forest vibes and vices

Buy on Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/release/windmaker/1775322

Sebastian Mullaert is well known for his work as one half of the highly respected Swedish duo Minilogue, responsible for killer releases for the likes of Cocoon, Crosstown Rebels and Wagon Repair, alongside breathtaking live shows as a solo outfit as well as their joint live act with Matthew Jonson.

Working from the idilic setting of the mystical Swedish forest, Sebastian Mullaert has has been making serious waves on his solo artist journey, lending his signature hypnotic sound to labels like Mule Musiq, Drumcode, Minus, Kontra-Musik and Ovum. His one of a kind spellbinding live show is illuminating the world’s finest stages such as Panorama Bar - Berlin, Concrete - Paris, Fabric - London, Labyrinth Festival - Japan, Black Market - NYC to name a few and can be witnessed on his recent Boiler Room and XLR8R sessions. 

At nearly 13 tantric minutes long, ‘Windmaker’ bubbles and teases with freestyle keys with an almost Middle Eastern flavour, as Mullaert plays snake charmer to his machines, coaxing out deft melodies, airy cymbals and on point beats and percussion.  It’s a track to completely get lost in, crafted with fine sonics and a gloss that only an artist like Mullaert can achieve with ease.

The enigmatic Ukranian producer, Vakula, is drafted in to give a re-interpretation of ‘Windmaker’; edgy phased stabs puncture the minimal techno beat, bouncing and reverberating off the kick drum to create a glorious wall of dubby sound that compliments the original mix a treat.  Vakula has always impressed with his creative and original music for labels like Firecracker, Dekmantel and his own Leleka imprint, so it’s a privilege to have him remix on Hypercolour.

Windmaker

Buy on Beatport

Sebastian Mullaert - Windmaker [Hypercolour]

Bandcamp

Wa Wu We - What's Left? (Super Strip)

Wa Wu We - What's Left? (Vinyl Version)

Kontra-Musik and Aniara Recordings have walked side by side for a long time through the esoteric fields of Northern electronic music. Sometimes taking different paths, but the shared love for dance music with heart and character has always brought the two labels back together again. Koniara is their lovechild - a new space for music that may be made with machines but certainly not for them. Koniara 01 offers two distinct expressions of this philosophy: Wa Wu We’s Trieya is like an instrumental episode of Planet Earth, inviting us within the green walls of a great old Northern forest to experience the awakening of the trees and the wildlife inhabiting them at daybreak, to the growing shadows silencing the forest at dawn. All in 12 minutes. Syra, by Dorisburg and Fabian Bruhn is also a distinctively foresty and green track, but we’re much closer to the Equator now. The air is warmer and more humid, making sweet sweat trickle down our backs as we’re moving through the curiously colourful undergrowth. Perhaps we shouldn’t have licked that purple toad a while back. Oh well.

Dorisburg & Fabian Bruhn - Syra

Wa Wu We - Trieya

In the presence of the Sun
the grip of the frost release itself
into a dance of the early morning fog.

Ever moving in uncertainty
within light and shadows
clarity is born as we dissolve. ﻿

Indra's Kiss
opens the door
where Colors are the birds

&

the 108 dimensions of green
are dancing like the spider and the snake.

Moon is breathing as
the Spotless mind
and the drowned Sea.

Reflections on the Silent surface
of the morning lake
the one eye sing
a sudden song of Eternity.

Written produced and improvised by @sebastianmullaert
Artwork by Gabriella Holmström
Mastered by Mattias Fridell

A1. Wa Wu We - The Grip of the Frost Release Itself
B1. Wa Wu We - Within Light and Shadows
B2. Wa Wu We - Clarity Is Born As We Dissolve
C1. Wa Wu We - Opens the Door
C2. Wa Wu We - Where Colors are the Birds
D1. Wa Wu We - The Spotless Mind

Love and light

108 Dimensions of Green

Wa Wu We - 108 Dimensions of Green

A1. Trollslöjd (05:18)	
A2. Brokks Eldar (5:31)
B1. Smedjan (6:48)
B2. Spott, Blod & Jord (5:49)

It's been three years since the last chapter of Ntogn's Tome was written and now we're glad to share with you the result of his venture through the recent winter.

'Smedjan' is inspired by the dwarven craftmanship of Norse mythology. It is made completely with organic sounds gathered from, and recorded in, the forests of Bålsta which is rich with northern heritage. Everything you hear is either processed textures of birch wood blocks, layers of a custom made Ukrainian artisan mouth harp or the artist's own voice.

There is no synthesis in this record. The kick drums are made by hitting these pieces of wood against each other with contact microphones. Bass layers are extracted from bark scraping against bark. Hi hats are crafted by recorded fire of the same wood logs burning and ambiance is built from the forests where the trees grew and from the woodshed where the artist chopped the wood during winter to keep his cabin warm. The rhythms and sounds in this shed is what inspired the making of this record.

By shaping these sounds of wood and metal Ntogn strives to create a sonic experience that connects the listener to the the old Norse stories of the dwarven craftsmanship of Svartalfheim. It is they who made the famous trinkets and weapons that empower the gods of Asgård through stories of trickery and despair which has later inspired tales and literature for over a thousand years.

The record has been distilled from material that was meant to become a two-hour live set specifically made for Mo:dem festival which was unfortunately cancelled due to the corona pandemic. It was also the foundation of the artist's thesis at the university of sound design where he made a study of the effects of organic sound on an electronic expression such as techno music.

Releases at the autumn equinox: September 22, 2020

Produced and mixed by Michel Iseneld
Artwork by Gabriella Holmström

Body. Mind. Spirit.

forest vibes and vices

folkesson