Search:the noise

Fabio & Grooverider have been at the forefront of UK dance music for over 3 decades. This is the roots of their story told through music.

The 2 London DJ's are part of the DNA of the global Jungle / D&B movement and they have remained relevant, cutting edge, authoritative and essential to this truly underground art-form since it's inception. RAGE could arguably be the ground zero of Jungle. The party was started at London's cavernous Heaven club by Fabio & Grooverider in 1988, at the height of Acid House fever that was making it's way up and down the motorways, slip-roads, fields and warehouses of the M25 and further beyond every weekend, troubling the nation, the police, your parents and the press as it went. RAGE was a different beast, it certainly channelled some of that Acid energy but pitted it against the new and exciting sounds emanating from Belgium, Amsterdam, Detroit, Sheffield, Essex and Hackney and in turn created a new style, a new sonic attitude and energy in the process. Rumbling bass-lines, narcotic synth rushes and roughly chopped and sped-up breakbeats all merged into a style that we now know as Jungle. Nothing like this had been heard before, this was a brand new style and it was coming out of London's West End and Fabio & Grooverider were the people firmly behind it.

RAGE is approaching it's 30th anniversary. It's sonic and cultural legacy is still being felt today, Fabio & Groove are still shutting down raves and festivals every weekend all over the world with their superior DJ sets and musical knowledge guided by their pioneering spirit. This musical selection you hold in your hands, the first of 4 parts, sees them delve into their prodigious memories and record boxes to select a true musical representation of the very beginning of one of the UK's most unique and influential musical movements of the last 50 years. Across 4 x 2 x 12"s compilations we are taken on the journey through the sounds of RAGE, accompanied with track by track notes from Fabio & Groove themselves. This is the sound of the underground, from the inside out.

This is a masterclass in the old-school. The roots. There is no filler here, it's simply ALL killer. Lovingly selected and programmed by the masters - 'The Living Shock' & 'The Ladies Choice'. Produced in conjunction with Above Board distribution and Fabio & Grooverider. All tracks mastered from original sources and fully licensed. Mastering by Optimum, Bristol. Artwork and design by Atelier Superplus. 2019

Renowned techno artist Jon Hester returns to Rekids Special Projects with a thundering fourtrack release, aptly entitled ‘Momentum’. Since his previous Rekids appearance, the Berlin-based Minneapolitan has continued delivering a steady stream of club ready cuts on labels like Transmat, LET and Deeply Rooted. Following a busy summer playing at the likes of Rex Club, Tresor and Hï Ibiza, Hester now returns to Radio Slave’s Rekids Special Projects techno imprint in fine form. ‘Accelerator’ opens with solid, overdriven kicks, deep chords, electrifying synth patterns and saturated claps followed by ‘Beatwave’ which features rhythm-led vocal sampling, upbeat Arp stabs and sparking cymbals. On the flip, ‘Zoned’ thunders with low-end frequencies, emphasised by a flying groove with snappy hats, subtle claves and white noise hits when to finalise ‘Part 4’ bounces with distant congas and tribal percussion, tight hi-hats, floating pads and a punchy kick.

'Lento', the first release of Fangodischi. A slow track, 115 bpm.
An obsessive hammering over a dystopian rhythmic layer that reaches its climax exploding in a drum roll, like a cleansing fire. An industrial sound, whiffs of steam, disturbing metallic noise.
A recall to the core of Fangodischi and the dual vision the artist has of his homeland: Venice, a “Disneyland” for tourists, and Marghera with its industries and poisons. Two faces of the same medal.

The music of Chel White is celebrated in Automaton, a collection of mostly unreleased recordings from 1985 to 1991, by this innovative animator, film maker and visual artist.

Having studied music theory in grade school, White taught himself drumming and played in a new wave band until, in 1981, together with Dan Gediman, they formed the minimal wave duo Process Blue (Alternative Funk, 1985 / Dark Entries, 2018). Here their experimentation went way beyond playing drums.

His interest in industrial music, fostered in the late '70s and early '80s while working in factories as a way to put himself through college, informed his use of electronic instruments, tape manipulation, noise and unconventional percussion.

By 1985, as a now solo artist buoyed by newly affordable audio sampling technology, White tapped into his earlier teenage fascination with the art and films of both the Surrealist and Dada movements - in particular their disparate and fragmented imagery and sound - as a means to create striking new sonic palettes.

Science & Industry - a track largely influenced by Balinese monkey chanting and the consumer excess of American in the 1980's - is a clear example of "music collage". Photocopy Cha Cha, made for the short animation film Choreography for Copy Machine (Berlin International Film Festival, 1992 / Sundance Film Festival, 2001) moved his music into the realm of early multi-media.

Experimenting further, tracks like Liquid Shadows and Pensive provide minimalist moments, before the drone-like Dream #630 and Forest Song point to a future that included music video works (David Lynch/Thom Yorke).

The new album 'Aesthesis' from Shapednoise aka Sicilian artist Nino Pedone is out in November 2019 on Numbers.
Over the nine tracks and thirty seven minutes, there’s a controlled collision of noise and metal with rave and hardcore. Pedone’s penchant for the peak energies of gritty techno and modern rap/trap bleed through, with earth-shattering blocks of bass and beats conveyed within his practice of sonic sculpture. ‘Aesthesis’ melts these sounds down, evolving them into something new of his own - a complex, hybrid being designed to be played loud. The first listen, CRx Aureal, is one of the most arresting cuts from the record: a nightmarish thrill embracing a sense of constant movement, with intense shards of sound ricocheting and morphing, forged together through a series of metallic refrains. This flirtation with the extremes of sound has engulfed Shapednoise’s entire creative output and lifestyle - from his albums and EPs over the last decade, to his two labels Cosmo Rhythmatic and REPITCH, having recently dropped critically acclaimed releases by King Midas Sound, Shackleton & VTSS. Pedone describes ‘Aesthesis’ as “informed by a set of key elements that intwine all the tracks together, like steps in a long research process. It is intended as a sensory experience where the senses act as an interface, sound as space.” His experimentation with unorthodox rhythmic structures and radical cinematic design reveals actions grounded in direct experience, but “inspired by a kind of speculative realism”. In seeking to master the wild heights of noise and the weight of subsonic frequencies, Shapednoise aims to “generate a sense of unreal-yet-tangible space and time, where the physicality of the music builds up a place that exists between people and objects, rather than the other way around.”

A series of artistic collaborations are heard throughout the album - from the caustic R&B of album opener 'Intriguing (In The End)' which features vocals from multimedia artist E. Jane's alter ego MHYSA (of NON & Halcyon Veil), to Justin K Broadrick (founding member of Godflesh and ZONAL) on 'Blaze', and album closer 'Moby Dick'; a collaboration with Scottish legend Drew McDowall (ex-Coil and Psychic TV member), and Rabit (founder of Halcyon Veil).

Aura Dinamica prep Speed + Noise pt. 1, the first instalment in a two part compilation featuring Svreca, BNJMN, Boddika, Somne & more. The boutique label operated by Italian producer Federico Maccherone AKA Somne & British artist Oscar Morgan, under his Portrait alias, will release the first part of the label’s debut compilation in November 2019. The second part will arrive early 2020, and features contributions from François X, Shifted, Mod21, Inland & more.

