Vatican Shadow – Ornamented Wall [LOVE080]

December 2, 2012June 19, 2024 hipodromealbum, dominick fernow, experimental, industrial, leftfield, modern love, noise, vatican shadowLeave a comment

“Ornamented Walls” is the most intense, brutal and, in many senses, most substantial work from Dominick Fernow’s Vatican Shadow project yet. Released to coincide with his first tour of Europe, the album incorporates the live mix rehearsals of “Operation Neptune Spear” with tracks made in their aftermath, recorded straight to tape and mastered by Matt Colton at Air Studios. Anyone familiar with Fernow’s live set-up will recognize the distinct nature of this material — making use of stems and partial tracks separated into a cassette system which is then re-layered and mixed, effected with electronic processing. In short — Fernow uses his tape machines like turntables in a mix, weaving a hazy and intuitive narrative of sounds that never quite head in the direction you expect, all imbued with an almost feral attitude that’s exhilarating to witness, their limitations and their mechanical machine qualities used to devastating effect. Side A features all three parts of “Operation Neptune Spear,” originally made available in a measly edition of 17 cassettes and sold at the first-ever Vatican Shadow live show in L.A. back in May 2012. Side B features an additional 25 minutes of previously-unreleased work made in the aftermath of the show and using the same set-up, including an astonishing revision of “Cairo Is a Haunted City,” dis-assembled and re-wired, lending it a shortwave quality that’s nothing short of revelatory.

Vatican Shadow – Ghosts Of Chechnya [HOS361]

December 2, 2012November 7, 2018 hipodromealbum, dominick fernow, experimental, hospital productions, industrial, leftfield, vatican shadowLeave a comment

The heavily sought after “Ghosts Of Chechnya” cassette finally sees a digital release. Vatican Shadow is unstoppable at the moment, his alchemistic beats and military themes marking him out as a singular talent. This LP champions the sound of Vatican Shadow, with its dubbed-out, reverberant noises, that make him stand out among his peers. The aptly named “Voices Came Crackling Across A Motorola Hand-Held Radio” is another beast, where chugging kick drums meet ominous pads and crackling static. “Chechnya’s Ghosts Loom Large In Death Of Former Spy” is another fine example of his creative ability to mould techno into any shape he sees fit; but it’s the filling spaces made up of eerie melodies and stripped beats, like “Snipers As A Breed Tend To Be Superstitious” which make his recordings so enchanting. Highly recommended as usual.

Murphy Jax – Lost Soundtrack Main Themes [LXRC011]

November 30, 2012May 16, 2018 hipodromeelectro, experimental, lux rec, murphy jax, synth waveLeave a comment

Lux Rec brings on the 11th release. Four finely crafted musical pieces to dance to and for your own private cinematic experience. Join Murphy Jax on a trip of post apocalyptic nightmares with unknown enemies and dangers lurking behind the ruins of a doomed society.

Container – LP [SP025]

November 28, 2012January 23, 2014 hipodromecontainer, electronics, experimental, house, ren schofield, spectrum spools, technoLeave a comment

Cover art - Container: LP

The second full-length self-titled album by Ren Schofield’s Container project, “Container” is spare, minimal, Noise-influenced outsider Techno with a rigid focus. The opening track establishes the tonal palette of the record, with bit-crushed rhythms set against a deceptively simple drum pattern. A careening, looped oscillation appears midway through the track and steadily gains momentum and position in the mix. Schofield is adept at making these jarring juxtapositions feel organic and coherent. Standout track “Acclimator” teems with insectoid chatter and whips up fascinating polyrhythms by way of its creative and judicious use of delay. Some may write off Noise-Techno as trendy and topical (and perhaps much of it is), but Schofield’s efforts are well worth a listen.

Tuff Sherm – Pharmacy EP [TTT006]

November 28, 2012July 13, 2016 hipodromeabstract, dro carey, experimental, house, the trilogy tapes, tuff shermLeave a comment

Cover art - Tuff Sherm: Pharmacy EP

Dro Carey offers his second release under the dilapidated tech-house moniker Tuff Sherm with this forthcoming 12” on The Trilogy Tapes. Admittedly, the sonics of Tuff Sherm aren’t far from works under DC – the grooves are less broken, the rhythms more hypnotic, but the textures are very much in line with Dro Carey’s dusked, dystopian palette. ‘Pharmacy’ bounces with swirling, nauseated effects, piling hollow percussion atop a thick soundscape heavy-laden with impending grooves. The brief ‘Hydlide’ does a great job of launching into a distorted, earthy loop, before smothering it under a filter to allow for looped melancholic stab to take over. As the initial loop rises to the fore, sandpaper samples rise with it – cavorting with the minimal melody like a maniacal tour guide purposely misleading his group through an abandoned factory. ‘Leg Man’ recalls the playful darkside of Dro Carey’s material, with a thick sub anchoring the track as wickedly off-balance samples peek through the compression, enhancing the swung rhythm of the tune.

