Suche:rituals

Benjamin Hudson returns to Acroplane, following his last projects with us as Ebola (Wrong Music) and one half of Baconhead, with 'Slime'… and he's brought a load of his talented mates to collaborate with him.

Artwork by Everything Alllways

Mastering by James Forde Stewart @ Sorting Room Studios.

Brain Rays is part of queer collective, DOOMSCROLL, and Devon art & party crew, Bizarre Rituals. He is also a co-founder of Wrong Music alongside DJ Scotch Egg and Matt Lambert (Roger Species).

Known for his hectic, high pressure output with Quiet, and film soundtrack work (as part of Unknown Horrors) collaborating with director Dean Puckett (The Severed Sun, The Sermon, Satan's Bite) and Rhys Chapman (Wonderkid). As a DJ he has performed all over the world, including Transmediale Festival (Berlin), Today's Art (Den Haag) and Boomtown Fair, as well as two live sessions at Radio 1's legendary Maida Vale Studios. As a producer he has garnered support from the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs, ETCH, Huw Stephens, Drumskull, Annie Mac, and Nikki Nair.

Filippo Diana's “The Haunted Palace” is the second album of unreleased tracks published by Musica Per Immagini, or a sort of soundtrack for an imaginary horror film set in a bloody past, ispired by the book “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” by Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The artist formerly known as Joe Drive used analog and digital synthesizers, as well as microphones and computers, to describe in notes the ancestral practices of resurrection of the dead accomplished by a shy and unsuspected character, who slowly transforms into an alien, inspiring both fright and terror.

MoBlack Records brings together four deep-burning cuts, each sculpted for late-night floors and sunrise rituals alike. MERZZY & DJ RONY open with Walhala, a hypnotic ride that balances raw percussion with mythic tension. Belyi & Kirr follow with Good Karma, a rolling groove where warmth and restraint meet in perfect balance. On the flip, Giaggi’s Chopit sharpens the edge with fractured rhythms and a cosmic pull, before Deco (BE) closes the circle with Breathing—a deep exhale of layered synths and pulse-driven low end.

"Pentatonic Ruins" is MANSUR’s 5th release on Denovali - it follows the 2022 "Oscuras Flores" album. "Pentatonic Ruins" is more of a song adaptation album than a new material album. It highlights the vocals of Martina Horvath and presents a collection of Mansur songs in a more hypnotic and trance like manner. This album can be seen as songs for transcendental rituals.

Artist, illustrator and bestselling author Matt Sewell is an avid ornithologist. He also plays the guitar in Sewell and the Gong, a music project with producer Chris Tate.

Their new album is a sonic journey into a whirling world of wild woods, dancing in the mud, late night pastoral adventures and some sort of 21st century hedonism connected to ancient rituals the mark the passing of seasons. It’s a glorious noise to get lost in.

“Rob wanted the world of The Northman to feel harsh and uncomfortable, and for everything to feel like it was caked in mud and dry blood, so it was crucial for the score to mirror that.” Composers Robin Carolan (Tri-Angle Records) and Sebastian Gainsborough (Vessel) were given a task of epic proportions when director Rob Eggers (The VVitch, The Lighthouse) asked them to create the score for his ambitious and highly anticipated new film The Northman, releasing on April 22nd. They needed to make a score that both honored the immense research that had gone into the authenticity of this Viking era period piece and complimented the cinematic maximalism of the film for a modern audience. The artists stretched themselves to the depths of their creativity and the resulting album is a gorgeous sonic tableaux that places the listener right in the center of the film.

While arranging the score the composers consulted musician and ethnographer Poul Høxbro for inspiration and insight into the history of Viking music. Having backgrounds in left field electronic music, Robin and Sebastian felt liberated by the constraint of using a small selection of musical tools for this piece. “Electronic music has almost limitless potential when it comes to making sounds and that’s obviously an incredible thing, but you can also go down the wormhole and get lost in it sometimes. There’s no risk of that happening when you only have a few primary instruments to draw upon.” Robin remarked.

