quête:the macks

Building their own bizarre universe out of Portland, Oregon, The Macks announce their new album "Bonanza" (DevilDuck Records). The news of the album rolls out in the form of two new singles and videos: "Dually of Man" and "The Modern Grape". Described by the band as "a collection of miscellaneous rock that could only have been crafted by this dedicated and bull-headedly sincere troupe of desperate artists," The Macks are coming unglued but are fully in their pocket. Founded in 2015 in Portland, Oregon, The Macks are brothers Josef (drums) and Ben Windheim (guitar), Sam Fulwiler (vocals), Jacob Michael Perris (keys) and Aidan Harrison (bass).

The Macks are brothers Josef and Ben Windheim, Sam Fulwiler, Jacob Michael Perris, and Aidan Harrison. In 2022, the band came out with their lockdown project "Rabbit." Their raw and progressive take on rock and roll launched the band towards festivals and tours from Idaho to Mexico City. Now in 2024 The Macks are cutting deep. The band will release The Macks Are A Knife in a dogged pursuit of being the sharpest band from the PNW to date.

Facta and K-LONE’s Wisdom Teeth imprint returns to the V/A format with ‘Pattern Gardening’: a new collaborative project that leans head-first into the label’s love of minimal-, micro- and tech-house, carving out the label’s distinct, contemporary take on the sound - one that swims between warm, bleepy, rolling, dubby, psychedelic and bass-heavy channels across its duration. The vinyl sampler brings together 6 highlights from the wider 22 track digital project. Wisdom Teeth heads Facta and K-LONE appear alongside longtime label associate Lurka and new signees Polygonia, rRoxymore, Sub Basics and Jichael Mackson.

By now, Wisdom Teeth and its founders are well known for their unabashed love of minimal and tech house, which - alongside ambient, UK club music, experimental electronics and a broad palette of other influences - makes up a key cornerstone of their distinctive sound. The duo’s DJ sets often see them mixing ‘00s gems from labels like Perlon, Mosaic, Minibar and a:rpia:r with more contemporary club sounds, creating a hybrid style that sits somewhere between Balearic terraces and dark UK club basements. Likewise, the label has become known as a go-to outlet for artists occupying a similar crossover space, with names like Jorg Kuning, Parris, Steevio, Duckett, Leif and LUXE all known for pushing house and techno into experimental and refreshing new territories.

‘Pattern Gardening’ follows loosely on from the label’s previous V/A releases ‘To Illustrate’ (2021) and ‘Club Moss’ (2023), which explored downtempo (100bpm) and uptempo (150-170bpm) styles respectively. Here, the focus is fixed on lush, groovy, quirky 4x4 jams, joining the dots between a global spread of producers that bring new energy and perspective to these well-explored frameworks.

As is always the case with Wisdom Teeth’s output, the results fit somewhere between the club and a more contemplative, home-listening headspace, with texture, melody and mood afforded as much significance as rhythm and functionality.

The artwork features photography by Hong Kong-based photographer Jimi Chiu, who captures seemingly ordinary corners of city life in glossy, cinematic detail.

Ilian Tape have tapped up Jichael Mackson here for a double album of expressive and forward thinking electronic sounds. The atmosphere generally futuristic and intriguing, with tracks like 'Shangri La' riding on gentle breakbeats amongst air pads, 'Banana Jazz (Quartett)' is a high speed and live sounding jazz-breakbeat workout, 'A Jichalicious Something' is dubby and IDM inflected lushness and 'Good Morning Sunshine' is an interplanetary trip with distant cosmic pads and organic piano chords soothing mind, body and soul.

PRESENTED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ON VINYL AS A DOUBLE LP IN A GOLD VINYL PRESSING WITH A FOLD-OUT INSERT

As music fans know, James Brown wasn't just the greatest funk and soul singer the world has ever seen - he was also a musical visionary and businessman, who surrounded himself with geniuses who made him better and pushed him further. From horn masters Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis to vocalists Lyn Collins and Bobby Byrd, Brown was a musical A & R master, restless and always looking for the next big thing. Most times, that would manifest in the latest James Brown smash under his own name. But not always. His stable of talent was overflowing in the 60s and 70s, and, thankfully, the tape machine in his studio was always rolling. Originally released in 1988, during the era of hip-hop's golden age of sampling, it's no surprise that just about every note heard in this incredible collection has been used on not one, but multiple rap classics. Which, at the time, was proof of Brown's (and his crew's) staying power. But we are over three decades beyond those days now, and it has lost none of its musical potency. Diving deeper into the vaults than the also-incredible Part 1 of the Funky People series, there is not a weak track in the bunch. Moving beyond well-known JBs cuts, things get interesting from the get-go with Bobby Byrd's monumental groove "I Know You Got Soul". Hank Ballard and Marva Whitney also enter the fray, leading the way to Myra Barnes's emotional and powerful "Message From The Soul Sisters (Parts 1 & 2)" and Lyn Collins's slow, smoldering cover of Isaac Haye's "Do Your Thing." Politics even get the funky soul treatment, with Fred Wesley & The JBs "You Can Have Watergate But Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight" and "I'm Paying Taxes, But What Am I Buying?" And it should not be overlooked that Maceo & The Macks instrumental workout "Soul Power ‘74" even features a proto-sampling snippet from MLK’s I’ve Been To The Mountaintop speech from 1968. This is another amazing collection of James Brown's funky friends, without one second of filler, brought to you as a glorious 2-LP gatefold by your friends at Get On Down.

