To celebrate the reissue earlier this year of Seefeel’s 1994 - 96 music for Warp and Rephlex, we invited the producer KMRU to make an immersive hour long mix of tracks from the records.

A limited edition tape is available via Bleep: 60 minute pro-dubbed cassette with onbody print in a white presentation case, housed inside a sticker sealed glassine envelope with 16 page zine containing an interview with the band conducted by Simon Reynolds: bleep.com/release/257438-seefeel-rapture-to-rupt

Joseph Kamaru, aka KMRU, is a sound artist and experimental ambient musician, raised in Nairobi, Kenya, and currently based in Berlin where he is a Master’s student in Sound Studies and Sonic Arts at the Universität der Künste. His works deal with discourses of field recording, improvisation, noise, ambient, machine learning, radio art and expansive hypnotic drones. He has earned international acclaim from his performances in far-flung locales as well as his ambient recordings, including the 2020 album Peel released on Editions Mego.

All music by Seefeel, original versions can be found on Rupt & Flex 1994 - 96 WARPCD237

Mix by KMRU. Made on the train between Berlin and Warsaw

Design by Joseph Durnan

This mix (P) & © 2021 Warp Records

Rapture To Rupt

Seefeel - Rapture To Rupt

Maelstrom returns to Central Processing Unit for the fourth time, and it's the one born Joan-Mael Péneau's lengthiest drop on the Sheffield label yet. The French artist has been a mainstay in the European electro game since the 2000s, and Malestrom brings that experience to bear on new LP The FM Tapes. He goes about this album with the assurance of a seasoned pro, combining his mastery of electro production techniques with a trademark guile to craft an expertly-paced eleven-track affair.

The first section of The FM Tapes sets out the album's stall with style and aplomb - listeners are in store for a rich feast of off-kilter machine-funk which will feature no shortage of intriguing detours. On opener 'Ondes Courtes' the mix throbs with all manner of strange electronic gristle: a distorted bass hum rattles the monitors; wisps of distortion float across the mix; eerily pretty keys wax and wane before giving way to a radar pulse.

'Ondes Courtes' is an ominous slouch of a scene-setter, and it lines things up perfectly for following cut 'Alt50ser' to lock in. This track's churning, gurgling mid-tempo rattle brings to mind the wacky insistence of Modeselektor. Maelstrom repeats the slow-fast one-two again directly afterwards - 'La Vie Sociale Des', a strange nugget that sounds like an early Eski instrumental stripped for parts and blasted into the cosmos, is an ideal prelude to the twitchy space-funk of 'My Digitone'.

Maelstrom's staying power in the electro world comes, in no small part, from his ability to apply his delightfully idiosyncratic choices to some of the genre's staple production tropes. On The FM Tapes, he marks himself out once more as a pleasingly unorthodox talent by taking tracks in unexpected directions to produce surprising - and often rather moving - results.

There are multiple cuts here which channel the more cerebral end of Richard D. James' AFX/Analord output: 'My Digitone' may be a quicksilver techno-electro number, but there's still something cinematic about the synth treatment here which softens the edges; 'Suede's minor-key oscillations bring other CPU veterans like Cygnus and Bochum Welt into view; 'Res 06', one of two Fasme collaborations on the record, is full of pathos even as the beat programming bangs and whirrs throughout.

While there's a deep emotional undercurrent to The FM Tapes, though, Maelstrom's commitment to bringing the thrills surfaces time and again. If 'Res 06' had Maelstrom and Fasme getting wistful, the album's other Fasme link-up 'Trempo' is one of the hardest club joints here, a piece of old-school Detroit energy replete with some great cascading drum production. Indeed, 'Trempo' comes in the middle of a run towards the album's end where Maelstrom takes the handbrake off - there's a wild-eyed sense of fun to 'The Operator' and 'Upside Down DX7' which has one thinking of the zany cut-and-thrust of KiNK's best work.

Maelstrom's latest drop for Sheffield's Central Processing Unit label is an album of leftfield electro numbers that bring both pounding beats and poignant production.

RIYL: KiNK, Modeselektor, Cygnus, Bochum Welt, AFX

The FM Tapes

Maelstrom - The FM Tapes

A selection of tracks from the Kahvi archive mixed by Kyizl

Kyizl's Kahvi Livemix @ Radio Spiral 08/03/2024

Following the success of his singles “TAGIOG” and “White Teeth”, Quicche returns with ‘Cyan II’, marking his third release on the legendary R&S Records. The enchanting track paves the way for his forthcoming debut album, set to arrive in spring 2025. 

Drawing influences from experimental indie, folktronica, shoegaze, and ambient music, through “Cyan II”. This lead single will further solidify his place as an emerging force in the new wave of alternate and electronica music scenes.

