@altered-states-tapes

Glad to announce our first release after summer. An adorable album by Troth from Newcastle, Australia. 
'Oak Corridor' is the second full-length album from duo Troth (Amelia Besseny & Cooper Bowman). It follows 2020’s warmly received album, Flaws In The Glass (Altered States Tapes) and 2021’s Small Movements In Radiance mini-album (Not Not Fun). While the same themes and intentions remain, this time Troth channel their ambient experiments into an environ located somewhere closer to minimal-wave and synth-pop.
While Oak Corridor is their most ‘song-based’ album to date, it continues the respectful treatment of natural themes found in their previous releases, further tying in elements of balance, truth, justice, humility, strains of mysticism from varied origins and an opposition to the encroachment of ill-advised development surrounding them in Newcastle (and Australia more broadly). The album is a truly collaborative affair and offers something of a sound-diary of the two’s relationship. 

KH039 will be released as LP (on Black and 100 Ltd Edition Crystal Transparent)/Digital/Streaming, artwork by Troth, design by Steele Bonus, out the 1st of November.

Troth - Oak Corridor [KH039 preview]

@michel-banabila

Mastering & remastering by Wouter Brandenburg 
All composed & performed by Michel Banabila 
Executive produced by Mark van de Maat 
Artwork by Keziah Philipps 
Design by Steele Bonus 

Cat.Nr. KH042 
2021 ℗ Knekelhuis

KH042 will be released as LP (on Black and 100 Ltd Edition Natural Transparent)/Digital/Streaming. 
Release date 13th of December.

Order

Michel Banabila - Echo Transformations [KH042 preview]

Death Is Certain comes housed in a printed inner sleeve featuring rarely seen archival photos, liner notes by Cooper Bowman and excerpts from an interview with Jimmy Smack conducted by Juan Mendez (Silent Servant) and Simone Ling.
All tracks written by Jimmy Smack between 1981 - 1983.
Recorded in Torrance, California.
Compiled and produced by Mark van de Maat.
Graphic design by Abel Minnee.
Remastered by Wouter Brandenburg.

Pre-order

Jimmy Smack - Death Is Certain [KH040 preview]

Knekelhuis Mix Series

@juliamira0808
Julia Mira is doing this month's mix. Julia is an Estonian-born and raised DJ and visual artist based in The Netherlands. She is a fine DJ with an exciting taste and a curious look at what it takes to build a scene and fuel the city's cultural life. She was a part of Red Light Radio, where she’s been regularly hosting radio shows, playing club nights and festivals, contributing to the podcasts during the past few years. Julia strengthens the powers of Knekelhuis in the busiest periods of the label. 
The mix is a dive into diverse music genres, a great palette of constructive flavor, a fresh and experimental journey through darkness to the light, and all the way back.

Knekelhuis # 74 - Julia Mira

@agonis-amenthia

This months mix is by Agonis from Basel, Swiss. Co-founder from the ‘amenthia recordings'. Together with his friends Varuna and Garçon (who runs Amenthia together with Agonis) they shaped this resilient and airy mini musical universe, operating in a world of techno, but far away from the heavy tenebrous Techno. 
Such a pleasure to share this fluid piece, propelling in subtlety. Make sure to check out Agonis recent album ’Neutropia’. 
His mix combines some major influences for ‘Neutropia’, tracks from the album and forthcoming stuff which will come out on ‘amenthia recordings’ this year.

Knekelhuis # 77 - Agonis

@altered-states-tapes

And we have a new mix for the month of August. By the band Troth from Newcastle, Australia. Along with this great mix we can announce that Troth will release their second album called ‘Oak Corridor’ on Knekelhuis. It will be the first release after summer, think Oct/Nov. 
The album recordings are just marvelous and have been our soundtrack for this moody summer, they glitter in utter beauty. 
Troth is the duo of Amelia Besseny and Cooper Bowman. Followers of the label recently discovered  their track ‘Calm Of The Shadow’ at album ‘and felt like…’ compilation. A document of magic still to come. 
So much excitement in here, lots of 4AD, ethereal, postpunk dubs and fun.