C.Y.M. is the collaboration between British producer and DJ Mike Greene (otherwise known as Fort Romeau) and LA-based American musician Chris Baio, who releases music as Baio in addition to playing bass in the acclaimed band Vampire Weekend. Their debut, self-titled EP arrives on Phantasy as an elegant pean to the infinite possibilities of kosmische music, driven by a motorik strain of psychedelia. The foundations of a wider project, C.Y.M. speaks not for analogue nostalgia, but a subtle and modern update on imagined futures that are still open to interpretation.
‘Capra’ immediately establishes the duo’s masterful if unsurprising grip on rhythm, a man-machine stomp that persists as the track takes myriad turns, from post-punk guitar licks and processed vocals, through bubbling modular synthesis and culminating in a soaring, cathartic melody. On ‘Far Gone’ C.Y.M. turn their studio inward for a more brooding and intimate interpretation of their sound, a balearic amalgam of intriguing vocals, feedback soaked riffs and no-wave inspired movement. The bliss beneath the waves of noise that crash across C.Y.M’s music emerges fully on the driving conclusion, ‘Super-Cannes’. A hypnotic tempo and blistering drums intertwine with whirling organs, and shimmering keys, providing a wistful and warm finale.

All Music Written & Recorded by David Drucker at The Skinny Apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, 2017
Featuring Mike Green (Mezzanine Swimmers) on guitars on "I Took Too Much Acid in 7th Grade," Cop Funeral on
electronics on "Seafood Special," Chris “Mr Transylvania” Shields on background vocals on "Massachusetts Is a Magical
Place," Eva “Nighttime” Goodman on violin & backing vocals on "The Ridgewood Ripper"
Painted Faces is the long (strange/trip) running voyage of weirdo David Drucker, began in Florida in 2009 and decamped
to NYC in 2011. It has sometimes been a loose band in the past with a revolving lineup of outsiders and interlopers
(known as The Freak Band), but is usually a solo endeavor, and the bulk of the recordings have been done as such. PF
has always been a home recording solo project, one-man-band style heavy on psychOdelic/outsider
folk/noise/experimental vibes. He started self releasing CD-Rs in the early days and quickly jumped to tapes on a variety
of labels including Already Dead, Lava Church, J&C, Null Zone, Tall Tapes. A "legendary" CD compilation on Gulcher
Records and an LP from Already Dead and Almost Halloween Time in Italy brings us to the here and now. Tales from the
Skinny Apartment is somewhere around the 20th or so Painted Faces release...he has long lost count.
Drucker runs/curates gigs (and records at) the Skinny Apartment, his dwelling place in Ridgewood Queens,
which some folks have called the "realest DIY zone in NYC." He also rips in Dead River Company, Big Hiatus, Shecky,
Canyon River Blues and countless other unknown subterranean improv zoner outfits. "Ripping" involves keeping it
freaky and weird and ripping sets wherever/whenever, i.e. always being down to perform whether in a kitchen or a
packed ballroom....no diva bullshit, just plugging in (or going sans electricity) and playing...always giving it your
all...Ridgewood Rippers are the crew of artists that populate Ridgewood and the loose "scene" around the Skinny
Apartment...much of it is in jest, a self-inflated mythology of nonsense which is pervasive in all rock and roll "scene"
histories. As a student of rock/pop history, Drucker is fascinated by the loose associations that connect folks from
various zones together...i.e. Miles Davis and The Grateful Dead...it's all the same though, the labels and genre
distinctions are completely arbitrary. We're all in this together, now more than ever...to be a "ripper" is simply to
"rip"...no nonsense!
Painted Faces has toured all over the USA and Canada numerous times, spreading the ripper gospels, and is
gearing up for their second European tour. He is known for falling apart on "stage," with performances heavy on humor,
horror, stoned digressions, and cathartic bouts of therapy, part performance art/part standup comedy, eradicating the
lines between performer, performance, and audience one show at a time

NecareDiskoEP is the debut original release from, Thomaas Banks and also the first release on his own imprint, Sinahti.

The 4 track EP delves into his love for EBM & the slower side of Techno. NecareDisko rocks with low slung future vibes. Gnarly metallic synths and apocalyptic Vatican orchestration meld with a rolling beat to provide a sleek burner with plenty of grind and glimmer.

VitalClaret ups the tempo with a rousing trip to the chasm edge. Ring modulated arpeggiated leads clash with insistent embers of modular rebellion.

A background hum rises throughout to reach a punishing crescendo. TYVYT-IYTYIon the first remix of the EP’s title track and he pushes the swamp funk button for a syncopated noise workout, with a hot as hell detuned noir melody around the halfway mark. Magma!

The EP closes with a loose open electro remix of Necare Disko from Hymns. Open and lighter than the rest of the EP, nevertheless it still has a taut, Germanic vibe with distorted bass funk dueling
hard towards the end.

The masters for this EP were long lost. These recordings have been made by Ron Wells using a high end LINN cartridge, restored digitally (clicks, noise, rumble) using Izotope RX by Robin at Music Preservation Society and Remastered by Subvert Central Mastering by Bob Macc.

Made up of Dave Harrington (Darkside/Dave Harrington Group) and Benjamin Jay (NDF/Benoit & Sergio), Lights Fluorescent is, as the two describe it, an ‘experiment in the spaces between song and texture, idea and reference, past and present.’ On their debut album, The Oldest Sons Of The Oldest Sons, the duo develops an atmospheric, slant-pop sensibility that lists toward the experimental tendencies of improvisational and ambient music.
The result is a set of songs meant to be lived with. Entirely percussion-less, recordings drift on a tenderness of guitar, revenant feedback and vocals of autumnal intimation. Space Metal and July 9th process layers of bespoke noise and washed out chords to tarry with integral depth, light, and shadow, while Hotels distills country-western longing into its nth dimensional essence always unrequited.
From within these sonic panoramas, vocals emerge more as watercolor traces than coarse etchings. They aim to capture evocative, lyrical intensities, eschewing the solace of the literal. As such, the album favors 'the gestural, the implicit, and the miniature over the more adolescent urges of grand narratives and epic.’ These preferences map onto the album in all of its moves. J Girls reveals a hint of story buried, like its context, deep in whorls of feedback. Fleeting images of monuments, cathedrals, or epitaphs on tracks like Palace Walls or Small Sacrifices speak to a sense of memory and community paradoxically ungrounded by the material instantiations meant to keep things in place.

This split release unites two female underground acts, both of whom have recently become pivotal parts of the contemporary electronic musical landscape in Japan. Hot on the heels of the acclaimed PAREDO EP compilation (TAL12), which has been released in May 2019 (and also includes contributions from Lena Willikens and Miki Yui), the SUPER MILD split album is the second outing by KOPY and TENTENKO on TAL. Their newest works punctuate their highly individual approaches to contemporary experimental dance music.

TENTENKO is a Tokyo-based electronic music producer. Her career began in 2013 when she joined the mainstream idol group BIS. Immediately after her departure from BIS in 2014 she commenced work on her solo project under her artist name TENTENKO. Since then she has radically reinvented her music away from glossy J-POP towards weird and industrial rooted dancefloor. TENTENKO first made a name for herself on the alternative Japanese music scene with a steady flow of live performances as well as collaborations with members of the legendary Japanese noise band HIJOKAIDAN.

