Trentemøller returns with his fifth studio album 'Obverse' in September 2019! Anders Trentemøller is a well-known multi-instrumentalist, but perhaps the one he’s most adept at is the studio itself. 'Obverse' is the result of him expanding that skill even further. 'Obverse' often feels like an instrumental album because it started life as one, the driving philosophy being “what if the pressure of having to perform these songs live is removed entirely?” Granting yourself the freedom to chase down every idea a studio offers comes with privileges. What happens when you reverse a synth part mid-verse? Why not send an entire track through a faulty distortion pedal? Inspiration reveals itself in a variety of forms and, before long, a simple chord progression contorts into something entirely new. It’s a work method that yielded great results for the legendary German Kosmiche/Motorik experimentalists of the 1970’s. Intentional or not, 'Obverse' embodies more than a little of that spirit without even a hint of pastiche.
So it only makes sense that 'Obverse' would stray from its original roadmap. In due time, half of the nascent compositions featured singers, including Lina Tullgren, Lisbet Fritze, and jennylee, of Warpaint, another band deeply influenced by dream pop. While 'Obverse' was born from a different work ethic than previous efforts, it also continues an arc that started in 2006. Each successive effort has represented a logical next step beyond the album before, and 'Obverse' absolutely picks up where Fixion left off.
For the past decade Trentemøller has been perfecting this form of sonic chiaroscuro to conjure up images of severe landscapes, and to mirror the Scandinavian climate, where half the year the sun barely sets, and the other it barely tops the horizon. While there has been a film noir element in his previous work, 'Obverse' is the first time each song has felt like a collection of pocket soundtracks.
By fusing together a love of dream pop, dark synth-based music, film scores, and a deep connection with the stark Nordic panoramas, Anders has created an inimitable language. Ultimately 'Obverse' resides in a genre all its own.
Cerca:ab logic
This record contains: filters, singing, Polish railways samples, the right touch of big beat and melodies & it can help you clean the air of the club.
Solpara is an agile performer, both in sense of the nature of his live acts, background and tour schedule. Brutaż is also about nimbleness and acrobatics so it was only logical for their paths to cross. Both are connected with record dealing (Record Loft, Berlin and Halcyon, NY, respectively) and both are emotional and undergoing changes.
Contrary to his previous endeavours (incl. on Nicolas Jaar's Other People), Solpara's release does not quite want you to relax, it's fast and slow, it's emotional and rackety, it's fire and water. This Lebanese-American raconteur seem to have a similar goal to Polish complainers of Brutaż - records are not meant to wreak havoc, their purpose is to refresh the perimeter. Woda różana stands for "rose water" - it's about scent, touch & flavour.
Shape-shifting left
coast producer Sage Caswell likens his latest full-length to a surrealist
architectural space: "I walk up to a building and Evil Twin is playing. A copy of
me is at the door and I let myself in. Inside the house is inside my head; each
room is a different song and emotion." A distinct dream sequence logic threads
together these nine nuanced tracks, which swerve from vaporous melancholy to
ecstatic motion to nocturnal wanderlust, alternately lucid and opaque.
Last year's relocation
from his beloved home base of Los Angeles to Madison, Wisconsin certainly played
a role, as pulling up roots inevitably does: "I love L.A. more than I can
properly articulate, but I saw an opportunity to leave so I took it." The
experience prompted an exploratory set of recordings inspired by notions of separation,
vulnerability, and "how it feels to identify the things in your life that don't
feel like you." Evil Twin captures
Caswell at his most fluid and dualistic, mapping a multi-hued maze of twisted rhythms
and refracted textures, fluctuating between beatific expanse and amniotic
bangers.
Previous releases for
Spring Theory and Far Away showcased Caswell's capacity for innerspace club
voyaging but here his vision skews even more vividly elusive, immersive and
immaterial, lost and found. The record's contradictions were deliberate and,
most importantly, therapeutic: "Evil Twin was intended to be as much a visual idea
as a soundtrack to feeling out of control. I didn't really want to talk about
it, so I made this album."
Movente Is A Debut Lp From A Vital And Long Standing Figure Of Italy's Clubbing Scene Under A Brand New Alias. That Alias Is Cleptophonic, And The Album, Due In 2019, Is An Autobiographical Collage Of Experimental Trip Hop Sounds That Is Truly Immersive.
