quête:rays

Our Starry Universe returns with it’s first release of 2022, the mesmerizing Mother Oak from Dan Wainwright & Elle Redding. The album is out on 12” vinyl and digital 22nd April.

An Acid House/Cosmic concept album featuring Elle’s spoken word on Dan’s production, Mother Oak is about the life cycle of an oak tree from the perspective of the tree. “As we dreamed up a rough outline of the story, the music was created to personify the seasons and the emotions that were to come through Elle’s words.” Says Dan.

It’s a deep listening experience. The kind of record one should listen to in one sitting on vinyl while you are staring at the lyrics on the back cover. “…it all just fell perfectly into place as Elle typed the story. It all came to life really quickly and was an emotional experience for me to enjoy something so beautiful as her creativity and it’s an honour to have that combined with mine.” Says Dan.

He continues… “We made an album that carries meaning and wisdom and at the same time conveys our wonder, awe and joy that we both experience by being in nature and feeling connected to the forever changing cycles of our planet.”

Dan Wainwright is a prolific producer in the underground with releases on Night Noise, Tici Taci, & Sprechen as well as a seemingly constant slate of releases on his own imprint Oddball Recordings.

Passarani debuts on Aus with his sixth studio album, The Wildlife Of The Quieter Ones. Marco's discography boasts releases on Libertine, Running Back, Peacefrog and Numbers, the diversity between each label show his versatility as as a producer, he’s seamlessly moved with the times and glides through each era with a zesty take on a timeless sound, his credentials speak for themselves and here you see a well seasoned producer at the top of his game

Back in 1968, a pair of Germanic behind-the-scenes sound
librarians called Horst Ackermann and Heribert Thusek left a
tiny but indelible pinprick on the history of German Pop in the
misshaped form of a sexy horror cash-in concept album called
‘Dracula’s Music Cabinet’. Shelved at a micro-cosmic axis
where Krautrock meets lesbian vampire Horrortica and easy
listening meets psychedelia, the delayed reaction of this mutant
concoction eventually exploded in the mid-1990s in the hands of
a generation of ‘record diggers’ sending currency-crushing
tremors through the wallets of mods, rockers, hip hoppers and
psych nuts around the plastic-pillaging planet. The vinyl junkies
had resurrected a monster but, like addicts do, they ravenously
sucked it dry and moved on looking for the next fix to feed their
habit.

Luckily for some, Ackermann and Thusek were also creatures
of habit. And it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that they
were holding the next dose, but by the turn of the millennium
the mad scientists had been given a thirty-five-year head start
on the pop archaeologists and their mythical sequel was literally
light-years ahead of their previous draconian instalment.
Encouragingly, the unclosed cabinet left a shiny white clue in
the form of its closing track ‘Frankenstein Meets Alpha 7’.

The Ackermann and Thusek duo were far from dynamic. They
were undercover agents hiding behind user-friendly mock-rock
monikers and, like most B-Musicians, the only way to sniff them
out would be to read the small print. But when an unidentified
record on an unknown label with a title like ‘Science Fiction
Dance Party’ crops up in the Eins Deutschmark crates it’s not
exactly rocket science - although the track titles might suggest
otherwise. ‘The End Of A Robot’, ‘Monster On Saturn 1’,
‘Galactic Adventures Of The Outer Space Fleet’, ‘The Whistling
Astronauts’, ‘Death Rays Out Of The Universe’… The tell-tale
signs are all there and if that doesn’t clench the deal then what
will?

Even rarer than its horror counterpart, this ultra-rare record
regularly reaches sums in excess of €400 plus online.

On his sophomore album “ITSAME” on FILM, Brainwaltzera navigates the turbulent waters of personal crossroads with cautious optimism for an uncertain future.
Drawing comparisons with his debut full-length Poly-Ana , an equally introspective album that explores broader conceptual themes, the artist hesitantly describes the new record as a very personal affair. Acting as a kind of “journal” of the last four years of his life, each of
the 17 tracks directly relate to events and experiences that transpired during their composition

Repressed !

