überlin

Jizzworthy vinyl alert! So I’m currently “between turntables”, but when my kit is all set up again, this is going to be the first thing to grace it – the debut by Berlin-based post-90s alt metallers HEADS. Lead track “A Mural Is Worth A Thousand Words”, has already squished our skulls under its size 12 Doc Martens, and the rest of the disc keeps the pressure up, with such grim-faced noise explorations as “Chewing Up Kittens”, “Skrew” and “Black River”.

Recorded live by Jonathon Nido, a former member of The Ocean, and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna), HEADS. reaches deep into an abyss of post-hardcore and noise rock influences, and excavates something else entirely: dense, driving, stripped back, and utterly unique. And it’s available on sick black and white wax! Go to headsnoise.com to pick up the album, and find out where you can see the German-Australian heavyweights live.

Such feels. Part-time Berliner Giselle Mapp has been splitting her time between here and her hometown of Toronto for two years now. Back in Canada, she works on crystalline productions with the remainder of WILDE, Brandon Merenick and Olutobi “Nyra” Akinwumi, while she spends her time in Berlin seemingly collecting experiences and, yes, more feels. At the risk of projecting, we can hear the self-reflection imposed by time spent abroad in Mapp’s introspective lyrics:

When I wrote this song, I was going through a lot of feelings, and emotions about who I was, where I am going. There were so many colours and shades of myself layering each other. So I wanted to be reminded, and when I was I felt sure again. I felt the best part of myself that kept me going, coming back, ready to help and love the rest of me. You’ll find the best part of yourself flashing by you, and in an instant, it’s gone again. But it will be there, and it will always come back. Like a whisper in the ear, you’ll remember it, like soft words.

Submerge yourself in “Flashlight”, and go to WILDE’s website for updates on the forthcoming EP, which includes remixes by Nick Catchdubs and Esta of Soulection. Should be deep.

André Uhl is one of Berlin’s most gifted electronic producers. Since we last featured him, he’s been working on getting his live performance tight, as evidenced by these shots of his moody audiovisual sets. His latest release, out today on Bad Panda records, is typical of his meticulous style, with darkly cinematic synthscapes woven through with deep, intricate percussion. Listen to “Black Box” and “Outside” right here, and visit André Uhl’s Bandcamp to download the tracks. Start off your Monday mean and moody!

Since Ballet School dropped this a couple of weeks back, it hasn’t left our virtual turntable: their cover of Madonna’s “Justify My Love” and Beyoncé’s “Partition”. Something of a statement of intent ahead of the band’s US tour, their dream pop mashup of Ms Ciccone’s critically-panned creative peak and undeniable, world-domination Bey comes with good reason. Here’s singer Rosie Blair:

When “Justify My Love” came out, it made perfect sense because it is the sound of the world’s most powerful woman reaching her early thirties sexual peak. Like, it figures. For about five years after this Madonna released nothing but explicitly sexual music and was totally punished for it. She rarely refers to it now but it was the lowest period of her career, critically speaking. Every time she did an interview one of the questions would invariably be “Do you think your career is over?” I mean, how rude. Beyonce’s “Partition” is the same vibe, a woman in her early thirties reaching maximum velocity with her sexuality except this time, Beyonce was critically acclaimed for her work. The juxtaposition between the two songs is one that is just as important for me culturally as it is musically. It makes me think that it’s worth putting your ideas and perspectives out there as a female even if you get a kicking, ’cause there’s always a bigger picture. This is the definition of “influence.”

Berlin is the adopted home of an almost unbelievable number of formidable female performers and producers. Just a week after XOSAR’s none-more-black metal mix, we discovered some equally dark, but more pointedly danceable music from Sophie Ruston AKA Ghettozoid. She seems to have been laying low for a year or so, so we’re dusting off some classics that remind us of peak-time Miss Kitten being sternly told off by Anne Clark. If you’ve got the good sense to like your synth music shrouded in smoke, and your bass be-bootied, then get more Ghettozoid right here.

What could be better than a techno producer who listens to a ton of black metal? XOSAR grabbed our attention with this TRVE KVLT mix for Red Bull Music Academy, which presents curios like Italian one-man band Tony Tears and black metal canon from the controversial Burzum, alongside the Californian’s own productions – blackened techno that goes bump in the night. If you like your electronics twisted into nightmarish shapes and smeared with dark mascara, check out XOSAR’s influences below, and listen to her own music on her SoundCloud.

Here’s a little something chill to ease you into the week: “Let’s Start” by Josh the Cat. Josh has appeared on überlin before, once as his Mez Medallion alter ego, and again as Phia’s long-time “collaborator” (that’s what me and Zoë call it too!). This time, the catman is back, with some serious Erlend Øye vibes and a track that he tantalisingly describes as ” a slowed-down early Twin Shadow meets a lo-fi Death Cab for Cutie, but produced by Childish Gambino”. Have a listen to “Let’s Start” below, and download it for free here. Have a good week