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'Harnessed To Flesh' is the new release from Berlin based industrial project OPERANT (Instruments of Discipline's founder and sub, respectively, Luna Vassarotti & August Skipper). Since 2016's 'ZK-II' & 2017's 'Zero Knowledge' Operant have been consistently touring, enforcing their reputation as a live act, melding chaotic noise with a disturbed, euphoric techno.

With this new release Operant engage a sense of intimacy which encapsulates their live performance; there is the familiar sense of hypnotic rhythms and collaged sound seen in the earlier works but the duo's production and focus have evolved, opening up new spaces and textures to their sound.

The opening track, 'Also To The Inorganic World' reflects the more noise oriented moments of their live show, improvised fragments, contact mic's and metal sheets combine with soundtrack like synths that seek to bolster a sense of unreality and pervert lo-fi expectations, 'Be A Boy' is a slow build, punctuated by car-crash impacts with the most coherent, almost narrative driven vocal of the record, concluding with a jarring, rhythmic seizure. Side-A finishes with 'Chancellory', an underlying sense of being underwater pervades, choking vocal sounds straddle the line between disturbing and playful. The B-Side sees a more direct and aggressive approach, 'The Sacrifice of Meaning for Power' is a dance floor oriented storm of percussion and punishing snares, Luna's vocals violently penetrate at moments, creating a feeling of vertigo within the locked rhythm, 'Dead Realities VIII' closes the record, beginning with a gabber influenced, rhythmic groundwork that unravels into a dronescape where an already torn reality is utterly destroyed.

This first release on the new label is from Shamos - a collection of demos and ideas for the last few years.

Crying Bamboos is a translation of the pidgin description of the sound of sacred flutes: "Mambu i cry, i cry, i cry".

Sacred flutes are blown to make the cries of spirits by adult men in the Madang region of Papua New Guinea. Pairs of long bamboo male and female flutes are played for ceremonies in the coastal villages near the Ramu River. There are seven male initiation flute cries from Bosmun, four flute cries from Bak: Borai with occasional single garamut percussion and two flute cries from Kaean, one with vocals and hand drums. The flute players were of the last generation to have learned this skill during a complete cycle of male initiation. These previouslyunreleased recordings were made in 1979.

Recorded by Ragnar Johnson

Notes by Ragnar Johnson and Jessica Mayer

Photographs by Ragnar Johnson

Tape to digital transfer and mastering by Dave Hunt at

Dave Hunt Audio, London

Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin

In celebration of 20+ years since their classic debut Uptown Saturday Night, Bronx duo Camp Lo present a special double-album 2XLP with On The Way Uptown & The Get Down Brothers. On The Way Uptown features a collection of demos and unreleased songs made between 94' - 95', leading to their official debut in early 1997. Aside from the early versions of their hits Luchini (AKA This Is It),' Sparkle,' Black Connection,' and Coolie High', other standouts include World Heist', Coolie High Is Life' & A Piece of the Action'.

On The Get Down Brothers, Camp Lo completely pivot away from their 90's nostalgia into a much more futuristic and experimental sound. Although the production is different, their signature tongue-twisting and hype flows remain, creating a unique and seamless fusion packed into 10 dynamic tracks.

Since the release of their critically acclaimed debut album in 2013 on Names You Can Trust, La Mecánica Popular has quietly been contemplating the evolution of the group's sound, philosophy, and overall approach to making music. Band leader Efraín Rozas' experimental nature has continually pushed the boundaries of his own definition of not only Latin American music, but its broader relationship with music's global culture and history. The sound of "psychedelic salsa" that LMP helped capture in their debut was destined for further outside-the-box interpretations, and with the formation of a new quintet lineup over the last few years, LMP began to incorporate a more free, improvised and instrumental-focused performance of Rozas' increasingly radical compositions. The band subsequently took this liberated approach directly into the studio, recording Roza Cruz live, in its entirety. It was a cathartic experience, a necessary methodology for the new album's concept that embraced the intimate performance of its players and did away with standard techniques of isolation and overdubs.

The evolution of the band's sound on Roza Cruz brings forth a blend of styles rarely heard together, a touch reminiscent of electric-era Miles Davis or Eddie Palmieri at his most experimental, as the driving force of timbales and congas provide a bed for a wave of lush, analog amplification that mirrors the dueling leads of fuzz guitar and electric piano. But as far out as those instruments take the listener, the raw rhythm — the clave — always keeps it tethered to the earth and the dance, a cerebral yet visceral gift for the mind and feet.

