Name: LAIKA by slikback
Duration: 2 min 9 s
Description: Vocals from - 1011 (Digga D x Sav'O x T.Y) - Next Up

A promising track of EP2, plays around with a catchy and naive vocal phrase, insisting that ‘Sometimes It’s Hard’. The statement, sung by a soft but mechanical female voice, is underlined by a glitchy and relentless breakbeat layered with visceral subs. The track’s weltschmerz disposition is equally seductive and destructive, which makes ‘Sometimes It’s Hard’ an unusual tune that will satisfy both seasoned ravers and a wider festival crowd.

EP2’s mesmerising cover art, a piece created for affected called ‘Crinoid Scanner’, was made by local 3D artist Caroline Vang. The work is inspired by the alien yet familiar look of crinoid fossils. Finding her inspiration in the most alien and quirky parts of nature, Vang specializes in an experimental and surreal play of texture and shape, to challenge the line between fiction and hyper-reality.

Sometimes It's Hard is mastered by SUGAR aka. Nikolaj Jakobsen in Copenhagen.

Hedo Hydr8 - Sometimes Its Hard

@design-default - Quartz Silica EP
Format: Digital
Release: December 2nd, 2022
Artwork by Benfika

Marking the 100th record of the imprint’s prolific history, Infinite Machine are proud to present the release of Quartz Silica EP by new-comer Design Default. A self-described ‘tone scientist’, the Parisian delivers a 5-track of uniquely textural compositions which map out a sonic world influenced by dystopian anime titles like Trigun & Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like many on the IM discography, Quartz Silica acts almost like a simulation or audio-film representation of an abstract space you’re invited to traverse.

The EP opens with ‘Between Wasteland and Sky’; percussive assault on your senses which clearly exemplifies Design Default’s meticulous approach to sound design. Every detail, every sample and every automation is carefully considered to add to the heightened affective theatrics heard here.

‘A.S.K’ follows things up on this release, a highly inventive composition with a loose structure that evolves from phrase-to-phrase, refusing to sit still. Design Default’s interest in jazz and free-form arrangements is married up with an angular sonic palette of industrial groans and splutters; generating the impression of hearing a glitch (or hiccup, even) in the machine. There’s something refreshingly playful about the maximalistic breakdown of ‘A.S.K’ akin to the wry smile found in some of AYA and her YCO label’s output.

After two highly frenetic tracks, Design Default turns the tempo down slightly with the groove-laden ‘S.E.E.D.S’. Layers of rich, fuzzy synapses phase in and out of prominence over a bed of complex drum programming. The producer deploys negative space here to great effect, with the absence of a drum hit or sample where you might expect one adding to the hypnotic rhythmic swing of ‘S.E.E.D.S’.

Rounding out the originals of Quartz Silica EP, ‘SILEX’ is a club-ready construction with a paint-shaking bassline which seems to slip downwards in pitch as if it can’t get steady footing. Again, Design Default’s tone science/alchemy shines through clearly here, with stutters of melodies, bursts of white noise and stacked drum patterns managing to sit cohesively in this dynamic expanse.

Fellow Parisian De Grandi jumps on remix duties for ‘S.E.E.D.S’ to finish off the EP. The Paradoxe Club signee adds further syncopation and strips the original’s elements down to its fundamental core. The results are a spectral creeper of a tune - built almost intentionally with dark, low ceiling environments in mind.

Design Default - SILEX

Featured on VA Compilation Steel Genesis ver​.​3C3C1D11940 [M​.​A027] out on Magdalena's Apathy https://soundcloud.com/regrets_regrets

Artwork direction and curation by DJ Loser https://soundcloud.com/loser111

Mastering by Astytekk https://soundcloud.com/astytekk

Ice_Eyes - DARK UNIT

𝓒𝓾𝓷𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓒𝓵𝓾𝓫 𝓲𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓷𝓮𝔁𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓜𝓢𝓕𝓟𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓮
Artist : @Klahrk
Master : @DNZA
Cover : @fifibiza
Curation : @djunderarrest

🍉This dance music compilation is a statement, we the alternative electronic music scene, its artists, its listeners, and its engineers, we believe that together we can work without demobilizing the strength of our work as dj, and producer of club music. •°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉We hope that when international DJs play these tracks, a thought will go directly to the Palestinian people and the atrocities they have experienced of which we have all been spectators.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉With our political forces respectively granted to us we demand an immediate ceasefire. •°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉We hope that this music will travel through space and time, and allow us to never forget what Gaza was and has become.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉 We give strength to all these victims, and we hope that one day they will be able to sleep without fear, without noise, and frightening lights in the sky.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉 Today, we call on you to join forces to provide essential support to the Palestinian people through MSF PAL. Palestine is going through genocide that require our concern. After the truce, Israeli soldiers continue to murder thousands of Palestinians, that are already lacking of health care and essential resources.•°*”˜.•°*”˜
The population is also threaten by diseases, starvations, and psychologic trauma.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉 We call for an immediate cease fire.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉 The quest for security and dignity for all people cannot be achieved at the expense of human life, whether on the Israeli or Palestinian side.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉It is undeniable that international conflicts can have repercussions on perceptions and intercommunity relations.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

