quête:ear gear

Genteel, springlike sounds emanate once more from Paris. Those who live there or have visited will know a joy in this that non-residents or travelers can only imagine, but one senses that there’s a texture to it all that bakes into the human experience when winter finally lifts and trees blossom, warm breezes blow. After being stuck at home for two years, once the weather picks up and the world hopes to shift back in gear without millions of deaths, one’s imagination begins to run. Parisian duo Zusammen Clark have codified this sound of openness and warmth using known goalposts of sound – the subtle drag of these sturdy, easygoing songs, a direct path from Jean-Charles Delarue’s previous outing in Bruit Direct outfit City Band; the descent of chord structures, a deep voice going high and staying louche. Maybe a bit of Felt’s cherry red pastoral, shades of that time in speculative fiction where Pavement signed to Postcard (remember? it was the same year that Dandelion and Les Temps Heureux got out of bed and toured coffeehouses together), the Go-Betweens just before the wheels fell off, or NYC underdogs Plates of Cake. Horns swoop in at the right moments and don’t linger. Hooks lock in and down, lead guitar casually doubles itself. Hair gets done, stubble let fashionably go. Along with bandmate and cousin Jerome Lemee, Delarue constructs a frame, pencils in the outline and begins decorating these songs with all the right touches and a confidence that knows where to place them, not just the value of the objects. This is a world of sound where everything has a story and a place, every room can provide a closet mix. It’s a world that opens into a larger world, a human world, maybe a world these two knew from childhood, maybe one they’ve built for themselves. Earlier is too well-assembled to not have a foundation in profoundly comfortable moments in life, and the knowledge of how to get there, even if one knows they can never stay. It’s a catalogue of delight, impossible to oversell. – Doug Mosurock TRACKLIST: A1 - Magyar A2 - Animals & Evidence A3 - Rest Position A4 - Swim In A Blue B1 - Parallel Lines B2 - Ho Chi Minh B3 - The Postcard B4 - Own Company

With Panorama, Frank Maston pays homage to the classic era of library records and Italian soundtracks of the 70s. A blissed-out, grooving collection of filmic cues, it continues the unique brilliance of Tulips and Darkland. Elegant and easy, subtle and stylish, breezy and beautiful; this is his Maston-piece. Commissioned by legendary label KPM, Panorama cements Maston as a master of modern classics and the most mesmeric of contemporary composers.

In early 2020, Be With suggested to Frank that he should make a KPM record. He wasn't aware that they were still putting out new library records - but he was super keen: "It was completely surreal and it still hasn't fully sank in that I have a record in that catalog, sitting alongside those incredible albums that were so influential to me."

Frank was visiting family in his hometown of LA in March 2020 when the world ground to a halt so the KPM project arrived at a fortuitous moment. Having fantasised about committing to a record with no distractions, with a proper budget, access to his gear and space to work in - to really dig in and try to write and arrange the best work he could possibly make - it was a real "be careful what you wish for" moment. But, as Frank explained, "it completely saved my year and sanity to have something to focus on and get excited about. It was my lifeline." He spent seven months on it, working almost every day.

Maston had already been making library-influenced music so when KPM outlined the criteria for the tracks it was exactly what he had been doing all along. He thought the best approach would be to make a follow-up to Tulips that had a parallel life as a KPM record. Enjoying complete creative freedom, “gave me the drive to power through and dig in deep. I'm not sure if I could have kept myself on such a rigorous recording schedule under my own steam, and I think the momentum I had writing and recording it is part of the strength of this record."

Maston’s sleek retro-groove instrumentals emulate the classic KPM “Greensleeve” reel-to-reel recordings that provided mood-setting music for mid-century cinema, television, and radio programs. Apparently in close conversation with the John Cameron-Keith Mansfield KPM pastoral masterclass Voices In Harmony, Maston's Panorama could be heard as that record's funky follow-up. Yes, it's *that good*. Another reference point from the hallowed library would be Francis Coppieter's wonderful Piano Viberations.

