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GES: Anthology of American Pop Music

Six great pop standards remembered: five pop songs are dissected by sampler, stretched, compressed, and re-collaged. In this way, their identity is lost. What remains is a vague concreteness: flashes of déjà vu and remote echoes that evoke the original.
GES (Gesellschaft zur Emanzipation des Samples)
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Active members: Helmut Schmidt, Jan Jelinek
Founded: 2009
Headquarters: Federal Court of Justice, Karlsruhe, Germany
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GES Glossary

Acoustic Surveillance Series

A 7-inch vinyl record series curated by GES focussing on historical methods of acoustic surveillance. Each record introduces a surveillance system from the past. Starting with Uguisubari in 2017, the series will continue with the release of Orecchio di Dionisio in 2021. GES is open to further suggestions on this subject.

Bundesgerichtshof (German Federal Court of Justice), Karlsruhe

“The use of audio samples as artistic practice may justify the infringement of copyright and intellectual property rights.” (ruling of the German Federal Court of Justice pertaining to Metall auf Metall II, 2016). The court is also the official headquarters of GES.
Circulations

What happens to copyright claims when music from a passing car is captured in a street recording? Is it legal to use this recording freely or is it necessary to obtain licensing rights? Circulations re-enacts this recording situation: audio players are placed in public spaces, where they reproduce the desired sample material. The acoustically choreographed space is then recorded, creating a field recording in which everyday noises circulate together with seemingly incidental music.

Emancipation of Sampling

Fuelled by its criminalization, the act of sampling existing recordings forfeited some of its artistic prestige (see Sampling). GES wishes to rehabilitate and re-emancipate the practice of sampling as a form of art in its own right. Strategy: 1. Name samples and sources explicitly. 2. Choose samples that are as popular and as recognizable as possible (Beatles, Carpenters, etc.). 3. The editing and manipulation of the sample must not compromise its recognizability (negotiable). 4. Use as many samples as possible. 5. Always name more sample sources than were actually used in the composition.

Field Recording

A compositional practice widely used in sound art and ethnomusicology that involves the recording of natural acoustical phenomena. Two additional requirements are usually imposed: The recording process should take place outside a studio environment, i.e. outdoors. And the person recording does not generate any of the acoustic material him/herself. GES expands this definition by introducing the concept of choreographed public space (see Circulations).

Gambling

An acoustic event favoured by GES, already used in numerous sound collages (must take place in public). The most popular option is thimblerig, a cup and ball gambling game commonly played in the street. Compositional instruction by GES: Place an audio playback device in the proximity of a thimblerigger. Play works for orchestra (by Debussy or Mahler). Move slowly towards the gamblers with a microphone.

Helmut Schmidt

Multiple identity and fictional character devised by GES. Figures variously within the semiotic system of GES as member, guest artist or public representative. Following the historical example of Subcommandante Marcos (EZLN).

Kraftwerk

The German band founded by electropop musicians Florian Schneider-Esleben and Ralf Hütter (a.k.a. Die Prozessoren) is the natural enemy of GES. Protected by computer-generated avatars, Kraftwerk operates a quote-hostile cultural hegemony. Their strategy: Install a special brand in the collective consciousness by means of a sophisticated system of quotations and references that may in turn not be quoted by anyone else. Other bands with such delusions of omnipotence: U2, Metallica.

Marcel Duchamp

As the inventor of the readymade, Duchamp may be viewed as a precursor to the art of sampling. However, the artist is appreciated above all for his sonorous qualities, as his vocal silence has often been sampled and processed. It was the inspiration for Jelinek's radio play Zwischen.

Orecchio di Dionisio

This 65-meter-deep limestone cave in the Sicilian town of Syracuse, carved out of a hillside in ancient times, has exceptional acoustics: A person standing at the cave entrance can hear every word whispered deep down inside it. The painter Michelangelo da Caravaggio gave it its name (The Ear of Dionysius) in 1608. The cave indeed resembles an ear and – according to Caravaggio – had a specific function: The tyrant Dionysius I imprisoned his political prisoners in the cave in order to spy on them. Orecchio di Dionisio will be featured in the Acoustic Surveillance Series in the near future.

Sampling

Compositional practice whereby recorded music is fragmented, turned into sound collages and transferred into different contexts of meaning. Since the advent of affordable sampling technology in the 1990s, the music industry has been trying to criminalize and/or promote the practice. Both strategies are driven by the same principle: Profit.

Uguisubari

Sound-making floorboards in Japanese temple and castle complexes, featured in the Acoustic Surveillance Series in 2017. In the Edo period, the “nightingale floor” (literal translation of uguisubari) was a popular acoustic warning system. The principle was straightforward: When someone stepped onto the boards, nails would rub against metal clamps beneath the floor, creating a tell-tale squeaky sound that was said to resemble the chirping of the Japanese nightingale.

Wind

A generator of acoustic events and an amplifier/transmitter of existing sounds. A meteorological form of energy appreciated by the GES on account of its unpredictability. A series about wind as an acoustic phenomenon is planned. Working title: Hotel Corridors.

