Evelyn spreads her wings and prepares to fly. This is her first offering for the ESP Institute. On side A, 'Tremors' slams together a plethora of seemingly disparate rhythms, organic percussion, field samples, hypnotic chants and a relentless low end punch, that when in full-swing, works some seriously deep sorcery. Contrasting her pounding kick and rolling sub combo are a softer grouping of melodies, soft mallets and muted tones that lay subtly beneath the aggression, skillfully playing with a sense of spatial depth and room size. Its the kind of track that draws you in with meditative bars, concentric cycles that sit ever so slightly off-axis, inducing the mind and body to obsess and regulating its timing, and then drops you into a very intentionally arranged soundstage giving expansive space to explore. On the flip, 'Pregunta' continues this approach of natural versus industrial instrumentation. The consistent machine kick has a powerful but playful tone, the negative space between each stroke evoking a mighty gesture as its note bends in the decay. Set in 3/4, a community of live percussion successively adds and subtracts, each player’s imperfect attack accumulating into a mechanically smeared and addictive loop that toys with peaks a handful of times yet restrains any unnecessary climax for the betterment of a driving groove. Near the end, as the kick and various players mute and the base of the track is given a moment to breathe, its apparent just how layered the production was in the moments prior, as we’re suddenly at home, smitten with the wobbly and lopsided innocence of the foundational percussion. These two songs will push you headfirst into the light.

Buy from ESP

[ESP116] EVELYN - Tremors b/w Pregunta - 12" Vinyl/Digital

B - IF IT EVER FEELS RIGHT (Tornado Wallace Remix)

Recorded live in a sweaty warehouse Downtown LA.

[MIX] Lovefingers - Live in Los Angeles II - Machine (November 9th 2013)

Various productions and remixes by The Stallions (Lovefingers and Lee Douglas).

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round (Stallions Remix)

The Canyons - My Rescue (Stallions Festival Version)

Literally the weekend before the world closed down. We had a wonderful evening. Horse Meat is family forever ever. xxx

Live at Horsemeat Disco (The Eagle, London – Sunday Feb 30, 2020)

[ESP116] Tremors b/w Pregunta

B1 - Pregunta

A1 - Tremors

ESP Institute artist Bartellow, one third of the project Tambien and otherwise known in the Contemporary Classical sphere as Beni Brachtel, returns to the label with his second full-length release, 'Noosphere'. While currently heading the SVS label and residency series out of Munich, Beni’s resume expands well beyond electronic music to include immersive sound installations such as 'The Adventure Of The Empty House' (solo live performance across seven floors of Walter Henn’s Deckelbau building), a slew of compositions for the Bavarian State Opera (for which he doubled as conductor), and a prolific career of over twenty-five theater scores for institutions such as the Münchner Kammerspiele, Schauspiel Basel, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, Berliner Ensemble, Schauspiel Köln, Schauspiel Graz and with directors Ersan Mondtag, Alexander Eisenach, Jessica Glause and Tobias Staab among others.
	'Noosphere' is a compendium excerpting from theatrical scores 'WUT' (Elfriede Jelinek, at Schauspielhaus Köln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2020), 'Ödipus and Antigone' (Maxim Gorki Theatre Berlin, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2017), 'Der Zauberberg' (Thomas Mann, Schauspiel Graz, directed by Alexander Eisenach, 2017), 'Hass Tryptichon' (Sybille Berg, Wiener Festwochen / Maxim Gorki Theatre, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2019), 'Wonderland Ave.' (Sibylle Berg, Schauspielhaus Köln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2018), 'Die Verdammten' (after Visconti´s film, Schauspielhaus Köln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2019) and 'Roi Ubu' (Alfred Jarry, Theater Neumarkt, Zurich, directed by Alexander Eisenach, 2018). 
	The work traverses homages, infusing everything from Baroque to Impressionism, and while these types of references are certainly built into the canon of Theatre as a discipline, here we gather historic layers in an even wider net. Under the self-referential thumb of Contemporary Classical music, this sort of "hindsight" approach has been largely avoided, however, in today’s all-access arena, the constant stream of historic causal-chained events has opened a delta where anything is possible. This defines Bartellow’s stance among his colleagues as well as his cultural position as a composer.
	Beni considers beauty a fleeting objective in the arts, that expression is often expected to follow notions of Destructivism or the unfulfilled. Art will pore over wounds, collective angst, mourning a loss of natural habitat or a fear of technological invasion, yet there is a bitter irreverence for the friction or salvation in beauty itself. Acknowledging this subjectivity — what one audience considers superficial pleasure may be deeply profound to another — he leans into musical instinct as if composing via divine conduit.
	'Noosphere' conjures a array of suspense, ecstasy, melancholy, and dread, but in isolating the work from its theatrical component, Brachtel directs our focus toward formal qualities, clearing unimpeded space to conceive fresh narratives and examine dynamism and interconnectivity. In sympathy with often difficult theatre pieces, the passages can be dark and transgressive, but more importantly they remain relative to Brachtel’s circumstances at their time of creation. The title 'Noosphere' speaks to the evolution of human thought and knowledge, opening a door to subjective points-of-view. For example, 'Nexus II On The Beach' refers to both Roberto Musci’s 'Water Messages On Desert Sand' as well as the film 'Bladerunner', invoking the image of a android enjoying the sunset, but whether or not this abstraction may be considered beautiful depends the listener’s cumulative life experience and perspective.
	This is hybrid chamber music, augmented by electro-acoustic layers, juxtaposing various periods and successively processing their residual themes into a trans-generational rendering of “now.”

