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From the whip-like crack of Yako's signature staccato vocals and impossible-to-memorize lyrics to the relentless overdrive tempo of their oneof-a-kind prog-core, Melt-Banana have long resided in a cybertopia of their own devising where the limits of technology and human capability are old-world concerns as quaint and cumbersome as bartering with a blacksmith. The demos for Fetch, their first studio album since the severely fried pop-punk of 1997's Bambi's Dilemma, were completed in March 2011, but the Fukushima earthquake changed everything, including
their ability to concentrate on recording. Which stopped completely.

Once they felt ready to return to their music, they decided to approach the songs on a sound-by-sound basis, choosing each tone with meticulous attention to detail, affirming their personal connections, being themselves naturally and openly.


Fetch scrapes glam shimmers off punk's outermost fringes and forges them into a rather intensely technical Deanscape packed with fantastical hybrids. Agata's guitar riffs, seemingly composed in tandem with skipping CD players, are more bad-ass than ever, bright and fractured like the soundtrack for a CC-Hennix-scored biker flick. The album is juiced with electronics and post-rock production, tempering what could easily be a
tiresome and predictable frenzy, yielding unexpected associations: Kate Bush climaxing on Walter White's blue meth; demos of late-period Wire playing metal run through Wasp synthesizers and Autotune; unripe wild
lychees keeping time on an Ankgor Wat tin roof during a monsoon.

They've been performing live as a duo since summer 2012, and will do the same for their '2 do what 2 fetch' tour in support of the album. After nearly 20 years of playing with a live rhythm section, their use of a PC, while opening possibilities for a variety of drum and synth voicings, does not signal a move away from the traditional live band sound, as heard, for example, via the future transmissions from downtown Noiseapolis on
2009's Lite Live: Ver. 0.0. Yako and Agata say they need to feel real band sounds onstage as much as someone in the audience. This is a group that routinely excels at several kinds of impossible simultaneously, so of course any new challenge they come up with for themselves is sure to blow the doors off your Mini Cooper. - First record as a duo expands the M-B sound
into multiple dimensions - LP includes digital download card; first
pressing on clear vinyl

Alex Font is a serious guy who knows that now is his time. A multi-instrumentalist, as well as a producer and DJ, he can sometimes be seen on stage in trademark shirt and bow tie. He declares himself a lover of vinyl and, above all, what he calls real house. I think that says it all.

'NOW IS MY TIME' is the fifth release on the Oblack label and is available in black vinyl and digital. It is undeniable proof that Alex Font has arrived and is now a permanent force on the House scene, mainly in soul and dance, but who also knows how to reinvent his sound using new tech. Always with an eye on the future of sound innovation, he still manages to keep hold of his roots and respect his great influences. Well, nothing less would do. On this EP you can tell that Alex Font (remember, this is one serious guy) knows what he has in his hands and spinning on his turntable. His knowledge of musical composition, harmony and engineering skills jump out at you as soon as the first beat of 'Now is my time' hits the speakers: darkness, sophistication, soul and groove. There's a perfect command of tempo, of where, when and how. You pick up on the instrumental skills which allow him to do what he wants, when he wants. That's what's so great about this: you're struck by the ease of how such perfect technique and astoundingly good taste come together. Digitally analogical (or is it the other way round), this is the deeply profound vs. the dancefloor. It fascinates and liberates, carrying you off through different dimensions before breaking out of itself, with no need for artificial fanfares as it's so perfectly defined by Chicagoan pianos, hi-hats, funkoid vocals, etc. He's simply extraordinary: Alex Font signed by Oblack 005.

The remix by Martinez gives this track a technical edge and club splendor. Leaving out the more classic elements of house that are present in the original, the Swedish producer slows things down so that it doesn't lose any of its elegance, but at the same time the track gains punch on the dancefloor, and there's no doubt that it works. As cool as it is effective at inciting dance and everything else that comes with gyrating your pelvis in the early hours of the morning.

Finally, the Argentinian Shall Ocin plays the scoundrel here by adding diverse electronic elements that take the track into a new dimension. By giving the vocal more prominence, here it takes centre stage, and over a well-layered tech-house base, it makes the tremendous savoir faire of the original literally surf, while at the same time respecting and completing it.

In the end, it's great that you know that this is your time and that you want to share it, through Oblack and on vinyl, with all of us. Thanks comrade.