quête:dimension 6

Spatial & Co Vol. 2 may well be the best album in the Spatial & Co series. It's absolutely flawless. Again created by French disco lord and Arpadys maestro Sauveur Mallia for French library label Tele Music in 1979, it leans far more into the space disco sound than the clean cosmic funk of its predecessor. And it's all the more thrilling for it.

Wide-eyed opener "Discomax" is starts as pure piano-disco brilliance with a bassline to die for before heading off into wigged out territory, all acidic squelches and jaw-dropping percussive breakdowns. Perfection. "Space People" follows, an eerie, half-beatless sci-fi synth workout played out against a hauntingly metronomic pulse for the first half - proper slow-mo space disco business - before the beat kicks in, the electric guitar solo wails beautifully and the bassline that emerges at its conclusion rides in on some other shit.

Closing out the A-Side, the six minute long "Bass Power" is, unsurprisingly, a deep, low-end roller with head-nod drums, whizzing synths, blissed out ambient vibes and Mallia's otherworldly bass playing super high in the mix. It's white hot funk, make no mistake, and it sounds like a re-geared library version of Roxy Music. Yes, *that* good.

Side B is laced firstly by "Holidays Morning", an emotional disco-pop groover, all electric guitars, skipping drums and synthy bleeps with more than a few moments of pure driving funk.
One for the deep heads, longtime favourite "Electric Maneges" follows, a bleepy, haunted dancehall gem, uncut tropical balearic-funk from another dimension. The sophisticated digi-soul of "Loving Discovery" comes on like a weird, interplanetary Sade instrumental, all swelling synths, warm keys and syrupy guitar rhythms. Hearing is believing.

Arguably saving the best til last, the fierce, proto-techno of "Exotic Guide" closes out this extraordinary set. The intro genuinely sounds like Detroit would a good few years later - just wild - before it glides into a driving percussive funk break complete with both stabbing, insistent synths and those of a more winding, laconic variety. The one complaint? It's over far too soon. Remarkable.

Sauveur Mallia is a crucial figure in the history of electronic and dance music and a hugely underrated French library bass player and composer from the Arpadys / Voyage crew. This is just the beginning of Be With's Mallia - Tele Music reissue campaign!

The audio for Spatial & Co Vol. 2 has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring the punch of Sauveur's bass and those sick drums come through to the fullest. Pete Norman’s expert skills has made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original and iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Limitiert auf 1.000 Exemplare!

Die schwedischen Progressive Death Metaller SCAR SYMMETRY haben die Wiederveröffentlichung von vier ihrer klassischen Alben angekündigt. Pitch Black Progress (2006), Holographic Universe (2008), Dark Matter Dimensions (2009) und The Unseen Empire (2011) werden alle am 14. April zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich sein.

Limitiert auf 1.000 Exemplare!

Die schwedischen Progressive Death Metaller SCAR SYMMETRY haben die Wiederveröffentlichung von vier ihrer klassischen Alben angekündigt. Pitch Black Progress (2006), Holographic Universe (2008), Dark Matter Dimensions (2009) und The Unseen Empire (2011) werden alle am 14. April zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich sein.

1.000 Exemplare!

Die schwedischen Progressive Death Metaller SCAR SYMMETRY haben die Wiederveröffentlichung von vier ihrer klassischen Alben angekündigt. Pitch Black Progress (2006), Holographic Universe (2008), Dark Matter Dimensions (2009) und The Unseen Empire (2011) werden alle am 14. April zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich sein.

Limitiert auf 1.000 Exemplare!

Die schwedischen Progressive Death Metaller SCAR SYMMETRY haben die Wiederveröffentlichung von vier ihrer klassischen Alben angekündigt. Pitch Black Progress (2006), Holographic Universe (2008), Dark Matter Dimensions (2009) und The Unseen Empire (2011) werden alle am 14. April zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich sein.

Limitiert auf 1.000 Exemplare!

Die schwedischen Progressive Death Metaller SCAR SYMMETRY haben die Wiederveröffentlichung von vier ihrer klassischen Alben angekündigt. Pitch Black Progress (2006), Holographic Universe (2008), Dark Matter Dimensions (2009) und The Unseen Empire (2011) werden alle am 14. April zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich sein.

