Beats News

Good things come to those who wait. The album 'The Children of Scorpio' by Project Gemini aka Paul Osborne is a result of his steeped 30-year musical journey that’s seen him dig deep, study his record collection and re-emerge to fine-tune his craft.

A cinematic musical journey that plays out like a long-lost soundtrack (think cult B-movies of the 60s and 70s); 'The Children of Scorpio’ was formed from Paul's love of a myriad of genres; from European library music, acid folk, psych-funk, vintage soundtracks and the contemporary breaks scene. The album draws on iconic classics such as the masterful cinematic funk of Lalo Schifrin's 'Dirty Harry', Ennio Morricone's 'Vergogna Schifosi’ and Luis Bacalov’s 'The Summertime Killer’, to name but a few. You can also hear the folk sounds of Mark Fry's iconic 'Dreaming With Alice', the Britsh folk-jazz of The Pentangle and the David Axelrod-produced 'Release Of An Oath' by The Electric Prunes, woven into the cultural tapestry of this gem. The influence of these vintage productions of the 60s and 70s is evident; however, it could be argued that there’s also echoes of the funkier psychedelic moments of bands such as The Stones Roses and The Charlatans, alongside contemporaries such as The Heliocentrics and Little Barrie, thus giving the album a broader crossover potential beyond the world of crate digging and vintage soundtracks.

A bass player and musician since the age of 16, the arrival of his first child in 2010 saw Paul move away from live performance and retreat to his home studio, recording a wealth of music that was destined to never be heard. One of the first tunes to be made was a demo entitled ‘The Children Of Scorpio’, inspired by his long-time obsession with Lalo Schifrin’s soundtrack to violent Clint Eastwood cop classic 'Dirty Harry'. Recorded for fun, the track was fated to sit in the archives untouched. However, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, connections to a wealth of inspirational musicians and labels would re-ignite Paul's musical fire and give him the impetus to develop his slept-on ideas into something more concrete. Firstly resulting in releasing two limited 7'' records on Delights Records and now the long-player for Mr Bongo.

Assisting in the recording of the record were several close friends that have helped spark Paul's musical creativity along the way, including well-renowned guitarist and Little Barrie frontman Barrie Cadogan (who contributes killer six-string guitar to four tracks), Delights Records head-honcho Markey Funk (who adds spooked out keyboards to ‘Path Through The Forest’), Kid Victrola, the chief songwriter and guitarist with French psych girl group Gloria who added wild 12-string to ‘Scorpio’s Garden’, Haifa-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Shuzin who brings the heat behind the drum kit, and Paul Isherwood, co-founder of Nottingham’s The Soundcarriers, who mixed the album on his wealth of vintage gear.

We are delighted to be releasing this slowly-brewed timeless classic that manages to achieve that rare feat of keeping one foot firmly in the past whilst still sounding totally contemporary.

4 years after the release of his EP ‘Nights’, TAOS is back with a debut concept album ‘Reflection’, against the tide of an industry reserving this format for artists whose fame is well established. Above all, it is an overflowing creativity and a raw talent that animates Fabian, TAOS, and which draws him to the heart of ‘Reflection’. An instinctive mix of genres between electronica, abstract hip-hop and jazz, stories in the story and without worrying about labels and trends.

Hard Hitting Bass Villains

This third release from Rubi Records sees Ashley Tindall—aka Skeptical—stepping out of his usual drum and bass territory and slowing things down with three seriously deep dub-infused bass tracks in the 140-150bpm realm. While not the first time Skeptical has dipped his toes in such waters, these are easily among the finest, most musically mature examples to date. For those drum & bass fans out there unsure about Skeptical branching out into other genres, this EP shows that an open mind and listening without prejudice will reward your ears.

First up is the utterly dub-soaked 75/150bpm track 'Tell Me'. This solid stoner groove takes clear elements of Skeptical's more dub-orientated D&B and adds mesmeric pads and soulful vocal hooks, making it one of the deepest head-nodders in his overall catalogue. This is more a refined track for the 'listener' than for the dance floor, and while you can still easily throw some shapes to it, it's great to just immerse yourself in as a purely audio experience.

Next is the 140bpm 'Tapestry', which is somewhat the darker twin of 'Tell Me'. Again, we have a slow dub-infused head-nodder, but this time more menacing in tone thanks to the finely-judged use of some moody sound modules that Skeptical has tweaked and twisted in his inimitable fashion. This one's the audio equivalent of a restless mind in the depth of night.

