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After their Butterfunk EP from last year, Fouk are back again with their new offering 'Mating Call EP'.
As the name suggests, this three track EP is made for the hot & heavy moments while dancing away, during those infinite summer days. The title track 'Mating Call' is a funky beast, driven by a very infectious bassline and live instrumentation, edging the line between disco and house, as has we have come to expect from the duo. The next track on the flip furthers the fact that this release is all about the groove. Housey vibes with a classic hint, Rhodes floating on a solid rolling funk bass. 'Just Feel Good' Yup! Finally we come to 'Down Below'.
You might wonder "what's down below". Well, there you can find a dreamy thumper, driven by the compact kick, repeating drone and deep bassline, while the synth pads in the middle tie it all together.

Norm De Plume has been quietly making a name for himself the last eight years with remixes for Tornado Wallace and Ben La Desh and EP's for Kolour LTD and his own vinyl only imprint Plumage winning him a solid fol- lowing along the way. His passion for all things disco and deep, dubby, un- derground house inspired by his musical hero Ron Hardy feeds through into his production style as well as his recently formed Peaches & Prunes party which boasts an audiophile sound system and vinyl-only sets from the DJ's. So when the opportunity arose to do a full EP with Norm we jumped at it. Here we present you with the Castlecrag EP, a nod to the Londoner's new adoptive home of Sydney, Australia, and whilst his sound may be more akin to the recent musical movements of Melbourne, the laid-back sun-kissed melting pot of The Harbour City certainly shine through in the two originals and Folamour remix on offer here.
Title track Castlecrag leads the charge with a deep mood-setter driven by a cowbell riff and filtering pads. The spacious mix and less is more arrange- ment ensures that the drums and rolling bassline punch through making for a track that sounds both unique yet accessible and demonstrates Norm's sense of musicality as well as DJ instinct for setting the right mood on the dancefloor. Next up we have Whole In One which treads a similar path whilst dropping the BPM's a touch and building up layers of synth strings to create a subtle yet engaging track to immerse yourself in. Finally, man of the moment Folamour gets busy on the remix of Whole In One working his magic by upping the tempo and going heavy on the jazz- inspired drums. By laying down a driving groove and pushing the string stabs to the fore, the Lyonnais producer behind the wonderful Moonrise Hill Material label has delivered a fresh-sounding take that will work like magic on discerning dance floors out there.

"Resist the categories that define and divide"

Uncanny Valley EP sonically explores the uneasy, obscure but familiar relationships between human and machine in contemporary life. This is the debut release on RESIST, the record label launched by experimental club/art hybrid event from Belfast, Northern Ireland. This debut release is by RESIST event and label founder, Koichi. Remix comes from electronic music innovator and Eotrax label owner, Eomac in an anxiety driven, frenzied remix of the title track.

Jagged and angular sonics, and warm organic artefacts are the defining sound of this release, which imitates the theme behind the music. Machines are being engineered to have a place in intimate and personal areas of human life. What does it mean to be human in this increasingly digital world Are we anything more than complicated robots made of flesh Where does humanity stop and the uncanny begin

Koichi returns with a new sound, signalling a departure away from his previous aesthetic and into a new direction breaking free from the boundaries and categories of restrictive genre definitions. His music continues to contain a heavy techno aspect, and also draws on raw industrial and experimental influences.

Koichi is an electronic musician, music researcher, and event curator who explores resisting exclusionary identities and disrupting discourses of power and prejudice through music and live digital art.

Oktave Records returns for the third installment from the label, once again featuring owner and proprietor Jeff Derringer at the helm. The 'Factions' EP shows Jeff at his most direct and robust, with three tracks of meticulously constructed techno.

'Factions' starts the EP and goes straight for the heart of the dance floor, with a tunneling groove that lures the listener into hypnosis before a devastating break takes the track to a whole new level of intensity. This one is for the ravers, no doubt.

The flip side starts with 'Penalty Phase', another floor-focused stunner that features Jeff's signature kick drum and drive, coupled with evolving synth arpeggios and melancholy vibes for those early club mornings as the sun comes up. Finally, 'The Second Plane' slows the tempo down a bit and ends the record with a thoughtful broken beat arrangement reminiscent of early Warp.

'Factions' was written during the winter of 2018 and mastered by Tim Xavier at Manmade Mastering.

Pressed on solid orange vinyl.

The Ep "a Form Of Travel Unknown To Humans" Is Chasing Us. Guiding And Forcing A Way Simultaneously. The Sound Is Harsh But Has An Immaculate Precision To It "void Of Air - Compelling The Listener Toward A Light, Seducing Us To Tear Through The Night.

We Enter With "s.m.o.d. - Sticks" A Deep And Magnetic Sound Opening Up Slowly, Starting To Breathe And To Merge Into "s.m.o.d. - Cell Culture" Which Gives A Much More Metallic Flavour But Never The Less Beat Driven - Fast And Strident - Maybe Even Hasty, Pushing To Skip A Beat Of The Heart. To Finish Off With "s.m.o.d - Pulse" Carrying An Unsettling Almost Disturbing Quality, Formulating A Mechanical Sound Alienated From The Human Experience. The Ep Creates A Seductive Space Outside Our Comfort Zone, Inviting To Explore A Space And Travel Unknown To Humans. Gimme More.

With pure Nordic love, Thorgerdur & A:G break out with their first EP together, setting the mood for their concept Blossy with a blossy EP. Radiant opens up the ride with an electric and uplifting atmosphere, before Allure takes over with some tambourine-driven darker techno. On the flipside, the title track introduces a fairly epic theme on top of seductive rhythms with a strong bassline. Coming full circle, Tingling touches upon the more minimal side, providing trippy elements on top of low-swung 909 grooves, created with a good after in mind.

Crosstown Rebels celebrate their fifteenth year with their monumental 200th release. American DJ and producer Arthur Baker reunites with Rockers Revenge for the first time in thirty years. To complete the package, dance music heavyweights Francois K and Michael Mayer take on remix duties.

On A Mission is exactly that, 'a mission of love, a mission of peace'. The positive vocals hark back to those of early 90s house tracks, which created unity through music and clubbing. The rhythmic beat of the drum is determined, as percussive layers build and the vocals bleed into the synths. Francois K provides two variations of the track. His remix features more prominent drumbeats driven by a growling bassline. On his rockers dub version, Francois goes all out and dubs us into the stratosphere. Up next is the Michael Mayer remix, with a more electronic take on the original with driving synths and a whirring, throbbing bass-line.

Created in 1982, Rockers Revenge was the brainchild of Arthur Baker and Donnie Calvin. Donnie provided lead vocals with Baker's wife, Tina B, Dwight Hawkes and Adrienne Dupree Johnson on backing vocals. Their most prominent track, Walking On Sunshine, was a post-disco hit reaching #1 in the US dance charts and #4 in the UK charts.

Three years ago Baker and Hawkes reconnected through social media with Baker sending through his original Mission idea. Baker is known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and New Order whilst also remixing the Pet Shop Boys' 1986 hit In The Night. Fast forward to 2018 and the group performed a monumental live show at Get Lost Miami, and are currently in the studio working on new material. This Summer they will shoot a new documentary and perform live at various events.

Moral Fiber sub-label Souzou is back with it's second release. 'Freedom (SZ002)' is an exclusive EP by Sander Ellerman (Jelly Beast Recordings). As a regular on Souzou's counterpart Moral Fiber, Sander Ellerman is known for his delicate tunes, subtle changes and well thought-out transitions. With three brand new original tracks he perfectly displays the label's bass-driven, minimalistic techno sound. Nima Gorji delivers a penetrating remix for title track Freedom.

