Saba Alizadeh - Scattered Memories [Karlrecords 060 Promo]

Announced for February 15th, 2k19 via Karlrecords is "Scattered Memories", the debut album of the Iranian artist and composer Saba Alizadeh who has been masterfully embracing the traditional local fiddle named kamancheh as well as electro-acoustic composition techniques throughout his career. Opening his ten track album with "Blood City", a highly dramatic variation of score'esque Desert Ambient, Saba Alizadeh paves the way for things to come, following up with the full-on, inward-looking romanticism that is "Dream" before "Colors Wove Me In Teheran" explores haunted, outerworldly tonalities alongside ancient non-vocalisms and "Would You Remember Me?" answers its question in bringing forth an most beautiful array of slowly moving Ambient pads alongside altered, morphing voices from another dimension. The following "Elegy Of Water" presents more intensely droning pads, scraping sounds, humungous background shifts and the occasional, field recorded sound of flowing water, "Scattered Drops" weaves in dreamy, balearic guitars into Saba Alizadeh's ambient'ish sound amalgamations evolving into a proper DesertBlues vibe for fans of dry and hot sunset sessions in the middle of sandy oceans whilst "Ladan Dead End (Kamancheh Version)" unleashes more highly dramatic Ambient waves emerging from the planets deepest vaults, captivating fans of Ritual Electronica, Noize and Illbient alike. Furthermore "Fever" combines a folk'ish Post-PostRock variation with most minimal Indietronics, "Greetings To Earthfire" harks back to touching Desert Ambient-vibes and the final cut "Fluid" waves goodbye in a calm, peaceful and melancholia-infused manner, being as settled and beautiful as Oriental-infused Ambient can be.

Klangwart - Bogota [Staubgold 150]

Scheduled for release on the widely varied Staubgold-imprint in February 15th, 2k19 is "Bogota", the new album outing created by notorious experimental electronic music duo Klangwart comprised of Timo Reuber and Markus Detmer which has been making waves since the release of their first album "Köln-Olpe" back in 1998. With raw material for their recent longplayer recorded in the Colombian capital of Bogota back in 2014 and featuring quite a bunch of influential protagonists of the local scene we see the duo opening with "Porro A", a lively, well groovy percussion workout followed by "Level 4" which goes even deeper into Latin grooves and adds a bit of Future Jazz melancholia to the mix whereas "Rico" harks back to an early 'Future Sound Of Jazz' Downtempo-vibe and the "Blind Date" goes deep into spaced out uptempo territories for highly advanced late night sessions before employing a significantly slower, kinda Dub-driven musical approach. The follow up "Improv 1" brings forth more deep Latin dance grooves, "Monserrate" explores territories somewhat in between Balearic, TripHop and Downtempo whereas "Chocolate" focuses on dry, tribal'esque percussions and a raw, seductive vibe for steaming hot summer nights. Furthermore the "Drum Battle" goes down in a fever'ish, tribalistic manner, "Improv 2" fuses military snare figures with large scale grooves and the final cut "Porto B" is another frolicking, ecstatic dance piece with a slightly tongue-in-cheek side note. Highly recommended and quite a musical development from where Klangwart originally came from at the very beginning of their career.

Kel Assouf - Black Tenere [Glitterbeat Records Promo]

Soon to be released on the ever active Glitterbeat Records label is "Black Tenere", the latest album by the 2016-founded Touareg Rock outfit known as Kel Assouf. Influenced by classic Rock outfits like Led Zeppelin, Queen Of The Stone Age and Black Sabbath as well as the life of the Touareg / Kel Tamashek people the group provides quite a listening experience over the albums course of nine tracks and 42 minutes runtime, drawing heavily from the raw, heavy and slightly psychedelic 70s vibe of their Western predecessors, especially with most fascinating songs like "Tenere", the highly energetic, polyrhythmic "America" or the dark slow-jam "Amghar", catering to those Rock Music fans all over the globe who are looking for takes on the genre that go well beyond classic American Rock traditionalisms. Check.

Sascha Müller - Traxxx Vol. 9 [SM Traxxx 32-2019]

Scheduled for release via SM Traxxx on February 14th, 2k19 is this new digital two track single by Uelsen's Sascha Müller which brings forth more stuff for electronic dancefloors worldwide. The opening tune "Track 17" caters to the needs of all underground clubbers with a spiralling, hypnotic and well dark'ish attitude whereas the subsequent "Track 18" engages in raw, metallic technoid tribalisms and piercing Acid modulations for peaktime workouts. Good stuff.