For a few years now KOPY has been an unpredictable and charismatic part of the vital electronic music scene of Osaka. She has quickly garnered a reputation for creating her live sets exclusively with borrowed electronic equipment. Her name KOPY very much originates from this "concept". Apart from a few performances at Düsseldorfs famous nightspot SALON DES AMATEURS, she has been invited by LENA WILLIKENS to her showcase at the MEAKUSMA FESTIVAL in 2018. Her sinister dancefloor mystique is heavily steeped in the free spirited noise and rhythm cultures of her hometown.

The two collaborators, known separately for contemporary electronic music & free clarinet experimentations team up to create the delirious trip, Footfalls.

Two scenes are presented here, seemingly taken from different sides of the same desolated seaside setting, loosly inspired by poet and novalist T.S Elliot and Samuel Becket. In Towards the Door, Gareth Davis´ bass clarinet breathes slow, wave-like tones that merge with the oft-rythmic electronic textures from his counterpart. A third of the way in, Robin Rimbaud´s synth erupts into a Blade Runner-esque epic harmonic section that disappears as suddenly as it arrives - leaving ripples of oscillation in its wake, slowly unfolding into the sound of waves, as it arrives back where it begun : as a full circle, drawn in echo´s of sound.

Smokefall begins with the words „Invisible choirs“, subtly spoken by a woman’s voice among a blurred distant conversation, as textural sound effects creep forwards to the point where a slow progressing but steady LFO rhythm enters. Water, metal & smoke are absorbed into a creeping tribal passage, acompanied by long clarinet tones. The piece expands further and further into a state of ecstatic harmonic noise that fulfills all parts of your body – if played loud. Both artists from here on move into full on crushing electronics, all while Rimbaud´s Kilpatrick Phenol synth drives the background with its pulses and repetative bassline. The piece has an ellipse like rotation that makes one feel a sort of blissful vertigo that reverberates in your mind after the piece has ended.

Footfalls is an euphoric trip from two artists that – although prolific - manages to arrive at the perfect meeting point to deliver two hard to shake pieces of dizzying electro-acoustic perfection.

Planning the imminent arrival of the 50th release on Touchin’ Bass, label boss Andrea Parker was digging through the warehouse during a stock take and it became apparent that there was something missing. There was a gap in the catalogue numbers. Where was TB036? Searching the archives it transpired that, for one reason or another (not least Parker’s inability to count), there actually wasn’t one.

So what better way to backfill this now documented gap than to welcome the multitalented guitarist and drummer, mathematician and multidisciplinary improviser Maria Gamboa Perez into the Touchin’ Bass fold with an updated focus for 2019.

Perez combines elements of rage, chaos, tension and anguish to form a visceral style. Her musical terrain and talent is shaped by dissonance and NO art. Under the moniker NonZero!, Perez brings Matrix Equation to the fore; a heavy 8 track EP with electro aesthetics from none other than Carl Finlow Scarletron/Silicon Scally/Voice Stealer.

Beginning her artistic career as a teenager playing as a bassist and guitarist in groups with influences from Noise, Avant Garde and the No-Wave, Perez was introduced into several areas of electronic music during the club culture years in Madrid and opted for styles such as Electro or Industrial, at which point she began to be interested in the introduction of rhythm boxes together with traditional drums.

Her passion for sound synthesis and musical exploration led Perez to introduce electronics into a solo project under the pseudonym NonZero!. Under this name she aims to make electronic music her field of sound research and for years has been continuously searching for existing relationships between sound and mathematics, focusing on the perceptual limit between music and noise.

Matrix Equation indulges in an evidential brooding angst, shifting between abstraction and the kind of elevated introspection carefully harvested over the years. With dramatic frontage in parts, blasts of boisterous energy and machine mayhem, its deployment of surprise, shifting focus and spontaneity operate in an assured statement.

Splintered beats and a foreboding sense of tension give way to a more DJ friendly logic of instinctive introductions and codas of gradual builds and breakdowns as Finlow further reworks the results to great effect.

Mythology for the posthuman age. From "The New Kind" to "Posthuman Wonderland", Simon Grab's album "Posthuman Species" is a sonic journey through an astonishing land of fragile feedbacks, pulsating drones and opulent outbursts of noise.

Recorded on a no-input-mixing setup consisting of low frequency oscillators, filters, analogue effects and a mixer patched with itself, the album sneaks up on dub and leftfield electronica from the side. Over time, the self-oscillating setup falls in and out of tune with itself, emphasising its transient nature. The album is a work of science fiction, telling the story of a time when "The New Kind" shapes its own wonderland.

Swiss sound artist and musician Simon Grab explores new grounds by negating assumed borders. In his recent work, he focuses on reduction, and the peculiarity of self-referential systems.
The album "Posthuman Species" follows his recent EP "Extinction" on -OUS. His "Diamonds EP" in collaboration with Togolese rapper Yao Bobby and Asian Dub Foundation's Dhangsha releases on Bristol's LavaLava Records in September 2019. Simon Grab's recent works includes "Hirnmusik 1 & 2", in which he dives deep into musical imagery by transferring his sonic ideas directly from his brain to vinyl.

The vinyl LP comes with a printed inner sleeve designed by Hammer and a download card that includes the digital only tracks "Transformation" and "Posthuman Wonderland".

2x12"

Milan Zaks' latest solo effort is coming out on Help Recordings.

Six compositions pressed onto two pieces of vinyl.

Assume your position, plug in or put on, play and await what could be described as the midday rebooting of your mental-balance. This work has not just one function. But it functions nevertheless. How? Find the time to time the find.
No one else will do it for you

71 minutes with full-on daydream catalysing, consciousness examining, sonic explorations that will take you in, out, to and through.

Recorded and produced in the Safe Studios during December '18 - March '19

Distributed by Triple Vision

Artwork by DJ C

15 years ago in a basement in the Bronx, I attended a bunch of sessions with my long time collaborator and friend, Ray West. Ray is a lifelong DJ and home producer, and only in 2012 did he begin to release music via his well-respected underground label, Red Apples 45. He had a main studio but also this much smaller room in the back which I dubbed “Studio B” in the tradition of any multi-room recording facility who would have a second “B” or third “C” room, and the name stuck. Despite the much lower-level quality equipment in that room, like a Yamaha MiniDisc board burning mixes realtime to CD-R, there was a certain vibe to it that inspired creativity, and a simplicity that encouraged faster working methods. One of the groups that worked there was called Results. Their philosophy was whatever happened in the moment was meant to be on tape and they didn’t spend hours perfecting it. This is rather opposite to how I work in the studio and especially on my own material, of which I can be thorough to the point of finishing less than I’d like. Through working there I realized the potential of having a smaller, simpler second setup, one that was not related to my work as an engineer, or my artist career as a performing electronic musician and techno producer.