Zwischen (Between)

Radio play by GES member Jan Jelinek based on recordings of various public interview situations. From the speech of the interviewees (all of them eloquent personalities) the pauses between coherent utterances were extracted and assembled. What we hear is an archaic body language: modes of breathing, word particles and onomatopoeic turmoil. A key question for GES: Which comes first, personal rights or artistic freedom? For Zwischen, Jelinek used only recordings by public figures that were already available to the public.

RICO PUESTEL debuts on his TIME IN THE SPECIAL PRACTICE OF RELATIVITY label with a mind-boggling journey of 41 minutes — split in two parts to fit on vinyl! HEPTAKAIDEKA is what it won't be and will be what it never was: Something from in-between worlds, a place beyond far beyond, where time dissolves into relativity...

Every modern electronic music presenter should be able to find joyful, elevated, convulsing or simply useful moments within the extent of this track that is designed to have its inherent connecting factors and starting points in place for every DJ set — letting it be just a few minutes, well-placed groove looping or bigger amounts of its entirety for diving into a long night, bringing it to an end or making it standing out in-between.

Starting off with a hazy half-grasp hint of what's to come, a mysteriously pervasive bionic loop emerges, slowly coalescing with a bone-dry groove on the rise. Taking up a first quadrant of the track, already gnawing into the long-term memory, it manages to gradually establish itself along the pathway while the "rhythmatics" endure some subtle layer-shifting with occult-like strings come sliding in from somewhere unknown like an admonitory subtext.

Being halfway through (and all the way in), everything smoothly crumbles down to its basic framework, still shaking off its own reminiscences while foregone vestiges almost perilously try to reassemble themselves. All of that leading to a clearly unforeseen yet fortunate drift into a 1980's-like synth peak time section after about 27 minutes being in that track, finally cherishing an evolving emotional felicity and the climax of its own being that tends to feel like an overarching salvation.

As everything being eventually finite, the track starts to bring to mind where it came from by assuredly falling back into a story told before with the well-established bionic loop that once used to run free, sounding somehow different and more tamed now. Ending with dignity, the consistently resurfaced admonitory strings lead the way to its conclusion and possibly new beginnings, solely leaving behind the heartbeat-like booming that carried it all, now fading away...

Coming into existence during a series of multiple productions of exuberant proportions with Rico making the studio his citadel-like stronghold, this is an extensive story of desires, instincts, pride, fall, mirth, solicitude, tension, détente and basically life itself while subtly yet versatilely entertaining on a dodgy yet accessible level throughout the wingspread of Techno, House, Minimal, Dub, Electronica and Ambient influences.

The CD version not only brings you the title track in the guise of its non-split completeness but eminently churns out the extra drumming dub treat DEKAEPTA for a pleasurable groove-delight as well as the trippy bonus beauty VOSEM' that transits as a precious component of infinity.

Repress

Grim Headlights features the latest acid mayhem by Peel MD member and Nerike Primate labelhead A. Stantz. Utterly advanced bassline tools for the dark techno clubs. All tracks recorded deep in the rural area of Sweden.

After being summoned from Ohio to London by Adrian Sherwood, Nick Riggio and Rebecca Magnetic have brought their Midwest musical experience to the South London electronic music scene with a unique creative vision. Fusing elements of techno, post-punk and psychedelic rock they explore spiritual connections and transcendence while Rebecca Magnetic's introspective vocals set against a tough backdrop of Detroit influenced rhythms and vibrations leave you in awe.

Their superb single 'My Future' is a brilliantly cosmic exploration of spaced out and spacious grooves. Crashing hits bring an edgy mood, while lurching drums drag you forwards.
Molten acid synths and the strained and pained vocals from Rebecca add further layers of intrigue to this most adventurous electronic trip.

First to remix is Oosh! man Dan Wainwright, and his version is laced up with sci-fi chords and echoing vocal sounds. The downtempo drum rotations are superbly heavy and trap you in a trance.
Next up, Retroforward is Al Mackenzie's solo remix/music project named after his successful Birmingham night.
Al is one half of Field Of Dreams. His 'No Future' remix is an airy and atmospheric remix that takes the track to the farthest edges of space on smooth, hypnotic grooves and beautifully astral melodies.

Lastly, Richard Sen has already been getting support for his remix from ALFOS man Sean Johnston, and he goes for a superbly rugged yet slow motion chugger that is dubbed out and expansive thanks to the arching guitar riffs that ring out to the heavens above fat-bottomed drums.

Whether experienced on the dance floor or in metaphysical states, this music is medicine for the mind and body.

One of the most quietly influential underground artists of recent times, Yamaneko returns with Spirals Heaven Wide, his fourth full-length album. Since breaking through in 2014 with his cult debut album Pixel Wave Embrace, Yamaneko has been one of the key artists re-contextualising ambient music for a new generation, crafting fragile compositions that draw as much from the angular shapes of grime, techno and keygen music as they do the soothing soundscapes of new age cassettes, ambient records and video game soundtracks. Written during Yamaneko’s last winter in London before relocating to Tokyo, Spirals Heaven Wide is his longest and largest-sounding release to date, combining some of his most evocative long-form pieces with the kind of haunting miniatures that made his early music so distinctive. The majority of the tracks were written after Yamaneko's first run of audio-visual shows at the end of 2018, and so are rooted in the same kind of live workflow and production methods that he explored with those sets. As with last year’s Afterglow EP, Spirals Heaven Wide is underpinned by a underlying influence of euphoric dance music, with distant trance and hardcore signifiers - both key influences on Yamaneko from an early age - visible through the album’s thick blankets of wind and fog. These influences come fully to the forefront on ‘This Spring of Love' and 'Fall Control’, two of the most outright spine-tingling tracks Yamaneko has released to date. Elsewhere, the album explores his love of emo music’s bittersweet melancholy, a fascination with constellations and the cosmos and an increasing love of writing extended, long-form compositions: a side of Yamaneko first explored on 2017’s Spa Commissions collection and continued on his contribution to respected ambient series Longform Editions.

