Suche:deco 2

After just over a year-long hiatus from the Earthly Tapes series – the 3rd Chapter is finally upon us. Offering more mind-altering tracks to the series, we welcome 6 new members to the Earthly Measures familia!

We kick things off with ‘Comets (part I & II)’, the first release by ORSO, the new musical project from Jean Dasso AKA Yeahman, stepping into club and drum music. Alongside faster rhythms, with influences of UK Break music, African dances and traditional instruments, we’re taken through a two-chapter journey led by modular melodic loops, old traditional voices samples and ORSO’s own recordings.

Up next is a trip to Argentina as we welcome Balam to the EM family, join him as he takes you on a daydream across the Latin-American rainforest where synthesizers and nature collide to create the perfect mix, guided by a voice from the deep jungle. ‘Ensueño’ is a dance-floor tool fitting for both the start and end of the night.

Japanese native Mamazu steps up the tempo for the third track ‘Tombi’. Transporting us to a hypnotic and hedonistic state as delightful aerophones sound with the exotic chant, delivering the feeling of a dry breeze from the unseen frontier. Another dance floor ripper!

The B-side starts with ‘Voces’, a track inspired by the music that Chilean artist DJ Raff’s mum listened to when he was a teenager making beats in his bedroom. He used to take her records and tapes to sample and make boom-bap beats. Voces is influenced by both Spanish and Chilean 70’s music, although deconstructed to make an amazingly catchy melody. .

Ditti takes us through an ever-twisting groove as we swim upstream, spot a wave and take off... welcome to ‘Poly Party’. The soundtrack to a carnivalesque funked out ballad on a Polynesian beach shifting between the rhythms of a guitar & riding the surf, cutting synths & dripping flows.

We wrap things up with ‘Small Town Rebellion’, a story told by Scottish producer Kusht – this downtempo chugger reflects the story of a young man in a dead-end town with no future. He needs to break his fate and carve his own path by revolting and manifesting his own destiny.

The Ricardo Villalobos / Samuel Rohrer partnership has yielded increasingly interesting results over the past few years, with the former’s remixes of the latter’s trio Ambiq being supplemented by further reinterpretations of Rohrer’s solo work and live meetings at select events like Berlin’s Funkhaus and Radialsystem V. As should be the case with any strong collaboration, this partnership has been based on mutual challenge rather than compromise,
seeing each participant shuttle key technical and emotive aspects of the other’s work to previously unexpected places.
Those who have been closely following this relationship will notice a definite sense of continuity between previous outings and the new collaborative release entitled MICROGESTURES. As with those earlier Villalobos / Rohrer pairings, these four new pieces are defined by a special quality of being many things that once: that is to say, depending on the listener’s own level of focus, these can feel very tightly constructed and disciplined, or playful and freely wandering. That the tracks are equally engaging regardless of one’s chosen listening “mode” is a testament to the level of thought put into them; you could almost imagining the creators poring over some elaborate sketched set of architectural blueprints rather than coolly monitoring the usual multi-track editing software.
Altogether the music here is firmly a-melodic and percussive, but within these deliberate limitations there is still a greater variety of individual sounds than most would bother with. Each track is its own observatory of microgestures clustering together into a dense communicative fog or a sort of robotic sound swarm. Yet while all
these tracks are variations on that theme, each one has its own character and, consequently, its own rewards in terms of the exact sectors of the imagination that it activates.
Take for example “Cochlea” and its twin “Helix,” on which the magnetizing, busy layers of percussion are tempered with mischievously disruptive blossomings of digital noise, as well as sampled radio communications (which again bring us back to the idea of listeners’ attentiveness changing the meaning of this music - these
curious transmissions can either be taken as a purely aesthetic element or as something to be actively decoded).
Club-oriented elements are also not absent from this suite, particularly on “Incus” with its traditional sequenced baseline, crisp synthetic trap and hats, and dizzily sliding set of bell-like tones laid on top.?
Yet this track, too, is powered as much by its restless desire to deviate as by its rhythmic consistency: throughout the eleven-minute running time, a mass of ambiguous and restless machine sounds build a parallel narrative, and will maybe prompt the occasional glance over the shoulder as they seem to be taking on their own life. “Lobule” rounds out the program with the most rhythmically eventful sound set off the five.
What this all adds up to is a confident music which builds that quality from its faith in possibilities rather than firm conclusions: it’s an inspiring addition to both the musical landscape and reality in general

As we emerge into the Now with a fresh perspective and renewed vigour, Red Laser Records usher in a novel epoch of Manctalo movements for our post-COVID enjoyment.