Faitiche releases the album Improvisations And Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001 on vinyl for the first time. For the original 2002 CD on Soup-Disk and Sub Rosa (Audiosphere), Jan Jelinek and the Japanese trio Computer Soup (Satoru Hori - trumpet, Osamu Okubo - toys & electronics, Kei Ikeda - toys & electronics) presented eight tracks all recorded one afternoon in the trio's living room in Tokyo. They are excerpts from a joint group improvisation that subsequently underwent rudimentary editing, on which Jelinek and Computer Soup worked separately.

Jelinek met the three musicians at his first concert in Japan in 2001, at Tokyo's Yellow club, where Computer Soup performed as the support act. Delighted by their free improvisation on pocket-sized electronic toys, trumpet and oscillators, he arranged to meet Hori, Okubo and Ikeda a few days later for a session at their apartment. The resulting three-hour recording, made on their living room floor, formed the basis for Improvisations and Edits. A few days later, Jelinek returned to Berlin. Over the following months, they separately chose passages from the recording that were then edited and assembled into an album.

Formed in Tokyo in 1996 as a quintet (including Shusaku Hariya and Daisuke Oishi), Computer Soup began by performing with acoustic instruments on the streets of Shibuya. Ikeda und Okubo soon switched instruments, and from then on the group's minimalistic but densely woven sound was defined by electronic toys, oscillators and Satoru Hori's trumpet. Their first album was released in 1997 on the Japanese label Soup Disk. Eight further releases followed.

From the reviews of Improvisations and Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001 in 2003:

"The mind-blowing first track Straight Life is perhaps the best example of what the album has to offer. Jelinek's trademark smears and washes occupy the midrange, like ghosted images of Joe Zawinul's electric piano floating quietly in the wind. DSP jazz modes are set against a walking bassline (possibly computer generated) and a gently tooted trumpet complete with Harmon mute, a dead ringer for Miles Davis' Prestige-era ballads. The effect is something like a three-dimensional film, with different realities on each layer, images of what jazz was manage to interact with a real-time demonstration of all it could be."
pitchfork, 2003

"Improvisations and Edits is a warm and mellow Ambient release with beautiful glitch fragments, static noise bursts and real trumpet intersections. However, there are times where it is the exact opposite, mainly effect-laden, overdriven and bouncy with a lack of melodies and focus, so be aware of these specific tracks."
ambientexotica, 2003

"Often deliciously dreamy and hazy, Improvisations and Edits is like listening to an exceptional instrumental jazz performance while half-conscious or under some sort of chemical influence. Computerised blips and bleeps, loops and treatments and murky sonic skips curl up around desolate horn notes and scattered instrumental noises that culminate in elegant music."
exclaim.ca, 2003

"Hi again!

It's been a couple years, but I've put together a new record, this time with my neighbor Stu and a few other friends. Stu's been tuning the piano Linda and I were using for our Lejsovka & Freund and Trouble Books recordings, and I've always enjoyed the test scales and vignettes he would run through checking his work.

I floated the idea to collaborate on a sort of 70s/80s ECM kinda vibe, and soon started bringing my laptop and a couple microphones over to his house to collect his improvisations and have him add to pieces I had started. Other friends from the neighborhood dropped by to add parts here and there as well.

The recordings were made primarily in the summers of 2016 & 2017 (with a break in-between to mourn the triumph of neo-fascism as well as the passing of beloved pets). Ultimately I tried to follow the feel of those summer nights and the tranquility they offered. Open air or at least open windows, drifting along, you know"

-KF, Spring 2018.

Aqueduct Ensemble is a collaboration between Ohio based artist Keith Freund - who has previously released music as part of both Lejsovka & Freund and Trouble Books - and his neighbour Stu, who is a piano tuner and professional pianist. Their debut album together, "Improvisations On An Apricot" is the second release from label Last Resort, and follows G.S Schray's "Gabriel" (2017) - the sleeves for which were both designed by Keith, who does does all the art direction for the label. Beginning life in 2013 as an NTS radio show of the same name, Last Resort is run by Tom Cathcart from his home in London.

