Kareem’ first extensive release in 5 years completes the eclectic approaches of its predecessors NOCTOCROMAS (Zhark Recordings) and PORTO RONCO (The Death of Rave).
The piece (Side A and Side B) is divided into 10 motives and embracing several moods: (Sub)Genres, methods and sound sources are consistently intermingled in order to create a richer more complete music experience – in avoidance of formalism and standarization.
Limited White Vinyl.
Pussyfoot Records Is Back After The Labels 15-year Hiatus With A Brand-new E.p Featuring Both Old And New Pussyfoot Artists. 'the Shape Of Cats To Come' Mixes Genre, Age And Artistry, Showcasing The Label's Diverse And Varied Roster Of Artists From All Over The World. The E.p Will Be Available To Buy And Download, Also As A Limited Edition 12' Vinyl With Beautiful Artwork By Tokyo Artist Rob Kidney. Label Founder Howie B Contributes Two Tracks, One Solo And One A Collaboration Between Chinese Artists Mickey Zhang & Whai. New Signing To The Label, London Based, Milo Clare Releases His Debut And Pussyfoot Regular Sie Also Contributes. You Can Listen To The First Release: Sie - Riders On The Storm Here.
Book/ Cd/ 7''/ Flexi
There are still precious few women at the helm of record labels, let alone Indian women, but Vinita stands out as a proud anomaly... a champion of the underdog, an underdog herself, a surrogate mother to unsung musicians, a relentless workerbee, a fan, a carer, a catalyst...' (Richard Milward, from the Rocket Girl 20 book)
2018 marked the 20th anniversary of Rocket Girl, one of the most eclectic and resilient small independent labels in the UK, steered single-handedly by Vinita Joshi. To celebrate this milestone, in March 2019 Rocket Girl will release a very special collection of music and literature, comprising a 16-track CD compilation of Vinita's artists past and present, a collectable 7' and flexi disc, exclusive Anthony Ausgang print, full 20 track download, plus a strikingly illustrated 70-page hardback book uncovering the history of the label.
Based on extensive interviews with Vinita, with contributions from many of her bands (Füxa, God is an Astronaut, Coldharbourstores, Pieter Nooten), the book's text is written by Faber author and long-time Rocket Girl supporter Richard Milward. Beginning with Vinita's formative years in Rugby in the 1970s and 1980s, the story covers not only the eventful history of Rocket Girl but also Vinita's teenage initiation into the music industry: managing The Telescopes, founding Ché with Nick Allport out of the ashes of Cheree, before finally going it alone and setting up her own label in 1998. It is both an inspiring and bittersweet tale. Vinita's staying power alone in such a challenging industry is worthy of its own tribute: she has built a record label on her own terms from scratch, she has overcome the loss of loved ones, survived a breakdown at the height of her label's popularity, and all in all her immense love of music, her strength and positivity in the face of adversity blazes throughout the book. Along the way we learn of the hits (and why Kurt Heasley's vocal cords seemed to be malfunctioning during the Lilys' Top of the Pops appearance), the near-misses (including a never-before-seen letter from Richey Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers), the triumph of Vinita's first self-released LP A Tribute to Spacemen 3, her heartbreak losing Jason DiEmilio of The Azusa Plane in 2006, plus sad revelations concerning Television Personalities' Daniel Treacy's condition following his brain trauma in 2011...
Regular Rocket Girl designer Xiaofei Zhang has been given access to Vinita's vast collection of personal photographs, letters, flyers, press clippings and other keepsakes, arranging these alongside the text to give the book the feel of a technicolour scrapbook, a vivid chronicle of indie music past, present and future.
As Milward writes: 'The artists Vinita has worked with over the years are undisputed luminaries of alternative music, and stand up to any major indie label's roster: Spacemen 3, The Telescopes, Bark Psychosis, Disco Inferno, Lilys, Low, Bardo Pond, Mogwai, Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, Patti Smith, Jonathan Richman, Television Personalities, to name just a handful.' Likewise, the artists featured on the accompanying CD compilation reveal just how far-ranging Vinita's taste is, and how loyal her bands have been to her over the years. The disc opens with a special 'Rocket mix' of Silver Apples' 'Susie' - the band that adorned the A-side of rgirl1, the label's first 7'. From here, there are cuts from Rocket Girl stalwarts like Füxa and Bell Gardens, as well as tracks contributed by friends and supporters of the label, such as Andrew Weatherall and Mogwai. Arguably the most notable track (certainly the most poignant) is the Television Personalities' 'All Coming Back', one of just a few unreleased songs recorded before Treacy's accident, and released here with Daniel's sister's blessing.
