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No longer one of Denmark's best kept secrets, Holtoug's talent is firmly out of the bag as he touches down on hafendisko with the yearning 'Stay In Love' - a tune worthy of comparison in feel and tone to Âme's smash 2012 remix of Ry & Frank Wiedemann's 'Howling'. Marrying the drive and energy of dance music to the singer-songwriting sensibility of his indie roots, it's a delicious mélange, intense yet featherlight, booming yet ethereal: an intricate and playful soundworld characterised by breathy pads, deft percussive flourishes and a swooping, swooning bass that basks in all its glory on the accompanying Instrumental version. On remix duties, hafendisko labelmate Yannick Labbé - best known for his work with Trickski and long association wth Jazzanova/Compost - gets all dark and menacing, adding harsh, machine percussion, vibrating subs and a discombobulating counterpoint of eerie, sustained tones. Meanwhile, Martin Gretschmann (The Notwist), operating under his Acid Pauli pseudonym, mutates the vocal into a cooing, howling, wah-wah as playful intertwined synth lines dance and bounce off each other gleefully. Perpetually inventive, otherworldly stuff!

Introverted Dancefloor is Bevan Smith, a New Zealander who has released music under names like Signer and Aspen, and who has played in the Ruby Suns and Skallander throughout the last decade. His prior output has been spread over many international labels and has touched on sundry genres (like techno, IDM, folk, ambient) while featuring restraint and sophistication as compositional hallmarks.

As Introverted Dancefloor, Smith has kept those features as guiding principles while allowing a more propulsive low end to dominate the construction of this music, winding up with understated but energetic dance tracks. Gestation, too, is a prominent attribute of this music, though not necessarily an obvious one. Smith started these songs with hundreds of layers, which he then pared down to a few core elements before rebuilding again.

For Introverted Dancefloor, Smith limited himself to the use of two synthesizers, one mic, one filter, and one effects processer. This constraint is not obvious upon listening as the album works across the idioms of electro, Detroit techno, pop house, and leftfield disco, playing with the line between fluid melody and drum machine programming. Each track has a playlist as its scaffolding, Smith's goal being to filter a certain set of varied influences through just a couple of instruments. Metro Area's Miura' (Original Mix) turned into Introverted Dancefloor's Happiness is such a mess/Pipedream.' If there can be such a thing as a subtle banger, then Smith may have earned that distinction here. Take it high' seems to be a constant ascent with its climbing bass and layers of chords, relying on no hackneyed drops or releases for its crescendo. Smith's layering practices show their precision on tracks like Even if you try' and Tiger bones,' in which disparate elements contribute to pointed melodies, an unidentifiable percussive part entering the same expressive plane as a sung line.

One of the record's most striking features is Smith's inclusion of certain elements of a song in a neighboring one (vocals from Pipedream' in Happiness is such a mess,' a synth line from Even if you try' in Always turn your head') to lend a phantasmagorical effect to the procession, blurring the distinction between a track and its reprise. The result is a song cycle wrought from painstaking labor, while nonetheless retaining core values of amorphousness and motion.

Recorded in 2014, Stranger Than You marks a conscious return to the sounds and styles explored on their debut album Swimming in 1982. There's a strong element of reconnection,' explains singer/songwriter (and bassist) Michel Sordinia. Yet at the same time it's also about developing your own legitimate strangeness, just as the great Surrealist poet Rene Char invited his readers to do. A new mystery singing in your bones.'

Michel and guitarist Marc Deprez are joined by new members Laurent Loddewyckx (drums) and Christophe Boulenger (keyboards and piano). Stand-out tracks include the dynamic title track, Kids On Fire and quickfire Boy With A Gun, as well as more contemplative, elegiac numbers such as Lights and My Angel of Death.

The cover art is an original painting by long term Names associate Benoit Hennebert, celebrated for his work as design director for Les Disques du Crepuscule, with portrait photography by Peter Staessens. The double vinyl edition is housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and includes a free digital download code.

Celldöd is the solo project of Anders Karlsson, well known in the EBM scene for his involvement in the band The Pain Machinery and as a live member of Severe Illusion. Celldöd strips EBM down to it's core, eliminating vocals and any superfluous details. Celldöd offers a raw, minimal, and purist vision of EBM; hardware tracks recorded live to tape using just a handful of machines. Celldöd's bare bones dance cuts are dirty and primitive, but manage to steer clear of retro trappings, sounding fresh and contemporary.

* Vinyl LP includes MP3 download for all tracks on the CD version *
C.K. Mann made his name as a virtuous guitar player in Ghana when he played with Moses Kweku Oppong in the Kakaikus Guitar Band in the early 60s. He then became the leader of the band Ocean's Strings until 1966. In 1968, he enjoyed a hit with the single 'Edina Benya'.
Mann was known for blending authentic African music with European influences. He was inspired by Latin American music and created a style all of his own. He became known as the 'King of Highlife' in Ghana in the 70's, when he released the record 'Nimpa Rebre' featuring vocals from Pat Thomas and Kofi Yankwon.
Funky Highlife came out of the Essiebons label run by Dick Essilfe Bondzie. According to Dick, this album could have been a massive hit in Ghana but the vinyl factories ran out of stock because of Ghana's economic downturn, so the demand for the record could not be met. The album is a fusion of highlife and soul. The best-known track 'Asafo beesuon' is a multi-layered, drum heavy, funk medley and is over 13 minutes long.