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Kastil, aka of the spanish Mario Castillo, is well known and especially for his role as a producer of furious and intricate techno works with a high industrial influence. But at 30D we like that our close people (and Kastil is very close, since he is responsible for the mastering of all our label's releases) have absolute freedom to release what they consider appropriate, here is a clear example: Mario leaves aside his usual four-to-the-floor vision to immerse himself -completely on purpose- into classic IDM and into the most beautiful, musical and even epic electronica. Only one of the four tracks that conform the EP ('Polymorphic') clearly looks to the dance floor although it shares, along with the three remaining tracks, the artist's passion for the timeless sound of the 90's. QuadroQuill EP will be released on 30D Records' sub-label ExoPlanets, in both, vinyl (strictly limited edition) and digital format.

Sen Am is an enduring and tender album, rich and beguiling and generous in a quiet way. Over the last few years, I find myself returning to it, listening and absorbing, reflecting on the voices and working through the multiple layers of feelings and themes it announces with confidence and equanimity. Notions of care and contradiction, expressions of joy and desire and the underlying feeling of unease and turmoil; there is an urgent appeal to the listener for generosity, to strengthen our capacity to hear multiple voices simultaneously, to exist in multiple places at once.

Duval Timothy’s music was dropped into our world from another realm sometime in the spring of 2017. We received the call and we answered it. The rhythm and spirit was transmitted via London’s NTS Radio on the Do!! You!!! Breakfast Show with Charlie Bones and a short while later we were listening to the first vinyl edition of Sen Am in our living room in Berlin. The record got a lot of plays (at home and at some shows, before and after performances). It was like sunlight filtering through a cracked window and remaining there for a moment, dancing. Blue music emanating from a liminal zone, an in-between space, somewhere on the outskirts of Freetown, or rural Sierra Leone, or the outer edges of South London, or Bath, UK, or some undisclosed orbit, unfixed location. The music is soaked in diasporic experiences. It refuses to settle but still invites us to enter and stay awhile in that zone, where multiple forms exist (all) together with jazz, hip-hop, various strands of expressive electronics and experimental music all breathing together and moving around. It is a portal to a place of possibilities, a space for building and repairing possible and lost connections. But life in that liminal zone is precarious; it is life under duress; under pressure – not merely the pressure to produce a presentable, categorizable, and salable body of work, but the pressure that compels us to experiment and create new concepts and things that will help us imagine a different existence, a way out of the turbulence.

Freetown is a marvellous and sometimes sad place. It is one of those unmistakable locations inscribed diasporic memory; a place that touches you, a place that holds you and demands you bear witness: witness to pain, poverty, joy and desire. You remember the voices and the eyes of people even in momentary encounters. In Sen Am, you hear not only Duval’s recollections and sounds of Freetown, you hear family and friendship, people coming together and forming bonds, creating surrogate families. Forging community wherever you go is a practice, and community is at the core of this music. It’s in all the voices, from Emmerson and 6pac to Aminata and Aruna. It opens up a space for Black voices, for Sierra Leonean voices, and those voices extend through the succeeding projects, the 2 Sim EP and the album Help, and all that radiates from Duval’s Carrying Colour imprint.

Thank you for the invitation to write about the album Sen Am, on the occasion of its re-release which also coincides with the release of the exquisite double 7” Smɔl Smɔl with cktrl — a wonderful piece which calls on the listener to play both records at the same time to hear the music or play them separately and hear different versions. Duval is strengthening us, encouraging us to feel comfortable with discomfort, with incompleteness, with the hard-to-understand. This is a beautiful thing.

Following on from 2018’s Echo Principle LP, the Pleasure System full length sees Steve Hyland return to the crisp drum programming and colorful IDM soundscapes that dominated his debut on the Film label. A veteran of music production back in the driving seat after a long hiatus, Hyland’s approach on this latest offering draws on the isolation of modern life for inspiration. Pleasure System sees the British artist ruminating on his place in the world, and the mournful synth flourishes and washed-out drums, paired with more hopeful moments of electronic abstraction communicate a delicate yin and yang, constantly working against one another to find balance.

Welcome to Carsharing Tapes. Welcome to the future.

With "diurnal Tides: First Wave" we're proud to present not only the first release of our new imprint for classic electronic music mixtape culture but also the first ever official gathering of two long standing figures which both have been relentlessly and continuously contributing to the German underground scene for more than two decades now.

And these two are: baze.djunkiii and THE D3vi7.

baze.djunkiii, Hamburg-born and based, officially entered the electronic music scene as a DJ back in 1997 from an angle of being an enthusiastic raver, launched his very own label Intrauterin Recordings in 1999 and - apart from becoming an 24/7 networker, knowledge hub, music blogger etc. - evolved into one of the most versatile underground DJs and purveyor of original DJ culture around whose journey on the decks has taken him all over Germany as well as to Greece and the United States and to countless hours of air time on a plethora of underground radio stations as well.

THE D3vi7, on the other hand, remains an elusive figure. Deeply rooted in electronic music production and the hell'ish jungle of circuit board wiring as well as DAW madness THE D3vi7 is a moniker created by one of the most active, yet probably most underrated figures on the release circuit, a nom de guerre which serves the sole purpose of being able to operate anonymously without any confirmation bias being attached to other musical guises which might, or might have not, been used previously and in earlier stages of a long lasting involvement in music. And btw - this is the first time ever THE D3vi7 agreed to provide an official DJ mix for a mixtape release.