Opener "First Class" is a blissed-out groove, featuring the soothing vocals of Molly Lewis and a glistening harp over drums, a two-note bass motif (from Eli Ghersinu of L'Eclair) and an assemblage of guitars, synths, French horn and glowing vibraphone. Acid Lounge, anyone? The irresistibly funky "Easy Money" is a gorgeous cut led by more of Molly's vocals, pastoral flute and Rhodes, underpinned by drums and percussion, grooving bass, chilled guitars and synth strings. Kicking the tempo up, the percussive "Storm" is a vibin' filmic-fusion jam where psychedelic guitars (courtesy of Pedrum of Allah Las/Paint) organ, jazzy flute, Rhodes and vibes all compete for a place in the sun, over drums and walking bassline.

The heavenly "You Shouldn't Have" is a delicate, melancholic wonder; a dreamy instrumental where the melody is shared by a whistle, harpsichord and celeste, over a cyclical piano chord sequence and bass, synths, guitars, organ and distant French horn. The tempo rises again with the passionate, sticky "Fling", a summery, nostalgic groove with skipping drums and percussion, warm bass and electric guitar, yearning flute and synth strings. The brilliantly titled "Fool Moon" has that Voices In Harmony sound down pat. A romantic slow-mo dreamscape of Rhodes and harpsichord, piano, light drums and softly strummed acoustic guitar.

Side B opens with "Medusa", a hopeful, mellowed-out track with shuffling drums, feel-good flute, muted horns, glowing Rhodes and synth strings. The soft and gentle "Morning Paper" is an elegant way to start the day; a beatless blend of flute, guitar, percussion, ambient synths and vibes. The upbeat head-nod jam "Scenic" has that widescreen car-chase feel, uptempo drums and percussion, grooving bass, piano, synths and ambient electric guitar. "Adieu" is a smooth summer vibe, relaxing with brushed drums, Rhodes, flutes and horns. Molly Lewis's gorgeous vocals steal the show, alongside vibes, jamming organ and synth strings.

"Hydra" is another laid-back 70s-sounding retro cinema cue with light drums and percussion, walking bass, spacey synths, clavinet, glowing vibraphone, vintage organ and electric guitar. Closer "Jet Lag" is a laconic bow out; bass-driven drum machine soul, featuring hand percussion, Rhodes, vibes, synths and organ.

Multi-instrumentalist Frank played a bit of everything across Panorama. Yet, humble as ever, he believes the time, energy, and enthusiasm of all of the musicians invited to the sessions helped him realise his vision: "There were two Italian flautists who really understood what I was going for. Two french horn players, cor anglais, a vibraphonist and a flügel horn player. I've never involved this many people in my projects before, and yet the result is the most "me" record I've ever made."

Musically, a strong Italian theme runs through the record. Frank is fascinated by ancient Rome and both his parents are Italian (Maston was originally Mastrantonio before anglicisation). So, it felt natural to fully embrace these strands and tie everything together with the striking artwork. The Romans were influenced by Greek culture, emulating their art and architecture, which, in turn, influenced Renaissance era artists. Frank acknowledged this tradition when reflecting on his place in the lineage of library and soundtrack composers. He then asked his friend Mattea Perrotta, a painter and sculptor, for some sketches. What he received was exactly what he had in mind: "Especially the theater mask, which really captures the range of moods on the album". Frank arranged them as per the cover and it soon felt right: "I wanted to make a cover that was reminiscent of the classic KPM albums without making it too pastiche - so it has its own identity and looks at home alongside other library records, while still fitting in nicely in the KPM catalogue." The last step was for us to introduce Frank to Be With-KPM’s Rich Robinson, who helped put together the back and centre labels and align it all within the KPM standard.

Panorama is a perfect title for the album. With no opportunity to travel for tours or recording projects, Frank arranged postcards from his collection on his desk with beautiful views of the mediterranean coast, the Roman Colosseum and Cinque Terre. These also served as visual prompts: "That was part of the sonic concept - imagining myself driving down the mediterranean coast with this music on, with the top down." Additionally, the range of moods and vibes - "I tried to make each song very different from the previous one in terms of tempo and arrangement and feeling" - speaks to the idea of a Panorama of music and sounds and emotions. The last track was originally called Panorama, but KPM already had that title in their catalogue so it was changed to "Jet Lag", which, as Frank notes, "is perhaps even more fitting, since the trip is over".

