quête:be 2

To describe an album as "electronic music" has long been an understatement. "Romanticismo siempre" is a good example. Recorded mainly using synthesizers, the album travels a territory that borders on the experimental and the dancefloor, entering at times in both fields.

Andrés Téllez, Delone, states in its title a clear commitment: "an ode to life, to never lose that passion that is the engine that pushes everything, no matter how many obstacles there are along the way, such as love, madness or death". The need to express this is at the origin of the record.

His musical language is rich and varied. Among synthesizers, analog experimentation, drones and psychedelia, many of the subcultures that have shaped what was once called "electronic music" appear. Flashes of trip hop, new age and proto-electronics are amalgamated throughout the album, together with hints of mutant house, breakbeats, IDM and trance. Other genres peripheral to club sounds, such as post-rock or kraut, also appear.

The idea of creating something that could almost be considered a soundtrack is present, but Delone's singularity has taken the album down a different path, using his own musical vocabulary to articulate a narrative that leads him towards his desired destination, keeping experimentation and dance culture, constants in his career, very much in mind.

In 2014 and together with his partner and friend Carlos Trujillo, Andrés created Riverette, a record label that became a record store in the center of Madrid, with his studio in the basement. From there he unleashed his productions as Dos Attack and his first works as Delone. Riverette quickly became a key creative pole in the Spanish electronic underground, and the label has released records by Legowelt, Kornel Kovacs or HAAi.

Throughout the eleven tracks of "Romanticismo siempre", a story materializes in which the protagonism falls on the adrenaline of passion. Through a very personal sound, with a certain introspective vocation, Andrés tells us a wonderful tale with the help of exquisite arrangements and a rich expressiveness.

"Romanticismo siempre" is a polyhedral album that can change with every listen, with every track, and reinterpret itself almost with every playback. It is a complex record, delicate and full of nuances, at the same time charged with a powerful and primitive energy.

There was a long time I considered Raymond Richards the ultimate secret weapon. There were sounds he could make that other people just couldn’t. Pure, whole, yet complex sounds. The pedal steel is an extremely niche instrument outside of its Country confines, but its sheer and transcendent depth has never failed to floor me. Raymond’s ear for implementing the steel into literally 'anything' has always been uncanny. After decades of being savvy to his work ethic, multi-faceted studio skills and overall sense of musical honesty, it became a priority for me to channel some of this into narratives through the ESP Institute and get his stories told. Without further recounting the history and trajectory of our musical relationship (see the press release for 2020’s critically-acclaimed album 'The Lost Art Of Wandering'), I can whole-heartedly confirm this sophomore release, 'Sand Paintings', opens an even wider door into Raymond’s visceral, contemplative world. The cast of players has elaborated to include Calexico’s John Convertino on drums and percussion, a bevy of eccentric stringed instruments and even a hint of brass to collectively stratify context for the pedal steel. Through diversifying the timbral palette, we invite an increased soundstage acuity but also reveal untapped wells of emotion for the listener, perhaps even testing cultural literacies. One foot remains in our established ambient realm, while the other steps toward grand cinematic gestures, and despite the dense, insurmountable emotion in these songs, there is a stoic singularity, like a lonesome cowboy pulling up his boot straps to endure another day. 'Badwater Basin' opens with courage, an enormous chord evoking Raymond’s image of “hard dawn”, but in navigating through the dramatic depictions of 'Monument Valley', 'Saguaro' and 'Deer On Hwy 80', we grapple with a cloaked vulnerability—weathered by the elements, beaten down and alone, yet still madly in love with the world. —Lovefingers

Japanese club jazz band "AVOCADO BOYS" . This single is based on AOR sound by beat maker MASAHIRO KITAGAWA of Kaho Nakamura band.

Joseph Capriati is firmly established as one of the greatest techno DJs in the world, but growing up in Naples his first connection with electronic dance music was actually in the House Music genre. “Peace And Blessings” feat. Arnold Jarvis is Joseph’s very personal tribute to this genre, where he produced a track that he felt encompassed the vibe and spirituality of House Music. He wanted a song and vocal performance that would equally represent all the best qualities of the genre, and joined with one of the industry’s most iconic and legendary vocal talents Arnold Jarvis to write lyrics and deliver a vocal performance that perfectly complements Joseph’s percussion and synth driven track. Bushwhacka! on board as Mix Engineer on The Groove Mix.

