1. Polyhymnia
2. Polyhymnia {JOBE Edition}
3. Polyhymnia {Stevie R & Alex Zed Edition}
4. Polyhymnia {Ly ChenG Edition}
She of many hymns.
The seventeenth Chapter brings together a cast headed by AFFECT! (Moodmusic, Chapter 24) and Maximillion (Tonkind) for an EP heavy on musicality.
Polyhymnia was in Greek mythology the Muse of sacred music and dance. AFFECT! and Maximillion channel this divine energy into the EP’s title track, an uplifting melodic piece rich in organs and bright synths.
The original is accompanied by a set of Editions which each apply their own unique stamp on proceedings and result in a rounded, high quality EP. JOBE (Connaisseur, Selador) brings a more driving take on the original which gives it a cosmic edge. Stevie R and Alex Zed, founders of London’s Inside Out Records, develop an intricate and organic groove for a more twisted, leftfield cut. Finally, young Peruvian talent Ly ChenG (Blankhaus) closes the EP with a wonderful piece of drifty, laidback electronica.
Named for one of the Nine Muses who sang from the sacred hills, this essential EP is sure to inspire rapture and reverence in all who listen.
Malbetrieb – Meun EP {CH016}
Tracks
1. Meun
2. Keely
3. Crackwhore Streetchoir
4. Brecht
–
Sometimes it’s hard to find the right words.
Words or phrases not only change their meanings over time, but can also differ depending on how we interpret them. We all have our own realities. We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.
Malbetrieb lets his music do the talking, never losing the thread, letting emotions be his guide. His instinctive approach recently rewarded him with his first full length album ‘Life in the Clouds’, featuring remixes by Sebastian Mullaert, followed up by ‘Nim’ on SoHaSo, ‘Epic’ on Chapter 24’s first Seven Stories VA, and a remix of Sebastian Mullaert’s ‘Movement’ – coming out on Kontra-Musik – scheduled for late 2016.
For his first EP on Chapter 24, he presents a collection of tracks he made in one take, in the throes of inspiration. The productions are exclusively made on hardware, using a computer only to record the stems. They are captivating and communicative, both raw and refined.
Title track ‘Meun’ is direct and engaging. A descending chord progression sets a dramatic scene before an expressive white noise rhythm takes the lead, interspersed with haunting background vocals and jazz-like disembodied melodies.
‘Keely’ is up next, decidedly more calm and collected. Elegantly restrained, it’s a classy techno cut which maintains the rawness and some of the tension of Meun whilst being gently hypnotic.
‘Crackwhore Streetchoir’ is a driving and dark techno track, with Malbetrieb’s signature white noise and atmospheres returning to the fore in support of a killer groove with an acidic edge.
The EP’s closer ‘Brecht’ is a fitting coda to what has come before. Altogether more peaceful and settled, its exploratory and introspective melodies are an excellent set opener or closer.
Words, by their nature, are only a rough approximation. Music, on the other hand, is a feeling. A search for pleasure. Music melts all the separate parts of our bodies together. It takes us to a place that words alone cannot go.
Do not seek the because. Often in music, as in love, there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions. And that is the greatest beauty of all.
Sezer Uysal – Rho Persei EP {CH015}
Tracks
1. Rho Persei
2. Bitter Struggle
3. Space Egg
4. Space Egg {Luis Leon’s Cosmic Edition}
–
Rho Persei is a star in the northern constellation of Perseus. A key figure in Greek mythology, Perseus blazed a trail across the sky in his quest to defeat the Gorgons…a tale now reprised here, in Chapter 15.
Our latest story in sound casts Sezer Uysal in centre stage. Artists across the creative realm frequently lament the difficulty of putting thoughts onto paper. In electronic dance music, it’s the producers whose quest is to battle the hardships of making the creativity of mind materialize on a computer screen.
For Sezer Uysal, finding the right touch is more instinctual. His future written in the stars, he has been a regular on Suara, Hope and Manual Recordings. More great things lie in wait with the Rho Persei EP, for which he is joined by another hero of underground house music: Luis Leon (Blankhaus, Subjekt).