Hear & Now's Story Is One Of Friendship And A Shared Passion For Music. It Began With A Chance Meeting On The Dancefoor At Red Zone In Perugia, One Of Italy's Most Legendary Clubs
Of The 1990s. Nearly Three Decades On, These Glassy-eyed Clubbers Have Joined Forces To Deliver One Of The Most Magical And Sun-kissed Albums That Claremont 56 Has Ever Released. By The Time Ricky L And Marcoradi Frst Joined Forces In The Studio In 2016, Both Had Become Established Producers Within Italy's Vibrant Deep House Scene. Between Them, They'd Released Records And Remixes On Such Labels As Ibadan, Uomo, Reincarnation, Top Tracks, Restricted
Tracks And Vega. Keen To Step Away From The Dancefoor, They Decided To Simply Create Beautiful Music For Bleary-eyed After-hours Sofa Sessions, Lazy Summer Afternoons And Early
Mornings Spent Blinking At The Rising Sun.
Aurora Baleare, Their Debut Album, Follows On From A Fantastic Double A-side 12' For Claremont 56 In February 2017. Those Two Tracks Take Pride Of Place Amongst An Eight-track Selection Simply Brimming With Evocative Workouts, Gentle Soundscapes And Noon-bright Sonic Bliss. While You'll Fnd Luscious Instrumental Cuts Designed To Inspire Baggy, Glassy-eyed Shuffing - See The Mid-tempo, Spine-tingling Brilliance Of salsedine', Mind-massaging hirundo' And Dreamy Slow-house Treat sabbia Magica' - It's The Effortless Brilliance Of Marcoradi's Improvised Guitar Playing And The Duo's tmospheric Approach That Really Catches The Ear.
Check, For Example, The Heady Horizontal Shuffe Of trasimeno', Where Poignant Ambient Chords, Jazzy Electric Guitar Solos And Deep Space Electronics Tumble Down Over Shuffing Beats And A Squeezable Synthesizer Bassline, And The Sun-down Adriatic Wonder Of stella Dei Venti', A Track So Effortlessly Loved-up And Blissful That You Might Be Overcome By Emotion (it Certainly Had Us Daydreaming Of Days Spent Exploring The Intense Natural Beauty Of Italy's Adriatic Coast).
Moments Like This, Where The Duo's Dreamy Electronics And Smile-inducing Melodies Seemingly Shimmer Across The Sound Spectrum, Can Be Found Dotted Throughout Aurora Baleare. There's The Darting Digital Synthesizer Motifs, Sparse Hand Percussion And Ricocheting Solos Of airone', The Italo-disco-inspired Chugging Positivity Of la Marsa' And The Title Track's Humid Beachside Breeze, Where Intertwined Electronic And Acoustic Lead Lines Seemingly Glimmer Like Rays Of Sunshine Bouncing Off The Surface Of A Becalmed, Crystal Clear Ocean. Their Roots May Be On The Dancefoor, But Hear & Now Are Fast Becoming Down Tempo Masters. You Can Dance If You Want To, But You May Just Want To Hug A Stranger Instead.

A sequel to the 2001 series Blue Planet, it took 4 years to complete this seven part new exploration of the underwater worlds, with 125 expeditions across 39 countries and 6000 hours of underwater filming. The series was broadcast on BBC One on 29 October 2017 with viewing figures exceeding 10m and its exposure of plastic pollution in our oceans has started a global conversation about reducing plastic waste.

With over 120 soundtracks to his credit which have grossed 24 billion dollars at the box office, Hans Zimmer has been honoured with many accolades: an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, three Grammys, an American Music Award, a Tony Award and The Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement. His Academy Award nomination for Interstellar marked his 10th Oscar nomination.

The composition is completed by Jacob Shea and David Fleming from Emmy and BAFTA nominated Bleeding Fingers Music. Bleeding Fingers has created original music for productions including the Fox’s The Simpsons, BBC’s Planet Earth II, National Geographic’s Princess Diana In Her Own Words, NBC’s hit Little Big Shots, Sony’s Snatch (TV), Amazon’s American Playboy, AMC’s The Making Of The Mob, Netflix original Roman Empire and History Channel’s Mountain Men.

For the second release from Zen 2000, a new imprint out of L.A. focused on supporting and cultivating sounds made by friends wherever they may reside, we present you with another 7-inch of slow-motion burners that crackle like a sparkler weaving through the brisk night air.

Two tracks appear on the the record—classic A-side and B-side on a 45. The lead, “Promise,” is a psychedelic yet spare star-gaze accompanied by airy vocals and a wiggly 303 that's on downers. The Samo DJ remix takes it to a dubby place, some elements submerged in a deep pool, all torqued and twisted, others placed in an enormous cavern, all echoes and clean-lined drums that ricochet off the walls.

