HUMMUCIDE Taps Into Hybridized Jazz on Self-titled EP

It's no secret to our readership that The Rust holds jazz in a universalist light: We consider it to be an “everyman's music”, and a kind of emotive experience that moves beyond physical and cultural boundaries. In the Te Aro district, the heart of musical expression in Wellington, New Zealand, one such group has spent their formative years across dives, venues, and busking blocks. The result is a conscious merging of contemporary rock and minimalist jazz elements into a warm, soulful, and digestible blend; HUMMUCIDE’s roots take their discipline from the compositional and rhythmic prowess of musicians like Aphex Twin and Yussef Kamaal, acknowledging the gradual merging of palattes and flavors in the realm of instrumental music, and simultaneously fleshing out their own organic vision of eclectic songwriting.

Their most recent release, the self-titled EP HUMMUCIDE, is the product of an entire post-adolescence spent reworking and refining a select group of tracks near and dear to the band’s members. Toby Leman, Ben Stewart, and Hugo Olsen-Smith began their group forray into the jazzosphere back in their highschool years, and met their fourth and final member, Lennox Grootjans, as they went on to pursue undergraduate programs in jazz school. After road testing and developing their most honed-in routines, the recorded EP is a stunning testament to their multi-displined learning, and to the spiritual jive that permeates jazz music. Be it the buttery, pocketed sensibilities of “Reacher”, or the lush waltz of chords and percussive shuffles in “8 Mullups”, HUMMUCIDE doesn't just have a knack for crafty riffs and touch-and-go harmonies; they have a clear understanding of the power of swing and syncopation.

The youthful fire of their early years, coupled with a sharpening of their skillsets through dilligent education and experience, rounds out every potential edge to the HUMMUCIDE EP. It displays a love, appreciation, and well-earned proficiency in the realm of jazz theory and genre mutations, betraying a confidence in craftsmanship that makes acts like HUMMUCIDE so immediately alluring. After getting in touch with the shine applied to tracks so many years in the making, we're gladly sitting tight until the next bout of finely tuned HUMMUCIDE adventures.

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CloZee Conscripts Opiuo for “Heya” Remix on Forthcoming Remix Album

CloZee’s career has become a mainstay in the global circuit throughout the latter half of the 2010’s, pursuing a world-influenced composition style and a forward thinking bend towards rhythm and melody in the context of dance music. Her latest album, Neon Jungle, features a wide breadth of directions, tempos, and attitudes, succinctly tied together through CloZee's classic twist on organic percussion, instrumentation, and vibrant synthesis.

After calling upon a variable cast of international producers from across the spectrum, the remix album to Neon Jungle drops next week on October 30th, and the most recent single to surface ahead of the full touchdown is a powerful tease; Australian glitch legend Opiuo paired up with CloZee across the airwaves to conjure up a proper reimagining of the track “Heya”. Featuring his timeless rhythmic shuffles and pocketed sound design, the song is transformed from a jovial jaunt into a pulsing dance-floor escapade. A mixture of raw textures and precision engineering, it's a full-throttle interpretation on CloZee's already storied songwriting, solidifying the excitement in store for this undeniably potent release.

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CloZee · Heya (Opiuo Remix)

Mirror Maze Partners with VALE to Release "Frustration" Single

VALE’s 2020 calendar year has been full of niche selections and unveilings; from DET’s Ocha remix album to Result’s Bone Bender EP, they’e touched on nearly ever manner of high-fidelity, guttural bass music. They’re next serving comes in the form of the hair-splitting single “Frustration” from the Los Angeles-based producer Mirror Maze; a relative newcomer into the wider system music radar, he’s clearly got the chops and the acumen necessary to go toe to toe with VALE’s usual roster of heavy hitters.

“Frustration” is a sublimated descent into granular synthesis and novel melodies. With a clear focus on spectral movement over contemporary rhythms, it’s a track that meanders at its own malleable pace, intertwining mad dashes of sonic pressure and calm, low-tide recessions into relaxed soundscapes. It fits the VALE formula like a glove, showcasing incredible production prowess with choice, eclectic compositions. It’s just a taste of the Mirror Maze project, but it’s more than enough of a serving to have us positively curious about what else he’s brewing in the laboratory.

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Chalky & Seppa Redefine “In The Pocket” on Strange Changes LP

2019 saw the unveiling of Chalky and Seppa’s combined vision; Bright Spots was an instant hit right out of the gate, showcasing a compositional prowess and dedication to a pure, unadulterated vibe that has been the hallmark of soul-infused instrumentalists since the inextricable rise of jazz and blues music. In the time since that first collaborative album, the boys have been hard at work refining their combined acumen, and the result is a fusion album with few worthy comparisons; Strange Changes personifies what makes truly linear, narrative albums so enticing as a full package, and betrays the veteran confidence of their craft that makes this duo so strikingly vivacious.

Bright Spots was a finely tuned first forray into the ambling possibilities of Chalky and Seppa's combined output, anchored securely by it's groovy songwriting and moving instrumental duets. It was a stunningly well-produced experience, portraying a musical veneer that already felt far from it's infancy. Rather appropriately, Strange Changes carries the character of a project deep into it's maturity, exploring a comfortably fresh variety of dimensions and niche pockets within the realm of soul music.

