Downbeat | Electronica | Leftfield Tape 415 Items

Beautiful library-style coolness from the north!

The Bless compilation series is our annual fundraiser to gather artists and beat makers together to raise money for the global community. Bless Volume 2 is a collection of 99 tracks from artists representing 25 different countries, the full album spans nearly 4 hours of incredible music! This year we wanted to do something special and curated a selection of tracks from the full album for this Limited Edition Double LP release.

100% of the proceeds from the sale ofBless Volume 2 will be donated to a variety of Micro Loan programs for Women, Sustainable Water and Agriculture projects, Refugees, Education, Health Care and the Arts. The funds from the Micro Loans are paid back over time and it’s our promise to the supporters of this album that we will perpetually reinvest those funds back into future Micro Loans. This way the funds can continue to support people who need it for many years ahead.

We present the third instalment of our mega compilation album, FUTURES Vol. 3, containing 46 artists with 44 tracks running in at 82 minutes. Fam unite on this ultra chill release, featuring the quality grooves of some lo-fi community favourites and some fresh faces to the scene.

This is one for the people, all the studio dwellers lighting up their SP's providing the soundtrack to the forever chill life.

Our most ambitious project to date, a massive compilation of talented young producers that are shaping the way forward. This release was conceptualized as a means to unite the music community together and be as inclusive as possible. An album by the people, for the people. With over an hour and a half worth of music you can sit back and vibe to this tape all day!

“Magenta Line” is the debut recorded offering from the Fox/Soper Duo, consisting of New York City musicians Greg Fox on drums, and Ryan Soper on modular synthesizer. Soper, an inventive sculptor, video artist, and modular synthesist makes up one half of the NYC-based performance project Non-Native, and is also a member of the A/V trio Brat Pit. Fox is a prolific drummer known for his work in experimental metal outfit Liturgy, as well as bands such as Guardian Alien and Zs, not to mention countless collaborations ranging from Colin Stetson to Dan Deacon to Hieroglyphic Being. On “Magenta Line”, the duo takes on a form that is unexpected for an acoustic-meetselectronic style collaboration. Fox’s drums are slightly filtered and engineered to take on an alien, electronic quality that compliments Soper’s organic, expressive execution of his synth, to the point where the two styles meet in the middle to produce fierce and otherworldly results. For an instrument that manipulates purely electronic impulses, Soper manages to play it in an incredibly physical manner, buzzing, squealing, and roaring in all it’s distorted glory like an electric guitar. Fox’s ability to react and interact naturally with Soper’s synth is remarkable, and a rare feat that few drummers can effectively accomplish. The outcome of this fusion is a style that leans more towards industrial, punk, or metal than it does to jazz or modern improvisation. Unrelenting in it’s exploration, “Magenta Line” gives way to a new style altogether, yielding nearly 45 minutes of uninterrupted gritty and grinding cyborg thrash. Both artists demonstrate a very high level of skill and versatility with their chosen instrument. Fox and Soper each speak their own alien musical language to each other, meeting head-to-head in terms of the range of expression they can achieve with their expansive arsenal of mastered techniques. At times, Soper’s distorted sequences lock into place, providing the rhythmic backdrop for Fox to drum circles around, while at other times Fox lays down heavy, direct beats for Soper to explore the full range of free electronic shredding his synth is capable of. Musical form is firmly established, while extreme sonic and textural freedom is still allowed. “Magenta Line” is a marathon session where new ground is constantly being broken with powerful, crushing physicality. Although the instrumentation is unorthodox for an improvisational duo, the results are incredibly dynamic and exploratory when left in the hands of masterful musicians.

‘Kellion’ is the story of a young boy who was born into a mysterious world he explores with his curious eyes, ears and hands. Every new experience lets him grow as a person and also expands his knowledge of the world that surrounds him. His young mind is sometimes blurrying the lines between imagination and reality, dreaming and being awake, reality and fantasy. Making sense of this world in its very own unique way, his world is filled with fantastic and surreal magical creatures and quirky characters.

