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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We go through life. We shed our skins. We become ourselves.” This line from Patti Smith was going round and round Felix Manuel’s head as he gradually constructed Under Tangled Silence, his first album in six years and a record of a literal creative rebirth. Felix originally began it in earnest in 2020 Covid lockdown, but a catastrophic hard-drive meltdown destroyed almost all his work and sent him close to psychic collapse himself. However, ultimately this pushed him to rebuild from scratch and in so doing to confront and reassess every part of his musical and psychological processes. The result is utterly extraordinary. Felix was a child prodigy as an instrumentalist and his advanced musicality has always been prominent in his music, but here he has put himself front and centre as pianist, harpist and more. And this sense of exposure as a performer interweaves with an unflinching emotional openness too. Where sometimes electronic production as advanced as this can use intellect and techniques as shields from soul-baring, this is the sound of someone who can boldly say “I feel things, I cry all the time, and I'm not afraid to say it or show it in the music.” But this doesn’t mean there’s a move away from the soundsystems and dancefloors where Felix made his name as a uniquely innovative vinyl DJ. Even just in the opening track “A Tune for Us”, minimalist piano ripples and jazz drumming flow into the breaks of vintage jungle – and as the structure of the LP unfolds, a deep ambient meditation like “Hold” can sit very naturally in between the futurist dancehall of “L’Ancienne” and the high-definition acid house mind movie of “Galaxy in Silence”. In fact, as with the hands-on musicianship, that gutsy big-speaker electronic impact is delivered with more certainty, more expertise, more personal flourishes than ever. And all of those elements are more integrated than ever too: the sound of a total musical personality emerging afresh is truly something to behold. An already remarkable talent has been refreshed, reborn and is making the music of his life.

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Djrum's first release since 2019, the Meaning’s Edge EP is an introduction to a whole new world. For the artist also known as Felix Manuel, it was created in the final stretches of six rather traumatic years work. Having carefully honed his techniques and aesthetics, and learned some hard-won emotional lessons over this time, finally he began to work in a quicker, lighter fashion – and to cleanse his palate a little by bringing in a fresh ingredient: his own flute playing. For listeners, though, it will serve as an appetiser, a way into the delights and complexities of this new phase of his creativity. It’s a serious work in its own right, mind. The use of flutes – including Bansuri, Shakuhatchi, Western Classical, and synthesised all blending and blurring into one another – gives it a coherence and a sense of airiness that unites the five tracks over half an hour, however divergent their beats get. And as in all his music, Felix’s whole life is in here. Ethnomusicology studies, untold hours of DJing everywhere from the gnarliest squat raves to the most rarefied deep house clubs, explorations of his own neurological and emotional makeup, and the technical finesse of someone who is never not creating music or art, all roll into an experience that’s dazzling, delightful and keeps on giving. Just the opening track ‘Codex’ alone touches on OG dubstep, Aphex Twin-like braindance, post-classical exploration, movie themes and more. The gentle tones and melodies that rise up out of it perfectly conjure Felix’s running theme of a protective bubble that provides a sense of safety and tranquillity even as the beats and acid gurgles and spurts all around it conjure up the slings and arrows of life’s difficulties. The tone set, the EP moves through ultra-rarefied glass-like p

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‘Isthmus’ is Ross Tones’s 5th album for Houndstooth in 10 years. It only seems fitting for it to return to the eclecticism of 2014’s ‘Mosaic’. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that connects two larger bodies. The two islands contrast in time, topography, chaos and character. One sears. The other, buried by blizzards. A land bridge fights the tide; offering harbour. Connecting the estranged. Giving battle to the noise. It is uncertain who won.

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Following her strong debut EP on Warp Records sister imprint Arcola, Copenhagen’s Anastasia Kristensen, renowned for her energetic sets, presents M A X I M A, a four-track EP of animated techno and elaborate sonic geometries. Kaleidoscopic patterns and angular drums launch straight through the spacetime continuum. Fusing elements both hyper
modern and old school, Anastasia crafts an expansive package for the most discerning psychonauts. Released on Magenta colour vinyl

