quête:dark driven

Standard LP on 180g clear vinyl, printed inner-sleeve, download card included. 'Interiors' is the fifth studio album by Brooklyn-based minimalist post-punk/synth-pop duo The Vacant Lots. The 8 songs on 'Interiors' synthesise all of the band's past work while pushing forward into the future. It's Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen's darkest and most visionary work yet. Ethereal metallic synths and blistering electronics are driven by disco-on-downers dance beats lashed with gutter-rock guitar riffs and icy detached vocals with evocatively concise and lacerating lyrics. Recorded over many sleepless nights and amphetamine-fueled mornings in the project's isolated Brooklyn bunker home studios, the album follows the band's minimal is maximal aesthetic coalescing into dark bedroom anthems for loners and lovers with nods to 70s/80s punk and nightclub music ala Joy Division, Iggy Pop's The Idiot, Depeche Mode, and New Order. On the lead single "Amnesia," Jared Artaud says "It's about dealing with duality and integrating the conflicting feelings within a relationship. It's about feeling dissociative and getting burned by the fire. Then coping with how this inevitably leads to the dissolution of the relationship. This is a mantra for all the songs on the album.

"Stravan" is the third opus from the enigmatic yet revered Swedish black metal duo Murg. Embarking on a sinister and sombre journey, the album is driven by deliberate, slow- paced riffs that emanate stoic darkness and fierce pride. Murg embrace a musical minimalism that cuts straight to the bone, defying simplicity and predictability.

"Stravan" stands tall and unwavering in its unyielding intensity - as a resolute farewell to creation itself.

Essential South African jazz, funk and soul - An anthology dedicated to the legendary Black Disco ensemble. Distilling the group’s recorded output into a single commemorative document, Discovery 1975-1976 compiles cuts from the lauded Night Express album alongside rare gems from the group’s long-out-of-print first and third albums. The newly remastered selection features previously unissued single versions of the mighty “Night Express” itself, a funk juggernaut with piercing flute whistles and rapturous sax cries as well as “Dawn” from the album Black Disco 3, a trippy, flute-driven awakening of soft light and gentle colours.

With a Yamaha organ and a dream, Pops Mohamed started his musical journey in the mid-1970s as the bandleader and composer of Black Disco, creating a hip melange of chill-out jazz with futuristic drum machine sounds and spiritual overtones. His cosmic organ transmissions were accompanied by two of the most sought-after session players on the South African scene, the sax and flute wizard Basil Coetzee, who had risen to fame in 1974 as one of the soloists on the hit “Mannenberg,” and Sipho Gumede, the young bass prodigy who was already rubbing shoulders with the old guard at the outset of his career. Backed at first with polyphonic beats from Mohamed’s electric organ and later taking on a drummer, Black Disco created a signature sound and a trilogy of innovative albums in a burst of studio creativity between 1975 and 1976.

On the heels of their epic various artists compilation, As-Shams Archive have produced a doozy of a compilation of some very essential South African jazz.

Hen Yanni’s first EP is the story of a journey. A story in music of a spatial and psychological journey. With this record, she abandons her former life as a nomadic model, actress and DJ, for that of a musician. She performs a cathartic exercise of going back over the darkest moments of her life. She opens up on the grief of losing her mother, the end of an incandescent seven-year relationship and, more generally, on the loss - tangible or not - of people, moments and memories. Produced by electronic music composer Arnaud Rebotini, the Israeli musician’s album transcends its folk, rock, dark and new wave influences. He transforms her into a voice (summoning PJ Harvey, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Sharon Van Etten, and Joan As Police Woman), serving as an introduction, without a doubt, to a sensitive, sincere and intimate work driven by the lyrics and vocals.

Zakmina presents a commanding dark disco release for Minimood with two spellbinding originals filled with unique and captivating sounds. The EP is complemented by compelling remixes from Curses and Rude 66. “Makam” comprises of an alluring array of instruments that create a mesmerizing atmosphere with an oriential mood to it. Curses retains this atmosphere in his remix, albeit with a deeper and darker tone. Unfolding a massive EBM vibe, “Mental Syndicate” forms a dancefloor destroyer that is driven by a vigorous kick and snare. The reimagining from Rude 66 features intergalactic vocals, raw electro sounds, as well as a truly addictive hookline.

UNOS, a Belgian artist with roots in the Philippines, has long been a part of the Darker Than Wax family, repping the label in Europe and beyond for a number of years through her parties and DJ sets. As she begins to put her unique productions out into the world, we are pleased to give her first release a home on the label.

Borrowing its title from the exuberant Filipino dining tradition - a communal, bare-handed feast among friends and families - UNOS' debut EP Boodle Fight highlights her sincere love for communities forged through club culture. The release was conceptualised during her first Asia tour through Singapore, Bangkok, and Manila in 2019, where the artist became acutely aware of the crucial role that community plays in sustaining a culture. Shortly after these foundational travels, the pandemic threatened the lifeblood of this

culture, prompting her to draw on her feelings from the tour to maintain hope. With the release of the EP, UNOS revels in the return of togetherness to club culture after the pandemic - just like a musical boodle fight.

Boodle Fight ties together this celebration of community with a number of other influences and experiences in the artist’s life. First single ‘Angermanagement’ is a ballroom-inspired roller, focusing on contemporary voguing culture’s ability to translate anger into queer empowerment. ‘Powerslide’ is a piano-driven house cut that attempts to capture the energy of a legendary Darker Than Wax block party in Singapore in 2019, while the frenetic pace of ‘Headlock’ evokes imagery of a crowded club scene that the artist sorely missed in 2020. True to the spirit of a Boodle Fight, the bright chords and bouncy rhythms on ‘Flavourtown’ imagine the best aspects of an inclusive space where diversity is celebrated like a buffet. Closing out the record, ‘Loveletter to Summer’ reflects on the tropical warmth of her roots in the Philippines. Boodle Fight manages to pack in quite a few themes and inspirations, while still maintaining a polished consistency from front to back, and announces UNOS as a producer to watch.

Unknown Assailant is a limited run vinyl only label shrouded in mystery. Each of the four tracks on this second release touches on a different style of techno/deep tech, ranging from the timeless sound of the Detroit inspired “Ancient Beauty” to the peak time energy and in-your-face style of “Rude Awakening”.

It also incorporates the dark and stripped-back minimal style of “Isolated Mechanics” plus the trippy atmosphere and dystopian vibe of “How Has It Come To This”.

Unknown Assailant is a secretive artist who lets the music do the talking, and all four of the tracks on this release are solo productions from the illusive producer. Striking from the shadows to showcase an eclectic range of dancefloor focused techno/deep tech that orientates around raw grooves with machine driven sounds, this vinyl only release cuts straight to the heart of the dancefloor.

This release is limited to a vinyl pressing of only 200 copies with the previous release picking up support by artists ranging from Gerd to Arnaud Le Texier.

