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Group Rhoda is the solo electronic music project of Mara Barenbaum, based out of Oakland, California. The project started around 2009 with a debut album 'Out of Time, Out of Touch' in 2012 on Night School Records and '12th House' in 2013 on Not Not Fun. She is also one half of Max and Mara who released the album 'Less Ness' in 2013 on Dark Entries Records. She is committed to live performance, situated within the analog synthesizer and drum machine medium.

'Wilderless' is Group Rhoda's third full length and first for Dark Entries Records. Each of the these 7 songs draw forth tones of tropical darkwave and soft industrial, while negating the sound of conformity and control. The album explore themes of societal and spiritual displacement, contemporary serfdom, the depths of empathy, regeneration through destruction, and the tyranny of claiming recognition and power. Lyrics are poetically expressed through allegory and explore archetypes rooted more in abstract observation rather than hard line experience. Through transgression and imagination, Group Rhoda explores the arc of songwriting interwoven into stark electronic environments, and creates a bridge between the corporeal and the dream worlds.

Each song was mixed by Mark Pistel at Room 5 in San Francisco and mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is packaged in a jacket featuring a colorful custom made collage by Hugo Barros and includes a full color sticker and digital download card.

Serotonin Records, the little neuron that could, returns with a compilation of futuristic electronic funk.

'It's What We Live For: Volume 1' is the first in a series of compilations sharing our vision of tomorrow and/or the sound of the day after yesterday... Serotonin has always been what we've lived for, now we'll try and make sure it's what you live for too.

John Selway takes us 'Solar Sailing' on a tour of classic Serotonin themes set in the deep space between our ears. Of course it sounds like Selway, but it's the unique sound of Selway on Serotonin.

Alex Cortex has been making electro for years and Serotonin is excited to finally catch up with him. His contribution 'Proxy' is a deep, fat and brain chemistry-altering groove.

Synapse, the duo consisting of label heads John Selway and Jason 'bpmf' Szostek, reach into their archives to deliver 'Payback'. What was the debt Well, that was already paid back with another track so we can share this golden slice of the electro dream with you.

TCMF with isti.f can transform your body with laser beams and bass. 'We Are The Almost People' is just weird enough to rock you out of your seat so you can get up and jam.

Pointsman and bpmf each deliver a loop so that the Serotonin never runs out.

Watch out for more releases soon, including a full Synapse EP and some old friends doing new tricks.

Serotonin, It's what you we live for...

Orbis X is a sublabel of Orbis Records and will be mainly focusing on softer yet often usable as DJ material for the broader mass interested in Electronic music. This sublabel is an extension of Orbis Records softer, more melodical and experimental side.

Music will be ranging from house, dub, chicago over melodic acid and even breaks. Not any track makes it to this sublabel if it can't stand on its own and stand the test of time! We warmly welcome the Dutch duo Dennis Pors & Stephan de Bruijn to OrbisX. New fresh talent, ready to conquer the world. We feel obliged to support these
fine gentlemen to get their music spread across the globe. Dennis & Stephan know each other through their musical perspectives.
They share a similar taste for music, Detroit techno. Before they worked together, Dennis experimented with deep house through digital synths and learned the ins and outs of programming music in Logic.
Stephan was well known with the detroit techno scene. His passion goes out to well balanced electronic music with hypnotizing emotional feeling to it. Add a layer of atmospheric grooves on top of that and you have the perfect blend to potential timeless music.
Soon enough they made the switch to analog gear to be able to create a cleaner and better sound. After three years of hard work, they have reached the sound they were looking for. And this is it!
Their debut on vinyl. D&S servers a full EP called Thoughts EP. A great cocktail of dreamy and diverse electronic tunes. This EP fits well in the back of any DJ bag to warm up the place or fix the atmosphere on roof-top bar in NYC. Smooth cruising, roof down car music or background music on a spring night with a summery breeze This EP is amazing and works best on a big sounds systems and major festivals! Childs play , what s in a name. Nothing like that melody. Creating a generously opening atmosphere, but actually brilliantly mixed creating the perception of simplicity. Groovy, acid touches and funky. Can t keep still when being played. A-track for sure! Thoughts might have a dark feel to it but evolves in a very uplifting track in just a few moments, making
it very bright and fun to play. Shed light to the place, should have been a great title as well, but thoughts is the best name for this track. The story in this track is definitely there to be told and listened to. Edge Of Insanity kicks of the B-side. Goosebumps, as from the start. Building up slowly to a very melodic and yet simply track, it s the perfect translation for a sunrise at the beach. Potential
Ibiza hit if you ask us. Submission is a track straight out of a movie. Clever, nice build up, dreamy, spacey and above all so amazingly subtle. This is what falling in love should sound like. We re humble. We re amazed. We re honoured to host D&S. We hope this duo gets the attention

