Digitalis
Soma Junkies EP

XOLOT is a mexican-french duo composed of Vica Pacheco and Apulati Bien, both sound and visual artists based in Brussels. They present on Promesses their debut release: 'XOLOT', an eponymous 6 track EP where Vica’s warm voices and neo-bolero flow melt with Apulati’s cold and evolutive beats. The result is 6 ovni songs somewhere between de-construct dancehall, minimal trip-hop and glacial R’n’B. XOLOT creates music in order to celebrate love, life and death. Their debut EP will be out on the 11th of June in digital and limited edition white vinyl (with a handmade silk-screened cover, designed by Eliott Grunewald).

Fraxinus emerges from temporary suspension with a monolithic 6-track offering on his new self-release label Powerplant. This is his debut EP Position [Displacement], carved from a solid block of Devonian granite.After a 4-year dormancy, the Amsterdam-based artist returns with a 30 minute transmission of earth-shaking kick drums, thunderous percussion and razor-sharp sound design. The label’s inaugural release simultaneously marks the first proper outing for the artist, following a run of compilation features & special edition vinyl excursions dating back to 2014.Position [Displacement] is a journey of divergent moods & cadences, from the wistful flutes of opener ‘Overland’ to final track ‘Laced’’s uncompromising arpeggios. Billowing melodies & piercing stabs run in tandem with a pummelling & steppy rhythm section; ‘Source Code’ builds steadily, paving the way for ‘Pass One’’s warehouse-ready assault. The blooming, fluorescent synths of ‘115 (Kondo)’ — named for the mythical Amsterdam club — create a mid-way moment of euphoria, before ‘Larch’ marches on with its clattering drums.The tracks clearly contain DNA from Fraxinus’ foundations with the Her Records cohort — lean, direct & forward-thinking. This time around the aesthetic is more focused, transferred to techno schematics but veering away from 4/4 fare. The sonics have been compacted into dense slabs of energy, primed for soundsystem dispatch.Wholly original, crafted with precision; the EP serves as a powerful statement of intent for both artist & label. Position [Displacement] will be released 05/11/2021 on 12” vinyl and digital download, presented with full sleeve artwork. The record is followed by a further 2 EPs on Powerplant as we enter 2022.

This December, 2020 offers us a gift in the form of ‘The Inner Space’ LP from Moscow based artist, designer, DJ, music producer and live performer, Finetune known for his affiliation with the Slowdance label and event organisation.The LP will be spread across vinyl, and digital (free download on the Finetune Bandcamp) in two parts. An immerseful experience that not only strains the boundaries of sound, but also visually as real name Michael Dop fuses his eclectic talents with sound and art accompanying the album by creating the full visual concept.The Finetune project was initiated in 2018, creating poetry via his modular and fm synthesizers, upright piano, sampers, gong, drum machines, groove boxes, and different percussion instruments, all being utilised here across “The Inner Space” release.

The new LP by Krefeld-born, Berlin-based artist Philipp Otterbach entitled 'The Dahlem Diaries'.Recorded in a little-visited corner of the German capital, 'The Dahlem Diaries' is a convergence of ideas, sketches and tracks, both old and new, most of which were produced between 2020-2022. Whilst eerie atmospheres, electronics and drums have played a pivotal role in Philipp’s earlier releases, his latest is a rather more introspective affair, in which the guitar takes a leading role. A role Otterbach uses to quietly bring light and hope to his music.Speaking about his writing process, Philipp explains that, based around his original compositions, “Friends were nice enough to contribute additional parts on their instruments which I then reworked, put together and re-contextualized. The recordings encapsulate a very specific moment in time, one that would have sounded perhaps very different the day before or after.”Combined with a strong use of effects and field recordings, 'The Dahlem Diaries' feels somewhat like a scene or fragment from a story, in which the narrative remains undefined. It is a playful album that is something of a blurred underwater adventure, sounding as bright as it is hazy, even psychedelic at times, yet with an almost melancholic positivity. In Philipp’s own words: “It could be an album about friendship and being at one with myself, whilst at the same time bringing a certain seriousness to my music, but not necessarily to myself; there is also a playful humour hidden in there. ”Artwork by David McFarline.

ISLE011 is a collection of cassette recordings made in Athens by Christos Chondropoulos over the last five years. Coming from an avant-garde percussion background, Christos calls upon themes of ancient Greek folklore and musical tradition through a futurist lens depicting robotic societies in post-human harmony. He constructs worlds reminiscent of Marcello Giombini’s Mondial Folk series or Umiliani’s exoticised Omicron outings. By looking to the future rather than the far-off past, he builds upon these early instances of technologically charged cultural geography and presents an authentically Greek reading of a parallel Athenian basin. Where his last work for 12th Isle explored once-forbidden tunings and unplaceable tonalities, these recordings further expand on the artist’s simultaneous concern for heritage and imaginary projection. Across the final Side D, Chondropoulos explores themes of maternal love present across the album by working with local singer Sofia Sarri to record six piercing, beautiful acapella phrases.