Meda Fury welcome back Oakland resident Damon Bell for another accomplished EP of rugged cosmic grooves and tribal pressure. Bell is riding a rich wave of form with a killer recent release on Don’t Be Afraid, and even more fire on the Burek label, not forgetting his impressive debut last year on his regular home, the mighty Deepblak - he’s a proven master at fusing Afro-centric rhythms, rich keys and off-kilter pads into an urgent and contemporary form of house music that deftly eschews cliche. ‘Akebu-Lan’ commences the ritual with a gospel vocal loop over pumping 808 kicks and tranced out swollen pads, giving way to ecstatic fender rhodes chords and climatic piano, reminiscent of Robert Hood - is this Bell's fastest bpm track yet? Loose/live jazz keys riff throughout ‘Ether’ creating a warm rich miasma of sound against the distressed percussive gyrations and sinister drones. Hypnotic synth riffs tumble over the powerful drum-track in ‘Altered Visions’ creating a deliciously hypnotic chug. Drawing the EP to a close, Deepblak and PAN cohort African Sciences joins Bell for the sizzling ‘Kinetic Energy’; a sleazy, skronking cut of slurred moog bass and atonally pitched toms wrestling with thumping kicks and whispered vox pummel the listener.

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Tracklist:
a1. Damon Bell Stand By Me b1. Damon Bell Life Awaits You B2. Trans Atlantic Journey? We Been Here!
Short info:
Californiabased producer Damon Bell could not find a more suitable home for his new 12” than Croatian label Burek. It’s his first one since “Blues For The Libyan” LP released in 2015. for Deepblak, and it sounds as if the time off was well spent. Two words that perfectly describe this record are “rich” and “colourful”, and the description is equally applicable to all three cuts. “Stand By Me” is a synthheavy piece built around the interplay between track’s rougher sounds and big lush pads. On the flipside, “Life” is slightly faster and more direct, with a wonderful guitar part that circles around the main theme throughout the most of the track. Similarly mannered, but slightly more intense “ TransAtlantic Journey? We Been Here!” is the last piece and features an infectious groove with lead synth piercing through layers of delicate arpeggios playing in the background. All in all, it feels good to have Damon in the team. We hope you'll enjoy this record

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Brassfoot makes his DBA debut following a number of appearances at the DBA Presents parties. Since breaking through with his Apron EP on Funkineven's world-leading label in 2015, Brassfoot has turned heads with releases on UTTU, Paul Du Lac's Bio Rhythm, and his own seminal NCA Recordings. On the Indentured Servitude EP Brassfoot showcases his own unique stepping house and techno flavour across six tracks, with time to meditate and reflect between the party-starting peak timers also included.

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Following a standout appearance on DVS1's Mistress label with his 'Just Pain' track, the man from Minneapolis, Doubt, returns to Don't Be Afraid for the first time since 2014's Poor Dog EP. In the interim he has continued to record on Disposable Commodities under the Doubt moniker, whilst also exploring experimental and ambient sound under the name Time Heals Nothing.
For his most inclusive outing to date,...


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rRoxymore returns with the latest instalment in her Thoughts of an Introvert series. The first part, which hit stores in 2017, was born out of introspection and a yearning for solitude. Tracks like 'Prodrome,' which refers to symptoms indicating the early onset of an illness, seemed to reflect a global weariness, a head-nodding, late night search for comfort and respite. On part 2 though, a new energy is evident in the tracks.
'This Is Not What You Think' shrugs and fizzes with resilience, it feels like a maniacal, primal release from frustration and anguish. 'Run… Feet' finds an even more optimistic, upbeat bounce, not far from the stomping house euphoria of her first outing for DBA, Organ Smith, but with the newfound confidence of an artist who is pushing both technology and style to the outer limits. 'Mythical Technology', meanwhile, is a dancefloor-ready paean to techno's own futurist manifesto.

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Karen Gwyer returns to cement her reputation as one of the most individual and daring voices in dance music with 'Rembo', her first full LP for Don't Be Afraid, following a debut on the label in late 2016 with the 'Prophase Anaphase Metaphase Telophase' EP. Reflecting the sheer energy of Gwyer's improvised, undulating and unpredictable live shows, 'Rembo' captures Gwyer in her element as a techno producer not afraid to smudge both the physical and emotional edges of what we may have come to expect in the club.
Live performance is where Gwyer's ideas come into gradual but vivid fruition, with tracks often evolving over "five or six shows" before reaching the studio. Here, Gwyer endeavours to capture the same transcendent energy that has seen her enrapture audiences at international events such as Mutek and Unsound, and in support of contemporaries such as Laurel Halo, Kassem Mosse and Factory Floor. Throughout 'Rembo', dozens of shows and endless stolen studio hours have informed 38 minutes of uncompromising body music.



