new project run

favourite time of year, and not due to the cheesier side of halloween culture being in full bloom... horror exists all year round, it's just nicer in the fall.

༺𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓶𝓷 𝓯𝓵𝓾𝓼𝓱༻

Logtoad - Rat Full Of Coins EP Vol 1

Against Fascism Trax. 

Many small actions combined can have great power, and it is always better to try to do something than to do nothing.  I have long believed this.  It breaks my heart that AF Trax must exist, but sitting back and doing nothing is an option I simply cannot countenance.

Our current global political climate gives grave cause for concern, because when the world tips to the right, those within marginalised communities feel repressive outcomes directly & immediately.  It is easy to think “it surely isn’t so bad”?, but those people precarious in their life circumstances, marginalised in our communities and displaced across the borders of the world are already suffering the consequences - often violently - of this shift in ideology.

We live in an era where talking is endless, but where actions are harder to find.  If AF Trax reaches just one person to make them change their mind over being a supporter of the far right, motivates somebody to work against fascist thinking, informs someone or raises funds - then I will view it as having been a success.  Something solid will have been created, we will have done something.

Confusion seems to exist as to what being against fascism might look like. There are dedicated left-wing groups fighting under the Antifa banner, leading some to think that being against fascism is purely a left vs right ideological divide. But it is not. Surely the only people who aren’t against fascism… are fascists?  This is not left wing vs right wing posturing but a fight everybody, be they conservative, liberal, centrist, apolitical or any other point on the political spectrum should surely support fully.

The culture of dance music that we know and love was born out of the struggles of marginalised and vulnerable communities across the world  - and those who assert politics does not belong in dance music are shamefully ignorant of this essential history.  Dance music as a culture would not exist as we know it shorn from that history.  The dynamics of struggle and celebration has always (and will always) run deep in the DNA of Dance.

AF Trax hopes to harness a tiny fraction of this dynamic, to honour that history, to provoke dialogue that is fundamentally anti-racist, anti-sexist, non-homophobic, non transphobic, non-ageist, non ableist & to question and breakdown the class divide.  In these current political times we all need to stand up and be counted, strive to challenge and dismantle the logic of the status quo with all of our might.

The label’s message is very simple. The far right ultimately wish for the destruction of our way of life and indeed the lives of many of the people we love. The message is love. The message is solidarity. The message is No Pasaran - They shall not pass. It is a call to stand together, it is a call to stand up, it is a call to ACT.  Individually we may be powerless, but together we are strong.  

If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!


** All label profits will be donated to Hope Not Hate  (https://www.hopenothate.org.uk) which campaigns to counter racism and fascism. 

Thanks to Lerato Khathi / Bring Down The Walls for permission to repurpose some of her text for the notes here. For Heather Heyer and Jo Cox.

Logtoad - Rat Full Of Coins EP Vol 1

A1)Ratchet Beat
A2)Screw Pump

B1)Drill Beat
B2)Hex Acid

Released on vinyl (and digital) on January 11th 2019. Distributed by Kompakt.

AF Trax 001 - Logtoad - Rat Full Of Coins vol 1 12" EP (sampler)

BUY VINYL: http://www.darkentriesrecords.com/store/vinyl/lena-platonos-lepidoptera-remixes-ep/

SIDE A
Cyaniris (Anatolian Weapons 6 a.m. Eternal) @anatolianweapons
Araschnia Levana (Pasiphae Remix)@pasiphax	

SIDE B
Cyaniris (June Remix)@june
Τα Γενέθλια Ή Aporia Maturna (Morah Remix)@morah-l

Λένα Πλάτωνος (Lena Platonos) is a Greek musician, pianist and music composer. Her third solo album, ‘Lepidoptera’ was produced in 1986 and reissued by Dark Entries in 2018. Inspired by a scientific book on butterflies she found in a trashcan one day, the compositions follow minimalistic motifs and carefully-staged soundscapes.  Lena narrates each song in deadpan fashion, skillfully reciting her surreal Greek poetry. 

We’ve recruited 4 contemporary Greek producers to remix their favorite tracks from ‘Lepidoptera’. First up is “Cyaniris” remixed by Anatolian Weapons who delivers an enchanted late-night journey through the New Wave forest. Next is “Araschnia Levana” remixed by Pasiphae who speeds up the pace with machine driven melodic electro pulses. On the B-side we have June remixing “Cyaniris” twirling the track into a complex deep sea dive with lush drum kicks and pads. Closing out the EP is a remix of “Τα Γενέθλια Ή Aporia Maturna” by Morah who leads us to the underworld of Hades via sinister squelches and full-on apocalyptic rave breakdown. All songs have been mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is a reinterpretation of the original ‘Lepidoptera’ cover, isolating the illustration of the butterfly/woman designed by Eloise Leigh.