Black To Comm's Marc Richter returns under his Jemh Circs guise for a 2nd album of sonic abstractions. In contrast to Black To Comm's analogue tape and vinyl based sound, in Jemh Circs he works with digital sources by primarily sampling modern Pop Music (and various other oddities) on YouTube (et al.) and sending chunks of it through a variety of arcane transformations and mutations.Using similar esoteric methods as on his 2016 debut album but with very different results the record deconstructs the hypermodern sound of Pop Music with a Post Punk attitude, energy and primitivism. Richter's combining disparate elements that shouldn't really work together but somehow all the chaos is making strange sense creating a collection of oddly diverging sonic vignettes with a surreal and anarchic spirit. This is music deeply rooted in the present but still difficult to pinpoint to a certain year or style."(untitled) Kingdom" converts a seemingly one-dimensional concept into a complex puzzle of ideas, sounds and narratives, completely assimilating the original sources and transforming them into novel entities with an unexpected melodic and rhythmic quality.Some press clips for previous releases:The overall effect is quite remarkable. Each track is like a hologram of pop music itself, a tiny part that reflects the whole. You almost feel that you could open them out and re-create entire popular music cultures. We'll be grateful for that when the next solar storm fries all of our hard drives. (Ian Sherred / The Sound Projector) In that way Jemh Circs is a record about process - not just how Richter loops and distorts and mutates his samples, but how the sounds of pop music create a particular sonic signature, one that gets more interesting the farther they're pulled from their original context. (Marc Masters / The Out Door) Recycling random audio off YouTube, Jemh Circs' process couldn't be less sentimental, but the results turn out to be sneakily emotive. (Philip Sherburne / Pitchfork)

Wave Stu might just be the Platonic ideal of icy, emotionally fraught synth-pop. On his debut release for Origin Peoples, Stockholm-based musician Michel Isorinne puts paragons of this style like Orchestral Manoeuvres In e Dark in his slipstream. Laced with spoken-word passages from films and television shows, Wave Stu weaves a loose tale about the nature of time, physics, and mortality that can be summarized by the key phrase, uttered by a woman scientist somewhere throughout the album, 'magic is in the molecules...'

Isorinne essentially creates introverted minimalist symphonies in which sprightly synth leads peacefully coexist with melancholy, drone-y undercurrents. Throughout the record, Isorinne's melodies bear a fruitful contrast between the morose and the jubilant. He repeatedly places exceptionally delicate and beautiful tunes amid subliminal waves of pensiveness. It truly is a masterly balancing act. e zenith of this approach is Side A's closing track, in which gorgeous countermelodies intertwine like lovers on a tropical beach while a pistoning rhythm pumps up the libido. It's instant paradisiacal bliss.

Side B contains Wave Stu 's most cheerful, uptempo track yet it never bursts into full-on euphoria. Elsewhere, Isorinne reverts back to more somber moods: an eerie, methodical chiller full of quiet wonderment and subdued sparkle reminiscent of Casino Versus Japan, Plone, and others of their gnomic ilk; a low-key anthem in which '70s Vangelis grandiosi meets the workmanlike bass-synth chug of Ulrich Schnauss; an elegiac piece that conjures an intimate majes ; a bass-heavy dirge festooned with forlorn wisps of melodiousness.

The complex, paradoxical happy/sad pendulum at the heart of Isorinne's music lends Wave Stu a tingly resonance that will reward repeat listens. Please welcome an extravagantly rich synth-pop classic.

Glyn Bigga Bush has been producing electronic and sample-based music since the early 90s when he formed Rockers Hi Fi, going on to release numerous albums. Since the turn of the century he has produced and DJ'd as BiggaBush as well as various side projects such as Lightning Head (Sonar Kollektiv), the Dandelion Set (Buried Treasure) and the Magic Drum Orchestral (Tru Thoughts).

Bigga's latest project 'Sunken Foal Stories' represents a departure from much of his other work in that it is not primarily based on beats. Instead, his working method was to go with fascinating samples, accidental juxtapositions and irregular loops - inspired by pioneers of sound such as Faust and the audio experiments of Julian House as well as early stereo test records, soundtracks and library music.

The 21 concise tracks of Sunken Foal Stories link into two 15 minute segments on the LP. Bush explores the random elements created by overlaying disparate samples, where chimes of baroque psychedelia clash with ascending classical strings, or a haunting Eastern European folk song is looped into an eternal cadence of longing. Various voices float over the speakers, lost poets, disturbing therapists, dreaming vampires, chuckling cabaret singers. Sourced almost entirely from charity shops and carboot sales, the source material speaks of a forgotten yet relatively recent period, when stereo was something new and exciting, when home entertainment first came into its own and suburban homes thrilled to the exotic sounds of home organs, primitive beatboxes, LPs bought in unusual holiday destinations and 'glamorous' soundtracks.