Under A Former Alias, Cleptophonic Has Spent Years Djing And Experimenting In The Studio And Has Made A Real Impact On His Native Scene As A Result. He Is A Very Delicate Person With Serious Attention To Detail That He Puts To Best Use By Delving Deep Into What He Loves: Playing On Turntables And Immersing Himself In A Sonic Realm Cuts Him Off From The Real World And Acts As Therapy For This Meticulous And Selective Person And Artist.
He Is A Master Of A Stylish Musical Collage Technique - Both In Sound And Images. As Such Movente Is A Collage Of Different Sounds, Sampled With The Turntables And Put Together With Logic, While His Passion For Collage Also Spills Over Onto The Album Cover, Which Is Made By Pieces Of Paper From Magazines, Newspapers And Comic Strips. The Result Is An Experimental Trip-hop Album With A Singular Sound That Puts Together Pieces Of Life, Sounds And Images That Are Meaningful For Him, Especially The Last Song, Which Is Dedicated To His Mother Who Sadly Committed Suicide A Few Years Ago.
There Is A Beauty And Delicacy To The Music Throughout This Most Excellently Escapist Album That Is Utterly Absorbing. Pads Swirl Round Louche Beats, Crisp Hits Ring Out Into The Night And You're Left In A Deep State Of Contemplation Throughout. There Are Warped And Shimmering Cuts, Dub Tracks Drenched In Reverb And Melodically Rich Broken Beats. The Whole Thing Is So Spacious You Get Sucked Right Into The Centre Of It All And The Thoughtful Moods And Deft Sonic Details All Making A Truly Lasting Impact. This Is An Exquisite Album That Encourages You To Really Get Lost In A Unique Musical World.
Ever since hearing Pete Tong announce 'Chica Wappa' as his Essential New Tune back in 2004, we've been following the bold Alex Smoke on his musical journey.
Coming from Glasgow, we've shared a lot of common influences - both from within and outside of the city and we have Alex to thank for introducing and strengthening our love for the likes of Villalobos, Rhythm & Sound, Carl Craig and Actress, amongst others. Although he was a familiar face on the 'minimal' scene, he always operated on his own terms and that's a throughline we've admired throughout his career. Not only is he comfortable releasing techno on Soma and R&S, he's produced for ballet, films and even the NHS.
Over the years, Alex has played at a few seminal parties for us; alongside the likes of Oni Ayhun, James Holden, Helena Hauff and Veronica Vasicka. So we were delighted to be approached by him to work on a record together and it's been really exciting to hear it evolve over time. It would be arrogant to compare it to Thom Yorke's - The Eraser, but it certainly occupies a similar world in our mind. To still be producing innovative and inspiring albums 15 years into a career is no mean feat in this age and it's a great honour to welcome such a musical hero on to the label.
As with the last Auntie Flo album, we're also lining up a very special remix package with a swarm of our favourite producers of the moment and we can't wait to share them with you too over the course of the year.
- A1: Markus Gibb - Kuru
- A2: C O N T R A - Taurus
- A3: Ben Shemie - A Million Kinds
- B1: Drvg Cvltvre - Last Rites
- B2: Sutja Gutierrez - Allodoxaphobia
- B3: Théo Muller - Douce Transe
- C1: Dave E Brun Vs Frank Agrario - Grace
- C2: Benedikt Frey - Iaon
- C3: Lauer - Pythor
- D1: Bajram Bili - Restart
- D2: Il Est Vilaine - Fahrenheit 451
- D3: Jonathan Fitoussi - Cercles Polaires
- D4: Lumi - Izerditan
In just a year of existence, Chloé's Lumière Noire has brought emerging artists and promising newcomers together - and this first compilation of 13 brand new tracks expands the roster, exposing the label's eclectic vision in full daylight. When Chloé talks about her label, she puts forward the fundamental values that informed her own musical journey, her trust in her own musical taste - and, of course, the predominance of human relationships: 'I followed
my bliss and only commissioned tracks from artists that I respect and whose music I love. That to me is Lumière Noire's musical palette.' With this 13- track, unmixed compilation, Chloé makes a case for a label aesthetic that is based in open-mindedness. Familiar, elemental Lumière Noire artists are represented, as are new faces, producing a kind of group photo presaging what's next for the fledgling label. Lyon's Markus Gibb leads the track listing with Kuru with a deep chiaroscuro matching the label's ethos, followed by other mainstays Il Est Vilaine's Farenheit 451, which evokes Ray Bradbury's retro-dystopic angst with the
