Dishwasher_ are the latest disciples of yet another new wave of talent in the fertile Belgian groove and jazz scene. It would, however, be a shame to limit them to the constraints of any given musical style. Ever since their formation in 2019, the Ghent-based trio have been experimenting with all possible genres to create a contemporary sound they can now rightfully call their own. With their self-titled debut album, to be released in April 2023 via Sdban Ultra, they are closing off an impressive first chapter, delivering a unique and diverse yet coherent collection of groove-driven cuts.
While labeling Diswasher_ as a jazz band wouldn’t do them enough justice, it is a fact that improvisation and a certain free approach turn out to be key in the creation and performance process of the album’s tracks. Werend, Louise and Arno specifically aim to capture their live energy and synergy on the album by experimenting with structures and textures, playing with song lengths and implementing influences from various other styles — electronic music in the first place, but as well traces from (Middle-)Eastern and Balkan music, next to dance, hip-hop and even metal.
As a result, the record tends to be a pure and honest representation of Diswasher_’s musical identity and artistic quest over the past years — both as individual musicians and as a band. Saxophones drenched in effects, diverse layers of synthesizers, a bass guitar hopping from fingerpicking licks to deep and drone-like bass tones, drums can sometimes sound like drum computers, and sometimes as subtle rhythmic chords: it’s pretty clear how deep this trio have dived to search and find something totally fresh and new.
Members of the band are Arno Grootaers, Werend Van Den Bossche and Louise van den Heuvel. Their debut album is coming out on Sdban Ultra, the innovative label of Black Flower, ECHT! and Compro Oro (among others). In 2023 they will fully focus on new talent, by signing Dishwasher_, but also KAU (formerly KAU trio) and Schroothoop. Apart from that, you can expect debut albums or EPs by LũpḁGangGang, Bandler Ching, KVR trio and Adja coming out this year. Stay tuned.
Cerca:bla bla bla
Recut & Repressed on Yellow Vinyl!
Club U Nite Records presents: Your Daily Dose Of Dope!
Brand new 4 track EP in the timeless sound of the 90s.
A1 Is raw and dirty and makes you stumble with the extreme swing! Don't stop dancing!
The second track on the A Side is just 'Delicious' and brings the good old 90s vibe back to your dusty 1210s.
The B-side starts with a load of jazz & funk and brings a lot of deepness with it. Simply the highest pleasure!
B2 closes with a pumpin 'goodie that brings everything you need after many hours of partying ... Depois De Horas.
12" + 7" !
Mind Maze is, amazingly, Trees Speak’s fifth album to be released on Soul Jazz Records in the space of little over two years– an output matched only by the intensity of their music created during this short time.
The first pressing only of the album comes with a bonus seven-inch single containing two tracks that are not available on vinyl anywhere else.
As with all their previous releases, ‘Mind Maze’ is a mind-boggling tightrope walk across an array of musical influences that seamlessly create the unique present-day world of Trees Speak.
The band’s sound is characterized by a combination of German krautrock motoric-beat rhythms, angular New York post-punk attitude, 60s spy soundtracks, psych, rock, jazz, and 70s synthesizers and vocoders. There is also a cosmic spatial awareness to their sound; both personal inner space and galactic outer space, as well as a wilful pushing of sonic boundaries.
Trees Speak are a musical duo based in Tucson, Arizona, composed of Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz. Their music is heavily influenced by the cosmic magic of the natural desert landscapes of Arizona, creating a unique and captivating sound that is both experimental and innovative.
Here you will find the myriad sounds of 1970s German electronic music (everything from Can to Cluster, Popul Vuh to Tangerine Dream); 1980s New York post-punk and synthcore (from No Wave to Suicide); John Barry’s 1960s movies, John Carpenter’s 1970s horror. You will also hear the influences of French and Italian progressive rock (Magma, Goblin) as well as cosmic, new age and experimental space soundscapes …. an almost endless list of diverse influences that ebb and flow like an ocean of sound, in the process creating a truly unique soundscape that Trees Speak have made wholly their own.
