Zonra - Time Is A Tool
Artwork: Katie Hale
Subverting compositional and design tropes each step of the way, the Zonra project has maintained a striking consistency in its escape from the norms of conventional electronic music. Straddled somewhere between the dance-centric sound of contemporary bass music producers and the aural experimentation developed by IDM pioneers, Jackson Hale achieves a stable balance between groove and intrigue with each subsequent release, moving that needle closer to either end whenever the need arises. In time-tested fashion, his latest LP is a work of beauty from every angle, and as such, The Rust is incredibly excited to premiere Time Is A Tool as our 61st label release.
Previous Zonra records have featured an amalgam of shredded synthesis, mean breakdowns, and carefully threaded melodic elements. Unsurprisingly, Hale flipped the script entirely for Time Is A Tool; The LP’s opening moments involve smooth harmonies egressing into smooth cadence, and that relationship carries on throughout each track. Choice waves of tension and release, told through the intentional splaying of tones and textures into glitched-out symphonies, creates a permeable catharsis within each fold of the record, slowly churning the listener towards the album’s zenith. Opting for slow, caressing tempos and chord phrases reminiscent of serene lullabies, the traditional throaty bass lines and hyper-compressed downbeats are put out to pasture in favor of a record filled to the brim with particularly intentional and resoundingly magical moments of introspection and rest. For those keen on finding their next sonic journey amidst a crowd with a dancefloor focus, Time Is A Tool is assuredly the album you’ve been searching for.
Shapesift - Attic Salt
Artwork: Ayla Alvarez
Working with deliberate focus and a taciturn presence, Shapesift has been steadfastly designing and minting a bespoke catalog of psychedelia-infused electronic music. Across several previous releases, he’s experimented with potent blends of contemporary sound design and time-tested, narrative songwriting. With a superb consistency across his productions, he’s got a firm hold on the ears of his contemporaries, and as such, The Rust is incredibly excited to host his most recent release, Attic Salt.
Attic Salt has all the hallmarks of Shapesift’s notable production palette coupled with a vibrant maturation in his arrangement capabilities and creative risks. Fusing psybient rhythms and melodic tropes with high-octane bass synthesis is a bridge between two often disparate genre umbrellas, and yet this unusual methodology is precisely what struts his dialed-in compositional finesse. Taking the path less traveled, Attic Salt traverses both cerebral and feisty atmospheres, displaying a powerful handling of force and precision with stunning clarity. For appreciators and collectors of niche and novel electronic music, Shapesift’s Attic Salt should be the next addition to your growing collections.
MALAKAI - Breathing Room
Art: Jules Schaeffer
Patience in production has always been a particularly sharp knife in MALAKAI’s artistic multi-tool; from his earliest releases and onward, his deliberate walk-over-run attitude has continuously paid off in the form of an increasingly dynamic and meticulously curated release palette. Consequently, Breathing Room is inarguably the most dynamic MALAKAI release to date.
Breathing Room wastes no time in setting up the pitch, opening up with the fresh break-beat cuts that have already begun to poke through MALAKAI’s discography. Maintaining cruising speeds throughout the entire journey, the EP combines his time-honed penchant for harmony and atmosphere with rambunctious rhythms and the right dash of emotional sizzle. For new and recurrent appreciators of salient, stirring music, Breathing Room is sure to be a revolving favorite.
Wessanders - Talking Points
Art: Ashton Jones
Wessanders’ journey towards the zenith of his own creativity is, by design, filled with curious and unexpected turns and jaunts away from the typical. His aversion to the mundane and clear attraction to ideas and compositions beyond the pale has begotten him a rock-solid catalog of original music, and his latest addition to his growing arsenal typifies the pleasant surprises constantly under his purview. The Talking Points EP contains his clearest, cleanest executions to date, showcasing a producer and composer with a clear bent for breaking the mold.
