Various Artists - Hyperdub 10.2 [Hyperdub Promo]

Celebrating its tenth anniversary  in 2014 with a string of releases and compilations the widely appreciated Hyperdub label has recently unleashed the 14 track strong sampler "Hyperdub 10.2" which is not only gathering some of the labels most recognized artists alongside a bunch of talented producers that haven't seen much media coverage up to this date but also covers the labels vast and diverse musical spectrum. Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland are opening things with a sweet TripHop 2.0 tune named "Signal 2012", Burial explores the positive, yet melancholia driven spheres of PostGarage and serves an overly kitschy outro for his "Shell Of Light" whilst Jessy Lanza sets dark, threatening gangsta basslines up against undeniably seductive Future R'n'B and pays homage to some of the great Plastic R'n'B ballads of the late 80s and Cooly G is following the same line with her song that's "Obsessed" but minus the gangsta bass. King Britt's Fhloston Paradigm's "Never Defeated" featuring Rachel Claudio deals with stumbling, super abstract Downtempo rhythm structures before catering top notch synth jams and introducing the next level of angelic Philly Soul to the wowed audience - also check the review of the recent Fhloston Paradigm album here. With DVA's "Super Solid" things get more uplifting with what's to be called a huge Future Garage anthem paying respect to Jungle days through sweet beat wizzardry, epidemic stab works and great vocals performed by Zaki Ibrahim - a tune abstract as fuck beatwise but at the same time causing dancefloor mayhem when reloaded in a rave. Ikonika & Dam-Funk join forces for an electronic Disco Funk piece that's one of the rare weak points in "Hyperdub 10.2" due to the attempt of emulating the glory of the King Of Pop-era and failing for a kitsch-dripping reason and it seems like Morgan Zarate's "Pusher Taker" featuring Roses Gabor takes the uber-sweetness level even higher with his epic, super Slomo Dubstep meets Future R'n'B presented in "Pusher Taker". Being her second take on this album Jessy Lanza's "You And Me" fuses Plastic (Neo)Soul with bouncing Trap, cut-heavy sample works, sparse killer bass and funky synths for a perfect late night dancefloor experience that can be pointed out as the main highlight of this album for sure. Later on we see Morgan Zarate on production again with "Sticks & Stone" which is a huge oldskool'ish Funk / R'n'B / HipHop production featuring Eska and the legendary Ghostface Killah on microphone duty. Getting closer to the end the so-called "Soule Power Mix" of DVA's "Just Vybe" starts with a heavy 4/4 but turns out as a swinging Soul amalgamation of Future Garage and West London Phusion dedicated to all followers of Dego and his 2000 Black gang. Even the praised Grimeist Terror Danjah proves his abilities as Future R'n'B producer here whilst Meleka literally seduces the listener on spot on his tune "You Make Me Feel" before the legendary DJ Rashad and his homies DJ Spinn & Taso are up for some serious Juke action with their killer cut "Only One" taken from his "Double Cup" album. With the final tune "Lies, Lies feat. Copeland" we see Hyperdub head honcho Kode9 bringing in his vision of UK Funky, a short and swinging statement of a vocal tune that possibly implies a glimpse into the next decade of Hyperdub Bass Music. If you haven't been catching up on the imprints latest doings this one is a nice opportunity to do so. Check.

Si Begg - Flight To The Death *Bob Humid Remix (Live Performance Orgy Video)

Bob Humid performing his RMX of Si Begg's "Fight to The Death" live & in full-effect from bob@bobhumid.de on Vimeo.

Feverish. Intense. Ritualistic. Bass heavy. NSFW. Great. Do not play this to minors.

Cassar - Tetris Instrumental

Super low cut bass operations. Psyched out melody. J Cassar rolls deadly. File under: BassTrap.

Wieman - The Classics Album [Baskaru 030 Promo]