band's usual electro-pop elegance. Sutja Gutierrez, who released in debut EP, The Legend of Time on Lumière Noire in April, pursues his electro Shamanism with the ceremonial Allodoxaphobia, while Iñigo Vontier (whose EP Aluxes came out on the label in late 2017) brings his C O N T R A project
online with track Taurus, a further development in voodoo house. Elsewhere, Suuns lead singer Ben Shemie, who lent his fascinating art-rock croon to Recall, a single from Chloé's Endless Revisions LP, contributes A Million Kinds, a synthy, psych-pop debut that is as brilliant as it is surprising. On to the freshman class: Dutch producer Drvg Cvltvre (who gets personal kudos
from Chloé with each new 12') brings the uncompromising dark electro of his hypnotic and claustrophobic Last Rites. Jonathan Fitoussi's airy, minimalistic Cercles Polaires brings the respite of his recent Versatile Espaces Timbrés LP (a collaboration with Clemens Hourrières): 'I met him at Xavier Veilhan's
Studio Venezia at the Venice Biennale. He's a great guy, and his universe is unique,' says Chloé. Benedikt Frey's deep techno track Iaon, is on par with his smash 2017 album, Artificial, out on ESP Institute. First-timers are also part of the recruits: Bajram Bili with the ten cerebral minutes of Restart, Théo Muller with the ultra-deep Douce Transe, and Lumi, a Basque band that fuses
electronic sounds with acoustic instruments, brings the ompilation to a close with a track commissioned by Chloé. These audacious choices are anchored down with the likes of Permanent Vacation pioneer Lauer's hooky, 80s-infused Pythor ('Just like him, I was a resident of the Robert Johnson, and he was a guest of mine at one of my Lumière Noire nights at the Rex. He is one of these people whose music I highly appreciate'); Aergeworc & Franck Agrario, half of English duo Swayzak David Brown's project, weaves an ethno* mood into Grace's techno. Bringing together different generations, genres, and styles That may not necessarily be Chloé's MO. She invokes a more arbitrary, personal logic: 'I like to mix of-the-moment tracks and more timeless one, but the rule is above all 'do I love this or not'. That was my ethos when I started Lumière Noire.' In that way, the label is definitely in keeping with its time
The Leap is the new project of Dutch producers Tripeo & Doka who are now taking the logical next step in their musical journey and present an EP that touches on genres all across the electronic board. The Leap is about more than just music, which will reflect in the track titles. Current developments in the world take center stage and inspiration is taken out of politics, literature, media, (green) activism and much more.
The opening track 'Shock Doctrine' is a slow building yet powerful piece of gloomy, hypnotic techno, followed by the exceptionally deep and undulating 'Borrowed Time' that combines soft atmospheric textures with distinct fragile melodies and could easily be the soundtrack of a dystopian reality. On the flip side the duo showcases once again seamless production skills and with 'Green Capital' they set a nostalgic mood, a trancey journey filled with crisp hi-hats and snares, resulting in an effective techno tool. The mind bending closing track 'Sustainable Communities' creates dance floor tension with its piercing metallic synthlines & just like the whole EP it provokes the listener to think outside of the techno sphere.
The keeping of pets marks humans' attempt at taking possession of a part of reality that is not at his disposal. Dressing a piece of the real that lives according to entirely non-human rules and which only in the saddest case does not resist the discipline of the human symbolic order vehemently and in a sustained matter, is a violent act of protection. Because in the non-place of the real, all that which we are helpless in the face of looms: the non-logical and the nameless, the violence and the noise, yet also the unrestrained and unfiltered desire.The innocuous figure of the pet marks a gateway to an investigation of these eerie milieus, while electronic dance music lends itself to this investigation in an outstanding way. This constellation marks the subject of Column's 'Pets II.'
