quête:e lan

Tom Zé and Faust collide in Domenico Lancellotti's "machine samba"

Domenico Lancellotti's SRAMBA reaches back to the roots of samba whilst completely revamping its blueprint, indoctrinating guitar and percussion-led rhythms with analogue synthesisers, courtesy of album producer Ricardo Dias Gomes.

The majority of SRAMBA was recorded over two months in The Cave - Domenico's home studio in Lisbon, the city both Brazilian ex-pats reside in, where the arrival of a couple of Russian-designed synths purchased by Ricardo influenced the direction of their initial experimentation: "Ricardo had these instruments, modular machines" remembers Domenico, "and I had my guitar, some percussion instruments. On the first day we started making sounds and recording them, and songs started to appear, sambas started to appear."

The son of a renowned samba songwriter, at home Domenico would watch his father play and compose. At parties, the adults would hand his father a tamborim (a small tambourine) and ask him to play along. "I grew up inside samba, it's my roots", he says. "For me, everything is samba, I bring it into whatever style of music I am making".

Domenico and Ricardo instantly saw how the synthesisers were not at odds with the sambas they were playing, instead they had a similar sound to its typical percussion instruments (ganza, repinique, surdo, tarol). What's more, they saw a connection with roots samba, the samba that existed before bossa nova and samba jazz came along. This was rhythmic samba, with grooves that could go on ad infinitum. "It's samba de clave, geometrically structured" says Domenico. "It's ostinato samba", adds Ricardo.

"Diga" is a great example of what their proposal is capable of, as what begins as a glitchy machine whirring into action soon turns into a glorious samba in which the gurgles and scratchy beats coming from the analogue equipment only add to the arrangement. Likewise, on "Tá Brabo" it's an aching melody from one of the synths that gives the guitar rhythm its needed counterpoint, and shows how the duo's greatest accomplishment is not in invention alone, but in creating a great samba album. It's an album that can go from the opening track "Ere" with its reverberant bass thud, mantra-like vocals and staccato rhythms to the string-accompanied "Nada Sera de Outra Maneira", a swooning samba that pays tribute to the Brazilian ensemble Tamba Trio, who along with Tom Zé's Estudando O Samba, Domenico names as the biggest influence on their treatment of samba.

Other important reference points are made clear on "Um Abraço No Faust". One of three instrumentals on the album its title riffs off a JoãoGilberto song, "Um Abraço no Bonfá", but whereas JoãoGilberto was giving a hug (um abraço) to bossa nova guitarist Luiz Bonfá, Domenico and Ricardo are giving theirs to the German avant-gardists Faust. "Quem Samba", with its horn section and dramatic melody give a whiff of Domenico's Italian ancestry, while "Descomunal" is devoid of rhythm whatsoever, guest vocalist Tori singing over a bed of electronic drums, cello and swirling synths, that highlights the duo's unwillingness to stick to a particular formula.

Both Domenico Lancellotti and Ricardo Dias Gomes are revered names within Brazilian music over the past 20 years. As a member of the +2's, with Moreno Veloso and Kassin, Domenico released a trio of albums on Luaka Bop in the early 00s that pioneered a new Rio samba sound with elements of funk and psychedelia. With Veloso and Kassin he would later form Orquestra Imperial, a big band intent on reviving ballroom (gafieira) samba, and that has worked with guest vocalists such as Seu Jorge, Elza Soares and Ed Motta. SRAMBA is his fourth solo album. Multi-instrumentalist Ricardo Dias Gomes first came to notice as a member of Caetano Veloso's band Cê which helped reinvigorate Caetano's career with a sound influenced by British new wave. As well as collaborations with Lucas Santtana, Negro Leo and Thiago Nassif, and work with his own group Do Amor, he has released a series of acclaimed solo albums that reveal a restless music-maker.

SRAMBA is a glorious showcase of the duo's style, uniting Domenico's playful lyrics and rhythmic, samba-rooted songs with with Ricardo's assured accompaniment of unorthodox textures and instrumentations. It may be a new language for samba, machine samba (samba de máquina), but as Domenico says, "samba da máquina is samba".

Underground rap stalwart, Vinnie Paz returns with his seventh studio LP, Tortured in the Name of God’s Unconditional Love. The 18 track LP falls on the heels of Jedi Mind Trick’s 10th album, The Funeral and the Raven, which dropped in November of ’21, and succeed’s the April 21 release of Vinnie’s sixth studio LP, Burn Everything That Bears Your Name.

Weighing in at nearly one hour of all new music, the hard-hitting LP ranks among Vinnie’s most decorated line-up of guest appearances to date, with features from the likes of Method Man, M.O.P., Kurupt, Geechi Suede (Camp Lo), Ras Kass, ILL Bill, Lord Goat, Big Twins, Thirstin Howl the 3rd and more. To boot, Pazienza calls upon the production talents of DJ Muggs, C-Lance, Stu Bangas, Oh No and more to lay the foundation with their neck-snapping soundscapes.

