quête:capture

Embarking on a journey from Italy to Anatolia and from Africa to the Americas, Nelson of the East soars over imagined landscapes in his debut, motion picture- inspired album, Kybele. Plug in your headphones, drown out the world, and set
out on a mystic voyage of Earth through the lens of Kybele, the Anatolian goddess of wild nature.

With the world in flux and isolation taking its toll, musical escapism has become a much needed pastime for today’s armchair adventurers. Treating recorded sound as a vehicle of time travel, Milanese artist Nelson of the East (N.O.T.E) takes listeners on a journey through kaleidoscopic soundscapes with his debut album Kybele released on Tartelet Records.

Skillfully weaving the sounds of East and West, the nine-track LP fuses Turkish and cosmic influences with a strong electronic backbone into an otherworldly soundtrack of our time.

“The feeling that passes through the record isn’t straight. It changes, it turns, it is never predictable. Never being able to predict which landscape you arrive at next or where the music is taking you is key to enjoying the sound journey,” says Nelson. “

Named Kybele after the Anatolian goddess of nature, fertility, mountains, and wild animals, the record is a continuous saga that takes from the Berlin-based artist’s own adventurous spirit. Following his previous EP releases Night Frames and Phase Alternating Lines, Nelson explores new territories on Kybele.

The album opener, “Explorer,” is an exhilarating build up to what could be a 80s sci-fi movie, showcasing Nelson’s knack for cinematic moods. “Draw Me,” speaks to the artist’s intention of making a “snare album,” with an irregular, dominating beat untethering it from time or boundaries. “What I realize while I was writing the rhythm part is that the more you keep a beat simple the more difficult it becomes to make it interesting. So I just put down some rules to follow. For example, using swing as smoothly as possible, or using lot of syncopated sequence over the straight 2-4 groove,” says Nicolas.

Another thing Nelson achieves in this album is ambience, or the “motion picture touch” as he calls it. Tracks like the wild and obscure Culto, with its Anatolian nuances and middle eastern-sounding scales are made by layering synths to achieve an orchestral effect.

Other tracks capture the musician’s penchant for African and Brazilian grooves, like the Saudade mix of Burning Palm. On the B side, the Italo-flavored Phase Lines comes through with shimmering synth and electronic drums complete with hazy vocals delivered by DJ Rayne and Nelson himself. Yahuda dives into dark, melancholic electro with a Detroit feel not far from the sounds of the great Drexciya.

The album closes with ZETA, a track that could easily double as an obscure cinematic composition. The nine-track LP is strictly limited to 300 copies, pressed on 180g vinyl with artwork by The Emperor of Antarctica. No repress.

WRWTFWW Records is excited to announce the official reissue of Motohiko Hamase’s remarkable ambient/environmental/minimalism project #Notes of Forestry, available for the first time since 1988. The album is sourced from original masters and available on vinyl and CD with liner notes from the artist. This marks the third release from the ESPLANADE SERIES which focuses on the works of Yoshio Ojima, Motohiko Hamase and Satsuki Shibano. One of the most fascinating and peculiar works from the golden era of Japanese ambient, #Notes of Forestry was initially released in 1988 by Newsic, the cult label started by Tokyo’s Wacoal Art Center (also known as Spiral), home, notably, of Yoshio Ojima who co-produced the album. Conceived by Jazz bassist turned experimentalist Motohiko Hamase, the magnum opus offers an enchanting mix of free-form pastoral electronics, otherworldly percussions by Yasunori Yamaguchi, and delightfully allusive piano played by none other than Satsuki Shibano (Sound Process’ Wave Notation 3). Vibrant, sometimes eerie, and absolutely captivating, #Forestry captures Hamase’s quest for musical freedom, he explains: “Inside the body of a musician, music is always transcendentally resonating. More than language, music reigns. When creating music overlaps with the moment my body performs, I strive to be as close as possible to the feeling of musical freedom. I feel that this notion lies at the foundation of this album". Musical freedom, here, provides an essential escape, extending the path uncovered by pivotal releases such as Midori Takada’s Through The Looking Glass, Satoshi Ashikawa’s Still Way, and Yutaka Hiros’s Nova. #Notes of Forestry is reissued in conjunction with Motohiko Hamase’s Technodrome and Anecdote albums,

The classic album of Germany's funk champions reissued on surf blue colour vinyl.