Another fresh release coming from the Baskaru stable these days is "The Classics Album", a collaborational joint of Frans De Waard and Roel Meelkop produced under their conjunctional MeltPop moniker Wieman. As both musicians have been on our radar for ages, e.g. for their joined forces project Goem that has been regularly aired via our former "Die Nachtschwestern" radio show or - as solo artists - for productions under the name of Beequeen (Frans De Waard), responsible for the seminal Ambient / Drone 10" "The Surrough Gate", or Roel Meelkop's THU20 which e.g. has been reviewed on these pages back in 2003 with their "Live In Groningen" release on Stichting Mixer, we were quite thrilled to see them explore new paths with their conceptional approach they refer to as MeltPop which is in parts related to the "use everything"-feel of Plunderphonics but works in a more organized manner as their choice of samples is clearly defined by a contextual predetermination. In this case all samples used were taken from songs sporting classical music-tinged titles with words like "symphony", "rhapsody", "overture" etc. in them. And albeit it remains unclear whether this specific predetermination specifically influenced the sound of the five tracks to be found on "The Classics Album" it's quite remarkable how the results turn out here. From the cranky, dry and repetetive advanced dancefloor cut "With A Lat Of Verve" to the Ambient MicroHouse sickness of "The King Ist Queer" which combines organic Deep Listening loops with sterile, uberly precise drum works and trashy 8 bit bleep freestyles on Acid slowly evolving into a jazzy Static Noize Rave jam the journey continues into the tense Cold Ambient of "The Lady Es A Tramp" with its piercing loops in reverse and layered crescendos of (neo)classical origin. Talking Cold or Death Ambient here the sci-fi'esque intro of the "Mega Deconstructed Live Wish" totally fits into that drawer before, quite surprisingly, de- and reconstructed Heavy Rock loops take over, soon clanging and falling apart again whilst giving way to a nerve wrecking skipping unaligned needle exorcism. Finally the nearly 17 minutes closing tune "Do You Have ElP" depicts eternal darkness and isolationist, deep space TechIndustrial monotonicity with a foundation of solid, hollow, slow and sluggish beats, post fall out athmospheres and electronic buzzes that both are later accompanied and displaced by shrieking, scurrying alien ants gradually falling silent until only a few, ever repeating hydraulic noises guide our way through the last quarter of the track which unveils a quite surprising one minute ending playing around with a female voice after a short jaunt into full on silence. What a journey.

Sawako - nu.it [Baskaru 032 Promo]

Recently put on the circuit via the French label Baskaru - an imprint deeply dedicated to all things experimental with a roster including greatly appreciated artists like Yoshio Machida, who appeared as a guest performer at our long-gone "Die Gesellschaft Ist Krank"-series back in May 2003, or the Drone god Francisco Lopez - is the latest release by the Japanese sound experimentalist Sawako. With "nu.it" she dedicates herself to more floating, calm and athmospheric Ambient pieces - setting the tone with the sweet Piano-led opener "Locus Of Everyday Life", taking listeners deep into the enchanted forrests with "Nostal.Noz" by serving a menu of lovely spheres and a few light crackles before going even further with tense, droning multitwisted church bells and sweet Glockenspiel sounds trailing off in "Nemumel". More overwhelming, gently healing PopAmbient beauty is revealed in the audible oceans of "F.light"  whilst fans of tender, possibly prepared, piano sounds might vote for the looped, seemingly Hauschka'esque "Piano Cote" as their preferred piece of ear candy here. Furthermore "O.ver" presents a cinemascope view on melancholia at dusk that lasts for less than three minutes, followed by the obviously heavily prepared piano tones of "Mind.ight" that even might be referred to as the most jazzy cut on this approx. 40 minutes longs album that's closed by "In.fini", an Ambient journey into the realms of solemn Deep Listening music. If you love Ambient as a genre, you need to hear this one for sure.

Magic Panda - Life Is Elsewhere *Roi Koch Remix [Animated Music Video by Rod McRae]

Chromatic, iridiscent TechHouse with a  twist of string-heavy (Neo)Trance and sweetly morphing geometric shapes. We fully approve of this. Löv!

Matthew Collings - Silence Is A Rhythm Too [Denovali Promo]

Scheduled for release on July 25th via Denovali Records, which are also about to re-release his debut "Splintered Instruments" on vinyl these days, is the release of Matthew Collings' sophomore longplay piece "Silence Is A Rhythm Too"- a Deep Listening six track album laid out over approx. 44 minutes exploring the realms of fragile, organic instrumentation, plangent violins, ritualistic drums and icy Drone music, an amalgamation of cinematic quality and a feel for myths and mysteriousness surely surrounded by nordic, especially Icelandic, tales - a place in which Collings used to live for six years prior to moving to his base Edinburgh. Thematically themed by meta terms like romanticism, tragedy and death, especially the antipodal construction of love and death symbolized by the use of silence and Noize, "Silence Is A Rhythm Too" can be filed under the flag of providing autumnal feelings on a PostFolk-referencing, deconstructivist level of Ambient music that defo has its more threatening, thunderously climaxing moments like halfway through "Toms", shortly before things break down into calm organic instrumentation after layers and layers and layers of ravaging sounds built up like a storm front at the far horizon. Following up to this is "I Am Made Of Endless Hours" which is of a more soothing character and provides echoes of melancholia driven Jazz improvisations interrupted by more chaotic sonic events whilst the final title track seems to go the Pink Floyd- meets Future Sound Of London-way (in their "ISDN" phase that is) like one would expect this fusion to sound in the 23rd century - floating, epic, deeply psychedelic and defo providing a sonic trip into one's inner self. Defo a good one and possibly an album too deep to embrace within only one session alone - therefore a grower as well which is about to stand the test of time.

baze.djunkiii Charts 07/2014

01. DJ Rashad - We On 1 [Southern Belle Recordings]



DJ Rashad's legacy. His last release before he tragically passed away. Stone cold, hard bouncing, super dry Juke / Footwork for those who know. Official classic. Must have.