Over the past two decades, Pack Pistol Pazzy has ranked amont the most commercially successful indie hip-hop artists in the underground, and with his latest solo effort his legacy is only further reinforced.

Never one to pull inventive punches, Left Coast electronic music producer Dave Aju reassembled this notorious cast of characters for a remarkably fitting album package made during one of the most strange times our world has ever faced in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. While things were essentially shutdown, reopened, cycle-repeat worldwide, and every other species in mother nature's kingdom temporarily rejoiced while humans remained still in their caves, Aju and The Invisible Art Trio, his formidable if not-seen-in-a-minute musical team behind such underground anthems as "Be Like the Sun", went to work in the final days of the glorious G-Son studios in Atwater Village LA to record this LP.

Indeed, the same four/five walls and vocal booth that saw the Beastie's iconic Check Your Head and Hello Nasty come to life, became the birthplace of Glossolalia, Aju's fifth studio album and appropriately impressive seven-song set. As always, myriad musical styles and influences are strung together and boldly combined here, to the degree that drawing comparisons or attempting genre references feels futile. There are, however, clear visceral expressions of political provocation, hope and anger, fear and joy laid over twisted yet dedicated grooves in a lockdown era where Aju's imaginary collective dance floor feels in the temporary absence thereof and bizarro sixth-world unification strategy of recording every song's lyrics in complete non-languages aka total gibberish, feels right at home. Even the vocal guests join in the literal chant here, granting us diverse spell-casting and sensual nonsensical lyrical lines over tech-funk mother lodes, before closing the otherworldly proceedings with a powerful grand finale tribute to the US of A's proud boys-in-blue in the wake of George Floyd's very public assassination.

Equal parts timely anti-establishment and uplifting call-to-action, Glossolalia serves as a decidedly coarse yet crucial reminder of the possibilities in collaborative and devoted noise-making, booty-shaking, and alternative world-building during greater global disarray - beyond stylistic, nationalistic, and linguistic dividing lines. An overtly universal and unifying message liberating us from any fixed cultural identities and thus differences, to instead just focus on how the music delivers and we physically respond, together, as the foundation. Perhaps also an inspired response to the talking heads in every corner of the world's media, spewing useless and politically-tainted mouth data at us amidst these turbulent times.

A bubbling name within the UK house landscape for several years, it’s fair to say that 2022 was the year that ALISHA truly emerged as a surging name of note, dropping stand-out material via Eastenderz and making appearances at Warehouse Project, Shelter, INPUT and Amnesia for Jamie Jones’ iconic Paradise events. Taking things up a level as she gets set for an even bigger twelve months, her first release of 2023 comes on Jones and Lee Foss’ globally renowned Hot Creations with her latest single ‘Changes’ - accompanied by a classy remix from ever-excellent house music icon Mike Dunn.

A warping and driving production armed with tough kicks, rumbling low-ends and squelchy synths, all guided by the track’s hooky and infectious vocal sample from South Street Player’s iconic 1993 record ‘(Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind’, ‘Changes’ is a rugged yet vibrant production geared to keep dancers moving as much as ALISHA’s own high energy presence in the booth. Switching up the aesthetic and diving deep into a swirling, soulful journey, Mike Dunn’s remix harnesses the vocal to pair with rich chords for a delightful slice of house music.

repressed !

A lot can happen in 15 years. Few things manage to thrive for a decade and a half, especially in music. But a scrappy, left of center, Bay Area house music label, Dirtybird, has managed to do just that. Claude VonStroke, Dirtybird’s founder, is marking this 15-year milestone the only way he knows how… working. This year, VonStroke will throw two dozen-plus parties, three festivals (including the famous Dirtybird Campout), host his traveling Dirtybird BBQ series in major cities across the US, publish a coffee table book, release a seasonal clothing line, stage art shows, produce a fly on the wall docu series...and kick it all off by releasing a new album, out February 21st.

What began as a free party, turned basement record label, has morphed into a truly thriving community whose familial, fun and welcoming vibe has won over hearts and minds across the world. And while Dirtybird has grown and evolved, VonStroke’s core focus on music remains unwavering. The new album ‘Freaks & Beaks’ is a celebration of quirky innovation and a relentless pursuit of something new and fresh, while hearkening back to the freewheeling spirit that inspired the launch of his label. This is a project that draws upon the inspirations of family, old friends, new fans and proper dancefloors.

Claude will let his flock wet their beaks while they wait in anticipation of the new album with two new singles demonstrating the breadth of the dance music landscape explored on the record. Youngblood touches on the deeper sides of Claude VonStroke, a throwback to the label’s early days, featuring local LA music house talent Wyatt Marshall, while All My People in the House is a dancefloor heater that is sure to unite new and old Dirtybird fans together.

