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Like the Grass documents and reimagines a warm summer's evening in Basel, Switzerland, in June 2018. Four musicians convened: Johannesburg composer and bow expert Cara Stacey, South African violinist and composer Galina Juritz, German harp player Antonia Ravens and Swiss guitarist and sonic explorer Beat Keller.

Together they improvised using a graphic score titled "Luhlata njengetjani" ("Green like the grass" in the southern African Siswati language), inspired by the rivers of eSwatini, blackbirds in the parks of Basel and the evocative, red-flowered umcinci or erythrina tree. The South African umrhubhe mouthbow's dense harmonics folded around skittering, fractal violin loops; temperate swells of guitar were punctuated by agitated harp pings and the hearty thuds of Ugandan and Mozambican lamellophones.

This joyous, unfettered outpouring criss-crossed between southern Africa and Europe, forwards and backwards, for the following two years. The fruits were unpicked and rewoven into new mosaics by Cara, Galina, and two of our favourite recording artists, Object Agency and Hello Skinny.

Recorded as part of Cara Stacey's studio residency in Basel, Switzerland, supported by ProHelvetia Johannesburg.

A stunning 17-minute-drumming-trip from feathery spheres through bold grooves to a dense thundery finish by Simon Popp and Sebastian Wolfgruber, the two drummers known for channeling World Music, Afrobeat and Jazz drumming in solo projects and with Munich-based Jazz quintet Fazer.
The B-side holds a rework by fellow Munich producers Zenker Brothers. The Ilian Tape heads and notorious audiophiles put their drum machines aside and weaved the recordings with layers of mystic synths into a tingling organic IDM tune.

»Efia,« the sophomore album by Rosaceae, picks up where the Hamburg-based sound artist’s 2019 debut on Neoprimitive left off, further exploring the topics that had already informed »Nadia’s Es- cape«. From its confrontative front cover to the eight tracks on the album, »Efia« is fully dedicated to the motif of resistance, but does not exhaust itself in polemics. Rather, it masterfully translates the complexities of its underlying central themes into a visceral narrative.
»Efia« was originally conceived as a commissioned work for the 2019 edition of Hamburg’s Noise- xistance festival and departed from a sentence uttered in the British 1980s TV show »Sapphire & Steel« which inspired cultural theorist Mark Fisher in his analysis of what he had coined »hauntolo-gy,« a term originally coined by the Algerian-French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the early 1990s: »There is no time here, not anymore.«
The album again showcases Rosaceae’s knack for combining abstract experimental sound art with a form of storytelling that had already been at the centre of »Nadia’s Escape« and which relies on both verbal and musical means of giving a voice to the voiceless. The disembodied voice of - amongst others - Jesseline Preach and manipulated vocal samples blend in with dense soundscapes, elements of Neue Musik and occasional pure harsh noise. It’s a mix that deliberately puts different artistic tradi-tions into a dialogue with each other: the hallmarks of European salon culture are con- fronted with Kurdish wedding music and the unnerving loop of someone demanding a »Zugabe« (»encore«).
Thus, »Efia« not only blurs the lines between cultural and regional traditions, but also conjures up the ghosts of a past, ghosts that are more than ready to haunt the timeless present trying so hard to repress the atrocities happening at its fringes. As a whole, this makes »Efia« both a chilling work of sound art and a vibrant political statement fuelled by burning hot energy.

Repress!

Just when you think that the well of obscure music from around the world has run dry, Analog Africa returns to put the record straight. Pop-Makossa shines a light on a glorious but largely overlooked period in the story of Cameroonian makossa, when local musicians began to replace funk and highlife influences with the rubbery bass of classic disco and the sparkling synth flourishes and drum machines of electrofunk. The resultant compilation, which apparently took eight years to produce, is packed full of brilliant cuts, from the heavily-electronic jauntiness of Pasteur Lappe's "Sanaga Calypso" and horn-totin' Highlife-disco of Emmaniel Kahe and Jeanette Kemogne's "Ye Medjuie", to the dense, organ-laden wig out that is Clement Djimogne's "Africa".

new quartet by Samuel Rohrer, Max Loderbauer, Stian Westerhus & Tobias Freund In the present era of media saturation, the artist's dilemma has shifted away from the question whether to fuse disparate stylistic elements, towards the decision of which energies to draw upon: a situation most rewarding for those who listen to musicians navigating this limitless terrain. One such journey, the captivating full-length release from Samuel Rohrer's new Kave quartet coming out this May, is bringing together players who are equally well-versed in the quick-thinking mechanics of free group improvisation and the compositional strategies of contemplative / ‘ambient’ electronic music. With Rohrer acting as creative director and most of the quartet sharing synthesizer duties, there’s a strong sense of unified purpose to this set, and a narrative flow that never causes the listener to focus on one constituent part at the expense of the whole. At the same time, the players know all well that cohesion counts for little without those constituent parts being compelling in their own right. Rohrer and Loderbauer, for example, have previously crafted a unique techno-organic approach with the Ambiq trio, and the lessons learned from that partnership are put to inspired use within this new configuration. Stian Westerhus’ contributions on guitar and vocals, along with Tobias Freund’s electronic reinforcements - Freund also has worked since many years with Max Loderbauer as NSI - all conspire to make something that Rohrer aptly compares as “forest”-like. It’s a descriptor that will have vastly different meanings for each listener. For Rohrer, it refers to music that is confident in the “deep-rootedness” of its foundations and defined by a density and mystery easily confused with darkness, while nevertheless proving its bright vitRight away, on the introductory odyssey 'Cambium' the quartet sets out to make good on this metaphor, creating a hypnotic foundation for what is about to unfold during the next 42 minutes, with brooding, slow, 'searchlight in a fog,' synth washes and percussive stridulation. The twin 'Hibernation' tracks show all the unique elements beginning to coalesce: the emotional tenor is one of vulnerability that melts into the determination of 'staring into the void', a temperamental state challenging to represent authentically in music. The atmosphere of psychic challenge effort lessly gives way to the faintly nostalgic glimmers of 'Giant Peach' - a literary reference to the macabre whimsy of Roald Dahl.
The ultimate dissolution of barriers between organicism and synthesis is accomplished on the majestic 'Divided We Fall', a title referring to Westerhus’ smoky vocalization that winds into a double helix formed from electronic surges.
Again, the ease with which it all comes together is mesmerizing, and while there’s an aura of risk accompanying this walk through the woods, there’s a much more enduring impression of carefully orchestrated growth and change.

OKTEMBER is the second EP release under Wolfgang Voigt’s mythical GAS project. Originally released in 1999 on the iconic Frankfurt imprint Mille Plateaux, and then reissued in 2016 as a part of GAS “BOX”, OKTEMBER is now released on his own label KOMPAKT on 180 gram LP vinyl in its original artwork. This reissue features the single “Tal ‘90“ – originally released as a part of the Pop Ambient 2002 collection.