With baze.djunkiii's mix opening the roughly hour long journey of "diurnal Tides: First Wave" on the A-side we're getting a prime example of what original DJ culture is all about as he's taking us on a fascinating journey from deepest underground Electro to screaming, spiralling Acid madness and beyond, digging up most underground vinyl cuts and making proper use of his extensive collection of rare 7" releases - a format that has been criminally overlooked by many DJs but provides a treasure trove of goodness as this mix easily proves.

Turning the tape THE D3vi7 does what THE D3vi7 does best on the flip: Being a force. A dark one. Forging a pounding, most relentless stream of hammering Techno tunes to take out unsuspecting punters on heaving dancefloors one by one THE D3vi7 provides a high octane selection of peak time excess that either thrills or kills - an ode to the power of raw and unpolished Techno madness in its purest form. A power that cannot be contested. Ever.

The dance floor as devotional is a trope as old as the club itself. But, with her new album, Jesus Was An Alien, Perel subverts the stakes of our collective communion: Who are our arms raised to? Who are we seeking salvation from?

“Jesus Was An Alien is a discourse about whether Jesus was an actual alien,” she explains, “but also a social debate about what is and implies religion today.” She offers up her provocative second record – her first on Kompakt – as a soundtrack for the listener’s own journey through the intricacies and ironies of modern belief.

Picking up on the themes she brought to her debut, the 2018’s LP Hermetica on DFA, Perel has created ten tracks rich with spirit and allusion. Her influences are myriad, from the indie dance hitmakers of the early 2000s – Hot Chip, Simian Mobile Disco, Justice – to rave compilations that predate her ascent to the DJ booth, to more abstract inputs. Living with synesthesia, she says, “I feel emotions and colors piling up inside me, then there’s a triggering sound or event that opens a valve. My tracks are color streams that tell a story.”

Jesus Was An Alien is not just multicolored – it’s multi-lingual too, slipping in and out of tongues in a single track, sometimes dispensing with words altogether (the ecstatic breakdown of “The Principle of Vibration”). The album features Perel’s voice almost entirely but for her special collaboration with Canadian songwriter Marie Davidson on the title track.

“Jesus Was An Alien” stirs like a late-night revelation, a heady discovery awakened in the dark. Perel lays out a fiercely disciplined electro pulse, with Davidson’s proclamations growing more fervent over the song’s sensual stride. “I already said everything with my synthesizers and the melodies I created,” Perel explains of the collaboration, but “somehow she gave the song a voice I couldn’t.”

Perel drives further not only spiritually but sonically across the ten tracks, taking thrilling production risks: standouts include her breathy vocals atop a melodic piano strut on “Matrix;” the delirious blur of ghostly chimes and disembodied voices of “Religion;” and the retro radiance of “The Principle of Vibration,” in which Perel exhorts us to “come on and vibe” over an athletic riff and shuffling percussion.

“Kill The System,” meanwhile, hits the listener with tense acid pulses, building to only an imagined release and calls out the end of patriarchy. Album closer “Am Kanal” starts as a pensive cloud of a track, finally breaking into a rich textural rain of synths and stabs.

The variety throughout Jesus Was An Alien underlines Perel’s purpose in this latest project; she’s experimenting her way to answers – or maybe just more questions. After all, she says, “questions are the beginning of something new.”

4x LP and Zine (ft. photos, historical text and track narrations by the artist) set. Nation bring it. An essential delve in to the retrospective works of Ssps. Limited edition. No repress. Huge TIP ON This!

" You can't fake the funk, as they say and Ssps is pure funk embodied in all he does, the man oozes the funk 24-7! One of my earliest encounters with Ssps was at one of the infamous Rubulad parties out in Brooklyn.... the man was decked out extravagantly...a cross between Blowfly and some futuristic being zapped down to earth directly from the P-Funk mothership. Who was this masked man? The disco vampire, was beating fast disco tracks relentlessly while slamming in his 707 over the records in real time... not an easy feat, the beauty of the imperfections making it that much more exciting hearing the gallop and wild energy he was bringing to the crowd, we were eating it up. This is Ssps, fearless in his approach and execution, a modernist looking to the future but rooted in the past, an artist committed to his art... all presented with unhinged emotion. It's all or nothing...everything on the table....do or die...the true epitome of style!!!!

Declaring someone a "cult figure" or a "legend" is a huge weight to carry and is often a term that is carelessly thrown around, but those of us who have dwelled in this "underground" over the last 30 years can say with confidence that Ssps is just that to many of us, no questions asked, it's not up for debate.

Now, many years later we see the culmination of his electronic works from 2002-2021 committed to record in this 4xlp, 16 track boxed set (plus 45 page booklet) titled Ssps, "The Life and Times of GiGi Black" thus solidifying Mr. Nicholson's place in the secret world of dance not dance music.

The only way to describe this offering is "full spectrum electronic musical madness" not to be categorized, never to be pigeonholed, full of surprises and straight from the gut with a direct hit to the heart. We could go on about the production processes, about his Furr City studio space or his cross country excursions for work with a truck packed with paintings (but also his music equipment) plugging in and recording during his pit stops in Motel 6's across the US. But again it doesn't do justice to simply have a small peek inside the man's mind... the music is beyond the mind. The process is the process and nothing has or can stand in the way of what the Ssps has done in his long musical life. Punk Rock, Hardcore, House, No-Wave, Industrial, Jakbeat/Slow-Beat and Noise. it's all there for the taking, it's all intertwined. If you want it, you will find it within Ssps's works.

Nicholson's path is the embodiment of true culture within "dance music" cultivated from years of learning, experimenting, and pushing the limits with total commitment and immersion. "The Life and Times of GiGi Black" is true life experience, it is a reflection of someone delving deep into his craft and presenting it with care in opposition to the fast, disposable, self gratifying click bait culture we see dominating the pages today. The proof is here, drop the needle, enter the world of Ssps.