Today, Claude also delivers fans part one of an intimate video series, shot by his sister Emily (an accomplished filmmaker), documenting the creation of ‘Freaks and Beaks’, celebrating this historic milestone and taking a deeper dive into the day to day life of Claude VonStroke on the road.

‘Freaks and Beaks’ is the fourth artist album and sixth full-length project from Claude VonStroke. He approached the album with a new process, including committing to daily creative time, experimenting with a lot of new hardware and having fun creating a huge amount of sketches. He made music on many levels of gear all the way from complex modular synths to simple drum apps on his iPad. Keeping it all DIY, he sampled his own voice and his two children on several tracks as well. He allowed himself to breathe while creating over 130 ideas, which were whittled down to the finished 11 album tracks.

Freaks & Beaks nods at the inspirations that underpin VonStroke’s world, inside jokes between him and Justin Martin (FlubbleBuddy), unused experimental live sessions (Session A), playful noodling on synths (Alpine Arpline), obscure French producers (Frankie Goes To Bollywood), championing new talent (Youngblood), irreverent self-aware humor (Birthday Messages) and genre inspirations that range from ghetto tech and drum n bass to hip-hop and breaks. This is VonStroke’s love letter to the vibrancy and genre diversity that have made Dirtybird such a singular label.

Every Aspect of the Production Personally Supervised by Barbra Streisand
Mixed by Jochem van der Saag from the Original Analogue Session Tapes & Mastered in 24 bit/96 kHz by Paul Blakemore
Lacquer Pressing Master Created by Bernie Grundman
Pressed at RTI
Tip-On Gatefold Jacket
Deluxe 12-Page Booklet Featuring Barbra's Recollections, the Recording's History & Production, and Performance Photos

The Premiere New York City Nightclub Event of 1962! The Most Anticipated Live Album of 2022!


In the fall of 1960, New York City wasn't the same urban mecca it is today. Neither was eighteen-year old Barbra Streisand, who emerged on the Greenwich Village club scene at a small, cozy venue on West 8th Street called the Bon Soir, where she received rave reviews and wooed the crowd with her incredible performances. Within two years Streisand, whose magnificent interpretations of both standards and quirky, obscure cabaret tunes was a nationwide sensation, was knocking audiences dead with her nightly performance as Miss Marmelstein in David Merrick's I Can Get It For You Wholesale on Broadway.

Sixty years, multiple Grammy, Emmy, Oscar, Tony and Golden Globe awards and nearly two hundred million record sales later, Barbra has for the first time authorized the release of a major portion of her Bon Soir performances, as captured in 1962 by Columbia Records. IMPEX Records - in conjunction with Sony Music Entertainment - is proud to present the audiophile 180-gram vinyl LP and SACD editions of the most sought-after recordings in Barbra's legendary career: Live at the Bon Soir: Greenwich Village, NY - November 1962. This gorgeous album features twenty-four brilliant performances personally selected by Barbra Streisand from the original Bon Soir master tapes and expertly mixed and mastered by Paul Blakemore and Jochem van der Saag, under the supervision of producers Barbra Streisand, Martin Erlichman and Jay Landers.

IMPEX RECORDS has created two versions of this noteworthy release: a two-LP vinyl edition and a 24 bit / 96 kHz SACD. To achieve the best fidelity possible, engineer Paul Blakemore transferred the original three-track session tapes to high-resolution 96/24-bit digital files, which were then mixed by Jochem van der Saag. For mastering, Blakemore used an all-analog signal-processing chain in order to maintain the warmth of the original analogue recordings. To master the vinyl LP edition, IMPEX engaged Bernie Grundman, who has mastered many of Barbra's albums over the last sixty years, to create the lacquer pressing master.

Rich with the club's atmosphere, these historic, essential recordings present a warm, charming portrait of a truly important moment in New York City history and American pop culture. Several years removed from Manhattan's flourishing jazz nightclub scene, tiny clubs such as the Bon Soir began popping up, and served as both a forum and launching pad for some of the finest vocalists and musicians the east coast had to offer.

Because of Barbra's success there, Columbia Records A&R rep David Kapralik decided that the first album from his newly-signed artist would emanate from a setting in which she had become most comfortable: the small stage at the Bon Soir. Producer Mike Berniker and recording engineers Roy Halee and Adjutor "Pappy" Theroux set up the mics and recorders, and for three nights harnessed the electrifying show that Barbra had crafted.