Column is the name of Cologne based renaissance man Jan Philipp Janzen, who, as chief emissary of Cologne's pop internationalism, has been playing the field in various functions for Von Spar, Cologne Tapes, Urlaub in Polen, Owen Pallett, Scout Niblett or The Field, and who has also, in one way or another, been involved in most relevant records coming out of Cologne for the past number of years. After his excellent solo debut 'Pets I' (Areal, 2016), Janzen presents another extraordinary record in 'Pets II,' perfectly complemented by another ghostly oil work of Burkhard Mönnich on the cover.Sonically, 'Pets II' marks a clear development for Column. In its exploration of the thresholds of the real, it sets two points of focus, corresponding with the split in sides A and B.
Side A, on which Janzen teams up with long-time friend myr. (PNN), explores the uncanny as a fissure of the symbolic order, and the subsequent breaking in of the real. It opens with two peaktime rockets that have their wooden, nether-regional groove narrated by grim, down-pitched vocals. The ethereal remix by Leibniz (hundert) seems to be observing the situation from a hiding place, and is the side's clandestine and no less dark closer.
Side B, for which Janzen invited studiomate Marvin Horsch (Dorfjungs/Beats in Space) along, delivers two swaying synthesizer workouts, the second of which, 'Molly and Swerve,' is directed firmly at the dancefloor again. What is at stake here is the transition between a free, undirected jouissance of the real and a more ordered becoming-lust. Here, as in Map.ache's (Kann/Giegling/Altin Village) remix which closes out 'Pets II,' it becomes clear what connections dance music can foster between a free, impersonal desire and the sphere of interpersonal wanting, but also the losses that are negotiated in it. Above all, however, it becomes evident what a courageous daring project 'Pets II' is in all of its conceptual and aesthetic determination; with Von Spar's standout 'Garzweiler' 12' (Altin Village & Mine, 2017), it documents a New Cologne Realism.
In search of the sublime, contemporary electronic musician Steve Hauschildt has designed grids and panoramas of sound across multiple releases through the rise and dissolution of his former band, Emeralds, an American touchstone of 2000s home-recorded psychedelic noise music. Consistent with his solo work is Hauschildt's ability to coil his craft in precise, varied, and distinctly physical forms. Gently spinning arpeggios converse with post-industrial decay. Sonic bers sway like pendulums from static melancholy to motorik bliss. Dissolvi, the artist's rst full-length with Ghostly International, engages sublimation from an ontological perspective: by dissociating the self. Hauschildt steps out from the singular path, for the rst time in a traditional studio, to compose and arrange contributions from friends. As a result, his most collaborative work to date extends a vast, vibrating framework in which to consider the state of being.
The album's title — a reference to cupio dissolvi, the Latin phrase meaning "I wish to be dissolved" — needn't be taken one-dimensionally or as purely solipsistic. It does, however, serve an apt reference. Physiological phenomena are of interest to Hauschildt. These back-of-mind ruminations nd their way out. Songs are cerebral in orientation, but beyond explanation, the music is truly visceral.
Involuntary eye movement inspires the serene, sanguine-nearing-suspicious "Saccade." Hauschildt feathers soft percussion beneath the echoed refrains of Los Angeles musician Julianna Barwick, together shaping a svelte suggestion of the anxieties brought about by modern-day surveillance; if everyone is being watched constantly, there is no individual, no self, only a broadly monitored and clumsily cataloged populous. The work of Chicago poet Carl Sandburg comes to mind: 'I am the people—the mob—the crowd—the mass.' The individual dissolves into the taxonomic crowd.
Minimalist techno impulses provide a stylistic through-line for Dissolvi. Understated synth phrases and drum grooves take hold in selective moments, like synchronistic structures onto which nebulous mists, like the rapturous voice of Gabrielle Herbst aka GABI on "Syncope," cling to and cloud, producing a dazzling rift in consciousness. The 7-minute centerpiece "Alienself" reiterates this creative logic, burbling like an amorphous body of water on a low-gravity planet, on the verge of dissolving, but never fully dematerializing.
The album was constructed in Chicago (where Hauschildt now resides) and partially in New York. "Much of it was recorded in a windowless studio which removed elemental or seasonal references to time in the music," says Hauschildt. "The focus this time was on mixing the album and incorporating a broader set of instrumentation. I describe my compositional approach as being quasi-generative." Embracing new methods and philosophical curiosities, and in turn, expanding the range of his repertoire, Hauschildt proposes a fascinating and profoundly rich experience in listening, being, and deliquescing.
