First production undername of Dub Master Clash. Party organisers since 2016, with a core compsoed with Pilah (Kaly Live Dub Addict), Roots Raid and Fabasstone (Hight Tone) and... Dub Sheperds with Anti Bypass from Dub Addict.... Nevertheless !! Echo Minott, from Jamaica purely sing his song over that solid musical base. And here comes the point : release party take place on 7th of april... and will be a Dub Master Clash !! in Pérignat Les Sarlièves (63). BLASTER !!!
2018 marks our first step into album territory, releasing the sophomore album 'High life' of Heist's very own Detroit Swindle, to be released end of May. This single features the album cut 'Flavourism' with vocals from Seven Davis Jr. Here, the single is presented with remixes by the amazing Pépé Bradock and Boston-to-NYC house duo John Barera & Will Martin.
Flavourism is as much a throwback track to classic Detroit Swindle territory, as it is a look into their contemporary view on soulful deep house. The vibe is set by Seven Davis Jr.'s distinctive vocals, accompanied by warm 'side-chained' pads and a rubbery live synth-bassline. Fans of 'The Wrap Around' will definitely feel a nod to that 2012 classic with those Prophet pads. If you've seen their live performance with Seven Davis Jr. during Dour festival in 2015 or heard their remix for SDJ's track 'Friends' on Classic Music Company, you might already anticipate a collaboration that works like a charm.
When deciding on a remixer for this project, the boys wanted to do something special. Ask someone special. And so it happened that they asked Pépé Bradock: someone who stood at the root of European house music and has pioneered in the genre, carefully curating his own style into something that surpasses genres. Here, he delivers both a stunning and deep interpretation of the original, with added harmonies, a touch of lo-fi and his own signature electronics. On top comes the 'acapella', stripped from all percussion and leaving the vocal and all of Pépé's lovely weirdness.
The single further features US house duo John Barera & Will Martin, who have already released some amazing music on Dolly, or John's own ' Supply records'. Not surprisingly, they deliver a great clubby house cut with some Chicago flavour, dubbing and out the vocal to a basic mantra: 'I'll always keep'.
Keep an eye out for High Life out soon with more collaborations. For now, please enjoy Flavourism.
Best Regards,
Heist Recordings.
Having grown up with and on the internet, Martin Steer (1986) has transformed its pull into a concept album that is just as immediate and intangible as the digital world. Bad Stream is guitars and machines vanishing in the spaces between Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails only to reemerge amidst Ambient, Noise, and Drone. Bad Stream, then, is his modus operandi - a hybrid soundtrack to the feelings of resignation, isolation, and cynicism within neoliberal cyberspace and to that strangely numbing comfort of bodies transmuting into zeros and ones in real time.
'I look at my phone even when I play guitar,' says Martin Steer, 'and that isn't even entirely voluntary. The 2010s really changed my perception of how digital technologies and social media affect me as a musician. Through Bad Stream I want to make sense of this particular kind of anxiety, and to use sensory overstimulation as a way to develop an independent and progressive musical language.'
The past seven years took Martin and his laptop and guitar from Berlin to Mexico and Nepal and, as a founding member of Frittenbude, into the German charts and to various festival stages. And yet, Bad Stream is a true 'Berlin album,' out of Friedrichshain, Neukölln, and Kreuzberg and will be released on Martin Steers own label ANTIME. It was recorded with real drums and programmed beats, with shoegaze guitars, acid baselines, piano, smartphone synths, violins, field recordings from the darknet and his voice, whose hopeless timbre conveys reflections on systems, the future, drugs, people, and his own place. In his ever expanding A/V live shows and in the music videos, this is supplemented by complex visuals.
A high-speed car chase between a Dodge Charger and a Ford Mustang, with super-cop Bullitt at the wheel, who forces the hitman off the road and into a petrol station, which explodes and incinerates him. Prior to that, harsh clashes of metal, hubcaps flying all over the place, and the chief character Steve McQueen, who grimly changes gears and hurtles through the streets of San Francisco, wheels screaming and rubber burning. That was how Hollywood staged one of the longest and most dramatic car chases, long before the days of the Anti-Blocking-System and Anti-Slide-Control.
