digital release on bandcamp on november 27, 2025
(also coming on: juno, beatport, apple music, amazon, youtube…)
Mandarax (com10) completes new.com’s trilogy, following Riddleyspeak (com08) and U-1 Flight (com09) – a total of 16 tracks of diverse and exploratory bass music, deeply rooted in techno, foundation dubstep, and, of course, dub.
Mandarax opens yet another generous treasure chest of tools and gems: Sinka (140 bpm) unfolds with a haunting, half-stepping string theme that continuously lifts your mind to higher, brighter ground. Lor (140 bpm) goes club-wise with hard, syncopated kicks and insistent sounds, underpinned by an evolving, intense bassline. Lira (133 bpm) playfully backs you up with a dense weave of percussion and drums; close to techno, yet resisting the formula. Dirno (138 bpm) delivers pure, trippy bassline vibes; garage-influenced and colored by Detroit-style synth themes. Nanno (133 bpm) drifts into space as a laid-back stepper, saturated with lush dub effects and cryptic vocals. Keel (136 bpm) rounds out the release with a more experimental, introverted, and subtly understated cut.
Once again, the titles refer to a literary masterpiece of exceptional imaginative power: Galápagos (1985) by Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007). The novel wittily yet incisively examines the farcical workings of humans’ overly large brains in a setting a little less than one million years from now. Mandarax is a universal translator and a repository of human knowledge, while Sinka, Lor, Lira, etc. are orphaned descendants of the cannibalistic Kanka-bono tribe who accidentally become “the mothers of all modern humankind.”
all tracks w & p by Marius Neukom
mixed by Lino Schilling & Marius Neukom
mastered by Beau Thomas @ 1087
p & c 2025 com10