This two-track long player starts with A-Side “Tal 90”. Sampled strings and guitars soundtrack a more uplifting side to what is typically accustomed to being the sound of GAS. The title track “Oktember” is a dense, hypnotic affair that conjures a unique vision of dub techno that few have been able to replicate.

A monumental soundtrack to uncertain times.

Tilman Robinson’s third album, CULTURECIDE, is an investigation of the anthropocene; a seven part lamentation for our chaotic world.

Tilman Robinson is an Australian composer and sound designer creating electro-acoustic music across a range of genres including classical minimalism, improvised, experimental, electronic and ambient. Tilman’s diverse output focuses on the psychological impact of dense sound employing acousmatic and psychoacoustic principles. His third album CULTURECIDE will be released on Iceland’s Bedroom Community label in April 2020.

CULTURECIDE: “...processes that have usually been purposely introduced that result in the decline or demise of a culture, without necessarily resulting in the physical destruction of its bearers.” D Stein

CULTURECIDE is a rich sonic collage, harvesting sounds from a range sources including field recordings, medical machines that monitor the human body, traditional instruments and synthesisers, often melted electronically. The result is an unsettling paradox with sounds constantly on the edge of recognition. Each piece references a specific socio- political issue ranging from colonialism to neo-liberalism to climate change and the impending singularity of humans and machines. Far from an answer to these questions, CULTURECIDE invites us to meditate on their place in our life and approach personal understanding.

Recorded and produced almost completely in Australia, a land at the forefront of the devastation of climate change, CULTURECIDE was an attempt at catharsis for its author frequently appalled at his country’s incredible apathy and inaction. Mixed by Bedroom Community regular Daniel Rejmer and mastered by Lawrence English, works from the ambitious and unsettling record saw Tilman nominated for the 2019 Melbourne Prize for Music.

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Originally recorded in 1994 and released in 1995, Home is characterized by MASSAKER's ultra-refined riffs of shrieking, screeching feedback, and rattling machine gun staccatos.

Exuding confidence, authority and a natural rapport that the musicians clearly had with one another. Certain songs from earlier records were revisited on Home including "The Tribe" and "Massaker" from The Tribe, and "Templehof," "Hunter Song," and "Böhmen" from Black Axis. These pieces had evolved following years of rethinking, rehearsing and reshaping them on stage, as well as playing with Danny Lommen, who had replaced Frank Neumeier on drums after Black Axis.

These refined versions on Home raise the level of density and tension, the ominous evocations of impending doom, booming threat, and the grim determination that's always driven MASSAKER.

Jon Tye and Pete Fowler have been making music as Seahawks for a decade now. Given the sounds they’ve been exploring over those ten years it was a cosmic inevitability that they would be asked to contribute to the catalogue of the legendary library label KPM.

They replied with Island Visions, an exploration of sound for vision where they construct “audio micro-worlds to explore and inhabit”. A way to transport the listener away from the everyday without the bother of getting on an aeroplane. Mind travel is space travel after all, and much better for the environment.

Mostly recorded at The Centre Of Sound in Cornwall, with additional recording at Studio 34 in London, Jon and Pete’s travelling companions on this particular trip were boogie wunderkind Sven Atterton on fretless bass and keys, Nick Mackrory on percussion and the Seahawks live team of Dan Hillman and Alik Peters-Deacon.

From the grooves of Brian Bennett to the moog vibrations of Mike Vickers, the lush textures of Les Baxter to the experimental sounds of Delia Deryshire and David Vorhaus, this new music channels sounds and moods from across the KPM universe.

The spacious “Hot Sand Shuffle” opens the record with some of Seahawks’ familiar “deck-shoegaze”. The slinky digi-dub of “Sky Blue Sky” follows, gently encouraging us to lay back and relax. “Mystic Beach” is a refreshing ocean spray of a synthetic groove that clears the head, priming a pathway to receive “Crystal Forest”, a new age house groove of birds and flutes.

Dense, deep and dreamlike, “Distant Shore” is ambient rainforest house with a 90s vibe, its dense foliage clearing to let us bask in the shimmer and shine of “River Run”. Hang drum, electric gamelan, flute and loon close side A.

Side B bounces into being with “Catch A Wave”, an upbeat beach groover of synthetic guitar, effervescent synth and snappy drums. Equatorial bubbler “Paradise Bird Bath” soon glides in with marimba, crisp beats and fat synth bass. Fender rhodes, space echo and fretless bass make “Smooth Runnings” a laid-back poolside groove.

“Spirits Have Flown” conjures a hazy vibe with marimba, sax, synth funk bass and chilled beats before “Rolling Deep” serves up a light cocktail of sultry rhythms, refreshing textures, cooling sax and fretless bass. Almost-title track “Island Blues” brings the horizontal poolside feels with melodic chimes, oboe and more fretless bass for maximum vibrations. The marina drone of modular electronics, celestial trumpet and jungle ambience pay the album’s final respects to the cosmos on “Sun Salute”.

Like many KPM suites, this is a record of two distinct sides. The sunrise of side A brings a deep meditation, a journey within to renew the jaded self. Side B refreshes with cocktails by the pool and a chance to groove away the evening at some sunset beach party before dancing under the stars in the house of dreams.

Pete’s front cover for the LP is part map, part postcard: “the record has five different sections and I wanted to reference those in the worlds they created, musically and physically. From beach campfire, to poolside hanging and nighttime dancing. A kind of portal to those places and the pictures they inspired in my mind. All places we’d like to be in this turbulent year”. The track descriptions on the back help guide the way.

2020 marks 10 years since Ocean Trippin’, the first Seahawks release, and Island Visions is the perfect distillation of the sounds, sights, textures and moods that Jon and Pete have been exploring over the last decade. Sunrise to sunset condensed to two sides of an LP. The normal rules of space and time don’t apply here.

This is the first time Be With has worked with Seahawks, but individually Jon and Pete have been members of the extended Be With family since forever (Pete did those posters for our Ned Doheny tour and we worked with Jon on the vinyl version of Hatchback’s Colors Of The Sun). Of course we were going to put this out on vinyl.

Mastered by balearic engineer of choice (and Be With’s regular audio co-pilot) Simon Francis, cut by the legendary Pete Norman and pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry, the sonic frequencies of these Island Visions have been precision tuned and encoded for optimum travelling conditions. Take the trip.

Repress

Melodies Of Ancient Beats Depth or Deep, (with Dep also meaning beautiful in Indonesian) is the meaning of this newly created persona from the artist DemoDc. After many years of experimenting with music making, releasing digital eps and albums, Demo has come to an end of a cycle arriving to a mature state of craftsmanship, ready to deliver his dream onto the vinyl medium.

