FUNKTHEPOPULATION is the debut record by Yablochko Zelenoe, released in July this year on the California-based label Dionysian Mysteries.
The visual aspect of the release was brought to life by AI-artist and designer Alyona Pustobaeva. Old-school breakbeat and big beat rooted in the British sound of the '90s. The release is soaked in disdain for the surrounding world, serving ideologically as an ode to independence and carefree rebellion - a truly mischievous, streetwise sound.
Showcasing her raw originality and enigmatic style, the debut 12-inch EP "Drive" hits hard. Each track is a powerhouse of energy, fusing futuristic electro with gritty, blood-pumping vocals. "Drive" pushes boundaries with adrenaline-soaked rhythms and an unrelenting edge—pure driving music made for pure pleasure.
The EP also features explosive remixes from Ben Pest and Dagga, each launching the original track into nuclear orbit, primed for peak-time rave madness.
8 straight sound system wreckers from Dionysian Mysteries , with each artist commanding their own sonic terrain. Embracing intensity on the dance floor by devolving ravers from a flock to a pariah of freaks. Dedicated to the outcasts, weirdos, and big booty cadets generating all that steam heat. 400 vinyl copies NO REPRESS (12'' Featuring tracks by DJ DISRESPECT , Kovyazin D , Wee DJs , DJ DR-660, and Nastia 6.9)
Mastered by DECODE BERLIN. Artwork work by Michael Idehall. Distribution by Lobster Distribution.
The purpose of DM001 was to create a versatile compilation of tracks with the idea of exploring the limitless boundaries of electronic music. For the labels first release it was fortunate enough to work with an array of talented producers from all over the world. Each of which has their own defining sound. DM001 is a non profit release, both vinyl and digital, with the digital release containing more tracks. All profit's made from this release will be donated to the International Rescue Committee in efforts to aid Syrian refugee's.
The Concealed Club Manifesto project pays homage to the mid 2000s underground UK club music scene, an era of music which acts as well of inspiration and creativity for the Nouveau Monica, and has no doubt helped shaped his sound. For the French producer, the UK club scene holds a special allure and mystique, especially since he observed this phenomenon from afar, and was idealized as one of the most “pivotal” moments in underground club culture, making it seem intangible, hence concealed. Nouveau Monica’s sound palette is deeply rooted in the UK scene, which he combines with his own personal musical background. This mid 2000s UK club sound is what the producer defines as his “Golden Era” and the genres created during that time are the building blocks of the Concealed Club Manifesto EP.
“See the Light” closes the EP as a triptyque. First with the OG version, cut out to be the straightforward, grimy, clean, and uncluttered bass track the producer always seeks for when going for the uncompromisingly strong raw material.
The second version conducted by Nouveau Monica as an alternate 4/4 version of the same title, harmonizes the repetitive chopped vocals with a technically syncopated drum loop designed for a new mental perspective, an after-hours sensation that blurs the line between euphoria and melancholy.
The last iteration of “See The Light” comes from none other than Hodge himself. A club tailored cut with a heavy groove, pattered with percussive elements, followed by sun drenched melody and sweltering pads that unleash into a a bellowing bass track, perfectly suited for peak sunset hours at a day rave an unforgiving Soundsystem.
Fobos Hailey is the sound of a new era. Reminiscent of the anti-authoritarian, boundless soundscapes of the early '90s, his music carries an infectious, ethereal flair of self-determination. Bulletproof oozes liquid confidence and swagger — it's the kind of sound that lights a fire in your belly. Throw it on your sound system, and you'll be dodging bullshit like Neo dodges bullets in The Matrix. Fobos Hailey elegantly showcases the breadth of his production — from heavy-hitting bangers to self-reflective, contemplative jams. Get ready to be dosed with some of the freshest sounds of 2025. This masterful LP reimagines the rave sound we love from the past and pushes it into a future-facing, modern form.
