quête:circle of sound

'I take my guitar and strum and sing some tings and blow people's mind. But I ain't trying to do anybody's music. I'm doing what I feel' - Shadow

When it came out in 1984 the far-out album Sweet Sweet Dreams by Trinidad & Tobago's Shadow (aka Winston Bailey) was described as 'way ahead of its time'. Undeservedly it was panned by critics and, unable to reach markets, disappeared into the dusty record collections of a few music aficionados. Now, more than three decades later that cosmic dance-floor UFO is about to take off again, change all that and set the record straight. Remastered and cut by Frank Meritt at The Carvery the album is truly a masterpiece.

But who is this Shadow behind Sweet Sweet Dreams Shadow is a man of understated magnitude. A truly enigmatic artist, he first emerged in Trinidad and Tobago during the 1970s, becoming a part of the tapestry of Caribbean music and reinvigorating calypso at the time. Calypso, the indigenous folk music of Trinidad and Tobago, has roots in West African kaiso rhythms, French Creole influences, and the hardships endured by the African slaves brought to Trinbago, whose descendants still use it as a tool for satire, self-expression, and social commentary. Calypso has also given birth to several other music genres, including soca, with its uptempo beats and festival context. Shadow effortlessly moves between both.

Shadow came from a humble but musical family and started writing songs as a youth while tending cattle in the fields. To his family's initial chagrin he chose calypso over church music but his talent and drive were undeniable. In the early days of his career Shadow's style was cramped when working with some of the more conservative music arrangers who felt that calypso and soca should fit a mould. But after a while Shadow teamed up with more innovative arrangers, including Arthur 'Art'de Coteau, who followed their and Shadow's intuitions resulting in a long line of hits.

'The first time we met for me to arrange his music we had a heated argument on the arrangement for one of his songs, I was theoretically correct but Shadow was musically right. Shadow broke all the traditional musical rules and made his own and that made him a musical giant. He changed the face of Calypso music in 1974 with the release of "Bassman" a tune in which Bass and magnificent horn line took central stage changing Soca music for ever. What Shadow did with his music was to put calypso on the International Dance circuit, giving it a totally different groove. You could take his music and swing it in any direction, Disco, Pop, Calypso, you name it. His music was different from anything that existed before'. - Carl "Beaver" Henderson, one of Trinidad's veteran producers.

This inert creativeness culminated in Sweet Sweet Dreams which was arranged by Shadow and deals with burning and ever-relevant themes like love and the ups and downs of relationships. a surprising fact for someone mainly known for his satirical and political lyrics. It prompted his manager to wonder if Shadow had written the lyrics while in a state of 'tabanca' (a word used in Trinidad and Tobago to describe lovesickness).

Sweet Sweet Dreams was recorded at the legendary SHARC studios, located on a hill in Chaguaramas (near Port of Spain) and despite a fantastic sound and monster Soca-boogie tunes like 'Lets get it together', 'Lets Make it Up' and 'Way, Way Out' the album was a commercial flop, probably due to the fact that it didn't sound like anything else coming out of Trinidad & Tobago at the time: It fused a range of different rhythms and new sounds, primarily heavy synth riffs.

Shadow took the album's lack of success in his stride with usual aplomb:
'When I did Sweet Dreams I expect something could happen. But nothing big happen because I have no big market and no distribution and all this thing now. So I just cool myself and move on to another song. I wasn't doing just one song. I used to always have plenty songs at the one time. And be writing music'.

What Shadow didn't realise back then was that the proto-electronic cocktail he had mixed in 1984 would only find the recognition it deserved three decades later. Life has swung full circle: Sweet Sweet Dreams has come true and been elevated to holy grail status becoming one of the most sought-after Caribbean disco records in existence.

For this re-release we carried out extensive interviews with Shadow and the musicians and have included as bonuses exclusive photos from Shadow's personal collection and the dancefloor filler tune 'D'Hardest' was added as a bonus track.

The Micronaut creates the soundtrack for those moments when the screeching of the subway and the steps on the wet pavement have echoed away into the dark city sky. Those moments when the ghosts of fumes and stop lights haunt the empty streets, when behind glowing windows dreams and urban exit strategies get ready for bed. When everybody is close to each other, but everyone is on his own. When the city comes to a standstill, but the wheels inside the heads of its inhabitants keep spinning. Stefan Streck discovers the musical equivalent for this epic atmosphere somewhere between Bass Music, Electronica and Pop. The cinematic soundscapes of his nocturnal City Blues have a somewhat tragic vibe, which is very noticeable both during the impulsive, passionate live shows of The Micronaut and on 'Forms', his third studio album on Acker Records, distributed through Kompakt. Between moments of deep melancholy and sudden eruptions of blissful euphoria he creates a feverish state of tension.

