Cerca:the collaboration ep

One of Drumcode’s finest, Bart Skils returns for his first solo EP since 2018.

Bart Skils remains one of the label’s most consistent achievers going back to his debut in 2012. Eight original EPs, a stellar remix of Moby ‘Go’ and his now-classic collaboration with Adam Beyer ‘Your Mind’ have entrenched him as a DC treasure. All the while the Dutchman plays a nurturing role with the label’s nu-skool brigade, regularly playing B2B with Layton Giordani and teaming up with Weska for last summer’s ‘Polarize’ two-tracker.

His ninth Drumcode EP ‘Settle In The Sun’ delivers the first productions from his new studio after six months of preparation. The title track was inspired by an extended stay in LA over New Years, channelling the energy of Venice Beach’s vibrant skate culture to create an uplifting, big riff weapon. ‘Tropical Heat’ took influence from Bart’s experiences touring South America, as an evocative vocal sample and rave-kissed melody line run alongside a wicked rolling groove. ‘Shiva Says’ is a peak-time, brain-mangler in the best of ways, driven by a monster synth line that grows and contorts as the track progresses.

Playedby's new sub-label, Underplay01 reveals the studio collaboration between Stefan Nicu (aka Sublee) and Murariu Ion Aurelian.

The next release in the Phonica Special Edition series comes from Ukrainian duo Asyncronous who first came to our attention after hearing their critically acclaimed debut on Berlin label Slow Life, 'The Art of Fighting In A Dream'.
A Phonica favourite, it provided the soundtrack to many days in the shop throughout the year, culminating in its inclusion in our top ten Best Singles of 2019!

The Phonica Special Edition series is focused on one-off projects, special remixes or collaborations, highlighting music that is slightly left of the dance floor and pairing it with unique artwork.
This time featuring a beautiful piece by celebrated Ukrainian artist, Mykyta Storozhkov.
The pair initially joined forces in an effort to explore human imagination and life experiences through music, focussing on creating feelings and atmosphere rather than be constrained by genre limitations. The result on this EP is a hazy cosmic trip through their universe of synth swells, deep sub bass and meticulous percussion.

The journey begins on 'Padma Kirtanam' with a constant drone providing the backbone to a building tension scattered with drums. The tension releases and makes way for A2 'Shinkansen', a beautiful track with minimal drums and dubbed out synths which echo around the listener's ear. Closing the A side 'Volta' continues this aesthetic but adds a 4x4 kick drum upping the groove to a cosmic deep house jam.

'Avalanche' kicks off the B side of the record with a syncopated bass line and skitterish hi hats. The energy is at its highest level here and only stops to make way for the next track 'Blocks of Despair'. The tempo drops and drum hits reverberate above stretched out bass notes creating arguably the most heartfelt tune of the release.
The EP ends with 'Midnight Sun' an ambient excursion that invites you to drift off with Asyncronous into outer space.

Today we have many opportunities to discover the world and travel through it without leaving your own room. In the age of globalisation, with the help of knowledge, technology and imagination, you can instantly teleport yourself to mystical temples of India or see the sun above the polar desert at midnight. No more borders - we are connected like never before, as if we are not at different ends of the globe, but on a single and indivisible continent that is not mapped but exists in a plexus of global events, information flows and digital environment.
This is our common home. Our new Pangaea.

Purple Vinyl

Opening with "Absolut Bond (Sascha Müller My Name Is Acid Mix)" the pairs first collaboration effort weighs in a deep, hypnotic take on spiralling Acid music for strobe-lit underground raves whereas their second conjunctional joint "What I Mean (Great Evening Mix)" brings forth a darker, more pumping and minimalist approach whilst employing a creepy little motif that gets under your skin like the main theme from your favorite horror flic. On the flip we see Sascha Müller going on a double solo tip with "Work My 303", another masterly crafted Acid piece harking back to the finest twisted clubbing moments of the 90s, before the final cut "Generator Man" explores grinding, distorted Broken Techno / Wonky Techno realms, sucking each and every listener into a cold dystopian, post-apocalyptic future within seconds. Get this.

Unrelenting, industrial techno destruction from London-based, Portuguese polymath The Advent alongside an electro whirlwind collaboration with Zein, released on the ever dependable Suara.

‘Witches Spell’ lures you in with a hypnotic and hard hitting industrial onslaught before you flip the record over and are hit with ‘Live 98 Tour’ a warpspeed techno powerplay that could easily slot into a Jeff Mills or DJ Bone set. Last up The Advent joins forces with Zein for a Stingray-esque electro slammer in the form of ‘Same 4’.