This is the 2nd ep that continues a volume of a 5 ep project. Its own kind of album type edition so to speak. Everything Eye Love is a piece of electronic music that embodies much of what is personally loved when it comes to innovative techno. Broken beats with a gentle gallop of hop, whisking away into what seemingly can be taken as over melodic madness at 1st, yet when letting go of any expectation, a delightful swim of glistening magic dances with dedicated playfulness expressing a deeper emotion of heart felt delivery. Behind the scenes are a very reminiscent display of Detroit techno chords combining to give the track the old yet new skool vibe. Heart Tribal, is exactly that. Cutting through the ego, battling the darkness with dark undertones seeking to find the jewel of light through the denseness of dark reality, to find true centre. With tribal reflections and electric ground of beats, Heart Tribal extends itself into bridging the soul from dense reality into light. It also pays respects to the fact that when finding clarity in any given moment in everyday life, it doesn’t last long within this complex world of manipulation and dark intention that we seem to be living in. However, this is the meaning understood by MOAB DEP, does it resonate with you? Or does it speak to you entirely differently?

Former Metal Drummer and Guitarist Mython found his passion in the Techno scene of Berlin and can count himself to the core artists of Florian Meindl's FLASH Recordings.

Mython's signature sound is shaped by an incredibly dense kick and bass arrangement which always results in a solid wall of sound. The tension between melancholic synth lines and bursting drums is always resolved in the strategically placed breaks, only to be brought back with an even higher intensity.

After contributing with a remix in 2018, made of concrete invite Johannes Volk for a full-length artist release. A scene veteran, Volk is known for his releases on Jeff Mills’ Axis Records, Patrice Scott’s Sistrum or Steffi’s Dolly imprint or for his live appearances in staple clubs Berghain, Tresor, Panorama Bar, Golden Pudel, or Corsica Studios to name a few.

Opener 'Soldered Minds' introduces a dense, energy-filled dynamic that’s both impactful and intriguing. Label chiefs Rebar give the track a 'Hum' remix treatment, adding layers of sizzle and flow that transform it into an afterhours-ready alternative. Undulating basslines stand at 'Magma In Slo-mo’s base, a track that offers a solid anchor and great tool for the dancefloor. The haunting, glitch-laden 'Asphalt Flowers' brings unpredictability with its jittery, uneasy atmosphere that, if played at the right time, is the perfect trigger for a descent into dance delirium.

Standards & Practices returns after an extended hiatus with its first release for 2020 and the label's first-ever compilation. Showcasing six exclusive tracks from a variety of musically like-minded allies both new and established, "Out Of Practice Vol. 1" finds some of the most talented artists currently working in electronic music refining their sound and pushing their craft in exciting new directions.

Stave and Grebenstein's "Rack 4", their first collaboration since 2018's acclaimed "Live From Frankfurter Strasse", kicks off the proceedings with a view into a bleak, dystopian sonic landscape, while Italian producer VSK, known for his excellent EPs on Mord and 47 (among others) delivers "Pendulum", one of his best tracks to date - a visceral, unrelenting, broken-beat behemoth. Closing side A is Chicago native Todd Mattei 's contribution, "Lake Charles", a beautifully textured Frippian soundscape.

Kristian Jabs, better known to most as Pessimist, opens side B with "Rut", a sleek, stripped-down, techno track that positively drips with moody atmospherics and tension. Overlook and Karim Maas's contribution, the dense and claustrophobic "Chalk", is an ultra-heavy breaks track with hoovers and enough sub-bass to shatter blocks of granite. "7th Recording 29", an ambient piece which represents Jonathan Krohn's first recorded collaboration with long-time friend and associate Benjamin Mjolsness since their work together in the group Male - closes the compilation.

Propulsive, dense, vivid and menacing techno from Myztical.
SHXCXCHCXSH contribute a submerged, delirious remix.

Yes, we know the soul and funk world of the glory days, big labels, radio shows and bands amid a social context of segregation. A context that starts becoming less important when this music genre enters the mainstream in the late 70’s to eventually fade away at a fast pace in the 80’s until its complete disappearance in the 90’s and beyond. This time though, we dive a bit deeper into the hoods, because the social context of today ain’t no greatly different and it has its very own music, deeply rooted in the sounds of the early days, although more immediate and dense of beats and urban feel.

We are in Chicago, a place where every 2 hours someone is shot, and every 14 hours someone is murdered. It ain’t no Iraq or Afghanistan but one of the biggest and most sophisticated cities in the world. In the city’s west and south sides, which are considered the heart of Black America, gang rivalry is tearing its people apart. It has become so brutal that both police and perpetrators agree that this urban warfare is out of control. I started this release process after Yann sent me an heads up on this song and it took me most part of last year to build some mutual trust with Lay Lemons aka Biggz from North Lawndale, main area in the west side of the city and one of the most dangerous places in the world. When I first contacted him, Lay was having a hard time (and still does) as his daughter Raven was caught innocent in a gang shooting crossfire.

After the following investigation, the FBI (yes, big gangs are federal business) arrested and charged some members of The Four Corners Hustlers, yet Raven’s murder has no responsible and Lay suddenly lost his daughter overnight in the summer of 2017. He simply couldn’t concentrate on music, and the silly requests from a mad Italian with his crooked english were probably sounding to him like aliens speaking from outer space. I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Lay’s cousin, sound engineer and recording studio owner living today in Detroit, so accept my gratitude Mr. Tony Amos.

Lay Lemons has never been involved with gangs nor was Raven, nowhere near that business. They are people of music, family and religion trying to survive in one of worlds toughest places. This song, its vibe, the beats, the voice... Are coming straight out of their hood, written around a fire bin on the side of the street and put together with 3 instruments. It has no chorus, it’s verses all the way through, it is a kind of prayer to the unknown in the hope of salvation through everyday strength.

Lay Lemons I salute you.

Cocada, a project which emerged as a diffuser of the musical talent present throughout Latin America, quickly spread its sounds to the four corners of the world, becoming a great initiative for electronic music. We couldn't be happier by this time, Cocada's first release as a record label is born with some respected artists and a beautiful story behind.

The wonderful artwork was illustrated by the Brazilian artist Paula Dornelles, who dedicates herself to the production of experimental artworks, she was able to convey through all her creative potential the depth of the meaning present in the word "freedom", a small sample of Latin American talent also in the visual arts.

On the album, who begins the work is the Brazilian duo, Diogo Vaille and Marcelo Abreu aka Bruce Leroys, with "Liberdade" (Original Vocal Version), a rework of a classic MPB song. The artists managed to perfectly merge the melancholy voice present in the song with a deep and dense bass line, bringing all the emotion present in the lyrics, causing goosebumps.

However, the duo isn't alone in this release. None other than Ricardo Villalobos has also left his trademark with a great remix, featuring fuller grooves and inserting multiple textures for the track.

For the new Arma release Ena explores different, distinct facets of his sound across three productions. “Pale” distills his vision of techno as a minimalist, repetitive construct. Working around non-standard time signatures, he creates a densely woven lattice of percussive pulses, which cut a polyrhythmic path through nightmarish sheets of noise. “Secondary Color” uses a broader palette that opens the Ena sound up to the light,,, “Wired” heads further away from the grid in pursuit of sound design exploration, as a rack of pipes and chambers strike, boom and chime against artful distortion and cavernous reverb. While Ena has historically been hesitant about remixes of his material, he warmed to the idea of long-time Arma friend JASSS reworking “Wired”. Taking the track into her own fiercely individual sound world, she uses the harmonic tonality of the original as a jump-off point for an epic, emotionally forthright chiller loaded with coldwave bombast, trap hats and Silvia’ own voice. Coming from entirely different angles of approach, Ena and JASSS are bound together by their fearless individuality. You can sense the slithers of pre-existing music somewhere in their constructions, but such familiarities are no more than faint echoes of places they passed through on their way to somewhere new.

