Say What Selections
https://www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008
https://www.saywhatmag.com/selections/007
https://www.saywhatmag.com/selections/006
https://www.saywhatmag.com/selections/005
https://www.saywhatmag.com/selections/004
https://www.saywhatmag.com/selections/003
https://www.saywhatmag.com/selections/002
https://www.saywhatmag.com/selections/001

SW Selections

Juno

B1  Impulse

Artist: Leo Leal @leo-leal
Track: Time Oscillation 
Title: Antimateria 
Label: Time Passages 

We jump from Mexico past to Mexico present, where Leo Leal is making up-to-date techno steeped in the same sounds as DECADA 2 three decades earlier. There’s an unmistakeable new beat current running through these four tracks, perhaps most ostentatiously in the brooding bassline of ‘Time Oscillation’. It’s a worthy accompaniment to Leal’s 2xLP ‘Fractal Magic’, also just out on Time Passages. Both releases reflect the style and musical philosophy of label owner Binh and, as you might expect, the pull toward the middle of the dancefloor is utterly irresistible. Speaking of the dancefloor, Binh got to know Leo Leal’s music at Dimensions festival in 2017 when he played before him. It’s fair to say he was impressed!

Say What Selections 
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/005

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. Not suitable for club use.

Buy TP 20

Selection | Leo Leal - Time Oscillation [Time Passages]

Artist: North Phase
Title: Cyclone  EP
Label: Seven Hills Records
Cat No: SHR005
Format: 12” Vinyl

Tracklist: 
A1. Cyclone
A2. Time Zone Unknown
B1. Room 1
B2. Groove Merchant

We're pleased to announce the next outing from Robert James & Burnski's new project, North Phase, here on Seven Hills!

Comprising four brilliant, groove-laden tracks, the Cyclone EP is one of our favourites so far. The title track, Cyclone, bumps and rolls atop a sneaky bassline, and keeps you locked in with a unique, shifted synth hook. The similarly pumping Time Zone Unknown keeps the groove straighter, with added gnarliness from a crisp synth line designed to cut its way to the centre of the dancefloor.

Over on the flip, the dark and super-heavy Room 1 spirals and builds before hitting hard with a chestplate bassline. The more lilting Groove Merchant sits on the B2, slightly sci-fi and rounding things off in style.

North Phase - Cyclone  EP (SHR005)

JOOICE 004

Produced & Mixed by THE BOYS FROM CHARISS
Mastered by Gabriele Carasco at Decode Studio Berlin 
Artwork by The Global Innovation
Distributed by KMA60 Berlin

B2 - Deshi

Artist: Jared Wilson 
Track: Positivity
Title: Positivity
Label: RAWAX @dbh-music

We’ve chosen a classic ending with underground dance music royalty: Detroit native and acid mastermind Jared Wilson on ‘major’ label RAWAX. You can count on Jared to produce solid bangers that hone in on the essence of dance music, with the Roland drum machine as his main weapon of choice, releasing on a plethora of established labels such as Super Rhythm Trax, Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Dolly, Furthur Electronix, Lux Rec, Undersound and his own 7777. He’s clued up and keeps it fresh, reinventing his style yet staying true to his roots.

A DJ would get a run for their money with the 4 out of 5 peak time tracks on this EP, with their sexy grooves, tight hats, slapping snares and fun acid melodies. 3 out of 5 tracks are named ‘Lynnwood’ with a few mostly numbered variations on each. Lynnwood first appeared on all the tracks on Jared’s new label Jason, Jared & Brians’ Records. The tracks are named after Lynnwood city in Snohomish County, Washington, which is where Jared moved to a couple years back. The label’s debut release New Era represents a new chapter indeed, with a fresh new sound combining solid Detroit techno with atmospheric, fairy-tale melodies inspired by the woodlands around his new family home.

For this most recent release on RAWAX, Lynwood vibes are present but with raw house sounds suiting the label. We’ve picked the A1 ‘Positivity’, which is also the name given to the EP. We can’t get enough of this unique, catchy, sexy, emotional bomb! The composition is just so beautiful and it’s never tiring. It’s got DMX Krew vibes with its wormhole melody, but with a Detroit edge.