"The recordings we did at the Bon Soir were so authentically 'Barbra.' I produced her first three albums at Columbia, and while they were wonderful accomplishments, I thought that what she did each night at the Bon Soir transcended anything we ever did in the studio." - Mike Berniker

Columbia ultimately decided to bring Barbra into the studio to record her first album, and except for the inclusion of several tracks on compilations through the years, the Bon Soir tapes laid dormant in the vault. Now, through this extraordinary release, everyone can at last enjoy the early sound and style of an icon in-the-making: the same brilliant artist whose performances at the Bon Soir were lauded by everyone from actress Helen Hayes to lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman. We invite you to join us for an evening at the fabled Bon Soir. Take a seat, order a drink and revel in the magic that is Barbra. You will not be disappointed!

ULTRADISC ONE-STEP BOX SET OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S 1973 DEBUT PLAYS WITH AUDIOPHILE SOUND: LIMITED TO 7,500 NUMBERED COPIES.

1/4" / 15 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Teeming with identifiable characters, youthful romanticism, vivid narratives, and sophisticated arrangements, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. is a personal postcard from the heart, soul, and mind of a rock ’n’ roll lifer bent on discovering his world and what lays beyond it. The 1973 album establishes many of the signature themes and sounds Bruce Springsteen would embrace throughout his unparalleled career. No wonder a majority of the songs — “Blinded by the Light,” “Lost in the Flood,” “Spirit in the Night” included — remain staples of the New Jersey native’s fabled concerts.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 7,500 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM LP set is the definitive-sounding version of Springsteen’s daring debut. Afforded the benefits of SuperVinyl’s nearly non-existent noise floor, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. plays with a clarity, directness, and emotionalism that practically whisks you into the New York office in which Springsteen — accompanied by then-manager Mike Appel — played a few originals for legendary Columbia Records executive John Hammond and earned a record deal.

That solo-centric aspect of Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. — credited only to Springsteen and featuring only a handful of accompanying musicians — helps make it unique in his catalogue. So do the acoustic-based frameworks, revealed on this pressing with newly exposed detail, nuance, and immediacy. The music emerges with an openness that gives flight to the Boss’ storytelling. His words flow with unbridled, stream-of-conscious pacing and vibrant imagery; they pay homage to and update a tradition established by Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and Jack Kerouac. Equally important, Springsteen’s still-underrated vocal performances can now be appreciated in full-range fidelity. Earnest, transparent, and sincere, his singing comes across with an urgency that distinguishes him from the era’s singer-songwriter mold and a raw energy that underlines his unflinching belief in rock ’n’ roll.

Recorded in just three weeks, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. also stands out by way of its insightful artwork. Designed by Grammy winner John Berg, the inviting cover is appointed with images of the local landmarks, beachfronts, and geography that provide the backdrops for some of the songs. Those graphics are complemented by the beautiful packaging of Mobile Fidelity’s UD1S edition. Tucked in a sleek slipcase, the LP is housed in a special foil-stamped jacket with faithful-to-the-original graphics. In every way, this reissue is made for listeners who prize sound quality and who want to engage themselves in everything involved with this invigorating album.

An aspirational declaration by a then-23-year-old musician who was already a seasoned veteran of the Jersey Shore bar-band scene, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. can in many ways be seen as a semi-fictional autobiography released more than four decades before Springsteen penned his official tome. Elaborate, descriptive, and absorbing, Springsteen’s lyrics spark with the enthusiasm and exuberance of a wide-eyed adventurer ready for possibility, excitement, and fun — but who is also mindful of loss, pain, and disappointment. Words often tumble and collide like dice spilling from a jar; shaken and fully intact, they pour forth with purpose and without self-conscious concern.

One of two songs composed after label president Clive Davis cited the need for a radio-friendly single, the opening “Blinded by the Light” provides an unforgettable introduction. It flares with a blend of confidence, fun, and poetry that helps define Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Crackling with wiry guitars, funky chords, Clarence Clemons’ cool-toned saxophone, and action-packed lyrics, the shuffle simultaneously expands and contracts — and establishes Springsteen as a master of rhyme, alliteration, and breathless expression. The thread continues on “Growin’ Up.” Steered by ascending piano lines, soulful grooves, and frisky rhythms, the coming-of-age confessional is at once rebellious and controlled, fearless and vulnerable, honest and boastful. It is a tale to which multiple generations still relate.

Such universality has always been a Springsteen trademark. It surfaces throughout Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., as does another Boss hallmark: the importance of friendship and tight bonds. These concepts relate to the fact many of the songs — see the feverish “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?,” strutting “It’s So Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” and tender “For You,” the latter complete with brilliant Hammond organ shading — are directly tied to the friends, acquaintances, places, and happenings he knew. “Lost in the Flood,” whose cinematic drama and epic scope hint at the directions Springsteen would pursue on his next LP, extends that familiarity while addressing the kind of socially conscious issues with which he’s forever been associated.