Gemini 4 - Gemini 4 [Gusstaff Records]

Put on the circuit via the Polish label Gusstaff Records on January 25th, 2k19 is the new self-titled album by Gemini 4 which is the conjunctional project run by Hugo Race and Michelangelo Russo. Both prolific musicians in their own right and joined by keyboard player Julitha Ryan as well as Andrew 'Idge' Hehir on percussion and engineering duties the members of Gemini 4 provide an eleven track journey with their newest longplay piece which comes in an excellent space age / space art digipak cover which speaks of psychedelic greatness and a retrofuturist attitude even before one has listened to any of the projects music. Opening with "Unicorn" the group paves the way for things to come with a sweet, slightly kitschy take on (Neo)Cosmic-influenced sound whereas the follow up "Aspartame" employs a soft, padded Armchair Techno / Ambient House attitude, "Blueboy" brings forth spaced out ProtoElectro and melancholic guitar works reminiscent of Cybotron's "Industrial Lies" vibewise before "Ephemera" gets deep into Ambient / ChillOut territories over the course of 8 minutes. Furthermore "Mercury Rising" provides a lesson in contemporary Synth / (Neo)Cosmic for fans of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and the likes of, the "Dream Machine" follows on a slightly darker, brooding path, providing banging 4/4 drums for advanced late night dancefloors whereas the "Twins" are grooving along to floating Synth pads and space guitars and "Minus 3" caters more cosmic melancholia with quite a bit of a retrofuturistic touch as well as interesting backward motifs for those who know. Following up is "Pop Nostromo", a perfect example of Space Electro meets ChillOut, "Afterbirthing" brings on a slightly ceremonial Synth feel and the final cut named "Rosebud" seems to be meandering between wobbly IDM and ancient Australian dreamtime tonalities and rhythm signatures usually brought to Western ears via didgeridoo recordings rather than via electronic instruments. If you love space, this one's for you.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Sarah-Jane Summers - Kalopsia [Eighth Nerve Audio 005]

Another one to be released via the Norwegian Eighth Nerve Audio label on February 11th, 2k19 is Sarah-Jane Summer's new album "Kalopsia", an 14 track affair on which the Scottish artist based in Norway explores the musical possibilities opened up by an instrumentation of viola, fiddle and the classic Hardanger fiddle without sticking to traditional contexts, song structures or compositional restrictions. This said, the opener "Lypophrenia" takes us fully by surprise with its dramatic, spiralling nature whereas the following "Scintilla" reveals a more theatrical, fairy-like take on Sarah-Jane Summer's work before "Oneirataxia" digs deep into dystopian, Dark Ambient-resembling atmospheres and "Widdendream" touches base with a lively, yet desperate and somewhat alienated variation of Contemporary Classical in terms of composition and structure. With "Petrichor" we see a century old Nordic Folk tradition coming into play beauteously, "Sussurus" seems to be harking back to early ElectroAcoustic music with all its scraping and hissing atmospheric background noise as a foundation for the artists experimental string works and "Meraki" provides a frolicking, waltzing approach towards uplifting, syncopated repetition of uptempo string motif alterations. Furthermore the subsequent "Hiraeth" indulges deeply in elegic, autumnal sorrow and melancholia, "Reveille" brings forth naturalistic Folk traditionalism once again whilst "Sciamachy" combines distortion, madness and fairylike tonalities within 105 seconds only before "Phosphenes" focuses on creaky, cantankerous grumpiness musically and somehow brings up a picture of a hungover string instrument waking up on a very bad monday morning. Towards the end of the album "Kenopsia" goes down an alley of ultimate fragility whilst coming back to a trance-inducing spiralling musical nature, "Lethophobia" unveils more creaky noises and raw, unprocessed insanity and the final cut "Tacenda", a 62 second spanning miniature, sees Sarah-Jane Summer explore minimalistic Cold Ambient for a goodbye. Check!

Album artwork on Instagram!

Orfeon Gagarin - Orfeon Gagarin [Verlag System 017 Promo]

Scheduled for re-release on February 23rd, 2k19 is the self-titled debut album of Spanish electronic music pioneer Miguel Angel Ruiz, better known under his artistic alias of Orfeon Gagarin to those digging deeply into the early years of the scene. Originally put on the circuit in 1986 as a tape release on Toracic Tapes in 1986 the album is comprised of thirteen tracks based on an arrangement of Korg synthesizer, sequencer, organ and tapes as the foundation for Ruiz' compositional work. Starting with "Not Is Possible Landing" we're drawn straight into a sonic realm of quirky, yet clearly Contemporary Classical-influenced synth movements and early text-to-speech experimentation whereas "Traumatoid" drifts into dreamy, spaced out sci-fi territories, "Eucarystics" predates minimalism in Ambient / lo-fi IDM by several years and "Gulag" elaborates on mechanical, multi-layered percussions and distorted bleeps at high speed levels. The follow up "Voces Mauritanas" brings forth a collage of brooding, fever'ish experimental SynthWave and crackly Field Recordings of seemingly arabic chants and music, "Teatro Sucio" follows the raw, experimental path of SynthWave / Ingenious Dilletantes and "Proceso In Vitro" provides a blueprint of swampy, hypnotic loop techniques in combination with retrofuturist synth sweeps, clunky rhythm signatures and processed non-vocalisms. Furthermore "Omsk 1939" evokes memories of DubTechno-infused Ambient created years before the mentioned genres where even invented, "Necrontocratycs" caters to the needs of fans of highly experimental music resembling wildest modular synthesis on overdrive and seems to predict and depict an early and pioneering variation of beatless, yet grinding MonoAcid way before this style skyrocketed in Techno clubs around 1993/1994 whilst "Ultima Instancia" provides an early take on Ambient purism. Finally "Geriatrol" combines tweeting birds and running water with beauteous, highly melancholic synth harmonies, "Ulan Motor" harks back to swampy Ambient territories which will be highly appreciated by fans of Future Sound Of London and the concluding cut "Canada Dry" provides a feel of desolation and post-apocalyptic greyscale for all those with a dystopian mindset out there. Interesting stuff that surely was ahead of its time when originally released.