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. Not suitable for club use.

Buy RMCE 018

Selection | Jared Wilson - Positivity [RAWAX]

Artist: Exterminador @exterminador_official
Track: Deep In The Mess Of Night
Title: Age Of Consent 
Label: Bad Manners

We move to young Berlin based artist Exterminador, who has really captivated us. We first heard him a few years ago on YAY’s podcast series, and he was also a key figure in the establishment of The Record Loft. In 2016, he opened his own Exterminador Records label and in 2019 he started collaborating with Marcel Dettmann on new imprint Bad Manners, being responsible for the whole output so far with one EP and recently a whole album, from which we have picked a track for this edition of selections. We really enjoyed the first EP: A techno and electro release with EBM tendencies rather than acid wormhole melodies.

Exterminador’s album Age of Consent certainly doesn’t disappoint! He takes the electro and 80s influence from the earlier release and presents them on a delicious platter. At first our ears perked up to ‘Broken Glass Door’ with its rolling 80s influenced bassline and sharp synths. To be honest it’s a challenge to pick just one track but ‘Deep In The Mess Of Night’ got the trophy – it’s a brilliant composition and there just isn’t any track quite like it! There’s a uniqueness and playfulness to it all, starting with the funny as hell title, drum rolls and even laughing in the track itself. It’s not silly though, and actually very new wave with its yearning synth, knock out bassline and broody vocals.

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. Not suitable for club use.

Buy BM8

Selection | Exterminador - Deep In The Mess Of Night [Bad Manners]

Artist: Frak @Borft
Track: Scientific Bella-Donna
Title: Formless Obstruction
Label: Futurepast @futurepastnosenseoftime

We continue on the ‘experimental’ thread with Swedish electronic group Frak on Futurepast. We have chosen ‘Scientific Bella-Donna’, which really seems more techno-house than heavily experimental. When listen we picture the scene in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis where Maria the robot is surrounded by a moving, buzzing electric field, while also imagining dancing in an after-hour, with the track’s edgy and sexy, deep and minimal sounds. It’s an interesting balance between the machine and the soul, two styles which are also reflected in Frak’s previous discography as a group that has been producing dance tracks since the late eighties, and sharing their own funky hardware sound through their label Börft.

While listening to Frak we can’t help but recall Futurepast founder Davy’s own long after-hour sets, which we adored while he was still living in London a few years ago: dark, industrial and hypnotising yet deep, playful and groovy!

A reunion of the group members also occurred for this release: “We hadn’t met for some time, as we live in different cities. So, when we joined forces for this recording, it was all from scratch and a bit of fumbling at first. But it struck us that this is it, this is the pure reason why we do what we do. Jamming our way through machines and ideas is what it’s all about.”

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. Not suitable for club use.

Buy FP006

Selection | Frak – Scientific Bella-Donna [Futurepast]

Artist: Broken Audio
Track: 6BrokenBones
Title: Nocturnal Entropy EP
Label: Perty @djoctopus-2

The second release on this Selections list is another Bandcamp oriented production: Nocturnal Entropy EP by sound engineer and electronic music producer Broken Audio is the first edition of a series of cassette tapes led by DJ Octopus. For Octopus, tape carries a special meaning as it was the first media he used to record music, from the radio and from machines when he started producing music. You can even hear a grainy effect throughout on the digital files.

The style of Nocturnal Entropy is categorised as “breakbeat” but, he explains, it really stands out as a complete journey into sounds. Emotional pads and atmospheres glide through the piece, mixing with the diverse audio sources used, including thunderstorms and ASMR! We couldn’t resist picking the dance-oriented track on the release: ‘6BrokenBones’ is a solid UK garage track with a banging attitude.

The vocals are the producer’s own, having first experimented on the opener ‘Baio’, an ambient track dedicated to his friend who sadly drowned in a lake near his hometown last year. “It was a really tough time for me and right after he passed away I decided to honour his death and to reflect all my sorrow on a track. I recorded some vocals, a piano line and a lot of reverb in around an hour and suddenly felt better.”