Los Angeles-bred "SoCal Country" singer Sam Outlaw will release a pedal
steel-stamped, new wave-inspired record titled 'Popular Mechanics'
Solely writing seven of the album's 11 tracks, Outlaw fuses the sounds of his
favorite artists of the '80s - Kenny Loggins, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Petty - with stories
influenced by the great innovators of the 20th century and the engineers that
make up his own family tree. The ambitious direction of 'Popular Mechanics' may
seem like a sudden shift from Outlaw's country-leaning albums, 'Angeleno' (2015)
and 'Tenderheart' (2017), which garnered appearances on CBS Saturday
Morning's Anthony Mason, NPR, The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal and more,
but the gears actually started turning in early 2018 after Outlaw shelved some
new material he recorded in Southern California. Following his cross- country
move to Music City that same year, Outlaw found unexpected inspiration during a
visit from his father, a mechanical engineer, and it prompted him to shift his focus
to the technological side of music creation. The epiphany came when he
connected industrial machines with the role technology plays in recorded music.
Growing up on the hits of the '80s, an incredible time of transformation in music
history, he remembers everything came into focus for the album once he
envisioned the title, 'Popular Mechanics`

Bringing back the Sunday vibes from the early days of UKG - bass heavy tracks geared towards the undergrond.

Keith Fullerton Whitman brings his 3-part Generators series for Japan’s NAKID label to a close with a third and final instalment that ravishes the senses with hybrid analogue/digital systems tekkerz.

Hazing into a solemn start of floating organ and slurred drums, the first part fizzes into action with pranging irregularities, tentatively allowing the system to voice varying pitches and nimble rhythms that resemble balletic footwork plies as much as classically-trained instrumentalist flurries. It’s deeply trance-inducing, meditative gear that over the course of 25 minutes slowly gains momentium and complexity, first adding robust arps to complicate the structure, treading the finest line of chaos and discipline. In time, those arps turn themselves into a rhythm track, landing somewhere between Whitman's earliest junglist works as Hrvatski and a sort of plucked rhythmic minimalism that reminds us of Mark Fell’s Sensate Focus, gliding on natural, brownian motion and flux of texture, punctuated by what sound likes a plucking of a drum machine from the inside-out.

In part 2 the mood pools and diffracts in slow-fast meter, bristling ruptures of atonality that send limbs flailing one way and then another, adding subs for a dimensional shift that’s rhythmically fractured but always grounded at the low registers. The wavy embroidery of Whitman's machines trigger each other in endlessly fascinating forms of gyring workshop ballistics and dub reverberations.

A special bonus piece ‘Meakusma (Generators, Soundcheck)’ is the most curious of the lot, with a lone clarinet heard in the air, perhaps a serendipitous inclusion form someone else’s soundcheck, lending an enchanting depth perception to his frolicking bleeps.


[a] 1 | MEAKUSMA [Generators] (190606) Part 1
[b] 2 | MEAKUSMA [Generators, Redactions] (190606) Part 2
[c] 3 | MEAKUSMA [Generators, Soundcheck] (190606)

Ben Auld writes songs whose heartbreak and wonder reveal themselves
moments after the warmth of their beauty sinks in, like slipping into the
ocean on a bronzy morning
Whether he's singing about bookstores and porches or ghosts and space
stations, the Bristol, UK-based singer-songwriter imbues his straight-to-tape gems
with a radiant AM pop warmth. And on Lemongrass, due ia Earth Libraries, that
comfy songwriting crackles and pops somewhere between Roger McGuinn and
Gram Parsons. Auld's debut record brims with homespun charm, dazzling
melodies, and lyrics that burrow deep into the heart.
Throughout the album, the immaculately arranged compositions provide the
perfect frame for smooth and rosiny vocals. Utilizing a series of reel-to-reel tape
machines, Auld chose to meticulously stack his instrumentation rather than
simplify; some songs have dozens of instrumental tracks, all assembled on tape.
"I'd record three tracks, bounce that over, and then record another three. I did it
alone and it took a long time to figure out what was possible," he says. "I went
through two four- track recorders, an 8- track 1/2" reel- to- reel, and finished the
album on a TASCAM 388. One of the biggest challenges of the album was fixing
all the broken old gear."
With each new listen, Lemongrass becomes a fonder friend, Auld's heart-on-hissleeve lyricism and intimate songwriting building a deeper nest. "The time is
ours/ Our time is now," he insists on the psychedelic wonder of "Our Time Is
Now", more certain and wide-eyed than urgent. Through first love and heartbreak,
dawns and apocalypses, Lemongrass keeps turning, collecting flickers of astral
bliss with each rotation, Auld's thumping heartbeat at the core.