Northern California psychedelic sorcerers Carlton Melton are brain surfers, mind trippers, … “psychlists,” if you prefer. The band will take your head for a ride, occasionally rushing at superluminal speeds through a wormhole or gliding softly on a gentle breeze in a leafy glade. Sometimes your brain needs to rage, and sometimes it needs to repose. For a decade and a half, the band has yo-yo’ed, almost schizophrenically, between these two modes: walloping space jams with furious guitar solos in one hemisphere of the brain and ethereal, feather-light splashdowns in the other. Not to mention a track here and there that builds from the latter into the former. But with two new releases in 2023, the band has evolved. Whether psych rock or ambient trance, their sound remains driving, organic, and flowing. With the addition of Anthony Taibi (White Manna, DDT), however, the group’s metal freak-outs are Hawkwindier and their droning kraut trances are Spacemen 3-er. In January, the quartet released the playfully spacey Resemble Ensemble, recorded in Taibi’s home studio 3D Light. October now sees the band Turn To Earth, a work with scents of Autumn, a season of death and transition. The cover art evokes a vine-covered, electric crucifix. The sound is, well, earthy but also gritty and striving towards change. The album was recorded in Fall 2022 and now harvested in Fall 2023. Phil Becker (Terry Gross, Pins Of Light) contributed drums and percussion to a few tracks on Turn To Earth, recording the album at El Studio in San Francisco.

With Becker at the helm, the synths have become more prominent (“Cosmicity,” “Roboflow,” “Migration”) and the tone heavier on the doom (“Cloudstorming,” “Unlock The Land,” title track): several moments could even serve as background music for epic dark fantasy films like Conan the Barbarian, Fire and Ice, or Heavy Metal. As exquisite as Turn To Earth is, Melton are best appreciated as a live act: their recordings as well as their gigs are largely improvised – not so much composed as birthed. And yet their most recent tour ended abruptly and perilously. The group had to cancel its final three shows once members were admitted to Arnhem hospital in the Netherlands. Five years later, reinforcements have strengthened the band and restocked its arsenal of great tracks. After the rockus interruptus of that 2018 tour and the tantric tease of the intervening Covid lockdown, Melton have some unfinished business. An October 2023 tour is poised to set the freshly minted quartet back onto the stages of Europe and within the cerebral folds of its fans. Turn To Earth, sure … but keep your head in outer space. Carlton Melton is: andy duvall – drums/gtr; clint golden – bass; rich millman – gtr/synth; and anthony taibi – synth/gtr.

Emi Ömar drops "JOJO day/night EP," a bold fusion of electronic beats, vocoder accents, and infectious grooves.

This new EP ventures into a sonic territory where various contrasts abound, juggling between daytime brightness and nighttime mystery.

Each track is an escapade that defies conventions, blending impactful synths and captivating rhythms.

Emi Ömar has established himself as a groove master, transforming any venue into a pulsating dancefloor with his infectious beats and dynamic stage presence.

Veteran is the second studio from renowned Baltimore rapper, JPEGMAFIA. It was released on January 19 2018 by Deathbomb Arc and Republic Records. The album was released to widespread critical acclaim and brought JPEGMAFIA to the forefront of contemporary and experimental hip hop. NME, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Noisey, and Spin all listed Veteran in their top 100 albums of 2018. In 2019, Pitchfork listed it at number 171 in their list of best albums of the decade. The album features JPEGMAFIA's most streamed song, 1539 N. Calvert.



As described by Pitchfork: "Entirely self-produced, Veteran is a remarkable exercise in sound and texture. At its best the production makes the frayed edges of each element part of the atmosphere, a mess of distortion that works percussively and melodically." JPEGMAFIA has since established himself as one of today's premiere contemporary and experimental hip hop artists, with over 1.5M monthly listeners on Spotify, and 500K+ Instagram followers.

