Veteran producer Black Merlin aka George Thompson debuts on Transmigration sub label Crystal Ceremony with four dense and hypnotic dance floor cuts.
Informed as much by a deep knowledge of dance music’s history as well as extensive field recording work in some of the most remote parts of the world, the EP’s 4 tracks swerve modern techno’s expectations of high BPMs in favour of a slow, timeless journey through ritualistic drum patterns, atmospheric modular loops and ethereal vocals. More

Surface Air is the lovechild of a long relationship between Malka Tuti & Black Merlin. After remixing Tapan and Shari Vari for the label, as well as being part of Spectral Empire who released Iron Muscle with us on 2018, George has always been an inspiration for us, both sonically and spiritually.

His new record, Surface Air, in which the A-side is accompanied with vocals from Dallas artist Aura Nox, is a slow burning deep record for the late emo hours of the night, for you trippy after hour or your late night drive. On the B-side you can also find a Remix from an artist we’ve been following for years here in MT, and that when his name came up in a conversation with George (BM) as a possible remixer, excitement levels went through the roof.

The Remix Wata Igarashi delivered is a stripped down epic ambient track, ala late 90’s Pete Namlook endeavours with some 2022’s Wata Igarashi unique sonic aesthetics. More

For his first release with Artificial Dance, Black Merlin aka George Thompson takes a departure from the hard-wearing techno and intricate field recording work that he has come to be known for. Scape One is a fifteen-minute psychedelic diversion recorded in one continuous live session. While the track’s sonic characteristics may echo dance music from the turn of the millennium, its pulsating rhythm is more suggestive of the slowly evolving landscapes seen outside of a train window as opposed to raves from the late ‘90s.

Appearing on the B-side is Gordon Pohl’s remix of Scape One. Like its source material, this track is long and subtle in the way it develops over time, but Pohl dissects the most salient elements of the original to construct a new rhythmic urgency. The high frequency accent that guides the remix does so at a speed that recalls the rotations of Brion Gysin’s stroboscopic Dream Machine, which taps into your brain’s alpha waves, aiding drug-free hallucinations.

Pohl and Thompson are frequent collaborators and release music together as Karamika. While Scape One is not a collaboration in the strict sense, there is plenty of crossover in the working methodology of the two musicians, especially when it comes to constructing uncomplicated arrangements.

The repetitive nature of their respective tracks locks the listener into a contradictory sensation of travelling whilst staying seemingly motionless. This sensation is not altogether uncommon, but in this instance it’s not quotidian either. The result is a record that unravels slowly, leaving space for the listener to home in on all the available information and, in the process, discover elements that can be just as unnerving as they are satisfying. More

The two inimitable long tracks from George Thompson AKA Black Merlin have reached Offen on 13.11.2019, and Offen said: let there be 013! Featuring words by Alexandra Grübler on „Textured Land“. Artwork by Patrick Keuthen, mastered by Enrico Mercaldi at Time Tools Mastering. More

The second release of Black Merlin's SFORMATOR series on Pinkman. Three cuts of hypno-beat electronics, created through ritualistic embodiment of sound by the machine doctor to expand minds. More

Back in 2015 George Thompson AKA Black Merlin started a deep love affair with the remote island of Papua New Guinea. After his first album ‘Hipnotik Tradisi’, released on Island Of The Gods; George was intrigued to find a place drenched in culture and untouched by the western world.
.In 2016 George planned his first solo expedition, venturing out to meet the Kosua Tribe. Over the course of the next two years George would record the sounds of the Kosua people. From their daily lives, ancient dance customs and wildlife. During one of these trips he spent 14 days alone in the jungle, getting in and out of the Mount Bosavi crater and further 3 days inside recording and filming his experience. These recordings and experiences formed the basis of his second album, Kosua. More

George Thompson aka Black Merlin is joining the family of Mannequin Records with this insane EP for the Death of the Machines, the serie dedicated to new artists ready to smash the dancefloor. 3-tracks strongly permeated by drones'n'noises, EBM basslines and a 4/4 straight tecnoish kick drum. More

After efforts on Andrew Weatherall's Bird Scarer Records and the mighty World Unknown. Black Merlin is kicking off the Common Thread series with New World Fantasy / Ice House. Dark and progressive synth music that comes in strictly limited pressing of 400 copies. More

PINKMAN's resurrection of its Broken Dreams series is marked by a release of Dolphins - Benedikt Frey's project with Markus Woernle and Nadia D'Alo. 40G evokes landscapes of doom, disorienting pleasure, and the surreal visions that occupy a sleepless night; the soundtrack to a Lynchian fantasy about the creatures that haunt the murky waters of the modern mind. It's an album for finding yourself on a stranger's couch, tearing at the fraying edges of another endless night, wrapped beneath a blanket of drugged-out kraut. "I am here to guide you through the night," the trio sing on 'Alright'; we believe they're up to the task. More

Repress!