Original press release note from 2011:

After almost twenty 45's under various pseudonyms, their thrilling and hugely successful debut album with London-based singer Gizelle Smith and a tour with concerts throughout Europe, Germany's most prolific deep funk formation is ready to step further into the spotlight with their second longplayer.

The aptly titled THE FUTURE IS HERE sees the group explore new territories with features by hiphop legends Afrika Bambaataa and Charlie Funk, French singer Caroline Lacaze and German rare groove queen Su Kramer, while manifesting their unique raw funk sound and refining their unmistakable instrumental style that has long gained international reputation.

Producer legend Kenny Dope (Masters at Work, Bucketheads) picked up the Mighty Mocambos's re-interpretation of the Furious Five classic "The Message" (released under a pseudonym on an obscure phantasy label without proper distribution), remixed it and re-released it on his own imprint Kay Dee Records. This album includes the original version of the "Next Message" – a message that apparently got heard and answered.

Afrika Bambaataa (the Godfather of Hip-Hop) and Charlie Funk (aka Afrika Islam, Grammy- and Oscar-decorated producer of Ice-T and original member of the Zulu Nation) loved the Mocambo vibe and joined the group on stage and in the studio to record "Zulu Walk" and "Battle", two stunning tracks of organic Funk that take Hip-Hop "back to the roots where we started out" (as featured MC King Kamonzi rightfully says) and along the way, leads funk into the future.

Keeping up with the universal spirit and ignoring boundaries of language in favour of the global groove, the Mocambos recorded "Physique", a rousing dancefloor smash sung in French by Caroline Lacaze. "The Sun Shines Tonight" is a cheerful party-in-the-studio session with original German funk and disco queen Su Kramer (who played with Donna Summer in the original cast of "Hair" during the late 1960s) that documents the pure joy of playing and spontaneity of a Mocambo live situation.

The 12 titles on this album showcase the group's collective determination, unified versatility and creative wit. From the drum-heavy, afro-tinged "Calling The Shots", the anthemic "Struggle & Triumph", the romantic melancholy of "French Vanilla Skies", the somber and frantic "Transcendental Express", to songs with an almost cinematic quality like the moody "A Brighter Darkness" and the horroresque "Paranormals Theme", the album offers a broad spectrum of colours, all held together by the unity of a band that has been playing together for years - recorded live in a few takes with simple analog equipment to capture the energy, chemistry and blind faith between dedicated musicians.

The result, mixed and mastered by chief engineer Def Stef with a decidedly modern punch, is a far cry from nowadays vintage soul band replicas. It is a universal and timeless statement: with the knowledge of the past and present, right now, we look into the future - THE FUTURE IS HERE.

One thing‘s for sure: There aren‘t many bands with a history as long and eventful as Kreator‘s, who fascinatingly succeed in exploring new horizons while challenging and reinventing themselves time and again.That was perfectly illustrated by their latest record ‘Gods Of Violence’ in 2017. With this 14th studio album of their impressive career, the thrashers from Essen, Germany crafted a work of art of utmost vigor, drawing its unfailing power from the pounding heart of one of the greatest, most versatile metal bands of all time.

Mainman Mille Petrozza’s influences range from Hannah Arendt, Pink Floyd and Tocotronic to Slayer, even though he was born and bred in the metal scene. Nevertheless, he is and always has been open to inspiration from various sources, which is why his lyrics are by no means merely based on corny genre templates but offer trenchant observations of our time combined with a witty aside to long-standing cliches: One of the best songs on ‘Gods Of Violence’ is really called ‘Satan Is Real’.