Fast forward to 2016 and I would have both a professional studio outside of the home and enough spare gear to make a smaller studio based around a 4-track cassette recorder in my living room. This was a place where I could make whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, without the disturbances of clients, the chaos of 30th St., or any genre restrictions that I might place on myself in the big studio. I spent some time tracking down a functioning Akai MG614, the holy grail of 4-track recorders. It’s a large machine, making even the MPC3000 look small on the table next to it. With no computer, things were focused. I went through a couple of variations of the setup in my living room beginning with an MPC1000, DSI Evolver, Sonic Potions LXR, Bastl Microgranny, and a variety of classic effects that I didn’t keep in the rack at Butcha Sound like the Yamaha SPX90 and Ensoniq DP-4, plus a bunch of pedals and eventually a Korg Karma keyboard. Then I had the good sense to bring home the Emu SP1200 I was borrowing from The Martinez Brothers. Eventually I brought home the MPC3000 as well. Another thing I kept connected was a Zoom field recorder that captured sirens, street noises, and me playing the upright piano in my apartment live to tape. Results. These recordings were made in Hell’s Kitchen from July 2016 - May 2017 with the window open and the sounds of my Manhattan block inspiring the takes. — Phil Moffa 2019

Detroit imprint My Baby returns with its third musical offering, a split release from two Motor City heavyweights, in the form of Rex Sepulveda and Acid Pimp.
This fledgling vinyl only label has got off to a superb start showcasing music from Detroit locals on its first two stellar Eps. With a focus on the underground sound of the city it resonates with global fans of quality house and techno and continues to do so here with four outstanding new tracks.
First up is Acid Pimp, a DJ & producer who has been an integral part of Detroit’s music scene since the early 90s. His distinct sound saw him release a string of classic twelves on the Cheshire imprint, whilst his DJing took him from the warehouse parties of the city to international clubs like Tresor. He founded the ‘Friction Detroit’ night in his home town, hosting the likes of Ben Sims, Regis and Chris Liebing, and he co-founded the M-Nus sub label D- Records with Richie Hawtin and two other friends. The first of his two offerings is the superb ‘Re-Ak-O-Pan’, seven minutes of intense, industrial tinged techno with taut drums working alongside panning synths and static machine noise to superb effect. This is complemented by the looped excellence of ‘Lupe 09’, a rolling groove that is sure to lock in any dancefloor.
The flipside sees another of Michigan’s sons in the shape of Rex Sepulveda. Rex has a musical history dating back to 90s, he was one of the aforementioned friends that launched D-Records with Acid Pimp and Richie Hawtin and has released original and remix material on a number of imprints. His first cut here is ‘Rex presents Dvda’ a deep, brooding affair populated by rubbery, acidic synths and razor-sharp percussion. This is a pure early-hours number that is sure to twist up the floor wherever it’s dropped. Closing the package we have ‘Rexie’s Orgasm’ a spacious, and understated track that perfectly captures the echoing sounds of a cavernous warehouse space.
This is a sterling package of quality underground sounds from the city that sparked the fire.

Schmer Records is proud to announce the upcoming EP from Liquid Asset. It is an entire rave on a 12 inch disk and has something for every stage. From the acid in your face of Wambulance to the bliss of Moon Beams ON Your Face. When not In Laboratory cooking up amazing tracks Liquid Asset is bringing them directly to your party. This EP also has the amazing Isabella providing an entire rave in a single remix. We're sure you'll enjoy playing it as much as we do releasing it.

Liquid Asset is the hardware techno project of Alene Marie, a Philadelphia-born,North Carolina-based producer with releases on New York Trax, Summer Isle, Primitive Languages, Jacktone, Acid Etch and now Schmer. A self-described nerd who started building electronics in 2010, she brings a scrappy, DIY sensibility honed in the noise / hardcore scene and hacker-spaces of Philly. Her punchy, loop-based and heavily rave-oriented mutations of classic dance cannon sounds, beamed out of a self-built rig of modified 303s, 909s, and 808s, have earned enthusiastic support from North American dance music underground institutions including Bossa Nova Civic Club, Hot Mass, and Sustain-Release.

Electronic pioneers Rick Smith and Karl Hyde announce the conclusion of their groundbreaking fifty-two week DRIFT series: a new single, a new album and their biggest ever live headline shows

Released on October 25th 2019, the new album DRIFT SONGS marks the conclusion of their hugely ambitious 52-week DRIFT Series. During that period, music, film and text pieces are created and published every Thursday as part of the band’s on-going, very public recording process; a unique and visionary space Smith and Hyde have created for themselves to exist within. By the end of the DRIFT series, more new music and film will have been released by Underworld in its one-year duration than in the last fifteen years.

DRIFT SONGS expands and enhances a selection of the recordings the duo have released since they began their audio/visual experiment in November 2018. The album will be released as a single CD, double vinyl and crucially an all-encompassing box-set featuring the music, visuals and text pieces released throughout the entire 52-week DRIFT.

DRIFT SONGS is Underworld’s first album release since 2016’s Barbara, Barbara we face a shining future (“an album full of heart, soul and brilliant noise” The Observer ) and the first physically released music since 2018’s Q award winning collaboration with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters (“Born of the friction from a restless need to create… others of their standing may choose the wallowing legacy of safety. These guys do not.” NME ).

Underworld are Rick Smith and Karl Hyde. The press say they are: “Electronic heroes” The Observer “Hugely ambitious and unimaginably relentless” Q “True mavericks” Prog “Thrillingly relevant” The Times “(Underworld) boast a breadth and attack largely lacking in contemporary laptop electronica ” The Guardian
“The Drift experience is one of a torrent of ideas, with its own internal logic… (where) instinct, experience and chance lead to a strange kind of harmony” Mojo

Black Truffle invite you to an evening of drunken revelry in the Batcave! After a chance meeting at a local supermarket in Poughkeepsie, New York, Joe McPhee and Graham Lambkin have performed together as a duo extensively in recent years, in addition to their joint work excavating some of the wildest tapes from McPhee’s archive for Lambkin’s now defunct Kye label. Live in the Batcave documents an evening the two friends spent together in the company of Joe’s brother Charlie and Lambkin’s son Oliver in November 2017 at Charlie’s house in Poughkeepsie. The LP captures seven increasingly drunken snapshots of the four shooting the breeze, playing flutes and whistles, drumming on anything at hand, and playing records.

Edited together in Lambkin’s distinctive style of lo-fi domestic tape collage, the multiple simultaneous cassette recordings of the shenanigans abruptly cut in and out and fall out of sync, creating disorientating, woozy echoes. Mics are bumped, stories are told, drinks are poured, text messages arrive, and AACM-esque flute jams are interrupted by violent bursts of laughter and wet-mouthed sound poetry. All the while, classic soul records play, initially in the background, but coming increasingly to the fore until the record culminates in a strangely moving free-associative singalong. Presented in a gatefold sleeve with extensive photographic documentation and liner notes from Joe McPhee, Live in the Batcave is a truly unique document that exists somewhere between free jazz, audio verité, performance art, and everyday life. File next to your copy of Das Kümmerling Trio. ‘Our music was born from the sounds of jazz, funk, soul, noise … sounds with no other reason so exist, except because they did, sounds which occurred like putting one step in front of the other to see if the way was clear to take the next step. The plan was, there is no plan, just start at the beginning, end at the end and party like it’s 1999’ – Joe McPhee

Captivity is the next highly anticipated extended EP by Kush Arora aka Only Now, following a triptych of self-released output in 2019. Continuing the project’s ever evolving engagement with themes of time and existence, Captivity encompasses versatile synthesis, mutant kuduro, widescreen sound design, turbulent cold fronts of power ambient and melodic undertones of black metal.

The product of a two-year period in which Arora was contending with transitional shifts in his personal life, Captivity is a culmination of what the project has explored both in a prolific run of recent material and as a whole, across several years of time dilating, mind altering music.
 
