Techno Новости

Markus Guentner's story continues where his last album, 'Theia' left off with another set of epic atmospheres and brave new worlds. This time Markus enlists the skills of harpist, Tom Moth, cellist, Julia Kent and fellow ambient storyteller, bvdub to complete the journey. From fiery remnants, a universal rhythm emerged. An ebb and flow of force and fate, creating worlds within worlds, forever connected by an infinite empire. Markus Guentner's 2015 album, 'Theia' took us back to the mythological impact that birthed the Earth's moon. The creation of the galaxy as we know it today was being born and more specifically, the eventual rise of the human species followed. This is where Empire takes its cue, continuing the story and portraying the connection and many interactions between the Earth, the Universe and the mystifying forces amongst them. Be it physical, scientific or mythological, Empire draws on the ebb and flow relationship the Earth has with the deeper, unknown space around us. Markus dives into sometimes sinister, but always majestic territories with his unique manipulation of looping drones, textures and gradual atmospheres. The album and its planned progression, combine back-and-forth chapters between Markus' own productions and collaborations, representing the different perspectives between the unknown worlds. Beginning 'Offworld', in a dark and distant, swirling ambient chasm, Empire then moves into manipulating shards of light, with Canadian cellist Julia Kent adding a stirring yet poignant element to the growing void. Icelandic for "hiding", 'Fura' finds us back in the emptiness, but this time with a sense of hope as fluorescent molecules - future stars - gather and birth new worlds. A return to terra firma, and slow-motion grass moves all around you - a future mirage depicting a new vision of beauty that's yet to be formed, brought to you alongside fellow master of emotive ambient, bvdub. The dream is cut short and you then find yourself in the void of 'Nun' - the God of Egyptian Mythology - as echoes of man and cities once alive, are drowned out by an ever-present mysterious force and a subtle, alien static. All is not dark however, as harpist Tom Moth (Florence and the Machine) brings a shimmering, angelic shine, as you witness the growing energy and birth of the sun - the leader, life, and power amongst the Empire. Its birth, the 'New World Order', closing with a slow churning, atmospheric piece that is both complex and elemental, gracious and sinister, dark, yet in many ways hopeful for all that remains.This is the Empire as we know it today. Empire will be available on marbled transparent orange and black vinyl (including digital download)

55 minutes of relentless power electronics coming via courtesy of OAKE, presented for the first time on vinyl.

Originally recorded during a live performance in Marseille, 2015 and previously released on tape via Ascetic House in 2016.

'Live in Marseille' is now newly presented on 4 sides of wax which have been supervised and editing by OAKE, remastered and cut at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin and pressed at Record Industry, Holland.

The 2xLP comes housed in a 6mm full cover record sleeve with each copy housing an individually, hand printed artwork and download code.

Katharsis was originally a regular party organized at the infamous Contact, Tokyo, the home of the electronic music scene in Japan.
In 2017 Katharsis Recordings was launched, with the first release being touted by many in the Japanese techno scene and played by the
likes of DJ Nobu at Dekmantel.The second release will be scripted with another compilation of 4 Japanese artists.

The first on the A side, Mikuni Kaido by head honcho Masafumi Take, is a fresh track that combines nostalgic arps and analogue bass.

The other main member Kannabi's track 'Shoka' on the B side is an abstract rhythmical piece that evolves slowly.

The second track on the A side 'Kirisame' is by a new member O-Ma. A modular synth enthusiast, his unique analogue sounds are a trademark
of his tracks.


The last track on the EP is 'Yoake' by veteran Ryogo Yamamori. The rolling beat and spacey synth sound gradually build up to a climax and
makes this track perfect for the dance floor.

All 4 tracks are distinctly different showcasing the identity of each artist. This new movement represents a fresh approach to the Japanese
techno scene.

N The Wake Of A Triple Cd Pack, Colundi Delivered A Sampler With 8 Tracks From New Artists Using The Colundi Sequence. Colundi Every0ne.

