quête:a t sound

The album SATO was made by the Ukrainian Crimean Tatar pianist and composer Usein Bekirov.
SATO was created during the difficult wartime for Usein’s motherland Ukraine and for the author himself.
Despite circumstances, the compositions of SATO express the ideas of the beauty and revival of Ukrainian music, a part of which is Crimean Tatar folklore.
The uniqueness of the release is caused both by the concept of the album and by the performers' star crew.

The jazz sound of the compositions of SATO is directed to the stylistic course of ethno-jazz and world music.
Rhythms and melodies of colorful Crimean Tatar folk music became the main source of inspiration in the creation of the album.
We can find both Usein's original author's themes, skillfully stylized to the oriental sound,
and referenced to the classic jazz vocabulary in its juicy riffs and grooves with features of fusion and funk music.

The name of the album reflected the inheritance of generations through music.
Sato is not only a folk instrument but also the name of the first Crimean Tatar jazz band, which made the first jazz arrangements of Crimean Tatar songs.
The music of this band became the basic musical experience of Usein Bekirov, because one of the members of the group was his father Riza Bekirov, to whom the album is dedicated.

The author and producer of the album is Usein Bekirov - Ukrainian pianist, composer, arranger, sound producer, and author of music for a number of films and theater performances.
Usein Bekirov cooperates with both foreign and Ukrainian musicians of the highest rank.
This is evidenced by the participants of the album Sato: Dennis Chambers, Randy Brecker, James Genus, Mike Stern, Ada Rovatti (USA), Hadrien Feraud (France), and Cenk Erdogan (Turkey).
Each performer reinterprets the author's material of Usein Bekirov through the prism of his own experience, character, and manner of performance, which was expressed in the daring stylistic combinations within a jazz style.

A special role in the creation of the album was taken by the participants of the recordings, especially, legendary jazzmen Dennis Chambers, Randy Brecker, James Genus, Mike Stern.
Their ideological and creative support became an important part of the creativity process.
Musicians expressed their impressions in small addresses for the audience.
One of the reviews of the musicians:
"The process of recording compositions was really exciting! This music reflects Usein's national origin and sense of his native culture.
It is full of real emotions. Actually, this music is quite difficult, but it is very well written and produced!
I sincerely hope you will notice this album, which also took part in Dennis Chambers, James Genus, Mike Stern, Ada Rovatti, and others.
I think it's going to be a really special album, can't wait to hear the final version.
When you hear about the premiere, I highly recommend listening to this new album created by Usein Bekirov.
It will be great!" Randy Brecker

Born in 1989 in Bamako, Mali, Nfaly Diakité is a member of the Donsow, Bambara animist hunters. Nfaly Diakité is named after his grandfather, the late Nfaly Diakité, one of Mali’s most respected donso chiefs. His grandfather did not play, but as a leading figure in the donso brotherhood, he was always accompanied by musician Yoro Sidibé. Nfaly grew up alongside Yoro Sidibé, who became his first master of the donso ngoni, a type of eight-stringed antelope skin harp. After leaving school to devote himself to his instrument, Nfaly continued his apprenticeship with Diakaria Diakité and Oumar Sidibé, two donso masters from the Wassolo region.

He quickly made a name for himself in the donso community and was much asked to play at the traditional ceremonies of his brotherhood. He then met percussionist Ibrahim Sarr and joined the BKO Quintet, with whom he recorded an album and toured Europe and the United States. His virtuosity on the donso ngoni soon attracted attention, and he took part in numerous music and dance festivals in Mali and abroad, with the aim of raising awareness of this little-known traditional instrument.

Nfaly Diakité is also a Kônô, meaning that he is responsible for passing on the history and culture of the Bambara people through music and song. He pursues his mission by combining tradition with more contemporary sounds and by collaborating with artists from a wide range of musical backgrounds. For him, music is a means of conveying messages of peace, love and harmony, and his compositions evoke the values of respect, tolerance and open-mindedness.

‘Tribute to Toumani Koné’ is Nfay Diakité’s first solo album, recorded in Bamako in June 2020. On the album, Nfaly is the only singer, providing backing vocals and playing the donso ngoni and keregne. The album is a tribute to the storyteller and poet Toumani Koné, the greatest donso ngoni player since N’gonifo Bourama. Nfaly Diakité is a representative of the new generation of donso ngoni players and he wishes to pay tribute to Toumani Koné, who throughout his long career has been a symbol of courage, daring, loyalty and honesty.