Very up-to-date and just as exciting as the screenplay is the music Lalo Schifrin wrote for the film, which embeds the characters, places and events in a musical context. For example, "Bullitt": the metrically angular main theme portrays a mysterious, cool character who sums up a situation with keen alertness and then makes his attack with the speed of lightning.
Initially the music travels through easy-going Latin terrain. But gradually the rhythmic texture changes and takes a rougher path, with clicks, knocks and hammering. Legendary flute lines create a compensatory placidness with airy clouds floating above the sharp mix. A really special track is "Shifting Gears": here you can listen to Schifrin tuning the car, how he manipulates a jammed springy bossa to take on the sound of clean, smooth-running rock.
This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.
The 12' you're about to read a few lines about is a laconic introduction to the music of an elusive new musician on Antinote. Biographical details about him would probably not help comprehend his music and might even seem slightly contradictory with the music itself, as Reigi / Haipa has been produced in Reims - at least, it would have been much more accommodating if the capital of Champagne was located somewhere in-between Sheffield and London...
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Indeed, at first listen, Slowglide's music seems deeply rooted in a very British history of dance music. Reigi, on the A-side, unfolds a cavernous syncopated kick on which relies a compressed, flangered, smart but somehow handcrafted sound with an extra Kraftwerkian treatment (the obsessive robotic arigato gozaimasu' and the pocket calculator' bleeping melodic line), enlightened by discreet synth waves appearing in the middle of the track.
Haipa, the atmospheric B-side, is an even stronger throwback to a time when Intelligent Dance Music was ruling over electronic music, the likes of Aphex Twin and his fellow Warp-affiliates were about to be crowned kings and Ghost In The Shell was establishing itself as one of the most culturally significant pictures of the late past century.
Slowglide's music is not backward-looking, though. There's something that relevantly resonates with today's diffracted musical landscape, as the French producer gathers and updates bits and pieces from a thirty-andsomething yearlong history of electronic dance music. The result is probably Bass Music', something that one might have been tempted to describe as the future of Dance Music' a few decades ago - to quote these prophetic words written many times. It's probably not, but these two songs are certainly fresh and futuristic.
Gabber Eleganza was born as a curated blog archive in 2011, an open research about rave subcultures mainly focused on the gabber and post-rave aestethic. The central ambition of the web archive was to become a source of research material on different topics: contemporary folklore, suburban euphoria and post-rave phenomena, revaluing a denigrated subculture through a new cultural lens.Over the years, the magnitude of the project has reached individuals far beyond the hardcore scene. Alberto Guerrini, the Italy and Berlin based founder, has since taken his project offline by producing zines, radio podcasts and garments. He currently tours as a DJ act or with a live performance dubbed The Hakke Show - an old-skool rave/hardcore DJ set with gabber dancers performing onstage: fast, air cutting moves, powerful thanks to their primitive intensity.In the past year Guerrini has brought the Hakke show to festivals: Club to Club (Turin), Resonate (Belgrade), performed as a DJ alongside Lorenzo Senni (Warp Records) and toured cities including Oval Space in London, Niebo in Warsaw, Janus/Berghain in Berlin, Ex Dogana in Rome, Empty Gallery in Hong Kong, etc. Guerrini has hosted radio shows on three London stations: RinseFM, NTS and Radar Radio.
Three clean-cut anthems for the studio debut of Gabber Eleganza, the anticipated new form for the archival and performative project created by Alberto Guerrini in 2011. Now updating the contemporary folklore with his analog grit. Try not to get your attention diverted once again. And keep calm under pressure.First volume of the Never Sleep series. Limited edition vinyl. Includes DL card.
* Brazilian producer L-Side releases his highly anticipated new album 'Carnal Mind' on the 6th April.
* Featuring American rapper Jeru The Damaja, British rapper DRS, dancehall/grime artist Lady Chann, and drum and bass vocalists MC Fats, MC Darrison and MC Conrad, the release is via the legendary drum and bass record label, V Recordings.
