Matthew Dexter
A New World

New Norwegian imprint Continually with a debut EP from Ruton (Rub800 & Tonchius), touching through a variety of genres within the modern sound between house and techno.

2x12" vinyl with printed innersleeves."Interstellar Funk has crafted a raw, yet simultaneously hauntingly beautiful and endlessly intricate record. Layers of blended harmonies and melodies form the basis for jettisons into leftfield experimentation, heavily processed drums and oscillating frequencies. The result is as infectious as it is pensive; a transcendental journey into a synth-laden landscape.A stalwart name on our Dekmantel line-ups and with prior releases on the likes of Rush Hour, Berceuse Heroique and L.I.E.S., Interstellar Funk is synonymous with the more brooding side of Dutch electronica. Akin to his DJ sets, which also glide effortlessly between genre, tempo and sound, Into the Echo is daringly eclectic, combining sung-spoken iterations with hypnotic samples and machinic industrial. The release will be supported by a hardware based live-show tour later in 2022.Ethereal voices haunt the album, a spectral presence emanating both on the titular track and its eponymous twin, 'Octave Echoes.' The latter is built up around breathy reverberations partnered with steely chords and dissected drumbeats. While 'Crickets at Night,' featuring fellow Amsterdam-based producer Loradeniz, switches pace from ghostly ambient to a pulsating, metronome's tick, clockwork rhythms and eerily looped vocals.Channelling introspective atmospheres, Into the Echo nevertheless holds steadfast to a club- ready beat and momentous bass. 'Northern Winds,' composed with JASSS, edges along the hardcore continuum, exploding with spiraling percussion and flashes of the pair's shared affinity for electro's gyrating-circuitry and dub's ominous dread. And, ionised by piercing synth and bolts of acid, 'Psycho Panner's occultist refrain climbs to an otherworldly crux.A homage to the potency of analogue machinery and experimental electronica, Into the Echo fluctuates with organic life, often melding synthetic and acoustic instruments together. Guitar riffs flutter on 'Dreamers' before pattering out into warbling, glacial fragments and 'Last Piece of the Puzzle' features a glockenspiel-esque rhythmic element rising to a harmonic crescendo.Sleeve Photograpy by Bea1991. "

UK mainstay Subb-An makes a welcome return with this fresh new EP on Aesthetic. It finds him in great form with opener 'Seeing Colours' heading off down a nice liquid minimal route with crisp tech drums and twinkling synths up top to bring the magic. On the flip side is 'Plants', a rather serene and sublime cut with more rolling drums and plenty of deft synth designs that bring a certain celestial charm to the fizzing leads. Snad's remix then shuts things down with a more driving sense of tech house rhythm to complete a tasteful EP of heady sounds.

How do you get 'in the box'? Gal Tsadok-Hai knows. After some experiments with hardware, the Amsterdam-based electronic producer recently went back to his first love: computer composing. Thus keeping open all the options. Footsteps is his first EP for SoHaSo, filled with four tracks of adventurous, left-field explorations in rhythm and melody. cl_forwardspeed 5 is dominated by sub low baslines and razor blade rhythms, while mp_footsteps 1 nods more towards early Aphex Twin and the IDM trickery from last century. Flip the record for max_smokepuffs 999, on which Gal Tsadok- Hai proves he can also bring a straight four-four to great heights. It is both spacious and tense, which makes for a great combination. On closer sv_gravity 0 it's back to the days when melody was still the default in most techno and electro. If you like the abstract machine funk from Dopplereffekt, this might just be right up your alley.

Om Unit’s ‘Acid Dub Studies’ series continues to unfold. This latest instalment of the project comes in the form of 10 brand new remixes which form the second volume of ‘Acid Dub Versions’, featuring remixes from Yushh (Pressure Dome/Wisdom Teeth), Hodge (Houndstooth / Livity Sound), Double O (Rupture), Amy Kisnorbo (Pineapple), Tapes (Jahtari / Good Morning Tapes) V.I.V.E.K (System), Versa (System / ZamZam), Frenk Dublin (Echo Ltd. / Dub Communication), Surgeon’s Girl (Inside Out / Livity Sound) and Nadia Struiwigh (Nous’Klaer Audio / Central Processing Unit)The eclectic ‘Acid Dub Versions II’ LP comprises of the smouldering cerebral scapes of Yushh’s take on ‘Camo’ as well as Hodge’s own pounding club version. Double O transforms the classic ‘Tempo’ rhythm into a kind of future-retro rave stepper, and Amy Kisnorbo walks the ‘Strange Brew’ track into a eased-back but confident new territory.The dub aspects are also enforced and re-shaped by prolific legend ‘Tapes’ who turns the ‘Tempo’ back towards it’s more dancehall roots, V.I.V.E.K takes the Bristol Theme in to 140 territory featuring System Sound’s in-house MC Dego Ranks. Bristol’s own enigmatic dubwise adventurer Versa turns ‘Valium Tempo’ into something akin to a Cosmic Bridge release, paying homage to the classic tropes of the ‘UK Bass’ sound and Rotterdam’s Frenk Dublin turns in a seriously deep basic channel-esque dub tech take on ‘Ghosts’The album is finished with 2 ambient cuts featuring the beautiful chaos of Surgeon’s Girl’s remix of ‘Tapped’ and the Dusky brooding reflective tones of Nadia Struiwigh’s version of ‘Electroacidspringwater’.‘Acid Dub Versions II’ serves as a logical progression to Om Unit’s best-selling series of well-respected works, allowing for community input on a concept which has of late been travelling far and wide via Om Unit’s live shows and continued DJ support.

The initiatory release on the co:clear label is a stunning debut by Brooklyn-based artist, Eden Aurelius. Written between Chicago and New York throughout 2023, 'Plateau' is a lacework of chiller dub-techno and ambient sparkle, crafted via recorded material, astute sampling, and live instrumentation. Rounded off with a stellar remix from your favourite ambient boyband (Purelink), this record is one for the serial unwinders.Credits: Written & Produced by Eden AureliusRemix by PurelinkMastered by Ike ZwanikkenLacquer cut by Henry RudkinsArtwork by ShyCentre Label Design by Conna Haraway