chreal01 is the debut project by scottish producer chaotic reality exploring a meditative side to techno. written over the course of several months spent living in new york as a resistance to the frenetic pace of a busy environment, chreal01 contains four tracks that repeat, oscillate and soundtrack a more centred existence. inspired by shinichi atobe, avalon emerson, newworldaquarium / ross154 & the 7th plain. each track in this self-released record is named after its sequence and operates on a slower tempo, focussing on melody and sound design, with aim to investigate the space between dub techno and early trance. track one opens with gentle dancing chords developing over 7 minutes, with subtle nods to echospace and black dogs otaku over a punchy kick and warm sub. reverb-licked stabs pass softly in and out the mix and ride over a homogenous chord range, highlighting points in the melody and meandering back into the ether. two has an introspective focus, rarely reaching more than two kicks per four bars. an arpeggiated lead centres the composition, slowly developing over a thick bassline. distant snaps and pops season the track and highlight the empty breathing space intentionally left in the production. on the b-side, three is characterised by heavily saturated kicks softly thumping under a bubbling melody, broken by echo-delayed stabs varying in form, filter depth and feedback timing. on the closing song four, chaoticreality develops and sculpts a stack of delayed chords creating a progressively elevating soundscape. the lead melody chords layer and discord changing thickness, shape and form throughout with pseudo kicks acting as a complimentary melody. here, cr plays with space to creating a hypnotic spacial production akin to digital justice or the orb, with the intention to take the listener to a transcendental state. chreal01 is housed in a popset sleeve & hand stickered

paper tree sneaked out into the world for a moment a few years back and then vanished. lee burridge loved the track so much that he continued to harass rebelski, sometimes standing outside his window in the flower bed, for weeks on end until he finally agreed to let lee release it on all day i dream. not content with a single track lee went back to rebelskis garden and tapped on the window repeatedly until he agreed to make some more beautiful tracks. obviously pestering producers in this manner bares fruit. the paper tree ep ranges from a beautiful solitary solo piano piece that wouldn t be amiss in a british period piece drama where someone dies unexpectedly leaving the survivors to deal with it, all the while maintaining their stiff upper lip. fly the kite made us want to go outside and do just that. so we did. it was epic. circles and squares joins paper tree as one of those dance floor moments best experienced with ones eyes closed. myriad is the sound of a young lady robots jewelry box (yes, we predict robots will be wearing jewelry in the future) that she(bot) pines to hear when she s all grown up and rusty. omoshiroi is, well, its just so damn pretty. good work rebelski. good work.

it is undeniable that bjarki and his bbbbbb imprint are at the forefront of iceland’s dance music scene, playing a vital role in asserting the country as a hub for genre bending electronic music. although the label has proved to be a solid platform for bjarkis own experimental material, bbbbbb continues to host some of icelands best talents (notably last year’s lauded release from volruptus who followed up with another killer outing on &#1090,,&#1088,,&#1080,,&#1087,,). for bbbbbb’s 10th release bjarki continues to substantiate his a&r abilities, introducing the world to lord pusswhip. having enjoyed a meteoric rise as a key player in icelands hip-hop scene, the young producers sound has continued to evolve since befriending bjarki and the bbbbbb crew, and the hand of glory ep now sees him at arguably his most adventurous and experimental yet. murky atmospherics introduce xmas jam creep before a cacophony of percussion ups the energy, setting the tone for a dynamic release. crazy shit mane follows with its crunchy drums, scintillating synths and sultry bass until hop out the car blends hip-hop vocals with mesmerising chord sequences reminiscent of richard d.james early work. an undulating bassline then works alongside a chorus of angelic voices in ‘the hand of glory, making way for the syncopated and dreamlike shroomm0(u)rning. moving into ambient territories, green house living layers pads and samples together to generate an otherworldly aesthetic until choppa hard combines ominous drones with a steady beat to conclude the release.

akumandra is the mexican imprint of sainte vie. the label promotes the exceptional artists riding the sub current of multicultural electronic music and, after 3 years of sharing its music for free, it s about to release on vinyl for the first time. sainte vie s music is a prime summary of what it means to hear in a post-genre universe. as trends are quickly rendered obsolete, the accumulation of culture debris is becoming more significant in relation to the producer the ability to create a nostalgic blur through a composition of artifacts and interpretations. paying homage to this, estacion inmortal (sainte vie s first ep) produces the afterglow associated with an auditory epiphany. the combination of mellow interludes, earthy chord progressions and acoustic-synthetic equilibrium have the capacity to conquer both communal space and solitude.

animals onpsychedelics is a label out of cleethorpes, run by dj carl h. through a combination of name, artwork and musical output, animals on psychedelics focuses on the more tripped out, spacey side of electronic music. release 003 comes from memphis who has had these tracks hidden away on his dats files since the early 90s, jane fitz who contributed to the 1st release over at aop helped un earth and make this ep happen, you know its going to quality with janes involvment.

taking its title from a minoan legend that deals with rage, greed and destruction, the latest release from abyss x expands and reconstructs conceptions of aural space and time. out on february 23 on danse noire, pleasures of the bull finds the multi-disciplinary artist and producer flirting with the sounds of hard jazz while mystifying the parameters of experimental music across several distinct movements, thus allowing the listener to break free from their sonic principles.

guttural, pained screams from beyond converge with mangled corrosive rhythms on the sophomore ep from dint for horo. ‘hooker’ convenes an impromptu post punk band out of undead skeletal pulses and spits a frustrated barb to anyone in earshot. ’shovel’ slams nails in relentlessly with an excruciating vocal refrain grinding over the band of zombies undulating bass riff, decaying as it loops. ’skewer’ drags the undead to the dance-floor with a primitive rhythm that rises and ducks, wringing out the intensity with macabre vocal commands reaching through a wall of distortion.