Brokenblender
Brokenblender’s ‘Blending Realms’ is an exciting journey through seven different sonic realms that converges seamlessly in the Psy-bass domain. True to his name, he incorporates a multitude of (other-)worldly influences and merges them into his signature broken-downtempo style in a unique way.
Subliminally drawing from his expertise as a professional chef, creating new flavours by mixing and blending ingredients while retaining their original essence is second nature. So feast your ears and minds on the buffet of sound that is Brokenblender.
nervous_testpilot
Melody, accessibility and ‘tentative experimentation’ are the elements of electronic music that ‘nervous_testpilot’ has always been drawn towards. Coming from an established background of creating soundtracks and sound design for video games through his company ‘Mode7 Games’, “Information Technology” is his first release on the Billegal Beats Label.
This foray into the IDM world is only natural for the UK based musician and producer, who effortlessly blends emotive and uplifting flavours with relatively abstract textures and geometric interplays of sound. Inspired by the aesthetics of retro computing as evident in the theme, the EP is a well-crafted piece of music that easily manages to crossover between the likes of mainstream house or trance music, experimental IDM and last but certainly not least, the vast and wonderful world of video games.
Syntheshwara
'Syntheshwara' signifies the intelligence that resides in all electronic music equipment. In 'Roots Vol. 2', the Bangalore based artist and beatmaker invokes this 'deity of sound and synthesis' which he created for his own home studio: "the Temple of Sound", and explores an interesting sonic space by sampling mesmerizing Indian melodies over laid-back beats. His 'workflow' truly lives up the to 'flow' part of the word, as the entire album was done in 24 hours, in one take, with no re-edits or re-arrangements. The ‘Roots’ series is equivalent to a refreshing dip in a lake, or a peaceful trek in the mountains.
Romanowitch
Hyper-glitch noisemaker Romanowitch released one of the hardest hitting and unconventional sounding EPs of the year so far. In ‘Inner City’ he channels all the angst and uncertainty of the pandemic, along with a plethora of other dark emotions associated with living in the deep end of human ‘civilization’ - the “inner city” of any metropolis - and brings out a sound that is definitely not for the faint-hearted, but one which everybody who has lived in a big city will relate to. His raw and gutsy sound takes the element of noise, both inner and outer, and puts the listeners in a test of their own resilience. Try out the experience for yourself and you may actually feel a sense of accomplishment that conventional music fails to deliver. It is the same kind of feeling that Batman, the dark knight, must have attained when he conquered his fears, the kind we get when we make peace with the darkness within us.
INNESTI
"Filament and Place" by Innesti is, as described by the artist, an exploration of the emotional connections that exist between the places and people that exist in our lives. It is a meditative and cathartic transformation of ‘half-remembered dreams and a longing for places that no longer exist’, into sonic forms called ‘Ambient Sound Grafts’, by grafting them together with natural field recordings and organic synthesis. Innesti has a subliminal way of making listeners feel like they have travelled through time and space, all from the comfort of their own literal and metaphorical homes.
Stonx
With solemn shoutouts to memes, music technology and heavy music, London duo Stonx deliver their latest EP ‘Rings’, a ballistic bombardment in the form of two D&B bangers, “Critical” and “Defiant”.
Having a solid equilibrium between self-learning and music education, they are equally at ease with producing cutting-edge tracks as they are at sharing their knowledge. No matter where the road may take them, these unswerving Abletoneers will continue their noble crusade to spread their colossal sounds across the world.
Seb Taylor : Kaya Project/Hibernation
The past year and a half have been a busy time for UK based composer Seb Taylor. While producing a prolific output of music, Seb took some time out to share his music-making process, some “behind the music” thoughts, highly interesting, inspiring and/or humorous stories, and his insights on life as a musician.
Featured here are two releases in particular: ‘body.mind.soul’ and ‘Organic Technology’, and furthermore, what drives him to make such seemingly diverse yet integrated sounding records that bring out his own unique expression. To top it all off, his light-hearted honesty, invaluable perspective, and last but not least, modest musical genius make this Innerview a truly fun and inspiring one.
Mantismash
Mantismash is a multifaceted mystical magician who operates musically in the psychedelic bass & downtempo realm. His latest offering, "Time Seeds", is one that, as he puts it, "Imagines each track as a 'seed' of a different plant, that will bear flowers and fruits of exotic flavours at the right time," and thus focuses on planting the right seeds and not giving in to the fear and confusion that surrounds our planet at this strange moment in time. In this record, Natan, aka "Mantismash", channels this crucial period in human history by combining the magical moments of his Goa stint into an exciting musical story of psychedelia, positivity and hope.