For release number 16 on De:tuned Stefan Robbers aka Terrace steps up to the plate. The veteran and well-respected Dutch producer from the city of Eindhoven unleashes four brand new techno tracks with a strong Detroit DNA for the discerning dancefloors. It's everything you'd expect from a Terrace release: a crisp and warm analogue sound with plenty of melody and groove, dubby undertones and fat chords. The icing on the cake is the optical themed artwork created by designer Openmind (aka Strictly Kev, DJ Food, Ninja Tune). As per usual Matt Colton from Alchemy Mastering reworked the source material to guarantee a flawless listening experience. This release will be available on 180 gr vinyl. A digital release will also be available from all the usual outlets. Stay tuned!

ABYSS Recordings debut vinyl release Envisioned Disorder features Rommek, Yuji Kondo, Snitch and Michal Jablonski.

Part 1 of Mental Overdrive Album Remixes ! This Time by Kowton and Subtil!

Juan Mendez a.k.a Silent Servant finds his ideal EBM vocal foil in Ori Ofir under their Sterile Hand moniker. The duo's first vinyl round for Not Waving's Ecstatic label is a dark and sleazy run of deviant industrial techno and pugilistic EBM cuts made over the last year.
Following Silent Servant's killer split 12' with Not Waving and Pye Corner Audio in 2017, and two fierce 12's with Marcel Dettmann and Phase Fatale in 2018, the L.A.-based artist behind Sandwell District and Jealous God is at the apex of his game right now, combining EBM and techno in faithful but inventive new ways. If there was anything previously missing from Silent Servant's music, it's only become apparent thru the seamless and natural incorporation of Ori Ofir's classic-styled but unique vocals. The two L.A.-based artists push each other down tightening alleys of EBM and industrial techno, with Ofir's stark, blunted declamations haunting and highlighting the most fetid corners of Mendez's rolled-steel productions. It's a style that works to cryptic, head-turning effect in the Voigt Kampff-like probe of Personality Test, then with increasing dancefloor force in the Nitzer Ebb-esquer flow of The Hunter and the punishing, gnashing bite of Security, whereas Listen For Water and the creeping figures of Untitled explore the esoteric powers and parameters of Sterile Hand in mesmerising psychoactive detail.

Juan Mendez a.k.a Silent Servant finds his ideal EBM vocal foil in Ori Ofir under their Sterile Hand moniker. The duo's first vinyl round for Not Waving's Ecstatic label is a dark and sleazy run of deviant industrial techno and pugilistic EBM cuts made over the last year.
Following Silent Servant's killer split 12' with Not Waving and Pye Corner Audio in 2017, and two fierce 12's with Marcel Dettmann and Phase Fatale in 2018, the L.A.-based artist behind Sandwell District and Jealous God is at the apex of his game right now, combining EBM and techno in faithful but inventive new ways. If there was anything previously missing from Silent Servant's music, it's only become apparent thru the seamless and natural incorporation of Ori Ofir's classic-styled but unique vocals. The two L.A.-based artists push each other down tightening alleys of EBM and industrial techno, with Ofir's stark, blunted declamations haunting and highlighting the most fetid corners of Mendez's rolled-steel productions. It's a style that works to cryptic, head-turning effect in the Voigt Kampff-like probe of Personality Test, then with increasing dancefloor force in the Nitzer Ebb-esquer flow of The Hunter and the punishing, gnashing bite of Security, whereas Listen For Water and the creeping figures of Untitled explore the esoteric powers and parameters of Sterile Hand in mesmerising psychoactive detail.

In a scenario of overwhelming number of instruments, musicians often do not take the time to deepen and explore the creative possibilities of each gear they possess. One Instrument aims at counter-acting this tendency by challenging and limiting each artist in producing a composition by using only one instrument of their choice.

The LP opens with a composition by In Bloom, the new project of Martino Bertola, who drives us directly into a melodic ambience. To follow it is the dense, polyrhythmic experiment by Fabian Kempe's project 'Korridor'. Serena Butler's piece is built around spacey sounds and breezy rhythms.

Yhdessa, the newly born Dutch-Italian duo formed by Grand River (Aimee Portioli) and Enrica Falqui, leans towards ambient atmospherics and ominous sonorities with a refined Northern European touch. Yair Elazar Glotman ventures us across his contrabass player skills giving an acoustic touch to the record.

Swedish producer, Fjader (Ida Matsdotter), handles the flip with a moody techno cut filled with evasive analog acutes.

Claudio PRC delivers an electroacoustic soundscape created with a tiny, graceful drone machine.

The Dutch duo, Wanderwelle, closes the LP with a dreamy and delicate excursion evoking the mysterious sides of nature.