02. Driftmachine - Nocturnes [Umor Rex Records 065]
See review for details....

03. Yucca - Seasons [AdP Records Promo]
See  review for details...

04. Diamond Version - CI [Mute Records]
It's album time and I'm well surprised how smooth the first album effort of Carsten Nicolai and Olaf Bender sounds after a series of more unwieldy, abstract singles that have been introducing their Diamond Version project throughout the past year or so. Embracing a well tight vision of darkness and uber clean production skills the pair serves a phonky, but still threatening pack of ten Electronica / Electro tunes for advanced dancefloors and mathematically gifted folks but also explores quite exciting vocal spheres in collaborations with the likes of Leslie Winer, Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys, Kyoka or Atsuhiro Ito that might be referred to as the future of Industrial SynthPop and Dark Braindance due to their sterile presence and deep ass bass waves. Recommended.

05. Alix Perez - U [Exit Records 050]
Massive release on D-Bridge's Exit Records. Alix Depauw a.k.a. Alix Perez explores hyper abstract Future Choppage / 23rd Century Jungle with the title track "U", delves deep into heavy stepping Dub spheres with "Sludge", a collaborational effort together with Stray, teams up with DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn for the anthemic RaggaJuke killer "Make It Worth" and finally gets grimey with the heavily compressed Dubstep Rave fusion "Gully Halves" that is built around dark sawtooth basslines and heavily pitch transformed vocal bits. Get that.

06. Various Artists - Adventures In Techno Soul 3 [Ferox Records]
After a long period of only sparse occasional releases on the digital circuit it seems like Russ Gabriel's seminal Ferox Records is back on vinyl again and - most important - have set a more regular release schedule for the future. With "Adventures In Techno Soul 3" on the circuit now which is following up on the 1996- / 1998-released volumes 1 and 2 they've gathered an impressive stack of eight tracks for this double vinyl edition including the likes of Darren Harris, Affie Yusuf, Bush Funk, Move D, the labels head Russ Gabriel and others, who are summing up the future of Techno Soul indeed with a musical range from more Ambient / Deep Listening tones, soft spoken Detroit deepness, raw and pumping House with a jazzy, discoid twist to glittering Detroit Techno with clear dancefloor focus - see especially Hoax Believers' "Cosmic Intervention" for this one but also Bush Funk's "Late Night Delivery" seems to, well, deliver in a groove-heavy context throughout small hours. "Adventures In Techno Soul"? Yes, please.

07. Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around [American  Records]



Well, Johnny Cash. The man in black. Not exactly the most obvious choice to appear in the top 10 of a former electronic music DJ that is - admittedly - neither an expert of nor overly familiar with Johnny Cash's work at all. But there are two songs on this official repress that I'm closely bond to - the first being his cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" which I came across first when my BETA-ZERFALL partner in crime Herr Brandt played that one out at one of our shows in Kiel - a song I've heard millions of times in its original version as it was featured on their "Violator" album which was my first ever vinyl record I bought. The second is a sweet memory of watching a Johnny Cash documentary with the one I'd still call the love of my life - his cover "Hurt" was in it and since we've unfortunately split up this is the only song that still makes me shed a few tears when- and whereever its on. So this album was a kinda essential pick when I discovered it was repressed. But going further through "American IV: The Man Comes Around " there's of course more stunning beauty to be discovered and hailed than these two songs - the tragedy of guilt in "I Hung My Head" or the amazing declaration of love that "In My Life" is in all its reduced simplicity. A great one for sure.

08. Jesse Osborne-Lanthier (Noir) / The H / Madison Dinelle / Hobo Cubes - On Information: A Study In Form Of Pictures And Music [Los Discos Enfantasmes Promo]
See review for details...

