Dmitry Distant / Natural Magic – Dark Leader 003 [DL003]

Dark Leader 003 featuring Riga’s Dmitry Distant and Portland’s own Natural Magic. Side A begins with “Tukšums” a driving acid jam by Dmitry Distant that brings the energy level up to 11. Natural Magic’s “Most High” polishes off side A with a triumphantly positive romp that puts the love icing right on the cake. Side B opens with “Artificial Joy” a breaky acid track by Dmitry Distant that will engross the dance floor with groovy sinister funk. This release concludes with Natural Magic’s “Dude Can Dance” a drummy piece of hypnotic dance music that dabbles in experimentalism.

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Dmitry Distant / Natural Magic – Dark Leader 003 [DL003]

Bill Converse – The Shape Of Things To Come [DE158]

Dark Entries present the sophomore album from Austin, Texas analogue hardware enthusiast Bill Converse. Immersed in the early days of the 90s midwest rave scene, Bill began DJing at a young age in Lansing, Michigan. Luminaries such as Claude Young, Traxx, and Derrick May were key early influences. Techno, noise, ambient and tape processing are all part of his uncanny sound palette. ‘The Shape Of Things To Come’ is a 70 minute journey spread across two pieces of vinyl. It’s comprised of seven tracks recorded directly to tape with no overdubs, made at Converse’s home studio. At the time of recording, Bill was sending this material to Josh Vance (Josua Dorje Ngodup) for feedback. Most of the time Josh would respond in the form of artwork, and then Bill would create another track inspired by this feedback chain. Converse has dedicated this series of tracks to him. The songs on this album reveal a sublime influence from Detroit techno, early Chicago house, and Acid. For this album Converse slightly bumped up the tempos geared for dancefloor energy. Built around vintage synthesizer lines and gritty drum machine percussion, the tracks evoke how things have changed and how they have come to be.

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Bill Converse – The Shape Of Things To Come [DE158]

Annanan & Maroje T. – The Brooklyn Sessions [PNKMN020]

The Brooklyn Sessions bring together old and new Pinkman friends. Annanan returns, this time with Maroje T, for three pieces of NY darkness. Acid tainted torment opens the 12″, pain and rejection catalogued in the barren “Confrontations in Terms of Sexuality.” “I Saw You” maintains that cold edge. Militaristic percussion is dipped in industrial grease, lost samples circling in a haze of distortion. The pair explore reduction with tracks being boiled down to leave only distilled dread behind. The breathy vocals of “I Am” close, drum patterns looped into machine groan and the aching abyss.

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Annanan & Maroje T. – The Brooklyn Sessions [PNKMN020]

Jasen Loveland – Acid Series Vol.1 [IT038]

Jasen Loveland is a doctor of medicine, with interests in house music and computer dating. This is his recorded debut. Recorded in LA and mixed in Detroit at the IT studios. To celebrate 10 years of No Way Back (a regular party in Detroit…and beyond), the label is launching the Acid Series, a series of records on Interdimensional Transmissions inspired by the No Way Back parties.

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Jasen Loveland – Acid Series Vol.1 [IT038]

Black Seed – SBZ004 [SBZ004]

BLACK SEED - Dirtybox

Sign Bit Zero’s next output is Black Seed, the alternate identity of Turin-based DJ and producer Matteo Viani. The project is a showcase of his excavations into the realm of electro-tinged techno and live experimentation. Using the sharp edges of a raw, tribalistic robot funk sound as tools for crafting rhythm, Black Seed generates unsettling yet grooving scenarios, basemental bangers of danger dunked in smoke and hypnosis.

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Black Seed – SBZ004 [SBZ004]

Identified Patient – Weeshuis Der Verloren Zielen [PNKMN019]

Identified Patient debuts on Pinkman with a brimming 12” with claustrophobia and paranoia. Acrid acid lines have been boiled down and smeared across cranking percussion. Sired in a soup of static, a blackened groove stalks the entire EP. Dusty beats are rinsed in smelting liquor, a smouldering EBM undercurrent surfacing as the noose tightens to a close.

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Identified Patient – Weeshuis Der Verloren Zielen [PNKMN019]

VA – Voiceless Z [AF005Z]

Analogical Force drops the third and last part in the voiceless series taking no prisoners. For this EP AF mastermind Pervert has teamed up with incendiary friends to deliver a must for the collectors of the label. Heavy line up that includes the Hamburg’s well respected Helena Hauff, Zurich’s acid lover CCO (50% of Savage Grounds), the legendary UK techno imprint B12, Canada’s Suction Records co-funder Lowfish and Utrecht based Endfest. Stunning 5-track record with loads of acid-drenched techno, super wide basslines, melancholic pads, slamming 808’s…enough to fill brains as well as floors. This release is dedicated to Rhys Celeste.

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VA – Voiceless Z [AF005Z]

DMTR DSTNT & LVRIN – Blasphemy EP [COTF013]

DMTR DSTNT & LVRIN join forces for a killer slice of dark techno and wave on Crimes Of The Future with the Blasphemy EP. Side A kicks off with a slice of heavy Russian techno mayhem with driving acid, synth and heavy percussion. Over on side B we have two different moods starring with more heavy duty acid on B1 and completing the side with some peak time dark wave action on achromatic.

