Search:cold

Factory Benelux presents a new vinyl edition of Swimming, the debut album by Belgian new wave group The Names, originally issued in June 1982, and now issued in a limited edition of 300 copies on clear vinyl.

Between 1979 and 1982 The Names recorded a string of excellent records for Factory, Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crepuscule, all helmed by legendary producer Martin Hannett. Recorded at Strawberry Studios in Manchester, Swimming has come to be regarded as a European cold wave classic, combining strong songwriting from Michel Sordinia and poised, tasteful delivery by guitarist Marc Deprez and keyboards player Christophe Den Tandt.

"Exhibits many of the fine qualities of early 80s avant-rock: icy brutalism, spectral reverb, tormented vocals, techno-tribal rumbles" (Uncut, 12/2000); "Swimming retains a gorgeously shrouded, sepulchral mood" (Mojo, 12/2011); "Intelligent and imaginative" (The Face, 7/1982)
Bonus tracks include the popular singles Calcutta, Nightshift, Spectators of Life and The Astronaut, as well as the band's John Peel session from February 1982 - the first ever recorded by a Belgian band. The gatefold sleeve features original artwork and poster design by Benoit Hennebert, and photographs by Marc Portee.

Prairie is the project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Marc Jacobs, hailing from Brussels with roots in The Netherlands. He previously released an EP (I'm so in love I almost forgot I survived a Disaster - 2013) and an LP (Like a Pack of Hounds - 2015) on the Berlin imprint Shitkatapult. On stage, Prairie plays with two or three musicians and together they re-create a free association of musical ideas and atmospheres. Prairie has played in selected venues and festivals across Europe and toured with Apparat in 2016.If the apocalypse was painted in several layers of pastel gouache, its soundtrack might be PRAIRIE's Flash Flood. Listening to the album, we drift through a series of frozen landscapes that gesture at a post-apocalyptic ambience. This is a kind of blackened music that has been left to sediment, excavated from traces in ice core samples. Flash Flood showcases a deep sensitivity to narrative and rich cinematic textures as Marc Jacobs returns with palimpsestic sonic layers. It has been three years since PRAIRIE's last release—the 2015 Cormac McCarthy-inspired Like a Pack of Hounds—and it is clear that it has been several years of pensive reflection. Now, PRAIRIE takes the sentiment of his 2012 debut, I'm So In Love I Almost Forgot I Survived A Disaster, several steps further: it is after the apocalypse, and no one has survived. And yet with Flash Flood, we can hear the hum of this impossible future.

'After the Flash Flood' introduces the sonic ruins of distorted guitars, field recordings, drum programming and synths that create the textures of the entire album. The melancholic and subdued black metal churn of 'Raindeath' becomes the cold backdrop for unnerving, paranoiac speech. The third track, 'Sisters', foregrounds this coldness while slowly moving away toward alternate vistas where the acoustic timbres of the saz-driven 'A Permanent War Economy' take over. 'Underwater Body Hunting' and 'Rabid Ibrahim' are hard hitting beat-oriented tracks that insist on burning slow. There is a patience with PRAIRIE's FLASH FLOOD that is difficult to deny. The lamentation of 'Elephants Will Rise Again' perhaps signals that it is not only the human that is lost after catastrophe. The album closes with 'Hard Water: Cracked Ice' and 'Hayashi Clock'. The former is a beautiful coalescence of clean harmonious tones and softly overdriven drums, while the latter brings us back to a meditative state, drifting through the final pastel tapestry.

"... his cosmos is located somewhere between Bohren & der Club of Gore and Sunn O))), ambient is as familiar to him as brachial sounds, and he is as much acquainted with guitars as with synths and modern technology" (GROOVE)

"... Like Ben Frost, (Prairie) exudes a certain harshness while tempering his work with moments of sublime beauty. This isn't club material, it's music for the hammer in one's hand, the confrontation of the demon, the soul-shattering revelation." (A Closer Listen)

Reissue of the very first Birds Of Passage album from 2010. Minimalistic Lo-Fi Shoegaze meets experimental pop with drone influences.

For someone who thinks it's difficult to describe music in general, it's even more difficult to describe the soundscapes of BIRDS OF PASSAGE. The influences of Alicia Merz - the girl behind BIRDS OF PASSAGE - are her memories, breathless-inspiring cold winds, the smell and atmosphere of a spring day, smoking cigarettes, sunshine and shadows. As a mixture of all these elements plus a minimalistic experimental instrumentation you as well can describe her music: sometimes shy, sometimes more energetic ( fantastic frown') but always intensely and extremly private. Listening to her debut record "Without The World" is like sharing one long day with Alicia and her thoughts in the diverse landscapes of her home country New Zealand.

Alicia doesn't need the orotund spectacle of a band to evoke emotions - with the help of different, in a minimalistic way, used instruments combined with field recordings, she doesn't create specific songs - she builds up a mood. There's no typical song structure, there's no melody to chase after - but there's a development which absorbs you and which makes you start to think about elements you block out in your everyday life.

Following the U.S. Army's liberation of Munich in May 1945, the world's first Amerikahaus was inaugurated there with a library, a magazine reading room, a children's library, a record and lm department, and lecture and seminar rooms, together with a concert hall and exhibition space. Up to 80,000 people a month utilized the offerings of Amerikahaus during its early years. Beginning in 1953, the United States Information Agency (USIA), an institution founded as an instrument of the Cold War, began to finance Amerikahaus. In addition to representing the U.S., its principal task in West Germany was to democratize and denazify the postwar population. After the beginning of the Cold War, many of these re-educative measures also served as propaganda in a programmatic linking of democratic and economic principles meant to strengthen transatlantic relations against the Communist Bloc. In 1997, the U.S. government concluded its work at Amerikahaus in Munich and shipped almost all its items back to the States. However, 1,630 long-playing vinyl records from the library were left behind in cardboard boxes in the basement. When Michaela Melián looked through this forgotten collection, one of the first things she came across was Don Gillis' 1940 tone poem »Portrait of a Frontier Town«, whose second movement is entitled »Where the West Begins«. Don Gillis, a composer and radio producer, used the musical styles and genres of that decade to create an explicitly American program music. Michaela Melián's »Music from a Frontier Town« is fueled by the diverse sonic material of this extensive record collection once considered as an instrument of cultural education. This record has been produced in addition to Melián's twenty-four hour performative music installation »Music from a Frontier Town« in the garage of what is now the Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations at Karolinenplatz, Munich (4-5 May 2018).

