bijū – Land of Abundance [SOT011]

“bijū arose from the need to explore the intersection of machine and body. The need to blur the boundaries between dehumanized electronic sound and the natural environment. Its selection is a constant search between minimalist and dense, dynamic and slow, sharp and blurry sounds. The album presents strength of vision in artist’s style and that is aesthetics of dystopian future, where slow motion martial marches meet ghostly rituals, cleverly blended with synth melancholy enriched by echoes of psychedelia and industrial rawness. An attempt to reach the undefined emotions between commotion and anger, sublimity and thrill, which, along with grief and hatred were brought by the war in his homeland in Ukraine. As part of the Warsaw based Ukrainian collective SUMISH wants to strengthen interactions between people through synergies, exchange of vision and knowledge, building bridges between the migrant community and local society through the different creative disciplines. Author of the program Gnostic Methods, dedicated to slow-rolling and experimental electronic music – every month on Radio Kapitał.”

bijū – Land of Abundance [SOT011]

VA – Through Consumption and Entertainment [SOTXX]

”Through consumption and entertainment’ is the latest full-length compilation from the Sons of Traders label in collaboration with Mutant Radio. It features a gritty cast of affiliates of label owners Mike Tansella jr. and TANS who curate this release.

VA – Through Consumption and Entertainment [SOTXX]

M Parent – Who Is Your God? [SOT004]

“These tracks were recorded in my Queens studio in 2019 after several live performances. Most notably the Microtones party in Ithaca, NY where I had the honor of playing the Forest City Lounge, which is the historic home of the Black Elks, a Black non-profit, fraternal order. I wanted to challenge myself with these performances by limiting the amount of effects I used as well as the amount of equipment, thus these tracks have a lot of space to breathe. These are also my most intricate tracks to date. Instead of tripping tracks out with fancy effects and modules, I instead focused on song structure, with each track telling a story with a beginning, middle, and end.”

The live set also tells an overarching story as well. The main storyline is about a fictitious satanic death cult that worships through sound (“The Frequency”). As they are preparing for their final ascent (/descent?), one of the members starts questioning everything (“Heaven and Hell”). It is seen by the group as a “Regression” and the cult is not happy about it (“I’ll Beat Your Ass / Til The Day That We Die”). The member is confronted and asked “Who Is your God?” 

M Parent – Who Is Your God? [SOT004]

2021 Top 3 – Readers List

The end of the year is always a good time to step back an reflect and for me is also a time to take a look at what our readers enjoyed the most on hipodrome. This is a summary of the top 3 albums, compilations and recordings that our readers liked the most this year. I’m really proud with our visitors and you can see they have a good taste in music.

Continue reading “2021 Top 3 – Readers List”
2021 Top 3 – Readers List

VA – Tears for Fears Vol. 3 [SOTA042]

VARIOUS - Tears For Fears Vol 3

Soil Records presents the third volume of Tears For Fears cassette compilation. The release includes 22 tracks from the likes of Adrian Marth, Anatolian Weapons, Chino, Crossover Network, Fragedis, Le Chocolat Noir, Ober Dada & Lera Foer, Sons Of Traders, Violet Poison and many more.

listen

VA – Tears for Fears Vol. 3 [SOTA042]

VA – Sons of Traders 002 [SOT002]

Sons of Traders 002 is an 8 tracks compilation Ep of loosely knit artists that surround the duo Sons of Traders (Mike Tansella Jr. and TANS). Leading the EP, the title track “Rotten to the Core” is a slow stomper with a forceful vocal sample and some various squelches. LA’s Kosmik picks up the tempo with “Murmurs” which features a hypnotic synth loop over a 4/4 beat. On “Chomping at the Bit” C.L.A.W.S. and Tyrell trade off between claps, hi hats and short delays underneath a sinister synth tone. To close the A side of the record is Future Blondes out of Texas with “2020 ultra visions”, a cut that can only be described as a sinister barrage of slamming drums and tones. The B side launches with “The Other Side of Town” by The White Lines, a dark electro workout with vocal samples, dark synths and growling bassline. Frigio label boss Juan Pablo brings us an intricate drum pattern with layers of synths on “Night Drive in Beijing”. “Self Feral” by Chris Mitchell is something with a hip hop swing, heavy drums, various feedback and vocals. Closing the EP is Dragée, a new artist from Haifa, Israel. “Them” features a hard snare that holds together the demented vocals, claps and bassline that develop throughout the track.

listen

VA – Sons of Traders 002 [SOT002]