1.000 Exemplare!

Die schwedischen Progressive Death Metaller SCAR SYMMETRY haben die Wiederveröffentlichung von vier ihrer klassischen Alben angekündigt. Pitch Black Progress (2006), Holographic Universe (2008), Dark Matter Dimensions (2009) und The Unseen Empire (2011) werden alle am 14. April zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl erhältlich sein.

Edition OF 500 copies, Comes with insert and download code.

An album that sounds like The Menahan Street Band playing in a tropical jungle, at dawn, right at the point when the first rays of sunlight penetrate the dark depths of the forest. During the 2022 summer of natural disasters, under an unprecedented heatwave, and haunted by news reports of ancient relics, sunken ships, and hunger stones resurfacing as rivers dried-up all-over Europe, Amsterdam based multi-instrumentalist producer Alex Figueira started to hear uncanny metallic vibrations And eerie melodies of untraceable origins, day and night. He recalls nightmares of winged creatures inside timeless structures of Escherian architectures playing cosmic instruments amidst tropical storms
and acid rains. As the visions came more often, his wife reported that he babbled during his sleep about South American demon Yurupari. Soon, Alex found himself in a sleepless state and decided to cleanse the studio, with hallowed rites and
the intense burning of Palo Santo. After almost burning the studio down, he turned to his neighbourhood’s most experienced psychic, seeking answers. He was told there were “cosmic entities” trying to manifest a message “too complex for us to understand in this dimension” and the only way he could find peace was to deliver those messages in a decipherable form. It was then he decided to transmute his hallucinations into music, an all-or-nothing cathartic solution.

Alex entered a feverish dream, fuelled by the kaleidoscopic motion of the cosmos, ancient meteor showers, and visions of forgotten interstellar South American gods. He remembers very little of the work, but the outcome is this record. Entirely composed, recorded, produced, and mixed in a frenetic nine-day studio stint.

How the experts describe it:

”Just when outernational vinyl vampires thought they had it all sewn up, the metronomic makeshift
magician known as Alex Figueira unravels the entire fabric of your record collection to expose a gaping
hole where PUNKUMBIA and Transplant-Tropicalia should be. Reducing an expansive palette of
influences to a recipe that tastes wildly exotic but comfortably over-familiar, Alex’s roles as both
scavenger and chef, bookend a whole ensemble of other highly adept musical personalities in between.
Discover this record NOW, or wait until all your friends (or enemies) recommend it to you later.”
Andy Votel (Finders Keepers)

“Incendiary, lysergic takes on South American and Caribbean music from one of the scene's truly
authentic and eccentric producers. You can always count on Venezuelan-born, Amsterdam-based,
multi-instrumentalist, music-fanatic Alex Figueira to surprise and innovate, whilst consistently keeping it
true and real. The former Fumaça Preta drummer & front-man's debut solo album does not disappoint!”
Miles Cleret (Soundway)

“The one man band Alex Figueira comes through with some major flavors on this one. Cumbia beats and
psychedelic elements with that Latin touch of soul & Funk!”
Kenny Dope (Masters at Work)

“I really respect Alex Figueira’s DIY ethos. From running his own little funky recordstore to running his
own label and making his own music by playing every instrument himself. I was already a fan of the song
“Aprende” which he released on 7 inch and with“Mentallogenic” he takes it a step further in that same
vibe. From songs like “La Culebra” making use of a vocoder in his typical latin sound to songs like
“Serious” playing with rhythmic changes and topping it off with some synth flavors. A lovely and fun
album”.
Antal (Rush Hour).

Reissue Des Soul-klassikers Des Detroiter Sängers, Komponisten Und Produzenten Lou Courtney (the Fifth Dimension), Im Original 1974 Auf Epic Records Erschienen: "i'm In Need Of Love" Gilt Als Eines Der Besten Modern Soul-alben Aller Zeiten, Insbesondere Die Beiden Rare Groover "i Don't Need Anybody Else" Und "what Do You Want Me To Do" Sind New York-soul Vom Allerfeinsten. Im Gegensatz Zur Ersten Soul Brother-reissue 1999 Enthält Die Cd Nun Zwei Zusätzliche Bonustracks.

SUZI returns after the beautiful EP by Downstairs J with a new power compilation, including contributions by Beta Librae, Flørist, Dashiell, and Alfredo 92. This VA record explores modern takes on tech dimensions driven by catchy grooves.

The record debuts with an essential dancefloor killer by Dashiell, a talented musician based in Naarm/Melbourne. "Beep Beep" has a slick badass attitude driven by its frenetic core melody, accompanied by a spooky cosmic atmosphere, and makes this track an instant hit for dancefloors.