C5 Что Такое Человек - SNIPPET

[ESP042] Brunette b/w Forced Relax

A - Brunette - 320

[ESP060A] Recife

A1 - Recife (Bailemix)

[ESP050] Osmin Uratoma

[ESP050] LEMMI ASH - A2 - Apsu

[ESP053] Know The Future b/w Digital Warfare

[ESP053] PATRICK CONWAY - A1 - Know The Future

[ESP039B] Skylark

[ESP039B] LORD OF THE ISLES - A1 - Skylark (12" Re-Master) - SNIPPET

Following 2020’s 'Point Vacancies', the debut EP from Jamie Paton and Mike Bourne’s collaborative act Metal, the duo return with a trio of dubwise remixes from Mr Paton himself as well as a peak-time stormer from fellow Bristol artist, Hodge. The latter immediately sets the record ablaze with a driving thump, duo of grainy hi-hats and a chalky clap. He layers an anthemic three-chord pad progression, building octaves, peppering in arpeggiated bleeps and articulate lead melodies, then tops it off with a few modular elements that retain the character of the original, before climaxing in true rave fashion. Proper. The following three mixes by Metal’s own Jamie Paton make apparent his sonic obsession — the type of infinite tweaking that sees some artists/producers to the edge of madness, or at the very least satisfies some dragon-chasing addiction. There’s a successive deconstruction from 'Remix' to 'Dubwise' to 'Dubwise II', most notably a reduction of rhythm and drum machinery, but also in general tonality. The melody remains central but is gradually obscured, taking on a less and less recognizable form, and by the end we’re left with a skeleton of the track, quips and cranks, an assembly line of aluminum sheeting punctuated by demented nuts and bolts. As with the previous EP, the sparsity of elements illustrates just how far one can twist aesthetics, proving that self-imposed limitations can often propel an artist’s process and land them somewhere unfamiliar, somewhere foreign, somewhere enchanted.