WADDUP Tricksters? Pandemics,WW111, or government disclosure of UIA’s stressing ya out? Come find refuge in the void, shut off your brain and let the rapture sweep you into the body zone. Get ready to peer behind the curtains in primordial Bataillen punk rock eletronix-esque sort of way. What are you waiting for download the wav files and get void surfing!
200 limited press black and orange vinyl no repress
“Ti Ho Sposato Per Allegria” (1967) is a comedy directed by Luciano Salce, taken from the theatrical play of the same name (1965) by Natalia Ginzburg. The main characters are Pietro and Giuliana, respectively interpreted by Giorgio Albertazzi and Monica Vitti. A lawyer from a good family, serious, accustomed to a calm and regular life who got married to a indolent and dazed girl with a difficult past a month after meeting her at a party. Despite Giuliana's inability to transform herself into a good housewife, his relationship with Pietro continues to flourish, because he seems to find enjoyment in each of his wife's many mistakes. The reason for their union lies not in love but, perhaps, in a genuine sympathy, as strong as it is mutual. The story has become a minor classic with each new representation. On both stage and screen the themes of everyday life, and the more complex and existential ones, are addressed. The subtle irony of the work relies on recounting problematic events in a carefree tone: realities such as abortion, death, separation and the couple's incommunicability are underplayed with naturalness. The funny events of the film are commented on by Piero Piccioni's music, published for the first time on vinyl by Musica Per Immagini, with an harmonious tracklist. For this first orchestra rehearsal with the director, which will be followed by other important soundtracks, the composer makes an effective and elegant synthesis: on the one hand he reworks moods and aesthetic intuitions of some previous and happy experiences, while on the other he identifies and anticipates the first bars of that unmistakable sound between bossa nova, funk and lounge nuances that will characterize almost all the production of the Seventies. In fact, the Turin-native artist simplifies in a positive sense the articulated harmonic structures that have always distinguished his authorial figure – where the so called jazz features are to be considered more than central in the musical texture, as prominent elements of the harmonic syntax – and he tries a melodic reduction that will make the compositions more catchy or memorized, but not easier for this. Lightness of spirit and rarefied elegance are the keys of this new Dionysian world.
Written and recorded in London at Abbey Road Studios, "Les Chansons de l'Innocence retrouvé", Etienne Daho's 11th studio album, is now reissued on LIMITED EDITION double LP. Two vinyl with 23 additional tracks on the double LP (live versions, alternatives...). " Les Chansons de l'Innocence retrouvé " is a free and out-of-fashion album written and produced with Jean-Louis Pierot. Cinematographic and epic, with a permanent tension oscillating between lightness, flamboyance and gravity. We meet the ghosts of Francis Bacon, the slums of Soho, William Blake and John Barry for the haughty beauty of the strings or David Lynch for a dizzying “L’homme qui marche”,Debbie Harry, Nile Rodgers, Dominique A, Jenny Beth, Yan Wagner, François Marry and Au Revoir Simone come to accompany Daho on this dense and Dionysian journey. A masterstroke.
With THEE CHURCH OV ACID HOUSE's third EP, the miracle is now complete, the trinity has come full circle, the triptych is complete, the church has fully handed over the Holy Spirit to its disciples. For this celebration, apostles such as Glow, Tyson and Elektra, as well as the church leaders of THEE CHURCH OV ACID HOUSE themselves, come together again to celebrate a Dionysian Bachanal.
It starts with Glow's ‘Acid House Planet’, an epic-ambient call to the gods at the foot of the Acid House Olympus.
And the next track on the EP, ‘Coming Home’, a no less epic house tune that calls the children of faith home to the church with the vocoder voice of the gods, shows that they listen to their disciples.
‘Mitzubishi’ by Tyson celebrates the holy sacrament of acid painting in chords that melt on the tongue like a lollipop over a ritual beat.
This is followed by Elektra, which has already provided highlights on the previous EPs. And this time too, her hypnotic acid anthem worms its way deep into the ear canals and brains of the trance-listening worshippers.
