A perfect pairing as John Shima collaborates with Glasgow's legendary Seventh Sign Recordings More

2019 saw Firescope release a seminal album, The Lonely Machine by Britain’s John Shima. The world has become a very different place since then. The pandemic, economic turmoil and global crises prevail. It is amidst such uncertainty that Shima returns with a new collection to combat the savagery of our times, enter Empty Lands.

Dauby basslines and silken strings introduce “Component”, saturated snares giving ballast as Shima’s signature style immediately comes to the fore. A throbbing kick and orbiting notes are peppered with hi-hats for “Neglected”, a sonorous stratum synergising beautifully. Shima is a student of techno. His appreciation and knowledge of the sound is central to the album as he composes within the traditions of the UK and US canon while exploring new plains. The influence of “bleep” is woven into the tapestry of pieces like “Depart” and “Mettle” with the minimalism of the 90s genre reimagined through new textures. “Sayaka” flows with a different current. Rhythms are understated, lapping against undulating keys as dawn rises. Harmony and melody are cornerstones of record, the gentle ebbs and flows of key and drum merging. Inspiration arises from home as well. The steady pulse and metallic tang of “Projection” recalling the industry of Sheffield and the pioneering electronics that sprouted from that rust red earth.

Track titles, and the album name itself, suggest periods of challenge and difficulty. “Paralysis”, “Desolate”, “Empty Lands”. Words that conjure certain feelings and responses. Shima’s music is a counterbalance to these emotions. Positive compositions of subtle shifts, complementary percussion and welcoming warmth acting as a tonic to the negativity that swirls; the ten audio works on offer acting as a balm to soothe the soul in these troubled time More

RAWAX welcomes John Shima to the Family!
His great debut for us will be out 10th of January on vinyl!
Highly recommended! More

Hailing from the heartland of British techno, Sheffield’s John Shima is one of the leading lights of UK electronics. His beautifully crafted sounds have graced a host of imprints including Distant Worlds, Exalt Records and, of course, FireScope. It is to the latter that Shima returns with his long awaiting debut album, The Lonely Machine.
John Shima is a master melody weaver, with this first LP attesting to his deftness of touch. Celestial chords and star gazing synthwork permeate this ten track odyssey. The musical heritage of Shima’s hometown, the elegance, majesty and subtlety of British electronics, is invoked from the needle drop. A range of influences come to the fore in this 2LP. Skirting around the edges of astral ambience and tonal texture are nods to industrial history, the rasp and resonance of rhythms in “Empires”, with the inspiration of Detroit surfacing in the future funk of “Phase Distortion” and “Linear.” Dreamscapes are painted in delicate hues, the fragile movements of “Accepting”, with brooding works adopting thicker basslines and ruffled notes as with “Distrust.” Nevertheless, it is the incandescent brightness of Lonely Machine that truly shines. Radiant pieces of elating electronics, complex and joyful compositions that chime with unbridled hope and open-hearted optimism.


