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Say She She - Silver (Transparent Clear Vinyl 2LP+DL)Say She She - Silver (Transparent Clear Vinyl 2LP+DL)
Say She She - Silver (Transparent Clear Vinyl 2LP+DL)Karma Chief Records
¥5,376
Say She She, the soulful female-led trio, stand rock solid on their discodelic duty with their boundary breaking sophomore album Silver. The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and former backing singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham and Nya Gazelle Brown front the band. Following the NYC siren song, the trio was pulled from their respective cities — Piya from London, Nya from DC, and Sabrina from NYC — to Manhattan’s downtown dance floors, through the Lower East Side floorboards, and up to the rooftops of Harlem, where their friendship was formed on one momentous, kismet eve. Silver was entirely written and recorded live to tape at Killion Sound studio in North Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone). While these analog recording techniques help root Say She She’s sound in a bedrock of tonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the track in the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen their sound described as “a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritual elevation” (MOJO) and “infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early '80s NYC” (The Guardian). Musical inspirations include Rotary Connection, Asha Puthli, Liquid Liquid, Grace Jones and Tom Tom Club. Ultimately, Silver oozes with quirk and adventure and embraces the multifaceted nature of what it means to be a modern femme. Say She She fully embrace their role as beauticians, actively reminding people of the inherent beauty in the world. They skillfully employ double entendres and humor to encourage open dialogue and fearlessly address important matters that demand attention.
Sceptre - Essence Of Redemption (Ina Dif'rent Styley) (LP)
Sceptre - Essence Of Redemption (Ina Dif'rent Styley) (LP)Radiation Roots
¥3,135
Founded in 1981 in Britain's second city Birmingham, the band Sceptre were part of a thriving local music scene, a scene that for the most part revolved around live shows in the region's community centres, university campuses, pubs and nightclubs. Neglected by major labels, many bands went unrecorded and of those that did get documented most managed to release just one or two singles. Fortunately, Sceptre recorded and released an entire album, 1984's “Essence of Redemption Ina Dif'rent Styley”. Poorly pressed, in very small numbers and with limited distribution, the album didn't sell well and barely made an impact on its release. However, whatever its problems the music itself was first class and over the last three decades, has acquired numerous fans and an ever growing reputation as a classic of the British reggae genre. Whilst still remaining underground and unknown to the vast majority of reggae fans, demand amongst those in the know has been such that used copies have fetched as much as £180. As part of our mission to document and reissue Britain's lost, forgotten and unreleased reggae heritage, Sceptre were high on our list of projects. Through the good offices of Black Symbol who had released Sceptre's previous two recordings on “Black Symbol Presents Handsworth Explosion Volume One”, (also reissued on Reggae Archive Records), we were introduced to Jean McLean and able to get the band members approval and cooperation with this project. Musically this is one of the strongest UK albums there is, with not a single weak track and many stand outs. Six of the ten songs are roots, varying between a classic roots sound based on a 1970s Jamaican blue print on “Essence of Redemption”, “Nuclear Disaster”, “Soul Searching” and “Pestilence and Bombing” to a more contemporary UK feel on “Right Time Coming,” whilst “Get Up And Go” incorporates a funk feel into the mix. Three of the tunes, “Play the Music”, “Me on My Own” and “Goodbye” are Lovers Rock with Jean McLean taking over lead vocal duties from the men, whilst Jean's sister Beverley aka Rankin Bev demonstrates her MC skills on the dancehall orientated “Ina Dif'rent Styley”. The album is brim full of great tracks and not only showcases the band's versatility, but also what talented songwriters and musicians they were. The fact that it didn't enjoy greater success and get heard by the reggae audience at large is a travesty we can finally put right. Sceptre's “Essence of Redemption Ina Dif'rent Styley” is reissued by Reggae Archive Records on 20th October 2014 and will be available on premium quality vinyl, CD and digital download from all leading outlets. To coincide with this release our sister label Sugar Shack Records is releasing former Sceptre guitarist, horn player, keyboard player and vocalist Jean McLean's new album “Everlasting” on the same date. credits