Across fourteen tracks, Chalky and Seppa lay down a journey into vibrant nooks and technicolor soundscapes, meandering at a pace befitting a tempered stroll through psychedelia. The relationship between each song is the veritable glue of that journey, and a reprised staple that made Bright Spots so immediately palletable. “Bump It” opens the album’s front door with the perfect equilibrium of head-nod and sultry phrasing, gradually tuning the ears until you're trapped in the rhythm's absolute gravity. Once it has you, the only way out of it’s pull is to ride it out, and you'd be hard pressed to find a reason not to. From “Interplanetary Timeshare” to “Diffusion”, it's forward-thinking jazz and loungey instrumental saunters. From “Sizzle Me Timbers” on, the weighty edge of the duo's heavier production backgrounds begins to sublimate across the compositions. Braying harmonies and tactile sound design mingle together for a righteous impact, and that amped-up attitude carries on right up until the album's end. Aptly concluded with “Nap Time”, the very last tones of the release ring out like a somber lullaby, exuding a choice finality befitting of such a loquacious project.

There are many spins on the phrase “it's about the journey, not the destination”, and Strange Changes might be one of the finest and brightest iterations. It’s an ode to the power of painstaking compositions, berift of production shortcuts or hurried arrangements. Consequently, it is an album with the potential for near universal appeal, combining the impact and precision of contemporary engineering with timeless instrumentation. Two years and two full releases later, Chalky and Seppa show no signs of running dry of pure inspiration, and the magnitude of progression from Bright Spots to Strange Changes has our ears squarely fixated on their creative output. With nowhere else to go but up, we've no lack of confidence about the future of this blue-moon tag team, and you'd be just as wise to keep a tab on their every musical move.

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Faelow Teams Up With Psychedelic Jelly to Premiere Debut EP

The Boston-based producer Faelow has only recently begun to step out of the lab and into the public eye, with a choice few tracks having surfaced over the course of the last year. After quietly aiming his creative trajectory towards textured, salient sound design and downtempo rhythms, his careful patience has paid off with a particular splash. He’s joined forces with the UK label Psychedelic Jelly to premiere the first true doorway into the Faelow catalog; Floating Underground.

With an obvious touch for psybient compositions and tonal relationships, Floating Underground maintains a smooth gradient of sounds and arrangements throughout each of the four tracks. “Spelunk” and “Cascade” feature a swath of smartly interpolated glitches and frayed layers mingling in and out of stereo focus with each other, carefully wrapping the listening experience in a scintillating outer cushion. That scintillation is perhaps the central tether to the EP, which is notably devoid of any harsh, abrupt, or abrasive movement. Instead, a clear command of subtle rhythms and interpolative songwriting takes center stage, as the first three tracks gradually dissolve into one other through clever refrains and malleable ending phrases. The slow roll towards finality happens with the namesake track of the collection; “Floating Underground” is an ambient dive into the calm, chilled waters of marine soundscapes. Flanged and splayed synthesis wraps around rushing waves of white noise and liquid risers, gradually ebbing and flowing into an effervescent resolution that ties together the core motif of the release.

With just a quaint smattering of tracks available for consumption, Faelow’s output betrays the makings of a lush journey through his own musical hemisphere. The craftsmanship behind Floating Underground has every hallmark of deliberately emotive composition, revealing an already steadily maturing grasp of crystal-clear songwriting. It’s all the more reason why we’re keen to keep a close eye on the future developments of Faelow’s catalog.

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Schmoop Unloads Distorted Grooves in Focal Point EP

Will Russek has spent the majority of his artistic time working from behind a closed curtain; in the six years since his initial musical touchdown via the Wonky Llama Noms EP, he's gradually developed and refined the edges of his personal Schmoop project. The dual release of “Charge/Get Back” in December of 2018 put us in touch with his own production chops and the emerging stylistic direction of his solo material, showcasing a blitz of shredded low end design and dancefloor-ready rhythms. Elaborating on his steadily-advancing compositional direction, the Focal Point EP is a potent combination of palatable grooves and pure firepower.

The driving focus of the Focal Point EP lies somewhere in the midst of broken-beat rhythms and meaty synthesis; the funked-out bass lines ungulate with razor-sharp distortion without obfuscating the tertiary elements of the music. The relationship between lean drum patterns and hyper-saturated low end in “Hard Edges” exemplifies the tight control of the EP's composition, smoothly interpolating sheer mass and clever turnarounds. Balancing out the spectrum of tones and atmospheres, “Outskirts” brings salient drum programming and meandering harmonies to the forefront, toning down the mean-muggedness and amplifying the melody-centric side of of Russek's musical realm. In tandem, the EP's tracks touch on the burgeoning cornerstones of the Schmoop project, and provide the clearest lens yet into it's potential future developments.

