Samurai Music returns to the evocative sound world of Ancestral Voices for an album that splits the difference between cinematic sound design and deadly restraint at 170 BPM. Nemeton continues Liam Blackburn's exploration of ancient Celtic mysticism through snaking rhythms and snarling sound design, conjuring a high-definition sonic image of sacred groves and the druids practicing amongst them.  

Blackburn's Ancestral Voices project tracks back to 2015, when he debuted on Samurai Horo with the Night Of Visions album. In stark contrast to his celebrated 140 work as Indigo, this project leaned on the inspiration of pagan spirituality to charge his vivid, advanced production style with a rich and mysterious atmosphere. While he's channelled this approach into a variety of tempos and styles, on his 2016 EP Old Earth Voodoo on Samurai Music he applied the concept to a drum & bass framework, which he returns to on Nemeton with rigorous focus.

Far from a straightforward collection of breakbeat tracks, Blackburn uses negative space and pointillist production to carve out an immersive, tense sound world around the 170 grid. He takes a widescreen approach to percussion, running from pin-prick synthesised one-shots to tumbling, organic drums you'd more readily associate with a Hans Zimmer score. Scene-building is the foremost mission across Nemeton, casting otherworldly forces in sweeps of low-end friction and dramatic melodic blooms amidst tangible real-world field recordings of flora and fauna.  

Casting the mind back some 2000 years is an exercise in imagination as much as research, and Blackburn ably summons dark fantasy as he delves ever deeper into Welsh mythology with a studious zeal and avid fascination. It's that drive that makes Nemeton burst forth and take shape so powerfully, bristling with kinetic energy and a barely-concealed, strangely seductive menace that leaves a lasting impression long after the last snatch of bass has bared its teeth.


Nemeton - out on 2x12" & Digital


1. Ancestral Voices - Nemeton
2. Ancestral Voices - A Heart Of Oak
3. Ancestral Voices - Annwn
4. Ancestral Voices - Mist Of Avalon
5. Ancestral Voices - Arawn
6. Ancestral Voices - Stanzas Of The Graves
7. Ancestral Voices - Keltia

Nemeton

Ancestral Voices - Mists Of Avalon [SMDELP14]

Seismic invites @ Ankali - LickMySoul b2b Segment

The third episode in our new series (and our 40th podcast!) comes from Lyon based Comic Sans Records label-head and lyl radio resident, sleek fata. 

@sleek-fata

We've been a fan of sleek fata for a while now, often tuning into his exquisitely put together "Cremation of Care" shows - which explore a wide spectrum of experimental music focused on tracks with an high sound design profile going from psychedelic electronics to jazz with a touch of punk and trip hop between.

This mix beautifully showcases the variety of his tastes and skills of mixing it all together, from dub to dubstep, techno to half time & masterfully jumping tempo’s - sleek fata’s got it covered.

𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 / 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘀 / 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲?
Sleek fata / he him / Lyon

𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘅
I wanted to build a thematic journey that could bring together different types of music and tempos, while still feeling coherent as a whole. I found a strong inspiration in the icy textures of dub techno, it sparked the whole idea. So this is essentially a cold journey through the dub techno continuum (dub techno in the broad sense): half-time, dubstep, dub techno, footwork, downtempo… each track shares a similar colour palette, sonically speaking. Think light blue, white, and grey tones. I imagined a dancer trapped in a cold room with a perfect sound system, moving and reacting to these glacial sounds. But "glacial" doesn’t mean emotionless—on the contrary. Despite the chill, there's a lot of soul embedded in each track.

𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰?
I grew up listening to rap while living in the suburbs of Lyon as a kid. Later, when I moved into the city centre for university, I discovered electronic music. So yes, my environment has always shaped my musical taste—just like it does for everyone, I believe. Our preferences are influenced by sociological data: age, ethnicity, the country we grow up in, our parents' professions, and so on.

But beyond that, my uncle, who I lived with when I was younger, had a big impact. During the peak of the Emule era, he downloaded every US rap album he could find and burned them onto blank CDs. When I came home from school, I would pick one at random and discover a new album every day. That routine really shaped my digging habit. These days, the Bandcamp community is a big influence for me.

𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 / 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘀? 𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗴𝗶𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽?
I’m working on Vision Pro Dubs, a various artists project that started as a special episode of my Cremation of Care radio show. It brings together contemporary and cutting-edge smooth dub sounds. Besides that, Malesa is working on their second album, and we’re putting together a remix EP of Seta Loto’s last release. I’m also collaborating with Cortex of Light on something exciting!

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘅 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀
Hypothermic sound system

full interview here:

kinetic mix 040: sleek fata "the cold room dancer and other frozen tales"

Spring/2025 (Kameliia Remix)

Prague’s https://soundcloud.com/amphibian_rec resurfaces with Induction Texture, the solo debut from https://soundcloud.com/kobayashi_maruuu. The EP distills cybernetic echoes into a synthetic pursuit, part swamp crawl, part signal chase, with https://soundcloud.com/aboabosound and https://soundcloud.com/a_strange_wedding each offering their warped reimaginings along the way.

