Ransom Note

Originating from Edinburgh Ann Tweak is one of the founders behind the long running party series The Mirror Dance – an eclectic party which has been based out of the longstanding Sneaky Pete’s venue having played host to the likes of Yu Su, Dj Python, Shy One and more. As a DJ he draws upon a broad set of influences – this mixtape demonstrates a deep understanding of the roots of house music as it...

‘Techno and Noise are more important to me.” In the barren industrial landscape where noise meets techno, Richie Culver’s Quiet Husband project continues to carve out a landscape that’s as uncompromising as it is compelling. Following the raw, unflinching ‘Religious Equipment’ album, Culver is back with ‘RAGING HABITS 2’. This sophomore EP signals a subtle shift in approach for Culver. Where ‘Reli...

Portland-based ambient architect and far afield sound technician Graintable steps up for the next edition of Seeds Mix. INTERVIEW: https://www.theransomnote.com/music/mixes/seeds-mix-3-the-first-signs-of-spring-with-graintable/ @graintable

Bárbara Boeing is a stupendously good digger. She’s been collecting records for many years and her far reaching sets offer but a mere glimpse into her musical sphere. From funk to soul, downtempo to balearic, bossa nova to house and beyond. Nothing is off limits for the Brazilian DJ who was raised in Curitiba and since moved to Milan bringing with her a renowned reputation for eclectic sets. This...

“Pure Blueberry and Armadillos” Russ, aka Skeleten’s, dropped by for a mix recorded in the early morning hours in his Sydney studio, windows open to an “unusually quiet street below”. Best enjoyed, “when your driver puts this on for an hour-long journey back from a party outside the city just before the sun rises while wearing your friend’s clothes”. It arrives as Skeleten has just released his se...

"I always like starting with something out of context..."  He of WH Lung greatness and now a solo live artist & DJ delivers a belter of a mix. Having grown up in Manchester's DIY band scene, Tom Sharkett came late to these things called dancing clubs and all that came with it, discovering electronic music through synthesizers while recording with his most excellent band W. H. Lung. His journey fro...

Weaving and winding it moved through the jungle with devilish pace. Yet to the naked eye you might never know that it was slipping beneath the surface. On the ground and in the rivers the basilisk was king – a scaly creature with a pointed tongue. It’s venomous power was enough to floor even the heartiest of prey. As the sun beat down upon this desolate place it remained anonymous, almost invisibl...

It’s always good to know that music is in safe hands. From time to time the relentless pace of social media and its affect on dance music ‘trends’ can lead us to forgetting what it’s always been really about. Anna Malysz is a key figure in the German underground, working in numerous capacities hosting dj workshops and as a member of various collectives and projects including the DRIVE series at th...

His mind wandered from time to time. From this to that and back again. His perceptions danced atop a fragile sense of perspective, he wondered if he might ever regain the right to reality. For every thought was a maze, a whirlwind in which to become lost in the fog of the morning. Whether he could be trusted was another thing. There wasn't much else for it but to try. Slump Recordings continues to...

It were as if he’d been here before. Everything looked ever so familiar, the lake in the distance, the rolling hills which watched over it all, the dense greenery of the forest alongside. He strolled through the long grass trying to recall how and when he might have been here. Had it been in a dream? Was this some sort of strange future memory or was nostalgia simply playing a cruel trick upon his...

Enea Pascal is the co founder of IVREATRONIC and has just released a new record called ‘BRUTTO?’. It’s a wicked release, compiled of downtempo explorations, trip hop, weird skits, mutations and beyond. It’s tripped out and freakish, playful and yet somehow makes sense as a body of work. Released on IVREATRONIC, the label and party series first emerged from Ivrea in Italy in 2017 and has grown from...

Hidden in the middle of the desert was a mysterious old barn, a place in which ancient rituals had once been held in a bid to bring down the sun from up above so that it might be extinguished. It was damn hot. This place had been known as Umbra. It remained as it was, a mere shell of a building in which wild dances, wild songs and wild chants had beckoned and bellowed between the four walls. Littl...

It had been ever so lonely out there, deep in the darkness of outer space. There were tall tales which he might be able to one day relive and reconcile but those were not to be told now. Those were to be kept firmly secret, locked away in the confines of his mind. For he had returned but what was out there must not. Down here everything was normal. Life was normal. The people were normal. Every da...