The nine-track of this solo album leaves no room for hesitation. Three instruments (donso ngoni, voice and keregne) manage to carry one into another dimension without ever tiring. The fitting and precise rhythm is a deep but melodious transe. Nfaly’s voice plays between expressive urgency and calm wisdom, and the choruses with his own voice multiply the planes of dimension of the music. The donso n’goni, of which Nfaly is an excellent player, sounds rough and earthy but always clear and sharp. All the strength of a music that does not belong to a single musician but to a long cultural tradition of which he is the spokesman is expressed here. The young Nfaly, thanks to his experience and sensitivity, succeeds on his own in pushing us into this world without feeling the weight of tradition but only the liberation of music that sounds all the more contemporary. This album is to be listened to in its entirety as one tight journey between repeated formulas, highlights and moments of rest within the same relentless rhythm. The densest moment is probably found in the heart of the album, between the tracks Nankama (the predestined one) and Mogote Diabeye (no one can please everyone). Here, the message, which can be deciphered from the translation of the lyrics, seems to transcend language barriers and intepret us directly about our human condition, urging us to move our bodies to the dense rhythm of life.

It's not every day we see a new release from MAXIMILIAN.

We are very exited to present to you his new EP. 5, and what a release it is!
An EP full on deep-House dance floor belter with warm strings and comes with strong basslines.

The gift that keeps on giving, MAXIMILIAN - Mikrokosmos EP 5 is being treated to some epic sounds of your favourite night out - now available on vinyl.

DJ Support: Frank Rizardo, Capriati Bros, Dice, Marco, Bibi, Pawsa, Rossi, Richy Ahmed, Jamie Jones, Illario Alicante, Blondish

The Leeds/Hull born DJ has always championed new and younger artists. But with Nature his aim was to begin to develop the careers of next-gen talent alongside already established tech-house figures. After overseeing a steady stream of serious tech-house numbers as the Nature head, wAFF will take back the reigns for the label’s 12th release.

‘Leaving You’ sets off with an addictive groove that vigorously permeates throughout the 7-minute opener. Like many of Nature’s releases, the track features a vocal lead that will remain with you long after leaving the dance. Its vibrant sound design is underpinned by a tough bassline and simmering percussion.

wAFF employs a taut and squelchy pad combo on ‘Underbite’ to accompany a tumbling bass. The track unrolls like a coiled spring, steadily expanding into a hi-energy, foot stomper that oozes with a sugary ambience despite its somewhat hard-edged undertone.

The snappy claps and zig-zagging synths that open ‘Fat Couch’ are a constant throughout the EP’s final number. It’s another playful but sharply presented track that switches up late on as an ominous, Jaws like melody circles before a chopped vocal – which is instantly recognisable – signals the last few measures of oscillating bass, hypo hats and snares.

Over three years in the making, Needle Mythology Records is delighted to announce a super deluxe, expanded remastered reissue of The Lilac Time’s 1991 masterpiece, Astronauts. Released as a triple vinyl, triple CD or single vinyl, only 1000 copies of each format will be produced, there will be no further pressings. Both the 3LP and 3CD editions will come with an extensive 11,000 word oral history of Astronauts and liner notes by Needle Mythology co-founder and longtime Stephen Duffy fan, Pete Paphides.

All three albums including a 2024 remaster, a collection of works in progress entitled‘Softened By Rain The Making Of Astronauts’ and a live compilation ‘Any Road Up The Lilac Time Live 1990/91’ have been mastered for vinyl by Miles Showell at Abbey Roadand will be housed in a triple gatefold sleeve with a colour inner sleeve and new artwork for each disc, which has been especially created by designer Mike Storey. The main sleeve for Astronauts itself will replicate the original artwork but with the four distinctive “blobs” rendered in a red “foil” texture. In addition to these three disc sets, 1000 single vinyl remastered copies of Astronauts will also be made available, in a cherry red vinyl edition to match the outer sleeve.

