Introducing a new artist to the label, loket debuts on Hot Concept with ‘Diet Cult’, three singular and imaginative original tracks, remixed by Jay Duncan. The eagerly awaited follow-up to loket’s beloved ‘Deep Mind Music’ mix and saxophonic edits, ‘Diet Cult’ represents loket’s first foray into original production, exploring live, modulated saxophone production with the continuum of ambient, trance and hardcore influences.

Opening the EP, the dramatic brass of ‘Althüttendorf’ builds and builds towards a break that seems to accelerate with pure lightspeed, a wide-eyed release that dispenses loket’s instrumental touches into an altered universe; psychedelic, dramatic and boldly experimental.

“When a star collapses, it becomes a black hole”, intones Steph Lee on ‘Left Hand’. Lee’s inquisitive narration leads us through a spectral corridor of shimmering electronics, closely intertwined with loket’s lush instrumentation to otherworldly effect. This sublime weightlessness is itself swallowed up into the more frenetic ‘Lila Gazelle’, krautrock-inspired rhythms this time providing the undulating force behind their heavenly jams.

Jay Duncan provides two wildly divergent and equally compelling mixes of ‘Left Hand’. The ‘infinity’ mix rockets the tempo while maintaining the dynamic pleasure of loket’s musical universe, rolling out deeply satisfying bass pressure over Lee’s recital. In juxtaposition, Duncan’s beautifully headsy ‘Spirit of Sabre’ mix tunnels slowly into the cosmos, progressing into a nocturnal melodic trip that will have true believers leaning in further still. 

Released May 28, 2021

Production, songwriting and saxophones by loket.
Remix production by Jay Duncan.
Additional mixing by Gramrcy.
Mastered by Rupert Clervaux.
Artwork by Cecilia Martinez.
Copyright, Hot Concept, 2021.

loket - Diet Cult (HC009)

Following the release of their second LP, ‘Vanities’ (the follow-up to ‘Incidental Music’, which topped end-of-year lists at both Piccadilly Records and Resident in 2019), W.H. Lung’s recent ‘Gd Tym’ single is remixed for a one-off release on Hot Concept by label founder John Loveless and regular collaborator, Gramrcy. Building on their diverse reinterpretations of alternative dance and DIY acts such as Fall Forward, Galaxians and Ghost Culture, Gramrcy & Loveless’s twin ‘Control’ and ‘Dub’ mixes spin W.H. Lung’s transcendent dance punk into a rolling, darkwave epic for resurgent dancefloors, bristling with equal measures of darkness and euphoria.

'Vanities' will be released by Melodic Records on October 8th 2021. W.H. Lung are scheduled to tour the UK throughout November and December.

HC010: W.H. Lung - Gd Tym (Gramrcy & John Loveless Mixes)

Producer-vocalist Teplice debuts on Hot Concept with a new collection of songs and beautifully realised sonic sketches, ‘Feel Your Way’. Having previously released on Pastel Prism, the label of fellow UK artist E.M.M.A, whom Teplice met through the pivotal Producergirls workshops, ‘Feel Your Way’ demonstrates a glorious progression for the London-born, Berlin-based producer.

Composed between the summer of 2020 and 2021, the tracks “inevitably capture the emotional turbulence of the past few years" said Teplice, alluding to the pandemic. "But although there is darkness in there, I also wanted to insert a mood of resilience - joy even - and conjure something playful."

Building upon the signature harmonies and lyrical clarity that characterised her debut release, Bright Future (2019), Teplice continues vocal experimentation with this record, interspersing memorable synth-pop with several ethereal interludes such as ‘Don't Tell Me’ and ‘Spinning’. Bolder and more curious still, ‘Birthday Song’ even provides an alternative spin on a celebratory classic.

"Although these tracks are essentially sonic representations of psychic turmoil, the use of vocal overlay, repetition and panning became a productive and ultimately fun way of claiming agency over a widespread sense of fret and rumination", explains Teplice.