Following the surprise release of his Slow Fade EP last month, Daniel Avery presents a collection of remixes from Surgeon, Actress and Inga Mauer. The remix EP will be released digitally and on 12' vinyl on March 9th.

Widely regarded as one of UK electronic music's leading lights and arguably the finest techno DJ in the world' (FACT), with a career spanning over 20 years, Surgeon lends his clinical touch to 'Radius', adding an erratic, propulsive beat to Avery's warm synth layers for one of his best remixes yet.

Werkdiscs head Actress meanwhile delivers a pared back and introspective rework of 'Slow Fade', shrouding the synth refrain in hypnotic, distorted production, in his first remix following the release of his critically acclaimed 2017 album AZD.

Bunker Records' Inga Mauer completes the package, offering a claustrophobic mix pierced with metallic shards that confirms what Resident Advisor said of the uncompromising Russian-born Amsterdam-based DJ and producer last year: Mauer is destined for big things.'

Function, Wata Igarashi & Marco Shuttle Remixes) Sigha's lauded Metabolism album is further commended with a remix EP for Token 77. With three highly qualified label newcomers enlisted to the task of reimagining aspects of the album, the music is reworked into a new context to powerful effect.

Sigha's lauded Metabolism album is further commended with a remix EP for Token 77. With three highly qualified label newcomers enlisted to the task of reimagining aspects of the album, the music is reworked into a new context to powerful effect.

Wata Igarashi's flourishing recognition as a producer with striking competence and flair has marked him as a valuable affiliate on the record. He demonstrates different areas of focus with two new versions of Black Massing. The Daylight Breaks Remix opens up the high-end, expressing the delicate harmonics of the original with rushing upward arpeggios. The Dusk Falls Remix instead hones in on the deep and anticipatory nature of its foundation.

Marco Shuttle's foreboding Morning Star remix feels skilfully subtractive, magnifying elements by adding space and drawing focus to its melodic asides. Function plays with the contemplative nature of Down in his version, adding dynamic percussion and energy while retaining its expression and depth.

Oscar Mulero presents: 'Perfect Peace'. Don't expect dancefloor burners here, this time the spanish techno master goes deep and low, exploring sonic textures, low BPM grooves and the intelligent side of electronic music. Melodies, pads, drones and grooves collide in this soulful collection, conceived to be listened as a soundtrack. Oscar is not new to this sounds, in his Grey Fades To Green or Muscle and Mind albums he showcased his abilities in this field as well as with his Av projects Biolive and Monochrome. A new step in Oscar Mulero's ever growing career, showing his studio skills and music taste, far beyond his role as a fundamental techno dj.

Vidab X returns with a new artist, Faltin, who chooses to remain anonymous, plus a stepping rework by Gowentgone aka label owners Oliver Deutschmann and Stephan Hill.
Faltin's 'Phobos' is a stripped down analogue masterclass. Rolling and snaking, its arpeggiated lead growls with a hot headed tension, climbing while never losing balance and poise.
The 'Gowentgone Stepper' translates the original into a heavyweight, early-morning trip - a certain hybrid of broken beats and techno attitude that melts between genres. Waves of euphoria are carried by rumbling drums in this essential version.

Elmer Kussiac ist ein Berliner Trio mit Cello, Kontrabass und E-Gitarre, die alle durch ein System analoger Elektronik bearbeitet werden. Der Sound repräsentiert eine Vielzahl von musikalischen Einflüssen, die den individuellen Hintergrund jedes Mitglieds widerspiegeln, von minimalistischer Drone Musik bis hin zu zeitgenössischer klassischer Musik, traditioneller türkischer Musik und Noise Rock. Die improvisatorische Herangehensweise an die Musik legt großen Wert auf die einzigartige Atmosphäre und den Kontext jeder einzelnen Aufführung und behält dabei einen klar erkennbaren und ästhetisch zusammenhängenden Klang bei.

Taciturn Manner is Reggy van Oers's first full length on his own Telemorph imprint.

Pertained in a period of strained self reflection, several field recordings have become the core upon which the album has been created. A persistant continuous movement throughout the elements of the tracks causes a certain constrasting tension and gradually transforms into lush cinematic textures.

