Suche:diver

The final installment of the electronic fusion projects that Walter Bachauer concocted for Klaus Schulze’s Innovative Communication label, Visions of Audio delves further into minimalist musique concrete, extending themes developed on Memorymetropolis in drawing on non-European vocal chants, here applied in dissociative layers. The diverse, complex arrangements include the symphonic synths of ‘Promised Land’ and the war-mode Sensurround of ‘1922 In Baku,’ as well as the obtuse loops of ‘The Final Ritual,’ the work inspiring future hitmaker Pilooski. Mondshine fans, Berlin School freaks and abstract electronica lovers should bag it.

RIYL: Guided by Voices, Pavement, The Clean, XTC, Flying Nun. The title of The Stroppies' newest LP, Levity, serves as a creative statement of intent and an acknowledgment of the dichotomy between the music they have made and the conditions in which they were produced. For a group that started over an initial idea to "create open ended music, quickly and haphazardly”, the logistical challenges of creating their second album in the midst of a pandemic, in a city that endured the longest lockdown in the world, created a need to redefine process. Levity, The Stroppies strongest creative statement to date, is the result of this new approach to creative process. Playful yet focused, but broader in scope and experimentation than previous efforts, the ten songs that comprise Levity continue the band's exploration of the pop song as both foil for experimentation and conduit for personal reflection. Whereas the group's debut LP Whoosh! demonstrated their ability to craft clean, concise jangle pop, Levity takes a different route by utilizing a darker pallet of sounds to create its impressionistic whole. Fuzz and distortion are employed to add weight to songs built on tape loops and Motorik drum patterns. Warbling synthesisers and modulated keys add new moods and dimensions to The Stroppies unique brand of pop classicism. Thematically, the band continues their exploration of the personal refracted through the lens of the absurd, though this time around the music feels a few shades darker, a somewhat inevitable consequence of the collective trauma of the past 24 months. While the narrative around the 'lockdown record' is increasingly commonplace, there are unavoidable realities involved in making creative decisions under such circumstances that can't be overlooked, especially for a band that thrives on collaboration. "The restrictions around COVID really informed the way we made the record', says Angus Lord, the band's co-founder and guitarist. "It meant that there was a lot less opportunity to meet and build ideas collaboratively, which is how we’ve worked in the past. Instead, ideas were developed in isolation, then shared digitally, developing slowly over correspondence and only bearing fruit when we were able to be in a room together. I think this had a big effect on the songwriting and execution.” This process even extended to the studio, where The Stroppies found a kindred spirit in John Lee of Phaedra Studios, who mixed the record in isolation, somehow managing to synthesise the band's pop sensibilities with their penchant for studio experimentation. Furthermore, the addition of new member Zoe Monk, known for playing in a diverse array of Melbourne acts (Eggy, Thibault, The Opals) contributed both synthesiser experimentation and rock solid rhythm guitar, a huge addition to the band's developing sound, an infectious combination of the off-kilter 90s US underground, British artpunk ala Wire and a more than generous love of classic Pop songwriting. The Stroppies have managed to craft a record of weight and substance. Through Levity the Stroppies have, at least temporarily, found their feet amongst the chaos