Vessels promise an escape from responsibilities towards the landscape, they facilitate our avoidance of conscientiously feeling our attachment to the mainland. The visual nothingness of deep water and clean horizons fools the brain and delivers a treacherous feeling of independence.

We ignore the truths expressed by landscapes, so we mould them into urban projects for our strange desires. We clean up the irrationalities by which nature constructs itself. Then we look up to the skies, where the abstractions we have to draw in our minds should reside and inspire us.

We peer into the various shades of blue above the waters, the emptiness guarantees possibilities of our abstractions becoming realities. The apathetic stare into neat, straight horizons transforms our ancestral landscape into dirt and danger, when looking back to it.

To be on a ship under quarantine, is an upside down experience, for the promised escape has turned into a forced paralysis. The Lima flag (? - ? ?, in morse code), presented on the outer sleeve of this record, indirectly demands of all passengers to stay aboard and contemplate their escape from the land they now desire to return to.

These four piano pieces could be considered as a classical sonata (allegroadagio-scherzo-rondo). In a recital they are accompanied by four video pieces by artist Karl Van Welden. We picked the videos out of his extensive archive, choosing images intuitively while listening to the piano music. The theme of ships relating to quarantine thus came unannounced but of course, we were in the middle of the pandemic at the time.

Solastalgia was already waiting as a title for the new album before march 2020. I first came across the word in Underland, a book by Robert Macfarlane (2019). He defines the word as "The unhappiness of people whose landscapes are being transformed about them by forces beyond their control". These forces and this unhappiness are, I believe, what constitutes the modern human. Solastalgia, about the music We haven't found them yet, the words to talk to each other about the worrying signs of climate change. Feeling worried when walking on autumn leaves in the beginning of August should be completely normal. But how do we communicate about it? We don't want to be just the next hysterical doomer.

With this music I try to focus on the climate pain itself, gently inviting the listener to investigate their latent feelings of unease and growing concerns about the environment. As in real life, we circumvent the real issues because they are just too big, there are no words, no expressions yet.

This album tries, in four different attempts, to carve out a path towards communicating about a deeper pain that eventually will connect us all. My general method is to start with a comforting melody, full of fake nostalgia, which, after changing gear to autodestruct mode, morphs into a painful question mark.

The first part sets off with an idyllic melody, accompanied by repeated notes, as a far, muted echo of an alarm. The melody starts to explain itself painfully into a dissonant whirlwind in the high register, sounding not unlike Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit bravura. In the second piece a warm Beatles like melody (And I love her) gets confronted with the weird hippie mantra of a later Lennon song War is over, if you want it. Sentences get reduced to syllables and result in lonely notes that crash and shiver under the burden of too much meaning. Like Shostakovich's latest work, the Sonata for viola and piano.

The descending melody of Bach's Erbarme dich, Mein Gott is echoed in the upper and lower voicings of the third piece, juxtaposed to a typical, threatening Ennio Morricone Western dotted rhythm accompaniment. This rhythm eventually evolves into citing the 1972 Captain Beefheart early ecological warning song Blabber and Smoke (there's a big pane/pain in your window, it's gonna hang you all,... dangle you all). Towards the middle of the piece, the music explodes and the three layers get dispersed all over the keyboard in a virtuosic maelstrom towards another painful question mark. The bitter answer is going back to business with a barely noticeable citation of the first notes of the RZA's Liquid Swords album.

The final piece is some kind of mantra, the same 7/4 pulse all throughout the piece. The dampers of all A's and B's on the keyboard are released by the middle pedal, thus sustaining an ever present resonance. Melodic cells alternate in shifting quantifications with small, bell like percussive cluster playing. While composing this piece an image crept up: walking out of the church on Sunday morning, tolling bells enthusiastically moderating the churchgoers' small talk in the local dialect. Apparently I have tried to evoke this kind of conversation, but injecting it with fictitious alarming conversation topics, the contemporary.

