The night terrors were consistently distorted and yet alluring. He was convinced by their fragrant appeal yet apalled by his own wicked imagination. Within the wildest corners of his mind he was petrified of the demons which lurked with ignorant intent. He lifted himself out of bed and paced across the hallway, he cast a solitary glance through the window and out into the darkness of the night. There was little to be seen but for the faint misty fog which hung beneath the orange beam of light flippantly pouring from the streetlight. He hung his head and began to cry. 

Kasper Marrot is set to release a new EP on Twin Cities. The up and coming record label is making serious headway and is gathering support from far and wide. The new release is an exotic take on house music built for the depression of the modern day.

Drømmen om Ø

PREMIERE: Kasper Marott - Mere (Tandoori's Modern Sax Mix) [Twin Cities]

Following last year's 'Kiyadub' EP, Andrew Weatherall returns to Byrd Out later this month with a brand new 12". Having invited his mate Andy Bell (y'know, him out of Ride) round to his studio to buy a Les Paul, Andrew suggested that he test the guitar out over a track he was working on, which then became the b-side here 'Making Friends With The Invader'.

We're very happy to be premiering the title track 'Blue Bullet', a trippy, dubbed-out construction with a surprisingly affecting melody which tunnels under your skin and refuses to leave.

Blue Bullet

PREMIERE: Andrew Weatherall - Blue Bullet [Byrd Out]

Logtoad - Rat Full Of Coins EP Vol 1

Against Fascism Trax. 

Many small actions combined can have great power, and it is always better to try to do something than to do nothing.  I have long believed this.  It breaks my heart that AF Trax must exist, but sitting back and doing nothing is an option I simply cannot countenance.

Our current global political climate gives grave cause for concern, because when the world tips to the right, those within marginalised communities feel repressive outcomes directly & immediately.  It is easy to think “it surely isn’t so bad”?, but those people precarious in their life circumstances, marginalised in our communities and displaced across the borders of the world are already suffering the consequences - often violently - of this shift in ideology.

We live in an era where talking is endless, but where actions are harder to find.  If AF Trax reaches just one person to make them change their mind over being a supporter of the far right, motivates somebody to work against fascist thinking, informs someone or raises funds - then I will view it as having been a success.  Something solid will have been created, we will have done something.

Confusion seems to exist as to what being against fascism might look like. There are dedicated left-wing groups fighting under the Antifa banner, leading some to think that being against fascism is purely a left vs right ideological divide. But it is not. Surely the only people who aren’t against fascism… are fascists?  This is not left wing vs right wing posturing but a fight everybody, be they conservative, liberal, centrist, apolitical or any other point on the political spectrum should surely support fully.

The culture of dance music that we know and love was born out of the struggles of marginalised and vulnerable communities across the world  - and those who assert politics does not belong in dance music are shamefully ignorant of this essential history.  Dance music as a culture would not exist as we know it shorn from that history.  The dynamics of struggle and celebration has always (and will always) run deep in the DNA of Dance.

AF Trax hopes to harness a tiny fraction of this dynamic, to honour that history, to provoke dialogue that is fundamentally anti-racist, anti-sexist, non-homophobic, non transphobic, non-ageist, non ableist & to question and breakdown the class divide.  In these current political times we all need to stand up and be counted, strive to challenge and dismantle the logic of the status quo with all of our might.

The label’s message is very simple. The far right ultimately wish for the destruction of our way of life and indeed the lives of many of the people we love. The message is love. The message is solidarity. The message is No Pasaran - They shall not pass. It is a call to stand together, it is a call to stand up, it is a call to ACT.  Individually we may be powerless, but together we are strong.  

If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!


** All label profits will be donated to Hope Not Hate  (https://www.hopenothate.org.uk) which campaigns to counter racism and fascism. 

Thanks to Lerato Khathi / Bring Down The Walls for permission to repurpose some of her text for the notes here. For Heather Heyer and Jo Cox.

Logtoad - Rat Full Of Coins EP Vol 1

A1)Ratchet Beat
A2)Screw Pump

B1)Drill Beat
B2)Hex Acid

Released on vinyl (and digital) on January 11th 2019. Distributed by Kompakt.