For the digital edition, there are two extras: an extended dub from Samo as well as another cut from Damon, this one a piano-accompanied glide through sun rays high above the fluffy clouds.

H- side is etched
The American cable-television industry exploded in the 1980s, pushing broadcasts of diverse programming and emissions of low-laying cultures into homes. Community stations piggybacked on the digital developments of the time, extending their existence through telephony and broadcast a iliates. For those growing up in this time, in locations such as New York City, the localized communications beamed into their homes exposed them to an impressionable array of disparate sounds and visions.
Move into the 1990s and New York was filled to the brim of emergent cultures drawing from this ebullition of communication. From Rammellzee’s shapeshifting to the late Judy Russell and Frank and Karen Mendez’s Nu Groove imprint fusing reggae, poetry and house, nascent ideas emanated from the city walls, from within stores such as Sonic Groove store and on VHS releases such as Stakker’s The Evil Acid Baron Show, a legendary technicolor psychedelic trip along the wildest frontiers of acid house. As scenes expanded and identities developed, such individuals weather the events of the visceral now, expressing themselves right into an unpredictable future.
Function’s long career has seen him uncover a vast range of sonic identities, a mainstay through house, techno and industrial with collaborations with the likes of Regis, Damon Wild alongside his highly influential Infrastructure imprint. With influences deeply tied to pop art, rave and gay scenes, and early memories of block-parties emitting Kraftwerk and Strafe, he found himself seeking out the undercover illegal nights of the 90s on a quest of sexual unearthing, mixing the ever-yearning escapology mission of disco with the influential DJ sets of Jeff Mills.
For his new album Existenz, he marks a clear step away from the corporeal techno of his recent releases. Pivoting around themes of religion, sexuality, trauma and healing, it is a work expansive and celebratory, a clear liberation from a deeply internalized past. Formed from a collection of recordings made in a period from late 2016 to mid 2019, Existenz takes the form of a creative outburst in reaction to a number of traumas - recent, childhood and throughout Function’s life. Life partner Stefanie Parnow assisted the production process in its entirety, providing inspiration, spiritual healing and featuring vocal contributions.
Cosmic synths soar and swoop in ‘Pleasure Discipline’ through towering stacks of rhythm that stutter and creak to a halt before rebooting, a firm robotic response to human intervention. ‘Zahlensender’ reflects a spatial tetris of urban life, as digitalization set within an XYZ matrix confronts the sprawling city. Constant arpeggiated meditations echo synaptic transmissions, e ecting a dissolution of boundaries. ’The Approach’ recalls the unification of the self, a state of delirium non-subjective and smooth, as all connections and functions give way to simple intensities of feeling, crossing the threshold into spirituality. ’Golden Dawn’, featuring Stefanie Parnow, marks a further elevation of dubbed-out euphoria, as once more positive rays emerge. His ode to the effortless short-trip urban navigation 'Kurzstrecke' finds Function in motion, upfront and bold, snapshots of conversation and flickers of light. 'Ertrinken' finds metallic bass jabs swamping snipped synthetic voices, with hidden stores of emotion set as a nod to the history of vocoders as a tool for encrypted military communication. House icon Robert Owens features on 'Growth Cycle' and 'Be', entrenching a celebratory atmosphere over Function's clubwise leanings. Closing track 'Downtown 161' reflects the unmistakeable filtered and squashed interjections of television, and sampled dance vocals - a sound for the curious, dreamers and dancers.
With Existenz, Function reveals an essential body of work, spread over 4LP - thought experiments on the role of identity and spirituality after a lifetime of upheaval and trauma. Leading up until the release date, Function will undertake an album promo tour with select dates - A/V shows at Berlin Atonal and Rural festival in Japan, and three dates as part of his Bassiani residency.

Long-time musical pen pals and partners David Madson (aka Odd Nosdam) and Markus Acher (aka Rayon) re-establish the connection between Weilheim, Germany and Berkeley, California for the first time since 2011, when US alt hip-hop innovators Themselves and German indie electrifiers The Notwist teamed up to form 13 & God. Nosdam & Rayon return with a heavy-hitting collaborative EP “From Nowhere to North”.

Based on a shared love for “obscure albums and 60s/70s melancholy psychedelia,” they started working remotely in 2017, ultimately deciding to release four collaborative tracks that feature Madson’s beats, samples, and production, with Acher adding vocals, guitars, more samples, and various instrumental layers.