Stephanie Pan - Have Robot Dog, Will Travel [Arteksounds 004]

Put on the circuit via Arteksounds as their cat.no. 004 only recently is Stephanie Pan's first ever longplay album named "Have Robot Dog, Will Travel" which the accompanying promo sheet describes as 'a song cycle for the technological age'. Providing a bunch of nine brand new tracks over the course of 54 minutes Stephanie Pan starts her journey with musical elaborations "On Handstands", bringing forth booming, 808-heavy Electronica and a solemn, elegiac LeftfieldPop attitude whereas the "Song For Being Alone #1" relies on Noise / Rhythm Industrial eruptions for a rhythmic structure and layered melodic antigrooves as a complex, yet repetetive and floating foundation for the artists distinct vocal performance before "Song For Words Unsaid" fully goes down an experimental, yet meditative and ritualistic alley for fans of non-vocalisms and oscillating Asian percussion vibes. With "Arbitrary Failures" we see Stephanie Pan exploring more Phonk-driven territories musically, catering to fans of early Autechre or twisted Skam-releases, the "Beast" provides klaxon'esque drones and expressive vocals meandering in between full-on mystique and Experimental Opera over the course of 11 minutes before the albums title track goes down an alley built out of lo-fi electronic buzzing and what seems to be modular, vintage modulation resembling the early days of experimental electronic music production. Furthermore "Residue" , our favorite cut on this unique longplayer, serves more brooding, threatening modulation works paired with large scale bass harmonies for dark, outlandish rituals performed in alien swamps, "Bitter Dust" harks back to a fusion of highly digital Electronica fused with zither chords and a dramatic, ballad'esque take on Leftfield Pop before the concluding cut "Ron Adams" brings forth a maelstrom of dark low frequency Noize and unsettling climaxes to inject Stephanie Pan's distinct vocal style into the sonic score of the listeners nightmares for a finish. 

Album artwork on Instagram!

Juhani Silvola - Post-Biological Wildlife [Eighth Nerve Audio 003]

Coming in from straight from the headquarters of the relatively young imprint Eighth Nerve Audio is "Post-Biological Wildlife", the recent album by Norwegian composer Juhani Silvola which is scheduled for release on February 11th, 2k19. Based mainly on an electro-acoustic approach towards composition the album opens with "Ritualrytmikk", a truly mystical piece based on multilayered (hand)claps, subfrequent bass movements, echoes and haunting atmospheres with a twist of experimental Jazz Noir before the "Machines Of Loving Grace" explore dark, cold sci-fi Noize territories and a brooding, well dystopian future vision whereas "Vaster Than Empires" weighs in an amalgamation of (Neo) Classical / Contemporary Classical string sections and scraping shifts of electronic background layers to create a tense, grinding whole which might be called out as one of the most demanding cuts on this album. Furthermore we see "20th Century Meditation" indulge in more retrofuturist sci-fi sounds, crystalline melodies and a distinct Tribal Electronica foundation for highly advanced dancefloors, the title track "Post-Biological Warfare" fuses tweeting birds, swampy, detailed modular movements and dark'ish Noise shifts with ethereal backward beams and the final cut named "Speculative Photography Pt. 1" is literally playing with fire before unleashing ghostly, outerworldly choir climaxes, Noize eruptions, droning bass pulses and further digital micromovements alongside echoes of Rhythm Industrial to form an intense closing that might reveal spine-tingling, fear-mongering score-qualities when abused as a future score for sci-fi body horror movies to come. Intense.

Belp - Crocodile [Jahmoni Music / SVS Records Promo]

Put on the the circuit as a collaborational effort between Munich-based labels Jahmoni Music and SVS Records on January 25th, 2k19 is "Crocodile", the new album effort created by Jahmoni head honcho Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer a.k.a. Belp. And although the album-definition is up for debate with a ten tracks release covering a very limited runtime of roughly 27 minutes only, meaning that quite a few tunes are falling short of meeting the three (... or even two) minutes mark we see Schnitzenbaumer provide a logical continuation of what he's done with his 2018-released "Hippopotamus", in terms of eclecticism that is. Opening with the short, brooding Dark Ambient- / Drone-piece "Lurk" Belp drifts off, seemingly erratically, into fully developed tracks as well as raw miniatures exploring realms of clunky antigrooves drowned in beautiful Ambient layers, glitched out Electronica modulations with a jazzy twist, African-influenced Future Tribal abstractions, twisted TripHop / Downbeat, full on panoramic Ambient compositionally harking back to the likes of Satie or Francis Lai, stripped down Post Dubstep and more but despite this vast diversity still manages to deliver a coherent listening experience and well-rounded atmosphere which is something not many producers would get out of an eclectic approach like this. Proper.

Bloom Offering - Venus Shrugged (Official Video)

Bloom Offering : Venus Shrugged from helen scarsdale on Vimeo.

The most seductive glitch eroticism around. Epic.

