June 2021

Techno/Breaks/Club

Nice Tunes

Buy them here: https://warningberlin.bandcamp.com

BANDCAMP

L A B E L

Amber Fade

Disappear

This Moment (I Feel)

Tilted

The wheels had slowly stopped turning; the whole world had shut down. What marked danger for humanity, wielded freedom for nature — now plant and wildlife could thrive in places that had once been impossible. Some travelled to the glistening waters of the canals, while others took to the sky in search of new climes to mate. It's amazing what can happen when the power's switched off for just a moment...

Two years ago Berlin-based producer and musician Guava took care of the second release for London's Control Freak Recordings, and now he's returning for his second EP, ‘The Dolphins are Back in Venice’, but this time he's bringing a few friends along with him for the ride. Fellow producers LUXE and Breaka join for two of the four tracks, all of which showcase Guava's dexterity at merging digital and analog practices. Coming via the label's hand-stamped white label series, the release matches syncopated rhythms and weighty low end with self-sampled guitar licks and playful melodies.

The Dolphins Are Back In Venice

PREMIERE: Guava & Breaka - The Dolphins Are Back In Venice [Control Freak]

London-based sound mangler & audio-artist extraordinaire Rico Casazza drops his first EP for Insult To Injury, the Ransom Note Records sub-label run by Timothy Clerkin.

Drawing influence from the 80's Electro scene, early UK Jungle and the darker realms of Dub Techno - 'Atompunk' is as evocative as it is full of lazer-sighted purpose.

Techno meets D&B genius, Eusebeia then takes the reins for the 'Atompunk' remix, dishing up a menacing hardcore and jungle-tinged, breakbeat assault.

PREMIERE : Rico Casazza - Atompunk

For the next release on the label, Undersound reaches to the Caucasian country of Georgia with this electro 4-tracker from @generali_minerali. 
The up-and-coming artist is the booker and sound engineer at the Drama Bar in Tbilisi. 

He opens the EP with two darker jams with swirly 303 lines on steady 808 rhythms. Influences from the late Microlith permeate these tracks, as the artist mentions him as one of his biggest inspirations. 

The B-side slows the tempo down with “808 dream” where delayed melancholic melodies are intertwined with rough saw waves. Finally, “Evening Mood” offers the perfect mood for a warm-up or after party with its downtempo swing and drums.

https://www.discogs.com/Generali-Minerali-808-Dream/release/18816826

Buy USR019

USR019 - Generali Minerali - 808 Dream

From a stylistic perspective, all bets are off as modernist bass music bowls forward with its sights on the dance. Over the past three years, J-Shadow has embodied that ethic more than most with a hybridised flex snapping fluidly between lurid grime waveforms, rave-indebted structures and hi-tech sound design. A perfect fit for Sneaker Social Club’s own omnivorous tendencies, then. 

Following drops on Super Hexagon, Nous, Comic Sans and Bun The Grid, Shadow lands on Sneaker Social with no less than six shellers packing a potency which has to be heard to be believed. Proceedings start off comparatively mellow with the atmospheric, vocal-laced ‘Fade’ – all cascading breaks and airy pads, before pivoting towards a kind of weightless style sprayed with blaster fire and dislocated snare rushes on ‘Kugelblitz (The Inescapable Rewarp)’. ‘Diffraction’ leans in on grime rudeness, albeit with a flamboyant twist up, before ‘Atlantis’ shakes up the B-side with an aquatic excursion into jungle territory clearly nodding to early Bukem. ‘Particle Horizon’ continues the uptempo charge, but straps starry-eyed arps to the barefaced breakbeat choppage with soul-quaking results. ‘Hibernation (Lumina Falls)’ acts as a kind of mood leveler to round out the EP, but even in these more patient moments the sound palette is vast and dynamic. 

At every step, Shadow’s production prowess shines through in glorious technicolour, all shimmering surfaces and molten sonic matter. The degree of detail is frankly staggering, from cascading sample arrays to infinitesimal FX tweaks. His vibrant personality comes through whether he’s tearing it up at 160 or dropping the kicks out altogether, celebrating the eclecticism that embodies modern club music.

