Favorite Releases from August 2021
"As pearls slip off a silken string and fall into the sea,
These rounded summer days fall back into eternity,
Into the deep from whence they came; into the mystery… " - Virna Sheard
Summer is in full swing down in the underground electronic music world. August sees exciting tracks and imposing full-length albums featuring Mosam Howieson, Vantane, Inhmost, Jorum, HVL, Dauwd, MPU101, The Vision Reels, Launaea, Lauren Ritter, Lawrence, and Manu.
Mosam Howieson
Dream Sequence
Mysteries Of The Deep
Melbourne-native Mosam Howieson is a DJ, producer, and live act who excels in creating music with inspiration, skirting the grey area between immersive deep and experimental techno, modernist IDM, and futuristic ambiance with a beautifully sculpted designers' sound palette. Following releases on the notable labels, including Further Records, Semantica Records, Silent Season, Butter Sessions Svrecas, Grand Rivers, and One Instrument, Mosam Howieson debuts on New York-based Mysteries Of The Deep with the brand new LP, "Aphelion." The six-track LP brings the vibrant elements of rhythm, and moody atmosphere while artfully blending evocative landscapes with the aural beauty and club efficiency. "Aphelion refers to the point at which a planet is furthest from the sun. Despite the inherent darkness in this concept and its release coming in the wake of a turbulent year, Howieson assures us that he's far from cynical: in fact, he says the album is "about coming back to the light," the label describes.
"Dream Sequence" glides on a cloud of shimmering reverberations accentuated with echoing rhythmic patterns and emotive synth melodies.
Vantane
Her First Sight
Short Attention Records
Short Attention is an Electronic record label based in Mexico with a focus on Classic-Modern Techno-House. Their fourth release comes courtesy of the Luxembourg-based artist Vantane who brings in a fusion of trance-tinged downtempo and breakbeat rhythms filled with atmospheric IDM sounds and funkadelic melodies.
"Her First Sight" takes the listener on a sonic journey of the kaleidoscopic breakbeat driven by lush pads and honeyed vocals.
Jorum
Earth Wires
Hypnus Records
Prolific electronic music producer Sebastian Mullaert ( Wa Wu We ) and Alexander Berg ( Dorisburg) are among the innovators of immersive deep techno, and now the two joined forces with the new synergetic project entitled Jorum. "As Jorum, they invite us into a fable where murky soils awaken beneath the moonlit forest dew. Currents begin to rush softly through tentacles reaching far down into the earth. Bones, buried by the sands of time, come slowly back to life along with the slumbering bloodwood woods," the label explains.
The collaborative album "Bloodmood Moon" inaugurated the project released as the double LP and digitally via Hypnus Records. Awash with dubby undercurrents, eerie textures, and deep techno rhythms, the record cloaked in drifting sounds and a murky atmosphere.
"Earth Wires" teeters on the sinister and unsettling edge of mysterious deep techno enchanted by foggy reverberations that combine organically, giving rise to hypnotic rhythm laced with darkness.
Inhmost
Shante Town
Huinali Recordings
The Jeju Island-based South Korean imprint Huinali Recordings presents its second compilation, Migung 미궁, showcasing an outstanding musical diversity and electronic talent representing the label. Curated by the label boss Oslon, the new fourteen-track collection features exclusive contributions from the label affiliates Adhèmar, Inhmost, Dolts, Ocram Orchestra, Sanjib, and newcomers' Daniel[i], Owl, Segue, The Vision Reals, Barefoot, Moon Patrol, Lindamann, Ilias Katelanos, and 沉默的探索.
Inhmost is the alter ego of Simon Huxtable, an electronic music producer from the UK who has also been releasing an atmospheric drum'n'bass under Aural Imbalance alias, among other monikers. Following on from releases on Huinali Recordings, re:st, and Auxiliary, Inhmost brings his sonic subtlety to Huinali with the track "Shante Town." The beauty of the composition centered around the alchemy of meditative rhythm enriched with dubby textures, delicate field recordings, and distant pads.