Tape Reworks, Vol. 2is the fourth project by Langham Research Centre released onNonclassical. Following the success of theirTape Works, Vol. 1and subsequentTapeReworks, Vol. 1(which featured remixes by Jim O'Rourke and Group A), this EP presentstwo remixes of tracks fromTape Works, Vol. 2:'Movable Fields', remixed by Kara-LisCoverdale, and 'Nachholbedürfnis', remixed by Beatriz Ferreyra. Kara-Lis Coverdale's 'Movable Fields' is an icy soundscape, gently moving at a glacial pace, evoking the feel of a field recording from a strange planet. 'Movable Fields' draws from elements of twoTape Works, Vol. 2tracks, 'Accarezzo' and 'Terminal Voltage Traces'. Ferreyra's remix of 'Nachholbedürfnis' is a dadaist cacophony of bleeps and lo-fi scratchy samples, darting chaotically throughout the track in true GRM fashion. The original album utilizedrecordings made in specific locations, particularly brutalist buildings, as an audiomanifestation of modernism.

Embarking on our musical journey with Wiremu, originally from New Zealand and now based in Leeds, we set sail with his EP, "The Subtle Hustle." Beyond a personal passion, Wiremu's dedication to music production serves as a tribute to his Maori heritage, infusing his compositions with profound cultural depth. "The Subtle Hustle," the opening track, forges a dynamic tone with deep bass, punchy percussion, and house-infused Rhodes chords. Minimal references and synthetic rips seamlessly fuse, creating a captivating dance track. "Beat-Up Town," the second track on the A side, is a dance floor blockbuster with bouncy bass, accompanied by an 808 kick drum. Keyboard work integrates chords into a dynamic groove, making it stand out among dance tracks. "Key Notes Frequency Quotes," opening the B side, introduces lead hi-hats contributing to a great dynamic. Vocal inserts layer over ripped synthesizer parts, creating a house vibe filled with energy and style. Closing the record, 'Have You Written On The Wall?' takes us on a journey through running percussion and minimalistic elements, skilfully compressing space and stretching time, accompanied by atmospheric backing.

Bread & Souls is a new project dreamt up by Italian entrepreneur and music lover Franco Fusari. Franco invited Mark de Clive-Lowe on board to direct and produce an album of collaborations with some of our favorite artists including the likes of Bembé Segué, Vanessa Freeman, Paul Randolph, Rich Medina, Tommaso Cappellato and more.
Chapter 2 EP continues with more future classics, kicking off with the jazz dancefloor workout Never Gonna Leave featuring the Queen of Broken Beat Bembé Segué on vocals and shredding sax solos courtesy Teodross Avery. In classic soulful broken beat fashion, Bembe reunites again with Vanessa Freeman for Technicolor Sunshine – drenched in MdCL’s signature production sound. Two remixes complete this installment with Mr Scruff and Kaidi Tatham’s downtempo reworking Anybody Out There (check out the original version on Chapter 1) and Italy’s G&D coming through