The EP’s opener, Rho Persei, is a pulsating track. Blending disco guitar licks and haunting ambiences, it is built on a killer bass hook which opens out into synth work of mythic proportions.
The odyssey continues as Sezer Uysal embarks on Bitter Struggle. Here, a chugging house groove built around swelling synth stabs is the order of the day. Undulating melodies unfurl, Medusa-like, masterfully executed.
The third act comes with Space Egg, as we take to the skies. Sure enough, the artist never loses his head. Warm atmospheres abound in a driving piece rich in Sezer’s signature melodies.
Luis Leon’s Cosmic Edition of Space Egg brings things to a close. A real treat, this refined house cut adds a vocal sample and finishes the story with a slab of beguiling and futuristic sounds. In all senses, a stone cold killer.
Another epic tale on Chapter 24.
Sam Pauli & Paul Nolan – Atoms EP {CH014}
Tracks
1. Atoms
2. Atoms {Instrumental Edition}
3. Atoms {Miyagi Edition}
4. Atoms {Danny Oliveira Edition}
–
Our fourteenth chapter sees label co-founders Sam Pauli and Paul Nolan continue their collaboration with Atoms. Witness the reaction that occurs when these two electrifying artists enter the same creative orbit. Joining them on this release are talents Miyagi and Danny Oliveira, for a stellar body of material.
Pauli and Nolan are at their best on Atoms, delivering a wonderful piece of electronic music. The Instrumental Edition is all glistening arpeggios and cosmic pads; whilst these fuse with the soaring vocals of fellow Chapter 24 artist Reiver on the Original.
The nature of atoms lies far below our powers of observation. Since atoms cannot be seen, their movements, too, escape us. As atoms travel through the void, they swerve from their course. Were it not so, they would remain forever isolated, and never meet to form the complexity of the universe.
Providing his own swerve on the title track is Hamburg’s Miyagi (Katermukke / Einmusika / SOSO), whose Edition focuses on a powerful, bass-laden groove which transports us until the familiar harmony takes over once more.
The final connections are made by Brazilian Danny Oliveira, who returns to Chapter 24 with a cut of powerful, original and astute techno. Bumping beats interweave with chunky synths and dramatic top lines as we fall headlong into a musical black hole.
There are only atoms and the void. So it goes.
But hold a mirror up to the void and you will discover that it is by no means empty nothingness. It contains particles of light which flicker in and out of existence.
Beyond the atoms, there is hope…
Häxeri – North Sea EP {CH013}
Tracks
1. North Sea
2. Love Is All You Get
3. Looped
–
As the page turns to the thirteenth chapter, the Book of Changes speaks of sorcery and secret knowledge.
Häxeri, meaning witchcraft in Swedish, is the alias of 27 year old producer Max Mansson. Although born in Stockholm, he has called London home from an early age. Debut single ‘Heavy Dreams’ saw widespread success, receiving airplay on BBC Radio, featuring on The Magician’s ‘Magic Tape’ mix series and reaching nearly 400,000 plays on Soundcloud to date.
Since this first release, Max has been steadily honing his production skills and building his studio, with the overriding aim of cutting back the computer’s role in the creative process and leaving maximum room for musicality.
He returns with the North Sea EP, delivering an outstanding collection of songs that blend live takes of hardware synths and drum machines with his own recorded instrumentation across bass, guitar, drums, and vocals.
Title track North Sea opens the EP, warm, uplifting, melancholic, and driving in equal measures, perfectly bridging home and club listening environments.
Love Is All You Get is next up. More warm, captivating ambiences and textures are the order of the day, creating a sonic landscape for the listener to get lost in, building to a vocal refrain worthy of Caribou.
Final track Looped brings things to a close, eschewing the club and offering a cut of dreamy synth pop. A fitting end to a very musical EP.
Named for the body of water that separates his native land from his new home, Häxeri’s North Sea EP makes for a spellbinding thirteenth tale on Chapter 24.