HVL
Lancet mxi
Kiyadama
Georgian prolific electronic producer and resident DJ at Tbilisi’s Bassiani club , HVL continues to flourish, encompassing a broad range of sounds with the brand new album, "Vessel," released via his own imprint. Sonically, the album carries on in a similar vein as "Aura Fossil" and "Alignment," 2020 self-released albums which will see the light on vinyl through Appian records in September and October, respectively. The sixteen-tracks record touches on the ambient electronic minimalism, electro, acid-tinged IDM, and vibrant side of techno.
Taking elements from IDM and electro, twisting them while coloring the edges with an atmospheric fluidity of emotion, "Lancet mxi" creeps in with hypnotic and captivating energy.
Dauwd
La Nota
Psssh Records
Berlin-based producer, one-third of the Berlin collective, party, and radio show "African Acid Is The Future," and the Psssh label co-owner Dauwd releases his second installment in a trilogy of EPs, "La Nota". The three-track EP features two original tracks plus a remix of the title track by Optimo Music record label boss, DJ Twitch. The blending of off-kilter funk, glistening electronic with Dauwd's astute eclecticism leaves a vibrant record offering a mesmerizing journey through a multifaceted realm of electronic music.
The EP opens with the title track "La Note," which brings the dubbed out house vibes soaked in the atmosphere of jazzy elegance.
MPU101
M185-2SYS1M
ITX
Ilian Tape's sub-label "ITX" unveiled a fully-fledged LP from MPU101 released on 180g heavyweight vinyl. Masterfully conveying his sonic realm with elegance, the eight-track album focuses on a core studio instrumentation paired with an atmospheric ambiance and delicate melodicism.
"M185-2SYS1M" ventures into the most obscure corners of imagination with drifting soundscapes marked by sprawling cycles of layered synth sequencer patterns running everywhere in a rhythmic canvas that only MPU101 can offer.
The Vision Reels & Launaea
Disappear
From A Lost Place
The Charity Compilation series curated by Daniel Danieli's Whispering Signals and Launaea's From A Lost Place released its second edition. Traversing the ambient, deep techno, and drum & bass alleys, "The Charity Compilation II" features 22 artists from different countries including Adi, ASC, Barefoot, Daniel[i], Erika, Forest On Stasys, Inhmost, Olorun, BNJMN, Primal Code, The Vision Reals, Launaea, queniv, Shoal, Varuna, among others.
The Vision Reels joins forces with the From A Lost Place label boss Launea to create an atmospherically dreamy drum'n'bass hued track "Disappear." The composition gently floats with many interweaving field recordings on an organic tableau anchored by finely textured percussion and meticulously designed panoramic sounds.
Lauren Ritter
Quartz (Lawrence Remix)
Rift Vision
The month of August sees Brooklyn “stay-at-home-DJ" and producer Lauren Ritter returns to her newly-fledged imprint with the remix package of her EP, “ Rift Vision001,” released in November of 2020. She invites Octo Octa, Jenifa Mayanja, Lawrence, and Rrao to give a remix treatment to the original tracks from the label debut.
Dial Records co-founder Lawrence works magic by adding his signature style of twisted bassline and dubby warmth to “Quartz” leaving the groovy and raw interpretation.
Manu
Play With Chaos
self-released
Shaded Explorer returns as Manu with a vividly poetic new album inspired by ambient, new age, and ‘drum'n'bass influences both modern and classic alike. Shaded Explorer is the brainchild of Italian composer, producer, and live performer Emanuele Pertoldi who is also a co-founder of Evasion Room Records, and a founder of his intimate imprint Shaded Explorations. The new album “Passing Through” sees the multitalented producer exploring sonic soundscapes with an invisible cloak of atmospheric bliss and vibrant rhythms.
“Play With Chaos” has the mid-90s aesthetic paired with a smoky groove sliding into lush drum’n’bass and leftfield electronica.