INIT is Benedikt Frey & Nadia D`Alo. We are delighted to present their long delayed vinyl and digital album, NRGY.

Born out of various art performances and installations, INIT states a logical outcome of Berlin based duo Nadia D`Alo and Benedikt Frey. With heavy use of analogue synthesis and drum-machines, INIT rethinks its genre's sonic approach, unfolding a unique and organic, yet alienating sound, somewhere in the mysterious midst of Acid, Techno, Ambient and Kraut-Rock.

This is INIT's third album, following two releases on Hivern Discs, and performances at clubs such as Berghain, Robert Johnson and Pudel Club.

INIT say -

Module, NRGY, and Time were reverse extracted out of our live set and re-recorded and re-arranged after we realised how well they work in clubs. It is the first time we worked this way as we tend not to play our compositions live, like we produced them. Mostly we just extract loops out of our production to mess around with in a loose live project.

Snowglobe, Holes In My CV and N.O.D. were more built up from a studio jam plus a bulletproof-ish arrangement afterwards.

Tried and tested on dance floors this is a surefire hit album on the dancefloor, and at home. NRGY! More

INIT's music has the rare quality of transforming bleakness into a soothing experience. In the duo's new EP, 'Wildcard', this mechanism is more intense than ever. And that might be because of the particular circumstances that surrounded its inception. Two years ago, Nadia D'Alo and Benedikt Frey decided to move from Darmstadt to Berlin. Adjusting to a rough area of a big city when coming from a quiet town necessarily brings a change of perspective. For Nadia and Benedikt, that meant experiencing the city life as outsiders while trying to figure out what they wanted from it.'Wildcard' is the sonic result of this process, and proof that changes always bring growth. Recorded in their new home studio during winter, the six tracks on the EP are as haunting as their previous LP for Hivern, but with a rawer approach and enhanced power. Take 'Cover' and 'Solver', an approximation to the kind of moody psych-techno they display in their live-shows and two of the most dance floor oriented tracks INIT have recorded to date. But it's the title track which best expresses the mindset of this work. With its skeletal rattle and undulating synths, 'Wildcard' feels as desolate as a Berlin street in a winter night, but possesses the kind of focus that turns uncertainty into hope. In a similar way, cuts such as 'Copycat' or 'Half Baked' perfectly capture the sort of estrangement -daunting yet hopeful- that comes when moving into a new place, with its slow tempos mirroring the cautious pace of a foreigner and the intoxicated atmospheres calmly distilling the essence of a new environment. Nadia and Benedikt describe this new habitat as small kids on big bikes, eating dry instant noodles, playing with what's to find on the streets, static aircraft traffic closely over our heads and constant running engines. Listening to the music that arose from it, it's obvious that, once again, they've been able to overturn apparently hostile elements into a place were you'd want to stay forever. The 12" comes housed in a sleeve designed by Xavier Marin. More

This one has been a long time coming. Great 12”s never get shelved at LDDLM, time is not the essence. Benedikt Frey has been part of the extended family since his remix of CAR’s Idle Eyes and we crossed paths a few times at Robert Johnson in Frankfurt. INIT, his project with his other half Nadia d’Alò, has seen releases on neighbours such as Hivern or Correspondant, our door was naturally open to their pretty personal brand of “off-kilter techno” as RA says. STEREOMETRIC is almost a definition of INIT’s acid mind. Failing their own tricks, heavy atmosphere and unusual restraint. NUTS is almost an instrumental extension of the title track, when your head finally hit that window pane. WHEELS slows the rush down, wandering on an imaginary Khyber pass. This is only deception though, MINDWORK being a real exercise in post-goa trance. Hope you enjoy the trip. See you after the summer. More

The Hivern split series was born as a platform for those club tracks that don't need of a broader ecosystem to fully express themselves. But also as a way of generating a sort of unplanned dialogue between artists in the label's orbit, connecting the dots amid them in spontaneous and almost unconscious ways. The new installment of the series is a good example of the latter. When John Talabot and Khidja made their respective tracks they probably didn't had each other's work in mind. But in many ways 'Immediate Crash Alert' and 'M?quinas Maravillosas' inhabit in the same sonic world. Both tracks have slowish tempos, are built around obsessive motifs and make an outlandish use of delays. But, maybe more significantly, they both share the same kind of vibe. An unsettling and menacing atmosphere, fruit of masterful exercises on tension building, that seems tailored for those early moments in a set when you feel the need to rise the pressure without causing too much of a blast. With all, both tracks are prime examples that's there's space for functional tracks away from the most obvious paths. And that's the ultimate purpose of the series. The Hivern split series is vinyl-only and its visual concept has been developed by London-based design studio DR.ME. More