Crazy 12 Track Library Music Style Album On This Ace Italian Label. All Based Around Bumping Live Rhythms Triggering An Obscure Japanese Drum Synth Module..recorded In 2017.
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It Was November 2017 When I Received A Call From An Old Friend, "hi Fabrizio, I Found A Rare Japanese Drum Machine, You Should Come And See It Before I Put This On Ebay." I Went To Check It Out And Immediately Realized It Had More Potential Than Just Drum Sounds Generation, It Was Able To Produce Quirky And Creepy Sounds If Triggered By Any Sound Source. So I Bought It And Brought In The Studio, Where Me And Alex Were Laying Down New Beats And Ideas. It Took Just Three Days Of Jams To Get The Skeleton Of This Record Done: I Programmed The Module To Receive Alex's Drum Hits And The Device Started Creating Synth Lines, Almost As It Was Speaking Its Own Language.i've Found A Soul In This Machine, And I Wanted To Bring It To Life In These Tracks, A Mix Of Arranged Compositions And Improvised Jams. No Root Keys, No Grids, No Clicks, Everything Came Out In An Instinctive And Natural Way
As Far As We Know It's The First Time This Synthesizer/drum Machine Is Been Used In This "improper" And New Way.
The Song Says - Bruno Pronsato´s label restarts after 4 years of hiatus with a Vinyl Version of his seminal "Lovers Do"
It's been fours years since the original release of Lovers Do. For the first time now finally released on vinyl. In the meantime he's kept very busy--primarily with side projects. First there was Others, his experimental house outfit with Daze Maxim. Then came Public Lover, his duo with the French artist Ninca Leece that debuted last year on thesongsays (Bruno's label). He's continued to join forces with Sammy Dee as Half Hawaii, playing live shows around Europe and putting out tracks on Perlon and Diamonds & Pearls. As half of the duo Ndf, he coproduced Since We Last Met, a single that marked his debut on DFA and landed in Pitchfork's top tracks of the year. But while he was juggling all these different projects, one piece of music was slowly taking shape: his third and most immersive album, Lovers Do. Like much of Bruno's work to date, Lovers Do is experimental without being snobby--or to use his own term, accidentally avantgarde'-- but this one takes it further than the others. It has a looseness that's truly rare in techno, scrapping formulaic verses and breaks, it winds along like an abstract sketch, guided by intuition instead of logic. Some songs are fraught with nervous tension, others are soothing and rich with detail, from dappling rhodes to orchestral swells, jazzy drum fills and wet hand claps. Human voices swirl in and out of the mix, serving only to make things more surreal. Many of the tracks stretch well beyond ten minutes, one bows out after less than three. The album overall is delicate and subtle, but it also features Bruno's best club tune in years, the eerie and delirious Feel Right.' Brian Eno once described his own
Two Words is the debut release from the duo of Canadian sound artist crys cole and Australian songwriter Francis Plagne. Building on a series of experimental live performances in which the pair toyed with possible common languages for their seemingly unrelated approaches to music, the LP's two sides present a single piece that brings together abstract texture and slow-motion song in a sonic space where genre cedes to the logic of dreams.
The piece begins with a long, nearly static sequence built primarily from rubbed surfaces, using movement in the stereo field and changing mic placements to create a unified but unstable sonic environment that mimics wind, water, and breath, opening an impossible space between nature and artifice. This artificial outdoors ultimately makes room for Plagne's electric organ, which sounds a series of melancholic chords to accompany a wandering Wyatt-esque keyboard line as cole's intimate contact mic textures sizzle and pop in the foreground.
From here the piece makes a surprise detour into song, as the majority of the second side finds Plagne intoning a series of obtuse two word phrases (from a text by Berlin-based poet Marty Hiatt) to an austere organ accompaniment. Working closely with engineer and producer Joe Talia, cole and Plagne extend the studio-as-an-instrument tradition of Teo Macero and This Heat, introducing subtle yet unexpected production shifts that lead the listener from the initial austerity of the organ and voice to an oneiric space of asynchronised vocal doubles, creaking textures, and distant whistling, ultimately arriving at something like an imagined meeting of Organum and Arthur Russell.
Packaged in a suitably mysterious sleeve featuring a lush work by Australian painter Anne Wallace on the front and text by Hiatt on the back, Two Words is both comforting and strange, a disorienting blend of seemingly discrepant elements.
