Search:ene

Legendary activist and Afrobeat originator Fela Kuti used his
music to lament social injustices and political corruption in his
native Nigeria. Fela’s legacy spans decades and genres,
touching on jazz, pop, funk, hip-hop, rock and beyond. While
this impact can be felt in Nigeria and the entire world, it also
greatly affected Fela’s son Femi and his son Made, both of
whom carry his legacy as torchbearers for change. Partisan
Records release two albums from Femi and Made, packaged
together and appropriately titled ‘Legacy +’.
Both albums that make up ‘Legacy +’ are steeped in the
tradition of Afrobeat invented by Fela but each also offers their
own unique vision.
Femi’s ‘Stop The Hate’ honours Fela in a traditionally fun,
sharply political and affirming way. Meanwhile Made’s
‘For(e)ward’ is a modern and progressive freedom manifesto,
pushing boundaries of the subgenre even further. Made also
performs every instrument on his album.
Both albums also feature portraits of Femi and Made, done by
Brooklyn-based artist Delphine Desane, whose work was
recently featured on the cover of Vogue Italia.

"Over the years, I have had the absolute pleasure of meeting countless wonderful people in every corner of this beautiful planet, and a lot of times these music enthusiasts have expressed a very similar-sounding story. That our presence – whether it be via a studio recording or our ferocious show – is capable of transporting them to a better place and washing away all earthly worries. Doesn't this sound amazing – especially during these challenging times?"
This gentle voice belongs to the vocalist-guitarist Jonne Järvelä, who happens to be the creative force behind the unique Finnish ensemble KORPIKLAANI. Having experienced multiple triumphant years within the inner circle of folk-influenced heavy metal, Jonne now acknowledges his position as one of the most recognisable artists ever coming from the land of a hundred thousand lakes.

KORPIKLAANI – preceded by Jonne's own project SHAMAANI DUO (1993-1997) and the band SHAMAN (1997-2003) – was founded somewhere deep in the primeval northern forests in 2003. Ten celebrated studio albums, numerous world tours and hundreds of millions of digital streams alongside multiple other releases, have established KORPIKLAANI’s status as one of the leaders of innovative heavy music. For their diehard legion of fans, they are known as Folk Metal Superstars.

"I have always been fascinated by ancient Lappish/Samish culture and the infectious melodies of aged folk songs. However, that's only one side of the coin as I have loved rip-roaring metal since I was a frantic kid looking for some rebellious sounds. My butt was kicked by the likes of MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST", says Jonne.
"Since the early 2000s, KORPIKLAANI has combined these elements as we have tirelessly attempted to pump new life into the ancient tales of joy and heartbreak, and added the enormous energy of current heavy metal into that folk metal melting pot.We have always been on a mission to create something new and unprecedented."

Here and now, KORPIKLAANI’s fearless journey continues on – and this time, the journey is powered by rather serious subject matter. Their eleventh full-length studio record "Jylhä" (which has no direct translation but can be described as majestic, or wild and rugged in a beautiful way) brings all the well-known and essential ingredients to the table: heavy-duty guitar riffing, rhythmic folk melodies and more.

What about the tales of the wilderness then? The fascinating and miscellaneous tales have always been a crucial part of KORPIKLAANI’s journey within the realms of unspoiled Finnish nature, ancient Scandinavian myths, shamanistic voyages and beyond. "Did I already mention that "Jylhä" offers some new angles?", the singer/guitarist laughs. "Well, lyrically, there are definitely some previously unknown passages – such as fables connected to the infamous Lake Bodom murders in Southern Finland in early 1960s."

KORPIKLAANI’s long-time lyricist Tuomas Keskimäki – the renowned Finnish poet and author, comments: "When I am coming up with narratives, interesting wordplays and other ideas for KORPIKLAANI, I often feel like I am diving into some absorbing fantasy world. I would describe this state of mind as some kind of a deep trance", says Keskimäki.
"As a whole textual piece, "Jylhä" is rather widespread. For example, there are stories about the fragility of life, revealed by using nature metaphors. ‘Miero’ is one of these tales: after all, it's a fact that the lifetime of a human being is just one blink of an eye compared to the eternal aeons of the cosmos."
"On the darker side, there are several murder songs - I wasn't really planning these rather untraditional lyrics, they just happened... One of these is ‘Kiuru’, and that story is inspired by a famous Finnish double homicide case, which took place in the small village of Tulilahti in 1959. In these lyrics, the character called Kiuru – Skylark in English – acts as eyewitness and a prophet, but at the same time, this creature also functions as an allegory of many things... All in all, I am really happy with the lyrics and all these new themes!"

When asked about his current sentiment regarding the new KORPIKLAANI opus "Jylhä", the commander of the forest clan sighs and smiles. "Using "Jylhä" as our solid steppingstone, we are able to reach completely new heights. For me, it's crystal clear that KORPIKLANI has never been better."
It is a fitting album for our dark times, summed up well by the song ‘Huolettomat’ (The Careless). It talks about living in the present moment, alongside a story of joy and celebration. Today is today, tomorrow is uncertain.

