Señales, Spanish for Signals, is the new work and debut at Femur by Rafa M. Espinosa, aka Geistform. It depicts a round trip to the darkest side, the sullen and dismal side of our sonic concept. The four tracks, which make up this 12' range from odes to smacking electro beat, obsessive mid-tempos, old industrial echoes and sinister and unsettling atmospheres.
In 2017, the musical term electronic' is nearly obsolete given the ubiquity of computerized processes in producing music. Even so, the prevailing assumption is that musicians working under this broad umbrella must be inspired by concepts equally as electrified as their equipment. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has demonstrated in her still-blooming discography that this notion couldn't be further from the truth, and that more often than not, rich worlds of synthesized
sound are born from deep reverence of the natural world. Smith (who by no coincidence, cites naturalist David Attenborough as a contemporary muse) has embodied such an appreciation on
The Kid in as direct and sincere a way as possible by sonically charting the phases of life itself.
The album, which punctually follows up her 2016 breakthrough EARS, chronicles four defining cognitive and emotional stages of the human lifespan across four sides of a double LP.
The first side takes us through the confused astonishment of a newborn, unaware of itself, existing in an unwitting nirvana. Smith's music has always woven a youthful thread befitting of the
aforementioned subject. Here she articulates it in signature fashion on the track An Intention,' which serves not only as a soaring spire on The Kid, but on her entire output. There is playfulness here, but it's elevated by an undertone of gravity into something compelling and majestic that is fast becoming Smith's watermark. The emotional focus of side two is the vital but underreported moment in early youth when we cross the threshold into self awareness. The subject is profound enough to fill an entire album, but rarely makes its way into a single track, indicating Smith's ambition to broach subtler and deeper subjects than the average composer. This side offers up another highlight in the form of In The World But Not Of The World' which serves its subject well with epiphanic, climbing strings and decidedly noisy textures over a near-Bollywood low end pulse.
Side three emphasizes a feeling of being confirmed enough in one's own identity to begin giving back to the formative forces of one's upbringing, which is arguably the duty that all great artists
aim to fulfill. This side ends with the exploratory album cut Who I Am & Why I Am Where I Am' recorded in a single take without overdubs on the rare EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer. This humble
piece of sound design serves as a contrast to side four's verdant orchestral moments, all written and arranged for the EU-based Stargaze quartet by Smith herself. This final side represents a
return to pure being, the kind of wisdom and peace that eludes most of us until the autumn of life. On To Feel Your Best' this concept is voiced in the bittersweet refrain one day I'll wake up
and you won't be there' which Smith intended to be a grateful acknowledgement of life rather than a melancholy resentment of loss. The song has both effects depending on the mood of the
listener, and both interpretations are equally moving.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith belongs to an ilk of modern musicians who are defined by their commitment to creating experiential albums despite the singles-oriented habits of modern listeners,
and here she represents her kind proudly. The subjects on The Kid are not simple to convey, and yet through both emotional tone and lyrical content, Smith does just that. There is a similar
gravity to both birth and death, and rarely is that correlation as accurately and enthusiastically mapped as it is here.
Alan Watts, another logical inspiration of Smith's, once expounded that people record themselves to confirm their own existence, and as such, echoes and resonance are reminders that we are alive. You're not there unless you're recorded,' Watts muses, if you shout, and it doesn't come back and echo, it didn't happen.' The Kid speaks to this idea directly. As Kaitlyn Aurelia
Smith explores her existence through music, she guides us in gleefully contemplating our own.
It's already been 5 years since the last Zombie Zombie album 'Rituels d'un Nouveau Monde', after which the group explored other territories by signing 2 film scores, namely 'Loubia Hamra' by Narimane Mari and 'Irréprochable' by Sébastien Marnier, as well as creating the music accompanying a contemporary circus show called 'Slow Futur' created by Martin Palisse and Elsa Guérin. Wouldn't these beautiful parentheses make you want to return to the sources After 10 years at Versatile Records, 2017 also marks the decade anniversary of the release of their first album 'A Land for Renegades' in 2007, at the time considered to be one of the 10 best albums of the year according to Rough Trade.
'Livity' - Zombie Zombie's latest opus seems to plunge us deep into science fiction, with a cover designed by the mythic cartoonist Philippe Druillet, who is also the founder of the cult Métal Hurlant comic series. The title of the album is somewhat misleading, as one could mistakenly think of a certain dub record made at
the famous Island Records Compass Point studio in the Bahamas. For the uninitiated 'Livity' or 'Life force' is actually a Rastafarian spiritual concept based on the idea that an energy exists within, and flows through, all people and all living things. The record was recorded last winter in Paris, in a very short time frame. 7 tracks played live in 7 days, by Etienne Jaumet (synthesizers / rhythm box / metallophone / sax), Cosmic Neman (drums / vocals / sound effects), and Dr. Schonberg (percussion / electronics / trumpet), recorded at the Red Bull Studios by Thibaut Javoy and Jerome Caron, 2 very competent engineers. To keep it in the family, the album was then mixed by another member of the Versatile stable, the mysterious and legendary DJ/producer I:Cube, done in the label's Victor Studio.
On this album the principles that are dear to the group rest being respected, still as far away as always from the standards of 'radio play', A living kind of music, composed of long instrumental moments recorded with analog synthesizers and drum machines, accompanied by drums and percussion. But I:Cube's touch may bring the unique energy that one may find at Zombie Zombie's concerts; on certain cuts like title track 'Livity' that the group recorded in Laos, a wild combination of 808 kick drums and bewitching jungle sounds that sound quite unlike anything else out there, and especially on 'Hippocampe', which gives the impression of hearing an old school hip hop rhythm with the power of a metal band who have replaced their guitars with an army of synthesizers: we recommend you listen to this particular track in a convertible while speeding down the highway.
As with all of Zombie Zombie's music the cinematic component is still strong, on titles like 'Ils existent..' 'Acera' which was originally composed for ciné-concerts accompanying the films of Jean Painlevé et Maurice Pialat. The energy of the beginning is still very present, as is - of course - the kraut inspiration. But it's also an album that takes new directions and sonic risks, like on 'Looose', which brings to mind the Art Ensemble of Chicago, or the groove of James Chance in New York in the early 1980's, featuring the free sax solos of Etienne Jaumet and Dr. Schonberg on the trumpet. The group also offers some slower and calmer titles, like 'Heavy Meditation' as well as exploring more experimental tracks in the line of French 70's groups such as Lard Free or Richard Pinhas, for example on the bonus track 'Black Moon'.
Please - Take your time, and enjoy listening!
SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION X 300 WITH BONUS 7 :
Limited special edition with the 7" containing the track "Lune noire", in 2 parts - one per side.
It's already been 5 years since the last Zombie Zombie album 'Rituels d'un Nouveau Monde', after which the group explored other territories by signing 2 film scores, namely 'Loubia Hamra' by Narimane Mari and 'Irréprochable' by Sébastien Marnier, as well as creating the music accompanying a contemporary circus show called 'Slow Futur' created by Martin Palisse and Elsa Guérin. Wouldn't these beautiful parentheses make you want to return to the sources After 10 years at Versatile Records, 2017 also marks the decade anniversary of the release of their first album 'A Land for Renegades' in 2007, at the time considered to be one of the 10 best albums of the year according to Rough Trade.
'Livity' - Zombie Zombie's latest opus seems to plunge us deep into science fiction, with a cover designed by the mythic cartoonist Philippe Druillet, who is also the founder of the cult Métal Hurlant comic series. The title of the album is somewhat misleading, as one could mistakenly think of a certain dub record made at
the famous Island Records Compass Point studio in the Bahamas. For the uninitiated 'Livity' or 'Life force' is actually a Rastafarian spiritual concept based on the idea that an energy exists within, and flows through, all people and all living things. The record was recorded last winter in Paris, in a very short time frame. 7 tracks played live in 7 days, by Etienne Jaumet (synthesizers / rhythm box / metallophone / sax), Cosmic Neman (drums / vocals / sound effects), and Dr. Schonberg (percussion / electronics / trumpet), recorded at the Red Bull Studios by Thibaut Javoy and Jerome Caron, 2 very competent engineers. To keep it in the family, the album was then mixed by another member of the Versatile stable, the mysterious and legendary DJ/producer I:Cube, done in the label's Victor Studio.
On this album the principles that are dear to the group rest being respected, still as far away as always from the standards of 'radio play', A living kind of music, composed of long instrumental moments recorded with analog synthesizers and drum machines, accompanied by drums and percussion. But I:Cube's touch may bring the unique energy that one may find at Zombie Zombie's concerts; on certain cuts like title track 'Livity' that the group recorded in Laos, a wild combination of 808 kick drums and bewitching jungle sounds that sound quite unlike anything else out there, and especially on 'Hippocampe', which gives the impression of hearing an old school hip hop rhythm with the power of a metal band who have replaced their guitars with an army of synthesizers: we recommend you listen to this particular track in a convertible while speeding down the highway.
As with all of Zombie Zombie's music the cinematic component is still strong, on titles like 'Ils existent..' 'Acera' which was originally composed for ciné-concerts accompanying the films of Jean Painlevé et Maurice Pialat. The energy of the beginning is still very present, as is - of course - the kraut inspiration. But it's also an album that takes new directions and sonic risks, like on 'Looose', which brings to mind the Art Ensemble of Chicago, or the groove of James Chance in New York in the early 1980's, featuring the free sax solos of Etienne Jaumet and Dr. Schonberg on the trumpet. The group also offers some slower and calmer titles, like 'Heavy Meditation' as well as exploring more experimental tracks in the line of French 70's groups such as Lard Free or Richard Pinhas, for example on the bonus track 'Black Moon'.
Please - Take your time, and enjoy listening!
For the fourth release on 6dimensions, Steve Bicknell has delved into the catalogue of the Lost Recordings series on his previous imprint; Cosmic.Steve Bicknell's Awakening The Past feature three tracks from Why And For Whom, the first of Bicknell's Lost Recordings releases. Originally released in 1996, Why And For Whom Has been named one of the best UK Techno records of all time with Bicknell being billed as a 'criminally underrated producer'.With the re-release of these tracks in 2017, it is clear to see that the tracks have stood the test of time. All four-tracks on Awakening The Past were previously untitled but have been renamed with a focus on the human condition. With the 6dimensions label being founded on the principles of the 'human mind's natural make-up' it seems a natural decision to rename the tracks to suite the label ethos. Although one quarter of Awakening The Past was released 20 years ago, Bicknell's focus on mood shows coherence between his work then and now. The era of production can be distinguished in the EP, however, this is only eminent through a difference in recording technique. More importantly, the mood of older and newer productions are indistinguishable from each other and display Bicknell's unrelenting dedication to his own focus on concept of aesthetic. Physical Life' opens the EP with a rawness that is carried through the EP. With tape hiss underpinning the track, Bicknell's signature bass grumbles hold together hi-hats which progressively filter in and out over the course of the track. Bicknell's use of filters carries through onto the second track of EP, 'Natural Vibrations' boasts an erratic and high-pitched 303 sequence that shows a bit of experimentalism before the EP steps back into Bicknell's more familiar techno odysseys. 'Fearing The Minds Fears' paints a tense atmosphere, lashings of motoric modular synth are added with little fuss as the track title confirms its significance. Finally, 'Conscious Awakening' drives the EP to a close with dizzying pace: it's here that Bicknell's ability to control the emotion of the listener is really evident.
Four tracks, four artists and one common goal. The proposal is based on feasible, or better said, future encounters with extraterrestial beings or civilizations from outer space. The idea behind the whole work is to construct a conceptually and musically self-sufficient bundle of tracks developed by several creatives.
On this case, DJ Surgeles, Jeroen Search, 30drop itself and another label's member, ORYX 9, are the manufacturers of this first chapter.
DJ Surgeles has a solid career as DJ and producer with, for instance, his releases on Something In The Sky, the captivating and exquisite label of Jeff Mills. Jeroen Search is another well known talented producer with a large discography behind him that opens the EP with a steadfast cosmic shot, "Aeon". "Umbra", a spacey on a firm body track by DJ Surgeles, takes over from. On the B side, 30drop drops us to a "Lunar Mission" launched directly from the dance floor and, finally, ORYX 9 invites us to a psychedelic floating experience on a distant galaxy "Black Market".
First Contact EP is a massive set of Sci-Fi Techno cuts that you should not miss it!
And so Solar Phenomena's astral adventures continue into the furthest corners of the technoid galaxy Having executed a safe and successful take-off earlier this summer with Echoplex' s 'Solar Experience', the new label continues to explore the stars with rising Roman Antonio Ruscito.
Following releases on Who Whom and Edit Select earlier this year, Ruscito navigates us through a conceptual suite that questions ideas of existence and loneliness within a reality that blurs with virtuality at such a pace we have to question everything. One thing that doesn't need questioning is the forthright and stark nature of these constructions.
'Seclusion One' plays the role of the rocket-fuelled take-off track. Setting the scene and plotting the route, there's a subtly evolving and mutating feel while the end-point remains focused with a consistent feel of elevation thanks to the rich textures entwined into every element of the rhythm and energy.
Onward we travel: 'Seclusion Two' takes much more of an introspective route as it rolls out a much more stripped back evocative journey that s creative subverted by Rephlex-affiliate and respected Finnish artist Aleksi Perala one his electro-referencing remix.
Finally we're brought back down to our home asteroid with the beautiful harmonics and hazed aesthetics of 'Seclusion Three'. Presented in two different forms one star-struck instrumental and one featuring the redolent dulcets of Sam the message and overall experience is one of hope and unity, glaring in the face of personal, technological and cultural isolation. It s time to come together
Expansion's most successful and longest running compilation series returns with a 2017 edition. The concept remains the same, fifteen must-have modern soul room gems taken from the year's biggest dance floor spins on the soul scene. While tracks here have topped UK soul charts, many have not been available in all formats. Once again, attention is paid to the 'flow' of the 15 gems chosen here from shuffling beats to boogie to more soulful house as played at modern soul events. Participants this year include Omar with Los Charly's Orchestra, Tawatha Agree (voice of Mtume's Juicy Fruit') with Aeroplane, Kenny Thomas with Thames River Soul produced by and featuring Incognito, and both Wez and The Groove Association formerly members of Brit Funk group Second Image. Leela James is here after her stint in a US realty TV show R&B Divas: Los Angeles', other guests including Amp Fiddler, Faith Evans, Trina Broussard and Lifford.
Juris Boiko (1954-2002) and Hardijs Ledinš (1955-2004) were the core members of the NSRD, which is best known as Latvian avant-garde, postmodern, experimental and underground music group active in 1980s. BIG TIP! STROOM BRINGING IT...! comes with download code.
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Their activities were widely multidisciplinary and they can not be considered as purely musicians since none of them had a professional musical education. Their creativity was manifested through variety of media - music, performance and action art, visual arts, poetry, samizdat, the introduction video art in Latvia etc. NSRD also made a significant contribution to the explanation of the theoretical aspects of art in the interpretation of the postmodernist movement, and developed the independent concept of 'Approximate Art'. At the end of the 80s, NSRD got connected and performed with several artists and musicians living in West Germany, including Indulis Bilzens, Micky Remann and Maximilian Lenz aka Westbam and others.
Mnestic Pressure' is Lee Gamble's first album since 2014 and his first with Hyperdub, a reset that sees a noticeable change in his sound and the concepts that feed into his music. Lee says 'From Diversions 1994-1996' (2012) through to Koch' (2014) - my music felt like I was dealing with signals from elsewhere - signals from the unconscious, sub-aqua, hallucinated, dreamt. Mnestic Pressure' feels like their decoded offspring, a terra interpretation.' The title Mnestic Pressure' comes from Lee's thinking about how our contemporary memory is pressured, individually, but also collectively. 'We live in these strobing, visual times, like a constant subliminal advertisement but, also over the last few years the world seems to have become more and more dreamlike, alien, and parodic itself and there was this part of me that wanted to drag my music back from this Shangri-La, but fully drenched and infected by its ghosts.' Mnestic Pressure' as a whole is a simulation of this experience, a flow of targeted information, through contrasting and quickly changing terrain, from one track to another you're dragged into a new space. The pressure to move is intrinsic to the flow of the album, one thing morphologically transforms into another, zooming in and out from wide angle to detail, reshaping into new forms at a speed Lee's music hasn't before. The music on Mnestic Pressure' has a hardness, with a structure and melody that was sublimated in Lee's previous LPs. It builds on his more recent experiments with more functional dancefloor forms. Here his hypermodern production and crunchy, dissembled beats feel like they could be malfunctioning holograms projected onto the hallucinated memories of his early work.
2022 Repress
HQ Gatefold, 3x12 140g Vinyl, black innersleeve, download code
EXTRAWELT are back! Although in fairness, they were never gone. On the contrary, since their first release on James Holden's Border Community Label dropped in 2005, Arne Schaffhausen and Wayan Raabe have been responsible for a plethora of classics including "Schöne Neue Extrawelt" and "In Aufruhr", their two seminal albums on Cocoon Recordings. The duo are one of the most booked live acts worldwide, commanding a huge fan base. Their performances are the stuff of legend, making them the absolute highlight at every club and festival they play. So it's with great pride and respect, that we can announce the release of Extrawelt's third album for Cocoon Recordings. "Fear Of An Extra Planet" completes the Cocoon trilogy and the excitement growing among their fans represents a new high in the history of EXTRAWELT!
Musically, of course, there's enormous pressure on EXTRAWELT to deliver, but this is dismissed with a playful disregard and they are clearly focused on the job in hand. The album title "Fear Of An Extra Planet" sounds cinematic, like some art-house science fiction film, without giving too much away.
However, from the first seconds of the opening track "Superposition", the album title makes 100% sense and sets the scene for the rest of the trip. We are immersed in wide open spaces and invited to explore dark and dusky worlds that transport us back to their Border Community years. Timeless and elegant, "Superposition" perfectly captures the epic, dream like quality that made James Holden's label so influential.
New Release Information Second up, "Gott ist Schrott" takes a much more minimalist approach with its retro 80s drum programming, monster bass lurking in the breaks and playful Rhodes/synth riffs that span the divide between early German techno and deep Detroit electro with a distinctive film soundtrack aesthetic. "Oddification" continues this theme, adding extra spice reminiscent of the techno-synth vibe of Detroit with a punchy, almost Prodigy-style breakbeat complete with shredded vocal samples that gives us a taste of what's in store. "Gentle Venom" then takes the breakbeat motif to the next stage. The main focus here is the classy sprinter of a bassline, peppered with a flurry of intricate and subtle effects and modulations, that immediately trigger an intense, movie-like 'in pursuit' feeling.
With - Das Grosse Flimmern" we cautiously approach the album's high point. It's still in keeping with the soundtrack aesthetics, but faster and with more urgency. Almost hypnotically, Extrawelt invade us with an energy and impetus that always radiates from their music. Next in line is "Silly Idol" and here Arne Schaffhausen and Wayan Raabe opt again for a more minimal tack, focusing even more intensely on the dance floor to reveal a pulsing, twisted heart to the album.
"Punch The Dragon" is the hidden gem of the collection, utilising and melting together the most bombastic and playful elements. This one is totally off the hook, a sensory overload in an acoustic widescreen format! Then we have the title track "Fear Of An Extra Planet" which perfectly sums up the album concept. It opens up like a film score, with minimal passages following dark sequences that morph into dreamy melodies, all grounded by cool, constantly alternating analogue drum patterns. If you're not listening closely, you might get the impression that three or four different titles are mixed together; such is the effortless flow of the album.
As we near our destination, "The Friendly Coroner" really does honour its name. The morbid charm of the title is captured by a fluid bassline and melodic arrangements that border on the absurd, until the funky drum beat finally drops. In our mind's eye we see a cheerful medical doctor removing his bloody gloves, hanging his smock in the closet and vibing out in his neon drenched workspace. And there we sit, glued to our cinema seat, submerged in the different textures EXTRAWELT have conjured up on "Fear Of An Extra Planet". Over the course of the last title, the strings usher in the final acknowledgments as the credits roll. The dramatic end of "2084" leaves us transfixed in front of a black screen in a large, dark room safe in the knowledge that we've just witnessed a science fiction epic.
Earth Patterns is a new journey into sound by London based Australian born musician Ben Davidson, best known for his disco tinged house singles as Ben Sun, that were championed by the likes of Gerd Janson and Larry Heard.
The Earth Patterns concept presents a more expanded instrumental sound with live rhythm sequencing and synth work, sitting alongside Vangelis Katsoulis, Lars Bartkuhn and Soichi Terada on Alex Bradley's Utopia Records.
Davidson joins the dots between Detroit by way of Tokyo techno on 'Sunflower' to Dream II Science deepness on 'Horus Rising' and some worldly organic rhythms for a modernist and dare we say it Utopian sound on 'After The Rain'.
The analogue sound from his London studio comes through on the gentle and harmonic B-side opener 'Transit Pan', perhaps the start of a journey beyond the dance floor for the producer.
Artwork and liner notes by Davidson himself, all pressed by bespoke pressing plant The Vinyl Factory on heavyweight vinyl.
Very LIMITED album discs available now:
This is the first album Oscar Mulero has released under his own name, after two acclaimed LPs under the moniker Trolley Route. Well known for his skills as a hard-edged, raw and floor-orientated techno dj, his productions go far beyond, digging deep into the intricate landscape of intelligent techno, floating moods, reminiscent atmospheres, harmony and detail.
Grey Fades To Green is the affirmation of his maturity as a producer, using both hardware and software in the pursuit of a highly coherent and diverse album.
The concept is split into two parts: The Grey and The Green, each one with its own character. The first part is rougher and meant for the dance floor, although pays full attention to detail and complexity. The second part is quieter, has a slower pace and is best enjoyed at home.
In The Green Oscar goes deep into the intellectual side of techno music and is heavily influenced by the post rave sound emerging from the UK in the nineties: Aphex Twin, Gescom, B12, Plaid, Autechre.. but with a contemporary approach.