Russek's reputation as an undercover gun slinger has preceded him for quite a few years, and the delivery of the succinct, precision package that is the Focal Point EP puts a veritable seal of authenticity on the musings of the grapevine. With a laser-sharp understanding of stereophonics and pocketed grooves, we're undeniably curious as to what comes next, but in the meantime, we’ll be helping ourselves to oversized portions of Focal Point.

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Relativity Lounge Thoroughly Breaks the Beat with Defect EP

Based out of Chicago, Illinois, Jack Jamison explores a vast musical terrain through his Relativity Lounge project. With tracks dipping into steady-beat shuffles, broken-beat rhythms, and swelling soundscapes, he’s positioned himself as a jack-of-all-trades producer, but not without distinct characteristics; his catalog exists somewhere in the murky nexus of bass music production and mottled, lo-fi textures. Furthering his descent into that sublimated rabbit hole, he’s channeled his most recent lab experiments through The Great Magnet music label, culminating in the Defect EP.

A marriage of precision synthesis and washy atmospheres, the Defect EP ‘s jaunty grooves make it astoundingly difficult to remain stationary once it’s frequencies start pumping out of some proper speaker cones. The sample play and synth slicing within the arrangement of the tracks is designed for one primary function; cycloidal head nodding. Be it the glitchy lullaby of “Palpate”, or the subtle, melodious meandering in “Axiom”, the overarching theme remains firmly intact across the EP, with a particular focus on pocketed percussion arrangements; the drum programming and tilted swings in the rhythm section of every track drive the entire release with more than enough horsepower to go toe to toe with more traditionally aggressive bass music formats. It’s a distinct package served in a palatable format that couldn’t possibly go down any smoother.

Relativity Lounge has steadily brought himself to a point of compositional swagger, and it pays off tremendously. The release of the Defect EP showcases a clear evolution of his personal sound design and musicianship, and it’s left us both mollified and curious for more. Whatever format his next productions choose to take on, we’re confident that Relativity Lounge will continue to push the envelope in novel, tasteful directions.

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Polliwobble Fuses Organic Percussion and Fierce Synthesis in Abstertion

The combination of organic instrumentation and digital sound design is a marinade universally applicable to the many facets of electronic music, and Polliwobble has been experimenting with his own distinct production blend for over a decade. The rawness of his synthesis palate and the earthy, reverberant drum lines channel a grit and a weight that is the signature touch of his musicianship. His most recent album, Abstertion, displays a maturation of the Polliwobble production process and an exploration of industrial soundscapes and textures.

Polliwobble · Polliwobble - Abstertion Album

A marriage of smooth-bore melodies, pound-for-pound bass lines, and syncopated, off-kilter drum lines fills out the body of Abstertion, with bold cuts and bolder breakdowns delivering a bone rattle from track to track. The energy remains tense throughout the various compositions, ramping down only for the most subdued moments across the album. The title track, “Abstertion”, balances those polar hues in a fierce dance between bandpass filters, reesey textures, and a broken beat percussive jaunt that is both razor-edged and rhythmically juiced up. It’s a new skeleton beneath the meat of classic neuro bass, with a brackish palate all it’s own. While the majority of the album’s contents feature production-heavy tones and tool sets, the closing track, “Chirality”, is also it’s most standout; a downbeat blend of scalar relationships, subdued modes, and instrumental harmony that rivals the pocketed groove of pure jazz. It’s made all the spicier by a retro synth saunter out of frame at the concluding measures of the track, bursting with dance floor sentimentality, and capping of the album with a true white glove finale.

“Abstertion” is an both a departure from the Polliwobble works of the last several years and a logical progression of his own signature brand. It’s steel-coated, but still warm in the right places, and the heavy focus on organic drum tones gives the album a distinct approach to hybridized bass music. With a clear pattern of multiple releases across relatively short time spans, it makes us all the more curious to hear how the Polliwobble project with continue to shape and develop its musical machinations.

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Pi Wrecks Pulls Back The Curtains On Slivers of Light

The Pi Wrecks discography has featured a tight focus on soul and hip-hop production throughout the course of his career, with a gradual evolution in his songwriting and production palette. His last two major releases, Arrival and From The Heart Pt.1, define a push towards synthesis and elevated sound design, and just two years on, those choice developments have marinated into a full length, twelve track album that spans the breadth of his influences and sonic directions. Slivers of Light is the most ambitious project in his catalog, expounding on the brightest affects of the Pi Wrecks experience.

The attention to sample slicing and splicing has been at the forefront of Pi Wrecks' music from his inception as an artist; mottled snares, vinyl dust, and notative artifacts are mainstay aspects of his productions, but their musical integration and sonic shaping has been continuously refined from release to release. Slivers of Light hones in on the Pi Wrecks blend of topical, emotional beats in a way that feels both narrative and independent. Each track is a full chapter of tangentially related stories told through note choice and delivery, with tracks like “You Create You” and “Snowfall” channeling scalar relationships into stirring mental movements. The attention to detail can't be overlook, and the interlocking weave between each song builds a steady inertia from front to back that makes Slivers of Light a premium take on no-frills, classic electronic hip-hop.