The fourth LAQ is proudly made by Attic's owner Fabrizio Lapiana. His melodic techno taste is employed into each track moving from hypnotic hard strings of the "Cold In Summer" to the sour and acidic groove of "Acid Smiles" (both on the first side). In the b-side Fabrizio goes into more hypnotic and obsessive sound. A sort of progressive-techno vibes served to people who never-stop dancing.

Richy Ahmed launches his new imprint, Four Thirty Two, with a self-produced two-track single, 'Put Me In A Trance', featuring the vocal talents of Gloria Adereti and a collaboration with up and coming producer, Janson.
The new label is a back to basics, analogue vision, directed by Richy, which will include original material, unearthed and undiscovered artist appearances, and remixes from the Richy and Janson alias Love Hurtz, as well as featuring a variety of vocalists from surrounding circles. Each release will have a clear focus on the sound of vinyl and clean-cut imagery presented with each record.
Richy explains; "The first release is from myself, my good friend Janson and Gloria Adereti, all original and new material. I am super happy with the EP and both tracks are sounding really strong, so cant wait for you to hear it. Check the original artwork also done by Will Worrell and myself, each release will have unique and bespoke artwork that we've created and photographed in professional studios. I'm super proud to kick start the label with this release."
Since his debut EP 'The Drums' on Hot Creations in 2013, Richy has continued to pave the way for genre spanning and aspiring artists. Aside from his recording and production ventures, Richy has been at the forefront of UK house music and its surrounding avenues for some years, taking a lead role in programming DC10'S Paradise parties, and a variety of club projects. Richy has forthcoming remixes for the likes of FFRR and Snatch, and has recently had solo singles out on Strictly Rhythm and Rinse Records, as well as a prestigious remix for New Order.
As an extension to the label releases, Four Thirty Two will tour the UK as an operating label party brand, with early shows selling out in record time and forthcoming label nights around the UK and Europe scheduled, all side stepping Richy's usual realms of clubland for smaller and more intimate venues.
Vinyl release date 28th October

Bass Cadet Records comes back with a solo release by Etienne from Arcarsenal under the Solune moniker. Four crossover pieces of music mixing multiple layers of influences circled between house, ambient, soundscapes, dub techno and tribal rhythms.

Berlin Atonal Recordings is happy to announce two forthcoming releases, both featuring live cuts from two of the most talked about performances at the 2015 edition of the festival.

Peder Mannerfelt supplies four jams fashioned out of his own exceptional live show at the festival. Raw, unsoftened, brutely analog sound from an EMS Synthi AKS punctures space in an oddly futuristic rhythmic experiment, gesturing at a brand new way of thinking about electronic music.

The cuts are also packaged in a special 12" featuring artwork based on his own breathtaking live audio- visual show.

Hunting down the coolest sounds around the globe, the wewantsounds crew have curated another special mix for your Lazy Sundays. Dishing out a tasteful mix of new tracks from under the radar, this selection features a string of sunny pop, indie grooves, chilled electro and relaxed disco, the whole seasoned with a couple of leftfield cult classics and classy jazz tracks for good measure. Sunday Mixtape is the perfect sonic brew that will bring you back to life after a long night or hard partying. Many of the tracks in this selection have barely been heard outside of the underground circles and feature young artists who have just sprung out to life with the exception of UK soul diva ALA.Ni and the recent success of her melancholic jazzy album and L'Impératrice, the next disco big thing out of France, whose buzz is getting louder.
Here you'll find new French nouvelle vague singer Laure Briard, US groovy duet Bones & Beeker, minimal house producers Roscius and Shigeto as well as Domenique Dumont with a buzzing balearic beat.
Sunday Mixtape also features a few cult classics such as Mock & Toof's 'Farewell to Wendo', Louie Austen's 'Hoping' and Justine & The Victorian Punks' 'Still You', a sought after NY avant disco 1979 tune led by French expat fashionista Justine and saxophonist (and frequent Arthur Russell collaborator) Peter Gordon.

Blackhill Transmitter comes from the FSOLdigital stable of projects. Credited to Dougans / Cobain it was produced and engineered by Yage.
Blackhill Transmitter has been compared to a Four Tet from the 1970's, combining Krautrock with granular synthesis. It is a journey through 15 tracks which blend in and out, interspersed with hauntingly distorted sounds of old lost transmissions that still circle the Earth.
The album is available as a 180g heavy weight vinyl release.

