Post-heatwave scribblings hatched in a tub and snatched from our newsletter, featuring 2 new releases and a tour announcement!

The yearly pictorial recap of the sounds and faces that made up KRAAK Festival, as captured by Hans van der Linden's all-seeing lens ❤️

Budapest-born composer Tibor Szemző has been an unavoidable fixture of the Hungarian avant-garde since the 70s, as a founder of the minimalist ensemble Group 180 and other multidisciplinary performance outfits like the Gordian Knot Cinematic Music Lab. His extensive solo output spans over 40 years yet still remained somewhat on the “cult” end of things until reissuings of his work made recent rounds. His stealthily slitherings between the realms of ambient, new age, minimalism and spoken word render an undefinable vision that feels grounded in the modern world, which just as soon evaporates into inscrutability as soon as you think you got it. Below: a late game special peek into Hungarian composer Tibor Szemző's visual world!

Here’s some leftfield freshness from the ever-prescient Spettro microverse: Simone Bornati of the Twoonky/TwoMonkeys/Chorus Abstracta/etc and prime selector/sound artist Luisali sonically enmesh for one of the most confoundingly enjoyable musical trips in recent memory. Dystopian trip hop for liminal dance floors, where what initially feels clumsy and unsynchronized quickly gains a sense of its own, sending confusing signals to your body about what to do with all the moves that invariably ensue.

Originally formed in Stuttgart in 1989, Cluster Bomb Unit has been touring the world many times over with their straightforward, no bullshit German Raw Punk Kommando march. Founding member Oliver gives us a short update on the current state and possible futures of CBU, and we've assembled a small footage dump to get everyone fist pumping before their arrival on the KRAAK Fest stage this Sat!