They utilized traditional instruments such as the tagelharpa, langspil, kravik lyre, and säckpip to build the cinematic world of The Northman but they also took creative freedoms in adding instruments likes drums, which some academics believe wouldn’t have played a big part in Viking musical culture, simply due to the lack of archaeological evidence of actual drums. “One of the pieces we wrote was intended to emulate the sound of a bullroarer; an ancient instrument used in sacred rituals or in battle to intimidate enemies. It makes a really disorienting roaring vibrato sound and low frequencies capable of traveling insane distances.” Robin says when asked about one of the more unique aspects of the score. Everyone involved put so much effort into both their research and their creativity and this richness is evident in every track. The album as a whole is a cinematic masterpiece of sound and ambiance, both gorgeous and disturbing, like the film it so beautifully accompanies.

Foehn & Jerome feat. Sonya Zlo - Macho Madness (PFFD003)

Berlin, Summer 2025 - A raw, hypnotic, and deeply conceptual collaboration is about to make waves. Austrian DJ and producer duo Foehn & Jerome, residents of Berlin's iconic Club Der Visionaere and founders of the Perfumed Freedom label, team up with Ukrainian artist and producer Sonya Zlo to present "Macho Madness" - a wild and genre-bending release born from an unfiltered studio jam that spiralled into something bigger. In addition to their experimental project Space Curls, with which the three artists also perform live shows, Sonya, Fabian, and Jerome have been working on their new techno/house project.

In a world where stereotypes wrestle for power, "Macho Madness" challenges everything we thought was normal. Overblown masculinity, the illusion of strength, and staged rituals of dominance – that is what we call the "Macho Madness".

Foehn & Jerome, known for their electrifying DJ sets, have been shaping Berlin's underground scene for over a decade. Sonya Zlo, who moved to Berlin from Kyiv in 2022, stumbled upon their gig by chance - and what started as a conversation about track ID's turned into a full-on collaboration.

"Working with Foehn & Jerome has taught me so much," says Sonya. "I come from a jazz background, so this was completely new territory for me - but bringing my melodic instincts into this heavy, industrial sound was crazy exciting".

Following Perfumed Freedom's recent releases "The Frisbee of No Return" and "Hermanngirl", the new record "Macho Madness" will be released in summer 2025. Play it, stream it, or pick up the limited vinyl - just don't expect anything ordinary.

Domenique Dumont’s fourth album, Deux Paradis, arrives like the three that came before it – with an air of mystery and wonder. This is dance music for inner worlds – rituals, revelations and reveries.
Deux Paradis is a ten-track song cycle that leads the listener through the rhythm of a day, the bloom and fade of a relationship, or even the stages of a life.

It begins with a song about waking up – the candy-striped dub of “Enchantia” – and traces the sun’s arc with the pixelated reggae of “La Vie Va” and the sensuous rush of “Amants Ennemis”. As night falls, the songs take on a twilight quality in the
shimmering pop of “The Order of Invisible Things” and the seductive pulse of “Visages Visages” (a subtle nod to the Desireless classic). There’s also the baroque swoon of “Deux Paradis” and the soft exotica of “Visiteur de la Nuit”. Bolder and richer than before, it’s vintage Domenique Dumont – timeless and romantic, yet laced with an unplaceable sense of longing, like in an Éric Rohmer film. After the instrumental film score People On Sunday (Leaf, 2020) – composed solo by Arturs Liepins – singer Anete Stuce returns to Domenique Dumont, bringing her inimitable joie de vivre. Deux Paradis completes a trilogy of releases alongside Comme Ça (2015) and Miniatures De Auto Rhythm (2018) on the Antinote label.

Deux Paradis was composed, arranged and between 2022 and the end of 2024 in studios in Riga and Paris, and on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa.

Emerging from the Kansai underground with a sense of ritual and restraint, G Version III returns with a slab of meditative pressure, carved for sound systems. Following last year’s cassette release on Digital Sting, the Kyoto-based producer deepens his exploration of experimental steppers and sacred low-end science.

TRK 1 treads heavy—medium-tempo four-to-the-floor steppers, soaked in 80s/90s UK dub DNA and wired with flickers of celestial synth energy, edged with something unknown.

TRK 2 drifts off-grid—a 100bpm oddity conjuring sacred synth rituals and off-beat spatial tension. Droning and eerily weightless, it hangs like a vapor of frozen scent in an echo chamber.

Flip the plate and TRK 3 and 4 ignite—raw, unrelenting steppers built to test the physical limits of the rig. No compromise, no decoration—just ritual voltage for the floor.

Riddim Chango’s 16th release channels something ancient through circuitry, born for the weight.

