quête:alpha

The fragility and balancing act of creativity is an immeasurable factor in the life of any artist, serving as a commanding force in the choices they make over their careers. If the connection and meaning in creativity becomes devoid, there's a transformation process that either channels an ascension or departure. An internal and external battle that can chase and haunt individuals in every part of their life if one falls into the latter position. In the case of Los Angeles based electronic producer Huxley Anne, ascension was achieved during one of these tests of creative endurance and preservation, entering a phase of her life where the process of feeling art on meaningful levels had subsided for a lengthy period and the eventual reprisal of these natural gifts returned. This led to the creation of her debut album and an expansion in creativity that marks an important beginning for her path as an artist. This work is known as Ilium, representing a moment in Huxley Anne's life that's been one of her most testing yet rewarding mountains to climb. Ilium is Huxley Anne's debut album with Los Angeles indie imprint and Alpha Pup Records affiliate, Dome of Doom. Sonically, Ilium is an orchestrated field of unique beauty, drawing together eight tracks of exotic electronic music that calls upon the darkest and most light-driven of emotions. Exploratory textures take on vortexes of shape through cinematic sound designs, fluidly traversing between amorphous undertones, intricate composition mapping and pulsing rhythms. From the submersion of euphoria to the illumination of power, Ilium draws upon as many influences in the realm of mystical antiquity as it does the landscape of experimental music leading us into the future. A sonic portrait of her ascension through creative turmoil, the struggle of sustained determination and a rebirth into timeless artistry. Huxley Anne has created a boldness in sound that was made with the most vulnerable and giving of sides and simply put, Ilium is the continuation of meaningful life

Taking the 2nd half of 2022 to start setting this album up, BILL released singles like "Once Upon A Time In Canarsie", "Leviathan", "Smarten Up", "Root For The Villain", and "Time To Go". The album boasts features from the likes of Vinnie Paz, Kool G Rap, Rittz, Immortal Technique, Nems, Sick Jacken, Slaine, Lord Goat, Tragedy Khadafi, OT The Real, Q-Unique and more.

Das Saarbrückener Rap-Duo Genetikk, bestehend aus Rapper karuzo und Produzent sikk, steht seit Ende 2011 beim Düsseldorfer Independent-Label Selfmade Records unter Vertrag, das zuvor bereits Künstler wie Casper oder Kollegah zu kommerziell erfolgreichen Szenegrößen geformt hatte und spätestens Anfang 2013 mit dem Nummer 1-Album "Jung, brutal, gutaussehend 2" von Kollegah & Farid Bang mit neu aufgestelltem Verkaufsrekord (80.000 Einheiten in der VÖ-Woche) seine Ausnahmestellung im Rap-Bereich eindrucksvoll verdeutlichen konnte.Die erste gemeinsame Veröffentlichung, Voodoozirkus im Februar 2012, fand sofort großen Anklang und schaffte es direkt in die Top10 der Download-Charts von media control. Ein Charteinstieg in die Albumcharts blieb nur deshalb aus, weil die CD damals lediglich über den Online-Shop von Selfmade Records erstanden werden konnte. Mit ihrem ersten Release und der Single "König der Lügner" (mehr als 5 Millionen Klicks auf YouTube) gelang es Genetikk auf Anhieb, sich eine große Anhängerschaft aufzubauen und ihr enormes Potential erstmals anzudeuten.Stilistisch orientieren sich Genetikk stark an den Wurzeln klassischer Rap-Musik aus Frankreich und den USA, was sich zum einen an karuzos stylischem Rapstil, aber vor allem an der organischen, bis ins letzte Detail perfekt ausproduzierten Beat-Ästhetik von Produzent sikk bemerkbar macht. Genetikk gelingt es, etablierte Genre-Charakteristika mit frischen, modernen Stil-Elementen zu kombinieren, was dem Duo ein gleichermaßen einzigartiges wie unterhaltsames Alleinstellungsmerkmal innerhalb der deutschsprachigen Rapszene verleiht. Es gibt derzeit wohl keinen Rap-Act mit höherem Wiedererkennungswert.D.N.A. - kurz für "Da Neckbreaker Aliens" - ist das erste große Album der beiden Saarländer. Sido, dessen Single "Bilder im Kopf" kürzlich mit Platin ausgezeichnet wurde, ist ebenso mit von der Partie wie Labelpartner Kollegah und die US-Hip-Hop-Legende RZA, seines Zeichens Gründer & Kopf des Wu-Tang-Clans.Das größte deutsche HipHop-Magazin Juice, dessen begehrtes Cover Genetikk jüngst schmückte, ist bereits sicher: Mit D.N.A hat Genetikk einen "modernen Hip-Hop-Klassiker" geschaffen. Ein "Deutschrap-Manifest", das die besten Elemente der nationalen Rap-Historie zusammenführt.

AUDIOBOOK, das neue Projekt des vielseitigen Multi-Instrumentalisten Sam Gendel und der bildenden Künstlerin/Filmemacherin Marcella Cytrynowicz, besteht aus 13 alphabetisch benannten Tracks, wie Botschaften aus dem Weltall oder ausgegrabene uralte Runen. An manchen Stellen melodisch und cartoonhaft, an anderen glitching und etwas nervtötend, ist es ein visuelles Werk und Instrumentalalbum in einem seltsamen Zwischenraum zwischen irdisch und Jenseitigem. Ein Puzzle, das nicht danach verlangt, vollendet zu werden, sondern zum Spielen einlädt. Cytrynowicz und Gendel arbeiten seit 2020 regelmäßig zusammen, wobei Cytrynowicz sowohl die Fotografie als auch Musikvideos und Bildmaterial, und Gendel die musikalischen Partituren beisteuert. AUDIOBOOK ist das Zusammentreffen von etwas eindeutig Analogem in einer Klanglandschaft, die auch in einem 90er-Jahre-Sci-Fi-Soundtrack zu Hause sein könnte, das parallele Spiel einer bildenden Künstlerin und eines produktiven Musikers, abstrakte Kunst und Klang, die sich berühren.