Italian producer Clap! Clap! returns to Bristol's Black Acre with his third album, ‘Liquid Portraits’. Born and bred in Florence, Cristiano
Crisci’s musical career extends back to the mid-90s where he started out as a rapper, before picking up a saxophone and exploring
both jazz and jazz/punk fusion with Trio Cane, and then returning to his electronic roots with A Smile For Timbuctu project - a
collaborative effort that released four albums and performed across Europe. By 2008, Crisci decided to strike it out on his own as Digi
G’Alessio, channeling the same hip-hop meets electronic music energies as those animating the nascent Los Angeles beat scene for a
string of EPs and albums. Soon Crisci hit upon a new formula when he started combining samples from the African continent with
energetic drum programming. The results led to the birth of Clap! Clap! in 2013, which has since been recognised and supported by the
likes of Paul Simon and Gilles Peterson. The stripped-back, high-energy yet inventive sound caught the attention of Black Acre with
whom Crisci has been working with ever since, including his first and second albums ‘Tayi Bebba’ and ‘A Thousand Skies’. Returning
to Black Acre, Clap! Clap!’s third album once again deploys his inimitable technique in fine style, however with new eyes as this new
project signifies a definite shift in his work having spent the last few years learning the art of mixing which has lead to some
breakthroughs: “In recent years I’ve spent a lot of time studying essential mixing techniques. I then built an acoustic-treated room and
set up my new studio. I started to convert digital into analogue and vice versa with good converters and achieved sounds that I’ve
never heard before from my speakers. This had a huge positive impact on my mixes and result on my music.” Entitled ‘Liquid Portraits’, the album - as the name suggests - is a collection of sonic paintings, an attempt at capturing furtive, subconscious memories through sound. The tracks reference trips Crisci took and people he met – from southern Italy to Hokkaido via the Kif Mountains of Morocco – as well as more abstract ideas of loss, calmness, and childhood. Having been approached by Paul Simon to work on his 2016 album ‘Stranger To Stranger’ after Simon discovered ‘Tayi Bebba’ through his son, Clap! Clap! is no stranger to collaborations and this album features a small cast of talents, such as south Italy percussionist Domenico Candellori (‘Southern Dub’), Belgian artist Martha Da’ro (‘Moving On’) and harpist Kety Fusco (‘Rising Fire’)

Siegmar Fricke has made a name for himself in the tape culture since 1981 - with a mixture of Musique-Concrète and Post-Industrial. As a former label owner of "Bestattungsinstitut" he released numerous works that went beyond EBM, Electro, Techno and Ambient. In the heyday of the netlabels he focused mainly on his own productions, which he then made available as free downloads. Since 2002 Siegmar has been active with clinical sound experiments under the pseudonym "Pharmakustik". In 2005 he started his collaboration with Maurizio Bianchi from Milan, who has dedicated himself to "industrial decomposition" since 1979. For his Time Compression EP on Infoline, Siegmar Fricke has unearthed compositions from the period 1992-1994 and curated them anew. A phase in which he listened to the radio day and night and connected his sampler to the stereo to record material around the clock. He listened to many radio shows from England or Holland, which often broadcasted techno, trance and acid. At that time those sounds were new territory for him. He recorded inspiring sequences at first go, edited them and then let them flow into his own productions. The result was "future-pop collages mixed with sequencer-controlled trance and sampled voices", to put it in the words of Siegmar Fricke.

Since making his debut as 96 Back in 2018, Evan Majumdar-Swift has become one of underground electronic music's genuine rising stars. To date, the Sheffield-born producer has released two acclaimed albums for labels such as Hypercolour and CPU as well as a string of singles and collaborations. His EP for Happy Skull showcases his growing versatility as a producer and marks the labels return following a brief hiatus.

"143 Connections", is a rapidly unfurling club cut that sees him pepper a weighty 140 rhythm track with crispy arpeggios and rolling acid motifs . The track increases in intensity as it progresses, with Rob Gordon's immaculate mastering work bringing out the cut's inherent weight, sharpness and subtle Bleep influences.

Elsewhere across the EP, 96 Back takes the opportunity to expand his trademark sound a little further. "Set Science" is a colourful slab of electro machine funk, full of fizzing sci-fi melodies and brain dance era synth work while "In The Trunk, Belting Down The Highway" drops the tempo but turns the intensity up to red with a slow motion chunk of mutant electronica complete with misty eyed breakdown.

Repress!