* Taking his influence from Hip Hop artists such as Jazz Liberatorz, The Pharcyde and Tribe Called Quest, L-Side is making his mark in the world of raw dancefloor focused drum and bass. Originally producing hip-hop beats before branching into Drum and Bass, he is known for his meticulous mix of upfront and aggressive sounds merged with funk and soul styles, forging a flawlessly fresh take on drum and bass.
* Leonardo de Jesus Silva, aka L-Side, began his career as a DJ and Producer in 2008 and the Sao Paulo born producer has gone on to cement himself as one of the most formidable producers to hail from the flourishing and highly respected Brazilian drum and bass scene, which is home to some of the most inventive and funkiest contributors to drum & bass this century.
* As a nation bursting at the seams with prolific and highly talented producers, L-Side has managed to emerge as one of the most exceptional and 'Carnal Mind' proves the point.
* 'Holding On' ft. Lady Chann, is a dark, brooding, half time number, full of menacing atmosphere - infusing elements of dancehall and grime, complemented perfectly by Lady Chann's ferocious, trademark vocal delivery while tracks like 'High Times' unleash unrelenting breakbeat right from the gate. Pulsating synths add momentum, channelling subterranean depths as MC Fats patois-tinged vocals ride overhead. The dark storm clouds clear briefly, allowing celestial pads to momentarily reset the atmosphere before hurling the listener straight back into the thick of it.
* Having released music on such labels as Philly Blunt, Chronic, Celsius and Soul Deep, his music has been supported by DJs from around the world, including DJ Marky, Bryan Gee, LTJ Bukem, Bailey and Doc Scott, while new single 'Holding On' received it's first official play from Mista Jam on BBC Radio 1Xtra.
* In addition to his solo recordings, L-Side has collaborated with fellow V producers, Subsid, Andrezz and Critycal Dub among others.
* The legendary drum and bass record label, V Recordings, was set up in 1993 by Jumpin' Jack Frost and Bryan Gee. Few record labels can claim to have changed the face of their respective scene. Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2018, since its birth, the label has released over 100 cuts from the likes of Marky & XRS, Krust and Die, Adam F, Lemon D, Scorpio, Dillinja and Roni Size
New York City has had a long history of dance music fused with confrontational performance. Whether it came from within the late 70's No Wave canon projected through venues like the Mudd Club or the downtown avant-garde galleries such as The Kitchen, the feeling that influences and infects Brooklyn-based duo Wetware's overall being as a cohesive and confrontational unit is as much enigmatic as it is familiar. Formed in 2015, Wetware eased into its performative role with their live shows around their home base of Brooklyn, NY.
Vocalist Roxy Farman, who's familiar voice was last seen on Drew McDowall's 'Unnatural Channel' album, stole audience's attention from the moment they started, using her body in tandem with her voice as a weaponised vehicle for the band's anxiety filled performance. Matthew Morandi cut his teeth in the electronic music world through his solo tech-industrial project Jahiliyya Fields and partner to Inhalants, the techno collaboration of Morandi and Max Ravitz (Patricia). The synergy that developed between Farman and Morandi has been explosive. Wetware's live antics and behaviour has caused alarm and envy amongst their local audiences, causing Wetware the group to 'not be missed' on any particular bill that they are allowed to take part in.
Wetware stepped out from their live persona and self-recorded a selection of songs that viewers had grown accustomed to and were debuted on the flawlessly curated Primitive Languages imprint. Shortly following their recorded premier was an EP collection of demo recordings on the much praised Bank NYC label. Once the band reconciled with documenting their work, they set out, with the help of engineer Kris Lapke (Alberich / Hospital Productions) to formalise their most recent output in the context of their first full length album entitled 'Automatic Drawing'.
Given Wetware's penchant for endurance, as displayed by their 3 hour long production at Koenig & Clinton Gallery in the Summer of 2017, one would expect the usual restlessness on Wetware's debut full length. All of the apprehension and unease in Wetware seems to have been channeled into a string of cohesive electronic statements found on songs 'Frequent Dreamlands' and 'Ode to Joe'. Industrial dance rhythms bounce around Farman's poetic stance on 'Where Ever You Were', causing flashbacks of an early 80's dystopia that jumps around a confusing, uncomfortable backdrop. Inter-spliced with modular electronic instrumentals like the album's opener 'Pantomime', Wetware's devastating portrait is that of a society in peril.