Vinita began her career selling Loop/Telescopes flexi discs on New Year's Eve 1988 and, in homage to this bygone format, she has included a 7' flexi (featuring 'Fight For Work', an outtake from Mogwai's most recent LP, Every Country's Sun) as well as a standard 7' bringing together rare tracks from two Philadelphia bands she has championed since their formation: Bardo Pond and The Azusa Plane. The three discs are housed in pockets found in the book's inside covers, and there are yet more gifts: an exclusive print by Anthony Ausgang (the instantly recognisable artist behind MGMT's Congratulations and Füxa's Electric Sound of Summer covers), plus a free download code for all tracks featured across the various formats of the collection.
Vinita's story is anything but ordinary, and this extraordinary collection is the most fitting tribute to the label's legacy so far: a treasure trove of rare tracks and unheard stories for Rocket Girl devotees, a comprehensive introduction to the label for the uninitiated, and both an inspirational chronicle and cautionary tale for anybody interested in the history of British independent music in the past thirty years...
or 22 years now Zhark Recordings Berlin has been operating relentlessly on an alternative technoid vision. The keystone of this vision is an approach of full artistic autonomy in full front against the demons of the momentariness, reproduction and stagnation, which were ever present in these past 20 years. This endeavor intensified over the years leading to numerous releases on all types of medium. With the vinyl catalogue number 30 the big K is setting out ONE more TIME to settle the score presenting yet another wrenching collection of DANCE Variations.
The Haunting chains of a demoralized sorcerer in HINRICH, the shattering congas of a sinister entity in RATTLE DISCO, the euphoric bawling of a merciless god in LET ME FLY AWAY FROM YOU, the alternating motives of growing tension, clarity and unavoidable obscuration in the UNDERNEATH the 4th Alignment. All these motives are entangled in layers of a fierce percussive bombardment.
Teste returns with The Box Man, a five-track EP that marks their first release of original material in 25 years. Formed during the early nineties in Hamilton, Ontario, they put out only three official records between 1992-1993 on Probe Records, most notably 'The Wipe,' which is regarded as a genre defining classic, while the follow-up 'Regions' also served as a template for the ensuing sonics of contemporary techno. With only a handful of live actions, the final chaotic show (public disturbance) occurred for Pure in Glasgow 1994. Afterwards, the original Teste lineup of juvenile delinquents disbanded but unwittingly ended up defining the hypnotic and drugged out strains of today's afterhours techno parties. The project vanished for decades until reactivating the chaos in 2014, promoting a slew of remixes 'The Rewipes,' by artists such as Rrose and Terence Fixmer, on the Edit Select imprint.
Since then, original member David Foster, still at large as //HUREN//, has been slugging it out in the fringes with influential output on the seminal Zhark Recordings Berlin and has collaborated as O/H with Rich Oddie of Orphx. First meeting on Mayday 2017 in Berlin, a new alliance with Martin Maischein aka Goner formed. Goner is likewise a veteran with essential output under various monikers on imprints such as Force Inc., Editions Mego, and Hospital Productions. From that pairing, The Box Man came into being for the second release on BITE, the Berlin techno label run by Hayden Payne and Florian Engerling.
The Box Man picks up where Teste last left us with their revolutionary vision of techno and continues to further their interdimensional manifestation of insanity and formation. Pure techno serving as a method of psychic expulsion and self-reckoning. From the opening, the eponymous track approaches full panoramic throttle as metallic synths creep 360 degrees around the listener, setting the tone for panic and loss of cognitive control. Teste then moves into the stealthier outpatient techno rhythms of 'The Long Term Care Facility' and 'Thieves Are Operating In This Area'. The EP contrasts its propulsion with different interpretations of its blueprint. 'Foaming At The Mouth' delves into Cabaret Voltaire-alike rhythm box violence until all is closed with the comedown melodies of 'Lyubov'. Through highly adept methods of sound design and neural interpretation, Teste once again cuts apart reality with their music, expressing nightmares and visions via new rituals and mind control techno.
"FLUX003 lands Spring 2018, 180gram limited edition vinyl (no digital) with cover artwork from Laura Zhang.
Straight out of coastal Bordeaux, Laroze is back on Flux with another collection of floor-focussed cuts. Joining him on remix duties this time is fellow Frenchman Kosme, who's been making waves with his residency at Lyon's esteemed Le Sucre club alongside the likes of Agoria and Laurent Garnier.
Following on from FLUX002, Laroze's style is typically packed with energy and verve, using the classic US house framework as a launch-pad to bring his sound to contemporary dance-floors across Europe."
After a more than well-received first release, Black Carpet returns with 4 fresh industrial tinged techno behemoths.
The Amsterdam centred producer Shrouds has been given the honours to do so, with Zhark veteran HUREN on remix duty.
A1: Starts of firing on all cylinders and does not stop doing so. Stomping four-to- the-floor on some serious up-tempo business. Ghostly sounds dominate the breaks, only for a short-lived period, continuing relentlessly with stomping kicks to warrant you a safe but not so sound journey home.
