quête:2 elements

The fifth full-length studio album from Vermont quartet Twiddle, Every Last Leaf is a bold exploration of the cyclical nature of life.

Propelled by constant evolution in its 18 years touring, the band —Mihali Savoulidis vocals, guitar, Ryan Dempsey keys, organ, synth, Brook Jordan [drums], and Zdenek Gubb [bass], welcomes a musical rebirth, leaning heavily on enigmatically stoic songwriting in lieu of the affably saccharine. Longtime listeners can expect an elevated presentation of Twiddle’s trademark sound, delicately orbiting the worlds of funk, jazz, rock, reggae, and bluegrass.

“Every Last Leaf is a metaphor for life,” Mihali explains. “When a leaf falls to the ground, something will grow from it. Everything is part of this grand circle. In the music, we’re exploring all of life’s sides—from the sad and angry to the proud and happy.”

In the end, Twiddle have creatively found their way on Every Last Leaf.

“When you listen to this, I hope you experience the beauty we did,” Mihali leaves off. “If you feel anything at all, mission accomplished. There are a lot of moments on this album that tie up the elements of life. It’s real.”

Japanese born Shoko Igarashi's debut album Simple Sentences is a record that, not unlike a piece of luggage checking in from city to city, has managed to absorb vital influences from each place it has landed. Shoko grew up in rural Japan, she studied in the US and is currently
living in the most quintessential European city, Brussels.

Shining in its diversity, Simple Sentences carries elements from each one of those stops in her life.

The influences from Far East are more than evident and funnily enough, even unconscious, which makes them integrate in a beguiling childish and naive way that adds even more to the originality of the sound. Take for Example the lead track ’AppleBanana’ - Echoes of Chiemi Manabe, Hosono and even overtones of Akiko Yano are all seamlessly there. 'Sand Dungeon' is a little gem reminiscent of Yellow Magic Orchestra at the heights of their powers and the aptly titled 'Anime Song' could be an unreleased track from Testpattern’s infamous and sought after LP. 'Lovely Song' in its electronic pastoral vibe could have been produced by Seigen Ono, but is entirely the work of Shoko's expansive creative world.
'CASH OK' harks back to New York’s 90’s Jazz Street scene, paying tribute to her Brooklyn live gigs, and album closer 'Tsuki No Yama' goes back to her roots with a meditative folk sound quite different from the rounded pop edges that the rest of her album carries.

Simple Sentences is like its title implies: straightforward in its brilliance and simplicity, yet carefully measured with a maturity that almost makes us wonder - how did Shoko manage to absorb all these influences and bring them together into a vibrant sound collage which ultimately is fresh and timeless.

Red Vinyl

Scottish DJ and production duo Co-Accused return with the second release on their own Co-Accused Records label. The thunderous EP features four tracks from Sosak, Fear-E, Acidulant and Co-Accused themselves. They kick things off with the pounding 'PA2 Crew'. An ode to the hardcore they both loved in their earlier raving days, the title of the track pays homeage to their hometown of Paisley. Track two comes from Sosak, an alias of Glasgow's Gary Beck. Sosak’s 'Do One' keeps the energy high with pulsating synths and driving drums. On the flip side, Fear-E’s 'Rhubarb and Custard' is a jackin 'journey filled with melodic elements and chaotic atmospheres. Self-confessed acid freak Acidulant brings the release to a close with the deep, dark and moody 'Drankx'. A hypnotic trip into the void.

Madfish are extremely proud to present:

LAURA NYRO - AMERICAN DREAMER

An 8LP Deluxe Vinyl Box Set housing 7 of Laura’s breathtaking original albums - More Than A New Discovery, Eli And The Thirteenth Confession, New York Tendaberry, Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat, Gonna Take A Miracle, Smile & Nested, alongside an original LP of Rarities & Live Recordings.