Alien Ensemble's trombone man Mathias Goetz caused quite a splash when he released his eponymous debut LP under his Le Millipede moniker back in 2015: The multi-instrumentalist's initial offering was clearly something else, impossible to grasp, a musical vessel beyond genre, beyond style or era, seemingly beyond space and time even, a vessel that carried an almost cosmic kind of song-craft - music with no fixed stamp of origin, though it did somehow feel like an Alien Transistor release. Followed by remix album Mirror Mirror, which comprised reworks by 1115, Protein, LeRoy, Olaf Opal, and Saroos, to name a few, it's now time for album #2: The Sun Has No Money.Let's face it: There's nothing as majestic as the sun. At least not in our world. If it runs out of juice one day, it's game over: The End. Light's out. For everyone. At that point, it wouldn't even matter if you're rich or poor. We're all equal under the sun. Same level. And yeah, this might not be major news, but then again... we're talking about the sun. The sun! Guess it's about time to acknowledge its power and superiority, right In fact, you can feel it on your bicycle: pedaling at night, when it's on duty in other hemispheres, and you're working hard at the dynamo, sweating, you can actually feel how powerful it is. In the end you get off the bike all recharged, a tune on your lips - and somehow feeling like a miniature version of the sun yourself. And whenever you feel like that, that's exactly the right moment to grab a melodica and get to work.Following an initial warm-up round sans electricity, this new album soon begins to glow: Mathias Goetz aka Le Millipede doesn't need pedals, he boosts circulation by single-handedly* playing tons and tons of different instruments - it actually feels like thousands, easily. And thus begins a show that has countless levels to it: There are various sonic illusions... and yet Le Millipede doesn't hide anything: He's also willing to show the inner workings, the actual recording process and everything else. In short: he goes meta. Makes songs about making songs. That's right: why not use all these beautiful means to address the issue of money It's not the sun that casts shadows, all it does is recharge, fuel: growth & thriving, that's the sun's area of responsibility. And yet there came a man whose plan was simple: steal the fruit from your garden, only to sell it right back to you, for money. We can hear the sea gulls crying in the distance, as somebody is throwing breadcrumbs up into the wind that carries their voices...It's not the sun that casts shadows - all it does is radiate light. And yet there came a time when someone blocked those rays of light. Now if you're some kind of Diogenes, you'll simply say, Move at least a little out of the sun.' But if you're a teacher, you'll maybe light up your pipe and use that to lighten up. What matters is that the percussion parts, in this case, resemble some serious musique concréte. The sun doesn't know shadows - all it knows, is itself. And yet somebody entered the picture and built an entire city. A city full of streets, so that houses can cast shadows into these avenues. Plus, there's music in the streets, music originally written inside the walls of said houses.One of those streets is known as the Tin Pan Alley: a place that got its name from a music writer who compared the sound of so many pianos to the banging of tin pans. That sound: that's one side of the road that is this album. Some of these melodies appear to be shadows of earlier tunes, dating back to, say, 1898 or even before that, melodies that were first registered in the Tin Pan Alley publishers' offices back in 1912 or 1917. We actually get to see this Alley at that point in time. We see the ropes, the workings. How things come together, the actual act of creation. Suddenly, we can hear the shadows!