Knekelhuis # 79 - Troth

Troth ‘Oak Corridor’ Album Out 1st of November 2021.

Listen to 'Balancing Arc':
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3A9TbSg 
Qobuz - https://bit.ly/3k44CVX
Tidal - https://bit.ly/3z6dSgE

Follow Troth:
@altered-states-tapes

Follow Knekelhuis:
http://www.instagram.com/knekelhuis_/
http://www.facebook.com/knekelhuis

Music video by Amelia Besseny & Cooper Bowman, recorded in the area of Newcastle, Australia.
© + ℗ 2021 Knekelhuis, under exclusive licence to Knekelhuis Records.

Oak Corridor

Balancing Arc

A1 - Troth - Balancing Arc

A2 - Troth - Forge Fabric

A3 - Troth - Komodo

A4 - Troth - Oak Corridor

A5 - Troth - Weight Of A Feather

@argonaut_s
This month’s mix is by Region Salvaje who's based between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Nowadays Dima is playing in a band called Argunauts. He made a mix with material from his tape collection (mainly Soviet and Italian). The main narrative of this mix is a tribute to Dmitry Vasilev who 'introduced' Dima into electronic music. 
Dmitry was a music journalist and focal point of industrial and experimental music and events in Russia, since the early 90s. He wrote a book called Viva Italia, which was the first attempt (in Russia) to systematize information about the cultural phenomenon of experimental, industrial noise, electroacoustic, avant-garde and other unusual music from Italy. The book includes information on more than 800 artists, photographs and detailed descriptions of releases. He tragically passed away 3 years ago during the filming of movie about the occult-death industrial movement in 80s. This film is now online. Watching Tinnitus gave rise to record this mix. 

Tinnitus on Youtube: https://bit.ly/3C20pJ9

Knekelhuis # 80 - Region Salvaje

@michel-banabila

Mastering & remastering by Wouter Brandenburg 
All composed & performed by Michel Banabila 
Executive produced by Mark van de Maat 
Artwork by Keziah Philipps 
Design by Steele Bonus

Cat.Nr. KH042 
2021 ℗ Knekelhuis

KH042 will be released as LP (on Black and 100 Ltd Edition Natural Transparent)/Digital/Streaming
Release date 13th of December

Echo Transformations

A1 - Michel Banabila - Coral Reef

A2 - Michel Banabila - Balafon Dub

A3 - Michel Banabila - The Three Stages Of Endurance

A4 - Michel Banabila - Echo Transformations

B1 - Michel Banabila - Zoosemiotics

B2 - Michel Banabila - MltVz 5

B3 - Michel Banabila - Cassette Loops

B4 - Michel Banabila - In Other Words (Web SDR Mix)

@abel-minnee 

November’s mix is by Abel Minnee. Abel is a photographer and DJ from Amsterdam, and he made this exciting ride through the outskirts of many genres. A lyrical and seamless blend between country blues, 90’s rap, industrial and electro. Sort of a Coil grittily meets Tupac and Lightnin’ Hopkins blends in Lil Wayne gracefully gathering opposites.

Knekelhuis # 81 - Abel Minnée

@elinatapio @hannah-pezzack

With the winter solstice still weeks away in Western Europe, this is a dark time in more ways than one. Heralding from Finland, Elina Tapio is accustomed to endless nights. During the colder months in the Nordic country, the sun rises below the horizon, meaning there is little to no daylight. For this instalment of the Knekelhuis series, together with Hannah Pezzack, she presents a mix dedicated to the darkness: gothic ambient, ethereal voices, potent industrial and eerie experimentation.  

Having met in Amsterdam, the pair hold a residency on Tbilisi's Mutant Radio which airs ‘Scrying the Landscape’ – a show exploring uncanny and ecological compositions – on a bi-monthly basis. Originally from the UK, Hannah Pezzack is an editor and music journalist who has contributed liner notes to Knekelhuis, as well as to Osàre! Editions and Dekmantel. As a duo, Hannah and Elina are united by their love for spectral, sonic storytelling.

