MUSIC

Originally released on September 30, 1991, Orbital's eponymous debut album became known as "The Green Album" to distinguish it from their second album (known as "The Brown Album") The Green Album includes the seminal 'Belfast' and a live version of 'Chime', the landmark dance track that launched their career in 1990

The early masterpiece of 1997 released by GAS, a popular ambient project by Wolfgang Voigt, who presides over the prestigious , is reissued on CD! This is terrifying, like William Basinski meets DUB TECHNO ... A masterpiece dub / ambient with a miasma-like dopeness that blows up from the depths and envelops the sound field. It is a masterpiece that shows off a solitary view of the universe!

DDS with the debut EP from unknown entity NZO, whomever she may be, dancing in the gaps between amapiano, Afrobeats, broken beat and R&B with a rare guile and flavour to file somewhere alongside Joe, Dolo Percussion, Cousin Cockroach, Various Production, Ghostphone.​ The 4th in the DDS 12” series, NZO helps stake the label’s 15th year of operations with a typically Janus-faced approach to classic >< contemporary club ruffage. Tune to tune, she decimates and distills familiar tropes in singular, whirring syncopations designed to prompt bodies to move in fresh new ways. It’s all primed for proper animist magick, bound to snag rhythm fiends with its shape-cutting manoeuvres. Working deep in the hardcore ’nuum’s 30 odd year tradition of concrète sampler chicanery, the four tracks find fractured vocals and echoes of club classics revitalised and reset with advanced drum ingenuity. 160BPM opener ‘Concentrate’ appears like Hessle Audio’s Joe stripped for parts, whilst ‘Mallet’ swivels like SND remodelling Afrobeats’ palette of tuned percussions, next to what could almost be a lost Various Production edit in the sublime tension of syrupy R&B and frothing drums on ‘Come Alive’. The EP ends with its standout, ‘Body & Soul’, an undulating ama simmer punctuated by dub chords like some lost Basic Channel production re-cast for the lovers.

Demdike Stare return to Modern Love with their first release on the label since 2018, a sick addition to the label’s 7” series. One side of charred bruk-pop rufige featuring Alice Merida Richards on vocals, with a murderous pipe-bomb riddim on the flip. Both cuts find Demdike in wickedly rambunctious mood, the a-side ‘Junk’ weaving gated filters and squashed subs into the gynoid vocal delivery of Alice Merida Richards, formerly of baroque pop band Virginia Wing, and here giving it a full Nico via Trish Keenan thing. Imagine the Chain Reaction label doing monochrome, mutant pop, and you’re just about there. ’Tuff Crew’ on the flip sees the duo panel-beating sheet noise, gnashing drums and hyperpop hiccups into a seething industrial dancehall swivel made to swarm warehouses with its dizzying stereo diffusions. Hands down some of their best gear, play extra loud for the full madness.

Blinding double pack of heavily old school influenced bleep, direct from the depths of England by prolific young producer, Tom Carruthers. These are heavily sample based mpc productions that harken to the carefree days when the pills were pure and the music was fresh and never stopped. When house was techno and techno was house, this long player takes the best elements from say Chill Records, early-Warp and the best Nu-Groove creating timeless dance tracks made for the warehouse dj. Essential stuff here.

Coming from a diverse background of equal amounts hip hop and rock, the producer behind the alias of nrl:ndr got into dance music late in his musical career. After playing in kraut-oriented bands like So Many Mammals, parts of that group reformed into the live techno outfit Tren Né, with the goal of fusing techno elements with live drums. Playing for illegal raves with a punk-like energy, nrl:ndr has cemented his relationship with his machines in service of the dance floor.

But his solo debut on blundar is quite far removed from that scene. To understand this music, one should be aware of the conditions under which it was manufactured. Reluctant to consider himself an artist in the traditional sense, nrl:ndr makes his music free of anticipation and without apparent goals. To glean into this outré musical space is like putting one's ear to the boarded up windows of the photograph that adorn the front sleeve.

