hmot aka stas sharifullin is siberian-born, moscow-based musician, curator, educator and multi-disciplinary artist from siberia. using modular synthesizer, field recordings and visual programming languages, hmot collects sounds and organizes them into structures, pushing traditional electronic music genres beyond their comfort zones. “permanent imbalance” is his ep debut on the berlin imprint oqko following a single contribution to the label’s “form_1” compilation. structurally, “permanent imbalance” is disorderly and elusive, it’s a techno record which has undergone a gregor samsaesque metamorphosis. embedded with dizzying polyrhythmics, the discontinuity at the heart of the record might also be its central directive – interrupting the ecstatic clubbing experience in favor of a contradictory reality which is impossible to describe with regular rhythms. boldly submitted to the niche of dance music deviations, “permanent imbalance” also reveals techniques directly derived from early institutional electronics and musique concrete. but where others would pile on the layers, sharifullin keeps it trim. these are just some finishing touches enhancing his rickety and multifaceted soundscapes. subject to constant deviations of its own temporality, this music proves to mirror the crisis in which modernity resides – a state of life out of balance which now appears to be permanent as never before.

superb unreleased 80s ambient cassettes remastered ! robert scott pearsons musiccan be seen as surrealist, impressionist, post industrial, mystical or avant-garde, but it goes beyond categories. his work embraces software, philosophy, poetry, visual arts, and generative algorithmic creation in general. at an early age, he began to experiment in this field, and released his first music privately on cassette, being part of the 80s underground industrial scene in seattle. post-industrial, futuristic, but not really nihilistic, his beautiful music melts expressive synth leads with arpeggios soundscapes, and drum machines flashes and lights, to take us in another reality.

after releasing a beautiful debut 12inch last year on antinote, the man behind the visual identity of the parisian imprint makes an impressive come-back on the labels catalogue with life goes on if you are lucky. while listening to it for the first time, we can already imagine the long nightly conversations held between nico motte and his machines that gave birth to this album – the man trying to learn from the machines their most secret sounds. tip!

nearing its first birthday, other people is celebrating the only way it knows how: work. the label has put out new material every sunday since it launched with last years trust compilation, and the culminating work comp doesnt break that streak-consisting almost entirely of new material from other peoples artist roster, and a few remixes from some special guests. work is not, however, an uncooked mash of music.

limited biovinyl repress, which provides an ecological alternative to the conventional vinyl record with strictly no sound or visual compromises.

music for visual disorders collects together various compositions by tomaga that have been used by different artists or curators within the context of works of visual art, dance or exhibitions.

mister woo is a composite techno-hybrid supergroup that has been forged against a harsh maritime backdrop of portsmouth, uk. following aristotles philosophy * the sum is greater than its parts * the core members of reset robot, jon gurd and tom powell cast aside their professional careers to concentrate on the emotive outlet and gnarled production machine that is mister woo. as a complex blend of established producers, sound engineers and multi-instrumentalists, the trio, bound by location, deliver a series of audio-visual works based on ground breaking production, perfectionism and exceptional electronic music.
limited edition 180 gram vinyl release.

waltzing the line between techno and avant garde, her sixtrack >for sweden< ep finds a fitting home at peder mannerfelts eponymous label. machine woman, aka anastasia vtorova, is a sovietborn, berlinbased, audio and visual artist. >growing up in the ghetto of leningrad in the 90s surrounded by political unsuitability and brutalist architecture will shape you for life, but so will discovering boney ms night flight to venus<

celebrating 1 year of other people with unreleased music by ancient astronaut, jelinek, powell, darkside, francis harris, visuals and dave harrington. comes as double vinyl lp in gatefold sleeve with silver hotfoil spine.

a fine collection of breaks, bleeps & bass from the yellow machines camp.

microdosing is a series of compilation 12”s selected by julienne dessagne aka fantastic twins, and designed in collaboration with french visual artist geff pellet.

dmitry distant’s side of the record sees a journey through abstract soundscapes, hefty dark atmospheric techno and electro, rounded off nicely by a dark funk injected remix from sweden’s obergman. all made live with machines, dmitry’s tracks are the authentic type of electronic music the popular scene would have you forget. no surprise then that his live schedule is taking him across europe including a gig alongside the mighty rude66 and luke eargoggle in berlin.
lectromagnetique takes you on a ride through some edgy, acidic and melancholic broken techno experiences. whilst many seek to portray that cold, sci-fi, and industrial vibe in their music, few get to draw on the experiences of living in the pripyat region on chernobyl’s doorstep. as you listen you can feel and visualise places you would otherwise never dare tread or let your mind wander to.
supported by dave clarke (including best of electro 2016), helena hauff, the black dog, mix mag (album of the month) and more.

