Ophélie, a French Berlin DJ and radio host for Refuge Worldwide, introduces their inaugural release on Hundert Records titled "Pipa Pipa". Drawing inspiration from the early days of Jungle and Drum and Bass labels like Moving Shadows, Ophélie offers their unique interpretation of the atmospheric aspect of this genre. By blending deep, soothing chords with a timeless drum arrangement, they craft an auditory journey that transcends the dance-floor.

PREMIERE : Ophélie - Pipa Pipa

If you can judge an artist’s quality by the company they keep, then FaltyDL is up there with the best of them. The label history of the producer known to his friends as Drew Lustman reads like a “who’s who” of 21st century electronic music imprints - Ninja Tune, Unknown to the Unknown, Planet Mu, Studio Barnhus, the list goes on.

With In the Wake of Wolves, we can now add Central Processing Unit to this illustrious roster. The Sheffield label joins the party at a notable juncture - while FaltyDL has kept up an impressive clip of releases throughout his career, In the Wake of Wolves is both the NYC-based producer’s first LP for two years and his first full-length release away from his own Blueberry Records for almost a decade. 

In the Wake of Wolves proves to be both a great match for CPU and also further evidence of the label’s burgeoning sonic palette. While CPU has built its reputation on top quality electro joints, recent releases have delivered adventurous electronica experiments (Proswell’s People Are Giving And Receiving Thanks At Incredible Speeds), hard-wired breakbeat techno (Baby T’s I Against I) and golden-age synth explorations (twenty-fifth anniversary reissues of Bochum Welt’s Desktop Robotics and Feelings on a Screen, both of which first emerged via the legendary Rephlex Records). In the Wake of Wolves takes things further still - this is a brilliantly genre-voracious record, one which marries the rhythmic cut-and-thrust that we have long known FaltyDL for with all manner of adventurous stylistic choices.

Those familiar with the FaltyDL experience will recognise the trademark blend of synthetic grit and harmonious softness in album opener ‘I Need You’. This could pass for Four Tet or even Hannah Diamond at points, the steady build of pulsing synths and looped vocals recalling a more mysterious version of the PC Music sound. ‘I Need You’ stands shoulder-to-shoulder with any of FaltyDL’s other great atmospheric album openers - no small feat given the competition. ‘Further’, the following number, is yin to ‘I Need You’s yang. This is a pulsating track which gleefully skitters between machine-funk, tubing darkside bass and breakcore-adjacent drum programming, all of which is peppered with some genuinely beautiful work in the higher synths.

‘Further’ sets the scene for several of the more club-facing cuts here. ‘Minds Protection’ similarly features all manner of strange percussive sounds to surprise the ear, and it also boasts a thrilling mid-section in which the bottom falls out the track to incorporate a short snippet of blown-out junglism. With its tunnelling low-end and clattering drums, ‘Full Spectrum’ kicks off a delightful run of grime-influenced joints which take cues from Mr. Mitch, Logos and many of those other producers who took the Eski sound to exciting new places in the 2010s. ‘Forget Me Not’, the album’s longest track which is placed three spots from the end, feels like the record’s climactic point - a pitter-patter post-house joint that has a hint of Caribou in its DNA, it’ll take the clubs by storm.

But as much as FaltyDL may consistently bring the heat in terms of the beat programming, the thing which has long marked Lustman out as a special talent is the musicality of his compositions. No matter how much drums clatter or bass bangs, FaltyDL always hooks the ear back in with a sonorous synth or pleasing nugget of melody. Nowhere is this more apparent than on In the Wake of Wolves’ more weightless numbers, each startling in their prettiness. ‘Half Spectrum’ is a new-era beat track packed full of ear candy; the keening keys of ‘GasGas’ are potent with feeling; and on the album’s closer, the evocatively-titled ‘Mila Stans In A Meadow For The First Time Eating Strawberries’, we get a gorgeous synth vignette that joins the dots between the modern mastery of Yung Sherman and the most emotionally affecting moments of Aphex’s Twin’s catalogue.

In The Wake Of Wolves

FaltyDL - In The Wake Of Wolves

Step Ball Chain’s unconventional prototype band trickpony is the 11th release on the ever evolving imprint. An assortment of sensual cyber jams collaged together by the trio over timezones, birthed in Perth, Australia by Mike Midnight and Roza Terenzi; old friends joined by Helsinki’s visionary songstress Maria Korkeila. A trinity of alchemy blossomed into an audio rendition of exquisite corpse, layers of each entity glistening through amongst a united cosmos; trip hop atmospherics and downtempo drippings. 