Over the course of the ten songs many different little adventures unfold and await the young boy, slowly building his character while he explores nature in all its varieties and learns to appreciate it. He lives through new emotions and gets to learn about his own feelings during the process. The title track ‘Kellion’ represents the very inner world of the kid – it is his cocoon where he can always return to and be safe after his journeys and adventures.

„I was trying to live his life with him together and feel what he felt. I tried to understand and recollect what it feels like as a little boy walking around in this big world. I attempted to see the world through his eyes, to experience his fears and happiness and in doing that, just helping him to be a kid.“ – Long Arm

‘Kellion’ is the long awaited sophomore full length album by Long Arm and will come out worldwide on double vinyl in a beautiful gatefold cover as well as on CD and cassette tape, all including download codes.

The meaning of dreams usually stays hidden in stacks of abstract layers, obscuring their essence in surreal and bizarre imagery. Exploring the depths of our subconscious, they lead us from stories of lighthearted innocence to our most gruesome ghastly fantasies, making us live through multiple scenarios each and every night. While in sleeping-state, we are at our most vulnerable and at a total loss of control over mind and body. At the same time, we feel most free and safe during REM, with none of our worldly worries breathing down our neck while our minds find ways to cope with exactly these worries.

For his debut full length “Too”, My Panda Shall Fly decided to collaborate with a variety of singers from all over the globe to explore their subconscious anxieties and fears together. Giving away control over the songs himself, he was only amazed by the results of this process that took over more than a year until final realization.

Just like in Ursula K. Le Guin‘s classic sci-fi novel “The Lathe of Heaven”, you can shape your dreams by becoming aware of the inner forces that invisibly guide you every day.

‘Too’ comes out worldwide on limited 2LP red vinyl, CD, MC (including download code) and digital.

Created at the foot of Mount Taranaki, 'Hewn' is the sophomore release by Wellington, NZ based producer / musician Groeni. Representing a departure from one idea in order to rediscover and understand another, the record deals with the interactions of two sets of people, paralleling and contrasting them. Throughout the record, the lines become blurred - subjects merge and intertwine, adopting combined, often confused perspectives.

“There are links between the songs, things tie together and reappear at various points. Certain words, subjects and sounds are cut up and redistributed between the five songs.” - Alexander Green / Groeni

While retaining the melancholic / dark-pop quality of his previous EP, this record further explores UK bass music from a south west pacific perspective. Using elements of lo-fi mixed with clean production and resampling field recordings and digital synths through tape players and old microphones, Groeni creates an intimate and eery atmosphere that will draw in and mesmerize his listeners.

‘Hewn’ comes out worldwide on limited vinyl and limited handmade cassette edition (both including download code).

I was heavily inspired by Chris Marker’s film Sans Soleil (Sunless) just before I began recording the EP. He talks about remembering and memories; we preserve our recollections through photographs, films, literature and in my particular case, music. Each track on the EP is essentially a memory preserved.

The EP deals with ennui or just the overlying feeling of listlessness that usually props up when one thinks life is futile. Again, like my last release, this EP is quite melancholic in nature except the themes are more mature. I’ve focused on the artificial gratifications such as drugs, sex and what these temporary distractions can do to you and the relationships around you. I tend to take these dark subject matters and try and transform them into something beautiful, it’s incredibly cathartic. This is why I find it amusing and overwhelming when people call my music “ethereal” or “uplifting”.

I really love Dostoyevsky’s work or just any Russian author to be honest. His novels are incredibly detailed and meticulous, everything is palpable. I want any release I put out to feel this way. When people listen to my music I want them to be able to really feel the sounds, as if they can touch them: I work really hard to try and accomplish this. Lastly, I think what inspires me the most about being a musician: is the story telling. To be able to project your stories and memories through sound knowing that there’s at least somebody out there that will listen to what you have to say.

Featuring production by such renown producers as Go Yama, Insightful, Laplace and Galimatias, ‘Falstrati’ comes out worldwide on limited clear vinyl in December 2014.