Heinrich Dressel was an archaeologist, epigraphist and numismatist, creator of a table, still in use, for the cataloging of Roman amphorae. For over ten years, one of the founders of MinimalRome, Valerio Lombardozzi, has embraced the name of the German scholar, becoming both the guardian of a dense collection of sounds from the past and the creator of new brilliant electronic ones. “Completion Of The Amphoras Table”, originally released on cd by Legowelt's Strange Life Records, was the final chapter of the so-called 'Studium Amphorae Trilogy', a triptych of albums which tried to 'evoke' in notes not only the discoveries and the studies of Monte Testaccio's fragments made by the former pupil of Theodor Mommsen.
The first vinyl release of “Completion Of The Amphoras Table”, curated by Souterraine.org and Envlp_Imprint, fills not only a recording void, but also gives posterity a remarkable album to rediscover, worthy successor of “Mons Testaceum” (2007 ) and “Escape From The Hill” (2008),
which reconstructs one more time the ghostly atmosphere of a Rome at the dawn of the 20th century. Heinrich Dressel adopts the stylistic features of gloomy soundtracks and, above all, relies on a set of polyphonic synthesizers that, starting from the rare Elka Syntex, favor the composition of abstract textures, punctuated by some appropriate variations, and harmonies which, net of the
deep bass, make every single track even more magnetic.

With EXHIBITION's second performance, RICO PUESTEL proudly presents the new series-within-the-series "SOLLING", conceptually fulfilling the "triad of A" throughout the canvas of this record: Acid, analogicity and anachronisms.

After recently telling a vast and mesmerizing story on Adana Twins' TAU label, RICO PUESTEL now immerses into his defining habitat roots and creates the long-planned first soundtrack chapter of SOLLING: A central German uplands area in Lower Saxony, spreading into the North of Hesse, shaped by mixed forests, its rural imprinting, a widespread range of regionally varyiing cultural idiosyncrasies and a century-extending history, including the shattering throughout the welters of the Thirty Years' War.
Being the first of several planned chapters, pre-production mostly takes place there while the music is traversed by sound recorded in that area, leading to an existence irreversibly connected to its birthplace.

The impetuous opener "Tilly", characterizing the essence of Johann T'Serclaes von Tilly who commanded the Catholic League's forces in the Thirty Years' War, overrunning the SOLLING throughout 1624 and 1625, culminates in one retro-futuristic affair, building into a overwhelming storm of percussion tapestry and intertwining layers of acid.
The A2 follow-up "Clava" takes the initial impetus to a superior level, overriding itself with an unpredictable enigma-melody after laying the foundation of a high-density groove architecture - all of this representing the almost intangible chasms of a unicum street and its geographical expanse, filled with Rico's far-reaching primordial retrospections, seemingly connecting several contingent coordinates of mysterious happenings over two decades while anticipating the future.
Ultimately, the AA-flipside delivers the groundbreaking SOLLING composition "Pro Foreste Sulgo", presenting an ancient-like struggle of dark and light as told by the principles of nature with two melodic themes, circling around themselves, bound to collide and meld like atoms - all placed within the treetops, shaken by the wind, overlooking a future that might already has been...

“Cryptic, twilight emissions from Villalobos and Loderbauer; their synthetic compound of electronics and ouroboros jazz has walked from ECM and Perlon over to Mana.
Developing a sound that tends to drift along as otherworldly atmospheres and strange fusion, Vilod evade easy categorisation, even compared to Villalobos’ already experimental and genre-twisting solo minimal offerings. He and Loderbauer pull away the backbone inherent to the structure of that dance music, and The Clouds Know refines a deft and subtle musical noir built on ambient cues, sparks and claps of electricity, brushed drums, black voids and subterranean bass swoops. There's a twinkle in the eye and moments of deadpan levity, but the overall mood here is sober and introspective. Emotions run deep.

Through studio mastery and an enigmatic language the album forms a fascinating sonic and sensory work with few compromises. With erratic rhythms notably submerged—techno remains as an irregular pulse in the belly of the beast—fields of crisp, uncanny detail expand greatly. Humid environments appear, dense with the chatter of synthesised insects and the gentle rain of drums and whispering cymbals, enchanting the listener in focus or sublimating into layers of ambience depending on your disposition - and the quality of your stereo field.”

Storming, drone infused techno visions. The label formerly, known as 'tau', operates now under the name: 't-variant' !!!
T-variant 02 follows tau_01.

Since debuting on the label in May 2017, East London duo Earthboogie has been part of the extended Leng family. In rhat time, Izak Gray and Nicola Robinson have delivered a swathe of superb singles and a fine debut album, 2018’s critically acclaimed Human Call. Here they present their sole single of 2019, a two-track fusion of intergalactic, terrestrial and tribal elements reflective of their by-now trademark style. Fittingly, lead cut “Creepy Steve” – a previously unheard workout recorded during the sessions for Human Call – contains many of the musical ingredients that made Earthboogie such an enticing proposition. It boasts a raw, fuzzy and driving analogue bassline, densely layered tribal percussion, dub disco-influenced guitars, woozy electronics and sporadic blasts of African style chanting. As if that wasn’t enough to get the blood pumping, Gray and Robinson have also thrown in some extended, rock style guitar solos and more cowbells, bongos and timbales than you can shake a stick at



It comes accompanied by a previously unheard remix of “Human Call”, the title track from their superb debut album, by friend and fellow musical fusionist Joel Harrison. His version is warm, woozy, driving and percussive, brilliantly re-imagining Earthboogie’s original version as a supersonic slab of peak-time ready deep house. The band’s original chanted vocals, guitars and melodies slowly rise above bustling, all-action drums, weighty bass, alien-sounding electronic flourishes, poignant trumpet parts and seriously dreamy sustained chords.

20 years of Pop Ambient. Already? One didn’t notice. It’s an anniversary which comes quietly. An anniversary with quiet tones.
In the spirit of the special restraint of pop-elegance, it has no reason to drawn attention to itself with a big „Tam-Tam“. Or better: „Bum-Bum“. The bass drum stays outside. Nevertheless, in fast-paced, overstimulated times of moving forward, it’s a joyful occasion to look back.
What strikes most by putting or listening to 20 years of pop ambient in a row is the central theme that holds together the dense aesthetic concept like the pearls of a necklace.
Floral beauty for digital naturalists. Music like flowers, that don’t wilt. Timeless. Ageless. But with all of the conceptual unity and resolution, Pop Ambient would not be Kompakt without the break, the friction, the expansion of musical boundaries in between tradition and innovation, in between conspiracy and the openness of the discourse.
Aestheticism, escapism, acting in the spirit of „nevertheless“. Swans drifting by, clouds pass over, everything is floating and: „Boredom is a stylistic device“ (Andy Warhol).

