Invigorating Stomping Chakra Grounding

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In no uncertain terms, the debut solo EP from Mantra has been a long time coming. To anyone plugged into drum & bass for the right reasons, her name should already be on the tip of your tongue. At the helm of Rupture alongside Double O she’s nurtured the realest of the real in D&B terms, creating a scene within the scene for all true heads, where the demand for creativity, innovation and sheer integrity keep the music pushing forwards well beyond the confines of the venerated dance. It’s no surprise to hear this four track 12” follow suit - you already knew it was going to be good when you spied her name on the label.

In true Rupture spirit though, you shouldn’t just assume you know what you’re getting. Making her intentions clear from the get-go, Mantra opens up with ‘Damaged’, an icy half-stepper built from raw, rasping drums with an industrial patina. It’s no breakneck roller, but rather a deadly creeper with more than enough bite to satisfy those who want their music fierce.

It’s ‘Murda’ and ‘Victory Dance’ where we can hear Mantra stretching out into the rollers, but even so the breaks come diced at intriguing angles, the energy is teased with a distinct flair, and they only go off when Mantra deems it time to - much like when she’s at the controls in the club. ‘Ala’ offers up something wholly distinct once again, offering the kind of hidden B2 magic that makes a record special with some trippy backroom stepping business shaped out by mellow synth impulses and a pad setting a melancholic mood. Original, innovative pressure from someone largely responsible for keeping such values alive in D&B, as if we expected any less.

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Following their previous Mantra EP, Polybius Trax present here another three track EP from Mantra showcasing a variety of acid styles. Opening track, Blackout, is a solid, no-nonsense acid techno workout, perfect for a strobe filled warehouse, and features builds and drops layered with ethereal tones. Emanation is a maelstrom of moving synth sounds, bouncing delay lines and vocal-like klaxons that combine to disorientate the listener. Final track, Mirage is a classic bad attitude acid track with an unnerving acid line that weaves in and out of aggressive percussive lines.

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2018 Repress! Very wild (lean and mean!) old-school '88 acid house!

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V.I.V.E.K returns to SYSTEM MUSIC with a 3 track EP exploring new grooves within the 140 scope. Following on from his SHAPES EP he continues to try something different within the boundaries of tempo. U Dub harks back to old school jungle territory, ambient synths with heavy distorted 808 bassline. Voices explores an Amapiano style at 140 with heavy log drum bass and whispering synths . While 108 works to bashment style bounce but is heavy on the bass .

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System Music is pleased to welcome Italian supernova Ago to the label with an incredible 4 track EP showing his mastery in diversity within the 140 bpm realm. A break-from-the-norm EP that encapsulates the refined character of the producer. The title track "Your Eyes" opens the EP with moving chords and swirling futuristic arpeggios that brings to light Ago's amazing melodic prowess. An intense track that evokes distant memories and resolves into an anthemic second drop that has been a true dancefloor favourite all over the world in recent years. Crippling follows with sinister synths pulses that stumble into a 2-step groove, enriched by shuffling percussion and Ago’s signature bleeps and sound design. The dreamy bridge temporarily elevates the track into a new melodic realm before falling back into ringing pulses and deep atmospheres. Eight Times Eight takes the listener into a dark room dense with experimental patterns. Pounding techno kicks, airy hi-hats, scattering percussion, strobing melodies and obscure samples that gets the head nodding and the feet stepping. To be listened to the very end. Riverwind is in the name. The final tune flows like water across a beautifully crafted ethereal sound that is encompassed around floating percussive drums, occasionally awakened by sudden effects. Intertwined visions of air and water take us to the banks of new digital rivers.

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Our 40th release to date. Welcoming long time family member VERSA for another trip to sublime soundscapes. This man can do no wrong.

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Very first version of the first single by Cortex, reissued as 7inch for the 1st time. “I remember that I and Alain Gandolfi wanted to put ‘Mary & Jeff’ on the A side, but the producer decided to set ‘L’Enfant Samba’ instead because he thought that the voice of Mireille would be more selling than my piano… 6 months after, at the beginning of 1976, ‘Mary & Jeff’ was a hit in a lot of Disco clubs and radios!” (Alain Mion).

Limited to 500 copies.

