Quiet force behind Polaar Sounds, a label that delivered some of the most mature and forward thinking bass-music mutations we’ve heard in the past couple years, french artist Flore‘s artistic path has ben a fascinating one to follow. Seeking balance between the soundsystem infused fabric of her DJ persona, deeply rooted in UK and afrobass as you can often hear on Rinse France and her inclination towards more visual and conceptual soundscapes, her vision has spawned an A/V performance project with WSK VJ collective and three EPs, before maturing into the present album, Rituals. What we have here perfectly illustrates that balance between two extremes, where an absolute 160BPM banger such as Coded Language (aaa, too short) lies just a few tracks away from the eponymous Rituals, a 3:34 drony build-up that, again, I could take a few more minutes of. A rich 10 track trip, illustrated by a gorgeous artwork by Dorian Rigal (from NEON MINUIT, of which we recommend the short film La Matière des Souvenirs), available both on digital and vinyl formats at the link below.

https://floremusic.bandcamp.com/album/rituals

Rituals, Flore’s second album is the map of a new continent and worrisome dark lands inhabited by primal energy. 10 musical pieces, 10 clues shaping a musical territory where nothing is given, where everything has to be conquered. From ‘Aether’ to ‘You Were Here’, Rituals explores multiple facets of electronic music crafted with meticulosity. It seems here that every step of Flore’s journey to this second album, every influence, every idea, every reference is digested, understood, reinterpreted and feeds into new shapes, layers of textures, indented rhythmics, and menacing bass lines.

Rituals is a very sharp piece of work by Flore, who delivers the result of 20 years of work, experiment, encounters, and curiosity, all knitted together in these 10 pieces of music. This album is the outcome of 5 years of work launched with the eponym audio/visual live performance and prolongated by 3 EP’s released on POLAAR. Rituals, even if dark in its essence, transpires with savage energy, and opens doors to new musical landscapes, constantly oscillating between interrupted daydreaming and furious dances. Altogether, Rituals draws the portrait of a threatened universe healing in collective

2020 – Digital album – Vinyl

Featured in one of our previous compilations (Southern Dreams, Unlog Complex #08 – 2017), Ozferti grew to become of the leading artists of a new strain of afro-futuristic revival we’ve been witnessing in the past few years in electronic music. His album Solarius Gamma, released last March can definitely attest it. Somewhere with excellent artists such as CLAP CLAP! or Engone Endong Ozferti succeeded in crafting his very own style, chanelling Ethiopic vibes through a lively and impeccable production, solid instrumental skills and a dense string of collaborations he’s built over the years between his studio in Brussels and artists in Addis Abeba.

Filled with 11 absolute bangers, Solarius Gamma also reveals another facet in Ozferti’s universe. His undeniable musical skills are completed by an incredible talent in character design, illustration and animation that all combined, allow him to put his music in context in an colorful and elegant way, tapping into animation tropes, tales of a future past and ethiopian culture to create a unique and multilayered afro-futuristic world, as in the video clip he’s made for his track Hagir Fikir, feat. Eténèsh Wassié. Beyond music, we’re talking about a new realm of world-building here.

Back to the album, who better to describe than Ozferti himself.

https://nubianovarecords.bandcamp.com/album/solarius-gamma

Welcome to the first chapter of the OZFERTI saga. Step into an unknown galaxy, where gravity is multi-dimensional and they don’t have Netflix ; where new gods are replacing the old idols and the ecosystems are being crushed by space-mining economy. Follow OZFERTI, the masked beatmaker, in his journey to the stars, in an album inspired by East-African music and partly produced and recorded in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
The 11 track album takes you through desertic landscapes and sci-fi atmospheres, with traditionnal rythm patterns and percussions being mixed with electronic synthesisers and live electric guitar.

The A side of the album kicks off with the long intro to Abyssinium Express, setting the atmosphere of the journey and the colorful sounds of HaddinQo’s masenqo. Following is the majestic bass of Hagir Fikir crowned with the powerful voice of Ethénèsh Wassié, like a solemn greeting to this new world. The groove on Space Gurage is undeniable and invites you to some celebration with the Sons of Dire Dawa and Ayou Nagesh on vocals. Chika Bet is a more mature tune, displaying Ozferti’s guitar skills and complex drum arrangements. Closing the side A is the almost religious experience of Selam,joining the Sons of Dire Dawa again.
Side B starts with a slower and more meditative pace, announced by the dark atmosphere and organ of the Lost Stela interlude and the preacher voice of Miki Mac. The title track Solarius Gamma is minimalistic and dreamy, opening space for the clarity of Mékidès Nigatu’s singing. The chainsaw synth riff of Eshi Eshi is brutally groovy and takes the album back on some more upbeat, almost rave, territory. Following are two masenqo tunes with breathtaking solos by Endris Hadié on Ta Na Da ;
and HaddinQo carrying the groove on Komet Melka while Ozferti’s synthesisers take a real space-opera take-off. The closing of the album takes us back to the desert with Purple Sand, a percussive
and up-beat track for the road. 

Needless to say we highly recommend getting the vinyl limited edition.

Long awaited, a new project from Yosi Horikawa emerges, 6 years after his excellent and widely acclaimed album Vapor.

Spaces, 11 track long, is also available for preorder on vinyl and CD.

https://yosihorikawa.bandcamp.com/album/spaces

Yosi Horikawa makes music quite unlike anything you’ve heard, music that reflects not only the appeal of rhythm and melodies but also the power and hidden musicality of everyday sounds. In that sense Horikawa is not just a producer or musician or sound artist: he is a world builder whose materials constantly surround us, though we rarely stop to appreciate
them. Horikawa honed this approach for more than a decade, travelling far and wide to record forests, beaches, cities and people while never missing an opportunity to also find sounds closer to his home in Tokyo.

Spaces is Horikawa’ s new album, following from 2013’ s Vapor released via London-based label First Word. This time the album is released on Borrowed Scenery, a new label setup by Horikawa and close collaborator Daisuke Tanabe to enable them to operate free of constraints.
The album features 11 songs that combine field recordings and sound design with a range of stylistic touch points: the fluid intricacies of hip-hop, the precise efficacy of IDM, the euphoric physicality of dance music, the humanity of acoustic instrumentation. Each song blends a primary sound source with a certain style, with titles often hinting at the origins of
the sounds – “Moldy Vinyl,” “Vietnam,” “Fluid,” “Swashers,” “Nubia” – or the mood the music evokes. What ties it all together is Horikawa’ s deeply personal understanding of what constitutes music, an understanding shorn from the commercial and stylistic structures of music as a commodity.

Spaces is a deeply human experience, and through Horikawa’ s approach music feels as natural as breathing. Horikawa has collaborated with French producer Fulgeance, American singer Jesse Boykins III and fellow Japanese experimentalist Daisuke Tanabe. His music has been supported by Gilles Peterson and Benji B. Outside of music Horikawa is an in-demand sound engineer and speaker designer who has worked with J-WAVE, Kengo Kuma, Mitsubishi and Sound & Bar Howl in Tokyo. 

In the meantime, we highly recommend this short feature on Red Bull Music, recorded in 2018