NEWSLETTER
HASSAN ABOU ALAM // MONOLAKE // MATSSSIII // ANGEL R // FLØRIST // EARTHEN SEA // VRIL // SANGRE VOSS & WILL HOFBAUER
IA MIX 388 //
INTERVIEW BY ASMI SHETTY
Hassan Abou Alam, the electronic technician from Egypt's underground, has been riding a long and high wave of peak performances. Following exhilarating international live shows and DJ sets, plus a barrage of hot releases, most notably 'Shalfata' on YUKU and 'Mesh Mafhoom' on Nerve Collect in 2024 - his impeccable sound design has wooed crowds of sweaty ravers on dance floors and off.
Punchy low-ends, broken sound texture, strings full of character whir around, blistering sharp, and strands of traditional Middle Eastern drum patterns reimagined by Abou Alam pierce through sound systems. Genres stripped and mutilated create a gritty, grimy, euphoric experience in borderless sound, leaving scope for sensational body movement in any given setting.
Strapping this heat into an hour podcast for IA MIX 388, Hassan Abou Alam plunges us into his world of music with a selection of adventurous tracks, meticulously balancing bass-heavy beats, structured machine-made polyrhythms, and textured layers of raw, pulsating energy. A hard launch into the unpredictable year to come - fasten your seatbelts!
REVIEW //
VRIL - SATURN IS A SUPERCOMPUTER
WRITTEN BY WILL PATERSON
Already armed with a discography that would leave any producer either weak at the knees or green with envy, Vril turns his gaze across the Atlantic and into deep space with his sixth solo album.
‘Saturn Is A Supercomputer‘ represents a departure from his previous work in more ways than one. Not only does the German producer break his run of releases on European imprints such as Giegling, Delsin and Bad Manners by turning to Danny Daze’s Miami-based Omnidisc label, there’s also a subtle yet noteworthy shift in tone.
Where Delsin staples of the Vril output tend to be exercises in ultra-slow, metronomic 4/4 techno, ‘Saturn Is A Supercomputer‘ has a more broken, breakbeat style, think ‘Anima Mundi‘ with an Ilian Tape leaning. There’s still a heavy emphasis on those rasping synths sawing away at your heartstrings and a universe of epic soundscapes to get lost in, but with slightly more uptempo rhythms that’ll suit strobe-licked summer woodlands, as well as your bedroom with the lights off.
Opener ‘The Secret Teaching Of All Times‘ kicks us off in typical Vril style – brooding chord progressions and layers of synths setting up an ambient atmosphere that seethes with tension, a tension that only builds in the opening of ‘Batumi Standing‘ as we find a landscape awash with tape hiss and skittering hats. Then, we get our first percussion lines of the album and huge reverberating pads, a lush, drifting, soundscape, the motion of the album settling into stately progress and that opening pressure only building.
FEATURE //
UNRAVELLING SANGRE VOSS & WILL HOFBAUER’S NOVEL COLLABORATIVE PROJECT AND LABEL WHIRM
WRITTEN BY NIDA JAFRI
In the realm of electronic music’s expansive universe, Sangre Voss and Will Hofbauer‘s collaborative project and label whirm emerges as a delightfully off-kilter celestial entity. Their six-track odyssey is proof to the duo’s penchant for bringing playfulness and personal authenticity to their one-of-a-kind sound-design.
The label’s sixth and final track emerges as a meta-musical Frankenstein, ingeniously assembled from the DNA of its predecessors. Jim Bremner (Sangre Voss) cleverly embedded noise arrays generated in Python into each stem of the final song, creating an aural breadcrumb trail. Each release is accompanied by a track that initially masquerades as mere white noise.
However, upon stacking each white noise from each release atop each other in an audio editor, the noise stems all result in their sixth track. This way of releasing each track not only caps the collection but also challenges conventional notions of authorship. As Jim conveys this concept with his words, “music is but noise dancing in elegant synchrony.”
The artwork of each release provides a visual aesthetic that emerges as a maximalist collage, born from Jim’s encounter with La Princessa Maria during travels in Colombia. The artwork beautifully provides companionship to their productions, creating a conceptual synesthesia-adjacent experience that translates auditory rhythms into a kaleidoscopic colour palette.
REVIEW //
EARTHEN SEA - RECOLLECTION
WRITTEN BY JASON CABANISS
With roots in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene, American producer Jacob Long has logged decades in the musical trenches. Outside of his well known stints playing bass in Black Eyes and Mi Ami, Long has used Earthen Sea as a solo vessel to explore a wide array of sonics. Having come to a larger audience with foggy dub techno releases on Lover’s Rock and Kranky, the project’s roots go back to small run experimental drone cassettes and CD-Rs in the early to mid-2000s.
The lengthy experimental sounds gave way to a timeless dub techno aesthetic prominently displayed on 2017’s ‘An Act of Love‘, put out on Earthen Sea’s current label home of Kranky. It harkened back to the classics of the genre but was firmly its own entity, offering crisp techno interspersed with lush ambient interludes. From there, Long moved in a different direction. Starting with 2019’s ‘Grass and Trees‘ and continuing into the new LP “Recollection”, Earthen Sea has embraced experimental collages that connect the dots between low-lit home listening and art gallery openings. Taking inspiration from “a year-long immersion in the ECM label catalog”, ‘Recollection’ presents hypnotic, skeletal jazz with generous dub flourishes for a deep, serene listening experience.