Especially for Cassette Store Day 2014 we are offering a very limited tape compilation as an exploration of our music. A digital exclusive to beatport.com, who asked us to compile the compilation for their 10th anniversary, the tape includes a selection of highlights from recent releases complemented by exclusive and unreleased new material by Robot Koch, Rain Dog, kidkanevil, memotone, Soosh, Long Arm, Blossom, submerse, Deft, Monsoonsiren, Cuushe, I.V.A., R. Gadzhimuradov, Barrio Lindo, My Panda Shall Fly, Mau’lin, Krts and Kowton.

Only 1 per customer!

‘Memoosh’ is the collaborative project between William Yates (memotone) and Soroosh Khavari (Soosh).

Without any pre-planning, the project started to grow and develop a life of its own as soon as the first session started. Over the course of more than eight weekends spread over a year, the two visited each other for recording sessions, not relying on modern modes of communication. Making all the music in person to keep to the collaborative nature of the project, leaving more room for improvisation and opportunity to jam out all their ideas.

The album is a mixture of live instrumentation (guitars, piano, cello, zither, drums, clarinet, synths and numerous others) coupled with effect boxes, samplers, vocals and field recordings, influenced by everything from random static and buzz, to a beautiful early morning rain or the bass thud of a closing door. The whole album being more an exploration of their approach rather than anything conceptually thematic, representing both characters and personalities in the music.

“To be honest, had we not been asked by Project Mooncircle to make the album we probably would never have met to make music. Thankfully they did ask! And it has been a very fruitful conquest. Not only has the album created music we are proud of, but in it’s construction it created a new and lasting friendship.“

‘Memoosh’ comes out worldwide on limited grey-marbled double vinyl, limited handmade and handpainted cassette edition (both including download code) as well as a limited edition CD including a bonus track via flau records in Japan.

All tracks written, performed and produced by William Yates and Soroosh Khavari. Vocals on ‘This Hush’ by William Yates. Recorded in the Soosh Studio, Brighton. With Thanks to all our close friends, family and the team in Berlin.

Slow Waves is a collection of multi-layered memories, stacked like grainy polaroids in an old box in the closet or under the bed while the colours fade. A young Rob at the beach or on his first day of grammar school. Images of travels across Europe and Japan, moments slipping in trains or planes while landscapes pass by. Memories so unique to his life, yet so similar to the fading memories of youth and adolescence we all have...

After a series of well acclaimed EP’s, each of them created at very specific moments in the artists life, submerse took the time and sat down to reflect and convert all these memories into his first full length album on Project: Mooncircle.

'Slow Waves' comes out worldwide on limited double vinyl, limited handmade and handpainted cassette edition (both including download code) as well as a limited edition CD including a bonus track via flau records in Japan.

A bright and colourful scenery: Shrill blinding sights, piercing foreign sounds, a fusion of disparate scents blended into a cocktail of curiosity. Fleeting attempts embrace a thousand senses in one single second. Bustling around in the shadows of buildings as high as mountains, an almost eerily overwhelming sense of contentment is omnipresent - but something doesn't appear to be right...
Stranded on a lonely island in the midst of a chaotic metropolis, disconnected - a feeling of drowning in an ocean of overstimulus and importunities of disproportionately inflated personalities, without ever even being registered or taken notice of.
What's left is nothing more than the ghost of a young soul, wandering about and curiously studying the surrounding, forever looking for answers that would otherwise seem trivial.

After “Kidsuke” the critically acclaimed collaboration project with Daisuke Tanabe, “Tokyorkshire” based producer kidkanevil continues his fascination with Japan and readies his latest solo album My Little Ghost. Inspired by a summer spent in Tokyo collaborating, exploring and generally refusing to grow up, the double vinyl is due May 2nd on Project: Mooncircle and features a wide range of guests including PMC's own submerse and Tokyo vocalist Cuushe.