Frederik Croene (August '22)

Knucks takes the Hip Hop world by storm as he gears for the release of his highly anticipated new project "Alpha Place"'.Following the release of his unorthodox visuals, Knucks delivers heartfelt messages through addictive rap compositions

A dynamic new face to the genre, "Alpha Place" focuses on the feelings and thoughts that the artist and producer has been experiencing growing up in London, channeled through the stirring essence of music. Highlighting important narratives and revitalising the Hip Hop genre, with a composition which is both soulful, moving, and memorable, the rising new artist is changing the rules of the
game.Knucks is taking his artistry to new heights in Alpha Place, with soulful samples and distinctive production styles paired with some of the UK's biggest names in the rap game. The project is more than just an ode to the neighbourhood Knucks grew up in Alpha House but a representation of life and culture on all sides of the capital. Giving a voice to many experiences shared by young people growing up. Knucks makes his mark on the industry with this new body of work pushing boundaries and channelling his authentic flow and flair.

From selling out headline shows and opening for the likes of Wretch 32, Knuck's approach and unorthodox style has garnered over 150 million streams across all platforms independently as well as earning critical acclaim from outlets such as GQ Style, Wonderland, Notion and many more. Boasting a range of noteworthy features including contributing show-stealing verses on collaborations like "Beg To Differ" with Emil, "Ting Tun Up, Pt. II '' with Montreal's Skiifall.

Primetime Entertainment’ is PET NEEDS’ second studio album and is produced by friend and fan Frank Turner. Simultaneously loud and quiet, raucous party anthems sit alongside thought-provoking personal songs; it’s the sound of a band stepping up a gear to match their catapult on the big stages across the world. Having already toured Europe supporting Frank Turner in the first half of 2022, including Germany, Netherlands, France and more – the touring continues joining Frank on his mammoth 50 States in 50 Days tour of the US throughout June and July and then finally across the UK in September and October. ‘Primetime Entertainment’ is released on 9th September and will be available on CD, LP, digital and cassette. Timeline: Track 1 – ‘Get On The Roof’ – released as a single on 24th June ‘22 "After a gruelling 8 hour drive from a gig in South Devon back to Essex, I was reunited with my wonderful partner Lorna. We threw an old mattress out of our bedroom window onto our roof and clambered out, armed with a rucksack full of the remainder of last night's rider. We listened to cinematic theme tunes as the sun set over the chimneys on the horizon. Come early morning, we rolled back into the house. I grabbed my acoustic guitar, pressed "record" on my phone and sung a dizzy, euphoric stream of consciousness to my voice notes. It felt good, but they always do at that time of night, haha. On second listen in the morning, I felt excited about the tune and started to refine it. As soon as it hit the practice room we turned it into a party banger!"

In three club-geared tracks, Kyoto-based producer Ko Yang maps the allure of floating off-world and the joy still here on planet earth.

A founder and resident of Osaka’s long-running City Boy Lounge party, Ko Yang has been a steady contributor to Japanese party culture for the better part of a decade, hosting international and domestic artists at the homegrown CBL parties.

The release is rounded out with a remix from Alex Kassian, a major talent whose name has become synonymous with quality. Kassian has provided a cut of proggy, tribal euphoria that seems to lift off indefinitely, and is already bringing clubs to a froth internationally

Bliss Point is honored to bring you this collection of off-kilter, otherworldly club sounds from one of Japan’s most exciting talents.

Artwork and packaging by Chris Harnan

With a back catalogue that spans half a dozen studio LPs as Boom Bip,
plus another two as one half of electronic pop duo Neon Neon, Bryan
Hollon has already made a name for himself as a Mercury prizenominated producer and multi-instrumentalist
Equally impressive are the credits to Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa's name;
she's contributed percussion to albums by Kurt Vile, Cate le Bon, Courtney
Barnett, Sharon Van Etten, and Kim Gordon, among others. But as improvisational
techno duo Belief, the pair make music that harkens back to '90s acts like LFO
and 808 State – artists that indelibly, but near-anonymously, altered club and rave
culture, mostly identifiable by clean, bold logos on 12" sleeves. Without being
derivative of the era, they add their own instincts and experiences to grace the
musical universe with new answers to the question: What Would Mark Bell Do?
Hollon met Mozgawa just after she joined Warpaint, when Boom Bip shared a
rehearsal space in Echo Park with the band. The two quickly bonded over a love
of early Warp Records, drum breaks, acid house, and Y2K- era rave flyers. They
swapped playlists and ideas when Mozgawa played drums for Neon Neon's 2013
West Coast tour, but due to busy schedules, it would be another three years
before they packed every piece of gear they collectively owned into Eric
Wareheim's Absolutely Studios for an initial jam session. Instinctively playing to
each other's strengths and whims – and recording the session to build on later –
allowed Mozgawa to explore a style of music she'd long considered a dark art,
and pushed Hollon, known for his meticulous planning in previous work, to be
more spontaneous.
It was all in good fun – early shows billed the pair as 'Beef' with a comedic wink
to its pulsating minimalism. But as the two began committing themselves to
finalizing and recording more soulful, enigmatic tracks, the reverent nature of
what they were doing began to emerge: while Belief pays homage to the pioneers
of techno, the project is born out of an oddly divine foresight Mozgawa and
Hollon share, the synergy of two devout tastemakers building a shrine to inner
peace and outward pleasure

