Taken from SBKT045: Skyshaker - Novox 10
Release date: 26th November 2021
Artwork by Sam Madhu
Mastered by Raphael Valensi

After a decade navigating ten communities surrounding ten genres of Black music, House of Vemanei founder Skyshaker shares their latest mixtape as an anthology reimagining select cuts from the SVBKVLT back catalog. Novox 10 is an ingenious take on the remix album as Sky LaBeija commemorates a decade of remixing under the Skyshaker alias

In their own words:

“Novox 10 is a vocal album of the voiceless. With the number 10 pronounced in your own native tongue, this is a collection of electronic music commemorating a decade of Black voices silenced by anti-black racism and xenophobia. The Black experience remains an inspirational cornerstone of popular music worldwide, yet Black artists with deeper skin color remain doubted, dismissed, and uncompensated. Popular music in Asia is no exception, as fair-skinned Asian artists rise to superstardom and financial prosperity off the backs of Black artistry and Black suffering. Novox 10 emerges in Shanghai as a navigation beyond that contempt into a place of autonomy, authority, and commitment towards the shaping of worlds in which Black people best fit.

As a retracing of steps through my own coming-out process, Novox 10 revisits my utilization of diasporic sound as a means of creating surrogate family structures as an unhoused queer youth. After a decade of assimilation and traversing ideologies, skills I considered merely tools of survival are now celebrated as home-grown versatility that both saved my life and built a career unchained by genre. What began as a decision to rest as a songwriter for others has become a reclamation of my own voice, as a singer living with selective mutism. Novox 10 is my return to singing via songs unsung, at once mourning and recontextualizing the silence that came before.

With sounds lovingly gifted by their original artists, Novox 10 is an album within an album for voices not yet stepped into. A show of gratitude for all I gained over all I lost as a ghostwriter. It is more than an homage to the music of my childhood and the DJs that saved my life. Each song is a gateway to other bodies of work directing Black feminine bodies towards the same single truth: There is space to do all we intend to. Our only mission is to arrive and return there.”

Novox 10

Zaliva-D - End Of The Sky (Skyshaker Fem4Fem Edition)

IM095 - Infinite Machine 10 Years Compilation
Label: Infinite Machine
Release Date: December 3rd, 2021
Format: Digital

Celebrating 10 years of solidly cerebral club music releases, Infinite Machine is celebrating its first decade with an 19 -track compilation full of heat from label mainstays, new signees and some of the friends who helped them along the way. Infinite Machine was born out of a desire to run an dance imprint with the same DIY ethos as the hardcore/screamo labels that xWOLFx, IM's owner, was previously involved with. Over its decade-long lifespan, the label has rapidly evolved into a central figure within the hybrid dance music scene that’s formed on the internet; a place where dembow drum patterns can easily sit next to Sinogrime samples and dubstep sensibilities. In the last few years, as the label and it’s artists have matured, Infinite Machine’s output has taken a slightly cyberpunk turn, moving away from pure dance-floor slammers and towards more conceptual works which deal with our ultra-accelerated culture or soundtrack imagined off-planet worlds.

Some highlights from the release include Galtier’s ‘My Mess is a Face’, a real head-spinner full of granular synthesis and warped sample work. Later on in the comp, Bungalovv delivers a sensory delight with ‘Alacran’, a track so dense with layers of sound design it feels like you can sink your teeth into it. All Centre signee Duswunder pops up mid-way through the release with the frenetic and furious ‘Black Bile’ which is absolutely not a track to be missed. IDM upstart Daniel Ruane’s contribution ‘ZZZZZ’ is hypnotic perfection - one of those compositions that really has to be heard to be believed. Towards the end of the release, long-time Infinite Machine signee Yilan appears with ‘Cortisol’, another slow mind-bender of a track full of siren-like synths and rolling stutters of percussion. And rounding out proceedings is W3C’s ‘Templar’, a great example of the sort of forward-thinking music Infinite Machine loves to release. It’s a track rooted in club culture but, at the same time, transposed away from that context to some other-worldly space.

In an era of dance music consumption where genre trends or in-vogue labels can rapidly switch from flavour of the month to faint memories, this 10-year milestone is a testament to the independent label's unwavering enthusiasm for unearthing fresh talent and pushing our releases at a relentless pace, much like the hardcore labels xWOLFx previously ran. Three cheers for another decade of jaw dropping releases and Infinite Machine's commitment to the church of DIY.