Welsh producer Odeko first appeared on Mr. Mitch's forward-looking Gobstopper imprint with the A.I. influenced EP "A History With Samus" in 2016 immediately snagging a "producer to watch" tag from Fact magazine and a premiere at SPIN. In early 2017, his second EP "Digital Botanics / Construct Conduct" arrived confirming his sound and setting the stage for him to start working on this - his debut album "Rose Tinted Vision Implant" that is set in a post-Ballard, post-Gibson, post-Miéville, alternate reality. "Rose Tinted Vision Implant" sees the Bath-based producer creating a cutting edge sonic world inspired by "speculative fiction, time/reality shifting stories and dystopian shit." The entire record is structured around, and expands upon his passion for the "future," underpinning the music via a underlining narrative. "Rose Tinted Vision Implant" starts with "The User" (aka the listener/ protagonist depending on your perspective) of the 'Optic.Rose' going through the process of getting an implant is made by a mega corporation, (think "whatever Elon Musk's legacy will be 200 years from now" says Odeko "not necessarily evil or good, just a world owning superpower."). And then we follow "The User" who has unfortunately received a bad egg through stages of that devices degradation. Sonically we're there to observe. We open ("Anomaly Detection") with a precursory scan and move onto installation ("OpticRose_0_1_Installation")
through to a battery change and a recalibration. From this point, the 'presence' begins to take over the implant and the tracks verge into a more cerebral range. Odeko notes "its a bit of a satire on corporate brands pushing these great products that everyone is obsessed but that are detrimental to both the world, and how we perceive reality. Our relationship with social media and tech could go down a dangerous path if we loose sight of things. I'm going quite far here for the sake of the concept, but things like VR, AR, the want for body tech, mixed with our desire to be connected, emotionally, digitally, physically, wirelessly could lead us to a world where everyone has implants, or some kind of tech built into them." Sonically its a record that explores a post-IDM, post-Grime, post-Ambient, post-Glitch, post-Retro-House, post-Instrumental Grime, take on electronic music, like Gobstopper's Mr. Mitch himself and his label mates Orlando, Lloyd SB, Tarquin, Clu, rAHHH and Loom, Odeko is making a kind of post-genre music. Yes it's a cerebral concept under the music but as popular shows like Black Mirror have shown - critiquing our new future can be fun, unusual and highly rewarding. Welcome to the world of Odeko.

Swingrowers are known for their mixture of JAZZ, SWING, POP and ELECTRO, they have extensively toured Europe and North America, opening sell-out shows for Parov Stelar, Chinese Man & Caravan Palace. On top of delivering official remixes for Caro Emerald and Swing Republic, Swingrowers also boast musical collaborations with The Lost Fingers, Gypsy Hill, DJ Pony Montana and have had their own songs remixed by Bart&Baker and Jamie Berry.

Following on from their debut album 'Pronounced Swing Grow'ers' in 2012, Swingrowers have released their second album 'REMOTE' in early 2015, followed now by 'OUTSIDEIN', the band's third full-length studio album. This new release shows their expert musicianship and most meticulous production to date, mixing genres from jazz to electronica, from gypsy-swing to full-on rock'n'roll with a melodic pop sensibility.

Wan Chai Records is a Hong-Kong based label, specialized in rare Asian records and quality reissues.

After a few years of hard diggin' in Asia, meeting the artists and many local figures of the 60's, 70's and 80's Scene in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, they wanted to share their best finds and put them together on vinyl with the best productions ever made in Soul-Jazz, Disco, Funk, Modern-Soul, and AOR.

The result is a selection of 10 totally unknown gems sung mostly in English and Cantonese with amazing covers of classics like Lovin' You', Make Me Believe In You', or Hurt So Bad' in a nice Artwork Gatefold LP.

Hugo Manuel is better known by his musical alias Chad Valley. A product of Oxford's prolific
creative community, Chad Valley has amassed a catalogue that spans four studio releases,
numerous collaborations and dozens of remixes. His 2010 debut — a self-titled exploration
in swirling synths and sunburnt melodies — laid the groundwork for 2011's Equatorial
Ultravox, which gave his downtempo productions a decidedly more pop-leaning twist. It
was with Equatorial Ultravox, and his 2013 album Young Hunger, that Chad Valley's profile
sprung forward, strengthened by a string of key touring slots supporting the likes of
Erasure, CHVRCHES, Active Child and Passion Pit, and by his collaborations with El Perro Del
Mar, Glasser, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Twin Shadow. After releasing 2015's
sparkling Entirely New Blue and continued touring extensively, as he now prepares to
release his third full-length album in 2018. Imaginary Music includes the previously released
singles Up Again' and LA in August,' both of which bolster one of the strongest batches of
material Chad Valley has yet delivered.
Press coverage via Pitchfork, The FADER, SPIN, Gorilla vs. Bear, The Line of Best Fit
Tours supporting CHVRCHES, Erasure, Active Child, Passion Pit, Twin Shadow
Collaborations with El Perro Del Mar, Glasser, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Twin
Shadow