Pop Ambient Music is medicine against illnesses, that you don’t even suffer from. It’s giving everything, demanding nothing.
Musical lotus leafs, off which the virtual wastewater of our time is rolling like the reality is dripping off the matrix.


In this sense, we’re happy about the pop-ambient anniversary greetings from new and old companions like Thore Pfeiffer, Max Würden, Yui Onodera, Jörg Burger, Thomas Fehlmann, Morgen Wurde, Leandro Fresco aswell as contributions from T.Raumschmiere, Andrew Thomas and, after a long break, from friends from early days like Joachim Spieth, Markus Guentner und Klimek.

Pop Ambient 2020 is released digital, as CD and of course as a chic double vinyl. Also included in the package: The whole distinctive cover-series as an art book of 44 pages. And for all of the old and young fans and collectors there is the Pop Ambient 2001 in a overhauled original version out on vinyl for the very first time.



Breath in. Breath out. Thank you.



Wolfgang Voigt, September 2019.

20 Jahre Pop Ambient. Schon? Hat man gar nicht gemerkt. Ein Jubiläum auf leisen Sohlen. Ein Jubiläum der leisen Töne. Und ganz im Sinne pop-eleganter Zurückhaltung, kein Grund, großes Tam-Tam zu machen. Oder besser gesagt: Bum-Bum. Denn die Bassdrum bleibt ja draußen. Dennoch freudiger Anlass genug, in reizüberfluteten, schnelllebigen Zeiten auf dem Weg nach vorne einen Blick zurück zu werfen. Wenn man 20 Jahre Pop Ambient Platten hintereinander legt / hört, sticht einem zunächst der sprichwörtliche rote Faden ins Auge und ins Ohr. Der Faden, der das dichte, ästhetische Konzept zusammenhält wie die Glieder einer Perlenkette. Florale Schönheit für digitale Naturalisten. Musik wie Blumen, die nicht welken. Zeitlos. Alterslos. Aber Pop Ambient wäre nicht Kompakt, wenn nicht bei aller konzeptionellen Ge- und Entschlossenheit, auch der Bruch, die Reibung, das Ausweiten musikalischer Genregrenzen zwischen Tradition und Innovation, zwischen Konspiration und Diskursoffenheit, inkludiert wäre. Ästhetizismus, Trotzdemismus, Eskapismus. Schwäne treiben, Wolken ziehen, alles fließt – und: »Langeweile ist ein Stilmittel« (Andy Warhol).

Pop Ambient Musik ist Medizin gegen Krankheiten, die man gar nicht hat. Gibt alles und verlangt nichts. Musikalische Lotusblätter, an denen das virtuelle Schmutzwasser der Zeit abperlt, wie die Realität an der Matrix.

In diesem Sinne freuen wir uns über pop-ambiente Jubiläumsgrüße von neuen und alten Weggefährten wie Thore Pfeiffer, Max Würden, Yui Onodera, Jörg Burger, Thomas Fehlmann, Morgen Wurde, Leandro Fresco sowie Beiträge von T.Raumschmiere, Andrew Thomas und nach langer Pause, von Freunden aus frühen Tagen wie Joachim Spieth, Markus Guentner und Klimek.

Pop Ambient 2020 erscheint Digital, als CD und natürlich als schickes Doppelvinyl. Mit im Paket: Die gesamte unverwechselbaren Cover-Serie als 20-seitiges Kunstbuch. Und für alle neuen und alten Fans und Sammler, erscheint zeitgleich Pop Ambient 2001 erstmalig auch auf Vinyl, in generalüberholter Originalversion. Das Ganze gibt es zudem im schicken Jubiläumsschuber in limitierter Auflage und farbigem Vinyl, exklusiv erhältlich nur auf kompakt.fm …

Einatmen. Ausatmen. Danke.

Wolfgang Voigt, September 2019

2LP Gatefold Sleeve.

Lost Ethnography of the Miscanthus Ocean” contains six of their earlier works from 2013 to early 2014. The original release was on cassette from Guruguru Brain which was sold out less than a month. There is a new added D2. Miscanthus Ocean only for the LP version. The album is dedicated to Grass Mountain and the incredibly hot, humid summertime in Taipei. This is also the echo of their instrumental trio period before they moved on to digital composing.

Band Info:
Formed in Taipei, Taiwan in 2013, comprised of member Lu Li-‑Yang and Lu Jiachi, Scattered Purgatory is a name
derived from a Taoist ritual which expiates the souls of the innocent from a state in between life and death and then at last, release.
Growing up in Taipei, where two wheeled transportations are popular, the basin city of such population density and humidity had
inspired their sound distinctively differentiates from the US west coast desert drone. If we use Taiwan new cinema wave in 80s as
the analogy, the massive use of longshots of those films expressed a different halo from the Western Spaghetti; Scattered
Purgatoryʼ’s sound expresses soundscape to the world by using a familiar approach ‒– but with an oriental narration geographically
and spiritually.

In her most personally narrative work to date, A Fossil Begins To Bray is the follow up on Dais Records for NYC producer Hiro Kone, furthering the dialogue set forth on her 2018 release, Pure Expenditure. While the statements on Pure Expenditure rallied behind a point of dangerous excess and injustice, the material on A Fossil Begins To Bray embark upon a journey of discovery and selfanalysis, proposing a potential reorientation towards absence in hopes of illuminating potential futures.

In Mao’s own words, “This album considers the power of absence as neither a lack or deficit, but as a quiet, indeterminable force to cultivate in this time of looming and unrelenting techno-fascism. It asks that we take pause to consider our learned languages and actualities and to better consider how desire shapes our recollections and interpretations of this ‘existence.’” This allegory is expertly applied to every song on A Fossil Begins To Bray. Mao has established a long history of employing absence in her productions to maximum effect. With a vast assortment of diverse elements at play, no single track ever feels overly convoluted and further illustrates Hiro Kone’s skillful attention to dynamic tension and flow. Tracks such as “Fabrication of Silence” and “Submerged Dragon” perfectly represent the power of absence, utilized in a matter to create unique amalgams of decisive, cinematic techno rhythms from the electronic void. As the melodic elements contained within A Fossil Begins To Bray begin to unravel and slowly take form, the unaware are rewarded with a driving yet tangible refrain that offers resolve in contrast to the dense, textureladen backdrop that forms the album’s foundation. The first single, “Feed My Ancestors”, expands upon Hiro Kone’s signature take on electronic music structures. Seemingly free from the predictable contracts imposed by any one genre’s stereotypes, Hiro Kone throttles the foreboding bassline in favor of more calculated, abstract cut-ups that gracefully hold the track in place between hopeful utopia and something more ominous.

