Piezo
Odd Hooks

After having him collaborating with MER’s very own Cabanelas on the B side of MER006, Fernando Zapico aka Z@P releases a full four-track EP. A record crafted with an unique imprint covering a wide range of sound within techno. A1 Submarino stands out for its ticking drumming plates and soft synths creating a sort of suspense atmosphere. A2 Sensations travels through a classic grooving sound with bright drum plates, stomping kick drum and timeless vocal sound. On the flip side, The Box features a more hypnotic and brassy sound by moving along an oscillating bassline and a jazzy percussion set. B2 features Frank 717, a peak time track with sharpened-plates percussion with an acidic and playful bassline.

For more than twenty years, Roel Funcken has been a cornerstone in electronic experimentation. Alongside his brother Don, this Dutch sound sculptor melted hip-hop, industrial and soundscapes under monikers like Funckarma and Shadow Huntaz. A prolific solo musician and collaborator as well, Funcken teams up with Cor Bolten to revive the Legiac project with the eight tracks of Banisteriopsis Caapi. Keys appear through a sorrowful haze in "Mimosa Hostilis", this machined mist difussing as distorted strings penetrate before a dawning of icy brightness. Modulated forms and shapes billow in the bubble and trill of "Pyschotria Viridis" before the orbiting interference and introspection of "Epicatechine." Percussion is reduced to a texture, the duo finding structure in droplets of water, the stretch of steel and a litany of field recordings. The partnership dive deep into their chosen sounds, elongating and expanding tones to find harmony in the absence and isolation that is their focus. Pieces like "Solanaceae" bristle with an understated elegance, like starlight piercing a brooding night sky, while "Banisteriopsis Caapi" finds an eerie solace in its repurposing of voice as an undulating elegy. Legiac achieve a distant intimacy with their listener, a relationship forged through complex compositions, gentle movements and subtle shifts.

After her first releases on TC80's Sequalog Records and Bobby’s Pleasure Club, B.ai lands with her 3rd solo EP on System Error's sub label, Fresh Tunez. The Chengdu, China based artist has been an integral part of the Chinese Underground years for the past years, playing regularly in the local scene and touring China's small but well connected electronic music underground scene. With this release consisting of tracks produced over the course of the last 4 years we take a peek into her artistic development and range as a producer with dance floor weapons to more dreamy but driving tracks. A powerful EP showcasing her very own signature sounds.

Our forthcoming release from Roma Khropko has a story behind it. After producing some tracks for his girlfriend, she liked them so much that they were included in a mix for the Club Vision POOORCast Series. We loved the tracks so much that we asked for the ID and now, here we are, releasing them on our label.CV08 is real connection. Music is connection.

Six years, fifty releases, countless artists and multiple subsidiaries; the Oyster Cult’s reach extends far beyond what sceptics once thought possible. It’s only fitting, then, that we gather some of our finest under the Kalahari banner in celebration. The anniversary release is upon us. Six whole years since Jacy helped inaugurate the label with a spin on Midwestern house, OYSTER40 signals a landmark occasion. 18 tracks, quadruple vinyl boxset action, and in true Oyster Cult tradition, it comes bearing pearls. Dancefloor squarely in focus, the Cult assembles on a compilation spanning alumni and new inductees alike. It’s an assemblage of the fractal, explorative and ritual-ready; at once a focused distillation of the Kalahari sound and celebration of its many acolytes. Big on atmosphere, heavy on groove, we delve deeply into the musical DNA shared by all who grace the label. Tough, direct cuts (Sansibar, Roza Terenzi, Big Zen, Maara & Priori) to the pristine and widescreen (S.O.N.S., Volodymyr Gnatenko, Adam Pits), this is all quintessentially Kalahari. Elsewhere though, the likes of D. Tiffany and SW. journey further into realms of abstraction: the former opting for hi-tech, dreamstate IDM, while the SUED co-founder dissolves a house template into dubby introspection.Calling upon contemporary talents for the most part, there are also exceptions. Raymond Castoldi - the one-time house producer best known as Madison Square Garden’s music director - returns with an unreleased nugget from ’91, while an ‘Aliens’-sampling track from Detroit-indebted techno outfit Syzygy gets the reissue treatment.