Premiere: B_X_R_N_X_R_D ‘Up.d0wn’

Black Techno Matters founder Bernard Farley, aka B_X_R_N_X_R_D, will release his debut album, ‘hell0’, via the label this month. Listen to ‘Up.d0wn’ below. 

Having launched the platform in 2021 with a mission to “reclaim techno as a manifestation of Black expression in a society that has oppressed it by creating spaces, both virtual and IRL, that celebrate the Black roots of techno”, the Washington D.C. DJ and producer makes his solo debut with nine hammering tracks that cut right to the heart of the matter.

Comprising live recorded jams made on his Roland tr-8s, the music on ‘hell0’ veers from the hypnotic to the hallucinatory, with propulsive drums and distorted rolling loops giving way to jolts of melody and chopped-up vocals. Farley’s voice is loud and clear on lead track, ‘Safeword’, where, on top of a thumping beat, he repeats the refrain: “The safeword is DECOLONIZE”. 

Elsewhere, ‘F_X_M_X_L_Y-3d1t2’ channels the rhythmic innovation of Detroit’s Anthony Shake Shakir, while ‘0ur L0v3’ is a peak-time tearjerker with a genuinely gorgeous melodic lead and soaring vocal refrain. ‘Liber8’ ends things on a frenetic note, with syncopated beats and disjointed voices working in feverish harmony over the course of almost 13 minutes before Farley ends the album by quietly uttering the words “Liberate your mind. Decolonize” once more. 

‘Hell0’ will be released on 31st March. Pre-order it here.

The album follows the release of fellow Washington D.C. artists Blvksite’s self-titled EP on Black Techno Matters last October.