- Limited editions LP are pressed on 'sunset' color vinyl

AB SYNDROM, the Berlin Duo, is coming with their third album. PLASTIK is a bit like the coming of age album of the band. It tells stories of growing up emotionally and being played into a hard and post capitalistic environment. Nevertheless you will find some quite romantic lyrics and songs between lyrical metaphors and a rough and urban reality in Berlin Neukölln, their neighborhood. The music on PLASTIK is mainly a percussion driven and electronic laden journey. Not your average pop arrangements but subtle compositions and laid back vocals with a certain chopped and screw twist. The bands musical projection is a most consequent advancement of their three albums and their body of work so far. Bennet Seuss, singer and composer is defining his own style in writing autobiographic lyrics with a certain twist to the obscure and umtransparent. A great album for sure. Tracklist LP A Seite Keine Geister Feng Shui Patchwork Waterboarding U8 B Seite FFM Fake Starring Contest 2009 Hattori Hanzo Schwert Deephouse und Tiefenrausch

The new fresh project DA BREAK announces their first self-titled album, bringing back that old school 90's vibe that will remind you the Hip-Hop, Soul & R'n'B Flava' you love! The music is spontaneous, modern, produced by today's best French Funk/Groove producer Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart, alongside great and soulful singer Jen' 'Hawa' Zonou and hard grooving drummer Rémy Kaprielan. Peace, love & having fun!!

Great return of the classic and pioneer band of the French Funk scene! After a long absence, Malka Family reformed, burned some scenes and composed a new album without changing anything to its magic formula. Recomposed with almost all original
musicians, they come back today with a new album, Le Retour du Kif. At the heart of a still popular and multicultural Marais area in Paris, young musicians gather to jam. This is where Malka Family is formed. Their first self-produced album, Malka On
The Beach, was released in 1991, and gigs were immediately chaining up all over France and Europe, famous for their eccentric costumed performance and after-parties. In 1992,
Warner France signs them for a second album Tous des Oufs, a real P-Funk space opera with guests such as Sidney, Dee Nasty, Marco Prince (FFF), or Juan Rozoff... They will then traveled France, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Denmark, Namibia, Japan ...
And in 1994, the band becomes independent again and records an EP for Big Cheese Records, titled Fricassee de Funk. After a final tour for the third album, Fotoukonkass (BMG) recorded with Renaud Létang , the band finally broke up. At a time when Daft Punk is using funk artists to support their performance, when Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" continues to make the crowds dance, it's time for the original funkateers families to come back and teach a lesson to new generations. After the
band reformed and started touring again since 2015, they quickly decided to record a new album and to leave on the roads again...

Stix Records is a sub-division of Favorite Recordings specialized in the exercise of producing covers with a Reggae twist. Acclaimed in 2013 with a first official single by Taggy Matcher Birdy & Nixon (STIX033), quickly followed by the first volume of Disco Reggae (STIX035) compilation, Stix is back in 2014 with a scorching Disco Reggae Vol.2.

Following the success of its first volume, the Disco Reggae series also expands with this 9 tracks compilation, composed with 8 new and exclusive versions by artists such as Taggy Matcher, 7 Samuraï, Mato, or John Milk, and the classic cover of Tainted Love' by Grandmagneto. But this time, if they still explore famous hits like Watermelon Man' by Herbie Hancock or Happy' by Pharrell Williams, they also dug within the home labels' catalog,
taking over some of the finest titles by Mr Day, Lee McDonald, Lucas Arruda or The Joubert Singers.

Again this time, their swaying renditions seem straight out of the smoky studios from Kingston or Montego Bay, while also remembering the 80s Pop-Reggae sound of artists like Grace Jones or the less famous Earons.
Everything is mastered and cut at Carvery Records (UK), known for their expertise in Caribbean and Disco music. The vinyl LP comes in a deluxe version, housed in an old-school tip-on jacket.

td 80 copies. Numbered.
Music by Ayato
Serygraphied on 180GR glassed paper.
Visual by Raf & Chris with the help of Rom, Mathieu, Vestee, Virgi'.
I always loved Muslimgauze and Badawi's productions... This record is the result of loads of conversations with Ayato concerning these 2 musicians, who he is also feeling close to. Long time project, this finally comes out in a limited 100 copies edition, with hand made visuals from Bodega Absurd crew... With original letters and forms they created... A superb record for all oriental electro fans ! Enjoy !