La Rue 4:23
Automne (Colchiques) 2:35
L'Enfant Samba 3:00
Troupeau Bleu 5:00
Prelude A "Go Round" 3:52
Go Round 1:20
Chanson D'Un Jour D'Hiver 5:20
Mary Et Jeff 2:40
Huit Octobre 1971 4:22
Sabbat (1ère Partie) 1:00
Sabbat (2ème Partie) 3:15
Sabbat (3ème Partie) 0:26
Madbass 2:50

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Kompakt is proud to announce, finally, a reissue of the first, self-titled GAS album. Originally released on electronica imprint Mille Plateaux back in 1996, it’s been unavailable in its original form ever since – the version of GAS included in 2008’s Nah Und Fern box featured several different tracks. Here, however, GAS is restored in all its glory, the debut full-length from Wolfgang Voigt’s most enigmatic, quixotic project.

There had, of course, been signs of what was to come. Back in 1995, Voigt essayed the first GAS release, a slender, yet remarkable four-track EP, Modern. Its centre label featured a reduced symbol – an overhead or lamp light, switched on, its glow radiating outwards in four bold black lines – a perfect representation of the tight, stylised ambient electronic pop contained on that 12”. A few curious compilation tracks were floating around, too, for Mille Plateaux’s Modulation & Transformation and Electric Ladyland series. If you were attentive enough, you could tell something was up.

But nothing quite prepared us for the languorous, effervescing loops and regular-like-clockwork beats that Voigt folded together on GAS. Its six long tracks, all untitled, neither begin nor end but hazily fade into earshot, vibrate majestically in your cochlea for fifteen-or-so minutes – some a bit shorter, some longer – and then meander away, reading the mise-en-scène for the next example of Voigt’s drift and dream logic to unfold. The material is referential in the most distant way, and you can sense only the most evanescent of ghostly presences, haunting these six compositions.

GAS feels, also, like a more pliable hint at what’s to come, as the GAS concept really solidified on its successor, 1997’s Zauberberg, and reach its apotheosis on Königsforst and Pop. Those three albums share a very similar palette – blurred, hazy samples, often of classical music, stacked and cross-thatched across a muted 4/4 thud. GAS, then, is an outlier of sorts: it’s more expansive in its remit, lighter in its mood, perhaps more fleet of foot. This, of course, is part of its charm.

In clearing space for Voigt, by preparing the terrain, GAS sits both at the edge of the forest, and at the verge of an expansive, wide-eyed future; one where GAS would become truly eternal.

Text by Jonathan Dale

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Repress!

3xLP+CD Artbook

In the body of work of Cologne artist Wolfgang Voigt – who, like few others, has informed, shaped and influenced the world of electronic music with countless different projects since the early 1990s -, GAS stands out in particular as a saturnine sound cosmos based on heavily condensed classic sequences. Even after nearly 20 years, the sound of GAS doesn’t seem to have lost any of its luster, as shown by the commanding success of Kompakt’s fall 2016 re-release of the essential back catalogue as a 10xLP/4xCD box set.

The overwhelming feedback from a loyal international fan community and worldwide media outlets attests once again to the sheer timelessness of GAS. Which is why it will feel like hardly a day has passed since the release of the last official album “Pop” nearly two decades ago, when Wolfgang Voigt resumes this specific creative path with the upcoming new full-length NARKOPOP.

Even in the here and now, the unmistakable vibe of GAS immediately hits home, taking the listener on an otherworldly journey with the very first sounds, drawing him or her into an impervious sonic thicket, down to the depths of rapture and reverie. From wafts of dense symphonic mist emerges a floating and whirling feeling of weightlessness, before the listener steps into an eerily beautiful forest of fantasy, pulled in by the allure of a narcotic bass drum.

While earlier GAS tracks were often based on the hypnotic effects of looping techniques, the 10 new pieces on NARKOPOP unfold their magic in a more entwined manner, sometimes with the sonic might of an entire philharmonic orchestra, sometimes as subtle and fragile as the most delicate branch of a tree with many. A main characteristic of Voigt’s oeuvre, the coalescence of seemingly contradictory stylistic aspects such as harmonious and atonal, concrete and abstract, light and heavy, near and far is also a decisive feature of NARKOPOP.

In accordance with the transgressive spirit of his collective work, Voigt carries the aesthetic conceptions of his music over to the realm of the visual. Based on his abstract forest pictures, the GAS artwork addresses Voigt’s artistic affinity to romanticism and the forest as a place of yearning. For the first time, a closer look at the cover of NARKOPOP reveals signs of architectural fragments which hint at another, maybe parallel world behind Voigt’s forest. Truth is the prettiest illusion.