Find the full read here:  https://www.minimalcollective.digital/editorial/premiere-kobayashi-maru---huorn

Induction Texture will be out on July 17th, 2025. Pre-order a copy via https://amphibianrecords.bandcamp.com/album/induction-texture

Premiere: Kobayashi Maru - Huorn [AMPH004]

Operating at the frontiers of electronic music, Spekki Webu stands apart as a true architect of his own sonic universe. The visionary behind the Mirror Zone label and a highly prolific producer, his work - including an excellent debut album last year - is a testament to a relentless pursuit of the new, sculpting a sound that is both boundary pushing and universally mind-altering.

Offering some insight into the deeply personal and experimental nature of this deep trip, the Dutch maestro explains:

“This mix is mainly music by myself, upcoming music on the label and some unreleased tunes by friends. I have been exploring lots of different tempo's the last few months and also been reprocessing a lot of field recordings which have been layered a lot in this mix. You can almost say that this is a hybrid mix where I am live layering field recordings and processing them in real time. But the main focus is of course the DJ part. Slowly unfolding and blending from chapter to chapter, I don't engage my mixes as mixes anymore, more like this feeling of reading a few pages from my personal book.

Minimalistic movements drowned in wider atmospheric arrangements within this story. A lot of this music in this mix has been made in the last months and dives into introspective moments. Blurring textures which have felt like clouded moments in my consciousness, like living in some sort of dream and moving on to the next stage. Preparing for changes. Waiting for new movements.”

Follow:

https://soundcloud.com/spekkiwebu
https://www.instagram.com/spekkiwebu.mirrorzone
https://spekkiwebu.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/mirrorzone
https://mirrorzone.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mirrorzone.records/


MNMT 480 : Spekki Webu

The Sustain-Release co-founder steps up to the Phonica mix just ahead of the acclaimed festival’s 11th year. 
New York has an iconic history when it comes to club music, and over the years has seen many great names emerge from its underground scene. In modern times, Aurora Halal is undoubtedly one of those names. 
Aurora has become a staple at forward-thinking institutions like Berghain, De School, and her home base, Nowadays, where she holds a residency. Alongside her international touring, she’s carved out her own vital space through the long-running Mutual Dreaming parties and Sustain-Release, the DIY-rooted festival she co-founded, which continues to push boundaries as it enters its second decade.
Her Phonica mix offers a vivid snapshot of her deep, intuitive approach to DJing—captured live at Mansions, a cozy NYC wine bar turned house party haven. Known for her genre-fluid sets that blend hypnotic techno, house, acid and experimental textures this is the perfect calling card to showcase why she can hold it down with a range of greats like DJ Nobu, Vladimir Ivkovic and more.
We had a chat about the mix with Aurora as well as touching off Sustain and some of her favorite moments at the festival.

Phonica Mix Series 134: Aurora Halal

Smoke Machine Podcast 156 Yan

OW12 Loek Frey - Nayan

Some things simply need time to brew. Loek Frey returns to Omen Wapta with his third release on the label: Nayan. The Amsterdam-based artist shares a long-standing friendship with label head Woody92 – keeping each other in motion as artistic peers since the label’s inception. Over time, they’ve built a shared archive of material: sound sketches, tracks, and sonic touchpoints – an ever-evolving third space where their paths continue to meet as they move in parallel. Nayan emerges from this deep-rooted exchange: a distilled six-track release that fuses Frey’s cerebral intricacy with the label’s primordial uncanniness, reaffirming both as key voices in a yet-to-be-defined sonic realm.

Diving into the release, Frey’s signature remains intact – tactile, spatial, and rhythmically precise – but a subtle shift is at play. A paring down. A move toward something more reduced, maybe even more patient, yet no less absorbing. The A side leans inward: deep pressure, spectral traces, and an undercurrent of tension that never quite resolves. It’s music for staying with, not escaping from. Flip to the B side and the palette widens – kicks land heavier, patterns loosen, textures fill the full frequency field. Still deeply rooted in the Wapta world, but with an assertiveness that whispers rather than shouts. Somewhere between absence and force.

With Nayan, Loek Frey carries his Omen Wapta narrative into new territory – merging restless experimentation with dancefloor intention.

A1. Uvan
A2. Lesa
A3. Antagon

B1. Nayan
B2. Gyra
B3. Taira
Nanza (Digital bonus)

Release date: September 23, 2025
Pre-order Bandcamp: https://omenwapta.bandcamp.com/album/nayan-2
Pre-oder Clone: https://clone.nl/item80588.html

Written and produced by Loek Frey
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu at Schwebung Mastering
Sleeve design by Woody 's-Gravemade
Words by Brent van den Elshout

Distributed by Clone Records Rotterdam
Vinyl 12" & digital format via Clone and Omen Wapta Bandcamp

© Omen Wapta
Delft, The Netherlands est. 2021

OW12 Loek Frey - Nayan [preview]

Ω - Ω II 

1.CV999 
2.99HMI 
3.0000H 
4.KLM69 
5.XD201 

Bandcamp Release: https://tremsix.bandcamp.com/album/ii

Composed by Ω 

Art & Sound Engineering by Jonas Kopp 

Tremsix 2025

Release Out: August 13, 2025

Ω - Ω II (Tremsix)

sgmt/0X4065

Segment, real name Vladimir Špata, lives in Hradec Kralove. He’s also a founder of the music party series “Come In”, which he has, together with his colleague “Citty”, recreated as a music label “Come In Records”. His name also has its mark under the “Seismic” project, which has its base in Hradec Kralove.