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DMTR DSTNT & LVRIN – Blasphemy EP [COTF013]

Pyramid Club – Cycling Obsession [PRECEPT010]

Joining the Unknown Precept forces are C.G.I. Records’ label head Matthew Weiner teaming up with Christopher Daresta as Pyramid Club. Being known for their T.W.I.N.S. and Anticipation solo activities, Cyclic Obsession comes as the debut re-lease of the four-handed formation taking its name from the eponymous venue which helped define the counterculture and queer sound of lower Manhattan in the late 70’s. Recorded in their stronghold of Atlanta following a handful of tracks released via the jointly-operated D.K.A. Records, it shows the duo taking over primitive body music in its most physical and psychedelic dimension. Thick as a brick bass lines for the basement turmoil — reflecting the hazy vortex smoldering out of an ill-lighted nightclub. Think of spasmodic synth-driven tunes interspersed by convulsive vocals and throbbing snares, in which one could see the whites of the dancers’ eyes right before the lights turn back on.

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Pyramid Club – Cycling Obsession [PRECEPT010]

Neil Landstrumm – Roller Killer EP [GD023]

And who exactly would we be to turn down the legend that is Neil Landstrumm? Expert craftsman delivers five relentless tracks of spooktacular wrongness. Acid casualty sex dungeon weapons, lunacy and blutmuzik for greasy nights inside long closed Italian nightclubs, where Dr Pretorius is the host and there is a kidnapped swamp monster melting in a corner. 100% Bangers all night long. It is our immense pleasure to welcome Neil into our deranged little world and let him tear us a new space hole.

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Neil Landstrumm – Roller Killer EP [GD023]

Jann – Murder People [PBD006]

Jann arrives on Pinkman with a soundtrack of breathless panic, an ode to a blighted world of diesel fumes and indifference. Rhythms are grizzly, gored and torn. Thick chords judder, revving like a clapped-out engine as metal slashes at savaged snares. Acid scorn is poured on this inhospitable world, amplified by the haze of distortion that clouds Jann’s hard and cold vision.

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Jann – Murder People [PBD006]

Alien Rain – Alien Rain VI [ALIENRAIN006]

Man of many aliases Patrick Radomski has saved some of his best material for the Alien Rain series, which has been delivering bombastic blasts of acid-fired techno hedonism since 2012. “Alienopolis”, the track that kicks off this sixth EP, is a suitably no-holds-barred romp through intense club techno territory, with genuinely mind-altering TB-303 motifs weaving in and out of a no-holds-barred rhythm track. Over on the B-side, he opts for a slightly deeper, darker and more intoxicating feel on psychedelic creep-out “XOX 31”, before sharpening his acid lines further on the otherworldly hypnotism of “Illusion”, where sampled vocal snippets help enhance the druggy mood.

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Alien Rain – Alien Rain VI [ALIENRAIN006]

Privacy – Zero Value [KLAKSON026]

New school electro wunderkind Privacy makes his debut on Klakson with a dark four tracker that checks all the right boxes. The EP kicks off with “Four IO”, a haunting, spacey dubbed out acid roller with lush pads throughout. “U Can Tell” and “NCSC” are both specimens of the finest EBM tradition, re-interpreting the sound for 2017, while “Shove” on the B2 effortlessly transports us into deep, uptempo aquatic electro territory.

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Privacy – Zero Value [KLAKSON026]

Frak – Altan Gathering [KM049]

“A long time ago, at a festival far, far away, the members of the legendary Borft trio Frak were just going to bed in their tent when something caught their attention. Now, this was well before Frak’s rise to international fame – in fact, this moment was Swedish music history in the making, because what they heard was someone playing a Frak tune. That someone turned out to be Kontra-Musik’s own Ulf Eriksson and once their paths had crossed, there was no turning back. Frak has since released five highly sought after records on Kontra-Musik and Kontra-Musik White Label. When it was time for a 10-year anniversary gathering in Ulf Eriksson’s private garden, Frak of course turned up together with other Kontra artists like TM404 and Rivet. For those present – we few, we happy few – this turned out to be one of the most magical summer nights in living memory. The Swedish word for porch is altan, and so, to honour this wonderful experience of the whole Kontra-Musik family coming together, Frak decided to name their brand new album Altan Gathering. Another great friend of Kontra, Henrik Jonsson aka Porn Sword Tobacco, made the album cover and we wouldn’t have it any other way. His aesthetic choice of tin foil is on point: Listening to Frak is a lot like biting into a fresh falafel wrap without first removing the aluminium foil holding the delicious mess together; it’s mouth-wateringly warm and moist but at the same time intensely harsh and tough to chew. This might seem like a far fetched analogy but if you’ve ever went partying in Kontra-Musik’s home town Malmo you’ll know the feeling. And if you’ve never been to Malmo, well do stop by someday. It seems, when the stars align, the gatherings here can be the stuff both legends and albums are made of.”

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Frak – Altan Gathering [KM049]

Rude 66 – From Reason To Ritual [BAP079]

Early 20th century. Barbarism on an industrial scale. After the final shots had rung out Europe was left a husk, a shell to be rebuilt. And she did rebuild. Slowly, but surely, normality returned. Different zones. Different ideologies. One Europe. Yet not everyone was happy. Within this struggling continent there were those who saw the hand of authoritarianism at the wheel, past criminals ruling and lands being led back to dictatorship. The solution: the sub machine gun. From Reason to Ritual is Rude 66´s most ambitious album to date. Amsterdam´s premier electronic musician maps the rise and fall of terrorism over two slabs of wax. Gruesome naivety, one that led to countless deaths, is given an electro beat on the first record, “Reason.” Warbling wave vocals from Ruud’s wife Shaunna tell a bitter tale of paranoia and looming violence. That violence is truly realised on the second record “Ritual.” Beats rain like shards of broken glass, constricted acid and echo as the enemy closes in for the final hollow defeat. An album that takes you from manifesto to death march.

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Rude 66 – From Reason To Ritual [BAP079]