Cine! Vaal's second release on Baastard which was a blatant example of his non conformist approach towards electronic music. Having been picked up and played by many - we at Baastard HQ thought it only make sense to allow those DJs to remix Vaal's blood, toil, tears and sweat. Always looking out for fellow Baastards, we had word that numerous hail from Italy. There we found the exact likeness of ourselves in the form and friend Luca Cazal (Hot Natured. Infinity Ink.) Luca (with help from Matteo Milleri of Tale of Us fame) keeps true to the original anthemic melody but adding darker dubbier bottom end. Our journey to Italy brought more fruits in the form of forward thinking brotherhood, Mind Against. This mix is their best work since the incredible Atlant EP (Life and Death) - a hypnotic/melodic mind trip. We also found a baastard closer to home in the form of Been Hoo. We are extremely proud of his take on Vaal's bubbling techno, remixing it into - an atmospheric house jack'er which brings the funk to the foreground. More

Iori spent his early life on small islands, surrounded by the sea and the mountains. He began to experiment with keyboards for the first time at the age of only 3, moving onto the piano by the age of 5. Even in these early years, he was drawn into the electronic sound; through game music, and heavily influenced by the tastes of his father. As the years went on he devoted himself to the piano, which gave him an avenue to explore his feelings and sensitivity. Iori also became fascinated with the spirit of rock music, especially punk rock. Although different in sound, this fascination allowed him to open his eyes to the addictiveness of deep and energetic dance music, particularly house and techno. By the age of 15 he became a part of Tokyo’s nightclub scene, starting to DJ a couple of years later. His sets would range from Detroit Techno, to Chicago House and Asian folk music, meaning he became indispensable in the club scene of Tokyo. His sets spun out a vortex of sound, his technique focused on mixing a wide range of genres such as House, Techno, Jazz, Funk, Down Tempo, Nu Disco, Chill, Breakbeats and Ambient, all interlaced with chaos and sophistication. His music allowed the audience to experience ‘supernatural underground space, whilst being deeply wrapped in a magnificent forest.’ Over the last three years Iori has played 450 gigs, including a European tour of 10 performances over four countries in 2010 and 2011. In Germany he was booked with Sis, Kollektiv, Termstrasse, Format; B and youANDme. He also appeared in Frankfurt at the 24th Anniversary party of Club Airport , playing to a crowd 6000-strong. His music reflects the warm and rich fellowship of an addictive groove in the brain, combined with raw humanity. He describes it as ‘hard-softness’; music entangled by a complex web of delicate and organic sound.‘Earth Steps’ is the first release of Iori’s on the emerging ‘Baastard’ label, handpicked by Vaal to be the statement record on the imprint.

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VAAL | Heralding from a rock n’roll and jazz background Vaal is not aware of the strict rules that define & guard electronic music. Therefore Vaal is not afraid to break them. Sourcing tracks and samples became an obsession: from this was born a compulsion to write, experiment & develop original music that could be equally human, equally electronic. Vaal exists in the dark of the city: the secretive curtained room that you can never quite peer into, the dark pulsating dancefloors of the underground. Vaal has nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears & sweat. Vaal is electronic, & Vaal is a Baastard. More

Released in 2012 as the first track to come from the mysterious ‘Vaal’, ‘Mask’ has been remixed by two purveyors of forward-thinking electronic music. Sei A and John Tejada twist & cajole the original into new and darker territories, whilst Vaal’s own ‘Hut Remix’ adds another dimension to the EP. More

Heralding from a rockn'roll and jazz background Vaal is not aware of the strict rules that define & guard electronic music. Therefore Vaal is not afraid to break them. Sourcing tracks and samples became an obsession: from this was born a compulsion to write, experiment & develop original music that could be equally human, equally electronic. Vaal exists in the dark of the city: the secretive curtained room that you can never quite peer into, the dark pulsating dancefloors of the underground. Vaal has nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears & sweat. Vaal is electronic, & Vaal is a Baastard. More