GENRES: electronica/leftfield/downtempo

TRACKLISTS:

A1 Verblex Oscillos
A2 How Do I Know
A3 Frederikalstublieft

B1 Siegfried Benaultibaum
B2 L.O.V.E
B3 Rebula Conundrum

C1 Nlasckhdsjk
C2 Hakelifjell
C3 Still Have Time

D1 Isolated
D2 Maladayfun Faction
D3 Alone In My Kitchen

Release Note:
Mark Hawkins readies ‘Venn Diagram’ album for Aus Music this May.
Mark Hawkins’ early releases on labels such as Djax Up Beats and Ugly Funk lit flares in the world of
underground techno, with a sense of humour and tougher-than-thou sonic palette enforced via his jacking live
sets. Across the following decades, Mark has delivered razor sharp cuts that encompass pretty much
anything that has an electronic heart - leaving his own unique trail for others to follow via his work for labels
as diverse as Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Sonic Mind, Mistress Recordings, Houndstooth and Aus.

With his latest album, it feels like Mark has pushed ahead with a change of direction he started with 2021’s
‘The New Normal’. ‘Venn Diagram’ carries on this journey into uncharted lands; molten, distorted drum
assaults weave around glistening melodies, kitchen sink soul glides below fractured sound pools. Opener
‘Verblex Oscillos’ immediately demands your attention grabbing, with a so-happy-it’s-sad melody spiralling
around a cascade of tough-as-fuck dance floor destroying beats, along with ‘Isolated’s urgent combination of
strings, acid and chicago-tough electro beats.

Other cuts on the album share a similar approach, ‘Maladayfun Friction’s restless energy derives from a fusion
of skittering drums and deranged synths and ‘Still Have Time’s dreamy super saw pads and plaintive vocal
espouse a kind of wasted elegance, roaming the city nightlife in a Gucci dress and Doc Martin boots.
‘Nlasckhdsjk’ and ‘Frederikalstublieft’ propel forward with such a sleek and effervescent aesthetic, recalling
fast drives along picturesque European highways or heady take-offs to unknown urban territories. The
aesthetic becomes more elegant on the album’s centrepoint tracks ‘Rebula Conundrum’ and ‘Nlasckhdsjk’,
where optimistic bleeps, bass and 707 drums underpin jazzy chords and soaring leads.

Other tracks show the arc of Mark’s direction of travel, with soulful vocals that share a well of deep-rooted
optimism that was so evident on his breakthrough 2016 Social Housing album. ‘L.O.V.E.’ breaks into
post-Sophie territory with a catchy modulated vocal joyfully two-stepping across to the nightclub bar and
‘How Do I Know’ providing a heart rending torch song for 6am kicking-out-time refugees to help them find
their way back home.





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Track list:
A1. Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
A2. Elastick
B1. Shook
B2. Brake Root


Highlight:
Wisdom Teeth co-founder K-Lone is dropping two EPs on Aus Music: the first instalment nods to UKG and house flavours, landing mid-May, while the second offers a deeper, broken techno vibe, arriving in late June. Opener 'Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah' is a deep and bubbly cut with dubbed-out rhythms and a one-vocal refrain that's looped, panned about the mix and doused in reverb to serve as a trippy hook. Further stabs, deft synth details, whirring pads and neon colours all add detail to this warm, dynamic sound. The fantastic 'Elastick' is a tight and kinetic minimal kicker with gorgeously smeared pads. Fresh sound designs bring it to life next to lush background chords that layer in plenty of signature K-Lone colour.
'Shook' is a dubby and bouncy rhythm with rubbery bass and glitchy hits that hook you into a world of gloopy pads and heady cosmic ambience. Last of all, 'Brake Root' keeps the good vibes coming, this time with a tumbling broken beat that makes you shake your body loose amidst balmy pads and beautiful melodic curlicues that ooze late-night soul.
UK trailblazer K-Lone heads up the label Wisdom Teeth with fellow producer Facta and has released everything from club-primed garage to innovative home listening records. Whether cooking up kinetic beats and bouncy bass or soundtracking a lazy summer's afternoon with synthesised bird calls and lush marimbas, the London-bred artist is a proven studio wizard. Critical acclaim has come for both his ‘Swells’ and ‘Cape Cira’ albums, and now his ‘Catching Wild’ EPs for Aus Music offer yet another portal into the colourful world of his idiosyncratic, signature sound.







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