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Christina Kubisch’s Stromsänger finds this legendary sound artist at the top of her game mixing electromagnetic wave recordings with a score for six voices, creating powerful results. Stromsänger is based on a collaboration with the Norwegian vocal ensemble Trondheim Voices and on a special experience while researching and recording electromagnetic waves in the city of Trondheim.

“The general theme of the composition is the idea of sounds which travel. During a tram ride from the city up to the hills with an old tram I discovered not only stunning views of the surrounding landscape but as well a special soundscape. Wearing a custom made induction headphones, I could hear the normally hidden electromagnetic fields of the tram, which were so impressive and musical to me that I immediately decided to base my piece for Trondheim Voices on this discovery.

As a start, a series of pure vocal recordings were produced by Trondheim Voices while listening to a choice of electromagnetic tram sounds and following score instructions. This material was mixed in my Berlin studio and afterward was played back through a multi-loudspeaker setup into the room of the Elisabeth Church in Berlin and was instantaneously recorded. The emerged recording was played back and recorded again. The process of playing back the previous recording was repeated numerous times, generating numerous “re-recordings”, until the voices sounded aethereal and abstract. The last one of these recordings became the very beginning of the Stromsänger piece.

Part A is based on the electromagnetic sounds of the waiting tram and previously recorded voices. The singers come on stage and start to sing together with their recorded part which slowly fades out while the live singing takes over: a kind of choral for electrical tram waves and voices.

Part B is based on the actual tram ride with strong and intense electromagnetic sounds. The single recordings were treated electronically and were divided into six channels. Each singer has chosen one of these files and improvises with the magnetic sounds as a soloist or in duos or trios.

Part C is based on the itinerary of the tram ride to Lian, where a pilgrim's path starts. The names of the single stops, which have very beautiful and poetic names, are performed together as a kind of "sound poetry". The singers walk around on stage and/or can choose special positions for their performance. The recording of the word "Lian", the final stop, was recorded beforehand and played back and re-recorded several times in the open Norwegian landscape near the final tram stop. The voices slowly disappear and fade out.”

Christina Kubisch, 2024

In many ways, the music of Writhing Squares could have only originated in Philadelphia; the city itself a microcosm of creatives, go-getters, freaks & weirdos that have coalesced into a supportive & boundary-pushing crew. Former Purling Hiss bassist Daniel Provenzano & Ecstatic Vision sax-player & vocalist Kevin Nickles' first musical missive was shot forth in 2013 (the self-released CDR "Live In Space") & various singles, split releases, albums (and a double-album) later we arrive at the duo's fourth full-length "Mythology", their third for Chicago-based Trouble In Mind Records. "Mythology" picks up the pieces left shattered by their previous double-album "Chart For The Solution" and reconnects the broken shards together like Kintsugi, the ancient Japanese technique for mending broken ceramics, infusing the breaks with powdered gold. The Squares themselves are like mad-scientists, taking the ruined detritus populating junk shops & surplus outlets & constructing their own sonic laboratories in their New Jersey basements to record, mix & tweak "Mythology"s eight tracks. Their new location allowed the band to regroup, reassess & reconstruct their sound from the ground up, shearing away the cosmic excess of 2021's "Chart For The Solution" to a sharper point. Tracks like `Barbarians' & `LEM' are classic Squares; brutal, aggressive, unwavering assault of Motorhead/Stooges-inflected sci-fi punk scree, while others like `Chromatophage's mutant funk & `Cerberus's techno-slink owe a serious debt to electric-era Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock & show that the group has more to offer than bludgeoning you with sonic force. Provenzano's bass & electronics are like a tank rolling across the terrain - a gnarly construct of Hawkwind-ian headiness & `Vincebus Eruptum's snarl - uncaring of what gets in the way. Nickles' brass vacillates between Stooges-influenced sleaze, jazzy no-wave stabs, & cacophonous sonic storms, strafing the listener into oblivion. The duo are joined on "Mythology" by drummer John Schoemaker - who contributed drums to "Chart For The Solution"s epic closing track `Epilogue' - whose percussive pulse adds an organic swing to The Square's sonics, particularly on album closer "The Damned Thing"s cosmic strut. "Mythology" tackles a multitude of themes, from fantastical tales of hellhound `Cerberus' or the comic-inspired "Eternity " to `Chromatophage's colorful/evil yarn about animals that eat colors (or a Magic: The Gathering card) to the true-life influenced `Acid Rain' that deals with the uncertainty of consuming drinking water after a chemical spill in the Delaware River. Elsewhere, `Ferrell' is an homage to the late, great Ferrell "Pharaoh" Sanders & `The Damned Thing' by a short horror story penned by Ambrose Bierce about an animal whose coloring is invisible to the naked eye. Writhing Squares are in a transitional phase, mapping out a new sonic mythology for themselves after crossing the event horizon into unknown space. "Mythology" is streaming on most DSPs & released on black vinyl & limited fluorescent green vinyl (while supplies last) on April 26th, 2024.