"Berlin based Cocktail d'Amore Music and Ene Tokyo join forces for Greenvision's debut - The Italo-American duo formed by Trent and Juan Ramos. pENE d'Amore Pt.1 is the name of their first 12 inch. This is one of those records that makes you start questioning matters of genre and music construction. Sit back, press play and enjoy this ultra-cosmic adventure. The different rhythm patterns included in Surdinia melt organically with the acid lines, the high UFO whistles and spaceship-like sound effects, exploding into an unexpected and comfortable piano house line, solving the puzzle and leaving you thirsty for more. Meccanica is a slow tempo gem, It combines elements of industrial and Balearic with a touch of submarine-like soundscapes. Ramos and Trent's music-making philosophy is as special as unique. The multitude of elements that compose each track has its own life cycle, its own ecosystem.

On Arise , Zara McFarlane returns to a buoyant UK jazz scene with a head-turning third album. Exploring the musical possibilities of British-Jamaican identity, it's a cultural exchange that's born of London's current musical climate. Released on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings, it sees her working with much-feted drummer and producer Moses Boyd. Both rose through London's Tomorrow's Warriors programme, a finishing school for many young vanguards of the live, ascendant jazz scene springing up across the UK capital. Sharing Caribbean family heritages, it's a product of their joint exploration of the meeting points between jazz and the rhythms of Jamaica, reggae, Kumina, calypso and nyabinghi, shaded with hints of the psychedelic.

Zara's breakthrough 2012 track, a jazz cover of Junior Murvin's 'Police and Thieves', provided a jumping off point to further explore the blurred, colourful territory in between jazz and roots-reggae. Covering Nora Dean's 'Peace Begins Within', she breathes a syncopated groove into a soulful, reggae classic. A beautifully poised version of the Congos' Fisherman teases out the poignant lyrical content of the 1977 classic. Meanwhile new, original compositions from Zara, like 'Fussin' and Fightin'' and 'Freedom Chain', combine a deep, reverberating bass with a steady-stepping roots rhythm. Album opener 'Ode To Kumina' touches on the kumina tradition brought to Jamaica by indentured labourers from The Congo in the later part of the 19th Century. Part of Zara's deeper research into her Caribbean heritage, it alludes to a deep-rooted culture encompassing music, dance and religion.

Similarly, 'Silhouette' arose from that same research, in this case, however, it was about how records and documents often get lost in Jamaica. It kind of came out of the idea of black history and blackness and feeling like you're trying to find yourself,' she explains. Trying to be proud of your history and who you are. And never forgetting the things that brought you to where you are.' Alongside drummer Moses Boyd on production, the album features a stellar line up of some of the key players on the London scene Binker Golding on tenor sax, Peter Edwards on piano, Shirley Tetteh on guitar, Nathaniel Cross on Trombone and an unusually restrained turn on Clarinet from Shabaka Hutchings.
Shared between all of them is a tendency to find the common points between different musical ilks: from US hard bop jazz, to dub and London-rooted hybrids and permutations, the band on Arise reflect the musical diversity of their home. Boosted by new platforms, like East London showcase Church of Sound and a newly-refreshed Jazz Café, the record surfs the momentum currently propelling jazz-influenced music in the UK.

For Zara, Jamaica's musical legacy is deeply intertwined with her sense of the place itself. Spending whole summers in the hills of Jamaica, it's the sounds and smells which she most vividly associates with her stays there. In particular the local sound systems which were an everyday feature of the local area, be it in shops or bars, each of the small local shacks would have a sound system where they'd play music through the day and evening.