Rituals, out May 30th, is the newest full length album from Watchhouse (Andrew Marlin & Emily Frantz). This is the first release of all new, original songs since their 2021 self-titled album, which found the duo embracing a new name and a new chapter for the band. Recorded close to home in 2024 with co-producer Ryan Gustafson (the Dead Tongues), Rituals explores the boundaries between identity and awareness, and how we often confuse our patterns with our truths. The album muses on the endless nature of our evolution, asking questions like: how can we have a positive relationship with change, how can we meet our ends gracefully, and 'is the world on fire or at home in the sun?

Amuleto Apotropaico has a way to fend off demons by channeling a secular spiritualism rooted in a rigorous but playful connexion to the infinite possibilities of noise. The propulsion of their continuous music ebbs into and flows out of this primordial flux through their unique brand of brutalist liturgy.

Amuleto Apotropaico is a Portuguese duo consisting of António Feiteira (drums & electronics) and Francisco Pedro Oliveira (guitar, flute & electronics) formed in 2021. Having grown up together, saturated in the lore of their hometown of Santa Maria da Feira, the duo now resides in Porto and continues to moor their rhythmic rituals in the traditions of Northern Iberia.

None of this is a nostalgic look back to a time-that-never-was. Amuleto Apotropaico's cycles are ouroboric: every step forward invokes a simultaneous step backward such that their observance of sonic ceremony (seeming to invoke a now-forgotten tradition) becomes a constructivist gesture that shapes its own legacy. If time-travel exists, this duo has found out how.

For their self-titled first release (also the first release of the Perf label), António Feiteira has culled, recomposed and processed recordings from the band's last two years of concerts in order to create a exciting 4-tracker. Apotropia I & II, which open sides A and B on the vinyl release, are both textural meditations on subtle density. Feiteira's sensitive percussion flourishes are married to Oliveira's modular-enhanced flute and guitar patterns. Albedo e Rito showcases the duo's sense of melodic contour while crescendoing to a peak of lightness. Bruxa do Calhau Branco, lifts the whole journey into an astral dimension where multi-layered drums, synths and digital clicks breathe out, announcing that their moment of worship has settled back into the ubiquitous hubbub of room hum.

Native Call explores the roots of ancient Latin America, weaving five hypnotic tracks inspired by the myths and mysticism of the Maya civilisation. Each piece is a fragment of Maoh's universe; a world where past and present collide, evoking sacred rituals, celestial beliefs, and the hidden lore of a lost era.

Deep rhythms and haunting atmospheres guide the listener through a soundscape where ancient traditions meet contemporary electronic expression.

At a time when post-ambient electronica and bedevilled folk music are co-habiting, and the public’s interest in Pagan rites and rituals has been sparked by a new generation of fans. The bizarre storyline of Whistle And I’ll Come To You seems even more pertinent… and strangely haunting.
The Jonathan Miller-adapted 1968 ghost story was originally part of BBC’s Omnibus series and featured Michael Horden as a fussy professor who discovers an ancient whistle which summons up the spirits. A black and white folkloric tale in the style of The Wicker Man, the original TV programme received rave reviews.

The esoteric live score was recorded at the Hypnos Theatre in Malmö. The 42-minute soundtrack utilises stuttering tape loops on ‘Intro’ before breathing new life into the primitive John Carpenter-like drum machine on ‘Supernatural Breakfast’, while ‘Walk On The Beach 2’ sounds like a hauntological rendition of a Broadcast classic. Indeed, that effect is amplified on ‘Nightmares’, with its swirling wind and other-worldly choral effect, before the feeling of some supernatural presence is suggested on the penultimate cut ‘Evidence Of Spiritualism’

"Sebastian Mullaert has always favoured the long arc: of tracks, of creative cycles, of artistic trust. His next chapter unfolds in the form of a new vinyl only label, born in close collaboration with Ulf Eriksson - his longtime friend, ally and the steady pulse behind Kontra Musik, a label that's been both home and launchpad for many of Mullaert's most vital releases. K-Files is built on two foundations: singularity and multiplicity. Every release will present a single track refracted through three or four different versions - each one approaching the core idea from a distinct creative angle. These are tools not just for DJs, but for listeners who hear dance music as more than just rhythm - as mood, as exploration, as transformation. The first release, K-FILES 01, sets the tone: deep, dubby, and spacious, it invites patience and immersion. But like all good rituals, the process will shift. Future releases are already poised to explore other territories: sharper energies, stranger grooves, unexpected colours. In a world increasingly defined by instant access and digital saturation, K-Files stands intentionally apart - a slower offering. A return to physicality, to process, to the tactile rituals of listening, selecting, and playing music with care. K-Files is a sublabel for those who play records not just to move bodies, but to open space. A platform for sonic evolution, variation, and perspective. A place where dance music is not pinned down - but opened up. Each record will be released exclusively on vinyl."