The package, posted from Inglewood in California, dropped through my letter box…
I was looking forward to seeing this, the VHS of the then relatively ‘unknown’ but now legendary live show at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. But when I fed it into my VHS player, I was disappointed. I could not quite figure out why. The band were tight, each musician sounded great, the product of being on the road, year after year, club after club in the States, sometimes playing five shows a night, all propped up by one of the best soulful voices we had ever heard, the maestro Frankie Beverly.
It took a second play of the VHS to realise what was missing. It was ‘too comfortable’ an atmosphere. A few wealthy customers sat around coffee tables quaffing champagne. It seemed to me that this audience, somehow, did not fit the band.
Paul Fenn at Asgard promotions received the contract from the band to appear live in London and Manchester. I became more and more convinced that his UK fans were going to be a lot more responsive than those from New Orleans.
We put the word out with just a couple of exclusive ‘shout outs’ by Robbie Vincent on his Radio London Soul programme. Those two plugs were enough to sell out all four shows at London’s premier music venue, the Hammersmith Odeon. The ticket office was rammed and the queue six deep, stretched halfway down Queen Caroline Street.
“I have never seen anything like it” expressed the manager of the theatre as he rolled down the shutters and turned on the “Sorry, SOLD OUT” notice above the theatre box office.
I was curious, so I went up and stood in the wings of the Hammersmith stage on that first show. Frankie, introduced to the stage by his sound engineer, Greg Blockman, sauntered past me, strumming his rhythm guitar, dressed in a casual dark green towelling suit, a brown leather visor and flip flops…and then five seconds later, he suddenly stopped. He seemed suddenly to be aware of the thunderous ’Welcome to London Maze’ roar, circling around the theatre about to engulf him. He slapped every black and white hand offered up to him that night, with a huge smile as he circled the edge of that stage. We wanted to get next to him, even if it meant climbing over rows of seats in front of us to do so.
That was the beginning of our love affair with Maze and Frankie Beverly. It certainly wasn’t New Orleans comfort; it was more like a crazy, but friendly, London riot.
Five albums on from the “Live in New Orleans” LP, Frankie sauntered into the California recording studio, probably with the same swagger as in London, to cut the delightful A-side here, “Somebody Else’s Arms”, from his aptly named ‘Silky Soul’ album. Along with the B-side, ‘Love is’ (from the “Back To Basics” CD, 1993) both are so delicious you might want to relax and pour yourself that London glass of champagne, 1983 vintage. Tell your mates your Maze/Hammersmith story too. You deserve it.

2024 repress

Melody As Truth founder Jonny Nash returns to action with his first solo album in four years.

Over the course of eleven mesmerising tracks, Nash points the compass gently inwards, casting aside any conceptual frameworks in favour of exploring an imaginative and idealised “personal folk music” that combines elements of traditional acoustic music with the producer’s richly immersive interpretation of ambient, a sound he has been developing for well over a decade.

From the smudged acid-folk bliss of ‘Theories’ and ‘Eternal Life’, to the layered acoustic guitars of ‘All I Ever Needed’ and the delay-soaked, Durutti Column-esque ‘Light From Three Sides’, a wide variety of musical textures weave their way throughout the album.

Point of Entry is much more than a mere ‘guitar album’ – it draws on a rich and diverse palette to achieve its purpose. The delicate saxophone work of ambient-jazz contemporary Joseph Shabason swells on ‘Ditto’ and ‘Light From Three Sides’. Cascading piano lines ripple through the crystal clear sonic waters of ‘Face of Another’, whilst echoes of Nash’s work with Gigi Masin and Young Marco as Gaussian Curve appear in the dancing synth sequences of ‘Ditto’ and ‘Golden Hour’. Nash’s reverb-laden voice also appears for the first time since 2016’s critically acclaimed Exit Strategies, used delicately throughout the album to conjure up a world of dusk and golden light.

Combining the delicate human touch and naivety of earlier Melody As Truth releases with widened scope and vision, Point Of Entry is arguably Nash’s most complete work to date – an album that’s as much a statement of his “personal folk” vision as a future ambient classic.

Recall IV is the project created by Andre Fischer that reached a massive success in the German techno scene in 1990 with the release of the single “Contrast” on Techno Drome International / ZYX Records. This was shortly followed by two more releases in 1991 (“Contrast – Part 2” and the extended play “Aesthetic”) and contributions to various compilations.

Andre has been a very active techno composer and producer since the late 80’s working with people like Lars Janzik, Carlos Perón, Giora Schein & Holger Wick (Konzept), Volker Then (Friends Of Carlotta) on countless projects including Scope, Scrot, Technoline, Trust in 6, ADSX, etc.

“Interstate” compiles tracks from all Recall IV singles, some old compilations and a selection of unreleased cuts and remixes. Limited edition of 500 copies on double vinyl with insert (thick black cardboard with die-cut logo) and sticker.