AF Trax 001 - Logtoad - Rat Full Of Coins vol 1 12" EP (sampler)

Remix of "All I need" by @dion-monti & @nonkuphiri on @Afrobot ’s Afrobotic Musicology label

Need

Dion & Nonku – All I Need (Christian S Remix)

Ethyos 440 - Ediacara EP
Release date  : 23rd january 2020
Label : Les Disques Magnétiques (https://soundcloud.com/lesdiquesmagnetiques)

LES DISQUES MAGNÉTIQUES
Attractive forces, electric currents, elementary particles: Les Disques Magnétiques explore Geneva's underground electronic scene. Music for dance, music for flight, music for the soul: Les Magnétiques open up the field of possibilities by giving pride of place to the most surprising collaborations.
ETHYOS440 (https://soundcloud.com/ethios440)
Emerging from Geneva’s underground scene, Ethyos440 is the meeting of groove band L’Eclair and DJ/producer Dj Laxxiste A. This ultimate late-night-infected-dub- live band pairs sequencers and human grooves, analog instruments are played live on riddims, fx’s, and samples manually executed with a dub-mix approach towards
the extreme.

LISTEN ON YOUTUBE

PREMIERE : Ethyos 440 - Makhno Dub

Berlin based Dame Bonnet makes music influenced by post punk and cold wave and with a primitive and reverb-drenched production he creates a tragic dream for the listener to sink in to. The music has a sentimental feel to it but the pretentions are avoided thanks to the direct sound and the unremitting drums which contributes to give the tracks a forward momentum instead of a stuck in place-feeling.

Dame Bonnet makes sad club music with traces from the early eighties In England, a society ravaged by the cold individualism as a result to neo conservative politics - a time that resembles ours, where people gets categorized out of prejudice and the social welfare systems are uninstalled bit by bit in front of a sparser crowd of woke people. In Europe, now in the 2020s, a supposed dead ultraconservative monster is coming alive again and Dame Bonnets music makes the soundtrack to that process.

This release, Dame Bonnets first on Höga Nord Rekords, captures, though the songs are all instrumental, an unpleasant atmosphere in our time. The music has its roots in 1980s England but it fits perfect also for the cold present of 2020.

https://soundcloud.com/hoga-nord-rekords
https://soundcloud.com/damebonnet

Pre order

PRÈMIÉRE: Dame Bonnet - Portamento [Höga Nord Rekords]

Cómeme happily presents: “Bizarro World”, a Split EP by Katerina (Helsinki) and Rizu X (Laredo,TX) As the world is in lockdown, our lives getting virtualized, the dance floors empty and the future uncertain, we share intimate dance music with you for an emotional workout - to stay in shape while you confront your reality.

Both Katerina and Rizu X have created their own language and imaginary space, taking shape as tracks that are intended, as Rizu X puts it, “to incite people to dance or meditate”. This time, Katerina brings us two haunting tracks: the abstract future jazz anthem “Bizarro World” and the acidic descarga of “Pinocchio” – whereas Rizu X offers us three post-techno fantasies she created in her hometown at the US - Mexican border between Laredo (TX) and Nuevo Laredo.

Rizu X - Quiero

Escaped Records returns with it's first digital release "So Many Memories'. This EP centers on an original track by Romain FX, founder of Hong Kong's Fauve Radio, that lays out catchy vocals over bright piano chords that combine for an uplifting early 90's nostalgia. Berlin duo Ca$hminus composed of Gratts from Belgium, and Eluize from Australia, strip the track leaving us with raw covered vocals mashed with analogue style beats and an overall grit that makes you want to move. Transmuted once more, Reba from France, shifts the sunny original to a heavy trance revival packing it with high energy, it's dancefloor ready.  

An Ep as varied as the producers who created it. From Asia to Europe and back again, from feel good house to trance, Escaped Records is here to help you create memories.

Ca$hminus' delivers a raw and tender cover version of the Romain FX original. Not using any of the original parts but re-recording everything  (synths, drums, vocals) themselves, the Belgo-Australiana duo take he track into completely different territory.

PREMIERE : Romain FX - So Many Memories (Ca$hminus Throwback 89 Cover Version)

There is definitely something "afro" inspired about this latest EP from Puma & The Dolphin, certainly in comparison to pretty much everything else I've ever heard from him, which includes a great EP on Canadian imprint Chambre Noir and some stellar inclusions on every one of Dj soFa's highly respected "Elsewhere" compilations.