Climate of Fear follows up Soft Boi’s debut LP with a mammoth drop: 12 tapes ripped straight from the first two years of Berlin parties. Released one per month, the series moves from Izabel’s shivering chug through Nkisi’s deadly anarcho-gabber psychedelia, Polar Inertia’s sleek techno throb and DJ Python & Mad Miran’s impromptu closing b2b.

Climate of Fear's second installment in their tape series comes from Polar Inertia: a one hour masterclass of HD ice burn techno. Recorded live, the set shows PI in full command of their craft, lunging forward with deadly intent while opening up to moments of shivering awe. The full roster is as follows:

Elena Colombi
Polar Inertia
Nkisi
Bruce
Relaxer
Bambounou
Shanti Celeste
Karen Gwyer
Vladimir Ivkovic
Izabel
Terekke
Mad Miran b2b DJ Python

Timeless periods of industrial rhythm: Diarmaid O Meara and Kucera collaborate to release ‘Shadowmen’ vinyl on Gobsmacked Records

Nightclubs around Europe are shut. Even in Berlin, the clubbing capital of the world, nightlife has been reduced to a simmer. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a good time and connect via timeless periods of electrifying and industrial rhythms”, said Irish producer and DJ Diarmaid O Meara. Together with long-time Gobsmacked techno stalwart Kucera, the two have dropped their latest vinyl ‘Shadowmen’.

The collaboration has derived from long sessions in the Gobsmacked cavern studios in Berlin. The result: A 12” that is laid out in the style of the perfect rave – with a breakbeat electronica entry that promotes procrastination, freakish, and intensely introverted thoughts created through pulsating rhythms and ghostly frequencies, industrial rave sounds for those moments of release.

Partying is a huge part of Berlin’s identity

By listening to the vinyl featuring a dark rhythm, it becomes obvious that the duo has been heavily influenced by underground techno nights in Berlin, and also regularly sharing the stage together at international events. With the pandemic-mandated closure of clubs stretching through the summer, however, playing gigs and festivals is no longer an option. Hence, illegal parties have sprung up to fill the gap and infuriated some public health officials and politicians, also in Berlin.

“Partying is still a huge part of the city’s identity”, continued Diarmaid O Meara who has been living in Berlin for over a decade and also organising parties all over the city. “Raves are a much-needed way to blow off steam after a period of isolation but we have to consider a more proactive approach, for instance district authorities making public spaces available to party organisers under conditions that ensure hygiene measures are maintained.”

Although there has been no shortage of digital music events either since the pandemic began, clubbing is more than just watching a DJ set. “Rather it’s about the unique space that’s created by artists and the crowd that are pulled together by music”, said Kucera who has been destroying dance floors across Europe with his live sets since 2004. “In times when people are still feeling more isolated than ever, our latest vinyl with the accompanying music video aims to bring a sense of connectedness and community during the lockdown.” The video imagery has been recorded live using Kuceras machine pattern triggering whilst performing the tracks live.

Unwavering dedication to the culture of counter-culture

The name ‘Shadowmen’ reflects the work both artists have contributed constantly and consistently to the scene over the past two decades with unwavering dedication to the culture of counter-culture. The artwork, in classic Gobsmacked style, comes with a tip of the cap to the global elite who have been successfully driving humanity off a cliff. “We’ve thrown a little apparent illuminati symbol in there for those who’ve been confined too long at home and on YouTube for the past 6 months”, said Diarmaid O Meara.

Both artists are working on a multitude of new tracks and events for the post-Covid era. Of particular interest is Kuceras live visual show for Gobsmacked, with visuals triggered from his machine live-set patterns. This is something he has been wanting to experiment with for a long time now and it started to take shape in the form of visual hallucinations of industrial areas and trains he had been filming while traveling across Europe before the world stopped functioning properly due to Covid-19. Diarmaid O Meara has quite a few tricks up his sleeve, including a new politically inspired alias, where both artists will take centre stage in some wacky antics.

German techno and house composer Tim Engelhardt takes you on a deep dive into his peculiar-yet-relatable world of musical meanderings with ‘Idiosynkrasia’. True to the nature of idiosyncrasy, the album is more than the sum of its parts.

‘Idiosynkrasia’ is an ode to the inspiration Tim finds in all kinds of spaces and places: each cut woven from the same cloth of meticulously formed melodic structures and expertly crafted harmonies, gently amplified and unfettered by genre. From the opening track it’s clear that Tim has a profound awareness of rhythm and sound, his background as a pianist lending an easy fluidity to the album as it expands and contracts to tell a story which is gentle, humble and reflective.