The name Trees Speak reflects their interest in the concept of using future technologies to store information and data in trees and plants, with the idea that trees communicate collectively. This interest in nature and technology, combined with their passion for experimentation, has led Trees Speak to create a truly one-of-a-kind listening experience that is both unique and engaging.
If you ever wanted to hear Can, Neu!, Destroy All Monsters, Pere Ubu, electric eels, John Cage, Liquid Liquid, Tangerine Dream, Suicide, Laurie Spiegel, Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Barry, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company, Sun Ra, Stockhausen, John Carpenter, Electro-Acoustic and Musique Concrete and Mars in one band - then this is it! Trees Speak are a band that defies categorization and offer an eclectic listening experience, both exciting and memorable.
The two bonus tracks (‘Seraphim’ and ‘Orpheus’) included with the album give us a further window into the complex mind maze of the group - two stunning acoustic tracks that explore a distinct early 70s sound of Yes, Argent and other progressive rock accolytes.
- A1: Dreams (Feat Xênia França&Zé Leônidas)
- A2: Kismeti (Feat Matthias Schriefl)
- A3: Asase (Feat Eric Owusu)
- A4: Sábado (Feat Zé Leônidas)
- A5: Carrossel (Feat Zé Leônidas)
- B1: Caio & Eric (Feat Eduardo Camargo)
- B2: Ndiyakhangela (Feat Bongani Givethanks &Amp; Mpho Nkuzo)
- B3: Agôra (Feat Matthias Schriefl)
- B4: Oblique Sunshine (Feat Rebekka Ziegler)
Global pointing Brazilian jazz trio releases their new album Agôra, that sparkles with electric funk and Herbie-esque eclecticism. It features a myriad of guest vocalists and musicians including Brazilians Xênia França and Zé Leônidas, Jembaa Groove's Ghanaian singer Eric Owusu and South African artists Bongani Givethanks & Mpho Nkuzo
Re-wiring the concept of 'fusion' for 2023, Agôra is Brazilian trio Caixa Cubo's resurgent new record with the title referring to 'now', based upon the intuitive and fluid nature of the trio's method, and this inspired recording. With shoots to black music culture, from Brazil to Brooklyn, Ghana and South Africa, Agôra is the group's ninth album yet is their first where they've invited guests, mainly singers, onto each track and follows their last, Angela from 2020, released on Heavenly Records, which won a BBC 6 Music Album of the Year (Huey Morgan's selection) granting them much deserved international recognition.
The core musical elements of Caixa Cubo are Henrique Gomide (keys), João Fideles (drums) and Noa Stroeter (bass), all from São Paulo, Brazil and where they met as teenagers and would continue their friendship and musical bond at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands. Now all in their mid thirties, João and Noa live back in the city where it all started but Henrique has settled in Cologne, Germany where the recording of Agôra took place, over the course of 3 days, at the home cum studio of Chris 'Dusty' Doepke, their friend and owner of the label they signed to, Jazz & Milk.
In line with all their creations where flow and energy provide the magic, allowing what the moment provides, the album shines not only for its virtuosity but for its minimalism, the depth of space, and for the first time, the ability to figure in and outside of the jazz fold, as the trio decided, for the first time, to bring in singers and add a new aesthetic to their sound.
"Agôra is a wake-up call to reality, a reminder that the infinite possibilities of technological progress should not disconnect us from the earth, from eye-to-eye relationships, and from moments lived in person" the band are keen to point out. "And that we must not be consumed by greed, for all we truly possess.... is the NOW."
Turning hope and metaphor into music, the debut single Sábado, an electrified future- jazz-fizz reflects perfectly the spontaneity that permeated the entire recording of the album. "When we got to the studio, we had no idea what we were going to record. We started playing a groove, kind of inspired by Gilberto Gil's 80s albums, and our drummer João started singing this funny song 'Sábado Barrigudão' (Big Belly Saturday) alongside the bass groove and that was that". Inspired by their city of birth, São Paulo, it features long time collaborator and vocalist Zé Leônidas, with cuicas, tamborim, agogo and shakers providing the most obvious Brazilian affect from the album.