Not Long After Recording Her 10th Album, Ruins, Liz Harris Traveled To Wyoming To Work On Art And Record Music. She Found Herself Drawn Towards The Pairing Of Skeletal Piano Phrasing With Spare, Rich Bursts Of Vocal Harmony.

A Series Of Stark Songs Emerged, Minimal And Vulnerable, Woven With Emotive Silences. Inspired By the Idea That Something Is Missing Or Cold,' The Pieces Float And Fade Like Vignettes, Implying As Much As They Reveal. She Describes Them As small Texts Hanging In Space,' Impressions Of Mortality, Melody, And The Unseen - Fleeting Beauty, Interrupted. Grid Of Points Stands As A Concise And Potently Poetic Addition To The Grouper Catalog.

From Liz Harris: Grid Of Points Is A Set Of Songs For Piano And Voice. I Wrote These Songs Over A Week And A Half, They Stopped Abruptly When I Was Interrupted By A High Fever. Though Brief, It Is Complete. The Intimacy And Abbreviation Of This Music Allude To An Essence That The Songs Lyrics Speak More Directly Of. The Space Left After Matter Has Departed, A Stage After The Characters Have Gone, The Hollow Of Some Central Column, Missing.

Rhyw is Alex Tsiridis aka one half of Cassegrain. On this, his solo debut for Arcing Seas, his smoul-dering alien techno sound manifesto continues to thrive over three unique tracks.

The morphing, deconstructed acid of 'Unpunishable' - a molten statement of lusty intent - strikes first in a heady, hazy pummelling of doom-funk. 'Vertisol' pushes crisp and dry snaking percussion through an anechoic chamber; the bass end neatly warming at first then burning hard through your mid section.
An icy cold shot of 'Aqua Velva' is the final offering - a pushing sub-level trip through Rhyw's private domain - where tingling rushes of bass and static charges wash over us leaving a sinful residue.

Label info:
Arcing Seas is an anagram of Cassegrain. It started out as a secret alias, releasing a couple EPs on Our Circula Sound. The secret was less well kept after the duo appeared at Berghain under this name. A year later, after deciding to start a label, it finally made sense to bring the two together.
CASSEGRAIN = Co S o S o G o R o N o A o E o A o I = ARCING SEAS

Pattern Repeat ready the next release on their self-titled label with two solid cuts of techno this May.

The project which was started back in 2009 by the two Danish producers, Dennis Bøg better known as Resoe, owner of Baum Records and its off shoot Baum Limited Picture Edition, and Kenneth Christiansen owner of Echocord Records. Each of their releases move into different realms of Techno,and have gained support from the upper echelons of dance music, from the likes of Rodhad, Levon Vincent, and Dario Zenker.

A crawling filtered synth opens '009A', murky kick drums and syncopated high-hats join it, to create a long winding warehouse melody, these are then exchanged for the hazy sounds of white noise of '009B' packed with cold eerie drones, that are met by charged hums that fizz away and bring the release to a close.

Her Majesty's Ship is proud to present 'This Never Happened', the latest album from hugely talented French-American singer and producer Yan Wagner.

This always inventive and off kilter artist has had many top releases on labels like Kitsune and has worked with the likes of the legendary Arnaud Rebotini and Etienne Daho. He also has a side project, The Populists, is producing the first album of Calypso Valois and wrote the soundtrack for the short film 'Victoria' by Mathilde Marc. Someone who plays events like SXSW and Montreux Jazz Festival, Wagner's playful disco-pop tunes always find their way into the emotions of those who hear them.

For his second album, the artist wondered what to do: surprise everyone with a selection of ballads or serve up the electronic sounds that defined his last effort Forty Eight Hours. The answer lies somewhere in between, with covers of Frank Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood mixed in with fresh and catchy disco production. Unlike the last record produced by Arnaud Rebotini, this record is producer by Yan himself with a triple objective: to favour the first takes, the heat of the sound and to reduce the post- production to a minimum. It makes for something authentic and real, and is an album of artistic self-questioning, tenacious dreaming and overcoming doubt.

Says the artist, "The songs on this record are a series of lies; views of the mind. 'This Never Happened' is a collection of stories that never happened. Ten tracks talking of vain loves, of nocturnal experiences and of life and truth, which are all so short.'

Starting with the retro synths and shiny arpeggios of the title track, ensuing cuts like 'Blacker' are real chuggers with almost de-humanised vocals over the robot beats. 'SlamDunk Cha-Cha' is descended from Bowie with its camp synth wiggles and sung- spoken vocals. Switching up the tempo, slower tracks like 'Grenades' are perfectly glowing and frazzled with their pixelated melodies and cold chords. More upbeat affairs like 'No Love' are like lighter and cheerier versions of Depeche Mode, and the Sinatra cover 'It Was A Very Good Year' is a stirring, synth heavy version that is every bit as tender as the original.

This is a fantastic album of timeless electronic songs and is sure to be one of the standout releases of the year.

In recent times Alex Pletnev has been making his mark on the musical stratosphere with an array of works from from cold wave edits, through gorgeous adaptations of african and world music to tribal techno originals. He joins us as Pletnev for "Aztec Code / Daywalker", a 12" combining his abundant influences to take us to bizarre, far-off places.

"Aztec Code" is a pure dance thing. Inspired by the fat kicks and live bass lines of the Big Beat era, Pletnev combines a jumping beat with african percussion and a charismatic vocal that seems to call out from between the palm fronds of somewhere steamy as we work up a sweat. Tenderly crafted with samples taken from almost 10 records, one-shots, drum layers and melodic licks are treated and mixed, giving rise to a warm, lush atmosphere perfect for circling a fire deep in the tropics.