Lepidoptera Remixes

Lepidoptera Remixes EP

Lena Platonos - Lepidoptera Remixes EP PREVIEW CLIPS

“It’s not easy to transform a jam into a proper tune that haunts forever. The two Glaswegian friends MR TC and Lo Kindre are in possession of that special skill that can transform spontaneous tuned-in music into something significant without losing the gut feeling along the way.

As solo artists they have released on labels like Optimo Music, 12th Isle and Against Fascism Trax, and together released 'The Storm EP' in late 2018 on Vienna's Neubau. Now they continue their collaborative work on PHASE001 – an EP that also marks the launch of their own label that listens to the same name. The start-up brings four analogue tracks that courageously link cold waving synth-shocks, neon-light nonchalance and haunted spoken words; deep hypnotic musical witchcraft that peels itself out of the history of dark electronic music with a pulsating and haunting atmosphere.” 

- Words by ML

released late August 2019 

Recorded and mixed in Glasgow by MR TC & Lo Kindre 
Artwork by Andrija Čugurović
Mastered by Curved Press 
Vinyl Distributed by Rubadub

PHASE001

MR TC & Lo Kindre - PHASE001 (Preview)

Cosmic Monkey its Latvian DJ/Producer who under his another moniker NEI , shares proper Techno/Electro beats since 1998' and he is next up on Seven Sisters Records, a label focusing on showcasing the best of Latvian underground music.
With this ebullient "Funk You Up" EP he brings the combination of a few styles with radical effect. Nothing is standard about its sound from the heavy broken beats to the thick and complex production.
Darker than the darkness and with menacing undertones, Cosmic Monkey delivers this thumping "Got Your Back" mix which would work well even on the hells dancefloor bringing break beat drums, toms and flange ridden hi hats to the fore before breaking down into an ridden synth groove which brings the fire to the dancefloor. Record is out today digitally, buy here: https://sevensistersrecords.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/nei
https://soundcloud.com/sevensistersrecords

Funk You Up EP

Watch On YouTube

PREMIERE #666 | Cosmic Monkey - Got Your Back [Seven Sisters] 2019

Buy https://mannequinrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mnq-136-dissemblance-over-the-sand-lp

Exploring the balances between pop song writing structures, 80s cold wave bedroom style electronic production, and dreary gloom rock, Paris based Dissemblance presents her debut lp "Over the Sand" for Mannequin Records.

Over the ten tracks Dissemblance treads the fringes of a blurred dream world, using her bass guitar, voice, and drum machine as the backbone to create haunting yet soothing pop atmospheres in her songs.
The opener "Transfuge" maintains a focus on the bass guitar, while a sparse rhythm box and monotone vocal fuel unbreakable tension. "Rescue" continues centered around the bass playing, this time with more almost upbeat surf rock pop sensibility driving the track. The closer "A Ride" takes shape with Boss DR-55 clicks, solem, floating vocals and a subtle bassline reminding us of some of Lifetones finer moments.
A welcome new addition to the Mannequin catalog, "Over the Sand" will appeal to fans of gloom tinged electronic pop and even to optimistic goths around the globe.

release date November 29, 2019

All songs written and produced by Mathilde Mallen in Paris, France.

Mixed by Silent Servant.

Mastered by Rude 66.

Graphic design by Lee Douglas (AN-I).
Cover photography by Pauline Gouablin.

Over The Sand

MNQ 136 Dissemblance - Over The Sand LP (Album Mix)

Direct from the Hague (via Vilnius, Lithuania) comes your new favorite darkwave artist - Caline With C. This alias was created for the reason of experimentation, as a free space for exploration of the unknown, both in the outside world and within. Emotional experience (which often works as a strong drive and motivation to the artist) and soundwave are the main focuses for Caline with C (aka Kamile), now studying Sonology in a master program.
In her own words: “I am a DJ, composer, performer, researcher and basically open to any kind of mentally, emotionally and acoustically stimulating activities. All my world turns around sound. I believe that “in the beginning, there was sound…”, therefore learning to talk and understand the language of sound has been a true delight.” This ethos comes across in the clear experimental versus intuitive approach at play on “Once in a Blue Moon”, with tracks that were recorded approximately over a period of one year. Her influences vary widely from musique concrète, industrial, bass, hip hop to dub, breakbeat, house, techno. The resultant 5 pieces move from ambient through darkwave, footwerk and bass with motifs of funky percussive house scattered throughout (courtesy of Kamile’s beloved Quasimidi Rave-o-lution 309), and is a pleasure for lovers of sonic experimentation.

https://soundcloud.com/caline-with-c
https://soundcloud.com/clipp_art

PRÈMIÉRE: Caline With C - Inevitable Love [Clipp.art]

Thoughts clouded her mind, mirroring the white blanket that covered the sky outside her window. She'd been gazing out of it for hours, hoping for some inspiration to hit her, but she was finding it hard to engender motivation at all. There wasn't much movement or action outside to give rise to a feeling, but she was hopeful. For now, she'd continue to gaze outside and wait for that moment...