Hivern Discs keeps unveiling new talent by introducing Mistakes Are Ok. Hailing from Bar- celona, Mistakes Are Ok is the new project of Franc Sayol, who's been one of the minds behind Hivern Discs since the label's birth. Following celebrated remixes for the likes of The xx and John Talabot, Mistakes Are Ok will release his debut album, ‘Nowhere Near’, in early 2016. Forgiven is its first single, and comes backed with two stellar remixes by Giegling's Edward. Mistakes Are Ok sound is not easy to pinpoint. With influences ranging from pop to dub, kraut to house and disco to electro and an approach to production somewhere in between the grainy sounds of Actress, the organic sampling of Four Tet and the pop sensi-bility of his longtime friend John Talabot, his productions are equally hazy, psychedelic and emotional. ‘Forgiven’ is a captivating slo-mo number that displays a woozy atmosphere in which mourning chords and melodies are propelled by shuffling rhythms, and with interlacing voices and tropical-indebted chimes. In his first remix, Edward increases the tempo to deliver a robust dancefloor-oriented rework driven by icy sequences and stinging analog claps that infuse ravey tones into the original's gloomy spirit. Edward's ‘Alternate World’ remix deepens into the hazy and humid ambiance of the track, creating a highly soothing composition that layers narco-
tic percussions, field recordings and subtle melodic details. The 12” comes wrapped in beautiful artwork by Australian via Berlin illustrator Elliot Beaumont.
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Marvin & Guy was born in 2011 from the children of two different musical generations with a shared knowledge of how to make people dance. Influenced by legendary DJs such as Ron Hardy, Larry Levan or Tee Scott, their sound is firmly rooted in disco but keeps evolving with each release. In their debut EP for Hivern, they keep expanding their palette with three tracks that push the boundaries between the disco culture and a techno spirit. "Egoísta" is a highly hypnotic joint driven by a warm analogue bassline and a spacey pad that has become a staple in John Talabot's sets during the lasts months. "Canción (Para Tí)" manages to blend an italo arpeggio, a 303 bassline and pumping disco beat with a certain latin spirit to create a crushing dancefloor belter. "The Man who Lost the Hat" is an obscure trip builded around psychedelic synths, a rolling bassline and topped with spooky vocal samples. The 12" comes wrapped in a sleeve featuring pictures of México-based photographer Pia Riverola and design by Arnau Pi. More

Groovy Acid tracks for some. funky hip shaking dancefloor action. More

dancefloor movers form the quality Hivern imprint. A Jamie XX and Tim Sweeney favourite for some time now . More

Michael & Mattis are based between New York and Oslo. Maybe that's why their music has such a unique feel. Blending the oddness of Norwegian labels as Sex Tags Mania and the ongoing musical heritage of NYC in hip-hop, disco and house, they produce twisted house jams that manage to remain raw and catchy at the same time. Bold grooves and smooth vibes produ- ced with tape warmth and a singular pop appeal.
“Hoes Before Bros”, their debut EP for Hivern, features three tracks that display the assorted edges of their sound. The title track revamps Just Blaze's soulful vibes with a house pace, bringing together breezy melodies, chunky beats and Chris Hess's sleek vocals to outstanding effects. One of those rare tunes that succeeds at sounding as luscious as straightforward, keeping things laid-back without loosing dancefloor allure. “Hokey Pokey” is a more discoish affair, building a slo-mo groove and blasting it with a rubbery baseline and poignant high-pitched strings, while “Holy Moly” is an extra-sweaty funk-house beast that brings together crushing beats, a menacing bass and uncanny piano chords with a hip-hop attitude. Just as if G-Funk was made for the househeads, The EP also includes a deeply hypnotic remix by our admired Swedish housemasters Genius Of Time. Alexander Berg and Nils Krogh focus on a raw percussive beat before introducing shamanic melodies to create the perfect DJ tool for the adventurous DJ.
The release comes wrapped in artwork by barcelonian studio Córdova-Canillas.

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Roberto Lobo and Ernesto Avelino come from Mieres, Northern Spain, and have been making music together for more than 20 years. "A La Quinta Hoguera" (Discos Humeantes/ 11) was their official debut and the album that included "Cachito Turulo", a track that captivated us with its mixture of menacing industrial sequences and weirdly playful vocals. After having listened to it a zillion times over the last couple of years, now we are pleased to release it as a 12" single backed with a batch of remixes by producers that, in one way or another, can relate to their shadowy aesthetic. Hivern stalwart Marc Piñol keeps the toxic atmospheres of the original composition while winding down its rhythmic pulse with sluggish analog drum-machines. Transforming the vocals into eerie whis- pers and enclosing them with unrelenting acid basslines, the Barcelonian filters the raw energy of the track into a hypnotizing piece of numbing house. Drexciya's Gerald Donald appears under his Heinrich Mueller guise to deliver one of his scientifically-precise electro-treatments. The legendary Detroit pro- ducer brings the track to its terrain by surrounding the vocal snips with his trademark ice-cold sequen- ces and alienating atmospheres. To complete the release, long-time Hivern-fav Legowelt follows the track's savage spirit and adds manic melodies, rapturous pads and extra-muscular bass tones to boost its dance-floor power. The release comes in a limited edition vinyl 12" with artwork by Hivern in-house designer Arnau Pi. More

Including Kassem Mosse, BNJMN and Downliners Sekt Remixes!! More