On the flip, "Daywalker" is a completely original, synthesised outing. A sleazy lead line charms and slithers upwards between layers of syncopated tabla and a sultry acidic groove. The tune spins and twists around this central oriental theme, ever-evolving as layers of detailed percussion and ad-libbed melodies intensify the tone.

Sound artist Eva Geist joins Fleeting Wax label head Mehmet Aslan to spin "Daywalker". The pair create a sonic bridge between the two originals. Their hazy rework dubs out some electronic elements, adding contorted sound design, distant vocals, lofi samples and an italo leaning bass. A mystic incantation for spaced out late morning moments.

Optimo Music is thrilled to release the new album from Jacob Yates. Not only is he one of our all-time favourite artists from Glasgow, but he is one of our favourite artists from anywhere. Criminally unknown except to a few who have been long transfixed by his recordings and performances, we hope this release will open a few more ears to his wondrous musical world.

The Hare, The Moon, The Drone' is the third album from Jacob Yates. This recording finds the band exploring dark hawthorn hedged lanes, moors and suburban, new build estates. There's something more earthy about the songs but the menace and darkness remains. Musically there is a big shift on this album, a field recording of a folk band from a dark, pine filled glen. The opener, The Car sets the scene for the rural side of the album, dank and stone cold. The tracks then shift through the woods, people turn into animals, we pass a sunlit glade, do you hear a love song Cassie Ezeji closes the side sweetly lamenting in Gaelic as the snow falls.

Side two is a more urban affair opening with despair in a bedroom in Belgium, we visit a faith healer and drop in on your lonely mother. Lovatt recounts the story of a karaoke addicted murderer before we finally go home to our new build just outside of town where the pylons tower over Michael and his sister Rachel. It's a journey you can go on, looking out of the window of the bus, glimpses of lives glide by, cards on seats promise to help you. Ding! It's time to get off.

* Breaking into a new century, following last months 100th release on the label, Ishan Sound collaborates on 2 killer tracks with Bristol-based Hodge and Alex Hughes aka Muttley.

* 'C5' refers to cold explosives and makes for a perfect title for this stark, cold rhythm. A circling melodic synth line sets a moody context before the floor drops out and an industrial strength sub drives things forward at 130bpm. Deep, hard, dark, original. Exceptional quality from Ishan Sound and Hodge.

* Flip for a 140bpm excursion from Ishan Sound & Muttley, melding elements of trap, grime and dubstep meticulously to form an engaging sonic that is both fuel for the dancefloor as well as providing introspective qualities for bass weight meditation. 'Still Smoking' sums it up appropriately.

"The kind of melancholia I'm talking about, by contrast, consists not in giving up on desire, but in refusing to yield. It consists, that is to say, in a refusal to adjust to what current conditions call 'reality' - even if the cost of that refusal is that you feel like an outcast in your own time." (Mark Fisher, Ghosts Of My Life, Zero Books 2014, p. 24) In Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures', the author Mark Fisher outlines - to put it in a big way - a resistant melancholy. This stands in contrast to leftist melancholy resignation', as well as something which Fisher does not talk about: its common masculine counterpart, habitual post-left cynicism - as in seen it all before'. Fisher calls this hauntological melancholy. Haunting, spooks, ghosts and apparitions are an almost constant presence on I Started Wearing Black', the second album by the Cologne-based artist Sonae (pronounced so-nah'). The term hauntology shares a fate with retro-futurism when it comes to inflationary overuse and abuse. It's a conceptual container that looks good and can hold a lot, indeed, too much. Furthermore, hauntology has its peak season behind it, a term on the threshold of its expiration date. Nevertheless, I would like to rehabilitate hauntology and use it properly to characterize I Started Wearing Black', because the term is rarely as compelling to describe music as is the case here. The most recent other example could be Asiatisch' by Fatma Al Qadiri, but with a completely different frame of reference. What are the ghosts of this music It rustles, crackles, ruffles, crunches, rattles, scrapes, sometimes a beat emerges from the constant noise, sometimes an obscure voice mumbles incomprehensibly, sometimes a melancholy piano figure is prevented by this noise from coming too much to the foreground. It definitely is eerie - to bring into play another term used by Fisher in the title of his latest book, The Weird and the Eerie'. In British pop-jargon, eerie first occurred to me more often when referring to particularly leftfield, spooky and... well... ghostly dub, a bass-heavy, echoing noise, from Augustus Pablo to Creation Rebel to Burial. Unlike the Wald & Wagner records by Wolfgang Voigt, Sonae is not a kind of neo-romantic veiling with a tendency for escapist nebula. It is more a noise of latency. The noise signals a latent - not necessarily acute - threat, a latent uneasiness about... yes... about what About a System Immanent Value Defect' That's the name of a track on I Started Wearing Black' where something that sounds like a French Horn (or a foghorn) battles for attention through or against the background noise. An email from Sonae: The piece 'System Immanent Value Defect' should actually be called 'I See Turkey'. I wrote it for my fellow student Elif - she is a pianist and Gezi Park activist from Istanbul. Through her I witnessed the inner conflict and agitation that political circumstances can create: her feelings of guilt when there was an attack, with her safe in Germany as a student, watching the events from afar. It was horrible. When her mother begged her not to come home because she feared for her safety, I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. I started with the piece from this mood, beginning with the piano, then the noise (modulated sinusoidal curves), which reminded me of waves and the then heatedly discussed Mediterranean sea: atmospheric, melancholy motifs. In contrast is the anger, the pressure, represented in corresponding sounds - hopefully audible! - During this time I started to think about world views as they can be found around the globe, in how far they held by societies and their political representation. I realized that I know of no political system that is actually about the people and what would do them good. It's always about positions, power, money. I thought that was a lot more frightening on a global scale than merely viewing Turkey in isolation. That's why the piece is called "System Immanent Value Defect", because our world suffers from precisely that. Everywhere, it's all about the wrong things.' Between the wrong things there are happy moments. In the title track, after 184 seconds of rattling and hissing, a beat is unleashed, like an arrow released from a spanned bow, a beatific relief, if there is such a thing. White Trash Rouge Noir' first meanders along spookily, then after 144 seconds it transforms itself into a distant cousin of Einstu¨rzende Neubauten's Yu¨ Gung', but there is no Big Male Ego to be fed here, and the black in the album title is a completely different type of black from that of the Neubauten. Furthermore, I Started Wearing Black' was finished long before the black dresses were worn at the Golden Globes as a sign of protest against sexual violence. Sonae writes that she herself started wearing black some time ago. Her reasons are so-called personal ones: ... resulting from an individual situation (lovesickness), I started to wear black (gaining weight and feeling ugly).' The political dimension of gaining weight, feeling ugly and therefore dressing in black in I Started Wearing Black' lurks within the noise and never becomes explicit and only rarely manifest - or a manifesto. Sonae writes about the track We Are Here': A piece for minorities... in this case, considering the current pop-feminist discourse, explicitly for women. Female artists have long been saying loud and clear that 'we are here' and 'electronic music is not a boys club!' But this pop-feminist moment should only be seen as one part of the dedication of the piece. It is for minorities, for the oppressed, who didn't belong enough.'