"Emotional Rescue begins the first in a series of reissues looking at the music of guitarist Carl Weingarten and his Multiphase Records label, starting at his highly sought after collaborate album with Walter Whitney, Dreaming In Colors. With an early interest in photography and Super 8 film leading to a degree in cinema production, Weingarten's other, self-taught, love was the slide guitar. Taking its blues roots and merging them with his visual arts background created a unique "painting in sound" style of playing. While looking to break into the film industry he began writing and recording his own film scores and other music for modern dance companies. From this, he founded Multiphase Records in St Louis in 1980. By the time of Dreaming In Colors, the label had released a series of cassettes and vinyl albums offering abstract, experimental, jazz-fusion, new wave and increasingly, new age compositions. Throughout this period the work of engineer, keyboardist and programmer, Walter Whitney was often present and by the 1985 release of Dreaming In Colors the duo had collaborated for a number of years and released several projects together, most notably as members of the Delay Tactics band. Recorded during off days from the Delay Tactics sessions, the album came together at Whitney's Subterranean Sound studio with a focus away from the bands guitar driven instrumentals to explore a multilayered approach to synthesis, blending textures with Whitney's original samples and sound design, while Weingarten's guitar moved from shining solo moments to complimenting the overall oeuvre, all with heavy washes of delay. This ecumenical approach led to the creation of this compelling album. A masterful conceptual whole that is linked by rich melodies and a concise playing style, heavy on substance while never forgoing the uplifting vibrations. "

Omaggio brings the heat once again with the reissue of Prana People, self titled LP originally released in 1977 on Prelude. The Aleem brothers Taharqa and Tunde Ra (or Albert and Arthur) are Prana People and brought a perfect treasure of disco/funk/soul to make you want to dance from the funked up "Is Your Life A Party" to that slow, head nodding sexy groove of "Wishful Thinking" to proper hands in the air feel good disco of "Angels Say Flee" to the perfect strings and flawless soul of "All Around My World". The combination of the tracks and strong production make for an endlessly playable album, and with the legendary brothers, who since the 60's have their place in music history, this is an instant buy if not already owned to add to The Aleems discography of your collection.

After their strong debut on Giallo Disco in 2014, the duo from Paris is back with a full length album on Bordello A Parigi. Open the gate of hell!

Mikkel Metal returns to Copenhagen's Echocord this May with his new mini LP 'Just Enough Light', comprising six originals from the Danish artist. Copenhagen based producer and DJ Mikkel Metal has been a beacon of light in the Danish electronic music scene and further afield for nearly two decades now, with the Dub Techno imprint from his hometown, Echocord, being the predominant home for his output, whilst also releasing material on Cologne's Kompakt, Tartelet, Semantica and Avant Roots, a telling sign of the quality embodied in his work. Here though we see Mikkel deliver a mini album concept in the shape of 'Just Enough Light' and opener 'Awake' perfectly sets the tone with emotive, dynamically unfolding atmospherics, tension building bass drones and spiraling dub chords subtly easing us into the project. 'Bregnan' then stirs in some classing Dub-Techno tropes with billowing stab sequences, lumpy subs and off beat high hats carrying the hypnotic groove for six and a half minutes. 'Jech' then strips things back to an almost beatless amalgamation of murky chords and modulating synth whirrs. Opening the flip side of the release is 'Include' which embraces a brighter feel via ethereal pad swells, jazztinged synth melodies and bumpy 909 rhythms before 'Konkin' edges back into the eerie, brooding aesthetic with bubbling echoes, broken drums and menacing bass swells at its core. 'Restore' then closes the package on a stripped-back vibe, laying focus on an ever- eveolving singular dub chord to ebb and flow around thunderous subs, kicks and bright hats.

This publication from Blind Allies is comprised of 6 tracks. This is the first release from series where records are made on modular synthesizers. It includes a part from live jam by Philet, journey to the world of obscure feeling from Igors Vorobjovs & Void Cells and cosmic adventure by redstripedown. Dancefloor killer by Tunnel, a tale from HHNOI and a flashback to soviet electronic music from Marta SmiLga. This release will take you away to a parallel universe.
Vinyl only.

Zelectro breakcore ambiences. The sound is bad, but the music is good. DHR Style !

The new Alec Empire Album, now out on vinyl with Cargo ! An excellent product (sound is wide open large and strong) the new aspect of Alec Empire is his Lou reed/Iggy Popy & New Order way of singing. The result is a perfect fusion... Welcome to the Breakcore Croonerz !

Noisy hardcore broken textures, like waking up after a bad after. Death Grips style turns has been after that one !