With the shoegaze and baggy movements at their zenith, The Lilac Time’s fourth album was released at a moment when the left-field music zeitgeist was shaped by the nascent shoegaze, baggy and grunge movements. Whilst Astronauts conformed to none of those trends, neither was it the record Stephen had in his head when he finally finished working on it. We’ll never know how that record would have sounded, but it’s hard to imagine a better version of the album he did end up making. The songwriter who brought ‘A Taste of Honey’ and ‘Hats Off, Here Comes The Girl’ into the world envisaged the sort of choruses that would jump from the single speaker of your favourite transistor and lodge themselves into the collective memory bank.

But while he really was writing some of his most beautiful melodies, Astronauts is a family of songs that demands to be kept together in the sundazed cloud of inspiration that created it. It constitutes a partial retreat from the outwardfacing utopianism of its predecessors, choosing instead to dwell on the journey taken to get to this point. That this is an audibly different band to the pastoral expeditionaries of the group’s previous releases is almost entirely down to the departure of Nick Duffy and the arrival of Sagat Guirey. Suddenly, accordions, banjos and mandolins are out; jazz guitar is in. Sagat’s filigree work on the outro of ‘A Taste for Honey’ acts as a sublime parting shot to a lyric which acts as a wiser, wistful companion piece to Stephen’s 1985 solo hit ‘Kiss Me’, something tantamount to the camera retreating to reveal the years elapsed between the time depicted and the present day. The distance between the carefree youth of pop stardom and the first intimations of mortality can be measured between the first and second verses of the quietly devastating ‘Madresfield’; from the depiction of the deserted cricket pavilion obscured by fresh snowfall to the sudden shift in perspective from subject to protagonist: ‘No one ever told me/That killing time is harmful/For time cannot recover/What soon the ground will offer.’ For all of that, however, the resulting album didn’t correspond to the vision its creator had for it. At a loss as to what to do with it, Stephen surrendered Astronauts to Creation with no plans to promote or draw attention to it. The consciousness shift of which Stephen had hoped The Lilac Time might be a precursor hadn’t happened. Or, rather, it had – but it had happened elsewhere, in the Haçienda and Shoom and in Ibiza. Not on the hills of Herefordshire. In a nod to that sea change, Stephen handed over one song, ‘Dreaming’ to Hypnotone, who

Imagine a nocturnal rendezvous between the lyrical playfulness of Serge Gainsbourg and the infectious yet smooth danceability of Daft Punk. Tormento is a sexy soft disco odyssey that weaves a contemporary fantasy where dilemmas and desires—torments of the heart and flesh—are bathed in the sultry glow of classic erotic cinema.

Recorded in Los Angeles and Paris, the song is a collaborative effort between composer and multi-instrumentalist Louis Fontaine, DJ and music supervisor Alix Brown, and lyricist and writer Margo Fortuny. This sonic tale of longing and uncertainty, ignited by the trio's shared love for 1970s sounds, cinema, and style, draws inspiration from the cinematic soundscapes of François de Roubaix and from French and Italian chanson.

Tormento pairs a haunting, nostalgic melody with a late-70s disco arrangement featuring a mix of vintage synthesizers, driving basslines, and rhythmic percussion. Alix Brown's ethereal vocals convey the electrifying thrill of an immediate, magnetic attraction.There's seduction, mystery, the poetry of a moment, the allure of transgression, indecision, and all the things that happen late at night. When faced with temptation, what do you do? Perhaps, yousurrender to the sweet, intoxicating rhythm of the forbidden.

Adance song for night owls, loners, and romantics, Tormento is out on 7" and digital on February 14th, 2025, courtesy of Four Flies.

The third release from the renowned W3IRD.LTD label continues its exploration of deep house, minimal, and groove-focused sounds in the exclusive ‘only vinyl’ format. Major Tom EP, created by ØNE+1 (Rubén Solar & Alexander) and Chelu García, delivers a perfect blend of elegance and dancefloor energy.

Side A features “La 2 (Steve O’Sullivan Remix),” a deep, raw old-school masterpiece with hypnotic percussion and a minimal aesthetic, followed by “La 1 (Maher Daniel Remix),” an exquisite reinterpretation with added groove and elegant minimal-house elements.
Side B begins with “La 1 (Original Mix),” a dreamy deep house track enriched by Chelu’s signature keyboard melodies, and closes with “La 2 (Original Mix),” a dynamic fusion of powerful percussion and evocative melodies.
Produced in collaboration with Dancing Vinyl Distribution, this exclusive vinyl is available for both retail and wholesale purchase. Don’t miss this high-quality release, perfect for selectors and collectors alike!

