Paul Gafni & Joe Bellingham - Geodesic (Tremulant)

Paul Gafni had been a fan of Joe Bellingham's downtempo music in Seattle for years and decided to collaborate with him. They worked on a couple of remixes for Joe's Hug Records release and the Tremulant label. Eventually, the pair decided to create an original together. With Joe on bass and percussion, Paul providing guitar, keys, and vocals, and Diana Ratsamee adding an extra layer of beauty, "Geodesic" was born.

"Geodesic" rides on a downtempo four-on-the-floor rhythm, populated with dubby echoes, ambient-flavored synth layers, moody guitar lines, and somewhat meditative vocals. The cut is chill but not motionless — there's a danceable vibe throughout ready for DJs to deploy in just the right sets. Michael Manahan answers the call with the Find a Way Through Hypnosis Mix, raising the tempo while maintaining maximum atmosphere. Woofer-vibrating bass, pulsing pads, and arpeggiated synth runs mix elegantly with the original elements. The second remix, from Chilean DJ/producer Ahau brings out a gentle guitar part over repeating bell-like tones. The beats and vibe build steadily as the male and female vocals play off each other, transmitting near-spiritual imagery through the magic of sound.

 

Trent Banks / Citrus Age (Reflect) – “Moody grooves with great textures.”
Enne (Electunes) – “Really nice stuff, cheers.”
Juan Moreno (1 Life Records) – “Perfect for the warm up.”
DJ Morpheus (Lysergic Factory radio show) “I like all three tracks here. Lovely!”
Dr. Best (Radio Z 95.8 Neurnberg) – “Nice release. Michael Manahan’s remix and the original are my faves.”
Jon Fugler (XLNT Radio Show) – “Sublime & thoroughly enjoyable.”

Available Now From: Beatport, Juno Download, Apple Music, And Spotify.

Polygon Rainbow - Approaching Eternity Remixes (Harmonious Discord)

Harmonious Discord continues to celebrate the music of Oregon multi-modal artist Polygon Rainbow with this exquisite revisit to his Approaching Eternity EP released earlier this year. The remix consortium delivers a cadre of melodic mysteries, stretching the original contents to new stratospheres. Joining the release are artists KiloWatts, Erothyme, A Path Untold, Encounters, RFRKT, and A Concept Being — a collection of artists who explore the well of infectious inspiration.

A Path Untold washes the title track into a shaded melodic journey with the collision of massive walls of sound playfully dancing with plucked synthetics. Accented with staggered drums, precise bass accents, and penetrating sub-bass. Infinite levels of deepness ascend with expert precision in this opening selection. KiloWatts saddles the stars with his Interstellar Transmission Mix, gently riding comets of cacophony. A tide pool of swirling melodies ultimately produces a dub groove that attracts and synchronizes the melodies like delicate strands of time. Out of the snowy capped tundra comes the next revisit by sonic inventor Erothyme. Showcasing his masterful manipulation of tone and tremolo, Erothyme layers intelligent drum programming with bigger-than-life harmonics. The programming enjoys moments of insanity while always docking safely into a well-tempered workout. Harmonious Discord label chief dons a new moniker aimed at exploring the trails outside the dancefloor with the next remix. The Concept Being teases out the subtle evolutions of “Inner Workings of External Processes,” adding a swung groove to bounce the track onward. A quick diversion finds us at sharp synthetic basslines and a further floating of the many arpeggiated sequences into delicious disorientation. Polygon gets his own hands dirty on the project, this time showing the emerging sounds of his alter moniker RFRKT. RFRKT ups the tempo and drops the bass floor with a dynamic reinterpretation, with phase for days. The final remix comes from Encounters, who constructs around the beautiful dulcet tones and guitar accents in “Reconstructing Corrupt Memories.” There is no end to the levels of euphoria that descend on this epic finale to the Polygon project.