KI/KI's slash label takes a deep dive into the history of hard trance and proudly presents a first re-issue of a true classic and personal favorite 'Emerald' by Swiss production group Artemis. Originally released back in 1995 on the Swiss label Atoom Records, it's one of the most sought after gems from this era. At its fast pace of 180 bpm it's impressive how subtle and dreamy the 9 minute journey is, a truly unique piece of hard trance history. Remixes come from Sansibar, Alpha Tracks and label owner herself KI/KI.

Die liebevoll aufbereitete 2LP-Edition „Westernhagen 75 (18 Songs: 1974 – 2023)“erscheint als Gatefold mit bedruckten innenhüllen auf schwarzem VInyl. Sie enthält Lieder aus Westernhagens bisherigen Alben und reicht über die zarte Individualität des Frühwerks, die ungehobelte Rock’n’Roll-Aufsässigkeit des Pfefferminz-Prinzen, die neugierige Experimentierfreude der mittleren Achtziger, die große Geste seiner Megastar-Phase bis zur Hingabe und Musikalität der vergangenen Jahre.






















[k] c2. Kein Gefühl (Live) [Edit]
[l] c3. Nimm mich mit (Live) [Edit]

Plastic-free disc production: Under the Waves OST vinyl is the first of its kind Biovinyl, with all petroleum in S-PVC replaced by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste gasses. Plus this vinyl comes in a nice transparent green color called "petrol"

Eco-friendly packaging: this 2xLP gatefold packaging is made of 100% recycled paper and cardboard, and printed with sustainable inks made from plant oils.

Eco-friendly design: we set up a minimalist approach throughout the whole design to save the use of paper and ink: no printed booklet, no large plain-colored full-surfaces, only 1 color used.

Under the Waves OST is a 21-track piece of art composed by Nicolas Bredin, influenced by Icelandic composers such as Valgeir Sigurdsson and Ólafur Arnalds, as well as post-rock bands like Mogwai, Sigur Ros and Radiohead. Released by Kid Katana Records, it had to be consistent with the game’s ecological commitment, especially when talking about a physical edition. That’s why Kid Katana has found the most eco-friendly solution: this OST vinyl will be manufactured in Germany using the brand new Biovinyl process developed by one of the leading manufacturers in Europe, Optimal Media.

Lipphead is a production duo consisting of veteran producers Blockhead (Ninjatune, Future Archive Recordings) and Eliot Lipp (Alpha Pup) creating eclectic instrumental hip hop that dances effortlessly between Blockhead's sample-based hip hop beats and Lipp's evolving synth-laden swing. Illustrated by artist Maddison Chaffer, the titular character serves as the group's mascot and as a tongue-in-cheek personification of the artist’s fused styles. In 2022, the pair released their debut LP ‘In the Nude’ via Michigan label Young Heavy Souls to critical acclaim.
Building on that success, Lipphead is back with 10 new tracks and a fresh selection of singles to introduce the forthcoming record entitled ‘From the Back’. Kicking off with the irresistible disco soul of ‘Midnight Brain to Georgia,’ the duo hits the ground running. The second single effortlessly guides the listener through a showcase of fluttering flute samples, jittery synthesizer flourishes, and a bassline that is sure to please even the most selective funk enthusiasts. Throughout ‘From The Back’, fans can expect an even groovier spin on their genre-blending mix of downtempo, hip-hop, and electro-funk, along with a healthy dose of the duo’s trademark sense of humor.
Reflecting on the album, Lipp states that “Lipphead really starts to perfect their stylistic fusion on this record. Plenty of oddball beats and goofy samples, but this time there’s an upbeat funk vibe throughout. ‘From The Back’ is basically a window to what goes on in Lipphead’s wild-ass brain.”

This EP is 6 unreleased tracks in the Thomas Brinkmann celebrated Max Ernst series of 12", all with female names, released with names ordered alphabetically. Starting with. 1. Anna Beate, the series ran for 12 releases over the 2 years from 1998 to 2000. 2. Clara Doris 3. Erika Frauke 4. Gisela Heidi 5. Inge Jutta 6. Karin Lotte 7. Monika Nikola 8. Olga Petra 9. Susie Trixi 10. Ulla Vera 11. Wanda Xenia 12. Yvette Zara, followed. There was never an ep with Q and R. Number 9 is Susie and Trixie. The tapes were lost. But have come to light nearly 25 years later. So now, here is Q/R; Quila 1-3 and Romy 1-3. What we have here are the original tracks as intended for release, with some minor editing and rearranging for release now. The original series was very successful. The first 3 12", released at the same time were a sensation on release. Suddenly, Thomas Brinkmann was the name to check. Today, these Quila/Romy tracks may well have the same impact as the other tracks in the series had when they were released. There is still nothing that sounds like this music. It seems to be an example of a perfect melding of soul and machine. 25 five years later... a annniversary of sorts, offered up by the machines.

Tape

Atollo« is the debut solo album of the Italian percussionist and composer Daniele Di Gregorio, a virtuoso of the marimba and the vibraphone who has worked with a large number of artists, including Donato Dozzy, Giorgio Gaslini, Tony Scott, Randy Becker, Luis Agudo, as well as Mina, Andrea Bocelli, Fabio Concato, Malika Ayane, and many others. He also has a long-standing collaboration with poet and composer Paolo Conte.

His latest work »Atollo« is divided into three very different sound paths. The first and most extended section is entirely played with the marimba, an instrument that is still fairly new and in full evolution. Some pieces have been performed using special gloves and see the over-layering of two marimbas, in order to build polyrhythmic designs and hypnotic sequences. Other marimba pieces have been performed in “solo” versions using soft, medium and hard mallets.

Secondly we encounter the trumpets of the Vienna Symphonic Library, which pieces after dissecting sound by sound build up the compositions with overlapping rhythmic and melodic loops. »Atollo« the piece that gives the title to this album is the closing track and is created with the Petrof Grand Piano, an evocative and hypnotic piece intended to describe the sound of the sea and the movement of its waves.

All the compositions are deliberately descriptive of the title they take, and are a sonic journey into the composer's past and present.