New Single By Legendary Brazilian Singer Di Melo, 40 Years After His Classic Self-titled Samba-soul Lp. Performed And Produced By French Brilliant Combo Cotonete, This Single And Collaboration Will Be Followed By A Full Album Early 2019.

Florian Pelissier Speaks About The Project: on Tour In Brazil With Cotonete, We Had A Few Days Off In Sao Paulo And I Really Hoped To Make A Collaboration With An Important Artist Or Band From The Brazilian Funk Scene. We Had Thought Of Marcos Valle, Meta Meta Or Ed Motta... But Rafaela Prestes Our Brazilian "sound Ingineer/genious" Told Me: "i Worked For The Return Of Di Melo In Rio 2 Years Ago. He Rocks, He's Adorable And He Lives In Sao Paulo, Here's His Number, He Would Be Perfect For Cotonete."
No Sooner Said Than Done. I'm A Huge Fan Of Di Melo And Had Already Tried To Contact Him For Cotonete 6 Years Ago. The Next Day, On A Sunday, He Arrives At Our House With Jo, His Wife, And Gabi, His Daughter. He Takes The Guitar In Front Of Us In The Kitchen, And Gives Us A Private Show Of 3 Hours... We Cried The Tears Of Joy.
He Had 400 Original Songs Never Recorded, A Gold Mine. On The Same Night, We Started Working The Arrangements For 2 Days, Followed By A Rehearsal And Two Small Gigs In Sao Paulo. Immediately After, We Recorded In The Magical Epsilon B Studio. All With The Participation Of Gabi, His 10-year-old Daughter, And Future Star.
This Album Is The Summary Of This Moment, Of These 5 Days Of Madness Spent Together Between the Best Band In The World' And The Legend Roberto Di Melo... Simple, Beautiful, Brazilian-french, Human Music...'

Pleamar(Spanish for high tide) is the first collaborative release between Chancha Vía Circuito and El Búho for Wonderwheel Recordings, and stands as one of the most refreshing EP's within the Latin American downtempo electronic genre.

On this release the vision of both artists is united as one. This unity is reflected through "Real Fun, Wow!"'s artwork, presenting an image of a centered eye, reminiscent of historic drawings from tide studies. The representation of Earth, with a central circle surrounded by two ellipsoids that rotate and align in perfect harmony, mirrors the meeting of the two producers, the moment when the seawater reaches its apex andPleamaroccurs.

Like a metamorphosis that - without knowing it - we had been waiting a long time for, the EP reconstructs Pedro and Robin's encounters over the years. It transports us into the history of migrant sounds, the salvaged sound of floral jungles, high mountain forests and the ocean deep. We hear a sonic beauty filled out by deep personal stories - four humble and honest tracks that demonstrate the fusion of these artists and both them and the genre into new territory.

Starting with "Oruga"'s deep ambience, dub atmospheres and space echo reverberations, the album follows this line of reverberated rhythms and relaxed percussion lines throughout, carrying us along with a pulsating, deep, natural tempo. "El Mago Georges", perhaps the Pleamar'sjewel, is bursting with life - impactful depth and perfectly tuned melodies yet tribal and delicate at the same time. "Murga del Viento'' recalls another meeting of these two minds: El Búho's much-loved remix of "Sueño en Paraguay" a beautiful track from Chancha Vía Circuito ("Amansará" 2014). Here the whistle meets the owl from the previous track and the two birds take us a step forward in this collaboration with chords superimposed on a haunting bass. The release ends with "Una Pulgada de Silencio", a track of cosmic synthesizers, trickling water samples and the voice of argentine folk singer Gus Goncalves. Through Pleamar we come to find a much needed peace and clarity hidden beneath the rolling waves, a deep-sound escape to get lost in.

Sludge machine music slapped through the infinite mixing desk by SRS - the combined mind of Sunun and Robin Stewart. At any pointData Fossil'sgiddy industrial riddims could collapse under their own weight. There are Sunun inputs and there are Robin Stewart inputs - but everything is offered up to their machines gladly for an output of nu-human-beat. Voices drift through the mix in hushed Italian and Robin's gruff roboticized drawl, floating dub chords left hanging for cavernous subs and rattled bones, distant harps and arps, a sudden blast of trills. 'Spit Fossil' itself is a clipped noise-pop wonder - the aural equivalent of a lights-on Avon dancefloor with only the weirdest left standing.