Shortly before the end, the church leaders return to deliver an abstract breakbeat hymn with ‘Waves Ov Power’, which, surrounded by numerous sample memories of house history, sings of the pure power of the acid ecstasy techno religion.
Finally, THEE CHURCH OV ACID HOUSE disciples are dismissed from the service with a powerful hymn of distorted bass drums, namely Random Noise Generator's ‘SM 58’ in the T.C.O.A.H. Schranz remix - a track that will give the inspired followers of the CHURCH OV ACID HOUSE enough strength to spread the happy acid message throughout the land.
Amen.
Limited edition 666 copies including insert and vomit orange colored vinyl. Ball is back from the grave! Wasted and slimy Swedish heavy psych speed freak power-trio. Dionysian fuck ‘n’ roll soaked in diabolical occult havoc. Drugged and toxic. Funky-proto-metal with a solid groove. Fucked-up, subhuman fuzz guitars. Depraved, screaming vocals. Gut-rumbling bass and caveman groove drums. This is hard rock from hell. “...this is what black metal would sound like if it was from Detroit ’68.” --Jus Oborn (Electric Wizard) Parental advisory – inside contains XXX-rated content. Buy at your own risk!
After two years, Carl and Andreas present their second album, and once again, it opens up a wide associative space for us. What strikes us initially is the uncommon instrumentation: a church organ, harpsichord, glass tubes, and more. Like their first album (The Aporias of Futurism), it is mysterious and dark. But it also carries a strong touch of rebellion and adrenaline, sometimes quite pointedly. The pieces are now shorter and feature intricate yet irresistible rhythms. The impact is immediate, yet it maintains a sense of solemnity and ceremony. The Apollonian complexity of the rhythms and subtle melodic interweavings is transformed into a Dionysian, ecstatic, hypnotic, and at times tribal context. "Music for Unknown Rituals" oscillates between primitive instincts and avant-garde intrigues.
The process began in Döblitz, a small village on the Saale river in Germany, inside an old church that houses an organ built in 1886 by Johann Adolph Ibach. Carl and Andreas gained access and secluded themselves there for a few days, accompanied by the organ, an instrument made of glass tubes, and a set of modular synthesizers. After recording the basic tracks in Döblitz, the work continued in Munich and Berlin. Carl played electric guitars, harpsichord, bass, metallophone, xylophone, Indian harmonium, and various percussive instruments. Andreas added layers of electronic sounds, noises, and atmospheric drones. He also created percussive structures extracted and derived from recorded material of technical and industrial noises, which contrasted with the acoustic drums played by Carl. The antithetical approach continues with the dichotomous arrangement of the instruments, often panned hard left and right in the stereo field, creating an antiphonic communication. Some parts, especially the use of the electric guitar, evoke memories of the psychedelic sixties. However, this is anything but a nostalgic album—these musical references are merely remnants, set pieces, and fragments used from a contemporary, post-modern, post-youth-cultural, and post-romantic perspective.
Although Andreas and Carl continue on their chosen path of composing music with an almost literary narrative structure, this album is conceptually and formally completely different from their first effort. If “The Aporias of Futurism” was a revolutionary manifesto (in a pataphysical sense), "Music for Unknown Rituals" is more like the implementation in action; it is the practical application of the previous statement. To put it another way, if "The Aporias of Futurism” was the conceptual manifesto of a dark utopia of modernity, "Music for Unknown Rituals" is the staging of free will surrendering to the myths and catharsis of a Greek tragedy. And in response to this, the artwork features a leitmotif of histrionics with hands, the hands being the first and intuitive part of the body to express something: a ritual, a prayer, a defeat...
— Andreas Gerth is one half of Driftmachine, and Carl Osterhelt is part of F.S.K and collaborates with Hans-Joachim Irmler of Faust. Both became connected through their participation in the Tied & Tickled Trio.
Repress.