The five track EP reveals a metamorphosis of nostalgia, a foot in the ever present and daydreams of future. A subconscious deep dive into lustful pop, guided by spine tingling vocal fantasies; textural hallucination, harmonic odes to the golden era underground and a flirtation with drum and bass, tribal percussive freakouts and dream tinged lyrics of desire. 

Pillow talk is a timeless exhibit of esoteric treasures, a portal to a private world of modern enchantment that reveals itself in new ways each listen, music for lovers created by a supergroup of innovators to be digested, shared and cherished.

Buy: https://stepballchain.bandcamp.com/album/pillow-talk

PREMIERE: trickpony - Shiver DnB [Step Ball Chain]

Title: Sentiment Series Vol.11
Artist: Various Artists
Label: Shaw Cuts
Cat.Number: SCSS011
Date: 19/04/2024

According to the situation, there are times when you must rely on a person for something or other. If this is done repeatedly, it becomes a matter of importuning that person and can be rather rude. If there is something that must be done, it is better not to rely on others. (Yamamoto Tsunetomo - Hagakure: Book Of The Samurai)

https://shawcuts.bandcamp.com/album/sentiment-series-vol-11

https://soundcloud.com/realitycheck-4

http://www.shawcuts.de/
https://www.instagram.com/shaw_cuts
https://soundcloud.com/shaw-cuts
https://www.facebook.com/shawcuts

PREMIERE: Realitycheck - Fractal [Shaw Cuts]

READ > inverted-audio.com/premiere-anatolian-weapons-dawn-revised

Venturing through mind-altering states of trance for three years, the Ukrainian platform Penumbrum - helmed by production duo Shjva and Stereometrix...With lustrous bells and superlunary synthesizers born in the metropolis of dreams, Anatolian Weapons concocts the ultimate acid-infused potion for sleepless heroes on the battlefield.

V/A Compilation For Ukraine

Dawn (revised)

Anatolian Weapons - Dawn (revised) [Penumbrum]

READ > inverted-audio.com/premiere-ben-hauke-heyyyyy

Following up Last Nubian's 'Babylon Shuffle' EP in 2023, South London-based community club night and record label Touching Bass return with a highly anticipated album from local producer Ben Hauke.

@bjamin
@touchingbass

Club Cute

Heyyyyy

Ben Hauke - HEYYYYY [Touching Bass]

In the land of SPLOT, where the seekers do trot, Lived a low end activist, who gave it a shot. With a spoon for a hat, and a sock for a shoe, He danced in the moonlight, with a kangaroo too!

https://www.theransomnote.com/music/premieres/premiere-low-end-activist-seekers-splot/

@splot-wro @lowendactivist

PREMIERE: Low End Activist - Seekers [SPLOT]

TLPITS03 : In The Slush (iii). The third of three tapes - ‘Tendrils Lurched Purple In The Slush’ via London based imprint Twin System. 

Artist: @twinsystem
Buy: https://twinsystem.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-slush-iii-2

PREMIERE: Angel Hunt - Cat's Eye [Twin System]

London-based Elastics launch label of experimental club music focused around "tension and release".

Featuring a diverse six-track compilation of experimental club music the first Elastics outing is co-curated by Flatcap and INGI. Opening with McGregor and Lucy Grey's "Warm" and "Repercussions," and elsewhere Kincaid, INGI & Ryvahl's, Klahrk contribute fast-paced club tracks while R.E.D's "The Boat is Gone" offers a cathartic conclusion.

"Having met years ago at Floorless Festival, the label was grown out of our appreciation of music revolving around tension and release - an Elasticity.” Flatcap & INGI

@elastics-544150328 @lucygreyx

PREMIERE: Lucy Grey - Repercussions [Elastics]

https://soundcloud.com/jdotbalance
https://soundcloud.com/nehzarecords
🛒 https://nehzarecords.bandcamp.com/album/transmental
🔊 https://youtu.be/meLxKAceLGc

Transmitting
Translating
Transmental

In the realm of Nehza Records, Transmental is all about Transmitting thoughts. Label founder RONI coined the term and theme of the V/A, which explores telepathic communication with animals and plants via sonic waves and frequencies from eleven electronic music artists worldwide.

Tracklist: 

1. Leese - Pace
2. RHR - Pulsar
3. Leyka - Sirocco
4. SLACK 1NE - Illegal
5. Dj Fucci - En lo oscurito
6. Dufraine - Piece of Mind
7. BJF - Volcano 
8. Burna - Pitcher
9. Lia Catreux - Holy Fall
10. Croixrouge - K2
11. Jdotbalance - All Together

PREMIERE: Jdotbalance - All Together [Nehza Records]

Somewhere in the distant future we find a way to take back control.

Take Control

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: Lucy Grey - Repercussions [Elastics]

Ransom Note

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