Fade

Artist: https://soundcloud.com/strapontin, https://soundcloud.com/a_strange_wedding
Track: Sasnal Park
Label: https://soundcloud.com/abstrack-records
Format: 12" Vinyl, Digital, EP
Release date: 01/6/21
Purchase: https://abstrackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/strapontin-sasnal-park-ep

Second release of the year already from the party music people of Abstrack. This time, it’s Brussels based artist Strapontin whose original production is on the menu, with re interpretation from several gifted companions. The multitude here is no excuse for genericity or easy recipes, rather a fertile playground for toying around with a wide range of vibes and moods.
Matches is a poetic, sensual spoken-word piece. The song feels like a flower about to blossom, though with plenty of hybrid DNA in it. In the end it leaves the way wide open for further emotions to get through. And they do.
Sasnal Park is the emotion of wander : looking for something forever, but for what? The drums make you believe that you found it but they turn out to be a mirage, and so does every tangible element of the track. A beautiful journey in the end even if you don’t know where you’ve been.
Family Diner … no ambiguity this time : a mystical roller as dark as it is trippy. Or maybe more trippy. Either way, not sure you can resist dancing to this one played out loud. Lose yourself to screaming halfway through, but only to fall back well rooted in those dancing feet afterwards.
On the flip, remixers put it where they’re expected to : A Strange Wedding takes the wandering “Sasnal Park” on the Edge of trancy club music, closer to the roots of Abstrack parties.

Sasnal Park

YouTube

PREMIERE | Strapontin - Sasnal Park (A Strange Wedding Remix) [Abstrack] 2021

https://soundcloud.com/ole-mic-odd
https://soundcloud.com/dancealldayrecords
Buy Release: https://dancealldayrecords.bandcamp.com/album/neon-tetra
YouTube: https://youtu.be/i-zWs3k20DY

The 10th project of Dance All Day features talented LA based DJ, producer, and live performer Michael P, known as Omega Forest aka Ole Mic Odd. He made appearance for DAD earlier on with a 90's dream house styled DJ mix. Now Michael is back showcasing five mystical tracks which embrace a new sound that would be safe to consider RPG influenced club music. These eclectic tracks are filled with club kicks and fast hats rolling behind layers of magical synth leads, dreamy grooved out bass lines, and nostalgic pads.

Tracklist:

1. Pan's Garden
2. One For Kedaar
3. Mushroom Snake
4. Larka Island Race
5. Neon Tetra

Neon Tetra

Mushroom Snake

PREMIERE: Omega Forest - Mushroom Snake [Dance All Day]

Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ELWYPNqfjvo

Please fasten your seat belts. For their very first compilation, the Italian-based crew @eternalloveyt have brought a nice bench of artists together. These 11-tracks is kind of a journey around summer golden-hours, the return of a lovely life. @pontejai, from @earsonearth, naturally participated in.  

Buy: https://bsradio.bandcamp.com/album/bs-radio-volume-01

PREMIERE: JAI - Nuvole Di Pensiero [BS Radio]

Heady nights spent gyrating under flashing lights to pulsing rhythms, writhing freely as the sweat forced your hair to stick firmly to your forehead. These were all but memories now; the distant dream of clubland was a blur, a nostalgic trip that circled the mind but couldn't touch down in reality. But their imaginations kept them going until that first dance back because it would be one to remember for years to come.

After a brief intermission from releasing records to share Ece Özel's 'Expansion of Change' mix cassette into the world, Berlin's Warning are heating things up again with a new VA bringing together established and mysterious producers, forming the "North Rhine-Westphalia Trance Alliance". That probably gives you a clue to the rave-imbued sonics you can expect across the release, with trance, tribal, breakbeat and electro cuts from Phaser Boys, Chaos Milieu, DJ-Ungel and Zonza Grind — heed the label's warning (pun intended): they are "not responsible for any fire damage in your ear canals".

PREMIERE: Phaser Boys - Bialetti Break [Warning]

Secretsundaze - WAR1210
BUY LINK: https://warningberlin.bandcamp.com/album/war1210
Label: Warning (https://soundcloud.com/warningberlin)
https://www.instagram.com/warning._____
> Secretsundaze (https://soundcloud.com/secretsundaze)
https://www.instagram.com/secretsundaze/

For the tenth edition of the Warning 12” series - Secretsundaze, now led by James Priestley, releasing his first work under the moniker as a solo venture and marking a new sonic direction for the project. On WAR1210 he delivers two original cuts residing on the A Side, with remixes on the flip.

The EP opens with ‘Doesn’t This Sun Feel Great’, a rising, percussive track that utilises disparate samples and twisted vocal manipulation for a fast paced, dancefloor orientated roller. Progressive in outlook, organic in nature, the track steadily builds throughout, culminating in a deserving, euphoric release. ‘The Real Sun’ takes the sensibilities of the opening track and leans on its raw, rolling percussive energy, keeping things highly functional and grooving.