An intricate and mesmerizing journey, full of rich and surprising details, resulting in a rather emotional expression of his constraint style and coherent distinct sound.

Vocal trance
Yes.
But probably not as you would imagine.
Here is Friday Dunard from Cologne.

Ahrpe Records co-founder Amandra navigates a unique space between droning ambience and polyrhythmic funk on 'Dame De Bahia', his first release to emerge on Italian imprint Obscura. This is the French, Warsaw-based producer's second album and follows a string of acclaimed EPs on Ahrpe, Semantica, Tikita and Silent Season. Complex patterns are woven through sustained tone clusters to foster an unlimited sense of energy and focus. Radiant synths glisten over live percussive loops whilst infinite pads wander the boundaries of light and dark. Amandra uses minimalist techniques to build tranquil sonic spaces that evolve on their own accord, making way for carefully mapped out rhythmic cycles. The result is an immersive listening experience replete with subtle details, but never cluttered. "Moody and lightful, this album combines many aspects I cherish in electronic music. Dame De Bahia LP is a direct nod to my beloved Mediterranean roots."

A/B sides of Taciturn Manner LP
Taciturn Manner is Reggy van Oers's first full length on his own Telemorph imprint.

Pertained in a period of strained self reflection, several field recordings have become the core upon which the album has been created. A persistant continuous movement throughout the elements of the tracks causes a certain constrasting tension and gradually transforms into lush cinematic textures.

An intricate and mesmerizing journey, full of rich and surprising details, resulting in a rather emotional expression of his constraint style and coherent distinct sound.

Maurizio Cascella debuts on Love Blast Records with a 2 track EP, Violet Capsule .
Well known for his past productions on Elettronica Romana together with such names as Giorgio Gigli, Dino Sabatini and Donato Dozzy he s a founder of the roman techno scene.
In his new release Cascella propose his concept of techno: catchy, dubby and groovy with a mental hypnotic touch, developed in long efforts, taking you to the darkest side of the dancefloor.

Advance 12" of the upcoming Oscar Mulero album 'Perfect Peace', SEMANTICA 70 with some deep electronix!

New chapter on Nonnative series. New Semantica artists Cosmin TRG, Samuli Kemppi, Opuswerk and Refracted featuring Nonnative 09.

Wriggling away from any clear classification, as 80s Italian new music was wont to do, yet clearly drawing on a number of traditions and procedures, Andreoni and Paladino's AEOLYCA project stands on its own as it intersects the two musicians' already well established partnership in A.T.R.O.X. and The Doubling Riders among other settings with the sounds generated by Mario Ciccioli's aeolian sculptures. Neither aiming for the organic purity of Harry Bertoia's Sonambient recordings or the complex constructions of Mario Bertoncini's works with aeolian harps, AEOLYCA walks a line of resistance in refusing to get with any program. The music that was produced in Andreoni and Paladino's interaction with the recordings extracted by Emiliano Licastro from Ciccioli's sculptures is one that breaks the boundaries between the sound and musical sources.

The work is divided between the quick pop timings of the Rain on the Bells', Sunday Clothes for Brass Bands' and The Peruvian Club' and the longer eponymous structured compositions that bookend the record each track characterized by a dominant sonority inspired by specific iterations of globalized musics. Ultimately, though, notwithstanding their individual structural and sound diversities, the project is indebted to the sampler, the ultimate absorber, the sound source that takes up the most musical space and the possibilities of eroding sources and styles that it imposes.

Further, to indicatively attest the historical context from which it emerges, the 1980s as they came to a close, AEOLYCA was originally released on cassette, that decade's foremost format, agile, immediate, economical and for a US label (Violet Glass Oracle).

This is music that has digested many of the period's instinctive gestures. It exists as a satellite, incapable and unwilling to articulate antecedents and to nurture descendants. This is a unique work in Andreoni and Paladino's well documented activity, individually, in duo, and in their eclectic collaborations with the likes of Roger Eno and Riccardo Sinigaglia. Like the Time Zones Festival from which this project got its start AEOLYCA is what you find on the 'path of possible musics'.

