threshold" starts off as hefty with yet another dose of metallic atmospheres and crushing modular sequences, until a bright pad appears out of the dark. Proper techno goodness for the wee hours in your favorite warehouse.

This EP shows the musical development of the past 2 years in which KAUW has translated their live sound to studio recordings. It's made with the intention to work well for the club, while all of the live elements such as acoustic drums and bass guitar are on the foreground of the tracks. It's important for the band to show the energy of their live shows in the record. In this way, this EP is a switch from the more funky, live first record (which suggests the electronic side) to this EP which is on the crossroads of live music and produced House music.

The A side featuring 'PITCH' is a bit darker and a real dancefloor killer. Hard synths, deep bass, clear drums and an intense dynamic in which you're taken on a Kauwjourney to which it's unable to stand still. The B side featuring 'Nergens' is more funky, light and sweeter with beautiful synths, funky basslines and groovy drums, inspired by the mix of '90's Disco and House. San Proper's remix takes this funky track to a real Proper-world with beautiful guitar melodies, deeper basses and extravagant vocals.

Temperatures are dropping and we're all feeling the effects. Bordello A Parigi is letting the cold winds of the north swirl inside its doors with Russia's Volta Cab bringing a fresh 2LP to the table. A spread of influences come together for the eleven tracks of Rise Again. Take 'Emerald's Phantasy', a piece built on layers of percussion that blends elements of disco with notes of techno. 'Dark Room' is a different affair. Arctic chords are cut with electro and distant vocals for an unsettling treat. 'Kruger' stomps to a terse beat before lush pads bloom in a work that builds to dizzying peaks. Warm blasts balance these colder moments, the rich grooves of 'Savage Fury', the floor filling funk of 'Board Scandinavia' and the removed romance of 'Sweet Exorcist' all show another shade to the Volta Cab sound and of course there's more. Rise Again is an audio collection of vibrant colours and hues, tracks pitch from icy blues to autumnal ambers and fiery reds; a musical kaleidoscope that stretches across a spectrum of styles.

We are bringing together the creative might of our residents to bring the sound of Renate on a double release EP. Over the years Renate has grown from a impetuous party to a glorious club. The people who came together under her roof and played beats that made bodies pulsate with ecstasy have become benchmarks in the music industry of today. We want to share with you that talent. The first EP hosts tracks from Peak & Swift the colourful techno duo that inadvertently become the face of renate today. Sebastian Voigt, the dark techno Horse of the Renate tribe, adds a little mystic depth. Samanta Fox & Oliver Klostermann bring their high styled brand of cosmic music to the wax in a epic track and lastly Johannes Albert the wunderkid who broke free of the berlin's shackles and taken over the global stage with influences from none other the Wilde Renate.

Mana is producer and composer Daniele Mana from Torino in Italy. His debut EP for Hyperdub, 'Creature', is also the first under his own surname. It's one of his most vivid, personal and confident releases to date. Since 2010, he has been releasing under the moniker Vaghe Stelle, with EPs and two full length albums on labels such as Gang of Ducks, Aisha Devi's Danse Noire, Astro:Dynamics and most recently, Nicolas Jaar's Other People records. He is also a member of One Circle with Lorenzo Senni and soundtracks composer Francesco Fantini. On 'Creature', over eight tracks, he ingests Shostakovitch, Drexciya, Darkthrone, Frank Ocean and Paul Lansky, and refashions them into an almost operatic record - a rich, melodrama of dark tension and excitable in-your-face synth melodies. In using his own name for the first time, he says he is confronting the unfiltered, brutal truth' of his self, compressing tension and anxiety' into a claustrophobic sense of emotional vacuum.' From the skulking clockwork of 'Crystaline,' the rich drifting ambience of 'Sei Nove', to the panicky, rushy rave stabs meets horror theme of 'Running Man', it's lucid, dynamic synth music which uses drums sparingly, but occasionally swirls into little sublime vortices of arpeggiated hyperrhythm. The melodies are bright and pitch bent, swollen by euphoric voltage surges and stuttering, soaring strings in 'Rabbia', plucking wide-screen, heart strings on 'Uno e Solo' and lulling down into the delicate, shimmering prisms of 'Wetlife' and 'Consolations'. While in its own lane, 'Creature' feels totally at home on Hyperdub.

