Dekmantel Selectors 2016: Baris K

This  mix accompanied me on my isolation walk this morning. A Levantine chug through the alleys of your mind.

S:S 001: Richard Gregory

Mantissa Mix 149: Eric Cloutier

The Volks Podcast 020: Rhadoo

Generator EP - Assembler Code (Censor Music)

Title: Generator EP

Artist: Assembler Code

Label: Censor Music

Cat Number: CNSRM003

Genre: Electro

A1: Monochrome

A2: Perimeter Inspection

B1: Generator

B2: Lateral Transfer

Very much a man of the moment, Assembler Code once more comes correct with four tracks of intricate machine funk to send you down multiple electronic wormholes and back again. There’s a dense, claustrophobic quality to the four tunes here, as well as a rawness which, together with an overwhelming sense of menace combines to create a dystopian panorama, perfect for soundtracking this contaminated age. The title track is the tetchiest thing here, and could well have come straight out of the UR electro colouring book. ‘Lateral Transfer’, by contrast, is slow motion menace and grinding foreboding. The whole release feels portentous and loaded, with the remaining two tracks falling in between tempo wise. Mind-boggling brilliance.

Jane Fitz & Eric Cloutier - B2B At OHM 25.10.2019

Spykes - Delta Rain Dance (Delta Rain Dance)

Title: Spykes

Artist: Delta Rain Dance

Label: Delta Rain Dance

Cat Number: DELTA3

Genre: Ambient

1: Light box

2: Penta AMB

3: 2 Stones 6 Foot

4: Zooooom

5: A Simple Individual

6: Penta (Bong Mix)

7: Offshore

8: Ladder

9: 1987 (CD Mix)

10: Ghost

11: I.D.E.S.

From what I have been able to discover, Delta Rain Dance is Glenn Astro, (I could be wrong, but there is a reference to this on his Twitter feed.) Whoever is behind this collection, it could come in very handy during this period of enforced isolation in part because of its potential calming influence. Each composition feels like a slight variation of the one before. There are minor inflections on a foundation of organic sounding electronica which means that it feels like you are listening to a more sophisticated Buddha Machine which evokes a lush, tropical ambience. Beats become more prescient as the album is experienced, the intensity building as the end becomes nigh which all adds up to a confrontationally tranquil experience.

Mantissa Mix 148: Ben Boe

First Contact - Volruptus (bbbbbb)

Title: First Contact

Artist: Volruptus

Label: bbbbbb

Cat Number: BBBLP002

Genre: Electro

A1: Tapetum Lucidum

A2: We Are The Cyborgs

A3: TOP 20 FACTS You Didn't Know About ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

B1: Chicxulub Space Rock

B2: Butt Shakin’ Freaks

B3: Top 10 BIZARRE Discoveries Science STILL Can’t Explain . . .

C1: First Contact

C2: Fotafimi

C3: Juggernaut Cosmonaut

D1: Hyperbola

D2: Man In The moon

D3: Algorithm Society

Day three of lockdown. Absolutely knackered from a combination of online work, relative physical activity and starting the day with a fast 5km run that tired me out from 8am. Thankfully, in my hour of need, this masterwork from Volruptus gently beckoned me back to my desk, to fill my brain and body with beats. I like it when albums are as unashamedly upfront as this one is. There’s no pretence, and nowhere to hide. You dance or you don’t. It’s a selection of sound tracks to a world that has lost its balance. The dominant motif is electro, but this is just one piece of the juxtaposed whole. The compositions are sharply produced and have great range and power. The understated title track, with its universal sonic sweep is my favourite right now, but it won't be tomorrow. It might be the compressed, digeridoo-inspired muddy funk of ‘Tapetum Lucidum’, or the unrestrained, panic-inducing ‘Chicxulub Space Rock’. Your wasting your time if you aren’t playing this one loud form start to finish. A superb colligation of the polished and the primitive. It’s tomorrow’s soundtrack to more confinement.

The Sound of Belgium

The Sound of Belgium (Director's cut) from Jozef Devillé on Vimeo.

Great doc charting the story of Belgian dance music and, in turn, the influence that Belgium had on it.

Helena Hauff | Boiler Room: Streaming From Isolation #4