Balancing the label’s vision of him as a folk-based singer-songwriter and his own desire to play rock ‘n’ roll with a full band, Springsteen never again made a record like Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. One of the most captivating debuts in history, it heralds the start of a legacy whose import Springsteen seemingly foretells on “Blinded by the Light”: “He’s gonna make it tonight.” And how.

WATAIN ist der Wolf, der furchtlos und frei in der dunklen Nacht des Menschen weiterjagt Seit 1998 haben sich WATAIN einen Namen als eine der bekanntesten und berüchtigtsten Black-Metal-Bands der Welt gemacht. Auf ihr Schaffen wird oft mit Furcht, Liebe, Verwirrung oder Ehrfurcht, aber selten mit Gleichgültigkeit reagiert.


Aufgenommen in einer alten Kirche auf dem schwedischen Lande, bringen WATAIN dem Hörer das innerste Herz einer Band näher, die trotz aller Gerüchte und Kontroversen stets nach aufrichtigen, authentischen Ausdrucksformen strebt.


Die 10 Songs stammen aus der Feder des Gründertrios von WATAIN (E. Danielsson, H. Jonsson und P. Forsberg), und markieren das erste Album, das in voller Besetzung mit A. Lillo, H. Eriksson und E. Forcas aufgenommen wurde. Das Material wird zusätzlich durch Gastauftritte von Farida Lemouchi (Ex The Devil's Blood, jetzt bei Molasses) und Gottfrid Åhman (Ex In Solitude, jetzt bei PÅGÅ) bereichert. "The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain" entstand mit Produzent Tjore Stjerna in der Chapel Of Necromorbus, wurde von Thomas Johansson im The Panic Room gemastert, während Bandkopf E. Danielsson für das eindrucksvolle Artwork und Layout zuständig war.

Tape

The music of Melati ESP aka Melati Malay is a euphoric vision of megacity rhythm and rainforest escape, club breaks and weightless pop, mapping new dreams from the sound of futures passed: hipernatural.

Drawing on the music era of her teenage years growing up in Jakarta – Javanese radio Dangdut, gamelan cassettes, Moving Shadow-era liquid jungle, Japanese chill-out, etc. – as well as her current work in progressive percussion trio Asa Tone, Malay’s solo debut is boldly borderless, bridging worlds and wavelengths into a richly imagined hybrid synthetic utopia.

hipernatural is momentous linguistically, too, as Malay’s first foray into singing in Indonesian, the language of her youth. She characterizes her lyrical mode as “abstract, and a bit broken,” an intuitive collage of diaristic emotion and oblique poetry (“plant me in fleeting twilight / missing home, where is home? / I am another you”). Her voice serves as its own versatile instrument, alternately intimate and alien, sensual and sacred, shaded with the haze of hidden heavens.

Co-produced with long-time collaborator Kaazi (100% Silk, Asa Tone), the album’s 12 tracks are cohesive but eclectic, threading through temple bass music, cyber siren techno, Stereolab drum n bass, new age downtempo, and dial-up rave reveries, flecked with tactile fragments of offworld dialogue, computer hum, bubbling water, and beyond.

Malay’s technique of sampling and processing her voice into an electronic palette which she then performs on generative instruments gives the songs a bewitching artificial intelligence elegance, exquisite but uncanny. Hers is a hybridity both organic and hypermodern, deeply personal yet globally sourced – YouTube rips, nature tapes, cheap sample packs, club bootlegs. hipernatural champions a dynamic new language at the axis of then and now, of east and west

"Killing Innocence" - das neunte Studioalbum der Südtiroler Dark Metal-Macht GRAVEWORM! Das lange Warten hat sich gelohnt, die Dark Metal-Institution meldet sich mit ihrem vielleicht besten Album nach acht Jahren endlich zurück!

Es dauerte acht lange Jahre, aber war das Warten mehr als wert: Die Südtiroler Extreme Metal-Institution GRAVEWORM meldet sich nun endlich mit einem neuen Album zurück! Und "Killing Innocence" entschädigt für alles. Ihre ganz eigene Melange aus Thrash, Gothic und Death Metal ist durchschlagskräftig wie eh und je und zeigt, dass Graveworm auch nach all den Jahren nichts an ihrer Härte und Energie verloren haben. Die zehn neuen Songs auf "Killing Innocence" sind geprägt von düsteren Atmosphären, kraftvollen Riffs und treibenden Drums, die den Hörer direkt in den Bann ziehen. Das Album ist eine Hommage an die Wurzeln der Band und doch zeitgemäß und frisch produziert - ein absoluter Pflichtkauf für Fans von düsterem, aber mitreißendem Metal. Mit "Killing Innocence" beweist Graveworm eindrucksvoll, dass sie zu den besten Vertretern des Genres gehören und auch im Jahr 2023 noch für Überraschungen sorgen können.