Artwork by Benfika

Daniel Ruane - ZZZZZ

TAR150
@iamxato

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Crystal-Clear Plastic

Buy / Stream

xato - "pewpewpew"

Prolific Japanese producer T5UMUT5UMU has built up a reputation in the last few years for his ability not just to recreate club styles but to flip them into almost unrecognizable dancefloor hybrids. "Sea of Trees" follows a blistering run of Bandcamp releases where T5UMUT5UMU has melted together gqom and techno, deconstructed grime and welded dubstep to traditional music from Japan and India. Here, he's operating completely off the grid, pulling raw materials from across the globe and hammering them into confounding shapes and patterns.

On its surface, 'Fireball' sounds like a liquid metal approximation of South African gqom, but move in closer and you can make out dubstep bass squelches, trap hats, and industrial techno jet propulsion filling in the gaps with rubberized mortar. 'Desert' is the EP's most lightheaded cut, a psychedelic percussive spiral that curves micro-tuned mbira clangs around bee sting bass, aerated noise blasts and sub-aqueous kicks. It's a hard track to place, but fits in somewhere between Donato Dozzy, Menzi and 33EMYBW, all shifting rhythms and precision-edited sound design.

'Sea of Trees' retains this momentum, pushing the tempo and interspersing woodblock vibrations with syncopated bass drums and goosebump-inducing synths, while closer 'Bottomless Valley' shifts back into a gqom framework, shuffling the expected pulse with a powerful dembow swing, half step subs and Indian-inspired rattles. "Asyl" is a varied but shockingly coherent statement from an enigmatic producer who refuses to confine himself to a single path, and at a time when "cross-genre" is the norm rather than the exception, it's refreshing to witness a producer who's unafraid to truly make stylistic left-turns, rather than simply mash together top-level aesthetics.

Sea of Trees

Bottomless Valley

An ode to failure!

Departing from the image of the genius artists, the Hit&Miss compilation wants to show the hidden parts of creation, by embracing missteps and abandonment as a natural part of any artistic journey. 

Open to all members of the Global URL Nation, it proposed a new home for projects that couldn't find a place to exist otherwise, due to artistic (self-)exigency, technical problems, bad timing or any other reason often unknown to the general public. 

With more than 20 artists from a broad range of styles, experience and locations, it gathers unfinished projects such as aborted WIP, forgotten drafts, lost files, unconvincing demos, compulsive emotional bursts or technical experimentations. 

With all its flaws and raw cuts, Hit&Miss asserts the strength of trial and error, and cherishes the impossibility to develop an idea into a finished object as a learning process towards one's growth.


++ TRACKLIST ++

01. Antilita Octovyk - Mother Earth Solitude
02. Basura - Erythritol
03. Bademjan - The Blade Is Over
04. King Demitri - Reinitializing Heaven
05. Lukann - Blossom
06. Antilita Octovyk - Here Comes The Moon
07. Ancestral Vision - Mana Double Cup
08. RougeHotel - Sync 2 (demo before PSM 2020)
09. Bademjan - Ringfields
10. indigoblue - 060421
11. Pénélope - La rosée
12. Bademjan - Steel Lumens 
13. Sxmbra - Gloss
14. grrggg - unnerving rdm demo
15. Heart Shaped DJ - Me or everyone else
16. Fungal Mat - Dead or dormant?
17. jjjacob - Kijana
18. Nagruv - Barp (more percussion needed)
19. Bouzouk - Future Dog (Whatever)
20. grrggg - celestial gates demo
21. Cralias - ?collab
22. DJ Criminal Edit - Libertinages dans la pyramide
23. DJ Rotule - Ponpon
24. crat - too dudey
25. Medejin - Má forma
26. Antilita Octovyk - Fuck Marry Kill
27. LMN3 - CANNAPEASE
28. Antilita Octovyk - Лайка
29. grrggg - rocky rdm instrumental 
30. SNKLS - Problème avec personne (Brandy & Monica VIP)
31. J Sliwa - External Schism
32. Andres Komatsu - Tecmo
33. grrggg - CB2012
34. DJ Rotule - Departure (HxH NxC Edit)
35. crat - Asynchronous voice
36. Bademjan - Bleu Lunaire