With the Asexual EP by YobKiss, Electronic Emergencies is back with a true electronic delight. YobKiss consists of Dutch instrumentalist and producer Paul Borchers, currently based in San Fransisco, and Tokyo resident Yuko Araki on vocals. Their music balances on the edge of avant-garde electronics and flirts with acid pop in dreamy soundscapes, with an analogue synth sound and beautiful vocals in Japanese and English. Or, in their own words, a pitch-dark, filth-ridden tour de force into the worlds of acid house and electro.

(Locked Groove, Nuno De Satos remixes) Something Happening Somewhere and Mary Go Wild combine their forces for a very special record, containing two cuts by Presk and remixes by Locked Groove and label honcho Nuno dos Santos.

Something Happening Somewhere and Mary Go Wild combine their forces for a very special record, containing two cuts by Presk and remixes by Locked Groove and label honcho Nuno dos Santos. The original A1 side has already been released on SoHaSo last summer on their SOMEWHERE compilation, but has now found a place on delicious black gold and is further enriched with a fresh B-side and aforementioned remixers delivering quality reworks.

2BXPRZD is an ode to the celebration of night life and the diverse spectrum of people that move within it. The club has always been a place where people from every background, religion and gender imaginable can meet and express their being through Dancing. It doesn't matter in what way you move, only that it's authentic and respecting towards the fellow dancers around you. Presk provides all the necessary ingredients: the funkiness in the drums melting with the dark and sinister bassline and pitched vocal perfectly assemble the conditions for such an interaction to take place.

Locked Groove takes this celebratory dance and turns it into an even darker and hypnotizing affair. Stripping the original to its bare essence with a pounding kickdrum to lead the way. Pulsing atmospheres and emotive pads swirl around and behind, granulated in a way that they almost fall apart. This is further reinforced by the stream of voices that are processed to sound like a field recording from beyond the iron curtain in Soviet times, anticipating the unavoidable collapse that follows.

The B sides provides a little more uplifting environment with Starets, unsettling melodies and dissonant atmospheres propel forward before restraining the whole thing and letting broken chord stabs seep through the system. Again reworking the original material into a more skeletal structure, Nuno dos Santos adds a poignant arp melody that is typical for his melancholic style. Driving yet breathing with emotion, it's the perfect accompaniment for a night drive while floating through clear skies. This records proves a delightful combination, containing something imperative for every soul feeling the need to express themselves in a unique way.

Matuss takes techno and turns it on its head. The cybernetic sound has been filled with human emotion, giving it a more organic feel than much of the music that would fall under the genre.She opens her Absence Seizure 007 EP in trademark style, with a dark jacking cut entitled Pitchureque, in which a pulsating bass line throbs alongside ominous acid swells and disorientating panning effects.Next up, Tektango takes a different route honing in on a set of live tribal tinged percussion, which sway and dissipate with hypnotic effect driven further into the depths with a bubbling synth lead and filtering atmospherics. This live percussion gives the track that organic feel mentioned earlier. Escapade kick starts the B-side with a robust rhythm, built from the ground up with resonant hi hat stabs, echoing claps and sturdy kicks which forms the framework for a deranged lead melody laced with wide open synths and emotive chords to carry the groove. Closing the package is Fonque, where flanger-tinged snare rolls work in unison with driving rhythms, delicate arpeggios and an intricate 303 bass line to create an infectious closing cut.