Bossmusik Returns With Adam Stromstedt For Their Seventh Release. The Swede, Now Residing In Australia, Is Known For His Eclectic Track Selection And Production. On The A-side, Two Dance Floors Rollers Combine Groove And Warm Synths To Create Perfect Soundtracks For The Coming Summer Months. The B Side Showcases A More Experimental Side To Adam's Production. Intermittent Vocals Combine With Percussion Driven Rhythms For An Easy Going Micro House Trip.

Prairie is the project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Marc Jacobs, hailing from Brussels with roots in The Netherlands. He previously released an EP (I'm so in love I almost forgot I survived a Disaster - 2013) and an LP (Like a Pack of Hounds - 2015) on the Berlin imprint Shitkatapult. On stage, Prairie plays with two or three musicians and together they re-create a free association of musical ideas and atmospheres. Prairie has played in selected venues and festivals across Europe and toured with Apparat in 2016.If the apocalypse was painted in several layers of pastel gouache, its soundtrack might be PRAIRIE's Flash Flood. Listening to the album, we drift through a series of frozen landscapes that gesture at a post-apocalyptic ambience. This is a kind of blackened music that has been left to sediment, excavated from traces in ice core samples. Flash Flood showcases a deep sensitivity to narrative and rich cinematic textures as Marc Jacobs returns with palimpsestic sonic layers. It has been three years since PRAIRIE's last release—the 2015 Cormac McCarthy-inspired Like a Pack of Hounds—and it is clear that it has been several years of pensive reflection. Now, PRAIRIE takes the sentiment of his 2012 debut, I'm So In Love I Almost Forgot I Survived A Disaster, several steps further: it is after the apocalypse, and no one has survived. And yet with Flash Flood, we can hear the hum of this impossible future.

'After the Flash Flood' introduces the sonic ruins of distorted guitars, field recordings, drum programming and synths that create the textures of the entire album. The melancholic and subdued black metal churn of 'Raindeath' becomes the cold backdrop for unnerving, paranoiac speech. The third track, 'Sisters', foregrounds this coldness while slowly moving away toward alternate vistas where the acoustic timbres of the saz-driven 'A Permanent War Economy' take over. 'Underwater Body Hunting' and 'Rabid Ibrahim' are hard hitting beat-oriented tracks that insist on burning slow. There is a patience with PRAIRIE's FLASH FLOOD that is difficult to deny. The lamentation of 'Elephants Will Rise Again' perhaps signals that it is not only the human that is lost after catastrophe. The album closes with 'Hard Water: Cracked Ice' and 'Hayashi Clock'. The former is a beautiful coalescence of clean harmonious tones and softly overdriven drums, while the latter brings us back to a meditative state, drifting through the final pastel tapestry.

"... his cosmos is located somewhere between Bohren & der Club of Gore and Sunn O))), ambient is as familiar to him as brachial sounds, and he is as much acquainted with guitars as with synths and modern technology" (GROOVE)

"... Like Ben Frost, (Prairie) exudes a certain harshness while tempering his work with moments of sublime beauty. This isn't club material, it's music for the hammer in one's hand, the confrontation of the demon, the soul-shattering revelation." (A Closer Listen)

A continuation of his kaleidoscopic sun-dappled cosmic-disco, Neon Leon was the much-loved CD-only sophomore album by Sorcerer. Just in time for Spring/Summer, we present the first ever vinyl issue, released as a deluxe double LP.

A perfectly formed suite of ten tracks featuring soft guitars, subtle synths and lightly grooving percussion, Neon Leon magically evokes that elusive summer feeling throughout. The guitar-driven "Algorhythm" serves as the album opener, blasting bold, sun-drenched jazz chords atop bright synths and groove-based drum programming. "Ride The Serpent" and "Distort Yourself" are guided by a more sultry, slo-mo disco impulse whilst the staggering "Chemise" and strident "Face It" merge 80s West Coast production sheen with Sorcerer's trademark laid back, gentle disco. "Raydio"'s undeniable head-nod groove adds a rare vocal to the proceedings, joyously combining with the bubbling cosmic funk.

Since its initial release in 2009, exceptional producers have created vibrant variations on the dreamy, dubby, melodic nu-disco theme. Happily, the emergence of such luminaries as Jex Opolis, Harvey Sutherland, Suzanne Kraft, Tornado Wallace et al has only served to make the master - Sorcerer - sound ever more brilliant and vital.

Utilising his array of guitars, drum machines, synths, and trusty MPC, the loved-up Sorcerer sound inspires halcyon memories of warm days, endless sunsets and pure youthful abandon. Influenced by surf, 80s dance pop, acid-R&B, space jazz, krautrock, disco, dub, and am radio gold, his music maps a tour through a uniquely Californian lifestyle. Yet when music so vividly captures a vibe and a feeling, it can make writing about it appear almost redundant. Instead, to glean the full colour of what your turntable will soon gratefully radiate, we prescribe the generous soundclips presented here.

And, for a unique insight into the process behind the wonderful sounds conjured up, here's Sorcerer himself:

"Neon Leon's is the name of a bar in a Elmore Leonard book I was reading on a vacation to Belize with my future wife. I was soaking up his brand of noir during the making of the songs on this record, along with another favorite Ross Macdonald. We were living in a small apartment in the Mission District of San Francisco where i had my own room to jam. It was painted Orange and Turquoise and was a very inspiring place to create and focus. I could walk out of my house to any number of hole in the wall bars where people were deejaying, hanging-out, and knew about me and my music.

After White Magic I developed more confidence in my style and process so I stuck with it and I believe it shows in the tunes I selected for the record. The sounds are rich and I dug deeper into sampling from obscure dollar records and getting looser musically. I made a handful of collage videos for the tracks at this time as well, which represent where my mind was at visually. In my mind it's Cosmic Funk that rules the day and I am thankful to have the opportunity to share it with the world again."

Lovingly remastered by the esteemed Simon Francis, cut reassuringly loud on to heavyweight double vinyl and presented in a deluxe gatefold jacket with freshly commissioned artwork throughout from original designer Rich Robinson, this limited edition of 500 copies is sure to fly.

WHEN YOU'VE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND THE WEBSITE, YOU CAN FIND US ON THESE SOCIAL CHANNELS

Following the 'Screaming Ghosts' collection highlighting the music of C Cat Trance, Emotional Rescue and Malka Tuti return with the first of two EPs where the band's music is given over to a selection of artists, friends and collaborators for reinterpretation, re-editing, replaying and remixing to provide a modern outlook on the bands mixture of East meets West musicology.
Very much the vision of Malka Tuti and close to their ground-breaking releases of the last two years, the genius is out of the bottle with a who's who representing both labels. First, Autarkic go supergroup in enlisting Tel Aviv's White Screen for a cover of Screaming (To Be With You). Totally replayed, this is the perfect opening, with wide-screen production, updated arrangement and decimal delivering vocals setting the standard.
Following comes an effusive, simple and on-point remix of Dalbouka by the inspiring ledge that is JD Twitch. Platitudes aside - enough has been said by others - but the fact Twitch is as enthusiastic and driven as ever is testament enough. The simplicity and genius of his rework, where 909 is added alongside fx to speaker shaking effect, shows that less can be much more.
In Sneaker (DJ) we have a name moving steadily from the (cult) periphery to become one to consistently check and respect. Following EPs for Rat Life and Bahnsteig 23, the singularity of his reversion is audacious and entrancing. Brevity, purity and ultimately intensity of percussion, horns, bell and guitar. Enter.
To end volume 1 comes Die Orangen. Kris Baha and Dreems' bromance of Aussie label (red) heads, united in post-industrial explorations. With a deep, expansive album incoming on Malka Tuti, their brooding, rattling, ghostly mix is one for late night thinkers, that steps up to encapsulate an EP that successfully marries old and new, bringing C Cat Trance's music present.