First release for the Italian label Alley Version is a split built up of rugged jackin' patterns and brutalist house jams, all recorded on tape by Mituo Shiomi and Drum Machine. Limited to 200 copies.

Her Majesty's Ship is proud to present 'This Never Happened', the latest album from hugely talented French-American singer and producer Yan Wagner.

This always inventive and off kilter artist has had many top releases on labels like Kitsune and has worked with the likes of the legendary Arnaud Rebotini and Etienne Daho. He also has a side project, The Populists, is producing the first album of Calypso Valois and wrote the soundtrack for the short film 'Victoria' by Mathilde Marc. Someone who plays events like SXSW and Montreux Jazz Festival, Wagner's playful disco-pop tunes always find their way into the emotions of those who hear them.

For his second album, the artist wondered what to do: surprise everyone with a selection of ballads or serve up the electronic sounds that defined his last effort Forty Eight Hours. The answer lies somewhere in between, with covers of Frank Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood mixed in with fresh and catchy disco production. Unlike the last record produced by Arnaud Rebotini, this record is producer by Yan himself with a triple objective: to favour the first takes, the heat of the sound and to reduce the post- production to a minimum. It makes for something authentic and real, and is an album of artistic self-questioning, tenacious dreaming and overcoming doubt.

Says the artist, "The songs on this record are a series of lies; views of the mind. 'This Never Happened' is a collection of stories that never happened. Ten tracks talking of vain loves, of nocturnal experiences and of life and truth, which are all so short.'

Starting with the retro synths and shiny arpeggios of the title track, ensuing cuts like 'Blacker' are real chuggers with almost de-humanised vocals over the robot beats. 'SlamDunk Cha-Cha' is descended from Bowie with its camp synth wiggles and sung- spoken vocals. Switching up the tempo, slower tracks like 'Grenades' are perfectly glowing and frazzled with their pixelated melodies and cold chords. More upbeat affairs like 'No Love' are like lighter and cheerier versions of Depeche Mode, and the Sinatra cover 'It Was A Very Good Year' is a stirring, synth heavy version that is every bit as tender as the original.

This is a fantastic album of timeless electronic songs and is sure to be one of the standout releases of the year.

The new release features 6 tracks and follows Julien's critically acclaimed debut album, Fallen. Released in 2016, the autobiographical LP was a bold new direction for Julien, and the first release under his birth name. Over the years, the Apron Records boss' bold, experimental electronics, jagged club cuts and outside-the-box collaborations have seen him carve out a lane all of his own making. His debut LP was divided into two musically contrasting sides, and told the tale of a fallen angel though jazz-fusion, chiming soundscapes and dark acid-tinged techno.

Since his album release, Julien has continued his creative streak by playing across the globe, from Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai to Montreal and Melbourne, and further developing his label, which released a string of underground 12's in 2017 from the likes of Max Graef, Hanna, Molinaro and more.

On 'Bloodline', Steven continues the soundtrack style mood of 'Fallen' - channeling ominous analog techno, drifting synth-house masterpieces, warm soul and hints of new age. Both the title and artwork is a nod to the influence of Julien's family on his rich musical world and distinct nonconformist style, explaining how: 'the influence my family has given me growing up and my ancestors from Africa to native Indians from the Caribbean, has all played a big part in the music I create.'

Recorded in Apron Studios based in East London, each track on 'Bloodline' also features a tr808 or a piece of a 808, as a dedication to the iconic Japanese engineer Ikutaro Kakehashi, who passed away April 2017. The much-loved Roland founder and TR-808 creator revolutionised electronic music in the 1980s and 90s.

2x12"

Hello, I am Qnete and these are my Play-Doh Stories. Some of them are already three years old and it feels like I've become somewhat of a different person since then. Still, I like to listen to them from time to time, thinking of how I was back then, reminding me of what helped shape me, what helped me become who I am now. Sometimes, I also get the feeling that it is not me who wrote the stories. They seem to seem unknown to me, just like they seem to you, because you are not me. Then I listen, and I know again.

· Bart Davenport's 7th album since his 2002 solo debut
· West Coast yacht rock meets '80s English pop
· Produced by L.A. Takedown's Aaron M. Olson
· Confirmed live dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Vida Festival (Spain)

Recorded in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, Blue Motel is the new album by Bart & The Bedazzled, a brand new musical enterprise by Bart Davenport and his seventh album proper since his solo breakout in 2002. Alluding to Los Angeles with the lights down, it's an amalgam sound of '80s English pop and West Coast yacht rock jams, sprinkled with cinematic flourishes clearly influenced by the understated production of L.A. Takedown's Aaron M. Olson. The jangly pop aesthetic, resplendent with choppy chorus tinted guitar, snappy snares, sax and bass is underlined with life trodden stories about day jobs, dating, financial insecurities, lost innocence and most prominently, time travel.