Over the past 7 years WOLF Music have steadily blossomed into a bonafide platform for both auspicious and established producers of classically-minded House and Disco catering for listeners and DJs alike.

Having amassed a catalogue of EPs and LPs including the likes of Frits Wentink, Medlar, KRL, Mr Fries and Inkswel they are now ready to release their 4th full length LP this time from long term label friends Nicholas Church and Joseph Spencer a.k.a Casino Times.

Having first appeared on WOLF for the label's 23rd release - Casino Times have since released music through their own Casino Edits imprint, Futureboogie and Permanent Vacation.
Across each release the duo have built a musical identity that's characterised by subby electronics and off-kilter sampling.

Now they get chance to stretch their legs across 10 tracks, delving into an array of new territories, which pieces together their début LP, Familiar Circles.
Ranging from the beautifully breezy Oddity to the break-laden Love In Time the album begins to take shape as a masterclass in arresting sampling.

Continuing with the subtly mournful I Hope This Find You Well featuring Desert Sound Colony, followed by the potent, burly drums of Overcome. Panning out across its entirety as an album that achieves something rare in deftly dialing a broad spectrum of moods, adding further facets to WOLF's ever-expanding catalogue.

The VRV label pushes its sound further with its 6th vinyl release, featuring Rai´z. Opener Coruscate' stuns with brilliant energy designed to meet any set's intensity requirements. The fip side starts with Inner Sense,' a stripped-down, claustrophobic drive somewhere between apprehension and urgency. Primeval' pulls the layers back even further, for an aggressive track that's reminiscent of techno's drum-driven tribal era. All tracks are primed for cutting edge techno DJs. Pushing the exploration of concept and expression with the VRV circle, this release features artwork by Rai´z family member Vanessa Vargas.

2015 brought the trilogy of the dancer to Ressort. Now the labels core artists each remix their tracks in circles.
While all of them aim for the dancefloor, Ressorts core artists could not sound more diverse. Ekserd and Border One aim for the raw, the groovy and the pure while Array Access and Glos lose themselves more and more in sound design and dreaminess. Since the many aspects of art and music form a cycle of ying and yang, each artist
shows the other an interpretation of what he might have missed before.
Be it a complete stomper or a light absorbing epos, a deep and groovy House and Techno hybrid or a journey into the depths of space Every artist made one of the well known tracks released on previous EP's his own. It s a very colourful package that bares every moment the label tried to cover in it's series before.

Two raw extended trips from the mind of STL in a rare foray beyond his self-run Something imprint. Stephan Laubner applies his usual auteur principles to these groove experiments, whose sounds circle round each other cagily, rough meeting smooth, organic meeting synthetic, all combining in a propulsive form that's classic STL. Shifty hats on 'Crank Notion' provide an insistent shuffle through which nauseous pads plot a dissonant course. 'Neat Buzzl' is a grimier excursion in the undergrowth, little creatures scurrying left and right while the kick maintains its forward stomp. Join STL and Assemble Music in these off-map excursions and see where you emerge.

"...don't ask if there will ever be a Volume 2. We don't know yet. What we do know is that if we ever come across a similar tour de force as Don McCaslin's composition, Praise Poems, then there will certainly be one..." These were the final words of the sales notes for Praise Poems Volume 1 - which we proudly released earlier this year. And indeed, since then, we have discovered a tune which led us to continue to curate this series of obscure, soulful, jazzy and spiritual sounds from back in the day. The song to which we refer to is Abraham Battat's jazz-samba masterpiece, Fly Away. Fly Away is a righteous combination of sonorous jazz guitar, crackling drums and warm acoustic piano. Floating through the tones as if in a private concert for you in your very living room, it is an earnest, honest vocal performance bringing a rainbow message of freedom and liberty to the world. This is the standard by which we judged the entirety of this compilation. Though they may be known in some circles, selections by Richard Martian, Larry Covin, and The Gingerbread Express are in the same category of pure beauty. Of course, good luck finding a copy of Larry Covin's Masquerade or the Portis Brothers' Summer Love. The single hit you receive while doing an online search is the exact same copy from which we took the master. To find a needle in a haystack is a cakewalk compared to turning up a copy of some of these gems to be found here.