Natural Sciences Recs marks its 60th release with a split 12" from Beau Wanzer and Hieroglyphic Being: two cult names from Chicago's underground releasing on record for the first time, with Wanzer's hybrid industrial rap alongside Jamal's wired space ritual.

4 Dysfunctional Psychotic Release & Sonic Reprogramming Purposes Only !!

South African born, London based producer Kai van Dongen follows up two killer releases on 1Ø Pills Mate and Ei8ht Records with a massive four tracker on Cyberdome spanning lo-fi electro, gabber-influenced techno and Detroit acid.

‘Command’ gets started with the typical Cyber-aesthetic; a bruising, otherworldly electro cut that sounds like it was sampled from an intergalactic star-ship battle on a galaxy not so distant. Spooky, raw and uncompromising - classic horror synth lines creating a haunting atmosphere before its pulsating rhythm brings the listener back down to earth. ‘Losing Power’ again makes use of Kai’s knack for crafting emotionally captivating synth patterns, but this time under a lo-fi identity with hefty influence from the synthwave golden era; neon shapes and patterns blooming in the night as we continue our journey into darkness.

What sounds like an angry swarm of bees approaches on ‘Body Moving’ - a track title fit for purpose. Face-melting, brain-spinning techno creates a dark, psychedelic environment where sweat drips from the ceiling and faces react with a blend of euphoria and disgust, before we head to the Motor City on ‘Breathe’ - a cut of acid techno-electro that borrows from the icons of the past for a typically punchy and raw experience.

This is a selection of previously unreleased tracks created at home by Enrico Serotti, without any purpose other than the fun of playing with new musical devices. The tracks date from 1983 to 1999. A pretty long time span, coinciding with the transition from analog to digital technology. Cover Art by Alessandro Pessoli.

Late 80s / early 90s body music

Label text

" Attack Decay Sustain Release, or Adsr, was the name of Todd Nickolas and Dominic Paterson's high school synthesizer group, an outlet for their electronic music experiments recorded on Todd’s parents’ farm in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.

In the idyllic rural setting of the Nickolas' dairy and crop farm, the juxtaposition of natural ambience and the repetitive rhythms of the machinery merged within their youthful music- saturated subconscious and found its way into their recordings. This bucolic environment also inspired the teenagers to channel their restless energy into endlessly experimenting with whatever gear they could get their hands on and listening to a steady diet of new music.

A big part of that exposure to non-mainstream sounds came via CBC Radio's Brave New Waves program — a saviour for adventurous and curious listeners living outside of major urban centres. The title "Poised Over Pause Buttons" is directly borrowed from a live studio broadcast by Severed Heads, where host Brent Bambury introduced the set by saying, "Do you know how many fingers are poised over pause buttons right now?" The title is also a head nod to those early processes of recording onto cassette decks or 4-track tape recorders, and to the tape culture of the time, capturing favourite songs off the radio with precision and making mixtapes from owned or borrowed record collections.

Todd was constantly seeking new electronic music through those formative years — whether it was the futuristic space rock of ELO's “Time” in grade school, Skinny Puppy’s blistering electronic body music in high school, or the ambient bliss of Aphex Twin in university. The tracks coming from their studio in those early days were inspired by a steady diet of these new discoveries. They were rapidly devouring a wide variety of acts from 4AD and Wax Trax!, “indie” artists like Husker Du, Chicago house to Belgian New Beat, the On-U Sound label to Public Enemy, and all points in between.

The unreleased cassettes that Todd recently rediscovered (some of which are included on this release) are a flashback to that era of pure discovery but also a reminder of the explorations and achievements accomplished by the confidence of the fearless amateur. Over the past three years, Todd and Linus Booth have compiled their favourite glimpses from that '87-'91 period and present them to you as a personal reflection of that time and place."

A download code is included.

The second release of Michael Mayer’s IMARA imprint – the self-titled debut by Juliana Martínez, recording as Servicio al Cliente – is exactly the kind of unexpected and quixotic experience you’d want from a label run by a core member of the Kompakt family. In its six gorgeous songs, Martínez teases out both joy and melancholy, her sweet pop melodies set against a backdrop of intimate, gentle, yet beautifully brave arrangements for beats and electronics.

Now based in Berlin, Martínez grew up in Colombia, the daughter of a Colombian mother and Uruguayan father, both psychiatric doctors, from whom she learned a thing or two about the joys of creativity: “My mother especially believed music had no boundaries in what it can do for your brain and soul. Like sort of what sport does to your body.” Martínez attended an all-girl Catholic school, but she also took private music lessons, from which she was expelled “since I composed melodies instead of rehearsing.” In retrospect, this experience reads like a sign of things to come.

After studying law at university, including postgraduate studies in Spain, Martínez decided to change things up: she’d already been playing in a group called Las Palabras Correctas (The Right Words), and eventually found herself embedded in a community of friendship with other artists who “always made songs and art and shared with each other in what we called the ‘Ambassadors of Colombian Music,’ a name taken from a popular Colombian TV show. These friends kept me involved and interested in my keyboards and songs.”

The lovely songs on Servicio al Cliente came to Michael Mayer via an unsolicited demo – “there was no Soundcloud or Dropbox link,” he recalls, “but a beautifully designed website containing an mp3 player. The slightly surreal artwork in combination with Servicio al Cliente’s heartwarming, somehow naive music instantly broke my heart.” There is indeed something deeply moving about these songs, possessed as they are of an uncanny charm, full of ticking rhythm patterns, levitating organ drones and gentle, luscious keyboard patterns. Above it all, Martínez’s voice sails through the air, her delightful Sprechstimme filled with offhand confidence. “It sounds like something that I’ve always known,” Mayer marvels, “like an old forgotten friend or a childhood memory that pops up in a dream.”