The second contribution, "Listening to the ants," comes from Beta Librae, one of NYC's most unique exports in recent years. Her signature contemporary deep-bleep-groovy sound can also be found in this composition, which has a slow and dubby feel filled with small insect-like details. A perfect symbiosis between organic and digital worlds.

On the flip side, we find "Dot Matrix," a groover by Berlin-based Flørist. Breaky tech-house with MPC-like swingy shakers channeling a balance between minimalistic details and slightly scratchy sound design. The bass-line, one of the key elements here, comes and goes over and over again, creating superb tension from beginning to end.

The final track "Bora" of the record comes from Copenhagen, by Alfredo 92. What makes this track so special is its propulsive drive without any kick drum in it. The association of wind-like groove elements combined with a subtle melody makes this beautifully crafted sonic tempest.

Curation and design by Cleveland. Mastering by Marco Pellegrino at Analog Cut. Distribution & production by One Eye Witness.

Pink Blue Marbled Vinyl

Angelo is an EP, named after a car, featuring nine songs Brijean have crafted and carried with them through a period of profound change, loss, and relocation. It finds percussionist and singer Brijean Murphy and multi-instrumentalist/producer Doug Stuart processing the impossible the only way they know how: through rhythm and movement. The months surrounding the acclaimed release of Feelings, their full-length Ghostly International debut in 2021 which celebrated tender self-reflection and new possibilities, rang bittersweet with the absence of touring and the sudden passing of Murphy's father and both of Stuart's parents. In a haze of heartache, the duo left the Bay Area to be near family, resetting in four cities in under two years. Their to-go rig became their traveling studio and these tracks, along with Angelo, became their few constants. Whereas Feelings formed over collaborative jams with friends, Angelo's sessions presented Murphy and Stuart a chance to record at their most intimate, "to get us out of our grief and into our bodies," says Murphy. They explored new moods and styles, reaching for effervescent dance tempos and technicolor backdrops, vibrant hues in contrast to their more somber human experiences. Angelo beams with positivity and creative renewal _ a resourceful, collective answer to "what happens now?". Angelo the car is a 1981 Toyota Celica they got off Craigslist during their first stint in Los Angeles, where Murphy and Stuart have since settled. "Such a bro-y, `80s dude car, it's been super fun to drive around in a new town," Murphy says. "He's older than us, he's a classic, he's got a story." It is a spiritual vehicle with a cinematic appeal, first dropping them off in an alleyway for the scene-setting intro, "Which Way To The Club." The question is quickly resolved by "Take A Trip" as a cruising bassline mingles with crowd sounds, hand-claps, cuíca hiccups, whip-cracks, even a horse neigh. Brijean have found some club on this cross-dimensional trip - the kind of imagined space or chamber within one's self capable of "shifting a fraction of who you are," says Murphy. They wrote the track with the simple intention to be "as free as we could be," adds Stuart, likening the flip on the B section to a realm unlocked: "What if the world changed completely? You open the door to a new room." Next is "Shy Guy," a motivational anthem for the wallflowers among us. Murphy sets up the daydream: "We are in junior high, we're on the dance floor, what's going down, who is dancing, who is not, how are we gonna make them dance?" The narrator, the MC, hypes up the room as conga-driven rhythms bounce between languid synth and guitar lines. "Show me how to move...I feel something...I know you feel it too," Murphy sings sweetly, calling back to the opening lines of Feelings, and this time the audience chants it back. It is easy to picture Brijean performing this one - something they only got to do a handful of times until more recently, opening shows for Khruangbin and Washed Out, an experience they found informative. Murphy explains, "It was inspiring to be out there and let loose more. To see how people can expand their expression on stage gave me more liberty with how I viewed my musicianship. My role for so long was to be a backup percussionist, so why would I ever leave the drums, you know? But then after playing all these runs, you see these artists and realize you can, you have permission." "Angelo" and "Ooo La La" deliver the danciest stretch in Brijean's catalog to date. The title track adopts a deep house pulse replete with strings, hi-hats, and kicks. The latter opts for a funkier groove that foregoes verses in favor of warbled hums and extended breakdowns. What follows is perhaps the duo's dreamiest run, a comedown initiated with the honey-hued interlude "Colors" drifting into "Where Do We Go?", a tropicália reverie where Murphy contemplates the passage of time and space. It all culminates in "Caldwell's Way," a fond farewell to their Bay Area community - "a part of my life that I knew couldn't come back," says Murphy. Above shimmering organ sounds, lush strings, and the birdcall of their former neighborhood, she wistfully articulates the uncertainty of moving on by remembering the characters dear to them. There's the wisdom of their neighbor, Santos, who refused payment when helping them move out: "I'd rather have 100 friends than 100 dollars." And the song's namesake, Benjamin Caldwell Brown, a friend and club night cohort for many years. "I'm only miles away, maybe I'm just feeling lonely," the line resigns to warm nostalgia, and "Nostalgia" runs the closing credits to this healing and transportive collection.