During the singer/songwriter movement in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Laura Nyro was one of the most celebrated tunesmiths of her day. She penned soulful, literate songs that took the folky introspection of her peers and infused it with elements of soul, R&B, jazz, and gospel, giving them an emotional heat that set her apart. Nyro was a hugely respected recording artist, whose confident piano work and rich, expressive vocals made other sonic trailblazers such as Miles Davis and Alice Coltrane navigate towards her. She has influenced the greatest of songwriters - Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Neil Young, Carole King, Kate Bush and Elvis Costello among them. That influence continues today being heard in the works of Alicia Keys, Tori Amos, Suzanne Vega, Jenny Lewis and more. Nyro’s wonderfully
expressive and poetic songs – of which many became major hits by other artists, most notably The 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night and Barbra Streisand – remain hallmarks of outstanding quality. ‘Eli’s Comin’, ‘Gibsom Street’, ‘Wedding Bell Blues’, ‘And When I Die’, ‘Stoned Soul Picnic’, ‘Map To The Treasure’, ‘Sweet Blindness’ and ‘Stoney End’ are magnificent examples. Nyro was 18 years old when
she signed her first recording contract and wrote the songs for which she is likely to be best remembered. By the time she was 22, she had become one of the most successful composers in American popular music. But at the age of just 24, she drew back from her creativity and fame, battered and drained by the sheer energy and nerve required to sustain her career. Fortunately for those of us who loved her music, that was not the end of the story. She returned briefly to the fray for three turbulent years in the mid-to-late 1970s, and then enjoyed a final decade of artistic achievement and public acclaim, before illness took her from us at the tragically early age of 49 in 1997. Nyro found her early fame challenging yet despite living under an unrelenting spotlight, she was able to create this series of utterly beautiful
and stunningly unique albums.

A1 - 45 rpm - “Magia Negra”
Mixing elements of afro-brazilian percussion and universal funk, Magia Negra is a homage to James Brown
and how his "black magic" influenced every danceable music in the world.

B1 - 45 rpm - “Cartoon Adults”
There is something about the adults speaking on the Peanuts cartoon always has made us think that we don't
really need word to understand certain messages especially if it's funky

Dj Elohim - Is a Brazilian Drummer/percussionist, DJ and an enthusiast of blending samples into the MIDI keyboard and recycling it into funking else.

When you talk about the origins of jungle music, DJ Dextrous is most definitely cited as a name that helped define the genre. His tracks were always on heavy rotation on the mighty Kool FM and every Jungle/DnB radio station across the country. Dextrous VIP dubplate specials were weapons in the record bags of Micky Finn, DJ Ron, Kenny Ken and his old mate from school DJ Hype!

The 1994 Jungle anthem Charged was released on the ground-breaking Suburban Base Records imprint as part of a ‘King Of The Jungle’ Trilogy. Now updated for 2022 Charged gets a couple of fresh licks from two modern day jungle specialists, backed up with original and VIP exclusive versions, all packaged on a beautiful 12” vinyl picture disc.

First up are the mighty Serial Killaz who’ve taken the original track and applied their trademark, award winning sound which has seen them releasing on Congo Natty, Philly Blunt, Souped Up and their own self-titled Serial Killaz label.

Next up is AKAS who’s recent Old Skool New Skool track on DeVice spend almost 3 months in the Beatport Top 10!! AKAS keeps things jungle for his Charged remix but tweaks the elements and pushes the genre to have the maximum impact on any dancefloor across clubs or festivals.

On the flip is an original unreleased VIP dubplate version, sourced from the archives or Da Kings Of The Jungle studio DAT recordings, which DJ Dextrous was playing in his sets exclusively.
Finally we have the classic original mix of Charged which has been beautifully remastered from the original source recording to make this picture disc release sound as good as it possibly can.
This is an extremely limited pressing & will never be re-issued so we’d advise jungle aficionados, both new & old, to buy on sight!!