Psychedelic pop melodies sail over steady beats on the opener “From Nowhere to North” – a track that perfectly sets the tone for the whole EP. Elsewhere, fuzzy lights over the “Desert” and more reassuring beatscapes serve as compass to stay the course, while “Bow and Arrow” feels fairly mesmerizing: fast-moving layers, moving up and down, floating over the Atlantic, northward bound. Closing out the EP is “Colours / Heavy Load”, an epic 10-minute finale: after the raw and gritty lo-fi acoustic intro, the first part comes with a grainy guitar tune that soon leads to a vast plateau; once up there, things feel surprisingly serene and soothing – like the last warm rays of October light slowly fading as we move further north.

Both huge fans of Bristol’s late 90s DIY/post-rock scene (e.g. Flying Saucer Attack, Crescent, Third Eye Foundation, Movietone), Odd Nosdam & Rayon are happy to present their new EP with an artwork created by Movietone’s Kate Wright.

You have to know how to move away from the rich, strong and noisy streets, if you want to discover another Havana. A Havana far from the tourist circuits and preconceived images. A Havana where one discovers bucolic, but hard and stripped too after slow journeys in the crowded buses, a Havana with which Al Quetz maintains a passionate history since more than fourteen years.
Installed in one of those neighborhoods that can only be reached by going deeper into the alleys, from the open window of the studio comes the sound of banging drums and thumping bass. The sound reaches the streets on which the day rises.
The place wakes up in a growing tumult, with some rare engines coughing, conversations under the windows, songs of the street vendors , an urban ballet sets up as the sun darts its rays.
Far from the musical clichés with percussions and horns, Cuba is an island bombarded with influences that one discovers.
An island which vibrated for the jazz, the soul, the psychedelic rock , from the waves coming from the Caribbean to those of the bulky neighboring ogre.
A musical flowering as varied as abundant that the glorious post-revolutionary label Areito has on thousands of recordings,
and that Al Quetz has designated as the sole source of his samples to compose Habanologia.
From the ambiences that punctuate the local daily life caught by his samplers, he let the melancholy infiltrate his hip hop beats, the nostalgia melting in the depths of his grooves. Nostalgia in the Cuban air, even during moments of intense laughter, which never totally disappears.
Habanologia restores these moments when the song of the birds has extinguished those of the cars. Where, sitting on a doorstep, we comment on the life of the neighborhood, we watch the women's swaying at eye level. The whole day if necessary, the coffee at one peso, after a certain hour, which leaves its place to the Planchao rum. Wandering through its streets where a chance encounter can itself bring others and lead to the essence of the habanera life. From Regla, after a short trip on the bus-boat that crosses the bay, savor the end of the day, observe the capital from afar, let the nocturnal insects ensure some arrangements and drift towards mysterious horizons, bringing to the contemplation of the place and the moment.
A flute, a keyboard, percussions or a voice. Al Quetz also invited his friends from the island or elsewhere to decorate his productions with their live touch. To share with him this Havana for which he covered his tracks, mixed times and distorted space-time to make it timeless.
To write with Habanalogia, a declaration of love to the Cuban capital, to make Havana, His Havana.

Recorded in Havana’s famed Egrem Studios, the group displays a cohesion forged by an intense performing and touring cycle. The musical conversation that began in the Areito studios three years earlier blossomed into an easy, intimate dialogue between good friends - allowing full, fearless musical expression and risk-taking outside of their comfort zones.

Building upon Perez Prado’s dissonant, near avant-garde vision of the mambo, and highlighting the Lucumí subtext of Cuban rhythms and styles, the band continues to explore, develop and expand the island’s rich rhythmic palette and repertoire - pushing the conventions of what is considered “mambo” - and drawing deeply from folkloric and religious traditions seldom heard in popular music. 16 Rayos is here to shine its musical rays on us, warm our hearts, and irresistibly move our bodies.

When Orquesta Akokán burst onto the global music scene a mere three years ago, their no-holds-barred 21st century take on the venerable Cuban mambo lit up stages around the world with a fierce and unremitting joy. Singer José "Pepito" Gómez, Chulo Records producer and multi instrumentalist Jacob Plasse, and arranger Michael Eckroth joined forces with a carefully curated selection of Havana’s most extraordinary musicians as Orquesta Akokán, polishing Cuban mambo’s golden sound to a luminous, contemporary sheen. Along the way Orquesta Akokán imbued these legendary Cuban grooves with a renewed vitality and powerful sense of akokán ---the Yoruba word used by Cubans to mean “from the heart” or “soul.”