Formed in 1982, Petrozza and ‘Ventor’ – the only two remaining founding members – have come a long way from playing in a small-scale student band. “In my history book, Kreator didn‘t really exist until 1985“, says Petrozza, laughing. “Although we had already started jamming together in `82, we only entered the stage two or three times up until `85. Back then, our set list consisted of five original tracks and five heavy metal cover songs, we went through several line-up changes and didn‘t really find ourselves until ‘Endless Pain’.Over the years, Kreator, the leaders of the German ‘Big Four’ of thrash, have sold more than two million albums worldwide and have played countless shows all around the globe. It is one of these shows that is captured on ‘London Apocalypticon’. Recorded in December 2018 at London’s legendary Roundhouse venue, headlining a bill with US hardcore pacesetters Hatebreed and Norwegian Black Metal legends Dimmu Borgir. Kreator’s explosive set was quite rightly heralded as “a demonstration of consummate musicianship and stagecraft” by Metal Hammer magazine.

Originally recorded in 1977, following a limited release in 1979, Ghédalia Tazartès debut album, Diasporas, introduced listeners to the surreal, mysterious and truly unclassifiable statement of Tazartès and his out-of-time place in the French avant-garde canon. Born in Paris in 1947 to Judaeo-Spanish parents of Greek descent, Tazartès spent his early career as an autodidact utilizing his knowledge of repetition and collage, coupled with his Ladino linguistic heritage, to create some of the most unique recordings of the late 20th century. Interest in the works of Tazartès truly sparked when artist Steve Stapleton included his follow up album, Tazartès' Transports, in his famed "Nurse With Wound List," thus adding endless curiosity to the folklore behind Tazartès and his mystical entrée.

From the onset of Diasporas, looping incantations seemingly pile up at the behest of Tazartès. In almost a prayer-like decree, Tazartès chants to the gods in an undefined whail that is both haunting and spiritually divine. Tazartès unique use of tape loops to capture the disappearing traditions of his family's past creates an atmospheric texture that unexpectedly complements his cut-up, manipulated vocal experiments. While contemporaries within the French avant-garde maneuvered academic theory and rigid tradition, Diasporas strays away from these boundaries, working in Tazartès' invented practice of 'impromuz', a method in which he endlessly records for hours and edits only the moments that display any sense of spontaneous enlightenment. Further emboldening the obtuse nature of Diasporas are the seemingly random recitation of poet Stéphane Mallarmé and the traditional 'Parisian-style' piano accompaniment of experimental composer Michel Chion.

Since its initial release over 40 years ago, both Dais Records and Alga Marghen have released reissues of Diasporas in various formats, all of which quickly fell out of print. Dais Records presents an official reissue, newly remastered by Josh Bonati, utilizing the original artwork of Diasporas in its sole album form, for the first time in over four decades.

Ital Tek (a.k.a. Alan Myson) returns to Planet Mu with his sixth album ‘Outland‘. The album was written during a period of new beginnings following a move out of the city to a quieter space and the birth of his first child. During this time of self-imposed isolation Alan recorded a huge amount of source material and spent weeks and months sitting up at night with his newborn, listening back and making notes on how the new record should take form, focusing and developing ideas to shape this lean ten-track album.

Alan talks of the record being a collaboration between two parts of himself, something that definitely comes across as the album unfolds. Textures are something Alan excels at and on his last album, the largely beatless ‘Bodied’, it felt as if he was building a new sound-world. On ‘Outland’ he expands upon this. The album brings together the extremes of Alan's sound, contrasting roughened bass and beats with starker more detailed atmospheres and emotions.

The most beat-driven song here is ‘Deadhead’, with its gnarled bouncing bass, angular distorted melodies and cavernous textures. On tracks like ‘Bladed Terrain’ the contrasts are even more defined with buzzing drones and razor sharp drums plunging into a grainy fog, giving the track a dramatic 3D feel.

Then there are the stop-start pauses of ‘Leaving The Grid’, where the song evaporates into space before reemerging with shuddering rhythms and ghostly textures. Melodies crawl around these tracks as if they’re just waking up, as heard on the atmospheric ‘Angel In Ruin’.

The sleep-deprived fraying of the senses became Alan’s routine and one which he says gave him a renewed creative energy; half-asleep, working through the night, and then into the daytime super-focused but exhausted. Prone to audio hallucinations whilst writing the album, he aimed to capture these distortions in his perception of pitch and time, and you can hear these effects interpreted on tracks like ‘Endless’ and ‘Open Heart’ as melodies phase and slip out of time like an emotional Doppler effect.