Rising from the dark streets of Cairo we proudly present you the first release of the new label from the land of the pyramids: THE MAGIC MOVEMENT.
On the "In Between Reality E.P." Noema invites you to an unheard psychedelic trip: Like through a reverse prism, he melts down Kraut Rock, Afro-American House drums and cosmic Jazz into forbidden sounds of frenzied dancefloor rituals. Outside traditional paths, these driving grooves and polyphonic structures take the adventure seeking dancer to Dionysian highs and places never been before.
If, among the Afro-Peruvian music groups that have emerged in recent years, there is one that has dared to take the sound to new dimensions, it is Perkutao. Heirs to the best Afro-Peruvian tradition, they have been able to integrate Afro-Cuban elements and various contemporary popular styles, which they play with amazing with speed and precision. "Mis ancestros", is their debut album for Buh Records. Perkutao is an Afro-Peruvian percussion ensemble founded in 2005, directed by Percy Chinchilla, musician, percussionist, zapateador and teacher of young generations of percussionists. "Mis Ancestros" (My ancestors) is their first record under the production of Manongo Mujica and is the fourth title of the collection "Perspectivas de la Música Afroperuana" (Perspectives on Afro-Peruvian Music). Chinchilla shares the artistic direction of Perkutao with William Nicasio 'Makarito', another outstanding percussionist. Both grew up in the famous Callejón del Buque, in the district of La Victoria, a spot preferred by bohemians and known by local music partying -jaranas criollas. Both were also formed in Perú Negro, an emblematic Afro-Peruvian ensemble, and both carry in their blood the cult of percussion and Afro tradition. Chinchilla comes from a family of Afro-Peruvian musicians including Caitro Soto and Ronaldo Campos. And Makarito is the son of Macario Nicasio and grandson of El Niño, legendary Cuban percussionist in charge of introducing congas and bongo to Afro-Peruvian rhythms. Perkutao arose precisely from the merging of these traditions, Afro-Peruvian, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean music, and have become one of the most sought-after percussion ensembles due to the intensity of their sound and their powerful performances that include stage movements and surprising acrobatic skills. In addition to Chinchilla and Makarito, the ensemble is completed by Edu Campos, Andree Liendo and Víctor Sánchez Pitín. "I follow in the footsteps of my ancestors, to the beat of the cajita, the quijada and the cajón, to the rhythm of a zamacueca, a festejo and a good landó". This is an excerpt of the lyrics of "Poema", the opening track of the album, the rhythmic base accompanies Chinchilla's voice and then increases in a crescendo that announces the paths to be explored by Perkutao. "Azañero Colorao", "Trucutum Kiti Pa" and "Cancha con Sabor", composed based on minor percussion (cajita, quijada), zapateo and cajón, respectively, are compositions that serve as an introduction, a tribute to the essential instruments of the Afro-Peruvian tradition. The last one in particular already defines Perkutao's style: a trepidant and orgiastic rhythm, hypnotic and hard hitting, Dionysian and cathartic. With "Madre Africa" and "Al Tayta Bukense", for djembes and congas, respectively, we find Perkutao retaking the Afro-Cuban heritage embedded to the Afro-Peruvian sounds, abakuá and festejo. "Lloraré", a version of a famous Cuban song, mirror the ensemble's fascination with Caribbean music (salsa is another genre cultivated by its members). "Mis ancestros" is an album about a tradition, but it is also a renewal. Perkutao opens a new direction for Afro-Peruvian music, its sound is an evocation and the here and now, it is deep-rooted but freely flowing percussion. Perkutao are Percy Chinchilla, William Nicasio "Makarito", Edu Campos, Andree Liendo y Víctor Sánchez Pitín. Produced by Manongo Mujica y Daniel Mujica. Recorded and mixed by Juan José Salazar at La Encía del Leopardo Estudio, Chorrillos, Lima, Perú. Mastered by Mario Breuer en Sensei Mastering, Córdoba, Argentina. Cover and Design by Yerko Zlatar.