Okay, so one side of this street is America. The US of A. The opposite side: Russia. And smack dab in the middle: Europe. A pothole in the center. All the back-and-forth that occurs between these two poles ultimately depends on the movement of the sun. Night and day, taking turns, commuting in and out of sight. We get to meet Prokofiew's and Scriabin's ghost, among other spirits, reframed and published by Le Millipede's own imaginary label imprint on the historic Tin Pan Alley. Indeed there are moments on this album when Le Millipede seems to be playing Scriabin's clavier a` lumie`res (tastiera per luce), when his performance seems to be based on synesthesia, a wild cross-pollination of colors and sounds. In case you didn't know this: In the States, Prokofiew goes by the name Brian Wilson, and Scriabin's also known as Sun Ra - yet another guy who's usually broke, but gets to spend a lot of time out in the sun. Together, these assorted protagonists ask the people of the Antilles for Mutabor dance-tokens and send postcards to Moondog in Germany, right back into the darkness. On the postcards you can see people dancing the Biguine...Firing foreign fossil fuels from all pipes (Brennelementsteuer!), Le Millipede controls the very center of this hustle and bustle: going as far as to employ some southern Chopped & Screwed styles, he's 100% current and zeitgeisty! Houston, we've got a problem: there's some kind of myriapod, centi- or millipede on the loose! Well, give me another sip of lean, sizzurp, dirty Sprite, and on goes the journey in the Pullman coach. Let's follow the sun! Keep on moving, keep things motorik! Here comes the Trans-Eureka-Express. Cherish the backpacking days! A piercing rhapsody of sound (bohrende Rhapsodie), we'll remember them fondly! And thus things move on, the sun, the days, the earth: rise, set, action, round and round... onwards eternally. The sun: the biggest loop known to mankind. As if it was some kind of sonic Rube Goldberg contraption, time seems to be stretching out while listening to that hmmm. After all: time is a lot (a lot!) more than just money. And yeah, the sun is the real big shot on (or rather: above) Planet Earth. Le Millipede's live line-up also includes Markus & Micha Acher (The Notwist etc.), Nico Sierig (Joasihno), and Manuela Rzytki (G. Rag & die Landlergschwister, Kamerakino etc.).
*sole exception: Evi Keglmaier (Zwirbeldirn, Hochzeitskapelle) plays the viola. Words/sun worship: Pico Be
Camarão - The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie 1964 - 1974
In 1960 we received an invitation to play in Recife, a wonderful, exciting and dangerous place, often described as a social jungle'.
The Forró party took place at Caxangá´s neighbourhood theatre, on the first floor, with its high ceilings, wooden floors and balconies, the place was perfect for these kinds of events. When all the windows were wide open, there would be a wonderful breeze during the hot tropical evenings.
Since everyone was looking for amusement, the place was packed on weekends. People from all corners of society would arrive nicely dressed, animated and chatting loudly over the sound of clinking glasses.
Pernambuco´s Cachaça, considered by many, especially by the locals, to be the best in the country, had started flowing generously and the popular sugar cane based alcohol lives up to its reputation.
We always had a few shots to warm up before performing and by the time the place was packed we were already in a very good mood.
Our local cachaça had loosened the bodies and minds of everyone in the room, people started to pair off and twirl around to the sound of forró music, smiling and sliding their feet off the floor - a reflex picked up from dancing in rural villages to avoid kicking up the dust'.
When we started The Bunker New York label in 2014 there was a short list of artists whose music we knew that we wanted to get out into the world. Lori Napoleon, aka Antenes, was high up on that list, although at the time the Brooklyn-based Chicago native had yet to release her recorded music at all. Five years on, after acclaimed records on L.I.E.S. and Silent Season, residencies at Issue Project Room and Bell Labs plus a busy global touring schedule as both a DJ and live performer, we are proud and excited to present Lori's Ante Meridiem EP under her Antemeridian production moniker. She tells us that the Antemeridian project is a special outlet for her more melodic synthesizer compositions and the name Antemeridian refers to morning light and the meridian lines of the planet, the view you would have from above if you were already in the sky/space/seeing the atmosphere also from a great distance.'
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With this EP, Antemeridian has created nothing less than a masterwork of synthesis comprising unique soundscapes unbelievably detailed and crisp. We asked Lori to tell us a bit about her production techniques, which include home-built machines from unorthodox source materials including vintage switchboards and telecommunications equipment. She actually built her first synthesizer out of an antique telephone switchboard we donated to her from The Bunker HQ! I use a combination of synths and controllers/sequencers that I've made along with commercially available/ bought or modded analog synths and field recordings that have gone through a number of effects chains. There may be a crackling sound that emerged from the modular which made me think about a flame sparking and burning out, recalling a very organic process in nature - but in a composition it's a drum element. Perhaps the sense of detail comes from how I work on finding sounds before arranging them in a track so when I find one with little nuances and textures, then I'll be inspired to compose with it. Visceral sounds are very important to me, and sounds that you may not instantly identify with this or that synth model - which is why I like the idea of designing my own palette for portions of tracks.'
