You couldn’t be blamed for expecting the first music release by Cem Dukkha to be a raw rave soundtrack for orgiastic dancefloors. After all, the co-founder of Herrensauna—a stalwart reprieve from Berlin’s normified dance scene—has carved unique apertures for the global, queer electronic underground. But Music for Spaces is far from the club-ready productions that he and his party spins for freaks looking for catharsis. These are delicate, vertiginous works of sound art that wilt when touched.

Far from tunes or tracks, the three pieces on Music for Spaces are more like sculptures, set in sparse fields of slow-growth eeriness. Indiscernible sonic creatures scurry past. The works were conceived for various performances and exhibitions by Cem’s partner Mauro Ventura; to create them, Cem relished the squeezing of simple sounds into a palette of textures and the occasional motif: Manipulated guitar, scant pianos, field recordings, and rococo orchestral arrangements converge into environments that literally evolve with every listen.

Though Cem loves the craft that has catapulted him through the international underground, he worries that DJing is sometimes more akin to the service industry than the arts. “This is a new way of expressing myself that isn’t through DJing,” Cem says. “Making music is much more vulnerable and personal.” Born to Turkish parents in Vienna, Austria, Cem (pronounced like “gem”) grew up playing in punk and black metal bands. When the pandemic hit, Cem found himself wanting to integrate all the tools he’d acquired along his musical journey, while shedding the DJ’s function as a clock for good times.

The effects of Music for Spaces on the listener range from disaffected ennui to ecstatic contemplation, but there is a mix of human and nonhuman on this CD that blurs such distinctions. Shimmers, gurgles, other-dimensional buzzings—this music is bizarre and untranslatable to any dancefloor we can currently imagine. But perhaps it’s time we do.

MUSIC FOR SPACES

PURCHA$E

PLIB030 - CEM - 1. FORMA WAITING ROOM (SNIPPET)

grnp8x

Split power of heart and blood

Field of Dreams w/ Grasps - 12/02/2024

BRIDE - CARNIVAL

Sky Split Open

Sky Split Open (feat. Rosa Anschütz)

@szofia-energia-111 @256176777 @esze_veszett @zajplusz 

The hangman is being hanged..
eee show episode??: zaj+ takeover with tHe ZajAtnay C-ni Ensemble aka (1) felhasznalo+esze_veszett+szofia energia ....

eee show ⏤ zaj+ takeover Zajatnay C-ni Ensemble

@frogofearth

On Friday the 16th of March, corecore invited sixteen DJs and artists, all more or less local to Amsterdam’s music scene(s), to share 20 minute mini-mixes and hybrid performances in a six hour listening session in De Sering. 

Sets by 55ever, dj audio (⊥), cdr103, Frog of Earth, he1een, interlude, jp'♡, Mandy Pixel, mary, nefo, Odete, Pharfetchd, sara plusplus, so wet’s water kingdom, tj0ki and umanea.

Frog of Earth | y'all don't fw music like i do

Fucking Soul ( free DL )

∃rogurΩ

HDWAV 5.1 - SW33TT 3V1L DRR11LLL 0FF1C14L R3M1X FT DBZ - BROLY ULTRA INSTINCT FLATLINE (1)

PASTORAL NOISE 
Label: @alloychoir

Live shows:
2025:
upcoming:
24.05: Crude Transmissions Festival 
Leiden, Netherlands 

30.05: 3 Years Of Harsh Voices
Berlin, Germany 

11.06: Jejum
Lisbon, Portugal 

12.06: Lisbon, Portugal
TBA

14.07: London, UK
TBA

PAST:

16.01: Bad To The Bone
Paris, France
w. Substencia, Prophan, Knifedoutofexistence 

17.01: Autonoma Industriale
Berlin, Germany 

31.01: Glasgow, Scotland
w. Demdike Stare

17.02: Industrial Coast
Middlesbrough, UK
w. Nazanin Noori


25.02: The Bees Mouth
Brighton, w. Songe 








2024:

27.10: TV Eye w. Nocturnal Emissions, Lussuria, Mouths Agape 
New York, USA

07.10: Industrial Coast 
Middlesbrough 
w. Mouth Wound, CM Von Hausswolff, Leif Elggren

03.10: Industrial Coast/Unthinkable Film Festival 
Hull
w. Pale World, Soft Issues, Mouth Wound, Travis Elbrough + Stone Circle Sampler

13.09: Zaj 
Budapest, Hungary 

11.05: Kasei Archive @ GADA
Florence, Italy

19.04: New River Studios
London, UK
w. Nocturnal Emissions, Ekstasis, False Widow

30.03: Silent Green 
Berlin, DE
supporting. Cole Pulice 

09.03: Splinter Cell 
Leipzig, DE
w. Exilee, Sue Lèwig, Kaytseng
2023:
07.09: Hyperlocal Festival @ Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
London, UK
w. Charles Verni, IMITATION, GLAMOUR DJs

06.07: Norberg Festival
Norberg, SE

2022:
02.12: Iklectik Art Lab
London, UK
w. AJA, Lukas Koenig

Split power of heart and blood

BRIDE | ESME REBORA

Recent comments

MOREEAH

Related tracks