After over 5 years in the making, today is finally the release of “Sicko” by Oakland, CA based-artist BEAST NEST aka Sharmi Basu. “Sicko” is our 93rd release and one of our most special releases to date. You may be under a barrage of release notifications today as it is Friday, but we want you to pause for a minute and think back to all of the work that Sharmi has put into the Oakland community for over a decade. Their love, selflessness, attentiveness, attention to detail, endless community based volunteer work, organizing and education, capped with a second to none warm and giving personality has been a blessing to a scene and community that’s struggled since the ghost ship fire of 2016, and in many ways even before that. Through their workshops, many performance series, de colonial practice, and sound practice, Basu has been doing work to strengthen and heal our communities with little to no recognition, and in many ways has wholly helped usher in a generation of marginalized artists in the noise and experimental world, a place where many marginalized artists have been previously erased. Through their curation, Sharmi has introduced me personally to so many artists that have become influential on my own personal practice and the curatorial practice of Ratskin. Sharmi’s work represents a culture of love, accountability, self acceptance and actualization, and “Sicko” is a direct extension of that. We ask you cast your eyes below upon the many ways you can support the project. If you have been moved by Sharmi’s work or appreciated the wildly rich diverse experimental music scene in Oakland in the last decade, please consider supporting Basu’s newest work, “Sicko” today!  

Here’s Ratskin’s cofounder MD reflecting on the work of Basu and why you should order “Sicko” today.  

"Since I met Sharmi, their work has been dedicated to empowering other marginalized people. They create and share experimental music because they want others to know that they too can make experimental music. They share their skills and teach workshops because they want queer and trans people of color to know that music making is also accessible to them, regardless of what white supremacy has made them believe their whole lives. Let’s not pretend that this landscape doesn’t favor whiteness and white supremacy. Let’s not pretend that experimental music is not just a colonized version of music that has erupted from Black resistance and from Indigineous peoples all over the world.  Sharmi has been dedicated to making sure that Queer and Trans BIPOC have access to money, resources, and the confidence needed to create. They are dedicated to letting people know that someone has their back in traumatizing art spaces. They are willing to name the elephant in the room and be fired, criticized, or ostracized. They have been instrumental in changing Ratskin’s priorities, in addition to other folks like Wizard Apprentice, Golden Champagne Flavored Sweatshirt, and Gorgeous Vermillion, and they truly care about music as a healing modality and model for resistance for all marginalized people. Sharmi often drops everything to support other people, and is often told that they are still not doing enough. It is so important to show people who put their bodies and mental health on the line for other people that they are also important and worth supporting, especially when they are disabled, and I hope you take the time to listen to this record and show Sharmi that they are worthy of that care” 

All Music Written and Composed by Beast Nest  
Recorded at Santo Studios by Zachary James Watkins 
"Into The Tangerine" Recorded by Sharmi Basu 
Saxophone by Genox Devi 
Mastered by Jake Rodriguez 
Artwork: Khushboo Gulati

Liner Notes by Marlo De Lara, Sepehr Mashiahof 

Soft Merch Designs by Rich Love Media  

Order  DL On Ratskin Bandcamp  

Order "Am I Doing Better" Workbook

Order LP On Ratskin Webstore  

Order Last Special Edition Bundle

Order Long Sleeve Shirt on Ratskin Webstore  

Beast Nest Bandcamp Page 

Sharmi’s Website  

"Sicko is a freak 4 freak, crazy 4 crazy wet blankie. This album was hobbled together over the years following the Ghost Ship fire which occurred December 2nd, 2016. It’s been 5 years (wild) and I believe all us survivors are vastly different people since then. My mental health issues were always a bit out of control and the aftermath of Ghost Ship, despite the labor of love that went into a massive mutual aid effort I had rarely experienced before, sent my brain into a deep, perhaps necessary, pit. The work that birthed this album was my rope, and while some of these sounds and songs feel old, they were built slowly and with the support of my friends. I am so grateful for medication and the disability justice community. I am deeply grateful for my fellow sick in the head friends who are dedicated to working on themselves and with each other. I am really grateful for all the people in my life who choose to stay connected to me despite some not cute behavior, and I feel additionally grateful for those who hear me when I call them out on the same. 

All my music is dedicated to Beni and the Queer and Trans freaks that make my life so fun and wholesome and nerdy and joyful and cool and weird. I want safety and empowerment for us all. I want us to make stuff when we want to and consume stuff when we want to. I want us to have shelter and whatever we need to feel the least shitty on our shitty days and super happy on our happy days." — Sharmi Basu, Beast Nest

Thank you so much for your support of Ratskin Records and our artists, more to come soon and make sure to check back next Friday for Bandcamp Friday, we will be dropping several label exclusive merch items.  Thank you for your support and love. 

