Twin Cities duo Feel Free Hi Fi return to their in-house imprint Digital Sting with their first full length entitled I was so far in I was out. After two prior EP's and collaborations with Equiknoxx and Duppy Gun Feel Free Hi Fi deliver 8 new tracks of their distinct but eclectic digital dub. Amalgamating many of the sounds, sonics, and aesthetics of prior releases into these eight percussive instrumentals. The industrial dub and weirdo dancehall remain but the focus is further refined while also exploring environmental and cinematic sounds to create often dark and heavy versions that are as singular as they are collective, as introverted as they are expansive.

Created by S. Reed and D. Maxwell at Digital Sting HQ 2023.
Mastered by A. Ness and G. Reierson.
Special thanks to C. Hontos.
Artwork by S. Reed.

Feel Free Hi Fi- I was so far in I was out LP Vinyl

G Version iii- Scenery From Double Glazing CS

VA: Time Splitters CS

German trio Cloud Management approached Digital-Sting in late 2023 and started a conversation concerning a loose configuration of improvisations, studio experiments and rehearsal jam recordings. The timing was particularly serendipitous with Feel Free Hi Fi fresh off a West Coast USA tour with Exotic Gardens where we had spent several long drives along the California coast listening to Cloud Managements prior records on Altin Village. The second of which included collaborations with Exotic Gardens. This release " Unfinished Business" inhabits much of the musical history and influences foundational to the Digital Sting sound and ethos making the link up an obvious one. I don't want to be overly predictable in the comparison to the great body of work created by German legends like Moebius, Roedelius, Plank and others but it is there. Also present are heavy doses of dub wandering not too far from the furthest out zones created by African Head Charge or Dub Syndicate. Some creeping psychedelic unease in the way of Industrial Records also sits in the mix. Comparisons aside, Cloud Managements embrace of collaboration and jammy experimentalism create a sound that is unique and a bit rare in the contemporary dub and electronic music continuum where perceptions of genre restrictions can guide...  more
credits
releases April 16, 2025

Music by Cloud Management
Recorded 2022/2023 in Hamburg Germany and Ojén Spain
Mixed 2023 in Ojén
Mastered by Derek Maxwell
Artwork by Shawn Reed

Cloud Management- Unfinished Business CS

Feel Free Hi Fi- Voyageur/Underground ZamZam Sounds 2025

Feel Free Hi Fi- Cybrog Version

Forthcoming Full Length LP and 6th release by Twin Cities based Feel Free Hi Fi

08 COMPUTER PAUL- FEEL FREE HI FI

07 DIGITAL TOMB- FEEL FREE HI FI

06 VEXED- FEEL FREE HI FI

05 MARAUDER- FEEL FREE HI FI

04 TRITON- FEEL FREE HI FI

03 SPRING RAIN- FEEL FREE HI FI

02 GATELESS BARRIER- FEEL FREE HI FI

01 BLOOD- FEEL FREE HI FI

08 Feel Free Hi Fi - AM To PM Dub

07 Feel Free Hi Fi - Chaser Dub

06 G Version III - Sky High

05 G Version III - Pan Pipes Chamber

04 G Version III - AM To PM

03 G Version III - Chaser

02 G Version III - Ballers

01 G Version III - Queen G Theme

21 Alexander West - Granny Grenade

20 Alexander West Shout

16 1Solar Boss - Focus

12 RDL Shellah - Good Ambition

11 King Kush - Choppa Dem Out

09 I Jahbar + Darkchild - Move

06 I Jahbar - 2AM

05 RDL Shellah + Tolerance - Good Good

04 Longdon - Careful

03 I Jahbar + Darkchild - Stream

02 Fearless - Workin Hard

01 Roolingz Shout

ZamZam Sounds with Feel Free Hi-Fi - 23 March 2025

It says a lot about the interconnectedness of the global dubwise underground that it took downtime with Bristolian Neek in Portland to spur the link between ZamZam and Feel Free Hi Fi out of the Minneapolis Twin Cities. Once he put us on to them we were hooked- not only by their brilliant music but by their rigorously DIY approach and aesthetic. Heavily inspired by the more esoteric angles of early digi-era JA dancehall and UK dub (Shaka, Disciples, Mixman and Gussie P being some touchstones) the duo create a sound both reverential and unique, steeped in the traditions but striking out hard left into idiosyncratic territory all their own. Releasing all of their works up to this point on their own fantastic Digital Sting label, we’re excited to showcase them on ZamZam.

In “Voyageur” an ominous mid-range figure, heaving synth bass and complex intertwining melodies drive the tune into heavily cinematic territory, thick atmospherics and strange synthetic animal calls like a lost John Carpenter soundtrack-in-dub. The duo says, “Voyageur in its title speaks a bit to the mythic, mysterious, but also very real wild places of the North Country where we live... and how it all rubs up against the contemporary urban environment.”

“Underground”s opening stabs, bassline and drums could have time-travelled from Unity Sounds or Jammys, but bring an eerie darkness in their deployment that is unmistakably now.  Feel Free Hi Fi explain, “Underground in its title is a tribute to the spirit of underground music, of the DIY non commercial ethos... So the tunes together kind of speak to time and change, and the struggle of what's going on now. Trying to preserve the environment and and also the wild places of basement and warehouse gigs, and the outsider mentality of underground music that also seems like it's fading away but hopefully isn't lost.” 

Strictly limited to 700 7” vinyl copies for the world- no digital, no repress. Mastered by Precise. Screen print by Polygon Press. Releasing mid-April 2025. Retail, wholesale & other inquiries: zamzamsounds@gmail.com

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