yet is a slippery word in English. Amorphous, these three letters in different contexts can define contrast or emphasis, set a place in time, show an expectation that something will occur or, paradoxically, that it is likely to stop. 

It is this mercurial nature that makes yet the perfect title for Tresor's latest compilation: the label follows on from the more explorative sections of 2021's landmark Tresor 30 boxed set with a compilation, featuring 13 artists making music that resists easy definition. 

Every track hints at and borrows from the familiar yet none follow the expected path: halfway through Deserto, Nandele &amp; A-Tweed dramatically reveal a very different sonic landscape that was initially suggested; DJ Sotofett collaborates with Tamil artist Kavadi with results that are unlike anything in the Norwegian producer’s catalogue as yet.

Further invention can be found as Jean Redondo's Hypersonic moves across spaces inhabited by digital hardcore and hyperpop before swerving off-road and into a futuristic hip-hop section; on No Longer Human, Ireen Amnes takes a different path at the crossroads melding hyperpop, trance, and sci-fi soundtrack atmospherics, Significant Other heads towards UK Bass and Dubstep, and France's Willis Anne skims by the outskirts of footwork with a piece that is almost completely uncategorisable.

Yet more sonic experimentation comes from E-Saggila, Nadia Struiwigh, NVST, Solid Blake, and Viikatory who offer unique takes on the well-established electro blueprint, while Ryan James Ford, and Nit. both find ways to blend elements normally found in ambient pieces with those heard on a dancefloor.

The feel of the compilation is yet again reflected in the enigmatic artwork by Malik Arbab, where shapes and colours suggest animals and plants but in a world that appears to be transient and constantly evolving.

BANDCAMP

E-Saggila - Pr1nt

Our next guest is beyond a special one, a matchless artist, Rita Mikhael a.k.a @E-Saggila, who has been exploring the fringes of noise and industrial music for over a decade now.

In 2015, the Iraqi-born Rita, raised in Toronto adopted the E-Saggila alias for her music and DJing, which draws inspiration from harsh electronic forms, ambient textures and the rhythmic structures of techno and breakcore, which has lead her to create an extensive discography as a producer on renowned labels including Northern Electronics, Hospital Productions, PAN, Opal Tapes and BANK Records NYC and has become one of techno’s most exciting DJs.

This mix is nothing short of an atmospheric journey through cutting-edge sounds from an artists who's not afraid of blending the genres in the best way possible.

E-Saggila ■ Hapësira Podcast LXI

My World My Way was the name of @e-saggila's album back in 2019. It perfectly encapsulates her brazen approach to sound which chews up and spits out everything from noise to breakcore to techno. The Iraq-born, Toronto-based artist has always revelled in the contrast between tempos, shocking rhythms and distorted textures. Part of the thrill of listening to it is the sense it could all collapse at any moment, whether releasing on her label Summer Isle or the likes of Opal Tapes, Hospital Productions, and Northern Electronics.

This week she delivers an hour of pure electronic potency that brings to life her uniquely dystopian visions. Staring in what sounds like a haunted underground metro station, she then transitions into futuristic worlds of pulsating bass, squealing synths, scratchy melodies and hyper-driven percussive patterns that race along into the unknown. It's an abstract selection of sound that is cerebral and cinematic but will also cause utter carnage in a club setting.

Dekmantel Podcast

Dekmantel Podcast 471 - E-Saggila

At midnight, on March 13th 1991, a basement door opened at Leipziger Strasse 126, Berlin. Through this door, many passed, on their way to defining new terrains in electronic music. There they found a dance floor in the vaults of a closed-down department store, with a unique sound bound to dense fog, building night after night a history that was also a vision of the future. 

This history has seen in Jeff Mills’ first sets on three turntables, Underground Resistance's first live appearances in Europe, grandiose Tresor Park parties, to various chapters of the Loveparade with Sven Väth in the 90s and since then countless generation-spanning parties. These moments represent the highlights of infinite personal clubbing experiences. It is the manifestation of the Berlin spirit, emerging from its considerable strife. This history is not without its complications - from temporary closure by the authorities and several raids in the early years to closure and demolition of the old location in 2005. What followed was years of wandering in exile and, finally, resurrection in the new home in Kraftwerk Berlin.

These stories, conversations and shared experiences within our walls forge a resilience that drives towards a shared ideal, the Tresor sound: community, resistance, and the world to come. This was observed in the newly re-unified German youth, who danced and celebrated together from the club’s inception, and into the present day through ongoing community work in Detroit. 

Tresor Records was founded in the same year and began to serve as a platform for exporting the new sounds associated with Tresor all around the world. Emergent musicians from Michigan, such as Juan Atkins, Underground Resistance and Drexciya, were pivotal in shaping these early years. Their visits to Berlin would kick-start dialogue between the youth movement in Europe and these musicians. This story is one of friendship and community-building, inextricably linked with cities like Detroit, Birmingham or Edinburgh, where like-minded friends built something truly special, where revelatory rhythms soundtrack decaying industry in corrupted metropoles. 

Tresor Records has been the fertile soil for dozens upon dozens of creative minds, from the very luminaries of the scene who developed electronic music over the last three decades through to contemporary protagonists who are currently defining the sound of the future -  A more than 300 strong catalogue displays an unmistakable identity - the Tresor spirit.

To those that have danced before, and to those that will dance in the future: the light at the end of the long Tresor tunnel is a signal. A flicker amidst the fog. This is our future. This is our place.

Hapësira is a team of earnest individuals with diverse experiences who believe in the advancement of the society through culture, education, art and music by sharing mutual cultural values rooted in the collaboration of open minded individuals with the aim of shaping contemporary Kosovo through cultural movements and events.


International Acts surfaced at Hapësira events:

ABDULLA RASHIM, ACRONYM, ALEX.DO, ALFREDO MAZZILLI, ANTHONY ROTHER, ANCIENT METHODS, ANETHA, ANASTASIA KRISTENSEN, ANSWER CODE REQUEST, AURORA HALAL, AERA, ARTEFAKT, AWB, BLAWAN, BLAZEJ MALINOWSKI, BLOND:ISH, CLAUDIO PRC, CRAIGIE KNOWES, DANIEL AVERY, DASHA RUSH, DANIELLE, DJ DASCO, DANIELA LA LUZ, DVS1, EFDEMIN, ETAPP KYLE, ELLI ACULLA, EVIGT MÖRKER, GIEGLING COLLECTIVE, GIORGIO GIGLI, HUNTER/GAME, JAMES ZABIELA, KEITH CARNAL, KORRIDOR, LUCY, LUIGI TOZZI, LUX, MARCO SHUTTLE, MATISA, MANKIND, MOR ELIAN, NENE H, NEEL, NTHNG, NESS, NIKK, LAKE PEOPLE, PETER VAN HOESEN, PISETZKY, PAULA KOSKI, RROSE, SHIFTED, SHLØMO, SIGHA, STENNY, SOMNE, SHDW & OBSCURE SHAPE, SHTEPHANIE SYKES, TIN MAN, TOBIAS., UMWELT, VARG, VRIL, VOISKI

Contact: info@hapesira.space

Amsterdam based DJs, events company and record label. - support@dekmantel.com for all your webshop and label enquiries.

New tracks tagged #E-Saggila