The final offering is another 140bpm track – the unsettling beast 'Atomic v1'. It begins with a slow-burn build up of an off-kilter metronomic beat, subtly growling bass and haunting strings. This, in turn, gives way to a distorted rendering of Oppenheimer's famous use of 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds' from the Bhagavad Gita, before becoming a sinister slow-motion dubstep rumbler. With its dragging beat and the purposefully off-point main sonic hook running over the top, this is a disorientating and unsettling weapon for the discerning DJ.

This EP continues the fresh direction of Rubi Records, showcasing exceptional, forward-thinking music without borders.

Support: Ben UFO, Joy Orbison, Gilles Pererson, dBridge, Break, DLR, Doc Scott, Mefjus, Kasra, Kings of the Rollers, Alix Perez, Jubei, Dub Phizix, Flight, Tasha, Loxy, Randall, Lens.

Radio Support: BBC Radio 6 Music, Rinse FM, Kool FM

The Church EP features four high-energy dancefloor tracks in the signature Bootybass style, by the one ''Swoze'' guaranteed to get everybody moving. With Westcoast and G Funky vibes throughout, this EP delivers the perfect mix of fast-paced grooves and soulful melodies that will leave you either pimpin or craving for more.

Ivano Tetelepta's third album Veldhuizen is another masterclass in deep, shrouded in smoke, spaced out electronics. Touching all half spaces in between dubby minimal, ice cold techno and hazy deep house - the prolific Nijmegen based producer shows on Veldhuizen he's more on point than ever before. Starting the journey with the lush ambiance of 'Sterkenburg' via the deep dubbing 'Opveld', Tetelepta shows his trademark minimal grooves on tracks like 'Langenhorst' and 'Tolhuis'. But there's more, there are multiple efforts in deep hypnotic techno -- 'Halsterenstraat' is one of these impacable hypno grooves that get you locked in space. Together with 'Balearenstraat', 'Klepperheide' and 'Toekomst' it makes this one of the most techno focussed albums of Tetelepta to date. A well balanced pack of deep electronics, influenced by its many branches and restructured with a very personal touch by Tetelepta himself.

100 Limited vinyl copies
It those times of a promised civilization collapse, truth revelations, questionings, and afflictions, spiritual ascension can
come as fundamental to avoid falling into the abysses. Psychotria isn't a release with the pretense to be of help for this, but this musical meeting of the versatile producer Cyberlife and the vibes explorer TrübTone appears as an attempt of bringing response to the eternal metaphysical question on why things are, as a liberating truth for the
mind. By this psychedelic exploration of music that breaks codes to go deeper in the sound, made of seven affirmed tracks, this release mixes together some elements of this complex puzzle that only transcendence reaches to complete.

At the turn of the ‘90s, British dance music gave birth to two interconnected styles that put heavy sub-bass front and centre: bleep techno and breakbeat hardcore. Such was their popularity that the styles inspired countless imitations and mutations, both within the UK and far beyond.

This is the story told in a major new retrospective from Musique Pour La Danse, Bleeps, Breaks + Bass, a carefully curated and well-informed collection of rare and sought-after tracks from the early ‘90s selected by label founders Olivier Ducret and Bunkerheadz. Available on two limited-edition double LPs (each presented in heavy cardboard gatefold sleeves on 180g, half speed-mastered vinyl), compact disc and digital download, Bleeps, Breaks + Bass features artwork by legendary graphic designer Trevor Jackson and extensive liner notes from dance music historian Matt Anniss, author of the acclaimed book Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music.

A quick glance at the track listing will confirm the depth and variety of Bunkerheadz and Ducret’s selections, which largely sidestep celebrated anthems in favour of overlooked gems, deeper cuts and genuine rarities – all of which have been re-mastered by legendary bleep producer and engineer Rob Gordon (Forgemasters, Xon, co-founder of Warp Records) and half-speed mastered/cut by Sidney Meier at Emil Berliner.

