bela - Noise and Cries (굉음과 울음)
“One of the most captivating and unique sonic cocktails we’ve heard in ages, bela’s debut album is a glistening alloy of repurposed South Korean traditional rhythms, weightless drones, electro-plated club pulses and coarse, industrial metal vocals, all cut thru tempo-fluxing noise like a serrated blade. Utterly essential listening, whatever you’re into, or hover in the vicinity of Raja Kirik, SOPHIE, Liturgy, Pisitakun, Senyawa.” (Boomkat review)
Seoul-raised, now Berlin-based bela takes elements of death metal – specifically the guttural growl, together with abrasive rhythm that bela based on the eotmori jangdan, an irregular, traditional beat that’s been remolded into a jerky, electro-acoustic call to action. While still based in Seoul they began to develop the framework for ‘Noise and Cries (굉음과 울음)’. Chewed up by a society that’s slow to embrace those who exist on the margins, they and their close friends became fixated on the concept of death.
“Track 6, 나락 Pit (a “riot song” in bela’s own words) was written in response to bela’s experience playing DJ sets at tiny South Korean clubs, where they would feel out the ecstatic mid-point between anti-fascist hard dance music and fervid noise. Their lyrics, screamed menacingly through a wall of static, confront the Buddhist concept of hell: narak, or the infinite abyss. They use this as an analogy for the despair young, working class Koreans are confronted with and make the track a call to action, a punk anthem for a despondent digital age. It’s dance music, on some level, but it’s not avoidant or escapist, it shores us in the here and now, wherever our roots might lie. We’ve been absolutely awestruck by this album; not only does it pick apart Korean themes and sounds that might be unfamiliar to Western ears, it reaches across the wider cultural spectrum, ushering in a new era of hybridity that stands in opposition to globalism’s perpetual flattening. It’s a message of hope to outsiders anywhere that while the constant friction of existence might be challenging, it can shape art that’s genuinely transformative.” (Boomkat review, part 2)
€26.00

Various Authors - Visual Vinyl
Comprehensive introduction to album covers by avantgarde graphic artists, taken from the archive of Jan van Toorn, one of the most active collectors and a leadi..(read more)
Publisher: Schunck / Verlag Kettler / ISBN: 9783862065790
Author: Various Authors
Medium: Book
Category: Books & Magazines.
Tags: Catalogue, Graphic Design, Vinyl.

Bosaina - New York April – July 2013 / Two Names Upon The Shore
Syrian/Egyptian singer, songwriter & producer making fragmented and wistful soundscapes; affection for the piano and ambient textures from seashore to life ..(read more)
Label: Discrepant / CREP45
Artist: Bosaina
Medium: LP
Category: Records & Tapes.
Tags: Middle-East, Soundscapes, Vinyl.

Mapstation - New Direction
The title track (New Direction) of this new Mapstation release is a soulful reggae meets electronica anthem featuring reggae singer Ras Donovan who already back..(read more)
Label: Staubgold / 24
Artist: Mapstation
Medium: 12"
Category: Records & Tapes.
Tags: Electronic, Vinyl.