Hey folks, quick note that our end of the year  2021 BLOWOUT SALE & GIVEAWAY IS LIVE NOW. We have marked all items down 25% - 50% on our webstore and bandcamp page so no need to use a discount code.  We really appreciate all of the support this year, and hope you will consider picking something up from the sale and giveaway. We are  going all out with prizes this  year including a custom 1 of 1 release just made for you as well as a custom 1 minute song recorded JUST FOR YOU by one of our artists. Other prizes include vinyl and cassette test presses, complete digital discography and tickets for an upcoming virtual performance. Thank  you so much for you support, It’s really easy to enter, see below for details! SALE INCLUDES LITERALLY EVERYTHING except for the BEAST NEST “Sicko” preorder! The sale starts today and runs through  Jan 3, 2022. 

RATSKIN RECORDS WINTER 2021 BLOWOUT SALE & GIVEAWAY  - DEC 19 - JAN 3 

*****LIMITED EDITION ITEMS NOT NORMALLY AVAILABLE***** 

******NEW GARMENT PREORDERS******* 

******LP, CASSETTE & CD BUNDLES******   

*****TEST PRESSES***** 

 & LIMITED EDITION RATSKIN HOLIDAY GIFT BAG w/ ALL ORDERS OVER $25 (Ltd. 50) 

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY: 

SIGN UP FOR EMAIL LIST @ RATSKIN.ORG, SHARE THIS POST/POSTER 

& ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:  

• PURCHASE FROM OUR BANDCAMP  STORE  ($2 MINIMUM)  
• PURCHASE FROM RATSKIN.ORG WEBSTORE   ($2 MINIMUM)  
• DONATION TO OUR GOFUNDME / DIRECT LABEL DONATION   

PRIZES INCLUDE:  

• UNIQUE PERSONALIZED RELEASE FROM RATSKIN ARTIST (1 OF 1) 
• PERSONALIZED SONG FROM RATSKIN RECORDS ARTIST (1 OF 1) 
• RATSKIN RECORDS VINYL TEST PRESSING (1 OF 1) 
• COMPLETE DIGITAL DISCOGRAPHY (2 OF 2) 
• RATSKIN RECORDS MASTER CASSETTE (1 OF 1) 
• RATSKIN RECORDS LP (2 OF 2) 
• ADV. PAIR OF TICKETS TO RATSKIN HOLOSUITES VENUE (2 OF 2) 

Ok, that’s it! Any questions, please email ratskinsound@gmail.com 

Winners will be selected Jan 10th, 2021 and notified by email. Thank you and we love you!

We couldn't be more excited to share this very special news with all of you. As of right now, our 93rd release is up for preorder, and it's a special one to say the least. Five years in the making we present, "Sicko" from artist, composer, educator, empath and all around amazing human Sharmi Basu's Beast Nest. 

"Sicko" comes on Pink or Black 160g vinyl and in many bundle options. There is also a workbook written and conceived by Basu titled "Am I Doing Better" (printed by Brown Recluse Zine Distro) and a Long sleeve Shirt, Stickers, and matchbooks designed by Rich Love Media. 

Tap into the preorder link here for Bandcamp Friday and make sure to check all of the fun and cute bundle options if you fancy yourself as much of a fan of Beast Nest as we are. 

PREORDER: ratskinrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sicko 

"Sicko is a freak 4 freak, crazy 4 crazy wet blankie. This album was hobbled together over the years following the Ghost Ship fire which occurred December 2nd, 2016. It’s been 5 years (wild) and I believe all us survivors are vastly different people since then. My mental health issues were always a bit out of control and the aftermath of Ghost Ship, despite the labor of love that went into a massive mutual aid effort I had rarely experienced before, sent my brain into a deep, perhaps necessary, pit. The work that birthed this album was my rope, and while some of these sounds and songs feel old, they were built slowly and with the support of my friends. I am so grateful for medication and the disability justice community. I am deeply grateful for my fellow sick in the head friends who are dedicated to working on themselves and with each other. I am really grateful for all the people in my life who choose to stay connected to me despite some not cute behavior, and I feel additionally grateful for those who hear me when I call them out on the same. 

All my music is dedicated to Beni and the Queer and Trans freaks that make my life so fun and wholesome and nerdy and joyful and cool and weird. I want safety and empowerment for us all. I want us to make stuff when we want to and consume stuff when we want to. I want us to have shelter and whatever we need to feel the least shitty on our shitty days and super happy on our happy days." — Sharmi Basu, Beast Nest 

"A sonic journey comprising of six tracks, Sharmi Basu’s "Sicko" is the zenith to their expansive catalog of experimental compositions that meditates on envisioning a sense of personal and collective liberation. This forty-four minute long masterpiece bends, weaves, repeats, deconstructs then rebuilds sound to formulate a new language of healing communicated uniquely through the world of Beast Nest. As a prominent educator and healer within their community, Basu’s artistic output has always been connected to sharing the power of compassion, and how to create tangible bonds between marginalized people through music. Even in the most dissonant valleys of Sicko’s sonic landscape, Basu never abandons their listener. Rather, they descend into darkness with you as the instrumentation surrounds you with the rhythmic pulse of various arpeggiators and drawn out sound textures crescendoing up to the LP’s closing waves of bliss. 

