quête:circle of sound

Earlier this year, Micha Acher and his band The Notwist returned with their latest full-length 'Close To The Glass' and received rave reviews around the globe. Yet, it's not the only album he's going to release this year, since Acher's about to introduce his latest musical entity - the Alien Ensemble. It's an all-acoustic line-up, devoid of electronic enhancements. And even though all members have a background in jazz, this is no classic 'jazz music' either - there's simply no need to show off technical skills... Since you'll hear anything from Minimal Music to Krautrock influences, from delicate brass sections to the sound of New Orleans, it's pretty much impossible to pigeonhole Alien Ensemble's sound or slap a genre term on it.

Nomine's third release on Tempa, following last year's spooked-out Nomine's War, is Enma / Zen Circle / Mindfulness. Containing his most expansive and exploratory music to date, pushing his already intricate and varied sound to new depths of atmosphere and intensity.
As their titles attest, the three tracks here are intense meditations as much as they are club firepower. Drawing equally on his love of UK sound system music and formally experimental composition and sound design, they further highlight Nomine's status as one of the most adventurous new producers operating in electronic music today.Lead track 'Enma' blasts from the tracks in flurries of metallic drums and plucked sino-grime esque melodies, an atmosphere heightened further on 'Zen Circle' whose reedy pipe motifs stalk through the mist like figures through a haunted forest. 'Mindfulness' rounds the EP out with shadowy, delay cloaked digital dub, riding out atop clustered kickdrums and roughly effected drums.

That Dope Loop Pinning down Sascha Dive as Cocoons deephouse wunderkind wouldn't really hit the nail on the head however it isn't far from truth. Compared to most other artists of this genre he can for sure be classified as a young gun but there is no soundproof for his age in his music at all. Sascha Dive's music is loaded with a respectful amount of taste and house history you would normally find in the productions and DJ-sets of artists who started in the early 90s. And this is not unwanted: Dive admires and follows the big names of house and deep house and his musical efforts to pay respect to them brought him on par with his legends! So it's no wonder that Sascha Dive productions found their way to top notch labels like Tsuba, Freebase, Deep Labs (Balance US) or Raum...Musik. Not to forget his release for Ornaments and the Moodyman remix for 'Deepest America". Having in mind where Dive started with his first album 'Restless Nights' and what he achieved until he received remix-honours from Mister Kenny Dixon Jr. one could think Sascha Dive scored all goals he wanted to score. However the journey didn't stop here: Being a Cocoon artist and having played for some of the major Cocoon nights in Ibiza and around the globe Dive incorporated a decent amount of electronic soul and after-hour-madness to his music over the last years. He even admits that his current productions and DJ-sets are definitely influenced by current techno- and techno-house artists and this special feeling this music adds to a party. And this progression is clearly audible in his new and upcoming album 'Dark Shadow' which is a great example of the sound of Sascha Dive in the year 2013.

With France's long-fallow club scene back in international resurgence as Paris storms back into fighting form, Europe now has found a new source for yet-unheard music. It was a long time brewing, but names like Concrete, Katapult, Zadig, and Society of Silence, have begun to appear in the international clubbing circuit, and the growth is not limited to the capital. Further south in Lyon, a city quickly gaining its own renown for busy club parties booking bigger names, there exists a smaller circle of energetic operators whose name is also spreading rapidly and whose recent accomplishments include Nuites Sonores, Boilerroom and more. Spearheaded by Kosme, a DJ and producer of quickly increasing notice, the provincial powerhouse has already turned heads throughout France as Kosmo's Caramelo Records was snapped up by legendary Parisian distributor Syncrophone; he has a new label set to launch in 2014. It is with this background in mind that THEMA proudly offers Kosme's international debut, the 'April Moon' EP.

Kosme comes to the table with six tracks of low-slung Detroit-referencing house music laced with extra grit. 'Fondamental' rides shuffling hats and a building acid line to dramatic heights. 'Ever Shake My Mind' is slower and dirtier yet, with crushed hats and a bottom-lurking bass between Theo Parrish-esque drum-machine-down-the-stairs breakdowns. After an interlude, 'Mothafunka' resumes the beatdown with a talkover house track that escalates uncontrollably in intensity as drums shuffle before breaking down in congos & pads. 'Deep Function' dials down to sexier sounds with sultry vocal samples and sampled hiss, but it doesn't lose the drum kink. Finally the digital bonus 'A Thought for Yvonne' is the most subdued and skeletal of all with echoed drums and a lonely bassline tumbling over each other in slow motion.

Following the explosion of new sounds from the capital, it is no surprise to find the movement spreading, and THEMA arrives first with the freshest France has to offer.