From where my nan used to live, in Cauldwell there's a sound system almost opposite her house,' she says. So you feel this boom of the bass, and then all the smells of the hills and the greenery of Hanover. When you land in Jamaica and you go to walk off of the plane, the heat and the smells hit you and it feels like home away from home for me. When I hear Jamaican music, these are the senses that come.'

2DIY4 ("to die for"), the sublabel of Diynamic Music, is embarking onto a new journey. With this forthcoming release 2DIY4 is starting a new chapter in its history, turning away from the classic 4/4 House formula and towards new, outstanding and sincere Indie Downtempo Electronica music.

With a highly artistic approach, it aims to paint a holistic picture that shapes its identity with all inherent components - sonic and visual. The golden thread that runs through it all is the question "what would you die for" - creatively replied to by the artists.

The first artist under the label's new identity is Lunar Plane, consisting of identical twin brothers Emre and Mert from Istanbul. They answered: "We would die for each other, so the first thing comes to mind is twinhood." Together with LA-based October's Child on the vocals, they deliver the first of many chilling Electronica EPs for 2DIY4.

Eric Maltz is a producer from New York City and now resides in Berlin, Germany.He is a former employee of Halcyon records from its' OG glory days in it's first location in Red Hook/Carrol Gardens areas of Brooklyn."Eric Provided a sofa to me often through-ought my 20's and vice-versa, we both cared about music above all else- we lived and breathed music- and we helped each other survive when we were penniless - if one was up, so was the other...Eric and I were roommates, friends, we looked out for each other in a rough city with tough rules. Every time one of us got a job at a restaurant or record shop, within weeks we would have the other working there too. We did that for a decade. We slang records for years at Halcyon- a shop on Smith Street which had a portrait of Stevie Wonder painted on the front facade- and we threw parties all around Brooklyn back then too.. Every shitty bar that would have us lol. We were a dope team. He's the only person who has ever touched the third rail on a subway and survived too! True story. So you know I couldn't wait to release his Debut LP. Proud of this guy" - Levon Vincent

Spiritual jazz heavyweight and Kendrick Lamar collaborator Kamasi Washington's new EP Harmony of Difference, the first new music from Washington since his universally acclaimed 2015 debut album The Epic, is out September 29 via Young Turks.
Harmony of Difference premiered as part of the Whitney Museum of American Art 2017 Biennial alongside a film by A.G. Rojas and also featuring artwork by Kamasi Washington's sister, Amani Washington. The new music is an original six part suite that explores the philosophical possibilities of the musical technique known as 'counterpoint,' which Washington defines as 'the art of balancing similarity and difference to create harmony between separate melodies.' Beyond the artistic impulse to expand the possibilities within counterpoint, Washington wanted to create something that opened people's minds to the gift of diversity.
Each of the first five movements is its own unique composition. 'Truth,' the sixth movement, fuses all five compositions into one simultaneous performance. Echoing this fusion, Amani created five paintings focused on raw shapes and colors, each inspired by one of the first five movements of the suite. Amani then combined these paintings to create a sixth: an abstract depiction of a human face.
The film, directed by A.G. Rojas, brings the metaphoric ideas found in both the music and paintings to life. While still quite abstract, it focuses on the harmony found in people from South Central and East Los Angeles and shows the beauty in their differences.
'My hope is that witnessing the beautiful harmony created by merging different musical melodies will help people realize the beauty in our own differ

Alternatively titled: 'Homoswavesailors', Jack Cccoy's 1984 film about the birth of windsurfing details, through the gaze of the sport as a pre-historic ancient ritual, the exploits of a few of the sports originators. Backing up the clear 80's blue visuals of waves white washed wind blasted FX, is a variety of original pop and synth music made by the films' composer, Chris Eggleton. There are no song titles, rather each track is spiced-up with wind and wave sound fx, which were originally meant to act as sound accents for wave sail action in the film. The pop songs are beach-spiked hits, sounding like New Zealand's flying nun rock, or blasted out prince chorus funk, but with added film sound fx, the essence of the silver screen begins to creep into the medium of audio disc! The synth music on Tradewinds sounds as if Tangerine Dream made inspirational beach movie tracks during the height of their 'Firestarter' period. The mix is arranged by Pacific City, so that the summer doesn't crash and burn. For the first time in history, Pacific City Sound Visions presents: the original motion picture soundtrack to 'Tradewinds' on vinyl LP. Break down..... shake down..... ya busted......