This part of the album brings you melodies, harmonies, endless atmospheres, and hours of studio work. Each sound has been carefully constructed, nothing is left to chance: Every stereo panning, every change to the synth's parameters has been meticulously designed for your listening pleasure; just what you want when you listen to techno on headphones. Futuristic music made with the utmost care.
The Green starts with 'Letters From Madrid', a dreamy and melancholy track, where an introspective melody leads to a slow-building drumbeat. Broken rhythms and distorted drums go side by side with the piano riffs and analogue bleeps: intelligent techno by definition.
'Dreams of Happiness' is a sci-fi soundtrack where pads and the different atmospheres are the main stars, and where subliminal drums add flow to this tune from outer space.
'After All' departs from calm dreamy territories with its grounded beat, complex 303 programming and micro synth sounds. A track which is as good for listening at home as it is for the dance floor.
'The Darker Days' uses a similar formula. Slow bpm, fat drums and weird 303 lines that make infinite layers of sound.
Following some ear-catching manoeuvres across releases like last year's self-released 'Only' and 'Lagata', which gained her early fans like Bjork and Dev Hynes (who she supported in the USA), 'Tommy' marks Klein's deepest plunge yet into the deep, dark ocean' of her musical imagination on her Hyperdub debut. On 'Tommy' her vocals play with Fifties-esque melodies before switching to familiar tones akin to Brandy and Rodney Jerkins, her live voice and live piano playing filtered through hyper-glitchy and looped production with a loose, internal logic, cutting from angular atonality to pockets of skewered harmony. 'Tommy' also steps things up in conceptual terms. Its eight tracks are broken down into acts that are rooted in themes of vulnerability, sisterhood and death, threading the chaotic sonics with modern operatic undertones and a Shakespearean sense of tragedy. There's a lot of bluster about originality in contemporary UK music and what rises from the noise here is a creative voice who, by her very nature, plays with the construct of what pop is. This is Klein's world ... it's on us to get with it.
* Dom & Roland's Label has gone from strength to strength from its conception in 2006. Featuring collaborations by Dom with other Artists such as Noisia, Hive and Amon Tobin the label has continued to push sonic boundaries whilst staying true to it's ethos of 'not selling out'. It is currently in A 'Dubs from the Dungeons' Phase releasing sought after unreleased music from the 90's from various accomplished artists every month on limited edition gold vinyl.
* PHOENIX - DOM ft TECHNICAL ITCH
A straight dancefloor DJ smashout made from two of the featured artists most seminal tracks combined. Dom & Rolands Thunder and Technical Itch's Reborn. Nuf Said!
*TEARS IN RAIN - DOM & ROLAND
A futuristic roller from the 'Bladerunner' Era. It perfectly captures the mood of the film. A big hitter at the Metalheadz sessions in the 90's this was smashed by Doc Scott and Randall in many of their sets. Again featuring a reworked alternating clean and distorted "flow break" and big 808 bass this style of production pioneered the way for Dom's later work. This turning point in Dom's history is now finally mastered and seeing it's release on vinyl 20 years later.
* DJ PLAY: Randall, Fabio, Bryan G, DJ Die, Jumping Jack Frost, Grooverider, Peshay, Loxy, Andy C, Break, Fierce, Doc Scott, dBridge, Goldie, Ant TC1, Gridlok, Marcus Intalex, SB81, Ulterior Motive, Noisia.
* RADIO PLAY: Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra , NRG, Noisia Radio, Many other radio stations around the world.
* PRESS: Bandcamp Interview, MIxmag, DJ , Various blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram.
The Boutique Label presents an expanded vinyl edition of Backdoor Possibilities, the sixth album by cult German prog rockers Birth Control, originally released on the Brain Records imprint in 1976.
Formed in Berlin in 1968, Birth Control were known for a progressive hard rock sound which fused elements of jazz, psychedelia and so-called Krautrock. A surreal concept suite recorded with famed producer Conny Plank, Backdoor Possibilities arguably marked a final creative peak, blending rock, jazz, classical and avant-garde stylings with intricate polyrhythmic textures and lyrical nods to the legends of Faust and Odysseus.
On Backdoor Possibilties core members Bernd Noske (drums, vocals) and Bruno Frenzel (guitar) were joined by keyboard maestro Zeus B. Held, who also features on two long improvised tracks featured on Disc 2, Figure Out the Weather and Shake Those Crazy Nights, both recorded with Conny Plank in 1976. All material on Disc 2 is previously unreleased, with third track Rock It With a Long Bone being another extended piece recorded at Dierks Studio in 1982.
Too many people sleep on Tougher Than Leather, Run-DMC's fourth album. But hear us out as we plead the case for this amazing LP. By 1988 there was a lot more competition in the rap game - Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Ice-T and many more had given Hollis, Queens' prodigal sons lots of competition. But Joe, Darryl and Jay were still at the top of their game, and hip-hop fans should never let this classic - chiefly produced by their Queens neighbor, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Davy D(MX) - get lost in their crates. For starters, the album's first single, Run's House' b/w Beats To The Rhyme' is arguably the most powerful one-two punch of the trio's career, showing contenders to the rap throne that they could still destroy a beat, tag-teaming with power at any speed. Not to be lost in the shuffle, fans were also reminded on both sides that Jam-Master Jay remained one of the world's best DJs, flexing the pinnacle of what would be called turntablism' a decade later. Both songs show a musical telepathy between all three that has rarely been equaled. The second single, Mary, Mary,' driven by an infectious Monkees sample, took a different approach, shrewdly ensuring that pop fans who jumped on the Raising Hell bandwagon had something to chew on. But, like Walk This Way,' the song wasn't just bubblegum - there was an edge to it, and the lyrical gymnastics were very real. It wasn't selling out, it was allowing fans to buy in. Papa Crazy,' driven in concept and by a sample from the Temptations' Papa Was A Rolling Stone,' followed a similar pop-leaning path. Overall, the lyrical content on the album was a step up from the group's first three LPs. It's easy to infer, looking back, that they were feeling the heat from their younger competitors in the rap game. The genre was changing fast, and they were up to the challenge. On cuts like Radio Station' they bring substance to the grooves, by attacking Black Radio for its continual denigration of rap. Tougher Than Leather' reminds the world that they were still the Kings of Rock, with hard guitars to drive the point home. And They Call Us Run-DMC' and Soul To Rock And Roll' both bring things back to their early days, with sure-fire park jam rhymes and killer cuts. Tougher Than Leather, which went platinum up against a lot of competition, perfectly bookends the '80s output of one of the decade's most important groups. It encompasses the full range of the trio's capabilities, and reminds us that Run-DMC should never be forgotten as both pioneers and party-rockers. And so, we say, long live Joe, Darryl and Jay!
This is the debut album of Swedish producer Daniel Andréasson, an artist that has both a sonically and artistic resemblance to the Skudge family of labels and artists.
Pushing his eighth year of releasing records, Andréasson has accomplished the task of creating a debut album that seem to tie together the sound of his previous EP's. Andréasson's sound is in line with a more outsider approach, but with a dance floor focus. A sound that he has been pushing since the beginning.
This approach shines through at the most on the tracks such as 'Mc35I# Rushup', 'Stay' and 'Dreams' as these specific tracks shows Andréassons more accomplished style. In between, the album keeps a perfect concept throughout. Taking breathers with its interludes and in general "shorter" tracks that hints of a ambient leaning urge to express himself, he never loses focus. A masterful debut album from a artist to keep your eye on!
Dark Entries and Serendip Lab have teamed up to release 'Prototech', the first vinyl retrospective by German electronic trio Hypnobeat, recorded 1984-86. James Dean Brown and Pietro Insipido formed Hypnobeat in 1983, but it was the addition of Victor Sol only a few months later that found the project reaching, as Brown puts it, "the desired level of technical sophistication." In time, Tobias Freund also lent his talents (and equipment) to this loose-fit sonic scheme, where the protagonists sought a new, electronic manifestation of mankind's tribal music roots. Two cassette releases surfaced - 1985's "Huggables", and "Specials/Spatials" the following year. By this point the Frankfurt-based group had already explored fiercely mechanical creative expression through various configurations of hardware and personnel, revolving around core ingredients such as the TR-808, TB-303 and MC-202. The project lived on in spirit as Brown activated Narcotic Syntax in the 90s. While a more modern, digital concern, rooted in the Perlon label family, NS still channeled the Hypnobeat concept of a "new tribalism", not least on their "Provocative Percussion" double 12" released in 2006. For all the punky veneer, there are instances where these tracks reach staggering levels of sophistication, not least on "Slash! Buffalo Eats Brass" with its intricately programmed 303 lines and nimble beats that sound a far cry from most machine music made in 1986. Prescient "Can God Rewind" is also dazzling in the complexity of its percussion and the richness of its synth lines in C as they throb out a bastardised version of acidic Disco straight out of the rhythm collider. Elsewhere, some tracks are more primal in their execution. Visceral opening track "The Arumbaya Fetish" was a cathartic venting of Brown's least favourite sound on the 808, the iconic cowbell, while the astounding proto-Acid miniature "Moon Jump" places limber 303 lead lines in a hail of thunderstruck patterns. "Kilian" has a stripped down quality that speaks more to the industrial era that Hypnobeat was conceived in, and "Mission In Congo" is a raw, reverb-soaked drum workout that captures the percussive-obsessive nature of Hypnobeat perfectly. Six of the seven tracks selected on this collection were primarily powered by two 808s. "I am amazed that the release sounds like we really had a plan back then..." states Brown, but this accidental magic is in fact the raison d'etre of Hypnobeat. They weren't the only ones prefiguring the next big revolutions in electronic music in the mid 80s, but there certainly weren't many artists stumbling across modes of expression that sound so relevant today.
All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in a jacket featuring cave engravings by Pietro Insipido of an archer and animal printed in a wallpaper pattern style designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes an transparent insert of an x-ray photograph from 1984 of Romulus Cœurque holding the circuit board of a BOSS DR-55 rhythm machine.
Dalmata Daniel's next up is a collaboration with the Bristol-born - weirdo disco guy' Antoni Maiovvi and also a contribution of Heinrich Dressel who is an unavoidable column of Rome's electronic music scene.Maiovvi's Pleasure Model project is all about youth - replaced by Blade Runner-esque replicas. His first release under this moniker was - Kendo Dynamics' on 100% Silk in 2016. It aimed for presenting a persuasive world of fiber optic paranoia and technoid effacement.DD006 is the next level of the concept and the first time on vinyl. The tracks are driven by the characteristic haggard drum machine's sound on side A with a melancholic or dark synth themes what becomes a dreamy melody in the - Prism Riot' on side B. The remix by Heinrich Dressel is a turn back directly into the darkness, but it is faster and more like a film soundtrack with his own characteristics, of course. The whole EP has a strong vintage mood and sound.
It can be said that Update 1.1 is definitely dystopian, coming from the future of our past.
Alleviated Records is proud to present another edition of the Larry Heard presents Mr. White sessions. These 2 selections, produced and mixed by Larry Heard somehow both evolved into otherworldly Future-House concepts as they took shape. First up, ''Virtual Emotion'' (main & dub versions) features Mr. White vocals over an ''Electro-Funk'' flavored percolating Deep-House track. Then ''Supernova'' (main & dub versions) features Mr. White vocals taking us to a Darker, almost ''Tech-Rocky'' mood off-world adventure. The two very different flavors should make this 12'' one that can be played in many settings!! As always with Alleviated Records releases, created to be timeless so that you can enjoy it for many years to come. This special vinyl 12'' will be another great addition to any collection! ENJOY! And thanks for your continued support!!
An Australian classic rereleased for the first time ever. Born in 1993 when euphoria was still cool Sweetness and Light is the original rave anthem. Dreamy and breakbeaty this has aged like your best bottle of wine. Brought to you by icons of the scene Itch-E & Scratch-E AKA Paul Mac and Andy Rantzen, between them they have remixed the likes of INXS, Severed Heads, LCD Soundsystem, Kylie Minogue, The Presets and Sia.
In 1994 it came 21st in Triple J's Hottest 100 followed by the honours of an ARIA award for Best Dance Release in 1995. In his infamous acceptance speech Paul Mac announced "We'd like to thank all of Sydney's ecstasy dealers, without whom this award would not be possible".
On the b-side we have Motorik's newest festival act For Life remixing Sweetness into 21st century tempos. Perfect to break between your house and techno this 130bpm heavy hitter blew off the dust from the original to shine again.
Brought to you by your favourite party techno label Motorik who cares more about concept then a budget, this is an opportunity which couldn't be passed down. Sweetness and Light represented warehouse culture in the 90s, it was the resistance to authority, the acceptance of all and the beginning of underground dance music as we know it today.
Italian artist Blasted is ready to spread his stunning music with an intense four-track EP, Aelien I. The industrial architecture of this project defines the lines of his modern techno concept. Blasted welcomes two remixes from the acclaimed, Berlin-based producers Unhuman and Blush Response. The EP goes straight to its revelation, neurotic patterns which bump into a dark misanthropy, an experimental sound that becomes more and more cryptic. The second track is a powerful remix by Blush Response and it is the result of a metallic explosion due to a mental calculation of dusty beats and low basses. Unhuman's remix closes the EP, dark forces make it clear about the distorsion and intensity of Aelien I's noise, techno rhythm. Welcome to a unique variation of massive techno sphere.
Confine yourself in a space. We tend to behave and act according to the walls around us. The easy way is to stay within the room, acknowledge its walls and accept being limited to its floor. Instead, start exploring the boundaries. Walk the walls or simply tear them down. Flip the whole room upside down or collapse it all together. Question and explore the concept of a room. It might not take you anywhere new but it could make a big difference on how you enjoy the journey or appreciate the space you are in. Unconfined.
Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player.
The Scene: The Welsh mountains, remote and harsh, a special place. A good place to produce a special album. The characters: Volker Bertelmann in his friend Adam Fuests' studio, equipped with only a piano and a laptop. The Project: To record a album of piano music. Title: Hauschka.
Piano music is highly personal music, which is the reason why piano solo albums occupy a particular place of importance in a musician's work - not that Volker Bertelmann wants to hype his first foray to that extent, hence the pseudonym. Nevertheless Hauschka is personal music, simply because it has accompanied him for so long, because it has always been there in some shape or form, because it has always been important. The title points to the fact that it is dealing with something of import, not just a few finger exercises or background ivory-tinkling.
Substantial' is a snapshot of a life spent with the black and white keys, and is simultaneously both moment and history, thought and feeling, yet without turning into a unduly meaningful concept album. Rather, Substantial' is based upon the least conceptual of all concepts: Improvisation. Each track is based upon an opening sequence, the theme of which is extended, modulated and varied with, as far as form or length is concerned, no specific objective in mind. What has come out is music of a differing, well, substance: Eleven atmospheric pieces in which a variety of different techniques overlap and rhythmical images with narrative depth unfold, in which further instruments, such as double bass or vibraphone make a fleeting appearance, at once lending a hint of pop, but at no time detracting from the piano as central instrument, in which experimental and electronic music is accessed without compromising the directness and ease of the improvisational approach.
The confluence of Bertelmann's multiple musical personality can be apprehended here: Whilst the pop-oriented musician plays the melody, the electronic producer gently experiments with sounds, leaving the pianist quite literally to manipulate the piano, - plucking the strings with a plectrum, dampening them or bowing them lengthways to achieve a variety of percussive effects. Following the recording, the tracks were adapted, supplemented and finalized. Using multi-tracking, up to four piano tracks were superimposed, electronic sounds from the laptop added, as well Stefan Schneider's bass (Mapstation, To Rococo Rot, Music A.M.) on three tracks.
ae Recordings the infamous sublabel of Thule Records was responsible for some of the finest techno releases from Iceland in the early 2000s. With the motherlabel on full throttle it was ideal to revive the enigmatic junior label as well. The label was known for bringing in fresh winds into the scene and this release doesn't stray away from the concept at all.The veteran Icelandic producer Cold has been missing from the scene since his legendary release Strobe Light Network in 1995 a track that kickstarted the Thule franchise and was at one point the closing track for the epic Love Parade festival in Berlin. After more than 20 years of hiatus, we are happy to announce that he is back and with a vengeance. Exiles EP is a hard-hitter & should be essential for DJs who aren't afraid to venture into the unknown. ae Recordings/Thule Records is considered by many to be a pioneers in the field of dub-influenced techno music and was a starting point for many of Iceland's most renowned electronic musicians"
Looky Looky is the new project from Jeffrey Sfire and Ian Clark, both residing in Detroit, Michigan. The pair met in the late 90s when Ian was performing as one half of Le Car with Adam Miller of ADULT. Ian also recorded under the moniker Perspects, and released on Clone, Ersatz Audio and Interdimensional Transmissions. Jeffrey has released a series of singles and remix EPs with Samuel Long as Sfire on CockTail d'Amore Music and Ultramajic.
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The duo released their 8-track debut album 'Part Flamingo' in 2016. All 8 tracks represent one body of work but are presented as 2 distinct concept EP's: 'Part Flamingo' and 'Nurse Coven'. They're loose, fun pastiches of 80's movie soundtracks with accompanying imagery. For the 'Flamingo Boots' EP we chose 4 songs from the album which the pair extended for maxi 12' throbbing dance mixes. Looky Looky describe the project as equal parts light and dark, a contemporary recasting of Italo, Hi-NRG and electro. The songs infuse bright '80s sonic textures with a seedy, sweaty thump. The Motor City duo is about a year into the project, but is already known for their hardware-heavy live set after playing the Honcho Summer Campout last year and the 2017 edition of Gays Hate Techno in northern California.
Conceptual Records presents you its third vinyl only release Univers Parallele written by a music producer from Canada, Montreal Claire. Inspired by her tour in Europe in 2016, Claire finally embodies her absolutely cosmically sounding ideas in three original composition: Pyjama Jazz, Sometimes I Turn Into stars (on side A) and Parallel Dimensios ( on side B) , in which she uses futuristic sounds, analog drum sections, deep bass, jazz sections from the 30 s and her own vocal. The last track of this release is a tribal dance mix from a talented modern musician of romanian origin living in Ibiza Plusculaar (on B2). Mixdown and mastering by Pheek. Covert art from Djack Arta a moldovian artist. Plunge into the fascinating musical journey to a parallel universe with Conceptual.
Inner8 is Daniele Antezza, a multi-faceted thinker and electronic music producer, member of Dadub duo, co-founder of Artefacts Mastering Studio, Dadub Studio owner and Holotone label manager, whose regular invocation of the term praxis begins to hint at his creative aims: a primary synthesis of contemplation and action that, in turn, encourages a secondary and entirely unpredictable set of syntheses dependent upon the listener's unique interpretation. Though the Inner8 moniker has been in existence for several years as a private nickname for, as Antezza puts it, his 'experimental anarchist sounds,' his recent releases are just now surfacing which will reveal just how much this project has to communicate.
Like many transplants to Berlin's pulsating sonic underground (Antezza moved there from Italy in 2009), his past work seems to communicate traces of the ecstatic with the argot of technical precision and / or scientific rigour. However, Antezza is not what one would call a 'Berlin artist' despite sharing these traits in common with the city's most visionary producers: his work gives off an impression of restless nomadism that has little to do with representing a localized scene. Rather than carrying on the territorial / parochial projects of reinforcing an arts scene's geographic boundaries (or even redefining the boundaries of a musical genre), Inner8 is more concerned with a holistic 'deconstructive approach' through which 'it's possible to reveal the paradoxes of the dominant thought, the paradoxes behind the status quo.' His fascination with concepts as diverse as asymptotes and particle physics, though often trendy among those looking for a seat at the table of the avant-garde, is a heartfelt fascination - moreover, these interests merge perfectly with his relentless theoretical questing.
Antezza's relationship with that city's Stroboscopic Artefacts techno label has been a particularly fruitful one, to the point where his sound work prior to Inner8 is almost synonymous with SA's own development. As one half of the psychonaut duo Dadub along with Marco Donnarumma, Antezza has sculpted deep and immense tracks that mesmerize with their harmonious interplay of force and ambiguity. After having co-founded and managed for years Artefacts Mastering Studio, he recently launched his brand new audio postproduction Studio (Dadub Studio), where Antezza lends his sonic signature to an eclectic variety of electronic recordings. That signature can be identified by its hyperreal sense of presence and immediacy, qualities that have become crucial to the presentation of a music that generally relies on only a few sonic elements per track to communicate its message.
Antezza also takes pride in the ritualistic quality of Inner8's live sets; a mobile laboratory of dynamic tension in which his theories manifest as massive physical vibrations (here we can also see / hear / feel just how well Daniele has absorbed the lessons of the dub 'sound system' aesthetic).
Hedonism in its purest form means nothing but adjusting one s life and ambition towards pleasure and joy as well as the prevention of pain and sorrow. Following that concept, Wice s first EP takes the listener along on a journey of extremes: persistently strolling between sensual desire, ecstasy and lust as well as the deepest abysses of human sensitivities.
Coherently, just kiddin drags the listener right into Wice s universe of fabulous oppositions without any prior warning: the Peak Time Killer, inspired by the love of Detroit Techno of the 90ies, exhibits irrepressible energy, velocity and surprising twists and turns. Driven by the progressive drive of the drum patterns, the voyager, trapped in a mesh of percussions, wanders confused and disoriented on dance floors looking for support and, as if out of the blue, finally gets released by the warm synthline and gently taken by the hand. Simply just kiddin.
When legs are broken, things have to be done can be described as a small masterpiece of urban, intelligent dance music. The composition, which ranges in between complexity and simplicity, with its breaking beats in combination with spheric pads shows up the necessity that one should, despite setbacks, consistently remind oneself that life, love and music reveal their most beautiful aspects in a balanced and smooth flow.
The eponymous track hedonism draws a painting of obscure and rugged techno landscapes, which attract the listener magically, even though their beauty and grace can only be assumed at first glance. Once identified, the shimmering pads, the forceful bassline and the impulsive percussions unfold a world riddled with the most beautiful abysses and animality hedonism in its purest and most sinful form alike.