Markus Fix has been one of the early companions of Deep Vibes Recordings and we're happy to see him back with this stunning 3 Track solo EP. In fact this record somehow seems to close the circle between his early playful works and today's club sound. ' Wanna Let You Go' is a beautiful warm house track with a sweet piano line. What might seem like a perfect sundowner has potential to become a secret weapon for early morning hours too. Release your mind and let the body follow! Whilst speaking of that: ' Back On Earth' will make you jack! Pure energy, compressed to a juicy baseline. No more words needed. ' Reagy Dub' makes the round up and fills in somewhere between the two others. Warm up, cool down or open airs sun splash. Check out this diverse as beautiful record! Have a great summer! Yours truly, DVR.

New Chico Mann remix single ahead of his forthcoming full length album 'Magical Thinking' !
Featuring the sultry vocals of New York based Kendra Morris, the slinky and catchy album version of 'Same Old Clown' is joined here by deeper re-workings from USA DJ and re-edit king Kon (Kon & Amir, Nitetime), who provides both a vocal and dub remix as well as UK producer Linkwood, known in underground circles for his groundbreaking mix of future-boogie, house and detroit techno on Scotland's excellent Firecracker Recordings imprint.
Guitarist with the band Antibalas, multi instrumentalist and guitarist, Chico Mann (AKA Marcos Garcia) has in the past worked with the likes of TV On The Radio, The Roots and Dam Funk as well as remixing Little Dragon and Alice Russell amongst others.

After a contribution to Ethereal Sound and a full-bloom debut EP on Mule Electronic earlier this year, "Running In Circles" takes the next step. Two power cuts that melt, espouse and mutate classicist Chicago school of design elements with the post-industrial take of the Live at Robert Johnson canon On a meta-level they even deal with such heavy stuff as reincarnation and the cycles of life and death. Oh, yes! How does that sound As sweet and threatening as a sugar skull, of course.

Shadow Ray is best known in house music circles as the co-producer of the Oasis 1, 13, 13 1/2 and 14 releases with Omar S, although he is also well known to the Ryan Correctional Facility for more nefarious reasons. The Detroit-based producer has spent the past four years at Ryan earning not only a hard knocked life but a trade in Sound Engineering. That was until Alex Smith (aka Omar S) made a presentation to the facility s parole board to commission a remix of his recent hit >Heres Your Trance Now Dance< as part of Rays work release program! Rumour has it the parole board was inhabited by at least one old school house head, and we re delighted to see Alexs idea come to fruition, with Shadow Ray really nailing it with this remix. Staying true to original s shimmering melody, Ray opts to bolster the bottom end with a raw bassline that creates a nice, fat rolling groove

REPRESSED !!
Blank Code Records launches with its first release Circle 1 by label artist Mutate. Circle 1 is the first in a series of releases by Mutate and features remixes by Drumcell, Audio Injection, and Bas Mooy Detroit has always had a definitive voice in the future sound of techno, and this debut release from Blank Code is a prime example of both the latest from Detroit, and its international allegiances exemplified by three brilliant remixes from some of techno's most accomplished modern artists.

It's been 16 years since the guy's debut on Moving Shadow and throughout those years they have recorded for a number of labels such as Reinforced, Good Looking, Hospital, Botchit & Scarper, Southern Fried, Polydor and Mr. Bongo. But their real passion is Passenger, 14 years of pushing out the cutting edge dance music of all genres and things have come near full circle.

Known in many circles for his wonderful dubstep excursions comes San Francisco native 'DJG' with his excellent take on Drum & Bass. This is his first release when it comes to D&B and we are very proud to be releasing these amazing tunes! Welcome aboard!

A. HYDRATE A deep menacing vibe kicks things off a a steady kick while claps and thick snare are sprinkled throughout leading up to a thunderous reese that will challenge any system. Muffled horns and vocals keep things interesting leading up to a subterranean breakout takes things into dubby territory! A truly wonderful piece of original music!

AA. HYDRATE ( CONSEQUENCE REMIX ) Known for his work with the Autonomic crew, Consequence seemed the perfect match to recreate an already wonderful tune and does a great job with this remix. A hazy intro with dusty crackles leads into the tune's signature kick with claps. Dubby stabs with a drawn out horn take things deeper before the bass punches through.

Consequence has taken his signature minimal sound and added upon the original for a truly deep, original recreation. These are the kind of remixes we like! Dub Dub Dub!!!

Here's Sunlightsquare's 10th Anniversary special red edition of "I Believe In Miracles" 7inch vinyl record. This is a repress from the same metalwork as the original 2010 release.

One of the most played tracks in latin music circles worldwide for the past decade, this salsa cover of Jackson Sisters' 1973 hit was produced by British-Italian pianist and producer Claudio Passavanti. The recording features a 25 piece band recorded live in Cuba, at Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión in Havana.

The original 45 has become very rare amongst vinyl collectors, being valued between 50 and 200 USD on Discogs at the time of writing. This special edition looks and sounds 100% as the original (pressed by the same plant using the same stamper) except... it's in bright red vinyl!