Across the collection you’ll find lesser-celebrated gems from significant figures in the scene (Unique 3’s long-overlooked ‘Digicality’, rare tracks from 4 Hero side projects R-Solution and Tek9); surprise bass-heavy excursions from popular outfits of the period (A Man Called Adam, A Certain Ratio and The KLF’s ‘What Time Is Love’ as remixed by The Moody Boys); significant but frequently forgotten underground anthems (outings from Boneshakerz, Hypersonic, Ubik and KCC); secret weapons (Three Sons, Heychild, Techno Excursion); and even a sub-heavy classic from Norwegian ambient legend Biosphere. It all adds up to a significant celebration of one of the most fertile periods in the development of dance music with bleeps, breaks and bass.

Longtime friends and frequent collaborators Luke Entelis (Viul) and Thomas Meluch (Benoît Pioulard) combine their enchanting textures reflecting on a time spent in lockdown, for A Strangely Isolated Place.

"Konec" is Czech for "end," and a nod to the uncertainty of Luke and Thomas’ home city of New York amidst the pandemic. Birthed from Luke’s short synth sketches, the two friends further collaborated in isolation to create a series of strangely beautiful interludes - a sense of vitality breaking through the immediate surrounding dread.

Whilst many of the tracks expand far beyond what a short interlude may dictate, Konec builds on this concept through some of the most thought-provoking loops the pair have created over their many combined years producing.

With an immediate arresting aesthetic, grounded in saturation, decay, and distortion, tracks such as ‘Returning Clear Voice’ or ‘Flaxen’ reflect some of the duo’s more textured work - a hazy mist of life unknown in a city’s uncharted times. Konec’s storyful and engrossing moments come with a confident posture, such as the unforgettable bellowing of ‘Catalune’ or ‘Construction Worker Smoke Cycle’ or the swirling, haunting, ‘Canon’.

The variation in minutia, samples and instrumentation throughout the album cannot be understated amongst its hazy aesthetic and ominous poignancy. It’s one thing to notice the details, but another to unstick the melodies from the closing credits of a dystopian city’s downfall, from the forefront of your mind.

Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri and featuring original artwork by Liz Harris, Konec is available on limited gatefold transparent 2LP + digital.

Xqui travels back one hundred years, navigating a twisted channel to the roaring Twenties. As this record crackles into life, sounds begin to melt and warp in a visceral transgression of time. Uncompromisingly immersive; startling; melancholic; confusing; beautiful - Twenties is the rebirth of a fading spirit song of ages. "Often when I have an idea for a new track with a new approach or sound, it snowballs into something bigger. Whether that be a longer track, an EP or even an album, each time I try to have a theme that carries through the project. Lleisiau was based around voices, Microchasm was my industrial ambient album and Ambients found me in a more reflective and serene state of mind. With Twenties it was simply the thought of using archive recordings and footage to expand into something more tangible. I found dozens of recordings from the 1920s which I thought worked well with some of my more trademark sounds. I was looking at images for the search term ‘1920s’ when I came across an image of a man from one hundred years ago who was wearing a facemask which was presumably from the time of the Spanish Flu pandemic. It was not until I saw it that I realised, with irony, that the same thing was happening here and now. The finding of the photo added another angle to the album, a little bit of horror, interference and mechanical sounds. I recorded and collated more field recordings and manipulated them to give the noise on the album. I feel it is probably my most complete work to date and I’m incredibly proud of it. I present to you, the Twenties." Xqui. Xqui first appeared in April 2018 with his Britannia EP which was swiftly followed by the Dragon album in May. Using field recordings which he manipulated via mobile phone and laptop, he created incredible soundscapes and was quickly compared to Eno, Basinski and Mansell. Since then, he has been in rich productive form with Twenties being his seventh full length album. Appearing in several Albums of the Year lists over the last three years, he has also remixed for the likes of Lark, Elizabeth Joan Kelly and Assassin of Sound as well as collaborated with Transmission 13, Radio Europa and Geiger von Muller to name but a few. His work with boycalledcrow under the moniker of Wonderful Beasts received massive critical acclaim resulting in the approach from a filmmaker to provide soundtrack material as well as a sold-out debut compact disc.

“Pre Zz” is the first album by 5AM, a band and group effort by long time adulthood friends 5ive, Andry, and Moko.

5ive is known for his ongoing contribution for music-duo, Cos/Mes and other various projects, Andry is a multidisciplinary designer and Moko works as DJ and producer under her project Powder. 5AM plays about time, sings about observation and thinks about texture, atmosphere, and listening-space.

Caring of subtle things for the big picture.