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 079]

Fresh on the circuit via his very own Supersix Records-imprint is Sascha Müller's latest digital twelve track album, bringing us new and previously unheard tunes from his studio vaults. Opening with "The OS Tracks 16" the Uelsen-based producer delivers a crisp, swinging take on Minimal Techno with a bleepy, lo-fi main motif whereas "The OS Tracks 17" caters a warped variation of harsh, Industrial Broken Techno also messing around with lofi bleepisms and "Hydrotherapy" weighs in a buzzing, sped up and quirky Minimal Techno approach for those who like to party north of the 130 bpm mark. Following up is "Paramite", a tune staying on a stripped down, yet more hypnotic minimal tip, "The Work" brings forth a hard pumping HardHouse / Techno crossover for all oldskool ravers out there and "Perfusion" introduces more of a raw Acid meets Intelligent Techno groove and the subsequent "aa1" explores epicly beautiful ElectroTrance realms for extended sunrise sessions. Furthermore "Acid Junkfood Part 01" provides the very best of jacking, stripped down Chicago Acid for those who know whereas "Acid Junkfood Part 02" is more of a slow, gooey and well hypnotic AcidElectro workout, "Algorythmus" is back at sharp hi-hats and brutal, highly compressed and therefore slightly distorted Techno before "Alpha Centaury" turns out to be the albums Ambient / ChillOut main piece spanning roughly 12 minutes whilst the final cut "ANC" caters more fast paced, stripped down, ElectroPhonk-infused Techno with a tongue-in-cheek twist to punters on advanced late night dancefloors.

W/V - Concave

This is the A-side of the recently reviewed self-titled album by W/V. Be ready to be surrounded by darkness.

Junius Meyvant - Across The Borders [Record Records]

To be released via Record Records on January 25th, 2k19 is "Across The Borders", the sophomore album by Icelandic artist Unnar Gisli Sigurmundsson, better known to fans of the islands thriving music scene under his artistic nom de guerre Junius Meyvant. Born and raised on the small 4000 people island of Heimaey his soulful 2016-released album "Floating Island" was praised and critically acclaimed all over the place and surely his new eleven song elaboration will strike a chord within both fans and critics as will. Rich, luscious orchestration, a touch of Soul, Junius Meyvant's smokey vocal performance  and - most importantly - a massive vintage vibe are bringing us back to golden 70s Californian sunsets, endless rides on American highways, a general feel of ease and unlimited possibilities and a glorious future to come with its soundtrack being tunes like "High Alert", the sweet late night jam that is "Holidays", the Yacht anthem "Let It Pass", the dancefloor filling Uptempo Soul killer "New Waves" or the Country-infused "Carry On With Me". Good stuff, this.

Alina Kalancea - The 5th Apple [Störung 013]

Put on the circuit as cat.no. 013 of the Störung-imprint on December 21st, 2k18 is "The 5th Apple",  the eight track album debut created by Romanian sound artist / producer Alina Kalancea who is setting out to fuse Spoken Word with rich electronic textures on her first longplay piece. And although the artists obvious accent and pronounciation alongside the reprocessing of her voice in itself make it quite hard to follow and embrace the deeper meaning of the vocal performance when one is not fully focused on the intertwined layers of vocals and music it is easy to get lost in Alina Kalancea's compositional work which is generally based on deep, steady, organic bass pulses as a basic structure, oftentimes accompanied by cold, buzzing, scientific drones of sorts, a general feeling of darkness and desolation albeit crossing over into Ambient territories every now and then or providing tense, fully instrumental cuts like the title track "The 5th Apple" which both evokes memories of early Senking productions or a beatless Crooklyn Dub vibe whilst stimulating our senses in a special way that makes it, alongside the hyperminimal, yet spine-tingling Dark Ambient tune "Fears", our favorite cut to be found on this album whereas the "Poisonous Girl" even touches on Morricone'esque score qualities, Opera and (Neo)Classical composition. Quite an interesting one, this.

Album artwork on Instagram!

DJ. Flugvél Og Geimskip - Elsta Lag I Heimi (Official Video)

File under: Psychedelic Novelty Rave Music.

Silk Road Assassins - State Of Ruin [Planet Mu 402 Promo]

Scheduled for release on February 8th, 2k19 via Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu label is "State Of Ruin", the full length debut album brought to us by the trio known as Silk Road Assassins. Providing a 14 track journey within a runtime of 44 minutes with guest appearances by Kuedo and Wwwings featuring each on one tune we see the group paint a cold, clean and dystopian urban landscape both informed by emotionally touching, neon-lit arrangements which we've seen in the music of PostGrime producers like Ikonika, hark back to sparse futurisms we all loved in albums like Distance's 2007-released "My Demons", provide epic, ethereal synth arrangements in tunes like "Vessel" or bring on lively bangers for highly advanced dancefloors like "Familiar". Furthermore the Silk Road Assassins deal with floating Ambient arrangements in tunes like "Pulling The String", crystalline beauty in the hyperreduced "Bowman" or captivating sonic whirlwinds like "Taste Of Metal (Instrumental)" on this sonically fascinating debut which defo should be consumed on high end headphones rather than in a club environment or taken into consideration as a soundtrack by Hollywood producers for a next generation of forthcoming sci-fi eposes.

Building Instrument - Mangelen Min

The title track as a most beautiful outtake of the recent Building Instrument album which we've reviewed on these pages earlier this month.