[ESP088B] Point Vacancies [Remixed]

B2 - Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Dubwise II) - SNIPPET

B1 - Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Dubwise) - SNIPPET

A2 - Dislocation Climb (Jamie Paton Remix) - SNIPPET

A1 - Point Vacancies (Hodge Remix) - SNIPPET

[MIX] Lovefingers - Live inna LA Warehouse (Forget The Future - February 9th, 2025)

Die Wilde Jagd - Jagd Auf Den Hirsch (The Stallions Remix)

Thunder Tillman is a cosmic vagabond who travels through space and time accompanied by his personal shaman. Together, as if having fallen to Earth, their mission is to recreate the music of their estranged home. Listen closely to this beautifully crafted journey through Swedish psychedelia, a mix entitled 'Northern Lightning' ...in anticipation of their ESP Institute debut, 'Jaguar Mirror' that drops July 15th... Preview: https://soundcloud.com/esp-institute/sets/esp038

[MIX] ESP Institute - Listening Sessions V — Thunder Tillman

Thunder Tillman is a cosmic vagabond who travels through space and time accompanied by his personal shaman. Together, as if having fallen to Earth, their mission is to recreate the music of their estranged home, reuniting with their brothers and sisters through an exquisite form of storytelling. While Western music may have degenerated over the past 65 years, troopers such as Thunder Tillman continue to drill down toward an elusive core, searching for something holy while never bastardizing their art with insincere advents of technology or convenience—as is apparent throughout their immaculate analogue production on this ESP Institute debut, Jaguar Mirror. Comparisons to genres like Krautrock are predictable, however we feel these four songs are so heavily narrative and wildly visceral that attempting to categorize the music would be a disservice to your imagination. We implore you to lay back in a nice stereo environment and absorb the purity of Thunder Tillman’s endeavor—appreciate their command of melody, composition, spectrum, magic… and try to recall the last time you chanced upon something truly different.

[ESP038] Jaguar Mirror

Jaguar Mirror

THUNDER TILLMAN - Exact Location of the Soul

Recorded live at Hostal la Torre, Ibiza during sunset, Summer 2016.

[MIX] Lovefingers - Live in Ibiza at Sunset (Hostal La Torre - August 30, 2016)

[ESP048] Artificial

Artificial

BENEDIKT FREY - H For Hysteria

Lovefingers heard ‘The Atmospherian’ years ago on ‘Milk Beach Settlers’, a promo-only mix CD comprised solely of Australian artists, mixed and released by seminal Melbourne DJ duo and good friends Hey Convict! (Tamas Jones & Jason Evans). Tamas explained that Warp Factor 9 was a one-off project by John and Russell Kilby of esoteric post-rock bands The Crystal Set and Bhagavad Guitars respectively, and who are brothers of Steve Kilby (frontman of The Church, a prolific Australian band we’ve adored since adolescence). We had an immediate epiphany and this project was set into motion. 

Tamas, now living in Sydney and working with Melbourne producer Harmon under the name Carpentaria, sought out the Kilbys in an attempt to collaborate and license ‘The Atmospherian’ which originally appeared on their self-released 1993 album ‘Five Days In A Photon Belt’. The idea was to unearth this lost cosmic noodle and repackage it with a couple contemporary remixes by the ESP’s Australian family members but, as is often the case, there were no usable multitrack tapes in existence. This wouldn’t be Tamas’ first time at the rodeo however, it was the same situation with Hey Convict!’s collaboration with Dominik Von Senger entitled ‘No Name 2009’, on Golf Channel Recordings. Being limited to a single stereo mix and no remix stems to play with, Carpentaria had to edit linearly and replay certain elements from scratch along with some re-recorded vocals from John. During this process, Tamas and Paul generated elements that would subsequently be used for a remix by fellow Aussie producer and prodigy Tornado Wallace.

Now finally, after three years of obstacles, the ESP Institute is proud to announce this beautiful release, ‘The Atmospherian’ — a celebration of a lost tune that originated, was re-discovered and re-imagined down under, but sits far left of center.

