Flatland Frequencies
13130 is the number of nuclear warheads currently in existence, so as the release says “we have a problem”, through accident or design the world can be obliterated at any moment.
The music on this EP, the second from French label Seclusion, follows the cold war emergency vibes. Technological but sinister vibes throughout. The original mix is in a classic Jeff Mills vein, whilst the remix, from Aux 88 collaborator Blaktony, takes the beats a more Elektrofunk direction.
The recent republishing of this short video to Vimeo provides enough of an excuse for us to post here. Originally made in 2013 for Mill’s Where Light Ends album this short film provides visual and musical accompaniment to Dr. Mamoru Mohri‘s account of his first spaceflight, which took place in 1992 on the space shuttle Endeavour.
Previously only available in Japan on a CD released in 1999. These six tracks are an evocative collection of hidden gems from the heyday of electronic music. Recording artist Takuya Sugimoto European breakthrough came when the former UK record store responsible for promoting the deeper techno sound, Fatcat Records, decided to make their first release an EP recorded by him under the alias of EVA. This re-released EP, which was never available in the UK, is very much of that sound and era. Think UK deep techno of the likes of B12 and Stasis but with a more quirky temperament. A sound that will always be close to our hearts.
Releases 7th June 2021 on SAISEI records. Pre-orders here
| Blacklight Smoke | Lines (The Hacker Remix) |
| Dexorcist | Kindred Spirit |
| Blacklight Smoke | Your Own Hands (Blacklight Smoke Remix) |
| Luke’s Anger | Techno Nerds |
| X-Coast | Track 4 |
| Franck Kartell | Electric Sheep |
| Matt Whitehead | Mystery of Mysteries |
| Luke’s Anger | Space Grunge |
| RNBWS | Nothing But Hardcore |
| Dexorcist | Luna Saturni |
| X-Coast | Track 1 |
| Jerome Hill | League Against Jazz |
| Ben Pest | Tilt Lock |
Deep and dark, residing in the zone where EBM and techno dwell. Various remixes of Black Light Smoke tracks on their Death Decay Magic imprint, all versions keep it down to the nitty gritty.
Choice pics for us are Black Smoke’s own off kilter remix of ‘Your Own Hands and techno legend The Hacker’s stripped down version of ‘Lines’. Check my show on Mutant Radio this week (14th April) for previews on both of these.
Big, bad and heavy. Longtime supporter of the the weird and wonderful side to techno music, Toronto’s Trevor Wilkes runs the Fun in the Murky blog and label. He is also an amazing DJ/Selector and has been broadcasting his radio show regularly online, long before the days of facebook live.
In his words, the immense 4×12″ box set “represents the artists whose music I play the most on Bleep Radio. Literally and objectively played the most. I’m a big number crunching statistics nerd and have trended my own track-lists for years as many of you know. As a Canadian, far removed from where the music I like shines the brightest I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to meet with and play alongside a lot of these folks in person and not just via the stream.”
All the tunes bang as to be expected (including one of mine ;), however the super-standout track for me is the Ben Pest ‘Tilt Lock’, serious bang time !!!
In case you’ve been living under a virtual rock, ‘Bandcamp Friday’ is where the website waives their commision fees for a day each month.
On one hand, this results in every artist with an instagram account shouting further into the void. But on the other, labels and artists are now planning their release schedule around this day, to capitalise on releasing and pre-releasing new music. So it is certainly worth a dig!
Here’s our top picks from yesterdays busy, yet fruitful Bandcamp Friday (2nd April 2021).
Tracklist:
Aura Minimum – Fragment I (Strange Key)
Krisz Deak – Playa (ODrex Music)
Mathimidori – Maiia (Echocord)
Heavenchord – H.C.R.D.3 (Insectorama)
Gradient – Changes (Thinner)
El Choop – Insane Seeds (Echocord)
Occult – Axum (Cold Tear)
Gradient – Cloud One (Ranges)
Shulz Audio – The Gathering (Self-released)
Lux – Data (Deepchord)
Phantom Network – Deuterium (Odrex Music)
| Track | Artist | Label |
| Frost Patrol (Ambience) | Aura Minimum | Modern Nature |
| Mystical Dynamics | Mr. Cloudy | ODrex Music |
| Hordes Descent | Fluxion | SubWax |
| Starlight (Echospace Unreleased Mix) | Model 500 | Echospace |
| Waterfool | Narson Nelson | Insectorama |
| While In Lockdown | Jon Dixon / minor INVENTION | 4EVR 4WRD |
| Optimal Power Flow | Rob StrobE | Motech |
| Mijote | C HH ICK | Insectorama |
| Ela Konta Mou | Jor-G | Greyscale |
| *** | *** | *** |