On the Cuban side of the equation the Orquesta boasts some of the island’s greatest instrumentalists culled from members of near-mythical groups such as Los Van Van, NG La Banda, and Irakere (notably César Lopez, Orquesta Akokan’s point man in Havana). The ensemble for 16 Rayos shines a light on Cuba’s musical families and multigenerational legacy with the participation of two fabled Vizcainos on percussion - Roberto "Tato" Vizcaino Jr. and his father Roberto Vizcaino Guillot, a member of Chucho Valdes’ seminal 90’s quartet. Another family duo added their masterful legacy to the recording, with trumpeter Reinaldo “Molote” Melián bringing in his son, Reinaldo Melián Zamora, to play trumpet on several tunes alongside lead trumpet Harold Madrigal Frías. The winds and brass are rounded out with a rich saxophone section made up of young lion Jamil Shery and Germán Velazco (musical director for Pablo Milanés)on tenor, with Evaristo Denis on baritone and César López on alto, along with Yoandy Argudin and Heikel Fabián Trimiño on trombone. Coros were sung by Eddie Venegas and Luis Soto. Significantly, Orquesta Akokán added strings to the ensemble for the first time, with the participation of violinists Amelia Febles Díaz, Jenny Peña and Anabel Estévez Acosta, whose virtuosity stems from the classical training for which Cuban musicians are so renowned. The power and grace of Pedro "Tata" Francisco Almeida Barriel’s vocals lead the way on “4 de Octubre” and “Llegue con mi Rumba,” evincing why he is considered one of the Cuban rumba’s premier exponents. Another highly recognized singer, legendary guarachera Xiomara Valdés - who’s shared the stage with legends such as Beny Moré and Omara Portuondo and received the Ministry of Culture’s Distinción por la Cultura Nacional de Cuba as a significant contributor to Cuba’s musical legacy - is the featured guest on the title track.

‘Colourgrade’ follows on from 2018’s immediate cult
classic album, ‘Devotion’. It forms a subconscious
snapshot from across a year when Tirzah was playing
live regularly for the first time, in the depths of
promoting ‘Devotion’ and recorded soon after the birth
of her first child and shortly before her second child
was born.
The album explores recovery, gratitude and new
beginnings, presenting a singer having discovered the
type of love that is shared between a mother and a
child for the first time, whilst simultaneously working as
an artist.ௗCapturing both the great and the scary, the
exhaustion and the recovery, ‘Colourgrade’ is a listless
amble through the innermost feelings, an intoxicating
presentation of a full-time mother and artist.
As always, a Tirzah record is a family affair, featuring
the extended CURL crew that includes long term
collaborators Mica Levi and Coby Sey, the younger
brother of producer Kwes who mixes onௗ’Colourgrade’.
It’s this natural, collaborative energy that keeps
Tirzah’s music fresh and progressive.

While meditating on the concept of our next album, we listened to the soundtracks of our favorite movies and dreamed of composing our music for the films. What could the film be like, what would be the story, what would be the idea? What would we like to say this time? 
 And one day such work appeared and suddenly for us, it was not a movie. The book “Star Corsair” by Ukrainian science fiction writer, philosopher, and dissident Oles’ Berdnyk emerged from our distant memories. We even remembered the original cover of the old edition of 1971, a copy of which was immediately found, as if sanctifying our idea and adding a touch of eternity to the process. We decided to read the book again and right after that make our soundtrack to it. 
 

 
 We began to dive. And it immediately became clear that in the case of Berdnyk it is impossible only to read his works without reading about his life. Therefore, the reading of “Star Corsair” and its sequel “Kamerton Dazhboga” turned into an in-depth study of a unique phenomenon in the Ukrainian spiritual, art, and political space – Oles’ Berdnyk.
 
 From the first pages, the book resonated as much as possible with our ideas about true freedom and personal development. An incredible concentration of powerful ideas, subtly set on multilevel spirals of the modeled future intersected with the myth-created past, in projections of bright explosions and degradations of societies and civilizations, in the unconditional possibility of impossible revolutions and eternal deep struggle with systems, in the fire and explosions of liberation ignited by the freethinkers. 
 
 “Star Corsair” naturally intersected with our feelings and understanding of the interdependence of personal development and inner freedom, with the vision of the world around us and the direct action. It naturally complemented our vision of how, through the inner realization, we can contribute to the implementation of freedom, and then live it in our own lives.
 