With blind certainty a downtempo piece rounds off the EP, which is supposed to be comprehended as a reminder for all hedonists that blind trust may have positive as well as negative consequences.
The hopeful basic mood of the song, however, always lets the light at the end of the tunnel shine through, which emphasizes the optimistic exit of Wice s world of hedonism.
Roots In Heaven is a Berlin-based act that could very easily capitalize on his past accomplishments within the world of intrepid electronic music. As a label owner, resident DJ at cutting-edge clubs, and accomplished solo artist behind a number of conceptually unique full-length albums, the conceiver of this project won't likely need any introduction to the intrepid fans of electronic music. As an extension of this artist's already solid commitment to deep sound, Roots in Heaven represents a new voyage without the help of biographical cues to his listeners: hidden behind an evocative mesh mask lined with obsidian feathers, Roots in Heaven ignores the need to provide 'social proof' or self-justification. He communicates purely through the language of concentrated sensory impression, for which reason he has titled his debut, 'Petites Madeleines,' after one of the most memorable descriptive sequences in literary history (the famous meditation on the madeleine from Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu). As a prelude to the first full-length, Roots In Heaven has issued an untitled EP as a resounding 'shot across the bow'. However, this record is no half-conceived experiment to see what works and what doesn't, nor does it even feel like an 'EP' (in the traditional meaning of being a précis whose full report is available elsewhere). Attentive listening to its contents can cause a kind of time dilation, and a mysterious feeling of entering a world where familiar dualities (nature vs. technology, action vs. contemplation) are replaced by a feeling of total immanence. The A-side, 'Sang des Betes", accomplishes this with cascading, viscous layers of electronic tones that narrow and widen, rise and fall like the breath of some ancient entity. Periodically, bright flashes of tone arc across the horizon of the sound space, emphatically present but also elusive.
"DaRand Land" finally follows up on his Heaven Electric EP that first surfaced through PULP in late 2014. This time around, the package contains another 3 original cut + a super breezy remix by Scotsman "Linkwood".
"Our Future Is Now" is the perfect opening track for the 2nd installment of the Heaven Electric concept. "DaRand Land" surprises friend and foe with some heavily vibrating strings and pads which collide beautifully with the mechanical sounding perc cuts that itch throughout. Clever textures and a soothing atmosphere that are reminiscent of Mediterranean club situations. "Our Future Is Now" also proves to be inspirational to remix artist "Linkwood" who carves up an extremely juicy electro cut that gives the original somewhat more edge and forces it into an entirely different direction.
On the flip we find "Emanation" and "Mellow-ism". Emanation is a classic sounding yet effective House cut for the dancefloor, Mellow-ism is a more mood altering hazy trip with acidic tones and smooth drum patterns.
The concept of this record is simple, 4 artists join forces to create these non compromising, focussed DJ tools which marks the start of a new release series. The Berlin based producers Avgusto, Jamie Anderson and STRISC. are no stranger to Florian Meindl's FLASH Recordings with several releases on the label and Rekord 61 from Moscow is a new addition to the roaster. Vinyl only.
Coloured Vinyl
Iona Fortune is a composer and producer from Glasgow and presents the 'Tao of I' album as her debut release.
Inspired by Eastern Philosophy and slated to be the first in an 8 album series exploring all the symbols of the I Ching, her music is influenced by oriental sounds and features a palette of instruments that includes the Guzheng, Gamelan and Synthi AKS.
The overall effect is a singular and beguiling sound that loosely fits in with the Fourth World concept imagined by Jon Hassell, and indeed Iona Fortune has also contributed a track to Optimo Music's new Fourth World compilation 'Miracle Steps'.
The initial vinyl edition will come on a translucide pressing with inside sleeve and original artwork by Iona Fortune.
We were very happy to be asked by Connaisseur
Recordings if they could put out another album with our
music! Now it's all come together and they've asked us to
do our own press release for it and quite like the album,
we want to do it in our own way, personal and from the
heart. It's been a few years since our last Connaisseur album, and
a lot has happened since. We've built a new studio,
matured musically, acquired new gear, sold old gear, done a
lot of gigs, lost faith in music and regained it again.
The process of making The Loneliest Man In Space (this
album) was a genuinely pleasant experience, as we never
really set out to make an album at all. We didn't
conceptualize or have any grandiose plans, we simply
enjoyed ourselves in the studio.
Inspiration was running high, so we focused on making a lot
of music uninterrupted, rather than signing tracks, which
left us with quite a bulk of unsigned material. The idea to
release these tracks as an album came from our friend
Alex, at Connaisseur. We instantly jumped on the idea,
listened through the material, taking some tracks out and
composing a few new ones, to make it sit more together as
a whole. We tried to come up with a title that would ft
the feeling of the sum of tracks and settled on The
Loneliest Man In Space. As the album, to our ears, sounds a
little melancholic and a little spacey.
We sincerely hope that you enjoy the album either as a
listening experience, a dance experience or something in
between!
Thank you, and much love!
Vegard & Chris // Of Norway
3xLP+CD Artbook
(en) - Nearly two decades after the last official GAS album release, Wolfgang Voigt returns to his iconic Ambient project with a brandnew full-length.
- NARKOPOP continues the classic GAS aesthetic of symphonic scope and subtle variation, taking the listener on an otherworldly journey to the depths of rapture and reverie.
- Available as luxurious hardcover CD incl. 24 pages booklet.
In the body of work of Cologne artist Wolfgang Voigt - who, like few others, has informed, shaped and influenced the world of electronic music with countless different projects since the early 1990s -, GAS stands out in particular as a saturnine sound cosmos based on heavily condensed classic sequences. Even after nearly 20 years, the sound of GAS doesn't seem to have lost any of its luster, as shown by the commanding success of Kompakt's fall 2016 re-release of the essential back catalogue as a 10xLP/4xCD box set.
The overwhelming feedback from a loyal international fan community and worldwide media outlets attests once again to the sheer timelessness of GAS. Which is why it will feel like hardly a day has passed since the release of the last official album 'Pop' nearly two decades ago, when Wolfgang Voigt resumes this specific creative path with the upcoming new full-length NARKOPOP.
Even in the here and now, the unmistakable vibe of GAS immediately hits home, taking the listener on an otherworldly journey with the very first sounds, drawing him or her into an impervious sonic thicket, down to the depths of rapture and reverie. From wafts of dense symphonic mist emerges a floating and whirling feeling of weightlessness, before the listener steps into an eerily beautiful forest of fantasy, pulled in by the allure of a narcotic bass drum.
While earlier GAS tracks were often based on the hypnotic effects of looping techniques, the 10 new pieces on NARKOPOP unfold their magic in a more entwined manner, sometimes with the sonic might of an entire philharmonic orchestra, sometimes as subtle and fragile as the most delicate branch of a tree with many. A main characteristic of Voigt's oeuvre, the coalescence of seemingly contradictory stylistic aspects such as harmonious and atonal, concrete and abstract, light and heavy, near and far is also a decisive feature of NARKOPOP.
In accordance with the transgressive spirit of his collective work, Voigt carries the aesthetic conceptions of his music over to the realm of the visual. Based on his abstract forest pictures, the GAS artwork addresses Voigt's artistic affinity to romanticism and the forest as a place of yearning. For the first time, a closer look at the cover of NARKOPOP reveals signs of architectural fragments which hint at another, maybe parallel world behind Voigt's forest. Truth is the prettiest illusion.
(de) - Fast zwei Jahrzehnte nach dem letzten offiziellen GAS-Albumrelease kehrt Wolfgang Voigt mit einem brandneuen Langspieler zu seinem legendären Ambientprojekt zurück.
- NARKOPOP setzt die klassische GAS-Ästhetik zwischen symphonischer Grösse und subtiler Variation fort, eine Reise zu den Untiefen von Rausch und Entrücktheit.
- Erhältlich als luxuriöse Hardcover CD- Erhältlich als luxuriöse Hardcover CD inkl. 24-seitigem Booklet.
Aus dem Gesamtwerk des Kölner Künstlers Wolfgang Voigt, der mit seinen unzähligen unterschiedlichen musikalischen Projekten seit den frühen 1990er Jahren wie kaum ein Zweiter die elektronische Musikwelt geprägt, gestaltet und beinflusst hat, ragt sein Projekt GAS, ein auf stark verdichteten Klassiksequenzen basierendes, düsteres Klangkunstwerk, in ganz besonderem Maße heraus. Dass der Sound von GAS auch nach fast 20 Jahren scheinbar nichts von seinem Zauber und seiner Kraft verloren hat, zeigte eindrucksvoll der große Erfolg des im Herbst 2016 als 10xVinyl/4xCD Box auf Kompakt wieder veröffentlichten Backkatalogs.
Die überwältigende Resonanz, sowohl seitens der treuen internationalen Fangemeinde als auch der weltweiten Presse, bezeugte einmal mehr die schiere Zeitlosigkeit von GAS. Daher fühlt es sich auch an, als sei kaum ein Tag vergangen, wenn Wolfgang Voigt nun mit NARKOPOP genau da den künstlerischen Faden wieder aufnimmt, wo das letzte offizielle Album »Pop« ihn vor fast zwei Jahrzehnten hat fallen lassen.
Auch hier und heute verfängt der unverwechselbare Geist von GAS unmittelbar und nimmt den Hörer bereits mit den ersten Tönen mit in eine andere Welt, zieht ihn hinein in ein undurchdringliches Dickicht aus Klang, hinunter in die Untiefen von Rausch und Entrücktheit.
Aus dichten sinfonischen Nebelschwaden entsteht ein Schweben und Taumeln, ein Gefühl der Schwerelosigkeit, bevor der Zuhörer von der Anziehungskraft einer narkotischen Bassdrum wieder hinunter in den schaurig-schönen Fantasie-Wald gelockt wird.
Während frühere GAS Tracks oft auf der hypnotischen Wirkung des Loops basierten, entfalten die 10 neuen Stücke auf NARKOPOP ihre Magie auf verschlungeneren Pfaden, mal mit der klanglichen Wucht eines ganzen Philharmonieorchesters, dann wieder so zart und zerbrechlich wie der feinste Ast eines weit verzweigten Baumes. Das für Voigts Arbeiten so typische Ineinanderfließen scheinbar widersprüchlicher stilistischer Aspekte wie harmonisch und atonal, konkret und abstrakt, leicht und schwer, nah und fern ist auch auf NARKOPOP essenziell.
Im Sinne seines grenzüberschreitenden Schaffens, überträgt Voigt die ästhetischen Konzeptionen seiner Musik auch auf die Ebene des Visuellen. Das auf seinen abstrakten Waldbildern basierende GAS Artwork thematisiert Voigts künstlerischen Nähe zur Romantik und dem Wald als Sehnsuchtsort. Wer einen genaueren Blick auf das Cover von NARKOPOP wirft, der wird erstmalig Andeutungen architektonischer Fragmente entdecken, die eine andere, vielleicht parallele Welt hinter dem voigt'schen Wald erahnen lassen. Wahrheit ist der schönste Schein.
For all of his life Berlin based musician Drei Farben House has been thrilled by the artistic concepts of repetition and modifying resemblances. Small but precise and perceptible variations of (musical) themes have been fascinating him throughout his life as a lover of dance-infused Pop. The artistic concept of handwriting has been questioned in the world of fine arts with some justification, but Michael Siegle aka Drei Farben House has remained a strong advocate of this artistic principle which in his view has resulted in so many impressive musical expressions in the history of Soul and Disco --reference points which have been particularly important to Siegle's creative work. The album's sleeve shows the 'Doris and Norman Fisher House' in Hatboro (a suburb of Philadelphia) designed by Louis I. Kahn from 1960-1967. Kahn, based in Philadelphia and one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century, was already in his sixties and progressively getting famous around this time for his sensitive combination of concrete and brick in larger scales. The almost spiritual sensibility of his buildings and his poetry of light created deep, fundamental connections between the spaces and their inhabitants. New Release Information "Every building must have . . . its own soul", this famous quote of Kahn can easily be seen in the modest and wonderfully warm Fisher house which consits of two intersecting cubic volumes created from cedar wood - finished at the same time when only twenty miles away the newly founded Sigma Sound Studio recorded the Delfonics first record, installing the basements of Philadelphia Soul which was later leading to Phillysound, Disco and House.
In this space between chaos and conformity disorderly moments welcome new phases into existence, leading to the awakening of an elevated version of the self. Between highs and lows, Transitions of Life remain; the concept behind Synthek's first solo full length sound narrative on his Natch Records imprint. Unfolding across a vexing two-year transformation phase, Synthek's crossings along rough roads are the tribulations to reveal this intimate personal journey of reve- lation through emotional downshift, spiritual upheaval and cerebral quandary. In this dominion, Synthek shapes the eleven track escapade along a sophisticated array of synths and warm analog drums, while contrasting the build and decline of atmosphere through deep bass soundscapes.
Pivotal turning points execute the programming of the album's three part sound design; beginning from darkness and repression, evolving to a more colourful aerial majesty of lucid dream state, morphing into the developed nature of life lessons learned; Transitions of Life making its incarnation into the discovery of the self and re-entry into reality.
*Transitions of Life is a 2x12' release made available through Natch Elements, intro- spective extension to the Natch Records imprint. Visual embodiment of the project artfully presented with photographic time capsule by Salar Kheradpejouh of Berlin, Germany with graphic work curated by Jacopo Saveritano, co-founder of Natch Records.
There was a time when to die was something slightly different from what it is today. Back in the last days of the middle age, some hidden monk was concerned about how to die properly, according to the catholic standarts of that era, so he wrote a book that was a cornerstone in that period.
This has been the leitmotiv and ispiration in the concept that drives this album, the Ars Moriendi book from 1415, a book that gave some clues about how to die properly, avoiding lack of faith, despair, impatience, avarice or spiritual pride, all those actually track titles in this compendium.
Album starts with Impatience a short atmospheric drone sets the path to post industrial mayhem, based on a continuous and obsessive metallic sequence that drives the angst over a dirty rhythm workout until the textures go on top after several bars.
Rules of behaviour breaks the beat into metallic hits as starting point, then more percussive layers add to the main beat until the dark pads take over mixing hate with beauty on a grey canvas.
Despair return to adrenaline, icreasing the tempo, running unstoppable on a relentless sequence with skeleton beats as a driver.
Speculum acts as a sequel from the first track, same sequence different rhythm, extending the anxiety feeling but with a cleaner groove, again a few elements make everything run smoothly no fillers, just tension.
Lack of faith keeps on with the beat as fundamental component, based on a cemented kick and breathing components that grow during the running time.
Avarice returns to harsh kicks and martial sincopation having distortion as the main element until Fm percussions shine on top.
Spiritual Pride is the adrenaline shot in this album, obessive dry sequences, harsh kicks and razor hats in a direct floor burner.
Closing the travel, The search for identity goes underwater: cavernous landscapes and absence of brightness with a pulsating sub frequency doing the low end, while drones and obscure sound design make the rest.
3x12"
I did not know what achievements, what mockery, even what tortures awaited me. I knew nothing, and I persisted in the faith that the time of cruel miracles was not past .
Stanislaw Lem (Solaris, 1961).
This paragraph from Solaris, the novel written in 1961 by Stanislav Lem, is the starting point for the concept this 30drop album has been built upon. Science fiction masters like Lem are one of the greatest influences for the artist, who devised this album after the mental challenges that humans should overcome in a future: encounter with beings from other civilizations: capable of interacting with us in a totally unthinkable way so far.
Away from what many a sci-fi blockbuster depicts, this work revolves around the idea that such meeting with alien species will be eminently a mental experience that will shock not only our cultural values but also our very own perceptions about what space/time/reality is a mindbending experience where everything we knew before dissolves around us and propels us to uncharted grounds. Terra incognita so far.
Bypassing the random track collection syndrome that plagues many of today s so-called techno albums this LP was conceived and devised from it s very beginning as a full, complete work in itself, best enjoyed in it s totality. A story-telling journey (very much in the tradition of seminal / genre-defining albums as UR s X-102) were tracks lead you to one another. Tracks can be enjoyed on their own, being all suited for dancefloor and dj-sets alike, but take a complete different meaning when put in the right context within the album.
Musically this long-player combines stripped-down rhythms, sweeping pads and hypnotical bleeping sequences woven together in an intrincate but subtle way, a fashion that harks back to the classic minimalist yet complex mid-90 s sound of Hood, Mills and T.Dixon sounds appealing both the mind and the feet.
Classic and futuristic at the same time, this is a compelling journey that opens with the eerie atmospheres of Our Understanding before really taking off with the cadential NGC1277. The hypnotic Captured Rotation sets the pace for the rest of album which oscillates between the exhilarating cosmic groove of Beyond Language and the contemplative stasis of The Mirror. Other highlights include the entrancing Goldene Spirale or the furiously busy Approaching Light.
The whole package is further rounded up by a set of remixes which showcase the different directions taken by techno producers this days: from Substance s solid Berlin-style to Architectural s spaced-out visions via Rivet s hard-hitting club bangers and Zero Mass abrassive experiments.
Text by: Dj Zero.
Parasole's music fits the bill for cutting-edge electronic music. Infrared Vision is a display of his love for polyrhythmic drum patterns, post-club sketches, twisted dance floor gems and classy, big room-ready tunes.
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Few words of the artist:
''When I started to conceptualize my album I had a few end goals'', explains Parasole. ''I wanted to string my own style through Infrared Vision, so it would be familiar to the people who like my music. In tandem, I strived to produce a fresh voice sonically and experimented with a few new production techniques. I also grabbed ideas outside of techno and house, because I didn't want to be influenced by anything new. I was listening to a lot of jazz, hip-hop, Nine Inch Nails and Prince for example.''
Parasole took his time to write, produce and record Infrared Vision, dividing the process into three steps. ''First I wrote the album in words, pinning down ideas and track concepts on a notepad. Subsequently I transferred my ideas to my gear. Due to a heavy tour schedule I sometimes brought gear with me on the road, to continue my sketch process on the hardware. I then recorded it at home and at Phil Moffa's studio in New York. When the music was fully finished the album morphed to its final version. Phil Moffa laid down the final mixdown at Butcha Sound Studios, while Marco Spaventi handled the mastering.''
Limited to 500 copies with artwork
While unveiling the 'Mutant Tournament' Quartet last year, label boss Nachtbraker was quietly hunting for new music behind the scenes. Being the fine huntsman he is, he came out of the woods with sonic bits and bobs so delectable he had no choice but to spread them out over two brand new quartets. That's right, eight records in total, to be released over the course of the next 18 months. We're delighted to introduce you to Scott Franka, who's at the helm of the first missive. This creative head from Amsterdam has been making music since the tender age of 11, but it wasn't until he adopted his Scott Franka moniker that he really found his groove. His music encompasses influences from dub and dark techno to classic drumpcomputer and synth-heavy house. Franka's style takes cues from Detroit, Chicago and the UK, and yet is also very personal and forward thinking at the same time. 'The Gym' might be his solo debut, but a smattering of releases from the man is on the horizon. The best way to introduce you to Scott Franka's musicality is 'The Gym' on A1. Starting of with sweet, melancholic chords and 808 hats Scott turns your world upside down after the first break. Try to keep your head steady, and get that dirty look of your face.. doesn't work right It's just too good. 'Toenail' is up next, and its undeniable groove and incredible amalgamation of synths and strings make for an absolute early hours melter. Flip over for 'Sorry' to hear Franka knock it out of the ballpark with its heavy breakbeat and UK-style bass. Finally, there's 'Street', a mesmerising groover, rounding things off nicely. The release doesn't only mark its first artist EP, it also marks a new look for the label. Building on the muscular,pheromone-rich theme of the first Quartet, Elsemarijn Bruys developed a fresh concept for both new Quartets with a little help from Scott Franka,
Cr= Craig Richards, Va= Volkan Akin, Jt= Josh Tweek, Yy= Yonatan Yudkovitz, Jm= Jesse Morrison, H= Hamid
HPLS 002 sees the concept unfold a little bit more by showcasing six of the different collaborations featured on the forthcoming releases. The highlight would be indeed the collaboration with all time favourite ,and Fabric DA , Craig Richards.
The result captured perfectly the mind bending essence that you usually encounter in his early morning or after party sets .Tracks with Volkan Akin , Josh Tweek and Jesse Morrison will fit perfectly in more conventional narratives , when the live saxophone from Yonatan Yudkovitz compliment a more down tempo and experimental exercise.
Omar has a totally unique, individual style and sound still marks him out as a future thinking and utterly unrivaled artist, who has collaborated with so many legendary names that it would be foolish to deny his worldwide reputation - who would dare contradict the likes of Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Carleen Anderson, Angie Stone, Common and fellow fans and followers like Maxwell and Jarrod Lawson
Following on from 2013's album The Man, 2016 sees his new long player further cement this undeniable reputation. Love In Beats is Omars' 8th studio album of his long, illustrious career and may just be the most eclectic & varied to date. Somewhat more electronic in it's conception and sound than it's predecessor, Love In Beats incorporates soul, Caribbean rhythms, an undercurrent of funk, with touches of zouk, a jazzy waltz, spoken word and also features collaborations with Us soul legend Leon Ware, Blue Note pianist Robert Glasper, grime MC Ty, Guadeloupe born singer Jean-Michele Rotin, and Uk soultress Natasha Watts, The Floacist and Mayra Andrade, the Cape Verdean born singer who lives and records in Paris.
Co produced by Scratch Professer, Omars Grammy winning brother,this collection should create excitement worldwide, the sounds are varied - but all have Omars' unique fingerprint on them, style and substance beautifully merged!