Limited handmade and handpainted pink cassette edition (including download code).

In the native tongue of the South American tribe Mapuche, there exists the word ‘MENOKO’. Deep within the Andean Forests there are sacred places, springs of purity known as Menokos. Hidden and untouched by man or animal, they are whispered, home of virgin water. Womb of the natural cycle from which plants and herbs of extraordinary medicinal abilities are nurtured.

Barrio Lindo feels a strong bond to the native tribes of his Argentinian home. Ancestral cultures are of great importance, providing a wealth of inspiration. An instrument maker by trade, using his bare hands he constructs many ethnical instruments like Andean flutes, African harps, string instruments from India and so on. This fascination with indigenous sounds is reflected within his music and themes with the use of samples and tribal instrumentation. While understanding his work is far from that of the native cultures, he finds ways to incorporate these influences through fusions of sounds. Drawing a parallel, worlds both old and new align.

‘Menoko’ comes on limited purple double vinyl (including download code) as well as a limited handmade and handpainted purple cassette edition (including download code).

IIIII (Five Eyes) aka Eugene Chistyakov is a young talent from Ukraine, currently living in riot shaken Kiev. This February we will be releasing his debut album ‘Mother Love’ on limited chrome cassettes and digitally. The album is dedicated to his late mother, who was a great music enthusiast and passed on her appreciation, dedication and talent to him. Soaking in his surroundings like an ethnologist, he used interaction with friends and strangers as inspiration. His music is his way to vent out and deal with negativity wherefore the titles usually give away the events that led to their creation.

Every six lunar months – when Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned – we experience a partial or total lunar eclipse that can be observed anywhere on the night side of Earth. Lunar eclipses can only occur at full moon, that time when the moon is directly opposite Earth in relation to the Sun. Many ancient civilizations cultivated a multitude of myths surrounding these astronomic events, most of them depicting wild animals or mystical creatures eating the moon or crossing it’s path. Tibetan Buddhists say that during a lunar eclipse, our actions, whether good or bad, are multiplied one thousandfold, whereas, in ancient egypt, a lunar eclipse was considered to be the precursor of natural disasters, catastrophes, wars, and diseases and the biggest possible harm would be cast upon the earth if Isfet, the manifestation of the total eclipse and god of injustice and violence, would make the sky fall onto earth and therefore bring chaos upon it.

As the soundtrack for tonight’s lunar eclipse, we selected some exclusive and unreleased songs from Robot Koch, Submerse, Rain Dog, Sieren, Daisuke Tanabe, Lomovolokno, KRTS, and Daixie on this mini-compilation.

Artwork by MN (from Bratislava, Slovak).

Ten new tracks from Chino, CA’s favorite son Vex Ruffin, only on cassette!

Available digitally and on limited chrome cassettes (with digital download code), we are releasing a series of albums and EP’s from talented and promising artists. Expect all facets of instrumental hip-hop, future beats and electronic beat music….

As we pursue our lifes and the relationships it brings with it, it seems as if we just can’t avoid making the same mistakes over and over, chasing one unhealthy relationship after the other. Some say that our choice of partners is strangely predestined and we keep searching for our significant other in all the wrong places. How can we affect these templates seeming to be deeply ingrained in our brains and liberate ourselves from such self-imprisonment to find the right people, friend and partners to join our temporal journey.
Empt is 20 year old Romanian Bogdan Gridan. Always having been into music and playing various instruments, he was introduced to Ableton while still going to school about a year ago. Ever since he has been making music to process and give meaning to his everday life, being influenced by natural and organic sounds and trying to sum up and express himself by means of personal experiences and feelings.

Available digitally and on limited chrome cassettes (with digital download code), we are releasing a series of albums and EP’s from talented and promising artists. Expect all facets of instrumental hip-hop, future beats and electronic beat music….

Good Paul has been searching for that right sound ever since his career started. Never confining to only one genre or branch of music, he has been looking in various genres, but especially in the gray area between hip-hop and house, drum and bass and dub-step, always being attracted by soulful emotion with bass and broken beats. In these last 14 years he was unable to find that one special sound. This EP, however, is his solution for this neverending search.