Led by Saxophonist Rob Mitchell, Abstract Orchestra have been a consistent presence on the u.k. music scene, touring constantly in the promotion of their debut LP "Dilla" and steadily building a loyal and supportive fanbase.Inspired by the legendary live performances of The Roots with Jay-Z and the 40 piece orchestral arrangements by Miguel-Atwood Ferguson of the work of J Dilla, classic arranging techniques underpin modern loop-based structures, breathing new life into familiar material.The band itself is based on the classic jazz big band instrumentation of saxes, trumpets, and trombones and features the cream of the north of England's jazz scene, who collectively have played with Jamiroquai, Corinne Bailey Rae, Mark Ronson, Martha Reeves, John Legend & the Roots, Roots Manuva and Amy Winehouse.
"New Day" is the eagerly anticipated new single and features rapper and J Dilla's brother Illa J on vocals. Supported by a U.K. tour with Illa J throughout February, "New Day" takes the blueprint laid out on last years LP "Dilla" and expands it with Illa J's understated vocal delivery. Radio support anticipated from BBC6's Gilles Peterson who has been an advocate for Abstract Orchestra on both his BBC6 and Worldwide FM shows, as well as Huey Morgan (BBC6), Shawn Lee (Soho) and Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s). "New day" is the first original work by Abstract Orchestra and builds on the foundations laid on their debut. Flutes and electric piano lay out a gentle pad, propelled forward by Joost Hendrickx's insistent drums. Occasional fragments of saxophones add an urgency to the insouciant groove laid out by the rhythm section as soft trumpets and trombones are gradually added to the flutes. This provides the perfect foil to Illa J's laid-back vocal delivery as he describes a typically relaxed Tuesday morning spent contemplating the day ahead. The B-side is the AO remix which takes the instrumental performances of the A-Side, chopping and fragmenting them and re-framing the original with a slightly harder edge, which should be popular with those DJs and listeners looking for something with a tougher sound.
"We had a little pause on our release schedule, but without further delay we present with pleasure the next bomb by our good friend, DJ Spider!
Thema 46 was hatched from someone so deeply ingrained in the underground that he barely needs an introduction. From his RA "label of the month" featured imprint Plan B Recordings, to his thoroughly played productions on labels such as Rekids, Killekill and The Trilogy Tapes, DJ Spider has been a mainstay on the murkiest, most disorderly dance floors for years. His sound is characterized by disjointed elements lurching around in a off-kilter yet magnetic way that forces you to move in ways you didn't know you could. From the hell scorched, pitch bent echoes of "The Final Revolution" to the lo-fi groove antics of "Distress Signal", DJ Spider proves once again that no one can do it as perfectly weird as he can.
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.
We are proud to announce the kick-off of a new Dynamic Reflections subseries: Dynamic Reflection LTD. A series that is set to explore a broad spectrum of electronic music, and aims to cross the barrier between the club floors and home listening. And to start in a proper fashion, we launch the LTD-series with a very special vinyl + full digital album package by Jonas Korbl.
Three years in the making, this anticipated album chronicles the musical, and in many ways, spiritual coming-of-age of Jonas Korbl. Having started producing house music at a very young age, this debut album under his birth name signifies a new direction for the young Dutchman. In these pieces you hear him shaking off the restraints of formulaic working, opting for more experimental paths instead. You could say Discovered 5 is a story about learning about music; An expression of the author's experience in broadening his horizons.
In the full release Korbl presents nine tracks with a sleek and undeniably dark aesthetic, taking you from ambient soundscapes to main room techno and back, touching down in Berlin and London along the way. Downtempo excursions comfortably rub shoulders with rough-and-tumble club destroyers, but as varied and idiosyncratic as the album is, the music feels far from contrived. Instead, the variation keeps you engaged, with the quieter moments acting as a counterweight to the pieces with a more straightforward approach. Somehow he manages to make all these different places and moods uniquely his own.