Klaus Walter

Do you like Love songs After spending a lifetime spent avoiding this subject in song, Joel Sarakula finally admits that he does. On his new album "Love Club" Sarakula relives the golden age of Soulful and Romantic Pop music and connects it with a modern aesthetic. While a deeper message of love and peace flows through the record, Joel Sarakula is no old fashioned hippie: ",Love Club' is about connecting to reality and re-framing the idea of romantic love and loss in the present, loveless age ". Featuring eleven songs touching all genres from disco to blues, from soul to soft-rock, Joel Sarakula's "Love Club" is a profound pop statement.

Joel Sarakula has travelled the world in search of his muse, experiencing everything from being a victim of Caribbean carjackings to performing in the remote fishing villages of Norway, via the dive bars of Europe and the US. It was the hodge-podge musical tapestry of England's capital that finally drew him to a settling point, in the wake of seemingly never ending run of shows. With personal tastes that span from the more avant-garde to soul and pop greats like Sly Stone, Todd Rundgren and Hall & Oates, there are clear nods to contemporaries like Unkown Mortal Orchestra, Erlend Oye and Toro Y Moi in terms of ambition and style.

With his last two albums "The Golden Age" and "The Imposter" collecting strong radio plays at BBC Radio 2, BBC 6, BBC London, XFM Joel Sarakula has been play-listed nationally in Europe including Flux FM, WDR 5, Radioeins, Bayern 2, Deutschlandfunk and Deutschland Kultur Radio in Germany as well as in Benelux and Italy and Spain. He is a regular fixture on the live festival and club circuit in the UK, Europe and internationally including appearances at SXSW, Primavera Sound, Glastonbury, The Great Escape, Liverpool Sound City, Scala London, Tallinn Music Week, V-ROX (Vladivostok) and Reeperbahnfestival Hamburg.

"Love Club" is Sarakula's bold and unashamedly emotional next step. In essence the album is a homage to the soulful singer & songwriter artistry of the Seventies filtered through a darker contemporary lens - fitting for these uncertain times. "I always shied away from generic love songs," the Sydney, Australia born songwriter admits, "but on this record I embraced the subject wholeheartedly... and intellectually, looking at themes of love, lust, loneliness and everything in-between." Take the first single "In Trouble", co-written with Michele Stodart of The Magic Numbers, as the best example for Joel Sarakula's unique, and honest approach to making music. "We Used To Connect" questions the changing nature of relationships in our social-media addicted world: 'We used to connect in the real world too, now the touch of your hand is a digital cue'.

"Coldharbour Man", on the other hand, examines the identity of the song's narrator and the artist vs. fan dynamic all wrapped up in a disco love song: "There's a lot going on in this particular track. I feel my writing has grown emotionally...", explains Joel Sarakula. "Just best to listen yourself and make up your own interpretation!: 'We met in a song come to life like some fantasy cliché, though I'm known for my moves in the dark you flooded sunshine on my day'. Then there's "Baltic Jam", capturing romantic love and loss in authentic 70s confessional singer & songwriter style and of course "Dead Heat", a song about how there is struggle in the most perfect relationship pairings as the match is so even: "I recall an ex-girlfriend of mine... when we first met, we thought we hated each other but we eventually flipped that emotion and realised we had a deep passion and love for each other, there just was a lot of underlying sexual tension!" : 'It's a battle we could only win, if we lose. We'd be stronger if these lonely ones became two'.

More than a year in the making, Joel Sarakula recorded "Love Club" in various studios around London and Berlin capturing soulful performances from his many musical comrades on vintage analogue equipment. "This record has truly been a labour of love. Recording and privately sharing these performances amongst my collaborators started to feel like a bit like a club - I guess that lead to the album title! I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed the 'love-making process' and I look so much forward to playing these new songs on stage with my band." We can't wait, Joel Sarakula.

Das norwegische, in Berlin lebende Electro-Pop-Duo Soft As Snow, bestehend aus Oda Egjar Starheim und Oystein Monsen, präsentiert mit "Deep Wave" auf Houndstooth sein Debütalbum, co-produziert von WIFE (Tri Angle Records). Die 13 Tracks bestechen durch einen frischen, originären und innovativen Leftfield-Pop, inspiriert von Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Detroit Techno, 1990er IDM, Fever Ray, Cold-Wave und den 1980er "Mutazione" Compilations.

A selection of the coldest and most DJ-friendly cuts taken from the first of the 3-volume LP "Greatest Hits" by the Ron Hardy of Night Slugs, DJ Helix.

To celebrate New Flesh Records 20th release to date, French veteran DJ Umwelt (Shipwrec, Falling Ethics, Rave Or Die) returns to his own label with a mind blowing LP!

Built like the soundtrack of a dystopian movie where main characters evolve in a hopeless future, Sci-Fi Abandon In Place delivers no less than height cinematic masterpieces half-way between electro and ambient registers.

From the menacing sirens of opener Void Of Nothingness to the melancholic synths of closing Galactic Wreck, passing through the Blade Runnerish vision of Celestial Matter, this soulful album depicts nothing but the extinction of mankind in a ending world.