'No Sub Reino dos Metazoários' is the first and only record by musician and poet Marconi Notaro, out of Pernambuco, Brazil. Originally released independently, however, with the support and distribution of Rozenblit, the 1973 album featuring Lula Cortes, Zé Ramalho and Robertinho de Recife is part of the holy trilogy of "Psicodelia Nordestina" amongst the equally mindblowing Paebiru (1975) and Satwa (1973). For its non-comercial a raw aesthetics, the record became a true rarity among collectors worldwide and one of the most important albums of Brazilian Psychedelia. For years it was known that the master tape of 'No Sub Reino dos Metazoários' had been lost during two floods that wrecked the Rozenblit Studios. Lots of equipment were damaged and plenty of material gone. However what no one expected was that the tapes were kept on the highest shelves in the studio where the water did not reach with the thought of "equipment can be replaced, master tapes are unique". Notaro's daughters inherited and rescued the tape and made it available so that Fatiado Discos could release the first and remastered version from the original tapes since 1973. The lysergic highest moments come with nature elements textures as water and wind mixing together with the unmistaken sound of the Tricórdio Acústico - which is a very unique instrument that Lula Côrtes brought himself from India and then adapted it with the help of a local luthier to the regional sound of the Brazilian northeast. The gatefold designed by Lula Côrtes is portrayed in this release and it also has its inner side designed by Cátia Mezel, apart from an extra insert with unpublished photos of Marconi provided by the musician's family.

With arrangements and piano by Alfredo Linares, this is a thrilling double-sider sought after by collectors and DJs because of the funky dancefloor cuts 'Enyere Kumbara' (covered by Quantic a few years back) and 'INS-Rock'. Proper Afroantillano party business melting Cuban, Nuyorican and Colombian tropical traditions. First time reissue on 7" vinyl. Julián y su Combo was founded in 1962 by left-handed guitarist Julián Angulo Ponce, who was originally from Guapi, Cauca, Colombia and made his name in Cali and Buenaventura, signing initially with Bogotá's Sello Vergara in 1966. During a 20-year period Julián y su Combo released eight records (with several band name variations). Angulo was part of the first generation of artists from the Colombian Pacific who migrated to Bogotá in the 1970s, and his combo enjoyed popularity in his adopted city as well as in Medellín and Mexico. The band also travelled to Venezuela and the US. Angulo described his sound as Afroantillano, combining Cuban, New York Latin and Puerto Rican elements with Colombia's own tropical traditions. The combo's arrangements were distinguished by the bandleader's funky, jazzy electric guitar work (Angulo played without changing the order of the strings), a hot rhythm section and the potent brass line-up of two saxophones and a trumpet (much like Cortijo y su Combo). At that time Alfredo Linares was musical director at INS and this album -the first one Julián Angulo recorded for the label- bears his influence in the funky 'Mambo Rock' sections (breaks and handclaps galore!) and hot Cuban and Latin jazz piano styles that also graced his own records.

Fresh and zesty with subtle tropical flavours, this is a delightfully listenable debut from Matthieu Beck on Growing Bin. Inspired by the lilting rhythms, jazzy instrumentation and slow listening gems found on his Love In The Afternoon radio show, the Frenchman has crafted a gorgeous collection of laid back sophisti-pop, perfect for long summer days or seasonally affected escapism.
Any suggestion of sorrow in the album title is actually a mislead - this may be a solo LP, but Matthieu's surrounded himself with the musical friends he's made over the years, serving as composer and bandleader to a willing troop of collaborators. Longtime friend and former Metronomy bassist Gabriel Stebbing, Source Ensemble drummer Emmanuel Mario, and of course Laetitia Sadier herself, stepped in to lend their services and bring Matthieu's music to life, before Jérôme Caron (Blackjoy) expertly mixed it all down.
Though the tracklist may read like a travelogue, these nine tracks all began at home with Matthieu sat behind a Fender Rhodes with a drum machine by his side. Soon live bass, saxophone and flute strolled into his unhurried arrangements, retaining the simplicity of his demos while expanding the emotion. Weighty synth drones and bubbling bass balance the airy elements of tracks like "California" or the dream-pop romance of "Rooftop Rome", while the mellow "Malika" and joyful "Retour De Plage" showcase the Frenchman's relationship with jazz. Elsewhere there's hints of digi-dub ("Island" and "Suede"), coastal boogie ("Tokyo Montana"), stripped back city pop ("California") and downtown nostalgia ("Dora"), before Beck arrives at the poetic, progressive but peaceful finale "Piano Fin", which recalls Air at their prettiest, without stepping outside Matthieu's well defined sound.

Bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick (Portico Quartet) launches new collaborative project with saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands)

Vega Trails is a new project from double-bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick, a founder member of Portico Quartet, who has also performed with the likes of Nick Mulvey and Jono McCleary and features saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands, Sunda Arc) in a richly powerful duo bringing together two powerfully charismatic musicians. The project which takes its name from Carl Sagan's science fiction novel 'Contact' (a book about signals of new life detected from the Vega system) andwas born out of a desire to bring the elements of bass and melody to the foreground in their rawest form and Fitzpatrick explains that he deliberatelychose the stripped back approach.

"There is so much in just one musician's sound; the emotional, the intellectual, the vulnerability and power of their character. But often these delicate nuances can be submerged in the quest for a group sound. In Vega Trails I wanted to grant the musicians space to breathe and be heard and for the listener to witness the intimacy and depth of a conversation between two voices, bass and melody. I was also interested in how the limitations would guide both the composition and performance and to push us both to places close to the limits of what we could play, and it is in this place where I believe the character of a musician blossoms and comes forward".

Tremors in the Static was composed during Lockdown as Fitzpatrick immersed himself in music that had space and sparseness such as Swedish fiddle music and Indian Classical music. Jan Johansson's legendary 'Jazz på Svenska' (jazz versions of Swedish folk songs) was another influence, as was a collection of ancient lullabies by Spanish soprano singer Montserrat Figueras. Through exploring the harmonic and textural possibilities on the bass, Fitzpatrick would cycle riffs and motifs whilst singing melodies, and he began to create the music debuted here. However, it was only after listening to Charlie Haden's album of duets, 'Closeness', that the project would come into focus as a duo, and Fitzpatrick immediately knew that the second musician had to be Jordan Smart.

"I saw Jordan play at two Gondwana Records events – in Berlin and Tokyo. Both times I was mesmerised by the intensity and conviction of his playing. His commitment to the cause of transcending himself and the listener made a lasting impression on me. When I began writing this record, I knew I needed a strong player who had equal conviction in their playing as me, but also someone who understood the importance of melody"

It was an inspired idea as Smart brought an openness and positivity which allowed the music to be both experimental and bold. Smart's ability to play tenor and soprano saxophone with equal command, as well as bass clarinet and Ney flute, allowed them to open up the pallet of sound and pull the melodies into varying emotional landscapes.The final piece of the puzzle was the performance space. Fitzpatrick knew that he wanted the two players to react off of a third element. The music was written for an ambient space which interacted with the notes: decaying and disintegrating them into silence. They found the perfect space in a church in Fitzpatrick's local neighbourhood of Stamford Hill.

"The recording space is the canvas on which the sound interacts and flows, it is the frame in which notes can live, breathe and die and is as important as the other elements. A resonant recording space, like a church, allows this stripped back sound to resonate, echo and linger, enough to create images and landscapes in which stories can play out".

This then is Vega Trails, a project that brings together two open-mined and communicative musicians for the first time, to tell beautiful winding stories together and to create something soulful and new.Something bigger than both of them and something that leaves us all richer for hearing it. Enjoy!

Like meeting an old friend again, Dalmata Daniel welcomes DJ Overdose back to their catalog. Six years ago the infamous Dutchman's '05 Poly 800 Loop' EP was released, which served as a powerful launch to Dalmata Daniel, opening the first chapter in their story. Later in 2019, a split release with Sematic4 was also a highlight in the life of the label; and now, 3 years later, DJ Overdose checks in with the 'Powers of Ten EP' with a J. Mono remix, available both in digital and vinyl format, the latter having 2 bonus tracks.

The distinct, crunchy sound of DJ Overdose, bearing aspects of old school hip-hop-infused sampling and contemporary analog vibes creates the perfect blend of both worlds. 'Garden of Lust' opens up the adventure with a combo of warm basslines and solid drum-programming. This initial track feeds us these cardinal elements as the bread and butter they are: subtle variations and fine spices do appear here and there as the track goes along, but the key, beating pulse in 'Garden of Lust' brings massive hits stable as a sledgehammer in the hands of a blacksmith.