RIYL: Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, Radiohead & Tom Waits. "If you have never heard the Doctors of Madness, you should. Musically they are the Velvet Underground, New York Dolls with shades of glam, hippie, prog and punk all rolled into one, yet are still totally original. Vastly underrated, they should have been huge. Pure genius" Vic Reeves…. The DOM are “the missing link between David Bowie & The Sex Pistols” (The Guardian May 2017). Exploding onto the music scene in 1975 with their theatrical, William Burroughs-inspired Sci-fi nightmare, they were misunderstood by many, but those who knew understood the importance of the band’s dangerous, uncompromising approach to lyrics, to music and to performance. Among the many fans of the band were acts as diverse as The Damned, Vic Reeves, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Spiritualized, Julian Cope, The Adverts, The Skids and Simple Minds. The Sex Pistols supported them, so did The Jam & Joy Division. They were the first to combine the avant-garde approach of The Velvet Underground with a distinctly European aesthetic. The blue hair, exotic stage-names, the lyrical themes of urban decay, political propaganda, mind control and madness were all taken up by the punk bands who followed in their wake. The DOM were trailblazers, pioneers, adventurers…pushing the boundaries of rock music and theatre to see how far it would go before it bust. What happened after them was due, in no small part, to what they achieved in 3 short years. They may not have been Jesus Christ, but they were, arguably, John the Baptist!!! Now, 40 years after they imploded, they are back…with an album seething with lyrical anger and passion. It is the most potent and incisive musical dissection of modern life and contemporary politics released the decade. With tracks titles like “So Many ways To Hurt You”, “Sour Hour”, “Make It Stop!” and the ground-breaking sonic assault of the title track “Dark Times”, Richard “Kid” Strange proves once again that he has his finger firmly on the pulse of our times, just as he had when he founded the band in 1974. Produced by John Leckie (Radiohead, Stone Roses, Pink Floyd), the new album, Dark Times, features contributions from Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Sarah Jane Morris (Communards), Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave etc), Steve ‘Boltz’ Bolton (The Who, Scott Walker) and the young protest singer Lily Bud, alongside the current thrilling and thunderous DOM rhythm section of Susumu Ukei (bass guitar) & Mackii Ukei (drums) of the Japanese extreme glam-metal band Sister Paul, and Dylan O Bates (violin and keyboards). Julian Cope, another rock star who, like Strange, found the confines of music too tight for his ambition, his energy and his imagination, was blown away when he first heard the songs, declaring, “These Dark Times are enormously informing: the RULES OF THE FUTURE are indeed being forged right now”. Top producer Martyn Ware (Human League/Heaven 17) said the album “…reminds me of Iggy Pop’s Kill City album – love it.” and Biba Kopf (The Wire) declared, “Still listening to new DOM album with immense interest and pleasure”. The first single, Make It Stop!, is an impassioned howl against the global drift to right wing extremism and persecution of minorities, and is already a live showstopper for the band. It features the thrilling cross-generational combination of Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Lily Bud on backing vocals. In the period since the last DOM gig in 1978, Richard has written a memoir, collaborated on a cantata with internationally celebrated composer Gavin Bryars, worked as an actor on films with Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Harmony Korine & Jack Nicholson, toured the world in a Russian version of Hamlet with James Nesbitt as his grave-digging co-star, played Glastonbury, sung baritone in the British premiere of Frank Zappa’s200 Motels at the Royal Festival Hall, directed a multi-media evening celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, won Best Art Film Prize at the Portobello Film Festival last year, had his own live talk show, worked with Tom Waits and Marianne Faithfull on the William Burroughs/Robert Wilson stage play The Black Rider, curated events for the Tate Gallery, and sung Walt Disney songs with Jarvis Cocker.

RIYL: Guided by Voices, Pavement, The Clean, XTC, Flying Nun. The title of The Stroppies' newest LP, Levity, serves as a creative statement of intent and an acknowledgment of the dichotomy between the music they have made and the conditions in which they were produced. Levity, The Stroppies strongest creative statement to date, is the result of this new approach to creative process. Playful yet focused, but broader in scope and experimentation than previous efforts, the ten songs that comprise Levity continue the band's exploration of the pop song as both foil for experimentation and conduit for personal reflection. Whereas the group's debut LP Whoosh! demonstrated their ability to craft clean, concise jangle pop, Levity takes a different route by utilizing a darker pallet of sounds to create its impressionistic whole. Fuzz and distortion are employed to add weight to songs built on tape loops and Motorik drum patterns. Warbling synthesisers and modulated keys add new moods and dimensions to The Stroppies unique brand of pop classicism. Thematically, the band continues their exploration of the personal refracted through the lens of the absurd, though this time around the music feels a few shades darker, a somewhat inevitable consequence of the collective trauma of the past 24 months. While the narrative around the 'lockdown record' is increasingly commonplace, there are unavoidable realities involved in making creative decisions under such circumstances that can't be overlooked, especially for a band that thrives on collaboration. "The restrictions around COVID really informed the way we made the record', says Angus Lord, the band's co-founder and guitarist. "It meant that there was a lot less opportunity to meet and build ideas collaboratively, which is how we've worked in the past. Instead, ideas were developed in isolation, then shared digitally, developing slowly over correspondence and only bearing fruit when we were able to be in a room together. I think this had a big effect on the songwriting and execution." This process even extended to the studio, where The Stroppies found a kindred spirit in John Lee of Phaedra Studios, who mixed the record in isolation, somehow managing to synthesise the band's pop sensibilities with their penchant for studio experimentation. Furthermore, the addition of new member Zoe Monk, known for playing in a diverse array of Melbourne acts (Eggy, Thibault, The Opals) contributed both synthesiser experimentation and rock solid rhythm guitar, a huge addition to the band's developing sound, an infectious combination of the off-kilter 90s US underground, British artpunk ala Wire and a more than generous love of classic Pop songwriting. The Stroppies have managed to craft a record of weight and substance. Through Levity the Stroppies have, at least temporarily, found their feet amongst the chaos.

