Listen: Red Axes – Ahuzat Bait

Tel-Aviv's most eyecatching movements of 2015 have been made by formiddable production duo Red Axes. Deftly navigating rarely tested waters by running middle-eastern melodic and vocal strands over dark, chugging sequenced electronics, their releases on I'm A Cliche, Multi Culti and Hivern Discs have proved them as idiosyncratic and complex producers, and absolutely worth following.

This month they inaugurate their own label "Garzen Records" with the release of 'Ahuzat Bait', apparently Tel Aviv's original name and the inspiration for this record. It's a departure from their usual sound, and instead filters New-Wave and Post-Punk sensibilities through the detailed Red Axes production lens. Local vocalists appear across each track on the record, the Hebrew lyrics shouted or sung with vehemence and add a DIY/punk shade to the record, hardly similar to the pulsating, halal-disco, electronic releases which made their name.

Garzen is their "new label and a home for [their] deviations", and this is definitely a distance from their typical production. Their DJ sets warm up with a fair amount of New-Wave and punk leaning tracks, so it might not be that much of a surprise to some that this has come out. Worth checking, how often do you hear Hebrew-Wave?