Contains 10 new songs + their debut song ‘Today’ being also included in new mastering.

Recorded through the shared atmosphere in 2020 and 2021, sometimes jammed and otherwise done remotely.

Packaged day to day remixed feelings about that time, but not necessary just about that time.

The album captures the moment of changes — Pre something — as like before a sleep after a long stay up Zz.

For some, melancholy is the joy of being sad. But for A Rocket In Dub, the reawakened project of Düsseldorf producer Stefan Schwander, also known under pseudonyms like Antonelli Electr. or Harmonious Thelonious, Viktor Hugo's famous saying always applies. Two years ago, the Düsseldorf producer and musician released a 4x 7" box set on Krachladen Dub, his first release after a break of 17 years at the time. Now, two years later, 9 new tracks follow as a longplayer on double vinyl and music cassette. Even more experimental, more playful, more hypnotic and with a trombone! Monotony is nice! The rocket is back in the club, teaching genres like house and minimal Jamaican dub deepness again.

REPRESS ON BLACK / GOLD VINYL

Asquith returns with another hi-NRG club destroyer. 'Let Me' EP is Asquith’s fourth release - another example of serious tekkers from the northern powerhouse. Written whilst travelling on a plane, it’s a clear homage to early UK rave and euphoric dance. Higher Power has already exercised the shutter lifting rights in the mighty Panorama Bar, while Terror Barrier is a nod to Happy Birthday era Modeselektor with that thumpin' 909 drum. Hoofin' kick drums and melodic xtc for the mind, killers breaks and rave ready artwork - Let Me will take you on a trip, heading right under the M25.

Another powerful release from the Exist Dance catalogue, pioneering and shaping the sound of the US early 90's rave scene. A 4 track EP by High Lonesome Sound System - yet another project by Tom Chasteen and Mike Kandel - with a collection of different mixes of “Waiting For the Lights”. Overall a mighty rollercoaster ride in breaky prowess, playful sample wealth and driving synth riffs. Putting the Amen break to unprecedented monumental grandiosities on the dancefloor. Especially with the meticulous mastering on behalf of Manmade mastering. Can't go wrong, buy on sight.

Ikävä Pii’s vinyl debut is a collection of three original songs, complemented with two recent remixes by Arif and Monty DJ. The three original works (Palau Figment, Rampage and La Conga Di Corto) are some of Ikävä Pii’s early productions – but were recovered in London between 2020 and 2021, to be released on Flippen Disks.

Opener Palau Figment is a dive into a non-chronological sonic archive, a reluctant visit of a time past. Its saturated, driving drum machine beat is hesitantly accompanied by floating synthesizer play and takes us right into dream-land, grounded by a mono bass line that throughout the song is joined by a doubling replica in stereo - a memory of itself if you will; A nostalgic narrative told by a hardly comprehensible voice, while “Rampage” does a good job shredding it it right up, exposing the distortion of memory in its growing destruction of it’s driving force, the synthesized string sound that is eventually rendered nearly unrecognizable.

This painful process of acknowledgement finds its cathartic reconciliation on the flip. “La Conga di Corto” combines the tropes of the A-side into an ecstatic 5 minutes of loopy, shifty drums and broken up synthesizers. Arif’s Woo Reduction keeps it’s titles promise, taking few elements from the original track into a minimal club track that will make dancefloors pause and bounce alike. Monty DJ’s Transformation Dub is a much less minimalistic approach, stacking layers of percussion on top of each other, shifting form constantly.

2x12" vinyl with printed innersleeves.

"Interstellar Funk has crafted a raw, yet simultaneously hauntingly beautiful and endlessly intricate record. Layers of blended harmonies and melodies form the basis for jettisons into leftfield experimentation, heavily processed drums and oscillating frequencies. The result is as infectious as it is pensive; a transcendental journey into a synth-laden landscape.

A stalwart name on our Dekmantel line-ups and with prior releases on the likes of Rush Hour, Berceuse Heroique and L.I.E.S., Interstellar Funk is synonymous with the more brooding side of Dutch electronica. Akin to his DJ sets, which also glide effortlessly between genre, tempo and sound, Into the Echo is daringly eclectic, combining sung-spoken iterations with hypnotic samples and machinic industrial. The release will be supported by a hardware based live-show tour later in 2022.

