How was your summer? Was it full of adventures and quests? Was it quiet, reflective and filled with long walks? Did you make new friends, discover new hideouts and learn new recipes? Hopefully we all got a bit of summertime mystery, but if not don’t worry about it too much – we’ve got plenty of all of that, and much more, lined up below for your perusement, enjoyment and fulfillment. And Autumn isn’t exactly short on romance, either.
Discovery Zone – Pattern Recognition [Mansions and Millions]
Video by Damien Granier
Discovery Zone’s 2020 album Remote Control was an indisputable banger with extremely high replay value. This is why we’re so excited to have a new Discovery Zone single to treat ourselves with. The single kicks off with a sparse drum beat before welcoming a wave of ethereal synths and playful electronics. Once the tranquil spoken vocals enter the mix, the song very quickly lulls you into a trance, building into an endlessly inviting dreamscape. Damien Granier’s video makes use of uncanny computer modeling to place vocalist JJ Wohl inside her own digital cosmos, leaving the real world light years behind.
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Rắn Cạp Đuôi – Aztec Glue [Subtext Recordings]
Video directed by Tôn Tôn Bo, @keikk0_baby
3D Artists: BORED KID @closetfulofchurches , HACHUL @hachulsgallery
Rắn Cạp Đuôi are the border spanning, genre mashing Vietnamese collective committed to breaking down boundaries in multiple mediums. ‘Aztec Glue’, a track from their recent album Ngủ Ngày Ngay Ngày Tận Thế (produced by Berlin’s own Ziùr), is a chaotic yet soothing whirlwind of digital noise, melody and sampling. The track uses noise and industrial music as a touchstone, but leaps off into a joyful mix of wild synths and sounds twisted like rainbows in the spray of a sprinkler. The video from Tôn Tôn Bo features a kaleidoscope of 3D art, beginning with a digital dinosaur in utero and flying through a stream of consciousness excursion from there.
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Tygapaw – Diffusus [Tresor Records]
Video by Gabriel Massan
Tygapaw is the Brooklyn based artist, DJ and producer creating freeing, exhilarating techno. Their 2020 album Get Free received critical acclaim, and now they’re back with an exclusive track for Tresor’s TRESOR 30, a 52-track limited edition box set released to celebrate the club’s third decade. The video, created by visual artist Gabriel Massan, and initially Inspired by Tygapaw’s own painting, features a collection of glass/gummy gremlin teletubbies – either nightmarish or adorable depending on your personal inclination. Watch this shiny dreamworld slowly slip into night time as the bubbling bass and fenetic drums wind up the tension.
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Pink Lint – Windhound [Listenrecords]
If the end of summer has got you feeling cosy, then tuck in with this DIY tune nestled in the sweet spot between avant pop and indie folk. Pink Lint sucks up the sounds of Neukölln and turns them into gentle and lilting songs – ‘Windhound’ features a delicate structure of gentle guitar, found sound and soothing backing harmonies, as well as mellow, affirming vocals. The DIY video creatively opens up the world of the song, slipping shapes tying together snapshots of the everyday poetry of phone cords, wind turbines and dogs, creating a warm dedication to regular sights and sounds.
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Charity Children – Baby Blue [Charity Children Records]
Video by Ramona Ramona and Tacky Posh Productions
Charity Children are a songwriting duo, originally arriving in Berlin from New Zealand. They proudly champion a classic singer-songwriter flair for theatricality, while also introducing modern production touches and influences. ‘Baby Blue’ is built from a winning combo of soft synths and sweet vocals, with brief splashes of saxophone yielding the perfect amount of cheese. Capturing an 80s TV ambience, the video from Ramona Ramona and Tacky Posh Productions prominently features a montage of suburban cleaning that slowly dives into lynchian horror just as the song builds to its climax.
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Héctor Oaks x Coco-Paloma – No Hay Mañana [KAOSvs.CQI]
Video by Jonas Vahl
A rising star of the international techno scene links up with a young, up-and-coming Berlin vocalist. Héctor Oaks has made a name for himself with his eclectic techno sets, combining mass appeal with a crate digger’s touch. Coco-Paloma is Berlin born, raised here by classical musician parents. Her experiences discovering Berlin clubs at a young age has given her a passion for electronic dance music in all its forms. The track is dedicated to finding new worlds and losing yourself in them, and the video from Jonas Vahl captures the two artists in the middle of their creative process.
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Liadland – Queer Heaven [Independant]
An outspoken activist and experienced performance artist, Liadland’s ‘Queer Heaven’ finds the artist rolling years of performance and activism across europe into a debut single. A simple, steady beat accompanies a sweet and tender ballad while Liad’s unadorned vocals open up, switching between spoken and sung sections with a natural ease. The down-to-earth video catches Liadland performing in a bar late at night, as well as the meandering walk home after. Simplicity is the track’s greatest strength, as it heartwarmingly embraces the tender and sentimental.
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Yvois – Masks Off [Secret Songs]
Video by Raymond Wassef
Yvois combines gentle electronica with a deft touch for a beautifully intricate, syncopated soundscape. Built from whispering, tactile sounds that click like coins rolling across the table, as well as soft bass and an emotive vocal sample, the track seems to shimmer and hover in the air. This impression is carried on through the video’s single shot, which slowly zooms out from a single dancer left alone on the dance floor at the end of the night. The video’s slight slow motion and the track’s glowing sounds make four minutes feel like a blissful eternity, capturing a specific melancholic euphoria and bottling it for future use.
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Follow LOLA on Spotify for more Berlin music and playlists.
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