Shimmer was the record that put Stefan Goldmann on the map of techno. The dark and throbbing tracks, reduced to the essentials, were love at first sight for many of the DJs who ruled the scene back in 2004. Josh Wink threw in one of his most focused remixes for Stefan Goldmann's debut on Ovum - which was also the first one by a German artist on the label. As so often in dance music, things have come full circle. About time to give a mint copy of "Shimmer" to the DJs who play this prototypic sound today. Remastered meticulously by Rashad Becker at D&M, with the title track cut to a full 12" side, it never sounded better.

Leisure System presents rising talent Will Ward's Interval One EP, the second in our 2015 GRIDLOCK series of dance floor 12"s and the British producer and DJ's most exuberant record to date. In addition to two prior solo releases, Will Ward is a member of the esteemed electronic trio Circle Traps along with Jack Wyllie and Duncan Bellamy of Portico. He has previously collaborated with the likes of My Panda Shall Fly and gained support from tastemakers such as Rob Da Bank and Gilles Peterson for dazzling productions that blur the lines between pumping house and windswept techno. The Interval One EP is a strong representation of that sleek sound, with tracks that are bursting with emotion and memorable detail. "Digital Design" is an aural kaleidoscope, with a shimmering melody line refracted in squiggly arcs next to murmured female vocals and resonant chords. It's a fittingly varied introduction, drifting between hot and cold poles. "Portion" features Circle Traps member Jack Wyllie, and subtle additions accrue to create waves of unease, while the melody line bounces energetically through a maze of ossified handclaps and buoyant chord stabs. Closing things out, the EP's title track builds from a woozy introduction to an ebullient peak, as if rolling out of bed and stepping immediately onto a throbbing dance floor. It's a cleansing and exhilarating feeling, the type of rare emotional response that Will Ward has proven himself thoroughly capable of creating with Interval One.

Young East London producer Sam 'Palace' Walker has been part of DJ Haus's trusted inner circle for some time, having released on both Unknown 2 The Unknown and Hot Haus Records. Here he unreleased two more retro-futurist house gems - the kind of kaleidoscopic, rave-inspired tracks that evoke memories of early '90s pirate radio stations and illegal parties full of smiling dancers in bad long sleeve t-shirts. Choose between the bouncy stabs, hazy vocal cuts, bleep-era bass and snappy, cheap-sounding beats of "Codex", and "NRG", a piano-laden banger that makes great use of some familiar samples that were once a staple of breakbeat hardcore and bouncy house records. Oh, and the unmistakable rhythmic swing of UK garage.

This is the story of C POWERS. To understand OYSTERS, you must understand the man behind it all...
THE UNITED STATES TERRITORY OF GUAM, ca. 1989
Abandoned at the island nation's only beachfront techno club as an infant, young Christoph (C POWERS) was adopted by the club's owner, Geraldo Powers. During Geraldo's time as a naval officer, he traveled the world throughout rave's formative years, secretly going to the underground parties when arriving to European ports after having originally fallen in love with early house music as a teenager in his native Chicago via roller-rink parties and the legendary Music Box headed by Ron Hardy. Rear Admiral Geraldo, outed as a gay homosexual during the discriminatory days of Ronald Reagan's U.S. military, was forced to retire, but spared a dishonorable discharge thanks to his roster of medals earning during his exemplary leadership for the invasion of Grenada in 1983.
Throughout his three year stay at the local naval base, the now 30-something Gerry Powers had been struck by the natural beauty and unsettling mysticism of Guam and its peoples and made the choice to permanently set up shop on the island after his unexpected retirement. Taking his partner and newly-crowned Supreme Butch Queen of the New York vogue circuit--Amadeus Lector--with him and financed with $6669.69 in prize money, the new era of DAS POUNDHAUS LTD. was to begin.
In 1990, Gerry founded the notorious Guamanian club DAS POUNDHAUS (the name of which was strongly influenced by a two-week long ecstasy and Polish speed-fueled bender during 1989's inaugural Love Parade in West Berlin). Located inside a decrepit lighthouse originally built during Spain's reign over the island, the club played host to a steady stream of closeted, Pacific-touring U.S. military personnel and later, the party-craving barons of the dot com bubble. Outed in private usenet circles for its off-the-charts hedonism, the club's infamous parties would inevitably lead to its perilous demise, and the eventual deportation of Gerry Powers and his family to the mainland.
But there was one thing that could never be taken away from them...
...synesthesia...
You see, young Christoph was diagnosed with the "disorder" as a pre-teen after having been exposed to nearly a decade of DAS POUNDHAUS first-hand and at such a young age. The youngster was like a fish in water during his childhood in Guam, but when the family was deported in 1999, he began to show signs of anxiety and depression. His ability to hear colors and see sounds had simply turned into a stream of incomprehensible, uncontrolled static. He was now a pariah among his peers. Shunned and admonished. Assigned to sit by himself during school lunch. One of "those" kids.
By this time, his two dads' relationship was on the rocks and would quickly unravel. Amadeus, frustrated with Gerry's incessant ramblings about bunkering in Montana because of the Clinton-Illuminati conspiracy to enslave the middle-class, decided to leave Gerry in an attempt to become a backup dancer for Madonna during her "Drowned World Tour" in 2001 (which would have provided a significant sum of financial security to the family, considering their life savings had been destroyed thanks to the toppling of the NASDAQ from its peak of 5048 in March of 2000--and thanks to those dot com baron stock tips, the Powers were all-in). However, Amadeus' unflinchingly "authentic" vogue style was considered obsolete, and he would go to die in a Reno Motel 6, a victim of drug abuse and that kind of thing apparently.
>>>>Fast-forward to the year2012ish>>>>