Define: Global Bass Culture. What initially started out as a remix request from the South African Sneja Recordings label for a tune written by Colombian artist Juan Diego Pedroza a.k.a. Iam JDP ended up as the second limited edition vinyl release on the German underground label Freebreakz.FWD. Embracing influences from Chicago's Footwork x Juke sound as well as UK Bass Music, IDM and other electronic subcultures Sascha Müller and baze.djunkiii deliver a sparse, tense and wildly hypnotic take on the 160 bpm freeform movement, continously fusing and layering intermingling rhythmic patterns with ethereal vocal snippets, Trap- and Drill-infused hi-hats, an ever floating minimalist synth motif and deadly low end attacks for some of the most advanced dancefloors out there. This is crime scene music. Mastered by Frederic Stader.

Oversized custom cut LP jackets (13” / 33.02 cm width)
Silkscreened with bespoke iridescent citrus green ink by Mark Rice
Short story by Natalia Zuluaga

Flexi 7”:
steaming mescaline (extended mix by bad lsd trips)
Citrus green metallic foil stamp
Pressed in full stereo
Edition of 150

I.

bad lsd trips is the collaborative duo of makers doris dana and domingo castillo flores. Respectively the two have fostered practices that have sprawled out through various approaches and, whether in the lanes of the musical or the contemporary arts, the phenomenology of the social and inclusive prevails. On ultrafest, this motif continues through the psychedelia of its eight time-defying recordings, welcoming the listener into an open temporal architecture of the stereo field as a signifier of environment. It is worth noting that the group began collaborating in Miami, Florida with longer form improvisations recorded to a stereo cassette deck. In these recordings, the paved geographical sprawl and oceanic view permeated the approach to amassing long swaths of sound material. Listening back on that work at the time of this writing, each track feels as though one is walking into an active space, arriving to an event already in full swing and finding your place inside of it. On ultrafest (this album) something different occurs. The space and events are built around you as you move through the record.

II.

The name of the album is ultrafest, which should effectively provoke your mind's eye the imagery of young people dancing, salivating, grinding, and imbibing chemical compounds to the perversely formalized musical genres of “Electronic Dance Music” and latter-era Dubstep often heard in European Uber rides and energy drink commercials. A far distance from the icy and machinic reverie of Techno’s finest rave eras or the notable historical contributions of Miami’s cerebral producers to IDM’s global output, ultrafest is a libidinal catharsis as festival scaled to a multinational corporation of hedonistic excess. The festival has been a hallmark of Miami cultural industry production and optical enticement for tourism, purportedly bringing in nearly a billion dollars in revenue to the city since 2012. Scores of documentation exist wherein this decadent escapism leaves the concertgoer, usually in some neon garment on a near nude body potentially adorned with fluffy faux fur leg warmers, facing a comedown from the combination of volume, sun, dehydration, and methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine. This MDMA experience characterizes an aspect of the way bad lsd trips employs vocals and pitch on this album. The detached, high octaved longing of a high pitched vocal is decoupled from its typical auditory body of song. High-pass clicks and pops touch the (h)air on the back of the neck, promising goosebumps and teasing towards euphoric rushes of dopamine, yet also exist decoupled from the body of song. As the dopamine depletes and the sun imposes itself, Miami’s downtown of skeleton real estate is your company as you meander towards your parked vehicle to rest your fatigued senses, elevated heart rate, and quench the need for air conditioning on your skin. The immediacy of bombastic social immersion to architectural alienation palpable here.

III...

- Nick Klein

LA-based band ASHRR picked up plenty of new fans with their recent Sunshine Low album and now they're back with the sixth single from it and it comes with some seriously heavyweight names on the remix. Chicago house pioneer Ron Trent does his thing to 'Please Don't Stop The Rain' by going super deep, spine tingling and heady with some lush arps and distant guitar twangs adding a Balearic feel. Dub treatments come from the Prescription boss himself, while ASHRR's alter ego, ASHRR Soundsystem, offer up an instrumental and a remix that lay down dubby house drums and lush chord work. This one keeps the summer vibes going well into winter.