The reveries begin with a simple electrical hum - a starting signal for the appearance of a vibrant array of sound, shifting before us in seemingly random motion. Before we know it, all those pulsating melodies, razor-cut hifi-house beats and drunken robot jazz ensembles start forming into patterns, secretly & perfectly designed by one Art Alfie. A long time operator in Stockholm's small but insistent underground music scene, Oscar Wedrén broke through internationally in 2012 with the Karlovak project, founded with on-off studio and dj partner Rudolf Nordström, a.k.a. Mr. Tophat. The duo's inexplicably fresh takes on classic dance music tropes is as much a result of a brilliantly odd pairing of personalities as of a defined concept and a precise method in searching for the perfect house groove. While writing Reveries Of, released early spring 2017 through Studio Barnhus, Art Alfie freed himself of all conceptual footholds, delving instead deep into his archives of old and new memories and feels, working with improptu field recordings and emotionally-guided sampling processes. He came back with an intricate and personal debut album and he didn't lose his groove on the way.
After a first collaboration focusing on the City of Angels, LA legend John Tejada and acid innovator Tin Man (Johannes Auvinen), this time brooding on the latter's home city, and former's birthplace, Vienna. The Austrian capital is known as "the city of music" and the "city of dreams," two broadly aligning concepts that go far in describing this beguiling 12-inch. The four songs were mixed down live to 2 tracks, created in the real world without a daw, or multi tracking, which has really captured the spirit of performance and improvisation. Succeeding "Railjet," a tense drum workout, comes "Bim," referring to the colorful trams that run through Vienna. Here, Auvinen sculpts his 303 into near-pizzicato form. The acid box is accompanied by stately pads making for one of the duo's most memorable tracks yet. The next cut, "Danube Nights," references the mighty, ancient river, the flow motion mirrored by a couple of widescreen acid lines. A pensive lead and some melancholy chords emerge, but the drums roll right along like the water- tough enough for a heaving floor with a hint of fragility for the headphones. The record concludes with the acidic "Prater Allee," named after idyllic, sprawling park on the banks of the Danube. The duo's love letter to Vienna is well-suited for travel, for the dance and for dreaming.
Jacob Long's newest recordings under the Earthen Sea moniker deepen his compelling synthesis of shadowy rhythms and opaque atmospherics, drawing on the most potent qualities of melancholic ambient and dub techno.
An Act Of Love' follows 2015's Ink,' released via Ital's Lovers Rock imprint,
and was inspired by internal tribulations and the experience of exploring an empty nocturnal metropolis. Careful waves of tones drift and decay, beats materialize and pulse across twilit landscapes, a noir mood reigns.
Given Long's background as bassist for revelatory tribal-punk trio Mi Ami, An Act Of Love' showcases a musician in the midst of transcendent redefinition, crafting an immersive language of texture and motion.
From Jacob Long:
This record was made over the course of the most emotionally difficult and stressful year in my life thus far. As such, it is both a reflection of that experience and also something that gave me space to begin working through issues to see a way forward, to a better place both psychically and physically.
An idea that was also central to my thoughts while creating the album was the concept and reality of being out in the city at night, wandering around a large urban area after dark - the contrast of empty streets but with life still going on all around, and the openness and possibilities that can bring. This music was an attempt to capture that feeling.
Jump in your spaceship and join us on our intergalactic exploration, as we are happy to announce that our next vinyl release is from Blossom Kollektiv's very own Leo Woelfel . Making his debut last year with a digital only release we are very excited to present his first vinyl release for the label titled Heuweid EP. The four track EP features three originals and a remix from Matthias Vogt that will take you on a deep exploration of space so buckle up and get ready to blast off.
We start our journey with the Frizzante mix of 'Heuweider Mineral' the track features a deep brooding bassline but with deep and dubby pads that takes us to a universe that plays with the darkness but keeps the light in plain sight. Backed with a solid kick and percussion to give the track a fully rounded feel this is one track that will put a big smile on any lover of the deeper side of house music.
Next up we get Matthias Vogt's interpretation of 'Heuweider Mineral.' Bringing a more broken beat reconstruction of the original, Matthias brings a raw flavor with a roaring bassline, moving snares and a redevelopment of the dubby pads that transforms the track and creates a feeling of weightlessness while floating through space.
On the flip side we are presented with a more classic deep house vibe with Leo's original 'Elke Ueber Der Bruecke ' this track is careful crafted with the dance floor in mind. A strong kick paired with tightly woven percussion and a classic deep house pad keeps everything moving in this distant but familiar world.
Our final stop on our planetary adventure is 'Stahlgruber Andacht' speaking to us in echoes the pads gently intertwine with a detailed drum patterns until the moving acid like bassline comes in to create a whole new dimension of sound. This concept is something that isn't all together new but done in a new and forward thinking way to finish off the full package of a finely tuned deep house record.
Origine Rec is the music part of my new concept mixing music & fashion.It's a "vinyl only" label influenced by the underground house scene, with the desire to propose my own production and various artists I love and respect.-For the 1st release, I wanted to include "Riviera" a track from my childhood friend Unknyo, which he produced 5 years ago -The track called "Les Bains" was produced by me (Saull) & Unknyo. The title comes from the place where we met 13 years ago in Paris, Les Bains Douches.
-To remix Riviera, Terence Terry was an evidence: his style combines authenticity and musical signature, nothing better to spice a record.-Not to mention a track dedicated to my lovely wife and first support "Ju Lya".
Sometimes in life you find yourselves at a point where you need to walk away and leave something behind if you ever want to go back to it. Other paths must be walked, other experiences learnt from to give you a fresh view of where you've come from. In that sense going back to the roots, rediscovering their past with fresh eyes, is the concept behind Richard Dorfmeister & Rupert Huber's new Tosca album, 'Going Going Going'.For over two decades and several albums Tosca has served as a vehicle for Richard and Rupert to express their personal moods and impressions, each release holding up a mirror to their inner lives. Now though after ten albums the journey has come full circle and once again they've returned to the kind of instrumental tracks, full of deep beats and dubbed out textures that made Tosca's name. The result is 'Going Going Going', an album that Tosca fans will immediately recognize and yet one that doesn't just trade on former glories. Hitting the ground running opening track 'Import Export' sounds like a Lee Scratch Perry version of a Ennio Morricone soundtrack, a motif reoccurs throughout the album, most notably on 'Dr Dings', their reinterpretation of America's classic 'Horse With No Name'.
Fans donated €25,000 to Emika for the project
Fans paid for the album before hearing any music
Electronic & Neo Classical. Fits 2 genres / Cross over
The composition is inspired by electronic music
Emika hired double the amount of bass players in a normal orchestra
Emika created a new seating plan for the orchestra, to sound more like a wide stereo pop album
Echo concepts (electronic music)
Romantic piece, lyrical piece, universal themes of love and sadness, huge beautiful melodies
50 piece symphony orchestra
Silver-toned soprano Michaela Srumova
Composed in Berlin
Recorded in Prague at Czech Radio Studios.
* The crossover between electronic music and classical composition has never been in more vibrant and dynamic health. Multifarious musician Emika explores this fertile ground on her ambitious new opus 'Melanfonie': her first orchestral composition, some four years in the making.
* Funded by a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign that exceeded its target by an impressive €25,000.
* While many rebel from their classical training never to return to it explicitly, Emika has always been attracted to the potential and freedoms offered by the symphony form.
* As well as taking inspiration from her electronic music background in composing the music itself, Emika also applied some of production and playback principles from that realm to create a piece whose every element has been carefully considered.
* Emika is on a quest to try and change what we mean when we talk about 'classical music'. For her, the magic of the 'genre' is about the instruments themselves and more importantly the people who play them; not the restricting traditions and conventions of the classical world itself.
* I want to change the face of classical music and give it a more honest and real image. It is time we had something other than pomp and circumstance and avant-garde squeaks and pops..
Supported by
Chilly Gonzales, Zola Jezus, Ellen Alien, Nina Kraviz, Mala, Christian Kellersmann, The Barbican, Francesco Tristano.
Vanta Series is the new series for Killekill's dancefloor music. The releases come in series, every series comes with a theme and one artwork which is being split in several parts to go with each release. The first series is called THE END IS NEAR' and features four records. It comes with an artwork by French visual artist Elzo Durt.
Vanta 003 comes from Eomac under his alias EeOo.
EeOo is a side project for what is, in Eomac's mind, straight up, techno-rave-house-jungle- disco influenced, dancefloor material. It draws influence from classic styles of dance music. Less dense, less conceptual than the Eomac-music. Less focussed on texture and atmosphere, a more direct approach for sweaty ravers and moving bodies.
Dark Violett vinyl
Christian Gerlachís Lanthan.audio features Jeff Derringer in its seventh installment, as well as two remixes from seasoned veterans Shifted and Giorgio Gigli. The concept behind the label is the combination of music with architecture and photography, the consolidation of which creates a highly robust and powerful statement about music and art. This vision was born out of the desire to deliver a diverse product featuring innovative remixes from technoís most respected producers.
Jeff Derringerís ëHuman Moments in WWIIIí is irresistibly fervent. Both ëDepartureí and the EPís title track are driving, acid-imbued, and deeply nostalgic of 90s electronic sensibilities. While Shiftedís remix provides more hypnotic twists to an otherwise straightforward track, Giorgio Gigli lends the EP momentum and vigor, bringing the release to a robust and energetic close.
Human Moments in WWIII adds dimension to an already dynamic and techno-forward discography, and Derringer, Shifted, and Gigli are three amongst many compelling artists that the label has released since its inception last year.
dedicated to promote young and evolving artists and to present musical diamonds in the rough, raster-noton is curating the unun series which name refers to the chemical elements 111-119. »unalloyed, unlicensed, all night!« is jesse osborne-lanthier's first release on raster-noton, and the ninth and final release of this series.jesse osborne-lanthier is a berlin / montreal based, canadian electronic music producer and multidisciplinary artist. his erratic research process incorporates the urgency of dance music and conceptual electronics by disassembling their grammar and acting through it. refusing to follow the etiquette of a particular musical genre, he explores many creative practices in order to generate clashes of mood, expectation and technique.
»unalloyed, unlicensed, all night!« was recorded by osborne-lanthier a mere two hours before a live set in paris. its specific purpose was to generate a response from the audience, to stimulate their bodies through sound. the toolbox for this task was stocked with automatic call-and-response music tropes drawn from EDM, big-room house, trance, and online production tutorials. between the producer's idiosyncratic by-the-numbers process and the rushed nature of the composition, the final product is rendered unpredictable; each signifier transforms into a distorted ghost of itself. this allows for unexpected responses to manifest on the dance floor as well as in the listener's space of existence.
S3A Records is delighted to welcome Sam Irl in the family. Samples, classy Rhodes solos for this great S3A REC Artist EP: Similarity on each side: One banger track, one hip hop interlude and one personal (or deep) track. Have a nice trip in the creativity of this mucial note blooded artist ! He is very close from the forward thinking electronic music producers from Vienna like Dorian Concept, The Clonious, Roman Rauch. He manages with a lot of class, minimalism and harmony to the samples he uses. As we love Jazz&Milk records, it was natural to propose to him to work with us on his first S3A REC Artist EP. Let us introducing Sam Irl!! We are so happy to present you this beautiful EP. One banger track, One hiphop interlude and One personal (or deep) track on each side. Have a nice trip!
Clear Vinyl
Khemia Records the new imprint from Kaos London announces the fourth and final edition in their current series. A limited edition, transparent vinyl (333 copies): The 'Winter Solstice Edition' featuring Codex Empire and MARMO.
* On the Solar side British born, Vienna based, industrial techno pioneer Codex Empire delivers 'Sevde' an experiment in long-form techno written specially for the label. A massive, propulsive beast, punctured with hammered rhythms and sub-aquatic bleeps, a maelstrom of whiplash cracks, disembodied voices and electrostatic, reverberating across an insistent techno groove.
* On The Lunar side MARMO present 'Alchimia' a track written specially for this release. MARMO is a conceptual, straight-forward, complex music sculpture. 'Alchimia' unfolds an epic sonic journey across vast swathes of desert.
* Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life.- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
* Credits: 'Sevde' written and performed by Codex Empire 'Alchimia' written and performed by MARMO Mastered by Andrea Merlini, Utrecht Produced by Khemia Records, London Distributed by SRD Artwork commissioned from REIN VOLLENGA X LVM Khemia Records London
* Credits: 'Sevde' written and performed by Codex Empire 'Alchimia' written and performed by MARMO Mastered by Andrea Merlini, Utrecht Produced by Khemia Records, London - Distributed by SRD Artwork commissioned from REIN VOLLENGA X LVM Khemia Records London
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The artist described the EP as being inspired by many of the heavy concepts that have been concurrent in his life during the process of making the tracks. The sounds have adopted elements of the music that have been experienced during his trips to play out in Berlin's unique music scene. Key to the penning of the tracks are the loss of distinctive sounds, expressive emotion and unparalleled feeling that was once so prevalent in the many of the lesser known and iconic works produced in the earlier years of House music. Channeling the desire to bring back what has been missing in today's formulaic music production design, Traela hopes to find the listeners once again looking inside the content of the music. Finding the emotional substance displayed through healing and the release of lost love, Traela's message on the making of this release: " Many ideas were prevalent during the process of the EP but the most important during this exercise was finding yourself, learning to express and learning to love yourself in order to love others'.
By his debut album "Alcatraz" in January 2015, ARAS label head André Galluzzi thrilled with a concept album inspired by occult sounds and psychedelic vocals. "Alcatraz" as a whole is a captivating piece of art, its the essence of a club night. Now after received a wave of icredible feedback from "Alcatraz", the bird returns to ARAS with a bunch of remixes of the hypnotic track "Mathilda". Time to welcome Mike Shannon and Jacek Sienkiewicz to the ARAS family. This remixes will be a blast at the club by its very deep and reduced, futuristic interpretations. Mike, as head A&R of Cynosure and formerly Revolver Canada Recordings over 10 years, has shown an uncanny ability to select and produce tracks which have become go-to fixtures in the sets of the industry's best DJs. Far from pursuing the next one hit wonder or sound of the season, his steadfast curatorial vision and passion for the music have earned him the trust of discerning music connoisseurs the world over. Alongside DeWalta, Mike impressed lately with his album "Residual" on Cynosure/ meander back in March 2016. Jacek Sienkiewicz lives in Warsaw and he is a key figure in Polish electronic music scene. He holds Recognition since 1999, one famous label based in Berlin. With one foot deep in classic Detroit and Chicago dance scene, and the other in modern jazz and classical music, Jacek's tracks for the past ten years always try to find a right balance between the avant-garde and dancefloor, between primal emotions and highly sophisticated sonic wizardry. His latest album "Hideland" has been released in August 2016 on Recognition.
EMERGENCE is an epic, operatic, ambitious amalgamation between audio-visual show, scientific research project, art installation and IDM record, the debut release on Max Cooper's Mesh label and his second full-length release.2 LPs housed in a gatefold sleeve, featuring black and gold ink printed onto silver laminated board to create a unique and beautiful effect.The record was conceived as a soundtrack to a new series of 11 pieces of video art, each exploring a different facet of the concept of 'emergence'. The full A/V live show will premiere at Mutek, Japan on November 2nd 2016. Together the work is a marriage between the cosmic awe of a Carl Sagan film and the musical wonderment of Sigur Ros, made for meditating on the mystery of our emotional connection to fundamental natural form.
Cooper collaborated with film composer Tom Hodge and vocalist Kathrin deBoer to put together a rich piece of music that incorporates post-rock, Warp-y brain-dance, hi-def digital techno and shimmering neo-classical. Few musicians are as qualified as Max to tackle as profound an idea as 'emergence' through electronic music. Emergence is the story of the development of the universe, the way in which, very complex things like human beings where created from the immaterial by the action of simple laws.Max has synthesised his skill as a producer and his deep interests in science to create a Hadron Collider-grade ambient techno world, in the lineage of The Future Sounds of London's 'Lifeforms' for 2016. It's also one of the most beautiful records you'll hear all year. Early support at radio pledged from Lauren Laverne and Mary Anne Hobbs.
Fall of 2016 sees Midnight Magic ready to enchant us once more with the much-anticipated birth of their 2nd studio album, the wondrously eclectic Free From Your Spell. Going back to their roots in Los Angeles, Morgan Wiley, and Tiffany Roth, alongside the rest of the boogie nonet, have prepared a refined feast of genre-bending songs. The ever so diverse moods of Free From Your Spell make it a seductive journey. With each song mixed seamlessly into the next, the record coalesces into one long disco odyssey, reminiscing Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer's concept albums "Four Seasons of Love" and "A Love Trilogy". Moods, genres, and styles intertwine like an aural kaleidoscope, the album electrifying with its striking harmony. Whilst exuberantly borrowing from past decades, Free From Your Spell more than holds its own as a self-assured, innovative body of work. Midnight Magic's Free From Your Spell is an offer one can't refuse. An attractive deal in the form of disco escapism, traveling through its various shades, emotions, and incarnations, a comprehensive revival of the genre for modern ears. It's Studio 54, It's Moroder,Amanda Lear, Gino Soccio, and Grace Jones. It's a whole palette of 1980's R'n'B and cosmic funk. Despite all the music references of past eras Free From Your Spell is very much a current album, a mature demonstration of genuine skills in songwriting, a multi-instrumental banquet of sounds, a coherent collection of ambitious dance tracks and a beautiful celebration of eclecticism. Add to this some of Tiffany Roth's most memorable vocals to date and you arrive at one of the year's most exciting releases. There is a strong reason for both "midnight" and "magic" in the name of the band after all.
Following the recent reissue of Vox Populi!s Aither album, Emotional Rescue further explores the more discerning, esoteric sounds of the French 80s avant-garde scene in coute Visual artist, sound designer, musician, label founder and emotional tree consultant Ramuntcho Matta is a man of shifting, relentless talents. Diagnosed with autism at a young age. Therapy based on yoga and music set him on a path, leading to learn from the likes of composter Cuarteto Cedrn. Discovering avant-music at an early age, he moved to New York to study in the "Third Street School of Music", meeting John Cage and going on to work on projects with Laurie Anderson, Brion Gysin and Don Cherry. His architectural concepts applied to composition were explored on his 3 solo LPs from the 1980s. The middle of these, coute, is possibly his most cohesive, exploring the use of extra-European musicians, especially African and Brazilian percussion, jazz horn playing, as well as Uruguayan singer Elie Meideros. Mexicos Cacau de Queirozs performance on saxophone and flute is stunning, former Gipsy Kings member, Jorge Negrito Trasante attributes much of the LPs Brazilian percussive flavour, while Magmas bassist Jannick Top brings gravitas, including performing a water claps duet alongside Matta on the exquisite O Clapo. As one piece, coute endlessly avoids standard musical formulas, seeking textures of far-flung elements; alchemy against a background of freedom to experiment that would be the theme throughout Mattas career, whether setting up SSR records under the alias Michael Pope or in his more recent output, teaching methodology of doubt
DJ and producer, co-founder of the legendary London club night Lost, Steve Bicknell returns to the fray with a brilliant new 12", 'Modes of Thought'. Comprising three full tracks and six locked grooves, the record represents the debut release on Bicknell's brand new label, 6dimensions. Art by Harumasa Kono.
Throughout his career, Steve Bicknell has retained a true groundedness, with everything he's stood behind being indelibly marked by a progressive and uncompromising attitude. Sticking firm to ideals and principles, he has remained connected to the roots of techno, eschewing the mainstream to follow an unswerving, singular vision, guided by a deep and enduring devotion to the music that inspires him and a desire to present it in the purest way possible.
Stepping out here with new material and a new venture, Bicknell's trademark raw, minimal aesthetics and conceptual underpinning have clearly been retained. He describes new release 'modes of thought' as being founded upon "the awareness of thought processes, understanding the connection between the heart and the brain through vibrations that are created via the blood-stream." Essential floor gear, 'modes of thought' introduces three tracks of taught, lean minimal techno before handing creativity over to the DJ with the inclusion of six locked groove loops.
Lean and precise, with a beautifully controlled pallette, wide dynamics and rich level of sonic detail, the record flies out of the blocks with the pumping 'harmonious balance', described by its creator as a "reflection on hatred and furthering an understanding of hate and how acceptance induces balance". Continuing to unpack the work, 'the moment I stopped' is described as "a realisation of the importance of self-preservation to balance yourself in order to take care of others close to you"; whilst on the flip, 'messenger molecules' depicts "the flow of blood and how it feeds the brain of feelings through coded information".
Cocytus, meaning "the river of wailing , is a river in the underworld in Greek mythology. It flows into the river Acheron, across which is the underworld, the mythological abode of the dead. Dante describes Cocytus in Inferno as being the home of traitors and those who committed acts of complex fraud. The river of wailing is divided into four arms:
Antenora, after Antenor from the Iliad, traitors to country.
Judecca, after Judas Iscariot, traitors to masters and benefactors.
Caina, after the Biblical Cain, traitors to blood relatives.
Ptolomea, after Ptolemy, governor of Jericho, who murdered his guests (1 Maccabees), traitors to guests.
Based on these assumptions COT labelhead HOURS crafted three pensive tracks, one of which was reinterpreted by Brian Sanhaji.
The first instalment in our new 'Mr Bongo Record Club' compilation series - a selection of favourites, recent discoveries and sought after obscurities, which form the basis of our DJ sets and our radio show of the same name. Including cuts by Claudia, Cortex, Dave Pike Set, Fruko, Neno Exporta Som, Connie Laverne, Barbosa and more. The original concept for 'Mr Bongo Record Club' was a radio show that allowed us to air our treasured record collections, recorded and broadcast once a
month. We wanted to create an outlet free from any genre or BPM restrictions, not constrained by the need to beat-mix every record, a space where we could play latest finds alongside favourites. The only self-imposed rule being that
it had to be played from vinyl. We have always DJ'd across-the-board, but playing in an eclectic way hasn't
always been easy. Recently DJ's such as MCDE, Floating Points, Nick The Record, Leon Vynehall, Four Tet, Jeremy Underground, Antal (Rush Hour), Sassy J and Young Marco - to name a few - have opened things up with very diverse sets to
younger audiences; Brazilian samba-rock, next to modern soul, highlife, disco, boogie, jazz, house, techno and beyond.