Servicio al Cliente reaches us fully formed, the complexities of Colombian life etched deep within its DNA. Its surface sweetness, the sensual sashay and sway of melodies like “La mujer que bailó con el diablo” or the opening “Romántico”, betrays a deeper sense of longing that inhabits the songs’ folds, evidence of Martínez’s sharp, smart awareness of the work of memory, a kind of happy-sad splendor. “I feel my music is full of a South American nostalgia,” she agrees, “and is a try to recall a wider understanding of reality which Colombia forces you to have. A bittersweet irony where most things are simply possible. I try (for) my music to sound like this feeling.” And indeed, it was in a moment of great loss and sadness that Martínez decided to share her music: “It was only when my father passed away that I pushed myself to write to Michael with my songs.”

“And Michael replied back.

The Ne-21 return to She Lost Kontrol after their first pitch-perfect 80s dark wave release in 2016. After releasing a collaboration with Donato Dozzy with the project ‘Men with Secrets’ at the beginning of the year, the duo lands on the label with their new work “In The Realm of Electricity”. The album is a collection of 8 tracks composed and recorded between 2012 and 2020 at the Sy6 studio in Boscoreale. The outcome is a perfect blend of synth pop and minimal wave, filled with icy synths, shuddering bass, and anthemic vocals, ranging from mumbled vocoder to arch talk-singing. While diverse in atmospheric scope, swells of ghostly synths circle the driving beat throughout, producing a haunting totality drenched in an ethereal midnight trance; the submerge of cold, spectral vocals sing within the darkest depths of a starry soundscape – the gloomy romanticism of low, distant vocals bursting with post-punk melancholia. The track’s unease between purpose and utility create a discrete synthesis, and, like a piece of speculative fiction, the memory of the body and its coalescence with the future become prime motives for this liquid age. Akin to Ballard or Philipp K. Dick, the workis not only dreamlike and surreal, but vocally sinister, as if this spectrum of lush new wave ‘80s pop and Almond-style weirdness hides a truth waiting to be grasped. The album in essence sounds unashamedly distinctive, unique and charming. Whether you fall in love with the whole act or you’re just stunned by the bizarreness of it all, one thing’s for sure – you’ll be compelled and gripped right to the infectiously smutty end. Composed, recorded and mixed by Nicola Buono & Lino Monaco at Sy6 Studio. Vocals and lyrics by Lino Monaco. Mastering by Joshua Eustis, Los Angeles. Design By Michelangelo Greco She Lost Kontrol Records 2021

High quality weirdo political pop from MB Jones (Jee Jee Band, EM Records) - sparse, quirky and strange with English and Korean vocals. TIP!
Recorded in Busan, Republic of Korea by former US special agent MB Jones, ROK Spy documents both his stay in a country on the verge of a nuclear conflict and his mission there (for obvious confidential reasons, the purpose of this mission is only to be referred to in an elusive way). While most of his personal belongings have disappeared – or, more likely, been destroyed – we are very thankful for the safe receipt of a USB stick containing 7 songs recorded in Autumn 2017, alongside a drawing and a few handwritten notes. We are proud to now be able to share these with you.
In order to do so, we hastily came up with a label. The circumstances under which it was born lead us into calling it “Drama”. This release is DRAMA1.
The content of this LP is a seemingly disparate set of pop-not-pop tunes, flirting with dance music on songs like the apocalyptical disco Nuclear War or the bizarre and mind puzzling boogie Pusan Perimeter. Though it is quite hard to put words on MB Jones’s productions (one may accurately call it an “oddball” of a record), his musical testimony may sit somewhere in-between Holger Czukay’s most narrative pieces and Arthur Russel’s most cheerful moments, sharing with these two brilliant musicians a genuine feeling of intimacy emanating from each second of his songs. The only thing that may be said without a doubt is that these 7 songs are the product of someone whose ear has been attentive and receptive to all sorts of contemporary musical genres (from trap to experimental electronic music and EDM).
It’s still not clear whether the cryptic lyrics evoke situations which already occurred, whether they are oracles, some insider’s warnings or whether they are the product of a mind in a hallucinatory state. On Poison Pill – the closing song – he is particularly ambiguous : “the CIA bought me a trip / I put the tab under my lip / They want to build a shopping mall / On the DMZ wall”. We’ll leave the interpretation to you.

A Collection of Sounds from the Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia (1959-2001) Art by Zofia Kulik

"Would it sound just as bad if you played it backwards?" assembles a collection of audio experiments created at the Polish Radio Experimental Studio (pres) from 1959 to the beginning of the millennium. These exceptional works are presented alongside images from the Polish artist Zofia Kulik, whose career reached its apogee between the late 1960s and early 70s. While Pres and Kulik remain important artifacts in the recent history of the Polish avant-garde, presenting them together in one release may not seem like an obvious choice. There are, of course, some historical intersections-he most notable being a shared interest in Polish artist and architectOskar Hansen's Open Form theory. Open Form promoted a modular theory of architecture that became a tool adapted by its users and inhabitants to ??????????????..Hansen's ideas influenced Kulik's early works and also manifested in the Pres's iconic "black room", a music studio designed by Hansen, himself, which was equipped with moveable sound panels that absorbed or reflected sounds to promote a greater, creative freedom from its users. And yet, as it usually goes, the most obvious connections are usually the most deceitful. Whereas Kulik initially followed Open Form, she later turned away from it. And as for the black room-it mostly worked in theory but not in practice. What is it then that makes the two work together?

