Around a decade ago Jamie Teasdale flung himself into the consciousness of listeners worldwide alongside Roly Porter with the collaborative project Vex’d through the channels of Planet Mu Records. After putting out two much revered full-lengths, the pair decided to continue with their solo projects and from this, Jamie brought his moniker Kuedo to life. Sticking with Planet Mu, he released a couple of EPs and followed them up with Severant, a genuinely singular modern masterpiece that would go on to be heavily influential for years to come. Four years later, Jamie has now founded a label and art imprint together with Joe Shakespeare. With Knives, the two aim to encompass visual art, graphic design and a collaborative working process, functioning across genre confinements that exist in the creative industry today. Knives will soon have its first release from Truants favourite J.G. Biberkopf, and were heavily involved with Jlin’s fantastic Dark Energy that came out on Planet Mu this year.

For now, the label’s focus lies with concentrating on the select projects that have been lined up for the near future. “With Knives, we’ve got a really nice set of projects to work with already, and we really value the chance to work with such artists, so we’ll concentrate on coming through on those before we start taking much more on, or dreaming up bigger futures. It’s easy to slip into an competitive collection mentality when you setup a releasing platform, but you should be focusing on delivering a service for the artists who’ve entrusted you with their work. We’d rather work in a collaborative and mutually beneficial spirit, and focus on the materials at hand.” As for his own work, Jamie chooses not to talk up future Kuedo releases, as the last two years have been a long series of projects bouncing between label homes, and dividing out of one another. “At this point I think it’s better for it to exist first then talk about it. It will be on Knives, and it won’t be a retreading of a previous musical territory.”

Kuedo’s Truancy Volume parallels Knives’ ethos to defy borders and manages to seamlessly bond together all types of music that are exciting for club culture in 2015 – from the melodic vocals of Atlanta rapper Que to the transcending sounds of newcomer Sami Baha. Clocking in at just over forty five minutes, Truancy Volume 117 is a mixtape that’ll surely take you into another dimension, and shows that Kuedo is still roaming in an otherworldly realm; but one that is refreshed in 2015. “I wanted to do something influenced by club dynamics, but also I figured it should acknowledge that its going to be heard on headphones, at office desks, on the bus etcetera, rather than any actual living club space. So it loosens itself from rigid club logic and opens up some more airy spaces too. Last year I was testing the waters with discomfort and disruption in sets, this year I’m focusing on reconciling with the club space as an essentially social, celebratory space, and seeing how far you can work different zones into that without breaking down that social dance function. My own music in these past couple of years isn’t meant to have a club function, so I didn’t force it into the mix.” As for the perfect setting to blast this mix to?  “I don’t know, I double checked it while sat in a doctor’s waiting room and it worked alright, seems flexible. I expect it will work in post office lines, bus stops. Various public transport & queue situations.”

(untitled) – J.G. Biberkopf
Flashlite ft. I-Octane – Ana Caprix
Sniper Riddim – Endgame
Maverick 1 – Sami Baha
CHUNKgodmodeEDITION – Sami Baha/Lotic
(untitled) – v1984
Kyselina – Drippin
Bounty – Amnesia Scanner
GFAAAB4mKWg3qAdMHrXRLk7a – v1984
Glowworms – Sharp Veins
Rigor Mortis – Shcuro
Shaded – Silk Road Assassins
(NASA) Domain Awareness System – Sami Baha
Kyoto – Drippin
Blood Trappings – Ninja Sword
Sliiingbraid – Sentinel
Celestial Sphere VIP – Nights Music
Climax of the Wolf Spider (Moleskin edit) – Rabit
Infrared (Bagua) – Jlin
Advanced – Ninja Sword
Ja Know Ya Big – Dillinja
Yes! Baby! – Ana3
That Cream – Carns Hill
Agnes Revenge – Objekt
08182013VX – v1984
MELT-BUGATTI_ – Sentinel

Artwork by Lucy Benson