Composed and performed by Daniele Di Gregorio
Produced and mixed by Niccolò Di Gregorio
Mastered by Luca Sammartin
Original artwork and layout by Marco Ciceri

Salvation - ursprünglich 1997 veröffentlicht - ist das 5. Alphaville-Album und markiert eine turbulente Zeit für die Band: Ricky Echolette hatte Alphaville während der Produktion verlassen und Marian Gold und Bernhard Lloyd mussten das Album alleine fertigstellen.

Drei Titel des Albums wurden als Singles veröffentlicht: "Wishful Thinking", "Flame", und "Soul Messiah". Das Album wurde trotz der problematischen Produktion ein Erfolg. Es wurde der Rückkehr der Band zu ihren Synthpop-Wurzeln zugeschrieben. Die Rückbesinnung auf ihre eingängigeren, einfacheren und poppigeren Wurzeln zeigt
stilistische Ähnlichkeiten zu Forever Young. Das Album wird zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl veröffentlicht. Die 3-CD-Extended-Version enthält mehrere Mixe und alternative Versionen.

- 2LP - remastered, Trifold-Hülle plus 24-seitiges Booklet

- 3CD - enthält die Original-CD plus zwei zusätzliche Discs mit Tracks, die nur auf Vinyl erhältlich waren die nur auf 12"-Vinyl erhältlich waren, und eine 5"-Maxi-CD mit Mixen, alternativen Versionen usw.

Ursprünglich 1994 veröffentlicht, ist Prostitute das vierte Album von Alphaville und war die erste Veröffentlichung seit fünf Jahren. Mit "einer großen Vielfalt an Stilen" enthält das Album elektronischen Jazz, New-Wave-Musik, Synthpop, Swing, Hip-Hop, klassische Balladen und Pink-Floyd-ähnliche elektronische Musik - es ist also eher ein theatralisches Album.

Die erste Singleauskopplung war "Fools", gefolgt von der zweiten Single aus dem Album, "The Impossible Dream". Das Album wird zum
ersten Mal auf Vinyl veröffentlicht. Die 2 CD Extended Version enthält mehrere Mixe und alternative Versionen.

- 2LP - remastered, Trifold-Hülle plus 24-seitiges Booklet,

- 2CD - mit der Original-CD und einer zusätzlichen Disc mit Tracks, die nur auf 12"-Vinyl erhältlich waren, und einer 5"-Maxi-CD mit Mixen, alternativen Versionen usw.

Nachdem The National den Soundcheck für ihren Auftritt in Vancouver am 5. Juni 2023 beendet hatten, spielte die Band einfach weiter. Etwas braute sich zusammen: Die prägnanten Gitarrenparts von Aaron und Bryce Dessner trafen auf den Signature-Drumbeat von Bryan Devendorf. Als der Bassist Scott Devendorf loslegte, fing Matt Berninger an, einige Zeilen zu singen, die schon seit ein paar Jahren in ihm reiften. " Smoke detector, smoke detector / All you need to do is protect her", intonierte er. Ihr Tontechniker ließ die Aufnahme laufen und plötzlich war es ein 12 Minuten-Jam. Sie wussten, dass sie etwas Besonderes hatten, und nahmen die Live-Aufnahme bald darauf in Aarons Studio mit. Sie haben ein paar Minuten gekürzt, aber ansonsten das beibehalten, was auf der Bühne in Vancouver passiert ist. Dieser Song, "Smoke Detector", ist der krönende Abschluss von "Laugh Track", die überraschende zweite Hälfte eines Doppelalbums, das im April mit "First Two Pages of Frankenstein" begann. Es erwies sich als das letzte Kapitel eines Werks, das ansonsten neben dem Schwesteralbum geschrieben wurde - der Schlussakt einer Katharsis, die zeigt, was The National in den letzten drei Jahren durchgemacht haben. Vor zwei Jahren war die "Smoke Detector"-Zeile einer der wenigen Fetzen, die Matt während einer lähmenden Depression schreiben konnte und das zu einer Zeit, in der sich die Band fragte, ob sie jemals wieder ein Album machen würde. Nach der Pandemie belebte ihr neuer Glaube aneinander die kreativen Fähigkeiten wieder. "Weird Goodbyes", das bereits im August 2022 erschien, war ihr erster Durchbruch und der erste Vorgeschmack auf diese neue Ära. "Wir haben es wirklich schnell veröffentlicht, weil es wie ein Baby war, das in der Dunkelheit geboren wurde, oder so", lacht Matt. "Wir mussten es den Menschen zeigen". Aber als sie schließlich mit diesem umfangreichen Werk vorankamen, entschieden sie sich, "Weird Goodbyes" nicht auf das Frankenstein-Album zu nehmen. "Es fühlte sich an, als ob die Geschichte bereits erzählt worden wäre. Es war eine eigene Sache", sagt Aaron. "Aber es fühlte sich auch so an, als hätte es einen Bezug zu dem, was wir taten. Das war ein Teil der Logik für die Aufnahme einer weiteren Platte - wir wollten "Weird Goodbyes" ein eigenes Zuhause geben." "Laugh Track" ist das vielleicht musikalisch bedingungsloseste Album, welches die Band seit Jahren gemacht hat. Es ist aufmüpfig und dennoch leichtfüßig, doch es enthält ebenso viel seltene, ungebremste Schönheit wie Trostlosigkeit. Thematisch gibt es keine absichtliche Trennung zwischen "Frankenstein" und "Laugh Track". Während Matt auf "Frankenstein" eher auf der Suche nach einem Zufluchtsort war, hat er hier eine neue, klare Sicht auf das, was zählt. Sein dringendes Bedürfnis nach Intimität wird durch eine immer größere Angst vor der Unwirklichkeit des modernen Lebens noch verstärkt. Die Charaktere auf diesem Album (keine Vornamen, abgesehen von einer Tourmanagerin namens Alice - nur "ich" und "du") decken einander, träumen füreinander und helfen, den Schein zu wahren - und lösen damit das Versprechen von der gegenseitigen Fürsorge ein, das Matt auf dem Frankenstein-Schlusslied "Send for Me" gegeben hat. Wenn "Frankenstein" ein Zeichen für die Wiederherstellung des Vertrauens zwischen den einzelnen Bandelementen war, so ist das lebendige und neugierige "Laugh Track" das selbstbewusste Produkt dieses Prozesses und eine Absichtserklärung für jetzt und die Zukunft.