Scheich in China - Arschgesichter des Todes (LP)Scheich in China - Arschgesichter des Todes (LP)
Scheich in China - Arschgesichter des Todes (LP)Scheich in China
¥4,455
Howling blasts of blackened metallurgy by Hamburg miscreants Scheich In China, chasing a killer mixtape for V I S with 13 blistered instrumentals sure to tickle the fancy of Bathory, Wold and Death Metal fiends. One of two hellish new Scheich in China albums, the malefic form of ‘Arschgesichter des Todes’ looms like a soundtrack to petrifying night terrors with a devil-baiting parade of ungodly pleasures. The harder hearing among you may be familiar with Philipp Meiers and Alsen Rau’s work in this guise from a number of LPs issued on local Hamburg labels since 2014, and should also recognise this one as closest to source, mostly ditching the drone and technoid elements in favour of pure death metal throttle and blizzard dynamics. Riddled with dread and venom, the album shells a cavalcade of enslaved drum machine and wiry guitars (ir)resplendent in typically lo-fi recording virtues and hungry to gnaw the nerves of any poor soul in earshot. Of course it’s an outright buzz if you like this stuff, shy of the sort of vocal theatrics that can put some heads off, but with steely, uncompromising focus on the textures, energy and an end-of-earth primordial thrust that makes Death Metal, proper, such a uniquely extreme proposition. At its longest, ’Nosebleeding Diarrhea Pus Mucus’ sums up the sound literally and viscerally, while the rest of it tends to more succinct assaults on the senses, spanning the heck-raising charge of ‘The Virgin Witch’ thru the inferno-in-the-next-room of ‘Deine Gebeine’, tape sodden squall of ‘Satan Needs no Forks’ and martial mini-epic ‘Postatomicwat Hookers’, with their sick sense of humour epitomised in the title and grindcore flay of ‘The eBook of Dead’.
Scheich in China - NeverCrack Generation 2 (LP)Scheich in China - NeverCrack Generation 2 (LP)
Scheich in China - NeverCrack Generation 2 (LP)Scheich in China
¥4,956
Gnarled outliers Scheich In China slam the hardcore panic button with five ruthless ramrods for acolytes of Nkisi, Gabber Modus Operandi, Service Animal, Hellfish & Producer, The Ephemeron Loop, Fifth Era… Dispatched beside a complementary album of death metal via their self-titled label, they unleash total hell via torrents of radical hardcore techno that absorbs aspects of doomcore, power noise, industrial and gabber musicks without any fucking about. Just as their Death Metal gear properly gnaws on its aesthetic bones, Scheich in China’s take on this sound is equally true to the ‘core, incendiary and primed to cause havoc at free parties or febrile clubs. ‘Fkk in Dänemark’ hews to a template of fast trot and down pitched doomcore dread next to a passage of inverted kick drum artillery, while ‘Bullenschweine (För Demos) + extra Track - Fick Die Oma - Mexican Mescal Mix’ churns up comparisons to vintage Hellish & Producer Deathchants. At its most radical, ‘Fickt Schafe (Russland is out Sodomie Mix)’ and the tracey death spiral of ‘Arschlöcher Überall’ recall the depth and intensity of The Ephemeron Loop or Fifth Era’s cold rushing doomcore arrangements. Be fucking daft not to.
Scientist  – Scientist Wins The World Cup (LP)
Scientist – Scientist Wins The World Cup (LP)Dub Mir
¥3,265
Scientist's name can be found all over any dub record collection; he was a protégé of King Tubby, and many would say that when dub fell on quieter times it was Scientist who breathed new life into it. His pared-down mixing style suited the dancehall reggae sound that arrived as the '70s rolled into the '80s. This 1982 album includes the priceless dub of Johnny Osbourne's classic "Give a Little Love," as well as further cuts of the likes of Hugh Mundell and Wayne Jarrett. Scientist is always in control.
Scientist - Heavy Metal Dub (LP)
Scientist - Heavy Metal Dub (LP)Clocktower
¥3,576
An early 1982 masterpiece by Scientist, a dub alchemist also known as King Tubby's right arm. The jacket and title are amazing, but the content is heavy, crazy and humorous dub processing.
Scientist - Heavyweight Dub Champion (LP)
Scientist - Heavyweight Dub Champion (LP)Dub Mir
¥3,196
Scientist was only 20 years old when, working with fellow producer "Junjo" Lawes, he came up with this 1980 stunner, a sinuous groove party with cartoonlike special effects (a lot of bongs and boings like pans hitting one another, blips and squeals that sound like a Pac-Man game). All the "song" titles are references to boxing (a motif that Scientist was obviously mining for all it was worth), and all are great individual bits of dub sound that cohere into a meaningful whole. As it says on the jacket, "This ya a youthful sound fe come mash y'down."
Scientist - In The Kingdom Of Dub (LP)
Scientist - In The Kingdom Of Dub (LP)Superior Viaduct
¥3,626