This is also true of the soaring atonal synths at the peak of ‘Diamond Child’, which feel like the aural equivalent of eye floaters. These intuitive feelings and functions are a difficult thing to capture in sound, but Alan manages it beautifully and always makes the result feel warm and adventurous, heartfelt and epic.

Be With hereby presents aural perfection.

Don’t let the title mislead you, “Much Too Much” by Sass has just the right amount of everything, whether you’re talking about the vocal or the instrumental. And that’s as true now as it was when it was originally released back in 1982.

In 1981 The Jack Sass Band, as they were known, were still working the NYC club circuit. Along with the likes of Change, The BB & Q Band and High Fashion, they were part of the Little Macho Music phenomenon and that’s how they ended up in an 8 track studio on 7th Avenue near 20th Street, where Little Macho recorded demos.

Produced by the band’s vocalist Mic Murphy, who also wrote the track along with fellow band member LaForrest Cope, the band needed just one session to capture “Much Too Much”. The recording studio just so happened to be run by Silvio Tancredi and when the tracks were finished he offered to put them out on his 25 West record label. The vocal version and an instrumental mix were released as a 12" the following year. Mic tells us this meant Sass “were one of the few bands to have a record release while still playing on the club circuit. So the reaction exceeded our expectations at the time”.

According to Mic “Much Too Much” was something a little different from the band’s live sound at the time, “it was more R&B smoothed out than the more funk rock we usually leaned into”. Indeed, the track glides with grace, poise and patience. The elegant, easy tempo, combined with the magnificent melody and Mic’s signature sublime vocal conjures magic. The blend of deep boogie-funk power and heavenly sweetness is both infectious and goosebump-inducing.

Over on the flip-side, the instrumental slaps harder. Without Mic’s vocal it’s just pure groove, with nothing to stop you vibing all night - the bassline, the drums and the melody still connect. Hard. Pick your side, you won’t lose.

Working directly with Mic Murphy means that the audio for this re-issue of the classic 12" comes from the original tapes. Cut at 45 RPM and released in a plain sleeve, we’ve made sure this record is well up to the job of having a permanent place in every DJ’s bag. As far as we’re concerned, this is essential stuff.

Mic told us just how much it means to him to have “Much To Much” re-issued: “It’s an amazing feeling to have something you created almost 40 years ago still have relevance and even more amazing to be considered among the Northern Soul boogie anthems. And it’s especially important to me that we’re available again on vinyl”.

After a 10 year absence Horizontal is back. 3 songs that revolve around Dinky’s pure musical dogma, arpeggiated basses bounce with the beautiful and contorted voices that play within this psychedelic party. Bathing in blue skies and a deep warm acid glow, this is music to capture your body and soul, made with love whilst dreaming of a brave new world within these innocent melodies.

Epic, panoramic, and intimate all at the same time, the legendary Toronto collective Broken Social Scene. An ideal artist to soundtrack an evening. Their live set was captured, mixed and mastered in real time via the world's only live venue and direct-to-acetate lathe cutting studio. Third Man are very excited to invite you all to be a part of this live recording in the only venue in the world where performance, art and tactile transcription methodologies converge... //// Third Man Records had the pleasure of hosting the legendary Toronto collective Broken Social Scene began as an ebbing and flowing collective of artists in the late 90s, collaborating to create a distinct strand of indie rock that is both perplexingly maximal and straight-up catchy. The band kicked off the set with emotive fan favorite "Cause = Time", then transitioning into "Stay Happy," the lead track from 2017's "Hug of Thunder," in all it's hypnotic, horn-driven grandeur. Then, on the flip side, the album's 2-song B-side wraps with the slow-build anthem "It's All Gonna Break," a song once described as "Bob Seger on acid." Really, how else would you want a show to close? With the release of this live album, Third Man is very excited to invite all to be a part of this special experience, Broken Social Scene's first commercially available live album.
First commercially available live album of Broken Social Scene's cathartic live show - Recorded Direct-to-Acetate, a hyper-direct analog recording method which is, globally, only available at Third Man Records - Features new hits (Stay Happy) and fan favorites (Cause = Time, It's All Gonna Break) Album Focus Track - Stay Happy (Live)