09. Istari Lasterfahrer - Walls Cave In On You [Sozialistischer Plattenbau]
After a break of about eight years time this one seven track mini album produced by the notorious Istari Lasterfahrer is the first Sozialistischer Plattenbau-release  after long years that finally makes it into my collection as it slightly sticks out from the uniformity of most of the labels output that - without criticising its straightforward attitude in sticking to what they love - seemed to be stuck in a loop for while, especially when one has been following their paths from day dot. With "Walls Cave In On You" Istari Lasterfahrer comes up with something more refreshening, mixing up his DarkJungle, Ambient, Breakcore and Freebreakz with a lively, frolicking acidic touch and even going back to more experimental Electronics with tunes like "Transgressive" or "Nymph", a tune that even seems to have a slightly experimental FreeJazz twist to it and so does the B1 tune "Hysteresis" to a spine tingling effect. When it comes to darkness levels there's no way not to mention the killing vocal - sic !!! - intro of the thrilling slomo Illbient Bass piece entitled "Fly Away" which pays homage to the great and legendary Electric Ladyland compilations on the longtime defunct Mille Plateaux imprint, whilst "Purquoi Moi" brings out an astoundingly intense level of raw, offbeat driven DarkJungle that reminds us of  the genres heydays in the early to mid noughties.  Nice.

10. Steve Bug - Pelican Glide [Poker Flat Recordings 150 Promo]
There's been much praise recently when it comes to Steve Bug's latest 12" outing on his very own Poker Flat Recordings-imprint and this praise has been proved legit. Whilst the title track is on a moody, but more melody-driven tip with the usualy slice of minor melancholia woven in we see the rare vocal cut "Till It's Gone (feat. Delhia De France)" burst with sexyness and being accompanied by a geometrically stunning video cut. Watch the video here...

Fhloston Paradigm - The Phoenix [Hyperdub Promo]

Forthcoming on Hyperdub these days is King Britt's first longplay piece under his 2009 introduced and recently fully adopted more experimental moniker Fhloston Paradigm. Within fourteen tracks we see him exploring a truly cinematic world of soundsets, fusing epic panoramic elements from Synth pioneering icons like Vangelis or Jean-Michel Jarre with PostStep-reminiscing beat structures, weaving in the uberly syncopated, Jazz-flavored beat science of the Broken Beat / West London Phusion sound and finally arranging layers and layers of melancholia soaking string arrangements and 'troity bleeps around this hot amalgamation to a thrilling, futuristic effect. Especially the 2.5 minutes smash "Chasing Rainbows" is about to sent well-experienced dancefloors to heaven whilst the follow-up "Perception" teaches sweet lessons in sci-fi'esque modular synthesis and creates deeply alarming and pretty (in)tense scores for flics yet to be filmed - defo recommended to all fans of classic Ambient and Deep Listening Music. Alongside the great voice of Rachel Claudio the Fhloston Paradigm explores the possibilities of heart-warming, organic Phuture PhillySoul in all its shining angelic glory that's also recognizable in the Electronic Opera of "Tension Remains" with Pia Ercole on vocals - btw talking Electronic Opera: does anyone remember Cosmic Baby's "Futura" ? This tune would've well fit in there. But back to "The Phoenix" - the delay heavy 4/4 title track that beams us back to clubland with its freestyle synth jams, laser'esque sounds and psychotic Acid bursts - one for setting the roof on fire when hammered in the context of a pumping 3 a.m. session. Within the 91 seconds of "Portal 3" Fhloston Paradigm creates an aphotic, thunderous sonic armageddon followed by tripped out, siren busting TechnoJazz workout that seems to be one of the most tension-heavy tunes ever created within this niche. Without going into further details it seems like King Britt is - using a different name though - still on top of his game with this pretty diverse, yet coherent and fascinating album on Hyperdub. Props for that.

Freddy The Dyke - Freddy The Dyke [Skussmaal 002 Promo]

Actually it's not the hardest of all guesses that promos flying in from Norway that do include guitars of any kind might not be soft spoken and tender in their overall attitude. And checking out the first full length album - well, 30 minutes... - of the Stavanger-based duo Freddy The Dyke proves this right for a reason. Released via Skussmaal the six tracks provided here tell stories of anger and raw, unprocessed energy, a mayhem of machine gun firing guitars with a suprisingly funky feel reminiscing of better Crossover-days, violent drum stampedes and Hardcore-schooled vocals that might be more suitably referred to as screamals as well as some PostPunk-influences ravaging like a hurricane. With the exception of the ritualistic, haunting and Drone-leaning Voodoo Experimentalism of "Roto" that will be loved by fans of the German Advanced JazzCore / UltraFunk outfit Dÿse, all songs are set straight to unleash immediate chaos whereever blasted from a huge P.A. and to set folks dressed in black in motion. Listen to "Sandi Yama" and feel surprised by the electrifying powers of the dark side. Heavy! And also recommended to all those still in love with the legendary project Flugschädel.

Captain Capa - Arsenic (Official Video)

The bwoys of Captain Capa, which are recently touring the States alongside the Vans Warped Tour pack, have unleashed  a new, haunting and quite puzzling, video for their heavy autotune-smash "Arsenic" that, although high def recorded, uncovers a hidden love for Lynch'esque twists and cliffhanging stories.