- Peter Sarram

About this release *First 10 tracks only come with the limited edition. Nijmegen's ESHU welcomes co-founder Ivano Tetelepta for his first solo release on the label. It is also the imprint's first full length, but Tetelepta's second album after the hypnotic drum workout that was True Colours, his debut on Fear of Flying in 2012. It comes as a double vinyl release with the first disc being limited, and finds the producer casting himself free from the dance floor and serving up a beautifully atmospheric soundtrack that would be a perfect companion for a nature documentary. When making EPs and 12''s, Tetelepta's smooth and infectious drums are always front and centre in his work, whether solo or as producing with label mates under the ESHU alias. He's also worked with labels like Siena and KERING, but here he shows another side that focusses on short pieces, melody and blissful sound design. To give this album its perfectly warm analogue sound, the whole thing was recorded via cassette and revox tape. The first ten tracks are short, immersive musical worlds with poignant chords and glistening melodies. Some twinkle and shimmer, some sound like an underwater eco system coming to life, and others seem to come from deepest space where solar winds and sonar pulses pass you by. It's cinematic and evocative stuff that takes you away from the here and now and into a different realm. The four tracks on disc two then start with Senang, a suspensory and multi-layered piece of music that has keys, modulations and samples wrapping all around you before Whistle Of Patience has a supple minimal drum line that slowly gets under your skin. Ede 2 Nijmegen is then a turbulent dub track which builds a darker mood before closer De Test sinks back into supple, rubbery and warm drums laced up with hypnotic pads that circle all around. This is an ambitious album of meditative music that offers a beautiful place to lose your mind.

Street sounds remixes and ambient noises dronified... music for the soul.

Shlomo takes a step away from his own Taapion Records to return to Delsin for his second full EP for the label. The Parisian producer serves up two of his modern techno jams, a lush ambient piece plus a slamming rework by Tommy Four Seven. Up first is In Absentia: Tome 2, a follow up track to his last EP on the label. It is another cold techno cut with turbulent drums down low and icy, slithering hi hats up top all backed by synths that light up the track from behind with a heavenly glow. Tbilisian Cure is a more abrasive affair with blistered synth lines and scurrying electronics running through the fast and brutal drums. Lali then flips the script and offers an ambient excursion with watery synths forming celestial puddles in the sky. It's a zoned out soundtrack that's the perfect comedown. Finishing off the EP, 47 label boss Tommy Four Seven flips this one into a weightless techno groove that rocks back and forth on the drums as sweeping chords leave you feeling suspended in mid air. Plenty of ground is covered in this one, and all with equally compelling results.

Southern Italian sociologist, DJ and electronic music producer Simone Gatto is about to release his second album, 'Heaven Inside Your Frequencies', in December 2017. Recorded and produced between his motherland and other significant spaces and cities the Ionian coast and natural parks of Lecce, his second home Berlin, the Whitney Museum in New York City and other significant places 'Heaven Inside Your Frequencies' represents a complete excursus of his personal and professional paths combining Gatto's theoretical background with personal and artistic maturity, achieved in the last decade.

Completing the reissue cycle of Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement's ambient invocations, Papua New Guinea (2012) is rendered in this new remaster by Paul Corley (0PN, Tim Hecker, Ben Frost) and sacrificed to vinyl for the first and last time on Hospital Productions. Slotting alongside 5 previous vinyl reissues of the original tape editions released over the last 12 months, Papua New Guinea loops back to the start of the saga, affording a clearer and more immersive way into one of Dominick Fernow's most (oc)cultish projects.
The eight track dosage of Papua New Guinea generated a wave of speculation as to its shadowy provenance back in 2012. It sounded little like anything else in circulation and left heads genuinely floundering for answers to its riddling track titles and extreme aesthetics; a steeply evocative combination of near-infrasonic sub-bass tones and cold but humid environmental sounds laced with slow, looping, tribal rhythms.
It took at least another year before the project was revealed as an outlet for Hospital Productions capo Dominick Fernow, who had been quietly taking the opportunity to explore a sound putatively unfamiliar to his better known projects. Yet, with hindsight, it's now easier to hear RSE as an inverse, endothermic alternative to the raging energies of his Prurient output or the searing, propulsive combustions of Vatican Shadow, for example.
In stark contrast to proceeding instalments' increasing track lengths, Papua New Guinea is comprised of eight relatively concise parts, with each side of vinyl relating to one of the original tapes. The A-side seeps into consciousness in frightening style with Paul Corley's remaster now bringing the long, slippery sub-bass descent of There Are Many Powerful Spirits Living In The Hills And Stones And It Is Not A Good Idea To Disturb Them to life with uncanny psychoacoustic subtlety, before hypnotic rhythms take possession for the duration and the listener is eventually deposited at the bombed-out ambient ecology of The Spirit Was Angry And Froze The Bulldozer
So It Could Not Move. The Bulldozer Is Still There Today. What occurs between those points defies description in the manner of the strongest psychedelics, and likewise, requires deep immersion for full comprehension.