In many ways, the music of Writhing Squares could have only originated in Philadelphia; the city itself a microcosm of creatives, go-getters, freaks & weirdos that have coalesced into a supportive & boundary-pushing crew. Former Purling Hiss bassist Daniel Provenzano & Ecstatic Vision sax-player & vocalist Kevin Nickles' first musical missive was shot forth in 2013 (the self-released CDR "Live In Space") & various singles, split releases, albums (and a double-album) later we arrive at the duo's fourth full-length "Mythology", their third for Chicago-based Trouble In Mind Records. "Mythology" picks up the pieces left shattered by their previous double-album "Chart For The Solution" and reconnects the broken shards together like Kintsugi, the ancient Japanese technique for mending broken ceramics, infusing the breaks with powdered gold. The Squares themselves are like mad-scientists, taking the ruined detritus populating junk shops & surplus outlets & constructing their own sonic laboratories in their New Jersey basements to record, mix & tweak "Mythology"s eight tracks. Their new location allowed the band to regroup, reassess & reconstruct their sound from the ground up, shearing away the cosmic excess of 2021's "Chart For The Solution" to a sharper point. Tracks like `Barbarians' & `LEM' are classic Squares; brutal, aggressive, unwavering assault of Motorhead/Stooges-inflected sci-fi punk scree, while others like `Chromatophage's mutant funk & `Cerberus's techno-slink owe a serious debt to electric-era Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock & show that the group has more to offer than bludgeoning you with sonic force. Provenzano's bass & electronics are like a tank rolling across the terrain - a gnarly construct of Hawkwind-ian headiness & `Vincebus Eruptum's snarl - uncaring of what gets in the way. Nickles' brass vacillates between Stooges-influenced sleaze, jazzy no-wave stabs, & cacophonous sonic storms, strafing the listener into oblivion. The duo are joined on "Mythology" by drummer John Schoemaker - who contributed drums to "Chart For The Solution"s epic closing track `Epilogue' - whose percussive pulse adds an organic swing to The Square's sonics, particularly on album closer "The Damned Thing"s cosmic strut. "Mythology" tackles a multitude of themes, from fantastical tales of hellhound `Cerberus' or the comic-inspired "Eternity " to `Chromatophage's colorful/evil yarn about animals that eat colors (or a Magic: The Gathering card) to the true-life influenced `Acid Rain' that deals with the uncertainty of consuming drinking water after a chemical spill in the Delaware River. Elsewhere, `Ferrell' is an homage to the late, great Ferrell "Pharaoh" Sanders & `The Damned Thing' by a short horror story penned by Ambrose Bierce about an animal whose coloring is invisible to the naked eye. Writhing Squares are in a transitional phase, mapping out a new sonic mythology for themselves after crossing the event horizon into unknown space. "Mythology" is streaming on most DSPs & released on black vinyl & limited fluorescent green vinyl (while supplies last) on April 26th, 2024.