Video: lsb_TV presentz "Kompressionskammer" w/ baze.djunkiii (DJ-Set) & Uli Sigg (Visuals)

Broadcasted for the first time via lsb_TV on Alex.TV / Berlin last saturday baze.djunkiii's full hours journey between pumping TechHouse and straight forward Techno is now available on youtube for the public. Massive shouts go to Mr. Uli Sigg for the great visual work and the lsb_TV crew for their efforts they put in the project - large up!

Nicola Ratti - Ossario Volumes I & II [Holidays Records Promo]

Coming from Italy and being recently released on two seperate, limited to 300 copies white vinyl 12" pressings on Holidays Records is Nicola Ratti's new ten track release "Ossario" which - according to the info sheet coming alongside the promotional CDr - basicly focuses on sounds generated by modular synthesizer, tapes and samples to a darkening, skeletal and and unprocessed effect that is somewhat reminiscent of the slow, continuous motion of gargantuan alien machines and the surreal sounds of their steady operating process in extraplanetary industrial sites. Defined electronic pulses and gnarling mid to low frequencies are painting a bleak, futurist sonic picture whilst uberly cold, droning athmospheres add up to the panoramic view over barren, devastated territories. But as the time passes one starts to recognize more and more organic sample work of a warmer nature shining through - twisted instruments, even more or less natural sounding (prepared ?) piano tones and slightly processed percussion of a kind of ritual nature. With the untitled sixth track of the CDr which we presume to be A1 of "Ossario Volume II" Nicola Ratti introduces chirping melody fragments on tilt mode, creating an ultimate danger zone feel on top of heavily compressed beats that might be filed under the flag of Industrial Electronica - see former releases on labels like Hymen or Block4 as a reference here - whilst the following tune brings the work of Rachel Kozak / Hecate under her Raquel De Grimstone-alias to mind, serving haunting vocals and an intense, ritualistic attitude. Later on we find examples of a specific, calm Deep Listening sound one might describe as Unambient due to the various layers of feedback noises and irritating modulations accumulating on top of dreamy electronic creations, a short, meta-rhythmic and tribal'esque skit as well as a frolicking, microprocessed Electronica piece that provides the most positive, partly even happy sonic connotation of Nicola Ratti's most recent work. Recommended to fans of Autechre, Hainbach and other like-minded projects.

Jeopardy - Scouse Ebonics (Official Video)

Stuck in Liverpool and not gettin'  a word? This one might help. "Scouse Ebonics" 4 life.

28.06.2014 lsb_TV presentz #chilloutberlin TV @ Alex TV / Berlin

starting @ midnite - ending on sunday 6 a.m

streaming worldwide via Alex.TV...

featuring baze.djunkiii / Uli Sigg / Monsieur Fleury / ADSX / Dr. Walker / Omsk Information

set time baze.djunkiii from  00.00 - 01.00 cet+1

also join our chat!

Soley - Kromantik [Morr Music 130 Promo]

With eight tracks and a total playtime of less than 17 minutes "Kromantik" is not what you'd call a second album crafted by the Icelandic artist Soley Stefansdottir a.k.a. Soley after her also Morr Music-released solo debut "We Sink" in 2011. Rather than that "Kromantik" caters a collection of tiny, partly dark'ish or melancholia-driven, always tender and intimate Piano compositions and also improvisations with reverberant notes and a moldy but well versant feel, like one is entering his or hers grandma's long time closed and dusty attic as an adult again, a place one spent hours and hours playing in as a child but that went out of focus in teenage years for a reason. Things feel distant but still familiar after all the years gone by, a bit of nostalgia strikes in a way that also might occur throughout watching old silent movies and one - suddenly - feels at home again. And so one does whilst listening to "Kromantik" which is surely recommended for on-repeat listening sessions in front of an open fire. A lovely bit.

The D.O.T. x Oscar - Less Than Tommorrow

Nothing but a huge ting!

Steve Bug - Till It’s Gone feat. Delhia De France (Official Video)

Recognized as an "Autistic Interpretation of Mathematics" by Thump, where the video was premiered only recently, this piece created by the Zeitguised studios is one of the best and also most amusing, humorous electronic music videos we've seen in recent years. Full support and maximum props for a piece that brings back the idea of what electronic, electronically created music and its visual components were meant to be about when this movement started.

Short Film: Barry Cant Arf Weld

Discovered this one on twitter via Innate and found this a wonderful example how industrial manufacturing and processing shots work very well along Deep Listening Music and Ambient.
The films score is produced by long time pioneers The Black Dog who have delivered some great classics throughout their 20+ years lasting career which is another reason for every electronic music lover not to miss out on this one.

