Rude 66: The Witch Trials EP

The latest from the Berlin based Russian label with a four tracker of experimental electro, including a JASSS remix. <iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/976591033&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/armalabel" title="Arma Records" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Arma Records</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/armalabel/sets/arma-021-ena-wired-ep" title="ARMA 021 / Ena / Wired EP" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">ARMA 021 / Ena / Wired EP</a></div> For the new Arma release Ena explores different, distinct facets of his sound across three productions. “Pale” distills his vision of techno as a minimalist, repetitive construct. Working around non-standard time signatures, he creates a densely woven lattice of percussive pulses, which cut a polyrhythmic path through nightmarish sheets of noise. “Secondary Color” uses a broader palette that opens the Ena sound up to the light,,, “Wired” heads further away from the grid in pursuit of sound design exploration, as a rack of pipes and chambers strike, boom and chime against artful distortion and cavernous reverb. While Ena has historically been hesitant about remixes of his material, he warmed to the idea of long-time Arma friend JASSS reworking “Wired”. Taking the track into her own fiercely individual sound world, she uses the harmonic tonality of the original as a jump-off point for an epic, emotionally forthright chiller loaded with coldwave bombast, trap hats and Silvia’ own voice.Coming from entirely different angles of approach, Ena and JASSS are bound together by their fearless individuality. You can sense the slithers of pre-existing music somewhere in their constructions, but such familiarities are no more than faint echoes of places they passed through on their way to somewhere new.Cover artwork by Judex Franju

A split between Lvrin and Maoupa Mazzocchetti on Arma Records. <iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2798395436/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=e32c14/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="http://armarecords.bandcamp.com/album/arma-020-lvrin-maoupa-mazzocchetti-split-ep">ARMA 020 / LVRIN / Maoupa Mazzocchetti / Split EP by ARMA</a></iframe> Following releases from Rude 66, Vakula and Mick Wills, Arma continues to explore the dark and wild corners of contemporary machine music via a new split 12” featuring LVRIN and Maoupa Mazzocchetti.LVRIN is a Russian producer entrenched in the guttural thrill of distorted hardware techno. His previous releases have surfaced on Pinkman, Crimes Of The Future (alongside Dmitry Distant) and Sign Bit Zero, while his A Bleak Reality alias landed on Lux Rec sublabel Mrt. These reference points make clear the sound world LVRIN occupies, where blown out boxes spit out gnarled beats and slimy basslines through an overdriven desk. The entwined scepters of post punk and industrial loom over his nocturnal incantations, the clamour of the melodies bleeding into the hiss of the reverb for a gloriously deviant end result. It’s no surprise to learn these vibrant pieces were captured in one take – the impulse and energy of the performance supersedes the need for nitpicking and refinement in the mixdown.Brussels-based Maoupa Mazzocchetti has been weaving defiantly unconventional strains of electronic music since first emerging on Unknown Precept and Mannequin. From the acclaimed Laugh Tool LP to last year’s Gag Flag on Editions Gravats and an essential leftfield reggaeton collaboration with Clara! on Les Disques De La Bretagne, Mazzocchetti’s path has been wildly unpredictable and highly original. This non-trend continues with the vivid shapes he marks out on the B side of this record. There’s a rugged, body-poppin’ thrust to the grooves that power all three tracks – all the stronger to carry the madcap sampling and mischievous synth splashes that shape out the music’s identity. These are short, sweet blasts of ideas dripping in personality and originality – equal parts deadly serious and deliriously flippant, and essential listening for anyone who enjoys straying from established paths while still rocking to the beat.Cover artwork by P.KuznetsovRelease Date: 22 March 2019