Recorded on the rooftop of a housing project called Camelot in 2018, the two Bristol locals debuted the live / unplanned collaboration in an inflatable arena called 'Toldo' in the Brunswick Club ballroom (RIP). Then again at Young Echo at the Cube Microplex - a night where it's said anything is possible (Sunun even dubbed Guest's live human heartbeat there recently….). IfData Fossilis hard to describe - it's just the sound of the musical freedom of a city that will never run dry.



It's a high Bokeh honour to welcome Sunun back after we helped release her 2018 debut,Ooid EP. Her live show continues to be the most inspiring re-use of dub principles we've witnessed (again and again). Time only grows her music outwards causing the Young Echo collective to demand she join them. SinceOoid,she's released a 12" of MPC wonders with close Bristol pals Cold Light.


Recently bearing his dub-side to all that didn't know on Trilogy Tapes'Time Travel EP, Robin Stewart is half of world conquering techno-cult Giant Swan. Also a veteran of Rwdfwd stable of imprints (Fuckpunk and NoCorner) - his music DNA is equal parts shoegaze and steppas. In 2020 he was officially recognised for having the largest collection of Bokeh t shirts.

We gladly present the long awaited debut album by kurdish multi-instrumentalist Philippos Sîpano and Frankfurt am Main’s mighty duo Dan Bay & Le Rubrique aka The MPC Orchestra. “The Spirit of Dilovan” pays tribute to Philippos Sîpano and Dan Bayat’s youth band “Spirit Of Dilovan”, sketches the different musical paths the two took over the years and finds its final form in their new collaboration with Dilovan Le Rubrique, a master in the studio and a true patchbay wizzard.

With multilayered arrangements based on different kurdish music traditions and inspired by their indivudual experiences of Pop- and Clubculture, Philippos Sîpano & The MPC Orchestra’s new album can be both perceived as diasporic Popmusic or epic dancefloor monster for experienced music lovers.

All songs were produced at Offenbach’s Upper Citycenter Studio and dedicated to all DIlovans* out there, hoping they will one day constitute the majority of all people and we will all find peace, love and habibtiness on planet earth.

* good-hearted people <3

What would be the result of putting together to work such talented people as Julia Bondar, Franck Kartell, The Hacker and Years Of Denial? (...) Cyril Pansal and Gäel Loison reach to do it here resulting in extremely fresh and harsh ebm with touches of rudimentary but very effective modular electro that sounds as fat as a sumo fighter.

Released in collaboration with our french brother label UNKNOWN PLEASURES RECORDS trough THE BLACK ALLIANCE project.
All tracks have been specially remastered for LONG CUT Vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young & Cold Studios.

Mameen 3 are soFa and Cheb Runner from Brussels. Both versatile players in the rather niche scene of oriental electronic music in the European capital, they only ran into each other at the Nyege Nyege Festival in Uganda two years ago. They clicked and after a first jam session they immediately launched Mameen 3.

Cheb Runner is the young Moroccan producer previously known as Gan Gah, now focussing on giving a modern outfit to various MENA music traditions. soFa is a true digger between all crates (his Pingipung Podcast is a gem!), as well as the curator behind the highly recommended Elsewhere vinyl compilations, released on labels such as Emotional Response or Music For Dreams. Following the Mameen 3 debut singles on Bongo Joe with excellent spaced out reggae- disco hybrids, Pingipung proudly unearths the Collapse EP featuring two collabs with legendary musicians.

A side: "Impostrazione" is a collaboration with Claudia Radulescu and Walter Hus. Radulescu is a Romanian visual artist who has written the lyrics for the song, boldly interpreted by the legendary Walter Hus on the occasion of her exhibition 'Hit' in Kanal - Centre Pompidou Brussels in 2019. Hus gained international reputation as a pianist in the 1980s and works as an avantgarde composer today, among many projects he created an opera for the graphic novel “Lint” by Chris Ware. Walter Hus performs an effusive vocal style accompanied by his modified Decap organ which became his trademark sound in the past decade. This jam delivered the material which Mameen 3 subsequently transformed into a hypnotic oriental slow-mo banger.

B side: "Wireless C" features another music veteran, Rodion GA, who describes himself as „Romania’s first one man band". He produced a remarkable electro-prog output in the 1970s and 80s. “Rodion GA sounds like he learned about music from hearing someone describe it in their second language, drunk. It sounds like nothing else: wrong in all the right ways,“ says The Guardian about his music. His collab with Mameen 3 turns out as a balearic, space reggae trip, with dreamy vocals by Rodion and solid bass, definitely a hymn in this year’s festival season, if only there was one...