Mit der Veröffentlichung des ersten Full-Length-Albums "Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel" wurde sofort deutlich, dass VoidCeremony einen Weg beschritten, den nur wenige gehen. Das Album bewies, dass Death Metal mit dem gleitenden, kontrollierten Chaos und dem geschmeidigen Fluss eines Jazz-Quartetts dargeboten werden kann und den Hörer dennoch in einem Kerker gefangen hält, mit wenig HP, ohne Zaubersprüche und umgeben von tödlichen Dämonen.

"Threads of Unknowing" ist eine Reise, die frühere Konzepte wieder aufleben lässt und immer progressivere und technischere Kompositionen hervorbringt. Mastermind und Gitarrist/Sänger Garrett Johnson sowie Gitarrenvirtuose Phil Tougas (Atramentus, Chthe'ilist, Worm, First Fragment) teilen sich hier den Gesang und die Leadgitarre, während Bass-Gott Damon Good sowohl den bundierten als auch den fretless Bass meisterhaft beherrscht und Schlagzeuger Charlie Koryn nicht nur Geschwindigkeit und Brutalität, sondern auch eine feine Mischung aus Präzision und Improvisation aus dem Jazz-Fusion einbringt. Das Endergebnis ist VoidCeremony und ihr unverkennbarer Sound: Zeitschmelzender Death Black Fusion.

Mit einem treffenden Coverbild, das die lyrische und philosophische Vision einer alten und vergessenen Zukunft darstellt, scheint VoidCeremony selbst in einer alternativen Death Metal-Zeitlinie zu operieren, die einst nur kurz präsentierte und bald für mehr kommerzielle Attraktivität zurückgelassen wurde. Doch das Portal hat sich wieder geöffnet und die Verschmelzung dieser grenzenlosen Möglichkeiten und Richtungen wird nun wieder direkt hervorgebracht.

- Das erste Album in voller Länge seit dem Debüt "Entropic Reflections Continuum" von 2020
- Die Vinyl-Version enthält eine Klappeinlage
- Cover-Gemälde von Juanjo Castellano (Majesties, The Black Dahlia Murder, etc.)
- Die Band besteht aus Mitgliedern von Atramentus, Worm, Mournful Congregation, Stargazer, Ascended Dead, Incantation, Chthe'ilist und First Fragment
- Gemischt und gemastert, mit zusätzlichen Synthies von Gabriele Gramaglia von Cosmic Putrefaction
- FFO: Stargazer, Pestilence, Chthe'ilist, Morbid Angel, Immolation, The Chasm, Aenigmatum, Atheist, Timeghoul, Liers in Wait, Innana

Mit der Veröffentlichung des ersten Full-Length-Albums "Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel" wurde sofort deutlich, dass VoidCeremony einen Weg beschritten, den nur wenige gehen. Das Album bewies, dass Death Metal mit dem gleitenden, kontrollierten Chaos und dem geschmeidigen Fluss eines Jazz-Quartetts dargeboten werden kann und den Hörer dennoch in einem Kerker gefangen hält, mit wenig HP, ohne Zaubersprüche und umgeben von tödlichen Dämonen.

"Threads of Unknowing" ist eine Reise, die frühere Konzepte wieder aufleben lässt und immer progressivere und technischere Kompositionen hervorbringt. Mastermind und Gitarrist/Sänger Garrett Johnson sowie Gitarrenvirtuose Phil Tougas (Atramentus, Chthe'ilist, Worm, First Fragment) teilen sich hier den Gesang und die Leadgitarre, während Bass-Gott Damon Good sowohl den bundierten als auch den fretless Bass meisterhaft beherrscht und Schlagzeuger Charlie Koryn nicht nur Geschwindigkeit und Brutalität, sondern auch eine feine Mischung aus Präzision und Improvisation aus dem Jazz-Fusion einbringt. Das Endergebnis ist VoidCeremony und ihr unverkennbarer Sound: Zeitschmelzender Death Black Fusion.