W/V - W/V [Silken Tofu 060]

Put on the circuit via the experimental electronic music imprint Silken Tofu as their 60th release on December 14th, 2k18 is the new self-titled two track album crafted by W/V, a project consisting of Drone musician James Welburn and composer, vocalist and Opera singer - sic! - Juliana Venter. Released as a limited to 300 copies vinyl edition the A-side of this album brings us "Concave", a 14+ minutes excursion into a grinding wall of sound comprised of droning, nerve wrecking guitar feedbacks and Juliana Venters haunted, otherworldly vocal performance which makes this one a well uneasy soundtrack for your darkest, fear-inducing nightmares whereas "Moonunit" on the flip opens on a minimalistic, slightly Dub-infused ElectroAcoustic tip only to build up layer upon layer of calm, brooding drones and alarming feedbacks as a foundation for raspy, outlandish, alienated and slightly fractured vocals over the course of its 17+ minutes runtime, making this one our favorite tune on this well recommended longplay piece. One for the headstrong. Check.

26.01.2019 baze.djunkiii presents: OUR HOUSE @ Beat Boutique / Hamburg

decks: baze.djunkiii [Intrauterin Recordings]

file under: House Classics / DeepHouse / Chicago House

doors open: 9 pm

Beat Boutique
Max-Brauer-Allee 219
22765 Hamburg
Germany

Madrugada - Strange Colour Blue (Live Session Video)

This is the essence of Blues. Period.

Ellen Fullman & Okkyung Lee - The Air Around Her [1703 Skivbolaget]

Scheduled for release via the Swedish imprint 1703 Skivbolaget on January 18th, 2k19 is "The Air Around Her", the new two track album collaboration created by Ellen Fullman, inventor of the so-called long string instrument, and South Korean cellist Okkyung Lee. United in combining the individual love and sound of their preferred and beloved instrument the two artists create a slowly, yet steadily evolving sonic landscape of droning, beautiful nature, combining inward-looking Ambient-melancholia with a feel of nordic, naturalistic calmness, a widescreen panoramic timelessness and the soothing overall fascination of Deep Listening Music, providing a musical fest for both followers of Contemporary Classical music, Drone and Ambient alike. Get.   

Album artwork on Instagram!

Bewider - Full Panorama [Folk Wisdom 008]

To be released via the Folk Wisdom-imprint on February 1st, 2k19 is "Full Panorama", the latest full length album created by composer Piernicola Di Muro employing his project alias Bewider for this twelve track journey. Opening with "Panorama" we see Bewider paving the way for things to come, bringing forth a soft-padded, floating and beautiful take on what could be described as AmbientHouse for late night or early morning dancefloors whereas the follow up "We Must Dream As We Act" fully touches base with Ambient lovers only to provide a few rhythmic IDM structures and lively Synth / (Neo)Cosmic modulation works throughout the last two minutes. With "People Living Deeply" Piernicola Di Muro goes even deeper into Ambient territories, "Last One Night" provides a steady pulse for classic ChillOut floors and so does "Retina" before "Sartorius" brings forth a darker, faster muscial approach meandering in between spiralling Synth and beatless, experimental HardTrance / AcidTrance for those who know. Furthermore we see "The Episode" explore a widescreen, ethereal approach towards warm, all-embracing Ambient pads and harmonies, "Latitude" caters towards those loving hovering chord progressions and "No One Ever Became Wicked Suddenly" comes across in a brooding, atmospheric way that evokes memories of the likes of Vangelis or Tangerine Dream for those who've been digging deep into the history of electronic music. The follow up "Degree Of Unpredictability" takes us back to early 90s Ambient once provided by labels like Interference Records and other long gone imprints, "La Nascita" fully focuses on a nightly, introspect vibe and turns out to be the most melancholic cut on the album whereas "Everyone Else Is Already Taken" waves goodbye in a playful, frolicking and even dancefloor friendly IDM / Electronica manner. Great stuff for all Ambient headz out there.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen (Official Video)

Another highly recommended video outtake from Sharon Van Etten's new album "Remind Me Tomorrow".

Ulrich Troyer - Dolomite Dub [4Bit Productions 008 Promo]

Scheduled for release via 4Bit Productions on February 8th, 2k19 is "Dolomite Dub", the new four tracks and 42 minutes spanning album project brought to us by the man that is Ulrich Troyer. Conceptually reflecting on a multi-days hike in the Dolomite mountains set at a constant given speed of 133.3 bpm we see Ulrich Troyer and the participating triumvirate consisting of Jürgen Berlakovich, Susanna Gartmeyer and Didi Kern develop a slow moving musical landscape based on dry bass figures, delicate, yet slightly dreamlike, fever'ish and tribalistic, in parts even live played percussions as well as occasional effects on all interwined tracks of the album which, from our perspective, is closer related to styles like Indietronica, (Post)PostRock, late 90s Viennese Future Jazz or Contemporary (Neo)Krautrock than to the original Dub genre although the given references and intersections between these genres are obvious on this album. Probably best experienced on a proper massive soundsystem rig rather than via headphones or on your home stereo speakers.

Júníus Meyvant - High Alert (Official Youtube Audio)

When an artist hailing from Iceland has got the Soul we're getting something like "High Alert" which is taken from the forthcoming Júníus Meyvant-album, scheduled for January 25th, 2k19 on Record Records.

