Our 200th release is a dual occasion. First a huge landmark for us and secondly the welcome return of Lee Hazard, a fav 2021 newcomer who creates sublime & transcendent modern electronica. "All It Takes" completes his triptych of releases on clipp.art and is a deep expedition into borderless dub techno, as reimagined via romantic lo-fi house banger. Swirling delays, a propulsive synth stab and Lee’s own haunting vocals, underpinned by a relentlessly driving groove give All It Takes its own cinematic sheen, which in a landscape fixated on minimising, reductive thought and constraint, music that projects large is an ever welcome addition in our house. It sounds better as you go deeper and louder. Which is why we felt it fit so well here for our 200th. Lee’s lyric “It takes some time to love, but I'm loving you” also spoke to our humble little imprint of our own journey and hopefully that of our beautiful supporters - after all we are locked together like the two fish of Pisces, eternally swimming away from one another in an ongoing mesmerizing dance - like the needle and the groove. And we couldn’t be more proud of the work thus far and the immersive sonic tapestry contained in our discography - one that has introduced a galaxy of bright new stars along the way and perhaps cemented an aesthetic that will ever be connected to raw electronica & dance tunes in this moment. What started with exponential energy and barely containable weekly release schedule has admittingly slowed with age (more accurately gliding to a semi-halt in 2021 while we worked hard on our sister-label), but like most good things has gotten better with age. A bit sharper. A more complex taste. Fruity aromas. Or maybe we’ve just been staring too long at the half-finished bottle of vino sitting here while thinking of something creative to say. Either way, we’re far from half-finished (with the concept that is, not the wine), and as long as the groove is alive we know you’ll hear from us for many more moons. Always on the edge of something new. As we continue to develop the ever important VIBE! All it ever takes is some time.

I wanted to write something really clever about this Los Angeles based trio of artists - Lexi and Frank (PVLMS), Danny (Goliger) and Justin (Jay), about the amazing Fantastic Voyage imprint they’ve all worked on, or how this was a second sterling outing for Danny on clipp.art, or Justin’s ubiquitous tracks and fuzzy musical pedigree that has made him a familiar face in the LA beats scene, about PVLMS crunchy raw semi ambient house stylistics.. But none of that really matters. Instead just trust when we say this tune is a lo-fi house classic and its hook will rattle around your brain tank forever. And if you don’t hear that, then you are confused.

I don’t want to get over you

I’m down but you’re confused

If you want me around

I need to know right now

We keep on running in circles

We keep on running in circles

We keep on running in circles

We keep on running in circles

Charleeps returns to clipp.art with her debut EP “Hope for the Future''. Following an appearance on our “SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD TIME III” in 2020 with the song Matabiau, and cuts for Happiness Theory and Les Disques Du Lobby, “Hope for the Future'' delivers 3 cohesive cuts of raw electronica, delving into the depths of ambient, acid, breakbeat and leftfield. Epic title track “Hope for the Future'' cuts a before and after figure, containing nostalgic nods to the past with swirling strings and St Germain-esque piano delays, before tumbling into a 303 groove hole that propels the entire release forward. It’s one of several looking back to look forward moments found on the EP. “Cosmic Rain” delivers a low fidelity exploration of analog archetypes via scrolling 3D corridors of Parisian Acid House - like an endless video game scrolling loop for 90s inspired French ravers. “Step by Step” closes the tribal rave circuit with a Junglish acid assault on the frontal lobe. Moroccan sunrise vocals and staccato stabs never go astray. The whole release could be easily described best as a Roland branded time machine sinking into an oceanic Acid sunset, and speaks volumes of hope for the future of this new French talent.

