precise, clear, resonating

Process Fatigue

Group Chats With High Signal-To-Noise Ratio Become Coops

upsammy - Germs in a Population of Buildings
Label: PAN
Cat.No.: PAN 132
Release Date: 05 May 2023
Purchase: pan.lnk.to/GerminaPopulationofBuildings

On her sophomore album "Germ in a Population of Buildings”, upsammy moves through her surroundings with the curiosity of a place-bending landscape architect. The album is rooted in her interest for ambiguous environments in constant shift, and the feeling of discovering strange patterns in different ecosystems. Often, the Amsterdam-based artist finds herself zooming in and out beyond a place's most recognizable surface features to inhabit the microscopic and gigantic. Gathering field recordings and evocative environmental sounds, she shapes this source material into vibrating electro-acoustic rhythms and unstable, psychedelic textures.

upsammy's debut album, 2020's critically-acclaimed "Zoom", was praised for its careful reimagining of IDM, evolving vignettes that nodded towards the dancefloor without being shackled to its rigid set of rules. On "Germ in a Population of Buildings" her process has evolved considerably; the skeletal trace of IDM is still present but it's been trapped in amber, allowing her unique sonic landscape to develop organically. 'Being is a Stone' is a proof of concept in many ways, layering upsammy's contorted voice in rickety patterns beneath a lattice of fragile rhythms and faintly melancholy synths. It's never immediately obvious where the sounds are coming from - a hiccuping beat might be glass cracking underfoot, and larger pulses could be wet concrete, rusted iron or bent plastic. As the sounds develop they morph into each other, demolishing what came before and building on top of the ornamental wreckage.

On the dynamic 'Constructing', upsammy's sound design fluxes through hyperactive bass music structures, abstracting expectations at every turn. Often her sounds are whisper quiet, rattling and vibrating until heavier masonry drops and disrupts the structure. And when discernible rhythms subside into the background, like on the album's eerie title track, they become almost illusory, morphing between the real world and the electronic. upsammy's processed voice works like a bridge between these realms, snaking between stark, whimsical melodies on 'Patterning', arching from AutoTuned detachment into cooing, dreamy intimacy. By considering the harmonies between each location she's visited, upsammy has been able to build a unique topology that's an uncanny digital amalgam of her lived experience. It's a thoughtful alternative in an era more concerned with flatting the landscape than crumpling it and examining its peaks and troughs.

Mastered by Rashad Becker
Mixed by James Ginzburg
Artwork by Jonathan Castro Alejos and Tharim Cornelisse

Germ in a Population of Buildings

upsammy - Patterning (PAN 132)

upsammy - Green Lung (PAN 132)

upsammy - Constructing (PAN 132)

Pre-order: https://maloca.bandcamp.com/album/siiix-vol-1

Brussels-based label @malocarecords presents 'SIIIX, Vol.1', a compilation-turned-collaborative EP showcasing a dialogue between HIIIT (fka percussion ensemble Slagwerk Den Haag) and six producers - shimmering between footwork, IDM, UK bass and ambient.

The final result is six wildly different sonic outcomes, from the high-energy workouts of @upsammy’s ‘Embrytone’ to Julian Satorius’s warped rhythms in ‘Klutsel-Klötzli’.

More exclusive music

Premiere: upsammy 'Embrytone'

ZULI, experimental club producer and VENT co-founder hailing from Cairo hits the NTS airwaves to showcase his club wares: aggressively left-field.  
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/ZULI/episodes/zuli-17th-june-2024

ZULI w/ Movie Real & Ikävä Pii 170624

I’ve made a track and AGENDA⋮ has made a song out of it.

“Paradigms” out in 3 versions.

Ikävä Pii - Paradigms -++
Ikävä Pii - Paradigms --
AGENDA⋮ - Paradigms +-

A fancy press release text here. A big concept. The usual tags, buzzwords, adjectives. Post-facto meaning, retroactive motives. Tropes for easy consumption, categories for easy detection. Some big DJ played it out! It's forward-thinking - yet the usual.
Or, left turns, fuckups, new experiments, old loves.
Lyrics, words, good ideas, desires, tea, fears, memes, questions, wrong answers, bad ideas.
No interesting sound was ever made by playing it safe.
Have fun you coward :)

҉p҉҉a҉҉r҉҉a҉҉d҉҉i҉҉g҉҉m҉҉s҉ ҉l҉҉o҉҉r҉҉e҉҉c҉҉o҉҉r҉҉e҉ ҉d҉҉e҉҉e҉҉p҉҉f҉҉a҉҉k҉҉e҉҉s҉ ҉s҉҉t҉҉e҉҉r҉҉e҉҉o҉҉t҉҉y҉҉p҉҉e҉҉s҉ ҉c҉҉l҉҉i҉҉c҉҉h҉҉e҉҉s҉ ҉c҉҉o҉҉s҉҉p҉҉l҉҉a҉҉y҉҉s҉ ҉d҉҉r҉҉a҉҉w҉ ҉t҉҉h҉҉e҉ ҉l҉҉i҉҉n҉҉e҉ ҉f҉҉u҉҉c҉҉k҉ ҉u҉҉p҉ ҉b҉҉u҉҉t҉ ҉w҉҉i҉҉t҉҉h҉ ҉g҉҉r҉҉a҉҉c҉҉e҉

Ikävä Pii - Paradigms --

Carrier & Emily Jeanne invite London based DJ & Niche founder Ikävä Pii.