Entrusting piloting duties to four well decorated RL commandos, the EP serves to remind us all that despite everything that's happened, we can still find solace in red lasers, smoke machines and high-powered strobe lights.

Splitting open the collective dancefloor inertia is Kid Machine's 'Only Machines Allowed'.

A cybernetic b-boy jam straight outta the planet MEGOH circa 4044. Guided by electrified vocoder lines and a plutonium-grade, armoured groove this impenetrable battle rocket should issue the much needed power boost to get your body kinetics firing again when they release the e-barriers to hedonism.

Returning star fleet lieutenant Count Van Delicious has been collecting entities from the outer galaxies since his appearance on RL EP 9 ('Dark Fruit' w/ Senor Chugger).
Here he announces his return with an end-credits epic, an #inabiteveryoneelse theme from this young vet on a pants-off permo-buzz, up-scrolling through technicolored c64 visuals and deploying his now trademark zoopa-arps, euphoric synth stabs and thunderous low end shudder to deadly effect.

Meanwhile, Ste Spandex continues his cybernetic realignment surgery, dissecting a well circulated disco meme and adding voluptuous gender-neutral enhancements that'll be getting the next generation of androids frisky, despite their lack of reproductive organs. Fizzling synths, spherical repetition and a multi-dimensional mix of high voltage rhythms leaving that vocal line permanently downloaded in your memory cloud. No sharing necessary.

Scottish deep space observer Ernesto Harmon provides some cosmic ruggedness to close off our mission. Reinforced & galvanised low-end rhymix coalescing with humanoid synth expression and an infinite, carbon-free energy source keeping momentum plateaued through the morning after the night before. There's no off switch baby!

For astral travellers seeking solace in the new Now, EP12 kindly acts as an upgrade to your possibly dormant dancing system as you stumble out into the new nocturnal environment. Hopefully reminding us that the simple act of moving alongside one another in a pitch black, laser-guided club space hasn't changed that much...

Limited press, with artwork which could be the next top selling NFT, we urge our RL family to bag this collectable chronicle from the Red Laser Corp.

Nas King's Disease II Album Following the Grammy Award winning album, King’s Disease, the king returns to his throne with the second coming, King’s Disease II. The star-studded project offers tacit game on life, love, and loss, uplifting through action and lived experience in a way only Nas can. This is a body of work for the fans, for the day 1’s that contributed to the legacy. Alongside the decorated production savant, Hit-Boy, Nas remains rooted in lyrical prophetism while proving that he constantly reinvents the wheel. The sequel to last year’s King’s Disease features Ms. Lauryn Hill, Eminem, EPMD, Hit-Boy, Charlie Wilson, YG and more.

Vinyl Edition of 300 copies

Aesthetical in collaboration with Sync presents "Detect" by Marco Monfardini.

Originally developed as an audio/video live performance, Marco Monfardini based his research for Detect on the decoding of inaudible sounds, sound generated by electromagnetic emissions left from electronic devices and inaudible to the human ear. By using various electro-smog detectors Marco Monfardini creates a sort of detection mapping where electromagnetic emissions are the starting point for the sonorous development of each single composition.

A path that creates a parallel with our lives by questioning how much these emissions affect unconsciously our choices, tastes and perceptions, seeking a relationship between the massive use of technology in everyday life and our emotional state.
The album Detect is developed in 15 tracks in continuous play, an imperfect, faulty mosaic inhabited by invisible beings manifesting themselves in the form of sound streams, mutable entities that find a definitive form in the pattern of the compositional structure.