Hopeton Brown, better known as Scientist, has been a pioneering figure in the world of dub for 40 years. His early love of electronics proved fruitful when (still a teenager) he was hired at King Tubby's studio in Kingston. Brown quickly ascended the ranks and became heir to Tubby's throne, producing imaginative and technically impressive mixes that solidified his forward-looking nickname.

Originally released in 1981, In The Kingdom Of Dub remains one of the best early LPs in Scientist's long career. Produced by Roy Cousins at Channel One and featuring Sly & Robbie along with members of The Revolutionaries, The Aggrovators and The Soul Syndicate, the album offers a wide range of arresting rhythms, bold effect drops and exquisitely melodic bass. From "18 Drumalie Avenue Dub" (a reference to King Tubby's address) to "Burning Sun Dub," Scientist lays down a veritable roadmap of dub – filled with disintegrating echoes of satiny organ and textural guitar – firmly cementing his place as one of the true innovators in Jamaican popular music.

Scientist - Introducing Scientist (The Best Dub Album In The World) (LP)
Scientist - Introducing Scientist (The Best Dub Album In The World) (LP)Superior Viaduct
¥3,613

Hopeton Brown, better known as Scientist, has been a pioneering figure in the world of dub for nearly 40 years. His early love of electronics proved fruitful when (still a teenager) he was hired at King Tubby's studio in Kingston. Brown quickly ascended the ranks and became heir to Tubby's throne, producing imaginative and technically impressive mixes that solidified his forward-looking nickname.

Introducing Scientist - The Best Dub Album In The World, his 1980 debut LP, lives up to its boastful title. Recorded with Sly & Robbie at Channel One Studio and mixed at King Tubby's, the album features hypnotic basslines, reverb-drenched keyboards, and fluid, start-stop rhythms. Opening track "Steppers," with its well-balanced phrasing and organic contours, shows Scientist's mastery of the studio-as-instrument concept. On "Scientific," the effects-laden guitars are stretched to their outer limit to create magnificent, spaced-out textures and muted tension. Introducing Scientist displays the talents of a man obsessed with every element of production, drawing out the very best of the dub form.

 
Scientist - Scientific Dub (LP)
Scientist - Scientific Dub (LP)Clocktower
¥3,483
A virtual wizard of the mixing desk, Overton H Brown has been one of the key figures in dub since the late 1970s. Getting his start as a teenager at King Tubby's legendary studio in Waterhouse, Brown was known as 'The Scientist' because his imaginative approach to the mixing desk and electronic gadgetry seemed to derive from magical powers that linked him to some intangible, futuristic realm.
Scientist - Scientist Encounters Pac-Man (LP)
Scientist - Scientist Encounters Pac-Man (LP)Dub Mir
¥3,596
One of two fine LPs Scientist cut from Linval Thompson rhythms -- the other is the even more impressive Scientist Meets the Space Invaders -- Scientist Encounters Pac Man finds the onetime King Tubby protege forging his patented minimal sound, a landscape resplendent with steely piano, depth-charge drums, and futuristic dub effects. Scientist also delivers one of his most progressive mixes here, deconstructing the originals down to their skeletal base and adding just the right amount of mixing board-generated Echoplex and reverb. And helping out considerably with the heady proceedings, the early dancehall period's greatest band, the Roots Radics, lay down the brutal rhythms and subtle keyboard and guitar interjections. Plus, one gets another of artist Tony McDermott's spectacular comic-book covers, this time depicting all of the studio Svengali's horror-movie nemeses from album jackets past (vampires, zombies, Frankenstein, those space invaders, and now the computer game's star of the day, Pac Man). A mind-warping yet eminently enjoyable way to check into dub central. ~ Stephen Cook
Scientist - Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires (LP)
Scientist - Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires (LP)Greensleeves Records
¥3,549
1981 album, produced by Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, recorded at Channel One, backed by the Roots Radics.
Scientist - Space Invaders (LP)
Scientist - Space Invaders (LP)Dub Mir
¥3,596
Scientist's 1981 Dub Classic! Invader-themed "SPACE INVADERS" is back on vinyl! Co-produced by Mikey'Roots' Scott and Linval Thompson, backed by Roots Radics, one-drop meditation DUBWISE!
Scientist vs. Prince Jammy - Scientist's Big Showdown (LP)
Scientist vs. Prince Jammy - Scientist's Big Showdown (LP)Dub Mir
¥3,231
Hopeton “Scientist” Brown and Lloyd “Prince Jammy” James both learned their dubcraft at the feet of the universally-acknowledged master of the art form, King Tubby. The 10 tracks from this classic LP from 1980 sound pretty strong in terms of style and approach, all of them are quietly brilliant, reflecting a complete mastery of the form. Rhythms are supplied by the unstoppable Roots Radics band!
Scientist, Barnabas, Lancelot "Maxie" McKenzie - Three The Hard Way (LP)
Scientist, Barnabas, Lancelot "Maxie" McKenzie - Three The Hard Way (LP)Lantern Rec.
¥4,322