The flux of focus on genres and styles moves at lightning pace in the world of electronic music, and while some choose to follow those developments in real time, others find themselves choosing to develop familiar territory. Pi Wrecks has maintained his brand of sultry cuts and pocketed rhythms throughout the progression of his career, making him a mainstay choice for hip-hop and beats lovers across the spectrum. While we’re busy lounging in the vibrations of Slivers of Light, our minds are already wandering towards the next installment of Pi Wrecks possibilities.

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TALEX Unveils the Juiced Up Transcendence EP

Combining the time tested slicing and cutting of beats music with high fidelity samples and synthesis, TALEX explores a sensual, melodic side to his artistry in his Transendence EP. It's a choice switch-up from his previous offerings of neuro-hop and heavy-handed glitch production, showcasing his evolving depth of musical character.

In contrast with rhythmic focus of Anti-Gravity, Transendence has a strong monopoly on polytones and rich chord phrasing. Channeling moody atmospheres with rock solid tones and saturated sub bass, it’s a vibrant soul record that eschews leaning too far into synthesis and surface-layer effects. The individual tracks themselves feature a number of repetive patches and textures that makes the EP feel like a set of chapters in a succinct novella, using auditory allusion to bridge the gap from song to song. The entire release adds a fresh, soulful spin to the ongoing TALEX collection, diversifying an early discography with a strong assortment of varied takes and styles.

The various topical blends of beats music each have their distinct flavors and hues, and TALEX takes a page from a handful of stylistic directions to craft a full-spectrum EP that shines a light on strong note relationships and harmonic phrasing. In a bit under a year, we've gotten back to back renditions of TALEX's burgeoning aural attitude, and the genre spread across his limited catalog already has us bright eyed and zeroed in on what new mechanations may come over the horizon.

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MALAKAI and Colony Productions Pair Up to Release Axiome

MALAKAI’s musical acumen has been at the forefront of his career from the jump; eschewing sound design and genre trends at every turn, he has instead carved out a warm, cinematic territory amongst his chilled-out contemporaries. His meticulous, emotionally charged tracks soar across stereo space, channeling experiential dives into sonic dreamscapes born in the center of MALAKAI’s creative domain. As each release sees the light of day, the fog of war rolls back on the next footsteps in the MALAKAI story, accessing ever more novel boundaries of music production and arrangement. In partnership with the venerable Colony Productions, he’s finally cracked the seal on 2020’s first suite of MALAKAI machinations: Axiome.

Axiome’s offerings are quintessentially in line with the constant variable across MALAKAI’s discography'; a musical styling that places notation at the helm of the ship, steering compositions through glitchy astroid belts and featherweight musical nebulas. While the territory’s charm remains familiar, Axiome explores a more rugged terrain than previous MALAKAI EP’s, with a grit, width, and movement that builds on the robust characteristics of his music. The egress into that terrain is “Apollo”, an ode to the transient god of music, knowledge, and the sun. Stuttered arpeggios roll across a bed of sub weight, cushioning the melody and filling out the sparser corners of the spectrum. It’s a serenade amongst reverberant tones and mothballed frequencies that round together to form a smooth, contiguous musical torus. The heft in “Apollo” is counterbalanced by the EP’s amicable farewell, “Solace"“; a gentle cascade of legato bends and slides meet harmonious, supple chord phrasing for a novel, starlit dance through synthesis. It’s the characteristic MALAKAI thumbprint, complete with choice granular cuts and a careful serving of liquid low end, and it wraps up the EP with the same multi-hued aesthetic that turns the very first pages of Axiome.

MALAKAI’s catalog continues to simultaneously evolve its production standards while traversing each successive phase of the MALAKAI journey. It’s an even-paced waltz through stereophonic sound, translating an emotional output into a musical frame of reference. The transition from Odd Views to Axiome feels as biological as it is methodical, and while we’re soaking up the fruits of MALAKAI’s most recent labor, we can’t help but keep our eyes and ears aimed squarely at his future.

Axiome is currently available for purchase on Bandcamp, and will become available for stream and download from all other major platforms on the 17th of July. You can pre-save the release on Spotify here.

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Psychic Research Presents Debut Compilation, All Proceeds Go To NAACP

There's no question about the sonic legacy surrounding Nashville, Tennessee; folk, bluegrass, country, jazz, and American rock all have a slice of Nashville's lauded music history, and it continues to maintain its status as a hub for musical talent and innovation to this day. Adding to the dynamic melting pot, Psychic Research is a new artist collective headed by some of Tennessee's preminent taste makers in electronic music. With an initial roster including Waterchild, The Space Cadet, Nimbo, and Alex Fun, they're well positioned to infuse a new source of sonic oddities into the nation's undercurrent of novel electronic productions. For their debut collective release, they've conscripted the talents of an additional six producers to design and curate the 13 track compilation album Reality Test Vol. 1, and they've slated every cent earned by the album to be donated to the NAACP in perpetuity.