Electronic / acoustic wonder band KUF deliver a special surprise for their third album: eleven sizzling hot takes on tracks drawn from the Macro label's stellar catalog, as originally crafted by some of today's most respected artists in electronic music. KiNK, Patrick Cowley, Peter Kruder (of K&D), Stefan Goldmann, rRoxymore and more get the treatment. With a nod to the label's previous highly original compilations and mixes from the Macrospective and Vinylism series, Re:Re:Re captures more new ground.

KUF's previous albums presented an astonishing inversion of the typical extended electronic set up, in that they paired a plethora of disembodied, sampled voices with acoustic real time interaction on bass, drums and keys. Re:Re:Re shifts the focus of sampling altogether to scanning entire tracks and compositions which are then reimagined with the band's singular approach. Neither just remixes, nor faithful reproductions, KUF engage in careful sound archaeology. From re-programming key sounds to holistic granular deconstructions, the originals's sound palettes are reproduced to serve as a springboard towards entirely new instalments. The resulting tracks range from intimate ballads to full power dance floor movers, spanning a highly engaging arc of sheer listening pleasure.

The Devonns dust off the golden age of 70's Chicago Soul with their self-titled debut album on Record Kicks. Straight from the streets of Chicago, Illinois, The Devonns (pronounced "De vaughns") are the brand new soul outfit and the latest addition of the Record Kicks' family, whose self-titled debut album that drops April 03, is an assortment of influences taking us back to the heyday of soul.

Drawing influences from bands such as The Dramatics, The Isley Brothers and Leroy Hutson, yet bringing in their own unique modern twist, influenced by artists such as Jamie Lidell and Raphael Saadiq; singer Mat Ajjarapu explains how unintentionally, the rich heritage of Chicago's history with soul music influenced him.

"The city was at the epicentre of a lot of good music back in the 50's all the way to the 80's, a lot of the labels specialising in soul were based in the Chicago and we even had our own sound known as "Chicago soul". Through several years of crate digging it surprised me how many songs I loved were recorded in this city, for example one of my favourites is this great little song by The Natural Four, produced by Leroy Hutson 'Can This Be Real', and released via Curtom Records."

The band started in 2016 after multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mathew Ajjarapu dropped out of med school and found himself unemployed and drifting. Listening to music constantly at the time, he found inspired to put a band together and create his own music. Pairing up with some of the best musicians Chicago has to offer, he founded The Devonns: the rhythm duty is entrusted to Khalyle Hagood (bass), Ari Lindo (guitar) and Khori Wilson (drums).

Originally he wanted to focus on 50s style doo-wop, similar to The Flamingos; rich in reverb and vocal harmonies, but in the first initial practise they had it was evident the band clicked on their love of soul music from the 70s, so their music took a natural turn towards that sound, with tracks such as the Wilson Pickett-esque single 'Tell Me'.

The release took almost two years to complete as Mat explains "I am a perfectionist, I had a very specific vision in my head about how it should sound and I wasn't going to rest until I achieved it."

"This is a definitely a throwback soul record, as well as being drawn to lush and intricate arrangements of Motown, I was also inspired by the more lo-fi works of smaller labels such as Chess and Capsoul, and I wanted to capture the magic they had in those recordings in our record, as everything feels too precise nowadays" clarifies Mat.

It was thanks to his engineer Mike Hagler, who introduced him to Paul Von Mertons (Mavis Staples, Paul McCartney, Elton John) who arranges and conducts for Brian Wilson's live touring show and after a 45 minute phone conversation about what Mat wasn't keen on, on the album, he realised Paul totally understood where he was coming from.

After a few months wait for Paul to get back from touring they entered the studio with "Paul's players" and as soon as they hit record, Mat explains "I was getting chills up my neck, it was one of the happiest days of my life, and finally we had nailed it!"