Recorded in New Orleans and Kingston, this genre-defying album delivers innovative, timeless soundscapes for all listeners.

Lantern Records is proud to announce the release of Three The Hard Way, a groundbreaking collaboration between legendary dub engineer The Scientist, rising vocalist Maxie, and innovative producer Barnabas. This genre-defying album fuses deep reggae roots with modern production, creating a soundscape that is both timeless and forward-thinking.

Recorded in both New Orleans and Kingston, Three The Hard Way brings together the best of both worlds: the raw energy of southern soul and the pioneering spirit of Jamaican dub. The Scientist, renowned for his wild mixing techniques and mentorship under King Tubby, lays down the foundation with his signature heavy basslines and atmospheric effects. Maxie’s soulful vocals and Barnabas’ inventive arrangements add new dimensions to the classic dub template, resulting in an album that is as adventurous as it is accessible.

Three The Hard Way features ten tracks, each one a masterclass in sonic experimentation and collaborative creativity. From the hypnotic grooves of “Feed Back” to the haunting melodies of “Master Piece,” the album is a journey through sound that will captivate both longtime dub enthusiasts and new listeners alike.

Scone Cash Players - Blast Furnace! (Flamingo Pink Vinyl LP)
Scone Cash Players - Blast Furnace! (Flamingo Pink Vinyl LP)Colemine Records
¥3,658
The Hammond Organ is lead singer on this soulful and orchestral journey about industrial decay and the death of the steel town. Deep from the rusted steel mills of Youngstown Ohio, we bring you the melting debut of the Scone Cash Players. It's the same organist that brought you the screaming organ on all those Daptone favorites from The Sugarman Three. Scone was behind that organ bench on the modern classics as follows. "Sugar's Boogaloo”, “Soul Donkey”, “Pure Cane Sugar", and "What the World Needs Now." Adam Scone entered the studio on Dunham Street in Brooklyn. He was wearing a blue Adidas jump suit. The studio had just opened. At the helm were his old compadres from The Dap-Kings. Namely Thomas Brenneck, Eric Kalb, Homer Steinweiss and lan Hendrickson-Smith. They make up the "Bliss Machine" behind Scones's groove. It was a truly rare moment to catch these masters of music and taste in between tours of Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley. Tommy put the mics around. Scone powered up the organ. The analog tape machine turned and turned until they couldn't turn any more. These songs were recorded. We worked all day and all night. Tears were shed. Espresso was made. There was beer on tap. 3 days of life were taken to make this album. We will never get them back. They were distilled to 40 minutes of pure emotion. It's a tale of woe. It's a tale of leaving art for responsibility. It's a farewell to an era. It's a journey that the Hammond B3 organ wasn't accustomed to. You can't compare this album to any other organ record. Don't expect to hear what you want. Free your mind. Be open. Your world is going to feel the heat of the BLAST FURNACE! It never quite feels how you want it to. Don't get burned...
Scotch Rolex and Shackleton - Death by Tickling (2x12")
Scotch Rolex and Shackleton - Death by Tickling (2x12")Silver Triplet
¥5,529