The album makes extensive use of the Roland JV-2080, a sample-based synth rack from 1996 with a distinctly clean sound. Our producer dives deep into the expansion cards (labeled after genres like “Hip Hop” and “World”) for curious and sometimes cheesy samples. But he also forces the JV-2080 to do things which are not its forte, like the arduous task of programming decent kick drums.

Another technique that is testament to his experimental view on music making, is the idea of using sketches of unfinished tracks with different time signatures, and mash them together into something new - of which the results of one of these experiments can be heard on the closing track and its bilingual conversation between ambient and tribal.

Full of stunted rhythms and eerie melodies, the unclassifiable nature of the music of nrl:ndr lies somewhere in the vicinity of IDM, classical avant garde and private press synth. From the epic opening track - echoing the post-kraut drumming style of Michael Shrieve - to juggling with chopped up vocal samples and treading into almost trap-like territories on A4, he crosses into a multitude of genres without getting his hands too dirty with nostalgia.
Text by: Simon Eliasson

Vinyl release; 200 numbered copies, transparent 180gr LP.
Streaming available on Tidal, Apple Music, Youtube Music & Spotify.

Strong debut album by one of China’s most distinctive new industrial/dance music producers, Tzusing, for L.I.E.S.; portraying the Shanghai-based artist’s full breadth of kinky darkroom rhythms and sleazy cinematic arrangements. Under the title 東方不敗, meaning Invincible East, the record wraps an armoury of powerful percussion and native instrumentation around a narrative locus based on a swordsman character in a Jin Yong novel “who must make the ultimate sacrifice to attain knowledge and transform”. Coupled with the artist’s own observations on living in, and travelling around, Asia, it’s an urgent and gripping listen with a versatility and varied topography lending itself to DJ use and soundtracking industrial subterfuge alike. 日出東方 唯我不敗 starts out like ’05 sino grime or dubstep from a parallel dimension; Digital Properties trades in secretive choral code at a killer New Beta momentum which decelerates into the the wind-tunnel chug and pealing cyber-tribal chant of Esther. His signature triplets last heard on A Name Out Of Place wickedly come into play against sheer electric blue synth tone in King Of Hosts; we’re put thru an intense, Americanised club drill in Post-Soviet Models; and Torque Pulsations both literally and physically lives up to its name with a belly and spine-twysting EBM tattoo. TIP!

This super-limited 12" 45 rounds-out an essential trilogy of releases on the new Permanent Draft label. Boomkat Product Review: Proper curveball here from percussionist extraordinaire Valentina Magaletti (Moin, Vanishing Twin, Holy Tongue etc), who tracks her wildest deviations on 'Lucha Libre', exploring dungeon-strength technoid sound art, concrète dub, B-movie atmospherics and spannered post-punk, everything hitched to her rock-solid internal metronome. Look no further than 'NOIAZ' to get a handle on this one. Dense with chattering, oversampled voices, the track is hinged on a rolling beatbox whirr that sounds like a speedier, muckier version of Plastikman's enduring minimal milestone 'Spastik'. Magaletti plunges Hawtin's techno blueprint down a mossy, ancient well, peppering its rimshot rolls and battered snares with clanking chains and evocative bells, leaving the voices to form a spectral chorus. If you only know Magaletti via her work in bands like Moin and Tomaga, this'll be a surprise, but she established the Permanent Draft imprint to emphasize the radical philosophy and boundless creativity behind her craft. On 'AND THERE IS US', she plays fuzzy analog synth drones and unstable piano notes over a numb drum machine beat. Folksy, hallucinogenic guitars peer out of the darkness next to barely audible whispers - its the imaginary giallo soundtrack to file next to Broadcast's bewildering Luboš Fišer inspired sketches. And she goes even deeper on the brief 'LOTTA', looping what sounds like crowd banter over scraped guitar improvisations that lead us into the brain-melting 'DRUM JUMP'. After a few seconds of deadly dungeon synth drama, the track evolves into a dextrous no-wave belter, powered by Magaletti's lithe drumming. Ferocious. Valentina Magaletti flies solo again with 4 impeccable post-punk / dub / wave infused workouts. The lo-fi and forlorn And There Is Us opens the set with awkward drum machine, twinkly piano notes, and analogue synth tones sitting under echoing voices which carry across to Noiaz with its rolling, drill-like drum patterns. Lotta on the B side gets busier with guitar, field recordings and a laid-back groove before the pace picks up for the closing track Drum Jump where a range of percussion and fx are propelled by an incessant groove that could have beamed-in from Danceteria circa '82. Killer!