Mit einem treffenden Coverbild, das die lyrische und philosophische Vision einer alten und vergessenen Zukunft darstellt, scheint VoidCeremony selbst in einer alternativen Death Metal-Zeitlinie zu operieren, die einst nur kurz präsentierte und bald für mehr kommerzielle Attraktivität zurückgelassen wurde. Doch das Portal hat sich wieder geöffnet und die Verschmelzung dieser grenzenlosen Möglichkeiten und Richtungen wird nun wieder direkt hervorgebracht.

- Das erste Album in voller Länge seit dem Debüt "Entropic Reflections Continuum" von 2020
- Die Vinyl-Version enthält eine Klappeinlage
- Cover-Gemälde von Juanjo Castellano (Majesties, The Black Dahlia Murder, etc.)
- Die Band besteht aus Mitgliedern von Atramentus, Worm, Mournful Congregation, Stargazer, Ascended Dead, Incantation, Chthe'ilist und First Fragment
- Gemischt und gemastert, mit zusätzlichen Synthies von Gabriele Gramaglia von Cosmic Putrefaction
- FFO: Stargazer, Pestilence, Chthe'ilist, Morbid Angel, Immolation, The Chasm, Aenigmatum, Atheist, Timeghoul, Liers in Wait, Innana

Civilistjävel! returns to Copenhagen label FELT with a four track EP following on from 2022's Järnnätter album.

Equally well placed next to the Biosphere / early Fax +49-69/450464 camp as well as various decades of electro-acoustic drone practitioners, Fyra platser (Four Places) also includes a trip-hop leaning collaboration with Cucina Povera. Whilst Järnnätter drew influence from the cyclical, chasmic nature of dub techno, Fyra platser hones further in on the ‘between’ areas in a minimal, reductivist fashion. The rhythms are there to follow but are primarily beatless and more expansive, though skewing perceptions of time in the same trademark manner.

Three locations in the Nordingrå area of the Swedish high coast are exorcised and channelled through sound. ‘Kolugn’ is a deliberately grainy, sepia-tinged continuation of the likes of Robert Rutman’s work across the 70s American avant-garde. It sits in contrast to the more obviously synthesis-led direction of fellow longform piece ‘Valmsta’. The location slowly changes to Finland via Athens, scenes of cafe conversations and hazy polaroids informing the lyrics of ‘Louhivesi’. The result sounds like a 90s illbient record dropped around 30 bpm and the stylus has caught on a perennial 8-bar loop. The balance of Cucina Povera’s cold, reverb-heavy vocal inflections drive the track into another dimension. If Moral were the Scandi Joy Division, this pairing must be the Scandi Massive Attack.

Released in the UK in January 1967 by Decca Records and February by London Records in the US – Between The Buttons was the Stones’ fifth British and seventh US studio album. Released as the follow-up to Aftermath, this album marked a high point in the band’s career, continuing their ventures into psychedelia and baroque pop balladry, it is among the band’s most musically eclectic works. Brian Jones sidelined his guitar on much of the album, instead playing a wide variety of other instruments including organ, marimba, vibraphone, and kazoo. Piano contributions came from two session players: former Rolling Stones member Ian Stewart and frequent contributor and studio legend Jack Nitzsche. It was the last album produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, the band’s manager and producer of all of their albums to this point.

The album has one of the most striking sleeves of the period, featuring a classic Gered Mankowitz image on the cover. The photo shoot took place at 5:30 in the morning following an all-night recording session at Olympic Studios. Using a home-made camera filter constructed of black card, glass and Vaseline, Mankowitz created the effect of the Stones dissolving into their surroundings – according to Mankowitz… ""to capture the ethereal, druggy feel of the time; that feeling at the end of the night when dawn was breaking and they’d been up all night making music, stoned.”

The songs continued Aftermath’s lyrics of acute social observation and savage insight, their earlier raw, rootsy power enhanced by other influences of the period – notably The Beatles, The Kinks, and again Dylan. It is one of their strongest, most varied LPs, with many great songs that remain unknown to all but Stones devotees.
The inventive arrangements and innovative instrumentation on brooding near-classics like All Sold Out, My Obsession and Yesterday’s Papers brought a new dimension to the music. She Smiled Sweetly shows their hidden romantic side at its best, Connection is one of the record’s few pieces of more conventional driving rock and album closer Something Happened To Me Yesterday includes Keith’s first solo vocal.

