Salamanda - ashbalkum

Human Pitch

£17.98

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: HP020
Release Date: 19 Sep 2022
Genre: Experimental/Electronic

A1. Overdose
A2. Melting Hazard
A3. Rumble Bumble
A4. Mad Cat Party (feat. Ringo The Cat)
A5. Living Hazard
B1. Coconut Warrior
B2. Hard Luck Story
B3. Kiddo Caterpillar
B4. Stem
B5. Catching Tails

Human Pitch is proud to welcome Seoul-based duo Salamanda to the label for the release of their third LP ashbalkum - a portal into unseen worlds, enchanting stasis, & laughter in the face of our evolving realities. Across an effervescent 39 minute runtime, ashbalkum provides a spellbinding view into how we interact with the world around us - one where one’s own being, language, & nature itself are all rendered infinitely mutable.

Written during the surrealist landscape of summer 2021 somewhere between a sweet dream & a beautiful nightmare, ashbalkum accesses a playful tranquility that mirrors our tumultuous present - distantly intimate, static & constantly changing, moving while standing still, all the while narrowly evading the pressures of our pre-apocalyptic world looming just overhead. Through their collaborative energy steeped in joy, friendship, & experimentation, Salamanda transports us towards even further surreality - taking their sound to wholly new frontiers while aiming to just have fun creating together & living presently.

ashbalkum’s namesake stems from symbolic & phonetic reinterpretation - specifically, a Korean phrase for the realization that what you’ve been experiencing as “reality” is actually a dream. The transmutation of this humorous existentialism into new meaning forms the core of ashbalkum - blissfully maneuvering through life, basking in irreverent states of lucidity, & attuning all frequencies to fellow dreamers within the dream.

Do dreams always reflect what we think? Is what we feel within dreams real?

Ultimately, Salamanda don’t seek to answer these questions, so much as revel in the delightful liminality of it all.

ashbalkum is out via Human Pitch June 10, 2022 on vinyl, digital.

DJ Reactions to first single “Overdose”:

dBridge: “Very nice autonomic type vibes” 4/5 stars
Hank Jackson: “really nice tune” - 5/5 stars
Giant Swan: “sounds weird af! great!”
Oceanic: “Wow beautiful”
CCL: “love” - 5/5 stars
rroxymore: “Enchanting track!” - 5/5 stars
Ron Like Hell: “beautiful” - 5/5 stars
Ciel: “stunning!!” - 4/5 stars
Akanbi: “HP don’t play! This is a beauty and I’m excited to hear more from Salamanda”
Titonton Duvante: “What an absolutely gorgeous tune. 100% going to work this one into a set. The subtle vocal texture really is doing it for me” - 4/5 stars
Interstellar Funk: “I love their productions. Amazing stuff!” 5/5 stars
Jason Kendig: “pretty” - 5/5 stars
Frosty (Dublab): “lovely other realms” - 5/5 stars
Thristian bPM (Boiler Room/NTS): “really nice” - 5/5 stars
Tony Poland: “LOVE THIS - huge fan of their Metron LP so happy to see them on Human Pitch. Will play on radio” - 5/5 stars