In 1981, The Ex started squatting Villa Zuid, an estate overlooking abandoned Van Gelder paper factory in the village of Wormer, Netherlands. Formerly the home of the factory's manager, the Villa briefly served as the band's base of operations and would inspire one of The Ex's most impactful, enduring albums in their 40+ year history.
Originally released in 1983, Dignity Of Labour is "our idea of improvised industrial punk noise," states Ex-frontman G.W. Sok, which not only offers a perfect summation of these idiosyncratic sounds, but also of the group's music in the decades to come.
During its heyday, Van Gelder employed over 1,000 workers. By 1981, it had gone bankrupt, following the takeover and divestment of a multinational corporation. Having saved the Villa from demolition through squatting, The Ex pored over newspaper articles, interviews and business records to tell the story of the factory and the people whose labor brought it to life – an unparalleled example of DIY archival action.
With new drummer Sabien Witteman bringing polyrhythmic accents and a supporting crew of agitators (credits include piledriver, bus engine, printing press, etc.), The Ex recorded eight tracks in-studio and then played them back in the ruins of the factory while recording the playback – giving Dignity Of Labour a haunting sense of space that is at once cavernous and decaying.
This first-time vinyl reissue (configured as single LP) comes with 24" x 18" poster and 24-page booklet.
Suche:demolition man
- A1: The Wanderer
- A2: Looking Up
- A3: Breakdown
- A4: Grand Illusion
- A5: Running For Cover
- B1: Cold Love
- B2: Who Do You Think You're Foolin
- B3: Nightlife
- B4: Stop Me
- B5: I Believe In Jesus
Black Vinyl[19,75 €]
• Within a year of her ground-breaking Double-Album “Bad Girls”, Donna Summer left Casablanca Records
to become the first Artist signed to the new Geffen Records label, with “The Wanderer” being the first
album released on the label.
• Legendary producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte remained at the helm.
• With the US #3 hit of the title track and other standout tracks ‘Looking Up’, ‘Cold Love’, ‘Who Do You Think
You’re Foolin’’ and ‘Nightlife’, “The Wanderer” continued Donna’s creative output.
• “The Wanderer” was released the year after the ‘Disco Demolition Night’ event - which was held,
ironically, two days before ‘Bad Girls’ became a US #1 single - and introduced more rock-infused
dance/pop tunes – which paved the way for many Artists throughout the 1980s.
• Donna received two Grammy Award nominations. Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for ‘Cold Love’
and Best Inspirational Performance for ‘I Believe In Jesus’.
• In 2020, “The Wanderer” had a resurge in interest and a re-appraisal, with several tracks being remixed for
a new generation, resulting in a one month stop at #1 on one of the UK’s top Soul radio stations.
• This special edition revisits the original album on 180g White Colour vinyl
- A1: Le Savoir Faire Ft. N’zeng
- A2: Weh U Come From Ft. Ras Demo Aka Demolition Man
- A3: Johnny A Bad Man Ft. Troy Berkley
- A4: Shoefiti Ft. Marina P
- B1: La Main A La Pâte
- B2: Boomblast Ft. Blimes Brixton
- B3: Push The Limits Ft. Biga*Ranx Aka Telly
- B4: Le Rendez-Vous Ft. Tippa Irie & N’zeng
- C1: Forgotten Skank Ft. Rodney P
- C2: Mississippi Slang
- C3: Soundbwoy Ft. Troy Berkley & The Architect
- C4: L’amour Propre
- C5: Fonk Monk Ft. Soom T & N’zeng
- D1: The People And The Police Ft. Kill Emil
- D2: Le Tour De Force Ft. Ruffian Rugged, Skarra Mucci, Blackout
- D3: Sounds To Wake The Kids Up Ft. Stig Of The Dump & King Hippo
- D4: One & Only Ft. Charlie P
- D5: Le Bonheur Ft. Panda Dub
L’Entourloop “Le Savoir Faire” album in Vinyl 2LP version – September 22, 2017 – 18 tracks – 4 sides
Breeding in open air since 1964, Sir James and King Johnny are the figureheads of the mysterious L’ENTOURLOOP collective. Feed with good grains from Sounds Systems, vinyle’s culture (Scratchs / Beatmaking / Sampling) and rocked by the epic dialogues of a certain cinema, L’ENTOURLOOP concocte with love a music half-way between Kingston, London and New York!