Did thee not believe thine favoritist record crew would be waiting when thou arrived back from Summer hiatus. That thou wouldst dine upon more tasty morsels of vibe? But behold! A message of hope from The lord of Newcastle - The Hero of Hard, The Prince of Pump - the mighty MURG - has returned! And as decreed in the prophecies, once again bestows upon thou gentle sweating foreheads no less than 3 (!!) new audible movements worthy only of those strong willed enough to enter the house of hard. Final Symphony. Despondent. Escapism. A trilogy of tracks destined to propel thine energy into heroic feats of dancefloor greatness. Tracks that will transmute thou most humble servants of the vibe into mighty Ravagers of the Rave.

And it was good!

Did thee not believe thine favoritist record crew would be waiting when thou arrived back from Summer hiatus. That thou wouldst dine upon more tasty morsels of vibe? But behold! A message of hope from The lord of Newcastle - The Hero of Hard, The Prince of Pump - the mighty MURG - has returned! And as decreed in the prophecies, once again bestows upon thou gentle sweating foreheads no less than 3 (!!) new audible movements worthy only of those strong willed enough to enter the house of hard. Final Symphony. Despondent. Escapism. A trilogy of tracks destined to propel thine energy into heroic feats of dancefloor greatness. Tracks that will transmute thou most humble servants of the vibe into mighty Ravagers of the Rave.

And it was good!

Monkey is the third single on SHADES, the collaborative EP by Mexican artists Trip Tease & Kris Berle. It was the first song they did and in Trip’s opinion the best song of the EP and its hard to disagree, but if haven't heard the rest of the EP yet its also hard to say. The EP is really amazing. The thing about this track is it makes us feel happy - happy - every time! Trip Tease says: “The chord progression and vocals just sprang out of our souls instantly and that makes me feel good because it makes me think that the song is authentic and it was actually inside us waiting to be created.” Kris Berle adds: “We produced Monkey in a bunker studio in Mexico City while I later recorded the vocals on a trip to Norway while traveling on a train. I always feel this tropical vibe on the tune that wants you to go to the beach and surf.” Ok so.. good vibes, happy feeling, go to a beach and surf. Check! Check! Check! Well, Monkey ticks ALL our boxes. Grab some rays and enjoy the sand. Cowabunga.

At night we tuck our kids into bed and tell them of a magical once upon a time era when DJs played music that sounded like broken robots eating scraps of sheet metal while cutting themselves with angle grinders. There were no rules in the music albeit some sort of discernable rhythmic quality, and the sound design was off the planet. Beats came from samples of samples of samples, labored over in 8-bit formats on equipment that looked more like battle tank parts than musical instruments. You might easily confuse this description for one regarding the era of “Blog House” from whence our latest knight of clipp drew his broadest sword, but we’re actually talking further afield to the dawn of Jungle and the Age of Amiga.

We could talk endlessly slash boringly about this all but maybe its better Roy (Boy 8-Bit) waxes lyrical himself:

“I made these tunes on a Commodore Amiga computer using OctaMED and a Megalosound sampler cartridge. It’s the exact same machine I started making music on over 25 years ago. It feels like I’ve come full circle. Except this time I know what I’m doing. Maybe. It didn’t feel like it

The Amiga allows you to use four channels of 8-Bit audio and with good sample preparation and planning you can get great results. I didn’t do that and just decided to dive straight in using whatever sample scraps I had lying around, aiming to get a chaotic mid tempo rave vibe without using too many well trodden, overly obvious sounds (there are a couple in there.)

I’ve been meaning to do this for years, but old technology is temperamental. With a bit of TLC though my old friend is back on fine form and I look forward to continuing our musical relationship!”

Glad we got you working at it again Roy! Computer junglists forever!

Marc Gonen (aka Gøne) is an artist from Istanbul (Turkey) who makes deep dreamy house music. Get around his catalogue and you’ll easily hear why his music has been supported by artists like &ME, Adam Port, Rampa and Dennis Cruz or why he’s performed alongside legends like Tunnelvisions, David Mayer, and Till Von Sein. He’s also released tracks on Pieces of Life, Vinyl On Demand, Ladino Romance, Musica Cavernicola and Petra and now on the latest release, 4 track EP titled “INSIDE” he joins the pantheon of underground champions with his debut release for clipp.art.