The album opens with “aR1 detection", sounds of pure detection place themselves in the sound space giving the initial coordinates for the exploration of unconscious parallel areas. The boundaries transform and gradually expand until they flow into the structure of "kernel variations", a growing rhythmic pattern decodes the impulses projecting a perspective that dissolves in the unstable and fluctuating electromagnetic emissions of the subsequent "[a]3020t detection", "binary defect "and "core[2] ". “[A.box]emission” confronts the use of sound downloaded random from internet sample banks and the emissions generated during the download itself, micro sound fragments arrange themselves in an organized and regular pattern, shaping a rhythmic structure. The first part ends with the short “[sa]6030” and “[det]x1a”, absence and presence provide an alternation of movements, inaudible and elusive signals all trying to establish a contact with our perception. “det : scan” opens the second part of Detect, a sort of scanning, leaving EMF (electromagnetic field) textures, a static multilayer that progressively expands until it dissolves into the rhythmic emissions of a common smartphone “[4s]detection”.The track “[rs]zone” " is pushing itself deeper, two minutes of sound speleology that reveal the existence of sound artifacts that seem to vanish getting in contact with the light accented by the bass drum of "[det] 0100+" a constant, rhythmic pumping, a luminous pulsation that reveals an apparent void, which seems to subside entering in the winding and waving atmosphere of "conductive [area]" and "[s3] microfunktion". Detect comes to the end with “[emf]terminal” a mirror of the unarrestable technological acceleration intercepting the flow of data that feeds the system of communication , digital micro waste suffocates the living space by centering up the invisible in an unconscious map.

[a] A1

[c] A3

[e] A5 core[2]
[f] A6 [A.box]emission (2)
[g] A7

[i] B2 [4s]detection
[j] B3
[k] B4 [det]0100+
[l] B5 conductive[area]
[m] B6 [s3]microfunktion
[n] B7 [emf]terminal

American blackened Electro-Industrial Act 6th Circle is back with new LP "The Idle Construct", another masterful forty-minute crucible of insurgent post-industrial darkness laced with haunting atmospheres and seismic, disorienting beats. Officially licensed from Sonic Groove Records, "The Idle Construct" is 6th Circle's most tenebrous and atmospheric release to date, seeing its first ever proper release on a physical format worldwide via Sentient Ruin as a limited edition black vinyl pressing, after its initial and so far digital-only release in 2021. "The Idle Construct" sees 6th Circle further evolve and deconstruct its dark sonic canvas, pushing its foreboding atmospheres and anachronistic grooves deeper into lightless realms, and taking the listener further into a dark future dystopia of bitter disillusionment and grim alienation. The dark flame of defining acts like Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and :Wumpscut:, burns more vigorously than ever within these ten caustic tracks of industrial insurrection, but what defines 6th Circle's unrivaled approach to the craft is not so much its masterful evocation of an unrivaled past glory, rather the fearless exploration of its still unaccomplished and uncharted possibilities in the present. Facing us is a dark electro-industrial beast levitating from the void and pulsing with the wrath of a dark age lurking ahead. A work which projects the genre into the future with spasms of sheer experimentalism and exploration, fusing themes and visions of the occult, magick, evil, darkness, political unrest, violence, chaos and the supernatural into a monstrous synthetic labyrinth of sound

Unitas Multiplex
The unity in diversity
Out of many sounds, one track.
Out of many tracks, one ep.
Fourth release by Linn Elisabet including a remix by Amotik.

Lee Burridges’ All Day I Dream Presents Jim Rider’s Fantastic New EP, The Final Straw

The UK-Producer Revives the Labels’ Heavier Melodic Sensibilities Across 4-Originals

The title track opens an EP led by intention, accenting a time in the producer’s life where he was disillusioned with his day job and intent on pursuing music full time once again. “The Final Straw'' includes a romantic, husky narrative delivered by Namibian vocalist “Black Soda” (AKA Annely Ickua). Here we find him pulling from his musical upbringing - melodic elements afforded to him by his Mother, a folk musician and singer, and his focus on percussion fueled by his background as a drummer.

“Rascals” is a follow up to “Fools” from Jim’s 2021 Beatport category #1 EP “Popcorn & Politics”. It pays homage to the classic 1950s American TV show “Little Rascals” with eccentric keys and playful percussion alongside dazzling, eccentric elements from keys to tropical-inspired marimbas. “Los Que Caen,” as the name suggests, is inspired by Rider’s love of latin music and percussion and includes a heavy bass guitar riff, bouncy synths and a harp-led rhythm section. EP closer “The Cypriot” blends lead flute lines with plucky synths and a driving bassline while sporadic haunting vocal ad-libs and delayed keys add decoration to the track.

