Scissor and Thread's Essential Tracks

EYA PODCAST 66 - BEN KAMAL

Next in line to give you some High 5s is our good friend Connor of On The Rocks. Hailing from the UK, you can be sure Connor scooped up a lot of nice gems for 5 bucks or less. Enjoy!

Hi5 On the Rocks

High 5s by On The Rocks

I created this mix for the Opera Festival team: a dynamic gathering held in Milo (Sicily, IT) during the summer, showcasing bold and innovative artists. When Andrea approached me to collaborate, I was grateful beyond words. While the original plan was to showcase VERTICAL RING (an ASMR ambient meditation piece recently released on Spotify and YouTube), I decided to expand the scope by presenting a selection of my favorite, previously unheard studio works spanning ambient and microtonal explorations. This mix offers for the first time a unique glimpse into my interpretation of ambient music. I hope you enjoy it <3

Broadcasted on 22/04/24 on Stegi Radio 
as part of the Etna Sonica series of podcasts:

https://stegi.radio/show/etna-sonica-feat-pancratio-2024-04-23

ETNA SONICA 017 by Opera festival w// Pancratio

www.linktr.ee/scissorandthread

New Jersey-born Ali Berger is a drum machine specialist and low-key US electronic music standby, now based in Pittsburgh after spending the 2010s in Boston and Detroit. His catalog of original music runs deep, with over 60 releases on his Trackland label and EPs on imprints like Spectral Sound and Sequencias, all resulting from a lovingly-cultivated studio approach which respects improvisation as a spiritual practice. 

Here with this sublime release on Scissors and Thread, Ali shares a multitude of sounds and atmospheres across the five tracks. As Ali himself puts it “This record collects tracks from the last three years, plus 0221 (Serious Mix) which is from 2018. There's a full cross-section of production techniques represented here, from one-take jams to multi-tracked compositions, but through it all there's a deep melancholy which (I hope) is tempered by enough groove to be uplifting. Maintaining emotional balance takes constant, caring attention; music is a part of that process for me and these tracks reflect that.”

This balancing of melancholic atmospheres and groove is evident throughout -  Rhythm & Simplicity is a low key thoughtful banger for the more discerning dancefloors, while A New World To Forget also exhibits a deep love of cultured house music and analog drum machines. Tape Jam Pt 2 is the perfect mix of improvisation and pure groove, put down in a rough and gritty fashion. 0221 (Serious Mix) merges a breakbeat with pads and synths that give off a balearic sunrise vibe, while Motion Anthem wraps up the EP with a tougher groove coupled with wistful melodies and oceans of feeling.

Serious

0221 (Serious Mix)

Ali Berger - 0221 (Serious Mix)

A new episode of A Long Strange Dream recorded by Volar invites you to travel back in time with deep house sounds of the early-mid 2010s. While electronic music has spread all over the world, few recognize the importance of creating a sound that reflects their cultural, social and artistic roots. Volar is undoubtedly part of this wave that successfully conveys the message.

Download: https://t.me/radioplatoshowsarchive/1166

Volar - A Long Strange Dream #5 (21.05.2024)

Heels & Souls Recordings hit release number nine, looking across the pond to Toronto in the mid-'90s to reissue two blissfully Balearic house gems from 100th Monkey. Alongside remastered versions of ‘Raindance’ and ‘Nyika Nyika’, the flip features a pumping remix of ‘Raindance’ courtesy of dream house hero Manuel Darquart and a previously unreleased ‘90s stunner, ‘River Ride’.
 
100th Monkey were most known under their Boomtang Boys moniker, a killer Canadian production trio and record label. In the early ‘90s, with a release already out as Fun Wow, brothers Tony and Paul Grace were introduced to Rob DeBoer. With respective backgrounds as a drummer, DJ and keys player and inspired by the sounds coming across from the UK, they began producing releases for the label under a variety of different monikers. From the street soul grooves of ‘Love Trip’ as Boomtang Boys, to the hip house flavours of D.S.B. and the progressive rhythms of The Riders of the Soundguard.
 