The most remarkable thing about this LP is Korbl's uncanny ability to take familiar elements and bending them to his will, creating a new context for the listener to experience his personal brand of electronic music in. The adventurous DJ will surely find a track to create that special dance floor moment on the vinyl release, containing four club-ready tracks. However, for the full experience the entire album is a must-listen, connecting the dots between the highlights placed on the physical LP. All in all, this debut bodes very well. With skills and experience beyond his years, Korbl's star is sure to only rise from here.
The current resurgence of jazz in all its' forms has certainly been impossible to ignore in recent times - from the chart-bound, mainstream crooning of Gregory Porter, to the left field 'jazz not jazz' soundscapes of Kamasi Washington, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia and Snarky Puppy proves this is a worldwide phenomenon. One artist who has been been ploughing this furrow in the southern hemisphere for longer than most is Lance Ferguson. As the driving force behind The Bamboos, Cookin' On 3 Burners, Lanu, and the Black Feeling series, these are the varied and versatile projects on which he has built an enviable reputation.
Menagerie 'They Shall Inherit' saw the light of day in 2012 (Tru Thoughts Records) and established the fact that jazz of the contemporary type could reach back to it's essential roots and present itself, refreshed and vital for a contemporary audience.
Lance himself explains: "The Arrow Of Time' draws its inspiration conceptually from the themes of space exploration, human evolution and the future of humankind. It's pretty big stuff to be underpinning an album of modal Jazz tunes - but the main message is one of hope, and I hope that comes across in the music"
Late 2017 saw the 2 track album sampler 'Evolution/Arrow Of Time' create a genuine buzz of anticipation, being playlisted on Jazz FM, and also supported by Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2) and both Don Letts & Gilles Peterson on their BBC 6 Music shows - having as it does the spirit of deep jazz, but combining an accessible sound that reached way beyond the usual jazz hungry audience - due in one part to Evolution's immensely catchy hooks, with the voice of Fallon Williams focusing the listeners attention on the philosophical themes Lance highlighted above. Now the album, laid out in its' entirety can be experienced, attempting to encapsulate the music with the written word feels like a somewhat futile exercise, so it is best to consider Lance Fergusons' final thoughts about its inspiration, influences and ongoing appeal.
"The sound of record labels like Strata East, Tribe and Black Jazz has been a massive influence on Menagerie. To me that sound is timeless, exciting and just as vibrant as a musical format in 2018 - and the proof is that we're hearing more and more young musicians embracing it"
It's already been two years since Leonardo Martelli's debut with the four-tracker Menti Singole. He has since been following the direction he took with this first release, at a rather slow path, releasing a lone and haunted mini-album, Previsto, in the meantime. With Menti Singole Vol.2, Martelli establishes a picture of his music, an update of his aspirations in the feminine.
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Sparse, clear-cut and slightly nerve-racking, Micaella opens the record with the precision of a neurosurgeon. The song can be seen in many ways as a good introduction to the music of the Italian musician - past and probably future. Ethereal string machines balance the nagging acid leitmotiv: as often with Martelli's music, there's something going on in the background, some anonymous forces operating off-screen.
We can make the same assessment with Alice, the most obviously desperate tune on the record: the sad synth melody comes in as if it was trying to fill an emotional void, but the supposedly reassuring sentence is not complete, notes are missing. On Laura - just like with Alice - Martelli keeps on playing with the potential of abstraction of rap samples, a process we're familiar with since Previsto.
Sofia gives a particularly striking example of this weird game he likes to play as Biggie Smalls' words get progressively eviscerated from their meaning. Backed by bare percussive samples (a numerical metronome, copyright-free digital ersatz of percussions), Sofia depicts - without any artifice - despair in a post-industrial world, where everything has lost any sense of materiality - while Previsto was still set in a industrial world of steaming factories. Disarmingly simple, Menti Singole Vol.2 offers electronic mourning music at its most elegant.
