https://soundcloud.com/vrouwefataal
Buy Release: https://bferecords.bandcamp.com/album/bfe67-sophie-du-palais-endurance-of-pain-is-the-power-of-being-lp
YouTube: https://youtu.be/lj8gaPAPpy8

One of the bright talent emerging from the current Netherlands‘ electronic underground scene is the German and Amsterdam-based, ‘fetish-inclined’, vocalist and performer Sophie du Palais ((Pinkman, Dekmantel Recordings)) also known as “Vrouwe Fataal”. She presents debut solo LP ‘Endurance of Pain is the Power of Being’

Sinister industrial wave music exploring themes of lust, hedonism, technological obsession & millennial alienation

Across six tracks, Du Palais unravels a potent signature, driven by fierce, imperious Anglo-Germanic vocals and eclectic, dissonant sounds. Connecting techno, EBM, acid and electro with vestiges of dub and experimental electronics, on ‘Endurance of Pain…’ Du Palais conjures an abrasive, intoxicating depiction of lust, hedonism, technological obsession and millennial alienation.

With the cruising techno pop menace of ‘Slow Steady Cum’, Du Palais introduces a nocturnal underworld. The descent is intensified by the mania and murk of ‘Glazed Disco Ball’ – a suspenseful dose of guttural low end, scowling spoken words, and crude drum machine clatter; if Gudrun Gut fronted Suicide. Then ‘Boys Tears’ elaborates on the dread and the sleaze with a horror show of gurgling synthesis, drubbing percussion and dissolute enunciations, halfway between John Carpenter and Unit Moebius.

From there ‘Up To No Good’ brings proceedings into a severe form of heat and frenzy, outlaying an exchange of raw jackhammer rhythms and vociferous punk chants that recalls Liaisons Dangereuses’ timeless underground classic ‘Los Niños del Parque’ if remade for 2021. ‘Smash The Mirror’ then finds room for scintillating dub recurrence and freakish machine funk before Sophie concludes the set with the sardonic electro-clash anthemics of ‘2001’, a provocative exploration of self, communication, and compulsion in the digital era. Miss Kittin meets Dopplereffekt for a technoid bonfire of the vanities.

‘Endurance of Pain…’ finds Sophie Du Palais seizing an uncompromising sense of style and intensity, an emergent new artist navigating a merciless, pleasure-seeking existence, from club to bedroom to screen, facing it all down with a cold glare, ready to light the fuse.

Tracklist:

A1 Slow Steady Cum
A2 Glazed Disco Ball
A3 Boys Tears
B1 Up To No Good
B2 Smash The Mirror
B3 2001

Endurance of pain is the power of being

Smash The Mirror

PREMIERE: Sophie du Palais - Smash The Mirror [BFE Records]

READ > https://inverted-audio.com/premiere-kim-ann-foxman-wildlife/

Amsterdam-based platform @OddyseeFM make the leap from curated mixes and Buy Music Club playlists into releasing music with a benefit compilation raising money for Indigenous Peoples through the Sinchi Foundation, featuring a track from @KimAnnFoxman.

Oddysee Comp 1

Kim Ann Foxman - Wildlife [Oddysee]

Rest seemed such an unfamiliar word these days, life moved at a 100 miles per hour with no respite or time to take stock. When one thing ended another started, the mind was constantly flooded with information and given little chance to absorb it all. The tasks were never ending and the willingness to complete them continued to evaporate; would there ever be a chance to slow down and simply switch off?

Amsterdam’s traumgarten have called on friends and family for a new compilation to raise money for three charities doing important work in their respective fields. “An ode to parallel universes, dormant desires, and all the unexplored paths of our finite existence”, the 21 track release marks the label’s second benefit release. Titled ‘Virgin Forest’, the compilation brings together the likes of Job Sifre, upsammy, Ineffekt & Nazanin Noori, who explore the cosmic corners of the electronic spectrum, touching on ambient, bass, percussive rhythms, acid and much more. 

All proceeds will be split between three organisations: Alianza Arkana, a grassroots organization committed to the protection, development and wellbeing of the Peruvian Amazon and the indigenous Shipibo-Konibo peoples; Everyday Refugees, a foundation that aids refugees, local communities, and people internally displaced by war; and Bridges Over Borders, a community-based collective offering support to BIPoC, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalised individuals fleeing Ukraine.