* to celebrate the second anniversary of khemia records we are pleased to welcome back in aeternam vale, the legendary french artist who inaugurated the imprint on a split ep with bronze teeth in march 2016. * this is the first single-artist ep produced by the label, initiating a new series that will run parallel to the v/a editions. * the tracks ‘dave’ and ‘circles’ form an elliptical conundrum composed of various references including kubrick’s alchemical allegory 2001 a space odyssey, (sampled in french) with it’s existential narrative of a schizophrenic artificial intelligence lurking in the shadows. the deus ex machina wondering if mankind is still useful to machines, or perhaps even dangerous to them? the infamous seveso chemical disaster at the pharmaceutical laboratory icmesa caused by human error, the glowing blood-red sphere of hal 9000, the all-seeing eye of the sentient super-computer and the circular composition of the toxic compound 2.3,7.8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (tcdd), released into the atmosphere at seveso. with this cryptic feedback loop, laurent prot is suggesting that the new technologies we are developing now, for use in our near future could result in catastrophe when human control is lost to the self-learning of ai. the homicidal consequences of a machine take-over find visual form in the bleak, dystopian aesthetic of evelyn bencicova’s cover artwork.

frak – grown up guests
like a diy brick-shithouse frak feel like they are preparing for some nasty. kicking off the track with some serious drums. eerie synth lines and creepy bass pads lend for a slightly deranged and unsettling feel. there is a strange air about this track. tuff snares kick in that galvanise and ready the troops. the strange difference between the everyday title and the militant feel of the track makes for interesting concoction. its like a bunch of psychos preparing for a dinner party. sweeping the floor and combing their hair to precision. the house might look nice and the cake might be delicious, but these guys psychos.

jack pattern – kernkraft
kernkraft translates as nuclear power and from the outset reverberating sequences visualise a bleak working environment. mechanical sequences rotate. clouds of sparking particles swirl overhead menacingly. a kick drum stumbles into actions, the machine has powered up. cold hi-hats shimmer, and hollow synths give the feel of some sort of labouring workforce continuing their daily grind. this doesn t feel like a nice environment to live in and reflects the reality of some peoples everyday life. living to work for the greater good and sacrificing their lives in the process. it is a powerful piece. strong, monotonous and mechanical.

for the past two years, flee has been working on its first issue entitled benga music – a signature genre from kenya. conceived as an attempt to document a kenyan timeless music genre – benga – this issue is also a visual and audial tribute to the heritage of east african music. approaching this musical genre with a new and innovative perspective, the first release of flee features a vinyl compilation and a printed journal. faithful to the local essence of the genre while transcending unproductive nostalgia, the two objects ensure that the vibrant traditional roots of the benga movement interact with a contemporary approach. to make this initiative possible, we joined forces with celebrated kenyan journalists, ondiso madete and emmanuel mwendwa, and collaborated with renowned international specialists such as douglas paterson. this great team work translated into a well-documented manuscript, with exciting articles, exclusive authentic photos of the era and creative present-day illustrations celebrating the genre. accompanying the journal, the record tells a surprising story, starting with the pioneers of benga (daniel owino misiani, george ramogi and the migori superstars) and concluding with the modern respectful re-interpretations of nik weston, jaakko eino kalevi, and africaine 808, blowing the dust of the original scores.

note: import release - limited repress - comes with digital download code and a 16 pages silkscreen printed journal with articles in english and french.

the night is what makes a big city come to life. right after sundown, the hectic buzzing of downtown makes way for adventure playgrounds, bathed in neon light, revealing their countless chances and opportunities. its when youll find the subway spitting out its purpose seeking passengers by the minute. a coming and going of restless people passing through. all it takes is a few hours, before the sunrise makes it all disappear. mental bend captures the magic of that very moment in their dreamy soundtracks. if you close your eyes, you can see blurry pictures passing in slow motion, accompanied by their atmospheric songs. grainy black and white snapshots, fragments of memories lighting up somewhere in the farthest corner of the cortex. one step is the berlin-based indietronica duos visually vivid debut album, released on enfant fenou. mental bend are all about letting go. sissip (voc/synth/bass) and hendrik havekost (beats/production) know how to trust their instincts, crafting their hypnotic signature sound, somewhere in between electronica, ambient and dream pop. before founding the band in 2013, the two were already shaping their skills in all kinds of different formations and styles of music. as soon as they got together, they had a viral mini hit with their song take my hand, praised on various tastemaker blogs and generating over 100.000 likes on soundcloud in no time. the bands first long play record one step is all about important experiences and decisions, small as well as big steps, all a part of making progress, which in the end can even be life changing. it was a step, that recently got mental bend their record deal on mos ferrys sub label enfant fenou.