The Legacy lives on.
While on Belgian Bootlegs 3 one could find “a track that would never be re-released, Maybe Tomorrow” Belgian Bootlegs 4 features another track “that will never be re-released”
FRED & MAX’ “Good Way” is one of the most sought-after Belgian trance-classics. Hard to find copies fetch up to 300€ on Discogs.

Add to this amazing gem a sniff of PAT KRIMSON & OLIVER ADAMS in the form of ULTRA SHOCK (“The Sound Of “E”), another hard to find one, “Pat’s Birthday” by LA BUSH TEAM and an almost forgotten early techno-gem by legends 2 FLYING STONES (“L.F.O. Cookies”) and you know BELGIAN BOOTLEGS 4 is another bestseller.

Dajusch unleashes the 'Ambition EP', a raw and uncompromising statement of techno tradition. Berlin-based producer, DJ and sound engineer Dajusch returns with his latest four-track EP, a high-powered offering that channels the essence of Detroit and Chicago techno while pushing the boundaries of contemporary club sound. Known for his deep connection to electronic music's pioneering roots and his work behind the scenes as a mastering engineer, Dajusch brings an intense and refined energy to this release. The EP opens with the single 'No Mas', a relentless percussive workout where hypnotic synths intertwine with driving drum patterns, setting the stage for an unyielding ride. The title track 'Ambition' follows suit with a high-octane groove, combining raw machine-funk aesthetics with a pulsating bassline and intricate, evolving textures that command the dance floor. On the flip side, 'Split' takes a darker and more cerebral turn, layering industrial-tinged sonics over a tight, rolling beat, blurring the line between peak-time energy and introspective depth. Closing out the EP is '36g', a heady, propulsive cut that builds into a whirlwind of syncopated rhythms and distorted stabs, rounding off the record with a powerful, no-holds-barred climax. With Ambition, the Spandau20 artist Dajusch reinforces his position as a purist and innovator, delivering a release that feels both timeless and forward-thinking. Whether experienced in the heart of a sweaty warehouse or through the pulse of a late-night drive, this EP stands as a testament to the raw, unfiltered power of techno.

2024 Repress

Alessandro Alessandroni's "OPEN AIR PARADE" is finally reissued through SME. The very best library record by the cult maestro on the dreams podium alongside SPONTANEOUS, the 2 FARFALLA's recordings and RITMO DELL'INDUSTRIA we released 2 years ago. A long-awaited masterpiece and sought-after gem by record collectors all over the world originally released in 1972 on the mythical SR Records with two tracks by the great bassist Giovanni Tommaso who surely played in this session. A dreamy album with the top-notch, strung-out Psychedelic Funk sounds ever recorded in Italy during the early 70s, laden Beat and groovy music with lush arrangements and insane vocal themes by Alessandro Alessandroni's Cantori Moderni chorus. Italian Library gem!

The Birgan project is all about melding diverse musical words - ambient, techno and Afro-inspired polyrhythms - into something that is utterly unique. Many artists set out with this intention but few achieve it as successfully as this one, as this sensational EP shows. It is an immersive and escapist five-track work of stunning sound designs and inventive rhythm that feels both organic and natural yet synthetic and futuristic. The tracks explore deep, mysterious sonic landscapes that are both tranquil yet complex and make for an immersive, thought-provoking listen from the dubscapes of 'Beats Of The Congo Cosmos' to the more psychedelic realms of 'Subaquatic Sonic Voyage'.

Inspired by "slow and quiet life on the southern coasts of England", the debut from CVOIA - a new collaboration between producers and Captured Visions label founders Adam O'Hara and Tom Parker - offers gorgeously lolloping, lazy beats and expansive, cinematic orchestration. There's the brittle, slow motion breakbeats and woozy instrumentation of the duo's original, then remixes from four of their favourite acts: Awakened Souls, Inhmost, Jack Lever and Synkro. All the tracks are about as strenuous as an afternoon on the beach, and equally nourishing, with Synkro's rich, synth-soaked near-ambient mix a dramatic, undisputed highlight. Jack Never's Northern Mix, meanwhile, wouldn't sound out of place nestled somewhere in Mo'Wax's first dozen or so releases. High praise indeed, but much deserved.