Besides its terrific message, Abandon In Place showcases the unlimited talent and incredible versatility of Umwelt, a mighty producer able to split from the most cutting edge music on New Flesh Records to a more radical, straight to the dancefloor approach on Rave Or Die.

A gloomy journey through apocalyptic tones, slow yet deep basslines, industrial touches, cold and un- compromising emotions! Umwelts most forward thinking opus to date sum up in once sentence: By the end of the day, all is dust.

All tracks written & produced by Umwelt

GILA steps out of the shadows with a huge release.
Two massive,cold metallic techno drillers from the trench, with acidic nuances and big room bravado attached.
106 Slipper is the A-Side, a weighty, slow tempo,morphing banger. Driven by punishing percussion,this is a polyrhythmic take on techno from the trenches. Receiving love from Mary Anne Hobbs, OPTIMO & Hudson Mohawke. Trench Cadence, the B-Side, is a drum line procession sent through a meat grinder, picking up erratic IDM aesthetics, and a Villalobos' who gives a fuck'mentality.
Hard and built for the club.

Dark Entries present the debut album from Bézier titled 'Parler Musique'. Bézier is Taiwanese-American musician Robert Yang who is also part of the Honey Soundsystem crew. A multi-instrumentalist, Robert grew up in Southern California then planted his roots in San Francisco in 2005. Over the years in SF he has built an impressive analog synth-based studio, which also serves as the creative hub for his riveting live performances.

Parler Musique clocks in at over 52 minutes with 8 tracks are spread across four sides for maximum loudness. The album title is a French transliteration on the phrase Parlor Music' and is evening music for a meeting of minds in a drawing room or a literary salon. To 'talk about music', the actual translation of the title, the album is a hotbed of ideas. Different genres are crisscrossed: punk, synthpop, jungle, new romantic, industrial and new wave. Airy melodies, surging arpeggios and symphonic breakdowns counterpoint cold digital drum sounds to convey beauty within inescapable and impending daily processes. The track titles for 'Parler Musique' zoom in on Romantic preoccupations with mystery, unknowns, depths--where themes combine to form an occult revelatory experience.

All songs have been mixed by Mark Pistel (Meat Beat Manifesto, Consolidated) at Room 5, San Francisco and EQed for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl comes housed in a jacket featuring a surreal circuit board pattern with pink bubbles flickering on an abstract horizon of water designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes a postcard risograph-printed in fluorescent pink and dark blue with Dadaist text by Justin Aulis Long.

Is the drum the successor of human sacrifice or does it still sound the command to kill' Adorno, Motifs (1951)

7"

Xen & Yovav return to Malka Tuti in 2018 with full thrust and eyes to the future. After being responsible for the first 2 releases on the label, this time the enigmatic singer and the influential producer collaborate and deliver 2 original songs. Hayom Etmol is a 100% good vibe diy post-punkish poppy song with a flowing synthetic bass line, balearic guitar riffs and dreamy vocals. The B-Side, Shavit, is a vocal led song, with a repetitive guitar bassline and, trip guitar riffs and a minimalistic drum machine. low fi in its production Shavit feels as if it has been dug out of an abandoned 80s record store in the outskirts of Glasgow or Amsterdam, with a strong cold wave feel to it.
This 7' will be the first in a series of more diy approach to electronic music, song writing and production. Some exciting names on the bill so hold on to your chairs...
Hayom Etmol's artwork design was made as always by Morey Talmor, with a printed inner sleeve designed by the Israeli artist Kobi Swissa and a special silkscreened outer PVC sleeve.

So Low is an occasional night in Glasgow run by Iona Fortune, JD Twitch, Katie Shambles and Becky Marshall. So Low is strictly for creatures of the night and plays music that could perhaps be described by the words Dark Waves / Cold Waves / Minimal Synthesis / Maximal Industrial / Lo-Nrg / Forgotten Flemish Goth Bands, Teutonic Apocalyptic Beats +++
It is now also a label, administered by Optimo Music.
The third release on So Low is a 5-track EP from Ian Hicks, formerly one half of Soft Metals. Ian also appeared on our 'Now & Then' compilation EP. Here he commands his own release and sets the synths to stun with 5 tracks of analogue waves ranging from the XTC bliss out of 'Character Collapse' and 'Depths Of Psyche' to the shockwave klang of 'Chemical Environments' and 'Specter', perhaps leaving the very best to last with the ultimate hypno, sex slug groove of 'Continuous'. Subliminal vocals. Wrecked drum boxes. Synths spiralling.
Full colour picture sleeve designed by So Low collective member and acclaimed Glasgow artist Katie Shannon.

Off the back of Rudeboyz follow up EP entitled Gqomwave, Goon Club Allstars are back with an EP from UK Funky producer KG. In 2007 Karen Nyame, otherwise known as KG, was at the Nottingham Trent University producing beats on Fruity Loops. Slightly isolated in Nottingham - away from the UK Funky scene's London epicentre - KG posted her tunes on popular UK Funky message boards and Facebook pages, but never had an opportunity to properly stake her claim as one of the scene's heavy hitters. 808 and Midnight (Flute Riddim) are two lost anthems from that era, although receiving support from the likes of Marcus Nasty and others, they were largely forgotten amongst the numerous stand out tracks of the era, appearing rarely in mixes of those lucky enough to have digital copies. 808 is the party anthem, it's joyous, quivering melodies ascend above the thumping kick drum, while relentless crashing snares and carnival whistles rain down - guaranteed to heat up the coldest of dancefloors. Midnight (Flute Riddim) on the flip side is the softer, slinkier bubbler. Built for smouldering club action and hot sunny days. BSNYEA is a new addition to Goon Club Allstars' burgeoning family of artists. Hailing from the Bronx he is a veteran of the Borough's Litefeet genre that soundtracks the performances of subway dancers cross New York City's transit system. On his remix of 808 he focusses on the whistles and gutter synth lines adding in booming bass drums and lock inducing chants. Hitmakerchinx comes fresh from his anthemic Night Slugs compilation. Bringing his signature FDM energy he drops the tempo and builds on the light, airiness, letting the flutes play out softly underneath the thumping drums.