Talking Points comes jam-packed with the effective and infectious midtempo that Wessanders cut his teeth on, updated, and upgraded to reflect his current command over sound design and arrangement archetypes. Through both melodious narratives and rambunctious low end, he achieves the storied balance between rocking a sound system to the gills and inflecting on pure groove. Rounding off the end of the EP is perhaps the most ambitious Wessanders production to date, featuring a full-fledged journey through the newfound contemporary power of dnb. It’s a complete package, giving listeners a taste of both his time-honed territories and recent explorations within the wide umbrella of bass music. If you’re a fan of pristine palettes and complex arrangements, Talking Points is undoubtedly the next stop on your journey into the novelty of sound.
not yes - Nod Heads
Hailing from Amsterdam and keen to make a vivacious debut on the North American scene, the producer duo not yes has cooked up a distinct serving of broken-beat bass music.
Forgoing the more abrasive, breakneck energy and heavily-textured mixing fundamentals of their often hyper-precise American counterparts, not yes has found an intriguing balance through lithe, groove-driven production palettes and headnod rhythms on their aptly titled nod heads EP.
Each of the four tracks that populate the EP stand out through their own distinct flavors, and create a concise plate of not yes' particular blend of precision percussion and needle-threaded sound design. They're not too brackish, avoiding the often muddy waters of high-velocity bass music, but they're by no means featherweights; if you're looking to cut your teeth on something with whipcord tension and deliberate composition, then nod heads is undoubtedly up your alley.
Rasp-5 x parkbreezy - Transmitting to Space
Artwork by Onlymotif
Fusing New York streetwise sentiments with the rhythm and soul of the Mile High City, Rasp-5 and parkbreezy blend their vocal and instrumental skill sets into the turnkey record Transmitting To Space. With a centerpiece focus on their partnered songwriting and narrative structures, the EP is a clear maturation from both artists in terms of draw and scope, and furthers the burgeoning roadmap of contemporary hip-hop.
As soon as the needle drops, it's apparent that the production and lyrical standards across both individual acts have been thoroughly upgraded. They manage to hit the Nexus between sultry arrangement and walk-along spoken bars, eschewing the mean muggin' archetype in favor of a suede-laden impact. Between parkbreezy's modern meld of trip-hop and jazz modalities, and Rasp-5's inescapable command over poignant prose and mental imagery, it's a true duet of passion and flavor. For fans of hip-hop's contemporary experience and yesteryear's instrumental rap power groups, Transmitting To Space is undoubtedly the next stop on your musical journey.
Primate - Tortuous
Artwork by Ayla Alvarez
With a sound and style that begets immediate recognition, Primate originally emerged with a design palette that felt honed in beyond its years, presenting a catalog of exceptionally avant-garde electronic music right out of the gate. As such, we’ve proudly hosted his work on numerous occasions, and are just as excited to debut his latest experiments on the Tortuous EP.
The absolute first hallmark of any Primate production is his bombastic percussive arrangement; be it rising swells, crashing climaxes, or veritable rhythmic bridges, his drum shaping and programming across the entire EP is both on par with his sonic aesthetic and a step above previous releases. The liquid-soul underbelly of each track acts as an anchor for daring runs of low end synthesis, mingling the playbook of improvisational jazz with his own brand of space-aged synthesis. It’s a masterclass in phrasing, pacing, and evolution across compositions, bringing breaks, glitch, and instrumental dialogue to the same table. For music minds of all shapes and sizes, Primate’s Tortuous should be next on your list of must-have records.
Universe of Sounds - Resfeber
Art: David Foehring
Taking a departure from the grounded earth-tones and atmospheres featured in Astrophilia, Universe of Sounds has set his sights on the high heavens of space. Regaling the story of an intelligence on a search for meaning and affection in existence, Resfeber is an astronautic landscape of composition.
With a clear immersive bent and the obvious hallmarks of a songwriter in the midst of a powerful metamorphosis, all three tracks present clear and divisible chapters in the Resfeber experience, taking the rule of 8’s and repetition theory in a resoundingly broken-beat and fantastical direction.
Rounding off the EP’s audio experience is the inclusion of a multi-part video series, produced by Sieg Mattel and retinaghost, and will create the integral balancing act between each composition’s aural and narrative impacts. For fans and appreciators of delicate textures and emotive elasticity, the Universe of Sounds’ Resfeber EP should be an absolute must-have on your list.
Absalon - The Mind
Artwork by Absalon
Reaching across the globe with ambitious appeal and obvious creative command, the Israeli producer Absalon has quickly found himself in the nexus of interest in novel electronic music, brandishing extraordinarily viscous compositions and stylized sound design. With a keen eye on appreciators of textured arrangements, The Rust is incredibly excited to present his latest release, The Mind EP.