Japanese vocal performer Hatis Noit will release her enigmatic EP Illogical Dance via Erased Tapes worldwide on 23rd March 2018.
The arresting 4-track record creates unique song-worlds with transcendent vocal interpretations that at once deconstruct and recombine Western Classical, Japanese folk and nature's own ambience atmosphere. Illogical Dance also features Björk-collaborators Matmos, who were so impressed with Hatis Noit's recordings, they volunteered to edit the lead track Illogical Lullaby.
Hailing from the distant Shiretoko, a small town in Hokkaido, which is the largest island in north Japan, Hatis Noit's accomplished range is astonishingly self-taught, inspired by everything she could find from Gagaku — Japanese classical music — and operatic styles, Bulgarian and Gregorian chanting, to avant-garde and pop vocalists. The sounds she created on Illogical Dance, co-produced by Haruhisa Tanaka and Matmos, bring to mind the experimental vocal patterns of Meredith Monk with the attentive production of Holly Herndon.
It was at the age of 16, during a trek in Nepal to the Buddha's birthplace, when she realised singing was her calling. While staying at a women's temple in Lumbini, one morning on a walk Hatis Noit heard someone singing. On further investigation it was a female monk singing Buddhist chants, alone. The sound moved her so intensely she was instantly aware of the visceral power of the human voice, a primal and instinctive instrument that connects us to the very essence of humanity, nature and our universe.
The name Hatis Noit itself is taken from Japanese folklore, meaning the stem of the lotus flower. The lotus represents the living world, while its root the spirit world, therefore Hatis Noit is what connects the two. For Hatis Noit, music represents the same netherworld with its ability to move and transport us to the other side, the past, a memory, our subconscious. It is the same for Illogical Dance, a set of transformative songs that taps into our most primal instincts.
The human voice is our oldest, most primal yet most powerful instrument. I use it to describe nature's many sounds, a language that isn't logical. Yet it forms a beautiful conversation that isn't restricted to words like the human language is. I want my music to remind us of that.' — Hatis Noit
Wanting to interpret and mimic the sounds Hatis Noit hears in nature, Illogical Dance is as unpredictable, beautiful and mysterious as the world around us. Each track is made up from multi layers of vocals, all improvised and without words, before being carefully pieced together. Astonishingly no samples are used throughout, even the sound of crushing leaves came from Hatis Noit's own vocal chords.
The result is a stunning array of sound sculptures that see her switching between multiple styles with great ease. From the sweet operatics on Illogical Lullaby, the manipulated vocal loops duplicating electronic production on Anagram c.i.y. to the primordial chanting call to arms of Angelus Novus, a 10-minute odyssey that features whispering and leaves crunching, it showcases Hatis Noit's full range and introduces a truly original artist.
Previously only available in Japan, Illogical Dance will receive a worldwide release on 23rd March 2018 including a first edition on 12' vinyl. After participating in a ceremony for memorial and appreciation tailored to the withdrawal of the evacuation area in Fukushima on 31st March 2017, Hatis Noit collaborated with renowned visual artist Nobumichi Asai on a project titled INORI (prayer) which they premiered live as part of an Erased Tapes showcase at Mutek Japan in Tokyo.
Having recently moved to London and performed a first string of UK shows, followed by a special live performance at the Milan Fashion Week and Mutek Japan appearance, Peter Broderick has invited Hatis Noit to support him at the Jazz Cafe on April 15th. She's also been announced as part of this year's Sea Change Festival line-up, and asked to participate in a workshop with the London Contemporary Orchestra.
Mannik has already blown peoples minds with his debut track on Death To Digital (KF70). And his first full EP delivers on that promise. Pure, original hardcore, as it was meant to be. Unusual in concept, sonically devastating, and showing a rare confidence and power for a relatively new artist. This EP sounds like it is 1992 again. It fits somewhere between Sublove, Automation, Hyper On Experience and all NRG without sounding like any of them. Along side Idealz's 'Run The Tune' EP (KF72) they are showing how this renaissance of old skool hardcore can grow and develop without being a simple copy of what came before. This is forward thinking yet rooted in the ethics of the past. This is what Kniteforce is about.