Here is the debut release by Italian duo R A D K O... their music is a blending of post/cold wave and shoegaze elements... both the songs and the production have a typical nostalgic feeling but are rather modern at the same time... instead of being overtly dark the sound and overall mood is much more melancholy and dreamy... for sure these two tracks make up for an impressive debut and addictive little 7 record

'A Part Of Me' is the debut album by Ivan Arlaud alias 1954, a young musician from Lyon, France. It's an immersive journey between nostalgic and synthetic sounds, melancholia and hope, fears and confidence. He contrived to describe all the bright, warm, cold and dark moments of his restless imagination in rhythms without being intrusive. As the title says, it's his personal disclosure.

As Weekend Circuit approach their 20th release, Argentinian duo YYYY return for their second full length EP on the label to celebrate this benchmark.

The YYYY modus operandi is already familiar to the initiated - expressive, raw techno experimentalism from the outer reaches. 'Carry This Blood' is a collection of 4 moods and sounds, carved out with emotion soaked ambience, synapse flaring distortion and machine fracturing rhythms.

'Repent', as the title suggests, takes no prisoners, leaving no survivors in it's wake, it is a glimpse into a tear in the time-space continuum where chaos rules. 'Hands Towards The Giver' is epic, glacial, spacial widescreen techno. Dramatic and urgent, the soundtrack to a doomed planet collapsing from within.

'Carry This Blood' bestows an eerie, cold feeling. An atmosphere of regret and loss hangs over it like a thick fog on a hillside, punctuated only by a heartbeat mimicking kick drum offering a human touch. 'Of Thrones And Comfort' snaps us out of the haze, the fog clears and we are faced with the frenzied electronics and thundering kick drum of this most sinister of tracks.

Phantasm is a new vinyl label and collaboration between Amsterdam's Sinchi Collective and the much-admired Night Noise outlet, based in Geneva. It kicks off with a strong EP from The Soviet Union aka Richard Baldwin, including classy remixes from Sinchi themselves and In Flagranti.Baldwin has a signature style that is cinematic and synth heavy and has been formed over the last decade plus. A fine DJ, experienced promoter and self-confessed addict of vintage analogue synthesizers and drum machines, Richard pulls his influences from early electronica, 80s film-scores, and shades of techno right up to the present day. This track was first written on a cold evening in December 2010 using a Roland TR707 and JX8P Synth. After collaborating with his songwriting partner the track was given a haunting vocal and released as 'The Disappearance of Becky Sharp', while the original remained on Baldwin's Soundcloud and got ID requests from all over the world. 7 years later it comes back to life in the form of its original instrumental, with a 2017 rework, plus remixes by Sinchi and In Flagranti.The superb original is a perfectly spaced out and a retro-future bit of synth heavy electronic music. Arpeggiated bass props up rueful chords and icy percussion brings that essential cosmic vibe. It's a timeless track that overflows with emotions and is sure to really make a mark in any DJ set thanks to its rich musicality. The 2017 Rebuild is even more lush and zoned out with sombre chords forcing you to reflect on the deeper meanings of life. In Flagranti—the Codek Records duo based in Switzerland—then lace in some hip swinging claps and make this one a deep disco track that is riddled with little synths, chords and melodies that exude warmth and sci-fi soul. Last of all, Amsterdam's Sinchi cook up a storm with corrugated basslines, long tailed pads and turbulent solar winds that make it that bit darker and moodier. This is a brilliant package of emotive music that is a real statement of intent.

As a further Addition to last Year´s seminal Chmmr debut Album here´s 2 smashing Bonus Tracks and and a noteworthy Remix by Thomas. Time to check out the Album again, niceness for the cold weeks to come and likewise to dig into the new Prins Thomas Diskomiks, de- and re- constructed by the gentleman that got our little label empire started is otherwise known as the rightful Principe Del Norte!

Temperatures are dropping and we're all feeling the effects. Bordello A Parigi is letting the cold winds of the north swirl inside its doors with Russia's Volta Cab bringing a fresh 2LP to the table. A spread of influences come together for the eleven tracks of Rise Again. Take 'Emerald's Phantasy', a piece built on layers of percussion that blends elements of disco with notes of techno. 'Dark Room' is a different affair. Arctic chords are cut with electro and distant vocals for an unsettling treat. 'Kruger' stomps to a terse beat before lush pads bloom in a work that builds to dizzying peaks. Warm blasts balance these colder moments, the rich grooves of 'Savage Fury', the floor filling funk of 'Board Scandinavia' and the removed romance of 'Sweet Exorcist' all show another shade to the Volta Cab sound and of course there's more. Rise Again is an audio collection of vibrant colours and hues, tracks pitch from icy blues to autumnal ambers and fiery reds; a musical kaleidoscope that stretches across a spectrum of styles.

Hailing from Mali, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia first met as children at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind—both lost their vision at an early age. It was here that they started performing in the institute's Eclipse Orchestra, eventually marrying and began recording together in the '80s.

Over the span of three decades Amadou (guitar and vocals) and Mariam (vocals) developed an international following having recorded eight full-length albums and toured around the world. Their album Welcome To Mali (2008) was nominated for the Best Contemporary World Music Album' at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Tour highlights for the duo include supporting U2 on their U2 360 Tour, performing at the 2010 World Cup for FIFA's Kick-Off Celebration and performing alongside major acts across multiple genres such including Blur, Coldplay and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.

The album also includes the hit single Bofou Safou,' which Stereogum calls the funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk.' The band discussed La Confusion and performed new music on a recent stop at KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic' during their recent sold out North American seventeen city headline tour — watch HERE. The band played major markets including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Montreal.

Amadou & Mariam recently released the Bofou Safou EP via Because Music. The EP includes the first two La Confusion singles, Bofou Safou' and Filaou Bessame,' alongside remixes of the EP's title track by Fatima Yamaha, Africaine 808, Henrik Schwarz and more. The term bofou safou' is a Bambara (the Malian national language) nickname given to nonchalant young men who would rather dance than work. Of the new EP, the group notes, We really like the remixes that were made for the EP. You get to hear our music in a different form, which is great. All five remixes manage to catch the essence of our song while really pushing those enticing afro pop and electronic vibes further.'