Photography by Miriam Matthiessen

Knekelhuis # 82 - Elina Tapio & Hannah Pezzack

@philipp-otterbach

Holiday wishes from Berlin!

For the last mix of the year we have one of our close friends and label's artist on board. Philipp Otterbach used a lot of guitar tracks in here, however he mentioned that “he hates it when people describe their mixes as a "Special guitar mix" or "vinyl only" or whatever”, it’s a logical followup on Philipp’s previous mixes. It contains favorite tracks from Philipp’s youth, stuff he found over the years and some new records he digged and ordered through the pandemic. A lot of 7inches in here, more than in any other of his mixes. 

Phillip has some great new music coming out soon - don’t forget to follow the news. 

Photo by Fay Nolan

Knekelhuis # 83 - Philipp Otterbach

Master Kh040 Digital 16Bit 9

A1. Jimmy Smack - Anguish

A2. Jimmy Smack - Hating Life

A3. Jimmy Smack - Depression

B1. Jimmy Smack - Souls

B2. Jimmy Smack - Cybernetic

B3. Jimmy Smack - Death Is Certain

B4. Jimmy Smack - The Scarlet Beast

B5. Jimmy Smack - Batty

B6. Jimmy Smack - Anguish (Instrumental)

Produced – Pascal Pinkert
Vocals – Pascal Pinkert
Written By – Miriam Bruijning
Mastered By – Ruud Lekx

Released By - Knekelhuis

Wat Voel Je Nou

Geen Genade

B1 - De Ambassade - Geen Genade

Produced – Pascal Pinkert
Vocals – Pascal Pinkert
Written By – Miriam Bruijning
Mastered By – Ruud Lekx

Released By - Knekelhuis / 18th of January
Pre-order: www.bordelloaparigi.com/?p=6468
Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/De-Ambassade-Wat-Voel-Je-Nou/release/7890276

A1 - De Ambassade - Wat Voel Je Nou

Alessandro Parisi also known as Hesperius Draco from Pordenone – Italy – and London based Timothy J Fairplay found themselves in the middle of an ice cold world, opening their wintery project with the “Romance” soundtrack. The warm synth lines will single handedly set Moscow’s frozen red square on fire. The Italian soundtrack synthesisers will touch the trans-siberian world and end with a slow burner named “What Is To Be Done”. Mastering by Rude66.
 
Release date: February 15
Knekelhuis A Parigi

OUT NOW! KAP001 - B2 - Dynamite Winter Palace - What Is To Be Done

KH005 - EYE - Sabine LP

EYE is a project from Laurène Exposito from Rennes (France), where she runs the intimate label Waving Hands. EYE’s debut album ‘Sabine’ takes us into Laurène’s silk-covered dreamworld, at once mad and serene, sounding like a breeze and a blast at the same time. Bedtime stories or lucid nightmares? You decide..

Comes with insert.

Sabine

KH005

KH005 - EYE - Sabine LP [preview] - OUT NOW

While going down under at last weeks show, we had a guest appearance of New Zealander Intergalactic Gary. Living in The Hague since early youth, he's a stalwart of the Dutch West Coast scene. Enjoy!

IFM # 26 - Intergalactic Gary - Knekelhuis - Intergalactic FM

Lauréne Exposito is back with a follow up to her well received debut album from last year on Knekelhuis. This new record turned out to be very personal. Life changes and love’s stranges are central themes in all its shapes, sizes and colors. Still, hope takes centerstage. All tracks have been recorded at Lauréne’s home in the French Alps, using analog gear. Take a Cocktail Mexico and immerse yourself into her liberating new trip. This 10” comes with intimate inlay.

Knekelhuis

Cocktail Mexico

Pre-Order Now

KH012 - EYE - Cocktail Mexico 10" [preview]

In collaboration with Paris' recordshop Dizonord, Knekelhuis will close the summer of 2019 with this amazing gem. Beyond the Beat will burst dancefloors soon.

