Tentacle Loot #9 | Mindcolormusic aux4410

Mindcolormusic’s one man label mastermind DJ mnvr has been pretty busy releasing wonderful little mindbending braindance gems since last year. Sympathetically he skips back and forth between Compilations, EPs and Split-Eps on which he relies less on proven formats than on his sense of coherent track compilations. And so – behind the superstructure of Braindance, Acid and IDM – his publications  always tell a flush story beyond genre boundaries.

The fact that we are choosing the aux4410 from these short stories is, of course, due to the fact that Veglord Vodor L Zeck contributes his part on the knobs here. But together with Quadratschulz, Bromic, Sonornote, Bovaflux and a few others, it creates a wonderful something of nervous drum shuffle, sprinting acid lines and hovering disharmonic megarave emotions.

May the end of this story remain open for a long, long time!

Tentacle Loot #8 | Oxvac – Partials

As part of the American electronic music collective Pr0gramma Oxvac has been releasing his music since about 2015.

On his latest release “Partials” he clearly demonstrates references to abstract rhythm constructs as they were cited by greats like Autechre in the Warp era . However, he neither tries to make himself comfortable in homage nor in practising some kind of beatmashing-competition but adds a very personal coloring. Which, in its warmth, happily stands out from the cold, mathematical IDM sound. The warm analog origin of the modular system responsible for most of the synth sequences is clearly audible and the background noise that accompanies us throughout the whole album sets itself like a little piece of meadow under the tracks so that the organic melodies may writhe on it. The beat structures also seem to hover between complex patterns and a wide-breathing 4/4 bass drum.

So yet again another happy accident to find such beautiful electronic music from the U.S. of A. From this side of the Atlantic’s perspective I can  just say it’s nice that you’re no longer necessarily get overpowered by EDM-Metal-Dubstep, but can also lift the actual treasures (which have always been there!). At least on platforms like Bandcamp and Co.

Tentacle Loot #7 | Musik der Sterne Vol 1

“We are part of the universe and music is the code…“

This quote from Vangelis adorns the inlay of the tape compilation from Berlin-based tape label Per Musica Ad Astra. After a couple of vinyl releases and regular broadcasts on Intergalactic.FM they took the opportunity on their first compilation to run free on their obvious fondness for so-called Kosmische Musik . Restrained driving beats nestle in soaring pad sounds on their journey trough space to maintain a very homogeneous travel speed over the course to all eight representative planets (or artists as some may say). 

Well done Captain!

Tentacle Loot #6 | Brainwaltzera – Poly-Ana

When Brainwaltzera released Poly-Ana in 2017, coming out of nowhere, they were kinda hyped by the fact that they had no other than Aphex Twin as a true fan on their Soundcloud List. These Hypes can easily overshadow the true worth of an release or artist. But it must have worked and is granted to them.

Poly-Ana is kinda like a new Planet that all of a sudden appeared at your window and you start wondering if it always had been there. It combines the warm earthy sound structures of the ones like Four Tet with the wobbly Synth Melodies from Boards of Canada but always keeps to it’s very own emotional dimension. This helps the album to gradually break away from the mentioned comparisons in your consciousness and to develop a timeless value on its own.

Tentacle Loot #5 | Beathaven – Electro Sonatas

The mighty Beathaven himself labels it Devonshire Electronic Music.

“Unknown to the masses, techno and electro was invented in the dangerous back streets of North Devon. This music is in our veins, brains and hearts.”

Like most of his releases he published Electro Sonatas on his very own playground Midievil Records. And it’s yet another excellent example of the healthy diversity of acid infected, machine loving, intelligent dance jamming scene you can find under the hood of Bandcamp, Soundcloud and on various smaller Vinyl Labels.

It’s stunning how Beathaven keeps his tunes from the straight Four-To-The-Floor recipe but still gives you no other choice than follow with your body like a wigglely worm. Add some detuned Synth Lines on top and you can imagine how life was back in Midievil times. Dark but adventurous, rough but also spontaneous. So hopefully Beathaven will keep on leading us the way trough Devonshire Forest.

Tentacle Loot #4 | Ghostband – Grime Synthesis

Got that little scamp! Ghostband is not a band! It’s a kid in a candy store smearing his tunes with glittering melodies and evil plans to put you on one leg. And before you know it you are in the middle of a breakcore massacre.