This tension between, as the artist describes, "embracing the feels but also moulding that affect into something new", is encapsulated by the imperative of the title/title-track: "Because what is life if not a constant process of navigating uncertainty?".

HCO11: Teplice - Feel Your Way

Purchase from Bandcamp

HC012: Gramrcy - Gliding Again/Humboldt

A year on from his Hot Concept debut, Bleaching Agent returns to the label, sounding as effervescent as ever before on ‘Slow Life’. Blending elements of cosmic disco, EBM and post-punk this three-track EP continues the unusual sonic path of Leeds based producer Al Matthews from nosebleed techno outsider onto fresh melodic pastures, without ever sacrificing his gritty, witty character.

Opening track ‘Faster Silence’ deploys the complete arsenal of Bleaching Agent’s studio to hypnotic effect, hooking in outsider dancers with a throbbing bassline, simmering breakdowns and a refreshingly personal feel that bridges rehearsal spaces to rave bunkers. In contrast, ‘Of Aegis’ adopts a more opulent stance, a shimmering and elegant light tunnel, vocal house by way of whispers and sensitivity.

Saving the title track for a dreamy, cathartic kiss-off, ‘Slow Life’ channels the spirit and charm of Alan Vega into a crescendo of rhythmic noise, proving Bleaching Agent’s ongoing expertise in headbanging pleasure, whether in the rolling fields of 4/4 or fuzz.

Slowlife

Faster Silence

loket - Left Hand (Jay Duncan 'Spirit Of Sabre' Mix)

loket - Left Hand(Jay Duncan 'Infinity' Mix)

loket - Lila Gazelle

loket - Left Hand

loket - Althüttendorf

Gd Tym (Gramrcy & John Loveless Mixes)

Gd Tym [Gramrcy & John Loveless Dub Mix]

Gd Tym [Gramrcy & John Loveless 'Control' Mix]

Teplice - Birthday Song

Teplice - Spinning

Teplice - Don't Tell Me

Teplice - Read My Mind

Teplice - Feel Your Way

Gliding Again

Humboldt

The second album from Yr Lovely Dead Moon, ‘Don’t Look Now!’ expands on the vision of producer, songwriter and performer Rachel Margetts. Margetts’ fluid, self-taught style has been gradually developed across numerous DIY scenes, from her hometown in the North-East of England to Greece, Armenia and Georgia. Writing avant-garde outsider pop music on a high-wire between tenderness and tension, Margetts performance is reminiscent of the explosive vocal energy of Anne Clark or the gender hypnotics of Jenny Hval.

Unlike her 2020 debut, collecting years of recordings, ‘Don’t Look Now’ was written exclusively in Berlin. Here, even during the onset of an international pandemic, Margetts observed her adopted city mutating out of shape under pressure from the oppressive forces of modernity. A world in which hyper-capitalism, vicious regeneration and political disinformation threaten more than just creativity.

Across six blistering tracks, ‘Don’t Look Now!’ offers a powerful rebuttal to this notion, untangling these complexities with transcendent songwriting, dry humour and a sonic approach unlike any other. From the blissful first notes of delicate piano on lead track ‘Sun Dance’, recently remixed by fellow Northern-English pioneer, aya, ‘Don’t Look Now’ offers a melodic but unpredictable trip, a spoken-word patchwork of IDM, jazz and musique concrete experimentation.

“Terrifying movements that have come out of the belief that the world is going to shit”, acknowledges Margetts, whose day job involves working with displaced citizens and marginalised individuals within Germany. “Lots of different people think that the world is falling apart, but from completely different places, and nobody knows where the fuck the centre is. If the apocalypse is coming, how do we engage with it?”

Margetts is refreshingly determined to explore each and every possibility. For the gothic melodrama ‘Terror’, she tries on pure apathy, seeking a “terror we can all embrace”. For ‘One (And The Same)’, a capitalist sceptic cabaret classic-in-waiting, she looks to the writing of Walter Benjamin for a delicate exploration of feeling historically lost, wandering the flickering neon avenues of late-capitalism, stumbling home to drink in the company of “violent Netflix thrillers.”