ft. Leia Contois

Crosstown Rebels has remained at the forefront of contemporary dance music for nearly two decades. Championing both breakthrough artists as well as those well-established, the 15th of April will see this perfectly encapsulated as label-head Damian Lazarus, global-house duo Gorgon City and rising vocalist Leia Contois team up on Start Over, Crosstown’s biggest release of the year so far.

Tribal-like drum patterns get things underway on Start Over, as we’re soon graced with the enchanting vocals of Leia Contois. Mesmeric and moving, her delicate lyrical offerings complement the electronic sounds of Damian and Gorgon City, with the introduction of a driving lead bassline in the track’s second half helping to create a hard, club-ready edge. It feels emotive and geared for the dancefloor simultaneously, showcasing an innate chemistry between each artist.

Damian Lazarus: DJ, producer, Crosstown Rebels label-head and internationally recognised talent. His contributions to electronic music speak for themselves, from championing the likes of Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler in their early days, to running and operating multiple festivals in the form of Day Zero and Get Lost. From global headline tours to achieving several UK Top Ten singles, Gorgon City have become one the UK’s most successful electronic producers in recent years. Crossing over into mainstream popularity whilst remaining true to their underground roots, the boys have sold out venues the world over, with London club highlights including Printworks, Tobacco Dock and O2 Academy Brixton to name a few. US-native Leia Contois is an actress, model and vocalist. Her contributions on Start Over marks her maiden appearance on Crosstown Rebels, setting the tone for a highlight year ahead.

If one could summarize the life of DJ Rambo in 4 tracks it would be with this EP, from dubbed out Euro Dance to Merengue - another mistake release on Poppers.

Dance floor tool release by supposedly star-on-the-rise disc jockey – DJ Rambo. We have no idea who this person is, but one could guess this is one way to find out. Some rather heated opinions on the track list, but politics apart, A1 features a downtempo chugger yet unconventionally dubbed out version of what sounds like an early German Euro House production. A2 shifts gears with Italo tinted sexy house beats. On the flip side 90's Merengue sounds with ravey samples and dubbed out soap opera esque vocals. Lastly, a climatic commentator recording of what seems to be a football match between Brazil and Argentina.

Available on vinyl for the first time in 10 years, with new cover design by Tim Rutilli Califone's earliest roots lie in the band Red Red Meat, from whence came Califone's founding members Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella and its longtime producer Brian Deck. The band's first release was a self-titled EP on Flydaddy in 1998, followed later by the full-length debut, Roomsound, in 2001 (later reissued on Thrill Jockey) and eventually the band's Thrill Jockey debut, Quicksand/ Cradlesnakes in 2003. After touring for the release of Roomsound, Califone had little time off to take in the impact of the music they were creating. In three years, they recorded four albums (two instrumental, two song-based including Heron King Blues) and toured heavily in between with Wilco, Modest Mouse, The Sea and Cake and others. After the tour for Heron King Blues in 2004, Califone finally took a breath and came back together in late 2005 to begin recordings. They worked on it in chunks at 4Deuces Studio in Chicago with Brian Deck, in Long Beach and Phoenix with Michael Krassner, and at home in Los Angeles and Chicago until May 2006. The time away and each member's individual work naturally brought new elements into the sound of Califone's music. Both Rutili's and Becker's soundtrack work are more atmospheric, however the challenge of enhancing a scene of film without cluttering it or overwhelming it informed their approach to the new recording. Similarly, the burglary of Califone's equipment during the band's last tour (including guitars, banjo, a 1917 violin, bells and more) altered the sound as they had to find new gear on a tight budget. The instruments are new partners, new sounds that forced them to stretch in new directions. Limitations, obstructions and darkness, and the new possibilities they illuminate; roots and crowns. "In that way", says Rutili, "this album is a conscious and resolved thing. It fully realizes ideas we touched on in the past and where we come from as a band, and takes us into our next phase of life."