The label ZIEMIA (Polish for EARTH) is centred around a growing group of friends from Poland. Administered by Bartosz Kruczyñski (Earth Trax), Adam Brocki and Jan Wójcicki (Private Press), it is a natural extension of a studio in the heart of Warsaw, where the majority of their music is being created. Ambient sounds and club vibes make the foundation layers of this collaboration, and you can see this theme evolving in some of their first releases on labels such as Growing Bin, Into The Light, Shall Not Fade, Indigo Aera, Phonica Records and Dopeness Galore. ZIEMIA's focus positions itself between club music and ethereal with an Eastern European background.

The second release captures different shades of club environment, from the straight-forward, rough DJ tool by Earth Trax and Newborn Jr. (A1) to deeper and more ethereal dub oriented grooves of Private Press (A2, B1). The last cut on the EP is an after hour downtempo anthem (Earth Trax and Newborn Jr. again), with uplifting pads and chilling leads layered over deep TR-808 drums.

Much like its associated club, Live At Robert Johnson not only features seasoned veterans, but likewise emerging talents and those already paving their way with quality productions. Victor’s production style tells much about his ongoing collaborations with one of bespoke veterans, Gerd Janson, providing countless remixes and edits as a tag team on labels such als Running Back and Permanent Vacation.

Taking their inspirations from a sonic array of UK Synth Pop, Balearic beats and Italo Disco, Victor Shan’s LARJ debut 4-track EP reveres nights spent at the Robert Johnson club: from the dancefloor to the studio. Lush detuned synths, deep basslines sometimes lingering down below, and upfront beats—they all catch the vibe of a wooden dancefloor to be found at Nordring 131 in Offenbach.

Repress
Following up on the mighty 'Eskimode' EP and his recent collaboration with Levela, Particle presents the 'Thermal EP', possibly his biggest release to date. Featuring the enormous lead single 'Business Techno' which had become a firm favourite at Critical events across the world before the lockdown and the chopped old school edge of 'Camberwell', this is one seriously good EP.

First collaboration ever between Japanese noise legend Merzbow and visionary/provocateur Kaoru Sato of R.N.A. Organism (Vanity Records) and EP-4 (WRWTFWW).

Side A: live recording of Merzbow and Kaoru Sato's first live collaboration ever. Recorded October 21st 2018 at Metro Club in Kyoto for a three-label showcase with avant-garde imprints Slowdown, Phonon and Kyoh Records.

Side B: Solo sessions by each artist that took place after the joint performance on the same night. Edited and mixed in their respective studios.

Following hot on the heels of his acclaimed 2nd album 'Solar Nights' German producer Tim Bernhardt, AKA Satin Jackets, returns to bring some much needed warmth to the winter with the release of the 'Golden Cage' EP.

Featuring three brand new instrumental tracks, the EP sees Bernhardt venture into more introspective territory, eschewing the more upfront pop direction of recent collaboration with Panama, 'Electric Blue', for something softer and more intimate.Â
Easing us into the EP, ''offee and Feels' is both classic Satin Jackets and aptly titled. A comforting blend of warm synth pads, gently unfolding arpeggios and plaintive guitar all wrapped in soft gauzy textures, 'Coffee and Feels' is just the thing to kickstart your day on a mellow autumnal morning.
'Meridian Gateway' meanwhile delivers the kind of optimistic yet wistful melodies that Bernhardt has time and time again shown himself to be a master of. Built around a series of poignant piano notes the track gently unfolds and reveals itself, shimmering like the first frost of the year catching the morning's rays.
Closing the EP we have 'Mercury Moments' which injects the susurration of distant voices into the mix of sparkling melodies, echoing chimes and finger clicking rhythms to stunning, emotive, effect.
Whilst 'Solar Nights' showcased Bernhardt's skill at crafting thoughtful left field pop music and coaxing the best out of lyricists and singers alike, the 'Golden Cage' EP reveals he's still a dab hand when it comes to crafting dreamlike nu-disco, as warming as a mug of gluhwein in midwinter.

After “C O M P U T E R M U S I K _” the eclectic first release on
Old New Records this time Tilmann Jarmer returns with a
more focused effort (at least as focused as the man is
capable to). Afro Acid is a fun collage of 80s house samples
and a homage to the originators of the genre. Amen goes deep
and meditates over a distorted SH-101 about the initial
intentions of spirituality. Arabische Nacht a collaboration with
fellow ‘Bauarbeiter der Liebe’ Lutz Hartmann sports a catchy
bassline, open chords and an irresistible hook