++ CREDITS ++ 

Tracks produced by Ancestral Vision, Andres Komatsu, Antilita Octovyk, Bademjan, Basura, Bouzouk, Cralias, crat, DJ Criminal Edit, DJ Rotule, Fungal Mat, grrggg, Heart Shaped DJ, indigoblue, jjjacob, J Sliwa,  King Demitri, LMN3, Lukann, Medejin, Nagruv, Pénélope, RougeHotel, SNKLS, Sxmbra

https://soundcloud.com/ancestralvision
https://soundcloud.com/andreskomatsu
https://soundcloud.com/talitaotovic
https://soundcloud.com/bademjan
https://soundcloud.com/bazura
https://soundcloud.com/bouzouk
https://soundcloud.com/cralias
https://soundcloud.com/becrat
https://soundcloud.com/fungalmat
https://soundcloud.com/grrggg
https://soundcloud.com/indigoblue97
https://soundcloud.com/jjjacob
https://soundcloud.com/jsliwa
https://soundcloud.com/kingdemitri
https://soundcloud.com/lmn3muzik
https://soundcloud.com/lukann4
https://soundcloud.com/medejin
https://soundcloud.com/nagruv
https://soundcloud.com/poirot-penelope
https://soundcloud.com/rougeh0tel
https://soundcloud.com/snakeleserpent
https://soundcloud.com/sxmbra

Cover & visual works by Boris Van de Walle & Robin Lopvet
https://www.instagram.com/magicienboz/
https://www.instagram.com/robinlopvet/

Mastering by Bademjan

DOWNLOAD

RougeHotel - Sync 2 (demo before PSM 2020)

Un universo de textura caos y murmullos

Algunos track de
Myen/Kavari/Lugwing Wandinger/reelle/Ship Sket/Wullfluw/ExtRaBLOOD

D3GRVDVC10N

“If we blackened out the sky we can turn it to light 
I wanna find you in the rhythm 
I wanna gift you the night 
I'm trynna pull up on your fears and disappear them from sight 

…we come alive in the basement, we come alive...” 

written and spoken by Moonflower (Vernon Jordan III) 

After releasing an EP, "Angeltribe" on London label TT in 2020, and "Vorphic Skin" on Toothgrinder Press in 2023, Kat Nzingha's debut album "Grind" will be released on AngeltribeXTL in May of 2023. Based in Philadelphia, Kat Nzingha is a multidisciplinary artist that explores experimentations with abstruse textures. By combining their sculptural works with heavy low-end frequencies and celebratory tones they create blissfully cryptic sonic materials that are the extended bodies of modified objects of which they consistently fabricate. "Grind" conjures the spirit of the sculptural entity that is physically attached to Nzingha's body as seen on the album art. The sculpted spirit is manifested through the sonic form of convulsing kicks, metallic percussion, and hyper-processed textures. 

"It's finally time to release "Grind" after sitting on the album for two years. The end of 2020 was when I started to build...  more
credits
released May 12, 2023 

Album Cover Photography by Dante @adeaddog 
Sculptural Entity by Kat Nzingha 
Mixed by Kat Nzingha 
Mastered by Skyshaker 



tysm for being apart of the album <333 tati au miel and sky

Kat Nzingha & Tati au Miel - Desperate Body

Kat Nzingha - Thiox

Remix of Insane Teknology`s Track - Red Alert

Phenom - Up in the Sky(Red Alert Rmx)

Taken from 6 track EP Incised Shards [HMDM006], out 15/11 on Hypermedium.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGh7g_Ys39A

Lensk - Collision (out now, video in the description)

Buy here: https://paynomindtous.bandcamp.com/album/we-never-will

Bladeblanc and Hepa are a couple of Milan-based producers, DJs, and multimedia artists who, other than producing contemporary bass music, work in the field of digital art with the collaborative project Ultracare. Mainly inspired by the UK underground scene, they commit to the dancefloor by combining ambient music, cinematic Jungle, and hardcore raw energy. Often focusing on the darkest side of the spectrum, they collapse all these influences in a single, mutant organism.

The Turin-based non-profit organization, media website, and event series PAYNOMINDTOUS adds yet another piece to its steady path in the exploration of unsafe sound territories which has seen it tirelessly support experimental underground music. 'We Never Will' is the first compilation curated by the Italian crew, out in name-your-price digital format with a graphic concept and purchasable 50 x70 cm poster by the 3D digital marauders K095C.

All proceedings (except poster shipping) will be donated to B-Side Pride for their support fund to help the LGBTQIA+ community of refugees, asylum seekers, and sex workers to cope with the post-COVID delicate situation. For details and further contributions: http://sostieni.link/25350.

Bladeblanc & Hepa - INTOR [ NOODS PREVIEWS ]

an underground transdisciplinary artist collective and label based in Philadelphia
📩: angeltribe.xtl@gmail.com

Kat Nzingha & Tati au Miel - Desperate Body

AngeltribeXTL

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