VLSI23 - LEXTRON - ELECTROMAGNETIC 1st NOVEMBER 2024
Lextron, lone electro b-boy from a far-flung corner of the universe, once again stops by our fair planet bestowing upon us a set of space age beat-driven jams accumulated from his latest travels across the cosmos.
Electromagnetic, his second album for the VLSI label, builds on the promise delivered on his debut Trajectory – a melodically rich set navigating electro, electronica and synthwave realms informed by science as much as it is by mystical spiritual worlds. There’s a sense of constant momentum across the album as pristine and intricate beats provide a sturdy backbone around which Lextron deftly weaves effervescent melodies and swathes of atmosphere with dizzying aplomb conjuring up vast, all enveloping sound worlds.
Magnetic Travel kickstarts our journey with bubbling scatter rhythms gently building until making way for some trademark Lextron analogue bass and synths. The trip continues, hurtling by other worlds often mysterious (Visitations and Dream State) and occasionally foreboding as on the deliciously dark bass rumblings of Vortex. Peaking with the all-out beautiful Orbital-esque chords of Mind Your Head, Lextron then continues down the wormhole with the urgent throb of Heart Lights and the ever-evolving pads of Jaunt bringing things to a cryptic close.
Whilst the music of Electromagnetic is borne of machines Lextron has said that the inspiration for his work comes from the overwhelming power of love and grief, and certainly there’s an abundance of humanity that shines through on Electromagnetic.
BUNKR - Antenne - VLSI22
BUNKR returns to VLSI with a third instalment from a different corner of the same galaxy.
Out now via bandcamp - Limited Edition Clear Vinyl / Digital
We could never pinpoint the location of Antenne. Unlike the other pirate stations, with their hyperactive MC's and postcode shout outs, Antenne transmitted 24 hours a day 7 days a week devoid of any human voice to provide us with clues. No big ups for the SW9 crew, no ads for the turbo-sound rave with 30-colour laser show down a local disused warehouse. We don't even know if Antenne was indeed the name of this enigmatic station, we just affectionately lent it that title as it sounded a touch more exotic than antenna and seemed fitting for its seemingly unending broadcast of widescreen techno, breakbeats, ambient washes and occasional forays into obscure German synth music.
And then, during an after-party in the twilight hours of a crisp November morning in 1996, the Antenne transmission abruptly ceased. Our beloved 97.9 FM frequency once vibrant with all manner of cosmic sound was replaced with the eerie stillness of fizzing radio static.
Who or what was behind Antenne we may never know; without doubt the unknown makes it all the more alluring. But this album serves to keep the memory of Antenne alive along with the countless other faceless pirate stations from the golden era of electronic music. Just maybe those radio waves continue to hurtle through space like gradually decaying echoes from a once brave new world, readying to connect with our brothers and sisters on the back side of the sun.
Antenne transmitted and informed, we listened and absorbed.
Side A
1 Aquatakt
2 I Feel Eye See
3 Oriam Speedway
4 Over The Karman Line
Side B
5 Controller 29
6 Ceres Outpost
7 Nectar Rushes
8 Waiting In Tofino
Composed and produced by BUNKR
Mastered by Chris at Blacklisted
Vinyl Cut by Curve Pusher
Vinyl Manufactured by Mobineko
Artwork by Magictorch
Echaskech - Novacene (VLSI21)
A soundtrack to an imaginary movie based on James Lovelock’s book and theory of the ‘Novacene’. Reflecting the tragedy of the previous epochs' climate damage and the optimism of a more positive future, the tracks trace the dream-like lives of a group of humans co-existing with cyborg collaborators.
Deep into a distant future, the world has survived a brutal climate breakdown and shifted from an epoch defined by humankind, the Anthropocene, to one defined by hyper intelligent beings - the Novacene.
Evolved from current artificial intelligence systems with the ability to think 10,000 times faster than humans, they exist in forms beyond our understanding. Yet, rather than becoming dystopian overlords, these future cyborgs maintain a peaceful symbiotic relationship with humans - tending them almost as we might plants with the understanding that organic life is essential for climate stability on earth.
Tracklisting
She Was The Universe
Parallel Ecosystem
Walking With Spheres
Conversion Using Sunlight
Biosphere Two Rupture
Garden of Antheia
Novacene
Machines of Loving Grace
That Which We Are
Alphabox - Only Forward EP (VLSI20)
Alphabox is Plaid, B12 and In Sides-era Orbital hanging out in Smallfish records. It's lush pad chords, sine hats and 101 basslines, painted by Chris Foss and written by Greg Bear.
