MUSIC RECOMMENDATION

47TH SELECTION – A new one every Monday.

Want to stay up to date with the most recent music, for instance for your DJing? Each Monday, we list and comment on our favourite releases of the moment. This week:

NEW – THE VERY SPECIAL MYSTERY RELEASE


FULL REVIEW

We have the pleasure to announce to you the return of our full reviews, which we will do from time to time.

Click on “the keyhole” to spend a few minutes in the company of our deep writer Tina Camilleri. Then come back here 🙂👋

Aa Sudd – Pushedd [Midgar Records, 2023-09-01]


Do you remember?

DRUM’N’BASS

It’s sooooo gooooood. Voilà. End of comment…

We could basically express the same wonder each time a new release from Midgar comes out. The label, originally from Milan and now based in Berlin, honours its goal “to bring innovative features into modern techno” with an outrageous consistency.

Talking about “outrage”: Aa Sudd himself is a scandalous artist: too talented, too good, already from his first mixes as Vector Trancer to his recent collaboration with Konduku as “Konsudd”. Aa Sudd, Konduku, Garçon, Varuna, it’s all the same gang of atmospheric techno masters, and ultimately, we can’t wait for more…

Valentin Ginies – Protoplanetary [11001 Records, 2023-01-11]


The Alchemical Theory in Teufelsberg, Berlin…

DREAMY TECHNO

Let’s take now a time machine to travel in the distant future, more precisely in the year “11001”, as conceptualised by the young label

Its owner, Valentin Ginies, is pretty optimistic as he imagines the human race still alive in the twelfth Millenium, exploring interstellar space. It is also worth saying that psychedelia runs in his veins, as he’s also behind Berlin’s “Third Eye Festival“, focusing on ambient, yoga, meditation, techno, and as “11001” is also eventually the binary code of “25”, a possible reference to LSD-25… 

Additionally, Ginies is at work on the crazy project “Teufelsberg Domecast“, showcasing experimental live performances in the former NSA spy station.

Dreamy, with a fabulous mastering by Gio from Artefacts, the four-tracker successfully transports the mind “far far away into another galaxy”.

Imprea – Figures in a landscape [Circular Limited, 2023-01-12]


AMBIENT TECHNO

We’re wondering if Imprea will one day knock at the door of Ultimae Records: he has only a few releases in his discography, yet each time with a confident well-polished sound design, whether he produces deep techno for Aarden Records, or punchier vibes for Detroit-Berlin. In “Figures in a landscape”, he added beautiful colours, showing advanced skills to design the clean ambient layers that Ultimae accustoms us to. With the hypnotic drums, the EP of course also matches perfectly Circular Limited‘s own quality kinematics.

Khoros Records – Textures [Khoros Records, 2023-01-09]


Did you ever hear this single by Ozan Aydin, with stunning artwork from his wife Şevval Nida Baladın?

VARIOUS ARTISTS

While the British label continues to build its solid reputation in the atmospheric techno realm, we are speechless in front of the high personality which emanates from each track that composes the present VA. This is eventually expected from solid producers such as Cauê, Tension and label owners Alexskyspirit and Van Morph. There are however also two less-known names that we are particularly happy to see again: the Turkish artist Ozan Aydin, who enchanted us both musically and visually with his very poetic single “Entrance“, and the Japanese DJ-prodigy Yukari Okamura, who made a remarked entry in the production world with “Promise” and “Theory“.

If you would like to extend your pleasure further, we also recommend the VA “Circular Motion“, curated by the Georgian club BUDE, and containing also some superb atmospheric techno tracks.

Cauê – Umbral [Affin, 2023-01-13]


ATMOSPHERIC TECHNO

Cauê is so tailored to Affin, we can’t help but imagine what his life looks like: maybe he wakes up with “Sinuosity” set in his alarm clock, brushes his teeth with “Narration 4” before meditating with “Jiwa” under the rising sun? Then, at work, on his computer screen, probably Affin’s logo in a mosaic pattern… During the lunch break, he quickly shares Spieth’s “Memoir” in our community (yes mate, we noticed it was around midday 😘), and so on… He obviously breathes Affin, as felt again in “Umbral”, beautiful and well-produced.

Svarog – The Meaning of Life [Crescent London, 2023-01-13]


ATMOSPHERIC TECHNO

Talking about Affin, another of its spearheads is at work, this time for the quality label Crescent London. Svarog, AKA the “Slavic god of fire”, usually screams his sounds from the limbos, but not this time: looks like he’s having a celestial tour surrounded by more luminous melodies. Svarog, AKA the Ukrainian producer, is “a mood maker”, and he seems happier through “The Meaning of Life”, a pleasure to witness. Wolski tries hard to bring him back to hell, but gladly, Adelaide’s angelic flute keeps him “alive” in “the bonus”… No, we don’t do drugs.

SPECIAL GUEST

The differences between the participants of a South Korean dating show such as Single’s Inferno and an American one such as Bachelor Paradise highlight how elegant, humble, grateful, reserved and pure the South Korean people culturally are (yes, we are fine sociologists). This is of course stereotyped, but that’s how we see our next guest: an authentic gentleman with a fine sense of humour, often expressing loud what others think to themselves. Coming from Jeju Island, he has a hearty community spirit: we requested him a chart, he promoted South Korean artists, we requested the following comment: he cherished his talented graphic designer…

JONG-MIN LEE PRESENTS
DJ AND LABEL OWNER OF OSLATED AND HUINALI RECORDINGS


Adhémar – Pulse Soundtrack [Adhémar, 2022-12-14]


Pulse” Art exhibition in Toulon, France, on dying stars; play Adhémar’s music while contemplating this piece:

Léo Fourdrinier, Collision (In Solitude of Memory), Pulse, 2019

AMBIENT

Jong-min Lee: “Pulse Soundtrack” is originally a VA, released on vinyl in December 2020. It was not the project of a record label but has been curated by Léo Fourdrinier during his residency in “Le Port Des Créateurs” in France, a cultural centre dedicated to artists of all kinds, from sculptors to musicians. Along with a few other producers, Adhémar created a sonic experience to surround Léo Fourdrinier’s art pieces and gladly, his part has been recently digitally reissued on his Bandcamp channel. I recommend visiting it, as it contains other similar fascinating sonic instalments from him.

I love Adhémar’s soundscapes. His music, gorgeous and profound, impresses me while allowing contemplation, thanks to the slow BPM and rich field recordings. It drives me to explore my own world deeply. These two tracks in particular make me imagine myself meditating peacefully in the French Alps, which I dream to climb one day.

* Page’s cover picture: Oye Kreuzkoelln in Berlin, a record shop from a member of our community.

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MUSIC RECOMMENDATION