The US version includes contemporaneous hits – the two songs that gave the group a double-sided number one in early 1967: the shameless and controversial Let’s Spend The Night Together and the beautiful, melancholy Ruby Tuesday.

Released in the UK in January 1967 by Decca Records and February by London Records in the US – Between The Buttons was the Stones’ fifth British and seventh US studio album. Released as the follow-up to Aftermath, this album marked a high point in the band’s career, continuing their ventures into psychedelia and baroque pop balladry, it is among the band’s most musically eclectic works. Brian Jones sidelined his guitar on much of the album, instead playing a wide variety of other instruments including organ, marimba, vibraphone, and kazoo. Piano contributions came from two session players: former Rolling Stones member Ian Stewart and frequent contributor and studio legend Jack Nitzsche. It was the last album produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, the band’s manager and producer of all of their albums to this point.

The album has one of the most striking sleeves of the period, featuring a classic Gered Mankowitz image on the cover. The photo shoot took place at 5:30 in the morning following an all-night recording session at Olympic Studios. Using a home-made camera filter constructed of black card, glass and Vaseline, Mankowitz created the effect of the Stones dissolving into their surroundings – according to Mankowitz… ""to capture the ethereal, druggy feel of the time; that feeling at the end of the night when dawn was breaking and they’d been up all night making music, stoned.”

The songs continued Aftermath’s lyrics of acute social observation and savage insight, their earlier raw, rootsy power enhanced by other influences of the period – notably The Beatles, The Kinks, and again Dylan. It is one of their strongest, most varied LPs, with many great songs that remain unknown to all but Stones devotees.
The inventive arrangements and innovative instrumentation on brooding near-classics like All Sold Out, My Obsession and Yesterday’s Papers brought a new dimension to the music. She Smiled Sweetly shows their hidden romantic side at its best, Connection is one of the record’s few pieces of more conventional driving rock and album closer Something Happened To Me Yesterday includes Keith’s first solo vocal.

The US version includes contemporaneous hits – the two songs that gave the group a double-sided number one in early 1967: the shameless and controversial Let’s Spend The Night Together and the beautiful, melancholy Ruby Tuesday.

Award-winning Vibraphonist Lewis Wright with Matt Brewer (Double-Bass) and Marcus Gilmore (Drums) partnered together in 2019 on their 'The Color of Intention' CD album. We believed that the recordings deserved release on vinyl.

“The Colour of Intention refers to the creative process itself: that in order to express yourself honestly in music, you have to generate clear intentions developed from thoughts and emotions which then colour the work rather than explaining every aspect of it. In the moment of performance, the goal then becomes to put all these previous investigations out of mind and exist in the present. The colour of intention is describing everything except performance; the slower processes of development, reflection and refinement and how they’ll seep, often unpredictably, into everything that ends up being realised. Working with Matt (Brewer) and Marcus (Gilmore) adds the last and most engaging dimension. How they interpret the music, interact and bring their own highly developed languages to bare, creates something that’s both a reflection of my intentions and also infinitely more sophisticated than it’s possible for me to conceive of. I think in this sense, human connection is the greatest element of what it is we do as musicians.” – Lewis Wright

Following in the footsteps of "Mind Palace" and "Lost Spirits", respectively issued in 2018 and 2021, Hidden Empire return to Stil vor Talent with their eagerly anticipated third studio full-length, "Momentum". Going the same route that came to define their sound throughout the years, Branko Novakovic and Niklas Schäfers cook a savvy mix of deep electroid flavours and prog techno magnitude which flourishes in the long-playing format. Orbiting the frontier between proper no-nonsense, floor-focussed effectiveness and a trademark exploratory take on electronics, Hidden Empire here delivers one of their most accomplished slices to date, which not only spans the largest span of their many-faceted influences, from tribal anchorage to hypermodern escapology, but breathes a truly epic wind into it.