LNDFK (aka Linda Feki) presents her ground-breaking debut album, "Kuni" on Brooklyn-based Bastard Jazz Recordings. Undeniably on the rise after her 2019 breakout performance at Primavera Sound, LNDFK has already caught the attention of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Clash Magazine, Noisey, and Brooklyn Vegan (among many others) while being championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft, and Jamz Supernova & landing spots on tastemaker playlists like Spotify's "Pollen" and "Fresh Finds."

"Kuni" is a spellbinding exploration of dichotomies: Love & Death (Eros & Thanatos), Flower & Fire, Delicacy & Violence, Poetry & Realism, Purification & Destruction. These opposites are reified in the 10-track LPs multifarious and multifaceted sounds, elegantly meandering through a variety of styles and genres, spearheaded by Linda and features the production wizardry of Darrio Bassolino who co-wrote the album.

"Kuni" opens with "Hana-bi," an ambient instrumental piece that sets the tone for the album. Inspired by the Takeshi Kitano 1997 film of the same name – particularly Joe Hisaishi's stunning soundtrack, as well as Kitano's paintings which appear in the film. "Hana-bi" expresses the dialoguing opposites of flowers and fire, the first of many dichotomous representations throughout the album. "Takeshi" acts as an extension and to "Hana-bi," albeit one of opposing sound, with its driving, highly syncopated drums (which reappear throughout "Kuni") – à la Karriem Riggins, Questlove, or Yussef Dayes – frenetic bass line, and jazz chords. Linda's sultry voice is interspersed, initially jumping around in scat fashion, being triggered as if a sample, before her lyrics come in; her vocals are used like an additional instrument, adding to the song's rich texture. "Kuni" truly hits its stride with the next song, "Smoke – a moon or a button" (its title lifted from the 1959 book by Ruth Krauss and Remy Charlip), which is structured like a jazz standard yet flows into neo-soul territory sonically with those prodigious drums a highlight once again.

LNDFK touches on experimental hip hop in two songs on the record (both of which were released as singles in 2021): "Don't Know I'm Dead or Not (feat. Chester Watson)" – track #4 – and "How Do We Know We're Alive (feat. Pink Siifu)" – track #9. Although they embrace a more hip hop-leaning sound, these songs by no means shy away from the exploratory theme, and feature two of the alt-rap scenes rising stars with Chester Watson and Pink Siifu who offer provocatively impressing verses, combining dense word play with unconventional flows. While these tracks may first appear to be outliers on the album, they are undeniably in tune with "Kuni's" message and sonic palette, acting as testaments to LNDFK's willingness to explore and experiment.

Meanwhile, "Ku" – the third and last single before the album release – furthers the pre-established future soul sound while meandering through nu jazz and left-field electronic. Inspired by the graphic novel and film, "Sin City," and its female assassin protagonist Miho, "Ku" is a musical interpretation of Miho's story, incorporating both her beauty – the first half of the song – and murderous tendencies – the second half – to create a stunning juxtaposition, culminating in an ambient finale that suggests the character's vulnerability and inner peace. The song gracefully bridges the gap between Hiatus Kaiyote-esque songwriting, Dilla's rhythmic syncopation, and Thundercat's instrumental prowess (LNDFK has shared a stage Brainfeeder labelmate Kamasi Washington).

Mixed in throughout "Kuni" are a series of instrumental pieces that function as something akin to an interlude. The aforementioned intro, "Hana-bi," and the album closer "se mi stacco da te, mi strappo tutto:" act as bookends, while "Om" indicates the half-way mark, and "Ktm" sees Jason Lindner add his sound the album. These tracks are the ambient foundation of "Kuni," representing the thematic duality of the work. Clocking in at only 24 minutes, "Kuni" packs an astonishingly diverse array of sounds, styles, and themes, all while showcasing virtuosic musicianship and instrumental prowess.

Appearing on "Hana-bi" and "Ktm," renowned international artists Asa-Chang and Jason Lindner add an additional perspective to "Kuni": Asa-Chang on "Hana-bi," and Jason Lindner on "Ktm." Asa-Chang - famously of the Japanese avant-garde group Asa-Chang & Junray - provides vocals and percussion to an alternate version of the instrumental opener, while the acclaimed keyboardist Jason Lindner offers his synth expertise on "Ktm." These features highlight the spirit of collaboration found in LNDFK's music, always willing to try out new ways of working.

LNDFK is a singer and songwriter, born of two cultures – an Italian mother and Arab father. She grew up in Naples, away from her father, the Sahara, her homeland and traditions, which has helped nourish the desire to rediscover – through art – an engagement to her roots. Her music melts with jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop influences, filtered through her experiences and sensibility.

Her first EP, "Lust Blue," was composed with the artistic production of Dario Bass and released by Feelin' Music; after that she released several singles that saw international radio support (BBC, NTS, Wordwide FM) and gained a massive audience on digital platforms. Together with her band, she toured around Europe, performing alongside such notable artists as Kamasi Washington and Mndsgn, among others. Most recently she toured Italy, and performed at Primavera Sound Festival 2019 in Barcelona.