berlin based japanese industrial synth duo group a make their debut on mannequin records with a killer 3-tracks self titled ep. tommi tokyo (synth, drum machine, vocals) and sayaka botanic (violin, tapes and sampler) released 2 studio albums and 1 live album in tokyo, before to move in berlin in 2016. with their mixture of dark minimal synth, avant-noise, striking visuals and performance art, the duo still carries on the very breath of early industrial pioneers such as throbbing gristle, die form, klinik, cabaret voltaire. the ep was recorded in tommi s bedroom and later mixed together with mannequin records head alessandro adriani in his own studio in berlin. the first two tracks of the ep, t.o.p. and ketabali represents the duo personal reaction against the current economy, an up yours to capitalism, news and politics, all permeated by industrial rhytmic-noises and words with no meaning. the b2 alibi instead was inspired by an autobiography of hi-red centre(japanese avant-grade art group in the 60-70 s) written by one of the members, genpei akasegawa. tommi found the word alibi in the book and she just started singing about the group. as she never wrote lyrics for that, during their live performances they are always improvised, so changing and mutating every time.

dope archival release of steve rachmads long time side project where he exposes the more funk / electro side of his talents. this is musical machine-head side of the amsterdam electro scene (also purveyed buy the likes of comtron). dense undertones of cybotron/ model 500 on this one. top notch productions from a dutch master. check!

grebenstein is a producer, dj and visual artist living in kassel, germany. after playing in several bands as a drummer and guitarist he made his solo-debut with a 4-track ep on the regis helmed label downwards records in november 2014. the gloss 4 track ep for horo comes after his downwards records follow up strong, proud, stupid, & superior with seefried was released in october 2016. title track gloss centres on percussive crescendos and pensive guitar layers, while self and its version stretch this effect out into a grinding, slow motion introspection. loss closes the ep with serrated drum machine blasts punctuating feedback contortions. the tension throughout the ep is palpable, with the shaping of the tension providing the substance of his signature style. non club tracks for open minded clubs.

polyop was formed in 2015 by producers jack driscoll, harry orso and visual artist and programmer alex kempton. since then they have been researching and developing a visual-audio experience that fuses nature and tribal culture with the machine. ceremony is the first exploration of that aesthetic, with their own take on acid house, they take the subject on a hypnotic journey through an alternate sonic-visual reality. kemp mutates ceremony into something between disco and techno, the kick and bassline thick and pulsing, whilst the percussion syncopates infectiously. the track progresses into a crescendo, which is amplified by the cavernous feel of the mix. this is certain to hypnotise 3am dancefloor-pagans into a state of worship.

ixvlf is back at it again following the language of mini-album released earlier this year as part of our ongoing tape series. pushing it further from where we last left off, connor clasen’s vinyl debut reflects our ever growing desire to re-interpret club music in its most primitive and cartilaginous nature. while cleverly obscuring any reference to a specific period of time, involuntary movement shows a sense of the american-based producer stretching disorienting imagery over the existing landscape of proto-industrial — matching the visual interpretation of ailsa ogden undertaking the artwork by way of a new collaboration to be expanded over a handful of releases — where unpolished synthesizers and rhythm machines collide and bawl in a controlled crash. it is an exercise of existing in various states of detachment, a fixation on mechanical repetition and unpredictable behaviors through the haze of helium laughter. definitely one for the animals.

dam swindle return to freerange with an exclusive track following the incredibly well received figure of speech and unfinished business releases. their label heist continues to hog the top spots on the leading download sites and their releases on freerange have been amongst the labels biggest sellers. recent dam swindle remixes of romanthony, hercules & love affair and seven davis jr have helped confirm the dutch duo as one of the most exciting and hyped deep house acts to emerge from amsterdam in recent years. tijuana based artist soul of hex aka sébastien vorhaus already boasts material on the likes of mcde, quintessentials and his own vicario ltd. the new project has already seen huge support from larry heard (including 2 remixes from the man himself on his release lip reading), and is fast becoming an in-demand multi-instrumentalist live and visual show.

