NEWSLETTER
JABU // MICHAEL DIAMOND // SASHA // BEN KACZOR & LB HONNE // BLAKE LEE // DJ KOZE // TRANSITION NIGHT AT ABOUT BLANK BERLIN
BEST ALBUMS OF 2024
As the annual tradition goes, we’ve shortlisted the albums that have helped influence and soundtrack 2024, as well as concluding with a top 20 list of what we perceive to be the best.
NEWS //
TRANSITION CLUB NIGHT AT ABOUT BLANK WITH LAWRENCE, BEN KACZOR, LB HONNE (LIVE), PHILIPP PRIEBE,CHRISTINE BENZ
Berlin-based promoter Transition wrap up 2024 with a dreamscape lineup at ://about blank in Berlin on Saturday 28th December.
Established in 2017, Transition have paved the path for hypnotic underground electronic music in the German capital, consistently hosting artists that have a penchant for the deep and emotive music. Now they step up to present their final party of the year, serving up a stellar lineup surefire to transport revellers into the astral plane, blending sound with effervescent energy.
In the Lobby, Swiss producer Ben Kaczor is set to cast his hypnotic spell with deep, atmospheric waves, whilst fellow Swiss producer Lb Honne and Lawrence are set to blur the lines between dream and reality.
On the MDF floor, monopurple is set to explore profound trance, where every pulse draws you closer. Christine Benz is set to propulse magnetic grooves as the hours stretch into the morning, guiding you through realms of elegance and subtle force. Transition resident eterna_l and Stólar label boss Philipp Priebe, will weave a rhythmic journey of elation and joy, lighting the path with their carefully crafted selections.
NEWS //
INVERTED AUDIO RECORD STORE SHORTLISTED ‘BEST OF THE CITY 2024’ BY TIME OUT
We are delighted to announce that Inverted Audio Record Store in Peckham has been selected as one of Time Out’s best London venues in 2024. Huge that to Rosie Hewitson (Things to Do Editor) at Time Out London for shortlisting our record store. If you have not visited us, now is the chance!
REVIEW //
JABU - A SOFT AND GATHERABLE STAR
WRITTEN BY ASMI SHETTY
Five weeks on the road, I’ve just walked through the door of my Berlin apartment. Run out of social energy, I retreat like a fungus to the corners of my bedroom and put on ‘A Soft and Gatherable Star‘ by Jabu, slowly settling into the cold stillness of a winter home turned blue in my absence.
The album plays, seeping into the 60sqm, low-lit, high-ceilinged space. The white, empty walls catch the floating sound, each note palpating and caressing everything in its path. It enriches the room in the afterglow of the otherworld—a reminder of something truly celestial, as the title suggests: A Soft and Gatherable Star.
Burnt embers of hazy dream-pop in Jabu’s third album, the rhythm moves around amorphously as the Bristol Trio of Amos Childs, Alex Rendall, and Jasmine Butt work their way into the allure of the darkness around them, ghosts of memories past tucked into a taped cassette concealed by a case, a picture of a cigarette that has tasted a lip under the moonlight frames the cover.
REVIEW //
MICHAEL DIAMOND - PLACID WAKEFULNESS EP
WRITTEN BY NIDA JAFRI
Michael Diamond‘s latest EP, “Placid Wakefulness,” is an explorative journey through the liminal spaces between consciousness and slumber. Building on his acclaimed ambient-jazz album “Third Culture,” Diamond continues to challenge genre boundaries, seamlessly blending atmospheric ambient, experimental sound designs with jazz and synths.
Whilst completing his Medicine degree at Oxford, Diamond’s academic collaborations with Professor Eric Clarke on wakefulness and embodied rhythms have left an indelible mark on his productions, introducing increasingly edgy syncopations coalesced into sonic electronic ballads.