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
The Empire strikes back! Phi has dug deep into the Slovenian electronica heritage only to return with the 4th chapter containing three mid 90's unreleased tracks by the cult duo Random Logic. Once the pioneers of adventurous acid and techno sounds having released on labels such as Thee Blak Label and having played in legendary places like the old Ostgut Ton, Random Logic are no strangers in playlists by the braver big shots such as Nina Kraviz. Their signature acid melancholy and drive hasn't aged and syncs perfectly with Phi's growing sci-fi catalogue.
Nat Birchall charts new paths toward spiritual communion, connecting jazz with classical Indian influences guided by the wistful flow of the harmonium.
Cosmic Language sees the UK-based saxophonist, composer and arranger return to Jazzman Records with a cross-cultural approach: an exploration of the parallel musical paths of jazz and Indian ragas. Here he takes influence from spiritual jazz forebears such as Alice Coltrane and Yusef Lateef and introduces the Indian harmonium to his band, where it takes the place of the piano. Making new connections to realise his transcendental ambitions, it's a logical next step in making music as spiritual cleanser.
The idea for the album was spawned from a one-off performance at a meditation centre, the Maharishi Golden Dome in West Lancashire. Seeking to bring a band set-up that was fitting to the quiet-minded setting, Birchall brought the harmonium with him. A small pump organ, it's an instrument he'd been in possession of for many years but hadn't previously used in his music. Building on the spiritual context of that show, and the associations of that instrument, it led naturally to the musical approach undertaken on the album.
Both the album and the show which preceded it were recorded with the same tight-knit group of players which have featured on Birchall's previous albums. All members of the group are part of the same like minded circle of Manchester-oriented jazz musicians, sharing stages and acquaintances with the likes of Matthew Halsall (a longtime collaborator with Birchall) and GoGo Penguin.
Birchall has always channeled wide-ranging ideas into music that's simple to understand, and this album is no exception. Album opener 'Man From Varanasi' is an ode to Bismillah Khan, one of Birchall's heroes of Indian music who hailed from the northern Indian city named in the title. It also sees him taking cues from the Indian raga tradition which, as with most other traditional Indian music, is a foundation which underpinned Khan's music.
Crucially, the ragas tap into the idea of of music as a means of spiritual release. As Birchall explains, "The whole act of making music is a spiritual experience. It's during performance and when playing music that I look for a kind of truth. It's with music where I find myself feel closest to attaining that 'enlightened' kind of feeling." "On rare occasions I've actually felt as though I was listening to the music being played rather than being involved in making it, almost like an out-of-body experience."
This natural feeling comes from Birchall's attitude toward jazz music. He sees it as an essential part of day-to-day life: instead of brightly-lit, occasional entertainment in lugubrious concert halls, he considers it an everyday, vital source of inspiration. At a moment where jazz-influenced music is undergoing creative renewal and wider appreciation, it's an important perspective that's found resonance elsewhere. His experiences and the world around him are filtered through his music, and he looks to have his music - be it live or on record - absorbed in the same quotidian way. "To me, it's an integral part of society, an everyday thing," he says. "You should hear the music every day."
Following our first release with Opal, which aimed at the dance and the bodies, we wanted with this second EP to reach to people's mind. As a Geneva-based techno label, it was fundamental to work with our local hero: Opuswerk. He's already been working outside of the country with artists like Fran ois X and labels such as ARTS, Semantica or Dement3d. It was time we involved him in our project. Through this EP, Opuswerk clearly shows what he knows and does best. Much like his DJ Sets, he connects dots and layers in unexpected ways, like a rhizome connecting different multiplicities. Inspiration for the original tracks came from designing systems of independent yet connected sounds, where events are triggered, un-triggered and alter other events, each behaving on their own. As one of those elements, the artist acts as a guide, directing them from one place to the next acting as and with the machines. The "mot d'ordre" is about becoming one of the machines, blending techniques with vibes and catching them like ever escaping dreams. The result is two uniquely sounding spaces, either filled with raw energy like on Extensum or with subtle and serene ever-evolving bleeps on Spatium. Those two extremes are fitting to how we want present the multiple dimensions of our artist's works to the world. The same logic went into choosing the remixers, with whom Opuswerk had a human connection with. Inland and Antigone need no introductions, having both established their sound on labels like Countercharge or Token. Each brought their own re-interpretations of the original tracks bringing them closer to the dancefloors.
