'Necessary Machinery' is the first track of Primal Extensions EP. I was adamant that we release this record in the dead of winter, a time of short days and long nights, but also a time of gathering strength and deep introspection.

For many years I was gripped by the idea of working within techno music yet also outside. How to resolve a contradiction. How to map the unmappable. How to find a way to make a logical proposition and its opposite both true. On my quest I first had to find and define the boundaries of the object I was dealing with. I found that some of the fundamentals of techno music are a steady beat and binary subdivisions. An eternal grid, the fabric of techno reality from which all common patterns are derived.

I found a solution in prime rhythm, a vast and beautiful world of music topology. Polyrhythms of prime number ratios. Each prime rhythm potentially generates a new grid, a whole new parallel universe of rhythm, relationships, frequencies.

I hope you enjoy the result and that you find the music energizing and simulating.

Necessary Machinery

Celebrating the Lunar New Year with ‘Lì xì’, the first track to be shared from JakoJako’s brand new album, Tết 41 - out 25th April.

This record is, in many ways, a distillation of ideas JakoJako has been exploring for years. Tapping into a deep understanding of machine-based music and illuminated by references to her heritage, Tết 41 reflects on notions of rebirth, and the pursuit of a sonic core. From this simplicity emerge some of her most expansive, unworldly compositions to date. 

“I wanted to collect the atmospheres of Vietnam, and strip it back to my language - electronic music. I don’t have huge ties to the traditions of my Vietnamese family, so being able to experience them with my mother, and then bring the Lunar Celebration - the colourful flowers, food and customs - back to Europe through music has helped me realise how important this side of my heritage is.” - JakoJako (aka Sibel Koçer)

Available on vinyl in a limited run of just 500 copies worldwide, pre-order now!

Lì xì

Pre-order

Fuck It

Kumquat, the new track from JakoJako’s upcoming album Tết 41, out on limited vinyl and digital on 25 April 2025. The album was recorded in Vietnam during the Tết Lunar New Year celebrations where Kumquats are ubiquitous as a key symbol of Tết, bringing prosperity and abundance.

This record is, in many ways, a distillation of ideas JakoJako has been exploring for years. Tapping into a deep understanding of machine-based music and illuminated by references to her heritage, Tết 41 reflects on notions of rebirth, and the pursuit of a sonic core. From this simplicity emerge some of her most expansive, unworldly compositions to date.

Available on vinyl in a limited run of just 500 copies worldwide, pre-order now!

Kumquat

Can't Stand To Lose

Can't Stand To Lose (hard soft rework)

Preorder now on Juno: https://bit.ly/4krxFAf

Berlin-based producer JakoJako aka Sibel Kocer's debut album for Mute - after appearances on a stream of leading German labels including Tresor - is described as a distillation of ideas that she's been exploring for many years. In reality, that means working on a minimal set up, away from the computer while restricting herself to just a Eurorack and a Waldorf Iridium Core, in the search for spontaneity. She found it, for sure, as the results - recorded in Vietnam during the Tet Lunar New Year celebrations - are a feast of glistening arpeggios and lush modular textures, stripped back but full of expression and personality. 'Ghi-ta' will appeal to fans of vintage perky ambient productions the Pete Namlook/Mixmaster Morris collaboration Dreamfish, while 'Gio' has a touch of Tangerine Dream's classic widescreen sensibilities. Bold tones, bold debut.

More from the label: https://www.juno.co.uk/labels/Mute/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=premiere&utm_campaign=soundcloud

PREORDER

PREMIERE: JakoJako - Kumquat (Mute)

‘Dragon Bridge’—inspired by JakoJako's travels through Vietnam and the fire-breathing Cầu Rồng in Da Nang. 🐉🐉🐉

“I wrote this track in Da Nang on the day the Dragon Bridge spit fire,” Koçer says. “It was spectacular… especially as we were there in 2024, the year of the dragon. After watching, we went home, and I wrote that tune.”

'Dragon Bridge' is taken from JakoJako's upcoming album Tết 41— an exploration of heritage, identity, and rebirth, Tết 41 collects the atmospheres of Vietnam, through rich modular textures and electronic world-building.🎋🎆🇻🇳

Dragon Bridge

‘Shapeshift’ continues the very personal themes of ‘Can’t Stand To Lose’ and is, explains HAAi, about the “duality of being both the person you are onstage and the person you are at home, in the normal world.”