'Feed The Beats' elevates the game to cinematic territories: its majestic string-like central melody makes me alert and ablaze, making me feel like I'm in a late 80s L.A. setting facing malevolent zombie-aliens in my Wayfarer shades. Blasting beats and Carpenterian coolness all over the place, while the spooky bassline just keeps sneaking up on me endlessly.

If you are wondering when's the best time of the year to bring out your boombox at last, then this is your lucky day: with 'BOB', the first bonus track on the vinyl, we can experience some roarin' bassdrums, snappy snares, MCs with the speed of light and all that jazz. The low-bit sampling and vinyl scratching come and kick you right in the face so hard that it becomes pretty obvious you'll can't help but start some serious beatbox battles in your bathtub with your rubber duck.

A feverish groove in the prime time of a funky bash, in the haze of a sensual rave-up: that's all one really wants when going for a Saturday night out. We definitely get this and much more from 'Room 714', another vinyl-only bonus track. A berserk voice and ethereal chords guide us through this mysterious track, but while we are busy trying to impress our crushes on the dance floor, things around us are slowly getting very, very freaky, maybe a bit way too freaky.

As wobbly and jolly as it gets, our Dutch friend ends his session with 'Ðr ¡v€ M€ ¢r@z¥', a vocoder-heavy disco banger, full of merry vocal FX and smart rhythmic glitches as he completes his flight. To close the EP, our local hero, J. Mono delivers an insane remix of 'Ðr ¡v€ M€ ¢r@z¥': one can clearly imagine how he grabs and turns the BPM knob all the way up, fires up some arpeggios on his mighty synths and casts a complete reimagination of the original track.

Kingdemonium highlights the core essence of HAMMER KING and fully reflects on the strengths of the band. The album starts off with “Invisible King”. The title track, “Kingdemonium”, is pure power from the first tune and goes all the way with thundering drums, riffs made of steel, and energetic vocals. Followed by “The Four Horsemen”, starting off slower, the track quickly picks up the pace mid-journey through the world of the Hammer King. “Guardians of the Realm (featuring Ross The Boss)”, stands out from the rest of the songs with the vigorous vocals riddled with acoustic guitar elements, while "Live Long, Die Nasty" is a future live hit that will have all crowds screaming along immediately. An album made of pure steel in the name of the Hammer King!

TOPS were formed in Montreal when song-writing duo David Carriere and Jane Penny decided to join forces with drummer Riley Fleck. Since then they have become one of the most influential underground bands of the past decade, creating a space for sophisticated pop music in the indie world. Their tendency to opt towards making straight-forward, stripped down and honest recordings lets their pop songwriting shine out in the open. With a heart firmly attached to their sleeves, their songcraft delves into the emotional intricacy of personal relationships, asking questions about power and desire. Riley Fleck’s measured drumming and David Carriere’s trademark guitar licks mesh with Marta Cikojevic’s lush keyboards. All these elements work in tandem and in service of Jane Penny’s unmistakable, wistful voice. The result of this mixture is a collection of four self-produced records and a handful of singles that cover a range of moods and a complex emotional realm while maintaining a groove and musicality. Soft rock infused pop hits flow easily, surrounded by their signature moody ballads.

Runhild Gammelsæter and Lasse Marhaug are two Norwegian musicians/sound artists. Both started in the early 1990s music underground and have worked in many constellations with a wide range of collaborators.

Despite knowing each other for a long time, Gammelsæter and Marhaug’s first collaborative work was the “Quantum Entanglement” LP in 2014. The album ignited a collective spark that both wanted to pursue further. Still, other commitments got in the way, and the project lay dormant until Stephen O’Malley, and Greg Anderson invited them to open for Sunn O))) for a special gig in the St. James Church of Culture in Oslo in the autumn of 2019. The two gathered for a long series of rehearsals, and after the successful performance, it was clear that it was time to start working on new compositions and recordings. That process initiated in late 2019 and continued to early 2021, encompassing before and after the world went through the lockdown. The result of this long development to be heard accumulated upon their new album “Higgs Boson” on Ideologic Organ Music.