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After some outstanding releases from Stojche, Aybee and Kuba Sojche, DMK step up again with another impressive release, this time with John Shima who delivers the ‘Stealth EP’. After recent releases on Exalt and Firescope records, the quality continues across this EP, with four cuts of deep atmospheric techno.
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Super limited John Shima 7" on juicy green wax from Exalt, only 50 copies of this so be fast!
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The second album by Valanx called “Ejecta” (18-diam.) gets the remix treatment. Four artists, each with their own unqiue sound, have reworked their favourite track of the album and gave the music their own twist and sound. The Exaltics turns “Beyond doubt” into a dark brooding metallic industrial beast with a strong and dominant sub bass line that will damage your speakers. CRC, one half of the finnish electro masters Morphology creates a trippy psychedelic techno epic on his take of the track “Chasm” and showcases a masterpiece of drum programming and creation of atmosphere. On the flip, “Trail of conjuration” gets the remix treatment by ADMX-71 aka Adam X. His version takes the tribal aspects of the original and turns it into a dark industrial techno drenched track that immediately lets you think of an old abandoned warehouse drowned in strobe light and fog and a massive rave taking place. Last but not at all least it is Louis Haiman’s turn and he creates a wonderful deep dub techno track out of “Legion v2”. The sub bass and deep chords are whirling and will hypnotize the listener with endless echoes and reverbs. 300 handnumbered limited vinyl copies only. No digital distribution.
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The second album by Valanx called “Ejecta” (18-diam.) gets the remix treatment. Four artists, each with their own unqiue sound, have reworked their favourite track of the album and gave the music their own twist and sound. The Exaltics turns “Beyond doubt” into a dark brooding metallic industrial beast with a strong and dominant sub bass line that will damage your speakers. CRC, one half of the finnish electro masters Morphology creates a trippy psychedelic techno epic on his take of the track “Chasm” and showcases a masterpiece of drum programming and creation of atmosphere. On the flip, “Trail of conjuration” gets the remix treatment by ADMX-71 aka Adam X. His version takes the tribal aspects of the original and turns it into a dark industrial techno drenched track that immediately lets you think of an old abandoned warehouse drowned in strobe light and fog and a massive rave taking place. Last but not at all least it is Louis Haiman’s turn and he creates a wonderful deep dub techno track out of “Legion v2”. The sub bass and deep chords are whirling and will hypnotize the listener with endless echoes and reverbs. 300 handnumbered limited vinyl copies only. No digital distribution.
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Diametric. is pleased to welcome Imugem Orihasam to the rooster of artists. Having released for labels such as Sistrum, Statik Entertainment and Nsyde amongst others, the Japanese producer has built a strong reputation amongst lovers for fine, well thought out and interesting electronic music, ranging from house to techno. His first release for diametric. adds another facet to his portfolio as these three tracks are harsh industrial-infused dark and funky techno cuts, with an experimental edge. mFor this release Detroit based producer and member of Aux 88 Keith Tucker aka Optic Nerve has blessed us with a remix and delivered a stunning funky dj friendly remix of “Grain”. Deep futuristic melodic Detroit techno. 300 hand-numbered limited vinyl copies only. No digital distribution.
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Aksutique is the moniker of Matthias Springer for his deep ambient techno, dub techno and downbeat productions. Matthias has released several productions over the years, ranging from techno to chill out music under different names. The Notch Fields EP is the first vinyl release for Aksutique and features 3 tracks of aquatic dub influenced deepness that sucks you right into its maelstrom of endless echoes, synth swirls, noises and reverberated chords. “Echolot” for example is a pure intense submarine cinematographic infinite journey that takes you into the depths and never lets you free again. The record features an additional dark and electronic rework by Valanx aka Arne Weinberg that drenches the original in eerie voices, electronic sounds and deep bass. Not for the faint hearted.
300 handnumbered limited vinyl copies only. No digital distribution.
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After the successful release of “the expert escapist” 12” on diametric. in late 2010 and the inclusion of the track “nanomal” on last years Music Man Mix CD by Marcel Dettmann, our purveyor of straight no nonsense techno Mr. Kevin M. Kennedy returns with four new slices of dancefloor techno. If you like your techno edgy and direct in your face, this is the record for you. Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, USA, Kevin has already released on Shake’s Frictional label and on the Detroit based Xplor label (as Sleep Engineer) and others, and is a very welcome part of the diametric. family now.
300 handnumbered limited vinyl copies only. No digital distribution.
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Valanx is the new project of Arne Weinberg. After deciding to stop releasing under his own name, the project is focusing on his new-found passion for electronic music beyond the techno productions he is best known for. This first album is the result of liberation and recovered inspiration in the studio, and the ability to express musical experimentation without boundaries. This is how Arne Weinberg sounds in 2012. Valanx stands for edgy, dark, sinister and thoughtful electronic music without limiting rules such as club compatibility, crowdpleasing or certain expected structures, tempos or sounds that confine most of today’s musical genres. Everything is possible, expect the unexpected. 300 limited LP copies and 150 limited manufactured CD copies. No digital distribution.
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