Klaus Benedek (Fortunea Records) – “KiloWatts & The Concept Being made interesting versions of these tunes.”
Psycho-Jones (Kater Blau) – “It’s like floating in space.”
Andreas Kinzl (Aromabar) – “As always, outstanding mixes.”
DJ Morpheus (Lysergic Factory Radio Show) – “Excellent remixes. All of them, top notch!”
Jon Fugler (XLNT radio show) – “Some standout moments here - Approaching Eternity hitting the spot - Encounters Remix sounding rather lovely too.”
Simon Kirk (Proton Radio) – “Magical Electronica. Conversations with the Void in particular is just beautiful.”

Available Now From: Beatport, Bandcamp, Apple Music, And Spotify.

Cantos & Hamza Rahimtula - Return to the Feelings feat. George JJ Flores (Viva Recordings)

India's deep house don Hamza Rahimtula has joined forces with HMNI Music impresario Cantos for an electric Viva Recordings single, "Return to the Feelings.." The release leads with the instrumental Dub, owing to the pair's allegiance to the DJ's sonic domain. A jazzy drum shuffle immediately signals that this cut is something a little different for the dancefloor, before a rolling sub-bass riff and sparkling chords come on the scene. A glorious half-time breakdown, furthering the jazzy predilection, transmits a moment of half-time bliss before the track builds to funky new heights. The Original version of "Return to the Feelings" follows, featuring GJJF Music's George JJ Flores giving an emotive spoken word statement in the mid-section break, enhancing the cut's already potent amount of cosmicness. Dive into this!

Danny Ward (Moodymanc) – “Loving the happy jazzy chug here...shall be playing this out.”
Cuillere (No Fuss) – “Smooth like silk.”
Ramiro (Uniting Souls Music) – “All the feels on this deep, dubby, jazzy journey. Love both versions, and I love seeing these 3 amazing artists collab!”
Tom Lown aka Lucky Sun (Lucky Sun Recordings) – “Wow what a feel to this. That breakdown …”. Snooba (Radio Panik) – “Nice jazzy vibes!”
Yogi Haughton (DJ Mag) – “This is really nice. The percussion is lovely.”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Traxsource, Beatport, And Apple Music.

Unconscious Honey - Fault Lines (Random Records)

Unconscious Honey is the synth-pop project spearheaded by Björn Trenker, who hails from Berlin. His debut album, Being a Stranger, took inspiration from his background in psychiatry and was highly appreciated by the queer Berlin city magazines Siegessäule and BLU, as well as KALTBLUT Magazine, who deemed it one of the best dance music albums in 2020.

During the pandemic, Björn collaborated with his regular co-producer and husband, Paul "Snax" Bonomo, and decided to remix and reinterpret the songs from the album, with help from other LGBTQ artists and friends such as Electrosexual, Mavin, and Snecker. He also began composing the four tracks on his new EP soon after the release of his second album. Although his debut live performance was canceled due to Covid-19's second wave, Björn continued to work on new material during the lockdown.

Unconscious Honey's latest EP, Fault Lines, consists of four new and exciting songs from this period. The first song, "Fault Lines," is a synth-pop number about finding moments of joy in difficult times. "Percolate" is an upbeat song about the insecurities of being in a romantic entanglement. "Crush Of Time" is inspired by Twin Peaks, describing the feeling of getting lost in the night and experiencing a religious-like trance. Finally, "Sense Of Rapture" is about the ups and downs of queer cruising, including loneliness and disappointment, but also the feeling of absolution in a secret community.

Unconscious Honey's Fault Lines will be available on Random Records starting December 15th, 2023.

Luis Machuca (Friskybeat Records) – “Production is on point. Enjoying the Kraftwerk sound.”
Psycho-Jones (Kater Blau) – “Goosebumps. Thanks.”
Electrosexual (Electrosexual) – “Great electropop, great production.”
DJ Firefly (WRCT Pittsburgh) – “Delightful!”
Jon Fugler (XLNT radio show) – “Lovely selection. Capturing some evocative feelings.”
DJ Clairvo (Tilos Radio Budapest) – “I always dig downbeat / lounge music with a certain disco touch and vocal treatment. Nice work - supporting!”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.