Author: Joeri Bruyninckx

Morton, Sherman & Bellucci :: A DIY History of New Beat’s Pioneers

In the late 1980s, a small team of Belgian artists—armed with samplers, analog gear, and an irreverent sense of humor—flooded the underground with a staggering number of releases. At the center of this creative explosion were Jo Casters, Roland Beelen, and a self-described “tech-nerd in a basement,” whose drive to experiment and produce helped define a formative era of electronic music. From pioneering New Beat to crafting club hits under dozens of aliases, their story is one of speed, spontaneity, and raw innovation.

Antler Records :: The early years

Antler Records, the iconic label born in 1981 from the vision of Roland Beelen, rose anew in 2024—reborn, recharged, and resonating once more. Delving into its vaults, the label unveils a treasure trove of rare sonic artifacts, painstakingly compiled by Lieven De Ridder of Walhalla Records. But this revival isn’t just about the past—retrospective (and new) releases are on the horizon. The legacy lives on as history spins forward—until 2026.

Cratje :: Osmosis, discovery

Joeri Bruyninckx engages in a brief yet insightful conversation with Jonathan Cant—better known as Cratje, the Brussels-based sonic alchemist and co-founder of the transmedial electronic label Montage—to delve into the latest chapter of the evocative Songs From The Gutter series.

Jairus Sharif :: Find energy in exploration

“I’m enthusiastic about so-called distortion, noise, blur, etc. and began to find energy in the exploration of signal-to-noise ratios and what true clarity of signal means to me. Accuracy, as I had previously understood it, is of little concern to me, and I’ve found that clarity in spirit has a high level of distortion as one of its most desirable traits.” ~Jairus Sharif

Russell Haswell :: Never stop

Russell Haswell is a 55-year old electronic musician and visual artist, most well-known for his extreme computer music. He currently lives in Glasgow, having worked together with Aphex Twin, Florian Hecker, Merzbow, Mika Vainio, Yasunao Tone and Peter Rehberg and released on labels such as Warp, Editions Mego, and Diagonal.