She was all that he'd ever dreamed of, a perfect picture in his mind, a vision in red dancing amongst the skies. You never quite knew when one day you might stumble upon her, for she might be lurking just around the next corner or in the glimpse of a window passing quickly by.  Things come and go so quickly in this life. You could be anyone, perhaps. Yet still, the same face continued to dance up...

The city was quiet in the warmth of the morning sun. It was the height of summer and soon the cafes on every street corner would be crowded with onlookers and tourists taking in the sights and sounds of this great, dense place. It was hot and dusty. As he wandered from block to block, corner to corner, he could not help but think how about how grateful for his freedom he was. It had been long comi...

Inhabiting the delicate space between immersive ambient soundscapes and experimental fieldwork. For this week’s Monday Is OK mixtape we welcome Zurich-based artist Philipp Stolberg, whose new album “The Dog Under the Lantern” (released his month), us a multimedia project exploring ambient, liminal spaces with cyanotype prints. The album focuses on themes of light and darkness, solitude and movemen...

Our friends Kiara Scuro, the London-based duo made up of Rosie Ama and Nadia Harris, have built up a repertoire of spooky tracks over the last few years for the likes of fabric Originals, Ritmo Fatale and Accidental Meetings. After hunkering down in the studio last year, they're now joining the Faux Poly family for their debut EP, Night Crush. Layering their own vocals with samples, the pair deliv...

A haunting reimagining of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game,” in honour of the late David Lynch recorded for the Beta Biennial of Architecture. The release arrives as a tribute to David Lynch, featuring visuals from his recreation of the Trinity nuclear test as seen in Twin Peaks: The Return. “The Biennial originally commissioned the track, and I closed my show with it there, but it felt like the right t...

Zeynep Erbay is a Turkish producer and dj who has released music on the likes of Soul Clap Records, Fool’s Gold, Nu Northern Soul and Exploited. She tends to blur the lines between traditional house music and that steeped in a more italo lead, cosmic influence. As a DJ she is commanding, her taste informs sets which tend to weave and wander, telling a broader story rather which soundtracks long ni...

Watching from his penthouse he gazed out over the city, taking in the view and wondering whether those down below ever thought much of him up high amongst the clouds. He could see it all, the city in all its abject disarray and chaos. The clouds as they came and went overhead might affect the mood or the tone, yet the underlying themes remained all the same.  This was his empire. His kingdom.  Up...

On the 20th September 2024, we hosted a joint party with Spezialmaterial at Zukunft in Zurich. True to form, the night brought together Tia Cousins, Matt Cowell, and Princess P for a session that lived up to the Spezial ethos. For a taste of what went down, check out this 2-hour snippet from Tia Cousins and Matt Cowell’s b2b, capturing the essence of the evening in full swing.

Stormy waves for January, direct from Donegal courtesy of Harri Pepper’s brother. Raised amid the rhythms and canvases of his family’s jazz bar and art gallery on the wild Welsh coast, Jac Pepper’s journey began in the creative crucible of Peppers in Abergwaun. Brother to DJ Harri Pepper, featured on these very pages for time, Jac has spent over a decade crafting vinyl-only residencies from Irelan...

We recently released the most excellent debut EP from the mysterious Double Body. Four scuzzy, Lo-Fi dance floor destroyers that brim with hypnotic patterns and mesmerising, looped samples. Even though they won't tell us their real identity, we thought we'd see what a mix from them would sound like... from early Photek that sounds "like an abandoned factory on Mars" which gives you a sense of the...

Organic exploration with our first Music To Watch Seeds Grow By signings… Some musical journeys begin with a whisper, a gentle rustling of leaves, and a breath of sound. For brothers Clive and Mark, aka the legendary Woo, this journey has been unfolding since the 1970s through a four-decad long sonic odyssey of discovery… Their latest output on our very own Music To Watch Seeds Grow By imprint is...

The clouds were scattered, a delicate array of colours illuminated in pinks and blues from the late evening haze. The sun was setting in the distance casting strange shapes and shadows on the land below. At times it was hard to assess where the sky began and the fields ended, for they met somewhere in the middle in a myriad of shades. Who knew what sort of god might live above their hollow might....