003[11,30 €]
Uun returns to his imprint Ego Death with an EP that showcases his progression in both sound design and atmosphere. The A side kicks things off with On The Concept Of Irony, a broken beat assault which serves as a mission statement with it's scattered snares and vocal samples. The Tangled Web continues this mood but with a more intense structure, heavy on hypnotic synths that weave in and out of the tracks percussive framework. Where as the A side is the logical extension of the first three Ego Death releases, the B side serves to showcase a deeper atmosphere while maintaining Uun's preference for dense arrangements. The Other features a haunting ethereal pad that floats above a broken kick pattern and a bed of clicks, pops, and field recordings. The closing track, Absurd Existence, forges all the elements of the artist's sound into perhaps his most melodic work to date. It is therefore senseless to think of complaining since nothing foreign has decided what we feel, what we live, or what we are.' - Jean-Paul Sartre
Orbis X is a sublabel of Orbis Records and will be mainly focusing on softer yet often usable as DJ material for the broader mass interested in Electronic music. This sublabel is an extension of Orbis Records softer, more melodical and experimental side.
Music will be ranging from house, dub, chicago over melodic acid and even breaks. Not any track makes it to this sublabel if it can't stand on its own and stand the test of time! We warmly welcome the Dutch duo Dennis Pors & Stephan de Bruijn to OrbisX. New fresh talent, ready to conquer the world. We feel obliged to support these
fine gentlemen to get their music spread across the globe. Dennis & Stephan know each other through their musical perspectives.
They share a similar taste for music, Detroit techno. Before they worked together, Dennis experimented with deep house through digital synths and learned the ins and outs of programming music in Logic.
Stephan was well known with the detroit techno scene. His passion goes out to well balanced electronic music with hypnotizing emotional feeling to it. Add a layer of atmospheric grooves on top of that and you have the perfect blend to potential timeless music.
Soon enough they made the switch to analog gear to be able to create a cleaner and better sound. After three years of hard work, they have reached the sound they were looking for. And this is it!
Their debut on vinyl. D&S servers a full EP called Thoughts EP. A great cocktail of dreamy and diverse electronic tunes. This EP fits well in the back of any DJ bag to warm up the place or fix the atmosphere on roof-top bar in NYC. Smooth cruising, roof down car music or background music on a spring night with a summery breeze This EP is amazing and works best on a big sounds systems and major festivals! Childs play , what s in a name. Nothing like that melody. Creating a generously opening atmosphere, but actually brilliantly mixed creating the perception of simplicity. Groovy, acid touches and funky. Can t keep still when being played. A-track for sure! Thoughts might have a dark feel to it but evolves in a very uplifting track in just a few moments, making
it very bright and fun to play. Shed light to the place, should have been a great title as well, but thoughts is the best name for this track. The story in this track is definitely there to be told and listened to. Edge Of Insanity kicks of the B-side. Goosebumps, as from the start. Building up slowly to a very melodic and yet simply track, it s the perfect translation for a sunrise at the beach. Potential
Ibiza hit if you ask us. Submission is a track straight out of a movie. Clever, nice build up, dreamy, spacey and above all so amazingly subtle. This is what falling in love should sound like. We re humble. We re amazed. We re honoured to host D&S. We hope this duo gets the attention
Following some ear-catching manoeuvres across releases like last year's self-released 'Only' and 'Lagata', which gained her early fans like Bjork and Dev Hynes (who she supported in the USA), 'Tommy' marks Klein's deepest plunge yet into the deep, dark ocean' of her musical imagination on her Hyperdub debut. On 'Tommy' her vocals play with Fifties-esque melodies before switching to familiar tones akin to Brandy and Rodney Jerkins, her live voice and live piano playing filtered through hyper-glitchy and looped production with a loose, internal logic, cutting from angular atonality to pockets of skewered harmony. 'Tommy' also steps things up in conceptual terms. Its eight tracks are broken down into acts that are rooted in themes of vulnerability, sisterhood and death, threading the chaotic sonics with modern operatic undertones and a Shakespearean sense of tragedy. There's a lot of bluster about originality in contemporary UK music and what rises from the noise here is a creative voice who, by her very nature, plays with the construct of what pop is. This is Klein's world ... it's on us to get with it.




















