MEANS

MEANS explores the work of 10 artists who recently contributed to the HOPE/MAGIC compilation.

To support issue 3 of the magazine, we released an accompanying compilation chocked full of great artists across a range of genres. All grassroots, all excellent, take a peek at some vital musical voices that you may not yet be familiar with…

Pulseliebhaber

If the name Pulseliebhaber doesn’t ring a bell, their other moniker might – as Pulselovers, they have released music on virtually every supercool electronica label going – Castles in Space, Subexotic, DIT, Misophonia, Polytechnic Youth, Russian Library and Sensory Leakage. 

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Drawing upon the blippy bleepy palette of early electronic music, they sound as if Conrad Schnitzler is partying with Tod Dockenstader in Daphne Oram’s basement, and manage to pull it off without falling into the deadzone of meaningless pastiche. At the time of writing there’s is somehow still a few copies left of their latest tape – i’m pretty confident they won’t last long.

Shugorei

Shugorei hail from Brisbane, and produce a heady mix of live percussion and exelctronics, incorporating folk elements with the synthetic in a manner that is truly unique. Recent single ‘Three Pathways’ draws upon the Chinese Ghuzeng, framing it against near-industrial beats and arpeggiating keys, all held-together by electronic timbres. 

With a clear cinematic approach, their music feels like it could be featured on the soundtrack of some epic dystopian sci-fi film, a sound that borrows as much from Asian classical approaches as it does western electronics. For MEANS, they contributed the track ‘The Charm’, from their forthcoming album Memories of Magic.

DJ OddFellow

DJ OddFellow is an Atlanta-based DJ and producer with deep roots in the scene, having started DJ’ing in the ’90s and emerging as a recording artist during the 2020 pandemic lockdown. His eclectic sound bridges eras and genres-his DJ sets lean into rare breakbeats, melodic techno, and minimal rhythms, while his productions explore the more laid-back textured worlds of trip-hop, IDM, lo-fi, and lo-fi house. He currently hosts mix series across the US (Samewave) and UK (Bloop London & Subtle) and has released music on respected indie labels including DubLucid, Euphoric Echo, and Jaco Records. He’s also the co-founder and Head of Creative over at Oblong Square Records, a forward-thinking indie imprint focused on up-and-coming, experimental and underground music.

DJ OddFellow has a new LoFi House single called “Kahlari JX-234” coming out on JACO Records on Oct 15th.

Daniel Alexander Hignell-Tully

Daniel Alexander Hignell-Tully is an artist, writer and researcher, whose work explores participation, experimentation, and the relationship between sense and sensation. Often striving to locate avant-garde practices within everyday contexts, he completed a PhD in 2017 based around the utility of text as a means of ‘scoring’ everyday creativity. 

His academic writing has been published in several notable journals, as well as contributing a chapter to the Conterpress published book Art/Law/Power. He produces music under the moniker Distant Animals, and runs the micro-label Difficult Art and Music.

Dave Jerome

Guitarist, bon-vivant, flaneur & Monty Python fan, Dave Jerome passed over the Rainbow Bridge recently. He had been ill for some years and was forced to give up playing his beloved gold-top Gibson Les Paul. The track “Sunset” on the Hope/Magic compilation was edited together from archive recordings of the very last time Dave played guitar.

Coming from a background of prog-rock and complex musical arrangements, Dave was happy to abandon those restrictions and embrace experimental, improvised music with the pseudo-Kraut band Klaus, Gunther & Plotz. He favoured a combination of e-Bow and Electro-Harmonix Mel 9 pedal to produce ethereal clouds of sound.

B of Briz

Bristol-based B of Briz has been knocking out socially-aware, politically-bold hip-hop and electronica for the last few years. Drawing upon a wonderful mix of well-considered lyrics and minimal but effective compositions – plus a playful obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which I am so there for) – B of Briz exudes charisma and a love of their craft that transcends the nominal traps of the hip-hop genre. 

Avoiding the obvious cultural reference points in favor of not only Buffy, but also Plato (B of Briz has a PhD in Philosophy), this is an artist unafraid to take on big ideas in a beguilingly self-aware manner. With regular tracks uploaded on an ever-growing Bandcamp portfolio, as well as their near-perfect 2024 album “An Encyclopedia of Patriarchy”, B of Briz is one of the most exciting musicians i’ve stumbled across in the last few years. 

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the brain child of Michael Conboy an experimental lo-fi electronic music artist making beats, hooky stems and samples to form a unique twist on modern soundscapes.

Taking inspiration from Steve Reich, Wolfgang Flur, CAN, Andrew Weatherall, Don Letts and other experimental music pioneers to create electronic bites, samples, sounds and beats.

Horror Dwarf

HDRF – also known as Horror Dwarf – creates minimal electronic music of the reverb drenched, Tangerine Dream-inspired variety. Haunting, spacey, and rich with mutating synth textures, they revel in creating evocative soundscapes that could be torn from any one of a hundred 70’s sci-fi flicks. 

There’s something wonderfully unassuming about their approach, with a clear craftsmanship elevating their compositions above the crowd – a restrained, minimalist world of alienesque drones and tones. 

Bayun the Cat

Hailing from the Ukraine, Bayun the Cat is somewhat of a musical chameleon. With works of classic ambient music sitting alongside piano improvisations and jazz-inflected group work, Bayun… trades in an electric mix of experimentalism in all its guises. 

A certain instrumental prowess underscores textural synthscapes, a keen ear for the nuance found in every tiny detail. Kalimbas, Pianos, Synths, as well as more exotic percussion helps to frame their work – a pursue through their expansive bandcamp catalogue reveals a treasure chest of the obscure, the considered, and the unusual. 

Warren ‘Kaninen’ Rasmussen

Warren ‘Kaninen’ Rasmussen (b. 1973) began his career as the in-house editor for National Faroen television broadcaster, Sjónvarp Føroya. In 1983 he was commissioned to compose the score for the channels first late-night television drama, ‘Rædsel fra månekatten’, a horror series with a cast drawn from the islands long-standing day-time soap opera, ’Streymoy’.

Since then, the elusive artists has lived in relative obscurity in Germany and Austria, only re-appearing a few years ago with their well-received album on DAAM records. A recent obsession with ‘young person dance music’ has resulted in their first new album in nearly 40 years, coming out in early 2026.