Originally released on Ben Chasny's own Pavilion imprint in 2011.

"I was invited by the Incubate Festival and the city of Tilburg to participate in an artist residency where I would explore the region’s unique chapels built for the Virgin Mary. After writing the music for about six months by drawing on memories of the encounters with the chapels and using techniques inspired by Gaston Bachelard’s Poetics Of Reverie, I flew back to Tilburg to perform the music at the Incubate Festival. We recorded the evening and I released the result on my Pavilion label. Each cover was hand painted white on white in the old Pavilion style. I created a stencil and used graphite powder to make the design that is inspired by the sun imagery in Athanasius Kircher diagrams."

Roadside chapels express the identity of the inhabitants of North Brabant, a Dutch province, bordering on Belgium. Roman Catholicism has been the dominant religion in this southern part of the Netherlands since the eighth century. For about a century and a half this religion was strongly suppressed. Only when the French revolutionaries preached freedom of belief around 1800 could the people of North Brabant exercise their faith again. This was the start of a very strong emancipatory development from which a special form of the Roman Catholic faith arose that fully determined everyday life of the people here. This faith was the determining factor in life and the measure of all things. After the second Vatican Council (1962-1965) the reins of the catholic faith in Brabant were loosened as well. This was the start of a revolutionary process of secularisation. Within a decade hardly anything was left of the almighty influence of the Roman Catholic Church and this situation has lasted up to the present day.

In spite of the almightiness of the official, Vatican ruled, Roman Catholic faith, North Brabant has always and perhaps notoriously fostered an undercurrent of popular belief as well. This is a kind of belief in which elements of the official faith and age-old pre-Christian traditions are combined. Worshipping relics, holding pilgrimages and processions, the use of water from holy wells, popular art, recitations and songs, festivals, rituals, folk traditions, superstition and the like are all examples of popular devotion. These matters have strongly influenced and formed the identity of the present-day population of North Brabant. It is part of their immaterial heritage.

An obvious and still very much visible form of popular devotion are the roadside chapels. In Brabant some 400 can be found, most of which have been devoted to Mary. Chapels are small buildings in which Mary or other saints are worshipped. They can be found within villages or towns or in natural surroundings. Always at the finest spots! The beauty of the environment adds a primary religious or mystical feeling to the visitor. Local people attach great value to their chapels. In spite of the overall secularisation in society they are still at the centre of cultural and social life. Where people in North Brabant can hardly be found in the churches nowadays, this doesn’t mean at all they are no longer religious. On the contrary, religious feelings are perhaps stronger than ever, but now people have to find their own expression of them. That’s why they fall back on the age-old popular belief in which chapels play an important role. We can even witness new forms of popular belief with chapels as their focal point. An example of this is the scattering of ashes of people who have been cremated. Chapels clearly also play a role in the lives of young people. On an average five new chapels are added every year.

I have studied the popular culture and belief and the identity of the inhabitants of North Brabant for over thirty years. I have published over forty books on these subjects. In 2010 I was approached by the organisation of the Incubate Festival in the North Brabant town of Tilburg. Their request was for me to lead the American composer and guitarist Ben Chasny around a number of chapels in the province devoted to Mary. He had been invited to North Brabant to write some new compositions. Ben Chasny then chose to be inspired by these chapels and that’s how we met. I was especially curious how an American would react to something as specific and small as a roadside chapel in North Brabant, since we tend to think here of (people in) America in terms of ‘big-bigger-biggest’. Would an inhabitant of this enormous country with this prevailing culture be able to grasp and respect the identity of some 2.5 million people in North Brabant with their chapels? The answer to this question lies hidden in the compositions he made and that can be listened to on this album. Yes, Ben Chasny has been able to convert the phenomenon of a simple chapel devoted to Mary into music. The physical and the spiritual have found each other. What a beautiful world…just listen! - Paul Spapens