The elusive Hackney basement dweller Alpha Delta colloquially known as Alpha D drops his debutsingle “The Moat” as the very first 12” output on the mysterious new hybrid Berlin++Sydney based label Delphic Iris Records. The headline single inspired by a faithful rave session in Croatia whereAlpha D was simultaneously emotionally touched, scarred and sonically pummelled by kick drums ata wild and stormy Dimensions Festival.
This dark techno beast was the aggressive, distorted acid offspring of that faithful night ravingbetween the mud and tears of the crowd at the formidable Moat stage at Punta Christo. His OG Mixis classic 132bpm heavy pounding acid techno at its moodiest. In the Remix department we have support from the entire Delphic Iris Records crew on this one. Afitting introduction to the labels sound. Sydney based Drox of Analog Cabin fame has a low end electro bass bin rattler for us that delvesinto melancholic and psychedelic 303 territory, deep, minimal and functional a perfect mid setgroover in our opinion. Critical Automator takes us on a deep and elegant techno journey transcending both murky seasand lush hazy skies in his dub mix. Definitely dialled back from the OG mix but there is no shortage ofkick drum energy in this one. 16 Faces cooks up complex drum work and funk driven baselines in a hybrid 146 bpm number that’sa just a touch rave, grime and idm in his 5am mix. The off beat stabs and euphoric strings areplentiful, more than enough to get your through any wobbly kneed sunrise.

EACH COPY Personally SIGNED BY LEN FAKI

Len Faki has always been a defining character of the techno underground. His unique approach to DJing, the consistent work as a producer and the quality output of his label Figure has all shaped the current environment.
Starting out as a clubber in the 90's, his inspirations have always reached back to the first encounters with electronic music, when new worlds opened and everything seemed possible.

While these experiences have always influenced Faki's productions and used to be released under many different aliases back in the day, they have been waiting since to be made into a proper album under the Len Faki moniker.

After quickly climbing to the top of the international DJ circuit, busy touring schedules never quite allowed for it. Finally faced with the opportunity of a long overdue creative break, Faki decided tackle the life-time venture with the necessary dedication and focus.

Excited about the new project, he also took the time and energy needed to expand his production methods. Finding new techniques allowed him to truly bring all his different influences to the surface. The process was one of following his own heart, occasionally challenging and surprising himself. Naturally the result emerged as two parallel experiences, which are now presented across two discs. Both still carry all the signature features of Faki's style but with added layers of depth and detail. There's that special contrast of dark and heady grooves, paired with dreamy melodies that transport the listener to places beyond the mind. But we also see all strains of his previous work being incorporated, mixed and molded into something new altogether.

While the first disc focuses on the kind of techno, which Faki has been brought up by and given back to for so many years of his life, the second is more loose and experimental, with forays into house, ambient and broken beats - the sounds he has always kept very passionate about.

It creates two distinct experiences, showcasing the entire breadth of Faki's cosmos. Where some ideas stay straight and kick hard, like the neon bleep opener Tor 8 or joyfully booming Astra, others take the newfound freedom to inspire a wistful broken beat ballad such as Hymn (In the Name of Fantasy) or the soulfully subdued Drum & Bass closer Voices.
Many songs even exist as pairings, with their respective counterpart on the other disc. For example, the duo of Shri Yantra/Yantra, where similar soundscapes have been looked through different lenses, making for a more straight-laced or shuffled rhythm. Also noteworthy are Faki's appearance as a veritable house producer on Hymn (In the Name of Freedom) as well as the inclusion of two very personal pieces:
The Halide tracks were made in remembrance of Faki's late mother, who passed away during the final production stage of the EP. These delicate tracks capture the intense sadness Faki was feeling at the time and helped him to process his grief and eventually to finish off the album.

By doing so Faki has given us a complete artistic statement, one that proves him to be as curious and driven now as ever, taking his sound to all-new realms.

2023 Repress

Pumping, anthemic, dark vocal driven analogue Techno on the A side of this release from one of London's best kept secret's DARC MARC. Instant warehouse party classic! On the flip 2 typical Cluster driving analogue workouts complete this prime time techno release.

Reissue

Established in 2020 by DUPLOC & 140 Plates owner Pieter Grauwels and producer Hebbe, Basskruit is a label set up with the sole focus of shining a light on Belgian & Dutch produced, explosive Dubstep & 140 music.

With previous incredible releases coming from the likes of 11th Hour, BunZer0 and Hebbe himself, the imprint is now set for their eagerly anticipated 17th outing.

It comes from Netherlands-based Crowley & Schim, two producers expertly carving their reputation into the underground ‘140’ scene with their stunning, bass-driven productions which have been released on labels such as DUPLOC, FKOF & Concrete Law.

Meticulously crafted and exploding with bassweight, BSSKRT017 is a four-track EP which boldly traverses the sonic plains of ‘140’, showcasing the variety in both artist’s sound, whether it be the stripped back & swinging Moraal, the reverberating & dubbed-out Skitta or the dark & breaks-laced Wervel, which provides inspiration for a deep & hypnotic remix from Belgian artist Zygos.

Release artwork provided by Joshua Hughes-Games.

Over the past eight years Teenage Wrist have continually evolved their sound, a process that"s peaking with their third full-length, STILL LOVE. Reaching new heights in both scope and execution, the album sees the duo-Marshall Gallagher (vocalist, guitarist, bassist) and Anthony Salazar (drums, vocalist, percussion)-producing the album themselves to handcraft their most expansive collection of songs to date from the ground up. ? e result is a self-realized collection of songs that saw the band borrowing vintage gear, bringing in friends in the form of members from 311 vocalist/turntablist Doug "SA" Martinez and Softcult and incorporating tasteful pop sensibilities to craft a collection of songs that rede? nes the band"s sound while staying true to their guitar-driven roots. From the atmospheric, fuzzed out opener "Sunshine" (which Gallagher says is "the coolest ri? he"s ever written") to the midtempo rocker "Dark Sky"" (the latter of which features the aforementioned cameo from 311 vocalist/turntablist Doug "SA" Martinez), the album will undoubtedly please fans who favor distorted guitars and crunchy chords. However, that"s only one aspect of the album and Teenage Wrist aren"t ashamed to admit that there"s a strong pop sensibility on the album that shows how much they"ve grown as songwriters since 2021"s Earth is a Black Hole. From the brain-invading ballad "Something Good" to the downbeat electronic vibe of "Diorama," the album is teeming with unexpected moments that are reminiscent of Radiohead"s ? air for experimentation. ? e powerful bond between these two collaborators lies at the core of Teenage Wrist"s music and, more than any other factor, that"s evident on every moment of STILL LOVE. "? ere was a certain feeling that music gave me as a kid and this is honestly the ? rst time on any record I feel like we kind of came close to achieving that," Gallagher says of the end result. "We just shot from the gut on this record and tried not to overanalyze things... and I think the record speaks for itself."

