Ambient / Ambienttechno 2018 / 2017 and older

Follow Rotation Records on Bandcamp >>> https://rotationrecords.bandcamp.com/music

Dave Angel live at 909 Festival, Amsterdamse Bos - 28th May 2022

When we established Balmat in 2021, neither of us could have imagined that within two years, we’d be putting out an album by one of our musical heroes: Mike Paradinas (@mikep), aka µ-Ziq. The British producer has been an inspiration to label co-founders Albert Salinas and Philip Sherburne since the 1990s. In fact, his album-length remix project The Auteurs Vs µ-Ziq was one of the very first pieces of electronic music that Philip bought, way back in 1994. To have the opportunity to release his music now feels like a real full-circle moment. 

Paradinas, of course, needs no introduction. Under a slew of aliases, chief among them µ-Ziq, the British artist revolutionized leftfield electronic music in the 1990s—coincidentally, this year marks the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Tango N’ Vectif, for his friend and sometime collaborator Aphex Twin’s Rephlex label—and his label Planet Mu (@planetmurecords) has built up a formidable catalog of visionary, forward-looking records, mapping virtually every corner of the electronic spectrum. With 1977, he turns the clock backward in a sense, and not just with the album’s title: Rooted in classic ambient and electronic sounds, these 15 tracks evoke the anything-goes spirit of the early ’90s, before the tools and tropes had calcified into cut-and-dried styles.

There’s no shortage of familiar sounds on 1977. There are echoes of raves and chillout rooms and transmissions from the fringes of techno; there are detuned synths and glistening reverb tails and, above all, gauzy vox pads, the eerie glue that holds it all together. The title, he says, is meant to invoke a general sense of nostalgia, bookmarking a year in his boyhood when he became more self-aware. More than anything, 1977 sounds like µ-Ziq distilled: Stripped of his signature breakbeats and customary chaos, Paradinas’ first-ever strictly (well, mostly) ambient album presents the essence of his music in a whole new light.

Along the way Paradinas touches on dark-ambient drones (“Marmite”), horror-film themes (“Belt & Carpet”), jungle breaks (“Mesolithic Jungle”), and even house music (“Houzz 13”), which marks the first bona fide dance-floor moment on Balmat to date). Yet the album never—to our ears, anyway—feels expressly retro. Rather, Paradinas plucks timeless sounds out of the ether and gives them a gentle tap, spinning them into unexpected new orbits. At times, 1977 feels like an experience of extended déjà vu: When we first listened to it, we had the sense that we already knew this music. It was as though we had heard it years ago, perhaps on a battered cassette tape lent to us by a friend, and been searching for it ever since. We hope you feel the same.

1977

µ-Ziq - 1977 [BALMAT05]

Trance_Breaks_Techno_Acid_24523

Balmat co-founders Philip Sherburne and Albert Salinas have been fans of Shy Layers’ lilting, Balearic pop for years, so when @shy-layers’ JD Walsh asked us to listen to a set of demos he was working up with fellow Atlanta multi-instrumentalist Jeff Crompton, we jumped at the chance. And once we heard their work in progress, the decision was almost immediate: We have to release this.

Together, Walsh and Crompton are Anagrams, and their debut album together, Blue Voices, might initially seem like a departure from Balmat’s habitually electronic terrain. It’s not ambient music, but it’s also not not ambient music, at least to listeners in the right frame of mind. The two musicians, who met when Walsh moved from Brooklyn to Atlanta in 2016 and began collaborating a few years later, see the music in similarly ambiguous terms. “I like it because it’s not jazz,” jokes Crompton, a veteran and credentialed jazz player. “And JD likes it because it’s jazz.”

Crompton is a musician (and former high-school band teacher) with deep roots in Georgia’s improvised and experimental music scenes; his credits include shows with Eugene Chadbourne, a guest appearance with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and a collaboration with Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel’s 12-hour drone performance at Knoxville’s Big Ears. On Blue Voices he plays alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet, electric piano, and organ. Walsh has been releasing music as Shy Layers since 2015, when he started self-releasing on Bandcamp; the following year, Germany’s Growing Bin packaged his first two EPs as a self-titled album, and in 2018, Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space label put out Shy Layers’ sophomore album, Midnight Marker. Where those records channeled Walsh’s playful harmonic instincts into wistful songwriting with tropical overtones, on Blue Voices he lets his experimental tendencies take the lead. Playing acoustic and electric guitars, electric lap steel, bass, Moog Matriarch, modular synth, and programmed drums, he concentrates his energies on richly textural layers and abstract assemblages of tone color.

