Started as equal parts research division of techno’s new frontiers, haven for the sacred and profane, and ‘benevolent anarchy’, Maelstrom and LOUISAHHH!!!'s RAAR imprint aims to release truly innovative music from and for brave sonic explorers.
Unsatisfied with digital-only distribution, RAAR plans to press every release to vinyl, in collaboration with The Vinyl Factory, curating a library of tangible sound objects as the label’s legacy. Additionally, the digital releases will be ‘pay as you want’, and feature special open- source material (beat-a-pellas, acapellas, instrumentals, sound banks). The label encourages its audience to invest in and make use of what tools are laid out for the taking.
Louisahhh & Maelstrom, creative partners and label co-founders, present their most aggressive work thus far as a statement of the sacred and profane in 'Holy'. Equal parts anthem, war cry and prayer, the insistent 'This is holy/You are holy/You are, this is animal' is set to an uncompromising, seething groove. 'Holy', is as its lyrics suggest, both divine and savage.
Maelstrom, whose very name connotes chaos, presents a sonic tornado with 'Peripheries'. Ominously arriving like an approaching storm, the track manages several knee-buckling drops without ever completely losing it's visceral kick drum. Galloping and roaring, hammering and snarling, this is true techno from an emerging master.
Roijacker (techno supergroup comprised of legends and pioneers Dave Clarke, Black Asteroid and Mr Jones) debuts with a violent, raw club track. The late night aria of a man unhinged or a monster awakened, 'Out of the Lights' purrs menacingly along in it's original version while The 'Unsub Remake' should probably come with a seizure warning. Listeners be warned, this is not for the faint of heart.
*RAAR - A techno label for punk rockers, a punk rock label for techno-heads*