From deep inside of Berlin's 24/7 darkrooms, here comes DJ City's debut maxi single. Two house trax made out of body fluids, pain and laughter after, to accompanize the teenage sex drive that want never ever fade away.

For his third album for Far Out Recordings, London based multi-instrumentalist and one of Europe's finest saxophonists Sean Khan ventures to Rio de Janeiro to collaborate with iconic Brazilian polymath Hermeto Pascoal. Taking its title from the escaped slave settlement 'Palmares' in the Northeast of Brazil during the 1600s, Palmares Fantasy is Khan's utopian jazz message for the world, and features Azymuth drummer Ivan 'Mamao' Conti, bassist Paulo Russo, guitarist Jim Mullen, and guest vocals from Brazilian chanteuse Sabrina Malheiros, and Cinematic Orchestra frontwoman Heidi Vogel.

Like Hermeto Pascoal, Sean Khan is a self-taught musician. Never able to afford his original dream of studying at Berklee, and having been turned away from Guildhall School of Music for being 'too raw', he became disillusioned with what he saw as the exclusivity, elitism and dangerous institutionalisation of the jazz world. Yet Sean's love for music and the drive to create never faltered.

Hermeto Pascoal, the man Miles Davis once dubbed the most impressive musician in the world', is a similarly independent artist. A true maverick whose ingenuity and freedom from conventional restraints is so great that he has essentially conceived his own musical language, made him the dream collaboration for Sean.

Aspiring to inclusivity and equality also informs the message in Khan's music. Inspired by the 17th Century settlement of Palmares in Brazil's Alagoas region, which was free from the Portuguese crown's murderous exploitation of South America for a century, Khan notes his fascination with the fact that while majoritively made up of escaped African slaves, many deserter conquistadors also joined the settlement.

Hearing the deep-grooving title track with this history in mind, the listener is transported to a futuristic musical eden, with Mamao's insatiable 10/8 rhythm back-boning Hermeto's wild improvised vocals, rhodes and whistles, while Sean's harmonically brilliant sax and flute add more layers of moody, characterful expression. 'Moment of Collapse' is Sean's poetic study on the uncertainties of modern day western civilisation, delicately presented by the gorgeous vocals of Heidi Vogel and drenched in lugubrious strings and Alice Coltrane-esque harp. The two covers on the album are of Hermeto's own 'Montreux' (on which Hermeto plays solos on a teapot and a pint of water), and an uplifting soulful jazz-funk take on Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges MPB classic 'Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser' featuring the vocals of pioneering nu-bossa voice Sabrina Malheiros.

The recording sessions for the album were part of an intensive and hugely productive eight-week excursion to South America for Far Out boss Joe Davis in the summer of 2016, which also saw the sessions for Azymuth's Fênix and a forthcoming album from Uruguayan fusion legend Hugo Fattoruso.

Fantastic' Gilles Peterson

Loving this!' Opolopo

Thank you!' Sassy J

Proper! Great track.' Colin Dale

this is great!' Yannick Elverfeld (RBMA / Needs Records)

I've enjoyed Sean Khan's earlier releases, but this really seems like he's grown into his fairly considerable talent.' Mark Sampson (Songlines)

His last album was his best so far, but I think this one may be even better.' Laurence Pragnell (Soul Brother Records)

dope!!!' Kyri (R2 Records)

this is great - really cool vibe!' Sam Redmore

wonderful track - can't wait to hear the lp.' Simon Harrison (Basic Soul Radio)

This is very tasty indeed.' Gavin Boyd (Soul Has No Tempo)

Stunning!!!' Mark Milz (Further In Fusion)

Oi Oi' Samuel Lloyd (Balamii Radio)

PRESS / ONLINE

VINYL FACTORY (UK) News (Anton Spice) 09/03/18 online

SOUNDS & COLOURS (UK) News (Gabriel Gahan) 09/03/18 online

THE WIRE (UK) Review confirmed (Joseph Stanard) print

EVENING STANDARD (UK) Review confirmed (Jane Cornwell) print + online

ECHOES MAGAZINE (UK) Review confirmed (Laurence Pragnell) print

LIBERATION (FR) Feature confirmed (Jacques Denis) print + online

MUSIC IS MY SANCTUARY (CA) Premiere confirmed (Mike Jones) online

JAZZ MAGAZINE (FR) Review confirmed (Frederic Goaty) print

SHINDIG! (UK) Review confirmed (Grahame Bent) print

MUSICA MACONDO (UK) Premiere confirmed (Tim Garcia) online

RAWCKUS MAGAZINE (USA) News (Randy Radic) online

KIND OF JAZZ (UK) Review confirmed (Fernando Rose) online

TONART MAGAZINE (DE) Review confirmed (Michael Moehring) print

WORLD MUSIC NETWORK (USA) Review confirmed (Raul Da Gama) online

BADD PRESS BLOG (USA) Review confirmed (Kevin Press) online

ORKESTER JOURNALEN (DK) Review confirmed (Patrik Sandberg) print

LIVE

WORLDWIDE FM (UK) Sean Khan live session confirmed (Gilles Peterson)

RADIO

BBC RADIO 6 (UK) Gilles Peterson - Palmares Fantasy (24/02/18) link

OTHER

BRITISH AIRWAYS On board BA flights (June 2018)

2023 Repress Spice 1 is an undisputed West Coast legend, who first hit the scene after the N.W.A. and – closer to home – Too $hort explosion of the late ‘80s. As history showed, he continued that bloodline with finesse and authority. His nasal flow is menacing and strong, and fans have been consistently captivated by his ‘hood tales since his self-titled debut in 1992. If you want thematic range with your MCs, Spice isn’t that dude – he is all about crime tales and the perils of ghetto life. And he attacks that storytelling sweet spot with each new cut. Spice 1 boasted four singles by the time it was all said and done, and breezed to Gold status on the strength of cuts like the catchy “East Bay Gangster”; the heartfelt tales and truths of “Welcome To The Ghetto”; and the thick, grooving “In My Neighborhood.” He even produced the alcohol-themed “187 Proof,” another of the album’s singles, and the hands-down cleverest vocal outing on the LP. Sonically, the backdrops on Spice 1 range from plunky, keyboard-bassline funk to deeper, fuzzy ‘70s samples – and he sounds strong on top of both. “Break Yourself” is fueled with an electro-funk drive; “1-800 Spice” brings reggae flavor; and “Peace To My Nine” gets chunkier, with a well-placed P-Funk “One Nation Under A Groove” sample. Presented here on official retail vinyl for the first time since its initial release 26 years ago, Spice 1’s debut holds the test of time and carries the California gangsta flag with pride. Some colors just don’t fade.

Lithuanian based label Sodai started its journey in 2016, making it a label still in it's infancy but making a big impression. Owned by artist Gardens Of God, who started the label to create his own 'no limits' platform for his experimental sounds and projects. While at the same time a platform to give other artists the chance to also have freedom with art and music.