Peter Jefferies, a living legend of New Zealand underground music, from his seminal bands Nocturnal Projections and This Kind Of Punishment, to his collaborative efforts in bands such as Plagal Grind and Two Foot Flame, is perhaps best known for his solo work on masterpieces such as The Last Great Challenge In A Dull World (1990) and Electricity (1994), as well as Elevator Madness (1996). All of these albums came out on vinyl but one of the best was the singular Closed Circuit (2001) which, unfortunately, only came out on compact disc and was somewhat lost to time until now. After Grapefruit released his collection of singles and unreleased songs called Last Ticket Home in 2019, Jefferies mentioned he’d always hoped one of his personal favorite solo albums could someday be heard on vinyl as it was intended. Grapefruit is proud to finally be able to highlight Jefferies’ last album of lyric-based songs by releasing Closed Circuit on vinyl, remastered and with new artwork and insert. This album features all of Jefferies’ signature tense and dark, piano-driven rock and moody balladry, along with themes of personal isolation and domestic ambivalence. It’s a tour-de-force that has remained in the dark too long.

The follow up to the band’s celebrated 2020 release Fish Pond Fish and Darlingside’s fourth LP marks a subtle but remarkable departure for the Boston-based quartet NPR once described as “exquisitely arranged, literary minded, baroque folk- pop.” While the album retains much of the lushness and sophistication of Extralife (2018) and Fish Pond Fish, the band’s latest work highlights the individuality of the four songwriters in a way that adds a fitting element of reinvention to an album that captures brilliantly the quality of the moment in which it was made. Grappling with change both personal and universal, with quandaries domestic and existential, Everything Is Alive is an album about loss and the struggle for a semblance of redemption; themes of grief, distance and hope permeate an album filled with vivid imagery and lyrical creativity. Comprised of Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji, Harris Paseltiner and David Senft, four likeminded multi-instrumentalists who first met at Williams College in 2009, Darlingside’s career has been defined by the elegance of their compositions and the remarkable unity of their four voices. Their talent for harmony and melodic world-building is part of what garnered praise from outlets like NPR, Rolling Stone and The New Yorker, and what has created demand worldwide for their extraordinary live performances. Becoming beautifully unindividualized has, in other words, worked very well for Darlingside in the past. With a vigor and discipline more common to graduate-level writing workshops than to indie rock, Darlingside have, over the years, experimented with all manners of idiosyncratic methods for elevating and upholding a truly democratic process of songwriting—processes that include multiple rounds of group writing and recording exercises—all with the aim of escaping the trap that bands with multiple songwriters often fall into: the ruse of ego-driven infighting and artistic incoherence. Everything Is Alive is Darlingside taking a risk. Nudged by the limitations created by pandemic isolation, as well as through other more voluntary catalysts, the album, which was produced and recorded by the band and mixed by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens, Iron and Wine), foregrounds in a sustained and heretofore untried way the individual voices of each member.

The Remainder comprise of Blancmange’s Neil Arthur (vocals, guitar and synthesisers), solo artist Finlay Shakespeare (synthesisers and vocals) and Liam Hutton (drums, guitar and synthesisers). The latter - best known for his work with Boxed In, Neneh Cherry and more recently, Young Fathers - initiated the writing process back in 2015. ‘There was never a clear brief or definition of the project that we were working towards collectively’, he explains. ‘It was always a completely open statement.’ The trio’s crisp, glacial rhythms, cascading synths, shadowy psychedelia, absurd humour and lyrical x-rays of everyday life all feature strongly on their forward-looking debut album. The hypnotic, beat-driven songs are a way of venting; facing up and expressing a strange new positivity in spite of all the darkness. Each song is also linked by interludes created by Liam’s mother Jo Hutton, a recording engineer and composer/sound designer of experimental music and sound art.

Tresor is proud to present the debut split 12" from Chloe Lula and Ireen Amnes. Meeting in the darker, harder-edged side of the Berlin techno scene in 2019, the pair have regularly collaborated and performed together, but Synergy marks the first time they've shared a record sleeve. Amnes describes Synergy as "the world we built while thinking about our journey as friends and the connection we share as people and artists," and while the record highlights their relationship and shared influences, it also showcases how each has grown into their respective lane.

Amnes' tracks lean into significantly more distorted territory, characterized by a dense fog of grainy pads punctured by sharp, expertly-programmed percussion. On "Our Bodies," these fragments are sculpted into driving hardware gear, replete with distant vocals and acidic squelches, where "Fragments of Desire" makes space for a more somber attitude, descending into murky, psychedelic electro.

In counterpoint to Amnes' deep atmospherics, Lula's contributions are driven by intricate sound design and a focus on dancefloor
impact. Taking cues from Regis and the Birmingham techno sound, she reins in the distortion of 2021's Errant Bodies for aufnahme + wiedergabe in favor of rolling techno and breakbeat-inspired rhythms that nod to her EBM influences. Making use of the extra space, she builds tension through heaving, textured basslines and crescendos of noise, and on EP closer "Event Horizon," she carves through the beat with her own metallic vocals.

Synergy includes a digital bonus track from each artist. Lula's sees her pushing deeper into finely-tooled techno territory, her drums at a swift, driving gallop, surrounded by ominous swaths of reverb. In contrast, Amnes crafts a gritty warehouse trip, sharpening the angles of her drums and detuning her synths until they sound bent and alien. Complete with the EP's physical cuts, these tracks are a testament to how the pair can simultaneously complement and contrast with each other, departing from their shared sonic origins and ending up in wildly dierent destinations.

After some time of laying in the dark, the Warsaw-based Syntetyk label and club night series emits waves yet again with their very first cassette release by various friends from the local and global underground.

Tape starts with a pathos ambient track by Mchy i Porosty, followed by a desert night drive dub by Rapha. The A side continues with a wavy melodic thumper by Olivia, accompanied by a nostalgic club diver by Czech maestro Exhausted Modern and a punkish fast paced hymn done by the Colombian prodigy – Filmmaker.

The B side opens with Dogpatrol’s broken jungle track and carries on with Astma’s industrial dub-driven tune. Album slowly comes to a close with a nasty distorted wave by Dyktando, dystopian radiation emitter by Chino and ends with Mala Herba’s folk inspired epic ambient drone.

Like the winged half-man/half-bull that dominates its outrageous cover, Cleveland Eaton's Half And Half is a mutant bass-heavy monster that absolutely slays. Incredible jazz-funk from 1973, it's been largely overlooked for decades, and unfairly so. This is just sensational music - a crate digger's delight. It's super funky throughout, with lots of layers, jazz breaks for days, dripping with style and gritty class. This is the first reissue of what has been a hard to find record for many years; it's long overdue. Joyous music for mind, soul and body.

Cleveland Eaton was a revered bassist who played an active role in the backing of Count Basie, the Donald Byrd Quintet, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, Terry Callier and Minnie Riperton; amongst many, many others. Half And Half was the first album released under his own name, initially released as a private press record on his - awkwardly named - Cle An Thair Records. It was then picked up by Gamble & Huff for Gamble Records. Varied, string-adorned and with stupid funky grooves, it's just exceptionally good.