Although shaped by adversity and corresponding sentiments of angst and insignificance, Captivity is pitched at total transcendence. Adopting a meticulous approach to production, a methodology which opens up almost every element to transformation and deconstruction, Arora generates forms which possess a sense of pointillist precision, as well as a keen psychedelic potency.
 
Despite consistency with his earlier output as Only Now, Captivity is nevertheless an indication of Arora’s ability to challenge internal and external assumptions. The introduction of new hardware – namely, the Nord Drum 3P synthesizer – as well as the incorporation of far-flung atmospherics – closing track ‘Clock Lust’ features field recordings from a trip to Kyoto – delivers fresh enterprise and experimentation, contributing to the expansion of a sound signature which remains as unpredictable and compelling as ever.
 
With the eponymous opener, Arora combines fathomless underworlds and riotous breakbeats. On ‘Mutants’ a hyper-kinetic onslaught of percussion, low-end and stray cut-ups of noise break out, building to a panorama of thunderous industrial firmaments. ‘Perpetual Slaughter’ maintains momentum with icy, ricocheting FX and concussive, tribal drums, and then unexpectedly shifts into a poignant outro which brings to the fore the enduring influence of black metal on the project. ‘Bound 2’ is cut with relentless sub-bass and rapid syncopation, resembling an abstracted form of juke music, something that could feasibly have been masterminded by Autechre. With the LP’s finale, ‘Clock Lust’, Arora presents a finale of transfixing 3D ritualism, the lone toll of a bell ringing out into a mesmeric emptiness.
 
Together these form a complete statement from Arora, illustrating the fertile and open-ended territories the Only Now project has arrived at after promising outings on Infinite Machine and Discrepant imprint Sucata Tapes. With Captivity Arora delivers a substantial highpoint and a profound voyage into the world of Only Now.

Second part of the Wave Earplug series trying to support the underground wave scene across Europe. Released on vinyl LP limited to 500 copies. This time artists come from Germany, Netherlands, France, Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Belgium and Italy. Artists in subject: MAKiNA GiRGiR, Staatseinde, The Revolving Eyes, Brigade Rosse, Stílus Együttes, Style Group, ImiAFan, Sololust, Machinepop, Arsenic Of Jabir, Noisebrigade

‘Synth Expressionism/Rhythmic Cubism’ LP from Chicago’s Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being is a collection of idioms that have no past and no future, his jarring use of polyrhythmic polyphony imbues a sense of timelessness.

The prolific catalog of Moss’ covers many musical dialects from his hometown and beyond. Never standing in one artistic sphere for too long, this adventure for On the Corner Records sees Hieroglyphic Being exploring a multitude of expressions of the American Avant-garde.

Abstractions Of The Future Past — Afro-Cubism: The Designation, conceived by an African With A Mainframe — An Etude Of Effigy — A Hieroglyphic Being.

Rhythmic Cubism: In this ‘Dissertation Of Disorientation’ Neal Andrew Emil Gustafson temporal considerations are put aside as polyrhythmic propulsion is the current flowing through the work. As prelude the fastidious ‘Rhythmic Cubism’, Moss enacts a flurry of white noise and musical coda as it phases in-and-out of synchronicity.

The disjointed dance of an alternative Black Music, ‘The Spiritual Or ‘Electromagnetic Worlds’ takes the meter down a fraction to exonerate a granular groove of visceral refracted complexity. Sonorus static sits alongside spastic shards of synthesis to reveal a melancholic medley before its conclusion.

‘Apocrypha’ collages distinct rhythmic source materials in an entrancing abstraction of ‘Hypersonic Hemiola’. An assertion of Art Blakey proportions. Perpetually pushed forward through the building of distorted percussion, Moss precludes into syncopated synapsis before and end of reductive symmetry.

Evolving into a studdered off-kilter groove, ‘The Redemption Project’ flows as a dissipating organ medley dissolves into a deluge of layered sonic textures, creating an indiscernible metric center before fading to a distant vanishing point.

Departing with a common-time ‘Timbuk2’ takes off like a classic Chicago Acid track, then makes a left turn towards the center as it drives the rhythmic motion into a dystopian dreamland, as the sax line surges forcing the track to break free from it’s charted course.

The Fragmented Fantasy of The Synth Expressionism/Rhythmic Cubism LP is a conclusive work that has no end, a conundrum of conceptual calculated improvisation. Drifting through time, this fragmented abstraction of Afro-Cubism leaves room for posterity, as each listen summons a new perspective on the suite. Something ever so common in the work of Jamal Moss. Charting new sonic directions, the very nature of its precedent makes it a truly Hieroglyphic affair.

Words By Neal Andrew Emil Gustafson

Destiny is made. Realised. Driven by the acts of vision. Hireroglyphic Being is a seer. Atomic resonance echoing from the big bang defies the conceptual reality of purity. The nuclear static of ‘white noise’ is HBs canvas. Channeling poly rhythms into the universe. Experience, repetition and eternal decay. From purity back to the absolute by way of a deluge of slurry across time. Infinite layers of distortion and refracted complexity. This is HBs canvas. Sound of eternity channelled through a bass bin, represented by its own impure reflection and fragments. Always more than it's whole but never as was before.

This album seeks to reach beyond ideas and emotions, beyond the comprehension of a human archetype. Beyond ultimate history, forwards and back. To ends and a singular beginnings. Timbuk2 is the frenetic intersection where the call and response of these ideas lock and dissipate back into the void.

Inc. Pfirter Remix

M. R. E. U. X. Is back with a new project which incorporates the elegance and quality of old school techno. The track “pulsation” is extremely psychedelic and creates a rollercoaster of emotions and positive vibes. Furthermore Pulsation will get you on the dance floor in no time and you simply won’t be able to stop dancing. The next track “noise dream” gets you in a magical atmosphere right from the first notes. The feeling will be overwhelming...close your eyes and get carried away by the outwardly beats and let your mind take over cause this also happens to be M. R. E. U. X. ‘S favorite tune. To complete this amazing new venture comes producer Pfirter gifting us with a banging remix of Pulsation reconfirming his quality contribution to all things techno. Be sure to look out for this track cause it will stick with any techno hardcore lover. Bottom line is that Blumoog music label is once again reconfirming themself as one of the best techno labels in the world. Stay tuned for new adventures.