The music from LES TONTONS FLINGUEURS (aka Crooks in Clover aka Monsieur Gangster) is as instantaneously recognizable as the James Bond theme thanks to a short and recurring melodic motif that can still stick in the heads of 21th century kids. Monothematism is a word used by musicologists to refer to the use of stylistic variations based on a single musical theme as can be heard in the Tontons : on the banjo, during the nose punch sequences, played jazz, blues, gloria or Hully Gally style. Though the Tontons music may on first listen sound nothing different than a straightforward yet catchy soundtrack, it turns out to be a real exercise in style. When reading Michel Magne's autobiography " L'amour de vivre " it clearly appears that mixing folk music and sound experiments was a mindful artistic choice. In the movie, Antoine Delafoy (Claude Rich) who is engaged to Patricia (the Mexican's daughter) is merely a Michel Magne caricature. He embodies a contemporary music composer in search of the " absolute anti-chord " by using a water tap. " We don't really know what it is but it's amusing ". In reality and despite his classical musical education, Michel Magne has indeed had a venture into avant-garde music, going as far as organizing an infrasounds concert at the Salle Gaveau venue (Paris) on July 15th, 1954. Infrasonic frequencies which quickly made the audience run for the toilets. On December 3rd,² 1956 his low-frequency sounds contributed to an " empirique " show at the Théâtre des Trois Baudets (Paris) with Alexandro Jodorowsky, Jean Michel Rankovitch and Tinguely. At the same time he wrote music on words by Françoise Sagan for Mouloudji. Again with this desire to cross the boundaries of musical genres. He recorded in 1959 an album of " musiques tachistes " from which a show with dances was staged by Michel Descombey. His taste for provocation and avant-garde did not prevent Michel Magne from composing and arranging popular music. He hence wrote the music for six Georges Lautner movies including the famous Tontons Flingueurs in 1963.Being part of the avant-garde long-haired world what could Michel Magne think of Michel Audiard ? A most kind character who had nevertheless been burned by supporters of the " nouvelle vague " including journalist Henry Chapier who described Les Tontons Flingueurs as being " chansonnier " cinema (in Combat 1963), meant for disenchanted quinquagenarians. Audiard had responded to Truffaut, another of his dispisers : " Dad's movies filled theaters, son's movies empty them. We should have been warned : with its seaside sounding name the Nouvelle Vague (new wave) drove millions of viewers out on the countryside ". In between melodic effectiveness and daring arrangements and tonality, Michel Magne's work is worth being listened to with fresh ears, cleared of clichés !

Like all the best stories in rock 'n' roll, the epic journey of When Rivers Meet has never been plain sailing. Right now, the acclaimed Essex-based blues-rock duo Aaron and Grace Bond stand on the brink of their latest career peak, releasing fearless third album, Aces Are High, shaking stages on their Breaker Of Chains headline tour, toasting a third consecutive victory as UK Blues Federation Band Of The Year and pulling an army of fans along in the current. Combining powerful and heartfelt vocals with thundering guitar riffs, Essex-based Rock band When Rivers Meet offers originality with both talent and authentic personalities. Grace Bond leads with her larger-than-life vocals, as well as bringing raunched-up mandolin and violin instrumentals, while Aaron paints with seismic grooves, hypnotic cigar box licks and harmonies that stop all the clocks. With the Aces Are High material now rattling speakers and shaking stages everywhere from the UK festival circuit to Joe Bonamassa's Keeping The Blues Alive Mediterranean III Cruise in August, everything is flowing the right way for When Rivers Meet. "Looking back to 2019, when we really started as a duo, it's so surreal to think that now we're on our third album," reflects Aaron. "And when you see people singing the words back to you - my God, that's so emotional

TLM034 will be our 45th release since 1996 and 25th since reforrning the label in 2019. It seemed inevitable that this release would be one of our Best Of Various EPs featuring new and established artists as we have done previously. Starting off this milestone release we have the ever growing Cumulative Collective with AskaFara.

An Epic 10 minute track pushing all the right buttons for listening and the dancefloor alike. Featuring Cormac Fulton, Stefano De Santis, Takashi Nakazato, Ayumi Suzuki and Mitsuru Tanaka, musicians from England, Italy and Japan respectively. All brought together by head of the label Steve Conry who also produced and mixed the track with Stefano De Santis. Track 2 on the A side is by a new name to most, Takahiro Fuchigami with Strange Acquaintance. A beautiful broken beat track with a distinctively Japanese sound.

Onto side AA and that kicks off with Melchior Sultana and The Playground. Melchior has previously released on TLM in 2022 and 2023. For 2024 he delivers a superb jazzy deep house track in his own particular Mediterranean style. Next up is Brazilian multi instrumentalist Fabio Santanna with Melô Da Cuíca, a fantastic Brazilian Boogie track. Fabio came to our attention from his release Chega Mais Lincoln on Joutro Mundo’s superb Brazilian label Onda Boa. Finally rounding off the AA side is The Robinson from Italy with Song 1. A brilliant blues tinged broken beat track that gets better every time you hear it.