Polish Radio Experimental Studio - Pres (Polish: Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia) was an experimental music studio in Warsaw, where electronic and utility pieces were recorded. The establishment of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio was conceived by W?odzimierz Sokorski, head of the Radio and Television Committee. Between 1952 and 1956 he was a Minister of Culture, and as a strong supporter of socialist realism he fought against any manifestations of modernity in music. The Polish Radio Experimental Studio was founded on the 15th of November 1957,[1] but only in the second half of the following year was it adapted for sound production.[2][3] It operated until 2004.[4] Until 1985, for 28 years the studio was headed by its founder - Józef Patkowski - musicologist, acoustician, and the chairman of the Polish Composers' Union. The second most important person in the Studio was Krzysztof Szlifirski, an electro-acoustics engineer. Before founding the studio Józef Patkowski visited similar hubs in Cologne, Paris, Gravesono and Milan.[5] Though the studio was a place where autonomous electronic pieces were recorded, this wasn't its main purpose. It was launched as a space for the creation of independent compositions, sounds illustrations for radio dramas, and soundtracks for theatre, film and dance.

Utopia is an unimaginable alter world that is created by Mastering Black’s universe of sonic escapism.

When I have been overwhelmed with the amount of work that I've been doing in the past years, I have decided that I needed a certain get away - a certain sacred space for me to pursue the reason why I actually signed up for this in the beginning. Music composing that love is!

Earlier this year , during a trip in African island group Cabo Verde, we went to this night excursion to the Viana desert. We have taken some random photos shot some videos of the Moon thru a telescope. That didn’t struck me as an amazing experience yet I was there many distorted feelings in my mind trying to enjoy and forcing myself trying to be in the moment.

So when I have looked at these pictures back on a calmer state when I was home In NL , I've seen the vast amount of breather - a space - enough that is needed in life to let the blood flow in vein the way it’s suppose to flow. Envisioning your life from moon to create clarity - looking to life on earth - to understand what our mistakes are as human beings - or learning from 8 years old’s pure heart - that’s when my 8 year old daughter collaborated with the fist opening track to summarize the main purpose of our life - love or so called Utopia!
- Īlker (October 2023)

As another weekend goes into retrograde, we herald the ascendant Planet Orange to fill your horizon with cosmic grooves from their latest 4-track VA. With tracks by Velvet Velour, Mitch Wellings, Tom Frankel, and Planet Orange boss Pete Melba, this second release retains all major aspects of the label’s signature sound. Bursts of alien percussion pepper luminous beats, textured by light and shade as fleeting melodies wax and wane. Planet Orange moves forward with sonic purpose on this latest trip, so jump on board and enjoy the ride.

Joris Biesmans’ TVe imprint returns for it’s third installment, this time featuring it’s eponymous founder front, center and recording under his own name. Led by a forward-thinking electro remix from the ever-versatile Man Power, it’s another firm display of synth-led versatility, brimming with confidence and charisma. ‘Angry Baby’ is an irresistible pressure-pot of stomping house, as playful as it’s name and as demanding as its imaginary infant protagonist, with a truly hypnotic, elastic breakdown proving irresistible in a club context . Man Power’s aforementioned remix is less loopy, more analog, with his well-tooled production technique pushing the record’s texture into altogether more cosmic and overwhelming territory, led by wailing synthesis. Back to Biesmans for B2, and a more acidic, almost unnerving vision unfolds throughout ‘Connecting The Dots’, which does just that, linking futurist, Michigan influences with a more floor-focused, European aesthetic.

Tolouse Low Trax, Sacha Mambo, General Purpose and newcomer Berkay Mate get on the remix of Ex Ponto’s ‚ Neka Neka' LP. Neka Neka is a nod to ex-Yugoslavian experimentalists of the 80s (Rex Ilusivii, Kozmetika, Miha Kralj etc) and the thriving, late-night hedonism of Belgrade's Club 20/44. Tolouse Low Trax provides a remix to Middle Path that is experimental, deep and pulsating. The track is obscure, but has a pulse that you can feel in your chest and ears listening to be beautiful spoken words which will leave you in a trance. Sacha Mambo reworks 20-40 into a vivid melodic trip that goes into the explorations of the cosmos. The movement of this track is groovy and uplifting, it will keep you on the move. The eclecticism and craziness of Sacha Mambo are definitely heard in this remix. General Purpose remix Ex Ponto into psychedelic drug chug. This mid-tempo acid banger will keep your body moving, melt your mind and the break down will set you off. Close your eyes and immerse yourself in the vivid journey. Berkay Mete serves up a remix of intoxicating Eastern sounds. This track is ideal for a sun soaked dancefloor or in the darkness of the nightclubs. Wherever it is played it will, the rhythm will grab you and keep you.

Welcome to another polymeter dance! Feel free to express yourself, subordinate to any measures and cycles you prefer, there are plenty for everyone and any purpose. Every track represents a variety of rhythmic possibilities for any part of the body to communicate with. This allows you to resonate with the universe, but please always care for the environment! The dunning voice of today will introduce to you the core issues of tomorrow. As if a paralyzed mankind would not be able anymore to speak out the inevitable, a posthuman being has taken over. This entity is the master of ceremony who conducts an array of machines that will take further action to communicate, supported by complex polymeters.