Tracks such as 'Come Back; which Mat wrote in ten minutes on a $300 Daneelectro Singlecut guitar initially, came to life, with Paul's rich string arrangements and features guitarist and percussionist Ken Stringfellow (R.E.M.).

It still took a few months to get the recording process finished but finally after a torturous nineteen months they album was finally finished.

The result is an album filled with lavish arrangements and catchy melodies which take us on a nostalgic musical journey inspired by chic 70s soul, yet the band don't hesitate to add their own unique and elegant contemporary stamp to the record.

Massaroni Record (MSR) was born with the collaboration between the distributor Ermanno Massaroni and the disc jockey Roberto Onofri, who was also a radio and television presenter. "Let's Go Out" captures the essence of the very first Italo-Disco in its most genuine and melodic form where it's not easy to understand the vocal part but this gives to the song a certain ambiguity and a rare case in which the vocoder is fine. In addition to original, radio and the essential instrumental version there is a well structured and strong M.B. Roller Disco Edit by Massimo Berardi (former Harlem Hustlers) useful to give greater balance to the entire release.

With their 2013 debut single "Vintage Voudou," Conjunto Papa Upa cemented themselves as the torchbearers of a rare breed of Afro-Caribbean psychedelic soul, a clear delineation from the wonderful world of Venezuelan poly rhythms. That original song, named after the short lived but heavily influential Amsterdam brick and mortar record shop that band leader Alex Figueira founded, was a perfect clue into the deep exploration that Papa Upa would begin to take on their musical journey.

Like the store itself, known for it's solid connection to the musical footprints put down in relatively undiscovered places like Suriname, Curacao, Cabo Verde, Portugal and of course Figueira's native Venezuela, Papa Upa has captured a sound that is entirely unique, a new concoction of influences that at once sound strange, yet totally familiar (...) Perhaps because Venezuela shared such a rich & diverse mix of sounds from the Atlantic, Caribbean & US, a kindred spirit to their neighboring country, Colombia, an equal in terms of their industry output from the 60's & 70's, yet not nearly as publicized and compiled in recent years. Like many places in the greater Afro-Caribbean nexus, they were musically ahead of their time.

This futuristic mélange of sounds is reflective of Papa Upa itself, made up of musicians from Venezuela, Uruguay, Cuba & The Netherlands, all living, practicing & recording at Figueira's
Amsterdam studio, Barracão Sound. With such a wide range of tropical influences, in a cosmopolitan and diverse city like Amsterdam, it's no wonder that Papa Upa's first extended project would find kinship in a collaboration with New York's Names You Can Trust.

R&S welcome electronic composer Matthew Puffett AKA Future Beat Alliance with his killer single ’Never Forever’ a sublime slice of broken beat techno that originally had a limited release on his “Patience and Distance” album in 2009. It now comes backed with a first rate remix courtesy of R&S regular Afriqua.

A veteran of the UK electronic scene originally from Oxford but now located in Berlin, Puffett made his name in the late 90s with a string of sought after releases on Void Records under the aliases Mode-M and Soul Electrik before settling on the Future Beat Alliance handle. Notching up releases with the likes of Delsin, Rush Hour and Versatile as well as with the storied Tresor imprint, both as a DJ and an artist. In 2019 Matt started his new imprint Reward System to self release new creations.

Life long friend from Oxford, Mo’ Wax and Unkle maestro James Lavelle reached out in 2012, which led to a further creative chapter in Puffett`s story that culminated with him co-writing & programming on Unkle’s 5th studio album ’The Road Part 1’ as well as some singular work in film and television. “The moving image plays a key creative motive in my process,” Matthew explains. “Sound & picture married together is such a powerful combination that always inspires me every time to make my own version, 'Never Forever' is one of my many attempts to try and
capture that.”