The second EP of Samuel Rohrer's Range of Regularity album presents two more striking reinterprations. These new remixes provide an intriguing parallax view of the original tracks, using the percussive eclecticism of the parent LP as a starting point from which to journey into sonically vibrant, feature-rich territories. The production specialists on hand for this project include Burnt Friedman and Ricardo Villalobos. Villalobos, has already formed a strong working relationship with Rohrer's AMBIQ trio, lends his talents to both of the EPs. (RoR REMIXES I - AMEL-EP716). Nonplace label boss Friedman, as well, has carved out a unique space for himself within the electronic world, logging several decades' worth of releases that with dub-wise production sensibility, skewed humor, and riots of tone color. Though each individual remix has its own character, they are all united in their ability to provide a quick cure for fatigue with the common 'loop': though not improvised, they are strung together from fleeting phrases that evolve as if they are taking on a life independent of their creators.
Burnt Friedman's own dramatic interpretation of 'Microcosmoism' pairs up his consciousness of deep bass and analog inventiveness with Rohrer's continually transforming sound objects, making for a flowing and wordless narrative that simply dares listeners to stop paying attention. Feeling more like a collaboration in 'real time' than a remix proper, Friedman brings his characteristic 'mad scientist' wit to the proceedings and delivers an energetic piece that simply glows in the dark.
This is complemented nicely by Villalobos' remix of 'Microcosmoism'. It carries the energy level of the 1st EP over to a new disk, while heavily experimenting with feelings of emotional ambiguity. At some points aggressive and at other points merely curious, this mischievous collage of attitudes feels as inspired by the questing jazz of Sun Ra as it is by continental techno. Contemplative keyboard runs, enthusiastic spring-like percussion and malfunctioning machine chatter all coalesce to make this a most fascinating piece of multi-purpose electronic music.

Assemble Music brings together four more producers at the forefront of today's fine minimal/house/electro scene. Eklo boss Seuil kicks things off with JAM, a slowly-unfolding confection of metallic percussion and rolling bass set against a meditative, minor backdrop. His fellow Half Baked resident Robin Ordell brings a tipsy-sounding vibe to MOBSIW, each element swaying its way around the others in an off-key dance. Les Points' Barbir adds Detroit hats to a no-shits-given breakbeat and suspends it in time, before finally a 4/4 kick comes to put feet back on the ground. Finally, Traffic founders Martyné and Jacob draw on more contemporary breaks and electro influences on ELECTRONETTO, with that laissez-faire swing with which their label has become synonymous.

Dark Entries and Serendip Lab have teamed up to release 'Prototech', the first vinyl retrospective by German electronic trio Hypnobeat, recorded 1984-86. James Dean Brown and Pietro Insipido formed Hypnobeat in 1983, but it was the addition of Victor Sol only a few months later that found the project reaching, as Brown puts it, "the desired level of technical sophistication." In time, Tobias Freund also lent his talents (and equipment) to this loose-fit sonic scheme, where the protagonists sought a new, electronic manifestation of mankind's tribal music roots. Two cassette releases surfaced - 1985's "Huggables", and "Specials/Spatials" the following year. By this point the Frankfurt-based group had already explored fiercely mechanical creative expression through various configurations of hardware and personnel, revolving around core ingredients such as the TR-808, TB-303 and MC-202. The project lived on in spirit as Brown activated Narcotic Syntax in the 90s. While a more modern, digital concern, rooted in the Perlon label family, NS still channeled the Hypnobeat concept of a "new tribalism", not least on their "Provocative Percussion" double 12" released in 2006. For all the punky veneer, there are instances where these tracks reach staggering levels of sophistication, not least on "Slash! Buffalo Eats Brass" with its intricately programmed 303 lines and nimble beats that sound a far cry from most machine music made in 1986. Prescient "Can God Rewind" is also dazzling in the complexity of its percussion and the richness of its synth lines in C as they throb out a bastardised version of acidic Disco straight out of the rhythm collider. Elsewhere, some tracks are more primal in their execution. Visceral opening track "The Arumbaya Fetish" was a cathartic venting of Brown's least favourite sound on the 808, the iconic cowbell, while the astounding proto-Acid miniature "Moon Jump" places limber 303 lead lines in a hail of thunderstruck patterns. "Kilian" has a stripped down quality that speaks more to the industrial era that Hypnobeat was conceived in, and "Mission In Congo" is a raw, reverb-soaked drum workout that captures the percussive-obsessive nature of Hypnobeat perfectly. Six of the seven tracks selected on this collection were primarily powered by two 808s. "I am amazed that the release sounds like we really had a plan back then..." states Brown, but this accidental magic is in fact the raison d'etre of Hypnobeat. They weren't the only ones prefiguring the next big revolutions in electronic music in the mid 80s, but there certainly weren't many artists stumbling across modes of expression that sound so relevant today.