"Sicko" offers more to the listener than just an album — it is an experience of aural idiosyncrasies and multi-dimensional processes that lead one to find solace away from the colonialist confines of the material world. Upon multiple replays of this album, I was reminded of the catharsis I felt when I first fell in love with Beast Nest’s work: a sense of communal healing Basu generously offers to those closest to the heart of their artistic vision." 

— Sepehr Mashiahof, The Bedroom Witch 

"Sharmi Basu delivers an interplanetary opera of diasporic survival. The tracks lead one on a journey of perseverance and/of sound. One’s feet loses contact with the ground and one’s imagination collides with the sensorial immediacy of the moment. And while it is a narrative firmly placed in joy and discovery, it presents a model or trajectory of how harmony cannot exist without dissonance and richness can only extend out from origins of emptiness. “Sicko” is disembodied and yet simultaneous grounding, questioning one’s reliance on mainstream narratives of direction. It is a multivocal party in a world in which even music receives the violence of categorization and conclusion. This album is the sound of persistence of joy in a world where one must question the surplus and generation of body supremacies. We are carried through on the beat and the unavoidable need to move together in dynamic times." 

— Marlo De Lara (she/they/siya), 

"Sicko" is released January 28, 2022 

All Music Written and Composed by Beast Nest 

Recorded at Santo Studios by Zachary James Watkins 

"Into The Tangerine" Recorded by Sharmi Basu 

Saxophone by Genox Devi 

Mastered by Jake Rodriguez 

Artwork: Khushboo

Top Photo: Rich Love Media 

BEAST NEST Music Video Accepted into "Interconnected" Juried Exhibition At Southern Exposure . On view now!  

Interconnected

October 23 - November 20, 2021 
12:00 - 6:00 PM, Wednesday - Saturday  
Southern Exposure, 3030 20th Street

SHARMI BASU "EGGWATER IN RATSKIN HOLOSUITES"  

Experience the VR Piece from the comfort of your own home at the link above :) 

Artists: Joseph Alef, Crystal Azul, Sharmi Basu, Carlos Fernandez, Luis Garcia, Felicia Griffin, Shana Harper, Steph Kudisch, Darrin Martin, Tricia Rainwater-Tutwiler, Clio Sady, Ruth Tabancay, Anthony Tusler, Rachel Ungerer, Monica Valentine, George Wilson 

Southern Exposure’s 30th Annual Juried Exhibition, curated by Jackie Clay and Jillian Crochet, features the work of 16 Bay Area-based artists with disabilities. These powerful works address themes of (or longing for) connection and community — finding alternate ways of being, feeling and thinking through tactility and touch, haptics, color, sound and line. 

In addressing disability as the topic of this year's Juried Show, we affirm that people with disabilities have an important and valuable perspective that we must recognize and uplift. SoEx asserts that disability must be included in conversations about inclusion and diversity. People with disabilities make up one of the largest marginalized and often overlooked communities. SoEx commits to learning from and righting past mistakes to become a truly inclusive organization. We seek to radicalize our language and not shy away from the use of the word disability.

Our two newest releases are OUT NOW! 

HEADBOGGLE "DIGITAL DIGITAL ANALOG" and LEXAGON "FEMININE CARE"  both out NOW. Lexagon was released back on 9/10 and Headboggle "Digital Digital Analog" is out today. We oouldn't be happier to share these two  releases with you in their full forms.  All preorders have been shipped as of Wednesday, 9/22! 

FORMAT : LP, Cassette, Digital, Streaming 

The strange and alien worlds Headboggle opens up throughout the album are a complex mix of Gedalecia’s mischievous sense of humor, love of pure sound, and quirky melodic sensibility inspired by his studies of ragtime and classical music. Whereas previous LPs were more improv-based in their arrangements, “Digital Digital Analog” refines Gedalecia’s decades of research into synthesis through a highly focused and refined compositional lens. The album represents the culmination of 20 plus years of sonic experimentation spanning noise, new music, avant garde, collage, soundtrack oriented music, and so much more into a meticulously refined and generously melodic approach. “Digital Digital Analog” far eclipses the artist's previous works in a myriad of ways wholly rewarding for the listener.

FOXY DIGITALIS Review 

THE WIRE MAGAZINE Review 

FORMAT : Digipak CDr, Cassette, Digital, Streaming 

Feminine Care is a collection of hypnotic mood swings, spirit jazz and haunted incantations that explore permutations of femininity and care between 2016 - 2020. These songs were moments of freedom and release in the midst of the Trump administration, Black terror, wildfires, displacement and heartbreak. 

