Searching: Inside 5 Mag Issue 204
Reggie Dokes, Aterral Records, Maggie Tra, Carlo, Demuir, Cyphon and more inside 5 Mag Issue 204, out now.
Hello! Welcome to a new issue of 5 Mag and our second issue of January 2023.
This issue our themes seem to relate to the notion of searching — the artist's journey and the search for meaning. We start out with our cover story on Reggie Dokes. Reggie is one of the most fascinating artists to emerge from Detroit in the last 20 years, though his "journey" started much earlier. Reggie has a completely eclectic sound - best known for deep house records with a strong personal signature, techno and hip hop. At heart, as we say in this issue, Reggie seems to be primarily a searcher. Lately he's found a new calling composing music for film and TV (including as composer for the Detroit Techno documentary God Said Give 'Em Drum Machines that we've covered at length here in the last year).
We also profile the first two years of one of our favorite deep house record labels to emerge in the last decade, Aterral Records. Its founder Carlo also took over this issue's cover mix.
We also profile DJ and producer Maggie Tra on the release of her deeply reflective and intensely personal album Kingdom of Her, in addition to features with Demuir on the release of his new album Visions and Freerange and Delusions of Grandeur co-founder Tom Roberts on the launch of a new label, Cyphon Recordings.
We also have yet another story about hacking, though rather than shady Russian DJs in renegade provinces of Ukraine, this time the cartel caught in a crime spree is the notorious outfit known as Ticketmaster.
There's much more inside — the complete list of contents were below, and you can download the issue here. Thanks for your support in 2023!
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#CoverMix: Carlo: Sanctify vol 6
More From Issue #204:
The Cover Mix: Carlo. The founder of Aterral Records — one of the most compelling new deep house labels of the decade — takes over our cover mix.
Future Imperfect: Introducing Cyphon Recordings. Freerange and Delusions of Grandeur add a new sibling to the label family. Tom Roberts on the launch of Cyphon Recordings.
Demuir: Visions. Toronto producer Demuir steps out in 2023 with a gorgeous and dynamic new album. He's done it his way.
Get Out of the Inbox. This is the year we break out of our bubbles and fall in love with music again.
The Even Greater Rock'N'Roll Swindle. How Ticketmaster hacked and destroyed their rival and mostly got away with it.
Stars in a Jar. Plunging into the nerdy world of the Audulus synthesizer environment for the first time.
Lost Highways. The wildest reverb machine on earth is located in Audio Damage's Other Desert Cities.
Dos: Two Years of Aterral Records. In a little more than two years, Aterral has released a crate's worth of outstanding material amplifying a certain strain of deep house — those warm, richly textured deep grooves that leave behind a trace of spiritual resonance in the air. They call it "deep, life-affirming house, two-step and minimal," and that's what it is. 5 Mag talks to Carlo, who also put together this issue's cover mix, on the first 18 records from Aterral.
Reggie Dokes: The Searcher. Reggie Dokes is a producer, a DJ, a composer for films and one of the most fascinating artists to emerge from Detroit in the '00s. Known for a sound "experimental, soulful, eclectic, spiritual, all of those things wrapped into one," Dokes became known for wildly original, heady tracks — techno that was could be meditative and intimate, soulful tracks that were energetic and galactic and deep tracks that bear a startlingly unique personal signature.
In this quintessential 5 Mag story, Terry Matthew talks to Dokes on the journey of the modern artist — the search, in the tradition of the great diaspora searchers like Sun Ra, for success, artistic fulfillment and what we have to put up with to find that perfect beat.
Maggie Tra: Kingdom of Her. Producer, DJ, educator, impresario: Maggie Tra steps forward from the field with a visionary release. A 5 Mag profile on the release of her debut album Kingdom of Her.
Music Reviews 204. New music and reissues from Santiago Salazar, Alland Byallo, Funkyjaws & Friends, Tour-Maubourg (Pont Neuf), Azura (World Building), Ron Trent's tribute to Frankie Knuckles, Marina Trench (Sweet State), Louie Vega (Nervous), Blaq Numbers with a charity compilation for the protesters of Iran, reissues from Locked On, Rosa Anschutz remixed by Aasthma & Umfang (BPitch) and Lord Nap.
In Rotation 204. Tracks in heavy rotation by Bowyer (Welt Discos), Club of Jacks, Sam Ruffillo remixed by Ash Lauryn (Toy Tonics), Selva (Hotmood Remix on Blur Records), Soulphiction, CYRK (Cultivated Electronics), Dub Guy & Lewo Chyba (Arkuda Label), Tr One (Intrinsic Rhythm), Antic Soul (Jon Hester Remix), The Aquatic People (Paille Records), Soul Clap and Frankie Vega on UKR.
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