Jesse Osborne-Lanthier (Noir) / The H / Madison Dinelle / Hobo Cubes - On Organization: A Study Of Form In Pictures And Music [Los Discos Enfantasmes 050]

A conceptual combined media piece "On Organization"? A Clicks'n'Cuts mini album coming with an art book edition? A limited work of science transferring visual data into highly abstract, musical pieces or the other way round exploring the evolution of 3D space into higher forms of multidimensionalism musically, starting from simple two dimensional flatlands and rocketing of into a multifold quantum universe where only geometrically exposed photographs make up a whole picture due to weird effects of warped space time? Although none of these questions is truly answered by this collaborational quadruple artist mini album that comes as limited to 500 pieces CD + book edition it's a quite remarkable piece, fusing Deep Listening music and highly electronic, micro-detailed Clicks'n'Cuts to calm but still thrilling effects - partly sounding like a long lost alien transmission or the friendly chatter of electronic microservants. Fully recommended for those loving the abstract conceptualism of labels like Mille Plateaux or Raster-Noton as well as the clean, puristic elegance of the 2007-founded Electroton imprint.

Stephen Steinbrink - Arranged Waves [Melodic Promo]

Forthcoming via the UK-based imprint Melodic on July 7th is "Arranged Waves", the sixth full length studio album of Stephen Steinbrink which is now re-released for a wider audience after being initially put out via Christian Filardo's Arizona-based Holy Page label as a limited cassette tape edition. And although we've kinda turned our heads into folk'ish things a bit throughout the last two years or so it took quite a bit to embrace Mr. Steinbrinks more easy, harmonic, estival and surely 80s-induced view on Folk stylewise as we're usually rather going for the blurry, melancholia driven aspects of the genre. But the straighter, sparse and - despite being played by a human being - drum machine-like beats of "A Simple Amateur Of Your Ideal World" accompanied by tender, psychedelic harmonies opened our ears and so did the "Synesthetic Ephemera" surfing the same wave on an uptempo level, providing flanging guitars and a rich melodious foundation for late summer evenings with a balmy breeze going on. Introducing the "Brand New Maniac Brain Holder" Stephen Steinbrink even uses Field Recordings of church bells and provides a whole, though self-absorbing song based on feedbacks and drones before he returns to the intimate Easy Folk / Singer-Songwriter thing again which is a bit too trival and arbitrary for us. Going through the rest of the album we see the 80s return with cheesy offbeats and plastic drums on "It's So Pretty What You Did For Me" to great, brightening effect which makes this one the best and most outstanding song on "Arranged Waves" whilst "It Takes A Lot To Change Your Mind" is dealing with relationship issues on a more abstract level. "Sand Mandalas" introduces blurry, soft-focused and kitsch dripping emotions and so does "Impress My Memory" although abstaining from any percussion elements whilst the short, instrumental, title providing closing tune recalls masterly crafted Post-PostRock on a highly intimate level. Not necessarily everyone's cup of tea for mentioned reasons but a proper, possibly a bit short-lived Folk album for this summer season.

The 80 Rules of Social Media

Usually these pages are not about tech or marketing strategy talk but I just came across a blog by Jeremy Waite today that on point describes and breaks down smart social behaviour for brands and companies to their very essence plus - and that is a huge bonus - are hilariously amusing.

Totally seconding the full post but especially the rules

#5
#6
#9
#25 in parts
#30
#31 with a special dedication to a lot of music promo agencies 
#62
#71 by far the most important one
#78.

Get to know them via  The 80 Rules of Social Media

Yucca - Seasons [AdP Records Promo]

If you like your Indie Rock with a ruffer edge, stadium-like attitude and a massive, muscular, electronic drive you are defo recommended to watch out for Yucca's new longplay piece "Seasons" that's about to be unleashed via AdP Records on beautiful, dark blue'ish vinyl within the next days. Driven by their anxiety for huge shout-a-long anthems with a complex twist the five piece outfit from Nürnberg is on a high octane fueled ride with their eleven tracks here, crashing dancefloors with songs like "Lass Mich Ich Sein" incorporating bits and pieces from Punk and Grunge whilst killing things with lines like "I Need No More. I Need No Win. I Need I Need No Mask, I Need To Drink", fusing stiff, robotic beats with shoegazing desert guitars and heavy, Noize-laden MathRock meets piano breakdowns ("Between The Lines"), easily embedding Faithless-reminiscing Rave-stabs into bangers big as a "Home" and delving deep into Wave-/ GothRock-referring melancholia with the albums title track to be found on B1. More Shoegaze / Desert Rock that meets raw, highspeed Indie is to be found via the sample, cut-up heavy heartbreak-dealing "Never The Same", "Close" explores edgy and epic Pop realms whilst "Intimacy" hops on a more melodic train with a song that still lives up to Yucca's wall-of-sound philosophy that's one of the bands preferred stylistic devices musically. Closing the "Seasons" album with "Wake Up" Yucca caters a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour whilst interweaving falsetto-fied background vocals and lo-fi'ish 80s-Disco references in their Indie vision. That's what we'd call a proper, pretty entertaining album - go and check!

