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tapetopia 004 The Leipzig band Neu Rot represented a singular phenomenon within the alternative music reservoir of the GDR. As with so many bands that cultivated a more sophisticated sound in the late 80s, Neu Rot’s beginnings had been in punk rock. But, with a remarkable rigour against itself, the band steadily worked its way towards post-rock. This thorough process came to fruition in 1988 with the production of the tape “Halt An”. It had been preceded by the band’s struggle for its very own means and their technical feasibility. Neu Rot’s pilgrimage to its own centre was not unimpeded. The band’s name was perceived by the GDR’s cultural watchdogs as an erratic chain of associations between the suspicious word “Neu” and the ideological signal colour red. The band was legal, but its lyrics were deemed illegal. The edition of “Halt An” was somewhere between over fifty and under one hundred copies. Jörg Stein (voc, g, casio sk-1, yamaha ps-2) Karsten Maaß (bg, voc) Anke Mehlhorn (vl, casio sk-1) Henrik Eiler (dr, voc, casio sk-1) Produced by Mike Stolle & Jörg Stein Lyrics by Jörg Stein, except „Sometimes“ and for „Die Schlange“ by Christoph Wielepp Tape artwork by Daniel Schörnig Tape cover photos by Daniel Schörnig Published by Henryk Gericke Liner notes by Henryk Gericke Remastered by Black Flag Mastering/ Friedemann Kootz © Music by Neu Rot except „Sometimes“ (traditional) recorded Oktober 1988, Leipzig Thanks to: Mike Stolle, Adrian Neumann, Nikolaus Michael, Horst Pfaff, Andreas Berger, Christoph Wielepp, Daniel Schörnig and to the unknown roommate Lachmund Christian Andersen, Michael Barthel, Sarah Baumann, Ralph Gabriel, Ronald Galenza, Jakob Geisler, Ulrike Geisler, Gerd Gericke, Elke Grabinski, Gabriele Herzog, Egmont Hesse, Sabine Jansen, Siegfried Männer, Bettina Matten-Gericke, Christian Morin, Frank Siewert, Philipp Strobel, Christoph Tannert, Stefan Widdess, Margarete Wohlan In memory of Michael Pfaff.

We are proud to present "I'm Always Right" by Imagination, an unreleased jazz rock LP from 1977. Comprised of five tracks with a playtime of roughly 30 minutes, you will hear one of the finest German late-70s rock-tinged electric jazz albums of the era. The recording is a delightful stand-out with unique compositions, aspiring solo work, and a soulful spirit throughout. Additionally, the album veritably glows with exceptional sound quality, as it has been remastered from original tapes that were cut more than four decades ago at the WDR Funkhaus, Cologne.

Here is the story of how label founder John Raincoatman became aware of these lost tapes:
"I first got in touch with members of Imagination from Düsseldorf (not to be confused with the UK disco band under the same name) in 2017 for licensing the track "Strawberry Wine" from their collectible "Shake It" album from 1980. A couple of months later, when I was speaking with Willi Hövelmann, the guitarist for Imagination, he told me about some recordings the band had made a couple of years before, when they had been invited to to the studio of the WDR, a major German broadcaster. A couple of weeks later, when Hövelmann finally sent me the files that he had requested from the WDR, I could not believe what I heard - not only that the songs were totally different from what I expected, but that they were also very very good! The music wasn't comparable to any other kind of fusion release that I knew of. These five songs were straight forward, tight and soulful electric jazz rock, a combination rarely heard from Germany from that time period."

How come Imagination - at that time a young newcomer band consisting of musicians between 19 and 22 years of age - was able to record at the well-equipped Funkhaus studio of German radio and television? Hövelmann explains: "The WDR got to know us from a newcomer band competition called "Pop am Rhein" (Pop at the Rhine) which was set up to support local bands and was promoted by several bigger newspapers. Imagination was one of the 5 contestants which were picked from 59 bands by a jury of music journalists and our band was invited to play a concert at the Philipshalle in front of about 3500 guests. Although a band called "Accept" won the contest (yes, the heavy metal band that gained international success in the following years!) and Imagination only made 3rd place, we were invited by music host and journalist Wolfgang Neumann to record in a professional studio."

Neumann's broadcasting show at the WDR was called "Rock Studio", and one of his special goals was to help push newcomer bands by giving them airplay. As a side note, Neumann actually compiled a series of three LPs on the Harvest label from 1979-1982, each of them featuring four bands. However, the earlier recordings of Imagination had only been used for broadcasting reasons, they were aired a couple of times but never made it to a vinyl or CD release.
So, on October 10th, 1977, it was time for the band to show up and prove themselves in the studio. The tracks were all recorded in one afternoon, mainly as one takes. In some cases flute, saxophone were overdubbed, as well as the vocals on "Love is Genesis", as Hövelmann remembers.