The album lives somewhere in an imagined past (or future) that is curiously both the 1960s and 1980s conveying the groups's nostalgia for a fantasy world with a cheeky cynicism, despite a perception of a world that is, for Bart, on the downfall. To that end, Davenport's songs are, as always, delivered with a happy and sad sensibility reminiscent of the great Burt Bacharach. From the surreal yet humorous 'The House That Built Itself' to the sad surf music of 'Halloween By The Sea' or the romantic L.A. noir of the title track, Blue Motel arrives with a spoonful of tears, a nod and a wink.

The Bedazzled band lineup, united by their love of the 'Elegant '80s', includes the guitar of Wayne Faler (Dream Boys), drums, percussion and beats by Andres Renteria (Jose Gonzales) and post-punk bass lines from Jessica Espeleta (L.A. Takedown). The four friends from Los Angeles, united in their affection for the more sophisticated sounds of English '80s groups like Prefab Sprout and Style Council give the setlist a more distinctively pop flavour compared to Bart's soulful last outing on his album Physical World, also released on Lovemonk. Blue Motel features regular appearances from female vocalist Nedelle Torrisi (Domino, Asthmatic Kitty) who notably adds the lush layers of harmony on 'The Amateurs'. Saxophonist Billy McShane is also featured on three songs with improvisations that evoke the scene of whales in outer space.

Producer Olson often incorporates soundtrack and avant-garde elements in his own work. His gift for song arrangement, understanding of the synth and penchant for subtlety all shine brightly on Blue Motel.

After the soft landing of Banoffee Pies Records latest sub label venture OTAKU, the imprint continues following the theme of subtle compositions with the second edition, this time from Swedish born Vilhelm with 'Mermaid Porn'. A five tracker starting with an aquatic feeling on the title track 'Mermaid Porn' with bubbling effects rolling into the A2. entitled 'Kirchner' with more with positive and patient melodies. Standing to attention in the spaceships cafeteria, the A side comes to a close with 'Always In Costume'. The B side opens with 'Saturday Bossa' - drums inspired by the Brazilian music wave of Bossa Jazz with a slight twist. The B2. track, 'Skopje' blends off beat percussions with a cutting snare and a more electronic 4/4 direction. The general expression being, Music For Home. With love from Banoffee Pies. x

The optimum effect of Music of the Five Elements will be achieved if each side of this recording is played through, from beginning to end without interruption. Music of the Five Elements, when used as a meditational or body work tool, rather than entertainment, will increase in effect over time. Overplaying or improper use, however, may eventually diminish its designed effect'
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Music is the healing force of the universe. It's an ancient idea bandied about by Pythagoras and Plato. In the last century, music as medication has been explored by musicians as diverse as Albert Ayler, Spacemen 3 and Pauline Oliveros. Nowhere did this concept gain more traction than in the so-called realm of New Age Music, an entire movement of synth droners and echoey flautists recording home-baked healing mantras on 4-track. In recent years, thanks to cassette collecting devotees and open-minded music journalists, New Age has shed its flowing robes and is being mined for the truly incredible music that swells under its pastel surface. Musician/acupressurist Sam McClellan's 1982 Music of the Five Elements is one of those revelatory discoveries, an unrivalled work of intense research and focus, simultaneously a near perfect work of art and a scientifically sound elixir for body and mind.

After studying electronic composition at Hampshire College with Randall McClellan (no relation), Sam McClellan became intrigued with the possibilities of healing through music. He explored this idea by applying the ancient Chinese philosophy of medicine to the principles of musical composition. Using the pentatonic scale (the traditional scale of Chinese music), McClellan related each of the notes to one of the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal Water), and created five variations for each. He experimented with tempo, beat, pitch, duration, and sound quality, studying the effect on people's energy levels. Using the results of his tests he developed a comprehensive theory of sonic healing and spent the next year composing an album designed to help people achieve inner balance, reducing anxiety and energy depletion.

Music of the Five Elements is not only the acoustic massage' that McClellan set out to make, but is a fully realized and peerless piece of music. Taking cues from Minimalism, American Primitive guitar (Fahey & Basho) and even psychedelia, the album is a continuous sound voyage for voice, synthesizer, guitar, bowed bass, piano, effects and ciao (Chinese flute) all played by McClellan himself. Although divided into sections, the journey is best undertaken as a whole, without distraction.