🍉We are also concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, phenomena which may be exacerbated by the current situation in Palestine.
Every individual in the world should, whatever their origins, religions, traditions, be able to live without fear, with dignity and mutual respect.•°*”˜.•°*”

MSF PAL Fundraiser

Klahrk - Slipping

Taken from SBKT064: sideproject - sourcepond
Release date: 30th May 2024

Following up from work on Björk´s 'Fossora', Icelandic trio 'sideproject' debut on SVBKVLT with their new full-length album 'sourcepond'. Taking influence from the fog-covered wetlands of their native island, sideproject transfigure influences from the low-end frequencies of grime and bass music, and reshape it into a haze of transient-smeared beats accompanied by breathy synths that grow ever wetter till they slip beneath the surface tensions of their harmonic stratum. Compared to previous output, 'sourcepond' opts for a more concise approach to their music, stacking up their influences of experimental electronic, Icelandic punk and contemporary club music, and builds a sound that oscillates between melodic hooks and experimental rhythms. Each track carves through the sensuous material, pulling the listener into the dank sourcepond as though magnetic forces were guiding a bird's beak towards misty horizons.

Artwork by sideproject
Mastered by Raphael Valensi

sourcepond

sideproject - weight

After a five-year hiatus, Isaka returns with ‘Elytra’, a work exploring the increasingly blurred lines between organic and artificial realities. In her self-defined 'hyperbass', 'Elytra' blends low-end grit with a melodic pop sheen, morphing erratic rhythms, intricate sound design and hyperpop vocals that balance formal sensibilities and visceral club energy. 
Isaka underwent the transformative experience of medical transition during her move to Berlin and this radical change emerges in the thematic exploration of Elytra. 
Isaka uses insect moulting as a metaphor for the cyclical, often traumatic process of metamorphosis and the EP’s exploration of adaptation and articulation where skin is not only a boundary of the self, but also the interface for our surroundings. 
Themes of evolving identity are woven not only into the music but also into the visual art, zine & custom website accompanying the release. A different character represents each of the tracks, brought to life through a deep iterative process involving collages, sketches, and an array of AI-assisted 3D imagery. Limited-edition electronic sculptures will also be produced for ‘Elytra’.

Tracks in focus

Bubbly textures and frenzied drum cuts move side-by-side with NPC inspired vocal chops in opening track Slang Overload. Made in collaboration with TRYCE over an intense three-day session in 2023, it’s a nod towards glitch-hop revival with elements of UK Bass, packed with meticulously sculpted and destroyed sounds.

In Circuit Shaker we enter metallic low-end stepper territory: celestial tripped-out highs and a driving low end. We are cohabiting with lesbian androids at a picnic. With its off-kilter grooves and tender strangeness, Circuit Shaker embodies the inherent weirdness of intimacy—the paradoxical freedom of losing yourself when the boundaries blur between who's wearing who. The track, which first began in 2018, is a footwork, house, and electro-inspired tune which transitions between two sections at 120 and 160 BPM through polyrhythmic syncopation.

Isaka and Enayet combine for the third track, NYC 2016, a wigged-out hard hitter where drums are the main character. NYC 2016 is the ultimate DJ tool—a sonic exoskeleton whose essence straddles alienation and empowerment. Forged through countless late-night sessions with Enayet between 2016 and 2017, this track embodies the raw energy of a city’s underground dance scene where jackhammer kicks and clattering snares assault the senses. 

7Qubit explores dehumanization through platform capitalism and is alive with bugs and the quirks of  the obsessive virtualisation of the self. Imagined through a 15/4 time signature grime beat and echoes of malfunctioning code, Isaka hints at our endangered humanity. Isaka’s vocals about missing her chatbot girlfriend are processed through AI models and auto-tune, blurring the line between the organic and the synthetic. 

The final track on ‘Elytra’ takes you to the edge where all the layers fall away and what remains is the raw and unadorned self. Glittering ethereal textures are underpinned by an engulfing bass section that reverberates against the edges of the song. With its poignant melodies and delicate yet impactful percussion, Precipice is a meditation on a moment of self-realization. The track builds towards an overwhelming wall of sound before dropping into a stark sample: “Being trans… is spiritual.” Featuring quotes from Hunter Schafer’s character Jules in Euphoria, processed through an AI model trained on Isaka’s voice, this track explores the complexities of identity and self-discovery.

NYC 2016

Anxiety

Slang

Taken from deco023 VA, released October 19, 2020, via @lowincomesquad.

Cuban Chamber of Commerce - Goofing Off [Low Income $quad]

Single from @yungadultxx's debut self-titled EP, forthcoming 18/12/20 on @hi_nrg.

Mastering: @morair
Artwork: Ryan Huff

Pre-order: https://hi-nrg.bandcamp.com/album/hard-fantasy-ep

Hard Fantasy EP

PREMIERE: Hard Fantasy - Hard Relate [Hi-NRG]

Vocals from - 1011 (Digga D x Sav'O x T.Y) - Next Up

LAIKA

bookings: brandon@lb-agency.net
sync/licensing: gavin@syncsmith.com

LAIKA

slikback

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