Available on vinyl for the first time in 10 years, with new cover design by Tim Rutilli Califone's earliest roots lie in the band Red Red Meat, from whence came Califone's founding members Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella and its longtime producer Brian Deck. The band's first release was a self-titled EP on Flydaddy in 1998, followed later by the full-length debut, Roomsound, in 2001 (later reissued on Thrill Jockey) and eventually the band's Thrill Jockey debut, Quicksand/ Cradlesnakes in 2003. After touring for the release of Roomsound, Califone had little time off to take in the impact of the music they were creating. In three years, they recorded four albums (two instrumental, two song-based including Heron King Blues) and toured heavily in between with Wilco, Modest Mouse, The Sea and Cake and others. After the tour for Heron King Blues in 2004, Califone finally took a breath and came back together in late 2005 to begin recordings. They worked on it in chunks at 4Deuces Studio in Chicago with Brian Deck, in Long Beach and Phoenix with Michael Krassner, and at home in Los Angeles and Chicago until May 2006. The time away and each member's individual work naturally brought new elements into the sound of Califone's music. Both Rutili's and Becker's soundtrack work are more atmospheric, however the challenge of enhancing a scene of film without cluttering it or overwhelming it informed their approach to the new recording. Similarly, the burglary of Califone's equipment during the band's last tour (including guitars, banjo, a 1917 violin, bells and more) altered the sound as they had to find new gear on a tight budget. The instruments are new partners, new sounds that forced them to stretch in new directions. Limitations, obstructions and darkness, and the new possibilities they illuminate; roots and crowns. "In that way", says Rutili, "this album is a conscious and resolved thing. It fully realizes ideas we touched on in the past and where we come from as a band, and takes us into our next phase of life."

Debut full-length collaboration from Jack Burton and Rory Glacken (Tourist Kid)
Follows Jack Burton's solo LP on Analogue Attic and Tourist Kid's solo LP on Melody As Truth
Early support from Ben Fester, Best Effort/DJ Earl Grey, Biscuit (Good Morning Tapes), Brian Not Brian, Ewan Jansen, Kato, Merve, Sleep D & Wax'o Paradiso
Dentistry is the dual energies of Rory Glacken and Jack Burton, Boorloo originals now living in Naarm. The pair have previously released an EP, "Ribbons," on their own Deep Water label, and a track on its local showcase comp "Greenhouse Vol. I" at the end of 2021. This transmission is their debut full length offering, channeled through hometown beacon Good Company Records.

"LP1" was created in unusual conditions between September and December of 2020, when the duo's shared Northcote studio became a site of remote collaboration. One person would start working on a track and leave the session open for the other, with no overlap of physical space shared. Responding to an invitation from GCR to make a record, the initial impulse was to write dance music. But what dance floor were these incorporeal partners writing for?

The album takes a spectral approach to the dance space, wrapping up air in a strata of textural tech, pulsing dub house and fractal illbience. Drawing on dub production techniques, "LP1" combines the structure of an ambient record with intricate percussive elements. Results are both atmospheric and material, abstract and palpable: a synthesis which expresses sonic relations of surface and depth, with the correlating mirage of light and shadow.

At times tinkering methodically and others in mercurial lurch, there is an immediacy to this album that stems from the way it was produced, using a mixing desk and outboard gear to rich and living effect. When we listen, we commune with the artists in the heat of working out of an otherworldly space, and feel every tweak and and turn. "LP1" is a current which carries the substance of process in communicable form. Intuitive and moving, breathing, dancing.

Naomi Alligator is fed up. She’s sick of trying to make relationships work that have already run their course, and tired of sitting in a wintry apartment waiting for her life to kick into gear. On »Double Knot«, the modern folk singer/songwriter from Virginia attempts to unwind her life from all that is holding her back. In a way, it’s a coming-of-age record about shedding what no longer serves you and, ultimately, finding something like deliverance.