In a world increasingly under the sway of algorithms and the advent of AI, potentially signaling an epochal moment as important as the Industrial Revolution, Micron Audio releases the next in its series of forward-thinking electronic music: Bots by Belgium's 6siss. Much as early electro was driven by the twin influence of the rhythm of the factories of Detroit and a bold imagining of life beyond (or below) our world, Bots takes its cues from the ideas and concepts surrounding our potential near-future such as Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. At times the music swirls with sounds that bring to mind nascent intelligence slowly working out its purpose, albeit an intelligence alien to that found in animals. In other moments the rhythm shudders and shakes like the microsecond "thoughts" of an AI slowed down infinitesimally, overlaid with speech manipulated into sounds completely unrecognizable yet strangely familiar, like listening in to a conversation between two programs. Released on 12" record and, more fittingly, digital, Bots returns electro to its roots in envisioning the future whilst freeing itself from the paradigm of the genre's past to create a soundtrack of the AI world; a view beyond the algorithm.

6 track full album LP by Fashion Flesh aka John Talaga from Bay City, Michigan. He is known for his "off the grid" approach to music and has solo releases on great underground labels such as Unknown Precept, Jacktone and Fit/Est. 83' Records. Most all of the instruments used to perform and produce are self-built electronics,oscillators, generators, sound toys, and modulators. Those that are not built from one's own design are heavily modified beyond audible recognition or return. No sampling/stolen sound is ever used or sucked from outside pre-existing sources. No laptops, instead tape manipulation and hard copy cut-ups...analog devices that are built for specific purpose and dis-purpose. Rubber Mountain is his first full LP, 6 tracks of mutant mayhem on The Black Lodge label, spanning from odd italo-disco flavors, to no-wave, post-punk, jakbeat, and experimental sounds from the beyond. Equally for the dancefloor and home listening, this record has it all. Also a visual artist, this release is housed in a full color double-sided jacket with art he created himself.

Anklepants introduces his brand new album for Detroit Undergroud, a collection of ten cuts, made with his very own arsenal of digital and hardware toys, most of them self made and customised for his purposes. This multi faceted artist creates a blend of twisted ryhthms, synthetic melodies and weird textures and noises, yet danceable stuff but with heavy focus in experimentation and risk.

[Pals FM: Floor Materials Vol.2] is the second dance music compilation from Walls AND Pals. The aim is to share various ideas of dance floors instead of lingering on a certain genre or style, and while being DJ Friendly, it also serves as an exchange ground where production techniques of artists co-exist. All four tracks in [Vol.2] correspond with the common purpose of bringing out ‘Floor Materials’, keeping distinct identity from each musician. In ‘Cofrica’, rapper and producer Simo of Y2k92 injects his long-time affection of Detroit flavor into a minimalistic form. Conversely, Dott from the Thai label More Rice brings intricate and complex rhythms centered around the step sequencer in ‘Antibody Movement’, walking a fine line between House and Techno while the essence of Tech House is preserved . And in ‘Pump It Up’, Acidwork demonstrates what the outcome would be when Electro runs through digital instruments and samplers. Last but not least, Seo John, who put out his first EP [dive] last year from the label Goddezz, follows up with ‘miQro’, creating a different side of Trance that is more adequate for clubs or concrete spaces rather than outdoor raves or festivals. In the same manner with the preceding release [Pals FM: Floor Materials Vol.1], [Vol.2] is a compilation executed by fellow Asian musicians across the region. Beyond the reopened borders, and just like the excitement and stimulus at unusual events, this compilation serves to contribute to the dancefloor as an interesting ‘Material’ than simply as a ‘Tool’.

Remastered reissue of Het Zweet's 1987 self-titled LP + a bonus LP, consisting of previously unreleased material.

Marien Van Oers work under the name Het Zweet (“The Sweat” in English) originally came out in the 1980s (specifically 1983-1988), but listening to the new reissue of this self-titled album from 1987 can feel like one is listening to something that’s both much more current and also much, much older than that. Van Oers, who passed away in 2013, made music that tended to get classed as “industrial”, and tracks here like the steady, clanging churn of “From the Lowland” or “On Earth” show why, but he was as or more inspired by tribal music intended to produce trance-like effects via rhythm and (percussive and vocal) repetition. Using instruments made by himself out of anything from shopping carts to cardboard tubes, the music of Het Zweet locks into grooves that somehow feel more elemental and physical than many of his contemporaries. It never quite feels like Van Oers is emulating or echoing the music of any particular region or tradition so much as trying to synthesize all the ones he’s heard into some sort of ur-pulse, an overtone so powerful as to compel the “Massive Trance” the title of the last song on the record evokes.

While the 1987 Het Zweet has four track titles per side, and on listening you can discern some segues and places where it feels like new movements do shift into place, it’s fitting to have this record on vinyl where the listener is encouraged to experience each side as one uninterrupted piece. The bonus material included on this reissue expands Het Zweet from one LP to two, the second LP consisting entirely of previously unreleased material. This bonus LP is sequenced similarly, with three untitled tracks and two live excerpts presented as side-long experiences that belie their disparate origins with a unity of sound and purpose. Van Oers’ percussive nous and distantly yelled chants certainly sound capable of working up a sweat in both the performer and any movement- minded listeners, but maybe the most striking thing about Het Zweet is how vital it still sounds, despite its age and relative obscurity.

Ground Tactics returns to Midgar Sands for his second release on the IDM/Leftfield focused side catalogue of Midgar Records. Over the past five years, Midgar has developed its sound through inventive records by the likes of Wata Igarashi, Forest Drive West, Susumu Yokota, and Retina.it, among others. Having developed from a music producer into a sound alchemist and tuning fork practitioner, Ground Tactics (aka Colin Tobelem) is moving beyond sound, Ground Tactic’s treatments inspire the addition of symbolic values in life – devoted to the purpose of seeking deeper meaning and knowledge of one’s self, to serve in the process of humanity’s transcendence. In a world uniting for self-reflection as a necessary step to spark our precious virtues into Light, Reality Implant symbolizes the start of a techno-prophecy: introducing the coming of a new era in which multiple realities and timelines merge together.

