Ransom Note

Manchester-based producer Lily Mumby, the creative force behind Lapalace, has chosen Lavender as her botanical muse for this sixth instalment.

The standout track ‘new age night’ – a stunning love child of William Basinski's decaying tape loops and Aphex Twin's intricate programming—carries subtle lavender-inspired tones, balancing the plant's calming essence with hypnotic rhythms. Just as lavender requires thoughtful tending before rewarding the gardener with its distinctive aroma, Lapalace's landscapes reveal deeper complexities with each listen.

Medicine 8 are back. The project of brothers Liam and Luke May started around 30 years ago in their South London stomping ground.

Their sound, which blended electro and acid house with rock sensibilities, saw the pair release a healthy string of records all the way through to the late noughties, along with a handful of remixes for the likes of Orbital, Manic Street Preachers, Nirvana and pop royalty Kylie Minogue.

Medicine 8 has been lying dormant over the last decade but Liam and Luke have been keeping themselves busy in the interim. As well as running Trashmouth Records - the label responsible for bringing you Fat White Family, MEATRAFFLE and Warmduscher - the pair have been keeping the hardware dream alive with Decius, the sleazy acid house outfit they founded alongside Paranoid London’s Quinn Whalley and Lias Saudi, long running label mate and frontman of the Fat Whites.

In April the duo marked their first new music since 2016 with a remix of May Lavie’s ‘The Poem’ for our R$N sub-label Human Endeavour. The request from label boss Rosie Ama has now jerked the project back into action and, since the release of the remix, the pair have got back in the studio under the moniker and are now giving Decius tracks a Medicine 8 make over. Looks like this won’t be the last we’ll be seeing of the project…

To celebrate this triumphant return, boy have we got a treat for you. Luke and Liam have kindly put together a two-hour long 100% Medicine 8 production mix, packed with tracks from the archive, unreleased music, banging remixes and new releases...

PREMIERE: Retromigration - B=E² [International Chrome] by Ransom Note

Sleep D are a pair of Australian producers and DJ’s who also run the prolific record label Butter Sessions which has become a home to an array of artists including the likes of Jennifer Loveless, Hybrid Man, Ewan Jansen and more.

The label is rooted in underground club music and has been in operation for over ten years and has remained a consistent presence.

The pair themselves make music which sits somewhat between genres drawing upon elements of early trance, acid, downtempo, house and techno. It’s always raw and rugged, at times progressive in places but definitely rooted in clubland.

This mix is a stellar representation of the pairs musical outlook which is broad and fierce. It goes very deep and as such the length reflects the diversity and strength of narrative in the style of sets they tend to perform and play.

This one is a tour de force.

The snake weaved its way through the jungle. It slithered slowly along the leafy underbelly of the great green monster as the trees breathed deeply in and out brimming with warmth and wisdom.

The jungle was an ominous place – some called it the beast for the way in which it could swallow you and never let you go.

The snake knew little of the landscape in which it lived but the people, the people, they did.

It was hot and sticky that night.

Budalagi is expertly remixed by Dåser to create a genre pushing version which channels elements of dub, bass, gengetone and beyond. It’s all things and it sounds delicate and punchy in equal measure – however that works is a mystery and testament to the production skills.

Norway x Germany. Two heavyweights go head to head for a belter of an EP.

There once were two sorcerers of synthesized sound, Named Skatebård and Lauer, most wondrously renowned, They journeyed to Geilo one effervescent night, With Bordello A Parigi shining strobe-light bright.

“Oh fiddle-de-dee with your Trollkraft and strings! What Norwegian-German vibrating bass brings!” They twostepped and tangoed through fog with such glee, While bongos and toms played a disco jubilee.

The incandescent synthlines went weaving so high, Like glow-sticks elating the dawning trance sky, The italo-indie-house masters did play, Till the heyday of rhythm drove genre away.

And what did they learn from this euphoric spree? That electronic wizards, when paired, disagree On everything proper, but somehow still make The most splendid nonsense for dancing’s sweet sake!

Trollkraft unites the mighty Skatebård and (Philip) Lauer, a Norwegian-German partnership.

Their self-titled release features two tracks of Italo inspired 90s Garage.

“One Night In Geilo” draws on 90s house and two-stepping melody.

Out June 6th on Bordello.

Get it on…right…now.