Whilst Half And Half is treasured for its famously brilliant interpretations of gold funk-soul standards, Eaton proves an imaginative composer in his own right. Indeed, the album opens with a striking original; the earthy, laconic jazz-guitar-funk fusion of "Keep It Funky". Cleveland and co. do exactly that. Up next is a properly moving cover of Aretha Franklin's eternal "Day Dreaming". The flute and guitar combo truly achieve celestial greatness here. "Here Comes Funky Lou" rides a bassline from the Gods and a driving soul-jazz groove allows the track to go off in all sorts of directions. Serene guitar soul of the breezy variety one moment, crazy hectic violin-driven wig outs the next, courtesy of Ed Green who played with Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane.

His blistering two track salvo of Stylistics covers to close out this A-Side of A-Sides will leave your jaw dropped, and they're likely the reason you're here for this. And why not? "Betcha By Golly Wow", which uses a bed of acidy synths and harmonica to create a unique atmosphere, is on some next level business. Melancholic, wistful, beautiful. "People Make the World Go Round" is so good, dripping in wonderful horns and ace percussive breaks, it could even be regarded as the definitive version. Seriously!

Opening Side B, War's gigantic "Slipping Into Darkness" is tightly tailored to Eaton's funky flute fusion arrangement whilst the insistent "Missing You" is a swaggering horn-heavy version of Luther Ingram's track from the Dilla/Ghostface-linked LP, I've Been Here All The Time. The creeping, screeching guitar-drenched original "John's Groove" features more fantastic horn lines and neck-snapping percussion whilst "The Love Gangster", written by Bill Wyman and Stephen Stills for his seminal Manassas LP, contains a heavy break with slick drums high in the mix and fuzzy guitars.

The album closes with two more Eaton originals. Written with Johnny Guitar Watson, "Lie" is one hell of a funky string and guitar-driven gem whilst the wild, celebratory "Ah Movin' On" cleverly quotes "Wade In The Water" (which he'd recorded with Ramsey Lewis in 1966) folding it into his new free-jazz composition. A message to his old boss, perhaps, as a sign-off?

We've worked on this reissue for 3.5 years, spending the whole time making it sound super sharp and looking as perfect as it possibly can. An absolute must-have for fans of soulful jazz-funk, Half And Half was mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis and cut by Pete Norman at Final Tweak. The bizarre artwork, mutant beast and all, was restored at Be With HQ over many painstaking months! Hopefully, this new edition, a real labour of love, should bring Cleveland Eaton into the homes and record boxes of many more people.

Portuguese maestro Lewis Fautzi drops his 2nd EP on Soma of 2020 with the State Of Pressure EP. As well as two top drawer originals from Lewis, the EP features two specially commissioned remixes from fellow Portuguese rising stars Nørbak & Temudo, both of whom have featured this year on Soma to high acclaim.

Title track State Of Pressure opens and doesn't mess about as thumping, driving drums lay the foundation before pure, hypnotic rhythms begin their descent delivering that typical Fautzi sound. Nørbak's remix of State Of Pressure takes note of the originals hypnotic vibe offering a deeper and more percussive driven affair. Epidemic Of Wellness has Fautzi working in darker elements and delivering more tension with his use of each particular strain of the track, pulsing and modulating perfectly in sync. Temudo closes out the EP with his remix of Epidemic Of Wellness. Always focussing on groove and momentum, Temudo goes sub heavy on his version but retains the dark tones of the original whilst almost adding an Electro-like flex on the groove.

Mastered By Conor Dalton @ Glowcast Mastering.

Jimmy LaValle’s The Album Leaf has spun from solo outlet to full band and back in its nearly 25 years. His acclaimed catalog spans releases for labels such as Sub Pop, City Slang, Relapse, and others. He also composes music for film and television, scoring over 20 projects (narrative features, documentaries, and TV series) since 2009. The cinematic sensibilities of The Album Leaf were present from the beginning. His 1999 debut introduced the start of a signature sound: melodic and meditative electro-organic soundscapes constructed with guitar, percussion, Rhodes, and field recordings.

His seventh full-length LP, and first since 2016, arrives in 2023 via Vancouver’s Nettwerk Records. FUTURE FALLING finds LaValle working with an array of musicians, shaping slightly darker, more spacious, and synth-driven songs with contributions from Bat For Lashes, Kimbra, and many others.
The music registers a shade darker and more synth-driven than most moments in his acclaimed catalog, a bridge between shadowy, cerebral terrain and dreamy precision pop, where softly percussive frameworks meet shimmering sound design and emotive instrumentation.
LaValle sees the construction of FUTURE FALLING as less conventional than past work. Contributions were done remotely with a “throw everything at it” mindset, making LaValle the arranger of layers from all over: drums, synths, horns, violins, voice, and more. LaValle created a pastiche of these layers and elements; in some cases even moving vocal takes to new tracks entirely. Without the in-the-room dynamics, he had more time to experiment, adding and subtracting ad infinitum.
The album opens on “PROLOGUE,” an evocative, slow-building instrumental that rides a pattern into a symphonic sea of static. Keys and horns glide atop the rhythmic pulse of “DUST COLLECTS,” setting the contemplative scene for “AFTERGLOW,” the record’s most pop-minded performance. Here Kimbra, the Grammy-winning New Zealand singer-songwriter, renders a striking recollection of past love as percussive elements shimmer and swirl.
A plaintive piano line moves throughout “Cycles 19.9” encircled by light ambient washes, both a valley between two peaks and a powerful composition in its own right. “Future Falling” follows; with origins tracing back to 2015, the track embodies the full sonic journey LaValle has taken. All the hallmarks of The Album Leaf — melodic builds, vivid sprawl, tonal shape-shifting — assemble to a blissful finish.

For the next stretch, “Cycles” begins with a uneasy Rhodes loop that builds and erupts into a wall of texture paving its way into “Give In,” where LaValle models a movement that begins subtle and measured before curving up with skyward, percussive bursts (“Stride”) and settling back down to the album’s back-half centerpiece, “Near” featuring the acclaimed English artist Natasha Khan aka Bat For Lashes. “Do you feel me near?” she sings into a mist of widescreen synths and soothing, distant drum beats as if searching through the dark.

This is Parand Haghi’s debut project for Specimen, and here we indulge the concept of events based around Area 51. This has always created controversy and conspiracy as a covert space for experimenting on extraterrestrial aliens. We can only imagine the horrors of human endeavour to probe the inner bodies as a means of developing advanced interstellar technology. Albeit, driven by fear and paranoia as a means of conquering outer space the alien species remain a puzzle, but they are here among us have no doubt.

An alien organism reaches planet earth it is sent in the form of a superior female whose dark, passionate embrace allures us to the magical and mystical bewilderment of sonic worlds. Parand is the future of Specimen with PATIENT-X. This is a taste of things to come, after probing into the future with a dark remix of Arsonist Recorder’s "Vaxxer", she is proving to be a formidable force in the realms of electro.


PARAND is Berlin-based producer
At an early age, she developed her passion and taste for music. While her musical roots are grounded in classical piano training, her broad influences and obsession with electronic beats led her to experimenting with DJing and producing what could be considered a unique style of electro with experimental sound shapes, infused with dark bass-lines and beats.

Here comes something unapologetically goth.

