Michel Lauriola - No Balance EP

Release Date: 26 March 2018

Label: Animal Farm

"Michel Lauriola returns to Animal Farm Records after making his European debut with us in Glasgow last year. ’No Balance’, his latest EP for the label, shows why he continues to flourish in the South American scene - with a European tour already under his belt and an always prolific studio output. 

Title track ‘No Balance’ is a typically well crafted roller from Lauriola, with woozy production details & an air of layered hypnotism - a supremely effective textural workout. ‘Zero Humility’ boasts a tight percussive groove, with cacophonous auras keeping things firmly steeped in the darkness. 

‘Close To Parabola’ sees him stepping into the peak time zone with, again, dense production - but a powerfully crafted low end. Unnerving synth tones and tense breakdowns make this the obvious selection for heavy ‘floor damage."

Tracklist:

1. No Balance 06:34

2. Close To Parabola 06:31

3. Zero Humility 06:03

Blut Own - Somnambula EP

Release Date: 27 March 2018

Label: IMMINENT

"Blut Own, whose credits include productions for Russian rappers Slim and Centr, introduces an atmospheric side of his music with a debut EP on IMMINENT titled Somnambula. 

Stylistically this release offers you a particularly well-crafted magic of the future garage sound, which despite a cold outlook gives you a vivid feeling of searching for your own place in this digital city of futuristic aesthetics. 

Opening track on this release is a stellar cinematic piece called Endless Space in Mirror. This track paints expansive landscapes and three-dimensional figures, emerging from a mixture of soft piano tunes, atmospheric synths sounds and tangible percussion patterns. The next track called Ghosts combines all the finest bits from the garage music, dubstep and ambient influences by bringing together sudden vocal samples, lush synthesizer patches, subtle transitions and urban aesthetics. This texture is augmented by the following track called Obscurity, which changes the pace making it softer and slower. True to the high bar of production set by the previous pieces, the track after called Paint Your Future is improving upon atmospheric side of sound and introduces bits of pleasant nostalgia and melancholia. The release ends with an ethereal ambient soundscape called Awaken, changing the focus of music visualization from a digital futuristic cityscape to starlit skies above, away from the earthbound fires and noises."

Tracklist:

1. Endless Space In Mirror 04:06

2. Ghosts 03:51

3. Obscurity 03:30

4. Paint Your Future 04:34

5. Awaken 03:59

Phattcut - Cosmic Hand EP

Release Date: 20 March 2018

I heard about Phattcut in 2014 for the first time thanks to 5:55 netlabel. I still like to listen to the raices ep. I posted about this material on my blog. Next i/o vert last year but it was not my style.
Few days ago Phattcut self released his new EP called Cosmic Hand. It starts quite slowly with weird chords and glitchy beats in Hadrons, then we have Elephant Walk with amazing ethnic percussions and flutes. My favourite track Etna is a trip from downtempo to deep house music. It was a cooperation with Essex. I also recommend his album 'Dualizm' which was released in a digibook with a special story written to his music. I'd really like to hear a whole material like 'Etna'. It remainded me of Cotton Claws 'Elusive' EP which I bought last year from Cascade Records bandcamp page.
Kalimfa slows down for a moment just to drop dubstep like drums onto these ambient, orchestral bells (or whatever they are) used in the song. In Kambo we can hear again some ethnic broken beats with flutes and vocals that sounds like taken straight from the hearth of Africa.

Highly recommended. I hope we will see a physical version soon.

Tracklist:

1. Hadrons 03:13

2. Elephant Walk 03:29

3. Etna w/ Essex 03:56

4. Kalimfa 02:59

5. Kambo 03:37

Lore - Down The Well EP

Release Date: 23 March 2018

Label: Kokeshi

Review from Juno : 

"Release 13. Unlucky for some but not for Kokeshi as they unearth a new name; Lore. Little is known about him besides that he's from Manchester and he's sculpting some seriously singular beats. "Down The Well" calls on us with a familiar vocal, subverted to smithereens over a spaced-out two-step, "Lillies" sweeps us away with strange rubber ball bass jitters and an alien drum arrangement that hypnotises at first click, finally "Many Faces" adds a little glam-swamp to the mix with its swaggering tripletty rhythm and eerie textures. Some Lores are made to be broken."

Tracklist:

1. Down The Well 04:09

2. Lillies 03:30

3. Many Faces 03:50

Various - Fractured Vibes (Part Two)

Release Date: 21 March 2018

Label: † ŦĦ€ ǤΔΜ€Ş Ŵ€ ƤŁΔ¥ †

Tracklist:

1. 10GRI - Reveille 03:41

2. aLone - Lost You 03:33

3. Cultrow - Underworld 03:10

4. Ennja - Without You 05:51

5. Kakjai - Brother 04:33

6. La Soul - Keep Calm 04:32

7. Mahlow - For U 05:23

8. SEQTAH - Hold On 03:27

9. Trastler - No More 04:38

10. WooDMooD - Untold 04:20

Rubik - Highlights

Release Date: 19 March 2018

Label: Cold Tear Records

Tracklist:

1. Creature 12:16

2. Inception 17:15

3. High 07:35

4. Dusk 09:21

5. Reflections 05:48

We Are The Sun - Introvert EP

Release Date: 17 March 2018

Tracklist:

1. Denial 04:06

2. Bargaining 04:50

3. Depression 03:58

4. Acceptance 05:16

Zerolex - Honesty

Release Date: 16 March 2018

Tracklist:

1. Honesty (Feat. Felp) 03:25

2. Patience 03:32

3. Conquest 03:40

4. Asmea (Feat. Holy Two) 04:17

Vesky - Living With Ghosts EP

Release Date: 3 March 2018

Tracklist:

1. Living With Ghosts 03:08

2. Take Me Away 03:08

3. Lost Without You 03:25

Svarog - Mood

Release Date: 22 February 2018

Label: Circular Limited

Tracklist:

1. Black witch 06:30

2. After prayer 06:05

3. Summer Rain 06:29

4. Birds 05:44

5. Intro 03:51