Taking cues from modern cinema masters like Denis Villeneuve, Panos Cosmatos, Steven Soderberg and Jonathon Glazer and their respective composers, Puffett's widescreen sonic craftsmanship alongside his irresistible rhythmic sense are a key part of what makes Future Beat Alliance music so alluring; "I want my tracks to guide the listener on a exit route far from this world”

Originally recorded in 1977, following a limited release in 1979, Ghédalia Tazartès debut album, Diasporas, introduced listeners to the surreal, mysterious and truly unclassifiable statement of Tazartès and his out-of-time place in the French avant-garde canon. Born in Paris in 1947 to Judaeo-Spanish parents of Greek descent, Tazartès spent his early career as an autodidact utilizing his knowledge of repetition and collage, coupled with his Ladino linguistic heritage, to create some of the most unique recordings of the late 20th century. Interest in the works of Tazartès truly sparked when artist Steve Stapleton included his follow up album, Tazartès' Transports, in his famed "Nurse With Wound List," thus adding endless curiosity to the folklore behind Tazartès and his mystical entrée.

From the onset of Diasporas, looping incantations seemingly pile up at the behest of Tazartès. In almost a prayer-like decree, Tazartès chants to the gods in an undefined whail that is both haunting and spiritually divine. Tazartès unique use of tape loops to capture the disappearing traditions of his family's past creates an atmospheric texture that unexpectedly complements his cut-up, manipulated vocal experiments. While contemporaries within the French avant-garde maneuvered academic theory and rigid tradition, Diasporas strays away from these boundaries, working in Tazartès' invented practice of 'impromuz', a method in which he endlessly records for hours and edits only the moments that display any sense of spontaneous enlightenment. Further emboldening the obtuse nature of Diasporas are the seemingly random recitation of poet Stéphane Mallarmé and the traditional 'Parisian-style' piano accompaniment of experimental composer Michel Chion.

Since its initial release over 40 years ago, both Dais Records and Alga Marghen have released reissues of Diasporas in various formats, all of which quickly fell out of print. Dais Records presents an official reissue, newly remastered by Josh Bonati, utilizing the original artwork of Diasporas in its sole album form, for the first time in over four decades.

Sugar were the US alternative rock trio fronted by ex-Hüsker Dü vocalist / guitarist Bob Mould. Recorded at the legendary First Avenue in Minneapolis, November 1994, The Joke Is Always On Us, Sometimes captures Sugar during their ‘File Under: Easy Listening’ tour. Includes live renditions of classic tracks including ‘If I Can’t Change Your Mind’, ‘Hoover Dam’ and ‘The Slim’. For the first time, the album is presented on heavyweight 180g clear vinyl.

To coincide with the announcement, the pair have shared a video for the album’s title track directed by Sam Davis and Tom Andrew, who has previously received two UK Music Video Awards nominations for his work with Avery. Speaking about the video, Andrew explains, “We were keen to capture a visual representation of the tempo and atmospheric emotion of the track and make a video exploring the notion of collaboration. A super-motion approach allowed us to explore details of motion shared between two people, in tactile actions of aiding and supporting.” Cortini adds, “The video embodies the volatility and hidden nature of the music’s subject and meaning. A meaning that is ultimately personal and unique the listener/spectator.” Watch the clip .



Beginning as a collaborative experiment before the pair had even met, Avery and Cortini then worked remotely and free of concept or deadline over several years. The result, finally completed when both artists were touring with Nine Inch Nails in 2018, is a quietly powerful album rooted in trust, process and experimentation. The first fruits of their labour were unveiled last year when ‘Water’ and ‘Sun’ appeared online, subsequently released as a very limited 7” run that was sold at FYF Festival and Mount Analog in Los Angeles, and Phonica Records in London. Both tracks are included on the album.



“It was very much a shared process”, notes Avery. “I would like to credit Alessandro with his belief that music has a life of its own, as well as the importance he places on the first take... That even something that may be considered out-of-step by some should be respected. Some of the tracks were borne simply out of a tiny synth part, or a bit of tape hiss that we had recorded. And that approach taught me a lot. It’s a record that’s been worked on hard, but not laboured over.”



“I was a big fan of Daniel’s, and his work always spoke to me in a certain way,’’ explains Cortini. “Then, when we started working together, it just clicked. It’s very hard to explain, but I can always hear the love in his work, and that is true on this record. After our first collaboration, we just kept sending each other music and maintaining that dialogue. Next thing you know, we’re sitting in a hotel room in New York and had finished the record in three hours.”