Techno Tuesday Amsterdam, weekly club night at legendary Melkweg Amsterdam, is finally coming out with its own label. This first release is the kick off for the 15 Year Anniversary of Techno Tuesday Amsterdam, which will be celebrated in March 2024. The label will bring up some of the selected artists and established producers. Expect to hear innovative techno sounds, modular and analogue beats, and forward thinking music.

naive's 20th release epitomizes what the Lisbon-based label, run by Violet, has become cherished for: imaginative yet timeless, soothing yet moody, melodic yet sonic music. Entitled 'Computer Hermetics', this new record is an EP by UrbnMowgli, a fairly new Berlin-based artist who began releasing music in 2020. The opening track, 'Fast Love Life', is a 145 bpm electro-bred, breakbeat-driven emotive dancefloor banger. It features menacing stabs juxtaposed with beautiful pads and acid-drenched arpeggio motifs that lend it a oneiric quality. 'Oracle Algorithm' picks up the 303 spirit and delves into trippier territories, densening the dreamlike, expansive atmosphere while infusing the record with electro-driven grit. Closing side A is 'Warschauer Rush-Hour', a futuristik, high-tempo twisted electro banger that's both tough and playful. 'Immaterial Desires' inaugurates side B--an ode to adventurous drum programming and intricate sound design in the form of a percussion-punctuated curveball belter. 'Digital Dawn' brings it all back home to the heart and closes the record with its deepest, most immersive moment, giving us big bass lines that alchemically converse with angelic bleepy melodies as if soundtracking a soulful sci fi movie that doesn't exist yet.

The Rave Doctor – a pseudonym of Dave Wallace, who had a huge input and impact in the UK rave, hardcore, jungle and drum & bass scenes under numerous names such as Mad Dog, Fugitive as well as Aquasky, plus many, many others!

This is the second EP under his Rave Doctor alias that was originally released in 1993 on the Southampton label Adrenalin Records, that was run by Stu J (who also had a release on Vinyl Fanatiks a few years back). Featuring the track ‘Ruff In The Jungle’ that went on to become an anthem in Tenerife where 10,000 ravers will all throw their hands up and cheer when its dropped at a festival. I am reliably told that the track is bigger than Liquid’s ‘Sweet Harmony’ over there which came as quite a surprise to Dave who only recently found this out.

All four tunes are anthemic party tracks with that Dave Wallace melodic midas touch. If you like this, then grab a copy of The Rave Doctor ‘Lost In Bass’ EP which is still available via Sequence.

The debut album by the italian singer-songwriter influenced by soul, jazz, funk and hip hop.

Love Letters is the debut album of urban singer-songwriter Raffaella Zago. The first album of the Paduan-born, Milan-based artist contains ten tracks influenced by soul, jazz, funk and hip hop that deal repeatedly with the theme of love. In 2023, Raffaella Zago quickly attracted attention with her first official song, a nu-soul reinterpretation of "Money Trees", a song by the most praised rapper of the last decade, Kendrick Lamar, for which she composed a new melody. The other pieces of "Love Letters", in which she addresses people who have been or are part of her life, reaffirm her vocal, writing and composing skills.

One of the most consistent new labels around, Cyphon Recordings, marks double figures with another standout release that gleans from the past, but faces the future. This time they look to the talents of Emotive Technology, a new alias from Chilean Massiande who provides a five-track EP of machine-wielding, soul-rousing techno from across the spectrum.

Although this may be the first release under his new moniker, Massiande has spent the last decade putting out productions with labels such as Housewax, Phonica, Freerange and Groovin. Firing on all cylinders from the get-go, ‘Rise’ kicks off the Walk Into The Light EP. A hyperspace melding of new beat, Italo and arp-operating techno that opens out into a slice of peak-time revelry.

The swirling textures of ‘It’s On’ follow, pushing you into the next dimension. A hypnotic, entrancing and arresting heads-down powerhouse. Crunchy and considered it's the kind of strobe-stuttering basement jam that turns heads inside out.

Two Detroit-leaning tracks ‘Your Zone’ and ‘Walk IntoThe Light’ are up next. The former is a heavyweight machine workout. Layered synth lines and crisp drum programming transfix, as that grooving low-end powers bodies into bedlam. The latter, a Motor-City-influenced tour de force. One that sees Massiande recode the circuitry to hit with a piano-laden stunner, balancing power and presence, with emotion and nuance.

Closing out proceedings, ‘The Swing’ sucks you in deeper. A resonating world of synth stabs, pulsating basslines and atmospheric electronics.

Doing the Emotive Technology namesake proud, Walk Into The Light is machine music hardwired with a heavy sense of soul.