"Kuni," is due out on NYC label Bastard Jazz Recordings in February, 2022, while the vinyl LP will follow shortly after.

Black vinyl with download. Bio Ritmo is recognized around the world as one of the most intriguing and influential indie “salsa dura” orchestras of the last three decades. Their music is rooted in Afro-Caribbean rhythms mixed with retro big-band jazz, a little funk, and all things 1970s. The 10-piece powerhouse began in 1991 as an experimental percussion ensemble that grew out of the diverse local music scene of Richmond, VA, which also gave birth to GWAR, Honor Role, Sparklehorse, and Lamb of God, among many others. Bio Ritmo has received global acclaim, with critics heralding them as “Latin music visionaries” and “one of the most innovative salsa bands of the 21st century.” To commemorate the group’s 30-year anniversary, Merge and Electric Cowbell Records are reissuing Bio Ritmo’s 7-inch single “Piragüero” b/w “Asia Minor,” originally released on Merge in 1996. A-side “Piragüero” is an original track that features the soaring, soulful vocals of Rei Alvarez. The flipside is a mambo classic from the ’50s popularized by the great Cuban bandleader Machito, whom Bio Ritmo regarded as a major influence in its conception. This record is a snapshot of the raw essence of Bio Ritmo in its early years that laid the foundation for the band’s evolution and endurance.

Cologne-based, multi-instrumentalist and creative jazz powerhouse
Gianni Brezzo presents his full-length LP “Tutto Passa,” arriving via
Berlin’s Jakarta Records May 5th.
Gianni Brezzo is the jazz affiliated band / studio project headed by
Cologne-based producer & creative maestro Marvin Horsch, whose diverse musical profile is reflected both in his scene-hopping as well as his creative output. Besides producing cologne bands like Keshavara, Woman and Xul Zolar, Gianni has released a number of EP and LP’s since 2017, culminating most recently with “The Awakening” EP in 2021 on Jakarta Records. While Gianni’s works are usually instrumental only, “The Awakening” featured vocal appearances from Berlin/Tel Aviv based singer / producer J.Lamotta and soul singer Otis Junior from Louisville, Kentucky. Gianni’s tracks have consistently placed on Editorial Lists including Spotify’s “State Of Jazz” and “Café / Croissant”, and most recently was synced in an episode of Gossip Girl for HBO US.

Gianni’s new LP, “Tutto Passa” is a meditation around Marvin’s relationship to Italian culture, accompanied by research into Italian composers of the 60’s / 70’s such as Piero Umiliani, Stelvio Cipriani, Piero Piccioni and Armando Trovajoli to more recent work by Sven Wunder. Sonically rich, the album rides a sonic wave similar to some Matthew Halsall, Surprise Chef, El Michels Affair and BadBadNotGood all rolled into one beautifully luscious work. Jakarta is ecstatic to share such a career-defining work, arriving May 6th, 2022.

The albums 1st single, “Il Sole” will be released Wednesday, March 2nd with the LP pre-order announcement that Friday, March 4th to capitalize on Bandcamp Friday. The track is a perfect sonic voyage that encapsulates the growth of Gianni’s sound and gives a sonic peak into the LP. Subtle, yet lush layers of synths, horns, keys and strong, beat-driven percussion all ebb and flow together, bringing to mind the finest Library Themes of Umiliani, Sven Wunder, Janko Nilovic and others. Visualizer accompaniments for all singles provided by Robert Winter and his DIE OTTOS crew that perfectly captures the sonic mood.

The LP’s 2nd single, “Capture This,” will be released March 30th and is a splash of pure, groovy, jazz-funk. Instantly catchy, the track will have you imagining yourself in a movie that perfectly captures the musical themes: playful flutes, crisp, fluid guitar riffs, heart-pulling strings, all held together by a strong, swingin’ drum groove.

The third single is the stunning, swirling, thematic track “Rising Of My
Mind.” Careful layers of harmonized brass, flutes, percussion ebb & flow, bubbling up to the acoustic surface like sonic ripples effortlessly bursting from Gianni’s auditory palette. Only reaching the tracks full crescendo more than 2 minutes in, “Rising Of My Mind” is on that finest jazz tip, raising Gianni’s musical caliber into the skies.

Focus track is the effortlessly smooth, soulful jazz-funk piece, “Torino.” Certified fresh, the progression gives you that euphoric, elated feeling, like you’re finally arrived at that special place you never knew existed, but were always meant to find.