Strong Spirit Dwells

Ukrainian producer Vakula, whose name is linked to the early days of Arma, re-emerges with Techno Game.

Acid Test continues their journey with the return of Achterbahn D'Amour. On their first proper release in three years, Jool & Iron Curtis patiently craft an intricate sound world - with the opening track, major-key pads hearken towards a bright future, hi-hats rustle like leaves and on "Dehaveland," percussive elements fall into beautiful, random unison like factory machines staging an after hours dance. Samuel Van Dijk's vaunted VC-118A project steps up for a remix, turning in a taut techno version that unfurls smoke pillars of ghostly ambience. The duo wraps up the four-tracker with an unexpected dreamy electro turn, "Don't Talk To Me." Throughout Acid Test 13, they remain in lockstep with the label's ethos - to bend, hammer and flatten acid lines into new, imaginative shapes.

First ever vinyl edition of Justin Broadrick's crushing industrial turns as JK Flesh for Hospital Productions, combining the Suicide Estate and Antibiotic Armageddon releases for a greyscale spectrum of brutalist techno / abyssal acid dub / tramadol tribalism / noxious noise textures that's highly recommended if you're into Regis, Birmingham at night, Kareem...
It's an unflinchingly bleak representation of the world described in hard edged techno and shot thru with moments of affective, synthy pathos. In sonic and literal tone, the record forms a stark reflection on Justin K Broadrick Brummie stomping grounds, using demolished tower blocks as cues for some of the album's most affective moments, such as the wrecking ball assault of Bayley Tower (New Mix), the rubbled rolige of Stoneycroft Tower, or the 'marish zumby techno lurch of Bromford Bridge Estate, and all in a way that surely dovetails with the perceptions of anyone who has lived in a built p British area, or anywhere else with lots of
concrete and little sunlight.The other half of the tracks are taken from and titled in reference to Antibiotic Armageddon - the inevitable point when pill-gobbling citizens of the world are no longer protected against old viruses, and new ones. The tone of these cuts is understandably bleak af, too. Tamiflu dry-wretches a windswept passage of bummed-out dub techno breaks, where Squalene (New Mix])glumly follows suit with the clammy synth malaise of Ethylene Glycol and the knee-buckled crawler Thimerosal, which sounds like one of his Godflesh tracks in the process of terrifying itself to death.s

First ever vinyl edition of Justin Broadrick's crushing industrial turns as JK Flesh for Hospital Productions, combining the Suicide Estate and Antibiotic Armageddon releases for a greyscale spectrum of brutalist techno / abyssal acid dub / tramadol tribalism / noxious noise textures that's highly recommended if you're into Regis, Birmingham at night, Kareem...
It's an unflinchingly bleak representation of the world described in hard edged techno and shot thru with moments of affective, synthy pathos. In sonic and literal tone, the record forms a stark reflection on Justin K Broadrick Brummie stomping grounds, using demolished tower blocks as cues for some of the album's most affective moments, such as the wrecking ball assault of Bayley Tower (New Mix), the rubbled rolige of Stoneycroft Tower, or the 'marish zumby techno lurch of Bromford Bridge Estate, and all in a way that surely dovetails with the perceptions of anyone who has lived in a built p British area, or anywhere else with lots of
concrete and little sunlight.The other half of the tracks are taken from and titled in reference to Antibiotic Armageddon - the inevitable point when pill-gobbling citizens of the world are no longer protected against old viruses, and new ones. The tone of these cuts is understandably bleak af, too. Tamiflu dry-wretches a windswept passage of bummed-out dub techno breaks, where Squalene (New Mix) glumly follows suit with the clammy synth malaise of Ethylene Glycol and the knee-buckled crawler Thimerosal, which sounds like one of his Godflesh tracks in the process of terrifying itself to death.s

After releasing their first two releases on one disc, the third release on Amsterdam imprint Working Titles is a release on its own. Label founders Scott Franka & Kaap are behind the label's third release that features two epic tracks from the Dutch pair and again finds them exploring new and exciting techno territory with their lively machine jams.