Their only release as 100th Monkey though is a jewel in this Canadian crown. Cooked up in their home studio, packed with synths, samplers and drum machines, ‘Raindance’ is a hit of summertime heat that instantly transports you to sandy shores. A slice of mid-tempo, Balearic deep house anchored by shuffling hats and a spine-tingling bassline, the African vocal samples, dreamy strings and goose-bumping chords merge to send you floating out across the horizon.
 
Picking up the pace, ‘Nyika Nyika’ is another dream-inducing house cut, equally adept at soundtracking a sunset, as it is at powering a dancefloor. Shimmering arps and looped African vocal samples glisten through the haze, with a punchy bass and enveloping strings reeling you in.
 
On the B side, Manuel Darquart puts his trademark spin on ‘Raindance’, looping up elements from the OG with a dash of that Darquart hot sauce. The kick gets an injection, steamy synthlines are laid down and a salacious sax is slipped in the mix.
 
Finally, plucked from the 100th Monkey vaults, ‘River Ride’ is an unreleased cut from 1996. Washing over you with a wave of floating pads, trickling arps, a laidback breakbeat and grooving bassline, it’s the perfect warm-down or warmup material, that rightly sees the light of day for the very first time.
 
Licensed from The Boomtang Boys and remastered from the original DATs by Justin Drake.

Pre-order

100th Monkey - River Ride

Artist: Seb Jay
Title: INTHEPIT02
Track Title: ITP02 A1
Label: In The Pit Records
Cat #: ITP02
Release date: 07.06.2024
Format: vinyl, digital

@seb-jay

In The Pit returns, again with four tracks from label boss Seb Jay hailing from Adelaid e/Tarndanya, Australia. Two years on from the inaugural release, Seb Jay draws his newest works from the local scene's expansion beyond clubs & into Adelaide's House & Techno landscape of thriving bar culture, sprawling inner city parklands parties & warehouse shows.

grab your 12"

Premiere | Seb Jay - ITP02 A1

Kiosk Radio is an online community radio streaming 24/7 from a wooden shack in the heart of Brussels’ historic “Parc Royal”. 
More info and music: https://kioskradio.com


Crevette Records w/ Nathan Boost @ Kiosk Radio 03.06.2024

Alex Albrecht returns with Aurora - a pristine followup to his Blue Caves transmission via Scissor and Thread in 2018. 

The Melbourne based composer and sound designer Albrecht has leans into his predilection for woozy, affecting melodies intertwined with skittering drums and snaking grooves, and Aurora brings that to the fore with six tracks of shimmering beauty. 

Spring Orchard opens the record, effortlessly merging deeply buried keys with washes of dreamlike synths, and dubby effects. 
Wildflower Walk is a melancholic affair, underpinned with a restless groove. 
The title track Aurora treads a similar path, but with a more driving approach, while an interplay between piano, guitar, and synths drenched in reverb offer a warm, enveloping atmosphere. 


Aurora is also shared here as a remix by Roza Terenzi, who entirely reworks the track with her signature club ready grooves . 

Kennett River exhibits a kind of smudged, cinematic hip hop feel, while closing track Morning Piazza showcases Albrecht’s sense of drama and pacing, producing a sublime ending to this deeply affecting collection.

Aurora

Alex Albrecht - Aurora

https://soundcloud.com/soelaela
www.linktr.ee/scissorandthread

Soela releases the first single from her upcoming album Dark Portrait on Scissor & Thread - Even If I Ask You Stay. 

Russian born Berlin based Elina Shorokhova has made a transition from pianist and vocalist into electronic music, balancing her ear for melody and musicality.

With this single, we get to see a very vulnerable side of Soela; "Even If I Ask You To Stay has several meanings for me. The most direct one is about an abusive relationship where you're already openly asking the person to leave, but are so attached that you want them to stay. The second meaning is with my struggle with depression. My experience is that it takes a lot of inner strength to heal from depression, and sometimes you're still powerless against the disease. So it stays with you again and again”.
 
The track itself merges a skittering rhythm, gorgeously melancholic piano and string sections with Soela's vocals that cut deep - resulting in a beautifully realized and powerful composition

Even If I Ask You To Stay

Soela - Even If I Ask You To Stay

Artist: @soelaela
Stream/Buy: www.linktr.ee/scissorandthread

Soela is the DJ and production alias of Elina Shorokhova, a Russia-born Berlin-based experienced pianist and vocalist who has made a hugely impactful transition into electronic music.