Using granular processed recordings of piano, floating strings and other instruments to transmute emotions like love, nostalgia, vulnerability and longing, the album shifts through meditative, flow-state inducing tracks, morphing into cuts designed for dancing it all out.

Take it straight, mix it up or down: ‘Idiosynkrasia’ is cinematic in form and orchestral in structure, each track is marked with Tim’s unique sonic signature and careful attention to instrumentation.

Inhale the spirited and lively flow; exhale and surrender into epiphanic moments: this is an album which will catalyse deep breaths, reflection and a different way of thinking.

Untold’ is an experimental electronic LP from multi-disciplinary artist and author Sophia Loizou. Depicting a series of speculative sonic landscapes; animals, ocean waves and weather systems are abstracted into eco-centric cyber-dreams creating powerful ambient compositions that invite us to see the Earth through the eyes of others.

‘Untold’ is not about the natural or the technological but the relationships between the two; sonic textures, breaks and melodies are shaped by the dynamics of a lion’s roar or the rhythm of a dolphin’s echolocation emissions. “I didn’t want to make it human-centric,” explains Sophia. “I wanted to remove my compositional and structural domination, to find ways to make it about the symbiosis of systems I see in the world.”

‘Untold’ is part of a much bigger multi-disciplinary project that also includes a collection of poems with accompanying audio, artworks, an AV show and a lecture performance.

Mastered and cut by Matt Colton @ Metropolis.

The wide-spread admiration for Uijui’s production chops has been imminent for several years now, only stalled by the instant gratification of endless night outs, snooker and one or two shattered computer hard disks. He’s been crafting discreet and thoughtful, yet effective midnight sun house and heartfelt techno over the years concluding in a 3-track EP for Cold Blow.

Jamaica Suk’s 17-track, quadruple-volume ‘Uncertain Landscapes’ series continues with its second part, bringing five tracks of uncompromising cutting-edge techno.

NovaMute artist Nicolas Bougaïeff kicks off with the rasping sounds of ‘Nocturne 1’, a tense juggernaut of a track. Sheet metal textures clash up against eerie FX the most throbbing of kick drums, with a twisted, distorted feel to the breakdown.

Keith Carnal’s ‘Infringement’ injects rhythmic bleep patterns into its chattering percussion, creating an almost dubby feel that’s contrasted with an urgent energy. Well-timed filtering adds to the tension.

The warped wiggle of Helrad’s ‘Groove Addicts’ comes next, with intense machine energy filtering up from the depths. A manic cacophony of detuned bleeping creates a heavy, relentless feel over the succinct beat.

Insolate’s ‘Sanchin’ rocks a pulsating bass chug that underpins washed-out textures and synth delays, with rasping metallic sounds washing over the track in the second half while the shuffling percussion keeps ticking away.

Manuel Di Martino channels some classic Detroit vibes in the chattering clap & snare patterns and rolling groove of ‘Runout’. Resonant tones blip, loop and pitch-shift in hip-shaking fashion to give the feel of a classic Jeff Mills set in action.

Roman Flügel presents: Sister Midnight!
What started as a party series that saw Roman inviting friends and favorites is turning into a full-fledged label adventure now. Shaped to be the vehicle for old and new Roman Flügel music alike, unreleased surprises and previously released sure shots from the archives, it’s the first time after his involvement in the seminal Playhouse and Klang label universe, that he tends to such an enterprise himself - with the help and support of Running Back records.
Now, the journey of Roman Flügel’s own Sister Midnight label starts with the valuable Tracks On Delivery series. Originally released on the third jewel in the Playhouse crown (Ongaku Musik) from 2000 to 2002, it’s a meditation on and contemplation of techno. Remastered, recut and repackaged as a triple vinyl edition with the addition of two previously unreleased „Patterns“. Pristine sound design, hypnotic wizardry and dry then architecture let all of them appear as if they haven’t aged a day.
Or as Roman says himself:
“I’ve always tried to push myself into new territories since I started music production. Those new territories can surely be achieved by the endless possibilities of inspiration, chaos and will power. At the time of the production of my Pattern series as under the name Tracks On Delivery I was highly inspired by some of Andrew Weatherall’s Techno sets while visiting London for some of his Blood Sugar Parties. Tracks On Delivery is unthinkable without the crude ‚germanic‘ mixture of Detroit labels like Jay Denham’s Black Nation and Weatherall’s own UK Techno imprints like Emissions Output. The Pattern Series, back then created for the Frankfurt based Ongaku Musik label, and now I am very happy to be able to release 15 original Patterns along two unreleased Patterns on my own Sister Midnight label.“

House and techno mainstay Loco Dice is stepping out with En Couleur, a brand new label reserved exclusively for his own music.

The first offering opens with 'Don't Run,' a twisted piece of afterparty techno. Weird fx and alien sound designs squirm in and out of a firmly rooted, rolling groove and pressurised hi hats add to the tension as the kicks grow ever more powerful. 'Nasty Train' explores high quality stripped back house grooves that ooze a certain sense of funk. The timeless hi hats are straight from Chicago while the crisp boom-bap drums, frazzled pads and muffled voices all add details that keep you locked until things grow more wild and unhinged at the mid point. Last of all, 'Ya Free Just Move' is a manic and pulsating acid workout that will leave the club in a frenzy.