The latest chapter in the unfolding story of Chronicle finds the New York techno label reaching out to Japan once again, calling upon the considerable talents of Hironori Takahashi to deliver a nerve -shredding manifest on cinematic scope and malicious intent in the darker corners of contemporary techno. Takahashi has previously shared his vision for malevolent dancefloor crushers on such highly regarded labels as Semantica and Stroboscopic Artefacts, not to mention holding down a job at the world-renowned Disk Union record shop in Tokyo.

Proceedings start somewhat inviting on EVENT0009, as the warm, dub-inflected chords of 'Ariast' drift through the stout rhythmic throwdown with orchestral grace. There is of course plenty of space left for brooding, uncertain elements underneath this melodic calm, but it's still a positively mellow offering compared to the jackhammer drum damage of 'Dazre' with its monstrous industrial intent and soaring sound design.

'Cecilleatis' is a more patient beast that simmers its tough ingredients into a predatory whole, using atmospheric pressure instead of sheer volume to create the required intensity. It's not all steel furnace fury though, as the track comes equipped with an epilogue that cools the fires of the EP with some glacial tones and distant machine bleeps that continue Chronicle's commitment to showcasing different sides of their chosen artists.

The structure and the essence of this release, focuses on a current argument in which more and more people in this society are found to be the early protagonists, often without even realizing it.
The artist wants to tell and convey through his work, a point of view towards this theme.
As can be deduced from the title of the EP, the project is to express and represent a war of colors, which fight the monotony of everyday, always flat and dark.
The first track, "Daily March", wants to criticize this monotony through a full-bodied sound that recalls a real daily march, which many people are facing every day. All accompanied by a setting of hypnotic sounds that capturing the attention of the listener, carrying in a vicious circle in which one perceives the focus of the concept that the artist wants to communicate.
The second track, "Appearance Of Freedom" is the soundtrack for those who are trapped in slavery everyday life, believing to be free or at least trying to able to escape from the monotony, but then realizing that it is only an appearance. The sound of this second soundtrack fully embraces with the first, almost as if it were a single story that is going to evolve, arguing the rebellion that the artist wants to express in this state of being of the person in the present life.
To accompany the two original works of Kalos, there are two remixes by great artists, the first made by the Irish duo Lakker, which are able to communicate their idea of daily march through their strong version, being able to also expose them a very clear message.
The second remix is made by the Begian artist Yves De Mey, for the track "Apperance Of Freedom" where he captures in full the message of the track and re-edited, bringing attention to the full-bodied bass carefully distorted, creating a trip hypnotic evolving.

Great music extends father than your ears can hear. Listening to resent recordings of Peder Mannerfelts music is listening to recordings of a complete creative flow. Superb tracks created inside of Peder Mannerfelts Villa Nellcôte.
Opener "Rhythm Inflection" is similar to a heartbeat but rebuilt using a parade of machines and biting ice-cold sounds that implies a climax that never comes.
Repetitive thuds are the wrecking ball of "Technology As Apathy" while saw waves continuously crunch until your ear are obliterated on "Failed Grammar". "Titled" is the centerpiece, however. Its sonic gears grind into hollowed-out spheres. A voice from the heavens echoes "Reset, reduce, turn up, repeat" until the words lose all meaning and are battered into the metal walls by distilled rhythms.
EP2 is the last ashes of a manuscript that's been waiting for ages to be turned into dust. It is the final nail in the coffin of his past that began with EP1 and Lines Describing Circles. Peder Mannerfelts music is gradual and always on the move, the process spans over the whole production.