One year after the release of Overmono's debut album “Good Lies,” which reached #11 on the UK charts and is widely regarded as one of the best electronic records released in recent years (“the history of UK rave is distilled to perfection” - The Guardian), the critically acclaimed remix of The Streets' “Turn The Page” is now available as a single on XL Recordings. One year on from the release of Overmono's critically acclaimed debut album Good Lies (“a perfect distillation of UK rave history” - The Guardian), The Streets' remix of “Turn The Page” has been released as a long-awaited single on XL Recordings.

One of Poland’s most innovative and singular electronic producers, Hatti Vatti, lands on Belgian giant R&S Records with a new instrumental album filled with unparalleled and experimental jazz electronica. Having released three other full-length albums, most recently 2017’s ‘Szum’, Hatti Vatti aka Piotr Kaliński returns with the breathtaking freeform sounds of ‘Zeit’. Featuring Rafał Dutkiewicz on drums, Paweł Stachowiak on bass and Piotr Chęcki on saxophone, the nine-track long player brings together a collection of eclectic compositions that defies genre classifications, with echoes of the Japanese ambient scene, krautrock, jazz and dubby UK-bass. Prepare to be dazzled with this collection of absorbing and left of centre productions from the label that brought the likes of Aphex Twin, James Blake and Gabriels to international acclaim.

Church Andrews and Matt Davies weave intricate patterns from Fibonacci sequences on new mini-album, Yucca. Producer and composer Church Andrews (aka Kirk Barley) and drummer Matt Davies return to explore the outer limits of rhythm on a six-track suite that is at once angular and fluid, natural and systematic. Drawn to the restrictions of working solely with one synth and live drums, the pair found creativity in limitation, developing a compositional dialogue between the sonic timbres of Kirk’s productions and Matt’s percussive practice. Evoking the primitive yet complex form of the plant from which it takes its name, Yucca features tracks that are built around rhythmic ratios of the Fibonacci sequence. Mirroring spiral patterns exhibited in nature, each track evolves like a cellular structure of its own, from the livewire syntax of ‘Chirp’ and the deconstructed ebb and flow of ‘Ferns’, to the mini-album’s title track, where crisp grooves flit between modulated electronics like fireflies. “I’ve always been inspired by music that is complex without sounding complex,” Matt explains. He maintains a sense of bounce amid the intricate phrasing and cites drummers Roy Haynes and his grandson Marcus Gilmore as inspirations, alongside sabar drummers from Senegal and Mridangam drumming of South India. With a shared background in hip-hop and the swung beats of J Dilla and Flying Lotus, Kirk Barley and Matt Davies were also inspired by the minimalism of Terry Riley and the sparse palette of dub techno. Written and recorded in Lewisham in the spring and summer of 2023, Yucca follows the release of Axis in 2022, with the duo having also performed at festivals such as Rewire and Waking Life, and recorded live sessions for FACT magazine and Worldwide FM. The third release on Yorkshire-based Odda Recordings, following Kirk Barley’s Marionette and Flaer’s Preludes, Yucca confirms the label’s reputation for championing music on the unstable ground between the organic and the synthetic.