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Off the back of his killer album release, LOMA, Throwing Snow returns to Houndstooth for a fiery, politically charged EP; The Death of Pragmatism. As tension continues to rise in the UK around the Brexit debate, Throwing Snow channels the aggression into a 4-track release - showcasing some of his most intense work to date. To be released on the 1st November, the day after Brexit is executed, the EP opens with a percussive-driven record ‘Nought To Gain’. The idea is built around Ross Tones (AKA Throwing Snow) looking into the dramatic system modifications at play that change landscapes as a whole and when ’the supposed benefits of that modification no longer apply as there is now a different structure in place - there is nought to gain and all to lose’. The second track, ‘The Righteous Mind’, is named after Jonathan Haidt’s book subtitled ‘Why Good People are separated by Politics and Religion’. ‘His approach explains the current schisms and could act as a mediator for angry voices’, Ross says, giving a better understanding of the single as it allows for a moment of reflection before leading into ‘Ideolog’ - an ominous soundscape circling back to Throwing Snow’s half time DnB influences. ‘When staring into the abyss, a great orator speaks of utopias and rose-tinted cocoons. Ideologues are intrinsically reductionist, degrading the complexity of every single issue. Meshed interrelations are ignored, in favour of quasi-religious furore. Basically, it’s a shit idea to follow them’. Rounding off with ‘The Death of Pragmatism’, a climatic syncopated record focused on glass-shattering beats and piercing synths, Ross cites the world of Gödel and unyielding ideologies which suffer from their complex consequences. ‘Assessing the foreseeable aftermath within a broader context is a map through the madness. Otherwise it’s the death of Pragmatism’.


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ere From Where We Are’, Pariah’s first release in six years, marks a natural progression in his sound across nine interconnected pieces.
After just six months messing around making his own stuff on Logic, Pitchfork coverage piqued the interest of the legendary R&S, and over the next two years he released three EPs with the Belgian label. Since then, Arthur Pariah has continued to DJ around the world and play live with Blawan as Karenn.
‘Here From Where We Are’ is inspired by a series of very personal reflections, responses and reactions. Pariah is keen for people to process it in their own way, free from interference.
Opening with the transcendental ‘Log Jam’ which spills into the huge, empty and plaintive ‘Pith’, the artist distils his experiences into an album of nine moving, multi-layered tracks, where peculiar textures combine with rich harmonies and absorbing melodies into a heady mix of abstracted environments, formally structured songs and sound collages.

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Berlin based electronic mainstay Marquis Hawkes has announced details of his second LP ‘The Marquis of Hawkes’, due out 24th August 2018. Ahead of this, Hawkes will release a new single featuring acclaimed UK soul singer Jamie Lidell on the 20th July. The single, entitled ‘We Should Be Free’, features, alongside the low slung but melancholic original version, three reinterpretations of the song, remixed by Hawkes himself. Both this, and the essential previous single from June, “Don’t U”, which featured the vocal talents of Ursula Rucker, will appear on the forthcoming album in an extended version. The album will be the producer’s second LP for us, following his critically acclaimed debut ‘Social Housing’ for the label, which was released in 2016. Entitled ‘The Marquis of Hawkes’, the new album adheres to a specific sound palette whilst still displaying eclecticism across its eight tracks. Opening with the beat-less droning ambience of ‘Beton Theme’, the album takes in a variety of themes from across the house music spectrum, from the deep and dubby meditation of ‘Instrument Of Thought’ to the body jerking rhythms and retro bass stabs of ‘Tough Love’, the introspective mood of ‘The Matrix’, to the soulful New Jersey styled House grooves with a contemporary twist of ‘Sunset’, building through the optimistic joyousness of ‘Hope In Our Hearts’ before closing with Lidell’s heartfelt and passionate emotional overload on ‘We Should Be Free’.

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Special Request joins forces with Nina Kraviz and Anastasia Kristensen, shattering the doors of perception over a four-track EP. ‘Through The Looking Glass’ drops July 20th on Houndstooth. On the A side, Nina Kraviz provides two interpretations of ‘Curtain Twitcher’. ‘Alice Was Here Remix’ takes the intensity of the original and boils it into a 4/4 spin of frenzied basslines and distorted acoustics, punctuated by her languid reading of the Mad Hatter. For the ‘Samba Version’, syncopated polyrhythms take charge of a fragmented melody. Opening the AA side, ‘Looking Glass’ lures you down the rabbit hole with mysterious bleeps, only to reveal a whirlwind of stormy breaks and junglist percussion. Closing off the trip, Anastasia Kristensen’s remix of ‘Tiresias’ marches its way through a field of swollen bass and glitchy percussion.