After two years, Carl and Andreas present their second album, and once again, it opens up a wide associative space for us. What strikes us initially is the uncommon instrumentation: a church organ, harpsichord, glass tubes, and more. Like their first album (The Aporias of Futurism), it is mysterious and dark. But it also carries a strong touch of rebellion and adrenaline, sometimes quite pointedly. The pieces are now shorter and feature intricate yet irresistible rhythms. The impact is immediate, yet it maintains a sense of solemnity and ceremony. The Apollonian complexity of the rhythms and subtle melodic interweavings is transformed into a Dionysian, ecstatic, hypnotic, and at times tribal context. "Music for Unknown Rituals" oscillates between primitive instincts and avant-garde intrigues.

The process began in Döblitz, a small village on the Saale river in Germany, inside an old church that houses an organ built in 1886 by Johann Adolph Ibach. Carl and Andreas gained access and secluded themselves there for a few days, accompanied by the organ, an instrument made of glass tubes, and a set of modular synthesizers. After recording the basic tracks in Döblitz, the work continued in Munich and Berlin. Carl played electric guitars, harpsichord, bass, metallophone, xylophone, Indian harmonium, and various percussive instruments. Andreas added layers of electronic sounds, noises, and atmospheric drones. He also created percussive structures extracted and derived from recorded material of technical and industrial noises, which contrasted with the acoustic drums played by Carl. The antithetical approach continues with the dichotomous arrangement of the instruments, often panned hard left and right in the stereo field, creating an antiphonic communication. Some parts, especially the use of the electric guitar, evoke memories of the psychedelic sixties. However, this is anything but a nostalgic album—these musical references are merely remnants, set pieces, and fragments used from a contemporary, post-modern, post-youth-cultural, and post-romantic perspective.

Although Andreas and Carl continue on their chosen path of composing music with an almost literary narrative structure, this album is conceptually and formally completely different from their first effort. If “The Aporias of Futurism” was a revolutionary manifesto (in a pataphysical sense), "Music for Unknown Rituals" is more like the implementation in action; it is the practical application of the previous statement. To put it another way, if "The Aporias of Futurism” was the conceptual manifesto of a dark utopia of modernity, "Music for Unknown Rituals" is the staging of free will surrendering to the myths and catharsis of a Greek tragedy. And in response to this, the artwork features a leitmotif of histrionics with hands, the hands being the first and intuitive part of the body to express something: a ritual, a prayer, a defeat...

— Andreas Gerth is one half of Driftmachine, and Carl Osterhelt is part of F.S.K and collaborates with Hans-Joachim Irmler of Faust. Both became connected through their participation in the Tied & Tickled Trio.

AUDIOBOOK, das neue Projekt des vielseitigen Multi-Instrumentalisten Sam Gendel und der bildenden Künstlerin/Filmemacherin Marcella Cytrynowicz, besteht aus 13 alphabetisch benannten Tracks, wie Botschaften aus dem Weltall oder ausgegrabene uralte Runen. An manchen Stellen melodisch und cartoonhaft, an anderen glitching und etwas nervtötend, ist es ein visuelles Werk und Instrumentalalbum in einem seltsamen Zwischenraum zwischen irdisch und Jenseitigem. Ein Puzzle, das nicht danach verlangt, vollendet zu werden, sondern zum Spielen einlädt. Cytrynowicz und Gendel arbeiten seit 2020 regelmäßig zusammen, wobei Cytrynowicz sowohl die Fotografie als auch Musikvideos und Bildmaterial, und Gendel die musikalischen Partituren beisteuert. AUDIOBOOK ist das Zusammentreffen von etwas eindeutig Analogem in einer Klanglandschaft, die auch in einem 90er-Jahre-Sci-Fi-Soundtrack zu Hause sein könnte, das parallele Spiel einer bildenden Künstlerin und eines produktiven Musikers, abstrakte Kunst und Klang, die sich berühren.

Electro is fundamentally modern. The coldness of the machine laid bare, a human attempt to express through circuits and wiring. Despite adhering to specific codes and norms, it is a sound that refuses to be pigeonholed. It is with this in mind that Shipwrec has collected a wealth of international talent to showcase their own vision of this bracing style. Serge Geyzel incises from the needle drop, the acid blistered "Still There" is sliced and quartered by scissoring snares. Endfest changes the trajectory with the modular warmth of "La Chouffe" before the lines change and Manasyt delivers the darkened angles and punishing percussion of "Row Hammer." Andrew Red Hand maintains the shadowy synthlines of his predecessor, industrial undertones bubbling to the surface in distortion-soaked aggression. The mood shifts with Alpha Visitor. Crystalline chords are punctured by crisp drum patterns, stabbing keys and broad arcs unveil a world of sci-fi inspirations. The finale comes from Jauzas the Shining. Broad sweeps introduce "Shemale" before dripping drums are countered by samples and icy blasts. Modern machine music from six masters.

During the peak of Australia's post-punk scene, Melbourne's The Wreckery captivated with their darkly atmospheric rock, combining swamp blues, noir-jazz, and deadpan rock. Fast forward 35 years, and "Fake is Forever" resurrects The Wreckery's signature sound, featuring Charles Todd's baritone sax, Hugo Race's poignant lyrics, and Clayton-Jones' angular guitars. With Nick Barker and Frank Trobbiani providing a solid rhythm, this iconic band delivers an album that ranges from sarcastic and provocative tracks like "Smack Me Down" to romantic melodrama in "The Devil in You," all with a quieter yet equally menacing and intoxicating presence compared to their '80s brashness.