FORAX returns with a fresh vinyl release by label head Diego Krause, featuring three heavyweight tracks that are indispensable for every DJ's record bag.
The "Point of No Return EP" serves up a triple threat: two driving groovers that never let up - their relentless energy is an embodiment of Diego's keen understanding of what keeps the dance floor moving. The third track, a blast-from-the-past anthem that guarantees hands in the air every time it's dropped. Diego Krause has yet again proven his ability to produce timeless EPs that cater to the true Tech-House connoisseur, capturing the very essence of the genre.

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, a veritable tour de force known for turning heads coast-to-coast with their high-octane live concerts, not only grabs life by the horns, but they harness its energy within their hypnotic hybrid of funk, rock and psychedelic groove.With a devout fanbase and trail of sold-out tours behind them, the Maryland quartet takes a major step forward on their seventh full-length offering, Day In Time.Guitarist Jeremy Schon says, "This album is the most cohesive group of songs we've ever had in the studio"."This record is a snapshot of our band as a group and as individuals at this exact moment." says Greg Ormont (vocals, guitar). "The title serves as a reminder that life moves fast, so we better make the most of each day, make each second count."

Returning after three years with their second studio album, Double Dog Dare, WHITE DOG have been revelling in a state of creative flux and are poised to share their revelations with the world. Formed in 2015 in Austin, Texas, White Dog began with a shared vision of blazing, fuzzed-out rock that drew gleefully from their home city's rich cultural melting pot. Emboldened by an us-against-the-world gang mentality and inspired by everything from dusty roots rock to explosive old school prog, the band's self-titled album emerged in 2021, courtesy of natural home Rise Above Records, and immediately stood out as a sophisticated, earthy and characterful new strain of retro rambunctiousness.
Recorded over a period of eight days at Stuart Sikes Audio (with engineer Andrew McCalla) in Austin, Double Dog Dare takes all of the debut album's deftly assembled ingredients and allows them to fly free, liberated from expectation. At times mellower than its predecessor, at others strident and ferocious, these new songs showcase White Dog's organic development, with elements of everything from wistful southern rock to crusty-eyed jazz rock finding a place. Somehow even more fluid and fiery than before, this band are growing and expanding before our ears.
Now free to peddle their incendiary wares, they return to the stage with their strongest material to date, and a newfound enthusiasm for giving The Riff the respect and imagination it deserves.

Returning after three years with their second studio album, Double Dog Dare, WHITE DOG have been revelling in a state of creative flux and are poised to share their revelations with the world. Formed in 2015 in Austin, Texas, White Dog began with a shared vision of blazing, fuzzed-out rock that drew gleefully from their home city's rich cultural melting pot. Emboldened by an us-against-the-world gang mentality and inspired by everything from dusty roots rock to explosive old school prog, the band's self-titled album emerged in 2021, courtesy of natural home Rise Above Records, and immediately stood out as a sophisticated, earthy and characterful new strain of retro rambunctiousness.
Recorded over a period of eight days at Stuart Sikes Audio (with engineer Andrew McCalla) in Austin, Double Dog Dare takes all of the debut album's deftly assembled ingredients and allows them to fly free, liberated from expectation. At times mellower than its predecessor, at others strident and ferocious, these new songs showcase White Dog's organic development, with elements of everything from wistful southern rock to crusty-eyed jazz rock finding a place. Somehow even more fluid and fiery than before, this band are growing and expanding before our ears.
Now free to peddle their incendiary wares, they return to the stage with their strongest material to date, and a newfound enthusiasm for giving The Riff the respect and imagination it deserves.

On the surface, Eric Slick's forthcoming LP New Age Rage is a dance record. Further listening reveals that it’s also a statement about our harrowing future - AI, self-driving cars, Twitter rage, mass media manipulation, and ultimately, the sin of perfectionism. It’s sonically influenced by the work of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Talking Heads, Kraftwerk, Todd Rundgren, Prince, The Residents, and DEVO. New Age Rage features many of Eric’s close collaborators: Natalie Prass, Finom (OHMME), Liam Kazar, Antibalas, Butcher Brown, Deep Sea Diver, and many more.