We're seeing a rare groove like sensibility. A shift towards the attitude of legendary club nights hosted by the likes of Mr Scruff and Gilles Peterson, where you could hear house, hip hop, Turkish funk, boogie, jazz, dub and Latin
back to back. At the same time it isn't a nostalgic or retro movement, people have a progressive attitude and a thirst for new-old music. It is a vibrant and exciting time - we are proud to be a part of it.
finally repressed
Back in February 2013, shortly after their impressive first release as a label, Music Is Love launched a double VA entitled Lovebox: an 8 track double-vinyl release that included tracks from 8 talented up-and-coming producers on their roster. By innovatively previewing the producers in this way, the label laid the foundations for what listeners could expect for each artists' subsequent EPs. The artists who released on it were not hyped up flavours of the month, but rather emerging talents who sat perfectly with the label's musical ethos - quality and original underground house with a contemporary, dynamic feel. Since the VA, the label have gone from strength to strength and have firmly established themselves as one of the most brightest house labels around in the UK.
Just over a year later and following in the success of its predecessor, MIL return with their second VA and with that, a chance for listeners to hear the new additions they've acquired, in addition to some already known faces. Liam Geddes opens proceedings with Untitled. A deep sense of soul permeates the whole track as a rumbling baseline imbues the beat with an ever-present sense of groove that never lets the head stop nodding. Geddes has really fine tuned and matured his sound over the past year, and this track is further evidence of his quality as a producer. The subtle percussive rhythms, electronic bleeps and synth nuances give this track a natural flow, as Geddes conjures something altogether more hypnotic, dark and purposeful.
Mr.KS, one of the newcomers to the label, outlines his coolly crafted style with track (Music) Makes Me Stronger. Brittle drums and deep warped synths suck you in and out and shape the structure of the beat, while afflicted chord patterns combine with the hypnotic repetition of a vocal sample to give the track a gesture towards techno but with a flow that pulls in house elements. Cassio Kohl introducers himself with a warm, melodic house number; rumbling synths circulate in the background of the track while ticking hi-hats and snares play off against the sumptuous vocal sample, which builds and falls back nicely into its original path until electronic glitches sporadically ease in and move the beat forward.
Jamie Trench has been making some serious headway of late and his track I Want You with Rebel serves a timely reminder of a producer on top form. A heavy, rolling baseline resonates intently, building against murky vocal samples, shuffling snares and off-beat key stabs that grow in presence and intensity - a track that will no doubt prove a high point in any DJ set. Label boss Oli Furness has a raw knack for creating crisp, heavy sounds and Take Monday Off remains on a similar path, albeit the beauty lies in the subtlety of arrangements rather than bigger hitting sounds. Chopped shimmying keys tease, filter and build fluently with urgent hi-hats and swinging drums that flourish harmoniously together, while an understated baseline adds weight and rhythmic groove typically inherent in Furness' work.
Italian heavyweight Tuccillo has released on some of the most reputable labels on the circuit - releases for 20:20 Vision and Freerange is evidence enough of his provenance - and this time he brings his baleric house sound with the impeccable sounds of DubFlanged Gru. Shimmering percussion shakes meander against the bumping bassline while the endearing, muffled vocals that threaten to break out are superseded by breeze-block keys that filter and descend into a chattering groove. Dutch producer U Know The Drill brings things back into heavier house territory with a no-nonsense, stripped-back stomper, the type of track we've been used to hearing on Dutch affiliates New Jack City's material. Heavy snares kick with a punch, and the deep drone-like vocal swings against the wobbling baseline and tapestry of electronic bleeps. Other sampled vocals and glitches weave in with the juxtaposing elements playing off one another to huge effect, ensuring that sheer energy pervades the track.
Jackson Ryland rounds off the heavy 8 track VA - scattering hi-hats and swirling pads build, while the shuffling drums roll on until fleeting chord flourishes and a musky vocal hook bring the track into wistful nostalgia. The elements of track balance superbly and are propelled forward by the intricate drum arrangements and well-crafted hi-hat/vocal combo.
The difference in approach and outcome from each artist results in yet another highly impressive outcome, with 8 high grade tracks that show another side to Music Is Love. The sounds are tougher and the mood is darker, but the premise of the whole MIL concept remains more apparent than ever with this release: sourcing fresh underground talent, curating original electronic music and evolving artists already on the roster.
Adrian Younge Presents The Electronique Void: Black Noise is Younge's first and only electronic album. An album that represents Younge's take on what Black electronic music would sound like in `72. Narrated by Jack Waterson, long a guitarist in Younge's band. Recorded and mixed by Adrian Younge at Linear Labs, the preeminent analog studio of Los Angeles, CA.
After 5 years of Exploration, it's time for the first album on the label. Johannes Volk proudly presents Mutual Codes, a conceptual album which contains 12 tracks between detroit infected techno and experimental classical compositions. Colourful synth adventures which take you on a journey to far away galaxies and beyond.
With a title that suggests great things, making reference to 6 Victoria Crosses awarded to the Lancashire Regiment in World War 1, Mr Fantastic and Coherent (of Journeymen fame and much more) have set themselves a tall order. Before you have even listened to the music, the presentation points to success in this venture, with original artwork by the brilliant Stilts and marbled camouflage coloured vinyl to boot!
100 years after the press reported 'the winning of 6 VCs before breakfast' during the Gallipoli campaign in World War 1, S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive) opt for beats and rhymes rather than guns and bombs, and the resulting record is essential. The initial salvo is fired in 'Ready For Combat' which sees Mr Fantastic combine hard-hitting drums with stabbing guitar chops for Coherent to set the tone. The result is an instant smash which will have you rewinding, as I was, time and time again! From there, the duo, joined by Rola (The Numskullz/Journeymen) and Truck (also a member of The Journeymen), stage a three pronged assault over a haunting beat, spitting verse one after another like a creeping barrage before Mr Fantastic delivers the final victory courtesy of his trademark tight scratches. The concept for this EP is highly original and perfectly apt and on 'Foreign Lands', this is perfectly demonstrated as Coherent weaves tales of carnage that would sound at home on a jungle warfare documentary. 'Lyrical Assassin' once more sees Coherent dropping vocal hand grenades over double bass and electric piano skilfully fused together by his fellow soldier Mr Fantastic. Throughout, the subject matter and music is dark and 'Heavy Artillery' encapsulates this perfectly - Mr Fantastic's thumping, bass-heavy production would have sat perfectly on Show & AG's sophomore LP next to tracks like 'Night Time'. On 'Carcasses', Coherent shows the enemy why he is such a skilled MC, delivering surgical strikes with his tight metaphors and hard-hitting punch lines.
The question, then, given the highly ambitious nature of this project, is whether S.O.E. have won the battle they set out to win. With meticulous artwork, dark brooding beats and Coherent's masterful wordplay, the result is clear. They didn't just win the battle but the whole darn war!
dotwav returns to their own KONFLKT imprint with Insanity. Both I/Y and Cadency aka Hector Oaks reshape the originals into individual sound concepts rounding off a complex four-track EP.
Heading straight towards peak time Insanity sets the pace. The raw yet punchy destination that follows on from a hypnotic synth exploration receives a deep tripped-out remix treatment from Berlin-based duo I/Y. Distance ventures into an emotive dimension that channels melancholy and anticipation into a compelling techno ballad. Charging the B-side with urgent heat, Cadency transforms dotwav's composition into a sustained power house for the floor.
Shara music emerges with a concept that glitters by love for a very special woman named Sara. The producer of Barcelona Owen Ezard presents his new record label, Shara Music, and it starts nothing more , nothing less with this great piece of EP signed by the mexico-Italian couple Mijo & Rodion. A futuristic sound ep charged with hints Techno Latin and classical Italo influence also with the remixes included of "Chapo Guzman" and our great Damon Jee. Exceptional beginning for this label and where in addition They have prepared for us a lot of amazing references that will see the light as the year progresses. First reference Shara Music... SHM001 is coming up
Phil Collins revisits a career that can boast over 100 million sales and numerous worldwide #1 albums. Both Sides will be remastered by Nick Davis, who earned a Grammy nomination for Best Surround Sound album for his work on the Genesis '1970-1975' box set. Davis has also worked on all of the Genesis retrospective reissues.
Entirely curated and compiled by Collins himself, his idea for the 'Take A Look At Me Now' concept is to examine how his songs have evolved over time, with the majority of the additional content throughout the series focused on live versions of the tracks. By contrasting the original studio versions of the material with later performances, the series demonstrates how Collins' songs take on a life of their own once they're freed from the confines of the studio.
Collins returned to #1 in 2010 with 'Going Back' which represented his first studio album since 2002's 'Testify'. 'Going Back' was a personal labour of love project that found him faithfully recreating the soul gems that played such an influential role in his musical life.
The concept, he said at the time, 'Was not to bring anything 'new' to these already great records, but to try to recreate the sounds and feelings that I had when I first heard them.' That objective was achieved with the help of special guests including three surviving members of The Funk Brothers: Eddie Willis (guitar), Bob Babbitt (bass) and Ray Monette (guitar).
'I decided to call this version of 'Going Back' 'The Essential Going Back',' he explains. 'In retrospect, I included too much music on the original version, and I believe that too much is not always a good thing. Hence this trimmed down selection of my favourite Motown songs.'
Thomas Blanchot, 40 years old percussionist and drummer, started his production structure Mato Production in 2001, where he collaborated and directed for many projects.
Composer, music publisher and producer of music for TV, advertising, films and records, he also began a career as reggae producer since 2006, under the name "MATO". Since then he's released music through various projects concepts, coming out through labels such as Makasound, EDR Records or Big Singles. In the meantime he developed a real trademark: taking over classics French, Hip-Hop, or Pop song, into roots reggae-dub new versions.
Besides since 2010, Mato has built a solid reputation thanks to his hot remixes of Hip-Hop classics on Stix Records. And in 2014, he presented Homework Dub, giving his own vision of the multiplatinum classic album by Daft Punk, quickly acclaimed internationally as a true performance.
Today, Mato is back with another target for his special skills as a tailor of reggae music, this time focusing on classic musical themes from original soundtracks. Imagine if Lalo Schiffrin, Nino Rota, Gorgio Moroder, Ennio Morricone or John Williams had been blunted at Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Black Ark studio... there you go, this is Hollywoo Dub!!
ORYX 9 has built a synthetic complex universe, in a 70s Druillet pscychedelic Sci-Fi similar vein, mixing up a handicraft and exhaustive sound treatment through ancient machinery, and proper mind-bending literature. Abstraction trail', a conceptual whole sheaf, is the result itself and the fourth 30drop ExoPlanets reference. The evocative Subatomic Uprising in Cassiopea''s retrofuturism meets the lisergic onirism of Ethereal Aquadome'. Bassdrum goes harder on the delayed hipnotism of Magma-45 Decaying Path', a planetary decadence tale. And finally, Ultraviolet (Light of Tsih)', a cosmic endless melody from a dead constellation, winds up the EP. And continuing our 30drop Records Mix Tapes series, ORYX 9 presents this current second chapter with an exclusive DJ set, recorded live at the Simmetry Box in April 2016, that introduces its artistic proposal as a sound manifesto.
"Ode To Eskapism" is dedicated to all of those that use techno as a way in to escapism. To those that use techno as a mental diversion from the perceived unpleasant, boring, arduous, scary, or banal aspects of daily life. Those that cannot subsist on the scanty satisfaction they can extort from reality alone. Those that feel the need to dissociate from reality in order to experience it. To all of those that emerges recreated, stronger and full of life after a weekend escape into techno.
The label Bond is the brainchild of Swedish techno DJ and producer Petter B. The concept of the label is "music by DJs for DJs". The label focuses on releasing tracks that enable the DJ, rather than the producer, to be creative. It is based on that special bond which is created every time a DJ combines tracks, loops and sounds live into something new and unique.
The master jammer returns! Opal are so proud to release this set of four beautiful, sun filled pieces of pure electronic music. Ged Gengras' Personable project is the boiled down syrup of many years spent learning his craft within synthesis. Captured directly from live home studio recording, each track lives and breathes in it's own space, 'Gambetti' serves a light structure of rattling snares and resonant bass boops dressed up with gorgeous, almost gothic hanging notes. 'Window' is a funked slice of Ged at his best, referencing grime/garage structure but extended out into am 11+ minute epic that conjures buccolic idyll, like funky sunshine. B-side opener 'Oyster' flips the vibe inward into a more paranoid number, similarly long form and rolling but with all melody turning in on itself and riffs decaying away into thin whispers. To close; the stunning 'Cormorant' forms itself from a bed of padded out bliss. Reminiscent of Oval or Pinkcourtesyphone, the track haunts with a breathy sadness which pulses forwards into squash court squeaks and deep forward facing kick drums. Every time I listen to Personable I'm hearing someone who approaches their instruments as a player, no concepts or grand ideas, just playing a synthesiser and doing it so well.
In 2006, Tim Arndt released the first Near the Paren- thesis album "Go Out and See". Arndt had intended to follow up that release with a more beatless ambient album, where percussion was left to the side and com- position took center stage. A shelved Idea that we now get the benefit of a full ten years later.
This new album Helical is the realization of Arndt's stripped down ambient concept. Helical features Arndt's characteristic experimental modem classical instrumentation and compositional style, but slows things down and stretches them out. The focus on the organic is clear, but moments of ethereal breath weave in and out and prevent the album from becoming too self aware.
Helical, as a loose reference to the geometric structure of our very DNA and it contains themes that are driven by a recent discovery of Arndt's past and ancestry. The release seamlessly stitches all of these concepts together and marks an unique release and new direction for Arndt's Near the Parenthesis.
Helical will be available in limited transparent coke bottle green and opaque grey vinyl flavors as well as compact disc on May 20th.
-7th album from bay area experimental composer Tim Arnt.
-Limited Grey and Coke bottle Clear Vinyl
-Near The Parenthesis has 3 tracks with over a million plays on Spotify.
Our next release is by a young Brussels based artist that will be a new name to most of you.
Foreign Material has been into music since his youth. After studying percussions at the Conservatory and graduating in history, his interest in dark atmospheres led him to techno music. The spirit of his music is a mix of ancient myths and futuristic visions. Conceptual music, both mystical and cosmic, with a link between past and future. Here's what he had to say about his EP:
"'Omega System' is a journey to deep space and beyond, to the unknown destinations allowed by the mythical and mysterious Omega relay that's been turning around Omega's red sun since ages. But beware, the path that you will follow is dangerous and nobody ever came back. Some say that you will find death. Others that you will find great treasures. But some wise people think you will finally find Truth."
On remix duties are label friends Hiver, also known for their residency at Milan's Dude Club. Whereas the original tracks are more deep and floating, the Hiver remixes will be of high interest to many a dancefloor, you can trust us on that one.
First pressing on marbled vinyl.
DJ FEEDBACK
Early support from
Sven Väth: Nice spacey sounds !
Len Faki: awesome deep down grooves! beyond omega system are great. thX Len
Ame (Kristian): thanks
Marcel Dettmann: thx
Nick Höppner: I'm really into Hiver recently. Remix 2 is beautiful, will play for sure!
Locked Groove: great stuff
Baikal: remixes are nice especially 2
Pablo Bolivar: Serious tracks here, Hiver remix 2 is my pick!
Bruno Dietel (Radio Fritz / BLN.fm): Hiver Remix 1 is my favourite!
Tomaz (22tracks): love both hiver mixes
Deg (Fuse club): Thanks Tom !
140-gram 4xLP, heavyweight package including CD. One time pressing of 500 copies worldwide. The follow-up to highly acclaimed Sailing Off The Grid album
"Expect the story of life as a self-reinforcing structure that never reaches the perfect balance. The concept behind the album is to bring awareness that the balance is an illusion and that's why it's called 'At The Turn Of Equilibrium'. Petar Dundov
Petar Dundov, a stalwart of the Croatian scene and a fine purveyor of sophisticated melodic techno, has been a prominent and respected name within underground dance music for over two decades. Throughout his career, the gifted Croatian has achieved much praise and recognition through releasing no less than four acclaimed artist albums ('Sculptures 1-3' in 2001, 'Escapements' in 2008, 'Ideas From The Pond' in 2012 and 'Sailing Off The Grid' in 2013) and performing at some of the world's best clubs and festivals such as, I Love Techno (BE), EXIT (RS), Awakenings (NL), Berghain (DE), Womb (JP), Air (NL), Fuse (BE) and Space Ibiza (ES).
The inspirational eight-tracker, 'At The Turn Of Equilibrium', is Dundov's fifth long-player and encompasses all of the inimitable production qualities of his previous albums whilst exploring a broader set of moods and themes, delivering what feels like his most accomplished work to date. Dundov explains, "This time, in addition to using more sound textures I introduced parts with classical instruments like piano and strings. As the album is about life and how it evolves, from purely a physical body to a thinking person, the songs are sequenced from faster, simple-rhythmic, cyclic, body moving tracks to slower, more complex layered, beatless mind tracks."
The album's impassioned opener, 'Then Life', commences the release by taking us on a captivating journey of complex melodies and soothing ambient textures. The album continues by showcasing a wealth of hypnotic masterpieces such as the dark and slow-burning 'The Lattice', the thought-provoking 'Before It All Ends' and the Kraftwerk-esque 'Midnight Orchestra'.
Other highlights include, the Vangelis-influenced up-tempo groover 'Mist', the lush ambient soundscape 'New Hope', the uplifting and emotional 'Missing You' and the hugely stimulating synth-driven melodic work-of-genius 'Everlasting Love' which concludes the album.
'At The Turn Of Equilibrium' is a very absorbing and imaginative album that's been driven by Dundov's eternal quest of translating sound into emotion. Developed like a well-constructed DJ set, the album has not only been designed to invoke personal insight for music to be the catalyst for understanding but also make sense as a listen, highlighting Dundov's unparalleled talent, depth and versatility as a DJ/producer.
HVNX is a new Hivern sub-label focused in concept EP's and mini- albums from artists in the label's orbit. The series will be a platform for more adventurous sounds, with a special accent in techno and hard- ware jams. Every release will include a photocopied inlay with a mood board of the artists' inspiration for that release.
Bep Kororoti is a mythical ancient astronaut worshipped by the tribes of the Amazon Jungle. It's also the name chosen by Alejandro Rodri´- guez aka Kresy for his new side project. The music on this 12' mostly comes from hardware live jams recorded in one take, which translates into the primal energy of the tracks. Constructed around raw drums, decayed tones, corroded synths, acid bursts, ritualistic chants and an overall toxic haze, it's music that sounds primitive, menacing and intri- guing all at once. Just as the tales of ancestral visitors from outer space that inspired it.
All the releases of the series will come wrapped in a special sleeve designed bi Hivern's in-house designer Arnau Pi.
In the years since the release of Adrian Younge's Something About April, he has been coined America's black genius: the evocation of analog vestige in a digital era. His majestic music has garnered him reverence, likened to Ennio Morricone's best work and the Beatles' tenacity to create new sounds. Fortuitously, Something About April has made an indelible impression on modern vinyl heads and producers alike, being sampled by DJ Premier, Jay-Z, Common, 50 Cent and more. The Something About April brand is an axiom to the modern 'Breakbeat' and Linear Labs is happy to announce its successor: Something About April II. Recorded with Younge's collection of rare instruments, Something About April II advances his musical paradigm with enterprising concepts and grander compositions — it synthesizes the boundaries between dark American soul and classic European cinema. With effervescent conviction, Younge executes with an array of entrancing vocalists: Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) and Bilal perform duets on 'Step Beyond' and 'La Ballade,' reminiscent of Serge Gainsborg and Jane Birkin; Raphael Saadiq blends 'Black Jazz' vocals with psychedelic soul on 'Magic Music;' Israeli star, Karolina, delivers haunting chants over concertos like 'Hear my love' and 'Winter is Here;' Loren Oden croons as if the apparent ghost of Donnie Hathaway created one last love song, 'Sandrine.' Younge is the experimental spirit of the modernist vanguard, looking at the past to create the future. What this album extrapolates, from vinyl culture, will become further magnified by its sampling down the line. Something About April II will replace the former as a holy grail for producers and collectors alike.
Matt Karmil is a British musician currently residing in Sweden. '++++' is his third album, following 2014's PNN debut '- - - -' and IDLE033, released on Bristol label Idle Hands earlier this year. His output also includes a variety of singles for labels such as New York's Beats In Space Recordings and Stockholm's Studio Barnhus.
On this new album, Karmil can be heard exploring the concepts of impossible objects, reflection, symmetry, infinity - perspective, truncated and stellated polyhedra - hyperbolic geometry, tessellations and lost love. While making the music that constitutes '++++' he interacted with mathematicians George Pólya, Roger Penrose and Harold Coxeter as well as the crystallographer Friedrich Haag, and also conducted his own research into tessellation.
The result is '++++', Karmil's most clever, strange, emotional and fun work yet, a testament to his breadth and depth as a musician. Did we forget to mention that he's an awesome party dj
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.
A landmark in Brazilian music the first album ever from arranger Moacir Santos, and a groundbreaking blend of jazz, larger arrangements, and Brazilian rhythms still as fresh today as it was back in the 60s! The group's a large one with instrumentation that includes vibes, guitar, saxes, percussion, and trombone but the music seems to hang magically in air, suspended on light waves of sound and space that encircle the recording with incomparable warmth. Santos' conception is a highly rhythmic one but the recording differs greatly from other bossa and samba sessions of the time, and comes across as a masterpiece of understatement, thanks to impeccable production from the great Roberto Quartin! Titles include "Coisa No 4", "Coisa No 10", "Coisa No 1", Coisa No 8, "Coisa No 6", "Coisa No 2", and "Coisa No 7".
Spell PETS backwards to get STEP. Spell STEP forwards to find PETS going back to basics. STEP is the new concept vinyl only label from the founder of PETS, Catz 'N Dogz, that highlights the rawest forms and root functions of quality club music. STEP finds the fundamental groove with undertheradar house and techno that is isn't afraid to be rough around the edges. STEP is limited promo and all about the music. Each new STEP will be released every four months on vinyl only.