Having released material on such labels as Kompakt, Dial, Shall Not Fade, Lost Palms, E-Beamz, Red Ember Records, Sushitech, and others, Soela joins the ranks of Scissor & Thread for this exquisite album - Dark Portrait. 

The album opens in a typically understated manner with Unsuitable - a melancholic trip-hop adjacent track that sets the tone for the next 8 pieces. As Soela explains, “I was dealing with some very complex feelings, so I came up with this album, which helped me not to despair, to work on myself, to grow internally, and to start listening to myself. It helped me to keep sane when my country invaded Ukraine with a full scale war. It absolutely broke my heart, and music was one of my main salvations.” 

This complex mix of emotions plays out across the album with tracks that utilize her beautiful musicality (Through the Windows feat. Francis Harris and Philipp Priebe, Drowning feat. Module One) and ear for details with skittering beats, ambient soundscapes (Spirits, Lost In The Fog) and lose-yourself dancefloor moments such as the collaboration with Lawrence on February Is Not Going To Be Forever. The title track Dark Portrait combines dubby elements with affecting pads and melodic touches, while the lead single Even If I Ask You Stay delves into multiple feelings around escaping toxic situations, and battling depression. It features a powerful vocal from Soela supported by a deeply affecting arrangement. The closing track The Darkest Hour Before Sunrise brings a sense of hope and light, balancing subdued keys and strings with ethereal tones and atmospheres

Dark Portrait

Soela - Unsuitable

Stream/Vinyl: www.linktr.ee/scissorandthread

DaRand Land, who hails from the post industrial confines of Buffalo, NY was one of the leading figures of Deep4Life, a cult label known for submersible oriented, yet dancefloor-friendly productions. With ambient synth-driven tones and heavy funk basslines being at the center of his sound, DaRand Land’s music often evokes an introspective quality, without losing its groove fundamental.

Following on from a number of releases on Pulp, Downbeat, Urban Imagery and the “Discover You” EP on Scissor & Thread, here is Nature Of Reality, the single taken from DaRand Land’s second album Wander Being, released on Scissor & Thread in late November 2024. 





“In particular, the single, The Nature of Reality”, says DaRand, “was written to convey a sense of what it feels like to be in a state of suspended animation. There is a natural tension introduced via the organic, swirling pad progression juxtaposed against endless vocal echoes and the low-end groove of the bassline. Thematically, I wanted to carry this forward through the entirety of the album.”

The Nature Of Reality

Stream/Vinyl

DaRand Land - The Nature Of Reality

fka boursin is a DJ and producer out of Bristol, UK. 
Previously known as DJ Boursin, he is recognized for his deep, ambient-infused house music that explores political dimensions of clubs and identity politics.

Welcomed into the Scissor & Thread fold, fka boursin shares two cuts of deep and introspective electronic music. 

The original Listless Intertext is a hazy trip through ambient soundscapes, shuffling rhythms and half-caught conversations, drifting across a 12 minute run time that slowly evolves and shifts with time.  

"Listless Intertext is a track centred around the "failed" employment of cheap vocoder software that attempted to process explicit words and phrases across 11 minutes." says fka boursin. "Instead, the vocoder output made any words indecipherable and I was left with thematic vagueness. The final text of the track is simply a submission to its own limitations with some french thrown in."

When label bosses Frank & Tony step up for their Housebeat Dub, they keep the essential mood but introduce a thick, fat groove that works just as well in conveying the mood. 

"Our remix is a strictly dancefloor approach," says Frank, "an extended psychedelic beat rework perfect for late night, early morning vibes".


Listless Intertext (Frank & Tony's Housebeat Dub)

I drive at night when the streets are half asleep—engine low, eyes steady, nothing but the road and whatever’s left in my head. City lights pass like broken memories, soft and scattered. This album isn’t about getting somewhere. It’s about not needing to. 

The Streetlights Know What I Did

Millions

_Waves in motion, hearts in slow devotio

Scissor & Thread is cut from a different cloth than your average dance imprint.

Ali Berger - 0221 (Serious Mix)

Scissor and Thread

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