Reality Test Vol. 1 is the first foray into the potential of Psychic Research's vision, and it leaves an impactful first impression. The compilation's tendrils sink into a wide berth of psybient and succulent territories, and each individual producer's touch feels lockstep with the aqueous atmosphere that surrounds the album. Tracks like Void and The Space Cade’s “STRANGE FRIENDS” and Amalgamy’s opening tune “Elipsism” feel iridescent in contrast with Shapesift’s undulant journey in “Resurgance”, but all three feel equally amorphous and unconstrained by theory conventions. The gradual evolution of tension across the compilation facilities a listening experience that demands to be aired out in its entirety, and it underscores an attention to detail that extends beyond just tertiary elements in musical releases. There's no doubt that Reality Test Vol. 1 exhibits the eccentricity and focus of the roundtable knights behind the face of Psychic Research.

2020’s tumultuous existential landscape has left an indellible impact on the American cultural consciousness, and Psychic Research's decision to entrust the indefinite earnings of their initial release to the NAACP is a spot on show of solidarity from and within the alternative cultural fabric of America's movers and shakers. Be it for a good cause, or for the quest of new sounds and musical adventures, Research Vol. 1 stands out as a necessary acquisition amongst this year’s growing troves of new, cutting-edge electronic music.

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Ultrasloth Unveils Debut Megatherium EP

Individually, Duffrey, bioLuMigen, and kLLsMTH have their musical toes dipped in dozens of ponds, flinging flighty, glitchy tunes and brolic beatdowns aplenty from their respective projects. Together, they’re the production triumvirate Ultrasloth, churning out a hybrid, sludge-infused brand of bass music primed for speaker cones of every variety. The last 3 years have seen a smattering of UltraSloth headlining performances across the US, Australia, and New Zealand, putting the spotlight on their charismatic group dynamic and the combined impact of their musical acumen. After a raucous performance featured on The Rust’s Featherbed Session last night, they’ve unveiled their debut collection of swamp-certified original tracks; the Megatherium EP. 

Ultrasloth’s brand of gunslinging, hip-hop inspired bass music is bereft of frills, oversaturated elements, or foreboding atmospheres. The functional, slapstick, bare bones veneer channels bass weight with a terrific velocity, sending dancefloors into frenzies with each pulse of unjulent synthesis. Right off the bat, “Dingo Bingo” sets the tone for a four-track jaunt through battlewax beats and haptic rhythms. Fat stabs of mottled bass squeezes through the stereo space, adorned in nothing more than vinyl cuts and off kilter percussion. That formula holds up across the rest of the EP, with each tune brandishing a simplicity in its palette and a complexity in its arrangement. Juxtaposing the immediate force of EP’s opener, “Wobble Donkey” begins with the mot vivacious moments of the record, bringing the arrangement into jazzadelic territories before tubular synthesis shreds through the composition, complete with mouth slurps, bandpass filters, and a quick “fuck it” vocal sample to keep things jovial. That kind of whimsy is one secret to the sauce of Ultrasloth’s recipe; never taking things too seriously.

This trio of criminally talented producers has been a mainstay across stages from the moment the Ultrasloth project first took flight. All along the way, each performance has outpaced the last, with each member’s unique sphere of talents and creative output mingled together to create an incredibly dancefloor experience. Be it at Solasta in the Nantahala National Forest, on the edge of the Richmond Bay for Coalesce, or live streamed directly into your living room, Ultrasloth’s laser powered music is a vibrant tango with steadfast, boisterous beats. If the Megatherium EP has you craving even more sumptuous offerings of left-field electronic machinations, make sure to keep up with the individual artists behind the Ultrasloth project, and keep both ears aimed at their musical horizons.

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Cloudchord Taps Into Charismatic Instrumentation In Reverence

Over the course of his lifetime and career, Derek VanScoten has traversed a multitude of genres, hybrid sounds, and production styles. Perhaps best known for his uplifting, vivacious guitar melodies and careful arrangements, he's spent the last five years channeling those sumptuous vibes through his CloudChord project. Though his music has always kept one solid foot in the world of conventional instrumentation and songwriting, he's tapped into the lifeblood organic production in Reverence, putting the spotlight on his sheer musicianship and compositional scope.

VanScoten's catalog traditionally features choice blends of synthesis, guitars, flutes, brass, and a bevy of other instrumental and digital combinations. All of it carries the distinct sonic profile of his musical musings; clean, pure tones, elaborative compositions, and a toaster-warm mix and master. Reverence maintains this formula, but subtly departs from the sound palette of previous albums like Koi Pond and Diamonds through intense focus on the guitar and its classic, charismatic character. 

Stripping back additive layers and eclectic sound design, the result is a pocketed collection of smooth, interloping songs that come directly from the center of VanScoten's musicality. Be it the jubilant phrasing of "Cherish", the interwoven harmonies of "A Hui Hou", or the legato meanderings of "Brighton Falls", the stapled trappings and styles of Cloudchord's music take on bold characters through frugal, solid textures. Tracks like "Doran and Newell" and "Lofi Bach" ebb into territories marked by more intense synthesis and digital timbres, but retain the oxygenated character of the album's instrumental focus. Individually, each track is a font of compositional twists and turns, and in unison, they create an album that feels as narrative as it is lightweight.