New imprint Silver Triplet enters the world with a rocket of a collaborative album from two of electronic music’s most free-spirited mavericks. Combining the surrealist punk ethos of Scotch Rolex and the bass heavy psychedelia of Shackleton, Death by Tickling is ten tracks full of wild and unpredictable changes, incorporating odd time signatures, cosmic synth freak outs and dubbed out space vibrations. At times the album lulls the listener into a zoned out trance whilst at other times it startles with its ferocity, Death by Tickling has the whole range in its Helter Skelter approach. Produced in their studio in Berlin, both artists’ sonic signatures can be unmistakeably recognised on this album. Scotch Rolex is best known for his work with Kampala based artists MC Yallah and DUMA's Lord Spikeheart. With releases on Nyege Nyege’s Hakuna Kulala label, Rolex draws on dancehall, trap, Japanese traditional music, gabber, grindcore, Gqom, and Kuduro to unique and exciting effect. The same energy permeates this new release, but with a new elements of shamanism and deconstructed rhythms. Meanwhile, the founder of Skull Disco, Shackleton, has been carving out his own brand of esoteric ritual trance music for the best part of two decades on labels such as Honest Jon’s, Hot Flush and Perlon. This record sees him taking Rolex’s raw beats and devil may care trickery and exploding it through a dub effect rack into outer space. It is an hour of out-there music which will appeal to those who like it challenging and adventurous. At the same time, you could get the impression that there is even a savage humour or a cosmic joke underlying the whole endeavour, hence the title, Death by Tickling. To round off the package, the brilliant artwork is courtesy of Zeke Clough who can always be depended on to bring the unexpected.
Scotch Rolex, Shackleton & Omutaba - The Three Hands of Doom (LP)
Scotch Rolex, Shackleton & Omutaba - The Three Hands of Doom (LP)Nyege Nyege Tapes
¥5,144

Heavy, heavy, heavyyyyy rhythmic madness from Shackleton, Scotch Rolex and Omutaba, invoking new rhythmic traditions on an enchanted debut album for Nyege Nyege Tapes, twisting galvanic rhythms from HHY & The Kampala Unit's Omutaba into sozzled, psychedelic peregrinations. Dubby, kinetic and viciously mind-bending, it's peak gear if you're into anything from African Head Charge to Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force.

Leading on from Shackleton and Scotch Rolex’s maiden merger, ‘Death by Tickling’ in 2023, the duo pull in the dextrous limbs of Omutaba - known from his work with STILL, Metal Preyers and HHY & The Kampala Unit - for a dervishing session of dubbed-out and tumbling polyrhythms and psychoactive vibes as Three Hands of Doom. Shackleton’s hand on the tiller is patently apparent but, as with his recent works with Heather Leigh and Wacław Zimpel, he proves a mutable collaborator and porous to the shared spirits of fellow electronic music journeymen Scotch Rolex and Uganda’s Omutaba in four swingeing sections defined by their joint ability to diffract the flow between rolling and irregular grooves.

‘Ring Dirt’ opens the session with a limber display of monotone strings and suspenseful synth work that calls to mind Can sent economy class to the equator for ritual teachings. Enlightened, they proceed thru the lush, whorling metric calculations of ‘Insect Vibration’, layering shivering incantations and worm-charming subs with a frisson of field recordings. At this point fully attuned to each other, Omutaba’s Ugandan drumming is felt most powerfully meshed into the 10 minute matrix of rug-pulling and thunderous detonations to ‘Burnt Earth’, before they all buckle into the outright dread of a standout eponymous title tune that appears to follow rhythms from the Congo thru West Africa, to Haiti, via Japan and Berlin, and back to Uganda.

Both Shackleton and Ishihara have been on blistering form in the last couple of years, and 'Three Hands of Doom' feels like both a continuation and an extension of last year's 'Death By Tickling', weaponizing Omutaba's exhilarating playing into something that feels much, much more than the sum of its parts.