🌐 "Outsiders" is our daily show hosted by labels, collectives, agencies, venues, clubs, ... worldwide
📡 Connect with the Outsiders, every day, at 9 am or 9 pm CET
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Outsiders: Carrier & Emily Jeanne present unit::overlay w/ Ikävä Pii @ Kiosk Radio 28.08.2024

🌐 Refuge Worldwide is a radio station and community space based in Berlin-Neukölln.

➡️ More info, more music: www.refugeworldwide.com

Support us by becoming a member on Patreon for just 3€ a month: www.patreon.com/refugeworldwide

Club Silentio - B.BBY & Ikävä Pii - 05 Dec 2024

Following the launch of the Eyes series, Early Reflex welcomes back Ikävä Pii for “Eyes II”, the second entry in this exploratory two-tracker format. 

Possibly the darkest tracks Ikävä Pii has produced to date, ‘False Binaries Fight for Primacy’ and ‘Permaweird’ are two detailed and twisted club tunes, encapsulating the perennial state of frustrated urgency of our times. 
Uneasy feelings are conveyed in both tracks, and refracted through the artist’s signature playful approach.
False Binaries Fight for Primacy is driven by the eerie ambiguity of its major/minor harmony, and a relentless rhythmic section that nods to post-punk as much as the track’s distorted, shouty vocals. The unsettling main theme of Permaweird is hinged on an alteration of the Locrian mode (often deemed the “weirdest” mode), and its timbre, albeit recalling familiar patches from the Process Fatigue era, here paints a much darker picture. 
Topical and heartfelt, these tracks update Ikävä Pii’s sound with an uncanny mutation, material for a standout moment in a club set. Already secret weapons in Ikävä Pii’s live show for nearly a year, they’ve left heads spinning on dancefloors in UK, Europe and beyond, and now find their proper home on Early Reflex.

Ikävä Pii said:
“What’s the purpose of club music in a climate where alienation is the norm and outdated narratives are collapsing?
We live in the permaweird: reality gets increasingly absurd, and yet we adapt to it every day.
Nothing to fight for: digital vs physical, liberal left vs authoritarian right, old vs young - just false binaries. There must be another way. 
In the meantime, activate punk mode, shout in the mic, use stranger scales. 
The only real binary is rich vs non-rich (and that’s what clubs should be about).
Thanks Venkatesh Rao and David Rudnick for the inspiration.”

‘Eyes II’ is available on all platforms starting from Friday 2nd May 2025.

© & ℗ 2025 Early Reflex. All rights reserved.

All tracks produced and mixed by Ikävä Pii at Niche Studio, London § Mastering at CB5 Studios § Artwork by Alessandro Scanu.

False Binaries Fight for Primacy

OUT NOW

Ikävä Pii - False Binaries Fight for Primacy

Marlboro City Puglia Circa 1999

Ikävä Pii - Marlboro City Puglia Circa 1999

After a weird and wonderful 2nd bday party last weekend, NICHE main fungus @ikavapii invites one of the night’s heroes, Paris-based sound alchemist @lefrit , for 2 hours of abstract, wonky, slowfast music.


NICHE w/ Ikävä Pii & Le Frit - 21th April 2025

ROOO & Ikävä Pii the 2 main forces behind NICHE, will share the monthly dose of weird club-adjacent music, playing new and forthcoming releases ahead of their next event on May 30th.


NICHE w/ Ikävä Pii and ROOO - 19th May 2025

Niche is back with Ikävä Pii and singer, producer and comrade LVRA 
2 hours of twisted tunes from the left-field side of the sonic spectrum.



NICHE w/ Ikävä Pii & LVRA - 21st July 2025

September 6, 2025
for Terry Mullett
https://soundcloud.com/terry_mullett

BACKWARDS SWIMMING FISH

Fresh releases from the left end of the music spectrum with Niche curator Ikävä Pii; expect textural ambient, neoclassical, weird electronic, club-adjacent rhythms, and more oddities.


NICHE w/ Ikävä Pii - 17th November 2025

explorer of whatnot
𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸
Niche 🍄 curator
Monthly on Netil Radio

Group Chats With High Signal-To-Noise Ratio Become Coops

Ikävä Pii

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