Ethereal voices haunt the album, a spectral presence emanating both on the titular track and its eponymous twin, 'Octave Echoes.' The latter is built up around breathy reverberations partnered with steely chords and dissected drumbeats. While 'Crickets at Night,' featuring fellow Amsterdam-based producer Loradeniz, switches pace from ghostly ambient to a pulsating, metronome's tick, clockwork rhythms and eerily looped vocals.

Channelling introspective atmospheres, Into the Echo nevertheless holds steadfast to a club- ready beat and momentous bass. 'Northern Winds,' composed with JASSS, edges along the hardcore continuum, exploding with spiraling percussion and flashes of the pair's shared affinity for electro's gyrating-circuitry and dub's ominous dread. And, ionised by piercing synth and bolts of acid, 'Psycho Panner's occultist refrain climbs to an otherworldly crux.

A homage to the potency of analogue machinery and experimental electronica, Into the Echo fluctuates with organic life, often melding synthetic and acoustic instruments together. Guitar riffs flutter on 'Dreamers' before pattering out into warbling, glacial fragments and 'Last Piece of the Puzzle' features a glockenspiel-esque rhythmic element rising to a harmonic crescendo.

Sleeve Photograpy by Bea1991. "

" CONFUSION AND SIMULATION
feeling of disorientation
a HYPERMODERN hym
For posthuman ontology. "

Green Vinyl

Singer/songwriter Miller Blue teams up with the lo-fi house maestro Laurence Guy to create the sublime glistening cut "Everything is Everything", serving as a first taste from their upcoming EP "My Heart Still Leans on You".

Released via the ever excellent Shall Not Fade, this "after-hour aux cable anthem", encapsulates both the end and the beginning of a nostalgia supercharged journey. In Laurence's own words "this song came together with no time to spare, right at the end of a studio session... within an hour of jamming to my instrumental, Miller had both written and recorded the whole song, had everyone dancing around the room with their jaws on the floor."

"Everything is Everything" is a true testament to the pairs artistic abilities and establishes this team as a potent creative force to be reckoned with. Both already seasoned artists, they have captivated millions of fans all around the world, amassing over 64,000,000 streams on Spotify alone and extensive coverage in publications such as COMPLEX, BBC Radio, Clash and COLORS. Along with print and radio support they have been championed by countless tastemakers, artists and editorial playlists including New Music Fridays, Brainfood and Lofi House.

Gear used: Roland Tr-808, TR-626, JX3P, alphajuno2, SH101, SH09, RE-150. Korg VC10, MS10. Yamaha Sy85. Octave the Cat, Crumar bit99, TT-303, Sequential TOM

Mastered by Rude66

Artwork by Zeevaarder

London-based sound mangler & audio-artist extraordinaire Rico Casazza drops his first EP for Insult To Injury, the Ransom Note Records sub-label run by Timothy Clerkin. We’re treated to a slow, atmospheric start with the titular Catharsis; a glitchy, IDM masterpiece that sounds like it was recorded in a run-down warehouse somewhere in an industrial wasteland, circa 1992. We then quickly shift up a gear with Atompunk, the bastard child of the 80s Electro scene & early UK Jungle, creating something quite unique. Stepping on the accelerator even harder, Insert Feelings Here is a juggernaut summer anthem, propelled by it’s driving bassline, the euphoric strings transport us to a beachy dance-floor, just as the sun is rising. This one has arrived just in time for some ecstatic summer festival moments! Australian maestro Shedbug takes the reins for the Atompunk remix, cranking the Jungleometer up to eleven, for a Jekyll & Hyde monster that darts between the ambient rave forest and full frontal assault!

restock

Limited run of 300x. No repress!

The Pearl is a collaboration between Planteaterz and the mercurial NYC rap-mystic, Sensational. The EP features four songs recorded in the winter of 2021 with Sensational on the mic and eaterz on production, and is accompanied by instrumentals and killer remixes by Maara, J. Albert, and Lowjack.

The Pearl is a sound, a world, and definitely a vibe.

We’re pleased to share the fruits of this collaboration with you here.

Technology for the Afterlife (aka Victor Groth) is an ambient/new age
artist from Denmark, set to release his debut album Interpretations of
Eternity on Cracki Records in the spring.
The instrumental album explores the frontiers between faith and knowledge, consciousness and oblivion, past and future. It is about longing for a time when rationality and spirituality are not arch enemies, but one and the same.
When there is neither science nor religion: Only mythology.