With releases from Raxon, Few Nolder and Alex Krell under their belt, they can announce the exciting debut from UK producer Third Son this April. 'I've been an admirer of Gardens Of Gods' music for a long time, when he asked me if I could do something for his imprint, I was more than thrilled!' adds Joseph.

'Syncope's' synths spread far and wide, making this a journey of a track, modulating and panning in and out, pushing and pulling along a percussive drive. His broad musical range can be felt in this mix, with its slightly hypnotic tones.

'Irony' has a punctuated low end, which creates a deep and dark groove. The synthetic elements in this track gain in attitude, on top of ambient pads, leading nicely into 'Bach' to close out the release. It's driving and determined bass makes the backbone of the track, with a modulating hook line, along building and expanding frequency ranges.

The whole package makes for a very strong first release from Third Son, and Sodai are excited to be welcoming him to the family.

Losoul's Another Picture label follows on from EPs in 2017 by Honesty and the label boss himself with a new two tracker by Japanese artist Sasaki Hiroaki. The Yotsume label owner is based in Tokyo and his sleek sounds take cues from 80s new wave and look for a soulful vibe in electronic music. 2018 has already seen him release on Open Recordings and now he offers up some warm house rollers for Another Picture. 'EO1' is eight minutes of rubbery drums and loose, scattered percussion, tumbling toms and clicks. Dreamy chords light up the background and the whole thing drives ever deeper into the night, always evolving as it goes. On the flip, 'Plain Song' is just as heartfelt, but icy hi hats and metal stabs are more upright, getting you on your toes and keeping you there for another eight minutes of organic, authentic deep house bliss.

With the Split EP, the fourth release of their own label Rapid Eye Movement, Memorial Home and VII Circle head the way with two original cuts both and sign another stunning dark and hypnotic techno odyssey with a strong emotional pattern.

The opening track 'Metaphysical Functions', starting with a slow building atmospheric overture, encompasses much of what the VII Circle's sophisticated sound is about. A combination of compelling and dark pulsing kick drums with deep and melodic synth lines and dramatic ethereal breakdowns.

'Dogma' is stamped by a strait cavernous and rugged beat, powerful and catchy basses as well as propelled by uplifting and immersive melodic motifs that have a fierce cosmic appeal.

Following the path, Memorial Home delivers with 'Second Floor' an intense ambient-driven piece, harnessing haunting and misty cinematic textures with a tension-building repetitive bassline which provides a rising magnetic and powerful effect.

Closing the journey or rather keeping the flame high and firm till the deep end, 'Ampere' evinces a more pin-sharp and frantic percussive techno approach overlaid with highly suggestive atmospheric swirling synth effects.

Four captivating weapons which display an aesthetic quest focused and driven both by dancefloor-orientated climax and underground-rooted emotive escapism.

2x12"

Soma Are Proud To Present The Debut Album From One Of Techno's Most Prolific And Renowned Producers, Tensal. As One Half Of The Duo Exium, Hector Sandoval Has Already Carved Out A Career In Techno Spanning Over 20 Years, With Countless Release On Their Self-run Nheoma, Warm Up Recordings & Pole Group, To Name But A Few. In 2014, He Started The Tensal Project As An Outlet For His Own Productions Which Allowed Him The Scope Of Pursuing The More Direct And Minimalistic Approach With His Music And Also His Dj'ing. After Hooking Up With The Soma Camp In Early 2017 And Releasing A Collection Of Well-refined Singles, Tensal Delivers His Debut Album, Graphical. Searching To Go Beyond The Realm Of Standard Techno, Tensal Lends His Considerable Production Experience To This Project And Creates A Sophisticated And Immersive Album Experience That Flows Gracefully Between Idm And Techno.

With The More Stripped Back Approach At The Forefront Of The Project, Belga Gives Us An Insight Of What To Expect From The Album; A Refined Sequence And Melodic Element Build Gracefully And Hypnotically, Ending Abruptly To Leave You Wanting More. Santolaya Picks Things Up And Brings With It A More Pensive And Exploratory View Before The Droning And Atmospheric Roj0 Leans On A Decidedly More Experimental Side. Aimed At Bringing Tension To The Project, Convulsa's Waves Of Sub Bass And Syncopated Percussion Set The Tone For A Pulsing And Edgy Affair. Tensal Brings 4x4 Into Play With Polariex. Slow Paced Yet Staunch In It's Approach, A Gritty Synth Hook Stands As The Backbone. A More Hypnotic Approach On Egoaio Looks To Bring In The Standard Tensal Sound But As Always, New And Experimental Sounds Are At The Forefront. Closing Out The Album, The Focus Begins To Shift To A More Dance Floor Orientated Attitude. Zomb Is A Quintessential Dj Tool, Drawing On The Power Of Restraint, As Its Gradual Swells Create Perfect Cohesion Throughout. P R U V I 4 Continues The Ongoing Theme Of Tension As Multi Layered Hooks Surge Forth Against A Backdrop Of Forceful Drums And Undulating Noise. Tensal Ends His Debut Lp On A High With The Punishing Mimix. Pounding Kicks And Twisted, Tripped Out Synths Are Driven In Intensity With Chopping High Hats That Slice Through With Vigour.

With Graphical, Tensal Has Constructed A Body Of Work That Is More Than The Sum Of Its Parts; Easily And Intelligently Displaying His Production Prowess By Crafting A Sonically Accomplished Album.

Belgian DJ & producer Mugwump performs an about-face with a new sound and live show and unveils the first extract of his second album 'Drape' and it's first extract,'No Trepidation', a fast-paced postpunk/electronic hybrid and a punch in the face of conformity, formatting and self-censorship.

Borrowing his name from a character from William Burroughs' famed novel Naked Lunch, Mugwump is an elusive presence, a reputation preceded by infamous DJ residencies at Belgian clubs and a longstanding recording relation with Cologne's Kompakt records, ongoing DJ support from Andrew Weatherall as well as a large catalogue of electronic 'disco-techno' records, released on leading labels R&S, Gigolo, Cocoon, Endless Flight, Eskimo, Permanent Vacation or International Feel. Mugwump is also well known for running the Leftorium clubnight in Brussels where like-minded DJ guests such as Ivan Smagghe, Andrew Weatherall, Superpitcher, Matias Aguayo, Optimo, Prins Thomas, Sascha Funke, Gerd Janson, Ata or Roman Flügel share decks leftorium
'Drape' is the follow-up to 2015's debut studio album 'Unspell', which boasted many guest vocalists, garnered media plaudits across the board internationally and was supported with live appearances at Benelux, French, UK and Dutch festivals & venues.Taking it further and morphing into a full live band with new members, Mugwump released the 'Metempsycho EP' in November 2016 on which Geoffroy made his singing debut. Driven by this live band experience, Mugwump's new album 'Drape' will release May 4th 2018

The Safe Trip Organisation Has Been Broadcasting Their Musical Version Of A Traditional "numbers Station" On The Frequency 5079. Human Intelligence Suggests The Agent Behind Four Regular, Ear-pleasing Transmissions Is The Safe Trip Associate "artis".
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Using A Specially Modified "one-time Pad", We Were Able To Decipher These Undercover Operatives. The Ethereal, Dreamy, Arpeggio-driven Throb Of "panthera Pardus", With Its Poignant Tone And Undulating Lead Lines, Was Clearly Meant As A Warning.. The Same Could Be Said Of "cetacea", Where Melancholic Synthesizer Sounds And Meandering Electronics Gently Wind Their Way Around Hybrid Electronic/acoustic Percussion.