The collaborative album follows Avery’s second record Song For Alpha, released in early 2018, and last year’s expanded edition B-sides & Remixes. Mixmag called the sophomore LP “A beautiful maturation of Avery’s work as a producer,” while The Guardian hailed its “Majestic, cavernous techno” and Loud & Quiet praised Avery as “A producer fast approaching the peak of his powers,” “This album cements Daniel Avery as one of the best,” wrote DIY. The London-based producer will perform at BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified Live on April 3rd, a new series of concerts in the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall presented by Unclassified host and presenter Elizabeth Alker and conducted by André de Ridder – tickets are available here. Avery has also just been announced in the first wave of acts for London festivals Re-Textured and the inaugural Wide Awake, taking place in April and June respectively.



Cortini released his most recent solo album Volume Massimo on Mute in July 2019, following Fine, the Italian artist’s final album under his SONOIO alias, which came out the previous year. The Quietus called the former “an album that showcases just how much Cortini‘s aesthetic has developed since his early days,” while Exclaim! hailed it “a melodic exploration of textures and layers … an instrumental masterpiece that adds to an already incredible body of work by the gifted and skilled composer.”

Compression and expansion, focus and surrender, tension and release - the elusive state of balance is less of an inert, perfect condition than it is an interaction or moderation over time between polarized points. Rarely is it defined nor clearly prescribed. Through careful examination of the factors and conditions involved can a possible pathway be uncovered, in any particular scenario. The attached transmission is not a declaration of balance, nor a prescription towards it. But rather, it is like a snapshot captured of an object in motion.

Limited edition clear LP 500 copies worldwide. No Repress!

Record Kicks is proud to present the Instrumentals from 2019's critically acclaimed album "50 FOOT WOMAN" by Hannah Williams & The Affirmations. Recorded strictly on tape at ATA Records and mixed and produced by Shawn Lee, this album captures all of the visceral power of The Affirmations. Hannah Williams turned heads worldwide when the hip-hop superstar Jay-Z sampled her heart-stopping vocals on 'Late Nights & Heartbreak' for the title track, '4.44' on his 2017 album. With the new album 50 FOOT WOMAN, released last October 18th on the Milan based imprint Record Kicks, Hannah and her exemplary, Bristol-based band the Affirmations delivered a definitive career statement.

Fast-rising Lisbon-based DJ/producer PEDRO has shared details of his long-awaited debut album, ‘Da Linha’, which releases on March 20 via Enchufada. First teased with the release of bubbling lead single ‘Calores’ in January, ‘Da Linha’ crowns a defining breakthrough three years for PEDRO that has seen him establish himself as one of Portugal’s most vibrant and exciting new-school producers. His debut EP, ‘EP ‘Damaia’ (2017) – named after the suburb of Lisbon he was born in – immediately signposted a bright, borderless club sound rooted in experimentation, which has since been best emphasised by 2019 releases including the Buraka Som Sistema-sampling ‘Rapazes’ and a breathless collaboration with Nigerian MC, Magugu (‘Too Much’), both of which feature on the LP tracklist.

First inspired by his older brother, who would introduce PEDRO to the latest electronic music coming out of Portugal, he still references DJ Rolando’s ‘Knights Of Jaguar’ as a memorable early touch point – a record he still credits with influencing the melodies he writes to this day. Living and growing up in Damaia, PEDRO also went to school with friends of Angolan, Cape Verdean, Brazilian and Mozambican descent, exposing him to a whole patchwork of new sounds and genres like kuduro and kizomba from a very young age. With such a rich and diverse musical upbringing, it is perhaps no wonder that ‘Da Linha’ is bursting with energy and colour across all 10 tracks, melding together the hyper-specific sounds, instruments and voices that have sound-tracked PEDRO’s life so far. From the marching, militant rhythm of ‘Stuck On You’ ft. standout Ghanaian MC, Bryte, to the silky, bubblegum vocals and gloopy, earworm melodies of closing track ‘Para Ti’ featuring Xcelencia, you’d be hard pushed to find a debut record that captures a city so viscerally.