
Golden Axe LIVE @ Arma 16 Years 28.04.2024



Arma continues to explore the dark and wild corners of contemporary machine music via a new split 12′ featuring Lvrin and Maoupa Mazzocchetti. Lvrin occupies a sound world where blown out boxes spit out gnarled beats and slimy basslines through an overdriven sesk, with the ghosts of post punk and industrial looming over his nocturnal incantations. Maoupa Mazzocchetti has been weaving defiantly unconventional strains of electronic music. He delivers hhree rugged, body-poppin’ grooves to the B side.

Ukrainian producer Vakula, whose name is linked to the early days of Arma, re-emerges with Techno Game. The double vinyl features seven confidently-carved tracks that reflect Vakula’s current exploration of techno landscapes. As the cover suggests, it is a game. The author does little to nothing to explain the rules, throwing the listener into an elegantly structured space that feels alarmingly material.

Arma Records returns with a rare treat from legendary DJ, Mick Wills. Mick has been active in the seedier corners of electronic music for more than 30 years. A life spent digging in the undergrowth for deviant dance music has given him the edge that makes a truly gifted spinner, without riding on hype. For this release on Arma, Mick has given us two edits that speak to his distinctive style as a DJ – the original tracks are cult choices re-moulded into deadly, subversive club weapons. The brooding darkwave of ‘Himmelfahrt 89’ is enough to turn the most indifferent bar crowd into swaying, baying denizens of the night, while ‘Stay Silent’ pummels out a relentless electro motif that teeters on the edge of destruction for 11 thrilling minutes. These aren’t crowd-pleasing DJ tools, and neither are they slick and easy edits of obvious classics. This is a peek into the inner workings of a man with decades of experience working masses of flesh into a sweaty fever pitch using sounds you’ve never heard before.

Arma presents the debut Philipp Gorbachev & The Naked Man album. Philipp Gorbachev, the Russian musician and DJ, has been throwing killer parties and making some of the most innovative and exciting electronic music to come out of Moscow in years. In 2014 he released his debut album Silver Album but when invited to perform a live Boiler Room he had something else in mind: a band scenario. The resulting concoction was not something locked into a 4/4 beat but rather a much more organic, groove-based sound with funk-strutting bass lines and live drums that rolled and flurried around the beats that jumped around leading the charge of the songs along with Gorbachev’s Damo Suzuki-like vocals. Taking that experiment into the studio, ‘I Don’t Give A Snare’ is a wild ride that jumps genres, switches paces and alters tones frequently. The opening ‘Goodman’ exploding in intense rhythms and heavy, spiralling riffs that at times recall Sabbath but the ever-shifting drums and gargling electronics give a wonky freshness that feels impossible to place into genre. Whilst Gorbachev cites a range of influences from Beck to Blind Willie Johnson as being core to him, the primary motivation is the live nature of the project itself. ‘The main influence is the constant live experience we have as music players and performers. I want to get the most out of every party, every jam, and every dancefloor.’


Alex Danilov, DJ and producer from Yekaterinburg, with a release on Arma. Published along with ‘reshape’ by Fred P., three original tracks constitute the Noises EP. His own productions are about finding the way to sustain deep mystic atmosphere within signature low-pass rhythm picture. Side B, containing both original and remix of ‘Unknown Numbers’, shows how this approach varies from classy style of Fred P. aka Black Jazz Consortium. Noises EP is the 12th release by Arma.

Four exceptional tracks, written by Ukrainian producer Vakula, form the Modulation EP — Arma label’s 11th release. Known for his classic and deep house productions, Vakula steps up his techno game and approaches 4×4 zone with insistence and thoroughness his work has been always associated with.