Draped in luscious, silken envelopes and easternmost ambiences, "Dawn" gets the ball rolling on a mystique-imbued note, halfway meditation-friendly material and square-shouldered club busting wares. Moving into Afro-infused house grounds, "Modesty" finds Branko and Niklas heading for the deeper end of the spectrum, as they pull out a clinically precise blender of rattling percussions, opaque incantations, lush synth swashes and verbed-out machine talk, tailored for nightly boogie rituals in the forest. "Avalanche" opts for a more brooding, deadlier approach. Cutting its path away from prying eyes, this one finds Hidden Empire pulling the stealth weaponry to absolute hypnotic effect - perfect for serious in-between peak time business with its thick, thriller-like tension, mist-shrouded atmosphere and surgical focus. Featuring Felix Raphael on vocals, "Who We Are", is a pop-influenced chugger that perhaps best defines Hidden Empire's ambivalent style, both hi-NRG and innervated with a melancholy that infuses down to the bass and most functional elements. Geared up for big-room traction with its seesawing synths and clinical drumwork, Raphael's moving timbre does more than offer a sensible counterpoint to the track's overall sturdy backbone, it takes it to a whole other dimension completely.

"Repeat The Good" ft. Wolfson balances out a fast-ticking groove with those subtle melodic lines Hidden Empire champion to astounding vibrancy, offering a particularly satisfying glimpse into their vortical imaginarium, whereas "Last Call" has us journeying to straight out Moroder-esque territories, flush with the aptly configured palette of fuzzy space disco bass, fast-paced Italo churn and vocodized talk for good measure. All in breaks and chopped-up euphoria, "Vivid" runs the hoodoo down in muscular fashion and with impressive levels of energy throughout, all set at cranking up the heat one notch further, while "Rebel" provides us with the kind of rough-around-the-edges EBM horsepower and neon-clad synth engineering that'll get the basement in a state of alert. Encompassing all of the pair's idiosyncratic merger of styles - from pop-laced Italo to spaced-out techno wares, through jagged motorik and heavily mecched-out jacking house, "Alright" shows off Hidden Empire's wide arsenal of pyrotechnics under the most compelling of lights. A more openly jagged and quirky weapon that hatches into a full-fledged solar number around the half, "Momentum" roars up the club's highway at full throttle, proving a formidable asset when it comes to plunging dancers into a state of weird, left-of-centre euphoria.

A stroboscopic eclipse is predicted as "Dark Sun" enters the room, deploying its obscure wingspan over the ravers, not quite a bad omen as it lets more light in with every bar, its brittle piano lines and heart-wrenching vocals cutting a path into the crowd's pulsating hearts. Graceful as Hidden Empire's music can be, a moment of utter exhilarating beauty. "Savasana" wraps up the voyage with a pure slab of cyphered 4x4 seduction, as an ASMR-like voice guides us across the soul-questioning haze that blankets our pathway onto a luminous finale. A piece of elusive nature, clearly designed for the club and yet telling a tale of off-piste initiation through twelve fascinating movements, "Momentum" will undoubtedly etch on the listeners' mind as one of the German pair's most strikingly powerful emanations.

Download:
1. Hidden Empire - Dawn Interlude
2. Hidden Empire - Modesty
3. Hidden Empire - Avalanche
4. Hidden Empire & Felix Raphael - Who We Are
5. Hidden Empire & Wolfson - Repeat the Good
6. Hidden Empire - Last Call
7. Hidden Empire - Vivid
8. Hidden Empire - Rebel
9. Hidden Empire - Alright
10. Hidden Empire - Momentum
11. Hidden Empire - Dark Sun
12. Hidden Empire - Savasana
13. Hidden Empire & Felix Raphael - Who We Are (Instrumental)

Das neue Album des elektronischen Erkundschafters James Holden, 'Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities', ist Rave-Musik für ein Paralleluniversum, getragen von der Hoffnung, Freiheit und Möglichkeiten der frühesten Tage der Dance Music. Im Gegensatz zum jazzigen Liveband-Vorgänger 'The Animal Spirits' (2017) ist Holdens viertes Soloalbum ein kontinuierlicher Soundcollagentrip, der kunstvoll Audiowelten und Field Recordings mit dem anything-goes-Ansatz pastoraler Früh-90er Klassiker (The KLF 'Chill Out') und ausufernder Radiolandschaften (Future Sound Of London) kombiniert. Mit 12-seit. 4-Farb-Booklet mit Illustrationen von Jorge Velez (Professor Genius).

"Lightning Dreamers" is the new work by composer, trumpeter, post-rock and avant-jazz legend Rob Mazurek and a follow-up to the widely-acclaimed 2020 release "Dimensional Stardust".