Panic Set In Once We Deciphered "giganthopithecus", A Composition Littered With Frequent Increases In Percussive Intensity And A Mind-altering Melodic Refrain. Our Hunch That Artis Was Ordering Immediate Action By Agents Was Confirmed By "delphinae", Whose Colourful Melodic Fluidity, Futurist New Age Construction And Layered Wooden Drum Hits Deeply Affected Our Researchers. We Ordered Our Own Agents To Raid The Station, But Artis Had Long Since Scuttled Off Into The Hazy Morning Sunshine.

The anonymous underground figure of Phoboz is associated with one colour - black. Not only is his online presence a mystery, with alternative stage names such as Doghead, Phaseliner, and Parseq. He is also connected to the well-respected Motorlab label, whose releases from the outset have been devoid of portraiture, biographic information, or textual support. Black covers, a few silver symbols of factory hardware, and nothing more.

Nonetheless, one Russian venue online has referred to Phoboz's earlier work as 'digital music for sentient people.' There's a vague connection between darkness, industry, and Russian feelings of late. Actuality is black.

These same emphases define the newest release by Phoboz on Resonance Records, entitled 'Flow' and overseen by Moscow's techno kingpin Nikita Zabelin. Forty minutes of resonant, insistent beats, straight from the gut of some abandoned factory. A heavy, even thunderous tradition fades to black, leaving the echo of prior decades to repeat itself, over and over. Even the titles of this release speak of something lost in the dark: 'Forgotten Planet' or 'Shifted Bias.' One tradition has evanesced; a future equivalent remains vague.

Phoboz gives voice to that shift from erstwhile desire to present-day drive, from industrial progress to post-industrial flow. The sounds of a forgotten culture.

2x12" Reflecting on a career spanning three decades, Luke Slater is a true dance music legend. The British producer has not only been pivotal in the rise of techno but his work continues to play a vital role in driving the genre forward, particularly under his Planetary Assault Systems name. Following its launch in 2006, Slater's L.B.Dub Corp moniker has been responsible for refreshing house music on labels like Mote-Evolver and Ostgut Ton, with the latter hosting the pseudonym's debut album in 2013. 'Side Effects' is the project's first body of work since then. "I wrote the tracks over the last year between being on the road as P.A.S. and playing a few L.B.Dub Corp house sets, which naturally evolved into 'Side Effects' almost accidentally" - Luke Slater Crashing stabs and a rolling hook inaugurate the album in 'Reel One' before the meandering 'Night Time Hawk' demonstrates effervescent effects and bursts of white noise. Commanding kicks and a moody bassline make up the robust 'Edge 7' whilst 'IELBEE' exhibits a bouncy aesthetic complete with intricate melodies. 'Float When You Can' is dark and ominous from the off but an echoing note sequence adds a glimmer of light, making way for the reverberating mechanics of 'Bass Machine' before leading into the twisted sounds and ghostly air of 'Forever In A Day'. Nearing the end, 'LBEES Jam' is the most lighthearted track on the album with its twinkling lead melody until Slater rounds off the release with a soulful and vocal driven affair 'All Got To Live'.

"It was the most beautiful summer of my life."

Memories — places, vacancies, allusions — are fundamental characters in Mary Lattimore's evocative craft. Inside her music, wordless narratives, indenite travelogues, and braided events skew into something enchantingly new. The Los Angeles-based harpist recorded her breakout 2016 album, At The Dam, during stops along a road trip across America, letting the serene landscapes of Joshua Tree and Marfa, Texas color her compositions. In 2017, she presented Collected Pieces, a tape compiling sounds from her past life in Philadelphia: odes to the east coast, burning motels, and beach town convenience stores. In 2018, from a restorative station — a redwood barn, nestled in the hills above San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge — emanates Hundreds of Days, her second full-length LP with Ghostly International. The record sojourns between silences and speech, between microcosmic daily scenes and macrocosmic universal understandings, between being alien in promising new places and feeling torn from old native havens. It's an expansive new chapter in Lattimore's story, and an expression of mystied gratitude. A study in how ordinary components helix together to create an extraordinary world.

Awarded a residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Lattimore spent two summer months living with 15 fellow artists — writers, playwrights, musicians, poets, painters, activists, curators — in a cluster of old Victorian military buildings on the Northern Pacic Coast. Days offered solitude, Lattimore set up in a spacious barn, able to arrange her instruments at will. Nights welcomed new perspectives. "Hanging out with a lot of accomplished artists with poetic ways of looking at the world was really inspiring. My heart was in a bit of a tangle after leaving Philadelphia. I was holding onto things instead of moving forward. My time there was a nostalgia detox, a way to press reset in a healthy way. Also breathing in the freshest air in America, straight off of the ocean, felt good."

Throughout the shifting locales there is one consistent companion Lattimore engages: a 47-string Lyon and Healy harp. The instrument wires directly into her psyche. Pitchfork's Marc Masters posits, "she can practically talk through it at this point, she's created a language." The space and stillness of the Headlands afforded Lattimore freedom to her expand her vocabulary, to stretch out and experiment with layers of keyboard, guitar, theremin, and grand piano. Lattimore's voice sweeps beneath the plucks and washes of opener It Feels Like Floating,' enraptured by the winding current, and reappearing in the second minute of the immense "Never Saw Him Again." The track elevates towards a shimmering apex of static and percussion before organ drone yields to signature halcyon utters. As with much of Lattimore's work, the track titles are telling, "Baltic Birch" is a somber windswept march that sways gracefully out of step, a remembrance of a recent trip to Latvia where she was struck by the abandoned resort towns along the Baltic Sea. Hello From The Edge of The Earth' is an earnest reection of Lattimore's love of the natural world, recognizing the thresholds of varying terrains.

The album's fth track borrows its name from Lattimore's favorite line in Denis Johnson's short story Emergency' from Jesus' Son. A character, lost in a blizzard, reassesses a disjointed universe, a clash between curtains of snow and angels descending out of a brilliant blue summer: it isn't an apocalypse, it is a drive-in movie, with stars hovering above the lot, off the screen, in the throes of the Midwestern storm. This mix-up is disorienting and existentially tragic, Lattimore's darkly strummed piece is a melancholic parallel, mimicking Johnson's elegant suture attaching two remarkably discontinuous spaces.

Micro-revelations, not quite as bright as torn skies but nonetheless enlightening, were everyday occurrences during Lattimore's residency. Living small days with small tasks — feeling little dramas within the arcadian universe of a national park — rendered her the sense that disjointed spaces can be interconnected no matter the enormity that divides them. It's in this elastic scale of perception that something as simultaneously simple and intricate as Hundreds of Days can ourish.

- Second solo album for Ghostly, past releases on Thrill Jockey
- Recently toured w/ Sharon Van Etten, Jarvis Cocker, Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, Julia Holter, Iceage
- Mary Lattimore has been featured on Pitchfork, NPR, The Wire Magazine, and more

Keshavara debuts on FILM.

Taking it's influence from downtempo Alt-Pop and Hip Hop, but with nods to blissed out Dub and World Music - the Indian producer arrives on the Berlin based label with Creators of The Rain. Danny Wolfers takes control on the flip - turning in a gorgeous, transcendental remix under his Legowelt alias.