Dreams is the band's first foray into R'n'B melding the group's simple and sporadic instrumentation of drums, keys and bass into a Jill Scott inspired song that could have been born in Brooklyn yet sung by Brazilian singer and Grammy nominated Xênia França and Zé Leônidas in both English and Portuguese. Xênia recently performed online for hip-to-it website Colors and it's her latest collaboration with Caixa Cubo, having first met in 2009 for a series of live performances.
South African artists Bongani Givethanks & Mpho Nkuzo come to the record with a wholly different approach on Ndiyakhangela, providing spoken word and vocal refrains on top of an Afro-Brazilian percussion jam with a delivery and verse in Xhosa, Zula and Ndebele. Asase is the album opener and features vocals of Eric Owusu who is part of highlife pioneer Pat Thomas's live band and most recently, co-leader of Jembaa Groove, an Afro-soul band from Berlin. It's a synth wig out with djembe grooves and offers a brand new take on Afro-soul-jazz.
Other contributions come from Cologne based jazz singer Rebekka Ziegler (Oblique Sunshine), São Paulo based guitarist Eduardo Camargo (Caio & Eric) and trumpet player Matthias Schriefl on Kismeti, a gorgeous and rolling number that ebbs and flows, exemplifying the group's effortless ability to craft a sound energised by a belief in one-self and the idea of having faith without the need to look at each other for verification.
As drummer and percussionist João Fideles perfectly surmised upon arriving for the recording session, "What drums do you have? Whatever you have, I'll use it". Agôra is testament to nearly 20 years of camaraderie, friendship and most importantly, trust.
CHRIS CLARK
Ms. Clark is often cited as the Dusty Springfield of Motown, a white soul singer with a black Southern voice. And she is no stranger to the Northern Soul scene with songs like “Love’s Gone Bad”, her version of Frank Wilson’s “Do I Love You” and the unreleased “Something’s Wrong”. But Clark’s Motown legacy continues surprise with the 2018 discovery – “Whenever I’m Without You” – originally recorded in 1968. Finally making its vinyl debut 55 years on!
THE TEMPTATIONS
The Temps need no introduction, they were, of course, Motown’s most successul male vocal group scoring 18 No.1 R&B/Hot 100 singles and 3 Grammy’s. “All I Need Is You Love To Me” is another 1968 recording that eluded release at the time and is one their best, how could this slice of Motown magic escape. Finally making its vinyl debut 55 years on!
A royal refugee turned Soul survivor. On his debut album Free Me, Burundian-born JP Bimeni astonishes with a voice that recalls Otis Redding in his prime whilst resonating with the soul of Africa. A refugee who's been living in London since the early 2000s, Bimeni sings songs of love and loss, hope and fear, with a conviction that comes from the extraordinary experiences life has thrown at him.
A descendant of the Burundian royal family, Bimeni fled Burundi aged 15 during the 1993 civil war. Following three attempts on his life - at school he watched as his schoolmates were murdered, he was then chased by motorcycle militia-men and finally poisoned by doctors in hospital - he was given refugee status and fled to the UK where he's remained ever since. Music has provided the solace that Bimeni has needed to move forward with his life: 'If I didn't have music I don´t know how I would have survived everything', he says. With it's classic 60s-sounding Motown and Stax-inspired grooves the album was written by musical director Eduardo Martiìnez and songwriter Marc Ibarz and Bimeni imbues these tales of love and loss with his tragic experiences making 'Free Me' a deep soul soundtrack to his pained life: 'When I sing I feel like I'm cleansing myself: music is a way for me to forget'.
Free-roaming French techno talent Angioma lands on Lady Tazz's Mind Medizin with a new single that comes remixed by the legendary Kaiser, Fixon and Toru Ikemoto.
Angioma does it all from peak time and hypnotic techno to jacking house, all with his own signature exotic twist. He is currently Berlin-based and has released on Made of Concrete, but also co-runs with BLANKA the Room Trax label and Room Lab, contemporary local art and networking space. With increasingly high-profile sets in clubs like Egg London and Anomalie Berlin, Angioma is an ever more crucial part of the modern techno landscape.