With sci-fi referencing track names, Alphabox evokes the days of Toytronic, Merck and Worm Interface spun through modern synthesis and interstellar travel.
Echaskech - Shadow Freaks / Appetence (Kanlab / Balkan Vinyl 7”
OCTAVCAT - KP INDEX (VLSI18)
Sitting in the midst of a KP Index 9 storm we find Octavcat hunkered over hardware synths, firing only the finest selections of solar energetic bass particles and ionospheric oscillations into our craniums.
The ‘KP Index’ is a measure of disturbances of the Earth’s magnetic field. Presented in the range of 0-9, the lower numbers indicate calm, whilst 5 and above indicate a geomagnetic storm of epic scale.
Collapsing power grids, spinning compasses and explosive auroras cascade around us as we navigate our way via Polaris and the Tropopause. Oblique acid and angular synths poke us from all angles whilst encasements of warm pads and low end ensure a soothing journey through unstable solar winds.
Xmit
GW190814
Polaris
RDA Of Vitamin Sausage
Tropopause
Tundra
Noodle Effect
Pie And Chips
Composed and produced by Octavcat
Mastered by Crimson Sun Audio
OCTAVCAT - POLARIS REMIXES EP
Jettison towards the North Star with this sci-fi remix selection of ‘Polaris’, a track taken from Octavcat’s album KP Index (VLSI18).
Thailand’s Chalo steps up to twist space time, Neutek explodes the track through a multicolour supernova whilst Echaskech dial in smoked out slo-mo breaks leaving BUNKR to sign off with customary stellar electronics.
Polaris
Polaris (Chalo’s Sci-Fi Remix)
Polaris (NeuteK Remix)
Polaris (Echaskech Remix)
Polaris (BUNKR Remix)
Polaris Composed and produced by Octavcat
Additional Space Travel:
Chalo : https://www.instagram.com/chal0909/
NeuteK : https://www.facebook.com/neutekmusic
Echaskech : https://www.instagram.com/echaskechband/
BUNKR: https://www.instagram.com/bunkr303/
Mastered by Crimson Sun Audio
Jonathan Krisp - Statement Foliage
Jonathan Krisp returns to VLSI with his own totally unique style on Statement Foliage - an album of quirky melodies tracing dreamlike paths through the natural world and ancient symbolism. Available on bandcamp and all digital platforms now.
In follow-up to 2019’s ‘Rewilding’, which gained support from BBC 6 Music and Electronic Sound, Jonathan Krisp continues to explore the topography of natural and electronic haunts.
From the Ouroboros representing the eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth through to the meteorological Parhelion, Krisp merges complex twisting acid lines with glistening synths to evoke hallucinations of a retro-futuristic sun drenched landscape.
Merging acoustic, digital and otherworldly vocal samples, Statement Foliage provides electronic music for the ancient forest and the dance floor sprite.
Composed and produced by Jonathan Krisp
Mastered by RedRedPaw
SareemOne - Olivine Window
Composed and produced by SareemOne
Additional production and electronics by Andy Gillham / Echaskech
Artwork 'Day of Radiance Quilt' by Susannah Eisenbraun
Mastered by Thomas Ragsdale
Cassette design by Dom Hoare
Premium Ferric HQ duplication cassette by Mobineko
Click here for Transmission
New Echaskech EP ‘Loquence’ out now on bandcamp and all streaming platforms
LEXTRON - TRAJECTORY
Limited Edition vinyl of 50, hand numbered with full colour sleeves and black wax - out now
The VLSI label are excited to welcome Lextron to their ever evolving family of electronic artists (including Echaskech, BUNKR, Octavcat and Infinite Scale) and proudly present Trajectory, the debut album from this intriguing Cambridgeshire-based producer.
On the surface Lextron's productions rhythmically evoke memories of classic 80's electro - the jerk and hustle of the Street Sounds Electro compilations is an underlying thread which holds these tracks together – but beneath there's a melodic and production depth at play which harks back to the early electronica emanating from labels such as Warp, Rephlex and Planet Mu.
As nostalgic as this all sounds Lextron's skill lies in twisting these reference points into something immediately fresh and forward-thinking. Feel the rush of opener Night Rider – an ode to speed, light and joyriding through life. Deceptively simple at first it gradually unfurls buoyed along by an arpeggiated bass line which lends the track its apt title, accelerating into an ambiguous future.
On Double Fresh things take a darker turn; dedicated to body poppers and lockers from times gone by, here in Lextron's world we find the dancers moving to a new rhythm backdropped by a dystopian cityscape. This scene of dystopia carries over into World's End with hovering bass and wavering synth hinting that just maybe this isn't the end but the start of something beautiful as we dance towards the apocalypse. Further down the line Flows and Good Things Coming each pick up the pace and almost cross into braindance territory, utilising pristine percussive and sequenced synth elements to keep the trajectory firmly on the up.