Live instrumentation provides the backbone of the work - dusty drums drive the music forward, complemented by shifting dub-guitar leads, off kilter bassline licks and delayed drum machine breaks. Singer Gio's vocals sit com-fortably at the back of the mix, soft but inviting - present but realised with a distinctly otherworldly energy. There's a fine, organic feel to the recording - ambient surface noise shifts and warps between elements, and live FX pop and duck in and amongst instrument strikes giving the work a rolling, hypnotic feel. It's a deep and fully realised piece of music - wonderfully three dimensional in it's execution, and a striking homage to the artist's wide frame of refer-ence.

On his remix, legendary synthesiser enthusiast Legowelt draws for a characteristically Sci-Fi finish, in keeping with the best of celebrated output for Clone, L.I.E.S., Creme Organisation and more. Maintaining the tempo of the origi-nal piece, but augmenting the work with a growling Reece bassline and hazy lead synths, the Dutch producer care-fully shifts Keshvara's recording up a gear. Where Creators of The Rain began life as a grooving, Hip Hop indebted piece of World Music - immediate but markedly laid-back in it's execution - Danny Wolfers injects a more anthemic, uplifting sentiment, highlighting the dub elements with a delayed drum machine line and pushing the vocals back with a touch of reverb to give his glorious synth-work space to breathe. It's a wonderful take on an already accom-plished piece of music; respectful but inspired - and no doubt some of the Hardware Occultist's finest work.

Seb Zito has been one of the main movers for Fuse London since the labels inception and his 'Good To Me EP' continues the producer/djs accent. 'Take No One' kicks things off, its 90s tech-house influence being worn on it's sleeve with it's no nonsense b-line driven groove. 'So Good To Me' delves somewhat deeper, pads and synth work offering up warmth for a blissful 4am ride. 'Hit' ends things with an altogether quirkier affair.

One of the most exciting artists to emerge in techno circles in recent times, Drumcode is excited to present the label's first EP from Boxia. Over the last 12 months the UK artist has impressed with his classy take on techno that mines two decades of rave.

Last year's 'Colour Sequence' EP on We Are The Brave marked one of 2017's standout releases, before being tapped by Maya Jane Coles to remix a track from her latest album 'Take Flight', while B.Traits also shone the spotlight on him for a Future 12 residency on BBC Radio 1 throughout September.

Boxia first came into contact with Adam Beyer when he opened the Car Park at Tobacco Dock for LWE's NYD event in 2016, and since then the pair have spoken regularly sharing similar tastes in music and DJing. He dropped his first cut on DC during the summer of '16, with 'Revolution' that featured on A-Sides Vol. 5, making him primed and ready for his first full length EP in 2018.

The four-track work lives up to his growing reputation for crafting beautiful, nuanced and ultimately very powerful electronic music. The EP opens with 'No World Order', a deep transcendental slice of techno propelled by a wicked acid line and vocal that leads to a galloping finish.

'Only Human' is drenched in atmosphere and old skool wonder, a brilliant composition of punchy multi-layered drum work, catchy synth lines and cutting acid that reveals its tender side with emotive broken beat interludes. 'Unreal' is a big peak time belter, raising the tempo to sweaty palms level, as a propulsion of acid and a memorable riff fill the techno sphere.

The title track 'Ethereal Education' closes out the work, a beautiful chord-driven vocal cut that evokes images of the classic dance that characterised Boxia's earlier years and makes a fitting outro to this outstanding EP.

Renato Cohen is one of those names that you can freely utter anywhere and it will get instant recognition, especially among seasoned Techno lovers who enjoyed his powerfully legendary tracks of yore. However, this is not the main reason why he is helming the fifth installment on Gop Tun's label. This has more to do with the relentless drive and irresistible swing that he can imprint onto any of his works, regardless of genre.
"Party Jam", as the name aptly suggests, packs the type of torque and wit that, wrapped in a bubbling bassline, delivers what it's simply expected from it: pure danceable energy.
A force intensified greatly on Whatever Whatever's reinterpretation, where these elements are enhanced by the experient ears and hands of Justin Strauss, a man whose knowledge and expertise on that kind of job is as vast as the Amazon jungle."Dynadisco" is another forthcoming statement for the dancefloor whose qualities rely heavily on its rhythmic dynamics, creating a gargantuan groove that will likely leave few survivors on any dancing space where it is unleashed.unleashed."

Foxy Red Recordings is proud to announce their first vinyl release consisting of four deep & funky House tunes by TiTLEZ!
If you're up for the warmth, depth, and feel of the classic House sounds of Chicago - look no further! TiTLEZ's new EP delivers the goods while going for a diverse, organic, and eclectic productionapproach. You can expect punchy drums combined with live(ly) percussion samples, jazzy piano chords, and spacey pads, among otherstudio trickery.
The tracks on TiTLEZ's new EP are carefully produced and naturally dynamic, not only mesmerizing the audience with beautiful
soundscapes but also telling powerful stories in a heartfelt, honest, and emotional way. 'Family Affairs' is all about taking the listener on an atmospheric journey and exploring the needs and desires of human beings... while bringing massive grooves to the floor!
Side A features 'Longing' and 'Love', two tracks that focus on the story of love and loss, making for a dreamy, spacey, and nostalgic tone and stretching out the line between love that imprisons and the one that sets free. On side B, 'Fame' and 'Richness' tell the story of wealth and recognition, putting a modern twist on the classical notion of these concepts.
TiTLEZ is a driven, talented, and diverse music producer and his sound is influenced by Afrobeat, Latin grooves and jazz, which all play a vital role on his tracks.
As a result of his kaleidoscopic influences, TiTLEZ developed a unique blend of deep house with a tech and afro twist with an edgy and authentic feel. His work is all about telling stories and conveying that deep, warm feeling to his audience. TiTLEZ's tracks stand out for their diverse approach and catchy vibes, showcasing world-class production aesthetics and excellent musicianship from this promising artist.

'Harnessed To Flesh' is the new release from Berlin based industrial project OPERANT (Instruments of Discipline's founder and sub, respectively, Luna Vassarotti & August Skipper). Since 2016's 'ZK-II' & 2017's 'Zero Knowledge' Operant have been consistently touring, enforcing their reputation as a live act, melding chaotic noise with a disturbed, euphoric techno.

With this new release Operant engage a sense of intimacy which encapsulates their live performance; there is the familiar sense of hypnotic rhythms and collaged sound seen in the earlier works but the duo's production and focus have evolved, opening up new spaces and textures to their sound.

The opening track, 'Also To The Inorganic World' reflects the more noise oriented moments of their live show, improvised fragments, contact mic's and metal sheets combine with soundtrack like synths that seek to bolster a sense of unreality and pervert lo-fi expectations, 'Be A Boy' is a slow build, punctuated by car-crash impacts with the most coherent, almost narrative driven vocal of the record, concluding with a jarring, rhythmic seizure. Side-A finishes with 'Chancellory', an underlying sense of being underwater pervades, choking vocal sounds straddle the line between disturbing and playful. The B-Side sees a more direct and aggressive approach, 'The Sacrifice of Meaning for Power' is a dance floor oriented storm of percussion and punishing snares, Luna's vocals violently penetrate at moments, creating a feeling of vertigo within the locked rhythm, 'Dead Realities VIII' closes the record, beginning with a gabber influenced, rhythmic groundwork that unravels into a dronescape where an already torn reality is utterly destroyed.