The brilliant 'Unusual Suspect' is darkly seductive with its high-pressure techno rhythms and silky synth lines. Pulsing keys bring late-night hypnosis, and the icy hi-hats draw you in further to this shadowy and tunnelling groove. It's a warm, Mills-inspired sound that is stylish and dynamic.
The A Side also features a heart stopping Detroit infused remix courtesy of Mexican based Fixon (part of the Illegal Alien crew). On the flip and Gianluca Caiati aka Kaiser has been tearing up the techno scene for 15 years. His superb remix pairs things back but the pummeling, rubbery drums remain the focal point as whip-snapping snares lash about up top, incendiary hi-hat pressure grows, and the sleek synths intensify the trip. Finally, Japanese Techno hero Toru Ikemeto delivers an off-kilter slice of driving take on the original.
- A1: Black & Yellow 05 25
- A2: Chrome Vulture 01 26
- A3: Abandon Ship! 03 44
- A4: Bodies For The Upper Class 03 39
- A5: Switch Tentacles 03 43
- B1: Monkey Knight 04 00
- B2: Turbolancer 02 49
- B3: Pulse 02 37
- B4: The Disappearance 02 24
- B5: Hype Machine 03 45
- B6: Atoris 03 32
- C1: Orakel Maschine 04 07
- C2: Nothing Is Written 3 42
- C3: Soil 04 16
- C4: Growing A Million In One Week 03 54
- C5: Tian 03 58
- D1: Echion 04 26
- D2: Up In A High Rise 04 19
- D3: Vanilla Cryonic 04 00
- D4: Bad Memory Overwrite 06 59
After two decades of releasing music on 12" vinyl under multiple pseudonyms the duo from Even Drones have completed their first LP.
The 20 track double vinyl carries the classic "album era" approach of the 60s and 70s into a modern contemporary work.
Each of the 4 sides of "Ethics" feels like the chapter of a story balanced into a synthesis of counterpoints from piece to piece. Twisted arrangements are stringed together with dance-able tracks and are woven into finespun transmutations of sounds. Sometimes peaceful and regulated, sometimes abstract and complemented with tamed feedback, noises, crackling and delightful patterns.
Like a continuous thread through all titles of the album, the multi instrumentalists somehow managed to harmonize a twisted array of methods and structures into a coherent listening experience.
This full feature-length metamorphosis with no boundaries of styles or genres is released just in time for the 10th anniversary of the band on Freund der Familie.
- A1: Garbage Day #3
- A2: Get-U-Now
- A3: What A N*Gga Know?
- B1: Sweet Premium Wine
- B2: Plumskinzz (Loose Hoe, God & Cupid)
- B3: Smokin’ That S*#%
- C1: Contact Blitt
- C2: Gimme
- C3: Black Bastards!
- D1: It Sounded Like A Roc
- D2: Plumskinzz (Oh No I Don’t Believe It!)
- D3: Constipated Monkey
- D4: F*#@ Wit’ Ya Head
- D5: Suspended Animation
Black Vinyl[30,67 €]
Before MF DOOM donned his mask and became one of the most prolific MC-producers of modern Hip-Hop, he was a member of KMD, an early ‘90s rap group whose work still goes criminally under-appreciated to this day.
Following their 1991 debut album, Mr. Hood, the former trio shed one member leaving only two remaining – Subroc and his brother, Zev Love X (better known today as MF DOOM). Originally scheduled for release in 1994, their sophomore album Black Bastards showed clear progression from their debut. It was a truly amazing record, both sonically and lyrically, full of youthful creativity and tinged with the stresses of growing up as Black men in urban America. Songs like the lead single “What A N*gga Know”, the slippery, bass-driven “Get U Now”, and the album’s title track explore Black consciousness viewed through young-but-experienced eyes. Musically alternating between bouncy and raw – many times both, concurrently – the tracks gave the MC’s the springboard they needed to express themselves clearly.