First track 'Poise I' is a deep and dubbed out techno track with deft synths slowly shapeshifting and bringing sombreness to the quickened groove. It's late night music to zone you out with sparse but rich detailing to keep your mind occupied and it gets ever-busier over the course of thirteen enthralling minutes. Then 'Poise II' is a 16 minute masterpiece that is watery and dubby. It has undulating synth currents and increasingly textured snares. Building to a peak then pulling back, with occasional freaky vocal sounds and sci-fi motifs, it is a truly cinematic piece that closes out an ambitious EP.

If Psychic Health's self-titled debut album took the lessons the LA duo learned in the teeming clubs of Berlin and Melbourne, their latest LP, Exclusion, look inward, a document of the duo tunneling down the studio wormhole. As such, Exclusion is a remarkably dynamic effort, adeptly jumping between evocative ambience ("Jamaica 88," "Ryso") and equally expansive dance floor fair.
Examples of the latter, such as the album's obvious centerpiece and titular track, Exclusion, document Gabriel Mounsey and Devon Steffens's harnessing modular beast technology for peak techno utility, finding a clear thoroughfare between the soaring strings of Derrick May's classic Transmat releases and Ostgut Ton's current EBM-inflected precision.
As you'd expect from Mounsey's background in film composition, Exclusion whirls with imagery. It's a Los Angeles album, but focuses on raw beauty of the city at night—the lights in the distance, and the desolate downtown streets where kickdrums often waft from disused warehouses. While their debut album opened notable doors for the group, landing distribution from Hard Wax and featuring in the Netflix series Sense8, Exclusion is an altogether masterful turn for Psychic Health, their complete studio immersion easing the listener into deeply hypnotic states.

Bologna's Yerevan Tapes project vivid sci-fi sound designs from producer/signer Marie Davidson and sound designer Invisible Church, making up the duo's first collaborative work, recorded during September 2016 - January 2017, and notably starring Theo Parrish playing cymbal on the 10 minute submission, Ten Years.
Spawned from a meeting at RBMA's Montreal '16 festival, Whatever Makes You Feel Safe locates her signature vocals far removed from the structural synth-pop comforts of her roundly acclaimed debut side, Perte D'Identité, and the Adieux Au Dancefloor LP for Cititrax, and elusively diffused into chasmic frameworks of field recordings and depth charge percussion deployed by Invisible Church.
In all three parts they feel out chasmic, void-like dimensions with a microscopic attention to textural and spatial qualities. Marie's vocals signify a ghost in the machine presence on Collage, rendered as silvery streaks and cluster-formed cloud of ferric harmonics perfusing drizzly street or industrial scenes worthy of a Bladerunner scene.
Never Release The Tension meanwhile isolates and focuses in on a blunted, atonal sort of post-industrial sound design recalling Mika Vainio in its brooding pressure, or even the elegiac glossolalia of Liz Fraser via Tropic of Cancer in its lamenting keen.
But the best is definitely saved for last with Ten Years, where speaker-drooping subs underline sheets of steely grey, phantasmic dissonance, punctuated by the patter and splash of Theo Parrish's cymbal work, and possibly betraying a hint of influence from first nation musical traditions as much as kosmische or avant BM.

For Kontra-Musik White Label's 10th release we give you none other than Nuel. The Italian producer is closely connected to the Aquaplano label run by Donato Dozzy - a natural source of collaboration as they speak the same language, not least in the musical sense. Nuel has perfected this dreamlike and seductive speech and it was irresistible for Kontra-Musik. On the surface Nuel's tracks might seem abstract and mathematical, but there's really an abundance of movement and groove in his music. Mechanical yet sensual, there's subtle erotic current running through the whole release: It's like a Marvin Gaye record for robots that just want to get it on.