This album is a rite of passage. These compositions ask, “What does it really mean to be cared for, caring, carefree and careful in the feminine experience?” 

Absurdly titled after the puritanically cursed tampon aisle in American drugstores, Feminine care plays with ideas of cycles, failed gender-conformity, climate-change, the black female body as a “pre-existing condition,” tenderness within femme rituals, and the relationship between American horror and sexuality. This is an investigation into the femme experience, behind the capitalization of our bodies, beyond binary thinking and before the witch trials and our dislocation from the natural world.

FOXY DIGITALIS REVIEW 

FOXY DIGITALIS INTERVIEW 

Head over to our WEB STORE or BANDCAMP Page  to order. 

Today is a big day for us as we announce the preorder for two brand new releases, one from a brand new artist who we’re welcoming to the Ratskin collective and another from an artist we’ve worked with but never in vinyl format. Both of these projects are years in the making, and although it’s nerve-racking to release brand new art into an uncertain, broken world in the middle of a once again rising global pandemic, without the possibilities of the artists touring or even performing locally to support their work, we move forward because we believe the world needs both of these albums now more than ever, so we put our trust into you to take it from here to experience these beautiful, unique and special recordings.  Without further ado we present the preorders for - HEADBOGGLE “Digital Digital Analog” and LEXAGON “Feminine Care”. 

The former, is Headboggle’s  first vinyl LP on Ratskin, titled,  “Digital Digital Analog”  on stunning 150g Clear Vinyl in an edition of 300.  Preorder now and is out September 25th!. You can stream the first two singles “Ancient Trap” and “Data Entry” now. There’s also a special edition and a collectors edition which come with various limited ephemera including, two bonus cassettes, art prints, a pin back button, and something we have never done before or seen done before, and maybe best of all a customized  composition produced and recorded by Headboggle, just for you. There is also a brand new Headboggle shirt designed by Oakland artist Jason P. (TVOD)   

The latter project, from Oakland-based artist LEXAGON, is a monumental addition to our catalog. We couldn’t be more thrilled to share her Ratskin Records debut “Feminine Care” with all of you. The first single “Hurricane”, is up now on our bandcamp and webpage for streaming waiting for you to experience.   

Please see individual release pages on the Ratskin bandcamp  for details on special editions, shipping info/ times for preorders.  Onto the music:

HEADBOGGLE "DIGITAL DIGITAL ANALOG" - PREORDER {Bandcamp}

For his second full-length and first on vinyl with Oakland-based Ratskin Records, Derek Gedalecia’s HEADBOGGLE project has taken the critically acclaimed hybrid one-minute electronic-stylings of 2019’s “Polyphonic Demo” (Ratskin) and expanded his ideas into 24 longer form pieces that pull from Parliament/Funkadelic as much as Raymond Scott. “Digital Digital Analog” could easily be undulating in the catacombs of label discographies from Editions Mego to Sub Pop or even Mute Records, but has landed in the bin of the Oakland esoteric imprint Ratskin Records. We couldn’t be more excited to present this on beautiful limited edition clear vinyl and digital download to the world, certainly Headboggle's most astute and developed work to date. 

The strange and alien worlds Headboggle opens up throughout the album are a complex mix of Gedalecia’s mischievous sense of humor, love of pure sound, and quirky melodic sensibility inspired by his studies of ragtime and classical music. Whereas previous LPs were more improv-based in their arrangements, “Digital Digital Analog” refines Gedalecia’s decades of research into synthesis through a highly focused and refined compositional lens. The album represents the culmination of 20 plus years of sonic experimentation spanning noise, new music, avant garde, collage, soundtrack oriented music, and so much more into a meticulously refined and generously melodic approach. “Digital Digital Analog” far eclipses the artist's previous works in a myriad of ways wholly rewarding for the listener. 

With it’s compositionally adventurous spirit, and sonically cinematic presentations, “Digital Digital Analog" stands as Gedalecia’s most refined and articulate work to date. Most of the tracks for "Digital Digital Analog” came out of the continued exploration of the Dave Smith Prophet polyphonic synthesizer and was culled from many hours of rehearsals in preparation for Ratskin Records 2019 US Tour. 

Picture the undulating synth lines of mid-‘70s Parliament transplanted to a petri dish and allowed to grow, or maybe the soundtrack to the most baffling caper movie ever made, and you might have a fraction of what Digital Digital Analog contains. This 36-minute record finds Gedalecia working across a variety of rhythm and genre templates, the titles (“Ancient Trap,” “Skip Pop, ”Breakdance Music”) provoking many questions and fewer answers. The music can be at times both stark and grandiose, desolate and luxuriant, dead-serious and ridiculous, dirge-like and joyful; it’s all de rigueur for Headboggle. 