The word “journey” gets thrown around a lot in music press releases but Inside is a trip, man. Opener “Don’t Do This, Don’t Try” gets to work immediately drilling into your psyche with an almost hypnotic gusto. The vocal mantra at it’s core is certain to open your 3rd and possibly 4th inner eye. “You Know” continues this awakening with an underplayed chuggy feel and “AIR”-esque spirit at its core. “Inside” moves into middle eastern tribal altitudes, heads in the clouds, gliding over an ocean of sand-dancing vibes. “Au Revoir” closes out this stunning release with sun-bathed salutations and plenty of chunky percussion.

Sıcak karşılama!

The concept of “lo-fi house” is a bit “ugh” by now but like any genre done right it transcends the momentary meme attached. If the song fits, there will be a dancefloor somewhere for it live. Even if it’s in a forest among the trees that nobody hears falling. Felix lives in Szczecin, Poland and he makes music that does exactly this. We first visited his version of lush piano tinkering meets hot-pumpy lo-fi house aesthetic on the track ‘Fantasies’ from the inaugural ‘высокий спрос’ compilation (CLIPP143) in April 2020. “высокий спрос. vol 1” showcased underground artists & producers residing in Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation bumping out the boundaries between Eastern and Western European dance music and obviously we loved Felix’s track to invite him back for more! The song he wrote for us “Dreaming of You” continues gliding between the airy dreamlike factor & bumping house beats of his previous work but with the added vibe of Felix’s own introspective vocal styling. And we equally love this one! It steps up because it goes beyond the usual stylistic tropes and creates its own dream-logic. Its a song for pondering the meaning of life as you stare aimlessly into the glassy 5am water on Swinoujscie Beach in the Polish Springtime. Where if you start now and just keep walking you’ll end up in Germany on the same stretch of sand. Dreaming of you.

Recorded in Mexico City, Clouds is the second single on SHADES, a collaborative EP by Trip Tease & Kris Berle. Kris says this song is the most ‘poppy’ track of the EP, the lyrics bringing her to a dreamy place surrounded by lo-fi textures and rhythmic percussion.

We’re told Kris magically improvised the vocals in one take, perfectly. And anyone with ears that knows VIBE when they hear it will definitely agree. Lucky that magic take was caught on tape and locked in some kind of digital binary code that can be reconfigured into sounds that will delight your ears forever more. Dreams. Clouds. Magic.

Come with us on a journey through time and space. No, not to the time of the Mighty Boosh. Though we can only wish. Leap back with us just one measly Earth year. What a difference 365.25 revolutions around our Sun makes. When we were more interested in lock-ins than lock-downs. When the only place i’d think it was normal to wear a mask was inside the dark corridors of a goth cyber rave. When a cough was just a cough and not the end of the world. When you could just hate on Anti-Vaxxers online without secretly triggering the closet conspiracy peanut in your closest crew. Sigh, good times. It was during this time our beloved VONDA7 - mistress of techlightenment, OG analog dance gangster - found herself visiting from Berlin the studio of one Mr. Danny Goliger, somewhere inside the palm tree bejewelled city of Los Angles, California. They made a jam. Then the world blew up. Nobody knew that it was a catchy, fun, house tune. Or that it was made using hardware synths with classic Roland drum machine sounds, and features VONDA7's infectious vocals. The world was distracted by other kinds of infectiousness. Danny would go on to continue releasing dope tunes on Fantastic Voyage and VONDA7 would release more music than you could shake a bottle of hydroxychloroquine at. And somehow the track was lost to time, and the space in between. But only for a year. We present it to you now, in all its squelchy, housey, bouncy, glory. You can tell a good tune because inevitably they find their way to the surface. Certain things are meant to be. Natural Curiosity.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.