so enticing - the retaliation, chords of man - the all-deafening Oscillation of the damned

V/A - Kikommando
Label: PAN / Hakuna Kulala
Cat.No. PAN 124 / HK029
Format: DL / Book
Release Date: 6 August 2021
Purchase: pan.lnk.to/Kikommando
Video: bit.ly/3i2EgSg

A collective effort from a vital scene in Kampala, KIKOMMANDO takes its name from Ugandan street food of flat bread and beans. As a ‘food of soldiers’ offering maximum energy for minimum funds, the eponymous mixtape, video series and book project is an equally nourishing and ambitious proposition. It all began in the East African summer of 2018, during a two-month residency at the Nyege Nyege label and collective’s villa, in collaboration with their sublabel Hakuna Kulala. Producer and PAN artist Simone Trabucchi (aka STILL) opened the door to his temporary studio in the city and a crucial cross-cultural collaboration was born.

“The intention was to record as much as possible,” Trabucchi says about KIKOMMANDO’s musical showcase of eight Kampala-based artists, coming from the spectrum of musical influences, crossing trap, drill, cut ups, kuduro, electro, smooth jams—the list goes on. In creating a sonic space to support the expression of its featured singers, poets and emcees, the mixtape ties countless styles and flows into a single snapshot of a particular part of the Kampala music scene, at a particular point in time. The invective of rapper and street legend Blaq Bandana’s “Nkwaata” is laid over a spare and brooding ambient. Kampala Unit trumpet player and first-time singer, Florence, rolls a thick melodic texture through the organic clicks, knocks and atmospherics of “Bae Tasanze”. Jahcity’s unique lyricism combines a personal take on traditional music and soulful-reggae with a jerky, wobbly collection of drops and donks.

Meanwhile, Ecko Bazz applies his grimey vocals and rhythmic, introspective words to lead single ‘Ntabala (Rolex Riddim) at a particularly pertinent moment of self-reflection. “I was trying to listen to the voice inside myself and wanted to achieve a higher level of understanding of things, life,” he says about the themes that he felt inspired to explore with Trabucchi at the recording desk. The accompanying video, shot on a rooftop in the Kampala neighborhood of Ggaba, is one of a series of slick and high-definition films complementing each one of the KIKOMMANDO tracks. These also include contributions from Ugandan emcee and key Hakuna Kulala member Biga Yut, don dada of the GabaGaza gang Swordman Kitala (with Omutaba on percussion) and South Sudanese poet and singer Winnie Lado.

Also accompanying a ‘visual mixtape’ of moving images for each song on KIKOMMANDO is a recording diary of sorts, where Trabucchi compiles a vibrant collection of pictures, colours and textures reflecting the its heterogeneous sonic palette into a book. Together this multifaceted, interdisciplinary project showcases, what Lamin Fofana’s liner notes describe as, “amazing originality, complexity”, while “embracing dissonance”.

Trabucchi’s personal take on a kind of ‘digital dancehall’ defined the sound of his ground-breaking rumination on Italy’s colonial history on debut STILL album, I, in 2017. KIKOMMANDO is a different proposition entirely, where he finds new ways to complement the personality and skills of its contributors sprung from a constant stream of visitors arriving at the Nyege Nyege Villa’s makeshift studio. “It was a dialogue,” stresses Trabucchi, who has always preferred collaboration as a means to escape branded and stereotypical identities, while creating something new. “I created the musical platform to make the singers confident, and challenged them at the same time. Working together accelerates ideas and reveals that nothing is your invention alone. That’s why KIKOMMANDO is a mixtape to me, and not an album.”

The mixtape is mastered by Rashad Becker, featuring artwork by NMR. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11 & 12 mixed by Ville Haimala. Tracks 5, 6 & 8 mixed by Lorenzo Dal Ri.

@hakunakulala

KIKOMMANDO

STILL, Biga Yut - Plupawa (PAN 124 / HK029)

Taken from A/N new album ACIE E R R, out February 25, 2022, via OOH-sounds (@ooh-sounds)

Read: https://bit.ly/3gM90qt
Pre-order: https://bit.ly/3rQofVp

► Under the new moniker A/N, French producer Apollo Noir (@apollonoirisnoir) delves deeper into his music and casts a strong yet versatile sonic alloy of atmosphere, beat, voice and texture.

► ACIE E R R (alliteration, French for steel) is a raw, eloquent and fickle stream of consciousness of openness and transparency.

Coming from steel-city of Thiers, where his family forged a reputation as unrivaled knife manufacturers, A/N does not hide his deep bond with the age-old metal alloy and its making, which here become a structural metaphor in a work that inevitably goes deep into the emotional, the personal and the political.

A sort of ‘romanticism of steel’ sets the narrative mode of the eight tracker where moving chords progressions, pounding beats, synth washes and eerie vocal intrusions alternate grounded physicality and propulsive sways with unfathomable angelic hues and electro-acoustic subtleties.
Making use of a wide range of analog equipment and the invaluable help of drummer Seb Forrester, A/N’s textural sound stream tempers its gleaming chrome finishes by means of sonic shocks and sublime coatings of distorted warmth.