“Once I started to experiment with my voice like I did in ‘Baio’, I wanted to include it more in my tracks and I remember having this garage tune in the making and said to myself: ‘Why not pitch it down some semitones and see how it sounds in here?’ Hahaha.”

The second edition on Perty has just been released on Bandcamp – a different yet still beautiful mix of atmospheres and textures.

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. File quality not intended for club use.

Broken Audio - Nocturnal Entropy EP

Buy perty001

Selection | Broken Audio – 6BrokenBones [Perty]

Artist: Lagowski @lagowski
Track: Scatter 4
Label: Self Released

We start the selections with this beautiful opener by Lagowski, Scatter 4, a track uploaded to his bandcamp as a single release, and originally intended to be part of his wonderful album Smokescreen (but which really stands on its own).

The track features captivating and angelic strings that could easily be played at the gates to heaven. Lagowski’s new wave punk band roots are present in the very analogue bassline, which brings a sense of realness to the piece. There’s adventure in the track too, from what sounds like a didgeridoo instrument, stomping, military drums and fluttering sounds, evoking images of The Outback and authenticating the connection between machine and the environment. Heaven, human, nature. There’s soul and spirit in this hardwired track.

This particular musical genius has been recording electronic music and playing live analogue shows since 1982 (following his earlier work drumming in punk and new wave bands). His name holds a safe spot in the 90s GPR hall of fame, his early nineties releases on Chromium Industries are DJs’ favourites, and in the past few years he’s released twice on Sleepers as Clans of the Alphane Moon and Project Ghost. Fortunately for us, Lagowski continues to be prolific today with a library of updated material on his bandcamp page. He’s also just uploaded ‘Scatter 1 + 2’, premixes to the finished ‘Scatter 4’. It’s interesting to hear the previous versions, which are also very good! We will be switching back and forth between these three for a while – but will we get to listen to number 3 too?

Say What Selections
www.saywhatmag.com/selections/008

***Tracks uploaded for promotional purposes only. File quality not intended for club use.

Buy Scatter 4

Selection | Lagowski – Scatter 4 [Self-released]

“snapout”, a Tokyo-based party crew of DJs and Producers, will launch a record label in early 2022.

“snapout” members include veteran DJ yama', who has been DJing since 1998, Takashi Himeoka, who has been making tracks since 2014 and has released on “Phreak” and “Cabaret Recordings” labels, Hisashi, who has played at several regular parties in Tokyo and contributed a track to “How High” label at the end of 2021, and Riku Sugimoto.

For the first single, Riku Sugimoto has created three tracks based on the atmosphere of “snapout”, adopt the essence of Detroit/Dutch techno and Chicago/UK house from the early 90s and early 00s.

B2. How To Ride A Flixtrain (snippet)

Label: Outdom Records
Artist: Criminal System
Title: Perpetual Disorder EP
Format: Digital
Cat. Number: OTD007
Release Date: 18th April 2025

@criminal-system
@outdom

Premiere: Criminal System - Never Satisfied [OTD007]

The One (Antwan Dago Long Play)

Listen on Spotify

Simon Maurice - The One (Antwan Dago Long Play)

Bandcamp

MAX LANE - How's it Flowing

Pre-order

Phonica Premiere: Robbenspierre - Infinite [ALPHAVILLE]

Preorder : https://lumbagorecords.bandcamp.com/album/ninja-tools-vol-4

It’s that time of the year again! The ninja tools series continues and this time it’s double pleasure on the menu. 10 Different dishes cooked by 10 different artists.. 
The Lumbago family expends with its newest additions! This time we have TC80, Robbenspierre, Seqta, Steve Marie, FRNK, & Chaou.b on the line up, next to our boys Man/ipulate (aka Welwert), Bejenec, Hdv & Mmmh who already made an appearance on our imprint. Watch out! You may be surprised.

Artwork by Antoine Coste 
Publish and licensed by Lumbago 
Executive producers Alexis Llorca & Clément Canzano
Distributed by Off The Grid (Berlin)

Selection | Leo Leal - Time Oscillation [Time Passages]

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