Sadly, Subroc would face a sudden and untimely death in 1993, just as the duo were finishing the album. Grief-stricken, his brother Zev Love X – now the sole remaining member of the group – was determined to carry the legacy of KMD onward, but Elektra Records unceremoniously shelved the project in the eleventh hour, due to controversy surrounding the album’s provocative cover art. Following the fallout with Elektra, Zev tried for years to release the album on other labels, but he was continually met with dead ends. Struggling through the pain of losing his brother, coupled with the inability to release their final project together, a discouraged Zev Love X quietly withdrew from the scene and began quietly plotting his revenge on an industry that had broken him spiritually. Thus, in order to understand the true origin story of the super-villain, MF DOOM, one must recognize and appreciate the evolution of his former group, KMD, and the backstory of their pivotal album, Black Bastards.
- A1: Evol - The Dark Dreamquest (Intro)
- A2: Corvus Neblus - Forever I Shalt Dwell In Ravenloft
- A3: Asmorod - Fiat Abyssus (Second Chapter)
- A4: Vindalv - Swærþ Stimma (Excerpt)
- B1: Apeiron - Pan's Journey To The Cosmic Void
- B2: Secret Stairways - Lammas Tide
- C1: Dolch - Tumulus
- C2: Endoki Forest - Ii
- C3: Lunar Womb - Night Towers
- C4: Maelifell - La Dame Du Lac
- D1: Kadotus 609 - The Summoning Through Crimson
- D2: Neptune Towers - To Cold Void Desolation
In the early 1990s, a handful of black metal artists were enticed by the possibility of conjuring new fantastical worlds from the deep isolation of their home setups. Rather than the dense metal sound of their existing projects, this new direction would be centred around intimate synth soundscapes: forlorn organs and otherworldly MIDI theatrics.
The music on ASCEND is predominantly from self-produced, self-distributed releases, typically manufactured in small numbers. Though some artists producing this style of music, most notably Mortiis and Burzum, gained wider recognition outside underground circles, it is only in recent years that the sound and its influence has really been appreciated. This is particularly the case with the late Matthew Davis and his recently reappraised Secret Stairways project, whose song ‘Lammas Tide’ (from the 1997 Enchantment of the Ring album) appears on ASCEND. A simple home recording on a Yamaha KX-W392 manages to be both elegant and tortured, ambiguously devotional and recalling latter years Popol Vuh.
This battle between dark and light is a constant thread through ASCEND, with simple minimal synth lines that can be both delicate and menacing. Compilation opener ‘The Dark Dreamquest’ from Italian black metal group Evol is loaded with occult warning, and Finnish act Kadotus 609’s ‘The Summoning Through Crimson’ is languid, twisted and dark. In spite of the darkness, several pieces of the music on ASCEND have formal similarities with the sometimes saccharine new age music that rose to prominence in that era: but to a rougher, darker ends. The closing song from Darkthrone icon (and past NTS radio host) Fenriz, under his Neptune Towers pseudonym, pulls us further out, with ‘To Cold Void Desolation’ — an astral synth project, akin to ’70s kosmische muzik masters Harmonia.
The gentler side can often amplify an uncannily sinister edge, heard in German act Dolch’s ‘Tumulus’, where orc marching horns contrast against delicate rompler harps and softly whispered chanting. It hammers home a deep loneliness and detachment constant throughout ASCEND, made possible by these unusual contrasts, both unsettling and otherworldly.
E-control and Electrodefender , two mates and fans of the old arcade classics gamemachines decided to produce a vinyl split ep together.
For this, e-control provided two of his unreleased electro tracks from 2001 and electrodefender 3 of his recent tracks that he arranged and recorded in the years 2021-2022.
The EP is strictly limited to 150 copies in black vinyl and has a playing time of 30 minutes. Rootsy oldschoolelectro in the style of the early 80s into the early 90s.
The A side of the label is numbered with a stamp and there are two stickers of the two music makers on the cover.
- 20% of the sales are donated to Hand in Hand e.v. to support a Children’s hospice (more info: handinhand-stuttgart.de/)
- Black mask with Break New Soil Logoprint
- 170g
- 100% cotton
- washable at 30%
- made in Europe
- non returnable hygiene product
Two years after their previous effort, regular as clockwork, Swiss throbbing synth pop duo Veil Of Light is back with a new album and what can we say? These guys keep on getting better and better.