Adapted Vinyl was a UK based techno label active in the late 90’s that picked up regular DJ support from taste makers of the time ranging from Jeff Mills to Mr C.

This, the label’s 7th record disappeared before a public release when the Integrale Muzique distribution company went out of business in 2008, but now gets its first official release date after years of very limited availability

Label founder Suade is the artist behind this release and these days he is best known as a highly-sought-after mastering engineer working for artists like Dense & Pika, Paranoid London, Jamie Jones and Vitalic.

Focusing his energies into family life and the fine tuning of other peoples music it’s rare to see Suade’s own music on a new release, but this hasn’t stopped him from collaborating on original tracks with the likes of Magda and Radioactive Man in recent years.

The EP has four contrasting tracks all with different moods and tempos all blended with Techno’s classic motoric drive.

With it’s absence from the usual music marketplaces creating something of a mystery this record ended up receiving a new, unofficial name on Discogs - The Citadel EP which is a title taken from the broken-beat second track on the B side of the record.

The Citadel is just one of the highlights on this eclectic EP, as it’s a Latronic Notron sequencer workout that patiently deploys layered synths in ever-shifting cross-rhythms for a languid 5 minutes before its deep, underpinning bass arrives evoking desert travel and arrival.

Baikal, named after the huge freshwater lake in Russia, is another stretched out meditation on tone and harmony acting as a foil to the delicate and vibrant Latin American percussion that filters in and out through a massive stereo Moog Modular system creating an energetic yet static, ritualistic atmosphere.

Trajan - the most driving track on the EP, gives a nod to the Probe era Richie Hawtin sound with a touch of Drexciyan melodics with shuffled percussion and bleeps over a snaking TB303 shaped bassline where the classic Acid box is given the role of control sequencer only commanding the thick, dirty oscillators of the big Moog.

A1 track Felix is a contrast yet again. A big room melodic Techno piece with another massive bassline and an almost orchestral level of layering, building to nine counter-melodies in total before letting rip with a classic TB303 acid line that builds from the heart of the track.

Nord Noir spins a tale as much as it paints a sonic landscape. Its progenitor Toh Imago took the time to sharpen his artistic chops under a few different guises, resisting the 21st-century affliction that is instant gratification at all costs, ultimately spending over 18 months to develop the narrative arc underlying his first opus. Using the historical context of the north of France's proletariat past, he created a dense, hypnotic, haunted album that will sit comfortable alongside the works of Daniel Avery, Efdemin and Blawan.

Field Recordings, carefully chosen percussion, electronic spice and acoustic ingredients. This is the foundation for every recipe that Bolivian Belgian artist Suso Perez aka Susobrino creates. In 2018, he presented his debut EP “Mapajo” on Global Hybrid Records. Since then he has won several awards; the “Champion Sound Beat Battle” and “Most Promising Artist” at the Red Bull Elektropedia Awards of Belgium. He introduced his creations to numerous festivals in Belgium and abroad.

His new album “La Hoja de Eucalipto” brings alive a more energetic and aggressive part of Susobrino and presents a work focused on the ethnic and world sounds, mixing his masterful percussion with electronic beats to create a unique and distinctive sound. For fans of the organic electro-latino sound of Chancha Via Circuito, Nicola Cruz and Dengue Dengue Dengue.

In this album Susobrino created a story of 5 beings looking for answers in their individual lives.
The first track “La Hoja de Eucalipto” is the ceremony right before the journey. It’s a three part composition to set the tone of the entire album: question, answer and interpretation.
“Despertar” (wake up in spanish) is the realisation of the journey these beings are getting into. The guitar interprets the rain as a cleansing. A fresh breath in, breath out.
“La Marcha” is the physical start of a long journey. They will be walking for days, weeks or even months. The exciting, courageous travellers leave their families and friends towards unknown lands that they never dared to enter. Many days of walking pass and they reach a new habitat. A dense jungle.
“Dispersion”. This brings tension and fear out of the 5 travellers. A 6min long repetitive song that interprets walking in circles. Everyone gets separated from each other and they question with doubts of getting out of the unknown jungle. Eventually, the 5 beings survive the unknown jungle. Exhausted and lost, they keep walking with no idea where to go. That’s when they stumble upon “Polahimán”. A mysterious entity who’s very eager to help and knows exactly where they have to go. With riddles and poems, he gives them directions.
“El Desierto de Pazmancú” A new habitat. An endless dessert. Yet, the beings are refilled with courage, crossing the entire dessert. That’s where Polahimán is waiting for them.
“El Enfrentamiento de Polahimán”. This is the endboss; The Final Chapter. The 5 grown travellers find themselves in many challenges. This is where you, as a listener, can interpret if it’s a good or bad ending. Or an open ending?

Susobrino plays and records everything in his humble studio in Belgium. Percussion, quena (flutes), guitar, charrango, field recordings and a yamaha dx9.

Ground is an Osaka native, but his soul is truly that of a nomad, traversing the planet, befriending kindred spirits found in humans, animals and plants. He is exceptionally receptive to the beauty in everything that surrounds him—the incidental music of a city street, the orchestral chaos of a scrambling radio, the syncopated grace of migrating birds, the simplicity of an isolated hand clap—and as his roadmap continuously unfolds, he accumulates a vast catalogue of visceral tools to musically recount his experiences. 'Sunizm' is a cross section of the artist’s process—an array of complex microcosms overlapping to comprise a thematic whole—gathering field recordings, found instruments, jagged electronics, synthesized chanting, and weaving all into a dense narrative that appears obsessively constructed yet divinely improvised. 'Follow Me', the second of two singles surrounding the album, is complimented with a pseudo drum’n’bass treatment by enigmatic Greek artist Jay Glass Dubs, as well as a massively triumphant b-side entitled 'Ozone House', which is exclusive to this single release. Attention all humans, animals and plants, Ground and the ESP Institute present, 'Sunizm'.

Kanot is Jesper Jarold and Anton Kolbe. With their wide open ears and sharp sense of adaptation they have been involved in some of the last year’s most interesting Swedish musical acts - Fontän, Tross, Uran Gbg, Ultra Satan among others. With the help of Lindha Kallerdahl’s expressive vocals, Jarold and Kolbe weave an eclectic yet durable sonic textile. Call it music for psychadelic hiking, primitive dance beats or speculative folk music - most of all, it is unrestrained music, for the smartest and the dumbest kid in the classroom. In the dense, and at the same time airy production, some drums anchor themselves steadily into the ground while others lash out like reverberating rhythmic gunshots. The tones from Jesper’s guitar and fretless bass float like leaves on the Drangme Chhu River, at times almost drowning in effects only to resurface in surprising and skillfully chiseled melodies that could play forever. This Höga Nord Rekords 7” is just a teaser of an exciting collaboration of which we have yet only seen the opening credits!

Clear Vinyl

BNJMN returns to Bright Sounds with Sensei; following on from the foundations laid by his "Final Network" EP released in the spring of 2018 he again showcases the melodic, yet hypnotic and pulsating side of his sound that he has become renowned for.

