this track is the shit! I love your music!

Out February 2023

Smallville 59
Dana Ruh - Different Places Different Faces

A1 The Spirit
A2 TJ Mornings
B1 LA Nights
B2 Reach Out For Me

Cover artwork by Stefan Marx

Smallville 59 - Dana Ruh - Different Places Different Faces

Buy/stream: https://kompakt.fm/releases/agartha_lp_dl

‘Where is Agartha? What is the specific region in which it lies? Along what road, through what civilizations, must one walk in order to reach it?.’ Saint-Yves d’Alveydre in 1886

Agartha, the debut full-length album by Japanese producer Wata Igarashi, is a mysterious, divine thing. Named for the mythical secret kingdom, understood as a complex maze of underground tunnels, perhaps designed by Martians who colonised the Earth tens of thousands of years ago, it’s a similarly mystical, perhaps even cosmic trip – but this time, exploring an inner, deeply personal cosmos. Beautifully detailed and bustling with rich incident, it takes Igarashi’s music to new places, which still retaining his unique sonic imprimatur; in this respect, it’s perfectly at home with Kompakt, a label that’s always encouraged artists to make the visionary music they need to create, to take risks and make sideways steps into uncharted territory.

An eloquent producer and DJ, Igarashi has been releasing techno for eleven years now, appearing on such imprints as The Bunker NY, Delsin, Midgar, and Time To Express; he has also self-released his productions via his WIP net label. Throughout, Igarashi has consistently explored his unique approach to techno and electronic music, one that’s eloquent and poised, even when it shifts into more psychedelic terrain; he’s a master at balancing the sensual and the functional, and he has an unerring ear for the right texture, the right tone, at the right time. He brings all of this into Agartha, his most thorough-going expression of self to date.

For Agartha, Igarashi had a strong concept he wanted to explore. Visualising specific scenes from an imaginary film based on the titular secret kingdom, he created soundtracks for those scenes, spending time during the pandemic in his studio, working away carefully at the ten tracks here. Given his background in creating music for television and advertisements, Igarashi is well-placed to explore the marriage of the sonic and the visual in such intimate ways, but freed from commercial concerns, he let his imagination run riot. He also drew on a rich palette of musical influences – techno is in there, of course, but you can also hear the smoky, improvised jazz of the likes of Miles Davis (to whom the album’s title is an indirect nod), and the minimalism and systems music of Steve Reich.

The latter is particularly pronounced on the gorgeous, beatless drift of “Floating Against Time”, where an arpeggiated sequence lingers, lovingly, around your ears for nine blissful minutes, coasting across swooning drones and waves of ambient noise. “Ceremony Of The Dead”, originally composed as part of a Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial sound concert, is a deep pass into systems composition, with various patterns overlaid and interlocking, before a wordless vocal rises from the depths, a gorgeous counterpoint to the swarming textures that gather across the track. On the other hand, tracks like “Burning” and “Subterranean Life” nudge toward Fourth World territory, painting deluxe dreamscapes of uncertain provenance; the title cut is an abstract drift-world, Igarashi painting an alien tableau dotted by shape-shifting creatures.

Agartha’s conceptual framework means that everything on the album sits perfectly together; listening to it in one sitting is a dizzying, lush experience. Its imaginings of inner landscapes recall, in some respects, the nautical, aqueous mythologies of the Drexciyan universe, though from different perspectives. But the result is Igarashi’s own creation, a deluxe, enchanting trip through the visionary Agartha of this unique producer’s cinematic mind’s-eye.

Agartha

Wata Igarashi - Abyss

@moiskmoisk - Tetris Life
Remixer - @anatolianweapons
Label - @terra-magica-rec
 
All Sinchi premieres available on 
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sinchicollective 
Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7sd3nFrzl9itGooHqItGFG

♫ Info + Buy ♫

PREMIERE - Moisk - Tetris Life (Anatolian Weapons Remix) (Terra Magica Rec.)

Artist: @notmass
Label: @emahorecords
Release date: 06.12.2024

BUY:  https://emahorecords.bandcamp.com/album/valyrian-arbor

This mood, created by the talented producer Not Mass, is special for its thick, lingering fog of textures that rhythmically seep through the percussion. "Hurts Worse" delivers a persistent taste of the dark side of this compilation.

Artist Insta: https://instagram.com/_not_mass_
Label Insta: https://instagram.com/__emaho__

𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒆: Not Mass - Hurts Worse [EMAHO 002]

Download & Stream / http://lnk.to/ALLEY326

ALLEY326
GAI BARONE & AMAN ANAND Low Era

001 low era
002 low era kebin van reeken remix
003 low era montw & anton borin remix
004 low era yonsh remix

/ written and produced by Gai Barone, Aman Anand
/ remix production by Kebin van Reeken, Stanislav Montw, Anton Borin, Vladimir Demchenko
/ mastering by Anton Make

ALLEY326 GAI BARONE & AMAN ANAND Low Era

Download & Stream

GAI BARONE & AMAN ANAND Low Era (Montw & Anton Borin Remix)

track “Zeugma”, con un carácter melódico, profundo y atmosférico. La base debe construirse sobre un kick sólido y redondo, acompañado de un bajo cálido y envolvente que fluya con groove hipnótico. Las melodías principales surgen de sintetizadores etéreos y arpegios cristalinos, creando una sensación de conexión entre lo terrenal y lo abstracto, como un puente entre dos mundos. Incorporar pads expansivos y texturas ambientales que evoquen paisajes infinitos, con un desarrollo progresivo y dinámico.

zeugma - mora dj

Everything in Its Right Place - RADIOHEAD (simon_s RMX)

Planetary Assault Systems | Bell Blocker (Silent Servant Remix)

70007

70007B

One of Northern Ireland’s finest exports, Ejeca, joins Shall Not Fade label with an impeccable 5 track ‘Polar Nation‘ EP. A master of his craft, he has released on seminal labels, including Sasha’s Last Night on Earth and BPitch! Control among many others. Living by the ‘Music first hype later’ mantra, Ejeca has dished us up a real nice sonic smorgasbord. 

Pre-order vinyl here: shallnotfade.co.uk/album/polar-nation-ep

One of his heftier offerings, opener with ‘BetterB’ is a total slammer!  Nostalgic rave breaks, trance enhanced breakdowns, barely there vocals and broken-beats to shake life into you. A masterclass is slick, less is more, hypnotic dance music. ‘Never Should’ is a more recognisable cut from the Northern Irish artist. Classy 4/4 laden with grooves, uplifting keys and a gently wiggling acid line; this is pure hands in the air house for rose-tinted summer days. B-side kicks off with a frenzied start; ‘Polar’ is a mega club cut - it’s urgent and frantic siren like opening signifies total mayhem. Quickly descending into a pumpin’ electro-infused house banger, this is one to spin you out and pull you back in.  Machine funk ‘Nation’ is a vibey, retro electro number. One for the small hours, this one to get totally lost in. Finally, ‘Real’ brings the EP to an epic close. This big room vibe-machine channels old Detroit vibes, it’s impossible not to get swept up into this groove!

Polar Nation EP drops June 12th via Shall Not Fade.

Granular

J.S.Zeiter

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