Current Bias - Stimming

Voluntarism funkshn remix

www.instagram.com/cortical_fm ( @cortical_fm )
www.instagram.com/plasma__sources/

Plasma Sources marks its 5th release with Cortical’s debut EP, ‘Wretched Patterns and Terrible Mistakes’. Pulling from both the extreme fringes of experimental music and the minimalistic tendencies of the UK bass continuum, the duo’s much-awaited first release acts as the locus point between dance floor sensibility and sonic exploration in its most immersive, visceral sense.

Cortical are world builders first and foremost. With backgrounds rooted as much in the visual arts as audio, the duo’s live AV show has already garnered critical acclaim after standout performances at Sónar and Lunchmeat. Coupling this with their list of past collaborators - which includes the likes of Holly Herndon, Arca and Skrillex - and it becomes easy to see why there’s so much hype around Cortical right now. Indeed, this EP is the culmination of months of building excitement amongst those in the know, as fragments of raw footage captured from Cortical’s shows begin to amass on social media.

‘Wretched Patterns and Terrible Mistakes’ itself feels like the auditory equivalent of a fragmentary existence forming, fragmenting and reforming again. Noise and distortion act as integral threads throughout the EP, but on the first track, ‘Telúrica’, they take centre stage. Brittle percussive calls give way to a thick wall of bass-laden, cinematic viscerality which hits the listener almost as hard as the ensuing rhythmic carnage which erupts halfway through.

Mortar, immediately fires away into more rhythmic madness, as elements of dubstep, metal and grime coalesce into blasted kick patterns which sound like the contractions of an eldritch machine’s digestive tract. Noise-tainted bass tones kick in, tearing in and out of reality and slowly 
dominating the environment as Mortar progresses into deeper territory.

Up next, Shiny Surgery provides a respite, with electro-tinged drippings of lasers and wet gloops lifting the listener into a more sanitised and lighter space than its predecessors. Cortical’s extreme musical influences are still at play here with their signature eroded bass weight and splintered percussion on display, but in a more restrained sense. As the halfway point comes in, so too does the most introspective section of Wretched Patterns and Terrible Mistakes, as cinematic floating pads de-sterilise the space.

Finishing things up is the namesake of the EP and arguably the most anthemic listen of the release. On Wretched Patterns And Terrible Mistakes, demented vocal chants call out across a disintegrating claustrophobic space, before grime kicks and fragmented breakbeat loops explode into existence, demanding full dance floor attention. This is pure-peak time energy, although still entirely in line with Cortical’s immersive approach to world-building and sonic exploration.

Wretched Patterns and Terrible Mistakes operates equally as an enclosed, hermetic exploration of Cortical’s fragmented, low-end focused sonic landscapes and equally as an assortment of dangerously effective club tracks guaranteed to turn heads.

Written and Produced by Sevi Iko Dømochevsky & Daniel Benza 
Mixed by James Ginzburg 
Mastered by HYPNA 
Artwork designed by Cortical

© 2024 Plasma Sources.

Wretched Patterns and Terrible Mistakes

Telúrica

Cortical - Telúrica

Taken from SBKT068: Swimful - Diecast
Release date: 26th March 2025

The long awaited follow-up to 2022’s ‘Rushlight’, ‘Diecast’ is a new 4 track club EP from Swimful, with remixes from Iceboy Violet, Grandmixxer and DJ Narciso.

Swimful - Xipei

Taken from SBKT069: Nahash - Fleurs Mortes
Vinyl + Digital: 15th May 2025

Nahash returns to SVBKVLT with Fleurs Mortes, a striking sophomore album that stands apart from fleeting trends and extravagant sound design. This record is an unfiltered reflection of Nahash's musical education —one shaped by the raw energy of ‘90s rave, hip-hop and dancehall afterparties, and the deep crates of his parents' extensive jazz and Afrobeat collection, taking influence from the anarchic spirit of Spiral Tribe to Dillinja’s legendary remixes of Björk, infused with heavy doses of Wu-Tang, DJ Premier, John Coltrane, and Archie Shepp.