Newly launced Samo Records is setting out to explore the depths of the dancefloor by celebrating the darker, moodier facets of electronic music.The NYC label's first release comes from Pixelife (Sean Dack), a highly accomplished visual artist and veteran of NYC's underground. In addition to releasing on such respected labels as Throne of Blood, Horn Wax, and Let's Play House, he also makes up half of GHOST COP, a band known for its textured synths, iconic vocals, dissonant beats, and captivating live sets. Incorporating the same expert sonic-layering techniques he employs in his live analog sets, he's created a dynamic EP that's both intimate in feel and broad in scope.'Omega Block' stomps out of the gate, all driving rhythms and throbbing basslines with an underlying element of frenetic foreboding — aptly reflecting these geopolitically tense times, while still remaining suitable for losing yourself on the dancefloor. The track gets the remix treatment by Bristol, U.K.-born, Berlin-based Antoni Maiovvi, a self-described 'electrodisco horror mindmelt DJ/live performer/film composer' who heads up Giallo Disco Records with Vercetti Technicolor. Here, he trades his trademark horror elements for successions of staccato beats and a stripped-down sensibility that successfully translates to perfect late-night-at-a-warehouse vibes.Chimeras in the Matrix' soars with gorgeous dystopian melodies overlaying squelchy undertones, revealing labyrinthine layers and anxious crescendos before building to a full-on acid frenzy. Producer/remixer/DJ Tronik Youth (who, like Maiovvi, also hails from the U.K. and currently lives in Berlin) is co-head of the prolific (averaging nearly a release a week in 2016) NEIN Records, which he founded five years ago with Ian Considine; the label has released music from the likes of Rodion, Curses, In Flagranti, Heretic, Man Power, Daniele Baldelli, The Emperor Machine, and Moscoman, to name but a few. He is also a member of Permanent Wave, a spooky, pitched-down, dark-wave-inspired disco project with French singer Justine. He brings a chuggy, bleepy edge to his take on 'Chimeras in the Matrix' with bouncy rhythms, multiple breakdowns, and echoing robo-vocals, taking the original's intensity down while upping the dancefloor quotient.

A veteran of the music industry, Dave Ellesmere is way past his hardcore drumming days. Harboring the accumulated skills with a multitude of instruments, his electronic productions are intricate and meticulous. His passion for Detroit and Chicago soundscapes is evident in his latest vinyl release for MixxRecords.

'Caught In A Moment' starts off the EP with a steady techno grip engulfing a serene melody interspersed with sharp and gritty accents.

The second track opens up with solemn piano progressions combined with high pitched synths, conjuring different spheres of the musical spectrum. Aptly entitled Universal Vibe', the track evokes a very diverse array of sounds layered on top of a dubby bassline.

The sub-bassy 'From Now On Only Good Things Will Happen' kicks off in a very introspective manner, developing into a dreamy yet dark journey filled with anxiety ridden chords and drum pads.

Label chief's Tony Rodriguez aka Brothers' Vibe is on duty for the 'Universal Vibe' remix. Percussion takes the main lead, giving the track a rolling pace. Stripping down a lot of the global elements but keeping some bell chords, Rodriguez's reinterpretation offers a tribal infused piece with a completely different mood that is just as contagious as the original.

Apotek Records takes a conversant and pliable approach to this Dialectic EP. Jerome Sydenham opens the technological fray with the title track "Dialectic". Deep swinging rhythms coupled with a deeply rooted dub vocal truly define its essential neoteric sensibilities.
Jerome Sydenham's remix of Macroism's "Drone" is a prime example of take no prisoners Berghain Techno - pure rumpus.
The B-side introduces the sophomore single from hot new Berlin talent Non Reversible. The track "Kuro" is absolutely unapologetic in its discharge of nebulous dark thunder techno. Powerful! On the last cut, Jerome Sydenham gets back behind the splicing desk, breaks out the razor blades and deftly edits the Echoplex classic "Pitch Break". The results is transcendent hypnotic techno bliss.

Only 150 worldwide

After more than 10 years in the game and a string of successful
EPs to his name, Idriss D releases his first proper album on his
own Memento Records. At first conceived as a succession of
singles for his Dib 00' series (the first two being Constantine
and Alger), the project then became more of a collection of
dance floor tracks influenced by what he likes to play in his DJ
sets. The title Amalgamation' comes from the desire of
bringing together his life experiences over the last few years,
both music-wise and from a marketing and management angle,
this time exclusively focusing on himself and gathering all the
inputs in one single piece of work. Transition''s atmospheric
vibe and ethereal sounds open the LP with a blast of hazy
vocals and noises, followed by the percussive and trippy Casa
Baratas', a nod to the early 90s Acid House movement.
Karma''s pounding kick drum and stripped down arrangement
are a true example of Minimalistic Techno at its wildest. The
more personal RIP Ouarda' was composed in memory of his
grandmother who passed away: dark and hypnotic, it stands
out as one of the most experimental on the album. Title track
Amalgamation''s landscape of lush eerie synths makes it a
blissful comedown number, while Parall-el''s bouncing rhythm
speeds up the pace to high effect. Strong Hayet' is dedicated
to his mum, a source of continuos strength in Idriss' life,
both in good and difficult times: the heavy bass line and almost
obsessive looping vocals and hi-hats are icy and dramatic.
Barn''s pitch shifts and manic vocal samples swing through a
maze of rim shots and toms, its stomping groove and pulsing
beats closing off the album with a bang.