This album is rich in combinations (Panda Dub, Kill Emil, The Architect…) and plenty of featurings (Biga*Ranx, Marina P, Demolition Man, Tippa Irie…) where the collective once again unveils its « Savoir-Faire » !
When Elena Colombi launched the Osàre! Editions label in the autumn of 2019, she explained that the label would become home to bold, daring, future-facing music rooted in experimentation and free-spirited musical abandon. These are all descriptions that could apply to the label’s latest release, a retrospective album of little-known works by Greek musician and producer Thanasis Zlatanos.
Many will not have heard of Zlatanos, or Nekropolis, the band he fronted alongside dear friend and regular collaborator Trygve Mathiesen, yet the music he made during the 1980s was otherworldly, intergalactic and undoubtedly alluring. These songs and instrumentals made extensive use of analogue synthesizers and lo-fi drum machines, as well as Zlatanos’s trusted Gibson Les Paul guitar and his own distinctive voice.
Stylistically, the musician and producer refused to settle on a specific sound, preferring instead to create inspired, often mind-altering pieces that join the dots between wave music, skewed leftfield pop, ambient, prototype electronic and Madedonian folk music. Operating for much of the period from a crumbling house earmarked for demolition, Zlatanos kept up a daily music-making vigil that resulted in a vast vault of music, most of which has remained unissued since the 1980s.
The breadth of and width of Zlatanos’s distinctive approach is laid bare on Retrospective, a compilation album prepared by Colombi and the artist himself that draws on tracks from his numerous albums, those by Nekropolis – whose sophomore set “The New Europeans” was banned in Norway – and his epic archive of previously unheard material.
The artist’s singular but wide-ranging musical vision is free for all to see across the 13 tracks stretched across the vinyl version of the album (digital buyers also get a further four superb cuts). It veers attractively from the ghostly, traditional-meets-futuristic new age electronica of “The Crystal Sight (Excerpt)” and the doom-laden coldwave throb of “Master Chameleon”, to the undulating, soft-touch creepiness of “Surreal Moment”, the Vocoder-laden operatic poignancy of “The New Barbarians” and the squally guitar solos and effects-laden electronics of “The Light”.
Words from the artist___:
"I live in the Internet. Visits from outer space make me compose. I breathe here. I am the master chameleon, the psychedelic clown. I am not here anymore, neither in the picture, nor the reflection. Our bed is a boat that takes us tomorrow without us.
Here is an album of dreams and digital emotions. Analogue recordings made with a Prophet, a Moog Rogue, a tape recorder and a Gibson Les Paul guitar.
As far as I can remember I have always been in a recording studio. I listen to, understand and live my life through songs and music. I have worked alone and with friends such as Trygve Mathiesen. Although I am a guitarist, I continue to work with synthesizers on music that blends elements of Macedonian folk music, recordings from the streets and embryonic electronic sounds.
Some of my albums have been critically acclaimed, others banned by radio stations. For years I worked on endless recording sessions in a crumbling house that should have been torn down. The music on this retrospective compilation was recorded at various points between 1982 and the present day. Some of the compositions first appeared on previous albums, while others have never been released before. They were sat on tapes waiting for a saviour. Now that saviour has arrived and they can be free.
For further proof of Zlatanos’s unique sonic approach, check the startling contrast between the bass-laden slacker pop headiness of “No Expectations” and the spacey ambience of “The Dead Don’t Remember”. Considered together, the selected pieces and those elsewhere on Retrospective forms a snapshot of a genuinely unique and visionary musician, composer and producer. It’s a celebration of someone whose work has previously been overlooked."
In February 2016 5 people from the Bass Agenda family met in person for the first time at Whip It! - an Electro night hosted by Dave Clarke and held at The Melkweg, Amsterdam. w1b0, RXmode, TFHats and Slaves of Sinus have all released on Bass Agenda before, all received regular support from Dave Clarke both on and off his infamous White Noise show (w1b0 on The Barons's Fabric mix CD, Slaves of Sinus shaking up the demolition panel at ADE, RXmode dropped twice on Dave's Beatport live session and TFHats on White Noise what seems like every other week this year!)
Inspired by the meeting, the friendship, the music and the experience of the night they set out to make the 50th release on Bass Agenda Recordings - 'Transhumanism.' Dance floor focussed Electro with an edge.