Das dritte Album von Pale Blue Eyes ist eine Beschwörung neuer Horizonte, das cremige Devon wird gegen das Synth-Zentrum Sheffield getauscht. "New Place" erscheint nach einer wundervollen Tour mit Slowdive durch 12 europäische Länder und vielen Veränderungen im Leben von Sänger/Gitarrist Matt Board und Schlagzeugerin/Synth-Queen Lucy Board, die den Kern der Band bilden. Es gibt neue Sounds, aber auch einen markanten Krautrock-Einfluss, neben weiteren Lieblingsstimmungen und -aromen der Band, auf die auch zwei Mitglieder der PBE-Livebegleitung, Tom Sharkett (auch Gitarrist bei W.H. Lung) und Lewis Johnson-Kellett, einwirkten. "New Place" spiegelt das Ende einer Ära und einen willkommenen Neuanfang an einem neuen Ort wider.

Das dritte Album von Pale Blue Eyes ist eine Beschwörung neuer Horizonte, das cremige Devon wird gegen das Synth-Zentrum Sheffield getauscht. "New Place" erscheint nach einer wundervollen Tour mit Slowdive durch 12 europäische Länder und vielen Veränderungen im Leben von Sänger/Gitarrist Matt Board und Schlagzeugerin/Synth-Queen Lucy Board, die den Kern der Band bilden. Es gibt neue Sounds, aber auch einen markanten Krautrock-Einfluss, neben weiteren Lieblingsstimmungen und -aromen der Band, auf die auch zwei Mitglieder der PBE-Livebegleitung, Tom Sharkett (auch Gitarrist bei W.H. Lung) und Lewis Johnson-Kellett, einwirkten. "New Place" spiegelt das Ende einer Ära und einen willkommenen Neuanfang an einem neuen Ort wider.

Ukrainian jazz singer Mona returns with a fiery outernational funk 45. Following up on last year's' "Moya Vode" (Sweet Water) - a song that quickly became a favourite among the breaking community from Kyiv to California - "Vogon" (Fire) continues to spread a message of hope and healing through the universal power of funk. Linking ancient folk rituals and modern day cypher culture in a poetic way, "Vogon" is a call for unity and togetherness. Driving jazzy breakbeats, epic horns and relentless clavinet and guitar ostinati build a perfect platform for Mona's voice to shine while loose piano and sax adding a jam flavour. The vinyl version contains an exclusive instrumental version with a Moog taking over the lead.

Following the launch of his new music label, Early Morning, in September 2024, Guy J sets the stage for its sophomore release-an immersive two-track concept by acclaimed producer Roy Rosenfeld.



Roy, an artist whose productions often transcend genre boundaries, offers near-17-minute material with an imaginative work that captures attention and a creative depth.

The opening track, "Forgotten," evolves with a measured intensity, layering elements that cultivate a ritualistic atmosphere. The arrangement unfolds through indigenous-percussive influences, steadily progressing towards a resonant climax. By the third act, rich, deep chords punctuate the experience with a sense of calm, only to transition into a melodic break followed by the tribal-inspired crescendo.

Equally compelling, the closing "Hello" begins with an 80s arcade-inspired, lo-fi aesthetic juxtaposed against high-fidelity beats. Driven by ethnic percussion, it conjures the raw energy of ancient rituals, evoking primal imagery of witch doctors dancing around fires to honor the cycles of life.

Here, Rosenfeld merges traditional, futuristic, and vintage synth elements in a call to fellow producers, challenging them to innovate while empowering dancers to embrace nights of hedonistic freedom.

AYA Records presents: Humazapas' debut with 'Sara Mama', homage to the land and Kichwa tradition. The concept of "getting back to your roots" rarely has such a literal meaning, or at the same time such an ancestral meaning, as in the case of the Ecuadorian group Humazapas. Usually in the music industry this concept is used when an artist returns to a past sound, going back to that moment of newness, exploration and ingenuity, perhaps. But not Humazapas. These natives of the Kichwa communities of the Ecuadorian Andes, who have been working on this project for a decade, see "getting back to your roots" as a profound connection with their cultures, language, dance, the rituals that connect them to their deities and, of course, music.