"What took you so long?" might be a valid question concerning the ten year gap between Zanshin's new album "In Any Case By Any Chance" and his first album "Rain Are In Clouds".
Of course it is a question that the Viennese musician has asked himself quite startled in his usual self-critical manner, just to realize at a closer look that it has not been a lack of creativity or laziness at least. He used the Zanshin moniker on four EP releases and several remixes, plus a game soundtrack. Not to forget all his output as one half of producer duo Ogris Debris (the album "Constant Spring" from 2016 and roughly two dozen singles and remixes) and the many, partly award-winning audiovisual installations and performances with Leonhard Lass as Depart (depart.at). Furthermore he has also built two sound installations in 2021, "I Gong" at Elevate Festival and "Cymatic Sands" at Ars Electronica. In addition, Zanshin performs with the Max-Brand-Synthesizer from time to time as part of the compositions by Elisabeth Schimana, and together with label mate Dorian Concept he has also composed and performed the piece "Half Chance/Music for Moogtonium" for this unique instrument, built by Bob Moog himself.
Not spared by certain global developments of recent years, but rather invigorated by exploring his own resilience, Zanshin had a talk with Affine Records Operator Jamal in the beginning of 2021, speaking of future ideas and releases. And what was initially a single release spawned into a whole album in seemingly no time. An old skit ("Polar Polychrome") on the Roland Mc-505 groove-box that had never really been forgotten, but was rather waiting patiently somewhere in the back of his mind, suddenly proved to be the initial spark for the album.
The term "Zanshin", roughly translated as un-focussed attention, is in fact more than just a pseudonym but rather a directive in the artists life. Zanshin really likes to go in several directions at once, kind of according to Wittgenstein's claim that "The world is everything that is the case.", to find out where his love for music might lead him this time. He also somehow went back to his roots with this album. Not necessarily in the sense of certain musical influences or genres, because then the album would be even more eclectic than it already is. More like a focus on the core values in the fabrication process of the music itself, the freedom to rather follow the structures and sounds than to shape them in a completely predetermined way. Somebody once called it, "to weave what the music demands."
In this regard, Zanshin often feels more like a sculptor and tries not toadhereto strongly to the rules of specific sub-genres of electronic music. Searching for sounds and designing them is one of the energies that fuels his interest the most, thus at the beginning of a lot of tracks there are small skits and ideas that have the freedom to grow in whatever direction.
Hence this album has no elaborate story to tell, there is no extensive "narrative" or big time "storytelling" at work. "In Any Case By Any Chance" is not a novel but rather a collection of short stories (which are certainly dense and have complex plots nonetheless). The result is a long-player where playful electronica, skillful songwriting, extrovert dance music and symphonic film music enter into a symbiotic relationship. Returning to another Wittgenstein quote, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent", the emotional impact of music is the main focus and the results can be quite solemn at times, but around the corner always lurks the next bone-breaking rhythm pattern and gnarly sound design.
The infamous saying, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture", is another brick in the wall of sound in Zanshin's approach to music. He rarely roots himself in traditions or uses them too overtly, he really likes to agglomerate sounds, to challenge the listeners. It seems like he tries to avoid classification on purpose, because he knows that everyone has their own perception anyway. The only thing that this music demands implicitly is a willingness to listen attentively.
Very dense, at times really heavy and massive, then again airy and playful. "Music for clubs that don't exist.", might be another fitting caption to describe this album, which lasts for a little more than an hour.
The opener "Heatseeker" rushes to a sudden head start with its steel pan extravaganza, tropical vibes meet a bass line drenched in electro funk, and electrified synth stabs support the declaration of love in the lyrics. Kind of Jamie XX meets Electro meets Diva House. The monster that is "Bronteroc Brawl" is up next, a serious test for the speakers and a wild ride with metallic, growling sounds. The aggressive sound design reminds of suspense ridden shark chases, vicious dogs and cunning dinosaurs, in any case a track for people who love a proper bass stomper.
A new approach for the "indie discotheque" brings the emotional roller-coaster "In Gloom" with snappy drums and hypnotic synth motives á la Alessandro Cortini, creating an epic atmosphere together with the multi-layered vocals. A psycho-acoustic treat is position 4, the crisp instrumental "Polar Polychrome", you could even go as far as calling this a Zanshin signature track. Like mentioned before, the roots of this track go back to 2002 and you can hear the unmistakable influence of beat wizards like Photek, a piercing bass line is supported by poly-rhythmic drums, while dense pads try to escape the claustrophobic lockdown mood of winter 2020/21.
Another round of intense pathos waits for the listeners in the ensuing track "In Search Of". Moderat say "Hello", a melancholy piano melody is rushed to a climax by a wild bass arpeggio and forceful drums, the desire for a perfect sunrise at the next after-hour to the max. Initially just an appendix to the preceding track, "Time After Thought" swiftly developed from a mere improvisation to an ambient epic with a croaking alien piano, as if Keith Jarrett were on his way to Alpha Centauri.
Up next is the first single "Because Why", a breakbeat driven, synth-heavy track with winged vocals and a popular film quote. The title refers to the movie "Alphaville" by Jean-Luc Godard, a dystopian science fiction film noir, in which an omniscient computer system named Alpha 60 is ruling society and humans can only say "because" but never "why". As if the gears of a galactic mechanism were spinning into motion sounds "Identity Slices". A raspy chord structure finds its counterbalance in a kind of stumbling, wonky beat, and Zanshin would never deny the huge influence that Autechre's sounds and structures always have had on his music. Micro- and macrocosm meet on the same level and this friction is also a metaphor for questions of identity and self-awareness, without using voices or lyrics.
Off we go into the IDM bubble bath of "Enzyme Enigma", the bass drum is stomping and a fizzy acid-line is twisting in all directions behind rolling dub-techno chords. "Corrosion Creak" is a kind of acoustic degradation process, the rave dogs are finally let loose and everything happens at once, funky synths shred, string sounds wail and then there is this bass that sounds like smashing a rusty metal plate in the junk yard with a vengeance.
Towards the end everything slows down a bit, the beat in "Whatever Words" is Warp school cerebral hop at its best and therefore loads of glittery, creaky sounds swarm out until the synapses are overloaded, cumulating in a mighty bass ending. Last but never least, "Rebus Redux" guides us into the limitless night sky, with long indulgent pads dotted by an aimlessly wandering piano, while a compact net of tamed resonances and meandering sub frequencies unfolds in the background, enticing navel-gazing imagination.