A superb Ep dedicated to Rubick mr Mad Dog who recently passed away. RIP.

Tiar ignites the label with Ambient Occlusion with this statement of a 4 tracker. The homonymous track borrows subtle melodies from ambient techno until a destroying amen break cuts into the track with sheer violence. Both MNRLS and Shading Lines expose Tiar's years of training and deep knowledge in breakbeat mangling techniques. For closing the release, Games Sense chisels the main track into an ever building, abrasive, tense, and sub-heavy grime-flirting bomb.
Note: This is a 180g pressing

2023 Repress

Edits from the Land Of The Lost - USSR.
Russian classics in modern interpretation.

And so Especial comes to its 30th release. As with the EES010 and EES020 the 12" is given over as a "Sampler EP" of alternate versions, dubs and unreleased cuts that deserve their time in the spotlight. Again featuring a label's who's who, with Fairplay, Paton and Baha appearing, but also new crews in vogue with Roy Of The Ravers back, joined by the esteemed Freeform Five plus a debut from Bal5000. First up, sees the return of Junior Fairplay in the mixing desk hands of the ever kenetic Roy Of The Ravers. After turning in a twisted bleeptastic remix on Junior's recent "Faxes From The Future" EP (EES029), here in the aptly titled Remix 2, Roy strips everything back for a succinct and short stormer. Deeper, dubbier, dirtier, Roy does the acid-tinged bass and kick better than any, snapping those hats to ride.
Next comes another of those Jamie Paton reversions that slowly seep in your brain for days. He's all there and more, taking Freeform Five's digi-only Throwing Stones and with drudge beats, soft keys, drunk-funk pads, snap-claps and 909 kick all underpinning (Ali Love's) dubbed vocals to the haunting refrain only he can find. Another Paton love dub for the more open-minded DJ to melt hearts and minds. On the flip, we are delighted to release on vinyl Kris Baha's now cult retake of those brightest stars, Red Axes. Only previously released by brethren Multi Culti as an digi-only for the Waiting For A Surprise Remixes EP, after many years of cat calls and reminders, here at last for the vinyl heads is this monster drug-thug. Recorded some 3 years back when Baha was a relatively unknown, now a debut LP imminent for dem CockTail's boyz, this is right time for such a club killer to be spun loud and proud. To close, a new "Kids" on the block. Picked up on and then sat on for too long, Bal5000 has since had an acclaimed EP for our Invisible Inc. friends in the north and so it's right to let this pure electro flyer...fly. Coming on like a 6am party lifter, the electro beats nod to Geist and Jesrani, but with it's own funk and vibe that just keeps going higher and higher until the nods are smiles and smiles are skips and shuffles to the beat (the street). After 26 releases in 3 crazy years, last years solo (Paton) release was a nice stop and breath, so where Especial goes next is unknown. With some discoveries now flown the coup and new headz bringing their own new sound, plans are afoot to keep on keeping on and to bring something old and new to the floor...or the door. You choose.

Wound Without A Tear is a compilation of “Australian” Ambient and Experimental Music; an area so often overlooked and misunderstood because it does not easily fall into historical context. However, the fifteen years (1993-2008) the collection cites–a period of early 90s post-rave ethereality defined by pleasure-centred spaces (chill-out rooms) and the personal computer’s emergence as a popular tool for file-sharing and secondary-living in the 00s–is befitting of closer examination.

The recordings were sourced from artists, labels, corrupted disk drives, CD-Rs, the W W W and archives of Melbourne’s 3RRR community radio station.

During the 1990s, as new technologies emerged and mass digital culture flourished, artists explored the emergent possibilities of the Internet with a utopian fervour, viewing the web and its plethora of images and information as a site of boundless potential. In the 2000s, file sharing connected people around the world directly to one another, and this incorporation of online experience into material objects, meant there was an increasingly porous border between the online and offline worlds–if there remained a border, at all.

What is remarkable from this collection is that so many people, working (mostly) on their own came up with such remarkably similar ideas. In most cases these similarities can be related to the inherent qualities of the medium, though often any distinction is decidedly blurred at the edges.

The compilation seeks to make the works of these various artists available as a means of “demystification”. No specific destination is intended upon. Perhaps by the time you have reached the end, you will have forgotten where you began.