EVEN THE CHIMERA is the debut album by Wild Terrier Orchestra, a new project by Dimitris Papadatos, aka Jay Glass Dubs, based on interchangeability and open improvisation. A newer, freer incarnation of Papadatos’ creative intent, the project acts more like an open container of disparate and idiosyncratic contributions from a mutable cast of musicians and artists. Often times not provided according to a pre-planned structure, these contributions are actually more likely to arrive in the form of free improvisations, unconnected musical segments and fragmented splinters of sound. This allows Papadatos to aggregate all the constituent parts according to an intuitive process that bridges between the detailed craft of electronic music production and surrealist techniques such as the Cadavre Exquis and the Cut-Up. It’s both a harmonization of contrasting tones and a research for commonality within difference, although none of the wild terriers are ever nearly tamed. Unsurprisingly, the main inspiration for this new chapter came from a a pinnacle of avantgarde literature: poet Andreas Embirikos’, considered Greece’s first surrealist and all-out paradoxical figure. Specifically, this release is guided and instigated by his poem OKTANA, in which Embirikos inscribes a manifesto for a hedonistic utopia years ahead of any accelerationist theories, bursting with contradicting presences and mutating identities. Written in the aftermath of the Greek civil war, the poem calls for a time of eternal poetry and spiritual intoxication that can only be reached through a painful process of violent deconstruction. Thus, EVEN THE CHIMERA was born: a culmination of Papadatos’ decades long research on traditional Greek and Byzantine music, free jazz and free improvisation. Firmly spread between two side-long tracks, the contributions of American singer and musician Cruel Diagonals on vocal duties as well as Greek artist and musician Fotini Korre on ney suggest the existence of a filament that connects the west and the east through the creation of ‘’possible musics’’. This happens in accordance to Papadatos’ practice of a counterfactual approach to the process of what music history dictates. It is also directly shaped by the musician’s frequent dwellings in the isle of Cyprus, a land in which the clash of worlds and culture has often taken both violent and beautiful shapes. The long drones, acoustic ghosts and unbalanced choirs that form the album seem to call from the Mediterranean itself, not only from its history but also from its possible futures and unreal narrations, invoking it as a nexus of diversity and possibility.

First one for 030303 by Daniel Pringle aka The Jaffa Kid. Over the course of six tracks, the Newcastle based producer smoothly blends Detroit and UK informed techno with breakbeat vibes. Highlights include Noon - a deep melancholic techno cut with a subtle optimistic melody line keeping it all together, Zap Ting II - a rich ambient take on deconstructed jungle and acid and Izire Baes, where fast paced breaks are oddly slowed down by deep sonic drones. It's definitely a journey into another world, this one and a big recommendation for anyone keen to escape reality.

Scott Walker, PJ Harvey, Coil, Matmos, Autechre & Pan Daijing. 180g LP with inner, 12”x24”poster + DL card. The Debut Full-Length By Montréal Producer Kee Avil, The Project Led By Avant/Improv Guitarist Vicky Mettler, Also Known As A Member Of Sam Shalabi’s Land Of Kush And As Co-Founder Of Concrete Sound Montréal. Advance Single “See, My Shadow” Premiered By Mary Ann Hobbs On BBC6 And Picked Up By Music & Riots, Backseat Mafia, Aural Aggravation, Etc In Dec 2021. Kee Avil, a project led by Montréal producer and guitarist Vicky Mettler: a singular expression of fractured dream logic concretized in chiselled postpunk guitar, sinuous low-end electronics, a panoply of organic and digital samples creating alternately twitchy and propulsive rhythm, and the anxious intimacy of her finely wrought lyricism and vocals. Bound by an outstanding production sensibility throughout, Crease unfolds one oblique earworm hook after another, with compositional innovation anchored to an inscrutable and compelling voice across 10 songs of tremendous and imaginative sonic detail. Kee Avil brings a contemporary electroacoustic sensibility to bear on traditions and conventions of pop, postpunk, electronic and sound-art songwriting, where touchstones range from Scott Walker and Coil to Fiona Apple, (early) PJ Harvey and (later) Juana Molina to Eartheater, Pan Daijing and Smerz; or Grouper produced by Autechre. Her unconventional alloys also conjure the guitar-inflected deconstructions of Gastr del Sol and the crystalline micro-worlds of Bjork, Matmos and Rashad Becker. Crease is one of those debut records that excites a wide range of peerless references precisely because it's so compelling in its own idiosyncratic authority, originality and execution. Each song on Crease is its own sculpture, meticulously assembled to resemble disassembly: “each of these worlds was built without consideration for the other; it felt impossible to me, once I would enter the atmosphere of a song, to try to start another until that idea was finished.” The album nonetheless unfolds in impressive holistic integration through a palette of textures and techniques deployed in recurring but continually refracted ways. Alongside her superb austere guitar work stitched into electro-industrial, dark-ambient and minimal-techno soundworlds, it’s her voice and lyrics confidential, hermetic, implacable that provide the galvanizing, always captivating through-line. Her more compositional, exacting, (de)constructed musical identity was first unveiled with the self-titled Kee Avil EP (Black Bough Records) and further honed by pre-pandemic tours sharing stages with Pere Ubu, Marc Ribot and Bill Orcut among others. Woodshedding since then, Crease presents a quantum leap in Kee Avil's exploration of studio-based experimentation, arrangement and production, signaling the arrival of a brilliantly genre-melding, refined and assiduous new voice in avant-garde songcraft.