I'm told that while immersed in domestic life during lockdown in Sofia, Bulgaria, the music evolved to take in what was happening at home and saw the inclusion of toy instruments, his own drum playing, the voices of his children playing and even the family parrots whistling and squawking in the background. These random ambient insertions when seen in the context of the hypnotic and percussive rhythms and timbres throughout are oddly reminiscent of the late, great Francis Bebey who, although culturally and physically a million miles removed, was also known for recording much of his work at home and who also featured the voices of his children playing.

In fact, it is as much the music's playfulness and simplicity that give the pieces their distinctive character, at times echoing the repetition and mesmerism of Raymond Scott's "Soothing Sounds For Baby" series. Yet, childrens' music this is not. There is a mysticism and depth on one hand and a willingness to experiment on the other that reminds me of pioneering experimentalist K. Leimer's early Eno-inspired tape outings as well (see "Supermarket" for example).

I asked Puma & The Dolphin's Nikko Names if he could share the story behind how these six tracks came together. He had this to say:

"This collection of pieces were created during a monotone period of my life which I have overlaid with colour: a time in which I surrender to the beauty of home life - watching my kids play, feeding the birds - entwining these sounds of my surroundings amongst the rhythmic layers of these pieces. Playing the drums to remind us of the next circle dance for four. There is something mystic to travel only in your head; a shamanic trip inside the body with no concepts and answers."

PREMIERE : Puma & The Dolphin - Am Am Am

For the 3rd instalment of Die Orangen’s Saft series on MT, we have invited dear friends Full Circle once again, this time remix- ing the track Krautback off DUO’s album Zwei Orangen.
Joakim & Alexis took a different turn from their proto-no-goa sound, with more than a nod to the late (and sadly missed) mr. Weatherall, and the result is a DUB.
Another duo we are huge fans of, Smagghe & Cross, took the song Zwei and reshaped it into a minimalistic psychedelic tonal symphony, echoing the original song's voices and fx.
On the B-side, after 3 years of working on it, we have finally brought together again the mighty duo Mungolian Jetset to re- work bits and pieces from the whole LP.
Its a midtempo cosmic disco/house banger that keeps on giving. a pure outdoor festival gem...
Last but not least, we are releasing as B2, for the first time on Vinyl, Die Orangen's collaboration with artist Eva Geist ( self-re- leased digitally earlier this year by the ginger boys themselves) ..... A perfect collaboration, bringing out the more sunny side of the D.O. duo......

https://soundcloud.com/dieorangen
https://soundcloud.com/colonelgatito
https://soundcloud.com/malka-tuti

PRÉMIÈRE: Die Orangen - Zwei (Smagghe & Cross Remix) [Malka Tuti]

Versatile Records is a longstanding imprint which has been responsible for the release of some of the most innovative, expressive electronic music in recent years. However, it has never been a label to fall kindly into one particular niche or category. This is perhaps best showcased through the release of a new six track EP built upon playful experimentation, friendship and quick wit. 

Bright Future is a new group made up of label founder Gilb'r, Satoshi and Abel - three friends from Amsterdam who stumbled into producing music together, the result being their debut on the label. It's a wonderful mix of krautrock, electronica, acid, ddowntempo and beyond all squeezed together into one compact package which sounds rough, ready and yet a hell of a lot of fun. 

We asked the collective to take us through the story behind each track and they do so in good form, alongside a sneaky premiere of a track from the new release.

Bright Future

Read Feature

PREMIERE: Bright Future - Sick Of This World (Dub) [Versatile]

Ransom Note is an online music, arts and culture magazine. We provide a home for readers and writers with boundless enthusiasm, esoteric knowledge, fierce opinions and impeccable taste.

With our core team immersed in all aspects of dance music, we publish news, articles, and interviews covering the greatest in innovative, underground culture from across the globe. We offer regular, exclusive music and mixtapes from our favourite artists, and publish features shining a light on everything from the freshest new artists to the untold tales from rave history.

Alongside this we offer musings on film, books, life, and art, generating some context and controversy as an antidote to the reheated PR that clogs up the internet. Our office is fuelled by Tunnock’s Bars, cat memes, hangovers and a ridiculous, never ending love for our culture.

We're always interested in getting new writers on board – feel free to get in touch if you’ve got a story to tell.

With love until the grave.