All the great Reggae Classics by the Reggae Masters in a nice 3LP vinylbox With Bob Marley, Yellowman, Max Romeo, Greogry Isaacs, Horace AndyâÇÝ

SEVENDUST is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 consisting of members Lajon Witherspoon (lead vocals), Clint Lowrey (lead guitarist), Vince Hornsby (bassist), Morgan Rose (drummer), and John Connolly (rhythm guitar). Since formation, SEVENDUST have attained success with three consecutive RIAA gold-certified albums, a Grammy nomination, and have sold millions of records worldwide. The group has released a total of thirteen studio albums, and this compilation features 7 incredible records from their catalog

„III“ wurde ursprünglich 1978 privat veröffentlicht und war bei Sammlern schon lange begehrt. Es ist das einzige Album des niederländischen Progressive-Rock-Quartetts Het Pandorra Ensemble, das von zwei Gitarren angetrieben wird und dem sie einen Hauch von Anarchie in ihre Mischung aus Improvisation und King Crimson einbrachten.

Numen ist das dritte Album von ALKALOID, und es enthält einige der kompliziertesten, nachdenklichsten, aber auch komplett verrückten Ideen der Band. Das Album wird aus der gottähnlichen Perspektive eines uralten Außerirdischen erzählt, der mit seinem dämonischen Grunzen die gesamte Galaxie umgestalten kann.

ALKALOID sind immer noch durch ihre Liebe zum Death Metal verbunden. Schließlich handelt es sich um eine Supergroup, die aus Gründungsmitgliedern von OBSCURA, DARK FORTRESS und SPAWN OF POSESSION besteht. Das feurige, mit den Fingern getippte Solo, das sich nach der Hälfte von "Clusterfuck" herauskristallisiert, wird wie eine Ameise unter einem Drop-D-Hammersturm zerquetscht.

Aber auf "Numen" spielt die bayerische Band auch mit allen möglichen Genre-Experimenten. "The Cambrian Explosion" stellt den Tech-Death mit verführerischen Anflügen von Jazz und Flamenco auf den Kopf.
ALKALOID sind die verrückten Wissenschaftler des Metal. Mit "Numen" haben sie eine weitere explosive Mischung aus progressivem Death Metal geschaffen!

FFO: OBSCURA, BEYOND CREATION, FRACTAL UNIVERSE

Numen ist das dritte Album von ALKALOID, und es enthält einige der kompliziertesten, nachdenklichsten, aber auch komplett verrückten Ideen der Band. Das Album wird aus der gottähnlichen Perspektive eines uralten Außerirdischen erzählt, der mit seinem dämonischen Grunzen die gesamte Galaxie umgestalten kann.

ALKALOID sind immer noch durch ihre Liebe zum Death Metal verbunden. Schließlich handelt es sich um eine Supergroup, die aus Gründungsmitgliedern von OBSCURA, DARK FORTRESS und SPAWN OF POSESSION besteht. Das feurige, mit den Fingern getippte Solo, das sich nach der Hälfte von "Clusterfuck" herauskristallisiert, wird wie eine Ameise unter einem Drop-D-Hammersturm zerquetscht.

Aber auf "Numen" spielt die bayerische Band auch mit allen möglichen Genre-Experimenten. "The Cambrian Explosion" stellt den Tech-Death mit verführerischen Anflügen von Jazz und Flamenco auf den Kopf.
ALKALOID sind die verrückten Wissenschaftler des Metal. Mit "Numen" haben sie eine weitere explosive Mischung aus progressivem Death Metal geschaffen!

FFO: OBSCURA, BEYOND CREATION, FRACTAL UNIVERSE

“Soothing Breeze” is a compilation of 21 carefully selected beats with oriental traditional instruments, soft drum loops and mystical appeal. The air is calm and pure - it’s time for absolute focus in this tranquil landscape.

After being sold out for almost a year, the classic album ’New Flesh’ by Swedish synth-wizards Priest at last gets a long awaited reissue! Here’s a short description that was stated during it’s original
release in 2017: ”New Flesh is inhaling smog from the 80s and blowing smoke rings into a neon lit future. Believing in spiritual awakening through technology, Priest makes you transcend safely to
reach the ultimate goal - the merging with machines. Album producer Simon Söderberg (Alpha/ ex Ghost member) have worked with the band to perfect their sound. There is modern touch with a retro vibe over the entire album. "New Flesh" containes a total of ten tracks that that brings 2017 back to the 80s.”

Oráculo Records long time partner in crime Carlos Grabstein rules Berlin based MISERIA records. Started as a DIY cassette and digital label back in 2021, the imprint is clearly focused and specialized in ultra-rare synth based darkwave compilations. Now in 2023 MISERIA joins forces with Oráculo Records to present a selection of his best releases to date in vinyl format for the very first time, presented in DOUBLE GATEFOLD format in a ONE-OFF truly limited edition of 300 copies lacquered pressed on 180 gr. high quality solid BLACK vinyl. All tracks have been specially mastered for vinyl by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios (Germany).

Special Love is a future classic – bringing back thudding '90s flute house, paired with shuffling snare patter, swung hats and a killer female vocal. From the moment the chords and vocal hit you’ll know what special love is.

The flip takes you further back with funky basslines and tight 80s electro drums, started in 2013 Breakout was one of the duo’s first tracks, channelling Paul Hardcastle here to great effect. Gritty kicks and a huge SH-101 bassline introduce Theme, building with soaring melodies before dropping into a set closing anthem.

Equipment used: Boss Dr-110, Korg Minilogue, Korg Z1, MFB Tanzmaus, Roland SH-101, Roland Alpha Juno, Roland D-50, Roland Juno 106, Roland Jupiter 6, Roland TR-08, Yamaha DX21, Yamaha DX7.

If the Corona pandemic and the accompanying concert bans have at least one good thing going for them, it's the extra time musicians have to write songs and live out their creativity. This circumstance was also the driving force for the SAMURAI PIZZA CATS, who come from the Electric Callboy environment. Frontman Sebastian Fischer was behind the microphone in their predecessor band Her Smile In Grief, whose line-up also included Daniel "Danskimo" Haniß, who is now celebrating success as guitarist, songwriter and producer of Electric Callboy. The contact between the two never broke off and so Daniel also produced Sebastian's later band Fall Of Gaia in recent years, whose former drummer and multi-instrumentalist Stefan Buchwald is also involved in this new project - family business from downtown Castrop Rauxel! So while Stefan contributes the music, Sebastian writes the lyrics and Daniel, as a creatively involved producer, ensures a well-rounded overall result. Okay, before we try your patience any further, let's talk about the elephant in the room: the band name. The SAMURAI PIZZA CATS have named themselves after a Japanese anime series from the early nineties. Why? Stupid question! Of course, because they are fearless warriors on their instruments, love to eat pizza and like cats! And maybe a little bit because they have soft spots for anime and silly band names - but only maybe. Rumour also has it that "Banzai! Smack! Meow!" is an onomatopoeic description of the band's sound.