Scott Douglas Gordon - Radial (CS)Scott Douglas Gordon - Radial (CS)
Scott Douglas Gordon - Radial (CS)HIAX Records
¥2,199
Acoustic Rhythm & Texture Sequencer Available as C60 Limited Edition of 50 mirror dubs- (same on both sides) + Inserts written and produced by S.Gordon 2024. additional percussion by Islay Spalding - TRK 7, recorded at SFS studios 2024 Synths & Radial - SDGordon. The Radial instrument was designed to explore various material's acoustic characteristics in ways that could only be achieved through mechanical and electronic control. It creates sporadic dense percussive sequences & sharp reciprocating sweeps or can focus in on tiny acute angles to produce deep shaking drones among a host of other planned and unplanned acoustic sounds. Radial uses 5 voltage controlled motors and interchangeable textured cylinders captured via contact microphones positioned within the chassis. The cylinders can be synchronised or independent & the blades are interchangeable allowing the flex of certain materials to skew and augment the movements and sounds and sequences. Playing the Radial instrument is a direct visceral experience. Its sequences sound unlike anything else i have used and the simple design by no means limits the scope of its rhythmical output. After feeling out the controls you arrive somewhere in-between the rubbery juddering fuzz or clockwork blasts of percussion and can step back allowing the physicality of the instrument itself to dictate how things proceed. Minor adjustments can have a butterfly effect on the entire tone inmate rewardingly unpredictable but controllable way. On certain tracks there’s some synth work in a move away from the potential “instrument study” vibe of the release and Islay Spaldings blistering scrap metal percussion on Track 7 was incredible to watch.. Additional thanks to Stephan P Richter “SPR” for the advice and encouragement through the whole build.
Scott Fraser - Expanded (LP)
Scott Fraser - Expanded (LP)DX Recordings
¥5,497

East Kilbride’s Scott Fraser finally comes good on a 25 year promise to his younger self with his debut solo album on his own label DX Recordings out of London. This record represents the closing of this chapter and the opening of a new one.

A truly international and collaborative project pulling together the help and talent of friends around the world with mastering by Radioactive man Keith Tenniswood, cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery and world class US visual art and design legends, Tim Saccenti and Nick Martin on photography, artwork and design.

Limited to 300 solid red heavyweight vinyl copies, brown kraft sleeves; individually hand stencilled and numbered by the artist, printed inserts feature a collection of moments and images from the last 25 years - the studio, the equipment, the people and the places that came together to make this release. Japanese rice paper inner sleeves.

Limited edition hand printed screen print by Niall Greaves at Newbridge Print Studios in Newcastle on the first 30 copies exclusively available via the DX Recordings Bandcamp page.

Musically diverse, crossing styles, flavours and moods, threaded meticulously with razor sharp Roland TR606 programming and glued together with a Space Echo, Expanded opens with the sub aquatic funk of ‘Eden And After’. Side one takes you through banging electro on ‘Energy In Constitution’, the dark dub techno of ‘To The Letter Of My Oath’, leaves you disappearing through a black hole on ‘The Path Of Helium Rain’ and the sound of aliens talking through FM synthesis on ‘Collected Stills’. On side two: a slice of dark, heavy instrumental hip hop gets things started with ‘Where Is That Perception? ‘. Next we get into some straight 4/4 club techno with cut up drums and bumping baseline in ‘Mi Dominante’ before moving through some blissed out Detroit vibes on ‘Earth Looking Inwards’, a rough as you like TR606 driven experimental electro groover ‘Object of Life’ and finally closing out with the Ectomorph inspired stark electro of ‘Steel (NB_BLOOD cut)’

Scott Gilmore - Volume 01 (LP)Scott Gilmore - Volume 01 (LP)
Scott Gilmore - Volume 01 (LP)ISC Hi-Fi Selects
¥4,667
Recorded onto a Tascam 388. The following instruments were used: Arp Odyssey, Yamaha CS-01, Korg DW-8000, Hohner Pianet T, Roland TR 606, Roland SH 101, Bamboo Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Electric Guitar, and Electric Bass.