After several decades of musical escapades, Derek VanScoten's aural toolkit feels as sharp as ever. Without so much as a dulled edge, he's maintained an output and a focus on his craft that is particularly impressive by any metric, and Reverence is certainly no exception. It seems that no matter what tangential sonic territory the Cloudchord project touches, the results are universally potent, and while we're certain to be enjoying this album for months to come, we're already keeping our eyes peeled on the near horizon for VanScoten's next aural adventure.

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Echo Map Unveils Debut EP Through Upscale

Brandishing a potent control over groove theory, composition, and textural synthesis, Echo Map's style branches out across the spectrum; with a range encompassing everything from tech-house to neurofunk, the solo brainchild of Moritz Breit pulses with the lifeblood of a lifelong songwriter and instrumentalist. Originally one half of the production duo Synergy Sound, Breit's foray into glitched-out electronic music more than 7 years ago marks the transition point out of a lifetime of classical and jazz-infused roots. That musical theory bedrock pushed the scope of Synergy Sound into genre-blending territories, and continues to do so under the Echo Map moniker. Officially stepping into his new musical skin, Breit has paired up with the boutique electronic label Upscale to unveil the self-titled Echo Map debut EP, redefining and reinvigorating his personal musical output.

As the sea of electronic genres continues to overlap and develop into new, novel formats, the production value and compositional strength of the music in question seems to increase almost exponentially. In the case of Echo Map, the combination of foley audio, bold synthesis, crafty arrangements, and an impressive rhythmic command sums to a powerful sonic narrative. The Echo Map EP unfolds across four divergent tracks that traverse the boundaries of Breit's style, showcasing his undeniable production chops and musical fluidity.

"Wilted" opens the album with groovadelic harmonies, syncopated rhythms, and a blanket of sub weight. Full bodied chords burst through the stereo space, giving gravity to each tangential scale and riff splashing alongside them. Twisted cuts of foley and processed downbeats dance around one another with ample grace and surprising force, packing a thorough wallop when channeled through the proper speaker system. It's funk reimagined, utilizing dynamic tones and modern engineering principles to craft an especially lush palette.

The steady beat synchronicity of "Sunrise" makes it the most pronounced track on the release; while the salient textures and melodies keep it tethered to the EP's core sound, it's tempo pushes the song into vivacious territories. The pulsing low end gives extra bounce to an already buoyant track, and that buoyancy is further underscored by it's audacious rhythmic shuffle. It's a dancefloor escapade that pushes the spatial boundaries of dance-centric music, putting Breit's sonic affluence on full display.

In the wake of Synergy Sound's dissolution, Echo Map dives even deeper into that eccentric musical attitude. Pairing up with Upscale could hardly be more appropriate, as their own finger remains indefinitely on the pulse of modern, dynamic, and organic electronic music. With this first release seeing the light of day, we're keeping our eyes firmly planted on Echo Map's future explorations, and we highly recommend that you do the same.

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VALE Releases Result's Eclectic Bone Bender EP

VALE and Result have teamed up yet again; only four months removed from ‘Manticore,’ their initial collaborative neuro drum and bass EP, Result is already back around, loaded to the gills with more cutting-edge concepts and executions. VALE has always tapped so seamlessly into the heart of neuro sound design; they have consistently injected the underground airways with trend setting records since their inception. This new release, Bone Bender, takes listeners deeper into the creative explorations of Result’s musical hemisphere, with a particular focus on brain greasing grooves that push the envelope within multiple contemporary drum and bass sub-genres.

Leading with “Buzzer Beater”, the record starts off with off-the-walls high energy tune carrying a large dose of funk embedded in its groove. The lead synth does great work in the front half of the tune, possessing a distinct tear-out feel, and providing a clever degree of pretense for the crunchy, bass-laden breakdown. The forward aggression in “Buzzer Beater” is juxtaposed by airy atmosphere in “Spasm”; a dark energy roller that offers a fantastic take on drum and bass through the lenses of minimalism. The snare is thick, rich, and teeming with texture, exacerbating each downbeat around a surging bass line . Result effectively uses negative space in the groove to create color throughout the rest of the stereo space, creating a dynamic track that slips in and out of powerful pocketed phrases.

The title track features a drowsy retro synth lead amidst a dark atmosphere. As the arrangement shifts into high gear, it gives way to speaker-busting frequencies. Between phrases, the tune traverses alterations in the cadence as well as different patches on the lead synth, keeping the texture palette fresh from start to finish. “Bone Bender” is entirely reflective of the vibe found across the record, with shredded timbres and fierce sub weight blasting through each layer of sound of structure.

What we have heard thus far from Result and VALE is two installments of top-notch experimental drum and bass. We’re heavily inclined to believe that this relationship has far to go before it reaches its zenith, and if the current trend is any indication, there’s plenty more to come in the near future.

FOLLOW Result: Soundcloud / Facebook

FOLLOW VALE: Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Facebook

Base2 Cracks The Seal on Lateral

base2 has gone down a variety of audio rabbit holes throughout the last 8 years; from audio engineering, music production, and sound design, to audio production and design for film, television, and video games, his portfolio could hardly be more accredited. There’s a certain mark of intense focus that has always surrounded his musical output, and that focus has rubbed off positively everywhere it’s been channeled on stage. After several years of performances across the American touring and festival circuit, base2 has the eyes and ears of his seniors and contemporaries across the spectrum of electronic music. Following a smashing album debut in New Orleans’ Saenger Theatre back in January, he’s given Colony Productions the green light to crack the tightly welded seal on his first full length LP, Lateral.

