NEWSLETTER
BRIXTON BREWERY RECORD FAIR // ACTRESS // SEEFEEL // NTHNG // BOX5IVE // SOELA // DIALECT // TREVINO'S X HOUGHTON FESTIVAL
RECORD FAIR // SUNDAY 28 JULY
INVERTED AUDIO STORE X ACCIDENTAL RECORDS AT BRIXTON BREWERY TAPROOM
Inverted Audio and Matthew Herbert's label Accidental Records team up to host a record fair at Brixton Brewery Taproom on Sunday 28th July (12-6pm) with vinyl DJ sets from Antepop, Badly Dressed Boy, Daniel., Elisa, Jerome Hill, JVXTA, Ola Szmidt. The record fair commences at 12:00 and ends at 18:00. Entry is free.
SET TIMES
12:00 - 1300 - Elisa
13:00 - 14:00 - Badly Dressed Boy
14:00 - 15:00 - Daniel.
15:00 - 16:00 - Ola Szmidt
16:00 - 17:00 - JVXTA
17:00 - 18:00 - Jerome Hill
REVIEW: NTHNG
’I’D LOVE TO FLY’
WRITTEN BY JACOB BRAYBROOKE
Elusive to comprehend yet serene to access, ‘I’d Love To Fly’ is a lucid dream of a cloud-surfing four-track EP by Dutch-born and Berlin-based producer Nthng – who is responsible for previous releases on Lobster Theremin and Delsin as well as founding his mysterious label Transatlantic.
Known for his cryptic characteristics that venture into puzzling IDM collages, Nthng ambitiously drifts into nostalgic fever dream sounds by experimenting with tranquil synth pads and elevated percussion throughout the variegated project. Muscular escalations of translucent synths and sprightly drum breaks, bolstered by spirited Hi-Hat percussion, frequently take flight following a spell of robust drums which evoke the escapist feel of floating through the clouds during a very nourishing dream, finding a melodic peak in a REM sleep stage before you return to waking life.
‘And On’ is a spacious opener that exhibits a calm crescendo of fluorescent ambience following a spell of tight snares, allowing a lighter disposition to gradually form as the luminous synths persist through fragile, textured percussion into becoming a melodic highlight. ‘I’d Love To Fly’ runs with a three-note drum pattern and washing synths that sets our aloft destination before a spectral quality, created by an adolescent vocal sample gives way to glistening synth pads that suit the innocence of the plaintive instrumentation while maintaining a cryptic, left-field spirit.
‘In The City’ introduces a 90’s New Age influence to proceedings by combining delicate ambient Hip-Hop breakbeats with highly precise layers of percussion before the set closer, ‘Tuned To A Dead Channel’, retains the semi-melodic keys and tranquil synths of the adventure so far, while introducing a static effect and gauzy synths that descend into a sensation of pensive renewal.
Accessible and warm yet enigmatic and technical, ‘I’d Love To Fly’ uses the abstraction of IDM and the definitive rumination of Ambient music to shape an entrancing expedition into sublime, spectral New-Age sounds that are ripe with larger influences that fans of Boards Of Canada or Tycho will continue unfolding as new layers are persistently revealed upon recurring ventures.
REVIEW: BOX5IVE
’GREY SPACE’
WRITTEN BY JASON CABANISS
The thriving UK bass scene has seen its share of producers come and go, leaving momentary and lasting marks on the genre. Within the continually fascinating and shape-shifting crews throwing parties and creating community both in-person and online, there’s been a subtly seismic shift in certain circles.
Using bass, dubstep, and grime as the canvas for further sonic experiments has become the norm for producers like London’s Box5ive. With a handful of appearances on label compilations and one-off tracks for the likes of Panel, Well Street Records, and Comic Sans, Box5ive’s sound brims with potential and leaves the listener with curiosity for what they could do on a full-length.
Teaming up with ascendant Glaswegian imprint co:clear, Box5ive’s debut, ‘Grey Space’, presents strands of bass music interspersed with lush, atmospheric ambient. The album is an exceptional exploration and mixture of divergent electronic sounds that leaves a lasting impression.
‘Grey Space’ floats between mostly soporific ambient pieces and mid-tempo bass tunes with ease, with the opening duo of “Rough Sleeper” and “Sell a Door” setting the tone. The former drifts among beatless keys and effects, creating a hypnagogic mirage that’s gentle and inviting; the latter doesn’t introduce heavy beats like a maximalist dubstep tune, but it adds a new dimension to Box5ive’s arsenal.
Listen closely to “Sell a Door” and it could work just as well without the percussion, showcasing the producer’s knack for utilising every element of his tracks. As presented it’s a subtly brisk song that brings to mind dark city streets slowly brought to life by the rising sun.
The best track of the already stellar bunch is “Sour Kiss”, a beautiful piece that floats along on delicate piano and synthesised strings. The song is a testament to the producer’s skill in crafting a compelling track out of minimal elements that flit in and out of the mix, repeating as the track progresses. Everything comes together in a way that transports the listener to an altered state that cradles the listener in a brief state of bliss.
While the lysergic ambient tracks showcase the producer’s range, the magic of ‘Grey Space’ lies in the way it incorporates those earth-shaking bass influences into the record. “Blind”, for instance, features skittery percussion that jumps in from the ethereal introduction. The sleek sheen placed on the grime and bass-indebted beats reflects the headphone friendly aspects of the album. It forgoes the dystopian, post-club vibe of those genres and offers a sound that lends itself to an amorphous nostalgia best suited for solitary listening.