Marc Grünhäuser, the musician behind the project effortlessly combines gentle folk melodies with the driving energy of electronic elements. He aptly creates an emotionally charged fusion of avant-garde meets pop music that is both experimental and accessible simultaneously. Refreshing, deeply engaging, and steadily cultivating a loyal fanbase.

Cyan II reflects the electro and RnB sound of the mid 2000's, channelling the energy of artists such as James Blake, who influenced Quicche in the making of the track and a driving inspiration to work with R&S.

Frisia

Cyan II

Download/Stream

Quicche - Cyan II (R&S Records)

In recent years, Blackploid has come to be one of Central Processing Unit’s signature artists. The German producer has averaged more than a record a year for the Sheffield imprint since he first landed on CPU in 2021. This prolific run continues with Cosmic Drama, Blackploid’s second LP for the label. The album takes the baton from its predecessor Enter Universe in style, delivering twelve tracks of top-quality machine-funk that draw down from electro’s classic artists while also imbuing proceedings with a playfulness that very much gives things a signature Blackploid-ish flavour.

Cosmic Drama sets its stall out from the off. The opening run of ‘Alien’, ‘World Construction’ and ‘Virtual State’ all deliver piston-snapping beats which anchor pleasing melanges of B-movie synth lines. Alongside this, Blackploid adds little flourishes which add buoyancy to each joint - a syncopated bassline reminiscent of I-f’s late-90s classic ‘Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass’, crackling robo-voiced commands, skittering synth chords which wash across the mix and so on. It’s the work of someone completely at ease with their craft, comfortable enough to take risks without upsetting the apple cart of their sound’s core appeal.

Blackploid’s idiosyncratic approach to synth work is something which distinguishes Cosmic Drama from the pack. Electro has long been a genre which prides itself on innovation on the keys, but few producers are willing to push their sonics as far as Blackploid does - take the seasick churn of pads and processors on ‘Multiverse’, for instance, or the way John Carpenter-esque single-note lines dovetail with gurgling synthetic pulses and eerie, spacious chords on ‘The Lab’, a highlight of Cosmic Drama’s midsection.

Cosmic Drama skips along at club tempo throughout - every one of these joints will get bodies moving in dark rooms across the galaxy. However, even when tracks maintain their single-minded pursuit of machine-funk perfection, they never forget to deliver on the hooks. Blackploid has lead lines (and counter-melodies) to burn here, and each track knots them together in ever-more intriguing ways as they plough onwards. Drexciyan heads will be thrilled by the sci-fi delights of ‘Species’, for instance, while Blackploid brings melodies as cold as they are catchy on the aptly-named ‘Polar Dunes’. By the time Cosmic Drama hits upon the vroom-vrooming bassline line of closer ‘Contact’, you’re fully enthralled to the album’s combination of broken-beat heft and synthetic melodiousness.

RIYL: Drexciya, I-f, Cygnus, AFX

Cosmic Drama

Blackploid - Cosmic Drama

Noumen returns to Central Processing Unit after a six-year absence with Altum. This bumper record, the Ukrainian artist’s fourth release for the Sheffield label and first since 2019 double-LP Obscurium, serves to remind us all why Noumen’s music has been lauded by the likes of Mixmag and Resident Advisor in the past. Altum is a consummate piece of contemporary electronic production, a technoid exploration of outer-edges electronica that nods to genre greats like Autechre while still maintaining its own unconventional charm.

Across well over an hour of music here we find Noumen repeatedly playing punchy mid-tempo beat work off of some more cerebral tuned synths. Altum kicks off with the epic ‘Oion’ - beginning in that Autechre/AFX mid-tempo zone, full of deep-sea bangs and whirrs, the track slowly builds to a final stretch of delay-drenched keys which set us free amidst the outer cosmos, almost Sun Ra-style. It’s a perfect liminal-space roller and an apt scene-setter for Altum.

‘Oion’ provides a blueprint for several of the album’s other highlights - plenty of the joints here adopt that same approach of hitting hard with the drums and soft with the synths. Second track ‘Splitter’ takes on the baton from ‘Oion’ while souping up the kick to warehouse levels; the beats in ‘Far Wind’ splutter like a needle skipping on a mid-90s Tresor drop; ‘Fate Carette’, all eerie looped synth leads, is a highlight as the album enters the home straight.