Starting with the almost house-like "Soared Above" synths fly over syncopated rhythms which build and then descend into something harsher and earthier.

"Intercellular" goes somewhat harder, yet still retaining the hypnotism and lightness of touch which will suit most hours in the club.

The title track is an exercise in restraint, one for the early hours when everything blurrs and only the space in between the sounds carry you along.

"Walking Into Yourself" showcases the dreamiest side of BNJMN, in slowing down the BPM the producer shows the intricate details of his sound, letting the listener in on a dense forestlike journey.

After last year’s excellent ‘Insula’ album, Proc Fiskal returns to Hyperdub with the six track EP ‘Shleekit Doss’; in his own words, “a kind of representation of the time I was running the club night of the same name in Edinburgh. These tunes represent the night’s ethos of genre-defiance and high-energy futuristic sets, ecstatic and transcendent while still being fun and stupid. I was getting my friends to play and I made all the posters on my phone - like this EP’s artwork. I also started hoarding old FM synths which crop up a lot on the EP, and was reading a lot of sci-fi like Isaac Asimov’s ‘Foundation’, and ‘2001’. The night ran until last November when the bouncers and some punters got in a fight, the club got damaged, and unfortunately I got banned too.”

Through this mayhem and misdemeanour, ‘Shleekit Doss’ feels like an oasis of calm; light, bouncy and melodic, the EP sees Proc developing the depth and range of his music in satisfying ways. The beatless, processed male voice choirs of ‘Satan’ open the set, breaking into glitchy drums before the melodies are time-stretched into a pretty drone and gentle rolling piano. Clouds of bittersweet synths waft across cut-up voices and clattering drums on ‘Smith’s Deli’, while ‘Pico’ is a driving mix of tight, tiny micro-edits that feel like micro-house crossbred with jungle breaks. ‘2 Moros’ takes the Sinogrime developed on ‘Insula’ deeper into dense rhythmic abstraction, and on ‘4 minutes’, charming synth melodies and 8-bit bass lines are threaded through skeletal drum machine kicks and snares. ‘Prop-O-Deed’ finishes the EP, Proc Fiskal displaying his inimitable gift for heart-wrenching anthemic melody, built around tuned Asian percussion and scratchy synth violin.

Since completing his two-decade-long hip-hop trilogy as Dabrye in 2018, Ann Arbor-based artist and Bopside label head Tadd Mullinix has engaged his arsenal of aliases with renewed heat. First came the debut of X-Altera, a new project flexing a wildstyle hybrid of drum & bass and deep techno. Now, he returns to James T. Cotton, a moniker which dates back as far as Dabrye and helped define Spectral Sound, the dance imprint of Ghostly International. While historically tagged as Mullinix’s acid house alias, JTC has always expressed with a more pliable sense of genre, freely fusing an eclectic blend of classic electronic sounds; helpings of Chicago acid, Belgian New Beat, and the leftfield techno stylings popularized both in Berlin and Detroit. With Indigo, Flesh and Fire, Mullinix moves closer to the latter city, adopting a bright, optimistic tone informed by minimalism and futurism.

"I have been more withdrawn and introspective on a personal level, in a positive sense, and I think that fact has made my creativity reach toward feelings about peace, positivity, fantasy, wonder, and openness,” says Mullinix.

The EP is packed, but still playfully ambiguous; a club-ready set built to max out mixing boards with spacious and nuanced melodies and motorized percussion. Five tracks, each with roughly five-minute run-times, offering all but a few breaths in a quest for highly operative dancefloor hypnosis. The record wastes little time locking in; on the first track, “Innerloire Rendezvous,” a dense square kick plows through a brisk four-on-the-floor routine phasing over harmonious synth stacks of rubbery fifths and sevenths. The title track splatters a lenticular static spray between thumping kick, billowy melodic swells, and staticky clicks, snaps, and claps.

Mullinix’s distilled musical vocabulary, developed by his many years in the game, gives the set a misty-eyed quality without compromising its contemporary merit. This is music, inspired by history but fiercely forward-thinking, that feels both subterranean and airborne; in the grind on the ground and soaring above in an iridescent super-charged fog.

key selling points: - Debut release on Spectral Sound - Past releases on Firm Tracks, Nite Owl Diner, Sweat Equity, FCR, Clave - Limited to 300 copies worldwide.

The must have DJ tool is back for a third chapter

Label boss Pete OntheCorner has dipped into his secret stash of firelighters from around the globe.

On the Corner’s backroom and basement workout ‘Versus’ is brimming with heat and is once again the essential tool for discerning DJs.

The very latest productions, new signees, dubs and remixes bring a future taste of the action On the Corner. This uncompromising and unrivalled collection brings the label’s global family together on wax.

Versus III features tracks from Dengue Dengue Dengue, Khalab, Penya, Planet Battagon, Blood, Wine or Honey, James Stewart and the uncompromising street sounds of Mnanda from Dar es Salaam. Flexing their remix might for this 12”: Nicola Cruz, Mahgreban, Hieroglyphic Being and Sarathy Korwar goin’ in live.

There are some familiar faces occupying this tasty wax and some new comers.
Get your atlases out again as OtC criss-crosses the globe introducing you to artists from afar-afield as Dar es Saalam, Chicago, Hong Kong, Lyon, South London, Peru and Rome.

Franc Spangler makes a welcome and long overdue return to Delusions with a mighty-fine three tracker packed with the good stuff. The throbbing bump of the title track with it’s bouncing square-wave bassline and drifting stabs leads the charge, crunchy hats driving along the groove whilst a cut up vocal ratchets up the energy.

Flipping over we have Somewhere Else, a much deeper and jazzier affair based around a repeating four bar horn part. Never straying too far from the dance floor, Franc keeps things percussive and dynamic whilst conjuring up a moment of musical bliss, chiming synths dripping down like golden rays of sunshine on the densely textured orchestral layers.

Closing off the release, Dreamworld takes us by the hand on a tropical excursion, low slung beats punctuated by echoing xylophone riffs and Apito whistle. Dubby atmospherics and warm Juno106 chords give the track a Balearic mood perfect for the summer months ahead.

On July 26th the top-ranking leftfield star Clark will release ‘Kiri Variations’, via his own label Throttle Records – and as always, he has musically metamorphosized into something fresh and new.

This album of plaintive beauty, eerie wyrd arcadian horror and childlike outsider music epitomises his constant ability to flip-the-script and coherently organise an abundance of new ideas.

Mysterious and morbidly beautiful pieces driven by piano, harpsichord, clarinet, strings, electronics and voice are interspersed with fabulously unusual and highly original curveballs:

Odd-in-a-brilliant-way, the faux naïve ‘Kiri’s Glee’, evokes traveling minstrels of yore accidentally eating the wrong ‘shrooms, and ‘Coffin Knocker’ has diffracted psych feel, like David Axelrod’s work with the Electric Prunes, but chopped, screwed and scorched.