J.C aka Jose Cabrera and Kastil collaborate and come with the exciting results. A fresh blend of fierce techno, ambience, industrial, noise and found sounds recordings. A full length captivating album that pushes and pulls you through an edgy and engaging world of sound. Part 1 mixes up trance-inducing deep techno with punishing drum programming. Synths have a life of their own as they whip and snap about and bring a post apocalyptic sense of foreboding. Some tracks are abstract modular gurgles and others are lo-fi, heavily textured affairs that are beguiling beautiful. The use of modular synths lends the whole thing an unpredictable and analogue feel that makes is bristle and brim with life throughout. Part 2 focuses on more suspensory ambient sounds. It means tracks zone you out and get you thinking, with distant melodies drifting next to warm solar winds. When drums do appear they are deep down below and dubbed out affairs that unfold slowly. A album that keeps you locked from start till end!

Just as you begin to get comfortable with something, the rug is pulled from under you. A week last Friday, John Dwyer and his band Oh Sees released their newest record, the monolithic psych opus Orc. This release represents the 19th album under some amalgam of the name Oh Sees/Thee Oh Sees/The Oh Sees, OCS, etc. Wasting no time, John Dwyer presents the 20th album (in the 20th year of the band's existence), 'Memory of a Cut Off Head' (out 17/11 on Castle Face), returning to his roots as OCS.

It is easy to forget (especially amidst the ringing of ears and aching of muscles after your typical Oh Sees show) that initially, OCS was a rather hushed affair. After the minimalistic brutality of Coachwhips, OCS was a diametric opposite corner of John's musical world, quiet to the point of whispered in the wind, buffeted by the airy whirr of singing saw, soft and strange. Those early records especially had a rather contraband hush about them, as if the party has gone on all night and continues into the morning but everyone's raspy from talking too much and gradually agrees to whisper and pantomime as they watch the sun come up over the hills. Since then of course, things got gradually louder, faster, crazier...the band evolved since then into the Oh Sees everyone knows. For the 20th Oh Sees release, 100th Castle Face title, and 20th year doing it, John re-examines the quieter roots of it all in particularly baroque and homesteadly fashion. Memory of a Cut Off Head was co-written with longtime collaborator and vocal counterpoint Brigid Dawson, recorded in total in John's own Stu Stu Studio, and it's lush, sumptuous in texture, but satisfyingly retains the gentle grace of the early stuff. There's beautifully executed strings throughout, courtesy of Heather Lockie's fine arrangements, horn arrangements courtesy of Mikal Cronin, and they even brought back the old saw - Patrick Mullins, that is - on saw and electronics. A return and a refinement of old forms, a few solemn meditations on life lived at high velocity, perhaps a respite from it...a softer side of JPD and distinguished company.

Just as you begin to get comfortable with something, the rug is pulled from under you. A week last Friday, John Dwyer and his band Oh Sees released their newest record, the monolithic psych opus Orc. This release represents the 19th album under some amalgam of the name Oh Sees/Thee Oh Sees/The Oh Sees, OCS, etc. Wasting no time, John Dwyer presents the 20th album (in the 20th year of the band's existence), 'Memory of a Cut Off Head' (out 17/11 on Castle Face), returning to his roots as OCS.

It is easy to forget (especially amidst the ringing of ears and aching of muscles after your typical Oh Sees show) that initially, OCS was a rather hushed affair. After the minimalistic brutality of Coachwhips, OCS was a diametric opposite corner of John's musical world, quiet to the point of whispered in the wind, buffeted by the airy whirr of singing saw, soft and strange. Those early records especially had a rather contraband hush about them, as if the party has gone on all night and continues into the morning but everyone's raspy from talking too much and gradually agrees to whisper and pantomime as they watch the sun come up over the hills. Since then of course, things got gradually louder, faster, crazier...the band evolved since then into the Oh Sees everyone knows. For the 20th Oh Sees release, 100th Castle Face title, and 20th year doing it, John re-examines the quieter roots of it all in particularly baroque and homesteadly fashion. Memory of a Cut Off Head was co-written with longtime collaborator and vocal counterpoint Brigid Dawson, recorded in total in John's own Stu Stu Studio, and it's lush, sumptuous in texture, but satisfyingly retains the gentle grace of the early stuff. There's beautifully executed strings throughout, courtesy of Heather Lockie's fine arrangements, horn arrangements courtesy of Mikal Cronin, and they even brought back the old saw - Patrick Mullins, that is - on saw and electronics. A return and a refinement of old forms, a few solemn meditations on life lived at high velocity, perhaps a respite from it...a softer side of JPD and distinguished company.