Given the veritable years put into the production refinement of Lateral, the degree of polish, fidelity, and composition across the record permeate the feeling of an artist deep in their prime. Compositionally, there’s no question about how long some of these melodies have been marinating, stirring, and gradually evolving, often eschewing more amicable note relationships for high tension pairings juxtaposed with sweeping resolutions. base2’s vision is somewhere between an electronic seance and a synthesizer being ripped apart at the center of a singularity, and that duality is felt within each song and throughout the breadth of the album.

The album’s opening track, “Baphomet”, is as eerie as the name suggests, with the distance between melody and din closing in to create a deliberately ignominious atmosphere. Bent, fractured audio artifacts cross over one another like frayed wires, with the occasional burst of signal ringing out into the stereo space. Just as the composition takes on the form of a sonic deluge, subtle harmonies balance out brackish synthesis gradually taming the unruly textures that make “Baphomet” such an undulant expedition.

“Aphelion” is defined as the point orbit at which an object is the furthest from the sun. As the ultimate song of the record, that definition is translated through wide spatial relationships, where precision textures and subtle pulses of sound mingle in stereo depth. A sense of finality drips off of the occasional melodic stir, and the conclusion of the track mirrors the conclusion of Lateral; high tension giving way to smooth sonic interpolation.

With the relationship between music production and audio engineering growing more divergent by the day, base2 is at the center of an evolving definition of musicianship. Lateral is both a wide canvas of musical ideas and the refined product of a meticulous perfectionist. The nexus of art and science is a balancing act between these elements, and base2’s time-honed skill sets have paid off with the equilibrium found across Lateral.

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Sinewave Collective Explores a New Narrative in Luft | Air

The synergy between aural and visual art is an immense history of accidental and deliberate collaborations; from the pioneering work of Walter Geirs, to the contemporary relationship between producer/DJs and visual producers, we're enamored with the ability to orchestrate sound, light, physical mediums, and kinesthetics into a synchronous, multi-sensory experience. Born out of the intent to reimagine and revolutionize audio-visual art, Sinewave Collective combines broad narratives and lucid A/V content into immersive, multifaceted projects. Their newest release, Luft | Air, is an outstanding dive into the realm of meticulously curated A/V experiences, ostensibly reinterpreting our relationship with electronic music and digital art media. 

Sinewave Collective’s debut project, Jord | Earth, is an ambitious exploration of narrative themes surrounding life, death, and the world around us. The massive release was created in collaboration with more than twenty audio and visual producers, including RefraQ, Eckle, Glass  Arrowhead, and Sinewave co-founders Pluvio and Ampro. The stunning design and intense development of the entire collection is the hallmark of Sinewave Collective’s ethos; digesting music not just as a temporal act of consumption, but as a full-service experience. That ethos resonates even louder in their sophomore project Luft | Air, flipping the idea of recursive, dance floor-friendly arrangements on their head, and moving far more than just hips and shoulders through rhythm and composition.

With swelling, orchestral percussion crashing around Alicia Kiah’s cascading violins, Aeos’ “Ascent” opens Luft | Air with bold charisma and gripping resolution. Subtle touches of synthesis and spatial effects compliment the resoundingly organic track, channeling a weighty regality with every refrain. It’s a powerful welcome to Sinewave’s invigorating conceptual journey, immediately showcasing the breadth of the album’s emotional pull.

Chalky’s contribution to the release, “Elevate”, is a sensual dive into jubilant chords and waves of ambient foley. Droning sub bass carries the melody like a cradle and a lullabye, with Kiah’s violin gently gliding across the center of the stereo space. Flitted, syncopated drum lines skip in and out of focus until the thumping cadence of the song dims into faded chimes and a last rush of white noise.

Evoke’s track, “Cascading”, finishes the journey of Luft | Air with a potent fusion of texture and vivacious groove. Precision low-end modulates phrase to phrase, warping in and out of the mix with magnetic velocity. The song’s dance-heavy rhythm is the most pronounced on the release, and feels representative of the evolution of songwriting present from track to track. Inverse to the collection’s opener, “Cascading” is a raw, aggressive final waltz across the meaty synthesis of contemporary bass music.

Sinewave Collective’s adherence to their forward thinking songwriting philosophy is now firmly accredited twice over, with Jord and Luft complimenting each other with a grace accomplished by few in the realm of multi-album narratives. The production standard across both the musical and visual territories exudes a professional quality and polish that only serves to further their reputation for high fidelity and striking originality. With a total of sixteen audio-visual journeys across both Jord and Luft, there’s plenty of content to get lost in while the collective once again locks themselves in the lab and misplaces the key, and we’re just as excited to see what the future holds for the Sinewave team.