Don Cherry's downtown Paris funk masterwork produced in 1985 by Ramuntcho Matta and originally released by Barclay in France only, finally gets a worldwide release on Wewantsounds. Featuring French post-punk muse Elli Medeiros, avant garde poet Brion Gysin and cult Senegalese drummer Abdoulaye Prosper Niang (Xalam), this is a unique soundbite of Paris in the early 80s at its coolest when funk, jazz and new wave were mingling with sounds from Africa, Jamaica and Latin America. Newly Remastered, the album is augmented by a second LP worth of bonus tracks and a deluxe gatefold sleeve with a new essay by French journalist Jacques Denis (Liberation).

A long-in-the-works project of ours, here comes A Tribe Called Kotori's first foray into full-length territories, as the immensely talented Rampue takes us on a melancholy-riddled ride across his phantasmatic mindscapes. A true sound explorer, deftly steering his ship down the junction of electronica, abstract and balearic-infused prog house, the Berlin-based vibist has us transfixed and elevated throughout the twelve cuts that form the backbone to this lushly textured promenade in sound - at times understatedly euphoric, at others rivetingly exotic.

Of the creative process that lead to 'Bubblebath Trance', Rampue explains "It all started and ended in the same moment: my cherished feline companion, my laptop awash with an unintended bath, and alas, a dearth of backups. The resultant calamity, an echo of chaotic tranquility." Under the generous layer of irony lies some unaltered truth about Rampue's debut long-player for A Tribe Called Kotori: this sense of serenity that goes with stepping into this warm and bubbling primitive chaos of sorts infuses the listening experience far and wide. Distantly emulating the "euphonious strains" of iconic PS1 video games soundtracks from his youth days, the album has us surfing a constant paradox of emotions, wistful but not abandoning itself to sorrow, dynamic yet suspended in some sort of mind-expanding stasis. As if you were looking at the world beneath you in exploded view, conscious of all thing, slowly moving up the many layers of our atmosphere towards uncharted skies.

A paragon of Rampue's most poignant take on classic electronica tropes, 'Harmonie' blazes with a poetic fire that engulfs about everything in its wake. Just figure yourself riding a chocobo across the sand-covered expanse of North Corel (toasting to the FFVII nerds here) as this blasts out in the distance. From this trancey bubblebath emerge lots of musical shades and nuances, from the nicely dubbed-out, brass-heavy coastal jazz of 'Schattenschranz' to the choppy, trip-hop-adjacent future electronics of 'Inside', via the exuberantly joyous mess of faux-organic number 'Tripomatic' and cinematic charisma of 'Ich hasse Sonne' high-flying orchestrations.

Connecting the dots between that trance-indebted ebullience and further downtempo-friendly attraction, 'Verfahren' perhaps encompasses best what 'Bubblebath Trance' is about: gracefully walking the tightrope in-limbo nostalgia-soaked inner movements and a powerful outward thrust, burning to let the feelings ooze out from the shell that holds them.Clad in purely 90s-compatible breaksy motion, 'Salz' is another attempt to reconcile emotional and physical dissonance, like kneading all states - solid, liquid and vaporous - into an impossible mega-vibe of its own; malleable, strong and enveloping in equal measure. Borrowing from two-step and UK garage, 'Take Away' is a definite high in Rampue's master unfolding of musical twists and turns, summoning a Boarder Community-esque atmosphere and clashing it alongside floor-ready footwork motifs to fascinating effect.

An ode to his studio companion, 'Buchla Trip' finds Rampue's exploring his machinic friend's quirky yet soulful array of electronic potentialities - making it sound like a conversation you'd have with R2-D2 in the heart of a Sandcrawler, whereas 'Kajal' beams us up to a fragmented headspace, halfway altered PC-Pop and arps-loaded electronica on amphetamines. Effusive and transporting, the title-track 'Bubblebath Trance' could well figure as the album's no.1 medley in essence: a bountiful lucid dream of dancing forms, colours and sentiments to wrap your head around, confidently drifting from a liminal state of consciousness down the rapids of one's troubled inner workings.

Rounding off the package, the languid ambient finale of 'Die Leiden des hungrigen Fruehstuecks' rubber-stamps the feeling that 'Bubblebath Trance' belongs to that rare category of albums. The ones that mint their own alphabet aside from typical norms and expectations, teaching you the ropes of their new language as it unreels between your ears - real and unreal, elusive to any other meaning than the one your guts and brains will be inclined to give it to, in real time. A crystal-pure object if you will, that shall not reveal its secrets, even after a thousand listens and just as many wowing moments.

Prince’s 1988 follow-up to his masterpiece double LP, Sign O’ The Times, saw him recycle some of the material that had originally been intended for the ill-fated Crystal Ball and Black Album albums, and repurposed here along with additional material. Features the smash hit single “Alphabet Street”.

This new album compiles several songs made in the years following Black To Comm's classic "Alphabet 1968" album. Originally released on the seminal Type label in 2009 (and to be reissued on Cellule 75 this year) "Alphabet 1968" combined the sound of vintage shellac and vinyl loops with broken electronics and field recordings, the press release mentioning disparate influences "ranging from Moondog to Basic Channel by way of Bernard Herrmann". In a beautiful one-page review in The Wire magazine (later reprinted in his book Ghosts Of My Life) Mark Fisher compared Richter's music to JF Sebastian’s miniature automata in Blade Runner ("with their bizarre mixture of the clockwork and the computerised, the antique and the ultramodern, the playful and the sinister"), ETA Hoffmann's inventor-magicians and Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's 1886 tale of Thomas Edison's (fictitious) construction of an artificial human.