If you have followed the Zurich-based outfit over the past few years, you must have noticed the constant moving towards 80’s FM new wave and synthpop tones – without losing their electro/body music outline – that have marked the band’s parable, especially since their latest Landslide LP.
Sundancing is their sixth full-length and it stays the course, bringing what we’ve just said to the next step. Nine new dancy and bright tunes with emotional depth that blend lush instrumentation and robust rhythms, guided by funky and rubbery basslines. Syncopated rhythm sections match suburban cool synths in the lead single Apricot Kiss and Hypersleep, while Raindancing and Tonight summon a sinuosity long gone since the mid Eighties. The musical backdrop here serves as the fundament for emotional vocals delivering lyrics dealing with the fragility of love, joy and loneliness.
There’s some subtle addictiveness to these songs, one that will gently grab you by the collar of your coat and stick the refrains from Sundancing inside your head for good.
Veil Of Light might make it look easy to keep it neat without being minimalist, intimate without being depressing, romantic in the most true sense of the word, but we know that’s possibly the hardest thing to do.
2023 Repress
"I Hate Models makes his debut on Monnom Black bringing his trademark sound and style, anthemic ebm, acid, rave, techno killers. Absolutely Essential!"
As the artwork on the EP depicts, "Darkest hour before dawn" is a dusky scenario representing the Dutch environment known as "the polder" in the lower lands. It questions all kinds of actions taken or not taken to protect, restore, conserve, innovate, or modestly leave the landscape to its own more murky outcome. The darkest hour, full of gloom, will be available around the spring equinox?
Portrait of tracks separately:
"Darkest Hour before dawn"
Is this piece supposed to be an ode to the ancient Dutch hardcore movement, that once and probably only then would be experienced to such intensity or is this still maybe just a little near reminder of it? Anyway starts this unlit track slowly and remains that way but maintains a fat-pumping pulse, possibly reminding of a soldier walking a death march. Settling up those launch pads further down the piece, near the bridge for shooting off some drum-fire 909 snares as if it rocketed. Then, suddenly, the extended delay of that snare turns into a psychedelic drone beside, attending to, or paranoidly chasing comrades soul in his journey throughout and above like a trustful partner?
Arp's LFO that is out of sync with the beat and is being outpaced by it seems to slow everything down even more; meantime creating a pulling, buggy-like effect to the due of all this.
The ascending and descending ghost-pad drawing into the grid of the (tone) key, thereafter parking in them for a while and cycling out again, creating a spatial flow of disturbance and anxiety.
Finishes it with a mountain-big reverberation of organized destruction and chaos. What at first sight seems like simply an innocent route appears to actually be a bit more complex one.
"Lovely memories"
The quite monotonous structure of Lovely memories catchy and groovy song is scanning through your brain files; revisiting, memorizing, and purposely lacking these few "dots above the I" that in some cases you'd gladly be feeling like to square fit it in yourself, of course, when necessary. Connecting the puzzling, dazzling flashbacks together to finally wrap up and perpetuate the pictured events for good, leaving traces of melancholy, loveliness, and perhaps even faith to it.
"24 hours"
Dinginess of 24 hours supposes to be felt in the guts.
The beat, steady with that snare on the 4 & 12, might not be one of the greatest inventions. However, the TR-08's drum line here lays a solid and fertile foundation for a reasonable house track.
Slightly detuned synths weave a scarf pattern around your upper body, and the lower layers carry a warm blanket for the underbelly, providing you with that cozy sense of consolation. Acidy pokes wring itself sneaky and penetrable around, slicing through the song's already solid flesh. Therefore, balancing its bitter sweetness throughout with these soft-hard saw-tooth drops of sourness.
"24 hours" conveys a dispatch or intercommunication that there is little time left to take actions/charge to fix and restore. Something big is about to come if it hasn't arrived already...
"At night"
This remarkable story is a bit out of ordinary.
At night appeared in the artist's dream just the night before his sick father was raised from death in the hospital and got just another year to live before actually passing away completely and anyway. ; ))
And thus also dedicated to the man.