Repress! Get On Down is bringing back one of the best James Brown funk compilations to vinyl. Funky People Part 1 features the top tier of artists from Brown's People Records label, including The J.B.s, Lyn Collins, Fred Wesley, and Maceo Parker. Some of the James Brown organization's all-time best material is collected here, including The J.B.'s "Pass The Peas" and "Hot Pants Road", Fred Wesley's in your face politics through funk statement "Damn Right, I Am Somebody", Lyn Collins' smash hit "Think (About It)" and many more. These songs have been sampled in countless hip-hop songs over the years. Newcomers and diehard fans alike continue to dig into the James Brown and People Records vaults, and the more they do so, the more they realize that it's a nearly never-ending source of truly next-level funk and soul music. Thanks to the exhaustive efforts of Get On Down, this aural goodness will keep flowing to the public.

20 Years Of DevilDuck Records. Ltd Anniversary Compilation with 13 Special Tracks put together by the Hamburg based Indie Label.

Happy to see the 'Doing It In Lagos' compilation from 2016 on Soundway being repressed. It's one of the few comps out there that put together so many amazing boogie tracks hailing from Nigeria. Nowadays it's really tough to find good condition copies of the original records, and if you do it will cost you a lot of cash too. This 3 LP with 7 inch bonus takes ((arguably) the standout tracks from the LP's and to create this 20 track opus. It's safe to say that it has a great bang for buck ratio if you like that infectious boogie sound infused with catchy synths, bumpin' basslines and often killer drumcomputer programming.

If you are new to these sounds it's a perfect intro into the works by these very talented musicians that had a high output during the end of 70's and 80's, we encourage you to dive deeper into material from the hands of for example Jake Sollo, Dizzy K. Falola, Tony Okoroji, Odion Iruoje, Nkono Teles. You will find many more names along the way..

Compliments for Uchenna Ikonne who co-compiled this and accompanied the release with liner notes.

The DIY ethic reshaped in the 21st century via Bandcamp, but the fact it's somewhat lawless, means not much of it is flawless.


Not so with these uncommonly good reboots of contemporary R&B joints which were previously the secret preserve of a handful of the keenest digital diggers.

ALMACKS provides community in secret spaces.
The sublime liminal.

Yep people, you’ve got us right. While many of us are still looking for traces of lizard people wandering over a flat earth, your favourite producer’s favourite producer has already boarded his space vehicle in the direction of moon, closely observing our mediocre attempts to enrich our earthly existence.
Magician Jichael Mackson opens his bag, presenting the signature sound he’s so famous and respected for. Deep and bass driven grooves, perfectly layered on top of each other like damask steel. In order to enjoy this masterpiece, we recommend to snort a big line of that “Digital Dust”.
“Family Biz” is taking a more laidback and broken beat direction. Dense percussions, intricate harmonies and a lot of soul and jazz vibes are hidden in this gem. Best to be discovered with your friends and loved ones on a sunny day beneath a shady tree, enjoying a couple of glasses while waiting for the sunset. Geez, this is so damn gorgeous.
“ATH” ends this formidable EP. Again, no club inspired vibes (cos clubs are closed anyway, right?) pulsating out Mackson’s snyths, instead a more abstract broken beat crawling into our ears. Eerie sound modulations and creepy acid - lovers of DJ Krush’s older works might fall in love with this.

We've waited really too long to release this ep. These tracks were given to Musique Risquée more than 10 years ago and waited since then on harddrive before they got rediscovered on a boozy night in Tokyo. They have not aged a bit, fresh as when they were given to us. Maybe we weren't ready then. But we are now and hopefully you are too.

It´s certainly one of these rare moments, when you stumble over a record which really stands out ; a record which creates one of those moments that makes your day. A record that slowly makes your foot tap, and makes you drop out of the monotony of our everyday life.
Suddenly echoes of yet undiscovered sounds turn the beat from a localized impact into an environment with you inside. Refractions bounce back from any surface. No other artist manages it to make electronic music sound so organic, opening up rooms with a phenomenal spatial architecture. With his unique technique to arrange frequencies in space, Boris Steffen, better known as Jichael Mackson once more delivers an outstanding series of tracks with his first EP on his very own imprint Teledub.
The 'Foxy Lady' contains three tracks each with the unique dramaturgy Jichael Mackson is well known for, while adding a new almost sexy/funky freshness to his signature sound.
Apart from sounding beautiful and being undeniably serious bombs for any dancefloor, these tracks are simply different. The Foxy Lady EP builds a bridge to Jichael Macksons early releases and one thing is for sure, this is a record that will stay in our bags for a long time.
Jichael Mackson's Foxy Lady EP on Teledub. Grab your copy...