Endnotes:
How do you pronounce the title? Wound /waʊnd/ Without /wɪðˈaʊt/
A /eɪ/ Tear /teə(r)/

1. Wound. Furl. Twist. Wrap. Surround. To Move Back or
Forwards to a Desired Point.
2. Tear. Interruption. Disruption. Imperfection. Rupture.
3. Two words evoke a chain of events.

2nd release from the Berlin based label “Overground”

INCANTATIONS is a collection of sixteen visual and sonic experiments centred around the idea of score as spell,

A spell and its incantation are distinct, but conjoined by a symbolic, almost umbilical force. A spell is a totem text, a material call for change — a seed, a recipe, an instruction, a potential. The incantation of a spell gives it life, brings breath to body, raises hairs, moves minds. For this project, eight spell- scores were created by visual/text-based artists for a musician/composer to incant. Taking a wide interpretation of what can be considered a score, these works include concrete poetry, collage, painting, drawing, spell-poetry, instructional art, and recipe. The resulting sound works give voice to these evocative “texts”, residing in the liminal space between musical form and magical utterance.

Creating what became the cover artwork for this release, musician and artist Benjamin Kilchhofer conjured salt paintings reminiscent of ancient runes and salt circles — improvised talismans of protection. Translating these expressions into sound using a hydro harp (water drops hitting tuned water-filled porcelain bowls), musician and artist Tomoko Sauvage evokes an embryonic environment, the cleansing and purification of salt water oceans. Artist Mehrnaz Rohbakhsh created a piece that arose from a drawing ritual — a meditation on textile, pattern, and code. In response, Museum Of No Art (Mona Steinwidder) worked her composition by “weaving the piece, layer by layer”. She was “particularly interested in the state one achieves when one works repetitively, stoically and excessively towards a form. Which leads to trance or meditation and creates its own immaterial energy.”

Dani Spinosa, poet of digital and print media, created a typewriter poem that emerged after consulting Hesiod's “Works and Days and Theogony” to learn more about the witch goddess Hekate. Synchronously, interdisciplinary artist Gavilán Rayna Russom had recently returned to research on Hekate, teaching about the goddess in her class “Queering European Witchcraft Traditions”. Russom spent time with Spinosa’s spell, spoke to Hekate, and then unlocked the gate, seeking to “stir sonic emanations that were radiant, multiple and liminal.”

The side ends with a composition by musician and artist Felicia Atkinson via an instructional text from conceptual artist David Horvitz. What is it like to inhabit the mind of a crow? This simple gesture to befriend a crow, to be in relationship with something other than human implies much more, a re- orientation to our living environment and forms of intelligence.

The B-side opens with electronic composer C.R. Gillespie’s sonic manifestation of a score by bricolage artist Andrew Zukerman. Taking compositional inspiration from the Smiss stone, Zukerman created a collaged visual score on staff paper that hints at the formal aspects of occult symbols and sigils, while remaining obliquely secular. Creating an interlocking tapestry of “Roman gamelan”, Gillespie’s track dramatizes the negotiating power and structure of the abstract score

Over three days, iconic Canadian poet bill bissett created a jazz-scape painting filled with an ecstatic gathering of eidetic spirits, “connekting trembling xploring serching remote brooding grooving melodee solo lifting n refrain filling.” Immersing himself in the energy of the painting, musician and composer Idris Rahman overlaid three takes of bass clarinet and found that “melodies, textures and harmonies emerged without thought and the piece took on a life of its own.”

As a way to explore the connection between food and music, the curators commissioned a recipe from electronic producer and home chef, Yu Su. Her simple and wholesome pudding recipe lays out instructions for texture and taste that musician Scott Gailey stirs into a sonic caldron of field recordings and electronics. The closing chant, penned by writer and activist adrienne maree brown and incanted by musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland, was the result of a synergistic conversation between the two. The refrain, “surrender to the present moment / what’s coming now is all that’s left” is a mantra reminding us of the power of speech, repetition, and the evanescent nature of temporal experience.

he eight spell cards, inspired by the format of oracle and tarot cards, are invitations for further interpretation and play. To be under a spell is to be lost in a transformation, an alternate reality, to be in collaboration with an unknowable and powerful force. The works in this collection have created a spontaneous and ludic alchemy, courageous attempts to catalyze and spark in our present moment.