Born less than an hour from Chicago but now based in Detroit, Rick Wade cut his DJ teeth in Michigan's Nectarine Ballroom in the 80s and early 90s, at the same time as a certain Jeff Mills was also making giant strides at the venue. Wade's sound is more rooted in deep house but, as this four tracker demonstrates, there's a cosmic spirituality and otherworldliness to his music that it shares with the best of UR and other notable Detroit greats. We kick off with 'Groove Tool', powered by a beautifully pliable, funky bassline and embellished with floating chords and subtle bell sounds way up in the high frequency range. 'Pimp Prophecy' boasts a little more disco swagger, with its niggling guitar riff and some excellent bongo bashing. 'Jazzy Tears' revolves around a sturdy kick and a processed, timestretched vocal refrain, played off against jazzy guitar chords and strings ascending to the heavens. 'Ooo Ahh' is probably the catchiest of the lot, with a shuffling beat undercarriage and an infectious hook, all wrapped up - as all four tracks are - in some understated but still lush musicality. 'Deep Incantations' indeed.

Enzo Leep’s latest EP, Concrete Jungle, is an evocative exploration of sound, memory, and raw emotion. Centred around its hypnotic title track, this release melds the gritty energy of house and electro with shimmering echoes of new wave, channelling the unmistakable spirit of pre-ruta Valencia while pushing firmly into uncharted sonic territory. The project is as much a celebration of the pioneers of the past—like the legendary Fran Lenaers—as it is a deeply personal reflection on the evolution of electronic music.

Since launching her own club night, “Motivation,” back in 2018, B.AI has played a key role in bringing the underground’s club sounds to her home country, China. While introducing some of the scene's most exciting artists to her local audiences, she emerged as one to look out for as well: first as a DJ and quickly thereafter as a producer. Her original takes – a sensitive, highly personal approach to melody and a knack for playing with expectations – crystallized in a slew of A+ releases and a couple of international tours. This trajectory, shaped by taking matters into her own hands and self-empowerment, now sees a logical next step, with the inception of a label that will also operate under the “Motivation” banner and features her own “Hope” EP as its first release.

Sparkling mallets, with synth-pop quality catchiness, open the title track. Rather than further evolving, their two-bar arrangement gets looped over and again, serving as the foundation for a slick FM bass rhythm and a variety of hooks. Although these incline to the bright, the overall vibe is melancholic. In vintage B.AI style, the aptly titled “Hope” is more ambiguous than its patches suggest. Similarly, the vocal this type of palette would call for ultimately comes in the form of aloof, covert musings. A bit buried in the mix, they are most efficient – just like the tension that keeps brooding underneath the surface.

“Murderbot Diaries 1991” turbocharges four-to-the-floor synthetic drums with an arpeggiated rolling bass. The blue note melody on top feels sequenced via a pocket calculator, and the dissonant, electroclash-reminiscent stabs that follow might sound even more angular. The tune is frantic, sinister – and perhaps above all tongue in cheek. It reaches fever pitch with the arrival of a tubular bell theme between the two breaks.

“Once”’s slomo cutoff modulation on the 16th note mid-bass instantly creates a sultry atmosphere that meshes greatly with the pastel cool of the gently delayed DX7 leads. The energy drifts between effortless control and uncertain outcome. These contrasts are amplified as the drums alternate amidst moderation and beat-repeat rendered havoc.

On “Only We Know,” a progressive sine lead lays out the central motif. Yet as briskly as it appears, it makes way for detuned, gliding square waves taking on the same theme. This outlines the track’s structure: as slightly morphed repetitions keep getting introduced almost haphazardly, a dreamlike, mesmerizing ambience unfolds. Techy drum rhythms and a 101-type bass make sure everything stays fuelled. Within the ingenious tapestry of melodies and new twists, it never loses touch with the dance floor. It illustrates B.AI’s club savvy neatly and is therefore a perfect closer for this EP.

In their new project, DJ/producer Mayo and rock star CAH experiment with hard beats, melodic vocal lines, synthesizer improvisations, and found sounds. With A Spiral Walk, they blur the lines between pop and underground, between seduction and rejection, between darkness and light