Absalon’s music is defined by predominantly lush phrases and profiles, with a clear ear for modality and tonal relationships. The Mind begins and ends with the same emotive, melodious egress, with pulsing chords shifting into and out of the frequency spectrum. There’s a buoyancy to his songwriting that is demonstrably refreshing in a scene defined so often by sharp, razor-edged textures and attitudes, and the result is a vivacious and positively charged collection of tracks that fuse precise engineering and emotional resonance with outstanding clarity. For anyone looking to balance out their listening catalog and find respite from the harsher sounds of contemporary offerings, look no further than Absalon’s The Mind EP.
Duffrey - Return to Source
Art: Glass Crane
Amidst the landscape of American-bred bass music, Duffrey has carved out a space near the tip of the spear, brandishing a reputation as a dancefloor fiasco in his own right and an integral arm of the Ultrasloth producer group. Just in time for a return to sound systems across the continent, The Rust is incredibly excited to host his latest minted release, Return to Source.
In true Duffrey fashion, the EP is replete with a pure head-nod focus, channeling smooth synthesis and pocketed bass lines into inviting, staccato rhythms. The flash and fanfare of contemporary sound design can sometimes feel like an oversaturated veneer, but Duffrey’s straightforward texture palette eases the listener into an experience that does as much justice through easy listening as it does on the club floor. Eschewing both brooding and manic atmosphere’s, his preferences and style instead lend themselves to jovial, petrol-laden anthems that roar with confidence as opposed to sheer ferocity. For the heads looking for a package that oozes with swagger and specificity, Duffrey’s Return to Source should be more than enough to satiate your needs.
Phydra - Exposure
Art: Rolando Ramiro
Wielding laser-focused synthesis and a two-step sentimentality, Phydra delivers a potent DnB serving through their “Exposure” single, courtesy of The Rust. Interlocking bass lines shred across stereo space, filling in the choice gaps between shimmering percussive breakdowns. The forward half’s rhythmic aggression receives a thorough half-time slice, showcasing the headstrong polar ends of contemporary bass music’s progenitor genre, and putting the production chops of Phydra on full display.
Coout - Time to Believe
Art: Melliart
In a musical landscape dominated by American and commonwealth producers, bass music's Eastern European vanguards are an often-undersung breed of impressive composers and engineers. The Rust's most recent addition to our release catalog is a stalwart Siberian producer by the name of Coout, brandishing his first full length release, Time to Believe.
Coout's style takes a heavy influence from a range of garage and breakbeat styles, fusing transient percussion and low-slung bass lines that rattle along harmonic peaks. Time to Believe coalesces these influences into a seven track album that focuses on emotive arrangements, delivering powerful phrases with a particular degree of harmony and ample vocal sampling. Blending rhythmic staccato with pulsing sub frequencies is the wheelhouse that Coout draws his primary strengths from, and he successfully pulls off his interpretation of full-spectrum music through clever breaks, tight turnarounds, and a generous serving of spatial swelling. For those who are looking for a relaxed infusion of rhythm, soul, and synthesis, Time to Believe should be the next must-have on your record wishlist.
Zonra - Hypotheticals
Art: Blackartsviper
For The Rust Music's 50th release, we're incredibly honored to present Zonra's latest work, the Hypotheticals EP. Hailing from Santa Rosa, CA and wielding international appeal, Zonra's musical exploits are defined by lush textures and meticulous songwriting.
With a new record comes a new conceptual direction, and Hypotheticals strays far from the quantized pack, materializing as a blend of off-kilter melodies and staccato rhythms that churn out potent, asynchronous riffs. Pulling influence from the aggressive neuro staples of today's cutting-edge bass music in-between reverberant melodies and slapstick phrases, Zonra stands apart from his contemporaries in his ability to give delicate sound design choices a weighty impact.
Iszlai - All Into Now
Art: Áron Dimén
The intersection of jazz and production-heavy music is a transient and highly-viscous landscape of emerging artists and novel compositions, and Iszlai is near the absolute center of that paradigm; after establishing his signature blend of percussive shuffles, broken melodies, and lacerated audio artifacts, he's further refined the impact of those choice assets, culminating in the All Into Now LP.