For the first time, The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble’s seminal album "Mr. Machine" is being re-issued on coloured vinyl. This is a record that put them alongside names as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, but with considerably more groove. More than anything, Daniel, Jan and Paul are keen that the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble are not written off as a curiosity: “Often people focus a lot on this whole "cross-over" aspect,” says Brauer. “We wish people would simply notice we have good chords, melodies etc. and take the music as it is. Because we make it the way we feel, and not for other, let's say purely conceptual reasons. Some only seem interested in how it’s made. Some reviewers perceive us as minimal techno, some as modern classical, some as nu jazz and so on. But we don’t divide the world into techno and non-techno.”

The Vulgarity Of Snow is Ottomani’s woozy, lilting soundwalk through techno, experimental electronics and scorched earth acid. The untitled tracks are less like distinct entities and give way to a larger, conjoined pair of triptychs spread out over two sides of wax. They feel like a paean to the format, which no doubt comes from Ottomani’s time spent working at one of London’s most revered record shops. As a longer, more probing piece, it’s anathema to talk about The Vulgarity Of Snow in terms of bpms and sub-genres, and arguably it owes as much to free jazz and psych-rock as it does to more leaden styles such as dub and roots. At times it pays tribute to the work of acts like Basic Channel and Random Trio, deploying dub electronics in novel ways, but it is also broader in its choice of sounds. On B2, for example, Mino Carbone, the artist’s uncle and an Italian anarchist from the same lineage as artists like Dario Fo, plays a song from that tradition. It’s not a chaotic piece, but it’s not heavily constrained.

Richard Wolfhouse comes through on Trule with his debut release, Percussion Edits Vol. 1. Three tracks indebted to 1970s African percussion records and 2000s minimal techno. Long, winding percussion workouts woven with modular synthesis and drum machines primed for dancefloors.

In Late 2023, Om Unit and Marta Pang were invited to perform a special performance at the Caixaforum in Barcelona. The invitees being ‘Lapsus’ who brought the pair together for a performance of 'Acid Dub : Redux’ as part of their DNIT series of events. This cassette is a complete recording of the 45 minute session which consists largely of ‘ambient takes’ on some of tracks currently released from Om Units ‘Acid Dub Studies’ series, as well as some new material specially prepared for the show which featured live visuals by Marta Pang. Some clips of the visuals can be found in the 6-Panel full-colour J-Card booklet which accompanies the cassette. ‘Acid Dub : Redux’ is an unexpected tangent of Om Unit’s ongoing exploration of the 303-in-dub and features a more minimalist approach to the concept, using more of a sense of space to accompany the visual elements. We hope you enjoy the recording as much we enjoyed performing it!

Cult north manc enigma Michael J. Blood provides the DDS 12” series with its latest instalment following aces by Shinichi Atobe and Demdike Stare x Dolo Percussion. From 170BPM ghetto tekkerz to bucking House, it's a full dose of fire if yr into Theo, Rezzet, H-Fusion, Marcellus Pittman... Michael J. Blood needs little introduction to followers of these pages; his misfit take on House at its broadest definition is a lowkey phenomenon, with each turn different to the previous, but all sharing a screwed passion for the rudest variegations that dovetail Demdike Stare’s own wayward instincts. Following up his outstanding recent Richie Culver link-up, on ‘Raven’ MJB plays with a custom-made trio of tracky blinders certain to set fire to yr floor. He boots right off with a searing title cut, starting up like a head-flapping nitrous oxide trip before locking into a 170BPM boot knocker imagining Howard Thomas’s H-Fusion via Rezzett at a free party. Flipside, he chills his beans in a more familiar style, wrapping warped chords around a wooden bassdrum synced to roving subs and offset claps for the loosey goosey crew, before tussling with the filters on ’TRGR’, a delicious section of insistent, Theo-ish loops woven with intuitive body geometry, liquifying limbs in a mode that also reminds us of Marcellus Pittman at his deadliest.