Up and coming producer, Odd/Even label boss and close Stockholm Ltd affiliate Andre Kronert arrives on Figure with an astounding 3 track EP, completed by a deadly Len Faki Dub. Kronert has risen through the ranks yet stayed true to his reduced, warm and powerful sound strategy. The opening track G.I.A.N.T makes for a wonderfully tense opener, with its expansive dark sound design and deep dub kick arriving around the half-way point. This is countersigned then by two more energetic tracks in the shape of The Throne Room and Fallen Space, both pivoting over a fulcrum of classic synth hooks and carefully honed percussion. Len Faki takes The Throne Room into a different mental zone, with his almost tropical Dub version, ensnaring a freaky pitched motif to accent and build upon Andre s powerful original elements. Classic reduction, and an EP of classic Figure contemporary Techno.

Tunnel is a minimal techno and dark techno EP inspired by the
thought of getting into people's minds simulating the feeling of
driving into a tunnel or during a dream, A three tracks Ep
focused on groove and percussive sounds with effects and pitch
variations.

A side is based on different rhythmic and percussive patterns
research with Direct track, a simple minimal piece, able to
reach and let the listener into a tunnel of sounds with effects
and pitch variation and the self named track Tunnel, a groovy
track characterised by the continuous insertion of batteries
allowing the listener the continuation of the trip.
B side is a one hard acid track, working with operators and with
its 4 oscillators and a filter with LFO, a linear piece that follows
the wave of acid, specially made for the dance floor.

Speedy Ortiz is proud to announce their sophomore album, Foil Deer, which will be released via Carpark Records on April 20th.

'Major Arcana' released in 2013 won them glowing reviews , features and several UK tours (highlights below):

- 4 PAGE NME FEATURE

- 9/10 LEAD REVIEW IN NME: 'One of the reasons 'Major Arcana' works so well is because it's addictive and fun. The guitars and bass sound incredible, like the last Deerhunter album without the Yankee Doodle Dandy'

8/10 Drowned In Sound : ' Speedy Ortiz are way too euphoric and glorious to suffer for their artfulness. Stripping away the frills, at heart Major Arcana is a mournful treasure that asks to be celebrated.'

*NME RADAR FEATURE: 'What's miraculous, though, is that Major Arcana doesn't sound at all self-pitying; it's torrid Slint-meets-Pavement rattle bolsters Sadie's relished words so that yelling along is an exercise in gleefully exorcising your own demons'

8.4 ON PITCHFORK: : 'There's the squalling, guitar-on-guitar carnage of Archers of Loaf, the grungy mysticism of Helium (Dupuis lifted the title Major Arcana from a book she was reading on black magic), and of course the deadpan wit of vintage Liz Phair ('I was never the witch that you made me to be,' Dupuis tells a burnt-out old flame on 'Plough', 'Still you picked a virgin over me').

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
Deluxe LP Is as above but with metallic gold coloured vinyl, and sticker.(200 ONLY FOR UK)
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

Speedy Ortiz said they would get the flowers themselves. What a lark! What a plunge!