Listen below:

https://www.theransomnote.com/music/premieres/premiere-skatebard-lauer-one-night-in-geilo-bordello-a-parigi/

"Ten years of Invisible Inc! It doesn’t seem that long ago since the label was first conceived in a moment of naive enthusiasm, I must confess!"

We're premiering "Animal, Mineral, Vegetable" by Girls Chat Room, a standout cut from Invisible Inc's 10-year anniversary compilation. The label celebrates a decade of sitting comfortably in that sweet spot between outsider dance music and experimental sounds. guided by the vision of founder GK Machine since 2014.

Part of a special 2xLP release pressed on pink vinyl, across 80 minutes it's exactly the kind of "mental kaleidoscope" that gives this now Glaswegian institution label its distinct identity.

The full anniversary compilation drops on May 25th, 2025.

https://www.theransomnote.com/music/premieres/premiere-premiere-girls-chat-room-animal-mineral-vegetable-invisible-inc/

@invisible-inc

Illinois-based producer Zvrra expands her discography with the four-track EP “Mica,” released on Munich’s ever reliable QEONE label.

There once was a Zvrra so rare, Who lived on a techno-swept prairie with care,

With her Wooden Rain Tool, So bizarre and so cool, That made rhythms beyond all compare!

She tumbled her beats like a shower, On dry wood for hour after hour,

While butterfly wings Made glistening things, As beetles turned gold by her power!

The musical Zvrra would play Her hypnotic percussion all day,

In QEONE’s domain, Through sunshine and rain, While breakbeats and melodies sway!

Oh wonderful, strange little Zvrra, From Illinois, not from Sierra,

Her ambient chirps And kaleidoscope blips, Made listeners feel so much clearer!

Following her 2020 techno belter “Dress” and 2021’s LP “Bizzaroland,” this new collection spans techno, breakbeat, ambient, and electronica across all its 4 tracks.

We’re premiering the percussive, intricately textured roller “Wooden Rain”

https://www.theransomnote.com/music/premieres/premiere-zvrra-wooden-rain-tool-qeone/

@zvrra @qeone

80’s NYC NRG loft party vibes from CC:DISCO! on remix duty for Daisybelle.

There once was a DJ named Daisybelle, Who played records fantastically well,

With Tasty Lopez she’d shout, “Eyes Wide Shut” all about,

Till the dancefloor was caught in their spell!

They journeyed from London to Puerto, With CCDISCO’s remixes in tow,

On HE.SHE.THEY. RECORDS they’d bounce, With high-energy sounds to announce,

Making sunrise sessions brilliantly glow!

The vinyl-driven Daisybellian beat, Made fabric and Pikes quite replete,

With eclectic selection, And musical connection,

The Printworks crowd stamped with their feet!

Oh! The shimmer and ravey tension! And dancefloors too many to mention!

With euphoria slow-burning bright, Till the darkness turned into light,

A melodic house music invention!

London-via-Puerto Rico DJ/producer Daisybelle is a regular at fabric and Pike. Eyes Wide Shut features vocals from Tasty Lopez. We’re premiering the 80’s bounce of CC:DISCO!’s rework…

Get it on, let’s go.

https://www.theransomnote.com/music/premieres/premiere-daisybelle-ft-tasty-lopez-eyes-wide-shut-ccdisco-remix/

@daisybelledj / @cc-disco

Established in 2018, Suffragette City is a not-for-profit Manchester-based club night held annually to mark International Women’s Day. They raise funds for local grassroots charities supporting women and gender expansive people while creating events for all genders that are full of positivity, solidarity and mischief.

This May 10th, they’re bringing their friendly Manchester vibes to London for an afternoon of excellent music and community at our friends The Social, 5 Little Portland Street where Suffragette City residents Kath McDermott (Flesh at The Haçienda/Homo Electric), Ghost Assembly (Abigail Ward), and Ladybeige (The Social Service) are joined by Sounds of the Universe’s Vandorta.

Lancashire-born. Acid-damaged. 909-obsessed. Abigail Ward aka Ghost Assembly, runs a one-woman op from the dark end of the dancefloor.

Raw machine funk, dipped in dub, NY garage, post-punk and the snare fills of Stock, Aitken & Waterman.

INTERVIEW: https://www.theransomnote.com/music/mixes/ghost-assembly-the-altered-currents-ransom-note-mix/