Modern Love’s 7” series returns with a 45 special from Chicago’s Sun God, delivering a pair of chrome-burn acid jak and cosmic house tear-outs fired to spangle the dance. Screwed, exceptional music for the club. A follow-up to Jamal’s album ‘Thanks 4 The Tracks U Lost’ (Modern Love, 2022), this rare 7” outing hails the Chi house don at his mind-bending best, plotting coordinates for the outer limits of club music whilst firmly tethered to its fundamentals. Never one to follow the grid, Jamal makes the template his own with a hands-on approach that translates decades of experience - from dancing to Ron Hardy in the ‘80s, being an apprentice of sorts to Adonis in the ‘90s, and then thru countless performances and almost innumerable releases ever since - into uniquely transcendent shapes. Coming on like Sun Ra strapped with a 303, ’It Is My Fault, My Fault Alone’ yields the chewiest acid and spitting, hot oil rhythms articulated with the sort of fervour and psychosexual thrust that underlines all of Jamal’s best work, and here emphatically brought to to the boil via a maze of knotted drums and frayed synths that join dots between Prince and Armando in an effortlessly asymmetric style. The B-side ‘Be Fearless In The Pursuit Of What Sets Ur Soul On Fire’ only ramps the pressure with a frenetic arrangement anchored to a modulated kick and synced to psychedelic synths that roll with seemingly endless momentum. At the risk of sounding like yoghurt-weaving rave casualties; Jamal is once again utterly attuned to the type of cosmic frequencies and aerobic mystic needs that have been lost in translation by successive waves of dry-ass posers and dancers who don’t like to get their kicks dirty. And for that, we eternally salute him.

The DDS 12” series follows that blink-n-miss Shinichi Atobe opener with this full curveball from Demdike Stare, finding the UK x US brukbeat axis twisting wildstyle thru the deadly first shots of a Demdike x Dolo Percussion hookup that’s been years in the making, set to dominate dancefloors for the foreseeable. Since 2019 Demdike Stare had been playing edits of Dolo Percussion’s bare-boned breaks in their DJ sets, eventually sharing them with Dolo’s Andrew Field-Pickering (Beautiful Swimmers, boss of Future Times) and fomenting a creative fusion that hits at the square root of their shared tastes for unruly, deadly rhythms. In a transatlantic back ’n forth - or what Kodwo Eshun termed a double refraction - they juggle the rudest aspects of UK hardcore, as derived from electro, breaks and garage-house - that would feed into Dolo’s pool of sound, and return to the UK via the likes of breakbeat wizard Karizma, who was a key touchstone for the whole late ‘90s broken beat movement key to Demdike’s tastes. Still following the thread? It’s not that tricky - both US and UK operators favour breakbeat music more than anywhere else, and this devilish hook-up is the epitome of a conversation ongoing for generations now. At each parry, the three cuts here are exemplary of the way DJs, producers and dancers on both sides of the pond have pushed each other to new heights in a feedback loop designed to make the dance throw the maddest shapes. ‘DOLO DS 1’ racks up a full clip of flintiest breakbeat hardcore, pivoting gasping samples inna dervish of ruffneck syncopation, ruggedly distinguished from the pitching, gritty drum machine chicanery of ‘DS DOLO EDIT 1’, and their super crafty sidestep into the offbeats, hingeing around ghost snares and practically spectral levels of percussive suss in ’DOLO DS 2’ which basically sounds like a prime Autechre tumbling thru dub. It’s fair to hear recent Demdike mixtapes such as ‘Physics’ as the testing ground for this steez, and if you love that one as much as we do, you’ll be snatching this one f a s t.

Lamin Fofana has been killing it over the past few years with ace records on Hundebiss, Avian, Peak Oil and The Trilogy Tapes to name but a few. Here he unites with The Doudou Ndiaye Rose Family (check their Twenty​-​One Sabar Rhythms), respectfully and sensitively applying his electronic magic to the mesmerizing mbalax drumming, taking things even further into cosmic realms - somewhere between Mark Ernestus Ndagga project, T++, Jon Hassell and Popol Vuh.