There Existed An Addiction To Blood" ist das insgesamt vierte Album von Clipping und ihr drittes für Sub Pop. Es ist der Nachfolger des von Kritikern und Publikum gleichermaßen gefeiertes Album ,Splendor And Misery" aus dem Jahr 2016. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" enthält die Singles ,Nothing Is Safe", ,Blood Of The Fang" und ,La Mala Ordina" (Feat. Benny The Butcher, Elcamino, The Rita), die von Clipping produziert, von Steve Kaplan gemischt und von Dave Cooley bei Elysium Masters in Los Angeles gemastert wurden. Das Album enthält auch Gastbeiträge von Ed Balloon, La Chat, Counterfeit Madison und Pedestrian Deposit. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" ist Clippings Interpretation eines neuen Rap-Splitter-Genres unter Zuhilfenahme ihrer einzigartigen Lupe. Clipping wenden sich auf dem neuen Werk intensiv dem Horrorcore zu, eines bewusst absurden und kreativ bedeutsamen Subgenres, das Mitte der 90er Jahre blühte. Einige der bemerkenswertesten Pioniere hießen Brotha Lynch Hung und Gravediggaz, aber es umfasst auch bahnbrechende Werke der Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony und die nahezu vollständigen Veröffentlichungen des klassischen ,Memphis cassette tape rap". Der wahrscheinlich subversivste und experimentellste Rap hat sich oft als ,Alternative" zu konventionellen Sounds präsentiert, aber Clipping verzerren das Ganze respektvoll in neue Konstellationen. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" absorbiert die hyper-gewaltigen Horror-Symboliken der Murder Dog-Ära, stellt sie aber in einem neuen Licht dar: immer noch dunkel getönt und düster, aber in einem seltsameren und lebendigeren Farbton. Wenn der traditionelle Horrorcore mit ,Blacula", dem populären Blaxploitationsfilm-Klassiker aus den frühen 70er Jahren, verwandt war, so ist das neue Output von Clipping analog zu ,Ganja & Hess", dem blutrünstigen Kultklassiker von 1973, der als unbesungenes Wahrzeichen des schwarzen Independent-Kinos gilt, dessen Score von Sam Waymon, Clipping als Inspiration zum Titel des Albums diente und auch Samples auf dem Track ,Blood Of The Fang" lieferte.ENG The science-fiction visionary Octavia Butler once declared that "there is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns." The aphorism could apply to any art form where the basic contours are fixed, but the appetite for innovation remains infinite. Enter Clipping, flash fiction genre masters in a hip-hop world firmly rooted in memoir. If first person confessionals historically reign, the mid-city Los Angeles trio of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes have spent the last half-decade terraforming their own patch of soil, replete with conceptual labyrinths and industrial chaos. They have conjured a mutant emanation of the future, built at odd angles atop the hallowed foundation of the past. Their third album for Sub Pop, There Existed an Addiction to Blood, finds them interpreting another rap splinter sect through their singular lens. This is Clipping's transmutation of horrorcore, a purposefully absurdist sub-genre that flourished in the mid-90s. If some of its most notable pioneers included Brotha Lynch Hung and Gravediggaz, it also encompasses seminal works from the Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and the near-entirety of classic Memphis cassette tape rap. The most subversive and experimental rap has often presented itself as an "alternative" to conventional sounds, but Clipping respectfully warp them into new constellations. There Existed an Addiction to Blood absorbs the hyper-violent horror tropes of the Murder Dog era, but re-imagines them in a new light: still darkly-tinted and somber, but in a weirder and more vivid hue. The album contains interludes with hissing recordings of demonic invasions, and guest appearances from Griselda Gang's Benny the Butcher and Hypnotize Minds horror queen La Chat. Other tracks feature contributions from noise music legends The Rita and Pedestrian Deposit. It all ends with "Piano Burning," a performance of a piece written by the avant-garde composer Annea Lockwood. Yes, it is the sound of a piano burning. There Existed an Addiction to Blood fits neatly into the broader scope of the band's career, which has seen them expand from insular experimentalists into globally recognized artists. Since the release of their first album in 2013, Diggs has won a Tony and a Grammy (both for his acting/rapping work as Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in Hamilton), as well as co-written and starred in 2018's critically hailed Blindspotting, while Snipes and Hutson have scored numerous films and television shows. Clipping's last album, the 2016 afro-futurist dystopian space opus Splendor & Misery was recently named one of Pitchfork's Best Industrial Albums of All-Time. Commissioned for an episode of This American Life, their 2017 single "The Deep" became the inspiration for a novel of the same name, written by Rivers Solomon and published by Saga Press. But their latest masterwork embodies what the band had been building towards - a work that finds them without peer. This is experimental hip-hop built to bang in a post-apocalyptic club bursting with radiation. It's horrorcore that soaks up past blood and replants it into a different organism, undead but dangerously alive. It is a new sun, blindingly bright and built to burn your retinas.

DJ Richard's first release of 2019 sees him drop four invigorating electro tracks on Flexxseal titled "Eraser".

Emerging from the Providence noise scene, DJ Richard forges a path of disciplined selectiveness as a producer and DJ with his idiosyncratic style allowing him to make impressive, self-assured connections between 80s EBM, new beat and Italo disco, electro, techno and "post-minimalist" house. DJ Richard's feral approach evolved from the roots of his White Material imprint which quickly achieved cult status after early releases from himself and co-founders Galcher Lustwerk and Young Male.

As a solo artist, DJ Richard continues to push the boundaries of his talent and influences reflected in his two utterly distinctive and bewitching albums released in alliance with influential German electronic label, Dial. "Eraser" sees him join up with fellow American Christopher Joseph and his Flexxseal imprint as DJ Richard masterfully maintains his skill in propagating ephemeral and raw sounds with his aptitude for electronic body control.

"Critical Damage" kicks things off with resilient oscillations fused beautifully with angelic leads and thudding percussion reflecting a post-punk aesthetic while "Eraser" delivers tough, acidic swirls undulating beneath sharp, broken grooves and growling undertones.

On the flip, a slow, chugging drum sequence balanced with haunting modulations and machine-like vibrations that echo throughout take the focus in "His Threshing Floor" before "Casca's Theme" concludes the EP with meandering, robotic synth flutters and distorted bass resonations driven by hypnotic rhythms and world-ending atmospheres in this powerful electro cut.

VSK is honoured to start the journey of his new imprint with a selection of great artists. “Equilibrio volume 1” is a presentation of the different visions of techno the label wants to focus on. Modernity, deepness and hypnotism, sound design and complex textures will be the key elements of the label.

The first track is a collaboration between VSK himself and the Polish producer Michal Jablonski. X&Y is a combination of Epic drones, glitchy fx and a metallic fm synth line. Speed and fast modulation are the main ingredients for the development of an obsessive groove.

Malaria by the Spanish artist Kwartz, is an hypnotic dance between extreme ranges of frequency ; white noise and rising screams are wonderfully mixed together with an aggressive broken-subbeat.
The surgical touch of Ansome brings with “Operational Amplifier” a really complex sound design and fierce rhythmic programming, while a distorted roar

beats hauntingly the time.
The last cut, Shori by the italian artist Flaminia, is an obscure and elegant march. Cinematic and ethereal strings come together with an aggressive raw beat , providing an excellent techno experience.

And we used to be such a nice record label .... BKV 026 swells up from the Bristol swamp in the forms of post-human industrial duo Bad Tracking. Here they have assembled variously, one spacious black metal intro (with original screams), an industrial-pop earworm not unlike Depeche Mode imploding in a feedback tunnel, two itch-tek dancefloor riddims namecheking local venue bans and I just don't know what to call 'Wellspring' really, the end of days? Well you had it coming anyway…..


Known in town for upsetting local MPs and lisencees with their live performances as 'naked technology sex slaves' think cassette-induced self harm, total nudity, blood from ears, Bad Tracking are the most visceral thing we've seen in this new wave of Avon experimental - a breath of life into the longstanding tradition of industrial performance art (and an antidote to idle BR club culture). Lyrically touching on censorship and tech // sonically they use feedback as a punishing instrument of anguish and expression.Widower EPis truly chewed nail sonics, more human than all your noise records, genuinely more scary than your edgelord power electronics nonsense, more forward than all yer government funded experimental think-records.