[ESP056] The Atmospherian

B2 - The Atmospherian (Tornado Wallace Remix)

What attracts us to Chilean-born artist Ricardo Tobar is the notion of intersection, and although fusion is nothing new, as a concept it will always pull our heartstrings. Applying influence is amateur, we see this over and over again as we endure trend-driven appropriation of cultures the world over, but the epiphany when an artist finds true synergy between heritage and influence is a pivotal moment that the inspired will seek, even though it may take the length of one’s career to behold. As pretentious as that may sound, it is precisely the hybrid born from that place of intersection that excites us at the ESP Institute, the “A plus B that equals 3”. We hear this in Ricardo’s music — the Latin American instinct in his drums and percussion, sometimes tightly aligned with body movements and other times hauntingly mis-aligned and chaotic, intersects with his rock influence of ethereal (micro) melodies that slowly layer and layer until we’re climbing a glorious (macro) wall of sound — but most importantly we hear where these different parts of his life come together to further create one unique voice. On both sides of his ESP Institute debut 'Liturgia', Tobar couples one pulsing dance-driven track with another atmospheric and immersive track, requiring we educate ourselves in the polarity of this language he’s building, one that will expand to tell a broader story later this year with his debut album. We welcome Ricardo Tobar, another forward-thinking artist, to the ESP Institute, and are proud to support any direction his compass points from here, as we believe he’ll never follow but will always lead

[ESP057] Liturgia

Liturgia

[ESP057] RICARDO TOBAR - A1 - La Dormida

[MIX] Lovefingers - Golden Age

In remembrance of our dear friend Zecky Horijin. Rest in piece, man. You will be missed.

[MIX] Zecky - Metro Mix 46.09

Ground (@dj-ground) is an Osaka native, but his soul is truly that of a nomad, traversing the planet, befriending kindred spirits found in humans, animals and plants. He is exceptionally receptive to the beauty in everything that surrounds him — the incidental music of a city street, the orchestral chaos of a scrambling radio, the syncopated grace of migrating birds, the simplicity of an isolated hand clap — and as his roadmap continuously unfolds, he accumulates a vast catalogue of visceral tools to musically recount his experiences. 'Sunizm' is a cross section of the artist’s process — an array of complex microcosms overlapping to comprise a thematic whole — gathering field recordings, found instruments, jagged electronics, synthesized chanting, and weaving all into a dense narrative that appears obsessively constructed yet divinely improvised. With each consecutive track, the artist gradually layers hypnotic patterns to 1-up the mind as it struggles to break free from the seduction of loops, steadily intensifying until reaching an apex of sound collage so cerebral that the listener might consider a post-album shower. But alas, the fourth quarter releases a bit of pressure, the gob remains smacked but a warm confidence takes hold as this psychedelic trial delivers us home to nod out. Attention all humans, animals and plants, Ground and the ESP Institute present, 'Sunizm'.

Artwork by Misha Hollenbach.

[ESP063] Sunizm

A1 - Osaka Native (ft Kaloan, Chang Ohta, Ryo Kiriakehata)- SNIPPET

Various productions and remixes by the The Stallions (Lovefingers & Lee Douglas).

Findlay Brown & The Stallions - Stallions' Suite

Findlay Brown - Teardrops Lost In The Rain (Stallions Remix)

Jonny Rock is somewhat of a sorcerer, an omnipresent eye that gathers secret ingredients from far and wide — old school House oddities, hypnotic melodies of the Orient, the furthest reaches of Disco, the easy pace of Turkish psychedelic funk — fusing it all into his own shrouded code, a string of immaterial messages, both subliminal and lucid, that highlight his eccentric sense of storytelling and nuance. He imbues a sense of familiarity in his music, implying history that might not be studied but still feels learned, a quality inherent to productions born from a vast catalog of influence (and the inseparable sample material). Jonny conjures euphoric acid flashbacks, herds of crowds through Istanbul alleys, the misty morning residue from raves of yore, orchestral winds blown across the Aegean riviera, and he manages to concentrate their essence into singular details such as a snare drum. Both sides of his eternally-awaited ESP debut lean toward his dark arts — 'Tye Die Techno' drives a relentless hard-edged drum kit that could throw an otherwise self-respecting Goth into a heated breakdance battle, while the title track and theme, 'Ode To A Happening On Earth,' plays with the imagery of ritual, fantasy and role-playing — but throughout this malevolent stew, there is a sustained hint of the artist’s playful nature. No matter how murky the trip becomes, Jonny is always there, a light at the end of the tunnel, with a big hug to reassure that everyone will be OK. He is one clever bastard — if you know, you know.