The first song, "Jazzgang" can probably be seen as Imagination's most characteristic composition out of their early period: heavy bass, saxophone leads and speedy solos by the band members. A genuine, rough, yet funky uptempo jazz rock tune. But it's "I'm Always Right", the second track on the album, that raises the bar as the key track of the release with its 10-minute length. The song starts with a great piano solo by Mario F. Demonte. In fact, "Demonte" was a pseudonym of Ratko Delorko, a classically trained piano virtuoso who is still active today as conductor, composer and performer. At that time, it was simply impossible for him to officially be part in a band like Imagination and hence the alias was invented. Anyway, the speedy intro leads to a very soulful mid-tempo jazz funk groove that offers space and time for the band members to perform a solo. First off is Uwe Ziss with sax and flute combined. The second solo belongs to Willi "Sultan" Hövelmann on electric guitar. For the furious ending the pace is set back to high speed. Delorko serves us with one of the most brilliant uptempo piano solos you may have heard in a while on a jazz record.

The next song stylistically stands out from the rest. "Biting My Time" incorporates a rhythm and blues feel with a 60s soul jazz attitude. The track was composed by Uwe Ziss who leads through the track with aspiring flute solos which feel like an easy summer breeze after the first two rock tinged tunes.

"Himalaya" sees Imagination move away from jazz quite a bit, rather approaching the psychedelic rock genre with a vibe reminiscent of the sound of the early 70s. Again starting with a piano solo by Ratko Delorko the pace is quickly at 150 bpm with the full band laying down an energetic jazz rock sound. Just after a little over one-and-a-half minutes there is a breakdown to a slower tempo with overdubbed mysterious vocals and psyche-y screams which may remind more of the legendary krautrock band Can than what is typically known as "jazz". The mood continues with tense saxophone and guitar solos, just to speed up again towards the end with furious drumming by Andreas Oelschläger.

"Love Is Genesis" concludes the release. It was composed and sung by former bassist Robert Schlickmann. Though most of the band members didn't really like the song at that time it still is a one-of-a-kind soft rock pop ballad which partly reminds of some of the vocal song tracks later to be found on the "Shake It" LP from 1980. The track manifested that Imagination were never really supposed to be solely an instrumental band.

We are now happy to have cleared the exclusive rights for this recording from the WDR and are proud to re-present this amazing collection of songs. It should appeal to fusion, jazz rock and jazz funk aficionados but also to late krautrock collectors. We are also certain that it will also please fans of the "Shake It" album, simply in terms of being such a bright and soulful debut with great music overall.

arbitrary presents the 2020 remaster & vinyl reissue of PM016 by Danish musician Mads Emil Nielsen, re-mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer, with cover artwork by visual artist Dane Patterson.

Originally released as limited edition C30 tape on Plant Migration Records in 2014, the four pieces on Nielsen’s first solo release are based on short orchestral and percussive samples manipulated by various synthesizer modules and effects processors. Variations are created by emphasizing different frequencies, harmonics, sections of short loops and the various surprises that result from the idiosyncrasies of each machine.

This vinyl reissue is part of the Black Box series of releases with music & audio originally made for theatre pieces, performances, installations, radio soundtracks, compilations and remix collaborations. The series showcases a more melodic side of Mads Emil Nielsen’s work, who, during recent years, has been focused on more abstract electronic/acoustic material – such as his collaboration with Andrea Neumann and Framework series (graphic scores & recordings).

Written & produced by Mads Emil Nielsen, Copenhagen, 2013. Originally released as limited edition C30 tape on Plant Migration Records (US), 2014.

Contagious is a solid blending of avant-garde experimentation and electronic music. Formed by two innovative voices from the Improvisation scene of Berlin (Andrea Neumann and Sabine Ercklentz) and Mieko Suzuki, a well-crafted and creative DJ and musician who’s operating in Berlin venues and festivals since a long time.

Contagious is one of the most forward thinking, mind-melting projects to hit the electronic music scene. Intense and powerful, yet rooted in a tradition of crafting and sculpturing of in the most creative ways, all this building up within a solid structure of instant composition and improvisation. The trio plunder each other’s musical spheres, appropriate them and switch roles. Andrea Neumann on her infamous Inside Piano, an instrument she pioneered and crafted, is applying the most creative feedback processing to simple piano strings and sending them occasionally to Mieko Suzuki’s processing rig, who also uses her own pre-recorded sounds and her skills on turntables, while Sabine Ercklentz’s trumpet sounds blast through her processing system and altogether the three musicians communicate into logics of composition and futuristic structures, where fragile sound textures and pulses become monumental.

Contagious is also the debut album recorded and produced by Rabih Beaini. The Trio wanders in new aesthetic areas, sound is a texture where the processing rigs are constantly developing new forms and evolutions. Structures and grooves implode in noisy fragments, growing into a deep trance state.