You may remember Bad Tracking from their remix of 90s soundsystem legends Bush Chemists on Bokeh last year. It sounded like they played the original through 1,000 knackered tape decks and added one kick drum. It was total sacrilege and we loved it. Bad Tracking is Gordon Apps aka reputed jungle/drumfunk producer Relapse (who also moonlights as Avon Terror Corp's Olivia Mutant John, buy his shit) and poet / VHS video artist Max Kelan (who has lent his visuals to MVs from Hodge, The Pop Group, OM Unit, Young Echo to name only 4). They've released on tRewdindForward family labels like Mechanical Reproductions and champions of bad taste and good music - Fuckpunk.

This 4 track EP comes out of Ibiza Records archive vault's called Archives Vol 5 produced by Low Block Noise in 1991 & EOAD in 1993. Each of these tracks represents hardcore and merging of jungle breaks starting to come through in the early 90s.

A. Rave in the Bedroom - This track produced by L.N.B made in 1991 has some great piano stabs and had a sample taken from 'The Young Ones' bbc2 sitcom as back then it was all about the big samples being used.
AA. Its Not Big & Its Not Clever - This track from L.B.N made in 1992 and has a classic sample taken from Robin Williams 'Good Morning Vietnam' film. The track has strong jungle breaks that were now a dominating presence at that time in the scene.
AAA. Love The Feeling - This track produced by E.O.A.D made in 1993 is more hardcore with the piano stabs offering a ravey anthem feel representing the warehouse scene. Which was dying out and Jungle was becoming the more dominant force.
AAAA. This track produced by E.O.A.D also made in 1993 and is a remix of the original with the hardcore elements offering a more raving anthem feel representing the warehouse scene back then.

Kompakt welcomes veteran contemporary experimental producer Marcus Schmickler with the release of his spectacular noise/techno fused medallion entitled “Particle/Matter-Wave/Energy”. Marcus Schmickler’s fifty plus release discography is one of the most fascinating in his field. From his studies under Cologne based Stockhausen collaborator Johannes Fritsch to his releases through legendary imprints a-Musik, editionsMego and Mille Plateaux, over the years Schmickler has been behind innumerable collaborations and sonic explorations. Be it through his ground-breaking indie/electronic band Pluramon or through his releases that have included collaborations with musicians such as John Tilbury, Thomas Lehn, Julee Cruise or MIMEO he has even had his works being performed by ensemble recherche, musikFabrik or Paragon Ensemble. Beyond continuing to perform on the world stages, he authors theatre and film and currently teaches at Institut für Musik und Medien in Dusseldorf. This brings us to the release of "Particle/Matter-Wave/Energy" - a 37 minute long piece (split into 2 parts on the LP version) that explores the borders of a scientific universality of sonification towards something that becomes a singular experience – sound. The pieces’ foundational aim was to create an acoustic rendering of what it sounds like when two galaxies collide by gravitational forces. To avoid this one sheet getting lost in theory, the audible result of “Particle/Matter-Wave/Energy” is an incredibly, immersive work that is required listening from start to end. Contemporary experimental music and modern techno collide as waves of synths caress the listener through intense waves of frequency variables. The orchestral enormity of the piece is both discomforting yet embracing as the listener feels engulfed with it’s robotic caress.

FPO (onesheet currently in development):

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The digitally remastered release of JAK3's Moonlight Radiation is a menagerie of cyberpunk mutations arising out of the Memphis revival rap movement. The album's big, blown-out sound might have seemed an incidental result of an analog recording process in its original cassette release. Now, rendered in digital clarity, listeners can better perceive how JAK3 sculpts varying degrees of panic, aggression and resolve very intentionally through the hard mix of industrial noise, inventive beats, flush synths and recordings from a slew of rappers including Freddie Dredd (Toronto), Apoc Krysis (Memphis), and fellow Waistdeep Clique members Agnarkea and Calsutmoran.

The short format of Moonlight Radiation's 16 tracks allows JAK3 to cover a lot of ground, and even within a single track he keeps one guessing. Track 2, "2FAKE," goes from an atmospheric burn, to a slow drive with the snappy flow of Moistbread, and then abruptly crashes back into an oozing vortex of synths. The penultimate interlude "Return from Hyperspace" sounds like one is being forced through a hellish modem, only to land in a haunted and abandoned transmitter for the closing track, "This Night Will Never End."

Between, those tracks, one gets a tour of the wild possibilities that could come next from this producer and the sounds emerging from the Memphis chopped-and-screwed scene. In a milieu that is retreading the past, the mutants of Moonlight Radiation may seem to be arriving a little prematurely. But you can't stop evolution when the field is so wide, and young producers like JAK3 are moving fast.

Albert Tales release their two debut singles as a double A-side funk 45". Based in Israel, Albert Tales are a neo-soul, funk and soul band. After developing a cult following in Tel-Aviv they were picked up by UK Label Freshly Squeezed - and shortly after attracting the attention of Craig Charles, Disco Freaks as well as gaining direct support from local DSP platforms such as Spotify Israel and Apple Israel. Although only their first ever release, the quality of the music and the noise building around them hints towards their future potential. Released as a dinked 7 inch and with limited supply - we hope to see this early product transition into a collectors item down the line. Albert Tales will be entering the european festival circuit next year with plans forming for the UK, Italy and surrounding nations.

Fleeing her Soviet ruled home of Tbisili at a young age with her parents, Saze grew up as a nomad living in Russia, France, Canada and the USA before finally settling down and pursuing a career in NYC. A classically trained musician and dancer, before long the Georgian turned her back on corporate life to pour her heart and soul into the arts. Becoming a diligent and versatile electronic music producer, DJ and live act, Sophia Saze is as comfortable sculpting intricate and atmospheric productions in the studio as she is decimating dancefloors with robust Techno and frenetic Breaks. Reflecting on her turbulent life and how it’s formed her own identity, Saze composed her aptly titled debut album, ‘Self’. Released on cassette in two instalments, ‘Part I’ dropped in June and was critically acclaimed with support from the likes of BBC 6MUSIC’s Tom Ravenscroft, Mixmag, DJ Mag, XLR8R, Resident Advisor, Future Music, Attack Magazine, TRAX, Tsugi, Ransom Note and Groove Magazine, with the latter drawing a parallel between hers and Burial’s music. Completing the journey, ‘Part II’ meanders through genres like Ambient, Hip Hop and Breaks, and features very personal insights including handpicked samples from Soviet television shows and VHS cassette recordings from her childhood. Hidden allusions of her classical music education bring up distant memories and melt together the organic but thoroughly electronic ambience. Crackles, hushes and hisses are elaborated so well that the record virtually gushes over the ears like mountain torrents. It appears peaceful and quiet, then rousing and it is sparked with bewildering sounds. It lets scattered beats arise from the thicket and drown again in streams of noise. But

The title Ghost Frequency works on several levels. I was introduced to the term when I first began learning about recording techniques. It was used (usually negatively) to describe sounds that appeared on recordings due to signal interactions that resulted from “improper” mixing or recording and read as “noise” rather than the “music” that was being recorded. I became instantly fascinated with the phenomenon and intentionally creating these sounds in my recordings by deliberately using supposedly incorrect techniques has become a big part of my composing and recording process, probably the most central and consistent practice of it. I’m interested in how the presence of these sounds, and traditional production’s insistence on eradicating relates to larger ideas about the eradication of vital social practices relating to the dead such as ancestor worship, mediumship and history itself in favor of state and market dictated modes of understanding existence. The internet abounds with references to the the term, but applied to ultra low frequency or “infrasound” which can allegedly be responsible for inducing supernatural perception experiences. These posts from the margins posit a Ghost Frequency that operates on the same level as a radio station, one can simply tune into paranormal activity. It’s also a pun on an imaginary metric of how frequently ghosts might be around at any given moment. The songs on the EP employ (as does all of my music) a large amount of Ghost Frequencies (i.e. sounds that appear on the recording as the result of signal interactions rather than those sounds being performed on an instrument) and they also orient themselves toward interaction with the dead as a necessary component of human experience, and a mode of resistance to state power and it’s accompanying carceral technologies.

