experimental
Crotocosm – Setting The Scene For An Island Battle EP [RHD-034CROTO]
Crotocosm is an occasional collaboration between Jordan GCZ and Willie Burns . Tracks were recorded together live in Amsterdam and Brooklyn between 1996 and 2017.
Tangerine Dream live @ Boiler Room x Dekmantel Opening Concert 01.08.2018
Helena Hauff – Qualm [ZEN253]
Qualm has a duality that Helena Hauff enjoys – The German word translates as fumes or smoke, whilst the English meaning refers to an uneasy feeling of doubt, worry, or fear, especially about one’s own conduct. True to form, the record is unapologetically raw and finds Helena returning to her original modus operandi – jamming on her machines, trying to create something powerful without using too many instruments and layers. By design, the 12 tracks are raw, distorted and lo-fi, with Hauff peppering heavyweight, redlined drum machine beats – think wayward Chicago jack, laidback electro and nails techno – with a mixture of razor-sharp acid lines, moody industrial textures and drowsy chords. The clattering intensity of the album’s dancefloor moments is in sharp contrast to the creepy and evocative, soundtrack style electronic soundscapes showcased elsewhere on the album. These – ambient in ethos, but more experimental in tone – are frequently amongst the set’s most inspired moments.
Nikolajev – Retta [PA02]
Tallinn Lekker club co-founder Robert Nikolajev hits hard with his new 12” release ‘Retta’ on Päästevest. Nikolajev channels raw grit and pulsating energy in Retta (dance mix). The flip side houses an internal dialogue of unnerving tension.
Khotin – New Tab [PR002]
Khotin returns to Pacific Rhythm with a much anticipated vinyl adaptation of his 2017 cassette only release ”New Tab”. 10 deeply personal tracks that build and breathe stretched across 2 lovingly mastered and heavily considered LPs. A wonderfully restorative listening experience for everyone out there on planet E that enjoys interesting audio.
The Conservatives – Terrorama [V007]
Olds friends I-F and Intergalactic Gary revisit old material from their longtime alias The Conservatives. Appearing first time on vinyl. The film tells the story of six mental cases, trying to get rid of society’s norms and values by kidnapping, a well-known TV host. Delivering the soundtrack, The Conservatives (I-F & Intergalatic Gary) are setting down the perfect mood for this cult classic.
VA – Prophecy & Progress: UK Electronics 1978-1990 [PM24]
Peripheral Minimal presents ‘Prophecy + Progress: UK Electronics 1978 – 1990 LP’, a thirteen-track compilation that represents the burgeoning Electronic music scene in the UK. This isn’t simply another synth pop compilation, or some nostalgic frippery, but an eclectic mix of acts that were experimenting with newly available technology at a time when the punk scene had imploded and the music press was busy coining new genres as an attempt to continue its legacy. In the bubbling underground were a myriad of experimenters recording in relative secrecy in Industrial cities like Sheffield or post-war London, at a time when the Tories came back into power and utterly altered the political landscape, and produced a generation of, ‘Thatcher’s Children’ (selfish, arrogant and materialistic). The antidote seemed to be quiet rebellion in the shape of dark and alienating soundscapes by acts that are now considered ‘pioneers’, or achieving cult status, in a new era of throwaway pop and trite ‘new wave’ impersonators. This compilation is an attempt to rekindle those heady days of experimentation and to encourage new generations to rebel and forgo the fashionable posturing that comes with anything vaguely ‘interesting’.
VA – Jura Soundsystem Presents Transmission One [ISLELP003]
The first in a series of compilations by Jura Soundsystem is a blend of Dub, Ambient, Downtempo, Boogie and Proto House with a focus on music never before released on Vinyl, sought after out of print titles and some special versions edited specifically for the album. The intention with this project was to delve deeper into the reissue pond and unearth some lesser known tracks and artists. Highlights include Smackos (AKA Legowelt) Ambient epic ‘We Can Watch Alf In The Hotel Room’, never before released on Vinyl, the Dub / Psych hybrid of Minus Group’s ‘Black Shadow’, Kash’s sought after ‘Percussion Sundance’ and special edits of Ken Dang and Tabou Combo. The end of the album includes some soothing Ambient tools.