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Karen Gwyer's indomitable Rembo LP receives remixes from four producers at the cutting edge of house and techno, Via App, Ron Morelli, E. Myers and M/R. Artwork by Karen Gwyer.

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Tr One return with 4 very different tracks recorded in one take at their studio in the Irish southeast. 'A Month Has Passed' uses a dubbed out aesthetic merging influences from UK bass and Detroit using shimmering melodic progression. 'The Boutique Of Never Ending Dreams' works towards a synth laden dreamlike peak. 'The Printer' duly merges playful Chicago drums with an organic chord structure to create a head nodding funk. Finishing the EP is 'Road To The Sea', a pensive sway of dubby sonics masked in a fog of reverb.
Tr One are an established name in the Irish electronic music community and are known for their energetic and engaging performances as DJs. They have received critical acclaim for the raw soulful productions from their studio in hometown Carlow, Ireland. They have gained respect for their ability to deftly move between the lines of genres with a strong sense of adventure and connection with Detroit/Chicago/Dublin machine soul. From this they have released music on Lunar Disko, Apartment and Fine Art recordings, with the strains of the US Midwest never far from sonic influence. They have worked in a range of styles from old movie soundtrack disco with New Jackson to punishing techno sharing wax space with the Phantom Planet Outlaws.

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For the 9th instalment in DBA's Dubs series Ikonika and Big Strick square off head to head, following the Hyperdub artist's genre-defying Distractions LP earlier this year. Oral Suspension is an instrumental which switches rough-shod between a UK halfstep crunch and a Hoop Dreams era Chicago bounce. On the flip Big Strick brings his characteristic smooth groove to the table for the remix, which, though laidback, is nevertheless bound to energise the dancers. Evading the ubiquitous pigeonholes, Ikonika has variously been known for her dubstep innovations, her uk funky experiments on Hum and Buzz and her post-urban sketches for Hyperdub. Meanwhile though an interest in techno and specifically the sounds of the Midwest have underpinned her work.

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The new EP by rRoxymore signals another audacious step forward for one of the most daring artists in the electronic music diaspora. 'Thoughts Of An Introvert Part 1' is born out of introspection, out of the necessity to disconnect from the frenzy of crowds and to create a soundtrack to an inner landscape which exists beyond the reach of government and dogma. In the words of the artist, "it is a sonic diary of sorts, cataloguing the events of a world which has not yet been invented, in the form of three mesmerizing dance tracks free of nostalgia and the expectations of style." The spatial afro futurist funk of 'Prodrome' finds rRoxymore balancing darkness and optimism as only she can. The title track, 'Thoughts Of An Introvert' is instantly familiar and carries a soothing utopian spirit, so needed today. Mycetozoa, the closing track is bouncing, drum driven and mad, a celebration of rRoxymore's complex musical mind, offset by irresistibly banging toms and rolling rimshot patterns. It is a track which is at once melancholic, happy, vulnerable, and full of hope. Everything seems possible on the dancefloor this music was written for.

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Fresh from collaborating with Anthony 'Shake' Shakir on their remix of Funkadelic for the 'Reworked By Detroiters' LP, Tyler Dancer makes his full solo debut for Don't Be Afraid. The 'Resisting In The Darkness' EP sees the arrival of a major new talent from America's Midwest and the first outing for a unique new voice in techno. Counting Shake, Legowelt, Marty Bonds and Jay Denham amongst those who have inspired a...


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Following the release of the 'Homemade Waves' EP in 2015, The Room Below returns to Don't Be Afraid with his second EP for the label. The title 'Healing Scaphoids' reflects on the period of time he spent constructing the tracks, during which he suffered two separate broken wrists whilst cycling around London. One right, one left. Both time, the Scaphoid bone! Unfortunately, only one of the wrists healed properly and the EP retains a slightly broken feel, steering away from four-to-the-floor territory, and with London as a clear sonic influence. 2017 has been a productive year for Henry Keen aka The Room Below. As Soundspecies, alongside brother Olly, he released a collaborative album with Afro-Cuban percussion group Ache Meyi, performing live at the Barbican in May to follow the previous year's appearance at the Manana Cuba Festival in Santiago de Cuba.. Henry also has a solo EP forthcoming on rising New York label Maddjazz, due for release in mid September.