Throughout the profound process of creating “Higgs Boson”, Gammelsæter and Marhaug drew inspiration from various subjects and artists. For Marhaug, it was concepts informed by the structuralist experimental cinema of Japanese directors Takashi Ito and Toshio Matsumoto, futurist worlds of French comic book artists Philippe Druillet and Jean Moebius Giraud, landscape photography of Fay Godwin, Kåre Kivijärvi, and Tamiko Nishimura, amongst others.

It became a metaphysical juxtaposition involving Gammelsaeter’s research and lyrical ideas based on several seemingly unrelated principles. A process of association inspired by “the Glass Bead Game” by Herman Hesse. The discovery of the Higgs Boson as a confirmation of the physical universe. The work of Ernst Schrödinger on the uncertainty principle. The four forces of physics. The Force. Helplessness under armed forces - as the war sailors in World War II. The influence of magic as expressed in tarot.

Gammelsæter experiments with a boundary involving the thresholds amongst various states of focus and legibility by forensic experimentation with techniques such as exclusive expression of consonants, syllabic repetition, retrograde text vocalisations and multi-lingual layering. Her vocal inspirational sources include Sidsel Endresen, Diamanda Galas, Natacha Atlas, the choral works of Rachmaninov, and the bands Carcass and Grave.

Two worlds coming together, making the music special. Mixing hard facts with science fiction helps create a kaleidoscopic cross point between the complex realities of the past and a possible future.

“Quantum Entanglement” featured two long-form pieces centred around a prepared piano and layered voice, while “Higgs Boson” developed a much more elaborate and ambitious compositional work. Across eight parts, the two artists brought a broad palette of instrumentation and sound. Electronic and acoustic, objects and field recordings, and pipe organ define the structures of which the centre is Gammelsæter’s magnificent voice. She has become known for her legendary voice, with her vast and unique range of inflective techniques and affective colour through her 30 years creating music. In the mix, Lasse approached the instrumental elements like landscapes, then Runhild’s vocals as characters that inhabit those worlds. Often, Gammelsæter multiple characters fused with the landscape. Make them occupy space, sometimes blend into it, sometimes dominate it. Constructing and setting visual guidelines helps set focus and open possibilities.

As an album, “Higgs Boson” is direct and focused, drawing on song structures. Within these tracks are vast strata of sound, an immersive multi-dimensional depth of music. Creating a feeling of depth while working with a flat two-channel stereo format - and how dimensions of texture and distortion can help develop the illusion of a space. The album structure is a story-like arc, a malleable subjective path, set as the album traverses oblique and suggestive areas, opening the concepts for the listener to unpack as they like.

– exclusive consultation with Gammelsæter & Marhaug, edited by Stephen O’Malley, June 2022

300 copies

BerettaMusic, known for discovering and developing Detroit talent and serving as a launching ground for several well known artists such as Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Luke Hess and many others, exposes another great new talent in Detroit with his first vinyl release, Nic Joseph.

Nic is a rising star in the house music scene and has been honing his sound the past 10 years incorporating driving deep house and soulful Detroit techno elements. He has had some massive house releases this year on Simma Black, Too Many Rules & Origins and has made a
big splash in the UK. His last release, “On Me” peaked at #13 on the top 100 Beatport House chart amongst thousands of other tracks and was featured on Defected Radio’s show. His music is currently supported by the likes of Simon Dunmore (Defected), Sam Divine (Radio 1), Josh Butler, Mark Knight (Toolroom) and Kevin McKay. Nic delivers 3 of his signature style driving house tunes for the first time on vinyl and they are not to be missed!

Airport Society are the Detroit duo of Brian Kage and Ryan Sadorus who founded the label BerettaMusic together nearly 20 years ago. They are on remix duties serving up their signature deep, late night dark Detroit warehouse inspired sound. Drawing inspiration from Basic Channel, Echo Space and Terry Lee Brown Jr., this mix will fit great into those deep dark German style house sets.