Male Tears is the dark electro group consisting of vocalist, James Edward and synthesist, Frank Shark. Hailing from Los Angeles, what began as a solo project re-established itself as a duo in 2021, simultaneously moving from the breezy sounds of the first self-titled album to darker realms with their sophomore Trauma Club.

Krypt is their third full-length recording and it shows a fully grown ensemble capable of pushing everything over the top; blending elements of darkwave, goth rock, EBM and futurepop into a sound they call Dark Rave.

Naturally drawing inspiration from the Californian goth tradition (45 Grave, Christian Death) and the Canadian post-industrial brood (Skinny Puppy, FLA), as well as the best UK synthpop (Depeche Mode, The Human League), Male Tears emphasizes the most glamourous, and at once, gruesome aspects of the whole gothic subculture, bringing everything to the next level, resulting in a contemporary and cutting edge album.

Eight new cuts that alternate rarefied synthwave (Krypt), dark eurodance (Slay) with goth techno-pop (Sleep 4Ever) and pounding electro-industrial (I Expire) to create something we may call New Romantic Body Music. It’s no wonder we wanted the scene’s top studio, La Distilleria, run by Maurizio Baggio, to master this for the most bombastic outcome.

And yet Krypt is not just about the music, it’s about one up with the times attitude that can review aggressive EBM in the light of an extravagant pop sensibility and a theatrical grandeur worthy of the Blitz Kids from London circa 1979-80.

You may think it takes quite a bit of nonchalance to do so but the L.A. duo easily succeeds at this. Akin to their aesthetics, they may seem spooky from the outside but their approach is nothing stuffy. Quite the contrary, everything regarding Male Tears is a celebration of life’s most bizzare shades, driven by some of the best dark humor you’ll find around.

So Dance with me, my dear, on a dancefloor of bones and skulls / The music is our master The devil controls our souls.

Berlins ASEC liefert hier vier verschiedene Tracks ab. Seine kreative Kraft wird vom Dancefloor angetrieben, behält aber seine persönliche Perspektive bei. Von universellen Emotionen durchdrungen kam die Inspiration für diese Veröffentlichung aus "der Idee, Entscheidungen zu treffen, die unumkehrbar sind, und dem Gewicht, das damit
einhergehen kann. Die Unentschlossenheit, die Angst und die Endgültigkeit von schwierigen Entscheidungen"

Berlin-based artist ASEC steps up for the latest release from BPitch. A creative force who is driven by the dance floor, while also maintaining his own personal perspective, ASEC delivers four distinct cuts. Swathed in universally relatable emotion, the inspiration for this release came from “the idea of making decisions that are irreversible and the weight that can come with that. The indecision, the fear and the finality of making difficult choices”. ‘Crossing The Rubicon’ sets the EP off to a galloping start with a contagious rhythm and an unsettling melody. It’s dark, yet utterly danceable, striking a delicate balance between beats and atmospherics. The title track follows, with ASEC’s penchant for modular synths giving the cut plenty of flavour and character. Propelled by snub-nosed kicks and shifting percussion, this is a deep dive into the mind of a considered artist. Next up it’s ‘Our Light In Momentary Troubles’, a dense composition with thick solid low end frequencies dancing side by side with a gnarly analogue riff. Finally ‘Bleep Test (Tool Mix)’ closes the EP, utilising the power of repetition to ensnare the listener. An utterly hypnotic cut that will keep you hooked to the very end...

Lost in the depths of space, AAKAARA takes listeners on a journey to the outer limits of the sonic universe with their latest album “Obsidian Promises”. Blending influences from punk and metal, EBM, architectural design and certain celestial objects, AAKAARA offers a fresh take on industrial techno.

This body of work is dark and brooding, full of haunting and thought-provoking soundscapes. Metallic and cold one moment, blisteringly hot the next. Pounding drums create searing rhythms, acid-drenched synths weave abrasive textures, and noise permeates the stereo field. Inspired by the mysterious and alluring world of black holes, the producer explores the beauty of extremes through sound. “If you know my work or me,” AAKAARA says, “it’s no secret that I have a spiritual connection to, and an obsession with, black holes.

It’s not about doom and gloom, but about beautiful extremes: infinite calmness, ultra-high energy, being deeply centered, and inevitable attraction.” “I try to sonify this in a naive sense. It isn’t an attempt at science; it’s a way for me to practice a makeshift spirituality about these entities through craft and functional dance music for people.”

Spirituality and stellar inspiration were essential to AAKAARA’s life during the three years they spent between Los Angeles and London, while writing this album. It provided a sonic home during a period of transition, when they didn’t feel at home and didn’t have access to a studio.

Everything was made “in the box” using only Ableton 10. After collecting guitar pedals and amplifiers for years, AAKAARA has shifted away from a hardware-focused mindset and is now more invested in the conceptual framework, narrative, and cultural implications of their work. Visuals also play an integral role in this maximalist experience.

The outer sleeve (front and back cover) conveys the “big ideas” visually, while the companion poster includes custom typography, detailed drawings, symbol design, and poetry. The poetry provides a textual counterpoint to the lyric-less music, written in parallel but later stages of the production process. The visual identity of this work is inseparable from the music, describing it in an integral way. It’s the other side of the coin, not simply an accompaniment. With its spiritual connection to the infinite and mysterious, “Obsidian Promises” harnesses the beauty and intensity of celestial entities as musical inspiration, transforming the science into mystical, narrative-driven sonic experience. Get ready for a ride through the unknown as AAKAARA’s latest offering takes you on a high-energy trip through the black hole’s playground.

'Nicolò's music was born in the foggy winter of the Adriatic coast, and raised in the dusty grooves of Milford Graves LPs. It travelled to London and Berlin, where it collected sweat from crowds dancing in dark basements, leaving it with an organic hue and rhythmic patterns both broken and free.
This is bass-driven music from outer space. RRRing The Alarm!'

Produced and Mixed by Nicolò.
Mastering and lacquer cut by Kassian Troyer at Dubplates & Mastering.
Art by Paolo Bazzana.
Photo insert by Flavia Serrão.
Design by P.Bazzana & F. Serrão.

She’s out of this world…

Maltese musician & producer Joon’s galactic debut arrives on our shores fully formed a decade after she first set sail. 12 cuts of uniquely addictive Synthesized Pop twist & turn on the rocky waters of life.

Her story begins after a life-changing car crash on the streets of Malta many moons ago. She was lucky to walk away in one piece. “That car crash was a wake-up call,” she says. “It made me realize how precious life is & I started living the life I felt was worth living.” Inspired to finally pursue her love of music full time, she began collecting instruments. Starting with a Stylophone& a vintage rhythm box, she started documenting ideas. Returning home to Malta after a few years in London, she only met one other woman making electronic music on the island. Driven by the desire to make music possible & accessible for the next generation, Joon co-founded the Malta Sound Women’s Network.