Across the album’s 11 tracks, there are faint echoes of familiar touchstones: the atmospheric twang of Daniel Lanois’ pedal steel on Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks; the mercurial modal runs of Ethio-jazz; the late-summer calm of Fuubutsushi; the versatility of players and composers like Patrick Shiroishi and Sam Gendel, who are asking similar questions about where jazz ends and some other, nameless territory begins. Mostly, though, what Blue Voices captures is the quixotic sound of two restless musical imaginations making it up as they go along, two voices discovering a shared language in a hitherto unexplored shade of blue.

Blue Voices

Anagrams - Birds On Clifton // Blue Voices [BALMAT08]

Oscar Mulero brings back his alias Trolley Route to take us on a long sonic journey filled with Dub Techno and luminous sounds. This set was recorded at Basilar Festival in September 2023.

Pic by @yuri_lines

Trolley Route DJ Set @ Basilar Festival 2023

I worked (for fun) on a remix of the 1991 born classic track ‘Vamp’ by Outlander. We all know this catchy synth so I decided to put my remix online with a free download option 👀

Outlander - Vamp (Louis The 4th Remix)

Free DL

Outlander - Vamp (Louis The 4th Remix) - Free Download

VINT

Holmbush 2

Mix grabado en plena pandemia para la serie de mixes de Danceteria del tito Luis Costa. Le puse mucho cariño a esta sesión con la idea que fuera un viaje a través de muchas de mis filias musicales, mezclando durante dos horas y media dubby/new/no wave, indie pop, new beat, weatherallismo, dark disco, trance o balearic desde 90 bpm a poco más de 120. Musica oscura fina para escuchar en coche, en el auto o disfrutar en un after chill. Vinyl only.

Tracklist

1. Psychonauts - Circles (2003)
2. Jerry Harrison - Worlds In Collision (1981)
3. Andrew Weatherall - Unknown Plunderer (2020)
4. Padded Cell - Beautiful Gloom (2008)
5. They Must Be Russians - If This Is Love (1983)
6. Shriekback - Into Method (Planet Mix) (1983)
7. One Dove - opiniones White Love (Slam Mix) (1993)
8. Bunnydrums - Too Much Time (Smagghe & Cross Ajustement) (2017)
9. Blitzzega - Virginie Bellefleur (2019)
10. Fist Of Facts - Industrial Dub (Mudd Edit) (2009)
11. La Fura Dels Baus - Masas (1990)
12. Relatives Menschsein - Verflucht (1991)
13. Soma Holiday - Shake Your Molecules (The Neutron Dance) (1984)
14. Laín - Pero Que Hago (1985)
15. New Beat Express - I Love You & I Hate You (New Beat Mix) (1988)
16. Jeff & Jane Hudson - No Clubs (1981)
17. Loud E - 456 (2018)
18. Heninspace - H13 (2018)
19. Jade 4U - That Boy (1988)
20. Cute Heels - The Awake (Mexico City Mix) (2020)
21. Black Devil Disco Club - For Hoped (2008)
22. Richard Pinhas - Iceland (Remixed By Volga Select) (2004)
23. Xymox - Scum (Dance Mix) (1987)
24. The Asphodells - Skwatch (Black Merlin's Reel To Reel Remix) (2013)
25. Oto - Evil Dance (1986)
26. Psychonauts - Empty Love (2003)
27. Cute Heels - Nepotism Structures (Club Mix) (2015)
28. Tronik Youth - Malice Of Absence (Richard Sen Remix) (2015)
29. Roe Deers - Tensions (Zombies In Miami Remix) (2019)
30. Paranoid London - Cult Hero (Do You Wanna Touch Me) (2019)
31. Serran - We Say "No!" (Heretic Mix) (1989)
31. Sex Judas - Dum Stripper (Ricky's Rerub) (2020)
32. Khidja - Devil Dance (2019)
33. Pachanga Boys - Power (2010)
34. Padded Cell - Moon Menace (2007)
35. The Emperor Machine - Bloody Hell (2004)
36. Fingerprintz - Wet Job (1979)
37. Onyx - Octagon (1983)
38. The Force Dimension - 200 FA (1989)

Deckard "Selecta Danz 11” para Danceteria (Octubre 2020) remastered

Talking about Sergi means talking about 30 years behind the decks... a true legend of Barcelona’s underground scene. His journey has taken him to stages such as Sónar, Primavera Sound, IFM, Mutek, and Ombra, along with a notable residency at the iconic Moog club and numerous performances across Europe. A devoted vinyl enthusiast, Sergi has spent decades digging deep into music from the late '70s and early '80s, exploring a spectrum that ranges from new wave, disco, and industrial to electro and proto-house.