Gedalecia has taken the best and most developed parts of a myriad of sound synthesis and production techniques and coalesced it into a forty minute tour de force of forward-thinking, cinematic and whimsical music. To contextualize this album as anything short of his grand opus within the context of his vast 100+ release back catalog wouldn’t be giving “Digital Digital Analog” it’s due diligence. 

Album Artwork By: TinyLittleHammers
Mastered By Jake Rodriguez

LEXAGON "FEMININE CARE" - PREORDER  {Bandcamp} Out September 10, 2021 

"Feminine Care" by LEXAGON  is a collection of hypnotic mood swings, spirit jazz and haunted incantations that explore permutations of femininity and care between 2016 - 2020. These songs were moments of freedom and release in the midst of the Trump administration, Black terror, wildfires, displacement and heartbreak. 

This album is a rite of passage. These compositions ask, “What does it really mean to be cared for, caring, carefree and careful in the feminine experience?” 

Absurdly titled after the puritanically cursed tampon aisle in American drugstores, Feminine care plays with ideas of cycles, failed gender-conformity, climate-change, the black female body as a “pre-existing condition,” tenderness within femme rituals, and the relationship between American horror and sexuality. This is an investigation into the femme experience, behind the capitalization of our bodies, beyond binary thinking and before the witch trials and our dislocation from the natural world. 

Lexagon’s sound swallows you into a thick atmospheric cloud of dark melodic incantations that feel both delicate and dangerous- ancient and haunting. Her sound pushes vocal pop into realms of “spirit-noise” often letting the ghost in the machine distort and influence the compositions of her tracks. 

Field recordings of storms and animals, clarinet, cajon, omnichord, journal entries and whispered confessions swell into rising tides of breathy ballads and electronic spirituals. 

Listen to the soundscape of a locked diary, sonic sketches oscillating between form and dissolution.Hear the musicality of the inner mind- intrusive thoughts playing peek a boo with focus, an argument between self and shadow, an overstimulated nervous system draped in sweet harmonies that melt into the uncanny valley; making rhythms out of syllables,tears in bayou cemeteries and breathlessness from being policed in Amerikkka. 

When describing her music practice Lexagon states, “I’m fascinated with the idea of exploring alternate, hidden versions of myself and the thousands of ancestors who’ve worn my face- music is a spiritual technology that allows me to drop into the deepest parts of myself and lineage...I’m not interested in making pretty music as much as capturing the variables and energies moving through me in a given moment. I see my music practice like an astrological natal chart- a blueprint documenting me and the cosmos right now.” 

Downtempo tracks like Hurricane slip you into a brooding sultry soundscape, humid with lush reverb and resonant drones. Field recordings of rain and thunder swell between lyrics like “Drench me, I can go all night” or “torrential rains between your legs” as a lovesick ode to female ejaculation. 

While other songs like Values shuffle syncopated rhythms that weave samples of paper money and pitch-shifted clarinet, almost mirroring the self-aware nuance of the chant- like lyrics “I can’t afford a good night’s rest” to “I can’t afford to be afraid, look me in the eyes-unlock the cage.” Her vocal delivery is raw and vulnerable, exposing the threads of her grief, anxiety and courage. 

As a filmmaker, Lexagon’s compositions are often crafted with a moving image in mind. Some of her compositions like The Motivation act as a documentary soundtrack: picture a summer afternoon, she is sitting on a California beach and writing down notes about metaphysics from Walter Russell’s “The Secret of Light” while staring off into the blue horizon. There is both a sense of channeling and auto ethnographic archiving layered between sounds of crashing waves and sizzling sea foam. 

Feminine Care nods to the women who throw bricks and soup cans, the crones whose wisdom mends our broken hearts, the mothers who sing the lullabies of our ancestors, the post-men-opausal badasses with beards, the two-spirits who are both, and most of all- for Black women who conjure worlds of possibility with every breath. 

Released September 10, 2021  on Cassette, CDr and digital download 

Recorded Composed and Arranged By Lexagon 2016-2020 
Front Cover Artwork : Lexagon 
Mastered by : Jake Rodriguez 
 

Please sight the  Bandcamp page for all of the individual special edition specifics, and shipping dates for the preorders(which will begin shipping early September, three weeks ahead of the release date. 

Also of note is the TYLER HOLMES "NIGHTMARE IN PARADISE" Album Release Show, which you can purchase tickets for by clicking on the poster below.  We are so excited for this and have released a very limited amount of $5 presales which are going fast and you can get them here; TICKETS

FRIDAY AUGUST 27, 2021 On Our Youtube Channel & Twitch Channel.  $5-25 suggested Donation For the Artists. 

Featuring performances by:

TYLER HOLMES

SPELLLING

PLANNINGTOROCK

OUR NEWEST RELEASE - TYLER HOLMES "NIGHTMARE IN PARADISE" IS LIVE VIA OUR BANDCAMP STORE! 