The EP opens with “A Way of Listening.” This track reads like a hypnotic lullaby where it employs pillowy textures and drifting percussions, creating a sense of distance and room for expansive and spacious atmospheric instrumentation. The track is named after Professor Eric Clarke’s book, which examines the relationships between listening and musical material. Diamond’s unorthodox treatment of the cello, coupled with ethereal flute melodies, exemplifies his ability to transmute conventional instrumentation into something entirely novel. This alchemical process is at the heart of Diamond’s artistry. These instruments float over a subdued kick drum, while aquatic samples transport the listener.
REVIEW //
SASHA - DA VINCI GENIUS
WRITTEN BY SIMON WHIGHT
It has been 8 years since Sasha released ‘Scene Delete‘, his last full artist album for all intents and purposes. The years in-between feel like they have been a journey of discovery, seemingly looking to understand himself not as a producer or a DJ, but as an artist and creator. Specifically, the global pandemic feels like it was the catalyst for this introspection, a grand cessation in the ceaseless churn of the touring DJ.
During this time, Sasha returned to his home in Ibiza. Music didn’t stop and he began to play live streams of lighter, foamier material away from his usual clubland wares. This began the LUZoSCURA phase: a Spotify playlist that gathered inspirational music from the left-of-field, which in turn spawned a radio show for OpenLab before becoming a compilation in its own right – showcasing fresh talent (such as Central Processing Unit’s Typheme) and artists plucked from worlds adjacent to the usual realm of progressive (namely UK Garage stalwart MJ Cole, electronic maestro Rival Consoles and Nocow from Russian electronica outfit Gost Zvuk).
Streaming efforts even saw a session beamed directly into a virtual rendering of Burning Man, something that even a lapsed raver dad like myself could enjoy, jigging around the bedroom as my virtual likeness glided around with some very “online gaming 1.0” renditions of other clubbers.
REVIEW //
BLAKE LEE - NO SOUND IN SPACE
WRITTEN BY MATHIAS CHABOTEAUX
Ethereal yet grounded, ‘No Sound in Space‘ is the debut release from Blake Lee on KMRU’s record label OFNOT, where the American producer channels the silence of astral infinity through intricate soundscapes that oscillate between thoughtful solitude and cinematic perspective.
The Los Angeles-based composer, known for his collaborations with Lana Del Rey, steps away from his pop persona and into the realms of deep ambient abstraction, crafting a universe in which time unspools and silence speaks volumes.
In this ambitious soundtrack, Lee pays homage to the sci-fi heroes of cinema – evoking the spatial dissonance of Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey‘, the tense atmospheres of Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien‘ and the temporal elasticity of Nolan’s ‘Interstellar‘.
NEWS //
BEN KACZOR AND LB HONNE LAUNCH ST. ODES, ANNOUNCE ‘VARIOUS MINDS 001’
Switzerland’s finest Ben Kaczor and Lb Honne join forces to launch a new record label named St. Odes – an outlet to issue the finest deep house and dub techno. ‘Various Minds 001‘ features two solo productions from each producer resulting in four tracks of chugging deep house and emotive dub techno. Limited to 200 units.
NEWS //
DJ KOZE LINES UP FIFTH ALBUM ‘MUSIC CAN HEAR US’ ON PAMPA RECORDS
German producer DJ Koze returns with his fifth full length album next year on his own imprint Pampa Records.
Said to be “a dazzling 64-minute return trip to space” – ‘Music Can Hear Us‘ marks the highly anticipated follow-up to 2018’s critically acclaimed album `Knock Knock’. To coincide with today’s announcement, Kozalla shares the first single from the album featuring Blur frontman and Gorrilaz king-pin Damon Albarn.
STORE //
NICOLA CRUZ – KINESIA
Debuting on Canadian imprint Multi Culti in 2015, Nicola Cruz has emerged as a leading figure in Ecuador’s electronic music scene, enthralling audiences worldwide with DJ performances at Bassiani, Berghain and Seoul-based club Nyapi. Now, Cruz steps up to deliver ‘Kinesia‘ on the Rotterdam-based label Nous’klaer Audio, interweaving nine tracks of superlunary breaks, equatorial trip-hop, trance-infused IDM and earthy drone textures into a cohesive tapestry of club-oriented psychedelia.