Black To Comm's Marc Richter returns under his Jemh Circs guise for a 2nd album of sonic abstractions. In contrast to Black To Comm's analogue tape and vinyl based sound, in Jemh Circs he works with digital sources by primarily sampling modern Pop Music (and various other oddities) on YouTube (et al.) and sending chunks of it through a variety of arcane transformations and mutations.Using similar esoteric methods as on his 2016 debut album but with very different results the record deconstructs the hypermodern sound of Pop Music with a Post Punk attitude, energy and primitivism. Richter's combining disparate elements that shouldn't really work together but somehow all the chaos is making strange sense creating a collection of oddly diverging sonic vignettes with a surreal and anarchic spirit. This is music deeply rooted in the present but still difficult to pinpoint to a certain year or style."(untitled) Kingdom" converts a seemingly one-dimensional concept into a complex puzzle of ideas, sounds and narratives, completely assimilating the original sources and transforming them into novel entities with an unexpected melodic and rhythmic quality.Some press clips for previous releases:The overall effect is quite remarkable. Each track is like a hologram of pop music itself, a tiny part that reflects the whole. You almost feel that you could open them out and re-create entire popular music cultures. We'll be grateful for that when the next solar storm fries all of our hard drives. (Ian Sherred / The Sound Projector) In that way Jemh Circs is a record about process - not just how Richter loops and distorts and mutates his samples, but how the sounds of pop music create a particular sonic signature, one that gets more interesting the farther they're pulled from their original context. (Marc Masters / The Out Door) Recycling random audio off YouTube, Jemh Circs' process couldn't be less sentimental, but the results turn out to be sneakily emotive. (Philip Sherburne / Pitchfork)

AB SYNDROM, the Berlin Duo, is coming with their third album. PLASTIK is a bit like the coming of age album of the band. It tells stories of growing up emotionally and being played into a hard and post capitalistic environment. Nevertheless you will find some quite romantic lyrics and songs between lyrical metaphors and a rough and urban reality in Berlin Neukölln, their neighborhood. The music on PLASTIK is mainly a percussion driven and electronic laden journey. Not your average pop arrangements but subtle compositions and laid back vocals with a certain chopped and screw twist. The bands musical projection is a most consequent advancement of their three albums and their body of work so far. Bennet Seuss, singer and composer is defining his own style in writing autobiographic lyrics with a certain twist to the obscure and umtransparent. A great album for sure. Tracklist LP A Seite Keine Geister Feng Shui Patchwork Waterboarding U8 B Seite FFM Fake Starring Contest 2009 Hattori Hanzo Schwert Deephouse und Tiefenrausch

"Emotional Rescue begins the first in a series of reissues looking at the music of guitarist Carl Weingarten and his Multiphase Records label, starting at his highly sought after collaborate album with Walter Whitney, Dreaming In Colors. With an early interest in photography and Super 8 film leading to a degree in cinema production, Weingarten's other, self-taught, love was the slide guitar. Taking its blues roots and merging them with his visual arts background created a unique "painting in sound" style of playing. While looking to break into the film industry he began writing and recording his own film scores and other music for modern dance companies. From this, he founded Multiphase Records in St Louis in 1980. By the time of Dreaming In Colors, the label had released a series of cassettes and vinyl albums offering abstract, experimental, jazz-fusion, new wave and increasingly, new age compositions. Throughout this period the work of engineer, keyboardist and programmer, Walter Whitney was often present and by the 1985 release of Dreaming In Colors the duo had collaborated for a number of years and released several projects together, most notably as members of the Delay Tactics band. Recorded during off days from the Delay Tactics sessions, the album came together at Whitney's Subterranean Sound studio with a focus away from the bands guitar driven instrumentals to explore a multilayered approach to synthesis, blending textures with Whitney's original samples and sound design, while Weingarten's guitar moved from shining solo moments to complimenting the overall oeuvre, all with heavy washes of delay. This ecumenical approach led to the creation of this compelling album. A masterful conceptual whole that is linked by rich melodies and a concise playing style, heavy on substance while never forgoing the uplifting vibrations. "

Transmitting treacherous local energy into his new creative undertakings, Bogdan now joins the Not An Animal force keeping the flame well and truly ignited. A'Parovoznikov' fires across all cylinders with a vigorous Italo-arp bass motor, driving it further down the cosmic highway, engine doused in fully-lubricated synth-pad oil.Justin Van Der Volgen's remix swiftly rips the wing mirror clean off with a zealous two-to-the-floor-hitting blowout. On the B, 'Listopad' cruises top down with a more Balearic approach. A dreamy square bass glissades alongside percussive hats and succulent pads that shuffle within the horizon, whilst computer bleeps chomp and add an intensifying clarity. Kito Jempere's remix closes the release with his first contribution to the label. It lifts up the original and drives towards sundown into moonlight. Warping bass tones squelch against fetching stabs and brash breaks keeping this track fully pulsating.

This August sees Stone Foundation release their fourth studio album 'A Life Unlimited' featuring ten new original recordings.

Last year's album 'To Find The Spirit' was easily their most successful seeing the band reach No. 33 in the Independent Charts, receive regular Radio 2 play, achieve glowing reviews in The Mirror, Scootering, R2, Jocks & Nerds magazine and saw the band tour Japan twice where the huge attendances helped secure them a recording contract with the prestigious P-Vine label and an appearance at Fuji Rocks festival.

'A Life Unlimited' features contributions from Graham Parker (The Night Teller), US soul stalwart Nolan Porter (Beverley), vocal harmony group The Four Perfections (Pushing Your Love) and Blow Monkeys frontman Doctor Robert
Howard (A Love Uprising). 'A Life Unlimited' sees Stone Foundation develop their unique style of soul, funk & jazz to a much broader scale. Horn driven arrangements add colour to an inspired display of songs that are unquestionably the group's strongest to date. Thought provoking lyrics and strong melodies sit upon a stylish musical bed.

The first single from the album 'Beverley' was the title music in the award winning (best film at the Portobello film awards & East End film festival ) Cass Pennant & Alexandra Thomas film of the same name starring Vicky McClure (this is England) and Laya Lewis (Skins)

Das HER DAMIT Tonarchiv zeichnet den Sound des Festivals auf und startet die Archivierung mit einer vierteiligen Serie. Auf der Logoseite vertont Bleak den nächtlichen Bunkerfloor mit - Poly Invaders und - Lovecraf Function , zwei effektiven Techno-Workouts aus nachdrücklichen Percussions gepaart mit atmosphärischem Tiefgang. Oliver Deutschmann zeigt mit seinem Ambient-Track - The Source den Bunkerfloor im Morgennebel, während sich die freundlich treibende Techno- Exkursion - Space Unfolding über dem aufheizten Betonfloor aufblättert. Ein Moment, bei dem sich Ausgeschlafene wie Durchgefeierte einig sind.

#HER DAMIT Tonarchiv aims to document the sound of the HER DAMIT festival and kicks things off with a four-part vinyl series. Located on the logo side is Bleak who scores the nightly bunker floor with Poly Invaders' and Lovecraf Function - two highly effective techno workouts made of punchy percussions tied up with atmospheric depth.
On the info side of the record Oliver Deutschmann's The Source' portraits the bunker floor filled with morning fog, while his friendly techno driver Space Unfolding' evolves upon the heated concrete dancefloor.
A moment where the breakfast and all-nighter crew sing from the same hymn sheet.

Bergen is the next, and natural step in the expanding career of Dutch producer Tom Trago. The acclaimed producer behind Voyage Direct will release his fourth LP, with the label and crew he's built a close relationship with over the past ten years - Dekmantel. With a new studio and approach to music, Bergen is Trago sounding at his very finest, returning to his roots with a focussed, and dedicated production ethos.
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'If you change your environment, your music will also change with you,' Trago reflects on the new album. A staple in the Amsterdam club scene, Tom Trago has been a familiar face at the Dekmantel events for over ten years. 'I was even playing Dekmantel parties, before they were even called Dekmantel,' he states. Tom Trago's collaboration with Dekmantel has allowed him the space to grow and finish his most accomplished, and honest album to date. Bergen is an LP that connects his legacy, family, and commitment to dance music in one resplendent package.


