Rudoh
Vinland in Space

“What motivates us as human beings?” Zobol muses. Some might argue that the present day has produced a new culture of inefficiency and burn-out – a world where greedy landlords reign supreme, where broken bureaucracy flourishes and where people have become slaves to the system. But all is not lost. Hope sits on the horizon, and Jon Chmielewski is exploring the possibilities. For the 12th release on Welsh imprint Haŵs, the undeniably genius producer presents an electro EP that seeks to communicate something far bigger than himself.‘Empathy Droid’s Lament’ is a cascading opener, quaking with all of the energy of a determined figure reaching into their reservoir for just one more push. ‘Rogue Landlord’ sits in a twilit world of ghostly melodies and swelling horns that cohabit with a dark restlessness at each other’s presence – but an irony lies in the harmony of the situation.On the B-side, ‘R U OK?’ dilutes rippling synth lines with a bulky bass and inquisitive melodies, purging itself of emotions like a late-night spent soul-searching. For the closing remix, Reptant strips down and warps the original into fresh drum patterns, rupturing the rhythm into a storm of glitches, pops and perfectly sequenced percussion.Zobol and Reptant are clearly on the same mission: to breathe life into the humdrum and start the road to recovery on the dancefloor. ‘Diminishing Returns’ posits an answer to its first question: that innovating with what we have is the way to overcome monotony, as well as reassuring that the collective pulse is still very much warm.

Seven Hills is joining forces with their esteemed friend Bobby. over at Pleasure Club to roll out a brand new collaborative series: Seven Pleasures. They will be bringing the best from both with a run of seven sinfully good releases to ignite the senses.

Repress!!

Presence Unknown is a vinyl and digital label curated by longtime producer and DJ, Neil Keating aka Controlled Weirdness. Neil has been behind the decks and deeply involved in all aspects of club and underground sound system culture since the early Eighties. He has released his music on numerous underground labels and performed all over the world, from plush clubs to dirty warehouses. Worth a read are a couple of published articles by Neil regarding his experiences on the dance floor of underground clubs in London and New York in the Eighties. See links at the bottom of this page for these as well as a detailed biography and discography. There is also a link to a recent 40-minute interview with Distant Planet TV that explores his cultured rave history.The third release on Presence Unknown contains four slamming tunes, crafted with precision by Controlled Weirdness using a variety of analogue and digital machines in his South London studio. The A-side features some deep and bass heavy electro acid for the dance floor. "Ghosts of the Heygate" and "Running on Empty" feature rolling 808 boom with 303 groove. The flip side starts off with "Are you angry or are you boring?" a future-retro rave anthem with lately bass and killer mentasm stabs and has been destroying dance floors on dub during Controlled Weirdness’ DJ sets the past six months. The EP closes with, "Strange Desires", a slow, sleazy, slinky and salacious groove. Music from the margins. Presence Unknown.

Arsonist Recorder lands on 20/20 Vision with his debut EP ‘Geist’. Following outings on Specimen Records, Diffuse Reality, Bass Agenda and his own imprint ZwaarteKracht. The EP sees Arsonist Recorder continue his exploration into groovy dark-matter electro- beats and abstract, abrasive sound-design. The title track ‘Geist’ kicks things off with deep Drexciyan bass and disorientating synth, an all out electro assault on the senses that sets the pace for the four track EP. ‘YvY’ follows this up like a 90% proof chaser, committing you to the land of no return as perfectly crafted drum patterns lay down heavy robotic funk with driving bass lines complimented by a peppering dark synth melodies.On the flip side ‘Rauch’ switches things up with rapid fire pad work, serving up fast paced breaks in a dose of hyper speed electro grooves. Wrapping things up E-606 forges an evocative robotic war cry, firing on all cylinders with restlessness club-rocking rhythms.With previous releases catching the attention of the late Andrew Weatherall as well as Detroit’s electro Don, DJ Stingray, Arsonist Recorder is definitely not one to sleep on!

Darcey Electronics are an inimitable duo made up of Darling & Tracey. Two Amsterdam based producers who have respectively released material via Dial, Off Minor Recordings, Safe Trip, Voyage Direct and Intergraded. They now join forces for the first release under the collaborative moniker in what is their debut EP for the newly launched label, Plant Life. ‘Hallo’ is a tripped out collection of tracks. Four experiments comprised of loose hypnotic percussion and stray melodies with machine driven prowess at the forefront. Plant Life is a record label run by Ally Tropical.