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12"
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4GN3S 003EP
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Fresh from the release of their third album Autonomy (4GN3S 002LP) in the summer of 2019, comes Autonomy Variations: four brand new perspectives from four exciting, innovative kindred spirits of the avant-pop duo. South London's Medlar breaks the seal. Following a series of incredible live collaborations with Dele Sosimi (Fela Kuti), he's has turned "Autonomy" into a minimal, percolating house track. Swapping the acid spikes for analog bleeps, Medlar's signature can be felt every step through this vivid energetic stomper. Fabric resident Anna Wall follows with another beautiful subversion as "New Politik" is given a smoldering take. Moody, intimate, downtempo; there's some serious late night HTRK-esque vibes to Anna's twist. Further into the remix trip you glide to find Dischi Autunno, Ombra International affiliate Curses pulling "Electric Light" into the fringes. Taking the upbeat, crystalline pop of Penelope and Stephen's original and flipping it into a stark postpunk Bauhaus-inspired take, Curses' live bass and driving new wave beat shine a whole new light on the original and write it a whole new chapter. Finally, brand new act, Isolating have the honor of closing the EP with industrial modular apocalyptic take on "Infinity". A vast playground of contrasts, at points it's dirty and pounding. At others it's quiet and menacing. File under: Dystopian Techno. Four extensions on one of the most interesting electronic albums released this year. DJ Mag stated it's The Golden Filter's best work yet while Clash called a it a bruising return. These remixes follow with complete forward-thinking consistency.
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LP
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4GN3S 002LP
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London-based Australian-American duo The Golden Filter release their latest full-length album, Autonomy, via their own 4GN3S imprint. Autonomy is a fiercely independent album and serves as a testimony to the united couple's instinctive DIY attitude; for ten years now, everything The Golden Filter has done -- from, producing, mixing, releasing, to shooting videos, and press shots -- is a sovereign endeavor. Here, the duo finds themselves at a point of fearless positivity and an unbreakable creative synchronicity. This is undoubtedly one of their most focused and ambitious releases so far. Born out of their own self-contained studio in Peckham, free from external influence, Penelope and Stephen set about on a mission of self-searching and solipsism drawing influence from their love and unity that sternly defies the damage caused by the ever-growing daily trauma of capitalism and politics. Staunchly feminist and optimistically reflecting on the growing human disconnect from reality, Autonomy pulls subtly from the gloomier sides of British life and culture, The Golden Filter's home now for the last four years. Autonomy mines dark and experimental electronic tones; simultaneously conjuring dystopian synth-scapes, EBM, post-punk, motorik electro, and minimal wave. "Coercion" is a mournful new wave cut that places Penelope's recent brand of "inky dream pop" underpinned by Stephen's pulsating synths as the perfect soundtrack to the rapture. Tracks like "Autonomy" and "Infinity" find The Golden Filter in more familiar territory, thrusting post-punk electronics that straddle the gap between Panorama Bar staples and wayward, thought provoking art-pop. "Electric Light" is an updated homage to old-school sounds of Siouxsie and New Order that take on the duo's message of finding light in the dark and remaining open minded to each other as humans. Album closer "All The Queens" is the most front-facing example of the duo's political inspirations; imagining a new world, reborn under the rule of divine femininity.
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12"
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4GN3S 001EP
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The second release on 4GN3S (pronounced "Agnes") is a five-track EP by The Golden Filter. "Talk Talk Talk" is like Siouxsie vs early Human League, but heavier. "All The Way In" is a jittery electro beat workout sounding as if Anne Clark were fronting Drexciya. Beatless and odd, "Dislocation" is part art-piece, part word association, and part no wave experimentalism. A mutating arpeggiated bass and an ominous tone drive "Cut My Hair" into an incongruously sci-fi dark dance netherworld. "Temple" is classic Golden Filter, with modular bass blurbs, soft vocals, and an 808 beat doused in analog reverb.
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12"
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4GN3S 000EP
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The first release on The Golden Filter's new label, 4GN3S (pronounced "Agnes") is The Golden Filter's "Talk Talk Talk", along with three remixes. LA's Cooper Saver provides the dancefloor fire with his absolute banger of a remix. Fantastic Twins is the guise of Julienne Dessagne, originally from Paris and now based in Berlin. She provides a tripped-out rework that forays into unexpected twists and turns, but still retains her trademark analog psychedelic dancefloor vibes. Kasper Bjørke teams up with Colder for an epic take on "Talk Talk Talk". Minimal and hypnotic, dubbed-out vocal snippets fly in-and-out of a one-note entrancing bassline.
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12"
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OMTGFLTD 001EP
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Optimo Music don't generally do limited edition releases, but when The Golden Filter did these extra mixes of "End Of Times" from their EP of the same name (OM 040EP, 2017) the label decided to press a small run of 12" singles. The original single version is a future synth classic. These new dub versions take it to the dancefloor. They are considerably extended, dubbed-out, and add extra dynamics and ecstatic synth power with hints of the original vocal. There is a slo-mo version at 103 bpm and a faster version at 118bpm. There is also a "Drone-Apella" version too.
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12"
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OM 040EP
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The Golden Filter on the release: "The EP starts with the song 'End Of Times' which is a dramatic, Shangri-Las influenced take on feeling powerless in a chaotic world . . . Happiness can be found in analog reverb. This is followed by 'Serenity', a hard and tranquil meditation of past + future. Side two leads with 'Heart Control', with a slight nod to Pink Floyd. A nine-minute plea to ourselves to keep it all focused and under control... The EP closes with 'Darkness Falls'. The lyrics for this came from an apocalyptic dream that Penelope had."
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2LP
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OM 007LP
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Optimo Music present the second full-length from The Golden Filter, Still // Alone. After relocating to London and playing shows around Europe for a year and a half, self-imposed pariahs Penelope Trappes and Stephen Hindman delved into creating a two-sided existential opus by renting out old studio spaces around the UK and using mostly analog '80s instruments, machines, and effects. An album about being in love with pure solitude, Still // Alone is separated into two distinct records. Record one, Still, is a hypnotic meditation for the nightclub. Wavy patterns of sound and light bounce off of Penelope's literary vocal bursts, layered over the ominous deep synths and arpeggiators, held together only by a strict 4/4 beat - the rhythm, ironically forcing the body to move, however internally focused and mindful, still. Record two, Alone, takes the club offline and into the fringes of raw, odd pop. Ever-prominent drum machine beats rule, while love and loss permeate the four atmospheric goth songs. Music for dancing alone. "Behind the cotton wool is hidden a pattern. . . the whole world is a work of art . . . there is no Shakespeare . . . no Beethoven . . . no God; we are the words; we are the music; we are the thing itself." --Virginia Woolf
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12"
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OM 029EP
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The Golden Filter debut on Optimo Music with a four-track EP. Penelope Trappes and Stephen Hindman originally hail from opposite sides of the planet (Australia and America) but have united to create a distinctly unique electronic sound. Following several previous releases, their sound has progressed into a deeper, richer, advanced hypno-sound with state-of-the-art synthetic sound-design and vocal phrases ricocheting around the mix. It's hard to pull off tracks that constantly morph and develop over the course of a few minutes but The Golden Filter accomplish this with apparent ease on PS1103. Music for nightclubs and far beyond...
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