The aesthetic of ‘Grey Space’ is a gorgeous hybrid of ambient and bass music that charts its own course and experiments with different forms. Box5ive fits in with the DIY, punk-like ethos of artists like Huerco S., his West Mineral Ltd imprint, and other tripped out labels such as 3XL and INDEX:Records: pushing ambient beyond the staid, placid tones of crystal strewn utopian retreats and further into a heady escape from the varied anxieties plaguing us every time we gaze out into the ever-warming environment and into our devices. It’s less music for airports as it is music for our scattered, unmoored psyches.
RECORD FAIR // SUNDAY 4 AUGUST
THE PACIFIC TAVERN, SOUTH LONDON
Inverted Audio Record Store is taking part in a pop-up record fair at The Pacific Tavern in South London on Sunday 4 August (1-7 pm).
We'll be trading alongside Deptford's Upside Down Records. Avid collectors can expect quality new & used records, cassettes and clothing from the best artists and record labels exploring house, techno, dubbed-out grooves, experimental and esoteric ambience. Admission is free, vinyl only DJ sets and food served all day.
NEWS: SEEFEEL RESURFACE ON WARP
WITH MINI-ALBUM ‘EVERYTHING SQUARED’
UK-based experimental band Seefeel mark their return to Warp Records in August with the announcement of a mini- album named ‘Everything Squared‘.
Consisting of 6-tracks, ‘Everything Squared‘ was mainly composed and performed by the core duo of Mark Clifford and Sarah Peacock, with bass on two tracks from Shigeru Ishihara, resulting in a mini-album that submerges listeners into a disjointed sound-field of abstract dub, turgid ambiance and saturated tinges of post-rock. Highlights include ‘Antiskeptic‘ and ‘End Of Here‘.
NEWS: ACTRESS TEAMS UP WITH
SIMON J. KARIS ON ‘THRASH’ CASSETTE
Following the release of ‘Statik‘ – Cunningham’s latest album on Smalltown Supersound, Actress teams up with Melbourne based sound artist and Nice Music label boss Simon J. Karis to issue a limited edition caramel cassette spanning roughneck techno, 8-bit FX, textural noise and digitised acid.
According to the press release ‘THRASH‘ sees Actress and Simon J. Karis stir up their intertwining trademark elements into a clandestine symmetrical arc over three tracks – each of them bestowing their own edit of ‘THRASH’, with Karis’ urgent acid thumper as a centrepiece. Both drastically remapping their razored hardware collision, staunchly gnawing their respective sounds into oblivion and back again.
Incongruously, Karis drags the duo into his world of “noise” treatments and hifi harshness, all parping distortion and compressed hyper-colours, yet Cunningham threads his instantly recognisable swoops of synth graffiti, 8-bit FX throttle and percussive errata in a perfect symbiosis of their palettes.
TREVINO’S RECORD FAIR:
HOUGHTON FESTIVAL 2024
Inverted Audio Record Store returns to Houghton Festival bringing a wealth of quality hand-picked new and used records, clothing and cassettes to Trevino’s Record Fair.
Located inside the ‘Trevino’s’ yurt adjacent to 'Giant Steps' stage – in honour of the late drum & bass producer Marcus Intalex - we'll be open each day of the festival from Thursday 8th - Sunday 11th August between 10:00 - 19:00.
We’ll be slinging records alongside other reputable UK-based record stores and sole traders including; All My Friends, Artum, Disk Frisk, Hidden Sounds, Next Door Records, Temple Of Vinyl and The Vinyl Curtain.
Rest assured, each store has a dedicated listening deck so you can listen to records in all their glory. After purchase, Inverted Audio can either hold onto your records, to collect at the end of the festival. Or we can ship them to you. Please note we only accept card payments.
NEWS: SOELA SIGNS TO SCISSOR & THREAD,
ANNOUNCES SECOND ALBUM ‘DARK PORTRAIT’
Four years since the release of her debut album on Dial, Russia-born now Berlin-based producer Soela joins the ranks of Francis Harris’ consistently on-point imprint Scissor & Thread with the announcement of her second album, scheduled for release in September.
Consisting of 9-tracks, ‘Dark Portrait‘ is a deeply atmospheric LP replete with heartfelt emotion, ambient soundscapes, dubby elements, sultry vocals and lose-yourself dancefloor moments.
Soela sheds light into the album “I was dealing with some very complex feelings, so I came up with this album, which helped me not to despair, to work on myself, to grow internally, and to start listening to myself. It helped me to keep sane when my country invaded Ukraine with a full scale war. It absolutely broke my heart, and music was one of my main salvations.”
NEWS: ANDREW PM HUNT AKA DIALECT
LINES UP ‘ATLAS OF GREEN’ ON RVNG INTL.
Three years since the release of ‘Under~Between‘ LP on RVNG Intl. UK-based multi-instrumentalist Andrew PM Hunt returns to the revered American experimental label under his solo guise Dialect with the announcement of his forthcoming album ‘Atlas of Green‘.
Following a series of live shows in early 2023, the album was created with an assemblage of analogue electronics and acoustic instruments, including scratched records and a broken four track, collaging studio work with recorded live recordings featuring work in progress.
Spanning twelve endearing electro-acoustic compositions, ‘Atlas of Green‘ imagines a young musician working in a future dawning era where lost signals and enduring impulses are unearthed from the sediments of technology and time. Green becomes the compass in an epoch of transition; one shaded with pastoral patinas and studded with the fragments of allegorical ruin. As tattered as it is tender, Atlas of Green is a patchwork of scavenged relics and bygone hues, cast through the iridescent shimmers of a mid-future in flux.