The grinding electro of ‘The Wrestler’ disguises one of the more vulnerable passages on ‘Don’t Look Now!’, a gracious self-acceptance of the parts of oneself that look for something to destroy, learning to observe and transform toxic dynamics, be they personal or political. Still that anger can be vital, as heard on ‘Occupied’, brimming with soulful disenchantment at the growing legions of societal snake oil salesmen seeking to market that One Simple Trick to a better life.

‘Don’t Look Now!’ ends on a note of optimistic defiance. ‘The Double’ samples the thoughts of Margetts’ friends, their voices and perspectives cascading over one another, a song about individualism that looks to community as an antidote to feeling lost at sea.

Never faltering from a fiercely independent perspective, Margetts passionately embodies Yr Lovely Dead Moon in order to explore the complexities and contradictions that lie brewing just beneath society’s ever-smoother surface. Here, larger anxieties transform into thrilling songwriting and a vital, memorable gasp of an album from a singular talent. 
credits
released June 17, 2022

Don’t Look Now!

Written, recorded and produced by Rachel Margetts.

Vocals, electronics, clarinet, piano and bass from Rachel Margetts
Piano from Andreas Werner
Guitar and bass from Loke Risberg
Vocals from Odie Ji Ghast
Violin from Alice Colley

Mixed by Isa Bassi
Mastered by Rupert Clervaux

Artwork from Runa Jold, Putti, Julio Cordey, Salome Gersch, Richard Gersch and Rachel Margetts. 

Supported by Initiative Musik gGmbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media. 

(C) Hot Concept, 2022.

Don't Look Now!

The Double

Occupied

The Wrestler

One (And The Same)

Terror

Sun Dance

Finally unveiling their first-ever EP following nearly a decade of live shows, Dogshow debut on Hot Concept. A well-established and much-loved presence in their home city of Liverpool, brothers Sam and Laurie Crombie have operated as an incidental “house band” at The Invisible Wind Factory, a post-industrial club, studio and space that now finds itself at the centre of one of the most fertile creative scenes in Europe,

Emerging from this ambitious, collaborative community and encompassing a freewheeling love of electronic music in all forms, the three tracks on Dogshow’s ‘Dancing (Dancing)’ have each evolved with willing crowds over the years into a perfectly-formed trio of refreshingly unpredictable club nuggets.

Upfront in its intent, title track ‘Dancing (Dancing)’ is a surefire rhythm machine that, for all it’s deceptive simplicity, draws in willing floors with influences that evolve alongside the production, delivering shades of UK funky to glimmering piano house, further cut with a crooked line of refreshingly droll indie disco.

The much-loved energy of Dogshow’s performances as a live band are bottled on the galloping instrumental epicenter ‘Your Sport’; luminescent chords mixing with frenetic drumming and cascading breakdowns, a circuit board driven reimagining of post-punk percussion.

In conclusion, title track ‘It’s The C’ flourishes with the assistance of Bex from evergreen UK indie outfit and regular Dogshow collaborators Stealing Sheep. Sailing on a dreamier tip, ‘It’s The C’ finds our heroes staring wistfully out into the docks of their Liverpool home and onto the horizon for a soaring finale of electro-kosmische furnished with an additional, irresistible bounce.

It's The C

Your Sport

Dancing (Dancing)

Hot Concept returns with a release from a remarkable and previously undiscovered Australian talent; Pokies. ‘Loner On A Surfboard’, features four distinctive tracks that blend an ambitious range of influences, from UK funky and broken techno to ambient-acoustic experimentation, into an unpredictable and wildly original dancefloor EP.