When considering Massachusetts' Speedy Ortiz, that line from Virginia Woolf comes to mind. Not only for the obvious echoes to DIY, a form and function that's characterized the band's nascency, but in the proto-feminist undertones driving much of their sophomore album, Foil Deer. "I'm not bossy, I'm the boss," Sadie Dupuis sings on "Raising the Skate," invoking in spirit one half of the Carter-Knowles clan and echoing the other's wordplay. And wordplay makes sense, considering Dupuis-the band's songwriter, guitarist, and frontwoman-spent the band's first few years teaching writing at UMass Amherst. She's drawn to the dense complexity of Pynchon, the dreamlike geometry of Bolaño, the confounded yearning of Plath-all attributes you could easily apply to the band's 2013 debut Major Arcana, which fans and press alike have invested with a sense of purpose and merit uncommon in contemporary guitar rock.

The group, including Mike Falcone on drums, Darl Ferm on bass, and new addition Devin McKnight of Grass is Green on guitar, have spent the last year on an almost endless cross-continental touring jag, tagging along with the likes of The Breeders, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, and Thurston Moore. That shift into full-time musicianship brought with it an attendant reordering of priorities when it came to songwriting, and the band members' lives in general. They would get the damn flowers themselves.

Dupuis wrote much of Foil Deer at her mother's home in the Connecticut woods, where the songwriter imposed a self-regulated exile and physical cleansing of sorts, finding that many of the songs came to her while running or swimming alone. "I gave up wasting mental energy on people who didn't have my back," she says. "Listening to our old records, I get the sense I was putting myself in horrible situations just to write sad songs. This music isn't coming from a dark place, and without slipping into self-empowerment jargon, it feels stronger." Many of the songs deal with a similar sense of starting over, editing out the unnecessary drama. "Boys be sensitive and girls be, be aggressive," she sings on "Mister Difficult."

And while their debut album was recorded on the fly, Speedy Ortiz spent almost a month in the studio on Foil Deer. Falcone's drums are taut, mechanistic; Ferm's bass ranges from the aggressive rattle of an AmRep classic to smoother, hip-hop inspired lines. McKnight, meanwhile, lends spacier, textural riffs to complement Dupuis' wiry, melody-driven guitar style. "The demos for our songs have always had tons of small details and production experimentation, but we never had any money to pay for more than a couple days in the studio, so the songs came out very live-sounding and guitar heavy," Dupuis says. It was recorded and mixed at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room with Nicolas Vernhes (Silver Jews, Enon, Deerhunter), with the record mastered by Emily Lazar (Sia, Haim, Beauty Pill), lending a more polished sound and a pop sensibility that will stand out to existing fans and new converts alike. For all the lyrical complexity and guitar-based excursions Speedy Ortiz have built their reputation on to this point, Foil Deer has a sense of light-footed fun. What's the point of doing things yourself if you're not going to enjoy the trip

Standard LP is gatefold, single black LP with chapbook, plus digital download card.
CD comes in digipak with a folded poster approximating the chapbook in the LP.

Prolific Seattle producer Jon McMillion returns to Nuearth Kitchen with another crucial chapter in his epic tale of haunted house-music subversions. This EP offers four variations on a bizarre and engrossing theme. Don't It Make You (edit 1)' is a work of extremes: By some miracle of aural physics, it's at once one of McMillion's strangest tracks and one of his most accessible. He sets into motion a staunch, relentless house rhythm bolstered with congas, massed claps, synth-bass raspberries, and a badass male singer intoning, Don't it make you feel good, if you wanna get down/Just say it, say it again,' over which a miasma of enigmatic tones bubbles and swirls. Like Bohannon's disco-funk classics from the '70s, Don't It Make You' seems like a tease, even at 10 minutes duration, you wish it would roll on for at least 30. On Don't It Make You (edit 2),' McMillion strips things down to dance-floor essentials and erases some of the free-floating background weirdness.

The two remixes are revelatory. New York house icon Fred P. (aka Black Jazz Consortium) slides the track into a tighter pair of pants, but that just makes it swivel harder and slyer. He emphasizes Don't It Make You''s mysterious drones and then loops a female vocalist singing He keeps me' while dropping in some echoed male chatter to gently disorient. What a dreamy, soulful trip Fred P. conjures here. And rising German wunderkind Orson Wells layers and pitches up the original's cascades of bleeps, which becomes the dominant motif, and then subtly modulates said bleeps over the tune's seven minutes, while keeping that irrepressible rhythm strutting. McMillion's raw materials prove to be fertile ground for these two maverick remixers to flaunt their own fascinating quirks while maintaining the original cut's club-darkening and ass-moving functionality.