Teneil and KAM-BU previously collaborated alongside Jon Hopkins on ‘Always Ascending’, which launched her acclaimed DJ-Kicks mix. Talking about the new track, Teneil explains: “I wanted the track to start with a laidback spoken word section that, as the tension builds up in the track, develops into something that has much more intention and is more rhythmic,” before adding, “KAM-BU really rose to the challenge.” 💘💘💘

Shapeshift

Berlin-based Nicolas Bougaïeff follows up February’s ‘Primal Extensions’ EP with ‘Prime Funktion’, the second instalment of his ‘Prime’ EP series on NovaMute. Expanding on his ongoing exploration of prime rhythms and polytemporality, Bougaïeff continues to push the boundaries of techno with intricate rhythmic frameworks and hypnotic, high-intensity club cuts.

He kicks off this latest offering with ‘Prime’, a bleeping, twisted, and trippy late-night techno cut built around a quintuplet groove and 7:6 synth structures. The fantastic ‘Funktion’ is another potent, menacing track, where a shadowy synth loop repeats over hefty kicks in a dystopian fashion, driven by prime rhythmic divisions that create tension and unpredictability. ‘Nucleus’ is a hypnotic piece rolling on thudding kicks, with tumbling percussive lines dancing over the drums while its rational intonation scale, tuned around the 17th harmonic, brings a microtonal depth to the melodies. Last but not least, ‘Womb’ contrasts ever-evolving melodic patterns ringing down over lurching drums and unresolved loops, creating a dynamic interplay between chaos and calm. The artwork mirrors the EP’s approach, visualising prime rhythms as layered circular structures, where individual patterns remain independent yet momentarily align—capturing the tension between freedom and synchronisation that defines the Prime series.

Nicolas Bougaïeff’s ‘Prime Funktion’ once again showcases his unmatched mastery of polyrhythm, with the EP already receiving early support from Charlotte De Witte, Dubfire, Boris, Laurent Garnier, and Elisa Bee.

Drawing from his PhD in minimal techno and decades of experience, Bougaïeff continues his quest to expand the rhythmic possibilities of electronic music. The Prime series introduces listeners to prime rhythms—polyrhythms derived from prime number ratios that challenge traditional binary subdivisions—alongside his pivot mixing techniques, which allow seamless tempo integration. This explores what Bougaïeff calls 'temporal liberation'—where intricate rhythms both literally break the constraints of traditional techno and serve as a symbolic metaphor for broader notions of personal, social, and metaphysical freedom.

Beyond his releases on labels such as Mute and NovaMute, Bougaïeff co-founded Liine, creators of the Lemur music app—famously used aboard the International Space Station. He founded the Berlin Academy of Electronic Music and reaches a global audience through his online tutorials, where he explains innovative production techniques. His videos on pivot mixing have gained notable recognition among industry peers.

Prime Funktion releases on NovaMute on 7 May 2025.

Support the release: https://nicolasbougaieff.bandcamp.com/album/primal-extensions

Follow Nicolas Bougaïeff:
Soundcloud: @nicolasbougaieff
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolasbougaieff/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolasbougaieff/

Follow NovaMute:
Soundcloud: @novamutenovamute
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/novamute_/
Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/label/novamute/2653

Follow Dirty Epic:
Website: www.dirty-epic.com
Merch: shopby6am.com/collections/dirty-epic-collection
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DirtyepicLA
Twitter: twitter.com/dirtyepicla
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dirtyepicla/

PREMIERE: Nicolas Bougaïeff - Funktion [NovaMute]

Liars - Scissor

www.mute.com

Mute was founded by Daniel Miller in 1978, and since then has signed and developed some of the world’s most influential recording artists – including Goldfrapp, Liars, Moby, M83, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Laibach, Yeasayer and Richard Hawley – and become home to a crop of emerging talent and recent signings such as Cold Specks, Polly Scattergood, Big Deal, Beth Jeans Houghton, Josh T. Pearson and Apparat.

Whilst maintaining a firmly eclectic roster, from the earliest days of The Normal, Fad Gadget and DAF through to the techno era with artists such as Plastikman / Richie Hawtin and Speedy J, and to the present day with electronic artists such as Diamond Version and Maps, the label has always been a champion of electronic music.

Mute is also home to the catalogue of a host of seminal artists such as Can and Cabaret Voltaire.

Liars - Scissor

Mute Records

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