It's hard to understate Iszlai's control of rhythm, and his ability to diffuse steady and broken beat arrangements into one another is a pleasant shock to the senses. Those glitched-out percussive underbellies form a bedrock for the lush jazz chords and resampled cuts of conventional instruments and palatable synthesis featured across the album, creating a compositional groundswell song to song. Each passing phrase is the next step in the fragmented narrative of his songwriting, fleshing out the story in the manner of a bursting cocoon. By the time the needle reaches the end of the record, it's akin to the end of a trance, and the lingering effects of Iszlai's All Into Now will keep you returning time and time again to his personal touch of strange flavors in sound.
Felix Ando - New Morning
Art: PJK Fractals
With a lifetime of instrumental instruction and a storied progressive trance career through the Airi moniker under his belt, Tokyo-based producer Felix Ando has succeeded in carving out his own personal slice of the auditory hemisphere. Having grown increasingly interested in downtempo rhythms and an expanded sound design palette, he's pivoted to releasing a new spate of tracks under his real name, and exploring a new chapter and territory in his ongoing musical development.
His adoptive style is accentuated by his precision compositions in combination with novel production choices, culminating in his latest release; New Morning exemplifies matter over might, with a strong focus on the space between texture and tone. Applying the clear-coated aesthetic of soundsystem music to the animated nuance of glitch effects, Felix Ando achieves a balance between impact and intent. Touching on tempos from hip-hop, to breakbeat, to more ephemeral speeds, the record blends a heterogeneous mixture of electronic music into a homogeneous narrative of tracks. As such, New Morning is a choice addition to any discerning audiophile's collection, demonstrating Felix Ando's affinity for design and composition in previously uncharted territory.
Pluto Era - Otoconia
Art: Matik.
Pluto Era's career has been defined by consistently staying two steps ahead of the curve on each successive project. Brandishing a host of new sound design tools, compositional wiles, and a nuanced attitude, the Otoconia EP represents the cutting edge of contemporary electronic production.
There's no shortage of pure flavor across any vector of the release, with every track standing up on its own legs, pressing the narrative forward like distinct, interlaced chapters. The Pluto Era veneer is one of quiet confidence, letting the music speak for the project itself, so it's no wonder that the sounds of Otoconia speak volumes about the nature of this lifelong audiophile.
Squalpat - Pymander
Art: Matik.
One year after the release of Packaging Solutions, his collaborative debut with fellow Rust artist Tygris, Squalpat has put the final seal of approval on his paramount solo release; Pymander.
An ode to atmosphere and specificity, each track is an exploration of distinct attitudes and emotions. Coupling contemporary composition with eclectic textures and full-spectrum sound design, the EP exemplifies the potency of additive arrangements and rhythmic simpatico. Designed for precision and fidelity, Pymander is the first foray into a lifetime of study on the fundamentals of sound and music.
Maxfield - Just Beyond The Horizon
Art: Duncan Hatch
After the release of Just Beneath The Surface via Colony Productions, Maxfield caps off his ambitious two-part EP with a riveting triumvirate of tracks in Just Beyond The Horizon.
Parsing through splayed out drum lines, shredded low end, and precision harmonies, this handful of tunes channels a visceral weight across the frequency spectrum. Bold, brazen cuts of rock solid low end belay around sharp downbeats and buoyant cross rhythms, laying down the bedrock for juiced up leads and a potpourri of stereophonic glitches and artifacts.
It's more than just a capstone to a poignant project; it's the natural evolution of Maxfield's audio hemisphere in real time, revealing the cumulative skill sets and musical wisdom behind the Maxfield experience.
Universe of Sounds - Astrophilia
Art: David Foehring
Following up the release of the emulsified “Dulcet” single, Universe of Sounds dives beneath yet another layer of mind-scintillating music with the release of the dual sided “Astrophilia”.
With razor-sharp focus on the interplay of melody, harmony, and tonality, the two companion tracks feel like parallel pathways through the same journey; shuffled drum lines and mothballed foley slices roll beneath supple sine chords and ambient textural movement, with each composition building on minor tension and resounding cadence.
It’s a warm, stereophonic view into the ongoing machinations within the Universe of Sounds catalog, and betrays a potent understanding of the intersection between musicianship and a full spectrum sonic palette.