Founded in 1990 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cold Front were what you'd call early adaptors, their music at the time of its inception an oddity. This fourpiece, consisting of spouses Ayanna and Cam Muata, Jon Jon Scott and Ron Clark, were far ahead of their time and faded just as rapidly as they entered the stage, only playing a handful of local shows in support of Nine Inch Nails, Meat Beat Manifesto and such, alongside several cameos during early house nights and techno events.

Though short lived, their music nevertheless speaks volumes. It's intriguing stuff, a magical association of sound reminiscent of Ron Hardy and Klein MBO. New Beat-like drum parts, overdubbed by politically engaged raps, basslines that would make The Cure proud, held together by freakout speaking in tongues vocal experiments while also showing an obvious parallel to the rise of triphop at the other side of the ocean.

Cold Front - Stars And Stripes [Knekelhuis & Dizonord]

We met I Hate Models last year somewhere in the northern suburbs of Paris. We were both playing at different shows that night. After this spontaneous meeting, IHM took us to a pretty raw afterparty, underneath a bridge. It was grimy, the place filled up by forceful techno, lots of naked bodies and heavy boiling temperatures. We discovered a common interest in certain experimental music. Since I Hate Models is mostly playing big room techno events nowadays, we thought it could be an interesting experiment to bring him into a different context, where he’d be able to tell another story. That was last week, at the Red Light Radio studio for the Knekelhuis takeover during Amsterdam Dance Event.

@ihatemodels

I Hate Models - ADE 2019 Red Light Radio - Knekelhuis takeover

On this long-awaited debut album Patricia Kokett continues his transcendent explorations. Built around a trip to the annual Nine Emperor Gods festival on the island of Phuket, Thailand, Bizarr is the sonic end result of an immersion into Thai ritual culture. The festivities and rituals of this so-called Vegetarian festival, which aim to give health and wisdom back to the community, inspired this beautiful, ecstatic collage of music, self-illuminating Kokett in the process. In this narrative of 6 long, stretched out songs, he conjures up an electrifying sense of catharsis and transcendence. An insert gathering in-depth liner notes about the artistic vision, the travels and the concept behind Bizarr will accompany this release.

Written by Patricia Kokett
Artwork by Tetsunori Awaraya
Mastered by Brandenburg Mastering
Liner Notes by Gediminas Jakubka, Nico Nijland & Mark van de Maat

Buy vinyl & digital at our Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/39nyXHl
© 2020 Knekelhuis
@patriciakaas

Patricia Kokett - Bizarr [preview]

We are delighted to share with you a fresh episode of our mix series, this time with Alicia Carrera. 

Originally from Galicia based in Barcelona and with a long stint in Berlin behind her, Alicia Carrera is a woman of multiple talents: graphic designer, a photographer and, of course, a DJ of some reputation, thanks to her comprehensive knowledge of dance music and unique taste when mixing and recording sessions. Her musical obsessions run to genres such as new wave, psychedelia, experimental electronics, and darkwave; sonic passions that led her to find the fanzine Zauberstab, dedicated to making unusual and hidden music known.

In this episode, you can enjoy Alicia's always present signature in the selection of slow melodies, cosmic sounds, percussive rhythms and house, trance and new beat influences, always with the ambitious and praiseworthy objective of taking the audience to a new and unknown place.

@aliciacarrera

Knekelhuis # 61 - Alicia Carrera

@patriciakaas

"This is Bizarr, my first full length record. On this release, I tried to amp up the ritualistic tendencies found on the Diabel EP, which was also released at Knekelhuis. I’ve always been intrigued by the world of rituals and transcendence, both from an anthropological and spiritual perspective. Bizarr is built around these concepts and to create it I traveled to the island of Phuket, Thailand, to experience and embrace the soul and spirit of the Nine Emperor Gods festival, also known as the Vegetarian Festival. It has its origins in the beginning of the 19th century and is held annually in September/October in accordance with the Chinese lunar calendar. The latter makes sense, because Phuket is home to a large Taoist Chinese minority, an ethnic group calling themselves Peranakan. They are descendants of Chinese settlers, who believe that abstinence from meat and various stimulants is beneficial to good health, peace, and purity of the mind. The celebrations include performances held to invoke the gods, where white-clad participants act like mediums. These so-called Masong strive to achieve a pure state of being that enables them to connect with their ancestors and demons. When this state of trance is reached, ancestors are able to enter body and soul. Flagellation and auto-mutilation are used to reach this possessed plain of consciousness. These acts of piercing, flagellating and puncturing different body parts with knives, swords and other items simultaneously enhance this state. It may look torturous, but pain is absent due to the trance-like state and the protection of the gods, resulting in little blood or scarring.  
 