* Following on from successfully funding her How To Make A Symphony Kickstarter project, Emika returns with a new four-track EP that sees her chart yet more new territory.
* Lead track Flashbacks is a typically haunting affair whose deeply personal lyrics are a heartening example of how art can turn feelings of trauma into something beautiful
* Her velvety voice belies the deep subject matter while the sounds gracefully tread the line between the brooding and the ethereal, with pulsing, filtered synth delays, low register piano bass octaves and a stuttering slo-mo beat produced with The Exaltics, building an engrossing atmosphere
* Restless Wings goes into more experimental territory - both in terms of composition and concept. 'It's about creating a new personality which lives in the internet - something we all know
* Total features the silver-toned soprano star of How To Make A Symphony, Michaela Srumova, and tackles the complicated relationship between a mother and her daughter
* French musician Franck Vigroux provides a stark, shuddering remix of Flashbacks to complete the EP, driven by gnarled blasts of wildly distorted synths and bass grunts, rising to an intense, mesmeric crescendo
* This EP brings together the classical and electronic extremes of the Emika sound, proving that her signature is like no other and continues to evolve.
Here we are, finally ! After numerous months of hard work,
today is the release day of " Good Vibes "
from SoulChef on Délicieuse Records !
This is definitely a 2.0 project : a beatmaker based in New-Zealand, a french label, some french scratches, some english, north american, swedish emcees, etc. it's a countless number of emails that allowed us to release this beautiful project that you can listen today.
We're so f****g happy to finally be here ! This album sounds old-school, but it's message and conception are definitely modern. Enjoy, Love is the Message !
Soulchef revives with Good Vibes the original spirit of Hip Hop.
The New Zealand beatmaker gives new life to this still living memory that we're honouring on Delicieuse Musique since our inception. Taking us back to our classics, Soulchef shines a new and personal light on hip hop : the result is positive, groovy and true to its initial roots.
Good Vibes is the result of an exchange of more than 18 months between the producer, the label and various rappers. The album is a mapping of a league that helds the oldschool hip-hop standard : there can be found a whole bunch of more or less notorious MCs on it from Declaime to Croosh, a young talent spotted on Soundcloud.
Gathered around the unifying aura of Soulchef, Delicieuse Records decided to step out of its usual field, offering to its public its first Hip Hop release.
With no sign of slowing down Rotterdam based Fokuz Recordings present their 79th vinyl release welcoming back Lenzman, the indisputed prince of soulful drum & bass. The flipside is covered by Hertfordshire based Peer Pressure Records head honcho Facing Jinx.
Random Movement's ''I Stayed Around'' taken from his 2015 Sleazy Bitch EP on Fokuz received critical acclaim and support by the likes of Technimatic and Spectrasoul fortifying his position as the go to guy for bridging the gap between rough and smooth. With this Lenzman reinterpretation the Dutchman turns the original concept into an energetic roller leaving his signature markings all over. Already one of the essential liquid tracks of 2016!
We continue on the flip with ''Meet You There'' by Facing Jinx feat. Peta Oneir that contains more subtle touches but is easily as strong in execution. Quality sounds coming from one of drum & bass' best kept secrets. A strong addition to any liquid DJ's record bag.
Newly established Berlin-based vinyl-only label Dreiklang dive straight into the physical world with First Contact. The label's distinctive triangular concept is reflected in its name with Dreiklang pursuing a three-fold approach to electronic music. Each release presents three contrasting takes on the same source material, juxtaposing and unifying three particular electronic music sub-currents. For their first outing, Dreiklang call upon an international team of producers with OCH, Hydergine and Kelovolt dropping in for their respective shots of tech-house, dub techno, and dark drone techno. The tight three-tracker will see the light of day on a 500 limited edition run of 180gr high-quality wax with the beautiful hand-drawn designs of Berlin artist Nils Altland gracing each sleeve, transforming the covers into individual works of arts. First up on Dreiklang001 is Londoner OCH (Autoreply / Stuga Musik), who takes a simple keyboard line into menacing territory, steering the dancefloor towards the grittier ends of tech-house. A funky bassline leads the way as distant synths exhale in glossy metalic fashion and the road is adequately paved for the reinterpretations that follow. Second up, comes Hydergine. The Italian producer lives up to his brain enhancement drug name by dropping a smart dub-techno rework where mind-numbing kicks bring the listener on an atmospheric joyride through the deeper ends of narcosis. Kelovolt complete the triangle with an immersive remix where drone-heavy soundscapes take center stage for a delicately hypnotic finale. First Contact is out December 16th on Dreiklang.
'Sidetracking - Part 1: Prologue' is the first vinyl taste of Jona's de- but album project for Alex Niggemann's forward-thinking AEON la-bel. The musical puzzle will be completed in February 2016 with the release of a second vinyl instalment, featuring 6 more original tracks, and the full 10-track album on CD format. Created over the course of two highly creative years, the concept for 'Sidetracking' was for Jona to invite some of his musician and producer friends to collaborate with him in the studio and compli- ment his album's solo productions. This impressive coming together (to be fully revealed over the coming months) features Varoslav (Rue de Plaisance, Paris), Usio (Studio Barnhus), David K (Cocoon), Bo- livian percussionist Daniel Aguilar, Italian pianist Giovanni Verga, and Edinburgh-based producer The Reverse Engineer. Driven by his desire to explore new sound perspectives and ideas, Jona has carefully forged his career path by consistently creating exciting and forward-thinking music. His previous label outings: 'Traffic' on 'Lost Tapes Volume 1' (AEON010) and 'Gemini EP' (AE- ON016) have seen him fine-tune his own unique sound. By incor- porating a wide range of styles into his tracks, Jona strives to break down unnecessary boundaries and explores new ideas and ways to ignite that hallowed dancefloor flame. It is therefore no wonder that his collaborative creations for 'Sidetracking' have yielded such stimulating aural delights. Fittingly, the album prologue opens with a track whose style is heav- ily influenced by the jazz music that Jona was so in love with dur- ing his formative years. Calling on the somewhat mysterious Usio (whose 'Kuwa Huru' LP on Studio Barnhus should be checked by everyone) to join him in a studio jam, has resulted in 'The Chase', an utterly compelling afro-beat influenced percussive groove, topped with swirling funk-fuelled stabs and strings, mesmerising chiming piano, and a large helping of pure, hip-swinging goodness. Taking 'The Chase' on an entirely different and yet perfectly com- plimentary twisted trip, AEON family members Simone Sinatti and Marco Paladin (aka Speaking Minds) conjure up a futuristic technoid disco demon that is all about throbbing energy, sweat, darkness and hissing smoke machines - perfect ingredients for an unforget- table strobelight serenade. Changing the mood entirely and cutting the tempo to a dublicious skank, 'Transmission Breakdown' sees Jona's experimental creative juices in full flow, as he teams up with Edinburgh-based digital com- poser and sound artist Dave House (aka The Reverse Engineer) for a delightfully hazy downtempo jam. Both as an artist and a DJ, Manchester's Marcus Intalex has been at the forefront of soulful, musical drum & bass for what seems like forever. A passion for techno has always run deeply through his music and under his Trevino moniker he is also a powerful creative force (check his recent 'Front' album to get the full picture). Here, he takes 'Transmission Breakdown' on a magical excursion, filled with subtle, hypnotic, evolving energy, anchored with an irresistible pul- sating bassline throb - a perfectly synergetic interpretation to round off Jona's 'Sidetracking' album prologue in style.
Jemek was never easy to read: Is he serious or is it all a
joke
With his new album »Jemek Jemowit is Doktor Dres« the one-man
band, DJ and conceptual artist that is Jemek Jemowit moves
between old-school rap, Southern trap and EBM, skillfully
mixed by the infamous hardcore techno legend Marc Acardipane.
Jemowit's anarchistic-dadaistic and often quite explicit
lyrics (there is a sticker on the front of the vinyl record
warning the listener of »swear words«) the, to quote the
artist, »post-patriotic« Jemek sings in Polish, the language
of his parents and in German, the language of the country he
grew up in, he studied in and in which he lives today.
On his last »hyper-patriotic« (Jemowit) EP »Tekkno Polo«
which came out on the Polish Label Oficyna Biedota in 2012,
Jemowit focused on Polish culture in Poland. On the Polish
market the Pole with a German passport, presenting music that
was recorded in Italy and which had used the Polish sub-genre
»Disco Polo«, the Polish equivalent to »Euro Dance«, as
template was an exotic. Subjects Jemowit touched were
national dishes like bigos or bizarre figures of Polish pop
culture. Was he serious or was it all a joke
Until today Jemowit finds it »remarkable«, without taking
sides, that Poles in Germany »so easily adapt, they seem to
merge into German culture so quickly«. On his new album
»Jemek Jemowit is Doktor Dres« which is released on the
Berlin-based label »Martin Hossbach« Jemek embraces the role
of the Pole in Berlin. In Polish, peppered with new word
creations and grammatical mistakes, he states that his alter
ego »Doktor Dres« (Dres is the Polish word for tracksuit)
leads a better live in Berlin that he used to do in Poland.
He often switches into the German language, too. In an
interview with label founder Martin Hossbach Jemowit said:
»I'm the perfect Pole in Germany who goes shopping at the
most expensive warehouse in West-Berlin, the KaDeWe, without
reproach and my German is pretty good, too!« He has now
become the person that »Tekkno Polo« reacted against with its
»hyper-patriotic« approach. Germany is now the sacred land
and on album track »Oryginalne Adidasy« he invites his fellow
Poles to come and visit him, he who »grew up between The Wall
and Moschino«, in Berlin and have Polish dumplings (pierogi),
made by Gucci at KaDeWe. »Endlessly bragging / Style without
class / Deutsche Mark / Oryginalne Adidasy« - this is Doktor
Dres' slogan and the read threat for Jemek Jemowit's new
album.
Vinyl Only!
Anyone who followed the development of house music made in the usa in the last decade will certainly have met the art of Fred Peterkin aka Fred P aka Black Jazz Consortium.
His musical set phrase isn't following new trends. Fred is often simply melting shuffling percussions with elementary melodies. but he does it in a sense that the heavy used and abused phrase "deepness" finally gets a fresh truthfully new meaning.
This new project is directed by Miho in collaboration with Robert Drewek, the owner of respected label RAWAX. It is a special edition 'RAWAX - AIRA EP vinyl series".
Concept and mission will always be, to connect and invite great musicians who produce and create "essence of the real music', not following the trend but let the music speak itself with groove, melody, vibe, energy and soul....
Roland has made evolution in dance music all over the world in 80's, Music needed those machines, and machines needed those creators of music. AIRA are not rehashing of the legendary original TR or TB, But respecting those great machines from the past, AIRA continues to evolve toward into the future simultaneously, newly developed, new generations tools to keep the music alive and to bring more possibilities for the future.We seeks out this exciting movement of dance music history, as the music lover who has actual experience the flow of this evolution, and connections between musicians and machines to make their musical pieces on this project to inspire listeners and to challenge the genres they represent by each series.
It is certainly not a small feat to have an ambient compilation series running for over a decade and keep it fresh and interesting - especially when the core aesthetic idea is as well-defined as POP AMBIENT's. However, this didn't keep last year's instalment (KOMPAKT 315 CD 120) from finding a compelling balance between veteran contributors like JENS-UWE BEYER or LEANDRO FRESCO and new, idiosyncratic voices like MAX WÜRDEN or THORE PFEIFFER. They all return for POP AMBIENT 2016, joining a captivating cast that also includes heavy-weight soundsmiths, experimental composers and ambient confidants like THE ORB, ANTON KUBIKOV of SCSI-9 fame, MIKKEL METAL, GREGOR SCHWELLENBACH or STEPHAN MATHIEU.
Starting off with a surprise guest, POP AMBIENT 2016 presents electroacoustic composer and installation artist STEPHAN MATHIEU, whose highly textured opening drone APRIL IM OKTOBER bears all the hallmarks of a pop ambient classic, stealthily weaving in layers of sound and moving fluidly between territories. The man clearly knows what he's doing - after all, he has worked with luminaries like Taylor Dupree, Ekkehard Ehlers, Janek Schaefer or Sylvain Chauveau (see also Pop Ambient 2009). Meanwhile, THE ORB show off the full extent of their experience in the field and have their own little ambient collage opera going on in ALPINE DAWN - a slight detour from their beat-laden full-length MOONBUILDING 2703 AD (KOMPAKT 330 CD 124), but just on that same level of masterful sonic dexterity.
Moving forward, SCSI-9's ANTON KUBIKOV builds momentum with a sweet melody slowly evolving to the atmospheric backdrop of a light synth rain, while MAX WÜRDEN imagines a dreamy, yet twisted underwater world with lots of space to get lost in. He later returns for a collaboration with THORE PFEIFFER (not on vinyl), the other newcomer hero from Pop Ambient 2015, and the result is a fascinating amalgamation of both producer's distinct sonic sensibilities - the grittier, drone-based approach from Würden and Pfeiffer's penchant for roaming samples and skewed loops. Another dedicated collab comes from SICKER MAN & GREGOR SCHWELLENBACH who team up for string-infused, cinematic epic TURNS.
Longstanding Kompakt ally MIKKEL METAL presents the surging TITAN, followed by LEANDRO FRESCO's magistral rework of DAVE DK's VEIRA from his VAL MAIRA album (KOMPAKT 326 CD 121). A very special bonus adventure can be found in THORE PFEIFFER's "megamix" of WOLFGANG VOIGT's RÜCKVERZAUBERUNG (not on vinyl) - an entire concept series succesfully reimagined as one sweeping cut. JENS-UWE BEYER continues his expeditions into hypnotic, semi-acoustic soundscapes on THE BREMEN, transitioning into the windy mountaintops of LEANDRO FRESCO's mysterious, multi-layered CONFIGURACION DE ATAQUE (not on vinyl). THORE PFEIFFER has the honour to conclude POP AMBIENT 2016 with the appropriately titled IDYLL, a soothing, swirling synth study giving the listener ample opportunity to return to mundane reality at his own pace.
Something is looming on the horizon, a flickering presence, a sparkle in the twilight, hardly visible at first, then slowly taking shape and finally coming into view: "I will depart/I see, I will, I won't go far," Stefanie Boehm (Couch) sings on "Sirens", one of 10 tracks Ms. John Soda have recorded for "Loom", their first album in eight years – and it's true: It's a return that often feels like yet another departure, like it's time to say farewell once again, one last hug and off it goes into the valley, where life is already waiting.
A lot has changed since Ms. John Soda released the first 7" back in 1998, since Micha Acher (The Notwist, Tied & Tickled Trio, Alien Ensemble) joined Stefanie Boehm and completed the creative nucleus of this band around the turn of the millennium; day-to-day life indeed feels different some 16 years later (and half as many since the release of their sophomore album, "Notes and the Like"), but the basic chemistry, the intricate balance of electronic and analog molecules that orbit this nucleus – and thus, the resulting mood and vibe -, they're still recognizable, still undeniably Ms. John Soda: Whether it's the dense, intensely rushing soundscapes of "Hero Whales", numerous layers pushing and taking off into the same direction, the propelled clatter of "Sirens", a track like "Millions" that blows off more and more steam, a glistening, wheezing sort of madness even (though there is a tender side to it as well), the perpetual, magic lantern-like motions of "Name It" (think Trish Keenan and Broadcast) or the gradually descending melodies of opening track "In My Arms" – they're all lined with a certain tension, underpinned by a certain atmosphere, a unique brand of melancholy that never quite gives in, keeps searching for new outlets and answers.
The album title Ms. John Soda have chosen for their third full-length, "Loom", obviously hints at this feeling of re-emergence, gathering and looming, but according to the singer, it also refers to a weaving loom: It's about "weaving and combining a vast number of influences, ideas, instruments, melodies, rhythms, and layers to create a whole," says Boehm, whose vocals span these new tracks like thick, reliable ropes that glow with marine luminescence. "It's about weaving individuals into a group ('Millions'), weaving and merging former ideals and hopes with reality ('The Light'), combining 'hi' and 'bye', beginning and end ('Hi Fool'), interweaving opposite or contradicting concepts, such as pushing forward vs. being pushed ('In My Arms')." And while the weaving, just like life itself, can easily get out of hands, "because you lose track, and yet life goes on ('Name It')," a lot of these songs – e.g. "Hero Whales", the billowing "Sodawaltz", "Fall Away" – revolve around a shimmering sense of something we can't quite grasp or put a finger on just yet: "Intuitions, hopes, dreams, wishes, affinities, distances, temptations…"
Whereas Cico Beck aka Joasihno (drums, electronics), also part of Aloa Input and the latest addition to Ms. John Soda's live band, and drummer Thomas Geltinger helped out on various tracks they recorded with Oliver Zülch in Weilheim, Boehm and Acher were also joined by Karl-Ivar Refseth (percussions) and Matthias Götz (trombone). Together, they keep feeding the loom with countless spools of yarn, until epic piano closer "Fall Away" seems to offer a temporary respite: "find your way/take the dry suit off/for a night". Time to rest, to take a deep breath. Or is it already the first rays of dawn looming on the horizon?
"Aquatic System"" is the second installment of the series, written and composed in two remote geographical places - namely at waters in Finland and Fuerteventura. Inspired by the complexity of water, its movement, various forms, inhabitants and hidden energy, the album was assembled mainly using synthesizers and processed field recordings of the ponds, streams, lakes and oceans of the different locations. With a vibrant story and conceptualization the focus lies in taking the listener on a observing, thoughtful and reflective journey through the aquatic system of our waters. Aquatic System opens with an impression of a frozen surface imagining icy and calm underwater movements underneath. Soon a slow process of melting begins and while the water starts to move in tiny streams of sound, small lifeforms evolve, curiously sending out small pulses in their flowing and constantly moving habitat. The aquatic nature awakens. Zooming out to larger waters high frequencies arise and colliding forms become audible. Larger marine life forms can be faintly heard when entering a much wilder environment, sensing sound-swirls of wind, foaming water tops and impressive large waves crashing on dark rocks. Finally ending at the shore, where the great ocean appears on the horizon, the environment is surrounded with moisture. From the calm reflective landscape derives an inward moment, recalling the organic and atmospheric quality of the sound journey. ""Aquatic System"" has been developed into an audiovisual performance together with visual artist Emilia Kwiatkowska and was performed several times in Spain and Finland, before the music has been finalized for the tracks.
Sofie Letitre releases her new EP 'Uncanny Valley' on DIVISION. On 'Uncanny Valley' Sofie Letitre delivers a dark mysterious sound that reminds of acts like FKA Twigs and Bjork. Like the evil sister of Massive Attack with the intensity of James Blake.
Uncanny Valley is a concept-album based on the Uncanny Valley principal, the point where there is aversion for a humanoid robot as he becomes more human. You will be drawn in themes like vulnerability versus invulnerability and perfection versus imperfection.
The EP is produced by Ferdy van der Singel and Thijs de Vlieger (NOISIA), and the vinyl contains the mp3 codes to download as well.
With releases on established labels like Force Inc., Cytrax, Lo-Fi Stereo, Morris / Audio, Delay or Background, he made his way with his tricky electronic sound. He started his own label, Edit that embraces the concepts of reuse and redefinition. Components are generated, arranged and fine-tuned. They are stripped apart, processed and rearranged. Sophisticated editing techniques enable this process to continue without end. The resulting audio productions become remixes of themselves.
Mbongwana Star is a newly formed band from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratc Republic of Congo. Made up of a sprawling network of shanty-towns and night shelters, day-to-day life in the city is far from easy, but the band don't want sympathy. Tired of pre-conceptons around African music, Mbongwana Star ('Mbongwana' means 'change') are creatng their own identty, fusing traditonal Congolese rhythms with post punk and´electronics inspired by life in the townships around them,
'making magic out garbage' says producer and band member Doctor L (who produced Tony Allen's
'Black Voices' album). The result is revolutonary. This isn't an African band per se. It's a trans-global barrier-bustng sound
machine. '..an altogether unique vibe. We will be paying close atenton' - Boilerroom
There used to be a time when ring tones were important. You were easily recognizable as one of the few people actually owning one of these new gadgets called ›mobile phone‹ (or ›handy‹ as the Germans say). Later you could make an important distinction by choosing a ›cool‹ ring tone...
In May 2014 the Festival »Doofe Musik« (»Stupid Music - Songs for Dreaming, Sedation and Forgetting«) took place at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin. As part of the »Anthropocene Project« the festival focussed on escapism and the special function of music when retreating from reality. Detlef Diederichsen, curator at HKW, and Holger Schulze, Head of Sound-Studies-Lab Berlin, decided to not only focus on music which music lovers usually hate, e.g. ›Schlager‹, German folk music, Light Jazz, but also on ring tones.
The audio logo of Deutsche Telekom has been part of Germany's mobile phone culture from the very beginning so it acted as a starting point to question the usual concepts for ring tones. Using Christian Kellersmann's idea of the »Pocket Symphony« ten artists were invited to come up with adaptations of Telekom's audio logo. The results were performed for the first time during »Stupid Music« and once again in October of the same year when most of the recordings you can find on the album were made.
As you will hear: The short motif, as simple and unforgettable as it is, is ideal musical material.Everyone knows it, everyone has some sort of connection to it and these ten different versions, these ten different positions, open up the most varied possibilities for associations.
It is time that we take the ring tone seriously again. As the most reduced musical form that is the most-widely available in the whole world it contains enormous and unrealised potential!
The project named after his own label brand presents four cuts ranging from cosmic quantum nervous compulsion to introspection. Harmonious combination of complex percussive rhythms gives way to the already identifiable sonic universe of 30drop that turns into an effective formula at any club aimed at the forefront of the electronic dance music. Sacred geometry and style, concept and form, all to the service of the fundamental search. The roots are deep and horizon is vast. >Superconductivity EP< extends the scope of 30drop positioning on the edge of the sideral dance floor.