All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in a jacket featuring cave engravings by Pietro Insipido of an archer and animal printed in a wallpaper pattern style designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes an transparent insert of an x-ray photograph from 1984 of Romulus Cœurque holding the circuit board of a BOSS DR-55 rhythm machine.

Circus Company and The Mole have long been making eyes at each other across the same crowded dancefloor. Colin de la Plantes primary project is synonymous with the off-kilter corner of house music we like to spend our time dancing in, and the labels he releases on are close cousins of the Circus troupe. From Wagon Repair to Philpot, Musique Risquee to Perlon, its a wonder that we havent worked together previously, but finally thats been put right with Little Sunshine. Stripped back, understated disco grooves have always been the bread and butter of The Moles sound, while infectious, cyclical melodic patterns are equally important in making his unique version of house music. On the title track, those elements are presented with full force, but in between the driving rhythms linger the most gorgeous keys, bringing a mellow introspection to the track as a neat counterpoint to the energy of the drums and arpeggios. Compared to the clean lines and peppy tempo of Little Sunshine, Discotheque Airplane is an audacious swerve into low and slow territory, where dusty samples rule the day and the bass swells in and out of earshot with a truly mesmerizing effect. Its a moody affair loaded with tension, mystery and funk in abundance. As if that wasnt enough proof of the variety in The Moles repertoire, on his collaboration with Dutch hero Tom Trago for Down The Hallway we find the pair exploring lean, focused techno, where the simplest of rhythms propel a haunting, distant vocal lick. Its the drum sounds that make this a special cut, championing warm, natural percussion instead of the methodical drum machine hits found in most contemporary techno. Rounding the EP off in a beautifully mysterious style is Aardvarck, whose remix of Down The Hallway take

This record is meant to be enjoyed like a seascape. It offers a Mediterranean journey, one that Ulysses, Aeneas, and Jason with his Argonauts charted first and Valencian artist, Pep Llopis, retraced and retread — from the islands of Menorca to Santorini. All of his experiences are aboard this vessel of sound: no format in mind, no course but the chasm within self. While Poiemusia La Nau Dels Argonautes materializes at this moment as an album, another object suits Pep's project: Lewis Carroll's Map of the Ocean' from his The Hunting of the Snark. It's a simple illustration: the thin outline of a blank rectangle that represents the sea with no trace of land. Carroll offers this empty space as an object that all can understand, a container for possibility. Likewise, Poiemusia offers a musical language that any listener can understand. Untethered to the meaning of words, one is set adrift and free in minimalist sound and traditional music. Llopis, who often composed for dance, originally wrote Poiemusia for a performance at the Poiemusia festival (the Greek contraction of poetry and music). Peer composers, Carles Santos and Wim Mertens, also participated in the festival, which took place over several days at the Teatro Princesa in Valencia. Llopis paired his newly formed avant-garde compositions with the poems of fellow Valencian, Salvador Jàfer.

