Runner  ( V 2 Tokyo Nights)

Project_446

Step into the shoes of The Jam Gang, a group of fearless kids who stop at nothing to beat the high score the the legendary D.S. on the famous arcade game: Mighty. Who is this mysterilus D.S? Rumors flow of an outlaw on the run from the law, who once roamed the streets but was a wizard at the arcade. Close your eyes and immerse yourself into an action packed, neone fueled, hair raising mystery in the Quarter of Legends.

Gather the Jam Gang

After 5 years of 'Fortnightly Freebies' columns collating our favourite free downloads, we decided to do things a bit differently for the 100th chapter. Introducing 'Big Material', a 19-track 'name your price' compilation that will donate 100% of profits made to Stonewall Housing, a London-based charity supporting some of the most marginalised and vulnerable in our society.

At a time when unfair austerity is increasing inequality and leaving so many behind, we hope to support a community that has given so much to the 'scene' and music we love. Digi-dub abstractions and drifting ambient to kaleidoscopic breaks and newly-coined genre, 'subtle donk', it's a pretty accurate microcosm of the If-Only curation as a whole.

Big Material pulls together music from some of If-Only's favourite artists, with tracks from @apsychicyes, @riveryarra, Material Things (@12th-isle), @priori-ties, @nicholaswilson1982 & @steviewhisper, @benoitb, @maxabysmal, @58daniel, @bogdan-drazic, @whyesss, @twitch, @warzouk, @thomasbakk, @eyemeasure, @rdjm0, @furiousfrank, Moonphase (AKA @cl_lit), @moonbowmusic and @aki-aki.

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Soft and calm, we, like light
fray into gentle chaos.
Big material unfurls
Then turns to collect, reform –
Like breaths, draw in
To new poise and structure;
Solid and slow.
Never still. Glacial.

Think back, before
A piece of things,
Moving alone, once a part –
But when is the fragment
not the whole?
When is the whole not the whole?
The salt which made the chalk
Which made the cliff
Which made the slate -

Hard to see,
Once a part and still, we are,
A piece of something else.

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All profits go to Stonewall Housing, a London-based charity working to ensure lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people live in safer homes, free from fear, where they can celebrate their identity and support each other to achieve their full potential.

Artwork by Parks Perdue.
Mastering by Ali Berger.
Poem by BSMN WNS.

Download

Ether - Detonator (Furious Frank's Placid Acid Edit)

D. Faux's 'Cosmic Pachanga' from our upcoming collaborative release with Ears On Earth, Household Choirs

Pre-order CD or digital album:
earsonearth.bandcamp.com/album/household-choirs
superutu.bandcamp.com/album/household-choirs

Household Choirs [EOE004 / UTU004]

D. Faux - Cosmic Pachanga

The wall, ancient and crumbling underfoot, became their runway. They were a cat-walking anachronism, splitting time in two with their body's edges. Leather lacerated the skin they lived in. But as the flesh broke so did the battlements, their stiletto heels daggering and grinding the brick into beachy sand. A searchlight snapped onto their figure. They shone, starlike - then posed.

Following the charge of high profile electronic artists from Tel Aviv (Red Axes, Mor Elian, Autarkic et al.) comes PAG Records: a new collective forcing art, fashion, sound and identities to dangerous new territory. Their debut release is DRAMA QUEER: a compilation of spectacular, theatrical EBM, electro and industrial. Though cast from around the globe, its dramatis personae - including Silent Servant, Lokier and our selection from Cardopusher - share one voice, projecting a radical performance towards the Israeli capital. All the world’s a stage, but Yafo is the place where this queer melodrama will move the most.

Drama Queer VA

PREMIERE: Cardopusher - Lux Aeterna [PAG Records]

The computer screens flickered, omitting a bright glow that lit the small dark room. Shoulder to shoulder smartly dressed men sat hovered over the screens, intently watching the information that shot across the screen in a rapid bursts. Illegible code and indecipherable numbers; blink and you'd miss it. From the outside, little was known about the operations taking place in this building. Many speculated but all were too afraid to ask...