“Tutto Passa” is a project with a variety of moods ranging from Arthur
Verocai and David Axelrod inspired arrangements to lush, thematic jazz progressions with a swingin’ percussive edge. It’s a timeless release, one that would sit just as well in 1972 as it does in 2022, and one that, as Gianni says:
“…reflects exactly the feeling I had last year when I was in Italy with my own family. As a musician, I was looking for the challenge of a more orchestral approach on this album, which I hoped to achieve with my arsenal from the Cologne jazz scene and the support of musicians from around the world.”
Besides online promotion from the label and artist profiles, the album will further be promoted by external agencies within the US, UK & Italy

JOYFULTALK returns with its third album for Constellation; another vibrantly divergent stylistic take on the analog materiality and sensibility of electronic composer-producer Jay Crocker, whose previous two records forged trance-inducing polyrhythmic intricacy, each from a distinct angle and sound palette, each enlisting a single instrumental collaborator. Familiar Science rallies contributions from a larger cast of musicians into a looser, cosmic recombinant combo_still shot through with JOYFULTALK's singular mixing desk kinetics, but this time deep-diving into gnarled and twisted, spliced and diced out-jazz. Crocker draws inspiration from 1980s M-Base music and Ornette Coleman's harmolodic funk period, while his own prior history as an improv guitarist also resurfaces for the first time in many years_an element in this polyvalent artist's chemistry set that hasn't appeared prominently in his own music for over a decade. Familiar Science finds Crocker folding time (as lockdown will do), immersed in his present-day kaleidoscope of solitary art and music practices in rural Nova Scotia, while channeling his former life as a bustling jazz collaborator in Calgary, Alberta. Building outwards from roiling resampled acoustic drums, Crocker extracted additional sonic and rhythmic textures, then formed the head of each song using dusted-off archival recordings and his own bass, keys and midi sequencing. Albertan percussionists Eric Hamelin (Ghostkeeper, Chad Vangaalen) and Chris Dadge (Lab Coast, Alvvays) provided improvised drum tracks to be chopped and harvested; Nova Scotia-based Nicola Miller (Ryan Driver, Doug Tielli) laid down resplendent excursions on saxophone and flute; Crocker's own dexterous guitar appears on several cuts. Familiar Science also poignantly features samples from live recordings by the late Calgary saxophonisticonoclast Dan Meichel, catalysing some of the album's heaviest contortions. Crocker weaves all these raw materials into exuberant compositions that blur the line between sizzling corporeal combo and sampledelic futurist jamz, variously conjuring (leftfield) Flying Lotus, (later) Tortoise, BADBADNOTGOOD and Squarepusher's Music Is Rotted One Note. The rubbery hyper-compression of boom-bap opener "Body Stone" initiates the séance, and the album offers a panoply of skittering grooves and soaring melodic pathways thereafter, through quags of heady jazz alternately streaked with dayglo delirium and other more vaporous states of revelry. Crocker's own wordless stacked vocals are the giddy secret sauce on several cuts, and his lead guitar work (in kinship with the lean progressions of Mary Halvorson or Jeff Parker) features on "Take It To The Grave", "Stop Freaking Out!" and the album's title track. More honeyed passages on songs like "Blissed For A Minute" and "Ballad In 9" center around Miller's bouyant alto sax and flute. Familiar Science is a rousing feast of noise-tinged polychrome electronic avant-jazz: richly harmolodic compositions teeming with intersecting textures and turbulences; exploratory, exhilarated and indeed joyful.

For King & Country's fourth studio project, 'What Are We Waiting For?',
asks a pivotal question in a post-pandemic world
Brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone provide the answer across 13 original tracks
that confront relevant issues and confirm the duo's commitment to community,
diversity and family. Set against a sonic backdrop painted by the Platinum-selling
group's lush, vivid pop, the collection features cameos from tourmate Dante
Bowe, Kirk Franklin and Tori Kelly and includes barrier- breaking single "Relate,"
awe-inspiring "Love Me Like I Am" and unifying No. 1 hit "Together."

New York-based duo Bottler, Pat Butler and Phil Shore, are the vanguard of their own distinctly eclectic sound. Raw, emotive, bold and highly creative, the duo has successfully carved out their own path with a series of EPs that represent the broad scope of their production prowess. Over the last five years Bottler have been working on their debut album, ‘Journey Work’, a milestone achievement that marks a pivotal moment in their music career. The LP is a distillation of the duo’s multifaceted upbringing, blending a variety of styles together bound together by an overarching attitude and approach that embraces creative freedom and self-acceptance.