Rose City Band is celebrated guitarist Ripley Johnson. A prolific songwriter, Johnson started Rose City Band to have an outlet to explore songwriting styles apart from Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo, where he is often not the lead songwriter. Rose City Band allowed him to follow his musical muses as they greet him and not be bound by the schedule of bandmates and demands of a touring group. Stepping out from behind the psychedelic haze that envelops his other output, Rose City Band"s lean yet richly textured arrangements lay bare the beauty of his songcraft. On Earth Trip, Johnson reveals more of himself than ever before, coloring the project"s country-rock twang with a melancholic, wistful undertone. It charts a journey of personal growth and introspection with surprising honesty, from pining for summers spent with friends to meditations on space, stillness and the splendor of the natural world. It continues Rose City Band"s celebration of summer warmth and the great outdoors, seen from a new vantage point, and with newfound appreciation for the freedom and joy that nature provides. Earth Trip was written during a period of sudden shocks and drastic lifestyle changes for Johnson. Forced to cancel extensive touring plans for 2020, the guitarist found himself home for an extended period for the first time in years. No longer in constant motion, he was able to experience and enjoy the simple pleasures of home life, of being in one place: hikes in nature, bathing outside, and waking with the dawn. Forming new connections to his surroundings, from tending to a garden to sleeping out under the stars, Johnson found hope and healing in a more mindful relationship with the natural world. Themes of recalibration and finding personal space are equally mirrored in Earth Trip"s lean production. Recorded at his home studio in Portland and mixed by Cooper Crain (Bitchin" Bajas, Cave), Johnson makes deft use of space while experimenting with new sonics. Shimmering pedal steel, woozy harmonica melodies, and stately piano enhance the album"s introspective tone without ever clouding arrangements. Psychedelic elements that nod to Johnson"s other projects and influences still appear throughout, but hover at the edge of perception, a subtle halo adding colour and texture to Johnson"s songwriting rather than taking centrer-stage. He elaborates: "I told Cooper I was trying to capture that feeling when you take psychedelics and they just start coming on - maybe objects start buzzing in the edges of your vision, you start seeing slight trails, maybe the characteristics of sound change subtly. But you"re not fully tripping yet. He got the idea right away and his mix really captures that feeling." Johnson"s lithe guitar playing throughout treads a fine line between country and cosmic, taut melodies spiralling out into long reverb trails or free-form solos buoyed by a breeze, radiating summer warmth. Through its daring honesty and masteful arrangements, Earth Trip cements Johnson"s place as a singular songwriter of inimitable skill. It"s message of mindfulness and our interconnectedness to the environment expands on a long country and blues music tradition that draws a symbiotic relationship between storyteller and the land, capturing the beauty of the natural world while also emphasising our responsibility in preserving it for future generations

May saw the release of Matthias Vogt's extraordinary new album: Pianissimo. A sound journey based on piano compositions, enriched with guitar sounds, drum and percussion parts, electronic influences and snippets of interviews with environmental activists.
Music that is very unique and cannot be directly assigned to any genre.
Two club mixes of Pianissimo tracks were created, which are now released on Flaneurecordings: The Losoul mix of "The Mind Traveller" is a twisted dub that is cleverly teasing original elements again and again and finally boils up in a break. Peter Kremeier aka Losoul, producer legend from Frankfurt's Playhouse environment is himself a traveler in electronic music and takes us here on his very own internalized trip.
Flaneur boss DJ Jauche takes on "Shimmering Sea" and works close to the original, but refines the track masterfully for the deep dancefloors. A sound that works great for open airs as well as clubs. Very soulful, crisp and stylistically confident.

Dusky’s music has always been built on the pleasure principle, but JOY – as the title makes absolutely clear – takes that to new levels of purity and intensity.
Looking back to more innocent times and to rave music’s halcyon days, the duo of Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman have tapped into that special moment when raving was still a voyage into the unknown.