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Deeptrax Records was founded by Chris Roorda in the Netherlands back in 2004. The label focuses on the deeper side of electronica and eclectic leftfield dance jams, exploring those spaces between deeper house and techno, with hints from the past and a strong vision of the future.

After the success of The Vault Vol. 1, Reggie Dokes returns with The Vault Vol. 2.5, delivering a deeper exploration of his signature deep and soulful house sound. With nine meticulously curated tracks, this release offers a continuation of the Detroit-rooted sonic journey that fans have come to love. Dokes' mastery of deep house, infused with elements of soul, is on full display, each track a testament to his unique ability to channel emotion into rhythm and melody.

With over two decades of influential contributions to the house and techno scene, Dokes remains a key figure in the global underground movement. The Vault Vol. 2.5 picks up where Vol. 1 left off, presenting a new collection of beats crafted to evoke both reflection and movement.

Each track is a pulsating blend of lush harmonies, warm basslines, and hypnotic rhythms that transport listeners to the heart of Detroit’s dance floors. This collection also retains a strong visual identity, as the artwork once again comes from Dokes’ son, Nile Dokes, whose creative vision perfectly encapsulates the raw and soulful energy of the music. The Vault Vol. 2.5 is not just a continuation, but an evolution of Reggie Dokes' sound—a deep dive into the uncharted layers of his musical vault.

Whether you're a longtime follower or a new listener, The Vault Vol. 2.5 promises an immersive and soulful experience, solidifying Reggie Dokes' place as a torchbearer for Detroit house music.

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Exit Records proudly heralds a monumental achievement in its legacy with the advent of EXIT 100 - a celebration of innovation and creativity. Following the success of Part 1, we are proud to present Part 2 of our 4-part album series. This instalment features a diverse array of tracks from both established and emerging artists. Their contributions not only redefine our sound but also embody the future trajectory of Exit Records. Thank you for being a part of our journe

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POP – the album that has become widely recognized as the defining moment in which Wolfgang Voigt brought us into a clearing of his deep, psychedelic forest. A landmark release in the GAS odyssey that drew international attention, POP was originally released in 2000 on the iconic Frankfurt imprint MILLE PLATEAUX. POP was heralded by Pitchfork at the time of release as being “an exercise in sonic texture… pure sonic velvet, the layered drone radiating a palpable warmth.”

POP has since been reissued in 2016 as a part of GAS “BOX” (now out of print) and finally now, POP is released on KOMPAKT – for the first time in its original artwork.

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KÖNIGSFORST – following the 1997 release of ZAUBERBERG (KOMPAKT 370.1), Wolfgang Voigt’s GAS project returned with KÖNIGSFORST, a full length that has stood the test of time as a template for introducing fundamentals of 90’s techno into the principles of contemporary electronic music.

Originally released in 1998 on the iconic Frankfurt imprint Mille Plateaux, and then reissued in 2016 as a part of GAS “BOX”, KÖNIGSFORST is now released on his own label KOMPAKT on 180 gram 3LP vinyl in its original artwork.

KÖNIGSFORST brings glimmers of light into Voigt’s dark, magnificent forest. Melodic strings and brass are added to his signature layers of ominous intensity. The forest path is laid out by muffled kick drums as classical music loops incessantly swirl with no direction.

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Fixate, a core artist of Exit Records, is proud to present Conundrum, a dynamic mini LP. Spanning a variety of tempos, this collection showcases Fixate’s love for house and techno, blending loop-driven beats with dancefloor energy. In his own words, “I made these tracks to fit into my own DJ sets, bridging the gap between tempos when playing out."

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dBridge - "So here we have it: the final plate of the Exit 100 series. I’ve been immensely proud of this project, and I believe this release is a fitting way to conclude it. We’ve curated a collection full of great music from artists I love, and I’m pleased that we’ve created a project that represents Exit’s future rather than its past."

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We are pleased to announce a momentous milestone in the history of Exit Records - EXIT 100. To mark this special occasion, we've curated a 4 part album featuring both new and seasoned artists which is a is a testament to Exit Records' commitment to pushing the boundaries of electronic music. It features tracks from emerging talents that showcase the future of Exit while paying homage to the pioneers who have defined our sound over the years. As we celebrate this incredible journey of music and creativity, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to you, our dedicated supporters, for being part of the Exit Records family. Your passion for our take on electronic music has fuelled our 100 releases, and we're happy to share Part 1 of this compilation with you. We look forward to embarking on the next chapter with you and continue pushing the boundaries whilst keeping it True To The Craft!

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