Divided into nine pieces that could easily sprawl into the double digit minute range, Earthen Sea keeps each track concise and engaging while still feeling like there’s room to sprawl. The audio palette may feel drab at first, but make your way through the album and you’ll become familiar with the tone and marvel at the album’s use of jazz and dub flourishes to animate the downcast ambient tone.
NEWS //
FIELD RECORDS ANNOUNCE DOUBLE VINYL EDITION OF MONOLAKE’S THIRD ALBUM ‘GRAVITY’
Dutch imprint Field Records present the first-ever vinyl pressing of Monolake’s third album, ‘Gravity‘.
Originally released in 2001 on Imbalance Computer Music, ‘Gravity’ is a quintessential work in the realms of minimal techno and dub techno, showcasing Monolake’s signature style of merging intricate rhythms, atmospheric soundscapes and deep basslines.
Arriving just after the turn of the millennium, Gravity marked a turning point for Monolake. With co-founder Gerhard Behles moving on to other ventures, Henke produced most of the album solo and journeyed deeper into spatial exploration and the dub-informed principles that underpinned their project from the start.
This first vinyl edition, remastered by the album’s key sonic architect Robert Henke, embodies a colder, more industrial tone compared to Monolake’s earlier works, with a meticulous focus on texture and spatiality. It features hypnotic loops, eerie ambient washes, and a sense of sonic precision that feels almost architectural.
To mark today’s announcement, we are thrilled to premiere the 12-minute track ‘Fragile‘—a minimal techno masterpiece that showcases Henke’s exceptional command of minimalism and atmospheric sound design. The track unfolds through a delicate interplay of subtle rhythmic patterns, faint percussive textures, and ethereal pads, weaving a hypnotic and almost weightless soundscape.
REVIEW //
ANGEL R - MOSSED CAPABLE OF BEING OBSERVANT
WRITTEN BY NIDA JAFRI
Angel R, the new moniker from Florian TM Zeisig, first emerged in the hauntingly beautiful collaboration “Selkie Reflections” with Alliyah Enyo. This project showcased Zeisig’s ability to transmute archival material into ethereal vocal drones.
While Enyo’s side of the split album transformed two-hour tape loop compositions into layered vocal incantations, Angel R’s contribution of warped fragile vocals into angelic textures, created an eerie juxtaposition that evoked divine presence within mortal sounds. The resulting choral drone compositions provide a promising glimpse into the thematic depth and creative potential of Angel R’s alias, setting the stage for what was to come.
To learn more about the makings of “Mossed Capable Of Being Observant“, I had the pleasure to speak with Florian about Angel R, which he describes it as “a more intuitive and softer channel”. You get to explore more facets of the artist’s dimensions, as Florian describes it “whenever connecting/engaging with music or sound. It is a way to highlight and experience other aspects of my journey.”
Florian TM Zeisig’s oeuvre has an intellectual approach to sound art, each release follows a philosophical treatise on the nature of audio, materiality, and our relationship to both immediate and imagined landscapes. His work with Yo van Lenz under OCA, particularly on “Preset Music,” repurposes YouTube synthesizer demos, transforming mundane preset showcases into unexpectedly poignant compositions.
IN-STORE //
LISTEN BACK TO MATSSSIII (PROJECT INDIGO) AT INVERTED AUDIO RECORD STORE
Saturday 18th January we welcomed in the New Year by hosting a special in-store event with Zurich-based selector matsssiii, providing an all vinyl mix live and direct at Inverted Audio Record Store in Peckham.
Easily one of the deepest and smoothest sessions we’ve hosted, matsssiii transported those in attendance into the finest realms of deep house, techno and minimal. Big thanks to everyone that made it and a special shoutout to Project Indigo for bringing Hame’s brand new ‘Self Expression‘ EP to the record store.
NEWS //
FLØRIST RELEASES ‘BUNKER MODE’ ON PAVILION
Berlin-based Canadian producer Flørist returns to his Pavilion imprint with ‘Bunker Mode‘, a stellar four-track EP that delves deep into the realms of spaced-out and minimal electronics. Known for his nuanced and eclectic approach, Flørist once again showcases his talent for crafting immersive sonic landscapes that blur the boundaries of house and techno.
The EP opens with the title track, ‘Bunker Mode‘, a masterfully layered piece where deep, melodic grooves and crisp percussion take center stage. It’s a dancefloor-ready cut that sets the tone for the record. On the flip side, ‘Correspondances‘ stands out as a richly textured exploration of rhythm and subtle melodic shifts, offering listeners a glimpse into Flørist’s ability to weave intricate musical narratives.
Fans of Loidis’ recent album ‘One Day‘ will find plenty to love here, as ‘Bunker Mode‘ strikes a similar chord. Flørist’s return to Pavilion reaffirms his status as a key player in the modern electronic music landscape. Whether you’re a long-time follower or a newcomer to his sound, this release is a must.
NEWS //
MYSTERIOUS LABEL A VISITING LINK ANNOUCE FIRST ALBUM RELEASE FROM DARKNESS DARKNESS
After two intriguing releases, enigmatic record label A Visiting Link are set to unveil their first full-length LP from Darkness Darkness: an 8-track album brimming with unconventional downtempo electronics.
Titled ‘Animation‘, the album spans a diverse range of styles, weaving together abstract, ambient, dub, and glitch elements to craft a captivating, data-driven soundscape. The result is a sonic journey that feels both otherworldly and refreshingly mutant.
Fans of experimental pioneers such as Purelink, False Aralia, West Mineral, 3XL, and co:clear will find much to celebrate in this release. ‘Animation‘ comes highly recommended for those who revel in altered states and boundary-pushing sound design.