Population One, the legendary project of the Detroit Techno legend, Terrence Dixon, arrives at 30drop to present his new work and unveils the 30drop guest artists release series under the name of: 30drop ExoPlanets. >Time Will Tell 3.26.2013at11.40pm 11.18.20135.26.2012at5.59pm 12.1.2008at5.48pm< are the four tracks of the EP. Deliciously transgressor, imaginative and ambitious, the work gets into an unexplored territory to the delight of the most avant-garde dance floor.
For more than a decade, The Bunker New York has been a nexus point for the transnational techno community.
A chance meeting at The Bunker in 2011 brought together Gunnar Haslam and Johannes Auvinen (also known as Tin Man), who became fast friends and collaborators soon after, conceiving a joint project called Romans. The Bunker New York is proud to present Romans' Ambulare Aude, a collection of atmospheric acid techno tracks following the project's debut on Auvinen's own Global A in 2014."The Roman theme opens a world to explore beyond both of our past endeavours," says Auvinen, explaining
the conceptual genesis of the collaboration. "In the same way Ennio Morricone may have conceived the 'Spaghetti Western' genre by fusing together various contemporary motifs and moods to conjure the spirit of a past era, we're imagining stories and scenes from the Roman era, trying to manifest narratives while celebrating the distortions we see looking through the murky lens of time." And while Morricone may be a conceptual reference point for Romans, their sound is anything but—instead offering up a pair of murky, psychedelic acid-etched cuts (Emona, Delmenium) buffered by a gradually unfolding up-tempo floor-burner
(Coptos).
The record is the result of several extended improvisational jam sessions in Vienna and Brooklyn in which both
artists would play off of each other in the studio. Accordingly, each of the three tracks have a slight aleatory
air about them, as though both artists are being led down an unforeseen musical path, not entirely certain of
where it leads. This culminates in Delmenium, the record's B-side, a true techno journey, featuring an emotional, metallic synthesizer coruscating against a melancholy background.
"I like to think what we make sounds simultaneously like both of us and neither of us. We both push each other
in different ways," Haslam says, recounting their production process. Auvinen adds that "(Collaboration) offers a chance to hear from someone else's perspective. Working with others, I'm often reminded of how radically different the way people hear things, and relate to them in a musical context, can be."
It takes time for a series of seperate ideas to evolve into a fully concepteptualized album if it wants to have a place in history for Ali and Basti Schwarz, better known as Tiefschwarz. Since 1998 the duo, as both DJ's and producers, have perfected the art of dominating the moments only experienced on a dance floor, deeply immersed in sound. Their music is unique as it is creative. Among the countless extended players and remixes, the three landmark Tiefschwarz albums: 'RAL 9005, 'Eat Books' and 'Chocolate' all have a common thread weaving them together; a historic vision uniting the musical crossroads of past and future. As with the previous albums, Tiefschwarz pause briefly on the subjective localization of artists in the (music) world to create an album which unfolds like a story told by master story tellers. Igniting the dance floor while at the same time giving the listener the opportunity to look beyond themselves and into the journey that is 'Left". With 'Left", Tiefschwarz were able to radicalize the album-specific approach and focus more intently on combining grooves with an introspective perspective. They refrained to bring in an outside co-producer for the album and made sure to forego the cliche variety of guest musicians, concentrating instead on one congenial companion: Khan, who both Ali and Basti have been close friends with since the 90's. Khan, a Frankfurt native of Turkish and Finnish decent, is one of the most prominent and exhilarating German Techno pioneers.
Longtime Figure main-player Markus Suckut continues his artistic development with this killer seven track, wide-reaching EP. Based on the concept of providing rich ambient textures for the start of the night or DJ set, and then heavy, minimalist techno tracks to satisfy driving, percussive club needs, Suckut gives us another masterclass in his art. Alongside the dense textures of for start #1-3 and their varying moods - from echoing steam-filled passges to off-world strings reaching for the skies - we are also treated to four heavyweight DJ tools stamped with Markus trademark elegant sound.
This EP was made during a period where my whole outlook on everything was transforming. The Voidloss project started as an investigation, I was conducting a lot of research and study on the mind, the occult, on different thought modes, and the Voidloss project represented this. The idea was about a leap in to the void. A leap of abandonment into the dark, with total acceptance, total commitment. The idea was to lose myself to the void. This was mainly a spiritual journey for me, and could be best explained by 3 things, the void of Miyamoto Musashi from Go Rin No Sho, The concept of the Tao from the writings of Lao Tzu, and the concept of the abyss from the works of Aleister Crowley. Part of this journey deep inside the self was frightening and horrific, the total loss of self, of all identity and ego, and part of it was beautiful and enlightening. I wanted the music to reflect this, and I wanted the music to change as I changed, as I went to and through all these interesting places. In essence this was about freedom. So fast forward some years and I felt I had sharpened my mind quite effectively, the music had twisted and changed and flowed with me. At the point I began making the music for this EP, I had grown quite angry with the amount of conformity I was perceiving in life. Politically, socially, musically, there was this drive of conformity in the world. I think part of it, and only a part, comes from the prevalence of social media, the need to belong and to be liked, the idea of judging yourself and your works through the perception of others. Musically I felt that within techno there was a tendency for the music to fit within a set of confines dictated by fashion and hype, and this was reducing the diversity of the music, it seemed also that the practices of commercial music were seeping in to techno as the music became more popular. Hype and business driven decisions, brand building and so on. I always felt techno was more about art, and I began to get frustrated. Equally I felt that politically there was less and less choice, as all decisions seemed to lead to the same outcomes. I became more interested in the concept of anarchism, of the idea that government was no longer needed. I have always in my life had a drive to question everything. I've always been 'naughty' and rebellious and done things my way, to my advantage or my disadvantage, I could never accept being anything other than myself all the way. If everyone walks in one direction, I will walk the other way, even if it takes me over the edge of a precipice, just to see what is there. All this stuff influences my music, and during the period of making this EP I was angry, kicking against the things I no longer liked or wanted, screaming dissent. There is a lot of anger and rage, and of course rebellion. I wanted the music to capture that unbridled fury you have when you are in your late teens, when you just start learning about yourself and you start rebelling and questioning things around the time the world is really pushing you to conform. I was soundtracking my own philosophical riot. Previous to this my Voidloss stuff had been more introverted, more pensive and melancholy, more self destructive, more cerebral. For this new music I wanted something more immediate but without being too obvious. In terms of the choices I made I still leaned more towards broken rhythms for beat structure. I find it very difficult to do anything interesting with 4x4 kicks any more, it's too rigid for me, it limits my freedom. I like the looseness you get from more 'drummer' like beats, I guess probably because I have been playing drums all my life. The challenge is to get the same rolling power from broken rhythms as you get from 4 to the floor. It's not easy, there is a ridiculous amount of trial and error and the rejection percentage is high. I also was trying to use less 'synthy' sounds. I wanted to try to take a more acousmatic approach to sound design. With the current modular synth revival in techno I was hearing a lot of 'old' synth sounds re-emerging, and this didn't seem like a progression to me. I wanted to make sounds that were hard to source for the listener, where they weren't sure if it was synth or real world sample, digital or analogue. This involved a lot of experimentation. My process involved a lot of field recording, especially with contact microphones, which open up a whole new world of interesting sounds. You are effectively recording sounds through objects in the environment, 'hearing' the world as these objects hear them, I was using guitars, feedback loops, handmade instruments as well. So I was combining this with different synthesis, granular synthesis, sample synthesis, physical modelling, FM synthesis and of course analogue. Everything was reprocessed and re-synthesised, I tried hard to obscure the source and make something new as much as possible. The stuff on this EP was part of my live PA for some time, so as I learned how the music worked live I could go back and make changes, sometimes the environment I was playing in transformed the sound as well, and so I would try to go back an incorporate this in to the music. For remixes I wanted to choose artists that I respected for their vision as well as for their output, so my list of people I wanted was extremely short. Inigo Kennedy has always been an artist I have respected greatly. His music has always been unique to himself, he remains outside of fashions and trends even though his name has become very big recently. He takes risks with his work, experimenting and exploring, yet remaining relevant to the club, and just tirelessly forging ahead, seemingly for the sake of art above all else. And he's just a really nice guy to deal with. His remix is everything I expected it to be in that it is the unexpected. Regis is another artist who forges his own path in music, you cant really even begin to discuss the avantgarde in techno without including his name, he is one of the foundation stones for artistry and the outsider mentality in techno. His music is always unique to his own vision, and along with it comes an interesting artistic philosophy taking in situationism, post punk and industrial ideology and a good dose of tricksterism ala PT Barnum, all of which comes out in his music and the way it is presented. The man is a truly singular force and it is an honour to have him on this record. Overall the concept here is that of rebellion and dissent. Of asking questions, following your own path, of maintaining some place in yourself that burns like a forest fire.
Whether or not I have succeeded I guess is down to the listener, I'm never happy with my music, I keep wanting to move forwards, or somewhere else, and am constantly trying and failing to capture some essence of perfection. But like Bukowski said
'It's the only good fight there is'
Since its conception three years ago, the Hamburg based label hafendisko has been patiently building its reputation with a diverse and varied artist roster. Alongside releases from emerging talent such as Deo & Z-Man and Brynjolfor, it forms parent label hfn music's outlet for club oriented music whether with full releases or remixes for artists such as Kasper Bjørke and Faded Ranger and just recently welcomed renowned remixers such as Michael Mayer, Charles Webster and Luke Solomon, to name a few. Now with the release of Nummer Eins, Hafendisko is taking the next step in its evolution, serving up the best of past and present releases together with a string of exclusive cuts that signal an undeniably bright future. It's machine music with real heart and soul as, time and again, the tracks locate that elusive sweet spot that unifies mind and body. The opening act replicates this highly collectable four track vinyl EP that precedes the digital release: Snacks' ‚Easy' provides an aptly titled intro, with sweet melodies, warm synth swells and looping vocal hooks evolving over a low slung, funk inflected groove. 'Purdie', the duo's debut last September instantly became a huge underground hit, while they are currently working on their debut album. Unkwon is Anders Dixon from Copenhagen and people will stop asking if it's a typo soon. Just off his stunning remix for Trentemøller's Deceive he takes it underground with the stuttering beats and melancholy phase of ‚Everything', building a cavernous yet claustrophobic soundscape that's designed to make your eyeballs sweat, before Ewan Pearson's NRG instrumental of Kasper Bjørke's ‚Apart' goes into dance floor overdrive, upping the ante again. Both the Michael Mayer and the Ewan Pearson mixes of Bjørke's final single off his newest album stirred a buzz.
Continuing the label's fast-paced release schedule, Raíz cooperate with social observer Permanent Hearbreak on the label's 4th vinyl release. The collaboration delves deep into human emotion over three movements, developing around the concept of personal absence. Side A1, With Out You, stretches a somber beat over 6 minutes with graceful overtones and powerful rhythm. Permanent Heartbreak speaks the message of With Out You over wet/dry percussion and heartsick chords. The energy and attitude turn up considerably on the flip side. With Me is a quick jaunt through semi-distorted clap and kick combinations of the jacking variety. Evolving analog style synth work builds the song until its climactic end. Wont Change Me takes cues from the darker Detroit / Kalamazoo sounds with Permanent Heartbreak's cold premonitions laid out over a driving sequence.
Objektivity is starting the year with launching the long-awaited vinyl-only sub-label called OBJ Analogue. As the name says, the concept behind this is that in order to make the record, it has to be totally hardware based: No plug-ins! Objektivity head-honcho Dennis Ferrer says: "The OBJ Analogue is a special project for me and is dear to my heart because I love analogue gear, vinyl, and hardware, so I keep that side of me happy."
The first OBJ Analogue release is coming by VIVa Music's Steve Lawler, who delivered a very rough two-track EP called - Inna State / Recuperate", produced with the Roland 808, 909 and 606 drum machines. The bass lines are recorded and played from Moog Voyager and the piano on - Recuperate" is coming from Emu Orchestra Rack Mount. Completely analogue!
Make sure you get your hands on the vinyl as there will be only a few limited copies out.
Producer CRISTIAN VOGEL, born in Chile and in raised in Bristol, England, represents an inner turmoil within the history of electronic music and techno. Like only a few other artists such as Aphex Twin, he personifies the second wave of techno during which authorship, previously pronounced dead, returned in full force. The former punk, who had completed studies in composition (20th century classical music in Sussex) conveyed a powerful force in his music, which now finds its place very naturally as electronic music; back then, it did more than just shake up the concepts of techno. Complex and intricate rhythms (Süddeutsche Zeitung) dig deep chasms in dark (listening) spaces.
In 1996, together with JAMIE LIDELL as SUPER_COLLIDER, he made a final attempt to breathe life into electronic music, which was still primarily seen as dance/rave/club music, and produced clustered break funk music that was so relevant to its time that many considered it more a music of the future: science fiction for the dance floor. Although the project was not a failure, it did not succeed even halfway in meeting the expectations of an artist who was rather perplexed by the lack of interest he perceived in others in music as art and research. Vogel believes that music has a will to unfold, like a jungle from the undergrowth of industrial cities where music is thought of as an attack and a defense.
Seemingly out of disappointment in the predictably declining hedonism of the scene, he moved to Barcelona and bound his explosive ideas to more accessible formats, founded labels, created networks (No Future, Sleep Debt) and, at the same time, revisited his early days by working more and more on formats such as music for ballet and similar concepts. He also sought freedom precisely in what was referred to as functional electronic music through conceptual and serious endeavors in the artistic sense.
Vogel went under for a time and lived in Vienna before arriving in Berlin nearly two years ago, where he made his first new and daring attempt to assimilate everything that electronic music represented to him on one album: 'The Inertials' on SHITKATAPULT. Shortly after that, his mystical, floating ambient work 'Eselsbrücke' was released, which already spoke the language of the new city.
He now presents a new album on SHITKATAPULT entitled 'POLYPHONIC BEINGS' - a true masterpiece in the inimitable Vogel style, as his fans will no doubt claim. 'POLYPHONIC BEINGS' begins, after two minutes of an irritating noise wave, with a surprisingly classic dub track and grows darker and more abstract from track to track, minute by minute. An eerie and unbelievable sound, with all as it should be: every reverb tail, every movement of the fader, every composed note takes the listener piece by piece into Vogel's own cosmos.
He foregoes interwoven elements for swaying towers of rhythm, powerful sound passages, spaces, roads, mirrors and pathways, leading to a stream of ideas that never wants to end. He aptly quotes Karl-Heinz Stockhausen in the liner notes: These are the "atomic layers of ourselves." And so it is. We are what we hear. This is the definitive CRISTIAN VOGEL.
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.
The third imprint on Dirty Session sprung from Luca Bear s idea with the intention of spreading a new concept of music.
No schemes, no compromises, the only prerogative is quality.
The love for the sounds of the past combined with new technologies: the key concept of the label is to propose a precise sound, characteristic, that evoke the early days of electronic music with an eye to the future. A journey into the unknown from the early 90s. House or techno It is not important! What matters is the sound.
Erlend Øye is a skinny nerd, but maybe that's what makes him a pop star. His huge thick spectacle-lenses act as an interface between his inner life and his numerous collaborators and fans. Erlend Øye is a travelling singer-songwriter, who has been making music in various constellations since the late nineties. He sang for Röyksopp, while his own bands are Kings of Convenience and The Whitest Boy Alive, who recently split up. A laid back, everyday vibe runs through Erlend Øye's music. Erlend is not larger than life, at the most his songs may be. The pop star from next-door doesn't make any drama, but leaves that to life itself. His relaxed, laid back sound opens your eyes and ears for places, situations and encounters. A certain mournfulness runs through the songs, although they deal with a longing for self-fulfilment. Erlend sings of loneliness, and in doing so, he creates a 'we'. Until now Erlend's projects have often been based on simple concepts - two guitars and two vocals with Kings of Convenience, and four instruments with The Whitest Boy Alive. With his new solo album he frees himself of these parameters; for the first time everything is possible, for the first time Erlend Øye stands alone. The songs on 'Legao' were arranged and recorded with the Icelandic reggae band Hjálmar.
The magic of 'Legao' lies in the fact that Erlend's vulnerable vocals and his sincere lyrics are supported by the elegance and consistency of the band. Today roughness is often used to counterbalance roughness, whereas on Legao a equilibrium is sought - and found. A simplicity, clarity and minimalism is created that is rarely found in pop music. Erlend Øye has grown up. He accomplishes nothing less than the step towards an independent, free-standing solo musician, who can perform in any constellation - with a band, orchestra or alone with a guitar.
This next release demonstrates exactly what can happen when you merge a formidable heavyweight with one of the genre's most promising talents. Jaguar Skills needs little introduction; he's infamous for his ninja-like DJing skills with years stacked behind the decks.
As a result, it was no surprise the artist tried his hands at production alongside Chord's impressive musicality. Already unstoppable from its conception, 'Lust' could only be released on an imprint known for its high quality. And RAM Records is proud to unleash this toe-tapping, catchy piece of sonic artwork on the dnb community...One that's already taken the radio airwaves by storm.
Opening with a rhythm that curls itself around your aural senses, prepare to be pulled into 'Lust' by its funky groove and well-chiselled hooks. The vocal delight of Matti Roots really brings light to the seasonal feel this track creates; an arpeggio of notes underpins each high-hitting voice crescendo. Bright but not without substance, Chords' production style is instantly recognisable. This debut from Jaguar Skills serves as a perfect platform for the high standards this mix-maker is about to set, as well as the benchmark which Chords has already carved.
On the flipside, Break holds onto the A-side's sunny disposition, yet throws down a riddim that hits as heavy as a freight train. The foundations laid by the producer are slightly different, as it rattles forward with clinking percussion, alluding to the kind of drop Break is renowned for. With his distinctive, boundary-pushing drum rolls and bouncy, booming and concise hits, there's no mistaking a sound which adds another dimension to the remixes' original.
You're also served up with another dish which is vastly different from house-guru Monstro. like the previous edit, the record's humanism winds up within the first thirty seconds, however the seismic impact of its drop rolls out into a house-bassline that thumps with every bar. A genre transition which doesn't fall short of the original's production prowess, prepare to hold onto your seats because this serves as the optimal way to wrap up two striking remixes of an already impressive track list.
Dominating playlists for years to come, this release from RAM is yet again taking the genre to another level. But considering the parties involved, there was no other direction for this record to take.
The Viennese duo, otherwise known as Tosca, confound expectations on their new album, 'Outta Here'. The sonic collages and smooth downbeat jams with which they made their name are replaced with a soul/jazz/blues confection that's closer to a band like Brand New Heavies than anything else. 'It's called 'Outta Here' for a reason,' explains Rupert Huber. 'The title stands for change, a change to the concept we've had so far. It refers to a change in energy and dynamic. We've been know for an almost ambient sounds. The new songs are much more beatoriented and direct. Basically, it's just a lot more energetic.' it certainly is that. See tracks such as 'Crazy Love' for evidence. Built on a muscular bassline, it sees Rob Gallagher (ex-Galliano) doing his slinky, soulful thing, while keyboards and muted sound effects flare in the background. The rare groove revival starts here. 'Swimswimswim' reworks the same elements, with the addition of Cath Coffey (Stereo MCs) into a irresistible pulse of feel good vibes. Meanwhile, the title track, 'Outta Here', sounds like a lost gem from the early '90s acid jazz era. 'It was a natural evolution,' says Richard Dorfmeister. 'In the past, we were very focussed internally because we were in a studio on our own, working slowly making sonic collages. This time, because we were working more with singers the process was naturally quicker and the results more instant and upbeat. In that sense the title 'Outta Here' literally means that we got out of our studio.'
Do Tosca think the new sound will wrong foot their fans 'It's not completely different. It's still our style and mood, it's just more direct,' says Richard Dorfmeister. 'People always have a picture of you and it can take a long time to change that. You stand for something and that's how they see you. I think people see us in that laid-back and chilled kind of way. Over the last 20 years we've been described as lounge, chill out, downbeat. We always ignored it because we felt it was more about the music. We've always seen ourselves more in terms of being an alternative to commercial music. That's still what we're doing, just in a different, more direct kind of way.'
My Panda Shall Fly AKA musician and visual artist Suren Seneviratne, is set to release 'Tropical' It's a brand new 6 track vinyl release.
A kaleidoscope of rainbow textures and rhythms disperse into the exotic soundscape of 'Tropical'. Electronics, real folk instruments and noise-making objects feature here generously on this six-track concept album, blending together a sonic palette influenced by a rich variety of music, people and places.
The material was initially written over the course of a few months during what Seneviratne called "a beautiful burst of inspiration". Working with veteran producer Asier Leatxe Ibanez d'Opakoa (Electric Lady Studios, NYC), Seneviratne then set about disassembling all the songs and re-working them meticulously, enriching the sounds by adding a huge range of live instrumentation, before processing the audio through vintage analogue studio gear.
Suren Seneviratne, born in Sri Lanka before settling in London in 1996, first caught the attention of the music world with a remix that featured on Pitchfork back in 2010. Since then he has released a plethora of diverse records, gaining support from the likes of Clash Magazine, The Fader, Mixmag and Dazed Digital, as well as regularly touring internationally. He has also remixed the likes of The Weeknd, Stay Positive & Little Boots as well as appearing at festivals like BBC Hackney Weekender, Outlook Croatia & Glade as well as performing at prestigious venues such as The Design Museum, Tate Modern & Barbican.
With the release of 'Tropical', My Panda Shall Fly has yet again set himself apart as one of the most unique contemporary electronic musicians around today.