Fans of the innovations and originality that sprang from the L.A. underground of the late 1970s and ’80s often ask, “What’s Paul B. Cutler been up to?” A vital participant in the Los Angeles music scene of that period as bandleader, songwriter, musician and producer, Cutler’s work—in particular his guitar playing— with The Consumers, 45 Grave, Vox Pop and The Dream Syndicate is still admired by fans and an influence on anyone interested in that period and the styles that developed from it. In 2014, “Ryan Adams contacted me and wanted to form a band. He loved 45 Grave, he wanted to do some goth / punk, whatever you want to call it. That’s right up my alley. He’s amazingly talented and inspiring to work with. We did that for a while, and I wrote a bunch of songs.” Enthused about his new material, Cutler continued recording songs with just his signature electric guitar style and vocals. As this was developing, another vet of the early L.A. scene—Brad Laner of Medicine and Savage Republic—got in touch with Cutler. Soon Laner was mixing, co-producing, playing keyboards as well as adding the rhythm section. The overall process took some time, with songwriting beginning in 2014. When reflecting on the music that comprises Les Fleurs, “To me, and it does not sound like it, but because of the philosophy I had while producing it, it’s punk. I come from the original punk, before it was a genre. Before it was a ‘sound.’ When I got to LA in 1977 there were about twenty, maybe thirty bands and they all sounded very different. The Screamers, The Deadbeats, so many different takes on what music could be. There was no chance for commercial success so we all just did what we wanted. I never stopped. So philosophically I consider this punk rock, made in its original spirit although nobody would recognize it as such. I am a punk to this day.” So that, dear reader, is the basic story. Now it’s up to you to see what you recognize in Paul B. Cutler’s Les Fleurs.

Das im März 1979 aufgenommene Album Saudades des brasilianischen Perkussionisten Naná Vasconcelos war die Erfüllung eines Traums für einen Musiker, der sich schon lange danach gesehnt hatte, die Berimbau in einem orchestralen Kontext zu hören. Dieses ”Konzert” für einen innovativen Spieler eines traditionellen Instruments wurde durch den kreativen Beitrag von Egberto Gismonti ermöglicht, der hier das Material für Streicher arrangiert hat und auch als Mitkomponist und begleitender Solist fungiert.
Das Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart wurde von Mladen Gutesha dirigiert (der mit ECM bereits an transidiomatischen Projekten mit Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek und Terje Rypdal gearbeitet hatte). Produziert von Manfred Eicher, bleibt Saudades eine außergewöhnliche Reise, ein Album, das seiner Zeit voraus war
und gewissermaßen darauf wartete, von der Welt eingeholt zu werden. Diese Wiederveröffentlichung auf Vinyl in einer Klapphülle enthält neue Liner Notes mit historischem Kontext und Hintergrundinformationen.
ECMs neue audiophile Vinyl-Serie ( Luminessence Series ):
Schätze aus dem renommierten Label-Katalog, die lange vergriffen oder noch nie auf Vinyl erhältlich waren, in eleganten, hochwertigen Editionen präsentiert. Von den originalen Masterbändern geschnitten
Herstellung in Europa und analog, wo möglich.

In 2019 we released the Discodrums 12'' on our own newfound The Night Land Records. With its screen-printed cover and limited edition it was a tribute to a format and culture dear to our hearts: Vinyl. Our intention was to keep releasing records in this style, with songs already mixed, mastered and ready to fly.

Had we known it would take three years to get the next EPs out we would probably have reconsidered everything. Series of strange incidents, accidents and negligence made us think this project was cursed but the music felt too important to us to let it go. We kept working to get it out and now we finally arrive with two "new" EPs: Melbourne Bolero and Bosco/Bosca. This is classic Talaboman; Chuggy, hypnotic, dub flavoured Latin-Scando house music, released on vinyl with beautiful screen-printed covers designed by DR.ME in Manchester. Three years too late but a hundred years too soon? Dance is timeless, thanks for listening.

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – Cole, Blair Cowan, Lawrence Donegan, Neil Clark and Stephen Irvine – were formed in Glasgow in 1982, where Buxton-born singer-songwriter Cole was studying Philosophy and English at the University of Glasgow -Their sound swam against the tide of shiny 80s synthesisers, offering intense, melodic, guitar-based pop, topped with droll words packed with literary references.

Given just how loved debut album Rattlesnakes was, it would have been hard for whatever followed to be received as warmly – yet Easy Pieces made a good first of it. It was to sell twice as many copies in its first two weeks as Rattlesnakes had to date, giving the group a Top 5 chart placing on its release in November 1985. Recorded with 80s super-producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, its first two singles, the brooding, gospel influenced Brand New Friend and the forever-jaunty Lost Weekend reached the UK Top 20.