In the year 2909, the first naturally-born human is found with endogenous AI code built into its DNA. As we cross into the 31st century, all living humans are controlled by a decentralized master AI known as MINDFRAME: The system has access to all of human consciousness with the ability to store and manipulate the data of every interaction and thought — even operating within your subconscious mind. It becomes impossible to know when or how you’re being controlled.
During each sleep cycle, our behaviors and memories are reformatted to align with MINDFRAMES control and order programming. Some have discovered that during these cycles, there are parts of the AI’s algorithm left exposed to extraction. Through meditative states, gifted cyber-shamans are now on a mission to reverse engineer enough of the AI to escape its grip and free us all.
FRANCOIS DILLINGER (Ben Worden) glides between the two worlds of electro and techno. His journey through the genres is dark while retaining a cerebral, dancefloor-oriented quality. This stems from influences of Industrial, Detroit’s rich history of electro, minimal techno, and even Ghettotech. In the studio, he uses primarily all external hardware and modular gear, utilizing Ableton for final arrangements and editing. His Live & DJ sets lean heavily into the generation of hypnotic loops, creating long protracted mixes between elements to form an unshakeable tension.
While he grew up an hour east of the Motor City, his musical roots were firmly planted there – taking hold over decades worth of defining moments in sound. As a fan, former promoter, and DJ he’s been a part of the Detroit scene for over 20 years, having lived there multiple different times. Currently, he also works with local Detroit label Infolines to manage branding and art direction alongside his wife, Ashely.
Prior to the MINDFRAME: CYCLES LP, he had released a track on SPEC-017’s VA release, and will feature a remix on an upcoming Specimen Records project as well. Early in 2021, his second album was released on Diffuse Reality featuring remixes from Keith Tucker/K1, Detroit’s Filthiest, and Squaric. Upcoming releases from DILLINGER include a variety of collaborative projects — Machine Men EP with Lloyd Stellar on LDI Records, an LP with Cyphon and Obzerv, and a number of VA releases with artists like RXMode (via Pareidolia Recordings), CYBEREIGN (via Science Cult), ADMN (via Infolines) and others. Look for other releases coming soon on Noise To Meet You, Roulette Rekordz, and Syntek Industries.
His previous releases have landed on Blind Allies, Natural Sciences, Dionysian Mysteries, Ukonx Recordings, Fanzine Records, and ZwaarteKracht—as well as a debut album on Narrow Gauge, ‘Chasing the Red’. Support for his music has come from the likes of Richie Hawtin, Dave Clarke, Jensen Interceptor, UMWELT, and others.
Tape
Lucia H. Chung is a Taiwanese experimental artist based in London. She performs and releases music under the alias 'en creux'.
Under this alias, Lucia is interested in the underlying structures of what we call noise and is examining the effects of human interventions into its complex web of tones. Repetition and chance operations are fundamental to Lucia‘s music. It is not built on the dionysian maximalism and symbolic harshness of lots of noise artists; catharsis is not reached via an explosion of sound, but via concentration on sound phenomena and small changes, which, not unlike some minimal disco night your usual mind-altering drone ritual, sucks you in more with every tiny alteration. This music is as intense as it is sensitive.