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 078]

Fresh on the circuit via his very own Supersix Records-imprint is Sascha Müller's latest untitled album which brings us a whole bunch of twenty new and unreleased tracks from his archive. Opening with "8 Meter" we see Sascha Müller bringing forth a bouncy UK Techno-infused variation of ever moving AcidTrance modulations whilst the follow up "Fallende Elektronen" deals with a darker, stripped down, reverberating take on ElectroAcid for most hypnotic DJ-sets in large warehouse settings. Furthermore "Acinaut" provides a polyrhythmic approach to highly defined, yet clunky AcidTechno with an oldskool twist and well aggressive hi-hats, "M-king 4 (Sascha Müller Remixed Sascha Müller)" gets into deeper, damp Acid territories with raw unprocessed claps, snares and hi-hats alongside a swampy overall feel and "12345678 (Radio Edit)" combines FilterHouse-aesthetics with a marching straightforward high energy attitude. Following up is a series of 15 tracks subsequently named "The OS Tracks 01 - 15", exploring a musical range from unpolished, jumpy underground Electro to dry Techno minimalism reminiscent of cuts released on the former Ladomat 2000-imprint whilst others like "The OS Tracks 04" bring on a Hardcore-boardering attitude evoking memories of the Italian Acid- / Rave-scene in the early 1990s, explore bleepy, distorted 8bit Electro territories and further journeys into experimental Electro realms as well as marching, metallic drums as a foundation for twisted, surely uneasy Acid and slow-motion Hardcore that's defo not meant to be experienced by the faint-hearted out there. Great stuff.

Sascha Müller - Acid Acapella Vol. 3 [Psychocandies 075]

Forthcoming as cat.no. 075 of the Acid-focused Psychocandies-imprint on January 24th, 2k19 is Sascha Müller's latest collection of DJ tools for the advanced Acid jockey named "Acid Acapella Vol. 3".  As in the previous volumes we see a serving of seven tracks with this one, all comprised of pure Acid lines and modulations without any additional beats, percussions or sound fx, made to be enjoyed solo or layered on top of other tracks in the context of a DJ set. With the musical range presented in this collection and within the genre going from dry Chicago jack AcidHouse vibes in the opener "5  Min Acid Warning Part 02" to killer hypnotic high pitch movements in "Acid Delight Part 01", massive Trance-inducing build-ups in "5 Min Acid Warning Part 04" and deep Intelligent Acid structures from the ultraworld in "Acid Delight Part 02" just to pick a few. Intredasting.

Kuhzunft - Slotmachine [Gruenrekorder Promo]

And now to something completely conceptual, a new way of interactive composition technique introduced by Achim Zepezauer and his Kuhzunft project which results in this 10" to be released on the Gruenrekorder-imprint on February 1st, 2k19. All 30 - sic !!! - under one minute tracks on this one have been composed as a collage using a virtual slotmachine of sorts filled with 158 45 second recordings provided by a set of 13 different artists including the likes of Jaap Blonk, Jerome Noetinger, John Chantler, Zepezauer himself and many more which are then randomly layered with the program to create a full blown collage of three simultaneously played tunes. The results are, despite way too short to be characterized as tracks, a kind of slightly chaotic set of miniatures, in parts fully experimental and hardly comprehensible, of seemingly electroacoustic nature, resembling bits that could've emerged from early experimental music labs like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, getting into PostRock, Future DarkJazz or pure feedback driven areas or even touch Ambient and Lo(west)-Fi Electronica realms at times, providing a demanding, yet defo fascinating listening experience for die-hard fans of full-on experimentalism and conceptual novelty music.

Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow [Jagjaguwar Promo]

Scheduled for release via Jagjaguwar on January 18th, 2k19 is "Remind Me Tomorrow", the latest album created by Sharon Van Etten, four years after releasing the predecessor "Are We There". Already announced on these pages in November 2k18 via the video for the massive "Come Back Kid" the album brings forth ten brand new songs, opening with "I Told You Everything" and its beautiful, spatial, yet intimate piano intro which leads into a touching, droning and Downbeat infused ballad of sorts whereas "No One's Easy To Love" brings forth a thrilling mixture of smoky seduction, Alternative and bits of midtempo funkiness whilst "Memorial Day" tampers with ethereal vocals and brooding, yet dreamy electronic darkness somehow reminiscent of Alt.Pop of the early to mid 90s. With "Jupiter 4" we see Sharon Van Etten employing beautiful organic vintage synth basslines as a backing for a longing, well intimate slow jam, "Seventeen" covers classic PowerPop realms alongside a highly catchy minor scale piano motif and "Malibu" provides a raspy, large scale 80s-flavored ballad never to leave the very core of our hearts again. Furthermore "You Shadow" is a massive bop sportings suprisingly heavy guitar / bass distortions, "Hands" provides an unsettling, narcotic soundtrack for Alternative nightmares and the final song that is "Stay" is an inward looking affair for lazy late summer afternoons for sure. Good stuff.