A2: An off-beat Industrial monster, for the dankest of warehouses. Eerie voices and squelching synths at a bonafide break-neck tempo.
B1: Heavily robotized techno with an Industrial swank for those sweaty 5-AM sessions, dancefloor destruction clearly is at mind here. After the second break, vocals intensify and so does all the other mayhem. An absolute monster on the loose.
B2: HUREN showing the more "subtle" aquatic one of the pack. A slow heavy burner, with the dreadest of bass. Something like an old-skool half-step lurcher meeting with a German industrialist over some coffee.
Robyn announces the RMX/RBN vinyl series along with a new remix of Be Mine by Mark E. The limited vinyl will roll out in pairs every week from September 29th. See below for schedule.
The RMX/RBN project saw Robyn invite some of her favourite artists in dance music from across the globe to remix key tracks from throughout her career.
Set of 5 limited Remix 12"s, with remixes coming from Cassius, Joakim, Axel Boman, Zhala & Heal The World, The Black Madonna, Mr Tophat, Wolfgang Voigt, Mad Professor Harry Romero & Mark E
Robyn announces the RMX/RBN vinyl series along with a new remix of Be Mine by Mark E. The limited vinyl will roll out in pairs every week from September 29th. See below for schedule.
The RMX/RBN project saw Robyn invite some of her favourite artists in dance music from across the globe to remix key tracks from throughout her career.
Set of 5 limited Remix 12"s, with remixes coming from Cassius, Joakim, Axel Boman, Zhala & Heal The World, The Black Madonna, Mr Tophat, Wolfgang Voigt, Mad Professor Harry Romero & Mark E
After recently inaugurating the label with Shedbug's well-received Afterglow EP, Flux Records are back with their second release. Following suit, FLUX002 includes three original tracks from burgeoning French talent Laroze, supplied with a sweet remix from Detroit's one and only Andres.With its fair share of dance floor heaters the Loin Des Yeux EP exudes an effortless 90s revival feel to it, drawing upon classic US house and acid as the basis for its form and style. Limited press on 180g, 12 vinyl (no digital), with artwork from Laura Zhang. France's dance scene is currently replete with a plethora of fresh and charismatic artists, labels, and promoters, and has all the signs of a movement that's really beginning to take off. Hailing from Bordeaux, Laroze's making his own mark not just as one of the figures behind the country's authority electronic music publication SeekSickSound, but also as a DJ and producer in his own right.
No Average half cooked tunes is going to be fronted with these luv songs
Brought to you by the Big K from the K-MEN Islands
Maximum Versatility meets high level accuracy-punch precision!
We are proud to present a new addition to our artist roster.
STÄRKER have crafted an AURA of Uniqness in their compositions, it is rare to find such denseness and well crafted sound design says Label head kareem.
STÄRKER's 2nd ep "Scorched" delivers raw, pulsating rhythmic
progressions all masterfully connected to deep ambient drones.
The Berlin-Montreal based duo of Frederic Arbour (Cyclic Law) and Martin Dumais (AUN) deliver haunting industrial rhythms and brooding atmospherics, drawing from an austere palette of abstract sonorities
Closing off the trilogy of 10 Years Of Perc Trax vinyl EPs is the label's first ever 10' release. Drawing together two of the deeper and more experimental tracks from 'Slowly Exploding', the EP pairs label founder Perc with one of his longest influences; Zhark Recordings main man Kareem. First up Kareem brings a touch of deeper Berlin-tinged techno to Perc Trax, built upon a rock solid kick and drenched in moody urban atmospherics, then Perc closes the this vinyl series with a spiralling analogue noise exercise that builds and builds until live drums tear through the wall of bass tones...
11 years after HURENS last discharge on ZHARK (cat 18) and nearly 20 years after his bombardment that
brought cat 07, 08, 09, 11, 13, CD 01 and CD 02 the HU is back.
Nearly 100 unreleased tracks have been recovered in the last years from the lost DATS & Cassettes from
the Zeckendorf Phase 96 up to NEEDLE EXCHANGE Compilation 2002: 2 tracks from this phase are
presented on this EP + 2 new Trax, straight from the Canadian Bunker.
7 years after the last Zhark Vinyl Release, Heavyweight Techno Nihilist & Labelhead kareem opens up another
chapter of advanced technoid NOIZCORE with his 11th full length EP on Zhark.
After a few years of silence kareem had just reemerged with releases on Foundation Sonore (FS 01) ,
PORTO RONCO on Death of Rave or MESMER on Zhark Digital but is now threatening to inspire more
uncompromising percussive hostility. Let this just be the beginning:
Whereas Side A emphasis on a very distinguished DANCE FLOOR groove concept of Machine Funk embedded
in metal Layers Side B leaves room for a less formatted approach building up tension which is leading to a free
firezone of depravity.
While methodic differentiations can be discovered on each side, the listener is continously confrontated
with haunting sonic extremism.