Trajectory is an assured debut of electro-inspired music from Lextron that positively fizzes with ideas. And whilst it's very much music primed for sound systems it's equally geared for headphone listening as the detail invested in the production really shines on a decent pair of cans.
A1 Night Rider
A2 Double Fresh
A3 World’s End
B1 Flows
B2 Two Sides
B3 Good Things Coming
Produced and composed by Lextron
Mastered by Crimson Sun Audio
Vinyl Cut by Curve Pusher
Manufactured by Mobineko
BUNKR - GRAVEYARD ORBIT - Out now!
Limited edition vinyl of 100, hand numbered transparent vinyl
Video to Graveyard Orbit made by Innerstrings. Featuring artwork by Magic Torch
“The graveyard orbit, also known as a junk or disposal orbit, lies far away from common operational orbits and is where satellites are moved to at the end of their operational life, endlessly circling space with no use or purpose.”
Whilst 2020 is probably a year most people are keen to forget, Brighton (UK) based producer BUNKR kept busy writing this second full length album and also notably contributing a track In My Room to the highly lauded Castles In Space compilation The Isolation Tapes (Electronic Sound magazine's compilation of the year in 2020).
The genesis of Graveyard Orbit came from the death of BUNKR's beloved Jen Sx1000 synth. As he explains, “one day my trusty old Jen just popped her oscillators and completely stopped working. It saddened me that this once cutting edge piece of technology was now a dusty old relic unable to function, a shadow of her former self. My mind turned to space as it often does and it got me wondering about what happens to all of the old tech sent in to space once it stops working – where does it go to die? After some research I discovered the graveyard orbit, the final resting place in space for ageing satellites. I found this sad but also inspiring, like a lasting memorial in space to human endeavour, our hopes and dreams, ambitions and failures”.
And so the concept of Graveyard Orbit came to be. From the departure gates of album opener Terminus 23 to the final haunting conclusion of the epic closer Dark Chorale, this is a cohesive and flowing work of exploratory electronic music that sets the controls for the heart of space. As with much of BUNKR's work there's a strong melodic presence, with contemplative and cinematic excursions such as Glacial Shift and Vanguard Distress Signal sitting comfortably amongst the more propulsive drum-heavy and hazy pop synths of title track Graveyard Orbit and the offbeat oddball electro curve ball of Astral Spectral.
Although drawing from a rich sonic palette which reflects his love of electronica, techno, ambient and kosmiche his sound remains identifiably BUNKR – always exploring, always absorbing, always cosmic.
Once again BUNKR and VLSI have worked with illustrator Magic Torch to bring this album to life visually, with Magic Torch's striking desolate satellite image adorning the front cover, this once cutting edge technology left to forever cycle in space, alone and forgotten.
A1 Terminus 23
A2 Stargazing
A3 6am Eternal
A4 Graveyard Orbit
B1 Glacial Shift
B2 Astral Spectral
B3 Vanguard Distress Signal
B4 Dark Chorale
Check out this excellent psychedelic live set from Jonathan Krisp with visuals from Mach V
Part of the Awamu Together 2021 House Party
Echaskech - Mirrors
Echaskech explore generative synthesis on Dust Storm and Mirrors where the hardware outputs of controlled random modulation are recorded in one take. Arc and Ganymede follow a more structured compositional process - a timeline of computer based arrangements. With all four tracks the main aim was to create a feeling of allowing the machines to live and breathe the music themselves.
We are delighted to welcome Audioglider to VLSI Records with his album ‘The Comet Will Save Us’. Exploring influences crossing breaks, darkwave, electro, shoegaze, ambient, post rock and synth wave - The Comet Will Save Us combines Audioglider’s varied productions into a progressive, uplifting, ethereal album which sits as comfortably in your headphones as it might on the dance floor
Tracklisting
From The Ashes And Embers
What Doesn’t Kill You
The Dying Of The Light
Brace Yourself
Harangue The DJ
The Comet Will Save Us
Frostbitten
Artwork by Magictorch.
Mastered by Loz Grover at Crimson Sun Audio
ECHASKECH - INVISIBLE CITY
Invisible City is Echaskech’s fourth long player and most club friendly yet. Tweaked, polished and improvised across a series of recent live performances – Invisible City splices pounding atmospheric techno with rave, electro, drum & bass and acid. Epic widescreen melodies thread it all together with an undercurrent of yearning for a future when we can all dance together again.
Available on a limited run of 100 hand numbered, bottle green vinyl.