In his own words:
“To live well we need to learn and know about a lot of different things. Draw your plans in an attempt to consciously create the future. It turns out that often the decisive moments in our life are found. I have never sought music by artists or genres, but instead, I am just trying to find music that gets to me in terms of emotion.
I hope there will be people who find the music from this EP, because that music found me.”
The artwork was created by Mateusz Kolek, who is known for his playful, psychedelic and dreamlike illustrations, heavily influenced by Soviet science fiction flicks and Japanese anime’s.

Bio:
Good Paul from Krakow, Poland, has spent already 14 years behind the decks and is well known for his musical selection and technical skill. Being a Red Bull Music Academy alumni (Toronto, 2007) and lecturer (Warsaw, 2012), he self-released a free EP entitled „One More Time“ and has been remixing various projects in the advanced futuristic music scene in Poland, in particular for U Know Me Records from Warsaw.

We’re proudly announcing our first Finest Ego solo releases. Available digitally and on limited chrome cassettes (with digital download code), we are releasing a series of albums and EP’s from talented and promising artists. Expect all facets of instrumental hip-hop, future beats and electronic beat music….

Images of classic movies come to mind while listening to the “Hypnotic Machine“ by Vienna-based beatsmith Szenario. Wether a thriller, crime story or action flick, this album will turn your imaginary cortex into a screen for a true cinematic experience.

Mastered by Dj Buzz of Waxolutionists. Original paintings by Simon Walter.

The tendency towards advanced beats seems to be more and more a global phenomenon. As we already have said: Decentred beats for decentred people. During the last few years arose also in Russia a small, loosely networked scene of people, who have experimented with Hip Hop-beats. But in this case, the young Russians have no examples or references for this kind of music in the musical culture of their own country. All of their inspirations are taken from blogs and from the intensive study of their role models worldwide. The result is an organic, very playful, snappy and jazzy sound, which is carried by a common vibe, but is in the same way as diverse as the finest egos of the artists themselves.

The compilation includes Pavel Dovgal, DZA, Pixelord, Demokracy, Moa Pillar, Arktor, Shawalski, Myown, Nienvox, 813 and Long Arm.

В течении нескольких лет появилось все больше и больше музыкантов,экспериментирующих с хип-хопом.А делать это не легко,так как в России beat культура развита не так хорошо как на западе.Но ребятам удается создавать свой собственный,непохожий на других,стиль,и это не может не радовать.Мы представляем Вам второй сборник серии Finest Ego,с такими музыкантами как Pavel Dovgal,DZA,Pixelord,Demokracy,Moa Pillar,Arktor,Shawalski,Myown,Nienvox,813 и Long Arm.В итоге сборник получился очень разнообразный,некоторые треки звучат джазово и органично,а некоторые наоборот,можно даже отнести больше к дабстепу,чем к хип-хопу.

Design by LGB5. A&R by Jinna Morocha & Gordon Gieseking. Mixed & Mastered by Sven Friederichs.

DOWNLOAD

Even in the land of the rising sun, during the last months the enthusiasm for eccentric rhythms has increased. More and more young beat maker in Japan emulate their models J Dilla, Flying Lotus or Hudson Mohawke. This new generation of beat smiths understood Hip-Hop not as a mere pose, but as an aesthetic principle, in which it is explored, where the boundaries of this music style lie. The artistic crucial questions are therefore: How can you make known subjects in other contexts? How abstract can it be? Some of these emerging artists, we can now gather on this download Compilation. It’s a good way to become familiar with these extraordinary artists. So the Compilation shows the wide range of this emerging beat music scene, the originality of each artists. The title of the records tries to reduce very different types of artists to a common denominator: Finest ego.
The compilation includes BudaMunk, a.z, Daisuke Tanabe, The Astronotes, Dj Olive Oil, FERRARI, RLP, SATO, Ogiyy, ichiro_, Eccy & Himuro Yoshiteru.
Design by LGB5. A&R by Akira Inagawa & Gordon Gieseking. Mixed & Mastered by Sven Friederichs.