 And so, this album became not only music for the novel, but also our reflection of the work, observation of our own transformation in the process, and what new ideas and vectors we will formulate for ourselves and offer to those who want to listen to the album.

The second edition of Freakadelle’s ‘44’ series. ’44-2‘ is inspired by the collective’s annual Space Night event – an open-air event happening in front of the club, which aims to push genre boundaries and question the notion of what is nowadays considered the soundtrack of club culture.

Freakadelle residents and associated artists present themselves across nine diverse tracks ranging from free-floating and experimental electronics to more concrete experiments in leftfield club music. 


Mastering by Mattias Fridell, A3 mastered by DJ Buzz
Artwork by rochus.design
Print by Unschuldig Verdorben

Christmas in the Islands — Shaggy
This quintessential reggae Christmas themed collection puts a Caribbean twist on traditional Christmas cheer. Multiple Grammy Award-winning global reggae/dancehall & pop music icon Shaggy returns with a new holiday album, Christmas in the Islands

Can Love Be Synth are in love with old analogue machines and define their specific sound in the legendary Synthesizer Studio Hamburg. A synth collectors paradise hidden behind the big grey walls of a Bunker building and the club Uebel & Gefährlich between the Reeperbahn and Schanzenviertel district in Hamburg, Germany.

Their new song ‘Bunker’ is now available as a digital and vinyl release on A CLEAN CUT including fantastic remixes by Richard Fearless, Terr and quadratschulz.



The Bunker building is currently extended with a 54-meter-high superstructure for an ultra-violent instant gentrification. In the original version of the song the heavy blows of hammers are clearly audible. This sound journey from zen to noise is a beautifully shimmering ‘black hole made from music’, where implosion and explosion energetically meet. If it needed another reason for the clubs to reopen, this song would be the one - it is perfect for long nights and for days without light rays.

It’s with a heart brimming with pride that Bordello A Parigi welcome Italoconnection back to the family with their latest album: Midnight Confessions Vol.1. The team of Fred Ventura, a legend of Italo Disco, and Paolo Gozzetti, a stalwart of Italian electronics, arrive with eight tracks that shimmer with sun-kissed synths and love-filled lyrics. A strew of like-minded musicians have been called upon to bring their own unique ideas and styles to this album. Sweden’s Tobias Bernstrup offers his vocals in the environmentally minded “Rainbow Warrior,” while the unique and unmistakable voice of French pop icon Etienne Daho sings in the charged “Virus X”. Modern day electro-disco maestros feature with Carino Cat collaborating in the warming rays of “The Year of the Sun.” Newcomers to the scene are also represented, Francesca Diprima’s voice accompanying Fred Ventura’s in the lovelorn lament of “Since You Went Away”. And at the heart of the album are Ventura and Gozzetti; a record that explores classic themes while introducing a wider commentary, a collection of bold brilliance and synthesizer subtilty.