The rhythm production (which, it should be noted, is exemplary throughout Altum) is ratched up in intensity on a handful of numbers. ‘Telemask’ displays a delightful breakbeat - if you’d told me this was sampled from golden age A Tribe Called Quest, I’d have believed you. Mid-section anchors ‘Awe’ and ‘Axis’ are glitchers in the Mike Paradinas mould, with the latter showing off some pleasing steel pan-esque synth leads for good measure. And while Altum generally maintains a processional pace throughout, there are points where Noumen toughens up the drums for club deployment - ‘Unveilness’ shows off a real chunkiness in the low end, closer ‘Spurling Sign’ plays a satisfying rolling groove off of ever-layering synths, and the title-track is an alien machine-funker in keeping with fellow CPU electronauts like Silicon Scally and Cygnus.

Noumen’s third album for Central Processing Unit is a pleasingly hefty double-LP which builds on the zany invention of acts like Modeselektor and Autechre to delightful effect.

FFO: Autechre, Aphex Twin, Modeselektor, Bochum Welt, LFO

Noumen - Altum

Booking: booking@lackluster.org

"a guest appearance by Lackluster. He appeared with a live set at the largest demoscene meeting in Scandinavia this past August, Assembly 2007. High quality recording throughout, featuring exclusive tracks from his commercial releases which you can find scattered throughout the internet on various distribution sites as well as a couple of previously unreleased specials. Playing time just under 74 minutes,"

Bandcamp

Live at Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, 04-08-2007

Brussels-based DJ, producer and music journalist BunZer0 has been championing underground bass music and techno on his long standing ‘FOB Show ‘ for Sub FM. He returns to R&S Records RSMIX series with a new selection of heavyweight sounds.

“For this specific mix I talked to a group of producers I am close to in order to get a maximum of exclusive tracks, to make that recording very special for the beloved host, R&S Records. I also wanted this mix to be representative of the big variety of rhythms we got now in Bass Music, going from dark 2 step, to some Technoish beats, or UK Funky grooves, but also Dubstep and its tireless halfstep beat, Electroish beats”…

Tracklist:
Nuboid - E'ko - Bandcamp
Murder He Wrote - Ghastly - Unreleased
Pugilist - Machinic - Forthcoming
Holloway - Skellis - Unreleased
Ru - Distance - Unreleased
D1 - District - Unreleased
Qant - Dots - Unreleased
Rakjay - Phases - Foto Sounds
Granul - ID With Logan Vocal - Unreleased
Sebaas - No Plastic - Unreleased
Mesopolonica - Vibration - Unreleased
Helixir - Untitled - Unreleased
Spectre - Tracer - Unreleased
Mod Sens - Untitled - Unreleased
Henry Greenleaf - Errand Boy - Forthcoming
Introspekt - Pain - Unreleased
Kercha - Protection - Bandcamp
Ago - Memories feat. Teresa Rossi - Forthcoming
Unknown - Untitled - Forthcoming Deep Medi
Head Space feat. Don Cotti - Bury Dat - Unreleased
Text - Killer - ec2a
Odd Occasion - 2 Much - Forthcoming Hotflush Recordings
Argo - Bedroom Product - Unreleased
Anecho - Stubborn - Unreleased
Masot - Al Puerto - Unreleased
Versa - Island Blues - Unreleased

RSMIX055 - BunZer0

Diffuse Reality Podcast 278 : Oliver Deutschmann
→ bit.ly/417f6Yj
www.diffusereality.net

Diffuse Reality Podcast 278 : Oliver Deutschmann

https://diffusereality

Aaron Bee

Synkretic: https://soundcloud.com/synkretic-music
Syndaflod: https://soundcloud.com/syndaflod

[intro song: Masta Ace - Movin' On (RMX Instr.)]

[Syndaflod's set]
Aphex Twin - Stone In Focus
Whitearmor - Let Me Know 
kien ra - taina
Blårød - Winter Bloom
Whitearmor - F Extend
aloegarten - 大洪水 (Deluge)

[Synkretic's set]
DJ Krush - Kemuri
Accelera Deck - Other Than Chrome
Multiplex - Sdne Mackell
Wasteland - Less Blue
Synkretic - Ovrgrnnw [forthcoming on Kahvi Collective]
Autistici - Heated Dust on a Sunlit Window
Amongst the Pigeons - Before the Storm Hits
SD Laika - Spaceman Piff
DHS - Intergalactic Travel
Somatic Responses - Novorapid
Richard Devine - Itsuko
Synkretic - Illuminati Mafia
Hitori Tori - Wofako
dj100000000 - shimanagashi 
Dummy Run - @*$%*~!!!!!
Datach'i - Plainphhield
DJ Donna Summer - Accept the Cheap
Matmos - This Is...
Cylob - Bazfoul
Slag Boon Van Loon - Pedals (Horse Opera Remix)
Seefeel - Through You

Aaron Bee

ORE

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