Having relocated from Amsterdam, Tom Trago set up his new studio in the coastal town of Bergen, located in the northern Netherlands. Recorded in his family house, with the sea at one side, and the countryside to the other, the resultant record is a craftful piece of art, full of space, and the classic machine-driven, house music aesthetic that has come to represent Trago's sound. Bergen was made with the aim of re-creating a global-music sound, along with the music that has influenced him throughout his life, with a new approach influenced by Trago's immediate natural environment. 'I would take long walks in-between tracks,' explains Tom about the music making process, "and the creative ideas would happen in the forest."

The spacey-passively-paced LP intro 'Bergen' was the first to be picked up by Dekmantel's Casper Tielrooij, who upon hearing the track stated - 'now we are talking album business'. Yet it was the electro- orientated 'Zeeweg' that became the template for the rest of the record. 'The LP was built around this track,' Trago states. The b-boy electro vibe, with its melodramatic synth melody was influenced by the road that leads to his scenic retreat - with slow, steady curves, and a gentle, upward trajectory, Zeeweg and its album namesake, twist and turn in fluid synchronicity. 'The Creation of Lalibela' plays on this world music vibe, with ethereal and fun key patterns, influenced by the work of Mulatu Astatke. 'Always be with you' is one of the LP's standout tracks, epitomising the new album's country settings, and featuring his girlfriend on vocals; it swings at a steady, up-beat pace, rich with harmony, colour and melody. Elsewhere on the album, Trago sticks to his dance floor roots, 'Faith Belongs to Us' is moulded in a Chicago-to- Amsterdam house style, while album closer 'Working Machines' plays with resonance and atmospherics, creating a moody, pulsing yet stylish rhythm.

Having been raised in a musically-driven, and open-spirited household in which the producer grew up learning the piano, it didn't take long for Tom Trago to be indoctrinated into the new school of Amsterdam producers. Studying at a private jazz school while still a teenager, Trago would eventually come to cross paths with the hip-hop loving Dutch duo Rednose Distrikt, who left a permanent imprint on his approach to music. 'They showed me a world of music making using the MPC,' Trago says. 15 years later, the Dutch producer still sticks to this template. Looking to recreate this production approach that influenced him from the very beginning, Trago stripped down his studio to a simple setup with just a few, key 'weapons of choice'. Removing the computer from the setup, the MPC 2000 XL once again became the heart of the music making process. Bergen's analogue tools lend to its organic sound, one honed and crafted by its natural surroundings, and matured approach by one of the Netherland's most accomplished producers.

* Breaking into a new century, following last months 100th release on the label, Ishan Sound collaborates on 2 killer tracks with Bristol-based Hodge and Alex Hughes aka Muttley.

* 'C5' refers to cold explosives and makes for a perfect title for this stark, cold rhythm. A circling melodic synth line sets a moody context before the floor drops out and an industrial strength sub drives things forward at 130bpm. Deep, hard, dark, original. Exceptional quality from Ishan Sound and Hodge.

* Flip for a 140bpm excursion from Ishan Sound & Muttley, melding elements of trap, grime and dubstep meticulously to form an engaging sonic that is both fuel for the dancefloor as well as providing introspective qualities for bass weight meditation. 'Still Smoking' sums it up appropriately.

French label Bright Sounds welcomes prolific Dutch artist Boris Bunnik for a new EP under his most celebrated alias, Conforce. The regular Delsin artist saves this project for his more dance floor driven work and that is the case across all four of the atmospheric tracks here.

'Virtue Signalling' is slick techno that mixes up sci-fi sounds with cavernous dub pads. It's cerebral and cinematic as well as being driven by the rubbery drums. 'Black Mesa' is darker, with a meaning synth line coming in spurts over punchy, broken drums. It's grand in architecture but still has plenty of rich sonic details. On the flipside, 'Compulsion' is more watery, with little life forms suspended in a backlit ocean above slippery drums, then 'Alka' is another underwater affair, with beams of light penetrating from above as a dubbed out groove undulates way down deep. Once again then here, Conforce marries form with function in exquisite ways.

Musique Pour La Danse takes a short break from reissuing rare and essential music to bring you a selection of four new and exclusive tracks from the French underground entitled Equipe de Danse. Curated by label co-manager Ed Isar, a DJ and promoter active in the Paris underground since more than a decade, this EP brings together different producers and styles, highlighting the diversity and the creativity currently flowing through the French scene and providing DJs and ravers with quality tunes to work with and dance to.

Automat - Disco Trax
Everyone has a story about how one electronic music experience changed their lives forever, for Ed it was seeing Automat live in Paris in 2006 when he was 18. Automat's Electrospectif LP is still one of the best and most underrated French electro albums of the 21st century. Hearing Disco Trax many years later and realizing this fast-paced banger never got pressed on vinyl was the spark that encouraged Ed to work on this EP. This is irresistible jakbeat with electro and italo influences, timeless and compelling.

Cuften - bgt55ujp0
Cuften is a unique artist from Normandy who prefers being called a musician rather than a producer: he creates and records all his music live on a 100% hardware setup with absolutely no computers involved. With IDM and acid influences as well as a passion for hardcore, his music bridges the gaps between Aphex Twin, Marc Acardipane and Legowelt. This track is a perfect introduction to his world where hard hitting kicks get bodies moving while acid madness gets minds melting and it's actually his first tune ever released on vinyl. Keep an eye out for Purusu, Cuften's own record label which he runs with the help of Ed, a strictly underground affair that is already gathering support from established DJs around the world.

Sina - Faith
This is the very first track by Sina pressed on vinyl and what a belter it is! He is part of the new wave of electronic music activists in Paris with his Subtyl parties that were among the first to encourage today's ravers to side-step the clubs and go party in warehouses half a decade ago. We immediately signed Faith upon hearing it for the first time, spellbound by pounding and dreamy atmosphere, full of dramatic and ecstatic moments. This track exists in a techno universe of its own, as gritty as it is melodic. It never fails to get a reaction from the crowds and has been a staple of Ed's peak time sets lately.

Raymond D Barre - I Don't Know Dave
He's an up and coming producer and live performer from Paris who released a great EP on Nocta Numerica in 2016 and has several projects in the works. Clocking at 108 BPM, this tune is the downtempo cut on the EP. Driven by an 808, structured by FM bass and embellished with some lovely acid touches, this track could be described as 21st century orientalist New Beat or perhaps Egyptian Lover on codeine. Either way, this nod to Belgian vibes and BPM did not go unnoticed by both label managers and this fun and quirky track is often the highlight of downtempo sets.

Points of interest
- Four essential and totally exclusive tracks outside the beaten path and the usual formulas, a great snapshot of the French underground in 2018
- Various Artists, different vibes, something for everyone
- A Musique Pour La Danse release (Frankie Bones, Orlando Voorn, Cron aka Todd Sines, Break The Limits aka Bay B Kane, ..), a label founded and curated by Olivier Ducret of Mental Groove (Miss Kittin, Orbe, Donato Dozzy, Brodinksi...) and Ed Isar (33RPM +8% and Radio Belleville in Paris), releasing forgotten and unforgettable dance music of yesterday and tomorrow.