Building on the themes of 2020's 'Flowers of the Revolution', this album envisions a future liberated from dystopia and oppression—a hopeful dream expressed through endless dub delays, ethereal reverbs, rave-infused drum hits, and, unexpectedly, live trumpet.

This record was years in the making, finally taking shape during a whirlwind European tour with SVBKVLT labelmates—late-night conversations, cold drinks, and ice cream fueling its final form.

The flowers may have withered, but a new season is on the horizon—one filled with love, renewal, and the scent of grilled lamb chops.

Photography: Tina Blakeney
Design: Amber Jean
Mastering: Raphael Valensi

Nahash - Hot Stepper

@galtier returns to Plasma Sources with Mainframe Incantation, a five-track release marking the 7th position on the label’s roster. First appearing on the Multi Source compilation earlier this year, Galtier now moves beyond the mechanical, sci-fi focus toward a sound that fuses technology with the divine, inhabiting the liminal space between worlds. 

Rooted in the earliest traditions of percussive music as a vehicle for altered states, Mainframe Incantation channels ritual energy through synthesised and digitised means, closing a cultural loop from origin to present. The result is a tension between the spiritual and the mechanical — feverish, dissonant, and hypnotic. 

The journey begins with "Ausmisis States", a restrained, technical opener of squelchy basslines and coarse pads, setting the stage for contact. "Tincture Pump" bursts through next—erratic, bouncy, and high-velocity, with a swelling distortion lead that injects chaotic energy straight to the bloodstream. 

In "Tink Cycle", the pace slows into a groove-laden trance, its caustic bassline dragged forward by steady kicks and splintering snares. At the centre lies "Hex Crawler", a gurgling, otherworldly entity speaking in alien tones before breaking into a vast, unearthly climax. 

Closer "Phantom Tremors" hurls us back toward reality with hasty techno-inflected percussion, metallic strikes, and roaring sub-frequencies. Pulsing hardware bleeps push the final surge, sealing the ritual in a haze of digital energy. 

Ausmisis States

Recorded and mixed in Malaguet between August 19th and 21st, 2025.

Someone To Spoil

sami baha — mistarget (estoc's scope parallax mix)

Litter front Drum samples the traditional Taiwanese festive piece Chiao Chien Drum (轎前鼓), a ceremonial rhythm performed during temple parades and deities’ processions. B E N N deconstructs and reassembles its percussive essence, transforming the ritualistic pulse into a tense and immersive study of electronic rhythm.

Rather than directly referencing the traditional form, B E N N fragments and reconfigures it—each strike distorted, stretched, and layered over heavy bass frequencies. The spiritual intensity of temple drumming is reborn through digital sound, morphing into a contemporary, club-oriented propulsion.

The title Litter front Drum symbolizes both fragmentation (litter) and confrontation (front). Here, the drum stands on the sonic frontline, reasserting the power of traditional percussion through digital disintegration. What once resonated through streets and rituals now re-emerges in the circuitry of modern sound.

As part of Hakka Drums II, the track continues B E N N’s ongoing inquiry into the thresholds between local percussive heritage and modern electronic expression—where tradition becomes texture, and rhythm becomes a language of transformation.

Litter front Drum

Rizio - Hyperobject [ACEN072]

The 17th 00effort release sees k:i:o:s:k and Undrwght carving out space between introspective IDM and club-ready intensity. Wobbling low-end flows beneath poignant atmospheres, and charismatic leads shimmer against mutant breaks. k:i:o:s:k's rigid polyrhythms melt into Undrwght's swinging grooves and together they crack open to reveal a glowing, elemental, shape-shifting magical force.

"Obsidiana" serves as a metaphor here: a volcanic glass, which mirrors the moment when two realities touch. Inside an open portal, this connection forms music that breathes heat, hardens into shape, then fractures and scatters into new ground.

Obsidiana

Pyroclasm

seeding the experimental field since 2020
🥫 🕰 💍 🪔 🪅 🧬 ❇️ ➰ 🥀 🌀 🪐 ✴️ 👐🏼 🍄‍🟫 🌋

00effort label encourages diversity and promotes genre-bending electronic music, created by emerging producers from Poland and beyond💫

We accept demos!