Motus is more (to me) than just music made with analogue synthesizers, it is about attitude, a way of relating to sound and the (e)motion it affects. A lifestyle, where movement, being moved and moving become one. My practice is vibrational, about the skin, touch and surfaces and the gaseous medium in between. I dream of a dance floor where Motus would be enjoyed. What kind of world, or rather, what kind of society would allow that? And when? Is this futuristic? A situation-to-come, where the understanding of music expands greatly, when blissful moments are independent of simple melodies, where harmony appears beyond I-V-vi-IV chord progressions, when the techniques of social alienation, which determine the use of all the drugs that accompany recreational music, are reversed into creative tools of exploration. ‘Motus’ is part of this exploration: to find dance, free of clock, and groove, free of rhythm. There is pulsation, and the downbeat connects to the downward beings as in stones and minerals, the upbeat connects to the upward beings as in grasses, flowers, trees and stars. Binding both together, connecting sky and earth, is the dancer. The moves / the movement is pure. It is the kiss of spirit and matter.” (Thomas Köner)

We are really excited to announce that the second edition of the long sold-out Non Plus Ultra 1980-1987 is now available. This is the first retrospective published in the XXIst century devoted to the electronic and underground “Tecno” (the flip side to the mainstream Movida/Nueva Ola) from 80s Spain. The record is a showcase of our identity and approach, as refers both music and aesthetics and was in its time a milestone for Domestica when it was first released in January 2012.

Non Plus Ultra is a hand-picked collection of hard-to-find recordings from the 80s pioneer Spanish electronic scene. Most of the tracks featured on the album should be regarded as demos, even some bands had the chance to record on cassette or reel-to-reel but they had a very limited distribution. We present a repertoire of pioneering groups, which are as unknown as they are interesting, creative, and ahead of their times.

For this second edition of only 200 numbered copies, we have redesigned all the graphic elements. The cover has been hand printed with stamps and the release comes complete with illustrated dossier and English bio of all bands featured plus numbered postcard and download code.

Jaime Read’s first EP after a 5 year break of which unfortunately saw very little studio time - life just goes like that sometimes, but an artist will always return in tough moments such as 2020’s Covid lockdown. Deep, emotional UK techno made with honesty & introspection, taking the mind away from the world’s troubles and triggering hope - positive deep sounds.

With this fresh and innovative sound, Taupe fully reflects the musical concept of Impress project.
“Helion" represents the Techno and Detroit feelings that you can experience along a special journey that will let you play your imagination.

This is the debut release for WORQ RECORDS. An independent label out of Chicago USA. The label was an idea because of how hard it is these days to classify tracks into either House or Techno let alone one of the tons of sub genres of the two. Loving both genres and not wanting to label tracks or records with one group or the other, WORQ RECORDS was created. This debut release on 12" vinyl allows for a selector to blend these tracks into a variety of different mixes.

QUINROK1 sets the pace for what the WORQ RECORDS sound will be. A blend of House/Techno/Minimal/DubTechno. Born, raised and bred with the Chicago House sound and the underground rave scene culturing and shaping the flavor of where his House/Techno sound is today. This 6 track 12" will have something for your mix! Huge deep kicks, snappy snares, hats and claps with fat bass grooves and soul samples, its a recipe for some bangers!!

Trauma Collective returns with four cuts of decidedly hypnotic and abstract techno from ever-prolific ASC. Rounding out the last decade with a string of stand-out releases on his own imprint, Auxiliary, the San Diego producer brings his cerebral sonic aesthetic to the fledgling Madrid label. "Loop Research" showcases a singular artist unbound by tempo and at the top of their game.

Side One is heart-pounding Techno, Hardcore and Electro. Side Two is 90s inspired UK Jungle with an excellent rework from Tim Reaper.

Of everykune tre
The hawethorn blowet suotes
My lemmon sse ssal be
The fairest of erthkine
Wel was hire dring
The cheld water of the well-spring
Wel was her bowr
The rede rose and the lilye flour

The multi-media project Kraftwerk was started in Düsseldorf, Germany 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. They set up their electronic Kling Klang Studio where they conceived and produced all Kraftwerk albums.

Kraftwerk created the soundtrack for the digital age of the 21st century. AUTOBAHN 1974, RADIO-ACTIVITY 1975, TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS 1977, THE MAN-MACHINE 1978, COMPUTER WORLD 1981, TECHNO POP 1986, THE MIX 1991, TOUR DE FRANCE 2003. Their compositions, using innovative techniques, electronic sounds and synthetic voices combined with computerised rhythms, had a major musical influence on Electro, Hip Hop, Techno and Synth-Pop. 

The multi-media project Kraftwerk was started in Düsseldorf, Germany 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. They set up their electronic Kling Klang Studio where they conceived and produced all Kraftwerk albums.