Under his Pleasure Model alias, Bristol born producer and film composer Antoni Maiovvi explores his love of wave, synth and Italo disco. Having previously released an EP and two albums for Budapest's Dalmata Daniel, he now makes a return to the label ahead of his new LP on 100% Silk, delivering a four tracker titled Update 2.1. Written during a period spent living in The Hague, the release is a batch of freaky Italo jams, complete with weighty drums and soaring synths.

PREMIERE: Pleasure Model - Minority Report [Dalmata Daniel]

Lo-fi, DIY electro-disco breakdance made with toys and cheap machines, crunching electro-industrial anthems, clever re-arrangements of insane acapellas into acid monsters, 80s-inspired electro-pop and hedonistic 'future disco' tunes, soulful vocoder ballads sung over Commodore 64 video-game music, new soundtracks for real or imagined anime movies… every Plastique De Rêve track is a different experiment with… something – a toy, a synth, a program, a vocal sample, an old drum machine, a computer glitch, a found sound, a field recording, a thumb on a jack – anything that generates new and interesting sounds, which are then playfully crafted and assembled together into unique little musical 'stories' - to electrify your mind and get your body movin' ! 
Swiss DJ and producer Plastique De Rêve hails from Geneva but lives in Berlin. After live EBM, rave collectives, art installations and performances across the 90s, Plastique became a pioneer of the Swiss electro scene with releases on top labels like Gigolo, Turbo or DFA in the 00s. Still active today as DJ, producer and sound designer, he is also half of cosmic disco duo NOO on Optimo Music.

PREMIERE : Plastique De Reve - Syntax Error

First solo release by the side project of Danilo & JAI.
5 raw and stretch out tracks with very few elements and minimal mixing. A personal tribute to early 90's progressive techno music, with an euro house feeling.

https://soundcloud.com/earsonearth

Pre-order

PRÉMIÈRE: BF Treatment - Nature Of Reality [Ears On Earth]

Eluize returns to Craigie Knowes to release her second album in the form of the beautifully eclectic 8-track 'Gone' LP. Ambient and Experimental sounds feature alongside club-ready Techno and Electro - moving effortlessly and coherently across genre and influence.

'Gone' captures the full-spectrum of Eluize's mastery in song-writing, composition and production in all of its shimmering glory. Her take on synthesis, drum-programming, mixing and original vocals / lyrics take you by the hand and lead you into a rich garden of colour and sound in what is likely her most accomplished work to date.

'Gone' will also feature 2 semi-abstract videos directed collectively by the artist and videographers based in Berlin; the city where the album was written.

Eluize recently launched a coaching / mentoring program focused on supporting Womxn, Non-binary and Trans people in technical production, performance and label management within the realm of electronic music. Sharing her expertise and experience in music production, live performance, djing, releasing music, label management and general support around balancing life, mental health, motherhood, living abroad and the trials and tribulations of working in "the industry”.

Her efforts to elevate the dance music community through action as well as production is testimony to her character's force as a vessel for positive change.

'Gone' will be available on vinyl and digital from the 19th of October 2020.

LISTEN ON YOUTUBE

PREMIERE : Eluize - Supposed

Purring and purring, she slinked along the skirting board towards the sweet scent of wet matter. Her blades undulated like a well oiled piston while her fur glistened in the half-light with natural polish. Turning casually to the right, her mirror image twisted back at her. Both froze at once, wide eyes locked. A few moments later, they proceeded to engage in a careful tango before going about their bored business once more.

Yu Su goes deeper into the depths of dub-wisdom with this latest release for Bangkok's Siamese Twins, a remix for Mogambo. The latter are a Thai-based duo pursuing mind expansion and bodily comfort through their outernational brand of psy-tronica and trance. The Chinese producer, though, gives their Goan beach comedown track 'Jeena' a renewed and almost sinister intensity. Unlike the levity of her previous dubby moments, such as her Technicolor outing Watermelon Woman, 'Jeena' is a more frowning interpretation that suits the current social climate: dark, cold and unforgiving.

PREMIERE: Mogambo - जीना (Jeena) (Yu Su Aroi Mak Dub) [Siamese Twins]

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.