Hieroglyphic Being ‎– Le Jardin Des Chemins Bifurquants [AUDIOMER008LP]

November 28, 2012August 25, 2023 hipodromeabstract, audiomer music, chicago, experimental, hieroglyphic being, house, jamal moss, re-release, reissueLeave a comment

Le Jardin des Chemins Bifurquants is the first full length album of Chicago based electronic music artist, producer and DJ Jamal R. Moss.Gritty futuristic meltdown of House, Free Jazz, New Age and Noise. For this record, Jamal worked with the concept of plants having a religion, and the question of what their way of worship would look like. This resulted in a dark deep-space overture with raw synth stabs, extreme pitch-shifted textures and hypnotic tribal rhythms—somewhat reminiscent of Sun Ra’s interstellar electric keyboard explorations. Le Jardin des Chemins Bifurquants is an unclassifiable tour de force that is oozing with profound cosmic meaning. For those not lucky enough to lay their hands on the genuinely rare full length album of Chicago artist, producer and DJ Jamal R. Moss, here is another chance to obtain this rare artifact.

Andy Stott – Luxury Problems [LOVE079]

November 18, 2012June 19, 2024 hipodromealbum, ambient techno, andy stott, deep techno, experimental, modern loveLeave a comment

On Luxury Problems, Mancunian producer Andy Stott builds on the knackered house and techno sound showcased in last year’s brace of brilliance, Passed Me By and We Stay Together. The album will contain eight tracks recorded in the last 12 months, with five of the songs featuring vocals from his old piano teacher who Stott hadn’t seen since he was a teenager in 1996, with the opening track “Numb” seeing her looped and layered vocals exuding a cinematic quality. The paranoid, dense, slow-moving qualities that Stott has made his signature remain, but they’ve been toyed with and manipulated, and the vocal elements feel like a calculated gamble – one that has truly paid off. Modern Love go all out on presentation too, with Luxury Problems arriving in a superb gatefold sleeve.

Peabody & Sherman ‎– James Baldwin [SB12001]

November 11, 2012March 27, 2018 hipodromedownbeat, experimental, house, james baldwin, jazz, peabody & sherman, super broLeave a comment

This project features extracts from the audio portion of a documentary film shot of a discussion led by James Baldwin and Dick Gregory at the West Indian Student Centre in London in 1968.

Mika Vainio ‎– FE3O4 – Magnetite [TO86]

October 14, 2012April 14, 2017 hipodromeabstract, album, ambient, electronics, experimental, mika vainio, minimal, touchLeave a comment

This is his 5th album for Touch. FE3O4 – Magnetite was recorded in Berlin between 2011 and 2012. In contrast to the dark vistas of his most recent releases, FE3O4 – Magnetite oscillates between the two poles of silence and noise. Using his signature sources which range from radio signals to sine wave generators, Mika Vainio creates a unique emotional journey that moves from the serene to the unsettling, always challenging the listener’s comfort zone.

Dino Sabatini – Shaman’s Path [PRGCD002]

October 7, 2012March 28, 2019 hipodromealbum, ambient, deep techno, dino sabatini, experimental, minimal techno, prologueLeave a comment

Dino Sabatini is not just a Prologue artist having the first 12” release in our catalogue, he is also one of the most authentic Prologue artists who is responsible for providing the well known Prologue sound aesthetic. Dino´s productions always deliver exactly our vision of music; deep, hypnotic, atmospheric and mind-driven. It’s no surprise that we are more than proud to announce the third Prologue album this year, which comes from our high respected mate from Berlin. The album is called “Shaman’s Paths” and it is more than just an album for all of us. Dino´s Shaman’s Paths is his personal interpretation of the sounds of Africa, which provides since decades the basis of trance in order to loose your mind in sounds and drum arrangements and it is his personal interpretation of the Prologue sound aesthetic. The Album is planned for October 2012 and will be distributed over “WordandSound”. One part will be a CD mixed with all tracks, which simply is the Shaman’s Paths to follow. Further we will also have one 12” Vinyl which will contain the most club oriented hypnotic tracks from the Album and a complete digital album with all separate tracks. Dino is now available for bookings and his album tour.