[ESP078] Ode To A Happening On Earth

Pre-Order from ESP

[ESP078] JONNY ROCK - A1 - Tye Die Techno - SNIPPET

Recorded live at Dublab in LA and broadcast on redbullradio.com on February 4th, 2019.

[MIX] Lovefingers - Choice Mix (Red Bull Radio, February 4th, 2019)

Last month, @phuong-dan and @lucreciadalt stopped by Los Angeles for an ESP Institute Happening and Ambient Church, respectively. They kindly made a guest mix for ESP Institute Radio on Dublab. Have a listen!

ESP Institute Radio - Phuong-Dan & Lucrecia Dalt (Live on Dublab, Feb 27, 2019)

In 2006, the musical landscape was very different; there was no streaming, “shazam" was a word used by magicians, and "all-access” was not granted to the general public. Social media, as we know it, was in its infancy and today’s constant digital feed of interruptions, notifications, refreshes and “likes” didn't yet exist. Those with a thirst for the overlooked regions of the record store had to quench themselves in the climes of the online world's music blogs, and while that digital community was surely expanding, NYC’s www.lovefingers.org was something different. Not a blog but a daily unfolding mix — no opinions, reviews, or backstories were coupled with the music, no full albums or submissions from the outside — it was a mysterious watering hole in the burgeoning digital desert where rogue tracks from Wally Badarou rubbed shoulders with those of Holger Czukay, the drama of Sylvester juxtaposed with the quirkiness of Hosono, and countless other coveted artists’ unearthed gems melted in one pot, a digital space where $1 thrift store scores could easily breathe the same dusty air as cosmic holy grails, oddball psychedelics and proto-electronica b-sides comfortably cohabited with $300 private-press folk rarities. With 1 track per day, Andrew “Lovefingers” Hogge created a truly democratic and educated selection of music for our aural pleasure, and labelled them ‘Fingertracks' (numbered 001-999).

The community around Lovefingers’ site was a call-to-action, gathering analogous minds and inviting them all to the same party, and on New Years Day 2010, after 999 Fingertracks and a plethora of (now classic) mixes, the site made a final post stating, “That's all folks!” The collective energy pivoted into the ESP Institute, a record label and art platform to champion new artists who emerged from this foundational community and as a catalyst to push the musical dialogue forward. Now, as the ESP Institute approaches its 10-year anniversary, we revisit the significant role www.lovefingers.org played in shaping where we are today.

'Fingertracks Vol : 1' is a snapshot of aural delights that were on offer to those of the leftfield persuasion, all who discovered the site and tuned-in for their daily shot of sonics proper — a lovingly selected handful of records that re-introduce the story of Andrew’s most influential and essential music resource. The track list is classic Lovefingers, an insight into the free-flowing nature of the daily Fingertracks, context-free but connected through creative threads and energies — lo-fi loner jams brush up alongside sleazed-out Italo powerhouses, Greek new age obscurities tussle against overlooked Hawkwind-related cuts — nuggets that may be more known to the heads now, but whose initial excavation can be accredited to Lovefingers’ site, and are essential to its story nonetheless. Rumor has it that this is merely the first volume in a series, so as it turns out, and gladly so, “That’s not all folks!”

LIFETONES - Good Side - SNIPPET

ELECTRONIC SYSTEM - Skylab - SNIPPET

The Project Club - El Mar Y La Luna (Lovefingers Remix)

[MIX] Lovefingers - Live on KCRW, Dec 13, 2019

Oldie but a goodie! I went on Beats In Space in 2009 and made this mix "Lullabies" for my newborn son. Finally uploaded it to Soundcloud. Mellow vibe, lay down and sink in.

[MIX] LOVEFINGERS - Lullabies (Live on Beats in Space – Dec 29, 2009)

Welcome to the ESP Institute. Please remove your shoes at the door. Thank you.

ESP Institute

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