‘Forebode Knocker’ is darkly funky, like the kind of lost diggers’ nugget unearthed and sampled by RZA, whilst the sonically-perfect ‘Primary Pluck’ unfurls exquisitely, swaying slowly ever forward like a funeral march.

‘Cannibal Homecoming’ is nothing short of Clark’s most song-based composition ever, featuring augmented human voice as evident elsewhere and also a fully-fledged vocal sung by him.

‘Kiri Variations’ started life as the score to the BAFTA-nominated TV program ‘Kiri’, but only a small (and highly effective) portion of the music recorded was used – intentionally sparingly – by director Euros Lyn. That first incarnation has since grown and morphed intosomething entirely of its own being; a proper artist album.

“In addition to my usual methods of controlled randomness and tangential ideas, the TV commission was a prominent spark for new approaches. It’s a great balancing contrast with the solipsistic studio album”, Clark explains.

The record allows simplicity and playfulness to shine through: “It’s a skeleton of an album, reduced to bare essentials, although it started out rather dense - the thing that takes time is making it succinct."explains Clark. “Certain parts are also what you could call anti muso – for example the recorder on ‘Kiri’s Glee’ is totally out of tune – but it sounds so colourful. I can’t resist the primary paint of acoustic instruments; it’s an antidote to frictionless digital music.

After making music individually for a couple of decades, Peraud and Ferguson decided to collaborate for the first time, joined together by an instinctive desire to blur the boundaries between improvisation and composition.

FZR Sethi is a visual artist, musician and composer who works in several mediums under the expression of draw/paint/volume/sound. His work, either canvas or sculpture, hinges on the fundamental principles of his art, as evidenced in his use of the geometric form.

Ferguson created his alias Rubbish T.C (Rubbish Techno Consortium) in 2015, producing slow and heavy techno made with martial patterns of movement. A producer for 15 years, Rubbish T.C. has been prominent in the free party scene for years.

Moving away from a dance-inflicted mode, Sâd Hu achieves more of a balance with skill and craft. A dense, textural approach hints at something more expansive and insidious. Diversity and richness unexpectedly coalesce into an eerie, percussive scapefest over sonorous layers of droning bass tones and raw power.

eudemonia presents a fresh EP by the always surprising Too Smooth Christ. Just in time for summer season the release showcases five playful and versatile tracks ranging from house and electro to ambient - each with their own distinctive character. Profits will be donated to Musicians Without Borders.

Stepping out of the dojo with sublime focus - DJ Youngsta's subsequent addition to the Sentry discography unveils its sound system technique in abundant grandeur. Supported by the likes of UKF and Disciple Recordings, the achievements and long-standing dedication to the bass music scene of the London-based artist speak for itself. Now taking charge of the controls, The Others materializes two irreproachable cuts of undiluted Dubstep for the imprint's tenth single outing, bringing forth an exceptional display of the artist's creative ingenuity as well as technical ability, that perfectly falls in line with the label's vision and acclaimed discography.

Anticipation permeates the air. Haunting flute melodies intermingle with tribal drums in 'Shaolin' - introducing itself, saturated in tension. Surges of electric power progressively increase the strain as the sound of the final chimes strikes its apocalyptic verdict. Heading into full-frontal warfare and the midst of a sword fight, a murderous array of distorted overtones leads the way through the trenches, dug by its huge drums and minimal instrumentation. Densely loaded with ingenious sampling and off-kilter groove, the resulting soundscape will wreak havoc on any proper sound system and skanking audience.

Turning the echo up to eleven, the B-Side 'Feedback' boasts an equally effective inferno, culminating in otherworldly levels of pressure and energy. Contemplative synth melodies merge into the melancholic soundscape, feigning brief silence before promptly being reconstructed into a super-charged form. The ensuing shutdown swings to the merciless groove onslaught of its highly fissionable basslines, roaming the dance floor with rhythmic intricacy and a universe of switch-ups and creative breaks - The Other's signature style taken to its fullest extent.

The Soulpop Continuum – by Arno Raffeiner
Six songs, one sound signature, one vision. Supreme Beats Series by Drei Farben House is an album
that firmly stands in the tradition of the big records of the disco era: a vinyl disc full of kicks and licks,
just as much as two sides in amazing sound quality can hold.
The album is the latest work of Michael Siegle, the Berlin-based producer and owner of Tenderpark
Records. 13 years after Drei Farben House's first full-length on the acclaimed Force Tracks label, it
features contributions by singer and songwriter Mavin and none other than Robert Owens who's voice
shaped house music forever. The trademark sonic elegance of Drei Farben House blends perfectly
with the timbre of the man behind Fingers Inc.'s Mysteries Of Love. Siegle's work as a producer is not
so much about turning this rich heritage upside down, but about refining it and creating a space within
that realm that's very much his own.
The title of the opening song with Owens states it: I’m Remaining Here. And Supreme Beats Series
invites you to come over and stay there, too, in a refuge of class and funkiness. The record offers
dense layers of rhythm, vintage keyboard sounds, chucking guitar, and vocal samples that indulge in a
many-voiced conversation. Not to forget the prominent, singing rather than walking bass lines
performed by the hands of Michael Siegle himself with his bass guitar.

New Release Information
You could think of Supreme Beats Series as a cross-section in time and space. It allows you to take a
closer look at the here and now of a much bigger picture, both aesthetically and socially. Siegle uses
the vocabulary of house music in a way that transcends its conception as merely a genre and speaks
of the historic evolution and the profound roots of this music as a movement. His record takes
inspiration from 60s Motown hits as well as the blue eyed soul of the 80s, you can discover influences
ranging from Philly's pre-disco craze to new jack swing and on to the heyday when house-pop divas
stormed the charts. By drawing these lines, Siegle deliberately opens up the space of a visionary
Soulpop Continuum.
In the 1950s, the American issue of Vogue magazine had their say about Coco Chanel's work and its
ever-lasting impression on fashion and design. They claimed it was all about “infinite variety within
narrow limits,“ and meant that as a compliment, of course. Michael Siegle likes to think about Drei
Farben House in a similar way. And you should, too.
Info about the artwork:
As far as the cover artwork of 'Supreme Beats Series‘ is concerned, the release of Drei Farben
House’s new album shows the second part of an image series which has been started with TDPR
release # 021 and which revolves around architectural photos taken by Achim Valbracht. Tenderpark
art director Till Sperrle and photographer Achim Valbracht like these pictures of various commercial
buildings erected in Berlin in the 1990s to be seen as a critique of investor-driven architecture which
has been dominating Berlin for several decades now.
The fascination of these pictures lies in their ambivalence of staging a normalised and globally
standardised kind of beauty, but at the same time revealing a strong sense of isolation - noticeable not
only but also in the absence of human beings. This new series of images is to some extent a
continuation of art director Till Sperrle's and label manager Michael Siegle’s interest in architectural
photography. However, at the same time the photo series also embodies a new angle on the subject
since all previous picture series on Tenderpark had been an affirmation of socially progressive
architecture which expressed a longing for socio-cultural utopia.