CRRDR - TUKITUKI

Cimarrón pairs scything club dynamics with euphoric pads on a deeply personal nodolabel debut.

'Sin Cara, Sin Nombre' is out June 22nd on nodolabel.

Pre-order: bit.ly/3MvVu7S

@cimarron-se-fue
@nodolabel

Premiere: Cimarrón - Galope [nodolabel]

LATAM vol 1

Plata

Authentically Plastic - RAW SPACE

"RAW SPACE" is rooted in chaos and chance, sensuality and intensity - it's an album that's able to sound alarmingly freeform and tightly controlled simultaneously. Already established as a genre-disrupting DJ, and even dubbed "demon of the Nile" by Ugandan politicians after an exuberant performance at Nyege Nyege festival in September 2019, Kampala-based sonic hypnotist Authentically Plastic brings a digger's literacy, an activist's intent, and an artist's playfulness to their jagged debut album.

As both a DJ and a producer, Authentically Plastic is drawn to the idea of chance as a creative tool - to push against the idea of the all-knowing genius, and approach artistry instead as a facilitator, unraveling parallel mismatched rhythmic events. Their musical process is to start with chaos, then attempt to mold those fleshy structures into polyrhythmic mutations, pulling influence from East Africa's innovative musical landscape and augmenting it with an exploratory sense of surrealism.

On opening track 'Aesthetic Terrorism', rough-hewn industrial rhythms chug mechanically against course, dissonant synth blasts and acidic arpeggios. There's a faint sparkle of Detroit's chrome-plated Afro-futurism, but bathed in neon light, reflecting Africa's contemporary electronic revolution. Authentically Plastic's productions have a sense of thematic coherence, but their myriad influences are torched into cinders, leaving inverse impressions and ghost rhythms: the tuned overdriven clatter of 'Anti-Fun' echoes Ugandan kadodi modes, yet simultaneously mirrors the rugged out-zone grit of Container or Speaker Music; standout centerpiece 'Buul Okyelo' meanwhile is as rhythmically cross-eyed as Slikback or Nazar, but juxtaposes kinetic dancefloor thumps with chaotic microtonal ritual cycles.

Writing "RAW SPACE", Authentically Plastic found themselves fascinated by sonic flatness. They realized that in Western art, there's an obsession with depth of field that carries into music, robbing it of intensity. The album is an example of the power that can be reclaimed when you let go of depth, letting sounds rub together carnally and spawn something fresh and unexpected

Paranoid Intuition

@im-microhm - Desvanecer
Label: Infinite Machine
CAT#: IM108
Format: Digital
Release: January 26th, 2024

One day I dreamt that you were no longer here.

Desvanecer–the latest EP from Mexican artist Leslie García aka Microhm–takes a glimpse into a world of abandoned spaces, hollowed structures; absence. Within the span of seven tracks, the artist explores the limits and crossovers between noise and ambience, utilizing rhythms of the Latin diaspora to conjure an electroacoustic future.

Among these compositions, such as nine-minute long "Nostalgia," Microhm combines colorful airy patches with droning atmospheres, melding the elements through hypnotic percussive rhythms that slowly unfold and retract–sometimes disappearing completely. During the dreamlike sequence of "Nostalgia," movement is constant. Pleasant shimmers suddenly collapse into foreboding rumbles; night terrors. Ephemeral flutters of light tease the listener before becoming overpowered by deep incantations of harrowing emptiness. The fourth track, "Silencio Cómplice" seems to be cut from the same cloth, though perhaps leaning further into despondence. The arrangement begins with hard kicks pulsing in a minimal dancehall rhythm, while a heavy drone emerges steadily. Drums weave in and out, pushing back beneath the subdued dread that builds through the murky atmosphere. "El Despojo" is not far off, where snares march through fields of unsettling ambience and surges of noise.

Yet within this project, Microhm also demonstrates interest in a sound that is more soft-spoken, delicate. "Sueño Premonitorio" could more or less be grasped as a progression of five chords across the span of three and a half minutes. The track's minimal arrangement and organ-tones give way to the sensation of entering a sacred space, the confines of a holy building or enclave. While there is an undoubtable feeling of absence that is manifest within these five sequences–and present throughout the rest of the record–"Sueño" seems to humbly acknowledge and perhaps revel in this emptiness, inviting the listener to take part in the rite.

Through the course of Desvanecer's thirty-four minutes, García does not present us with one complete conclusion or vision, but rather trickles of insight into a preordained future, a world not far from our own. Each track is beautifully mesmerizing and uniquely introspective; a fearless gaze into a space where absence is not devoid of change. Desvanecer is perhaps a ritual bidding of farewell; but equally so, it is the welcoming of a time when there are none of us left.

Mastering by Imaabs
Artwork by Sofía Papadópulos & Leslie García

Desvanecer

Microhm - Nostalgia (IM108)

Hakuna Kulala is excited to share with you this compilation of works and collaborations, result of a 2 year residency program titled "Afropollination" between artists from Mali, RDC, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania and artists based in Germany, many of whom from African descent. The aim of this project was to create cross pollination effect between different artists, cultures and disciplines, fostering community, friendships, collaboration and inspiration and of course new music and art. As works continue to develop, here is a first compilation of works produced by the artists in residency.

AFROPOLLINATION is an initiative by Piranha Arts and Boutique Foundation / NYEGE NYEGE in collaboration with MS Stubnitz , Singeli Movement , Modaperf , Yoke Collective , COSMO Radio, Pussy Party, Morphine Studios, Festsaal Kreuzberg , CTM Festival and funded by the Fonds TURN2 of the Federal Cultural Foundation of Germany (Kulturstiftung des Bundes).

SHANGWE - Sisso X Maiko

Oh AH - Menzi X Debmaster

I Scream - Catu Diosis, R3igndrops & Debmaster

No Signal

Crossfade

Pure Myth

HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU

Club explorations from the East African and Congolese Electronic Underground and beyond.

I Scream - Catu Diosis, R3igndrops & Debmaster

HAKUNA KULALA

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