The Norwegian-born/Berlin-based electronic duo Soft as Snow returns with their most powerful statement yet. Their second full length 'Bit Rot' perfectly captures the friction of our contemporary existence in which smooth digital surfaces are locked in conflict with messy physical realities. The crumbling of fantastic European infrastructure is mirrored by luxurious synthwave and ecstatic trance crumbling into nightmarish, corroded cyberscapes. The songs on 'Bit Rot' create a wide variety of zones in which pleasure and discomfort come together organically and seamlessly. Even as these songs are eaten alive by oppressive atmospheres and destabilizing glitches they never lose sight of their strong melodic underpinnings. Tracks like 'Always On', 'Soft Body Hard Dreaming' and the terrifyingly intense title cut are like visits to a rave inside a paranoid microchipped brain, while 'Rubber Boy' presents electro-industrial funk sung by a caged mutant. On the more restrained tip, fluorescent ballads like 'Hollow' and 'Quiet Anger' evoke the feeling of slipping into a fugue state at an all-night convenience store. This is European nightlife imagined as biomechanical horror. The album was mixed by Ville Haimala of fellow nordic club destroyers Amnesia Scanner, and the striking cover art features a sculpture by Norwegian artist Camilla Steinum. To further elaborate the album's themes in the visual realm the duo is creating a music video and live A/V show with 3D artist Guynoid, including a special latex suit made in collaboration with AGF Hydra. In this way, 'Bit Rot' grows beyond the album itself into a larger project exploring the fluidity of body and identity when the digital and the physical fuse as one.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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With 10 years in the 'biz' firmly under his belt, Jiah Wells is poised to release the first full-length LP of his Galtier project, Pulchra Es Elementis. Whilst Galtier is arguably one of the originators of the percussive style that would eventually fall under the Hard Drum label, the heightened theatrics of his recent output have seen him channel Blade Runner-styled sonics and move further away from absolute club functionality. Whilst Galtier's output often seems to soundtrack hypothetical, off-planet words, Pulchra Es Elementis turns the focus inwards: towards Wells' own emotional constellation, his evolving spirituality and his attempts to tap into planes of existence beyond the tangible. The album's Latin title translates to 'Elements are Beautiful' and encapsulates the artist's belief that there is grace in all of life's aspects; pushing past what we deem as good or bad, minuscule or massive.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Irishmen Kieran Craddock & Peter Fleming, aka Effy, after 2 releases on Disco's Dead and Erimus, respectively, showcasing their jackin' house and dark warehouse proclivities, and attracting support from UK households such as Swamp81, are now armed and ready to join the IM family. Part of the encroaching brit monopoly of our roster, alongside Beaka, Seb Wildblood, Wallworks/RZR, Kalpa, iO Sounds, Troy Gunner et al, their work on "Distant Sounds" is a testament to our dedication to steal the cream of the crop of UK talent and release it on the other side of the Atlantic. Tee-hee. Now then, on to the music. "Move" is probably the sexiest track we've ever put out (barring the dubious sensuality of most Liar trax). "Just a little bit" go the breathy vocal cuts, and the rest of the track complies. Seductive rather than lascivious, it's pervaded by a less-is-more approach that does away with any superfluous element one might encounter in modern clubbing. "Bourbon Switch" continues among the same lines, albeit being a bit of a punchier, more driving affair. Garage percussion, basslines, house groove, techno gravitas - for anybody familiar with the UK scene, this is nothing new; however, few others juggle these as well, and with as much functionalist immediacy, as Effy do. On the remix tip, things get mental. Troy Gunner takes "Move" into heretofore uncharted territories - stripping down the track even more, utilizing silence and space to spectacular results, and inflecting a thoroughly alien rhythm. Hound Scales does the very opposite, driving his 'Shade 2 Go' remix hard, plentifully building atop the original into a perfect morsel for those hungry for his unique brand of outsider techno. Distant sounds from distant future, graciously available to you courtesy of Infinite Machine.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Bath's resident prodigy Troy Gunner, having previously cut his teeth with a trilogy of EPs charting leftfield UKG, post-dubstep, and funked-out seemingly-Moog-driven bass jams, joins the Infinite Machine fam with a singular take on dub techno. The "Masks/The Valley" 12" evokes warm currents of hope hovering above desolate, urban sonic scenery. "Masks" unapologetically makes use of the complete definitive dub techno toolset, being driven by a unrelenting yet gentle 4/4 kick, awash with abyssal dub chords. A left turn is taken when it comes to composition, however... the chord progres...


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More