The III Rivers juggernaut sets forth once again, release number 4 The Charivari EP, putting Voiceless in the cockpit and leading the charge.

Second Nature sets a dark, sultry and ominous tone as Voiceless deploys a plethora of sounds and moods that resonate with all the tense drama of the label's affiliated club night, Bohemian Grove.
Big laser beam synths dart through a thick pitch black haze while a factory line percussion section hammers on.

Always keeping a foot in the sonic warfare division, we get three locked grooves loaded and ready for battle, funky, electrified technoid wobblers that should fight off most opposition with ease.

Flip the disc and Opt-out opens with a controlled urgency as a barrage of kick drums sets the train in motion. Voiceless layers up rich, untreated piano chords against the backdrop of dark industrial chaos, percussion artefacts career around the mix and various elements are put through an aural meat grinder before the familiar and welcoming piano motif returns like a long lost friend, guiding us through the smoke hand-in-hand. A beautiful juxtaposition of soulful melancholy and cold, glacial machines.

Final track Charivari really hits the accelerator as a tough and mechanical rhythm jolts against blurred, radioactive pads and searing string lines before collapsing into a fractal breakdown introducing mystical, weaving high end leads. An eyes-down fist pumper of the highest order and one that commands excessive smoke & strobe light abuse late, late into the session.

One to close off one of their infamous soirees in style, hoards of mutant dancers leaving the industrial backdrop of the club's venue and crossing paths with the early morning dog walkers and Sunday strollers. Four releases in and we've lost none of the quality control, unique drive and free minded 'true spirit' (to quote Tresor's legendary catchphrase). The label goes from the strength to strength and with it, brings a whole new generation of techno shamans under their wing.

Blank Code start 2014 off strong with their latest EP Rituals of Submission, produced by Luis Flores, with remixes by Black Asteroid and DJ Hyperactive. The opening track Discipline starts off with a nice creepy atmosphere supported by a solid kick and just the right amount of percussion to hook you into the tracks core rhythm, which stays consistent while the supporting percussion keeps the intensity of the track in constant motion. Black Asteroid's Discipline remix gives the track a whole new perspective, while staying true to the original's excellent use of classic elements. The straightforward kick and up­beats work perfect with this track's industrial bassline, while cleverly programmed analog synths carry the track with slow triplet rhythms, and quirky stabs that drift off to space.

Luis Flores' second original composition, The Word, follows the same philosophy as Discipline, with many elements coming together to form one solid rhythm. This is a huge sounding track with intricate metal percussion and pitch modulated stabs that form a dark and inciting hook which is overtaken by filtered claps as the track progresses. DJ Hyperactive gets down to business with his remix of The Word and lets his Chicago roots shine through as hats on all fours and hard hitting claps are used to raise the energy sparked by the deep kick and well processed stab.

Blah Blah Blah are proudly putting the together the final touches to their 10th release celebrations, and to help bring the party, bubbling up London producer 'Cropper' has given BBB the honour of releasing his most treasured possession 'Forever'.
Forever has already gathered a preview courtesy of Pitchfork, thus cementing the support he received from Huxley, Tensnake, James Zabiela, Thefft, and Ben Westbeech among others for his previous record 'Deeper/Drift'.In Renato Pagnani's (Pitchfork) own words: 'Forever, is a hybrid of disparate-but- complimentary moods. Dark, crawling bass spreads out across the house track like stretched molasses, evoking the kind of late-night dread that comes with finding yourself alone in an unfamiliar neighborhood long after last call, but there's a warmth to this low- end rumble that prevents "Forever" from holding you at arm's length as it twists and turns. This bittersweet ache is given yet another dimension thanks to the vocals looped throughout the track, which are simultaneously defiant and vulnerable...' Selected Feedback: Sam Bailey Radio 1 'Sick (5/5)' // Maya Jane Coles - 'Nice Deepness (4/5) // Eton Messy - Love the track (4/5) // Maxxi Soundsystem - 'Sweet. ps happy 10th....