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Hamburg's Achim Maerz arrives on DBA with an expansive twelve track package. Split across a 12" ep and a cassette, 'Experiments' is a collection of live, improvised house jams recorded in the summer of 2015 in the artist's home studio. The title refers to the fast and rough recording of the material, with the aim of catching a mood before process and self-awareness take over. Fans of Maerz' previous releases on the essential Wake Up! label amongst others will immediately recognise his trademark, ethereal house sound.
The 12" is available from the usual retailers, whilst the limited edition cassette is available from select stores and the DBA bandamp. The tracks on the cassette can also be downloaded for free from the DBA bandcamp, offering listeners a range of formats to combine both elements and complete the package.

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FXHE affiliate Jason Fine makes his full DBA debut with the Moonscapes EP after remixing Typesun for the DBA Dubs series.

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After debuting on Mr. G's Phoenix G imprint in 2016 with the Unfamiliar Territory EP, Jayson Wynters makes an appearance on DBA for this, his second release, backed by a Kowton remix. Jayson Wynters is a DJ that is able to combine many genres in one set and make it work. Wynters was first known as a garage MC in Birmingham, before rising to prominence in the city's underground radio and club scene, where he showcased an impressive knowledge of rare groove and house music. As he got older his taste for music began to mature, his collection began to grow, and he soon began to DJ. Using music as an outlet for expression, whether in the form of DJing or having fun on some drum machines and synths, is one of the most defining features to Wynters. He continues to fuel his passion by keeping an eye on the future rather than the past and striving to remain different.

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Semtek returns to Don't Be Afraid label for the first time in five years with four tracks strictly for the DJs.

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DJ Bone is Differ-Ent. But then again, he always has been. A pioneer DJ and producer hailing from Detroit, whose technical skills are perhaps only equalled by the upper echelons of the city's most advanced techno trailblazers, he's nonetheless forged a path only of his own. Eschewing commercial expectations, scene pressures and anything other than his own exquisite taste, Bone has earned a vital, dedicated audience while remaining comfortably and individually underground. Despite his stellar reputation, Bone's recent studio activities have steered him towards a new, altogether more personal direction. In late 2015, Differ-Ent's arrival on Don't Be Afraid with the 'Differ-Ent(Hrall)' EP paved the way for its follow-up, 'M.O.M.:' both were forceful slabs of psychedelic outsider techno, with the latter taking on a tangible emotional resonance as it honoured the memory of Bone's late mother. 'M.O.M.' quickly became one of the label's best celebrated and widely played releases. Bone, typically self-sufficient and known to turn down remixes for huge clubbing brands, was impressed by the Bristol label's honesty and persistence. As he continued to rock parties internationally, Bone set to work on an LP embracing his deeper, darker and more cerebral side. Not that 'It's Good To Be Differ-Ent has found Bone veering away from the dancefloor. "It's like, the natural vibe for me is always going to be funky", admits Bone. "It's going to swing, it's going to have that element of soul. But the Differ-Ent vibe is almost angrier. Determined, perhaps is a better word. I would typically just go to the studio when I had an idea. To the point where I say, 'OK, I'm going to do something, I'm going to make it happen.' But the process for Differ-Ent...it's kinda methodical. It's borderline predictable. But the thing that makes it Different is that it could go any which way at any given time. And it can be harder edged usually, or it can go in a soundtrack direction

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rRoxymore's music is an intriguing, one-off blend of contrasting textures - organic and synthetic, icy and warm - a fresh step in dance music. Real name Hermione Frank, the French musician and producer has a long history making music in various ways, with various people, before settling in Berlin and concentrating on the solo project that refines it all.



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The DBA DUBS series returns with a fresh tropical house roller from Samrai backed by a remix from Michigan resident James T. Cotton. Khadi brings together Samrai's tough drums and ethereal sun-kissed fx with a helping of keys from an anonymous local collaborator. On the flip JTC, the artist behind Dabrye, Sound Murderer and a host of other cult catalogues reinvents Khadi as a Detroit house stepper.



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