Pat and Phil are childhood friends whose bond is akin to that of blood relatives. Their parents are best friends and they grew up side by side, developing their deep love for music together; sharing discoveries and inspirations, learning to play and perform, and nurturing their creativity together. Now formally ordained as Bottler, they channel their eclectic tastes into a sound that encapsulates the love and trust that forms the foundation of the friendship. The duo blends a myriad of styles to create songs that emanate warmth, joy, sorrow, pain and the full spectrum of human emotion.



The album title, like their music, is open to interpretation. The duo reveals themes related to chronicling life’s many ups and downs, the deep preparation that must be taken ahead of a spiritual ceremony or psychedelic experience, and, simply, the journey taken during the conception and creation of an album. A quote from Walt Whitman also partly inspired the title; “every leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars”. However, the intention behind the title is to allow for ambiguity, giving the listener an opportunity to write their own narrative.



Across 11 cuts Bottler illustrate their distinct take on electronic music, weaving in elements of indie, pop, rock, house and techno with confidence and panache. ‘Journey Work’ starts at ‘Home’, a song that is fizzing with positive energy, Pat’s vocals welcoming the listener to the start of this meandering audio adventure.

‘Chrysalis’ opens with delicate piano keys that guide us into a bombastic bassline and energising drum beats. As it progresses, scintillating layers of synth and strings are added, creating a highly affecting, uplifting atmosphere.



‘Melatonin’ follows up next, merging heartfelt vocal delivery with a sombre instrumental, and a stirring guitar riff. A glorious demonstration of Bottler’s songwriting capabilities, which are also evident on ‘Vinyl’, an uptempo dance number with an unbelievably catchy chorus. Here we see the duo channel their experience of playing in multi-member bands, as the breaks and arrangement feel perfectly suited to a festival-sized crowd.



On ‘Tacoma’, Pat and Phil channel their appreciation of house and techno into a haunting cut that utilises reverse strings and extended vocal refrains to chilling effect. A heady club track for the twilight hours. ‘Meds’ incorporates muted singing, mystical pad work and a mesmerising riff to produce a captivating slice of uncomplicated dance music.



This is followed by ‘Hot Water’, which feels like a trip to a Californian beach, circa 1965. The vocals drift over a bouncing bassline with a complementary guitar riff. ‘Mako’ features Samurai Velvet singing about fireflies and afterlife in a wonderfully heartrending manner, Bottler’s instrumental keeping things simple, yet highly effective.



We head back underground with ‘Weed’, a dense, gloomy cut with inspired use of chopped up vocal clips, stuttered throughout, alongside a mean bassline. ‘You’re Old’ is the soundtrack to an explosion of festival euphoria, dancing shoulder to shoulder with your best friends, forgetting all your troubles and living in the moment. An anthemic song that transposes Bottler’s idiosyncratic style onto the pop blueprint. Finally, ‘Cicada Rhythm’ closes the LP with a pensive, yet joyful feeling. A chunky bassline is juxtaposed with Pat’s angelic vocals cascading over the top. A hint of tribalism comes through, as we approach the end of the Journey Work…



Five years in the making, fuelled by the desire to express their deep love for music of all varieties, Journey Work is symbolic of the long road it takes to accept oneself and be comfortable expressing one’s truth. Diverse, dynamic and daring with a rawness and honesty that is rare to find, the album marks a triumphant debut for Bottler and one that crystalises their unique identity.

Werfol debuts on BAKK with a stunning and diverse four tracker. Originally from Kaliningrad, Danil Inyushkin cooks up his meticulous electro with a dash of trap inspired sounds and a sprinkle of Avantgarde techno. His mad mix of styles is sonically unique, hard to pin down, and will challenge any dance floor.

Vier Jahre nach dem Ende seiner Progrock-Band Mess brachte der estnische Musiker Sven Grünberg 1981 das bemerkenswerte Album "Hingus" heraus. Das 23-minütige Titelstück beschwört, mitunter beeinflusst von fernöstlicher Tonalität, mit einer Kirchenorgel, extrem seltenen Synthesizern und außergewöhnlichen Percussion-Effekten faszinierende futuristische Klangwelten. Die beiden anderen, ebenfalls großartigen Tracks erinnern stilistisch eher an die Berliner Schule um Klaus Schulze und Tangerine Dream. Grünberg ist in Estland ein bekannter Bühnen- und Filmmusiker - und ein alter Hase, was elektronische Musik betrifft. 1974, noch während seines Musikstudiums, gründete er zusammen mit Härmo Härm die Progrock-Band Mess. Grünberg war damals der erste Musiker im Baltikum, der einen Synthesizer einsetzte. Mit dem Album "Hingus" (zu Deutsch: "Atem"), das er zwischen 1978 und 1980 einspielte, widmete er sich dem Ambient, versetzt mit einer Prise Space- und Progrock sowie intensiven asiatischen Einflüssen. Basis der Aufnahmen waren die Orgeln der Kirche in Rapla und des Doms von Tallinn. Die sakrale Anmutung wird durch Synthesizer und Percussions gebrochen oder auch ins Rauschhafte gesteigert. Röhrenglocken (die von Mike Oldfield bekannten Tubular Bells), Paarbecken (Piatti), eine Ratsche (Raganella), ein Tamburin, ein ostasiatischer Metallgong namens Tamtam, Glockenspiel und Kastagnetten kommen zum Einsatz. Zudem spielt Grünberg diverse ungewöhnliche elektronische Instrumente, die Härmo Härm und andere teilweise als Einzelstücke selber bauten. Dennoch zählt dieses außerirdisch schöne und zum Teil hochpsychedelische Album hierzulande zu den noch zu entdeckenden Klassikern dieses Genres.