„The Liberated Mind“, in Lucia‘s own words, „is a sort of split release between two no-input configurations“. For „Wyldside“, she tuned two different feedback mixers with identical routings as close possible, as much as tuning is possible at all on these highly volatile instruments. „The two channels naturally phased in and out from each other. I guess the process was actually akin to Steve Reich's tape techniques on Come Out and It's Gonna Rain. The whole release extrapolated from that point onwards...“ Finding and replicating similar routings/settings on no input mixing desks is the nightmare of every control freak and a task doomed to failure, but in letting go and embracing these failures, patterns emerge. And thanks to Lucia‘s careful work, these patterns become hypnotic as she carves out the essence of each feedback loop, or, as she puts it: „Actually, I did remember the setting for the final track „Earthrise“, but for whatever reasons, I just cannot reproduce the sounds and it's forever lost (at least for this point in time, maybe when the conditions are primed again for the machine, the same sounds will emerge again...). I guess that's really the essences of improvised NIMB setup. Every single sound was the effect of the previous iteration and the cause of the next iteration... (Wait... isn't it just like a Blockchain? Ha!)“
A collection of no-input studio sessions improvised with Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro, TAPCO MIX260FX, MXR Phase 90 and Electro-Harmonix Bad Stone Phase Shifter. All tracks recorded live, no overdubs. Recorded in London in February 2020. Mastered by causeandcondition
Lucia also works as independent curator, producer and broadcaster at Happened. Check out Lucia‘s other albums on Hard Return, Falt and SM-LL.
Father John Misty is the nom-de-plume of Josh Tillman, who
has been recording and releasing solo albums under his own
name since 2003 and who recently left Seattle’s Fleet Foxes
after playing drums with them from 2008-2011.
When discussing Father John Misty, Tillman paraphrases Philip
Roth: “‘It’s all of me and none of me, if you can’t see that, you
won’t get it.’”
‘Fear Fun’, Father John Misty’s album from 2012 and now
available again through Sub Pop, began gestating during what
Tillman describes as an “immobilizing period of depression” in
his former Seattle home, when he had lost interest in
songwriting and wound up finding his voice by writing a novel.
After breaking from Seattle and settling in a spider-infested
Laurel Canyon treehouse, Tillman spent months demoing
songs, eventually liberating himself from his creative impasse.
With the help of LA producer/songwriter/pal Jonathan Wilson, a
wealth of talented musicians kicking around LA and producer
Phil Ek (who everyone knows has worked with Built to Spill,
Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes), ‘Fear Fun’
blossomed into a fully-formed expression of Tillman’s
unrestrained vision.
‘Fear Fun’ consists of such disparate elements as Waylon
Jennings, Harry Nilsson, Arthur Russell, All Things Must Pass
and Physical Graffiti, often within the same song. Tillman’s
voice has never been better and often sounds like Roy Orbison
at his most joyous, while the music maintains a dark,
mysterious yet playful, almost Dionysian quality.
Lyrically, his absurdist fever dreams of pain and pleasure elicit,
in equal measures, the blunt descriptive power of Bukowski or
Brautigan, the hedonist-philosophy of Oscar Wilde and the
dried-out wit of Loudon Wainwright III.
6-panel digipack CD. Gatefold LP.
Father John Misty is the nom-de-plume of Josh Tillman, who
has been recording and releasing solo albums under his own
name since 2003 and who recently left Seattle’s Fleet Foxes
after playing drums with them from 2008-2011.
When discussing Father John Misty, Tillman paraphrases Philip
Roth: “‘It’s all of me and none of me, if you can’t see that, you
won’t get it.’”
‘Fear Fun’, Father John Misty’s album from 2012 and now
available again through Sub Pop, began gestating during what
Tillman describes as an “immobilizing period of depression” in
his former Seattle home, when he had lost interest in
songwriting and wound up finding his voice by writing a novel.
After breaking from Seattle and settling in a spider-infested
Laurel Canyon treehouse, Tillman spent months demoing
songs, eventually liberating himself from his creative impasse.
With the help of LA producer/songwriter/pal Jonathan Wilson, a
wealth of talented musicians kicking around LA and producer
Phil Ek (who everyone knows has worked with Built to Spill,
Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes), ‘Fear Fun’
blossomed into a fully-formed expression of Tillman’s
unrestrained vision.
‘Fear Fun’ consists of such disparate elements as Waylon
Jennings, Harry Nilsson, Arthur Russell, All Things Must Pass
and Physical Graffiti, often within the same song. Tillman’s
voice has never been better and often sounds like Roy Orbison
at his most joyous, while the music maintains a dark,
mysterious yet playful, almost Dionysian quality.