In the studio presentation of Poiemusia, voices softly converse, only to evaporate. The poetry is incanted by the poet himself. Jàfer enunciates at the verge of song, drawing dimension from his Mediterranean travels. He is accompanied by Montse Anfruns' vaporous voice. She extends the roll of her r's and the hiss of each s as if casting a spell of Salacia. Pep bathes their conversational performance in slight delays and reverb, allowing their voices to dissolve into an ocean of sound.

Llopis was influenced by minimal American composers like Steve Reich and La Monte Young. He embraces the melodic sides of these masters in the winds of El Vell Rei De La Serp' and the tender piano on Nits de cristall.' You will find yourself submerged in tonality on tracks like Jardins Aquàtics' and La Nau Dels Argonautes' which have a kinship to Philip Glass or Daniel Lentz. Each piece extends from 5 to almost 14 minutes. The music gently laps against listening skin— sometimes placid, sometimes shimmering. Ripples of sound swell and quicken. Flutes like schools of fish. The spray of chimes. Taught strings break like the shore. Tingling, undulating synths. The record cover acts as a map, tracing the forms of the original art and providing the poems in Catalana and Spanish. Once bathed in these sounds one will emerge like Carroll's map: a perfect and absolute blank.' Poiemusia La Nau Dels Argonaute emerges in vinyl and digital formats on May 19, 2017 through Freedom To Spend.

This obscure and difficult to find LP is the Heath Brothers' debut album and is considered to be their best. 'Marchin'on' is unquestionably a masterpiece and is a much sought-after album. With its wealth of riffs, it is much appreciated by samplers and has been sampled by various contemporary artists. It was originally released in 1976 on Strata-East, a label at the time co-owned by Stanley Cowell. The album flows fluidly, meticulously in a warm rich blend with the four part 'smilin' Billy suite being a tour de force on its own. All suites have the same anchor in melody but each branches out to its own distinctive song varying from relaxed to light to dramatic and upbeat. The Heath Brothers was formed in 1975 by brothers Jimmy, Percy, Albert Heath and the much celebrated pianist Stanley Cowell in Philadelphia. The band later on continued with the brothers and alternate new members, with at one point the very talented 'Mtume' who is Jimmy Heath's son, joining. - Rachel Kinoti

Edanticonf's music feels perfectly crafted for the brooding atmospheric venues he so often performs in. Both the aforementioned adjectives can be attributed to his style of techno too, one that places the focus less on the technical side and more onthe human one, aiming to reflect his emotions and state of being through the hazy soundscapes that draw influence from the natural scenery around him.His concise back-catalogue features releases on revered labels such as M¦REC LTD, Trolldans, Phorma and Silent Season - the imprint which released his debut LP, 'Forest Echo', in 2012. On each release, Edanticonf's work sonically varies, from the more ambient compositions present on his 'Planet' EP for Silent Season to his dub-infused techno release on Italy's M¦REC LTD, but each offering never compromises on its quality, something which sits at the core of this project.

Kicking off the EP is the title-named track, 'The Mind Power', a hypnotic techno number that blends atmospheric textures and arpeggiated synth patterns with industrial-inducing pad tones, gradually introducing further elements throughout its eight minute duration.

'Interlude' follows, a song that much like the rest of the EP focuses its attention on the refined nuances of the analogue synthesiser, blending this with more delicate synth passages and other shadowy digital effects.

Closing this excellent three-track EP is 'We Dance Together', a dazzling, almost trance-like closer that fuses these soaring atmospheric elements and delicate synths with gritty, lo-fi drums to great effect.

Fresh from his 'Vanishing Point single on UK label Hypercolour, which saw the lead track hit the Beatport Leftfield House & Techno sales chart at #1 for four weeks, A Sagittariun is back on his Elastic Dreams label with the 'Slightly Ajar' EP. As always, A Sagittariun brings an eclectic melting pot of flavours to each of his EPs, blending Detroit techno, ambient house, highly charged electro, dramatic synths and transcendental vibes. 'Stingray' combines future techno beats with apocalyptic bass and melodious keys, with an almost early 1980s synth pop vibe to it, whilst 'Burning Crystal' is the kind of introverted and deep ambient electronica that has shaped the two A Sagittariun albums (2013's 'Dream Ritual' and 2016's 'Elasticity'). 'An Infinite Number Of Possibilities' is relentless, frenetic and funky, as a myriad of warped sounds and riffs flash past the heavy drum work, and '720 Degrees' closes the EP with crunchy 808 electro patterns, FM bass and huge melancholic strings straight out of the Derrick May rule book. A Sagittariun will be performing at the Berghain, Berlin on 26th August, showcasing a new live set before embarking on further dates at the end of the year.