A contemporary rendition of punk, fused with dubbed out, and slowed down industrial electronics, courtesy of Identified Patient and RLR's Hugo van Heijningen. Together they go by the name Stallion's Stud and come crashing down like a cavalry, leaving nothing but a dusty trail of destruction in its wake. More

From underground Russia comes LVRIN's second release on Pinkman Broken Dreams. 6 jams for the freaks - stripped to the bone, with minimum fuss and maximum attitude. More

The second release of Black Merlin's SFORMATOR series on Pinkman. Three cuts of hypno-beat electronics, created through ritualistic embodiment of sound by the machine doctor to expand minds. More

December returns to Pinkman Broken Dreams with 4 hybrids of arranged chaos where rugged rhythms and breaks wrestle with dystopian melodies and occult vocals. A complete meltdown which viciously takes you into a delirious state. The future is near... More

Borusiade's Misfits of Broken Dreams puts a futuristic twist on industrial electronics, fusing it with spaced out drones and detached, yet bold spoken word by the artist herself. Rugged tribal rhythms and rumbling bass complete the picture, and you're left with an immersive ride leaving you somewhere inbetween fight-or-flight and gloomy despondency. More

Years of Denial joins Pinkman Broken Dreams and deliver an EP with four devilish and cataclysmic electronic body tracks. The duo's sound combines influences of deranged experimental music with vocals surrounding themes of isolationism and dark romanticism. The outcome is stunning in its very own way, as the music creates a deeply immersive atmosphere, and is abundantly vigorous to keep dancers on their toes and moving from the night's darkest corners to the dawn of day. More

The newest offering on Pinkman Broken Dreams: Rough, noisy and cataclysmic machine music, seasoned with industrial and EBM influences, by Frenchman December. Every single bit as uncompromising and assertive as his previous output on Mannequin or Jealous God. Download code included. More

Straight out of underground Paris and right onto Pinkman's Broken Dreams arrives Myn. The Public Systems label boss follows up a debut track on his own label with a poem about gloom, desolation and anger written in native machine language for the Rotterdam imprint. The A stanza describes a 'Mental Outburst' with punchy lines written in raw percussion and disconcerting 303 work. Following a line break, the B stanza changes the meter from 4/4 to pummelling broken beat in a piece about power and dominance titled 'Black Rose'. The Violent Poetry concludes with yet more deathly rhythms and spine-chilling verses in 'Core Collapse'.

More

Being closely connected to the label, it was only a matter of time before Daniele Cosmo was released on Pinkman. At long last, he makes his debut appearance with co-conspirator CCO as Savage Grounds. What they came up with is a tight two tracker presenting full speed, minimalistic punk electro workouts. Both tracks, while boasting with furiosity and dread, as is often the case in the Broken Dreams releases, carry an infectious groove that is guaranteed to get bodies moving in the highest gear and right into the abyss. Pressed on a single 7" this concise release is far from falling short in completeness, expertise and potential to break dreams. More

Alessandro Adriani weaves a nightmarish scenario as the Mannequin man returns to Pinkman's Broken Dreams with four hardened works. Beats are shaven into rigid points as EBM echoes are speared with contemporary contempt. Throughout the quartet are moments of exotic abstraction, psychological stresses and visceral disorders. Music for sleepless nights and addled minds. More

Pinkman's Broken Dreams welcome a new midnight malcontent into the fold, Ernestas Sadau debuts with his first 12": Gonzo on Tour. Sirens blare, samples hiss in a haze of static before a grizzled snare introduces "Riots in Jail Near Kaunas." Grubby basslines curl into shards of acid, full figured thump sweetened by fragile bars. "Crackheads from Lyon" is steeped in the traditions of garage bands and D.I.Y. punk. Strings snarl and sneer at crashing drum beats, lonesome notes floating in the surge. The foul tempered "Hiroshima (Acid Breaks Your Body Mix)" demands the flip. Beats break and buckle under the leer of lewd 303 lines, a finale bubbling over with violent intent.

More

Having already debuted on the Pinkman main label, Identified Patient now steps up for the Pinkman "Broken Dreams" series for your stripped back content. The whole EP is furnished with the sinister and commanding vocals of Sophie du Palais, also known as 'Vrouwe Fataal,' creating an infectious vortex of panic and scare to abort your dreams. Throughout the release, hazy percussion is carefully seasoned with the bitter synth lines and guitar riffs from Lasznkioff. The first track, 'Peaceful Panic' is in full seduction and fetish mode, setting the scene for the better corners. 'Sleep Without Rest' violently tightens up the leather and gives you your kicks for thrills. The EP ends with frenzy: messed up intermezzos with Lasznikoff, mixing up an 808 with his destructive guitar rig and, as he states, 'everything is done.' Throughout the release, hazy percussion is carefully seasoned with the bitter synth lines and guitar riffs from Lasznkioff. The first track, "Peaceful Panic" is in full seduction and fetish mode, setting the scene for the better corners. "Sleep Without Rest" violently tightens up the leather and gives you your kicks for thrills. The EP ends with frenzy: messed up intermezzos with Lasznikoff, mixing up an 808 with his destructive guitar rig and, as he states, 'everything is done.'

More