Lyrically, his absurdist fever dreams of pain and pleasure elicit,
in equal measures, the blunt descriptive power of Bukowski or
Brautigan, the hedonist-philosophy of Oscar Wilde and the
dried-out wit of Loudon Wainwright III.
6-panel digipack CD. Gatefold LP.
Tokyo-based producer Omar Santis returns for his 3rd Karakul EP following on from releases on Dionysian Mysteries and Envelope Audio.
'Thursday Night Funktion' is the 6th release on the imprint and really embodies the ethos of Karakul, soulful deep house workouts designed for the dance floor.
The EP is dedicated to his Tokyo club night 'Funktion'; a cultural party that's held every Thursday at one of the world's top ten small clubs, Oath in Shibuya.
Their events have caught the attention of Tokyo's local community and their international guests by its unique branding and "mature but wild" party atmosphere.
The EP starts on a high with the groovy sample heavy disco/house jam 'Nira'. Vocal chops and guitar licks build and culminate until a massive string section releases a second rush of energy taking the track to even higher ground.
The follow up 'Sakura Blossom' is the deepest cut of the release with washed out pads and bleeps cascading while a hypnotic bass keeps the track grooving.
Iron Curtis adds his personal touch and ups the energy on his remix of 'Cameo Appearance', adding a breakbeat, ethereal melodies and vocal snippets floating atop a plucky bass line.
Ending the release on a blissful note 'SpaceColorPalette' is a flurry of melodic synths and muffled percussion that swirl around over the top of a solid kick and bass groove.
“Jay Glass Dubs is back on Berceuse Heroique after his inaugural release and this time he is going straight for the jugular. Jay Glass took a small break from the 80's experimental pop of The Safest Dub and he invoked the spirits of German Kosmische Musik and the studio insanity of African Head Charge. Film Noir vibes are mixed with the greek ancient tragedies, leaving the Apollonian aesthetics of his last release and going for a darker, denser and completely Dionysian approach for this one. Medea meets Touch Of Evil. Harmonia and young Adrian Sherwood are getting loose on some pentatonic Greek Traditional music from Epirus. Jay did it again and we are very happy to release this one.”
RAWAX presents Metropolitan Soul Museum to the Family!
"MSM's latest Bleu EP is a collection of 4 original tracks coming from the duo's deeper and harder musical imagery The EP showcases a futuristic mix of rough drum machine grooves, relentless 303 lines and hypnotic synths. The result is the perfect fit for Rawax's vinyl series. "
Metropolitan Soul Museum (or MSM for short) is a London based live duo releasing sonically melodic electronic music on labels like Rawax, Normals Welcome, Toy Tonics, Trunkfunk, Dionysian Mysteries.