It's not easy to keep an independent label afloat, but Cosmo Vitelli's I'm A Cliche imprint has continued to thrive for over 15 years. To celebrate the occasion he's brought together friends and allies for a 13 track V/A compilation called Bongo, Beats & Bankruptcy, that captures the label's quirks and eccentricities and touches all corners of their vast musical universe. Amongst tracks from Benoît B, Fantastic Twins, Ivan Smagghe and Marc Collin's Volga Select project and Cosmo himself is our selection 'Skate & Distort', a club-ready IDM-not-IDM number by African Acid co-founder Rouge Mécanique.

Bongo Beats and Bankruptcy : The Sound of I'm a Cliche

PREMIERE: Rouge Mécanique - Skate & Distort [I'm A Cliché]

Bernardino Femminielli is proud to present his first 2020 LP L’Exil. The album is composed of lost Plaisirs Américains sessions recorded in Montréal, Quebec. Lyrics were written and recorded in Paris and Berlin in 2019 and mixed again in Montréal in early 2020 by producer
Dominic Vanchesteing (Plaisirs Américains, Double Invitation). L’Exil is the “pre-conclusion” (Prequel / Part 0) to two other LP’s— Johnny 4ever (Part I) and Nobody’s Boy: Johnny (Part II)— which will be released later this year.

L’Exil (2020)

L’Exil, the album, the performance, the satire, took shape after the notorious arrest of Bernardino Femminielli by American border authorities during a US tour in 2018. Instantly, the American Pleasures, the American dream became obsolete, irrelevant, of the past. The showman and his anguished wife decide to abandon their failing restaurant, their debts and their meagre North American livelihood to wander the old continent in search of a fresh start.

L’Exil is an paradoxical anthem for the unsuccessful. An elegiac and lyrical autofiction in the form of a concept album. A satire of show business, a tribute to society’s outcasts and heroes— a story which tells of the financial, artistic and spiritual failure of the exiled American showman (Femminielli). We learn early that the showman has a desire to symbolize the contradictions of life. We learn that the showman is affected by a multitude of dissociativeidentity disorders. A visit of an angel named “Johnny” seems to make him believe in the existence of his double, who sadly does not come seeking camaraderie, but with malicious intentions. He's the employee, the boyfriend, the slave. The showman loves his wife because she looks like the showman. Johnny and the wife have become products of his tormented world. Spiritual and psychological cannibalism is rife, and all will be complicit in the showman’s atrocities.

The literary and cinematographic borrowings are here violently diverted from their proper meaning to tell the story in their own way. Pasolini’s Italy, Fassbinder’s Germany, The Years of Lead, Macronist France, police terrorism, paranoia, obsession with the double, substance addiction, money and marriage are all subjects touched upon with humor and despair. As the showman ominously cautions: You don’t argue with a sly dog, you break his teeth and his jaw.

Bernardino Femminielli, frustrated by his status as a misunderstood artist, has constructed a semi-fictional caricature of himself. A guy adrift, an anti-hero, the politeness of despair, a loser crooner who's lost his way. The album has many faces of the same distress: those of the victims of a system that marginalizes them. Repeated themes and catalysts present in the album:

One’s failure to achieve professional success can lead to unexpected volatility.

Exile is oppressive thus one must also transform into an oppressor.
Violence is a direct result of frenzied desperation.
Cannibal mechanics are often precipitated by financial devastation.
Self destruction becomes a means of self preservation.
Consumption always without moderation.
Money is earned, and then like life, it’s burned.

All music and lyrics by Bernardino Femminielli except Track 4 (D. Vanchesteing / Femminielli). Recorded in Montréal, Paris, Berlin and Copenhagen. Special thanks to Yair Elazar Glotman, John Katsav (CRAVE), Dimitri Dedonder chez Les Studios Mégaphone, Adrien Belkout and Elliot Berthault pour le hot tip. Artwork by Thea Govorchin. Insert art and layout assistance by Jesse Osborne-Lanthier.  

Produced by Dominic Vanchesteing
© 2020 Bernardino Femminielli / Éditions Appærent. All rights reserved.

La Ballade De Daddy & Johnny

The mysterious @djriecia makes another appearance – this time to mark a year without serenity. Tracking down the right moments through a soft and vivid soundtrack gives us a moment to reflect and cherish.

MORAL ECHOES PODCAST 019 - DJ Riečia

No demos

🗓️ Mannequin Records showcases
alex@neptunemusic.net / sari@neptunemusic.net

Distro > http://www.rushhour.nl

Bandcamp http://bit.ly/NcCZYL
Beatport http://btprt.dj/1eGHvo5
Juno http://bit.ly/1hZtSIH
Boomkat http://bit.ly/MBEvCM