Aleksa Alaska – RUBBER TIJD
Khidja – Dekmantel Podcast 185
DJ Glow presents Populist – Psychometric Profiling [TRUST032]
DJ Glow introduces his Populist alter ego with his first release on TRUST since his 2007 Pulsinger collab. Four fiery, dense electro cuts to feed your paranoia.
Ultradyne – Ocular Animus [PGM012]
As with all Ultradyne works there is meaning in everything. Ocular Animus delves into the mindset of humanity and breaks away from the usual EP format – Three tracks – five songs. This release explores the terraforming of humanitity as seen through the eyes of the machinists as they look into the mirror at it’s underbelly. Solid rhythms, shifting beats, eerie synth lines splatter across the canvass of this new release feeding the beat hungry and philosopher alike. Fear. Uncertainty. Hate. A glimpse of the possible future or the deconstruction of a paradigm. You decide if you like what you see.
ENA – Bridge [FIELD027]
Dutch label Field Records is back with another special album project, this time from Japanese producer ENA aka Yu Asaeda. Bridge is an introspective soundtrack for a documentary also called Bridge – out this Spring – which is about the Dejima bridge, a reconstructed symbol of the Dutch-Japanese trading history in Nagasaki, Japan. The album finds the producer stepping outside of his usual remit of dark ambient and experimental music, and instead comprises ten shorter tracks that touch on abstract and rhythmic sounds that define the essence of Japanese culture. Although he has worked with the director before, this is ENA’s first Original Sound Track and finds him freely inspired by the movie and heading in exciting and unknown directions. Hugely atmospheric throughout, there is hypnotic repetition of sounds, strange audio design and a mixture of melancholic moods with more dreamy synths. Sometimes gloopy rhythms gently ripple beneath soothing harmonies and at others times a micro-rhythm appears through the constantly shifting and evolving found sound loops. It’s a compelling and unusual album that seamlessly mixes human emotions with a mechanical sense of industry.
Trux – Untitled [OFFICE13]
Trux’ second EP on Berlin based record label Office is a bow to the many outstanding moments in the history of Ambient music. Allusions to Brian Eno are just as recognisable as to the charming concepts of Pop Ambient or Clicks & Cuts. It’s between these poles that the four tracks on the a-side oscillate and manage to capture the listener with vibrant and diverse soundscapes. The flip side sees Trux drop a stunning melodic breakbeat tune besides remixes by Workshop’s premier Techno chef Lowtec as well as a freestyle Electronica version by O$VMV$M. The much loved Super Quiet tops the record artwork off with another remarkable example of his casual and airy black and white photography.
Borusiade @ Lente Kabinet Festival 26.05.2018
Phuong-Dan @ Lente Kabinet Festival 26.05.2018
Lena Willikens – Selectors Podcast 020
Phuong-Dan – Inverted Audio MIX 280
Muziekkamer – II – Popmuziek [CYRE01]
Left of centre experiments from the Dutch underground of yesteryear. Muziekkamer was the name of the home recording studio that gave birth to the twelve tracks on ‘Popmuziek’, an intriguing document of sketch arrangements and primitive, fairytale sampling wave cuts. This is music which excels due to its inherent naivety; the limitless ambition of ‘Black Box’ almost sounding like a precursor to the 90s ambient techno of Likemind or Stasis. On ‘Being Home Tonight’ we can hear an early form of what the likes of Tolouse Low Trax have been bringing to the forefront of contemporary club culture whilst the erratic art-rock of ‘Walkman’ mirrors what Leven Signs & co were doing over the pond. In trying to create something which represented ‘intrusiveness’ as a contrast to an earlier ambient tape the trio incidentally blurred the lines between various musical fashions to come. An amazing snapshot of time and place.
The Hipodrome Of Music 