“Boot licking, piss drinking, finger frigging, tit tweaking, love biting, arse licking, shit stabbing, motherfucking, spunk loving, ball busting, cock sucking, fist fucking, lip smacking, thirst quenching, cool living, ever giving…”

There’s no fairer introduction to ‘Fist’, Joshua James’ latest contribution to Phantasy, than to advise one simply to prepare themselves. Sampling iconic performance artist, club promoter and designer Leigh Bowery, James connects the expert dancefloor pressure he exacts each weekend as one of London’s best-loved club residents with the unapologetic, defiant legacy of a personal hero. None other than Peaches then takes up the remix mantle for ‘Fist’, intertwining the provocations of two radical performers and connecting three generations of underground queer culture in one sonic menage-a-trois, perhaps the straight-up rudest club record in recent memory.

On the original production, James shifts his sound in a heavier direction still since last summer’s euphoric Amber Rush, which was remixed by labelmate and friend Daniel Avery. A bouncing industrial tilt underscores the heavy-duty production, as Bowery, originally recording alongside Richard Torry in their band Minty, espouses a catalogue of sexual acts - some specialist, all sensational - as James pushes dancers further down into the belly of some revolting rave beast.

A multi-faceted match to Bowery themselves, Peaches continues a decades-long journey dedicated to genre and gender deconstruction with her wild and playful take on ‘Fist’. Dripping in cybernetic club juice, Peaches wraps herself around Bowery’s own teaches on the mic, easily matching his demands as she careens towards a system-rattling techno conclusion.

>>>>Cryovac Recordings is allowed to exist by artists and craftsmen that take up the cause and come together to share their skillset. A Cryovac artist is a master of their own style. They are heros that represent the best of Detroit’s spirit. From Dietrich to Desmond to the house of Archer, Cryovac is a product that is crafted at each step by years of know-how. The Cryovac machine continues its course through an ever changing technosphere.

>>>>James “jit” Pennington a.k.a. The Suburban Knight has the honor of techno nobility; with a warrior ethos he loyally defends Detroit around the world. The Knights tracks are legendary and his service to the underground code compels him to come to the aid of Cryovac. ”Lectrasonic” activates a hypersensitive conga rattling the night air and through swelling synth predatory melody becomes prey to a breaking kick.
>>>>Mike Petrack is a cool customer with an easy style and his tracks are the same. Petrack’s Info Lines record label is the latest concoction from this ever innovating techno collaborator. “Holy Redeemer '' rises with an infectious melody through bossa nova rhythm to a point of spiritual awareness inside a natural funk.
>>>>a.garcia & M. kretsch are a team that have learned to work in unison to develop all parts of a space with sound. Their construction and deconstruction of the techno sound is a reflection of a spartan Detroit ethos. “invasion” is a 4/4 minimal rocker that rings to life with an eerie synth attacking with waves of effect bringing a tone of other worldly dread.
>>>>Mollison folson a.k.a. Body Mechanic brings his gregarious personality to all genres he delves into. He is a musician of instrument and computer with a focus on freeky love music. “Everything” is a smooth and jazzy minimal mover that harmonizes synth over a funky bass line.