Kraftwerk created the soundtrack for the digital age of the 21st century. AUTOBAHN 1974, RADIO-ACTIVITY 1975, TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS 1977, THE MAN-MACHINE 1978, COMPUTER WORLD 1981, TECHNO POP 1986, THE MIX 1991, TOUR DE FRANCE 2003. Their compositions, using innovative techniques, electronic sounds and synthetic voices combined with computerised rhythms, had a major musical influence on Electro, Hip Hop, Techno and Synth-Pop. 

Suburban Knight with his first solo record in over 10 years! vinyl only!!

The multi-media project Kraftwerk was started in Düsseldorf, Germany 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. They set up their electronic Kling Klang Studio where they conceived and produced all Kraftwerk albums.

Kraftwerk created the soundtrack for the digital age of the 21st century. AUTOBAHN 1974, RADIO-ACTIVITY 1975, TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS 1977, THE MAN-MACHINE 1978, COMPUTER WORLD 1981, TECHNO POP 1986, THE MIX 1991, TOUR DE FRANCE 2003. Their compositions, using innovative techniques, electronic sounds and synthetic voices combined with computerised rhythms, had a major musical influence on Electro, Hip Hop, Techno and Synth-Pop. 

Dutch groove connaisseur Ivano Tetelepta returns to his home base ESHU Records. Presenting four tripped out originals accompanied by two excellent reworks by befriended artists Jasper Wolff and Ion Ludwig. The pack perfectly captures the loosely and laid back attitude of the label and Ivano himself, doing their own thing as always. The a-side is all about the groove, a stripped down and playful rhythmic jam built for a hazy late night session with Ion Ludwig turning this inside-out, transforming the original into a lengthy minimal dub version. The early morning sun rays bring the vibes on the flipside where 'Loosen Up' is an atmospheric 90s feeling techno floater where Indigo aera head honcho Jasper Wolff shakes this up with a fierce techno twist. As special addition there's a 7" where Tetelepta shows one of his enlightening dub meditations and a rambling early Mills-esque tribal work-out. The whole bunch is mastered by Marco Spaventi and will be released digitally and in special 12"+7" pack.

(25th Anniversary Edition) Originally released on F Communications 1997. Laurent Collat is not a newcomer to the French electronic scene. It was in 1988, with the discovery of New Order, that the desire to compose his own songs arose. His techno-pop compositions drift gently towards a house and techno sound, with the arrival of the baggy movement from Manchester and the acid-house wave.

(25th Anniversary Edition) Originally released on F Communications 1997. Opack premier Ep on F Communications had already stood out for its unique programming and production. It had traced a furrow for French electronica "and established Readymade as an essential composer / producer / arranger, developing a falsely crazy and deeply melancholy universe fed by hip-hop, pop, electronica, dub, house and techno.

(25th Anniversary Edition) Originally released on F Communications 2001. If we were to define Llorca's music, we could sum it up as a mixture of electronic and acoustic music, inspired by the heritage of black African-American music - from blues to jazz, from soul to techno.

Growing up in Milton Keynes, the largest of the "new towns" outside of London designed and built in the 1960s, perhaps explains why producer Nicholas Worrall is subconsciously drawn to clearly delineated sonic structures and flawed techno utopianism, two concepts that are ever present in both his sound and aesthetic approach to music.

Wordcolour was formed just two years ago, at a time when Worrall was habitually cutting up and splicing human voice samples ripped from YouTube memes, film dialogues and musique concrète tapes.

The first artistic demonstration of these ideas arrived in 2019 via his mixtape “I Want To Tell You Something” for the Blowing Up The Workshop platform. This unique set immediately grabbed the attention and support of the specialized music press and media, including Pitchfork and Resident Advisor.

“Tell Me Something” is Wordcolour’s official debut EP and heads straight for the dance floor. It is comprised of an unusual melting pot of influences that fuse the UK club sound, post-dubstep and a style akin to Paul Lansky's ‘90s musique concrète. “Tell Me Something” offers a vibrant leftfield, avant-garde techno and edgy electro, all immersed in the vast cosmos of the human voice.

Repress!

Summer's in the air, and with impeccable timing, Bawrut returns with his fourth EP for Ransom Note Records! From ‘Ciquita’ to ‘Rumba’ to ‘Three Sounds’, the Madrid-based producer has been providing DJs with off-kilter dance floor ammunition for years now, amassing a dedicated following in the process. Out 13th September on 12” and digital, the Pronto Arpeggio EP is arguably his biggest and best collection to date. It’s certainly his silliest, kicking things off with a frankly absurd title track. Clocking in at almost 11 minutes, ‘Pronto Arpeggio’ is a prog techno labyrinth of fakeouts, tempo switches, thwacking kickdrums, and huge synths like if Giorgio Moroder did the music for Tomorrow’s World . So yeah, not your average mid-set toilet break tool (although if you want to use it for that, we won’t judge you). ‘Shooreee’ is classic Bawrut with a psychedelic twist, like spiking your own Negroni with mescaline. This sweaty, slow-burn acid weapon bides its time before erupting into a potent payoff. ‘Atchu’ carves its way through laser bleeps and dub FX, built around an unforgettable vocal sample that’ll be lodged in your skull for months whether you like it or not.