This project is a distillation of the spirit of people coming together in hard times, forgetting their troubles and celebrating life. All of the core elements here are familiar from the peak rave era and the birth of hardcore – the cascading pianos, the infectious bleep melodies, the Chicago and Detroit grooves, the rugged Belgian techno riffs, and the proto-jungle break beats – but retooled, rewired, and refreshed for this brave new world.

It’s both a natural development and noticeable evolution from the pair’s previous work. Natural, because these musical elements have always been apparent in Dusky’s sound, but a clear evolution in they way they are presented, with such an unreserved and joyous tone.

The result is a celebration - and expression - of the communal ecstasy of the dance floor experience. An expression of 18 months yearning to be back out there communing and celebrating. An expression of everything that dance music - and dance culture - is about at its very best.

JOY brings together all the finesse and subtlety that Dusky have honed while traversing the various corners of clubland over the past decade, all their understanding of fundamental dance floor dynamics, and channels it all to a single, unified purpose. At a time when we’ve all suffered, we’ve all struggled, and we’re all uncertain, we’ve never needed this sense of unity more. All the release we’ve so badly wanted is here: we all need JOY.
credits

incl. mp3
A deepening sense of life, love, health, loss, and luck shaped the outlines of Tuttle’s fifth, and most collaborative album to date. Following a surprising exhilaration and exhaustion from the hitherto most innocuous of moments in mid-2020 - a half-hour drive to collect an online order, the furthest distance he’d traveled in months; Tuttle commenced working on new musical ideas loosely based around navigating the aftermaths and interregnums of a restless era. “I was thinking about what’s going on in the world and how localised it has become for so many of my friends in different places,” Tuttle explains. “Not in a negative way but more so focusing on how lovely it is when things are good.”
Thinking of musician friends and peers around the world – each confined to their own immediate surroundings – Tuttle’s generative and collaborative musical practice became a silvery through-line, connecting American innovators Steve Gunn, Chuck Johnson, Luke Schneider and Michael A. Muller (Balmorhea), to French/Swedish violinist Aurelie Ferriere and Spanish guitarist Conrado Isasa, back to Australian friends such as Voltfruit (aka Flora Wong and Luke Cuerel) and Darren Cross (Gerling) – among many others – each fitting seamlessly into Tuttle’s vibrant musical world.
Whilst previously a feature of Tuttle’s music, the exploration of space and texture found within Fleeting Adventure feels particularly vast and generous. The involvement of Chuck Johnson and Lawrence English mixing and mastering the album respectively, as with their work on Tuttle’s previous and breakthrough album Alexandra (Room40, 2020), inspired Andrew to develop songs that are as serene and patient as he’s ever sounded. Stripping elements back, the idea of pulling the songs apart somewhat, was just as important as adding the work of Andrew’s collaborators. “It is spacious through intent, process and assistance,” he confirms. "I thought carefully about what instruments - both what I played and what I asked others to provide based on my unadorned banjo track - would best work with what I was wanting to create.”
The road to Fleeting Adventure has been both long and short, but it sits as a tender and perhaps even vital reflection of an era in progress, in retrospect and in anticipation. A poignant contemplation on the many bonds that make up our lives from friends and family to the myriad places we inhabit and pass through along the way. The idea that an adventure doesn’t necessarily have to be a grand statement Andrew Tuttle has gathered up a number of his contemporaries and crafted something quietly spectacular, a new beginning to familiar habits.

“Tuttle’s plaintive banjo is encircled by an array of majestic sounds: serpentine electric guitar from Steve Gunn, enveloping electronics courtesy of Balmorhea’s Michael A Muller, violin swirls from Aurelie Ferriere , and the gentle saxophone of Joe Saxby. The result is a lush and unabashedly beautiful sonic landscape.’’ 8/10 UNCUT LEAD REVIEW
Andrew Tuttle's new single New Breakfast Habit is the perfect sonic condiment for the most important meal of the day. A banjo flecked ambient/cosmic journey with a psychedelic video courtesy of Matmos
His new album 'Fleeting Adventure' is the soundtrack of the world re-emerging and getting a release on Basin Rock (Julie Byrne, Aoife Nessa Frances, Johanna Samuels) this summer.