“Nightmare In Paradise” ​by​ ​Tyler Holmes ​was written in the wake of a violent trauma that Holmes and tour mates experienced on their last night in Puerto Rico at the end of an otherwise blissful tour. Holmes stayed behind with longtime collaborator and friend San Cha to care for their injured bandmate, taking shifts sleeping on a hospital floor and staying with friends in downtown San Juan. Upon returning stateside, Holmes experienced intense PTSD, bouts of agoraphobia, and extreme ongoing stomach pain. The symptoms drove them to composition as a survival tool and means to process extreme dark thoughts, anxieties and emotions. Initially the project began as acoustic guitar demos sounding like Hole’s MTV Unplugged performance remixed by Tricky, the songs eventually morphed into the electro-acoustic aquarium that the album contains now​. 
Despite the album’s violent and chaotic conceptual underpinnings,​ ​“Nightmare In Paradise” i​s the culmination of many years of ​toil, struggle, scrapping and re-editing, crying and singing, ultimately rebirthing ​the most complex and nuanced musical offering yet from Bay Area artist Tyler Holmes. ​“Nightmare In Paradise” is H​olmes’ most refined and deliberate distillation of concept and composition working in a complicated and refined harmony. Through even more delicate and nuanced vocal presentation across the twelve songs, beds of layered acoustic guitar, minimal electronics, cello and woodwinds, Holmes has refined their hybridization of Electronic / Folk / R&B and Modern Black Classical music to a feverish crescendo on ​“Nightmare In Paradise”.​ 

“I’ve been calling this my ‘adult-contemporary’ album because it is leagues softer than anything I’ve ever released, especially as a collection. This work was created as a document of my personal recovery from a very violent traumatic event and maps my experience with healing, PTSD, and illness. If the record is soft, or soothing, it is so because I needed to tell the story that way to make it palatable to process for myself. I needed to channel brutality through a healing lens to be able to recount the experience.” 

The album features 12 players across its 12 tracks and a duet co-produced by LA’s GESS. Holmes’ uncanny ability to constantly reinvent and reimagine their own compositions through the addition of live players, remixes, in both expanded and minimal forms shines through on several tracks on the album, highlighted through lush strings and wind sections, such as on the lead track ​“Confuse Me”​. 

These moments aren’t beautiful accidents however, rather delicately wrapped sonic gifts in musical form. Pulling from genres as disparate as Harsh Noise and Dop-Wop, Holmes breathes life into their own uniquely personal sonic and conceptual world. 

Holmes states​ ​“I wanted to create a white space. A clean slate; where emotions (no matter how painful) could present themselves fluidly and be wiped clean. To process the traumas and tribulations one by one, each feeling a colorful gesture on blank canvas. Each wound here for a moment and then passing off into the void to make way for the next.” 

The album’s lead single and visual “​Confuse Me​,” ​a breakup song written as a reflection in the aftermath of a long tumultuous romance​. Minimal synths, electronics and horns lay delicately below Holmes’ breathy, layered vocals. On ​“Confuse Me”​ Holmes channels a reflecting pool of emotion, building intricate architectural structures within a single feeling or experience, providing the listener with an intimate window into the destruction and need for rebuilding which informed the album. Through precision and stark, pop minimalism- the listener is transported into ​a space​ where Holmes is oftentimes present in the space, whispering out of the speakers. Other times, the lyrics reflect inwardly on Holmes own subjective orientation to the story (talking to themself,) but never closing the listener off completely. Holmes has allowed us into their vivid universe as an observer, friend and perhaps even on occasion, the subject. Like a jellyfish following an unknown torrent, we float through the rich sonic landscape of “​Nightmare In Paradise '' a​ nd all of it’s vivid conceptual dichotomies. Rich in feeling, form, and execution, ​“Nightmare in Paradise'' w​ ill appease fans from ​Bjork​, ​FKA Twigs​, ​Xiu Xiu,​ and ​Florist​, while simultaneously carrying them to spaces untouched by these names adorned to so many of us. 

Nightmare In Paradise: 
01 Heart Token 
02 Confuse Me 
03 Concrete Balloon 
04 The Girl You Knew 
05 To Accept 
06 Song 
07 Moss 
08 Eden 
09 Hold Me Ghost 
10 Nightmare In Paradise 11 Guts 
12 Canvas

ORDER NOW!]

and we're on KPFA.ORG doing a. takeover of OVER THE EDGE radio Show Hosted by NEGATIVLAND! 

Today is a special day, today we announce the most ambitious  RATSKIN releases to date, the monumental solo opus from one of the most talented and magical people i know, Dax  Pierson  titled "NERVE BUMPS (A Queer Divine Dissatisfaction)" - two plus years in the making production wise, conceptually many many more. We've joined forces with Bay Area Powerhouse label  Dark Entries Records to present this in as many formats as possible- LP, Cassette, and Digipak CD! This is a huge step for us and we couldn't be more excited to having a small hand in releasing this beautiful work into the world. 