Ursprünglich im Jahr 2004 veröffentlicht, macht "The Book Of Heavy Metal? seinem Namen alle Ehre und präsentiert rasanten Power Metal im Stil der 80er.
Dieses Dream Evil Album war das letzte, das Snowy Show und
Gitarrenmeister Gus G. mit der Band aufgenommen hatten und wurde von Fredrik Nordström produziert.
Nachdem das Album zahreiche Jahre vergriffen war, ist es nun wieder auf weiß-schwarz marmorierten Vinyl erhältlich als Teil von Atomic Fire Records? "Backfire"- Reihe.
Limitiert auf 1.000 Einheiten.
- A1: Golden Skies (Feat Lydia Waits)
- A2: It's Never Late In Neon Signs (Feat Lydia Waits)
- A3: Fake Fur (Feat Helle Larsen)
- A4: Hold That Thought (Feat Helle Larsen)
- A5: Sandcastles (Feat Helle Larsen)
- B1: Today's Tales Of Tomorrow
- B2: This Kitty Got Claws (Feat Helle Larsen)
- B3: Rhythm Cast A Spell On Me (Feat Lydia Waits)
- B4: Not Supposed To Be Me (Feat Lydia Waits)
- B5: Let's Stay Right Here (Feat Helle Larsen)
Beatservice Records are beyond thrilled to announce the arrival of Kohib's hotly anticipated studio album 'Today's Tales Of Tomorrow'.
DJ, producer and club organiser Øivind 'Kohib' Sjøvoll has been in truly dazzling form of late, serving a series of mesmerising singles that served as a tantalising taster to his latest album – the third he's crafted for Beatservice. Actively producing immaculately crafted sounds for over two decades, sonic alchemist Kohib continues his deft aptitude for sculpting genre-defying compositions, with 'Today's Tales Of Tomorrow' playing host to some of his most compelling material to date. From pitch black introspection to rousing dancefloor abandon, the album is every bit as far-reaching as we've come to expect from this singularly talented artist.
The collection bursts into life via the club-focused thrust of 'Golden Skies', featuring the seductive vocals of enigmatic songstress, Lydia Waits, whose stirring performance shines like a beacon as it soars over Kohib's slick four/four groove. Crisp drums drive the hypnotic rhythm over a subaquatic bass line, as icy pads and pitched synth percussion combine to stunning effect, effortlessly building to Waits' rousing chorus section. Subtly shifting the mood, we arrive in the heads-down throb of 'It's Never Late In Neon Signs', where glistening arpeggios and snarling bass caress Lydia Waits' honeyed vocal, the pristine instrumentation undulating over a mesmerising, radio-friendly arrangement.
'Fake Fur' arrives with deliciously brooding intent, with (Kohib's High Heeled Giants bandmate) Helle Larsen's bewitching vocal gliding over immersive instrumentation and otherworldly textures. Evocative harmonics combine with ethereal synth leads and dramatic aural waves, the hypnotic percussion gently driving the groove deep into the half-light of a crisp autumnal haze. Next, 'Hold That Thought' mischievously switches the rhythm, as thick sub bass and searing synth motifs power over broken drums while Helle Larsen's affecting vocal rises from delicate verse into dramatic chorus bursts.
'Sandcastles' once again sees Helle Larsen grace the stage, lacing waves of cinematic pads glide and live bass as scattered percussion forms an alluring rhythm. Sparse and precise, the evolving music ebbs and flows as the tides, gorgeously caressing Larsen's emotion-rich vocal as she weaves her seductive lyrical metaphors. The album's title track 'Today's Tales Of Tomorrow' sees sinister lead synths exploding over deviant bass as the pulsating rhythm drives the cut through distant vocals, the low-slung groove proving magnetic as the nocturnal melody works its magic.
The tempo rises rapidly, with the pounding bass arpeggio of 'This Kitty Got Claws' purposefully marching through cascading synth textures, euphoric chords, and self-assured lead vocals. Expertly displaying his expansive production finesse, the rhythm once again switches as we sashay into the utterly bewitching 'Rhythm Cast A Spell On Me', with Lydia Waits' indelible vocal providing a profoundly atmospheric moment. A sublimely constructed bed of neatly woven keys, xylophone strikes and haunting bass clarinet elegantly embrace the ethereal lead vocal.