Heavy Grime Freestyle: SMH Ft. Saskilla, Tre Mission, Manga & Tommy Spitz

Killa collabo freestyle. #melikey

NoncomplianceTV: Passenger Records Interview with Brent Newitt from Aquasky 28th May 2014 PT 2

Great interview - if you've missed the first part, just click here.

The Impellers feat. Clair Witcher - My Certainty [Legere Recordings Promo]

One to watch out for for all lovers of Nu- and classic Funk as well as a sweet Vintage vibe is the recent release of the Hamburg-based Legere Recordings, the full length effort "My Certainty" brought to us by the longtime established Brighton'esque outfit The Impellers and their main vocalist Clair Witcher. Rolling on a deep, laid back but still heavy hitting and well hung foundation that can be uptempo and crowd rocking like the "Last Dance Of The Moai", dope  like "Another Day" but also break things down to intimate, Soul-driven ballads dealing with essential questions occuring in everyone's life at one point or another - take "Can't Change Me" for example that's telling tales of gnawling self-doubts and crisis - The Impellers rack up a quite diverting bunch of fourteen tracks here that'll surely be a nice and delightful companion throughout late summer nights cocktail 'n fling sessions. Quality. 

Buttering Trio - Toast [Raw Tapes Records Promo]

Scheduled for release on June 20th via the Tel Aviv-based imprint Raw Tapes Records is "Toast", the first full length album effort of the Buttering Trio consisting of KerenDun, Rejoicer and Beno Hendler which caters a very special musical mixture that could possibly be named as Novelty Downbeat with influences taken from Dope Beats, Bollywood / Bhangra - see "Ganja Man" and "Falafel" for this - heavy Dub basslines, (Neo)Soul, Skweee and positive but relatively leftfield and weird sounding, genre-bending Electronica classics like the totally underrated "Eclektronics" album released by Jean-Jacques Perrey & David Chazam on Basenotic Records back in 1998. No matter if it's beatless, electronically distorted, vary-tempo Future Soul for aliens like in "27" which will be loved by fans of Fatima Al Qadiri and Burial alike, super-dope basslines groovers like the Nicolette'esque "No Joke", the pastry-related Retro Space Funk in "Berliner" (which is the name of a delicious German pastry item), the deep but not really Balearic uptempo beats in "Ibiza" or the bassheavy SkweeeStep of "Dracula" - the Buttering Trio knows how to keep things fresh, exciting and leftfield without turning their heads into eclecticism just for the reason of being eclectic, different and as far out as possible. Things fall in place here quite easy and naturally, in a pretty enjoyable and fascinating way. Watch out for this one!

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *Cyril Hahn Remix (Music Video)

A lot of kitsch and a whole lot of cliche invlvd in this one but as I always had a thing for the original track plus loved most of the bootlegs that were to be found on the circuit at the time this Future Garage meets DeepHouse thing touches me as well. 

baze.djunkiii Charts 06/2014

01. Laibach - Spectre [Mute Records]
Check German review for details... 

02. Fatima Al Qadiri - Asiatisch [Hyperdub]
Check review for details... 

03. The Skull Defects - Dances In Dreams Of The Known Unknown [Thrill Jockey Records Promo]
Check review for details... 

04. Tunng - Turbines [Full Time Hobby]
Although I've already reviewed this longplayer by the British Folk-outfit Tunng for FAZE Magazine when it was released back in 2013 it took a while until I managed to add the full release vinyl pressing to my collection - and it's a great one to accompany a warm, sunny summer with its tenderly embracing vibes that - despite of using some electronic instruments - are not that experimental and leftfield as one possibly could expect from a band that is often referred to as providing Experimental Folk. More than that, Tunng do not only write lovely songs but are also to cater the Folk-loving dancefloor with hits like "By This" or the clap-heavy, sing-a-long song "The Village" that's driven to heights by a simple but fascinating Dub'esque electronic offbeat tone. With "Follow Follow"  Tunng even manage to get the Indietronics crew swinging along beats that will be also loved by those following bands like Pulka or the long-time defunct Digital Kranky-imprint whilst "Embers"  are floating on angelic, wide-spaced vocals and the "Heavy Rock Warning" turns out to be an intimate, introverted closing song. Recommended for a reason.

05. Jesse Osborne-Lanthier (Noir) - Athenaeum Of Unedited, Superannuated, Incomplete, Unreleased, Intimate Works, 2011 - 2013  [Hobo Cult Records Promo]
Check review for details... 