Scuba Death is Ricardo Donoso's alter ego. With more of a focus on analog sound, percussion, sampling, and location recordings, there is an organic undercurrent on Scuba Death recordings that isn't as prevalent in his solo work. This music is rich in atmosphere while still tethered to the deeper ideas that Donoso often explores in his work. Treatises on fear and deathanxiety, the underlining thematic framework for the project, run rampant throughout these claustrophobic electronic passages, and teeter on the edge of being oppressive. Nitrogen Narcosis marks the first full length and strongest statement in the Scuba Death repertoire after the privately issued, ruthless 'Demon Seed' twelve inch back in 2011. The album alternates between surprising lethargic dance inflections all nestled between 75 & 100 bpm, the normal resting heart rate for adults, and the more conceptual, numbnessinducing pieces like '50-70 Meters' and 'Nociception.' Sequencing plays an integral role on Nitrogen Narcosis as the listener is suddenly thrust into the darkest reaches of the ocean after dark alley grooves are sucked into an aquatic abyss. For a project named after Donoso's neardrowning experience in the South Atlantic when he was younger, there's an impressive amount of reflection & vulnerability present - the field recordings that permeate throughout the album were captured at the same location the undertow caught hold of him that bright Summer day 20 years prior. An inner battle between paranoia and euphoria is played out in wellconceived, precision sonics on Nitrogen Narcosis as Donoso reminds us to look back, break through the surface and go deeper.
After a storied recording career that has so far taken in albums for Further, Mathematics and Danyy Wolfers Strange Life label, Spanish artist Vagon Brei added label boss to his CV earlier this year with launch of Mystic & Quantum. Record labels come and go but few arrive driven a real specific concept in a way that Mystic & Quantum are with each album length release conceived to show stories of "adventures, magic, science". Having launched in auspicious fashion with albums from DMX KREW and San Laurentino, Vagon Brei helms the third release with a nine track set entitled The Secret Of Swamp Castle. Seemingly taking influence from Giallo Horror, Brei's album comes across as a compelling collection of synth explorations that will have you returning again and again in order to uncover the Swamp Castle's secrets.
This 5th release consists of three tracks made by the twin duo Manic Brothers, one edited by Petter B. They have during their relativity short career proven themselves as worthy keepers of the Swedish techno heritage with big releases on Drumcode a.o. What they bring to Bond on this release is their signature big room sound but with a much more simplified approach than previously heard. On the a-side there are two great tool tracks with lots of space for creative interpretation for a DJ. On the flip there are a long and epic track with a massive vocal breakdown. Groove based but yet with a big and strong hook.
The label Bond is the brainchild of Swedish techno DJ and producer Petter B. The concept of the label is 'music by DJs for DJs'. The label focuses on releasing tracks that enable the DJ, rather than the producer, to be creative. It is based on that special bond which is created every time a DJ combines tracks, loops and sounds live into something new and unique.
Optimo Music is usually known as a 12" label, but occasionally something rare and dangerous comes our way that compels us to release a full length album...
It's not exactly a dance album, although there is music you can dance to on it. It's more filmic in nature, with gads of references to wonderful directors like Kubrick and Carpenter that will enthrall a film buff, particularly if they're interested in electronic and dance music. There's a sleazy and unsettling feel to much of the tracks ("Tina Weymouth" is a sleaze-floor monster groove...), but we hope it will intrigue and delight!
The film references are directly relevant as Felizol and The Boy are film directors Yiannis Veslemes and Alexandros Voulgaris, who live in Athens, Greece and have composed music for numerous feature films. They also perform live in house clubs, heavy metal dungeons and hippy-friendly festivals...
They have this to say about their release: "We had a loose concept for this album and we compiled tracks that we've recorded the last 3 years that have to do with the cannibalism. Literally but also as a metaphor for the blessing and the tyranny of paying homage and influenced from music and films (and directors and musicians).
So these are songs about the agony of creating something new and personal when so much information and influences are fused in them."
7 years after the last Zhark Vinyl Release, Heavyweight Techno Nihilist & Labelhead kareem opens up another
chapter of advanced technoid NOIZCORE with his 11th full length EP on Zhark.
After a few years of silence kareem had just reemerged with releases on Foundation Sonore (FS 01) ,
PORTO RONCO on Death of Rave or MESMER on Zhark Digital but is now threatening to inspire more
uncompromising percussive hostility. Let this just be the beginning:
Whereas Side A emphasis on a very distinguished DANCE FLOOR groove concept of Machine Funk embedded
in metal Layers Side B leaves room for a less formatted approach building up tension which is leading to a free
firezone of depravity.
While methodic differentiations can be discovered on each side, the listener is continously confrontated
with haunting sonic extremism.
Fatima Al Qadiri is a multidisciplinary artist and musician from Kuwait. In just a few years, she has quickly built a reputation as a conceptual artist, exploring themes informed both by her own background and global pop culture, through a number of highly acclaimed EPs, multimedia projects and writings. She is also a founding member of the production team Future Brown. Fatima's debut album is called 'Asiatisch', and as the track titles suggest, the record provides a simulated road trip through an imagined China. Musically, the album is an homage to that quietly influential sub-strain of grime, often loosely termed 'sinogrime' due to its preoccupation with Asian motifs and melodies, pioneered by the likes of Wiley and Jammer at the beginning of the 2000s in East London. 'Asiatisch' is a provocation which asks more questions than it answers. The title is the German word for Asian. Unlike its title, however, the music on 'Asiatisch' revolves around the fantasies of East Asia as refracted through pulpy Western pop culture, in particular Hollywood, literary fiction, music, cartoons and advertising. Fatima asks what is meant by the term 'Asian' in a digital age of viral interchange and the hi-speed trading of cultural bytes; the concept of 'shanzhai' proves pivotal, a term whose meaning stems from a wild, out of control zone of banditry, but which has come to be used to refer to the Chinese counterfeiting of Western brands and goods. While a number of producers have made takes on 'sinogrime' over the last few years, 'Asiatisch' is really the first record that attempts to articulate this weird complex of sonic interchanges between the West and China. With the exception of the opening track, 'Shanzhai', a haunting cover of 'Nothing Compares to You' with nonsensical Mandarin lyrics, and the shimmering 'Loading Beijing', 'Wudang' and 'Jade Stairs' which sample and distort classical Chinese poetry staging an epic confrontation between China's ancient soul and the onslaught of the industrial factory machine, most of the tracks blend mallets, bells, gongs, flutes, steel drums and choral atmospherics with the searing synth-brass and the skittering drums of grime, playing melodies that are inflected as much by classic R&B as to synthetic versions of traditional Chinese music. On "Dragon Tattoo" for example, stereotypical iconography of imagined China is slotted into a threatening, robotic R&B format. The carefree pirating of Western brands blurs into a soft-synth pirating of Chinese musical signs.'Asiatisch' is wrapped in pristine artwork by Babak Radboy from Shanzhai Biennial, and the music was given a 3D sheen by in demand mixer Lexxx. Proclaiming both its love of both ancient and imagined China, 'Asiatisch' is a rare album that is both icily beautiful and conceptually layered.
The last time Fennesz released an album on Austrian label Mego it was 2001 and the name of that release was 'Endless Summer'. Now, in 2014 Editions Mego is extremely proud to release the conceptual follow up that landmark of abstract pop. Eschewing the more drone orientated works of 'Black Sea', 'Bécs' returns to the more florid pop mechanisms as deployed on Endless Summer. ' Bécs is not just an album or a series of songs, it's a world to inhabit, a landscape ripe with sounds, songs and that esteemed Fennesz signature. A singular work by a singular artist.
The label Bond is the brainchild of Swedish techno DJ and producer Petter B. The concept of the label is 'music by DJs for DJs'. The label focuses on releasing tracks that enable the DJ, rather than the producer, to be creative. It is based on that special bond which is created every time a DJ combines tracks, loops and sounds live into something new and unique.
This third release is a special collab release. The first track Petter B has joined forces with two producers from his hometown Gothenburg. John H and M.E.E.O have been part of the Swedish underground scene since they learned how to spell 303 and are both addicted to hardware gear. With their skillful crafting of the melodic parts and Petters feel for drums and arrangement this track was born. It is a melodic monster with a simple yet
effective arrangement.On the flip side there are two tracks made by Stockholm based producer Kimono. A familiar name to those fond of that Stockholm sound. He has done releases on famous labels such as H-Productions, ISL and BEK Audio. These two tracks are best described as tooly and effective weapons to be used and abused by any DJ wanting to spice up the mix. The two tracks made it in to Petter Bs crate immediately as demos. From that point they went through the same refinement process as his own tracks usually experience. Tweaking the sound and doing some fine tuning after testing it in his sets, something that has become known as 'that bond treatment'.
Struments Records opens 2014 presenting ''Fire to the Empire'', third record in 12'' format from this Barcelona label. Following the special dedication referred to the local talent shown by the label in its two previous releases, in this occasion the reference is signed by Clip!, relevant artist in the Spanish electronic scene that, after a versatile and prolific 2013, shows in this publication a new coordinate of their chameleonic sound. Thereby opening the door to more visceral coordinates, opaque and less intense dance that exudes less kindness and infects the club atmosphere with light and dark. The set, consisting of three original songs (Fire, Ash and Bitch), and a remix of ''Ash'' by the British artist Kommune1, discovers on side A two descriptive and powerful snapshots of translucent clubber atmosphere, winding and unfiltered. Proper of the dance hours closer to twilight in the shadows and lights mergers into sensations. While on the B side, the artists pays tribute to the most evasive and escapist concept that music can evoke, forged between the rage of techno and the subtlety of house, when instinct takes control over any convention and presents itself as a purely physical experience between the listener and the sound. Closing the total minutes of the reference, Kommune1 prints cosmic and expansive notes to ''Ash'', as well as he brightens the original version. ''Fire'', the central tune that starts and gives name to this third reference of Struments Records responds to six minutes that shapes a direct and powerful presentation letter. In which you can acknowledge progressive melodic phases and raw vocals that serve as a growing force of initial contact. ''Ash'' continues the incursion between hard and chiaroscuro dynamic, printing analog rhythm coordinations. ''Bitch'' represents the exact balance and highlight of ''Fire Your Empire'' EP, sobriety in enviromental nuances, vocal flare and power high-flying shape a depth completely orientated to the dance floor that condenses much intention in a speech coherently aligned with the sound. Kommune1 sets ''Ash'' with an eye towards fantasy and space, using resources in the original maximalist melodies and rhythmic accelerating phases provide the remix to get faster.
DJ Support:
Alizzz (Mad Decent)
The EP is so well balanced. Loving that analog feeling. 'Fire' makes me
dream, I get in trance with the bass and those pads on 'Ash' and I want
to listen to 'Bitch' really loud in the Berghain. Much support.
Jorge Caiado (Balance/Groovement)
"Excellent and fresh EP!! All tracks are powerful and effective, can't
wait to play them. My favorite is "Bitch" but Kommune1 also did a good
alternative mix to "Ash". Keep them coming Struments!
Kresy (Hivern Discs)
"Great EP. Bitch is my favourite"
Broke One (RBMA/Magic Wire Recordings)
"Aweome EP"
The original 12'' vinyl releases of Stomp The Beat and 1990 were two “Holy Grail†releases of Chicago House as they were only available for a short time before Gherkin Records went into inactive status in around 1991. At the time Larry Heard chose to not disclose the fact that he was the producer behind the Gherkin Jerks EPs. The two releases were a concept of experiments where he dove deeper into the equipment and do some creatively different tracks from his Mr. Fingers sound. These two legendary EPs have been heavily influential on other artists to this day. Often sampled or referenced they are true house classics and still amaze 25 years after their creation. Also on this album three bonus tracks, which are from the same Gherkin Jerks sessions but never released as such. Psychotic Fantasy was on the Dance 2000 pt. 2 album and Ecstasy is the full original take which makes its first appearence here. Reznaytor is an exclusive track for this release, never available before.
The label Bond is the brainchild of Swedish techno DJ and producer Petter B. The concept of the label is 'music by DJs for DJs'. The label focuses on releasing tracks that enable the DJ, rather than the producer, to be creative. It is based on that special bond which is created every time a DJ combines tracks, loops and sounds live into something new and unique.
This second release is a four-track EP made by Petter B himself. The first track is Accent Patterns which is an offbeat rhythmic groover that starts subtle and grows vigorously throughout the length of the track. The next track is Drummer II that, like the name implies, is a drumbeat. With a catchy detuned clap acting as a lead it could add groove to a dead person if necessary.Tool 01 is a tribal DJ tool that hits the dance floor with the same exaggerated force as a sledgehammer crushing an egg. The last track Tool 04 has a repetitive arrangement with mayhem-like delays building up and dropping like there is no tomorrow.
American producer David Alvarado continues his exploration into the depths of techno with his new Monclova concept. Fresh off of a successful release on Josh Wink's Ovum Recordings, Monclova 01 is a stripped down techno release featuring 2 tracks and 4 mixes of solid big room techno tools that are sure to find a place in many record boxes this fall. Monclova 01 comes out setting the tone with solid support and offers a glimpse into this exciting new label.
Special Remarks: 12'' EP in 3mm spine sleeve with download card included.
1978 This EP is an extract from the Cosmic Machine LP compilation to be released on October, the 14th. The first track, Spirit, an Uncle O remix, originally released on Frederic Mercier's "Pacific" in 1978, synthesized on its own the whole concept of Cosmic Machine. Track 2, "Motel show" is a Pierre Bachelet remix (from the original soundtrack of "le dernier amant", also released in 1978). This mix is a dancefloor version by DJ Prins Thomas,famous space disco Prince from Norway (Lindström, Todd Terje...). The Cosmic Machine LP gathers stars (such as Cerrone, Juvet, Jarre, Marouani, Bachelet and even Gainsbourg with a rare proto techno track), talented pionneers (De Roubaix, Estardy, Massiera, Fèvre or Perrey) and even shooting stars (such as Rocket Men, Quartz, Chris Craft, Video Liszt, Milways...). Cosmic Machine combines all the major and inspired individualities that gave birth to the early 70's electro galaxy.
akim Murphy & Ike for Innerspace Halflife concept on Syncrophone Recordings with special Sleeve.
Don't miss this out
Leo Anibaldi's label !
This new Italian artist (already released on Nacthstrom Schallplatten, Drehmoment, etc.) shows two interesting tracks with a modern concept of techno.
The first track is a sort of hypnotic techno with a lot of groove inside, never boring.
The second track is a beautiful trip with experimental and industrial sounds, he doesn't want forget his roots.
Special 12” featuring new versions of the track Fa, taken from the debut Fennesz solo album ‘Hotel Paral.lel’ (1997). 15 years after its initial release, Christian Fennesz gives this throbbing monster of a track a new seeing to, extending it and adding more of that magic he is so well known for. The album was always an exercise in exploring alternate means of hearing club based music. This new version carries that concept further.
This is backed by a cracking new mix by the ever productive Mark Fell, adding his unique beat structures, and even a MLK sample, which lends his contemporary rhythmic landscape a odd nostalgic twist.
This 12” can be seen as a warm up for the new Fennesz album, which is currently scheduled for 2013 release.
Hochwertiges Digi-Pack des Debut-Album !!!
A solitary shed by a lake. Surrounded by woods coated in ice. It's the deepest winter and the Pentatones quartet finds itself in the deserted nature of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern County. They are searching for sounds pulsating beyond instruments and machines. Inaudible Music this is, made sound by them only. By night the four move over the frosted lake, play the clarinet and put themselves in a chilly trance. Months later they will remember dimly these moments in the woods and cast them atmospherically into their album debut 'The Devil's Hand' with icy romance. Highly attentive to details, they have worked on it for 3 years. Since 2006 the Pentatones tinker with their tessellate electroacoustic sound, in whose center the voice of singer Delhia de France is floating. To friends of club music she might be known from her collabs with techno producers such as Marlow, Douglas Greed or Robag Whrume. With the Pentatones she combines her emotional timbre in various forms with the raw basslines by Hannes Waldschütz and the analog and electronic beats and samples by Julian Hetztel a.k.a. Le Schnigg. Albrecht Ziepert creates melodic moods on the keys, whose appeal one can hardly elude. Their kaleidoscopic arrangements dance between susceptibility and experiment. Enticing pop structures melt with crackling analog electronics - a mixture laid out to make dance at times, at times to chill. The ambiance of her compositions is gloomy, yet light-flooded in a certain way. It is most notably Delhias voice, which outshines everything, never standing still, meandering and spinning, opening up a new emotional space with every breath. The computer with its infinite production possibilities is used in its function as another instrument. Together with the sampler it forms the center of action, processing everything, from voice to keys, which needs an artistic distancing effect. A contrabass is setting the pace at times, then again the brass accelerates the tracks highly emotively. In stylistic regards their compositions are never predictable. A touch of organic jazz here, a subtle hip-hop allusion there, accompanied by a moving club rhythm structure and Delhias captivating voice, which sings, then talks, and whispers in the next moment.
It's not only the infinite world of sound, which inspires them to their adventurously twisted compositions. For all members being equally active in the visual field, art plays an important role in the act of creating and in the overall concept of the Pentatones. This is being reflected in their life shows, acknowledged with much applause on festivals like 'Sonne, Mond und Sterne', the 'Fusion Festival' or 'Ars Electronica'. When they sample themselves during their concerts, modify their sound in real time and vividly interpret their songs, Delhia dances audaciously in extravagant, self-designed costumes in haughty reserve and effuses eccentric pop magic. Sometimes she takes the megaphone and by hereby altering her voice, she infuses her music with another exotic tone. With their self-produced videos the Leipzig residents by choice create an artistic universe, which stages the dramatic lyrics of the lead singer in a sublime way. After all they see themselves as an artificial band, operating beyond the conventional patterns of presentation, bypassing intuitively and creatively common pop stereotypes. Twisted-Pop which gets straight under your skin, without ever grooving streamlined. You can dance to it, lose yourself in it or step into new worlds. There is only one thing difficult to deal with after you enjoyed 'The Devil's Hand' and that's to release yourself from its overwhelming emotional impact.
Fool, the 'tongue in cheek' self-ironic entitled third album, is another tour de force in Kasper Bjørke's signature production style - this time wrapped up as a concept album to be released on Fool's day April 1, 2012 on CD and vinyl. The versatile Copenhagen producer and DJ follows up on his successful sophomore solo album from 2010 'Standing on top of Utopia' that reached high acclaim from the international press and indie blogosphere.
repress
To celebrate the 10th release on Lunar Disko Records, we will also be releasing a 10" from that boy Automatic Tasty. LDR 10.10 is a conceptual 4 track EP named Fieldwork. Automatic Tasty tells a tale through his machines of a lonely Wicklow field from dawn till dusk....limited red vinyl pressing
Follow-up 4 Track 12' to the first Volume that was released earlier this year.In line with the concept of these two EP's, the tracks were again taken from Juergen Junker's
Live-Set, recorded straight out of the machines.
2024 Repress
Hurray! PROFAN is back from the future to complicate things again. But let's have a look back in the past: in the mid-1990s, Wolfgang Voigt, under his innumerable aliases (M:I:5, Digital, Grungerman, Wasserman …), unsettled the minimal world and its straight grooves with his right-at-the-threshold-of-pain abstract techno. As a DJ, you sometimes even thought that the vinyl was scratched. "Distort the listening habits until they break up" has always been the leitmotiv of this exceptional artist from Cologne. In 2000 however, after having created another promising trademark: WASSERMANN - W.I.R. that - in spite of or because of its unconventional structure (abstract beat, German vocals) - ranked among the number one hits in any important club and DJ charts and which was even remixed by Sven Väth, Wolfgang Voigt decided to discontinue the label for a while. PROFAN produced two sublabels each devoted to the refinement of specific minimal variants: STUDIO 1 and FREILAND. FREILAND in particular was and still is one of Voigt's projects that manifests his artistic and deconstrucivist approach to the aesthetics of techno beats. FREILAND's concept is radical: the only reference to techno is the bass drum and a sound reduced to the utmost that is moving around it. No wonder that now, eight years after the last PROFAN release, Wolfgang Voigt is back under his alias FREILAND. With KLAVIERMUSIK (piano music), Voigt continues his way towards atonality and electronic art music. The straight bass drum still is the only pulsatile instrument and sometimes it is not even that. WOLFGANG VOIGT / FREILAND - KLAVIERMUSIK is radical, puristic, uncompromising, elegiac, difficult, defiant, true and absolutely necessary. The record, including artcover designed by Wolfgang Voigt is strictly limited.. Greed sucks.
Adam, on his continuing mission to cross the parallels of Techno, EBM, Electro & Industrial, has gone on to create his most conceptual & best produced album to date. Recorded for Rustblade Recordings from Italy. The album is entitled "State Of Limbo" To fulfill the wants and desires of Adam's vinyl based fans. He has chosen four tracks off the CD to create this his latest 12"
months after the last Uturn output it's time for some news. The project C-MEM delivers this great debut contribution to the selective catalog of the Uturn label, the rude dark brother of Kanzleramt. The project fits perfectly with the small but like-minded Uturn label family. It's functional chord-techno without any intellectual concepts or advancements but with deep production skills and effective pure essentials.
Those who expect dreamy home-listening from Family Lounge, could fall victim to conceptual conflicts of association. Family Lounge is analog Minimal-Techno, defined by Germany's electro-figurehead Anthony Rother.
Australia-based musician Mark Gomes presents the debut full length under his own name for Soda Gong. “Alphane Moods” finds Gomes employing strategies that will be familiar to listeners of his work as Blue Chemise – elegiac, loop-based modes of composition and a predilection for concise etude forms – that manifest here with a strikingly different scope and intent, shifting from expressive abstraction into more conceptual terrain. Over the course of fourteen widescreen tracks, he navigates the gap between nostalgic and futurist sensibilities, concocting elusive, romantic, and sanguine settings that feel both plucked from the past and beamed in from a time still to come. Gomes describes his approach on the record as a “practice of ‘constructed ambience’, deploying sounds and track titles with pop-psychological associations of escape.” The result is a vivid, cinematic album that splits the difference between the worldbuilding retrofuturism of the best vaporwave music and the shadowy, homespun tape vignettes for which Gomes has become well known.
Written and produced by Mark Gomes
Master + cut by Kassian Troyer at D&M
Artwork by Alex McCullough