This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1985 Polydor Records UK release with printed inner sleeve and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

Heralding 2023 from way out west, Monde UFO land on Quindi with a distinctive album of dream pop vignettes and outer rim punk exotica.
Hailing from the same Californian heat haze as recent Quindi signings Bondo, Monde UFO have manifested in the past four years through a series of DIY releases including their 2021 album 7171 and last year's set of Fugazi covers, 4 Songs. The loose fit project centres around the singing, playing and songwriting of Ray Monde and Kris Chau and features Kern Haug on drums. The resulting sound arrives as a resourceful analog of plush 60s pop captured through the modest means of a truly independent musical endeavour.
The sound rendered on Vandalized Statue touches on dubby atmospherics, the lilting breeze of bossa nova and the introverted muse of US indie rock, but the end result is a natural, cohesive whole centered around the songwriting. Imagine the girl from Ipanema sat toking in a comfortable spot in the corner of the dive bar while someone weaves her a tall tale or two, and you might be somewhere in the right direction. The stories in the lyrics unfurl as meandering narratives taking you through everyday exchanges and far-fetched, cosmic scenarios alike. At every turn the cosy musicality gives everything a relatable, homespun charm, even as the mixing desk becomes a mess and the lo-fi FX crash into each other.
The album will be fronted by three singles which reflect the wide reach of Monde UFO's sound. 'Visions of Fatima' is one of the more melancholic pieces on the album, fronted by laconic organ and centring on cracked vocals with an off key charm that indirectly evokes Jeffrey Lee Pierce. 'Government Employee' is a sun-kissed trip of low-key lounge surrealism, bizarro storytelling and shuffling exotica splendour which broadly defines the woozy mood of Vandalized Statue. 'Garden Of Agony' is a more delicate but no less dreamy piece matching electric tremolo with acoustic fingerpicking balladry which hides its considerable depths behind a seemingly simple arrangement.
At once intimate and projected into the cosmos, Monde UFO add to the particular path Quindi is taking through hidden corners of independent music with a romantic, restless spirit.

Induced with hopelessness by power structures from the future, Black Dot lands on Mechatronica White with a deep rooted urge to wrestle institutions, soak in isolation and escape into the cosmos. Backed by an all consuming Cardopusher remix.

Black Dot is a collaborative effort by Christian Kroupa and Le Chocolat Noir.

Modular synthesizers / electronics + a drum kit enhanced with triggers and sensors: on its self-titled debut album, the duo hÄK / Danzeisen creates a sonic energy that oscillates between high-precision rhythm patterns, analogue sounds and frenzy climaxes.

One must imagine hÄK / Danzeisen as a man-machine apparatus. A collection of cables, resonating bodies and restless limbs that together question all routines. Who overthrow conventional role of instruments and explore the possibilities of a new sound language. Bernd Norbert Würtz alias hÄK operates modular synthesizers, self-soldered circuits and control knobs. Philipp Danzeisen plays a drum kit enhanced with triggers and sensors. These two poles are connected to an interdependent whole in which a constant musical dialogue takes place. The dependencies within this system have been meticulously defined by hÄK / Danzeisen: Drum rolls and sound modulations are interconnected in such a way that there is no contradiction between the strict technological structure and the creative outburst that is possible at any time.

What drives hÄK / Danzeisen is the basic idea that the contrast between acoustic drums and synthetically produced sounds must be overcome in order to create a new experience. Würtz, Danzeisen and their combined instrumentation simultaneously rub up against the same edges, finding a single, piercing voice.

Ideal manifestations of this approach are the duo's live performances: raw energy that oscillates as precisely as it surprises between drones, abstraction and noise attacks, driven by an impudent take on jazz. Constantly oscillating between the registers of "composed" and "improvised", each performance by hÄK / Danzeisen ultimately becomes one of a kind. (Arno Raffeiner)

Mynth beenden ihre Irrfahrt
So ähnlich haben sich die letzten Jahre wohl angefühlt - surreal und nicht enden wollend. Irgendwie das Gefühl eine Kreuzung übersehen zu haben und seither in die falsche Richtung zu fahren. Innerhalb von vier Wochen entstand das Album "FOUR". Akustischen Elemente wurden bewusst in den Vordergrund gestellt, um sie sogleich mit charakteristischen Mynth Sounds verschmelzen zu lassen. Für knapp 32 Minuten - eine wohlverdiente Ablenkung, die langersehnte Verschnaufpause.