"I'm going to try not to gush too much about the fact that 'Me Me Me' has Raj Pannu's first ever record, but you have to understand that he's DJ royalty to someone from where I come from.
From his residencies in Newcastle in the Early 90s, touring all over Europe, playing with the likes of Gilles Peterson, Jazzanova and James Lavelle to his move into turntablism in the late 90s playing one on one with DJ Craze, A-Trak and Q-Bert.
All the way up to the last decade and his time spent touring the world for 5 years as part of Coldcut, working with institutions like the BBC and Ninja Tune, and just generally being an absolutely mind bending DJ playing with people from all over the spectrum, such as Richie Hawtin, DJ Kentaro, Jamie Lidell, Kode9 and more....
and now he's decided to release his first record... With Us!
As you can imagine for someone with such a varied musical background, FSOP is hard to pin down. I played it to a friend and they said it sounded like Photek covering Pink Floyd, which is the closest approximation I've heard of it, I guess.
It's techno, but steppy, and super musical, and dark, but uplifting. Above all, it's just really special.I couldn't not give the record a full side to itself, and for the remix we've found the perfect pairing with an interpretation from Cosmin TRG (who I met at a festival, and who I instantly hit it off with after finding our shared love of Guiness and Sarcasm).
Cosmin chokes out all of the light with a cut of raw, skittering Paranoid Techno. Providing the ideal balance for both sides of the record.
Raj has also provided us with a Dub Mix which we're releasing as a digital exclusive.
The dub narrows the dancefloor focus, without losing the drama of the OG.
Reading this, you can probably tell how excited I am about this record."

'Y.O.U' is an emotive album of tripped out ambient hip hop instrumentals by FROM, written and recorded in the mid 90s under Trevor Jackson's infamous production persona The Underdog. Originally planned as a vocally-led, song-based project that should've surfaced between his production for The Brotherhood's legendary British hip hop album 'Elementalz' in 1996 and his acclaimed debut PLAYGROUP release in 2001, for multiple reasons it hasn't seen the light of day, until now.
Only Available as a ultra limited edition Vinyl and CD release, the LP consists of 11 tracks. Dream-like synth lines, ambient melodies, blissful guitars, raw beats and soft, fractured vocals draw you into a hallucinatory 12bit world. Drawing on Jackson's progressive and jazz rock influences as well as psychedelia and early electronics, the album closes with 'Belladonna'- a piano-sampled homage to the east coast golden age hip hop pioneers. NB: The CD features a longer version of 'Veratrum' not available on the vinyl version. All created on an Akai S950 mono sampler (limited to only 20 seconds sampling time), an Akai MG1212 12 channel mixer (which recorded on Betamax style tapes) and primitive outboard gear, Jackson honed his skills from his bedroom, where he produced the majority of his output at the time. With a huge collection of obscure vinyl, he dug deep into uncharted territories for samples and sound clips
- using material no one knew about (or would think about touching) in the mid 90s. The Underdog's initial releases were on Jackson's own Bite It! recordings label, which was started in 1991. A unique platform for UK hip hop with a visual aesthetic and ethos more akin to ECM and Factory
than other rap labels, its mission was to push artists beyond musical and cultural limitations prevalent at the time.
Home to artists like The Brotherhood, Scientists of Sound, Little Pauly Ryan and Lewis Parker (who later signed to Massive Attack's Melancholic label), Bite It! became a great success;
finally British rap had artists and releases that looked and sounded as good as their revered American counterparts. In 1993 Richard Russell (who had just started running XL recordings) asked Trevor to remix House of Pain, resulting in a top ten record, which helped launch Jackson's musical career via further remixes Massive Attack, Run DMC, U2, The Cure and countless others. Off the back of his remix success, The Brotherhood signed a deal in 1994 with Virgin Records. Their 'ELEMENTALZ' album was produced by Jackson and is still lauded by many as one of the finest British hip hop albums of all time.
Jackson continued to remix and produce as The Underdog until managerial issues forced him out of the project he'd been instrumental in instigating.
Soon after his close friend and manager tragically passed away - which when combined with the UK hip hop scene becoming increasingly volatile and the moral demise of rap culture in general - convinced Trevor to hang up his hip hop hat for good.
After leaving The Brotherhood he started Output Recordings. Internationally and sonically diverse, it gave Jackson a free reign to do as he pleased, with genre twisting releases from the likes of Fridge, Four Tet, Sonovac, Colder, his own PLAYGROUP project, The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem. With a non-compromising attitude, strong DIY aesthetic and consistently groundbreaking releases across its ten year life between 1996 and 2006, it became one of the most important and respected independent labels in the world.

Solitary moods...

LCN was present on the 'Noblesse Oblige' compilation (Gooiland 23) with a sweaty EBM influenced track... on this 4 track EP you can expect dark and cold elektro sounds... it is reminiscent of Invasion Planete and Kommando 6 output but with a cleaner and more modern sound... still if you like(d) these early 2000's elektro sounds you will love this too... this EP follows up on the steady stream of releases LCN has been putting out lately... among them on labels as Frigio Records and Return To Disorder... but this is probably his most dark and freaked out release up till now...

Spin your ears back to 1989 and enjoy the debut album of Coldcut once again! The bouncy good-time cut-up party people got started with What's That Noise, a particularly lively swirl of breaks, acid house and hip-hop. The guest vocalists on the album includes Lisa Stansfield, Queen Latifah and Mark E. Smith. Reissued by Sony.
11 track album on standard black vinyl with download code insert

London based Jonny L's seminal D&B album 'Sawtooth' was his debut long player.
Originally released on XL in 1997 as a 5 x 10' vinyl box set, the reissue is pressed on vinyl with original artwork.
'Sawtooth' saw the evolution of drum 'n' bass from its original and wildly bombastic sound in to a 'neurofunk' era of D&B, defined by its eerily cold and obsessively tidy production. It's so mausoleum-cold in here, you can almost see your breath,' wrote Simon Reynolds about Jonny L's 'Piper' in The Wire, 1997.