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Berlin based electronic mainstay Marquis Hawkes has announced details of his second LP ‘The Marquis of Hawkes’, due out 24th August 2018 on fabric’s in-house label Houndstooth (home to Call Super, Aïsha Devi, Special Request and more). Ahead of this, Hawkes will also release a new single featuring acclaimed UK soul singer Jamie Lidell. The single, entitled ‘We Should Be Free’, features, alongside the low slung but melancholic original version, three reinterpretations of the song, remixed by Hawkes himself. Both this, and the essential previous single, “Don’t U”, which featured the vocal talents of Ursula Rucker, will appear on the forthcoming album.

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Marquis Hawkes is an alter ego adopted by long time electronic music producer Mark Hawkins, founded for his house music focussed activities. Hawkins decided it was time for a reboot after being head-hunted by old friends Dan Monox and Kenny Wasp, who had just founded Dixon Avenue Basement Jams in 2012, particularly as the material differed from what he’d previously released. Hawkins solidified his sound during this period, taking influence from house music’s Chicago, Detroit and New York home bases alongside the UK’s deep house sound. Fusing these styles with contemporary production values, he developed a style synonymous with his Marquis Hawkes alias.


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Special Request returns via Gerd Janson & Shan's studio, as they completely re-build both Brainstorm and Make It Real across four frenzy-inducing incendiary versions custom made for sending the rave over the edge...

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No Such Location (Marcel Dettmann Positive Remix)
No Such Location (Marcel Dettmann Negative Remix)
Moesha Moved To Margate (Radioactive Man Remix)
Ajunlei 8 (The Exaltics Remix)

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Hyperdub + Warp Records artists Babyfather and GAIKA rework two 18+ tracks from their second album ‘Collect’. Hyperdub’s Dean Blunt, a category-rejecting artist and an art-pop provocateur tackles ‘Drama’ under his Babyfather guise, looping a low slung swagger beat under the vocals of DJ Escrow and Samia Mirza. Warp Records multi-disciplined South London artist GAIKA rips apart Glow into a discordant sub-low bassline drone, pitching Samia’s vocal as slow as can go, harsh high pitch tones and field recordings. “One of the strongest things we’ve heard from the divisive producer.” - boomkat. Strictly limited to just 200 dinked white labels - One for the collectors.

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Akkord return with their first original music since October 2015’s ‘Obelisk.’ Over the years Akkord have become known for their bloodied and brutalist, steely precision, focussing on sculpted, visceral sound design. Presented on 140gm vinyl. Cut & mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy. Artwork by plusyes.com

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New Life Tones is the second 12” of 2016 for Call Super and heralds another subtle shift in his work. Puppet Scenes chisels a twitchy, snake-like path between dub and house whilst rejecting the standard templates for the usual melding of those two forms. New Life Repercussions is a transmission from the undergrowth. A sleek roller that surrenders to something broken and melancholic it represents another achievement in Call Super's increasingly idiosyncratic melodic portfolio.



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Returning to Houndstooth a year since the release of his One Sound / Layer Lock EP is Second Storey. After spending most of 2015 focussing on his collaboration with Laurence Osbourne - Second Storey & Appleblim present ALSO - over at R&S Records, Alec Storey came back into the fold as part of the Houndstooth 3rd anniversary compilation earlier this year. Now he returns to the label in full with a gleaming new EP, Bismuth. Initialising the release, title track Bismuth takes inspiration from a documentary on the visually impressive metal. Affected by its angular, complex 3D elements and fluid like structures the music itself mirrors the element’s appearance deploying the intricate precision of IDM creating its own multiplex of textures.Melodic poly rhythms and chord structures define the track from the outset which work neatly with Storey’s trademark tight percussion, which sits in that golden spot between bass and electro. Bringing the tempo up a couple of notches, Grand Rapid lives up to its title. Urgent in nature, it reflects the environment it was created in - crafted on a laptop while speeding through the countryside on a train. Propelled by its ever-present bassline groove, percussive elements speed and whir by in this pacey venture.
Finally, Helicat completes the EP, built around the interplay between the main riff and synth percussion elements; from the outset bit-crushed bass drops and pommels out an electro-esque off beat rhythm while the synth line gives its circling answer.

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