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Scratchclart & Menzi - Beyond Gqom & Grime (12")
Scratchclart & Menzi - Beyond Gqom & Grime (12")Hakuna Kulala
¥1,654 ¥2,474
As a Londoner, Scratchclart has always embraced the city's melting pot of influences that seep into the city from around the globe. And just as Detroit techno and Chicago house fused with Jamaican dancehall to splinter rave into a spectrum of microgenres in the 1980s and '90s, African sounds - from Afrobeats to gqom - are currently reprogramming the DNA of British dance music, whether it's drill, grime or breakbeat. This conversation is evident on Scratchclart's visionary "DRMTRK" series of EPs, and solidified more readily on last year's "Afrotek", where he collaborated with South African producer Mxshi Mo and Baltimore beatmaker :3LON. On "Scratchclart & Menzi", he progresses further, linking with one of Durban's most celebrated, and most outward looking dance music pioneers - Menzi Shabane. Cutting his teeth as part of early gqom duo Infamous Boiz, Menzi has produced for some of South Africa's most prominent stars, including Babes Wodumo, Moonchild Sanelly, Mahotella Queens, Zolani Mahola and Zakes Bantwini. His sound has always been hard to pinpoint, simmering between kinetic taxi techno and expertly engineered cinematic club music without pausing for breath. "Scratchclart & Menzi" is a fluid back-and-forth between these two musical vanguards that excavates commonalities in their approaches and exploits sonic loopholes, reworking their respective sounds into an energetic fusion of android diasporic bass pressure. First, Scratchclart strips Menzi's 'Shandis' down to its bare bones, channeling the spirit of RnG into a syrupy and soulful cybergqom shiver of elegiac pads and rattling Durban toms. Menzi's deconstruction of "DRMTRK EP III" banger 'Drm Walk' is equally as mindbending, swinging Scratchclart's rhythm and submerging it in rainfall and siren blares, slowly reassembling it into a downtempo sub-heavy groan. The duo's head-to-head 'Q' is even more impressive, opening in a fanfare of cinematic strings before dissolving into a tweaky froth of clicking drums, square wave synths, vocal cuts and woozy atmospheres; it's pure tension, never offering us the conclusion it threatens, but keeping us on our toes. Menzi's delirious remix of 'IC3' (the "DRMTRK EP VII" track that evolved into Lady Lykez' anthemic 'Muhammad Ali') might be the EP's most upfront floor-filler, repositioning the original's pneumatic bump on a warehouse floor of chants, cybernetic squelches and echoing fx. But the most unexpected turn is a fresh version of Scratchclart's grimey 'Nasty Nasty Nasty', that interrupts the cheeky bassline with amapiano-influenced machine-gun toms, and rocked-powered zero-g sound design. "Scratchclart & Menzi" is futuristic music from beginning to end that rips through established genre logic, emerging with concepts that lodge themselves not in South Africa or London, but somewhere beyond the solar system. We're not worthy.
SDEM - At Quadrant Park (CD)SDEM - At Quadrant Park (CD)
SDEM - At Quadrant Park (CD)Quadrant Park
¥3,596

For the inaugural release on Quadrant Park, SDEM delivers a live recording with a twist: this set was recorded in early 2024 in a single take to an audience of one, at a now abandoned empty club space beneath a railway arch in Leeds.

Following a series of physical and digital releases culminating with Vortices in 2023, SDEM has focused on continuous upgrades to a mutating live set, sporadically performed, for example, alongside the Autechre and Gescom axes. In the phase documented here, the set draws deeply from turntable-era early hip hop and 80s drum machine architecture, resulting in a landscape of tactile slippage: rhythms gripping and releasing, gestural scrubs and stabs, scratching meets musique concrète. Interlocking parts snap in and out of alignment, before recombining on the fly – kinetic, raw, and precise.

The SDEM approach is marked by Tom Knapp’s sculptural take on sound design, rhythm and texture – ranging from dystopic ambient passages to pixelated, sub-heavy beats. A member of the Skam circle of atavistic beat freaks since the late 90s, Knapp’s sound is that of hyperattentive electronica buried under soil and left to decay (or ferment). What emerges is somehow both ruthlessly futuristic and redolent of decrepit antique engineering.

At Quadrant Park is presented in an edition of 500 compact discs with artwork by Robert Beatty unique to every individual copy. In a warped reflection of the recording circumstances, each copy forms one distinct frame of a short film never to be viewed in its totality.

Liner notes are provided by the sole witness to the recording, long-standing SDEM co-conspirator Ed Martin, aka edv3ctor, while audio was mastered by the ears that matter, frozen reeds mainstay Jim O’Rourke.

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