The B side commences with Drua’s version of ‘Doesn’t This Sun Feel Great’. Drawing for a sonic palette quickly becoming synonymous with him, the remix twists and turns in a mesh of psychedelic progressive and hard hitting tech house. To wrap up proceedings Giraffi Dog delivers his captivating ‘700 Lakeside remix’ of ‘The Real Sun’, pushing boundaries with an inventive score that transforms the original track's energy.

BUY LINK

PREMIERE : Secretsundaze - Doesn't This Sun Feel Great..

* Subscribe for more premieres: @BoltingBits
* Read more: https://boltingbits.com/secretsundaze-warning-drua
* Listen on Youtube: https://youtu.be/AnmhNzKE3Cc
* Pre-order: https://warningberlin.bandcamp.com/album/war1210

Following the development of the project to a solo venture of co-founder James Priestley, Secretsundaze marks another key milestone in 2024 with the release of the first original material by the artist under the Secretsundaze moniker in over 4 years.

Coming out on Berlin institution WARNING, the  WAR1210 EP exhibits the sonic development of Secretsundaze as a producer and DJ. Progressive in outlook, organic in nature, the two tracks (accompanied by remixes from Drua &  Giraffi Dog) help copper fasten the overall landscape for Secretsundaze’s artist vision.

The EP opens with ‘Doesn’t This Sun Feel Great..’, a rising, percussive track that utilises disparate samples and twisted vocal manipulation for a fast paced, dancefloor orientated roller. Progressive in outlook, organic in nature, the track steadily builds throughout, culminating in a deserving, euphoric release. ‘The Real Sun’ takes the sensibilities of the opening track and leans on its raw, rolling percussive energy, keeping things highly functional and grooving.

The B side commences with Drua’s version of ‘Doesn’t This Sun Feel Great’. Drawing for a sonic palette quickly becoming synonymous with him, the remix twists and turns in a mesh of psychedelic progressive and hard hitting tech house. To wrap up proceedings Giraffi Dog delivers his captivating ‘700 Lakeside remix’ of ‘The Real Sun’, pushing boundaries with an inventive score that transforms the original track's energy.

Secretsundaze - WAR1210 will be out on vinyl and digital on the 14th of November 2024

PREMIERE: Secretsundaze - Doesn't This Sun Feel Great.. (Drua Remix)

All of a sudden there was daylight, a new dawn. It were as if his whole life had been a mystery and clouded in secrecy until now. Then all would be awakened, a new day would be born and with it would be glimmering bright, golden rays of angelic light from up above.

This was the real sun. Not that which had been promised but a reality from the greater heavens beyond.

Soon they would all dance beneath its triumphant glow, forgetting the dark days which had come before.

Warning offers a home for a new Secretsundaze EP, the longstanding label and project spearheaded now by James Priestley. The record marks a new direction with futuristic, progressive tech driven sounds at the forefront.

PREMIERE: Secretsundaze - The Real Sun [Warning]

For the tenth edition of the Warning 12” series - Secretsundaze, now led by James Priestley, releasing his first work under the moniker as a solo venture and marking a new sonic direction for the project. On WAR1210 he delivers two original cuts residing on the A Side, with remixes on the flip.

Label: @warningberlin
Buy: https://warningberlin.bandcamp.com/album/war1210

PREMIERE: Secretsundaze - The Real Sun (Giraffi Dog's 700 Lakeside Remix) [WARNING]

Toxido Mask weaves her sonic alchemy into Enchanted, a slow‑burn journey of warm, velvet pads and ethereal vocal snippets — deep, immersive, and hauntingly beautiful.

Check out the full compilation WARM02 on Bandcamp
https://warningberlin.bandcamp.com/album/warm02

Follow
https://soundcloud.com/toxido-mask

Toxido Mask - Enchanted [WARM02]

Paramida’s Love on the Rocks reissues Peace Division’s Justin Drake and Paranoid London’s Quinn Whalley’s 1993 proto-trance epic. Hear Alex Kassian’s Dream State remix now

More info: https://djmag.com/music/premiere-peyote-dreams-state-mind-slack-mix-alex-kassian-s-dream-state

State of Mind (Slack Mix)State Of Mind (Slack Mix)

Premiere:  Peyote Dreams ‘State Of Mind (Slack Mix) Alex Kassian’s Dream State’

Love Got You

Love Got You (feat. JT Donaldson)

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.