Beautiful orange & yellow sunburst vinyl - Solstice '21 sees twelve bright lights of independent electronic music mark the coming Summer Solstice. In such dark days, the age-old practice of celebrating the move from shadow to light, feels steeped in a renewed symbolic power. Solstice '21 marks this significant moment with a rich array of musical offerings. Reflective, lively, and always powerful, this collection is spun with modern twists of an ancient thread. Rotator - This is the first outing under this moniker from Justin Owen, also known under the alias Licit, as well as being a protagonist in the world of modular synthesis as the man behind the Abstract Data modules; Letters from Mouse - "Bubbling analogue synthesis from Scotland." This analogue synth maestro and inimitable broadcaster (aka The Magic Window), boasts a string of quality releases, including the recent highly acclaimed album An gàrradh, also on Subexotic; Cub/cub - "Cub/cub explores the world in-between nostalgia and nihilism, analogue and digital, real and false; creating evocative and mournful musical collages." First discovered on Boards of Canada forum Twoism, Cub/cub's two debut releases with Subexotic demonstrated his considerable talent to mix fascinating texture with beguiling melody. With an astonishing follow-up album coming soon, his rising star feels unstoppable; Orbury Common - "aural ephemera from the home of the orbs." This mysterious duo from the West of England are blessed with delightful musical cunning; their brilliant debut on Subexotic lifted the lid, and this offering reaffirms exciting times lie ahead; Onepointwo - "Minimal electronics, abstract radio signals and dystopian soundscapes are proceeded from both digital and analogue sources." A creator of intricate yet powerful collage, with finely wrought motifs that repeat and build to create a shimmering psychedelic impact. This is Onepointwo's glorious trademark. Spell-binding releases already exist on Woodford Halse, Poeta Negra, Lotus, as well as an imminent powerhouse album forthcoming on Subexotic; Giants of Discovery - "Experimental electronica with the occasional noisy guitar thrown in." Giants of Discovery's ability to get to grips with the musicality of his subject, has lead to previous exquisite sojourns into realms such as Victorian cosmic horror and Greek mythology, as well as an equally fantastical, towering follow up album on Woodford Halse; Wonderful Beasts - "A Wonderful collaboration between boycalledcrow and Xqui." Their playful interaction finds ways of crafting acoustic fragments into unexpected kaleidoscopes of sound. With beguiling debuts on cult label Wormhole World (soon to be followed up by an extraordinary new album on Subexotic), there is a kind of breathless magic about everything they do; Dogs versus Shadows - Electronic Sound Magazine says "A rare example of gamekeeper turned poacher...a welter of impressive electronica." Lee Pylon's ability to straddle a wealth of uncompromisingly inventive creations, and his broadcasting prowess as the much loved Kites & Pylons, is already the stuff of legend. A multitude of releases across many labels including Subexotic, Woodford Halse, Miracle Pond, Third Kind, Submarine Broadcasting, Sensory Leakage, provide a glittering treasure trove of work; Counter Silence - A stalwart of Subexotic, Counter Silence's sparkling and wistful musical work very much stands alone in temperament and style. 2020's Pathways EP on Subexotic remains a precious oasis, imbued with a haunting solitude that lives on in the memory; Transient Visitor - "All music unlocked by Alex Cargill (C.O.I. Central Office of Information) and Martin Jensen (The Home Current)." These two intercontinental maestros (well Sidcup & Luxembourg) boast impressive solo back catalogues across many labels (including Castles in Space, Polytechnic Youth, Woodford Halse). Their newly conceived collaborative Transient Visitor project, brought about the superb TV1 album in 2020 - we can see the sparks fly again in this welcome 2021 return; Simon Klee - "Natural, Electric, Organic Psychedelic - Sounds, noise and psychedelic beats." Klee's playful alchemy engages the mind and spirit, as witnessed in a flurry of top quality releases in recent times (e.g. Subexotic, ANR, Woodford Halse), and there is a visceral joy in his work that is perfectly placed for a midsummer celebration. Klee also produces a truly excellent mixcast and increasingly essential tape label, both under the guise of Anticipating Nowhere; Rupert Lally - "Hailing originally from England but now based in Switzerland, Guitarist, Percussionist and Electronic Musician Rupert Lally began his career as a Sound Designer and Composer for Theatre and TV, before launching his solo career in 2005. Since then his releases have blurred the boundaries between electronic and acoustic music." Lally's consistently brilliant work is always a highlight of the electronic music calendar, including recent stellar works across many labels such as Spun Out Of Control, Third Kind, Woodford Halse, and Modern Aviation.

A few months ago, Dj Schwa & Name Does Not Matter rumbled through the timbers with their latest EP on RFR Records. For all of you, who like to get physical, we are now offering two Tracks of the digital EP including two brand-new Remixes on Vinyl.

Follow the “Ape King” and jump into the frying acid pan! Straight forward stomping on the beat section, pretty classic when it comes to the bassline. And whilst the 303 is continuously marching towards our cortex, shit kicks in with a nonchalant melody part. Wait, are the old Djax Up days back?

London’s Posthuman is delivering the perfect Remix for “Ape King” qua musical self-definition. His analogue machine park powers the Original with an even deeper drilling bass line, reduces the melody to its essence and nonchalantly sets the groove between classic Chicago and UK Hardcore influences.

“Obsolete” is a true feast for lovers of classic Electro. And despite of the title, all its ingredients are perfectly well balanced. Sounds like Aril Brikha, Nitzer Ebb and Clarence G. (RIP) joined forces in the studio and filtered the essence of one of our favorite genres.

We stay in London. Jerome Hill lays hands on “Obsolete” and proves from the very first second that there is absolutely no space for compromise. This is all about straight Techno and the feeling of being exposed to a stroboscope in a dark basement while the first rays of sunlight are already penetrating through the crack of the door.