Promo artwork on Instagram!

baze.djunkiii Chart Haul 01/2019

Umber - This Earth To Another [Sound In Silence 059]

Also released via the Greek Sound In Silence-imprint on December 11th, 2k18 is "This Earth To Another", the first album ever created for the label by Leicestershire-based composer Alex Steward who employs his musical moniker Umber for this release. Following up to his solo debut of 2013 we see Umber create an eight track spanning longplay journey opened by "Altered Fragments", a blueprint of tenderly floating Ambient pads and all embracing harmonies followed by the albums title track which adds beautiful, intimate guitar works and a slow, clunky background rhythm signature to the mix. With "Harvest" we see Umber progress into tender, heavenly atmospheres and more super laid back guitar clouds, "It Just Fills The Hollow Spaces" brings on 140 seconds of crystalline, floating beauty and "Multnomah" brings forth an innocent, folksy, yet slightly off-kilter vibe in its dreamy guitar based harmonies. Furthermore "Harvest (Slow)" is a 12 minute meditation on carefully arranged harmonic shifts and more tender guitars with a PopAmbient twist whereas the following "Grape And Grain" is focusing on a spiralling, shifting, yet ever repeating main motif and warm Indietronica vibes before "Low Tide" provides a sweet closing for connaisseurs of harmonic perfection in conjunction with distinct, scraping rhythm elements, warm bass pulses and - once again - Umber's trademark guitar works. The definition of ChillOut.

Album artwork on Instagram!

The Gentleman Losers - Make We Here Our Camp Of Winter [Sound In Silence 058]

Released via the Greek Ambient staple Sound In Silence on December 11th, 2k18 is "Make We Here Our Camp Of Winter" by the Finnish pair of brothers Samu and Ville Kuukka under their artistic alias of The Gentleman Losers. With previous releases on labels like City Centre Offices under their belt the duo opens their eight track journey with "Shelter From The Rain", a twangy take on chill, inward looking guitar improvisations accompanied by grainy Ambient textures followed by the title track "Make We Here Our Camp Of Winter" which provides a solemn, autumnal approach to the genre accompanied by beautiful, melancholia inducing piano chords. "The Book Of Leaves" takes us to more dramatic levels, with a background atmosphere adumbrating a forthcoming storm whereas the steel guitar provides more of a kitsch-driven vibe for PopAmbient fans, "Always Crashing On The Same Wave" brings on clumsy beat structures built out of possibly field recorded sounds paired with a deep Post-PostRock atttitude and "Fish Roam In The Winter Water" goes down a full on naturalistic, partly even folksy route - possibly inspired by the untouched rural nature of the brothers' homeland and graced by beautiful Spoken Word poetry provided by Oliver Whitehead. Furthermore "Turning To Gold" pairs touching piano tones with raw, vintage synth harmonies and an overall feel of total peace, "Kingdom Of The Wind" tampers with glitches, heavy echoes and slightly out of tune steel guitars before turning into a full on blueprint of panoramic Ambient and the last cut that is "Bend Low, Sweet Branch, Bend Low" even brings on more beautiful, late night piano romanticisms for a sweet closing and defo provides a clue why a producer like Nils Frahm chose one earlier The Gentleman Losers track for his 'Late Night Tales' compilation in the past.

Sascha Müller - Traxxx Vol. 8 [SM Traxxx 31-2019]

To be released on January 17th, 2k19 is Sascha Müller's newest digital single "Traxxx Vol. 8", the next two track instalment on the SM Traxxx label. With the opener "Track 15" we see the Meppen-based artist being on a raw, hypnotic and fast paced AcidTechno trip whilst "Track 16" gets down with a metallic, functional Techno attitude paying homage to producers like early The Advent or hyperfunctional workouts by Steve Stoll or Cari Lekebusch. One for the tool-focused jocks out there.

Angelo Bello - GENDYN Suite [Elli Records 008]

So we're taking another view on full on computer generated, artificially composed music with Angelo Bello's "GENDYN Suite" mini album / EP which is about to be released via Elli Records on January 15th, 2k19. Using Iannis Xenakis' GENDYN algorithm as a base we see Angelo Bello provide a set of four tracks here created with the functions nonstandard sound synthesis techniques, resulting in seemingly random, yet structured compositions which resemble a shattered, glitched and decaying take on (Neo)Classical music in "Invention" whereas its follow up "Fugue 2" caters to an audience looking for the more extreme, gravitating heavily to highly digital Noize / HarshNoize from a cold, dystopian future. With "Fugue 1" we see more harmonic, yet buzzing digital data streams moving and glitching through optical fibres, providing a hefty, yet calming dose of information overload before the concluding "Ricercar" takes over, driving down a road of brooding, droning DarkAmbient combined with screeching textures and digital blips for a soundtrack for entering a hell'ish vortex or the funnel leading down to a semi-liquid vantablack maelstrom of grinding slag and sullage. Fascinating. Check.

Album artwork on Instagram!

baze.djunkiii Charts 01/2019

01. Lemzly Dale - Catty EP [Sector 7 Sounds 008]
Grime, Grime, Grime. And a little bit of Skweee- / Downbeat-influences as well. Four untitled tracks on this sweet little 12" with especially the B1 tune sticking out due to its raw, unpolished and vocal driven street attitude that made the genre one of our favorites in its early stages.

02. Various Artists - Gradients Volume 2 [Astrophonica]
What a massive compilation this. I first discovered the 3xLP fourteen track vinyl pack when Alley Cat of Kokeshi- and former Skunkrock-fame dropped Sully's "Qualla" as one of the outstanding tunes in one of her podcasts prior to the release, drawing me into a world that exceeds the regular  boundaries of Drum'n'Bass and Jungle by far with a quality selection of tracks by Fracture & Neptune, Luke Vibert, BSN Posse, Proc Fiskal, Dream Continuum and many more. Essential bass. Get.