Curated by Seance Centre

Over the last two years, Percebes sought to upgrade public perception of locally created electronic and urban music by placing it along international producers, in a compilation series of two volumes called Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) - portuguese for “Gross Domestic Product”.

Released digitally (first on the label’s Bandcamp page and later on all online platforms), these showed the outside world not only what Lisbon based artists are about but also how they can fit in a wider picture. The compilations also helped to deconstruct a narrative that isn’t particularly accurate about electronic / dance / urban music made in Lisbon in international circles. In fact, PIB offers an alternative- perhaps more tangible - perspective on who and what you can actually listen to when going out at night in Portugal. Well, at least partly (it was never meant to be a definitive document).

The label was later able to cut a functional collection of tracks compiled from both volumes onto glorious wax... and here we are! Pure portuguese underground talent sided with tracks from our closest friends in the international scene. The double LP collects tracks chosen by myself from volumes I and II of PIB and also adds a little extra by including a bonus vinyl exclusive by Cyclonix. For practical reasons, it was impossible to include all 22 tracks of both volumes on this vinyl, but it’s still possible to appreciate every artist featured by finding the download codes inside and get a full digital PIB pack (with all 22 tracks, plus a bonus release).

We’re doing out part to provide you with a pristine sounding, powerful, useful and varied compilation that you can carry in your record bag for all sorts of situations - and also to fill up your USB sticks, phones and laptops with much more content for a reasonable price.

Knowledge, attitude, freedom of format, and quality over quantity. This is what we are about: Djs, producers and engineers who love great music, more than people obsessed with labelling things!

1985 Music presents the second part of its various artists series - Codex. Celebrating the best in 140/dubstep this 4-track EP brings tracks from Headland, Samba, Ebb, and label boss Alix Perez.

Blazing out of the blocks with a sound fully charged for the breakbeat revival, Yosh inaugurates Vivid with this appropriately vibrant set of UK bass music belters. Taking the best elements from jungle, garage and more, lead track "It's Over" bursts forth in a cascade of rolling drums before the moody sub bass stylings of "We Rewind" takes over. Things get a little more aquatic on crafty tripper "Slow Down", and then the drums come right to the forefront of the mix on crisp and deadly EP closer "Pick Up Roll On." With impeccable production values and a liberal dose of UK rudeness, this is an essential fresh grip for anyone wanting some fresh jungle derivatives in their lives.

'An Orchestral Suite For Tape' is a compilation specifically curated for playback on the noble cassette tape format, featuring orchestral arrangements by Texas-Indiana duo zake & City of Dawn. Including songs from four albums and one compilation, the first time these tracks have been available on tape, the mood is deep and meditative, the billowing clouds of synthesisers providing ample space for thought and relaxation alike.

All tracks licensed from Makkum Records | Produced and mixed by remix artists | Mastering by Detlef Funder, Paraschall Studios Düsseldorf | Artwork by Darko Kujundžic

It's the kind of project that brings the old mad scientist cliché out for an airing, "It's insane, but it just might work." The insanity in this case being a motley cast that features Andy Moor (The Ex, Amsterdam), Desmond Denker (Cologne), Phanton (Cologne), Yürke (Düsseldorf), Dubby King Knarf (Knarf Rellöm, Hamburg), Istari Lasterfahrer (Hamburg), Begritty (Cologne) laying down their versions of tracks from the demento-a-go-go-electro-pop-rock-mono-mind known as Zea.

How could we resist the spasmodic schizoid psychedelic menace of that devilish Dutch juggernaut called Zea. This bastardised twelve inch slab of wax has Zea sonically re-assessed, dissected and twisted in side out. And it had to happen, it had to be made.

"Standing up I forgot what came to mind when I was lying on the kitchen floor. Standing up I forgot what came to mind, something I tried to remember before." It's the punky pop intro of the song 'Staande ben ik vergeten wat ik dacht toen ik lag', the Dutch translation of the first sentence of the song that provided the title for this collection of remixes. Zea, a.k.a. Arnold de Boer, a musician who skips sitting down, who either jumps or lies on the floor fumbling with a dictaphone trying to remember the ideas that just came to mind jumping around from the couch straight into the kitchen, trying to write the next song while cooking spicy food that makes his head explode. It's all inthere, everyone is in there; shrinking people, growing people, dead people. And all "Sub specie ludens" (from the perspective of human play).