Ten years later, she sends us messages in a bottle from across the Mediterranean Sea. Armed with a Moog & her ethereal voice, she transmits hope & joy from a bedroom somewhere between Sicily & North Africa. Her music is right at home alongside outsider pioneers like Fever Ray, Grimes, Laurie Anderson & Molly Nilsson. Dream Again glides across heavy rhythms & eclectic electro. Telling stories of alienation with a throbbing heartbeat & space-age melodies, she lets us into her ultra-vivid world where anything is possible. Produced by Johnny Jewel, the album shines bright like comet orbiting the label’s dark sky, a much-needed vision of light on the horizon.

“Even if I’m sad or heartbroken, I remain optimistic. I want to grow old with no regrets.”

It’s time to Dream Again…

Mark Grusane's latest offering, A House of My Own is a testament to his long-standing discipleship to the craft of producing hard-hitting house tracks with authenticity and depth. The title-bearing opener on A1 strongly demonstrates this notion with a slew of raw bass stabs and emotive pads leading through a battery of driven percussion in a manner that calls to mind those early 90's Mr. Fingers records. While A2's Essence of Life (Afterhours Mix) takes us further into the darkness with a spiraling timber of percussions lain over distorted vocal arrangements, the "Daytime Mix" of A3 builds on the momentum of its predecessor with a robust uplifting synth lead and sounds of atmospheric ambiance added to the mixture, effectively taking the composition to an entirely new level. B1 kicks off punching and swinging with the track Knock knock, Who's there?, a ferocious gut-puncher of a track that sees classic Chicago "beat-track" style 909 arrangements lay over an intense saturated 303 bassline that relentlessly worms its way throughout the mix with a booming urgency. B2 sees a turn for the naughty on the track Love And Lust with a xxx-rated vocal line slithering its way through the track, sandwiched in between high-pitched keys and a slinky drumline. Finally, Jack Your Ass Off closes out the album and ties it all together on B3 showcasing the full-fledged insanity of the classic trademark Chicago "jack" style that sees the title of the track frantically screamed over and over though a sampler amid hard hitting drums and 303s engineered to make you dance like a freak. A serious 'must have' for any selector or music enthusiast.

I:Cube has made a new album. It is a very “hands on” album, as the eight tracks on show were created almost entirely by improvising with electronic hardware – synthesizers, sequencers, drum machines and effects units – and recorded in real time, with very little after-editing. It is also his first album in a decade, should you be keeping track.

During the time he spent recording it, which was in part inspired by the processes behind his ‘Cubo Live Sessions’ series, I:Cube had fun, experimented, unleashed the raw, primitive energy of his machines, and emptied his head of thought. The resultant tracks are instinctive, immersive and otherworldly, driven by the emotion of the moment rather than the formulaic structures of dance music. They are unpolished and immediate, but also immersive and sincere.

Think of it as a soundtrack to time spent alone in the studio, daydreaming in darkness and light, translating mental and physical messages in real time. It is not calculated, overblown or over-produced like much modern electronic music, but gently odd, engaging and pleasingly rough round the edges. In some ways, it is I:Cube’s most personal and emotional album to date.
Matt Annis

The studio at 122 West Loveland Avenue was not an unfamiliar space for Steve Okonski, the leader of his eponymous trio Okonski. Ever since the Colemine label set up shop in Loveland, Ohio it has been a host to a number of groups passing through town, including Durand Jones and the Indications who all of this trio's members have connections to. After setting aside some time in winter of 2020, Okonski, trained initially as a classical pianist, invited Michael Isvara "Ish" Montgomery and Aaron Frazer to work on an album that was initially planned to be beat driven and fully composed trio instrumentals. After finishing this first session with some improvisations, a second week was booked in the summer of 2021 to try and capture some more of that spontaneous energy. During this session, the tracks were all improvised and recorded live to a Tascam 388 during several late nights at the Colemine HQ. They were structured to allow the group's collective intuition to fully shape the melodies and arcs of the music. The album opens with Runner Up, where a triumphant yet melancholic melody in the piano leads to a more reserved B-section driven by the drums and bass of Frazer and Montgomery. As you journey through the remainder of the album you are met with a plethora of evoked and explored emotions. The calmness one has walking down a moonlit street after midnight, the connection one has for a person who comes into their world for just a moment or a lifetime, and the nerves and catharsis one feels when starting upon a new, unknown journey. Magnolia closes with Sunday, a track that was recorded late into the night at the close of their first recording session. Without the spontaneity of Sunday, the remainder of Magnolia would likely have never come to fruition. Magnolia was composed from the heart and from the spirit of those in the studio those late nights in Loveland. It is the culmination of an emotional and artistic release that was not afforded or recognized before the band sat at their instruments, and because of that it is introspective, meditative, spiritual, and new.

Limited edition colored pressing is for Indies Only. Vinyl housed in a tip-on jacket. For Fans Of... John Carol Kirby, Pharoah Sanders, Bill Evans, Durand Jones & The Indications, Misha Panfilov. Debut LP from Okonski. Features current and former members of Durand Jones & the Indications (Steve Okonski, Aaron Frazer, and Michael Montgomery). Follows the debut single 'By The Lake', a collaboration with Germanbased artist and new Karma Chief signee Pale Jay (500k Monthly listeners). The studio at 122 West Loveland Avenue was not an unfamiliar space for Steve Okonski, the leader of his eponymous trio Okonski. Ever since the Colemine label set up shop in Loveland, Ohio it has been a host to a number of groups passing through town, including Durand Jones and the Indications who all of this trio’s members have connections to. After setting aside some time in winter of 2020, Okonski, trained initially as a classical pianist, invited Michael Isvara “Ish” Montgomery and Aaron Frazer to work on an album that was initially planned to be beat driven and fully composed trio instrumentals. After finishing this first session with some improvisations, a second week was booked in the summer of 2021 to try and capture some more of that spontaneous energy. During this session, the tracks were all improvised and recorded live to a Tascam 388 during several late nights at the Colemine HQ. They were structured to allow the group’s collective intuition to fully shape the melodies and arcs of the music. The album opens with Runner Up, where a triumphant yet melancholic melody in the piano leads to a more reserved B-section driven by the drums and bass of Frazer and Montgomery. As you journey through the remainder of the album you are met with a plethora of evoked and explored emotions. The calmness one has walking down a moonlit street after midnight, the connection one has for a person who comes into their world for just a moment or a lifetime, and the nerves and catharsis one feels when starting upon a new, unknown journey. Magnolia closes with Sunday, a track that was recorded late into the night at the close of their first recording session. Without the spontaneity of Sunday, the remainder of Magnolia would likely have never come to fruition. Magnolia was composed from the heart and from the spirit of those in the studio those late nights in Loveland. It is the culmination of an emotional and artistic release that was not afforded or recognized before the band sat at their instruments, and because of that it is introspective, meditative, spiritual, and new.