This release sees two fresh originals from Gareth. The exceptional peak-time title track Night Breed comes with extraordinary energy from it's cut through tubular lead and rolling drums. Tronic State works with an untethered off beat kick backed by metallic synthesis and immersive undertones. Remix work sees exceptional Spanish precision engineering from leading exponent of underground Techno Oscar Mulero alongside a full raw to the core, amen drum re-work from rising UK artist Swarmm.

Limited edition bespoke blue and white marble vinyl. Buy on sight!

Reissue of Oscar Peterson's 1969 album 'Motions & Emotions' pressed
on blue vinyl
On 'Motions & Emotions' Oscar Peterson presents jazz versions of popular pieces
from pop, easy listening and classic songwriters, as the quartet of long- time
companions are washed in rich orchestral colours. Arranged and conducted by a
magician of the guild, the great Claus Ogerman, who had previously worked for
Tom Jobim. The Brazilian is also represented with his standard "Wave", in which
the orchestra builds a luminous tropical backdrop for Peterson's fantastically
dragged phrasing. Peterson and Ogerman pay tribute to another great orchestra
leader, Henry Mancini, in "Sally's Tomato" with feather- light trilling brilliance.
Jimmy Webb's "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" experiences a metamorphosis
almost into the classical - Ogerman opens infinite sound spaces here with the
distantly indulging strings. Bobby Gentrys "Ode To Billy Joe" cleverly abducts
Countryfolk into Bigband Jazz by means of fiery keyboard playing.
Finally the hits: from soul comes Bobby Hebb's "Sunny", whose theme the pianist
here cleverly harmonises out to then decorate it bluesy in dialogue with the wind
instruments. Burt Bacharach's "This Guy's In Love With You" shines with a
leisurely late night mood and a pompous finale. Yesterday" is provided with a
sparkling bossa substructure, while the second Beatles homage "Eleanor Rigby"
oscillates between loose groove, deep melancholy and swing. Peterson plus
quartet plus orchestra: Enthusiastic detail work also in the popular sector.
"The question about favourite albums is basically not an easy one, except in my
case, because Motions & Emotions by Oscar Peterson is actually my absolute
favourite album. I think Motions & Emotions might even be the perfect
instrumental album." - Till Brönner (German Jazz trumpeter and professor)

Reissue of Oscar Peterson's 1969 album 'Motions & Emotions' pressed
on blue vinyl
On 'Motions & Emotions' Oscar Peterson presents jazz versions of popular pieces
from pop, easy listening and classic songwriters, as the quartet of long- time
companions are washed in rich orchestral colours. Arranged and conducted by a
magician of the guild, the great Claus Ogerman, who had previously worked for
Tom Jobim. The Brazilian is also represented with his standard "Wave", in which
the orchestra builds a luminous tropical backdrop for Peterson's fantastically
dragged phrasing. Peterson and Ogerman pay tribute to another great orchestra
leader, Henry Mancini, in "Sally's Tomato" with feather- light trilling brilliance.
Jimmy Webb's "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" experiences a metamorphosis
almost into the classical - Ogerman opens infinite sound spaces here with the
distantly indulging strings. Bobby Gentrys "Ode To Billy Joe" cleverly abducts
Countryfolk into Bigband Jazz by means of fiery keyboard playing.
Finally the hits: from soul comes Bobby Hebb's "Sunny", whose theme the pianist
here cleverly harmonises out to then decorate it bluesy in dialogue with the wind
instruments. Burt Bacharach's "This Guy's In Love With You" shines with a
leisurely late night mood and a pompous finale. Yesterday" is provided with a
sparkling bossa substructure, while the second Beatles homage "Eleanor Rigby"
oscillates between loose groove, deep melancholy and swing. Peterson plus
quartet plus orchestra: Enthusiastic detail work also in the popular sector.
"The question about favourite albums is basically not an easy one, except in my
case, because Motions & Emotions by Oscar Peterson is actually my absolute
favourite album. I think Motions & Emotions might even be the perfect
instrumental album." - Till Brönner (German Jazz trumpeter and professor)