Bordello A Parigi has just returned from a fruitful expedition to Russia to secure a four tracker from St Petersburg synthesizer playboy Kito Jempere. Super Sax Sounds is a rich and varied expression from an artist who has explored a spread of sounds during his career. The A-Side is the product of one diverse machine, the Yamaha QY-70. 'Bueller's Dance' gets the show on the road with latin showband flare. The opener brims with cruising notes, crisp claps and smooth bass; a track guaranteed to put a smile on any face. Moods change with the tear stained chords of 'Space Commercial', a superbly subtle work of joy and heartbreak. A colder wind permeates the flip as a cinematic and sinister element enters. Toms and snares support the descending bars of 'Atmosphere', a track where tropical dreams cloud into despair. Those dreams are purged by 'Tomohawk', a dark prowler who stalks with a maniacal glint and menacing intent. An audio feast care of Kito Jempere.

Deep Sound Channel delve deeper into the waters of ESHU. Following releases from ARC# and Tom Liem comes J&L, the team of Jocelyn Abell and Tom Liem, with a storm of emotions. Brooding, menacing, the tumult of "Uneven Tides" introduces. Steady thuds support flows of warmth, flows countered by piercing coldness in a track that is as absorbing as it is haunting. A sea of veritable tranquillity descends for "Lunar Tides." Soften, staggered basslines are punctuated with crisp skeletal cymbal. New textures come to the surface for the autumnal currents of "Ocean Tides." Churning chords reflect night skies, shifting percussion floating amidst the jetsam.

Les Disques du Crepuscule present an extended double disc reissue of Shiver, the acclaimed debut album by seminal Swedish artist  Virna Lindt, originally released by The Compact Organization in 1983.

Written and produced by Virna Lindt and Tot Taylor, Shiver offers 12 slices of chic orchestrated pop informed by 'foreign film' soundtracks, movie composers John Barry and Ennio Morricone, Modernist musique concrete and Cold War spy thrillers. The album spawned three singles: Attention Stockholm, Intelligence and I Experienced Love. For the most part Lindt provides the voiceover for her own narratives, occasionally striking reflective poses amid orchestral swells and multi-layered atmospherics; a clear influence on later acts such as Pulp, St Etienne and Air.

This new edition of Shiver showcases acoustically-enhanced mixes prepared by Taylor and Lindt in 1997, augmented with non-album singles Model Agent and Young & Hip, and immaculate instrumental versions of key album tracks such as Underwater Boy and The Dossier on Virna Lindt. The extended tracklist also finds room for a leftfield cover of Windmills of Your Mind, originally written by Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman for The Thomas Crown Affair and recorded for the Crepuscule compilation album Moving Soundtracks.

Cover photography is by E.A. Janes. The 2xCD edition is housed in a 6 panel digipack with a 12 page booklet. The double vinyl set comes in a stylish gatefold sleeve and includes a free digital copy.

Praise for Shiver:  'Eurocentric Virna Lindt casts herself as a mysterious blonde in a loving pastiche of Continental movie music' (Sounds); 'I think of Shiver as Ingmar Bergman's All These Women cast as 50-odd minutes of musical dialogue. Tot Taylor's fantastic orchestrations cast a brilliant pale of modern love throughout' (Fond/Sound); 'Instead of mere cool styles, there's far more here than a restrictive stereotype' (All Music Guide);

Written, performed and produced by Thomas Moen Hermansen @M57 Studios Asker Jan-Sept 2016

Published by Smalltown Supermusic/Sony ATV Scandinavia

Mastered by Schnittstelle , Photos by Ragnhild Fors, Design by Metric Design

After the slightly more conceptual "Principe del Norte"album, "5" takes two steps forward and one step back
collecting a batch of tracks that was recorded right after it's preceder and in tandem with the recent "Square One"album with Bjørn Torske.
A "freedom"album of sorts, beyond the slightly misleading album opener "Here comes the band" there's a variety in these tracks tracing inspiration from 35 years (unhealthy)obsession with all things "good music" played enthusiastically.
"5" also marks the launch of my new label "Prins Thomas Musikk".

A run through the tracks with a couple of hints to titles and inspiration:

"Here comes the band"
A planned album of a fake band consisiting of me only was ditched. This is their only entry...
Very loosely inspired by "Bandwagonesque"era Teenage Fanclub

"Villajoyosa"
Melodic ideas hummed into a handheld recorded and specific notes about instrumentation scribbled down while on holiday in Villajoyosa in Spain turned into this little ditty when back in slightly colder Norway.

"Bronchi Beat"
Made in bed during a rough patch of bronchitis. Heavily influenced by prescription cough medicine.
Orbe from Madrid made a dizzy techno version which comes out soon enough...

""
I find great inspiration in working on new ideas while travelling the skies. Partly inspired by a detour into the soundtrack of my early teens (Paul Hardcastle, Warp 9, Maze, Mtume...)this particular one was started on a bumpy flight home from Athens and later finished in my tiny M57 Studio(R.I.P.)

"Æ"
Another bronchitis-ridden idea. Slow and low is the tempo. Beat originally inspired by Brian Briggs "AEO", melodies beamed in from Wally Badarou.
"Æ"is the norwegian pronounciation of the A in Acid refering to the 303 screeches going through the "song"

"Ø"
By the title you might think I'm running out of ideas. Not sure what happened here and why...

"Lunga Strada"
The track that took me the longest to complete hence the "long road".
Personal favourites The Pilotwings from Lyon sent over 2 ridiculously good and fun remixes which will
be released on a separate 10"

"London til Lisboa"
Another idea made on a plane when I should have tried to catch some sleep.
Direction steered by Plaid and Pat Metheny. Thank you for the inspiration

"Å"
Initially the final track AND then: scrapped idea for the alphabet soup of "Principe del Norte".
Later evolved into what we have here. Comes with a really nice remix by Pional on a separate 12"

"Venter på Torske"
The final recorded addition to the album. Made while waiting for Bjørn Torske to reply on a text message...

"Aske Hermansen"
In all seriousness, this is probably as soppy as it gets with me.
Tears into my computer keyboard, made on the road missing my wife and kids.