Upperground Orchestra – The Eupen Takes [DOSER013S]

September 24, 2012November 20, 2020 hipodromeexperimental, jazz, morphine records, upperground orchestraLeave a comment

The formidable Lebanese / Italian jazz nomads release a long player of deepness on Morphine’s new live series. First long player from Upperground Orchestra initiates the new ‘live series’ of Morphine Records. ‘The Eupen Takes’ is a live document clearly showing what the collective is normally improvising on stage, a chaotic but still tight blend of jazz, kraut and electronics, where nothing is previously planned, and analog synths and spaced out sounds melt with instruments in a natural and free approach. The Eupen Takes LP contains the second half of the june 2011 show at the Meakusma stage, Eupen Muzik Marathon.

Coughy – Coughy [LCL012] FREE DOWNLOAD

September 16, 2012September 14, 2017 hipodromealbum, ambient, coughy, dan serbanescu, experimental, free download, local records, romanianLeave a comment

The concept of Coughy was to be an exact opposite of clinging to one particular sound or a tedious rehearsal of prior established songs. Improvisation, spontaneity, obscure cultural inﬂuences and a complete and reciprocal trust were to be the principles of this project, and a strong live visual input provided by the visual artist Color Nurse (Irina Stanciulescu). The result, often unpredictable even to the protagonists, associates freely drones and rhythms, noise and harmony, digital and analog, atmospheric and psychedelic, pop and experiment.

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Peter Van Hoesen – Perceiver [T2X022]

September 6, 2012July 24, 2019 hipodromealbum, drone, experimental, peter van hoesen, techno, time to expressLeave a comment

Belgian producer and DJ Peter Van Hoesen offers a new full- length album, on his own Time To Express label. ‘Perceiver’, his second full length album following 2010’s ‘Entropic City’, is evidence of Van Hoesen’s continual experiments into sound. The textural, shifting and dynamic synth elements, hooks and arpeggios that characterise the album’s voice often reach into abstract zones, but never too far that the listener cannot easily delve into the hypnotism of the moment. Gently rhythmic pieces such as the album’s opening voyage, ‘Objects From The Past’, or the reduced modular electronics of ‘Spectral Participant’ plant the tone of the earlier tracks firmly in the high-tech, experimental realms of modern electronica. With careful editing Peter arrived at a complete and concise album, spanning 60 minutes, exploring largely varied yet complementary fields of sound. It is clear that intricacy and diversity are high on Van Hoesen’s sonic agenda. With that in mind, ‘Perceiver’, offers a telling insight into the explorations of a producer who is little concerned with fulfilling or expressing his artistic ego, and much more by the genuine discoveries one can make by diving deep into sound. The album ascends patiently from serene and perplexing sound pieces into fierce club-ready movements. With each track we find bold new percussive elements and sharp, textural, modulating synths entering the fold. In the later half of the LP the emphasis is clearly on headstrong body shocks designed for cavernous off-world clubs – the biting snarl of ‘Decoder’ – or futuristic festival settings with the entrancing arpeggios of ‘Inspection In Solitude’. ‘Perceiver’ presents an organic, flowing and modern take on techno – vitally alive, pulling us away from genre boundaries and more into the adventurous realms of electronica.

Vakula – SHEVC006 [SHEVC006]

August 21, 2012May 13, 2025 hipodromeexperimental, shevchenko, techno, vakulaLeave a comment

After a small Shevchenko break, the Slavic Spiritual Warrior is back! Expect the usual mind-melting psychedelic dub warfare from all angles. ‘No Music’ is proper warehouse gear – intense, dark and cut at 45rpm for maximum damage. Flip over for two more abstract, analogue voyages into the Ukranium.