Faitiche announces the launch of its new Acoustic Surveillance Series. Each 7" vinyl single in the series presents a historical system for acoustic surveillance, beginning with uguisubari by G.E.S.. The pieces on the record feature recordings of uguisubari - special floors in Japanese temples and castles.

2024 Repress

Hotel Record is the second release from the duo/couple of crys cole and Oren Ambarchi, following on from Sonja Henies Vei 31 (Planam, 2014). Where their debut recording presented a disquieting portrait of the erotic dimension of romantic intimacy, the follow-up continues to explore the pair's simultaneously musical and romantic relationship in a more subtle fashion, presenting four long-form pieces that touch on the variety of forms the life of this couple takes: as a musical duo, as a pair of travelers to exotic locations, as opponents in a game of cards...
Each of the double LP's four sides presents a distinct sound-world, yet each manages to attain the same suspended, half-sleeping feeling, outlining a space where improbable combinations of the electronic and the acoustic, of extreme closeness and amorphous distance, occur with the gentle insistence of a dream.
The opening Call Myself calmly unfolds a fabric of long tones from electronic organ and guitar, combining the sliding, aleatoric effects of classic David Behrman with a more hands-on feel. Over the top of this slowly shifting tonal bed, cole's voice mutters unintelligibly into a Buchla synth, teasing the listener by suggesting a meaning that remains always out of the ear's reach. Francis Debacle (Uno) builds on the foundations of a heavily amplified session of the titular card game, overlaying vocal murmurs and exhalations and mysterious room-sounds to create an impossible aural environment. On Burrata, a palette of vintage 1980s digital synthesizer sounds combined with guitars create an irregular texture of lush chords and bubbling melodic details, into which cole's voice processed by a vocoder, is interwoven, reading fragments of romantic correspondence. Finally, on Pad Phet Gob, field recordings made in Thailand become an ambiguously acoustic/electronic rainforest, eventually giving way to a mysterious, wavering electronic tone-field punctuated by sibilant, popping mouth-sounds.
Carving out an intimate and human sonic space across a diverse array of compositional approaches, sound sources, fidelities and textures, Hotel Record is the latest dispatch from the continuing explorations of a unique duo. Ambarchi and cole reimagine electro-acoustic music, not simply as 'abstract' sound, but as a diary, a love poem, a dream.
Deluxe gatefold sleeve with photography by crys cole and LP design via Stephen O'Malley
Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin February 2017

The first time I heard of Mattes Schwarz, someone called him 'Stecken-Mattes'. Stecken was a defining, if almost secret, Cologne dance music venue of the 2000s and early 2010s, a minuscule basement without curfew and seemingly any other restrictions, where the up to twelve hour long DJ-sets felt like a tightly knit circle of friends just playing records to each other: The selectors from the night before and the one after reliably sitting right in front of the just over one meter long stretch of the bar that formed its booth, never missing out on a chance to see their mates play, heads nodding and hands clapping through the smoke-filled air, until someone started to sing along, and eventually everyone got up for a few hours of moves on the 15 square meter dancefloor, on a grey Wednesday or Saturday morning at 7 or just as well 10 am.
Mattes Schwarz started DJing in 1982 at age twelve, inspired by, as many West-German kids, the GI-DJs of the roller skating rinks around US army bases. While he got heavily involved in Cologne's BMX scene of the 90s, he never really stopped, and during the main years of being known as Stecken-Mattes and playing there each Friday night, he coincidently lived in Magazine record's homebase, North- Eastern Cologne's old harbour.
One day after Stecken's closure had sent restructuring ripples through the city - I imagine him getting up in the morning and taking a deep breath - he decided to send Magazine a few tracks.
'I Don't Know' is Mattes Schwarz' first release.