DOWNLOAD

After last year's release “Death Star Droid” Berlin stromtrooper Robot Koch kept himself busy. He finished off the new Jahcoozi album “Barefoot Wanderer” which is coming out on BPitch this spring. Coinciding with the release of his “Death Star Droid Remix EP” (incl fresh mixes by Loops Haunt, Blue Daisy etc). Robot Koch was on tour in the USA and Mexico, stopping by in LA for a stunning gig at Low End Theory and finally settled down for 2 months in Mexcio City, where he found time to work on new material with his girlfriend and singer Grace . Visiting some ancient Maya and Atztec sites and Pyramids sure added to the spaced out magic of the new EP. The new material is dark, percussive and surreal. Like an audible painting my leonora carrington. Its dubby but not dubstep, rather next step maybe. The songs are heavy and dripping with analog and organic sounds…. Lo Fi field recording mashed up with heavy bass and unquantized grooves. Live sounds like guitars work like samples. Vocal talent Grace, that was already featured on the Death Star Droid album and the last EP brings in a dark and yet soulful gospel vibe over Koch’s twisted beat concoctions. This EP is only a taster of the new album that should be ready to drop in october on Project: Mooncircle. In the meantime Koch will keep himself busy with playing shows (with Dorian Concept, Stagga, Darkstar, Boxcutter) and festivals including a live show appearance at this year's Sonar Festival.

‘Road Less Travelled vol.2’ once again brings together the imprints far-reaching community of artists spanning London, Los Angeles, Montreal, Budapest, Copenhagen, Barcelona & beyond. The compilation floats between shoegaze, moody electronics, and shimmering synths; featuring new and original music from the likes of Nourished By Time, Mark William Lewis, and Untitled (Halo). Road Less Travelled Vol.2 sees the label continue to amplify the voices of these singular artists who continue to sculpt their respective sounds. It’s a follow-up to 2022’s ‘Road Less Travelled vol.1’ which was celebrated by Resident Advisor, Crack, The Wire, Dazed, Clash, NTS, Tom Ravenscroft, and Jamz Supernova.

Scenic Route continues to reaffirm its position as some of London’s premier tastemakers; building a grassroots following via their sell-out live shows featuring the likes of Chanel Beads, James Messiah, Mark William Lewis, Delilah Holiday, and more. Paired with ground-breaking releases including Nourished by Time’s debut album ‘Erotic Probiotic 2’ garnering the coveted Pitchfork’s 'Best New Music' and was widely regarded as one of the ‘Best Albums of 2023’ with features on Gorilla vs Bear (#1), Pitchfork (#5), The Guardian, The Fader, Paste and more. Most recently releasing Vanessa Bedoret’s (Astrid Sonne band mate) debut album ‘Eyes’ in the words of Boomkat ‘a timeless bouquet of raptures and ballads iced with shearing strings and shatterproof electronics’ having additional support from Vinyl Factory, Resident Advisor, Bleep, Nina, The Fader and more.

Ambient? Sí. But also, a musing on transcendence. So lay down and close your eyes because, on this one, our querida joya @eezzmmeerraallddaa wonders what we all wonder every now and then: good old 'What happens when we die?' We sort of know the drill: the cling, the not wanting to go, the inevitable... the heartbreaking nostalgia of parting ways with this world... and also, the chance to end the pain. Then comes the grief: bye-bye sweetness, chao joy, adiós tenderness... then -¡ayayay! the terror, the slow fade-out, the nothingness. At last, that sparkle in the dark edge of the hiss shows us the way to the ultimate surrender, to then become a garden in the void, and finally return to mamá amor as big beautiful rainbows. This is Ruido y Flor, the first offering of Ambie—Tón: our brave new venture into the heart of the haze