Manchester's Skam Records have earned something of a cult status over the last 30 years. Helmed by Andy Maddocks, the label has become synonymous with names like Gescom, Jega and Shadow Huntaz and built a huge family of producers who've returned to release on the imprint time and time again.

In the latter half of the 90s they became one the first labels to sign Boards of Canada and go on to release two of their early EPs; Hi Scores in '96 and Aquarius in '98. More recent movements have seen Skam keep it local, including Afrodeutsche's celebrated debut in 2018 and a second 12" from North Manc Beds, while last month saw the release of a They Can't Be Saved, a new album from James Ruskin & Mark Broom's Fear Ratio project.

Off the back of the release, Andy takes the reigns for today's mix to give us a taste of the label, past and present...

Skam: The Flavour of the Label Mix

•͙✧⃝ Dream✩ͯAura✧⃝.•͙͙✩ͯ

@nietchrist w/Morten_HD 'CONFIDENTIAL'  2017
@nietchrist Classical Mix #57 on @classicaltrax
@nietchrist LVLZ RADIO MIX vía @lockhartsj uk
@nietchrist Spiraling Remix on @tremorstv uk
Rumanians Remix vía @denguedancingrecords ar
@grandsonbeats (3:03) free download cl
"Bass Village" premiere on @weareinsert uk
Essential @nietchrist #080 on @jerome-worldwide
AL #046: Machuca vía @thumpmx mx
LVLSMIX #41 vía @thelevelsareveryhigh uk
Confidential Remixes > @classicaltrax us
Club mix #15 via @cybersonicla us
"Confidential" premiere on @latmt cl
Machucados publicado en @disquediscos mx
Acid Memories its out now on @discos-cetaceos cl
#27 (Endless Rhythm Mix) via @noproblematapes

2013 - Cool Jams (@noproblematapes)
2013 - Cool Jams Remixes (soundcloud)
2014 - Cold Beer (@noproblematapes)
2015 - Cold Beer Remixes (soundcloud)
2015 - Iberá (@denguedancingrecords )
2015 - Metabolismo (@noproblematapes)
2016 - Acid Memories (@discos-cetaceos)
2016 - Machucados (@disquediscos)
2017 - Confidential (@noproblematapes)


@sntsfm radio vibe 
@machucala latin synth wave 
@nietchrist tools for future

https://grandsonbeats.bandcamp.com/

TOO FAR AHEAD TO ASK ‘EM THE TIME
I DON’T THINK ‘BOUT TOMORROW, TOMORROW AIN’T IN SIGHT
BIG SPLIFF TO END THE YEAR RIGHT
TRANSMISSION UNDER SUBSTANCE

mainframe bleeds / codes vomit light / neon spit on broken circuit mics / blood made of wifi / skulls fused with antennas /drag gravity threading through black bugs. 404 child, reason's last glitch, cities burning inside my ribs, each flick a witch. screaming in pixels / sinking through code / a hyperloop prison where thoughts explode. no maps. ghosts of tomorrow, dancin’ in static gust.  spinning spacetime on cracked cassette divisions worldbreakers / spittin’ truth in waves, wired into the bones of dead satellite graves. every frame melts, every clock fakes, every language glitches into mirrors that break. we already gone — no rewind / no pulse / echoes in a dead sun, whispering from the other side.
SUBSTANCE GUIDED AUTOMATIC MODE – THE DECKS DON'T LIE – THE DECKS DON'T LIE – THE DECKS DON'T LIE – THE DECKS DON'T LIE – JZHF LUJZTH LKDEDRHJ BU3Z45JBR6SUBSTANCEGUIDED AUTOMATICMODETHE DECKS DON'T LIEHE DECKS DON'T LIE THE DECKS DON'T LIE THE DECKS DON'T LIE THE DECKS DON'T LIE THE DECKS DON'T LIE THE DECKS DON'T DON'T LIETHE DECKS DON'LIETHE DECKSDON'TYEXRCTV8LIETH IUDEC78G0HDON 'T890LIETHE DECKS DON'T6G7H8JLIETHE DECKS78DON'T00I9ULIE

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.

Update: 
• The EP Sound Systems is out now on Batona Music https://batona.bandcamp.com/album/sound-systems
—
Setting out under "The Landscape of New Jersey In Beats and Keyboards", supporting work has sprawled over the years beyond music to music video, photography, road journeys, exploration, live sets, signage, ambience surveys, field recording, and hiding old music across the state for possible future discovery. 

Whatever this work is about, it aptly scores a broken down land of plenty at the dead end of spectacle-ridden capitalism invisibly choking the life out of all that's good, like a winter that won't end unless it takes us with it. 

At Work releases still available:  
• Build It Up, Break It Down (PATH1) 2005

•  Build It Up, Break It Down—Remix (PATH4) 2010  

• 10 Minute Break (PATH6) 2011 

• My Property (PATH7) 2012

• A Very Slow Collapse (PATH10) 2012

• グリム・アップ・ノース (北が大変） (PATH12) 2012

• Community Creation (PATH17) 2012

• A Thousand Blended Notes (PATH20) 2016

• Sound Systems (PATH22) 2020