There is no. possible way for me to overstate how important of a release this is for Dax and the electronic community in general, but we will do our best to try. 

To say that Dax is a personal musical hero of ours, and many others would also be a massive understatement.

PREORDER IS LIVE NOW via Dax's bandcamp page and our webstore. 

Thanks to XLR8R fo sharing this beautiful feature on "NERVE BUMPS (A Queer Divine Dissatisfaction)"

Dax Pierson’s debut solo LP is coming via San Francisco’s Electronic powerhouse imprint Dark Entries Records and Oakland’s Ratskin Records collective. Pierson, an Oakland-based underground legend, has pushed the boundaries of experimental electronic music with his soul-moving opus Nerve Bumps; A Queer Divine Dissatisfaction, an endeavor two long years in the making. On Nerve Bumps, Pierson blends hip hop, jazz, John Carpenter-esque arpeggios, trap/anti trap-influenced percussion, and musique concrete-informed experiments. Futuristic synthesizers cut through layers of fog as Pierson’s bombastic drum programming forges new worlds within themselves. 
Pierson tells a complicated and inspiring story on Nerve Bumps, which is both a privilege and a gift to experience. Tracks such as “I Slay The Pain” reiterate that although Pierson has to live his life as a quadriplegic, this does not define him as an artist or as a person. The cinematic “For The Angels” plays as a masterclass in heart and body-moving rhythms and undulating synthesizers. Pierson directly confronts the listener on “Snap”, an act of solidarity with the disabled community. Sputtering orchestral swells become encapsulated by splintering shards of Pierson’s voice, evoking his relentless determination to learn new music production methods as well as share his experience with losing certain physical abilities. The album’s closing track, “NTHNG FKS U HRDR THN TM”, is a perfect distillation of the varied emotions explored on the album. Warm, heavy synths masterfully guide us down a psychedelic slope through the track’s twelve minutes. On Nerve Bumps, honesty, empathy, and humanity bleed through the speakers like a dark liquid just beneath the skin’s surface. For Pierson, music is his lifeblood, both as a creator and a listener. 

Nerve Bumps was mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The front cover features a painting of pink and green horizontal stripes by Pierson’s partner, artist Chuck Nanney. A photograph of Pierson’s wheelchair by Lenny Gonzalez graces the back sleeve. Dax’s guiding mantra throughout this journey has been a quote from choreographer Martha Graham: “No artist is pleased… There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”

December 2020 Update to say that our. fundraiser is still live for Mixed Reality Festival, and we are hosting the first event coming up as a trail run in the space, this January 14th,  2021 featuring a performance by Ratskin artist and collective member WIZARD APPRENtICE.  

ORDER TICKERS HERE, space is very limited and accessibility information is listed in the Eventbrite Event

We are also having our ANNUAL END OF YEAR SALE, which starts DECEMBER 25TH at 4:44 PM PST and runs until JAN 1, 2021 at 4:44PM PST.

Use code: GARBAGE DAY in our BRAND NEW WEBSTORE or BANDCAMP STORE. 

heck the above links for some brand new items, new garment preorder, test pressings, master cassettes and MORE. 

All sales totaling $50 or above (not incl. shipping) get a free Cassette/CD only available in the sale!

Thank you so much for your continued support.  A LOT has been happening here, so much so that we almost cannot keep up. 

GOLDEN CHAMPAGNE FLAVORED SWEATSHIRT "EXPECTANT" ALBUM RELEASE SHOW STREAMING LINK :

Begins tonight at 8PM PST / 11 PM EST 

TWITCH.TV/RATSKINRECORDSOFFICIAL

TICKET LINK

Donate Directly:

Paypal: order@ratskin.org

Venmo: @ratskinrecords

CashApp : $ratskinrecords

First off, WELCOME TO OUR BRAND NEW WEBSITE! We are still adding a lot to the site over the next two weeks so bare with us while that happens but  for today we have a BRAND NEW WEBSTORE which you should go check out, we have some special one off items in there over the next few weeks as well as a DISCOUNT BIN for special items. To celebrate, we're giving you 20% off anything purchased through the weekend with discount code "r a t 2 0".   

Second, we have a brand new preorder announcement we are beyond humbled and excited  to announce our very next release, RAT089, MARIA CHAVEZ / LUCAS GORHAM "Live At Jewel's Catch One" Cassette and Collaboration T-Shirt. The shirts are limited to 25 and are hand dyed with natural dyes from NYC based artist Julia Norton in collaboration with Maria Chavez. 

you can CLICK HERE TO PREORDER THE CASSETTE and/or T-SHIRT from our new web store, or order directly from Bandcamp. 