The mystical melodies of 'Not Supposed To Be' echo over a misty woodland landscape, with Lydia Waits' unfeigned vocal flowing over jagged synth textures and gently broken rhythms, before Helle Larsen returns with the sensual swansong 'Let's Stay Right Here'. Sumptuous keys shimmer over a steady tempo, with warm bass and sugary melodies supporting the intoxicating lead vocal for a gorgeously heartfelt finale.
Vividly illustrating Kohib's unthinkably vast sonic repertoire, 'Today's Tales Of Tomorrow' looks set to further enhance the Norwegian producer's already glowing reputation, with each exquisitely-formed track combining to create a collection that's at once powerfully memorable and profoundly coherent.
Death Is Not The End's 333 sub-label follows the reissue of Devon Russell's Darker Than Blue LP late last year with a first-time reissue of a veritable reggae-dancehall holy grail - Robert Ffrench's 1985 LP 'Wondering'.
Pioneering artist and producer (and cousin of the late, great Pat Kelly) Robert Ffrench was born in central Kingston in 1962, recording his first records in 1979 at the age of 17. Coming out off the back of a slew of roots & early dancehall-style 45s cut with a wide range of producers thoughout the early '80s, the Wondering LP followed closely after two acclaimed LP sets ('Showcase' produced with Lord Koos & 'The Favourite' for Ossie Thomas' Black Solidarity label - plus a split showcase LP with Anthony "Gunshot" Johnson for Jah Thomas' Midnight Rock label).
Ffrench would write and produce the Wondering LP himself in it's entirity, laying down the tracks at Herman Chin-Loy's Aquarius & Michael Carroll's Creative Sounds studios with the help of engineer Christopher Daley. Representing the sound of an artist first confidently sriking out on his own, the album elegantly mixes a classic rub-a-dub & lovers rock-inspired sound with nascent digi-esque flourishes. It boasts an enviable list of contributors too, incl. Sly & Robbie, Dwight Pinkney, Robbie Lyn, Nelson Miller (Burning Spear) and Ronald "Nambo" Robinson among others, with Beres Hammond also providing backing vocals in places.
Following the release of Wondering, Ffrench would continue to write and produce, soon after releasing two further self-produced LPs for Edgar White's Parish label - and founded his own 'France' label in the late 80s, through which his productions would start to hit big, most notably alongside Courtney Melody on 'Modern Girl', and with US rapper Heavy D on the track 'More Love'. Robert's productions released through later label 'Ffrench' would go on to boast the cream of the crop of dancehall artists throughout the 90s and early 2000s, and he is often credited with discovering Buju Banton (producing his first single "Ruler" on the Stamina riddim). Ffrench is still actively producing music of his own to this day, having released singles 'Everyday of My Life' and 'Black Is a Colour' in late 2022 and Feb 2023 respectively, available through all digital platforms now.
333, under exclusive license from Robert Ffrench.
Psycho 2000 - A dark but funky theme that begins with an occulting Italian echo-oscillator drone that is soon followed by pulsating bass and breakbeat drums, leads to tremolo guitars, an ostinato on electric mandolas, strings climbing eloquent ladders, otherworldly electronics, and a cinematic finale.
An evocation of a parade of wooden nutcracker soldiers elaborately dressed in gold-trimmed black uniforms down a wide avenue decorated with mardi gras beads and animal skulls upon golden cobblestones toward a tornado spiralling out purple-hued glissandos and curlicues of elephant smoke.
White Spiritual - Head nod action, the twinkling of a late 60’s Vox Continental II with sickly transistors, the noodling matrix of an intergalactic telephone exchange carried on a bed of bouncy bass with a firm backbeat.
The Johnny Guitar Watson-esque bite and sting of a ‘67 Teisco guitar preludes slabs of unison dark brown moog and organ giving way to the dance of fingers over the black naturals and white sharps of the Continental II.




