The US-born, Norwegian-Mexican musician and producer Carmen Villain, real name Carmen Hillestad, has spent the last nine years and four albums gently unraveling song into the sound of emotional impulse. From the tilt and croon of her first two albums to the expansive warmth that flows and pulses beyond ambient in her more recent output, Hillestad's journey is artful musical deconstruction but also somehow spiritual growth.Hence new album Only Love From Now On, her fourth full-length and the culmination of a build-up that really began with the turn in sound evident from third album Both Lines Will Be Blue (2019, Smalltown Supersound) and the subsequent releases Affection In A Time Of Crisis (2020, Longform Editions) and Sketch For Winter IX: Perlita (2021, Geographic North). While the seed of her aesthetic was planted earlier, it has blossomed into something unexpected, benevolent in its composure and altogether luxuriant in its sensuality. If her themes, especially now, are wide, philosophical, and occasionally abstract, the emotional tenor of Hillestad's music is clear and purposeful. Makes sense that her key musical touchstones are dub, ambient, and cosmic jazz - flexible vehicles for tranquil wonder. While it may not contain voice or lyrics, as her two earliest records do, she describes it as, "wishing to maintain a sense of careful optimism for the future, while on the cusp of something unknown." Listening to Only Love From Now On is simultaneously comforting and alluringly strange. Partly it's the contributions of guests Arve Henriksen (trumpet, electronics) and Johanna Scheie Orellana (flutes). Partly it's the fluidity between instruments - such as clarinets - field recordings, the studio, jam, and careful composition. She calls the process a conversation with sound that occurs in her deliberate attempts to experiment with new methods, like granular synthesis, for her music-making. But mostly that strange comfort is in the peace and grateful contentment she has found via the stark recognition of her own privilege - laid bare by the pandemic. Only Love From Now On is fueled by the sense of scale in feeling small in the face of things so large, the contemplation of how the biggest impact we can have is in the people close to us, the attempt to make sure that impact is a positive one, and the choice to try to focus on love instead of fear.

A genre blur of decorative art punk psych overflow, mixed and mastered by KRAMER on “Blessence Blue” Vinyl LP ltd edition of 500. RIYL: WEEN, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Dat Politics, Prince Buster, Captain Beefheart, Deerhoof, Thinking Fellars Union Local 282, Young Marble Giants, Jad Fair. As an energetic force in the downtown New York perfor1mance art noise scene for over ffteen years, Lumberob is releasing his debut solo LP - Language Learner - on Shimmy-Disc. Having collaborated now for over 23 years, Kramer and Lumberob understand how to make rather majestic messes. This music is urgent madness, overfowingly decorative, lusciously spastic, with an unpredictably eclectic sonic vaudeville energy. Lumberob emerged from a year in Costa Rica with a bag full of pandemic recordings. As a rejuvenated yet still scrappy loop artist expanding his sound with synth bass and drum machines, yet still rooted in improvised vocal phrase looping and skanky guitar, Lumberob insists this album Language Learner to be a bold exercise in genre discovery or genre blur, proudly assuming its position in high contrast to other recent gorgeously crafted Shimmy-Disc releases. It is this contrast that’s reminiscent of the wildly divergent and inventive catalog curated by Kramer from decades past. This debut is an odd blend of ingredients, but the concept is relentlessly pure Lumberob. Participants in Costa Rica include David Mendez playing nylon string, Alicia Cigna singing, Ariel Soto playing partial kit and conga, and Juan Jose Lopez playing bongos. Additional sessions in Brooklyn include Tobin Scroggins playing guitar and Becca Stabile singing. Kramer added bits and pieces throughout during his mixing and mastering of the album. Call it Dada Ska - a skanky electro-bounce. This is dance music for working things out. This is workout music for dancing things, and the live show is truly the dafy psychedelic roughneck business.

The Ring Orchestra is an eight-person effort, a collective coming together to tackle opera and one of the genre’s controversial poster boys. 18 compositions, the artists Born in Flamez, Gil Schneider, Simonne Jones, Leo Luchini, Legion Seven, P.A. Hülsenbeck, Isa GT, and Ixa create a collaborative musical score that uses Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen as the point of departure. Originally, the music was cre-ated for a staging of Der Ring des Nibelungen at Schauspielhaus Zürich, directed by Christopher Rüping and written by Necati Öziri. Far from being an affirmative tribute, the orchestra sets out to decon-struct and break down what Wagner and his opus magnum represent: collaboration over singularity and openness instead of conservative rigidity. The resulting score doesn’t shy away from ambivalence by de-centralizing authorship and encompassing everything from ambient to pop, reggaeton, and a wider vari-ety of non-western musical influences.