The band project Drums Off Chaos was one of the central and on-going projects of the recently deceased drummer Jaki Liebezeit (who is normally associated first and foremost with the Cologne-based band CAN). In the early 1980s he had initiated an - at first - loose collective of drummers, who created a rhythmic concept on the basis of simple, strictly binding codes that enabled expansive improvisations.
Over the years the ensemble became smaller and refined its collaboration marked by repetitive patterns and their variation. You have to play monotonous,' a membr of the audience had already told Liebezeit in the 1960s. He took this to heart and there was hardly any other formation where he could bring this concept to life as regularly and with as much inspiration as in Drums Off Chaos.
During a development spanning more than three decades, this extra-ordinary band, which never saw itself as such, made numerous recordings but rarely any releases. However, in the last few months of his life Jaki Liebezeit, with colleagues Reiner Linke, Maf Retter and Manos Tsangaris, earmarked some tracks for imminent release on vinyl and CD - on different compilations. Liebezeit's death is all the more reason to go ahead with this plan.
Record Kicks proudly presents "SuperStudio" the new single by legendary Italian cinematic funk combo Calibro 35 sampled by Dr.Dre and Jay-Z, taken from their forthcoming new studio album DECADE
"SuperStudio" - available on a super limited edition 45 vinyl and digital download together with bonus track "Gomma" - is Calibro 35's first single and anticipates their new album DECADE that hits the streets next 9 February. Quoting the band "SuperStudio is the main theme for a movie that doesn't exist, starring Clint Eastwood and Pam Grier saving earth from the invasion of deadly robots from another planet" and it's pure Dynamite. On the flip you'll find "Gomma", the bonus track out of the album which is an irresistible funk groovy shaker.
Recorded at the legendary Officine Meccaniche studios in Milan by CALIBRO's usual suspect and Grammy Award winner Tommaso Colliva, "DECADE" marks 10 years of Calibro 35's releases and it's the very first album recorded by Calibro with an orchestral-inspired enlarged line-up. Active since 2008 CALIBRO 35 enjoys a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent band around. During their ten years career, they have been sampled by Dr. Dre on his Compton album and Jay-Z, they shared stages worldwide with the likes of Roy Ayers, Muse, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sharon Jones, Thundercat, Headhunters and as unique musicians they've collaborated with, amongst others PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish and Stewart Copeland and Nic Cester (The Jet). Described by Rolling Stone magazine's as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing, that happened to Italy in the last years", Calibro 35 now count on a number of aficionados worldwide which includes VIP's fans such as Dj Food (Ninja Tune), Mr Scruff and Huey Morgan (Fun Lovin' Criminals) among others.
OMEN Recordings is off running to the industrial techno races againand this third release has already been gaining traction around the globe with high anticipation and support from many respected producers and DJs alike. The Puppetskin EP written and produced by German and French artists RENDERED with remixes by American producers BLACK ASTEROID and AXKAN is off to a great start. RENDERED starts off strong with the title track Puppetskin" (A1), with strong breakbeat kicks, thrashing snares and rich synth lines that are melodic and spacey. The dancefloor will surely love the Charles Manson samples. Nightmoves' (A2) also heads the pack with shuffling kicks while rich, minor-tuned pads take you on a persistent journey. About half way through, you will be moved by a 4/4 pattern that sneaks in and will be a favorite for the dancers. BLACK ASTEROID's remix of Puppetskin' (B2) does not disappoint as signature Black Asteroid textures and rhythms come alive in this rendition. Although it has rounded, full soundscapes that sound perfect for a large venue, its pumping, hypnotizing bass lines and screeching sirens keep you pulled into the darkness. AXKAN stays in the pack with his earthshattering remix of Puppetskin' (B1) by starting slow with a profound intro to then push the audio boundaries with his powerful kick and bassline, to gain more and more strength with vocal samples, distorted drums and FX. AXKAN uses every stem of the original in such a creative way to help win the race. This EP, soon to be available on vinyl and digital formats, exceeds the expectations of sound design and techno together. No matter what time of night it is, these tracks can be played in a versatile way. While still employing darker textures, a breath of light creeps its way in. Listening to this EP start to finish is definitely worthwhile.