Red Vinyl

Initial LP copies pressed on opaque red vinyl! As its name suggested, the intimate and sultry Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 was always going to have a follow-up. Led by the brooding vocals of Bria Salmena, Cuntry Covers Vol. 2 is every bit as potent as its predecessor whose noir-inflected alternative country-rock stood in sharp contrast to the singer's commanding delivery as leader of post-punk revivalists FRIGS. Debuting the project in 2021, the languid, reverb-drenched Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 saw her artfully collaborating with multi-instrumentalist Duncan Hay Jennings and reimagining a carefully picked collection of Americana anthems. Vol. 2 pushes the envelope further and harder. Encompassing feverish takes on tracks by Gillian Welch, Paula Cole, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Robert Lester Folsom, Glenn Campbell - by way of Nick Cave - and the late, great Loretta Lynn, Bria's deliciously dark approach shimmers through these six startling songs. Created during a break from Salmena and Jennings' work in Orville Peck's world-conquering backing band, Vol. 2 was recorded directly after Peck's second album and Bria's US tour supporting Wolf Alice. Embracing contrast, the sunny circumstances in which Vol. 1 was made were flipped on their head. Instead of a bucolic barn in the Canadian countryside, they recorded the new tracks in chilly Toronto, huddled together in their tiny makeshift home studio, with Jennings at the controls. They enlisted the help of local Toronto musicians Lucas Savatti (FRIGS), Simone Baril (US Girls, The Highest Order, Darlene Shrugg, Partner), Andrew Manktelow, and frequent collaborator Jaime Rae McCuaig. While Vol. 1 was Bria's attempt at subverting country music's conservative roots and primarily white and heterosexual agenda, here the emphasis was on experimentation. While Vol. 2 might be less personal, it's just as idiosyncratic, with half of the reversions staying true to the originals and others taken to a different universe entirely. Building on the tried-and-true/bold-and-new duality of Cuntry Covers' first offering, Vol. 2 delivers a deeper dive into the duo's brilliant alchemy of traditional and contemporary reinterpretations. The added experimental flourishes, from dizzying electronica and pulsing bass to sax-driven soul, take Bria's new EP into previously uncharted territory, signalling a thrilling new step in Bria's adventurous evolution.

Tugging at the heart strings with his new release, Cartridge shows why he is one of the most highly rated producers in the game. This is a sublimely deep yet diverse EP which showcases Cartridge's musical side. Sometimes melancholic on tracks like Abandon and Voyage. Poignant and touching with Valentines Ting. The title track Sweetheart is not only melody driven, it's also a proven party mover. Each of the tracks tells their own story and as an overall release they come together to make something greater than the sum of their parts. This is Cartridge stepping his game up to the top level.

Fly Me To The Sun is a breathtaking German library gem from the hallowed Coloursound label. Originally out in 1983 it features two Polish composers, Andrzej Marko and André Mikola. If outré synth-funk is your thing, you need this record.

Almost blindingly luminous with positive vibes and radiant optimism, Fly Me to the Sun is a collection of funky, sun-dappled compositions for synthesizer and live instruments like drums, bass and guitar. A dope blend of beatbox driven future jazz and electro pop.

The wonderfully sleaze-adjacent opener "Dhamma" includes some grandiose piano chords amid floating ambient sounds a la Steve Hillage with slick drums entering the fray at a languid pace. "Circulation" sounds like Bowie ran into Chaz Jankel during an extended stay in Los Angeles, the Thin White Duke emerging out of a studio at 6am, bleary-eyed and clutching this filthy, bleepy instrumental of sonic smut. "Magic Scenery" is as delicate and astounding as the title suggests, a deep ambient movement conjuring halcyon images of rolling fields with abundant fauna and flora; acid-tinged visions of intense colour and natural beauty. Cool, slo-mo breaks adorn the strutting melancholy of “Longing for Tomorrow” and “Nocturnal Flowers” to close out Side A.

Skip the title track, which opens up Side B, and head straight to “Birth of a Butterfly” for a slice of creeping digi-dub-soul niceness. This should've been front and centre of that Personal Space compilation a decade ago. Raising both the tempo and the temperature, “Riding on a Sunbeam” continues in the mesmerising cosmic funk style before "Osmosis", one of the clear stand-outs, presents a fine vintage synth solo over a mellow funky rubberband beat. The closing track, "Solar Heating", warms things up with slapped bass and bold drum machine beats and the synth lends Sci-Fi vibes to the dark dub-funk-reggae rhythm.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Fly Me To The Sun comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

Papir's majestic third album back in print on vinyl for the first time in eight years! On this album, produced by Causa Sui's Jonas Munk, the band really found their sound, blending powerful semi-improvised psychedelia with jazz and atmospheric post-rock. At this point the Copenhagen trio had become masters of their craft, mixing together new and old, heaviness and ambience. Now, ten years after its original release, it stands as one of the highlights of post-millennial psychedelia. When Mojo writer Kieron Tyler visited Denmark's renowned SPOT Festival in the summer of 2012 he was blown away by Papir's performance as an experience that clearly stood out compared to the rest of the bill: it takes a lot to stand out at SPOT...but Copenhagen's Papir are arresting. Their guitar, bass and drums mesh powerfully in an intense, jazz-inflected instrumental rock. Voyaging through post-rock Tortoise terrain, it nods towards Hawkwind's freak outs and employs liberal dollops of wah-wah pedal. The pieces - not songs - twist and turn like Dark Star Grateful Dead. From these jumping off points, Papir scurry off on their own path. These guys are certainly on their own path and Papir III is one of their most fully realized albums to date. It encompasses everything the band represents in a single piece of heavy vinyl - from explosive, guitar-solo driven peaks through motoril krautrock grooves to peaceful and atmospheric soundscapes.

Ever dream you're in a spaceship on a never-ending journey to an unknowable destination? That's how Nyles Lannon often thought of life in the early part of the pandemic, when time seemed to stand still, before the vaccines or even knowing when there might be any. But whether that spaceship is a desolate prison or a vessel for escaping to a better world depends on how you use it. With literally nowhere to go, the Film School guitarist and his then-12-year-old son Skye, on drums and modular synths, would jam most evenings in Nyles's home studio, just to have something to focus their minds on and counter the tedium of "remote learning." What started out as a way to keep his talented kid busy became a means to process the anxiety and disorientation of that strange, scary stretch of time. The result is Vanishing, a ten-song album of moody melodies, new wave beats, droney rock, and even an electrogroove instrumental interlude, by the father-son project they named Nyte Skye.

The emotional toll of lockdown, our collective grief, the literal darkness that engulfed the sky thanks to devastating wildfires brought on by climate crisis—these are heavy subjects, but the songs also convey how we managed to keep each other sane, and inspired, through it all. Film School devotees will find plenty to love; so will fans of the Police (Stewart Copeland being one of Skye's major

influences), the Cure, Spiritualized, and Elliott Smith. The album's opener, "Dream State (I'm Vanishing)," is a wistful synth-driven indie gem about disappearing into an alternate universe where worries don't exist. "Doing Time," with its massive washes of 12-string guitar and sophisticated syncopated beat, is a shoegazey meditation on holding onto a child's sanguine outlook in the face of adversity. If dream pop track "Take Me Up Again" is the album's bounciest, its counterpoint is "Faded," whose bittersweet melody and gentle rhythm bely themes of physical and emotional frailty.