"Abstract turntablist, and sound sculptor Maria Chavez and avant-garde guitarist Lucas Gorham. This collaboration afforded us with a unique opportunity to work with both artists and release a sonically and conceptually beautiful sound work. Both Chavez and Gorham are known internationally for their acute investigations into improvisational sound, the complexities of chance improvisation and free-jazz inspired compositional 
methods, unifying the breath of all sounds big and small, and seemingly the very essence of sound herself. 

On “Live At Jewel’s Catch One”, the duo creates a deep, rhizomic, sonic investigation of texture and rhythm that span deep listening through chance operations. Synthesizing the space between Chavez’s uniquely brilliant and idiosyncratic methods of turntablism and Gorham’s fractured, abstracted lap-steel guitar/electronics work, a beautiful sonic adventure emerges. Chavez’s extended technique of turntablism, chance operations and compositional strategies pull equally from John Cage, Elaine  Radigue, Pauline Oliveros and DJ Premier alike.

Our newest release, "Expectant"  from GOLDEN CHAMPAGNE FLAVORED SWEATSHIRT, is released TODAY!

ORDER HERE ON BANDCAMP. ALREADY it's been reviewed in ASTRAL NOIZE, THE TAPE DECK , THE SEATTLE PI,  and lastly  SHI THE MUSIC CRITIC MAGAZINE  and you can read them by clicking these link  here! 

The special editions are almost sold out, last count at the time of writing this there were only TWO special editions remaining. 

"It’s obvious just from listening that blood, sweat and tears have been poured into this album’s production. Each of the tracks function both on their own and as a whole. The record veers between sublime washes of downtempo techno beats over hypnotic, buzzsaw waves on tracks like ‘Sea Creatures’, whilst tracks like ‘Horsemouth’ jar the listener’s brain with snarling, crunchy waves of synth and skittering beats, though never suffer from this juxtaposition. Each track flows neatly into the next, perhaps because of the keen line of thinking behind Expectant’s hyperactive catharsis. Golden Champagne Flavoured Sweatshirt explains that “the personal and political nature of creating art under capitalism has been an intense journey of self actualisation. This is to remember these feelings, this time, this part of my story.” - Astral Noize 

"Golden Flavored Champagne Sweatshirt’s new record, like so many great boundary-breaking sonic works, says a great deal with a careful fusion of sounds. Yet it’d be foolish to claim it’s simply a response to recent catastrophes, despite knowing titles like “3.26_”. 2020 might have been one of the most traumatizing years in recent history for American Black people in particular, but those traumas have roots dating back decades, even centuries. Albums like Expectant, with its distinctly misanthropic POV and pointed discord, speak to ancient queries still ignored, often aimed less at sophistic resolution than release." - The Tape Deck

"GCFS is one of the artists looking to take electronic music out of its almost cloistered existence and bring it to a wider audience. She's a multimedia artist - working in everything from watercolours to digital to create visual art - and she brings the sensibilities of both musician and painter to her work. Her pieces are a type of synaesthesia - generated sounds which create images and pictures in your head. 

This isn't music you can listen to as background or something you're going to hear piped in to some coffee shop. This is music you have to pay attention to. Like a painting which reveals its secrets the longer you stare at it, the more you listen to Expectant the more you will appreciate the atmospheres and moods it creates."

- Seattle PI

Also last Friday, we launched a Trailer and Go Fund Me Campaign for our largest and most realized project to date, MiXED REALITY FESTIVAL, a festival and virtual venue experience centering accessibility through the lens of de colonial artists and musicians. The festival is happening in October 2021, and we began working on the. concept and basic testing in October 2019, and are beyond elated to share the initial trailer and fundraising campaign. 

Also our final virtual event of 2020 is happening December 3 and is an album release for "Expectant". 
streaming right on Our Youtube Channel. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't. 

and lastly, MIXED REALITY FESTIVAL Trailer:Watch On YouTube

Mixed Reality Festival is an immersive VR event for de-colonial artists that untethers itself from the daily oppression of our lives. This project, by Ratskin Records , will feature current and upcoming artists that push the boundaries of music, experimentation, healing, and self-expression in 2020. Through years of arts-based organizing, we have found that our communities are in crisis around physical, emotional, and financial access to physical art spaces and COVID-19 has only exacerbated this crisis. As queer and trans disabled artists of color, we are often overlooked as a community that has, in many ways, defined the cultural output of the Bay Area. We are in the position of archiving our struggles and creating social relevance through our own narratives. Our shared value of collective liberation has given us the integrity, passion, and inside knowledge needed to develop a platform that responds to the needs of our communities.

Please direct folks who can spare a few extra dollars TO OUR GO FUND ME. We're not really calling on our direct community to donate, but rather share with friends and family who might be down to support i a number of different ways. 

Also thank you to everyone whop voted us BEST RECORD LABEL  2020 in SF BAY GUARDIAN & 48 HILLS, what an honor, read it here.