Der Hamburger Synthesist Richard von der Schulenburg kehrt mit dem Nachfolger von "Moods & Dances 2021" aus dem letzten Jahr zu Bureau B zuruck. Mit Hardware-Crunch, kryptischen Klangfundstucken und FieldRecordings macht er sich auf die Suche nach "Cosmic Diversity". Inspiriert von der eindringlichen Elektronica von Boards of Canada und Plaid, die hier durch die Linse eines Zeiss-Objektivs gebrochen wird, navigiert RVDS durch das musikalische Multiversum und spannt in acht experimentellen Kompositionen den Bogen zwischen Electro, IDM, Cosmic und Dub. Das wahrend des Lockdowns als Flucht aus der Isolation entstandene Album wirft einen Blick nach außen, erreicht mit gefuhlvollen Melodien aber auch stets das Innere.

4 divers new school detroit trax.
Jolly house moods and melancolic electronica dub

World Circuit Records has made its reputation by producing some of the finest albums of the past three decades. The label is best known for the Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club album (and associated solo artists Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo and Rubén González), which is the biggest selling world music album of all time and has contributed to the phenomenal rise in popularity of Cuban, as well as Latin American, music.

World Circuit is also home to a number of revered African artists including the late Tony Allen (whose Afrobeat-jazz collaboration with Hugh Masekela ‘Rejoice’ was released to great critical acclaim in March 2020), iconic blues pioneer Ali Farka Touré (whose classic Grammy-winning ‘Talking Timbuktu’ album, recorded with Ry Cooder, brought the label early international acclaim), Malian divas and social activists Oumou Sangaré and Fatoumata Diawara, master kora player Toumani Diabaté, the illustrious Orchestra Baobab and musical iconoclast Cheikh Lô.

With 25th Anniversary celebrations of Buena Vista Social Club under way throughout 2021 and 2022, World Circuit are planning further brand new releases in 2022 and beyond, continuing to bring diverse, genre-defying music to a wider audience.

Elders is the debut release from Ensemble Nist-Nah, a nine-piece percussion group led by Nantes-based Australian drummer and percussionist Will Guthrie. The diverse group of French musicians that make up Ensemble Nist-Nah – whose collective experience encompasses traditional Gamelan performance, contemporary composition, noise, jazz, and everything in between – perform on drum kits, traditional and junk percussion, and a complete set of Javanese Gamelan instruments. Though building on the foundations of Guthrie’s solo work with Gamelan instruments (Nist-Nah, BT057) and primarily performing his compositions, Ensemble Nist-Nah is a collective endeavour, propelled by a breathtaking enthusiasm that has seen the ensemble manage to rehearse, perform, and even tour Europe during the Covid-19 pandemic.

From the first seconds of opening track ‘Geni / Tirta’, it becomes immediately obvious that this is no dry academic exercise or exotic indulgence. Rapid arpeggiated figures are propelled by manically busy kit drumming while slow-motion melodic lines float above. After a series of abrupt tempo changes and fragmented unison passages that crossbreed the rhythmic intensity of the Balinese Kecak with the joyride of an Ornette Coleman head, the music slows to a monumental groove, equal parts Javanese court music and Dark Magus. Another sequence of thrilling divagations leads us to the unexpected guest appearance of acclaimed vocalist Jessica Kenney, who elaborates a haunting Javanese Bedhaya across a spacious backdrop of massive gong hits, shimmering cymbals, rustling bells, and gritty textures.

The remaining pieces that make up Elders explore a dizzying variety of approaches, from the shifting rapid-fire muted textures of ‘Overtime’ to the ghostly bowed tones and ominous swells of the title piece (developed from a track on Guthrie’s solo Nist-Nah release), which gradually builds into waves of shuddering low resonance and asynchronous percussive clicks like a haunted clock mechanism. On the aptly titled ‘Rollin’, virtuosic twin drum kits criss-cross errant metallophone patterns in propulsive polyrhythms, while ‘Planeker’ manages to achieve a bizarrely effective fusion of Harry Partch and Autechre. Arriving bedecked in beautiful monochrome images of gongs drawn by ensemble member Charles Dubois, Elders is a feast for the ears: music that burrows deep into timbral and rhythmic possibility while possessing an intoxicating physicality and revelling in the joy of collective performance.