The now 10 year old Acid Test 09 sees a special 10th Anniversary Edition repress with a new vocal mix of track “Test 3”. The original EP saw acid nomad Tin Man team up with techno dreamweaver Donato Dozzy for three slices of deep acid and dubby, bleepy ambient. In this special 10 Year Anniversary Edition Test 3” comes with a new vocal mix and it’s a welcome return to the mic for Tin Man. Perfectly-placed words sit among chiming bells and are layered deep into the echoes, almost like the synths themselves are speaking. Acid Test 09 proved to be pairing in 303 paradise, but the results outclassed even Dozzy and Tin Man’s special partnership - they created simply a timeless signal that could broadcast through space ad infinitum. Mastered and recut by Rashad.

Panasonic tracks remixed by Zoviet France and Muslimgauze

"A brittle metronome in a delirious tension landscape, WOMEN'S HOUR are a Glasgow based experimental post-punk duo featuring Contort Yourself head honcho Murray CY and artist Jenny Wicks. Creating noise, harmony and disquiet washed in synth and repetitive guitar, rough beats and distorted vocals, WOMEN'S HOUR are constantly trying to embrace the shouting in their heads." On this, their debut release, a 12 track lp, a true to form jagged 80s post-punk affair, the two piece bring to life the day to day in the grim North through their music. One can almost feel the chill coming from the brittle window panes of the dank drafty flats, filled with asbestos paint, busted heaters, and no hot water flowing for who knows how long. Desperate, urgent, coming close to falling apart, yet pulling it together to make it through to the next song...this is as "British" as it gets (yes we know Scotland is its own thing guys, don't shoot) The sun hasn't shown its face for many months, wind blows through the deserted streets, change jingles around in your pocket, a hungry dog barks. This is the music of Women's Hour. Limited to 300 copies, one time pressing. Includes insert and art by Jenny Wicks of Women's Hour.

Having been part of the family for quite some time now, Lauren Bush aka re:ni joins the Timedance roster with an incredibly potent quartet of Techno infused bass-bin weaponry. « BeautySick » sees re:ni plunging into a world of intoxicating serpentine grooves. Spectral vocal slabs chime like echoes of a distant hallucinatory trance, while industrial drumworks find a mesmerizing counterpoint in eerie dubwise atmospheres. These four compositions not only showcase re:ni's sonic evolution but also explore the transient moments where darkness converges with light. They stand as a testament to the sonic prowess of one or favorite dancefloor sorceress. Picture Hajime Sorayama’s ‘Sexy Robot’ in front of an unreasonably large stack of speakers at a dimly lit sound-system dance; this is the soundtrack.

Celebrating our tenth release, we proudly present "Feeling Everything, All At Once" - a compelling VA compilation featuring music from our current label family and introducing some talented debutants from Scotland. RED010 marks a powerful statement of intent as we look to the next five years and beyond whilst reflecting on our achievements so far, what we aspire to accomplish and how we can continue to push the sounds that resonate with us. Although it has taken time to reach this milestone, our commitment to quality over quantity remains unwavering. This compilation serves not only as a collection of club-ready tracks but also as a longform piece suitable to more passive listening. With a total of 14 tracks, it stands as our most extensive release yet, expanding our label family to well over 20 artists. The digital release will be complemented by a physical cassette, perfect for playing in the dusty tape deck of your mate's Vauxhall Corsa as you head to that mad rave in the countryside everyone is talking about. We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with the Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) on this project with all the profits being donated to this cause. Both Lewis & Ethan have their own personal experiences with mental health difficulties and strongly believe that SAMH is absolutely vital in facilitating the provision and promotion of mental health care, support & information. A massive thank you to all those involved in making this happen and their generosity in donating their time and talent to the project.