When it came to the remixes, we thought it was only right to enlist some of Bawrut’s biggest supporters. KiNK chisels ‘Pronto Arpeggio’ into a vlean slab of high-velocity machine funk, while Ruf Dug teases out the gentler side of ‘Shooreee’, resulting in a melodic track that feels tailor- made made for Mediterranean sunsets.

Bawrut absolutely ruled the festivals in 2018 with ‘More Cowbell’ and we’re expecting more of the same this year as he continues to go from strength to strength. Forza!

Tape / Cassette

Longstanding collaborators & Bay Area based experimental duo Kush Arora & Lucas Patzek aka Only Now & Orogen return with ‘AVULS’, the project’s sophomore release.

Building on the unearthly, black hole transmissions and creaking, exospheric ambience of their self-titled debut, Only Now & Orogen present an abyssal, elemental broadcast from another unchartered extra-terrestrial zone. Remote and astronomical yet tied to a newfound sense of rhythmic structure, ‘AVULS’ navigates a course through inverted beat-led frameworks, surging detonations of sub-bass, and severely turbulent, monumentally scaled soundscapes.

Amidst this large, slow-moving cyclone of sound sit fragmentary emergences of choral voices and Gregorian chants; a distant, esoteric presence within dense eruptions of attritional noise and infinite recesses of low end.

In harsh, pointillistic detail and through infernal surround sound, Only Now & Orogen channel dub, noise and power electronics, evoking a distorted, ritualistic inflection on the Voyager Golden Record; a mass of tectonic motion and friction; a storm in deep space.

B•O•M is the fifth album by freak electronic producer NCHX (NOCHEXXX). A percussive planet of acid-techno, UK bass, house and electro-phonk, hosed down with a chemical wash of post-dubstep and UK bleep contaminants.

Departing with a tube station screech, HUNTING HIDES signals a lone defender’s ride through the underground - trace amounts of musique concrete dart around the tunnel walls, while sub-low cushions the rumble. ENTERCOL is perfect 3am mix fodder; saturation hot-points push beneath a middle eastern theme, whilst SEVENTH GUN TERRITORY is pure rapid-fire bongo bizness - a concrete terrain punctuated with corrugated metal grids and moving shadows: distorted poly-metered brutalism! CYBERTUSH is the perfect OST to a club littered with vape pens, while B-Boi bots flirt with promiscuous A.I.

Arguably the most fierce cut is TEFLONTUAN - an ode to NCHX’s favourite pro Antuan Dixon - the Deathwish skater lands bolts with the illest of steeze. Side-chained 303 squelch rattles alongside x0x sequenced drums as wavetable pads float above kinked rails. A nights gallop over city curbs. The LP signs off with LOCATION SCOUT, a SpaceX sample-return mission heading back to earth with a fistful of deep house red planet crumble.

“A dance floor’s dream and a mixing engineer’s nightmare” - Resident Advisor

Enigmatic producer RNDTXTR debuts on Rekids with a deep techno three tracker entitled‘Random EP’ this September.

“Some tracks just stick with you. They never leave your box, or in this case USB, and I’ve been playing these tracks from RNDTXTR for well over two years. Everywhere from Tokyo to Berlin. These have a universal appeal, being hypnotic and just the right balance between pushy club sounds and spatial melodies” - Radio Slave

Shrouded in murky atmospherics, ‘RND009’ opens the package with rigorous drums, shuffling shakers, sweeping pads and scintillating synths. ‘RND007 (Dub Mix)’ continues with a similar cantering rhythm as various rattling percussive elements work alongside clever automation for a tracky cut designed to lock listeners into a trance. Concluding matters, ‘RND004’ is the wonkiest number on the package with its syncopated groove and otherworldly melody.

Aix Em Klemm is the moniker of the ambient music project consisting of Adam Wiltzie (Stars Of The Lid / A Winged Victory For The Sullen) and Robert Donne (Labradford / Anjou).
As Wiltzie told Sadness Is In The Sky fanzine, his collaboration with Donne began when “we all met during a Texas swing of a Labradford tour that Stars Of The Lid opened for back in 1996. They stayed at my house for a few days and we became close.”
A year later Wiltzie was asked to join Labradford for their Mi Media Naranja European tour of 1997 as the sound technician. This tour also included Bruce Gilbert of the legendary band Wire who was the opening act and joined them in the van for the entire tour. With Gilbert’s nightly improvisations of minidisk field recording explosions running through a Sherman Filterbank, it left a profound effect on Wiltzie and Donne, and led to inspiring internal philosophical discussions on the importance of improvisation. After concluding six weeks in the van, the idea of creating a unique collaboration separate from their other projects was realized. The duo exchanged tapes over the course of a year and then Donne ventured to Austin, TX for a week to record at Wiltzie’s home studio in 1999. The in-person collaboration moved much more quickly than the exchange of tracks by mail. One track on the Aix Em Klemm album, “Sparkwood And Twenty-One”, was written and recorded in one day. The duo took the mysterious name Aix Em Klemm and the self-titled debut was released in the autumn of 2000.
As of late, Wiltzie lives in Brussels, and Donne joined Stars Of The Lid on their last tour of Europe in 2016 playing modular synth. They still collaborate musically so new Aix Em Klemm recordings remain a possibility.
“The two extracted some morsels of sound from their respective group’s structures and constructed an altogether different and Zarathrustian ‘building of sound’—one that combines the haunting spirits of the old with the mystique of the new unknown.” —Tape Op

The Remixes is a compilation album by The Stone Roses, which features remixes by various producers including Utah Saints and Paul Oakenfold. Various techno luminaries ply their skills reworking some of those early classic songs, and it is immediately clear that the Roses, even beyond the genius of their songs, were a preeminent dance band.