Today, he is the driving force behind Switch Pocket Club, a small bar in the Gràcia neighborhood that has become a true cult spot for lovers of quality electronic music. There, he curates a steady program featuring some of the best local DJs along with carefully selected international guests, creating a space where music is always at the center.

________

1. How and where was the mix recorded?

This session was recorded on November 24, 2024, from 2 to 4 AM before Jennifer Loveless’s closing set at RED58 club in Barcelona, exclusively on vinyl, except for the last track ;)

2. Can you tell us about the idea behind the mix?

The party that night was focused on house music, so I played various styles within the genre such as Chicago/Detroit/NY/UK house, ranging from deep to old school, acid, 2000s, darky, and progressive...

3. What are you up to next? Projects, ideas…

I’ll continue with the project I started 12 years ago, Switch Pocket Club, located in the Gracia neighborhood of Barcelona, which will soon undergo changes and renovations.

As a DJ, I hope to keep performing in the city’s increasingly rare underground venues, as well as gigs outside of spain.

4. Lastly, for you what is Dance, Shake, Swing!?

A project by some friends that has already established itself as a reference for parties in Barcelona, as well as a record label.

Socials:
@sergideckard
www.instagram.com/sergideck/

DSSmix #22 - Deckard

For the latest installment in our podcast series, Internal Operator delivers a one-hour journey deeply aligned with the spirit of Espectro Oculto. Taking inspiration from the label's sonic identity, the mix dives into the raw textures of minimal synth, experimental, and 80s underground electronic music, stitched together with surgical precision and a deep respect for vinyl culture. Aside from a single 90s track, the selection pays tribute to a lost era of cold electronics and analog unrest.

Known for his intense, no-compromise sets and deep-rooted passion for electro and broken rhythms, Internal Operator brings his signature energy into a more introspective mode channeling the underground spirit of Bunker Records, the Dutch West Coast, and IFM into something intimate yet confrontational. This is not just a DJ set, it's a dialogue between decades, formats, and frequencies.

Espectro Oculto Mix #002 | Internal Operator

Here is my recently ambient set played at 'Gallery Unofficial Preview', contained few unreleased tracks, inspired by Audio-Visual artist unn based in berlin.

[Track list]
01. I can't hold out this windless anymore  - Hyein
       unn solo exhibition remix ver. [unreleased]
02. No title - Hyein [unreleased]
03. No title - Hyein [unreleased]
04. Sankt - Vit Fana [Northern Electronics]
05. No title - Hyein [unreleased]
06. QUATRE REFLETS - Nebulo [PHINERY]
07. Ballerina - Biospere 
08. No title - Hyein [unreleased]
09. Primeval -Organit 
10. Ritual -Sortlegeme
11. Free From The Bondage You Are In -Biospere 

 cover pic, from the exhibition. 
@ Gallery Unofficial Preview. Seoul.

Hyein_2017 "The One, In Between" Opening Night (Unn Solo Exhibition)

IAS #75 comes courtesy of Robert Heel. Berlin based audiovisual artist and electronic musician. His productions are deeply rooted in drone, ambient and dub sounds having released music on renowned labels such as, Etoka Records and Archives.

https://www.facebook.com/robertxheel/
https://soundcloud.com/robertheel

Robert Heel

Intrinsic Audio Sessions [IAS] # 75 - Robert Heel

Focus on the Breath - 7pm Purple
Mark Ward - Submerge
Sven Laux - White Leaf
Pëme - Hidden Passage
Günther Lause - Thin Exit
Marconi Union - Sleeper (Biosphere Remix)
The Sushi Club - Neo Tokyo
Aural Float - Zwei G
Feral - Radha
Shipping - MiMB
S_EncE - White Elephants

Deference

Hector@_Ambient" 2017-10-03

Hector@021117 [IDM_TECHNO_AMBIENT]

I like smooth & metamorphic Tech, Ambient & Leftfield electronic music, new varieties of Patterns & Sequences,.. the possibility of a much wider world that corresponds to the already wide possibilities of modern music.----FREE PALESTINE  &  EQUAL HUMAN RIGHTS WORLDWIDE !!!

Comença cap al 94 influit per l’inici de l’escena a Girona (La Sala del Cel, Blau i Rachdingüe)

Desde les hores no para de col.lecionar música fins a dia d’avui englobant Techno, Trance, EBM, House, Acid, Electro, IDM, New Wave, Italo, Indie, Pop….

Com a Dj a passat per salas com BeCool, Moog, Laut, Macarena, Switch, Slow, Instinto o UpLoad per citar les mes conegudes, on a compartit cabina amb artistes com JRob, Joey Beltram, David Carreta, Oliver Bondzio, Pascal Feos, Jack de Marsella, Fred Tassy…

Hector@_Ambient" 2017-10-03

Hector

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