Limited edition 300 only black vinyl LP housed in a gloss finished outer sleeve with download code.

A Collection of Sounds from the Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia (1959-2001) Art by Zofia Kulik

"Would it sound just as bad if you played it backwards?" assembles a collection of audio experiments created at the Polish Radio Experimental Studio (pres) from 1959 to the beginning of the millennium. These exceptional works are presented alongside images from the Polish artist Zofia Kulik, whose career reached its apogee between the late 1960s and early 70s. While Pres and Kulik remain important artifacts in the recent history of the Polish avant-garde, presenting them together in one release may not seem like an obvious choice. There are, of course, some historical intersections-he most notable being a shared interest in Polish artist and architectOskar Hansen's Open Form theory. Open Form promoted a modular theory of architecture that became a tool adapted by its users and inhabitants to ??????????????..Hansen's ideas influenced Kulik's early works and also manifested in the Pres's iconic "black room", a music studio designed by Hansen, himself, which was equipped with moveable sound panels that absorbed or reflected sounds to promote a greater, creative freedom from its users. And yet, as it usually goes, the most obvious connections are usually the most deceitful. Whereas Kulik initially followed Open Form, she later turned away from it. And as for the black room-it mostly worked in theory but not in practice. What is it then that makes the two work together?

Polish Radio Experimental Studio - Pres (Polish: Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia) was an experimental music studio in Warsaw, where electronic and utility pieces were recorded. The establishment of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio was conceived by W?odzimierz Sokorski, head of the Radio and Television Committee. Between 1952 and 1956 he was a Minister of Culture, and as a strong supporter of socialist realism he fought against any manifestations of modernity in music. The Polish Radio Experimental Studio was founded on the 15th of November 1957,[1] but only in the second half of the following year was it adapted for sound production.[2][3] It operated until 2004.[4] Until 1985, for 28 years the studio was headed by its founder - Józef Patkowski - musicologist, acoustician, and the chairman of the Polish Composers' Union. The second most important person in the Studio was Krzysztof Szlifirski, an electro-acoustics engineer. Before founding the studio Józef Patkowski visited similar hubs in Cologne, Paris, Gravesono and Milan.[5] Though the studio was a place where autonomous electronic pieces were recorded, this wasn't its main purpose. It was launched as a space for the creation of independent compositions, sounds illustrations for radio dramas, and soundtracks for theatre, film and dance.

All rise for Skeleton King. The Bristol based producer lines up his Lobster Theremin debut with Deep Into The Night four tracks that highlight the emotional nuances of the skeletal sound.

Skeleton King has a knack for the large; be it lairy, UKG basslines or lo-fi alternative pop there’s a quiet confidence in his ability to jump between genres so effortlessly. ‘Anxiety’ begins as a half-time, bass-driven stepper and finishes on some sort of ragga-dub tip, and those horns! Clearly inspired by the producer's time in Bristol it’s an instant rave starter.

‘Deep Into The Night’ combines the producer's love for breaks and garage on a wubbed-out, atmospheric 2-step before ‘Of Course, All The Time’ pursues the cinematic on a marching, ancestral rhythm.

We finish on ‘There’s Something About You Boy’; wriggling synths, malfunctioning electronics and wifey riddim pitched vocals creating a pop-driven euphoria amongst the UK energy. A massive EP from a super exciting UK emerger.

Vonda7 delivers her ten-track debut album ‘Let Go’ on art | werk this December, uncovering a collection of productions which showcase her diverse and rich sound palette via her own imprint. Presenting a melting pot of influences, inspirations and artistry from across the electronic spectrum, taking in nuances and cues from house and techno through to hip-hop, indie, synth-pop and beyond, Vonda7’s debut album ‘Let Go’ showcases and serves up a well-crafted and notable example of her continued experimentation across styles. With her own vocals at the core of her work, and with her productions connecting a variety of elements and sounds into a genre-fluid and evolving project, the ten-track offering presents the Berlin-based DJ and producer in her most complete musical form to date, highlighting her desire to not fit within conventional boundaries and guidelines, but instead to create her own realm. Combining a collection of tracks already released digitally as singles alongside a host of fresh, unreleased productions, the project unveils a rich body of work whilst telling a story of self-reflection, and exploring subjects such as human relationships and a quest for purpose. Often playful, with fairy tale and dream-like qualities at times, whilst also presenting real and raw questions, messages and thoughts throughout, ‘Let Go’ offers up an in-depth and personal journey into Vonda7 not only as an artist, but as an individual, delivering an impressive debut album from a blossoming talent most certainly on the rise.