During our search for souvenirs from imaginary cities, we stumble upon other curiosities.


We present our new sublabel ‘Curio Cabinet’. A Series of 7-inch records in-between the Souvenir releases.


The first curiosity comes from Mills Boogie's moniker Sly Boogie. He kicks off the series with an Electro infused 130 bpm Dub track that asks to head nod at half speed.


Weird Dust juggles a solid stepper version of the Bushman Slyde track on the flip side. Heavy subs included!

Back in 2004 a 4 track 12'' EP appeared from Omar's own label to wide acclaim with one track in particular, a driving heady slice of peak time broken beat soul receiving global appeal and mass attention. Championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Patrick Forge & IG Culture 'It's So' went on to become a highlight in the live sets and remains as fresh today as it did over 20 years ago. An instrumental version was never released so this completes the package on the flip as a Mukatsuku exclusive. 'It's So ' featured on the Mukatsuku Records feature on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide show in January of this year. 500 hand-numbered copies. Strictly no repress. As played by DJ Koco, Dom Servini, Rob Luis, Kevin Beadle, Shuya Okino, Smoove & more...

Heavy Metal hat eine lange Geschichte und eine tiefe Verbindung mit Teufelei, Devianz und der dunklen Seite allgemein. Die Rückkehr der Friends Of Hell kann diese Bindung nur stärken. Durchdrungen von reinstem Old-School-Metal und dreckigem Doom ist das neue Album 'God Damned You To Hell' ein rostiger Dorn in den Augen von Ungläubigen. Der lang erwartete Nachfolger des dämonisch spannenden Debüts, hinterlässt verbrannte Erde auf allem, was heilig ist. Noch trotziger altmodisch und düsterer als sein Vorgänger zollt sein primitives Sperrfeuer entsetzlicher Härte den Heavy Metal und Doom-Größen gruseligen Respekt, während es gleichzeitig neue, Dämonen beschwört. Zusammen mit Hellbutcher (Nifelheim) am Mikro und Bassist Beelzeebubth (Mystifier) sind Friends Of Hell nun bereit ein musikalisches Höllenfeuer auf die Metal-Gemeinde loszulassen. Sie tun dies auf Lee Dorrian's (Cathedral) Kult-Label Rise Above mit den drei Formaten CD, LP und Limited Red LP!

Die irische Pop-Rockband Picture This kündigt ihr lang erwartetes viertes Studioalbum "Parked Car Conversations" an, das am 26. April 2024 (via Hansa Records, Deutschland) erscheinen wird. "Parked Car Conversations" wird als Picture This' ehrgeizigstes Werk bezeichnet, das bisher veröffentlicht wurde. Das Album besteht aus 15 Tracks, die die Band in den letzten drei Jahren geschrieben hat. Viele von ihnen, wie z.B. "Song To Myself", beleuchten eine emotionale Tiefe, die auf früheren Alben unberührt blieb, und zeigen die Band - insbesondere Texter und Sänger Ryan Hennessy - von ihrer verletzlichsten Seite. Das Album ist ein Einblick in Hennessys persönliche Hürden, die damals unüberwindbar schienen. Die Stärke, solche Situationen zu überwinden, und das daraus resultierende Wachstum stehen im Mittelpunkt von "Parked Car Conversations". "Parked Car Conversations" wird als CD, LP und limitierte Fotobuch Edition erhältlich sein. Letzteres bietet einen ebenso intimen wie einzigartigen Einblick in den Alltag der Band. Vom ersten kleinen Gig bis zur Headline-Show beim Electric Picnic, Irlands größtem Musikevent mit über 70.000 Besuchern. Aber auch durch die Studioaufnahmen und Videodrehs entsteht hier zum ersten Mal ein komplettes Bild der Band und zeigt die Band persönlicher denn je.

Precursor EP to Mr Raoul K's new album, which will be released in autumn 2024. The afro house pioneer has returned to his home country Côte d'Ivoire. Raoul K: "Since I know how good and easy it is to live in my home country of Côte d'Ivoire, I drew a line in Germany and set off." So he's back in full effect with spiritual afro-tinged gems, catching the vibe and easier living there, and discovered new voices from Kenia, South Africa and India, too. "Sinkere" got mixing skills from Rancido, while Compost head honcho Michael Reinboth delivered a tempered stripped down remix of "Loni ké".