This fascination for these unusual rituals didn’t come out of thin air. My music has been deeply influenced by the legendary Coil, whose Peter Christopherson (also of Throbbing Gristle fame) moved to Thailand after Coil co-member Jhonn Balance died in 2004. Peter explored the world of Thai ritualistic culture as The Threshold HouseBoys Choir, releasing Form Grows Rampant, an album based on material collected at GinJae festival, a Nine Emperor Gods variation held in the Thai Krabi region. Unfortunately, Christopherson’s untimely death prevented him from furthering his explorations into the sound and spirit of his new country of residence. The Threshold HouseBoys Choir’s music and videos clearly paved the way for my interest in Thai culture. I delved into the world of Thai ritual practices, reading and watching as many sources as possible, before deciding to take things a step further by visiting the Vegetarian festival myself. This truly emotional and deeply inspirational journey left an indelible impression on me. I sensed something I can only describe as ‘vision almost tangible’, which gave me a very clear view on how the record would materialize. Bizarr signifies a defining step for me as an artist. The whole experience not only taught me a lot about the otherness of Thai culture, but even more so about the peculiarities of Western society - especially the superficiality of solely focusing on material gain."

Bizarr

Patricia Kokett - Hexerrr

@acolourfulstorm

Our next mix is made by Moopie. For those who don’t know, he’s running the great ‘A Colourful Storm’ label. 
The first time I encountered the label’s existence, was at the label’s inaugural release of the Denial - California Dreaming 7” EP. A sweet minimal wave interpretation of ‘California Dreamin’, most known by the version from the Mamas and the Papas. Re-issued by A Colourful Storm, delivered in a beautifully designed cardboard carton sleeve.
It’s hard to pick a few of the highlights from the label, but I’m gonna try by mentioning the Christoph De Babalon, Kallista Kult, and upcoming Désaccord Majeur 3 track EP (so nice!) material. 
Moopie is Beijing-born and based in Melbourne, Australia. His mix turned out to be a dreamy, mostly 90’’s IDM selection, getting more bleepy techno-ish towards the end. Thanks for this. Enjoy.

Knekelhuis # 64 - Moopie (A Colourful Storm)

@laila-sakini

Our next mix is by Laila Sakini. Her story is one of a reflection of her own imaginative and dosed work. And it set our day in motion perfectly. 
Expect a selection of unreleased songs from Melbourne friends, and music that touches the ambient, art pop and Illbient / Triphop territories.
While we are still in the midst of this global pandemic, that is not reflected in Laila Sakini's vibrant release output this year. Thank goodness some labels and artists are still able to keep pushing records that let us sunbathe in beauty in these cold times, and make our lives a little more beautiful in these days. 
Laila released this year a beautiful album on Total Stasis just before Covid kicked in, did an EP on Boomkat and Self Released 2 EPs.
As London-based, Australian DJ and musician, her work is characterized by serenity, friction and openness.

Knekelhuis # 70 - Laila Sakini

@claudia_franco

Our next guest is Claudia. She’s based in Prague and runs the Deviant mix series ánd club night at Ankali, which we consider to be one of the best clubs Europe has to offer. 
Then there is Planeta Za, Ankali’s sibling, and home for Claudia’s residency. A place dedicated to the experimental cut that tries to have a different take on music and a more community-based approach.
Her mix is a representation of her impeccable taste, which takes us into a story that lights up, jerks in reality and feels balanced, alert and calming in a pleasant way. The route. Always there, but the flow is now very welcome.

Knekelhuis # 73 - Claudia

bookings & label showcase, other inquiries: 
info.knekelhuis@gmail.com

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