Artwork and Design by Natalie Nicklin. Vinyl Engineered by Curve Pusher. Mastered by Loz Grover @ Crimson Sun Audio
Video for Echaskech’s ‘Slipstich’ taken from the album ‘Invisible City’ - out Dec 11th on limited vinyl and digital.
Video by Mantissa
ECHASKECH - DUST STORM (THE AMBIENT ZONE)
Available now across all digital platforms, Dust Storm is taken from a four track ‘Mirrors’ EP which will be released on The Ambient Zone in 2021.
“Dust Storm is an exercise in controlled random modulation - a way of allowing the machines used to live and breathe themselves. The machines used produced a lot of background noise including a dusty sounding earth loop which, combined with the swirling electricity of the oscillators, create a feeling that you are in the eye of a dust storm.”
METRO JAXX VOLUME III - VARIOUS ARTISTS (BALKAN VINYL)
A selection of fierce acidic club bangers from Acidulant, Room 13, Elliot Adamson, Tsuin, The Wasp and also featuring Echaskech track ‘Rackmount’ which has featured in a few of our live sets in the past.
Limited to 606 copies on coloured hand numbered wax - released 4th November via Balkan Vinyl.
ECHASKECH - ANDROMEDA
An experimental mini album on Balkan made up of deep space cryogenically frozen analogue / modular transmissions. Designed to be listened to on HAM radio in an isolated listening station but stored for posterity on a very limited run of cassettes and on digital. Artwork by Posthuman.
Limited Edition of 101 hand numbered cassettes sold out at source - a handful still available from Juno and other stores.
Digital available on the Balkan bandcamp.
OCTAVCAT - ARBOURNE
Accurately described by an Italian reviewer as “infarcite di melodie ellittiche e funk alieno” (stuffed with elliptical melodies and alien funk) - we couldn’t agree more!
Cut by Curve Pusher, manufactured by Mobineko and with artwork and design by Jamie Bradshaw - the record looks as good as it sounds.
Available on digital and 100 hand numbered limited wax (shipping now).
Tracklisting
A1 Multipass
A2 OtherAcid
A3 Charcoal
B1 TBJX
B2 Wrong’n’
B3 Polygonpad
Digital Bonus Track : Bonga Operator
INFINITE SCALE - THE VALUE OF ACCESSIBILITY
We’re delighted to welcome Infinite Scale to VLSI Records with The Value of Accessibility.
Harmi Palda has been producing evocative electronic music since 2005 with releases on Boltfish, Rednetic and Toytronic Records accompanying performances at Glastonbury and Bestival. The Value of Accessibility sees Harmi combine his unique sense of emotive melody with meticulous attention to detail - threading acidic streaks through an atmosphere both foreboding and uplifting.
In Harmi’s own words: “The title refers to the mountain of accessible information that we can retrieve at any time from the internet. We can listen and access music whenever we want - the value of which we must understand and appreciate. No one really has the time to step away from this and truly imagine what life was like prior to the internet. This is an expression of the information we have on tap, that once not long ago was an act of travelling to libraries, music shops, travel agents…..”.
Quintillions of bytes of data are created daily, over 40,000 songs are added to Spotify every day, 300,000 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute. And we are just at the start.
Yet there is still time to reflect, discover and value this accessibility and there’s no better way to do that than via new music….
Released on limited (hand numbered 100 only) orange coloured vinyl, with mastering by Black Knoll Studio and vinyl engineering by Curve Pusher. Cover design by Mark Hollis.
The Initiation Well Remixed
Thanks to a bunch of like-minded sonic explorers, we make another journey into the depths of the fabled Initiation Well with eight remixes which seek to uncover the purpose behind this mythical place. Artwork by Magictorch. Mastering by Loz Grover.
For The Birds (Digitonal Remix)
Solitary Drift (Fujiya & Miyagi Remix)
Solar Wings (Octavcat Remix)
Left For Dust (preston.outatime Remix)
The Initiation Well (Jonathan Krisp Remix)
East Of Eden (Lextron Remix)
Docking Procedure (Infinite Scale Remix)
Left For Dust (Echaskech Remix)
The Initiation Well from BUNKR - available now on bandcamp.
Hand numbered limited edition (100). double transparent vinyl with premium full colour spined sleeve and artwork by Magictorch.
Mastered by Melograf Mastering. Vinyl Engineering by Curve Pusher.
‘Left For Dust’ video created by Preston Parris.
The Initiation Well
East of Eden
Docking Procedure
Solar Wings
Solitary Drift
For The Birds
The Initiation Well
Jacinthe Horizon
Left For Dust
Rheasilvian Lakes