The Remixes is available as a limited edition of 3000 individually numbered copies on transparent & red swirled vinyl. The package includes an insert.

Unclassifiable percussionist and producer Chiminyo will be releasing his long-awaited debut album “I Am Panda” via London tastemaker label Gearbox Records on the 25th of September. The ten-track album is a foray into unexplored sonic territory, featuring a host of diverse guest musicians from London’s burgeoning music scene. Chiminyo's music may be rooted in the London jazz scene, but his music is transcendent of anything that could be defined as such. Whilst his joint use of analogue and digital technology meaningfully honours the manic city lights of London’s bustling scene, it remains ever-changing crossing over into hip-hop, future pop, experimental electronic and global spheres. Chiminyo's tech-heavy drum kit set-up, combines the raw, immediate live sound of percussion and the futuristic timbres of his electronic productions to create his own, daring soundscapes. Via laboriously self-coded software, each cymbal crash and drum hit triggers a synth or sample, allowing Chiminyo complete control and freeing him of all loops, click-tracks and backing tracks.However, it is important to note that Chiminyo's music is far more than just a technical feat. Whilst still highly innovative in it's composition, "I AM PANDA" is purely the result of a deep and tireless exploration of the music that Chiminyo truly resonates with to create a soulful, spiritual, and evocative record that feeds off the conflicting duality between technology and nature. Composed and arranged by Chiminyo and recorded at Konk Studios by Ricardo Damian (Jorja Smith, Sampha, Binker & Moses), the new album also features a host of talented guests including Kweku Sackey aka K.O.G, singer Dunja Botic, and spoken word artist Brother Portrait of Steam Down fame. The new album follows on from Chiminyo's 2019 debut EP "I Am Chiminyo", which served as a visceral introduction to his unique sound, and earned plaudits from the likes of Gilles Peterson, BBC 1Xtra, CLASH, Red Bull, Jazzwise, Jazz FM and more. As well as his own solo project, Chiminyo also performs and records with some of the leading figures of London’s music scene, including spiritual jazz-leaning outfit Maisha and psychedelic energy bomb Cykada. He has also previously collaborated and recorded with Gary Bartz, Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Theon Cross, and Zara McFarlane.

Our new slice of wax comes this time from outer space made somewhere between unknown galaxies and black holes. The spaceship’s pilot is 30drop, a mysterious alias that has been running its platform 30D for a long while now and is not often seen outside its realm. So it’s an honor for us to have 30drop onboard.

For this special occasion 30drop provides six cuts of futuristic techno but with a ravey approach in a time backspin that brings us back to the 90’s via Sci-Fi, reminding in some way of the early UR records, when Mad Mike and Jeff Mills worked together on the soundtrack of the future.

This is our first mini LP with 3 cuts per side. The first cut is Brain reset, the short drone intro soon leads to a relentless groove made of repetitive sequences over a fast groove. Intense and obsessive.

Mental Understanding brings more minimalistic ingredients, absence of hi hats, just kick drum and synth lines.

Brain effervescence showcases the infamous 90’s hoover sound bringing the rave element and 303 acid lines all merged in a lawless and dense mixture.

B side opens with Self awareness, starting with ethereal atmospheres, spiced with resonant bleeps and micro drones in a beat-less exercise.

Klapaucjusz brings back the 90’s feeling again with analogue arpeggios and melodies, again over a clean groove in a Detroit oriented number.

Closing the release, Knowledge, a space odyssey of strings, abstract synth lines and flotation.

A work that showcases the skills of this well-seasoned producer that stands apart from any trends, futuristic, atemporal and scientifically crafted.

W&P by 30drop

2LP Over the past decade, SUED co-founder SW. has arranged the building blocks of dreamy rave and techno music-billowing pads, undulating sub-bass and adroit, nuanced drum programming-into and novel dance floor structures. TRUElipS, SW.’s first full album since 2016 and his first for Avenue 66, is a beguiling, fully-realised statement. The 12-track LP is rooted in the storied ’90s era when the spirit of orbital raves and free parties was channeled into massive leaps forward in the studio. A combination of house and drum & bass looms large, as does the much-referenced intelligent techno era, but if you’ve listened to an SW. record, you already know TRUElipS is the work of a singular auteur. Breakbeats, rave stabs and major chords permeate the album, motoring along on a chassis of sine-wave bass lines and SW’s widescreen percussive vision. Forays into downtempo and sweeping ambience keep the listener’s head in the clouds, while the superb melodic techno constructions that comprise the album’s core are at once contemplative and liable to bring on a giddy head rush. TRUElipS brims with the optimistic, escapist spirit that fueled dance music’s original triumph, a throwback to bright, imagined futures.

Bleep deep warm house w/s spoken words. Blue ambient intelligent techno on the flip side.Vinyl only