I really like how it builds and constantly is teasing you in and out with the drums while still having that dark brooding atmosphere

R&S Records – In Order To Care

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: https://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, ECKO BAZZ - Ntabala (Rolex Riddim) (PAN 124 / HK029)

Soda Plains - Meet Me At Escados [YGK021]

Format: Digital/Single
Release Date: 22 September, 2023
Mix & Master by Soda Plains
Cover by Diane Severin Nyugen

Soda Plains - Meet Me At Escados [YGK021]

Full EP download here : http://crested.bandcamp.com

Laser Quartz

Ciel - Deep Sea Riddim

Open Catalyst

Relict

https://soundcloud.com/steliosexe

Presenting the 33rd release with NHS is stelios.exe, being a Marseille-based producer fusing early music traditions with forward-momentous electronic sound design. Having a Trained background in medieval, Renaissance, and baroque music, his release 'Crystal Towers' explores new sonic territory by blending ancestral techniques with experimental tools. Said EP marks a pivotal turning point for our artist, which features the use of his own voice and the Renaissance flute for the first time in conjunction with a synthetic palette. Sonically, Influences draw from the likes of Oneohtrix Point Never, The Knife, and Renaissance composers such as Byrd or Gesualdo, stelios.exe embraces a transgressive approach to aural sound design.

Speaking on his works: Suspended above the chaos of the world, the Crystal Towers act as beacons in the night, warning of dangers while offering spaces of retreat. Their walls are both mirror and prism: they reflect the world's passions and torments, while also capturing a fragmented celestial light. This interplay of reflections gives birth to ghostly visions, remnants of a forgotten empire, now altered and deformed. 'Crystal Towers' is a dive into solitude, an impulse to withdraw into an inner sanctuary to silence the turmoil. Glitchy, saturated synths reverberate eerily along the translucent surfaces, while Renaissance flutes rise like beams of light piercing ancient stained glass. 

The voice, shifting between the angelic and the monstrous, gives shape to both the vilest and the most sublime emotions haunting the human soul. The composition of the EP draws on early Baroque monody, a turning point when melody and harmony broke free, allowing the human voice to bare its most intimate affects. Throughout 'Crystal Towers', melodies oscillate between fragility and vertiginousness, exposing our innermost struggles in their purest form.

Additional mixing by Lorenzo Targhetta
Mastered by Fausto Mercier
Artwork by Zhecon

Crystal Towers

But NHS033

stelios.exe - Crystal Towers [NHS033]

New content everyday

Forthcoming the 26th of September on : @outervillageaudio

Coop - Signals [Premiere]

FREE DOWNLOAD

DEEP (FREE DOWNLOAD)

COP ENVY - CRY002
OUT AUGUST 2018
Global distribution via Rubadub.

Sydney via Melbourne-sider Cop Envy brings forth two heartbursting, patient and effective tools to mark the return of the Cry Baby imprint - long silent after their debut exploration with Dan White.

The anachoic, blistering tones of Balanced push the vinyl medium to it's absolute limits with Heavy, HEAVY bass and incredulously well produced embellishments making this a DJ tool for the year 3000.

Leisure laces the flip with something a little closer to the present day no thanks to barely melodic musical structures peeling away to reveal the rhythmic intricacies and soul rattling subsonics that roll effortlessly through to the bitter end. REWIND.

Cop Envy - Balanced

Positive feeling

Debut SZNS7N EP from talented, young producer Ship Sket.

4 songs of deconstructed, 140 influenced evil.

Follow Ship Sket on socials

sc @hdmurder
IG @ship.sket

Mix by Ship Sket 

Master by Liam Mclean

RITUAL RIDDIM

Included on @r-srecords In Order To Care album

All proceeds go to help fund the NHS

Listen to the full track and support at https://randsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/in-order-to-care

As the track has binaural processing, please listen with headphones.

Antifragile (R&S Records)  [CLIP]

out now on @r-srecords ! so happy to have contributed to this lovely compilation, 'in order to care'. click the link to grab your copy on bandcamp and find out more <3

In Order To Care

Anz - Cheer Up Love

Progression

Taken off R&S Records - "In Order To Care" Compilation with all proceeds going to the NHS

Download

Koyal

ZULI — All Caps (UIQ0012)
12” + DL
Pre-Order — https://zulimusic.bandcamp.com/album/all-caps-uiq0012

Released 12th March 2021

Mastered by Rashad Becker
Insert Design — Dave Gaskarth

Progression

FAUZIA

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