As a compilation of Dutch Electro from the deep underground the vinyl is a deep orange pressing and strictly limited to 200 copies.
Supported by UMEK, Dave Clarke, Elektrodos, Darkfloor and many more.
- A1: I Made A Date (With An Open Vein)
- A2: I Can Tell You're Leaving
- A3: Ferrari In A Demolition Derby
- A4: Ain't Nothing Wrong With A Little Longing
- B1: Excursions Into Assonance
- B2: Everytime I Close My Eyes (We're Back There)
- B3: Love Is A Velvet Noose
- B4: My Husband's Got No Courage In Him
- B5: Riding
- B6: Lord Bless All
Alt. folker Will Oldham - better known as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - is set to drop a joint record with gently psychedelic crew Trembling Bells
Just four years after their debut album Carbeth, Trembling Bells are amassing a formidable body of work at a startling velocity. Just twelve months after the release of their critically acclaimed third album The Constant Pageant, the Glasgow quartet return to share the billing with a similarly restless creative spirit. A few thousand miles separate Will Oldham and Trembling Bells' drummer and principal songwriter Alex Neilson, but their stories intersect as far back as 2005, when the young Leeds-raised Neilson found himself playing drums on Alasdair Roberts' No Earthly Man, with Oldham producing. In time, a friendship between mentor and student became one between two kindred musicians. Neilson augmented his work with free-psych-drone practitioners Directing Hand by playing with the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy band. The drummer's eagerness to experience new epiphanies yielded unforgettable memories. In Big Sur, he recalls, 'we took mushrooms at midnight, then visited a natural hot spring built into the dramatic cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The stars were as vivid as frozen fireworks.' All of which is worth dwelling on, because without that background of mutual openness and empathy, it's hard to imagine The Marble Downs existing.
Neilson recalls a conversation about a 'collaboration' in the summer of 2010, though stresses that it 'was nothing too formal at first'. By the end of that year, a limited-edition seven-inch New Year's Eve Is The Loneliest Night of the Year showed what an inspired match the vocals of Trembling Bells singer Lavinia Blackwall and Will Oldham made. The cut-glass precision of the classically-trained student of medieval music and the worldly, careworn tones of Oldham created an unlikely chemistry. It must have seemed that way to Neilson too. He set about assembling a cache of songs with the purpose of further harnessing that chemistry. The result is an album that has, once again, redrafted the boundaries of what Trembling Bells can achieve together. Indeed, genre-lines aren't terribly helpful this time around. Yes, Trembling Bells' love affair with traditional music remains a constant — most emphatically so on the unaccompanied Blackwall/Oldham two-hander, My Husband's Got No Courage In Him. Then there is Blackwall's musical setting of Dorothy Parker's poem Excursion Into Assonance — and the thorough-going new-found classicism of Neilson's increasingly assured songwriting. Albeit delivered with Trembling Bells' rain-lashed sense of abandon, Love Is A Velvet Noose sounds like a standard of sorts — a warped consequence of Neilson's increasing fascination with the songbooks of Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael. 'I'm not saying I stand any chance of emulating them,' he adds, 'but the appreciation is definitely there.'
The knowledge that Oldham and Blackwall would be sharing centre-stage on The Marble Downs gave Neilson extra impetus to flex his songwriting muscles. I Can Tell You're Leaving finds both vocalists on irresistible form, dissecting their dying relationship with no heed to the other's feelings. 'You treat me like a child,' sings Oldham. 'I need a man,' she responds, barely catching breath. 'Now like Merle Haggard, you'll see the fighting side of me,' he later promises. 'I guess that's one of the lighter moments on the album,' ponders Neilson, 'I was trying to get a Planet Waves-era Bob Dylan feel there, with the piano and walking bassline.'
Here and elsewhere, the band — Blackwall, Neilson, bassist Simon Shaw and guitarist Mike Hastings — has never sounded more psychically attuned to one-other. On the slow-reveal sonic establishing shot of I Made A Date (With An Open Vein), two minutes of manic modal chaos elapses before Oldham takes the narrative reins of a majestic call-and-response folk-rock epic. The electrifying free-folk portent of Riding — a revival of the Palace Brothers classic — is no less compelling, calling to mind the words of broadcaster Stuart Maconie when he praised Trembling Bells for their ability to invoke simultaneously 'the charm of folk music and the power of rock.' Ditto Ain't Nothing Wrong With A Little Longing, in which Neilson slams down a four-to-the-floor beat over a synergy of demonic krautrock keys and a dialogue between Oldham and Blackwall that scales Nancy & Lee levels of romantic intrigue.