Now titled "Coh Bâle" (inspired by a strange dream) these recordings were supposed to become a follow-up to said album but for reasons unknown it never materialized and the album seemed forever lost. At the time Richter started to dive deeper into several strains of (so-called) world music aka the folk music of Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe as well as liturgical and medieval music, the Kraut-Electronica of Harmonia and several certain Mediterranean experimentalists from the 1980's who started to merge their mostly electronic and field recording based compositions with traditional musics from all over the world by way of new sampling technology.

Many of the songs for the album were recorded while travelling and at various residencies around Europe: a detuned piano in a Thessaloniki basement (Richter played at a children's birthday party there), vintage synthesizers in the GRM studios in Paris, decaying acoustic instruments found in an old Black Forest mansion, childrens' voices at a workshop in Karlsruhe's ZKM Institute; then mixed on headphones in the ICE trains running between these places and his hometown Hamburg.

"Coh Bâle" is taking inspirations from old Nonesuch Explorer and Ocora LP's, Crammed Records, 80s Mediterranean Ambient (Nuno Canavarro, Roberto Musci) combined with the DIY spirit of Deux Filles and Flaming Tunes and the playfulness of Asa Chang & Junray. The songs are both mysterious and transparent, intricate and frugal, vibrant and patient. One of the album's unexpected climaxes is a gorgeous (artificial) berimbau version of the Welsh traditional "Iechyd o Gylch".

No two songs feature the same instrumentation and many acoustic sources (pianos, flutes, wood percussion, viola, tablas, autoharp) were disassembled and later coalesced into new configurations or used as virtual instruments; later combined with samples, field recordings, electronics and (on a few tracks) autotuned vocals reminding of recent works by the likes of Claire Rousay or More Eaze.

We had to wait for a worldwide pandemic for Richter to dig deep into the vaults and finally bring these recordings to light. This is the 2nd release from his archives after the "Diode, Triode" LP which presented Musique Concrète/Acousmatic recordings made at INA/GRM and ZKM. Another massive Double-CD (MM∞XX Vol. 1 & 2) was released last year featuring collaborations with 33 artists such as Andrew Pekler, Richard Youngs, Eric Chenaux, Maja Ratkje, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh of Jerusalem In my Heart, GRM boss François Bonnet (Kassel Jaeger), Felix Kubin, Timo van Luijk (In Camera, Af Ursin), Luke Fowler and many others, showing Richter's versatility and his willingness to reinvent himself for every new release.

Marc Richter is widely known under his Black To Comm moniker, having released (at least) 12 albums under this alias in the last 20 years. He is currently signed to the Thrill Jockey label. Richter composes soundtracks for film and has worked with visual artists such as Mike Kelley and Ho Tzu Nyen. He also records as Jemh Circs and Mouchoir Étanche for his own Cellule 75 label (named in tribute to the late Luc Ferrari).

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is the sequel to the massively successful 2010 animated feature film How To Train Your Dragon, and the second film in the trilogy by DreamWorks Animation. The story takes place five years after Hiccup and Toothless united the dragons and Vikings of Berk. While investigating a burnt forest, the pair discover a secret cave that houses hundreds of wild dragons and a mysterious Dragon Rider. The two find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace.

Composer John Powell, who earned his first Academy Award-nomination for his music in the original How To Train Your Dragon movie, returned to score the sequel. It was conducted by Gavin Greenaway and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with a 120-piece orchestra, a 100-voice choir, and a wide array of ethnic instruments, including Celtic harp, uilleann pipes, tin whistle, bodhrán, and bagpipes.

Sigur Rós-lead vocalist, Jónsi, who wrote and performed the song "Sticks and Stones" for the original movie, provided two new original songs for the sequel in collaboration with Powell. The track "Where No One Goes" that is featured on this release, is not only written, but also performed by Jónsi and Powell. Belarusian-Norwegian artist and Eurovision Song Contest winner Alexander Rybak, who voices Hiccup in Norwegian, also wrote and performs on the song "Into a Fantasy".

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on flaming coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series präsentiert diese 180-Gramm-LP-Ausgabe von Ornette Colemans Debütalbum Something Else!!!!. Das ursprünglich 1958 veröffentlichte und vom legendären Tontechniker Roy DuNann aufgenommene Album machte die Welt mit Colemans innovativem Stil bekannt und wurde von seiner Band bestehend aus Don Cherry, Walter Norris, Don Payne und Billy Higgins eingespielt.

Diese Neuauflage wurde von Bernie Grundman von den analogen Originalbändern gemastert, bei QRP gepresst und in einem Tip-On-Jacket präsentiert

Marc Richter aka Black To Comm released his debut record 20 years ago. In 2023 he is still busy releasing music under various disguises and is currently signed to the Thrill Jockey label. To celebrate this anniversary his own Cellule 75 label is re-releasing some classic out-of-print vinyl albums that originally came out on the defunct Type and De Stijl labels. The LP will feature a full-colour lyric sheet / poster exclusive to this edition.

After releasing the critically acclaimed Alphabet 1968 on the seminal Type label (Grouper, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Yellow Swans), Richter chose De Stijl for this 2012 album, an American label that had just put out future classics by the likes of Circuit Des Yeux, Hype Williams and Wolf Eyes.

EARTH is a 2009 silent film by Ho Tzu Nyen, one of Singapore's foremost visual artists. After hearing Black To Comm's Alphabet 1968 Ho Tzu Nyen invited Richter to accompany the film at Berlin's Asian Film Festival, Unsound in Krakow and several other art biennals and music festivals around the world.

In his own words: "Most of the music was composed under the influence of heavy pain killers while recovering from a broken leg (the recordings literally took place in bed). The music (like the film) is about slowness and decay, states of unconsciousness, sleeping and waking up, dying and being reborn. The film is a post-apocalyptic collage based on paintings by classical European painters (Caravaggio, Delacroix, Rembrandt, Gericault) -- the music translates this concept employing corresponding collage-based sampling techniques using loops made from vintage vinyl and shellac records combined with acoustic and electronic instrumentation and voice."