Ultimately, not only did working on Vanishing help the duo cope with a uniquely challenging situation, but just being stuck at home helped stoke their creativity. "Music was the only thing I did during the pandemic, besides online school," Skye says. "It gave us all this time we didn't have before to make the album." For Nyles—knowing they might never have that kind of time again—to be able to put out a record with his son is, simply, "a dream come true."

Vanishing was written, recorded, and produced by Nyles Lannon and Skye Lannon and mixed by Dan Long, with additional contributions from Zach Rogue (Rogue Wave), Nichole Kreglow (backup vocals), lyricist Neil Rodenmeyer (Lupa Rosa), and Ian McDonald (FUTRVST).

Frokedal is a popular folk singer-songwriter whose haunting vocals have scored the music of various acclaimed bands over the past decade. The members of Sa^ver are veterans of the Norwegian heavy scene. Having toured all over the world playing renowned festivals like Roadburn and Psycho Las Vegas, they now fill and orchestrate the gap between eerie softness and furious anger as a three-piece atmospheric sludge metal ensemble. This split 10" sees each of these artists present a song from the respective other artist's back catalogue, finding a transcendental middle ground between the other artist's musical realm and their own sphere. Commenting on the beginning of her own musical career, Frokedal notes: "Because everyone has a computer these days there's no limit to how many times you can multi-track. I was sick of that. I hoped to go the other way - to remove as much as I could and be left with a beating heart." Remarkably, Sa^ver have done just that in their execution of Frokedal's track «Shot-Put», turning down their guitars to give space to clean vocals and laying bare the synths that are an integral part of their sound. Driven by deep drones and soft layered vocals, the Homeric simile of a meeting at the shot put becomes even more compelling, turning the folksy original into a haunting ambient rock opus. In turn, Frokedal lays bare the heart of «I Vanish» from Sa^ver's debut LP in a gently swaying but bewitching folk version. In a world somewhere between the triple harmony magic of The Staves and the polyphonic madness of Le Myste`re des Voix Bulgares, Anne Lise conjures the unsettling path towards obliteration. Many things can be said about the way these songs sound and even about how they transcend the originals in some ways, but the true beauty of this EP lies in the way both Frokedal and Sa^ver incline towards each other to find a middle ground that is yet unexplored in their respective careers. Coming together, they prove that beauty is found in the eye of the beholder, but transcendence is found in the eye of the storm! Limited (100 copies ww) Single Colour (Dark Blue) Edition!

Mum No Hands’ - an assured four tracker that draws on Bristol bass, footwork, jungle and broken techno to create something fresh and upfront. A certified stalwart of the Bristol scene, Yushh (aka Jen Hartley) is already well on her way to becoming a household name. Over the last few years she has toured extensively across Europe’s festival and club circuits, landing sets at Freerotation Festival and HÖR along the way. Her label, Pressure Dome, is known internationally as a go-to outlet for various offshoots of forward-thinking, soundsystem-ready UK techno, with a roster that includes Sputnik One, Caldera, Ido Plumes and Cando. So far, she has only teased her production skills with a string of one-off drops and remixes, including features on Rhythm Section, Banoffee Pies and All Centre. On ‘Look Mum No Hands’ she finally lays out the blueprints for her unique, club-honed sound. The title track skips along at a nippy 160 bpm, driven by a slow/fast halfstepping beat and monster bassline that places it somewhere between DMZ and Teklife. ‘Same Same’ drops the tempo down to 130 bpm, with loungey keys and a skippy vocal chop offsetting a cavernous low-end. On the flip, ‘Close Fall’ squeezes darkside d’n’b sonics into a chugging 95 bpm beat template, while ‘Self Couscous’ takes an intricate, glitched approach to jungle/broken beat reminiscent of mid 00’s Planet Mu. Genre: Dance / Bass

Eli Brown steps up to unveil his highly anticipated debut release on Drumcode.

The UK artist hailing from Bristol has long been on Adam Beyer’s radar. He made his debut on Drumcode’s sub label Truesoul in 2019, teaming up with Will Clarke for their standout EP, ‘Our Love’. Since then, Eli Brown’s sound has continued to evolve and develop, with his signature dark and subversive sonics exhibiting on labels such as on Filth On Acid, We Are The Brave and his Arcane imprint earning high praise in techno circles.

His maiden contribution to Drumcode is in the form of his high-octane four track EP ‘Deep Down’. The title track ‘Deep Down’ has been a go-to weapon for Adam Beyer who’s been slaying it at Awakenings, Ultra Europe x Resistance and Loveland. It’s a dynamic, vocal-led production driven by a squelchy psy-laced synth line. ‘Nazareth’ is a pumping acid-infused stomper that galvanised the masses at Tomorrowland. Brown draws inspiration from Detroit for ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’, a track that delicately balances an exuberant soul vocal with a nostalgic rave vibe. The EP rounds out with the thrilling highlight, ‘Pressure’, as 90’s house chords and gritty synths combine with a luring vocal hook for an ecstatic conclusion to the EP. It went down a treat when Beyer played it at Drumcode’s Off Sonar party in June.

green vinyl / printed sleeve / 180 grams
Hadone's nine-track LP shares a first glimpse of his immersive 'Things We Never Did' concept.

November 2022 sees the inception of not only Hadone's first ever feature LP but also his artistically driven and expansive label project 'Things We Never Did'. Marking the first release on the imprint, 'What I Was Running From' spans nine individually unique records, including a special collaboration with friend and fellow French producer Askkin. One of the standout breaks tracks on the LP, it was the first track they made together.

A culmination of all things influential in modern underground techno, blending 4x4 raw techno tracks with more spirited melodic pieces, Hadone's debut LP is a telling celebration of several immersive sub-genres combined with his renowned sonic despondency. The result: a careful balance of richly electronic emotional cuts and racy industrialised techno with a gritty minimalist feel. "Not only the music is destined to evolve, but the whole environment that goes with it will be rethought on a recurring basis" adds Jeremy.

Title track 'What I Was Running From' was made after he finally found inspiration after the pandemic and was written in an hour. "I think my best tracks are made fast, as they don't reply in any intention but feelings only, therefore they are natural and reflect my true style" adds Jeremy.

Its fast paced bassline and jittery stabs, give the track a choppy break beat influenced vibe opening the album with true intent. 'What I Was Running from' offers a transcendental eye through the looking glass at a project that incorporates music, a digital interactive universe, a fashion collaboration with precocious
Parisian footwear brand Phileo. A creative collaboration which has resulted in a limited collection of 2 styles, available on both TWND's digital universe and Phileo direct.

For the 1st year designs, graphism by Raphael Clerget "leverages the power of art to underline the importance of saving our relation to time and improve focus." Raphael brings his vision of complexity and darkness through refined aesthetics carried out for the digital universe, label and merchandise.

New York City"s tape_hiss makes his debut on Darker Than Wax with A Linear Progression, a deep and meditative dance record born out of the pandemic"s paradigm shift. tape_hiss is an accomplished producer by any measure, with early releases on Love Notes from Brooklyn making his hardware-driven sound known worldwide, and a string of follow up releases on Axe on Wax, Just Jack, Lost Palms, and Echocentric Records solidifying his reputation as one of the deepest in the game.




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