06. Oni Ayhun [OAR 003]
Olof Bjorn Dreijer of The Knife-fame explores the realms of deep, thrilling and very Motor City-flavored Techno under his secret alias Oni Ayhun with this one. Originally released in 2009 and repressed in 2010 this one is quite a blast with tripping, melodic synths and cinematic strings spread out over a straightforward 4/4 foundation catered on the untitled A-side that also could've been released via a great label like R&S Records throughout it's great 1993 / 1994 period. Same goes for the excellent and even more fascinating, melodious Intelligent Techno piece on the flip that is stretched out over more than 10 minutes but is so lovely and loveable that it could literally run forever without ever being tiring. A masterpiece in its own right.

07. Alex Blaxx - It's Been Done Before [Dessous Recordings 121 Promo]
Seems like Steve Bug's Dessous Recordings has been embracing the original sound of DeepHouse with this one again, a sweet four track 12" - although only three tunes are mentioned on the label, so we're about to refer to B2 as hidden track - by the relatively fresh producer Alex Blaxx who has been making first waves with his 2012 appearance on Buzzin' Fly. With the title track Mr. Blaxx builds a bridge between deepness, nice and airy, more positive, uplifting melodies falling together as a timeless variation on House music music, whilst the "Gilmore Hereaux" brings in a darker, kinda raw and storming approach, serves delicate female vocal snippets and a demanding piano motif working itself into spiralling climaxes and high energy realms. Plus: do not forget the synth sirens to be found here. With B1 on the flip Mr. Blaxx seems to embrace the seductive SlowHouse groove, adds some simple but lovely stabs, a techy, hypnotic and ever repeating tone and likes to keep thing quite reduced and stripped down when serving a sex driven, late night affair that turns out to be a fine closing tune with a female vocal sample singing "Different from the rest...". Finally we see the unnamed hidden track serving an ecstatic, lively variation of classic House music, bringing in killer melodies that are kind 94'ish and a whole lot of energy for prime time crowds.

08. Supershirt - Der Vierte Affe [Audiolith Promo] 
Check review for details... 

09. Unknown Artist - Unknown Release [Unknown Label Promo]
Check review for details...

10. Mental Overdrive - Mønster [Love OD] 
I actually stumbled across this tune whilst reviewing Mental Overdrive's "Everything Is Connected" album and although the 12" version of "Mønster" is slightly differentand not that UK Funky-related as the album cut is it's still a heavy, slightly oldskool-driven Rave banger with maximum impact for sure. The flipside tune "Ritual" starts out with a seductive bassline and a longing organ motif slightly reminiscing of Jaydee's alltime classic "Plastic Dreams" talking the tunes atmosphere here before it evolves into to a percussive, tribalistic banger that caters some mind bending bass tones in its last quarter.

NoncomplianceTV: Passenger Records Interview with Brent Newitt from Aquasky 28th May 2014 PT 1

About a year ago we hooked up with Brent Newitt to talk "18 Years Of Aquasky" and we're pretty pleased to see the head of Passenger Records in an in depth interview session with NoncomplianceTV these days. Big up!

No More Emails To The Editor

Dear labels, artists, promo agencies,

after more than 9 years in blog format and overall a minimum of 15 years online as a website today - for the first time in this long period - nitestylez.de decided to remove all email contacts given from the website and will not put them up again. The reason for this is the fact that there's still a flood of annoying newsletters and emails offering private soundcloud or other download promos coming in, even though we've clearly stated in red bold letters in the sidebar that this site is not dealing with digital promos from no-one and with no exceptions.

This site does not support digital only formats for a reason and the fact that some - or many / most - of you are still trying to get through with digital promos and simply ignore a clear and simple statement like this is seen as an ongoing and continuous act of  disrespect for the work that has been put into this website, that keeps this site alive, up and running with approx. 2500 posts and reviews written by one single person within the past 9 years alone. And this single person is not willing to waste an hour a day anymore, explaining to 100% ignorant persons, bands, artists and promoters why this website does not accept digital promo submissions from noone. This hour is better spent with what nitestylez.de is about - reviewing music.

If you are really interested in getting your music featured here - make the effort to send promotional sound carriers like CD, vinyl or even tape directly to the adress given. Your stuff will be reviewed, you'll be getting a message when the review is live, because this website does care about music and the artists and their message behind it.

But since "promo" has changed from doing things from the heart to a menacing pestilence that floods every possible magazine, blog and even smallest tumblr site that does offer a contact opportunity with newsletters, bulk mails and cheap, worthless, low quality files the time has come to pull the plug.

Due to all this, there's no more emails to the editor. Please send postcards.

baze.djunkiii / nitestylez.de