On the opening track, “Seasick,” Naomi Alligator is already in the midst of a sort of awakening. Right off the bat, she sings, “I don’t know what’s happened to me / It’s like I turned 16 / It’s like I grew to be 6-feet tall.” This is the announcement of a wide-eyed artist coming out of hibernation and into their own. Still, Naomi’s vocals ache with guilt and longing, belying the track’s playful catchiness. Longing for what? Maybe attention from a crush, but mostly a sunnier place to call home.

Naomi Alligator began writing Double Knot while living in Philadelphia during the height of the pandemic and the deterioration of a longterm romance. “I scream: How’d the hell I end up here? / I’m 1-inch tall, it’s crystal clear,” she chants on “Neighborhood Freak,” returning to height and size as an emotional barometer. When asked though, Naomi rejects the notion that Double Knot is a breakup album, or autobiographical at all. Moreso, she says, it’s a personal reckoning in which, “the minute before you make a big decision, you tally up the reasons why you don’t want to do what you’re doing anymore.”

That desire to turn the page expands to the production of the album as well. Naomi Alligator generally houses her narratives in beds of minimal, home-tracked instrumentation—influenced by the stripped-down poeticism of Joan Baez and Liz Phair’s Girly-Sound tapes. Double Knot finds Naomi continuing to hone the winning combination of guitar and banjo she established on 2021’s Concession Stand Girl EP. For Double Knot though, Naomi wanted a fuller, more dynamic sound: more instruments, more harmonies, more layering, more, more, more. Inspired by the impressionistic melodies of Animal Collective and MGMT, Naomi peppers in computer-generated synths throughout the album, most notably on the song “Burn Out.” These electronic flourishes augment the more grounding string instruments, arriving somewhere more ethereal than Naomi’s earlier work while still maintaining her warm songwriting.

If anything, Double Knot is a reminder that you can always pack up your bags, try something new, and change your life. As for Naomi Alligator herself? She moved west, to California.

What if music had no beginning, no end Can music exist 'for itself' or 'of itself,' without structure constraining it, defining it Can music be non-linear, non-narrative, simply experiential, existential The second full-length album on Mysteries of the Deep, Musica Enterrada from Portland's William Selman, neither answers these questions nor supposes them. But in listening, one can't help but wonder: What if I disappeared into this record forever In another time and place, William Selman was known as Warmdesk, an alias through which he issued a series of sharply precise minimal techno records. In recent past, Selman shifted gears, shedding the dynamics of tension and release that characterized his previous alias' output. Under his own name, Selman began releasing process-oriented, freeform experimental music on cassette-focused outlets like Digitalis and Hausu Mountain. Now comes Musica Enterrada, a diaphanous, weightless musical vision not unlike the theoretical square root of GRM and Popol Vuh's early electronic forays. Split into six tracks across two sides of vinyl, Musica Enterrada bubbles, churns, drifts, and dozes. Dulcet tones pile up gently like waves on shore. Patterns repeat and reconfigure, as if heard from different angles. Rhythms appear, shift the frame, then disappear, into the ether whence they came. Play Musica Enterrada on repeat. And if you disappear into it, fret not — you have drifted into solace.

Clear Vinyl

sferic venture a new set of plasmic ambient entertainment systems by Jonas Wiese’s TIBSLC, mining that slender but heady sweetspot between the earliest Vladislav Delay productions for Chain Reaction, Japanese environmental x architectural recordings and the sort of gear you’d hear from Move D & Jonas Grossmann at the late 90’s Source Recordings heyday.

sferic pick up the mantle of late ‘90s-into-‘00s ambient with a new variant primed for the times. Following the themes of their ‘Decisive Tongue Shifts - Situation Based Compositions’ album of 2021, TIBSLC (The International Billionaire’s Secret Love Child) distills their sferic debut into a crystal clear, hypersensitive set of eight tracks that slip seamlessly into each other’s space, recalling the amorphous end of Jan Jelinek’s ambient shimmers.

Where TIBSLC’s first album sprawled over two discs, this one relates to the same recording sessions, but glimpsed via more succinct windows of opportunity. In effect they’re like Hitchcockian, voyeurist snapshots of other lives in the urban complex woven into a melting emulation of the city at dusk, replete with infrasonic bass from streets below, and streaked with the wistful dream energy and fizzy optimism of a certain city life. In fleeting rounds of ephemeral shrapnel and synth pad washes, the eight parts evoke a sense of mental discombobulation, lending itself to ruminating on the unbearable lightness of being.