AUSTERE sind wieder da. Die Australier kehren mit ihrem dritten Album zurück - und sie sind ebenso lakonisch und bodenständig wie zuvor. Die neuen Tracks auf "Corrosion of Hearts" stehen auf dem gleichen soliden Black Metal Fundament wie zu dem Zeitpunkt, als die Band nach der Veröffentlichung des zweiten Langspielers "To Lay Like Old Ashes" im Jahr 2009 in einen langen Winterschlaf ging, Die vielschichtigen, rauen und oft sogar verträumten Gitarrengewebe von Mitchell Keepin werden durch das gefühlvolle Schlagzeugspiel von Tim Yatras perfekt ergänzt. Letzterer steuert auch Keyboard-Tüpfel und cineastische Klanglandschaften bei. Die Australier komponieren weiterhin mäandernde, fließende musikalische Gedankenströme von meist epischem Ausmaß. Auf "Corrosion of Hearts" entwickelt sich AUSTEREs Stil zu einer reifen und klar definierten Ausdrucksform weiter. Dies ist keine große Überraschung, da beide Musiker während ihrer Auszeit von der Band anderweitig musikalisch aktiv waren und so ihren Horizont erweitern konnten. Das Duo hat sich gleichwohl mehr Zeit genommen, um die neuen Songs so zu gestalten, bis sie ihrer Klangabsicht exakt entsprechen. Die größere Erfahrung bringt auch mehr Entschlossenheit mit sich. AUSTERE entstanden aus einem bestehenden Soloprojekt des Multiinstrumentalisten und Sängers "Desolate" alias Mitchell Keepin, der im Jahr 2005 auf den Schlagzeuger, Keyboarder und Sänger "Sorrow" aka Tim Yatras traf. Obwohl sich die Australier schnell eine ebenso treue wie beachtliche Fangemeinde erspielen konnten, beschlossen AUSTERE, eine längere Pause einzulegen, bevor sie im Jahr 2021 ihre Aktivitäten wieder aufnahmen. Als erstes Zeichen ihrer Wiedergeburt veröffentlichte die Band eine Zusammenstellung ihres früheren Materials, das als Artbook-Edition unter dem Titel "Towards the Great Unknown" bei Lupus Lounge erschienen ist. Mit neu entfachter Leidenschaft und einer klaren Vision kehren AUSTERE nun mit ihrem längst sehnsüchtig erwarteten dritten Album "Corrosion of Hearts" zurück. Voller Schönheit, Stolz und Dunkelheit zieht ein mächtiger schwarzer Sturm aus Down Under herauf.

AUSTERE sind wieder da. Die Australier kehren mit ihrem dritten Album zurück - und sie sind ebenso lakonisch und bodenständig wie zuvor. Die neuen Tracks auf "Corrosion of Hearts" stehen auf dem gleichen soliden Black Metal Fundament wie zu dem Zeitpunkt, als die Band nach der Veröffentlichung des zweiten Langspielers "To Lay Like Old Ashes" im Jahr 2009 in einen langen Winterschlaf ging, Die vielschichtigen, rauen und oft sogar verträumten Gitarrengewebe von Mitchell Keepin werden durch das gefühlvolle Schlagzeugspiel von Tim Yatras perfekt ergänzt. Letzterer steuert auch Keyboard-Tüpfel und cineastische Klanglandschaften bei. Die Australier komponieren weiterhin mäandernde, fließende musikalische Gedankenströme von meist epischem Ausmaß. Auf "Corrosion of Hearts" entwickelt sich AUSTEREs Stil zu einer reifen und klar definierten Ausdrucksform weiter. Dies ist keine große Überraschung, da beide Musiker während ihrer Auszeit von der Band anderweitig musikalisch aktiv waren und so ihren Horizont erweitern konnten. Das Duo hat sich gleichwohl mehr Zeit genommen, um die neuen Songs so zu gestalten, bis sie ihrer Klangabsicht exakt entsprechen. Die größere Erfahrung bringt auch mehr Entschlossenheit mit sich. AUSTERE entstanden aus einem bestehenden Soloprojekt des Multiinstrumentalisten und Sängers "Desolate" alias Mitchell Keepin, der im Jahr 2005 auf den Schlagzeuger, Keyboarder und Sänger "Sorrow" aka Tim Yatras traf. Obwohl sich die Australier schnell eine ebenso treue wie beachtliche Fangemeinde erspielen konnten, beschlossen AUSTERE, eine längere Pause einzulegen, bevor sie im Jahr 2021 ihre Aktivitäten wieder aufnahmen. Als erstes Zeichen ihrer Wiedergeburt veröffentlichte die Band eine Zusammenstellung ihres früheren Materials, das als Artbook-Edition unter dem Titel "Towards the Great Unknown" bei Lupus Lounge erschienen ist. Mit neu entfachter Leidenschaft und einer klaren Vision kehren AUSTERE nun mit ihrem längst sehnsüchtig erwarteten dritten Album "Corrosion of Hearts" zurück. Voller Schönheit, Stolz und Dunkelheit zieht ein mächtiger schwarzer Sturm aus Down Under herauf.