Virgin Forest

PREMIERE: Job Sifre — Never Ending (Subatomic Acid Mix) [traumgarten]

Surrender

Free Download

Clarence G - Turbine (Facets edit)

@qnete - shtum 018
https://shtumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shtum-018

shtum018

Bandcamp

Qnete - Alone Together (Together)

It’s the year 2020. The world is fighting a deadly pandemic, while protests rip through several major cities, under a political climate that spreads hate, fear and divisiveness. 
It’s not a vision of a dystopian future but the new normal and Mike Smith under his Crossover Network alias captures the zeitgeist.

Smith’s signature basslines, sluggish drums and stripped down synth work on 'Lose Your Delusion' soundtracks an alienated, synthetic world full of paranoia.

Crossover Network
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/crossovernetwork
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrossoverNetwork

Crisis
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/crisis-records
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crisisbp

PREMIERE: Crossover Network - Terminal Broadcast (Crisis)

Interstellar Funk & Robert Valera - Devil's Juice
Artificial Dance 2020
AD010

https://artificialdance.bandcamp.com

Interstellar Funk & Robert Valera - Devil's Juice (AD010)

While the German producer Martin Matiske averages a new release under his given name every few years, there was a long stretch of time in which sightings of his Blackploid alias were much more rare. After dropping an EP for Frustrated Funk in 2006, fans found further material hard to come by over the next decade or so. However, Matiske has reinvigorated Blackploid in recent times, with the project making a few compilation appearances and dropping a couple of EPs across 2020.

That run now culminates in Cosmic Traveler, a four-track affair which marks Matiske’s debut appearance on Sheffield’s Central Processing Unit. Given the long wait, it’s great just to see Blackploid back among the fray once again. But for the project’s CPU curtain-raiser to be an EP of such high-quality techno jams? Now that really is spoiling us.

Cosmic Traveler’s title nods towards the sort of stargazing aesthetics one finds in classic Detroit techno. However, while there are undoubtedly ties to the Motor City in this music, the record ultimately steers less towards spacious atmospherics and more towards the taut, lean machine-funk of seminal practitioners like Dopplereffekt.

Matiske sets his stall out from the off. Opener ‘Electric Engine’ begins with a run of stiff-necked 808 kicks before hissing hi-hats, a grizzly bassline and all manner of futuristic sounds enter to warp the tune into hyperspace. Following cut ‘Night Drive’ repeats the trick of ‘Electric Engine’ but adds a pleasingly dinky synth lead in order to nudge itself slightly towards bleep-techno territory.

The two cuts on Cosmic Traveler’s B-side are pure late-night goodness, a pair of mid-set heaters primed for dark basements. ‘Pleasure Activism’ delivers on the promise of its title and then some, pushing the Kraftwerk template to extremes by bringing a load of gnarly synth lines into play over a wobbling acidic chug. Finally, EP closer ‘The Race’ is reminiscent of both the twisted machine-funk of Gerald Donald’s Japanese Telecom project and the playful modern evolutions of artists like fellow CPU high-flyer Jensen Interceptor.

The resurgence of Martin Matiske’s Blackploid project continues with Cosmic Traveller, an EP of timeless electro-funk and techno.

FFO: Dopplereffekt, Japanese Telecom, Jensen Interceptor, Cardopusher

Cosmic Traveler

Blackploid - Cosmic Traveler

Pulse Vol. 1

Auren Feat. Gūzas - Žirmūnai [FSS Recordings]

Out now: mechatronica.bandcamp.com/album/tr-ume-von-gabriel-w-dollkraut-remix

Following his Red Pyramid EP, @lfttrax returns with fearless visions, Nils Fock on vocals and a cold-blooded @dollkraut remix on the flip. Dedicated to Gabi Delgado-López. Hand-numbered, hand-stamped, etched, no repress. 

EP playlist: soundcloud.com/mechatronicamusic/sets/l-f-t-traeume-von-gabriel-w

--

More music by @lfttrax:

L.F.T. - Red Pyramid [MTRON018]
mechatronica.bandcamp.com/album/red-pyramid-ep

Dez Williams - No Indication (L.F.T. Remix) [MTRON020]
mechatronica.bandcamp.com/album/by-whatever-means-necessary

L.F.T. - Cut A Hole In A Fence [MTRONAID]
mechatronica.bandcamp.com/album/aid-ep

Träume Von Gabriel

[ Buy on Bandcamp ]

L.F.T. - Strassenmensch feat. Nils Fock [MTRONW008]

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.

PREMIERE: Job Sifre — Never Ending (Subatomic Acid Mix) [traumgarten]

Ransom Note

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