Demonstrating a sharp ear for sound design throughout, Pokies takes the opening shot of ‘Macadamia’ to establish his masterful use of percussion, transforming a simple drum tool into an intriguing and hypnotic invite into his expansive musical outback. With open minds locked in, ‘Folk Devil’ transports listeners and dancers down a sonic wormhole, an unexpected blend of stuttering drums and delicate acoustic strings that furnish an atmosphere of unique psychedelia.

‘Once a Week’ allows Pokies to luxuriate deep in this landscape, applying waves of bass pressure to an intriguing design of analogue experimentation. It's up to ‘Tranzend’ for hard-boiled resolution, as a creeping melody climbs upwards in tempo - harder, faster, weirder - transitioning from the sublime to the truly ridiculous.

Pokies - Once A Week

Pokies - Macademia

Pokies - Folk Devil

Following his innovative 'Loner On A Surfboard' EP in late 2018,  Pokies' 'Once A Week' is given a tough, atmospheric rework by another underground Australian talent, DJ Borderforce, on his 'Southern Inferno Mix'.

A free download, courtesy of Hot Concept. Stay tuned..

Pokies - Once A Week (DJ Borderforce's Southern Inferno Mix) - FREE DOWNLOAD

Six months on from it’s initial release and following DJ Borderforce’s interpretation, we’re pleased to share another striking remix of Pokies’ ‘Once A Week’ from another Australian talent, Black Mannequin.

On this occasion, the track is transformed into a gently propulsive, bubbling and minimal stream, unfolding layers of lush percussion and naturalistic sounds and atmospheres. Perfect for very late nights into optimistic, bleary eyed mornings.

Available as a free download.

Pokies - Once A Week (Black Mannequin Remix)

Hot Concept enters its third year with the inaugural edition of ‘Hot Compilation’, collecting new works from every artist who has released on the label so far. Initially released as a Bandcamp exclusive, all proceeds from the release will be donated to habibi.works, an on-the-ground charity assisting refugees in Greece by providing spaces to use and exchange skills

Discovery Zone open the release with ‘Faking It’, an instrumental passage of wistful synth pleasure that acts as a blissful opening and an ideal foil to their celebrated debut album ‘Remote Control’ on Mansions & Millions, as well as the accompanying ‘Dance II’ remix single on Hot Concept. Oscillating in a different direction, Bleaching Agent continues to hypnotically meld outsider influences on ‘Amar’, an atmospheric, chugging juncture between EBM and post-punk.

Following two singles supported by DJs such as HAAi and Erol Alkan, British-Asian producer Beigean delves into his Bollywood crate to introduce ‘Bolly Edit #1’, a rhythmic and glorious nod to Indian cinema heritage that has been a staple on selected USB sticks since 2017, recently causing a stir in a festive back-to-back between label founder and John Loveless and Palms Trax on Cashmere Radio.

Loveless himself turns up in collaboration with Pokies for ‘Plausible Deniability’, directly inspired by the rubberiest bounce of Chicago house and absurdist electro, originally recorded on one baking hot Berlin afternoon in 2018, a temperature reflected in near-audible sweat. Refining this intensity, Gramrcy delivers ‘Throbbee’, a wide-eyed spectacle of tripping rave, easily cementing the man from Peach Discs’ reputation as one of the most versatile and generous club producers out there.

Finally, Yr Lovely Dead Moon anticipates new material and builds on the emerging cultish reputation of her recent self-titled album with ‘Mirror’, a simmering mix of performance poetry and heavy electronic manipulation, concluding ‘Hot Compilation’ on a deep and definitive note.

Hot Concept is a Berlin-based electronic and alternative music outlet founded by DJ, writer and producer, John Loveless. Beginning as a party, it expanded into a label in 2019. Beginning in 2016, habibi.works provides work with team members from sixteen individual countries in order to provide opportunity for education, empowerment and encounter.

Pokies & John Loveless - Plausible Deniability

Beigean - Bolly Dub #1

A digital label for electronic and alternative music. Also a party in Berlin. Founded by John Loveless in 2019.

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