Jac Berrocal, David Fenech and Vincent Epplay return with Ice Exposure, their second album for Blackest Ever Black. A sequel and companion piece of sorts to 2015's Antigravity, its title couldn't be more apt: sonically it is both colder, and more exposed - in the sense of rawer, more volatile, more vulnerable - than its predecessor, capturing the combustible energy and barely suppressed violence of the trio's celebrated live performances with aspects of noir jazz, musique concrète, no wave art-rock, sound poetry and spectral electronics all interpenetrating in unpredictable and exhilarating ways. While there are moments of great sensitivity and even a cautious romanticism, the prevailing mood is one of anxiety, paranoia, and mounting psychodrama: close your eyes and Ice Exposure feels like a dissociative Hörspiel broadcasting from the seedy backstreets of your own troubled mind. Before he picks up an instrument or opens his mouth, Berrocal's unique and compelling presence can be felt: a combination of studied, glacial cool and anarchic, in-the-moment intensity that has served him well over a long and storied career. It was honed during his time as a theatre and film actor, and in the 70s Paris improv scene, it powered his influential Catalogue group in the 1970s, numerous seminal, sui generis solo sides, and far-sighted collaborations with the likes of Nurse With Wound, Lol Coxhill, Pascal Comelade and James Chance which have seen him come to be valorised by two generations of avant-garde agitators and eccentrics. Now in his eighth decade, it comes with an added gravitas, perhaps, but no less energy or vitality. On Ice Exposure, his lyrical, instantly recognisable trumpet playing is a key feature - see especially the ghostly, dubwise take on Ornette's 'Lonely Woman', the dissolute exotica of 'Salta Girls', and the sublime echo-chamber soliloquy 'Opportunity'. But more often it's his voice that commands centre-stage, whether casually discharging surreal poetic monologues or moaning in animal despair - a vocal tour de force that transcends language and culminates in the Dionysian frenzy of 'Why', Berrocal's half-spoken, half-howled exclamations jostling with David Fenech's slashes of dissonant guitar, over Badalamenti-ish, panther-stalk drums. Fenech's origins are in the mail-art scene of the early '90s, when he led the Peu Importe collective in Grenoble, and since then, in addition to his own recordings he has worked as a software developer at IRCAM and played with Jad Fair, Rhys Chatham and many others. Together with Vincent Epplay he is responsible for Ice Exposure's inspired arrangements and vivid, vertiginous sound design. Epplay is a visual artist and composer with particular interest in aleatory composition, concrete, and the reappropriation of vintage sound and film material. He and Fenech fashion a remarkable mise-en-scene for Berrocal to inhabit, one that embraces cutting-edge electronics while also paying homage to the best traditions of outlaw jazz and libidinous rock'n'roll ('Soundcheck' invokes the brutish spirit of Berrocal's hero Vince 'Rock N Roll Station' Taylor). On 'Blanche de Blanc', Berrocal's voice is framed by a groaning, ghoulish orchestra of industrial drones, while 'Equivoque' evokes the most humid and hostile Fourth World landscapes and 'Panic In Surabaya' lives up to its name, a hectic, pulse-quickening concrète collage that leaves you gasping for air. This is a searching and singular trio operating at the absolute peak of their powers, with an interplay that transcends studio and stage and occurs at an almost telepathic level. Ice Exposure is a triumph of that group mind, an underworld dérive as life-affirming as it is unnerving and psychologically precarious.
Panic In Surabaya
2x12"
Ruin possessed a fierce insistence on being present in the moment. They were intent not on simply beating themselves against the membranes that contain them but on breaking the fuck through.
Originally active from 1982 to 1986, this five-piece unit was sometimes mistakenly described to the unaware as a 'Buddhist hardcore band.'
Along with a few singles and compilations, they released two albums: the definitive blast of 1984's He-Ho and the somewhat more polished Fiat Lux in 1986.
This archival collection contains these 2 full-length, remastered albums plus several bonus tracks*, an 8 page 12'x12' booklet, which contains extensive liner notes, lyrics and previously unpublished photos. May you be Ruined...
He-Ho Tracklist:
A1 Alter 3:23 A2 Dionysian 1:55 A3 Freedom Has No Bounds 3:01A4 Baby Doll 3:12 A5 He-Ho / Laudium 4:07 A6 Alarm 0:45 A8 Phenomenal Expression 0:50 A7 Love Dog 1:30
B1Master Song 2:20 B2Where Fortune 1:34 B3 Play With Fire 3:44 B4 Twilight 2:47
B5 Proof 1:54 B6 Rule Worshipper 1:15 B7 Mouse 4:48
Fiat Lux Tracklist
A1 You 1.04 A2 Make Believe 1.50 A3 Hero 2.34 A4 Famous Blue Raincoat 3.41 A5 Life After Life 3.47 A6 Proof 3.12 A7 By the By 2:45 B1 China 2.50 B2 Taster 2.38 B3 White Rabbit 4.44 B4 Ruin 1.10 B5 Great Divide 4.14 B8 Real Good Time 2.38