Felizol – Our Team Never Won [NTROP021]

August 21, 2012November 14, 2013 hipodromeexperimental, felizol, ntrop recordings, techno, yiannis veslemesLeave a comment

Felizol comes with his 3rd EP for Ntrop recordings. “Our Team Never Won” of 3 tracks, attempts to bridge experimental hardware music with programmed club-oriented grooves. Randomness and roughness straggle with elegance and balance. Our team Never Won is a deep techno song with foggy vocals, aggressive kicks, distorted bass and side-chained melodies. “11 Years” minimize latin harmonies and guitar timbres while the dry house beat and the warm poly-analogs follow the repetitious vocals. “The Promise” is an experimental dub with jazz fragments and minor piano chords constructed around the field recording of a Finish lunatic old man talking to himself.

The Fear Ratio – Skana EP [BP035]

July 14, 2012September 15, 2021 hipodromeblueprint records, experimental, industrial, james ruskin, mark broom, techno, the fear ratioLeave a comment

FEAR RATIO, The - Skana

James Ruskin and Mark Broom return to Blueprint Records as The Fear Ratio with ‘Skana EP’. The EP delivers four new beautifully crafted cuts, while still lending themselves to the dancefloor. With their tough, heavy basslines, overlaid with syncopated beats, clipped tones and synth led melodies, ‘Skana EP’ continues where ‘Light Box’ left off and shows once again why these two talented UK producers are still at the very top of their game.

JuJu & Jordash – Techno Primitivism LP [DKMNTL011]

July 11, 2012February 7, 2018 hipodromealbum, dekmantel records, experimental, house, juju & jordash, leftfield, technoLeave a comment

Full album from the astonishingly talented JuJu & Jordash. This time crossing their more psych side with their proto-everything electronics. Continuing their distinctive synthesis of spaced-out jazz un-standards, murky dub and hypnotic electronics, Juju & Jordash exploit the triple vinyl format to launch a mission bound for the innermost depths of their sound. It’s obvious the writing and production have reached a new level in their exciting evolution. Now it’s time for the music to reach an audience beyond just techno and house.

Hieroglyphic Being – FACT mix 333

June 12, 2012June 18, 2014 hipodromechicago, disco, experimental, FACT, hieroglyphic being, house, jamal moss, musicbox club, podcastLeave a comment

“FACT mix 333 is a similarly giddy, similarly cliché-capsizing outing from Moss. Recorded on March 15, 2012, at the Musicbox club in Lisbon, it captures Moss across 2 hours and 45 minutes of live PA performance, vinyl DJing and editing on the fly. It’s by some distance the longest FACT mix we’ve ever hosted, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to edit it down: Moss’s exhilarating narrative, at times improvised and free-associating, at others coolly controlled, simply demands to be consumed as a whole.”

download1 / listen / download2

Jahiliyya Fields – Unicursal Hexagram [LIES011]

April 13, 2012August 17, 2023 hipodromealbum, experimental, jahiliyya fields, l.i.e.s., leftfield, long island electrical systems, matt morandiLeave a comment

Very strong double LP of beautifully executed synth explorations. Moving further into territories of experimental electronics comes debut album from this Brooklyn artist, Jahiliyya Fields. This double lp evokes emotions of equal pain, passion, beauty and disgust as it delves into areas of the psyche many are afraid to come in contact with. Read between the lines, close your eyes and listen. Not unlike new age music of the past meeting the harsh textures of the early industrial pioneers, this music serves as another narrative to our quickly deteriorating Western societal structure. Outsider music for those of us pushed to the side and living on the fringe.

Vatican Shadow – Kneel Before Religious Icons [TYPE105]

April 8, 2012October 28, 2019 hipodromealbum, ambient, dominick fernow, experimental, industrial, leftfield, techno, type, vatican shadowLeave a comment

Dominick Fernow might be best known for his industrial incantations under the Prurient moniker, but in recent months his attention has shifted towards a different outlet. Fernow’s interest in electronic music (from the clamorous grind of Muslimgauze to the recently defunct Sandwell District imprint) has been well documented, and it comes to a frothy head with his Vatican Shadow project. Revolving around themes gleaned from Iraq war propaganda and yellowing stacks of newspaper clippings, the tracks on ‘Kneel Before Religious Icons’ are a perfect representation of Fernow’s modus operandi. Behind a wall of tape hiss, drum machine rhythms beat out memories of early Ministry and AFX while sickly FM synthesizer pads crawl and heave into the abyss. Like much of Fernow’s output prior to this, the emphasis is on society’s darker crevices, but Vatican Shadow is steeped in an alarming mystery and sulfuric smoke that is sure to surprise recent converts.