Swedish composer and multimedia artist Marcus Fjellström's debut Miasmah release follows two critically acclaimed full length albums on Lampse (2006's 'Gebrauchsmusik' and 2005's 'Exercises In Estrangement'). In addition Marcus has had several commissioned works requested, leading to him working with, among others, the Swedish Royal Ballet, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, numerous ensembles, soloists and filmmakers including 'Salad Fingers' creator David Firth. Currently based in Berlin, Fjellström's compositions often combine aspects of modern classical composition and arrangement and more avant forms of music, be that acoustic or electronic.

'Schattenspieler' (which translates as 'Shadowplayer') takes the form of eleven compositions which explore ambience and melody, texture and silence. Haunting synth and orchestral instrument-based audio constructions, flowing from one moment to the next - the fleeting ghosts of Fjellström's melodies rise, only to be buried under a claustrophobic clutter of percussion and creaking background noise. These pieces do indeed feel like you're listening to something more implied than obviously stated, as if Fjellström wants only to expose us to the shadow of the music - the implication being perhaps a more terrifying experience than to be confronted outright…listen to 'Schattenspieler' and you may find your mind starts to play tricks on you…

The undeniably Angelo Badalamenti-esque descending synth strings of opening track 'The Disjointed', lay the foundations for Fjellström's 'Schattenspieler' album; music resting somewhere between the unsettling horror soundtracks of Jerry Goldsmith, the elevating melodies of Cliff Martinez, and the subtle audio constructions of Miasmah label mates Kreng and Jacaszek. Marcus' wide ranging abilities in composition and his willingness to let go of accepted form and function makes 'Schattenspieler' a perfect choice of release for the Miasmah label. The suspense laden 'Antichrist Architechture Management', with its harrowing and tense undertones, weaving synth lines and a wash of static hiss and flicker, is a particular standout track. Despite it's a strangely oppressive sound, shafts of light grace 'Schattenspieler'; pieces such as 'Untitled 090616' find gorgeous melodies are boxed in by unsettling arrangements and sparse background ambience. There is a coldness to many of these compositions - not without emotion, but somehow remorseless. 'Schattenspieler' is, for the main part, a defiantly bleak journey.

Vinyl edition ltd. to 300 copies, purple vinyl, incl. 8-page 12" booklet with drawings by Marcus Fjellström.

Mondoj presents Jeremy, the latest release from LA's Roy Werner, who is perhaps better known for his work as G.S. Sultan. While the Max/MSP magician's previous works delved into ideas of "avant-garde pointilism" (ad.sculpt tutorial, Orange Milk Records) or presented "abstract noise as a communicative medium" (Redundancy Suite, Phinery), Jeremy repurposes pop music to create abstract, vaporous forms.

Jatinder Singh Durhailay and David Edren released Tea Notes as a cassette back in April of 2018. London-based Jatinder Singh Durhailay is a painter and student of Indian Classical music. He has trained in both the sitar and the Hindi singing technique, Dhrupad. He also plays two traditional Sikh instruments; the bowed, stringed Dilruba and Taus. Poetic Pastel Press issued his solo debut, The Last Ballad Of Mardana, in 2017. David Edren`s expertise lies with machines and modular synthesis. His Kosmische and New Age-Inspired electronics have featured on numerous cassettes, and compilations, produced for imprints from the current Belgian underground, such as Jj Funhouse, Social Harmony, and Ultra Eczema. These recordings appearing, since the turn of the millennium, either under his own name, or the moniker DSR Lines. Jatinder and David’s collaboration, Tea Notes, is a celebration, a meditation, on both the beverage, and the communal time shared imbibing. The coming together to partake in its ritual. Each of the six tracks represents a different infusion. The opening piece is a tribute to semi-oxidised Oolong, from China`s Wuyi Mountains, with hammered dulcimer-like glissando. Gongs shimmering, gently crashing, as if signaling a change in the weather. A calm of thin, stretched synths and Ai angels introduces Tulsi from India. The Holy Basil of Hinduism, used in the worship of Vishnu, Krishna, and Rama. A traditional herb of Ayurveda and Siddha medicine. Automated arpeggiated sequences raising a vibrating wall of hallucinatory sound. Pairing swooning strings with a racing robot heart. Ceylon is a modern twist on the classical raga. Serving to tell the story of a tea smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 19th century. Plants stolen from South West China, where the brew had been enjoyed since the days of the Shang Dynasty (1766 to 1122 BC). The contraband founding fresh industry in its new home when the indigenous coffee crops failed. Muted organ and sleepy, treated sine wave microtones describe Kava, the Polynesian fireweed root, whose extract serves as both sedative and euphoriant.Shincha are the first young leaves of the season. Picked in Southern Japan and steamed to prevent oxidization, retain their flavour and green / gold colour. Their musical counterpart finds Edren establishing an ecclesiastical drone, while Durhailay`s strings chart an ancient romantic ache. Sonic stars shine. Singing out to the infinite, the universe, before dissolving into knots of Radiophonic Workshop noise.Melodies treated with subtle sustain and delay denote Pu-Ehr, from the Yunnan province. The only truly fermented black tea - made distinctive by the action of bacteria, moulds, and yeasts. Its musical themes hovering in the vapour trails, the atmospheres, they themselves create. Spiraling, soaring, reaching for the heavens, while pretty music box glitches - tiny chimes turned in on themselves. Catching, reflecting, like light at play on fresh running water. (words: Robert Harris)

Created during the harsh winter nights of 2019 at a home studio in the outskirts of Seoul. “​Disfiguring Echos” i​s the first full length album of Korean artist Suggun Jang.

Mesmerizing ambient soundscapes soaked in Jang’s own environment recordings, are subtly layered with contemporary minimalist compositions to form a powerful work that reflects the harsh yet beautiful surroundings and captures the imagination.

Suggun Jang has been making music for more than 15 years, from noise and doom metal beginnings to complex and detailed sound designs for soundtrack projects, and a passion for capturing his surroundings with unique environment recordings.

DE presents the first window into the world of Suggun Jang.

Returning to his original Electro disguise Electro Nation, Thomas P. Heckmann returns with fresh and brand new material after 20 years! All that you love in original funky Electro is there, Robot voices (done with an ultra rare Texas Instruments Magic Wand), fat Bass, spacey effects and smooth as silk pads ! Enjoy the ride and stay tuned for more to come !

Electrocute Soundplates was never gone, but waiting in dark shades of the distopian underground...