From the original De Stijl one-sheet:
"Richter’s already formidable expressive power stretches over all of EARTH. Reflecting the countless cyclical forces that make up, oh, more or less everything we know and are, the music on EARTH is bracing, lovely, bustling and still, and at times bittersweet, a commingling of sensations and emotions that can’t be neatly separated from one another. (EARTH is complex, as you know.) Guests on EARTH include David Aird, a.k.a Vindicatrix (on the Mordant Music label), contributing startling vocal work; Renate Nikolaus on an array of instruments and noise devices; Rutger Zuydervelt (singing bowls); and Christopher Kline (singing saw). EARTH is Black to Comm’s seventh album and his debut for De Stijl, following the acclaimed Alphabet 1968 (on Type) and last year’s vinyl-only collaboration with Mike Kelley of Destroy All Monsters (on the En/Of label)."

Alex Neilson in The Wire:
"The most marked aspect of Earth is the voice of David Aird, aka Vindicatrix. Imperious and dolorous, he has the gravity of post-Climate Of Hunter Scott Walker, David Sylvain or Klaus Nomi stripped of the pathetic ritz. This is something that's easy to do badly, but Aird pulls it off with aplomb. On "The Children" he breaks into a morose yodel, rolling the words around his palate and colouring each syllable black before gifting them to the air. The meaning isn't understood verbally as much as viscerally. Beneath Aird's ululations, Richter casts handfuls of angelic debris from keyboards and digital devices, generating a celestial electronic tapestry reminiscent of Japanese musician Nobukazu Takemura. Sounds vie and twist at frequencies you can't so much hear as feel in the bridge of your nose, and the variety and full-bloodedness of the accompaniment is what prevents Aird's vocal from occassionally lapsing into shtick."

Marc Richter aka Black To Comm released his debut record 20 years ago. In 2023 he is still busy releasing music under various disguises and is currently signed to the Thrill Jockey label. To celebrate this anniversary his own Cellule 75 label is re-releasing some classic out-of-print vinyl albums that originally came out on the defunct Type and De Stijl labels. The LP will feature a full-colour printed inner sleeve exclusive to this edition.

In 2009 the Type Recordings label run by John Twells had just released seminal records by Grouper, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Yellow Swans when they signed Richter and put out his breakthrough Alphabet 1968 album. The LP sold out within two weeks, receiving a glowing full-page review in The Wire Magazine by the late Mark Fisher (later reprinted in his book Ghosts Of My Life), was selected for Boomkat's Top 10 releases of the year (alongside debut albums by Leyland Kirby, Demdike Stare and Oneohtrix Point Never) and was greeted with universal praise in the underground blog network as well as established magazines such as The New Yorker and Pitchfork.

The music itself played with the notion of nostalgia without being nostalgic itself. It's the sound of half-remembered dreams, a surreal distorted vision of the past, an aural polaroid of long forgotten musics, a ghostly voice from a non-existent era.

From the original Type one-sheet:
"The mission statement for Alphabet 1968 was to write an album of "songs" for want of a better word. Short tracks which represented genre points, the milestones which stuck in Richter's mind when he thought back to his favorite records. What we arrive at is a breathtaking 10-track album which, over the course of 45 minutes, explores world music, techno, noise, avant-garde, ambient music and even exotica. Each track is linked with a loose thread of radio static or environmental sound, dragging you through the album, as if tuning in to a stray broadcast or a particularly adventurous mix. Richter has pieced the album together from hours of recordings made at his studio with home made gamelan, small instruments and loops gathered from a collection of ancient vinyl and 78 records. The scope of the album is admirable, but ignoring this, it is simply a shockingly arresting collection of experimental oddities, with references ranging from Moondog to Basic Channel by way of Bernard Herrmann. It's not hard to fall in love with Alphabet 1968, far harder would be to place exactly where the record should fit into your collection."

Mark Fisher in The Wire:
"But what if we were to take Richter's provocation seriously - what would a song without a singer be like? What would it be like, that is to say, if objects themselves could sing? It’s a question that connects fairy tales with cybernetics, and listening to Alphabet 1968, I’m reminded of a filmic space in which magic and mechanism meet: JF Sebastian’s apartment in Blade Runner. The tracks on the LP are crafted with the same minute attention to detail that the genetic designer and toymaker brought to his miniature automata, with their bizarre mixture of the clockwork and the computerised, the antique and the ultramodern, the playful and the sinister. Richter’s musical pieces have been built from similarly heterogeneous materials - record crackle, shortwave radio, glockenspiels, all manner of samples, mostly of acoustic instruments. ….. JF Sebastian's apartment was itself an update of older spaces in which science and sorcery co-existed: the workshops of ETA Hoffmann's inventor-magicians, or of Pinocchio's creator, Geppetto. I think, too, of Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's astonishing 1886 tale The Future Eve in which Edison, using the expertise he has recently acquired from inventing the phonograph, sets himself the task of constructing an artificial woman. But if there are songs here, they are sung by the gramophone and other recording and playback machines. Richter so successfully effaces himself as author that it is as if he has snuck into a room and recorded the objects as they played (to) themselves. Rather than simply automating his music, as in the case of Pierre Bastien and his mechanical machines, Richter makes us feel that he has merely recorded the unlife of objects. ….. Indeed, the impression of things winding down is persistent on Alphabet 1968. Entropy has not been excluded from Richter's enchanted soundworld. It feels as if the magic is always about to wear off, that the enchanted objects will slip back into the inanimate again at any moment."

marbled vinyl
On Part 2 you will find remixes from Ø Phase, Adiel and label residents Viels & Svarog on the 12" added by two Digital Bonus tracks bij Polygonia and Szmer.

Amniote Editions team up with friends and bbs of Mala Junta for "The Collective Capsule" - a celebration of 5 years of Berlin's favorite queer event. The capsule collection consists of a 12" cordially made up of 4 belters from the residents Hyperaktivist, Yazzus, DJ Tool and D.Dan, two compilations stacked with friends and lovers and limited merch.

The capsule also launches 'Amniote Editions' return to graphic design studio Alexis Mark, who were part of the birthing of the platform and now presents their first cover design as a multilayer 12" gift - a record wrapped in a beautiful poster protected by a limited edition screen printed PVC sleeve.