vactrol park is an honest outpouring of thematic obsession, a celebration of championed studio components and the mastery of their nuance, an avant garde collaboration between kyle martin (land of light, spectral empire) and guido zen (gamers in exile, brain machine). simply entitled i (the first of a 2 part series), this debut ep opens the door to a world of ebb and flow, layers of oscillation falling in and out of sync, keeping us on the brink of vertigo and, as cliché as it may sound, we find solace in its chaos. this homogeneous release plays with the notions of systems as beautifully symbolized mario hugo s capsule of cardiologyyet another visually arresting module in the esp institute catalogue. some music is made for drugs, some is made on drugs, these tracks simply are drugs.

meanwhile returns having celebrated its 10 year anniversary, not by releasing a swanky box set, but by taking a year off. first release on the fully rejuvenated meanwhile is from sen aka john shern who forms part of the satellite religion collective along with g.r.i.t, future thought tapestries, channel 73 and space_ci. here he delivers 25 minutes of deepest machine music spread over 2 tracks. a side future thoughts jazz is a deep drifting detroit infused journey through the far reaches of outer space, while the b side wars of truth(reseen) is an epic slice of heavy clanking industrial rhythms and deep textures. the release is also the first to feature artwork commissioned by sometime meanwhile recording artist samuel van dijk aka mohlao, inward content, vc118a, multicast dynamics. so, both sonically and visually this release sits perfectly within the meanwhile catalogue of quality not quantity.

part 2 of 3 of the remix package taken from the triple vinyl album ?un?nished business by suspect - thug records as the apocalypse rages on, communications expert tevo howard has be assigned to help develop a strategy that can end the terror. with no known footage or visual sightings of suspect, tracking the enigma responsible for launching the virus known only as ?un?nished business remains dif?cult. the survival of humanity sits on a knife edge. the virus has been ef?cient in its ability to morph and remain undetected. previous vaccines have only helped slow the rapid spread of the virus. now a new hope beacons… the resistance is armed with 3 new bio weapons which have been developed from original strains of suspects material. transmitted via an injection of analog drum machines, dark rave synthesis and tevo howards unique arrangement techniques, the thug 004 remix package adds new weight to humanities plight for survival.

for the first album ever being released on ki we invited biodub, a producer/dj from the north of germany, who impressed us with his fusion of dub, techno, electronica and is a musician throughout. bringing in his experience as the drummer of instrumental band noetics and based on a minimalistic foundation, his tracks are playful in a microscopically way. in between deep bass lines and characteristic dub chords, various sounds coming from field recording sessions and sometimes also acoustic instruments, making this piece of music extremely warm and alive. biodub tries to transform visual impressions into his music. he finds most of these impressions in nature but sometimes also in machines or buildings in connection with their environment. the album is equally comfortable on the dance floor as in the living room. but you would rather enjoy his music on an open field in the nature than on your couch. the album will be released as a full 2 x12 inch lp, and cd in folded hardcover with photography, graphic and layout coming from ki s amélie kai and since it leaves so much space for interpretation, there will be a 12 inch-single with remixes of stereociti and koi.

the night is what makes a big city come to life. right after sundown, the hectic buzzing of downtown makes way for adventure playgrounds, bathed in neon light, revealing their countless chances and opportunities. its when youll find the subway spitting out its purpose seeking passengers by the minute. a coming and going of restless people passing through. all it takes is a few hours, before the sunrise makes it all disappear. mental bend captures the magic of that very moment in their dreamy soundtracks. if you close your eyes, you can see blurry pictures passing in slow motion, accompanied by their atmospheric songs. grainy black and white snapshots, fragments of memories lighting up somewhere in the farthest corner of the cortex. one step is the berlin-based indietronica duos visually vivid debut album, released on enfant fenou. mental bend are all about letting go. sissip (voc/synth/bass) and hendrik havekost (beats/production) know how to trust their instincts, crafting their hypnotic signature sound, somewhere in between electronica, ambient and dream pop. before founding the band in 2013, the two were already shaping their skills in all kinds of different formations and styles of music. as soon as they got together, they had a viral mini hit with their song take my hand, praised on various tastemaker blogs and generating over 100.000 likes on soundcloud in no time. the bands first long play record one step is all about important experiences and decisions, small as well as big steps, all a part of making progress, which in the end can even be life changing. it was a step, that recently got mental bend their record deal on mos ferrys sub label enfant fenou