Ghostband is throwing out self released recordings since 2011 but came first into my consciousness with his Tape Release Acid Deco which got some promotion via the legendary Bleep Store (Which is an offshoot from Warp Records as far as I’m aware). It had “Acid” in it’s name, so what could you do wrong by grabbing it. But it sure wasn’t an Acid Album. It reminded me somehow of Venetian Snare’s early sample based Breakcore mayhems, that always contained this errant wicked humor. But it wasn’t a Breakcore Album by definition. Instead it took all these ingredients and tossed them around with a very playful attitude.

Grime Synthesis takes this musical diversity even further (let alone that it’s not a Grime Album). It feels like AFXs Donkey Rhubarb on heavy rotation. Rhythmically it feels like a bouncing ball that refuses to listen to the laws of gravitation and while the melodies always start kinda fluttering around friendly, you know that this ain’t gonna end in peace.

Tentacle Loot #3 | Aleksi Perälä – Simulation

Aleksi Perälä has been maneuvering under the radar for quite some time. The first time he got some attention from a wider audience was with his “Colundi Series”. It was a tremendously big collection  of 13 Album length releases and somehow reminded of the time when Aphex Twin released his Analord Series. On the Colundi Series Aleksi Perälä was especially hyped by his intense approach to microtonal sequence composing. But it covered a wide range of sounds from Ambient to IDM to Oldschool Techno.

Simulation is Perälä’s second release for the Clone Basement Series. And to me is special because it widens Peräläs horizon of sounds even more. First and foremost it’s dynamics. As it is an energetic album on an emotional level it is by no means a result of the still ongoing “Loudness War”. There is so much air between all these sounds that it feels like a relief that let’s you inhale very deeply. In this sense it really feels like a ruminant Album. And Perälä follows this path by adding trancy elements with its most natural meaning. The floating melody sequences feel like they are soaked with energy of the elements that sourround us. The classic drum machine sequences feel more like wind than like banging Techno hits.

Simulation is heavily rooted in this 90’s soundscape mixture of driven Techno and the Rephlex definition of IDM. It inevitably reminded me of Slag Boom Van Loon. A collaboration of Speedy-J and µ-Ziq from 1998. But without any doubt it has its very own quality.

Tentacle Loot #2 | Tape Squize – XOOWO EP

It sounds like Tape Squize had to squeeze his 5 Braindancer Megahits on double tempo onto the Tape because he got a bit tight on Tape length. This guy from Portland, Oregon gets straight to the point. Highspeed Rephlex Drums, melting Acid Lines and washed out Melodies that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Love. If you are just tough enough to listen.

The YOOWO EP joins a full handful of releases from msh3005 Records. But this one is by far my favourite from what I’ve heard so far.

Collectors can get the EP in lovely old-fashioned formats. A tape version – which should be sold out by now. And also a CD version in an oldschool Floppy Disc Case.

“Handmade by the artist himself while he was struggling to find impossible (for him) inner peace and get proper amount of sleep.”

This explains a lot.

Tentacle Loot #1 | Batfinks – Mosaic

Earthy, tricky and yet impulsive. Batfinks release on Caoutchou Records is a sick mosaic of sound called Mosisac. So much grown potential which will sadly not be able to grow on, as he passed away last year.

His Mates from Caoutchou say:

Batfinks became part of the Caoutchou fam since he contributed the track ‘Shamalaalaa’ for the second Rubber Beats compilation back in ’09. 5 years later we released ‘Bibobleyboo’ on our label and early 2016 he sent us new material; an album named ‘Mosisac’. Later that year we heard the sad news that Ste had passed away.

Batfinks was a mysterious character on whom we never really got a hold. When we talked, our conversations ended up in neologistic gibberish and laughter which was simultaneously amazing and funny. When we asked about his background to compose a promo text for his album this is what he wrote to us:

“Learnt my first chords when I was 4 on a Casio MT-65 on the toilet which was very satisfying I must say. Learnt how to play 808 State and Sonz of Da Loop Era tunes when I was 7 with a mate of mine, Jim Noir. Spent a lot of time with my dad and brother going to bluegrass gigs and old folks homes. Influences were mainly old school rave music when I was younger but then got into Gong, The Orb, Orbital, Autechre and that. A lot of jazz and world music stuff which was through my brother and his mates.”

Mosisac shows us a side of Batfinks which we haven’t heard before. Instead of the usual Batfinksesque sound we are now introduced to a collection of grim and gloom-ridden tracks although his typical sound is still imminent. In his dad’s words: ‘The musical version of Hieronymus Bosch paintings… it’s a profound vision of someone on a path’

We love you, Batfinks. Forever in our hearts and ears.

Inhalts-Ende

That's the bottom of the sky.

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