UK mainstay Subb-An makes a welcome return with this fresh new EP on Aesthetic. It finds him in great form with opener 'Seeing Colours' heading off down a nice liquid minimal route with crisp tech drums and twinkling synths up top to bring the magic. On the flip side is 'Plants', a rather serene and sublime cut with more rolling drums and plenty of deft synth designs that bring a certain celestial charm to the fizzing leads. Snad's remix then shuts things down with a more driving sense of tech house rhythm to complete a tasteful EP of heady sounds.

Repress

CRG020V1 and CRG020V2 are the vinyl samplers of the mix Cleric made for its 20th release.

To celebrate hitting their 20th release, Cleric's imprint pulls together 23 talents for a various artist mix compilation including tracks from the likes of Rebekah, Cleric, Stef Mendesidis, Remco Beekwilder & Stranger, Endlec, Kwartz, Setaoc Mass, Roman Poncet, Slam and many more.

Clergy has become synonymous with a balance of atmospheric and hard hitting brand of techno ever since 2014. The boss's own music has been key to that, with carefully curated releases from guests such as Dax J, Kwartz, Reflec and Cleric himself. Helping to make the label an underground favourite. "Clergy Visions 01" sees Cleric invite an array on techno heavyweights to contribute to this compilation that's mixed by the label boss himself.

The mix opens up with the bleak ambience and fizzing electric cables of Jokasti & Nek's "Grained" then Sept's "Artifical" lays down a tunnelling techno groove that immediately locks you in. The mysterious alias, Reizemann heads off to a cosmic realm with its deep space pads slowly building the momentum throughout the drums. The energy levels then stay high throughout tracks from Roman Poncet, Kwartz and Setaoc Mass, then leading onto the groove of Stef Mendesidis.

Testament to Cleric's skills as a DJ and sequencer is the fact this journey is constantly evolving while remaining coherent. A mid-section featuring the likes of Endlec, Sleeparchive and EAS keeps you on your toes with perfectly stripped back but hard dynamic drum programming and intense melody work. Remco Beekwilder & Stranger bring a more hard hitting and industrial style before Slam calm the fires once more allowing you to sink into a smooth, elongated roller. It's left to the dystopian darkness of Rebekah and atmospheric techno brilliance of Lerias to close out this most adventurous mix in real style

2024 Repress

CRG020V1 and CRG020V2 are the vinyl samplers of the mix Cleric made for its 20th release.

To celebrate hitting their 20th release, Cleric's imprint pulls together 23 talents for a various artist mix compilation including tracks from the likes of Rebekah, Cleric, Stef Mendesidis, Remco Beekwilder & Stranger, Endlec, Kwartz, Setaoc Mass, Roman Poncet, Slam and many more.

Clergy has become synonymous with a balance of atmospheric and hard hitting brand of techno ever since 2014. The boss's own music has been key to that, with carefully curated releases from guests such as Dax J, Kwartz, Reflec and Cleric himself. Helping to make the label an underground favourite. "Clergy Visions 01" sees Cleric invite an array on techno heavyweights to contribute to this compilation that's mixed by the label boss himself.

The mix opens up with the bleak ambience and fizzing electric cables of Jokasti & Nek's "Grained" then Sept's "Artifical" lays down a tunnelling techno groove that immediately locks you in. The mysterious alias, Reizemann heads off to a cosmic realm with its deep space pads slowly building the momentum throughout the drums. The energy levels then stay high throughout tracks from Roman Poncet, Kwartz and Setaoc Mass, then leading onto the groove of Stef Mendesidis.

Testament to Cleric's skills as a DJ and sequencer is the fact this journey is constantly evolving while remaining coherent. A mid-section featuring the likes of Endlec, Sleeparchive and EAS keeps you on your toes with perfectly stripped back but hard dynamic drum programming and intense melody work. Remco Beekwilder & Stranger bring a more hard hitting and industrial style before Slam calm the fires once more allowing you to sink into a smooth, elongated roller. It's left to the dystopian darkness of Rebekah and atmospheric techno brilliance of Lerias to close out this most adventurous mix in real style.

Amazing 4 tracker between dub and techno by the labels head honcho Andre Kronert himself.