FOLLOW Sinewave Collective: SoundCloud / Bandcamp / Youtube / Webpage

Emancipator Bridges The Gap Between Organic and Synthesized in Mountain of Memory

Amongst the most notable of veteran acts across the electronic music circuit, Emancipator consistently stands out from the pack. Fourteen years on, and 6 full length LPs later, their vision is as grandiose as their compositions, stretching across a vast swath of ideas, narratives, tempos, and atmospheres. Fully tapped into the sounds of tranquility, their latest release continues to fill out the Emancipator discography with silky cuts and orchestral arrangements, reminding us that impact isn't just relegated to sheer force; Mountain of Memory is an exploratory evolution of Emancipator's personal style and sound.

From Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, to Dusk to Dawn, to Baralku, the Emancipator experience has been marked by an ongoing journey across the cooler hues of musical emotivity. Each album has a distinct coloration to it's sonic design, and sifting through their catalog often feels closer to walking through a thematic art gallery; each piece follows an overarching scheme, but diverges in content and character. Mountain of Memory reimagines those sometimes disparate elements in tonally smooth synchronization. The line between organic and synthetic tambres blurs as the album rolls on, merging the varied stylistic directions of their music. 

Opening the album with a potent seance, "Alligator" hones in on the distinctly organic side to Emancipator's productions. Dusted percussion falls back on itself in a swayed arrangement, following choice interjections of flutes and vibrato guitar lines. As the composition evolves, the mounting layers of texture sum to a cascade of emotions, with rising and falling harmonies and violin riffs crossing over one another like a meticulous wreath. 

The album closer, "Himalaya", bridges the gap of Emancipator's conventional and unconventional tones. The bends and inflections of sub bass follow interspersed shots of violins and shuffling hi-hats. It's a primal sort of rhythm and melody, instinctively pulling the attention deeper and deeper to the center of the mix. "Himalaya" caps off Mountain of Memory like the frost-tipped peaks of its namesake mountain range, bringing a tonally smooth, effervescent finality to the LP.

As contemporary electronic music continues it's journey of maturity and development, Emancipator gives validity to the power and impression possible by combining electronic production and classic instrumentation. Their patented blend reaches far beyond cutting and slicing samples and taking advantage of happy accidents, with every subsequent release oozing top tier compositional craftsmanship. Without missing so much as a beat, Emancipator has upped their own ante with the unveiling of Mountain of Memory, and continues to provide fans new and old alike with long moments of reprieve in a world of perpetual motion.

FOLLOW Emancipator: SoundCloud / Bandcamp / Spotify

Lyndon Jarr Release The Dreamer through SmallPrint Recordings

Transmitting frequencies directly out of Hong Kong, the international, Aussie-born producer Lyndon Jarr has risen to global fanfare for his distinct system music and his label's world-wide talent curation. As the co-founder of Unchained Recordings and Unchained Asia, he's a direct player and taste-maker in bass music's expansion into the Far East, and his own catalog features a bevy of finely-tuned tracks that feel at home on any proper rig. His most recent release, The Dreamer, finds an apt home with SmallPrint Recordings, and showcases the ever evolving nuance of his musical craftsmanship.

Jarr's discography is a journey through some of electronic music's most intrepid formats, from ambient to jungle, to 140 and back again. There's few settings that won't agree with his productions, and The Dreamer is no different; between precision percussion, supple rhythms, and aqueous song writing, the EP exudes a potent smoothness that's hard to pull away from. Somewhere between the nexus of soul, bass, and classic dance-floor music, Jarr strikes a careful equilibrium of aural elements and directions. That equilibrium is fully pronounced throughout The Dreamer, with each track ebbing gently and deliberately into new territories.

“Abeyance” opens the EP with a velvet dive into a four on the floor headspace. The melody is a subtle jaunt across the back of the mix, fleshed out with vibrant pads and sparse, delayed tones. There’s a feeling of weightlessness within the composition, accented by the rounded pulses of bass that fill out each measure. It’s a remarkably succinct package, prioritizing pure vibe over excessive impact. That same priority makes itself abundantly clear in the namesake track, “Dreamer”. There’s no substitute for spot-on drum processing, and the percussion throughout the song quite literally takes flight with your headspace in tow. Each pulse of texture and low end swims in and out of the stereo space like highway landmarks passed by in the dark of night. The track breaks into a monologue for dreamers, by dreamers: “They say dreaming’s dead, that no one does it anymore. It’s not dead, it’s just that it’s been forgotten.” All in a moment, it feels as though the songwriting is more than just it’s blend of synthesis and rhythm; Jarr’s musical strength is the personification of his music, and “Dreamer” personifies his personal, emotional output all the same.

SmallPrint’s tenure in the ongoing history of system music has been marked by their stellar list of collaborative artists and releases, and the addition of Lyndon Jarr continues to substantially raise the value of their reputable watermark. The scope and design of Jarr’s music lends itself to SmallPrint’s space-lounge veneer, and that relationship is nothing less than synergistic. The sooner you experience The Dreamer, the sooner you can experience that synergy for yourself.

FOLLOW Lyndon Jarr: Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Spotify

FOLLOW SmallPrint Recordings: Soundcloud / Bandcamp