Drawing on a diverse range of influences, Quimbie’s debut album ‘Sunday Fiction’ is a sophisticated journey through myriad grooves. From dancefloor to home listening vibes, it’s a riot of warm chords, dusty samples, booming bass and infectious rhythms. The mysterious producer has managed that difficult feat of crafting a ‘dance’ record that works outside of a club context, imbuing his tracks with a charisma and vibrancy that appeals to the mind as much as the body.

A perfect complement of analog synths and drum machines make the perfect bed for Quimbie’s magpie-like sample selection, and the overall effect is a wistful, engrossing record that you’ll want to come back to again and again.

Neil Young announces the release of the fourth installment in his Official Release Series (ORS): a box set that includes his classic ‘80s records Hawks & Doves, Re•ac•tor, and This Note’s for You, as well as his Eldorado EP, previously released only in Japan and Australia. Both vinyl and CD box sets will be available for pre-order today and out on April 29th.

The ORS Vol 4 collects an eclectic set of decade-spanning sounds. Hawks & Doves (1980) revisits his folk roots and explores some of his most country-leaning offerings; the blistering Re•ac•tor (1981) showcases a stomping set of heavy, overdriven rock with Crazy Horse; and This Note’s for You (1988) casts Young as a big band leader, belting out intricately arranged blues. The Eldorado EP (1989) is full of feral distortion and earthy crunch featuring Young backed by The Restless (Chad Cromwell and Rick Rosas). It includes two thundering tracks — “Cocaine Eyes” and “Heavy Love”— not available on any other album.

ORS Vol 4 collects a large swath of his diverse and compelling ‘80s work, testifying to the legendary songwriter’s gift for sonic shape-shifting.

Vinyl in Gatefold Jacket, green/black double coloured LP with lyric insert and download card.

Keep This Be the Way is Helms Alee's sixth full-length and first new album in over 3 years. Across the span of their first five studio albums, Seattle trio Helms Alee have consistently refined their signature sound-a blend of lilting siren songs, crushing thunder and sludge, and heady guitar pop filled with lush guitars and elaborate three-part vocal harmonies that reach widely across various subgenres of the heavy music world. On this latest album they expand their palette by delving into the production possibilities afforded by recording the album themselves, creating their most dynamic and technicoloured work to date.. Keep This Be the Way still very much sounds like a Helms Alee record, but it's their first album that diverts from the faithful recreation of their live sound and delves into a vibrant tapestry of surreal sounds and invented spaces. This new approach is immediately evident on first single "See Sights Smell Smells," where reverse cymbal crashes, fragmented piano, layered drums, woozy drones, saxophone freak-outs, and trippy vocal treatments transport the listener to an altered state of exhilarated anticipation. The pendulum swings towards more adventurous and exploratory sounds on songs like "Tripping Up the Stairs", it's nightmarish synth glides pitted against distorted barrages steeped in classic Helms Alee timbre. And therein lies the power of the Keep Us Be the Way: it reflects a period of change, ambiguity and perseverance through its fearless curiosity, cathartic rumble, and sublime beauty. Helms Alee supporting Russian Circles on the upcoming EU Headline tour in April/May 2022.

"The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine", wrote the French Surrealists almost 100 years ago, and from this missive stems the parlor game in which we partake here. Through obscuring the tower itself, they cobble together meandering staircases in which to ascend with absent-minded haste; spontaneous line-weaving amasses figures and phrases into new planes of thought, therefore holding captive the illusion of creative reciprocity. Although housed in unrecognizable quarters, dull rain now tallies itself upon your window panes just as it once kept count on theirs. Apparitions unknown sound instruments of winding origin in celebration of the ink dry in the well. A graffito of tea leaves stains the porcelain cup.

This cloven tall-tale traces an epistolary journey between id and consciousness upon a page that has been adorned and wiped clean again and again and again. The wet meadow expands and contracts within a breath, moving through the windpipe to expel upon the glistening dew. From this dew rises anthills of diminishing complexity, and busying themselves within insanity, the occupants labor to hold fast against the unseen wave of oblivion.

An exercise in aleatoric sentence-finishing between two aligned performers, The Exquisite Corpse Shall Drink the New Wine mimics the economics of unconscious beauty-making to such a degree that light will neither pass through it nor divert its path. Draw upon it what you will, and ready yourself for the unrelenting ataraxy.