With nine songs gone and one remaining, the album's sonic undulations find an arresting denouement in the form of an inspired cover. Adapted from Robin Gibb's 1970 solo masterpiece Robin's Reign, Lord Bless All sees Trembling Bells tease out the hymnal qualities of Gibb's original with a slow volcanic upswell which — on four minutes — explodes into heavy psychedelic technicolour. What pleases Alex Neilson when he listens back is 'a sense of a common vocabulary and identity being forged.' If, by that, he means that there isn't another band on the planet that quite sounds like Trembling Bells, it would be hard to disagree. The evidence is right here.
'I didn't know anything about Trembling Bells. I just heard them and was knocked out. I instantly became a fan.' Paul Weller
'Trembling Bells are my kind of band.' Joe Boyd
"Jesus fucking shit! These jamz claw so hard at the tatties below methinks the Lord misnamed them, having intended to say Trembling BALLS." Will Oldham
'A poetic incantation of British identity far brighter than Michael Gove's GCSE syllabus.' Stewart Lee
'This time, I'm attempting to reclaim the art of songwriting from the charity shop bargain bin.' Alex Neilson
A handful of cables, laptops and a few dusty machines are all it takes to make music. On Stiff Little Spinners Vol. 8 this is proven once again with seven exclusive tracks by Thomas Atzmann, Rampue, Kalipo, Krink, Paradise Hippies, Gimmix and Monopohl. The eighth edition of the Stiff Little Spinners compilation is ready for the next demolition party with a mix of modern deep house, slow jams & dreamy techno future classics. 01 Thomas Atzmann - Skagerrak After a longer release break, Thomas Atzmann delivers the first sure shot of this record. Skaggerrak convinces from the beginning with spheric ambience and tom-tom grooves, dissolving in a wash of big synth emotions. 02 Rampue - Der König und der Vogel King Rampue dishes out an A+ Slow Jam. Minimalistic in the beginning, this track leadsyou directly via screwed vocals to a cosmic breakdown of intoxicating emotions. All of it with a beautifully relaxed bpm. 03 Kalipo - Gernkraftwerk The manifold producer is on the ticket as per ususal - this time with a detroit-y neo trance attack. With the appropriate volume this tune can lead to loss of gravity. 04 Krink - Dazed This track is tuning feedback into filters and synth stabs in your face as if there was no tomorrow. Some tunes will always instill hope that's it's possible to dance forever and never go home. 05 Paradise Hippies - Prosecco Mate The last hippies of Hamburg bring proof that two rad dudes together make an extremely rad pair.
* Returning to Dispatch LTD after a string of successful and hard hitting releases, DBR UK are back to present their debut album, entitled 'Rough Edges', comprised of sixteen original productions from the UK trio.
* 'Rough Edges' is an ethos by which DBR UK live by in the studio, an ethos and distinctive style which has been developed over the years and throughout their own influences. Made up of varying elements, styles and attitudes within drum & bass, the album covers the trio's full spectrum, carried out with their own unique flair. * Certified masters of crafting their basslines and low ends to perfection, the pulse keeps every track pumping with soul, carefully mapped out and delivered to a tee, whatever the chosen direction. Eloquently arranged, but purposely gritty, dynamic but not over-complicated and never straightforward, glossy or predictable, it's an ideology the group stand by, whether it's a melodic vocal swathe or a murderous minimal mod. * Equipped with murky steppers for the shadowy back rooms such as 'Demolition' (ft. Slippy Skills), the album journeys through old skool & dub focused influences, like reece thronged 'Dark Alley' and hypnotic stroller 'Man Hunt'.
* Alongside their solo productions, the album also sees guest collaborators from the past and present combining efforts, with Skeptical, Structured, Gremlinz & Ahmad helping craft the gullied landscapes, the poignant and piercing vocals of MC Fokus striking at the jugular in 'Blood Water and the smooth, dulcet tones of Amanda Seal perfectly contrasting to the darkness and hysteria, before leading the listener back up the garden path.
* Back on the scene with a vengeance, having blown us away with an astounding quality and output, DBR UK deliver their first long player, 'Rough Edges', utilizing their subtly edged weaponry to maximum effect.