From the bubbling arpeggios of ‘Mentir En Temps De Crise’ and the organic texture of ‘Disparaître’, to the clustered sound particles of ‘Chromé’ and the instant-classic attitude of ‘Avoueur Condamner’ (Andy Stott, Lanark Artefax) ACIE E R R’s contrasting sonic energies bring openness and versatility into focus.

Steel is one of the world's most-recycled materials ☺

Cover-art by Nicola Tirabasso

Mastered by Lupo Lubich

Released by OOH-sounds

Premiere: A/N - Avouer Condamner [OOH-sounds]

Live Recordings from Heliopolis ground floor
produced and mastered by Panajiotis Vaxevanakis (ASTYTEKK)

BOX CRUISE - FOREST REPRISE

Announcing new full-length, Black Armor
Available April 21, 2023
Pre-orders open now, use code "SPF50" for 50% off release price

Black Armor

Discontinuity

MBE009 CHRISTOS CHONDROPOULOS - CHANTS & SONGS

Recalling the first issue of Trance Mediterranea, MBE series is presenting “Chants & Songs” an outstanding long recording on greek folk music selected and recorded by Christos Chondropoulos.

Christos Chondropoulos is a percussionist and an electronic music producer from Athens, for the MBE009 he recorded a 60mins mixtape with a focus on side A on greek folk chants from Epirus (his homeland) and Northern Greece, while on side B he moves on a more rhythmic side of folk music from the same geographic area.
Polyphonic chants, trancy bagpipes, cadence tambourines evoking practically all aspects of life, childhood, marriage, mourning for the dead, pastoral life or historical events.

A mesmerizing work of excavation on the Mediterranean Sea popular culture.

Music selected and recorded by Christos Chondropoulos
Curated by Giovanni Napolano

CHANTS - SIDE A

Bassheadz

@foozool - Azat Ազատ
vocal sample: recording of Geghard Monastery, Armenia choir 10/2016

Club Chai Vol. 1 compilation curated by the founders of Club Chai, @8ULENTINA and @foozool.  
FREE DOWNLOAD OF FULL COMPILATION AVAILABLE ON BANDCAMP:
clubchai.bandcamp.com/album/club-chai-vol-1 
+ dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ozmx9727u6b28b4/AAA0gOhlRASCNrxvvbPyV6Q4a?dl=0

FOOZOOL - Azat Ազատ

Taken from SBKT027: Gooooose - Rusted Silicon

Rusted Silicon is a new album from Gooooose. 7 original tracks with remixes from Samuel Kerridge and Nahash, plus an electro-acoustic rework by Sote featuring traditional Persian instrumentalists Arash Bolouri (Santour) and Pouya Damadi (Tar)

Artwork by Fang Yang
Mastered by Raphael Valensi

Rusted Silicon

Gooooose - Integer / Along the Synthetic River I (Samuel Kerridge Remix)

https://open.spotify.com/track/3FKAZ4YAzt5TWdfD8xtPW7

werk me 2.0

TAUGENIX - CHOKE & STAGGER

https://bit.ly/3jCdrDk

Taken from @evitceles album Нелюбов, out September 25, 2020 via @soundandmatter.

Pre-order: https://bit.ly/31LKMpj

After a brief cameo on the quadruple tape beast "Auditory" (2018), Evitceles is back on Sound+Matter / Sores. This time heʼs making a full-length appearance. Following acclaimed releases for electronic powerhouses as Opal Tapes, Yerevan Tapes, Seagrave or Sofia-based Amek Collective among others, Bulgarian producer Etien Slavchev presents 'Нелюбовʼ. Roughly translating in English as 'Nonloveʼ itʼs exactly what youʼll get from the record. "Нелюбов" is mostly occupying the lower ends of both the frequency and the emotional specters of Evitcelesʼ music.

Choosing to serve the music narrative through a fluidly morphing tracklist, Evitceles once again indulges into his signature genre-bending approach. His music doesnʼt stay on the same place for too long. Instead itʼs a relentless mixture of peaks and come-downs. From the bleak and disrupted soundscapes of Memory Loss through the sparse ambience of the self-titled track, the cavernous trip-hop vibe of Weak Eyes or his well-known post-club brutalism in Poisonous Fragnance and Percolating Crawl. Evitceles is still big on producing drum-heavy music, dripping with cut-up emotional textures. However, atmosphere is all in "Нелюбов" so donʼt be surprised when you hear him wrapping the album with not one or two, but three drifting long-form pieces, because in the end of the day everything is meant to die in silence."

Artwork by Nikola Kostov
https://www.instagram.com/nikola.kostv/

Mastering by Casper Holm

Released by Sound+Matter

Premiere: Evitceles - Hologram Sting [Sound+Matter]

DARKOS LP

Article

Premiere: Jonquera - Feune De D'main

Run by @pierrelabret

STREAM/DL:
https://abstractrealityrecords.bandcamp.com/

Worldwide Distribution operated through www.triplevision.nl/

Releases available in physical & digital format via Bandcamp and main internet platforms and shops around earth. ///

TAUGENIX - CHOKE & STAGGER

Abstract Reality

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