03. DJ Madd - Dub Champion / Ghetto Sound [Dub-Stuy Records 010]
It's a great time for bass music these days and DJ Madd proves this with two uptempo bangers well exceeding Dubstep tempo realms and gravitating towards halftime Drum'n'Bass whilst employing Reggae-infused vocals and offbeat licks for a vibe and dark'ish, slightly threatening background sounds for a haunting, gangster athmosphere. Big.

04. Ansome / Umwelt [Rave Or Die 011]
And there is darkness. A beautifully marbled petrol blue 10" release from the Rave Or Die-camp brings us muscular, mechanical underground Techno for industrial basement sessions as well as a killer variation on brutalist Electro for the headstrong. A must have, this.

05. P.T.B.S. & Sascha Müller - Split E.P. [Psychocandies]
See review for details...

06. Smith & Mighty - Ashley Road Sessions 88 - 94 [Tectonic Recordings / Punch Drunk Records]
We're all up for a proper flashback, aren't we? Dub, Jungle and Breakbeat legends that are Smith & Mighty are taking us back to their early years as a celebration of the groups 30th anniversary, bringing on all the goodness we've loved about them ever since. Sparse production, deep ass organic bass waves, DubHouse-greatness and sweet takes on Breakbeat- / Jungle-based arrangements which still are timeless classics despite screaming 90s for all those who've been there from early. This is essential Bristol and defo stuff youngsters should be schooled with and by in terms of where all of today's bass music variety originates from. 

07. Kiljoy - Bad Man / Air Raid [Function Records 046]
It's the time of classic labels again. Established back in 1999 we see Kiljoy harking back to heavy, rave-induced Drum'n'Bass spirit that ruled dancefloors from around 2001 to 2004, bringing on stabs inspired by Belgian Techno of the early 90s as well as UK Hardcore alongside a distinct no bullshit-attitude that turns this into a menacing weapon in every DJ's hands.

08. Vectorvision - The Star Dwellers EP [Lone Romantic 008]
Electro has always been our jam and this is good stuff indeed. Three tracks covering the whole spectrum of electroid goodness with a range from dreamy, slightly 80s-infused lo-fi vibes to spaced out futurism and fast-paced primetime workouts for highly advanced dancefloors. Check.

09. David Goldberg - Emo Serialism [Molten Moods 005]
Is this the future of bass music? David Goldberg is meandering in between booming Breakbeat, Broken Beat, Future Garage, echoes of stripped down BigBeat and dreamlike, beauteous Detroit-influenced string arrangements on this highly recommended release. An underrated gem which be referred to as Future Classic in a few months time, not only for the touching, emotional vocal performance on the title track.

10. Freddy Fresh - Moving Forward [Spaziotempo 001]
Freddy Fresh doesn't need any introduction. The Minneapolis-based producer, DJ, remixer and American allstar of electronic music comes back with four more tracks on the new Italian label Spaziotempo, covering a musical spectrum from stripped down, well hypnotic Techno to sparse ElectroPhonk for moody, spaced out late night sessions on this 12".

Building Instrument - Mangelen Min [Hubro Music]

Scheduled for release via the Norwegian Hubro Music-imprint on January 18th, 2k19 is "Mangelin Min", the new album created by Bergen's trio Building Instrument and the third since their 2k14 debut on the label. Together thee three musicians involved create a sonic universe of twelve tracks, built upon a foundation of perfectly balanced improvisation that puts many fully worked out compositions to shame whilst exploring a musical realm in between electronic textures and their concomitant rhythm signatures in amalgamation with Mari Kvien Brunvoll's ethereal vocal- and zither performance, oftentimes incorporating imaginative elements of Ethno- / Worldmusic alongside bits and pieces of ChillOut and TripHop, tender friendliness and touching harmonies especially prevalent in tunes like "Rygge Rygge La La", the tribal-driven "Ta Regnet" or the cutely named, stripped down interlude that is "Klokkespillsymfonien" that make "Mangelen Min" an excellent companion for Balearic sunset sets and extended terrace sessions. Good stuff. Get.

Album artwork on Instagram!

Xposed 4Heads - I'm Not Social (Official Video)

What a great song to share straight at the beginning of a new year. As intense, haunting and paranoid as things can get.

Sascha Müller [Supersix Records Extra 077]

The next new album project by Uelsen's Sascha Müller has been released via Supersix Records these days, bringing on a new collection of fourteen tracks for all lovers of electronic music, opening with "Reaktorzwischenfall", a quite experimental workout combining geiger counter signatures with noisy outbursts and and twisted synth harmonies whereas "My Clean Bigger 808" provides dancefloors with a dry, and obviously clean, take on MinimalTechno before "Zerebrale Nervenstimulation" goes down the same, even more stripped down musical alley. Following up is a sequence of tracks entitled "M-king 1" to "M-king 4", all dealing with proper hypnotic Acid-infused ClubTechno for heaving bigroom crowds whereas the next subsequent series "1 Meter" to "7 Meter" goes deep into the realms of lively, partly Chicago-influenced Acid and AcidHouse vibes for real headz whilst also providing bits of super catchy AcidPhonk with "3 Meter" or exploring gooey, spiralling Acid territories with "6 Meter".