Ubuntu Music is excited to announce the signing of Skeltr for the worldwide release of their album, ‘Dorje’. Skeltr began as a late night, post-gig session between Sam Healey (keys) and Craig Hanson (drums) in the dusty old cotton mills of Manchester. Forging a shared connection inspired by Post-bop and Modern groove, the pair developed a tightly knit, highly musical duo. Their first UK gig in 2017 at the Manchester Jazz Festival saw the duo sell all of their physical records of their debut release in one day. Within a few months of this auspicious start, the lads found themselves supporting L.A sensation KNOWER on UK tour, appearing on JazzFM, Worldwide FM, listed as ‘ones to watch’ in Jazzwise Magazine as well as performing across European jazz festivals, including Reykjavik Jazz Festival, InJazz, Rotterdam and the famous Osloscene Club in Norway. A tragic accident saw hard times fall upon the Duo as Sam suffered a serious hand injury. However, after operations and months of rehabilitation, Sam was able to return to his saxophone and continue playing music again. Having had chance to compose during rehab, the Duo immediately hit the studio and recorded their second album, named after Sam’s new-born son, Dorje. A nucleus of Saxophone and Drums set to scapes of synths, vocals and guest features, Skeltr's second album, 'Dorje', combines heartfelt statements of sensitive, illuminating, incensed improvisation which stem from ardent and fluent melodies. Craig ondrums is as much an expressive protagonist of the music as he is a foundation with deep roots, leading to intricate interplay between the Duo. Themes include understanding the nature of happiness, self-examination and acceptance in aquest to achieve a positive mental state. Ultimately, ‘Dorje’ seeks to provide the listener with a space in which to explore their own relativities with guidance, inspiration and accompaniment. Sam describes the project, saying, “What a wonderful experience it has been to create this album. We look forward to spreading the music far and wide with positive intentions. The sounds are crafted with a passionate energy in our hearts and I hope otherswill be able to feel and hear that.” Concerning Skeltr’s new relationship with Ubuntu Music, Healey continues, “It has been a three-year journey to bring this album to fruition and we’re so happy to have met Martin (Hummel) and Ubuntu Music as the album was coming to completion. This auspicious timing makes the new relationship all the more rewarding. The Ubuntu Music team’s knowledge, experience and phenomenal work ethic are vastly inspiring and will help Skeltr to reach a much wider audience across the world. We look forward to a close relationship with theLabel as we strive to bring great musical offerings to many people.” Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, said, “These guys have breath-taking talent. I first came in touch with Sam on New Year’s Day (probably not the best day to do so) and told him what I thought of their music. It’s deep. It’s spiritual. And it shakes your senses, inside out and to your very core. Sam is meticulous in everything he does, and you can hear this in the recording. If you want to feed your soul with the best musical vibes, check this out.”

CLEAR TRANSPARENT VINYL*Grotto’s second record from 2018 is available again as a new 180gr.
vinyl pressing on Stickman Records. Heavy, progressive, psychedelic
instrumental rock for fans of labelmates Elder, Weedpecker and King
Buffalo.
Grotto is an instrumental
three-piece band hailing from
Flanders, Belgium, describing
themselves as “high-energy
pill psychedelia”. Whatever
that means exactly is in the
ears of the beholder, but one
thing is clear - Grotto is a
unique beast in the world of
heavy underground rock.
The foundation of the band
is the same leaden groove
that propels the stoner rock
genre, but Grotto paints with
an entirely different pallet
of colors. Highly melodic
chords and soaring melodies
fill the space between thundering
drums and mammoth
basslines; winding, unconventional
song structures lead
the listener out of their mind
and into the depths of space.
Grotto’s second LP Circle Of
Magi, originally released in
a limited pressing in 2018, is
a magnificent piece of heavy
psychedelic rock. This new
edition on Stickman Records
has been made from newly
cut lacquers and pressed to
transparent 180gr vinyl, looking
and sounding better than
ever before. Includes download
card.

The legendary reggae artist Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, together with his band The Maytals, toured Europe in 1980. During those days they had one of reggae and ska’s finest live shows and Toots stepped out as the showman. This great performance at The Hammersmith Palais in London, with songs like “Funky Kingston”, “54-46, That’s My Number”, “Pressure Drop” really capture their live energy. The album is available in our “SELECTED REGGAE CLASSICS” series. Toots passed away in Jamaica in 2020, but his legacy lives on with this incredible Live album.

Ltd. black LP, 180 g

Parisian label Chuwanaga proudly presents the first opus of its new 12inch series, starting with the brand new EP of Koji Ono: Ricochet / Maloja Pass. Recorded during a short week-end in Paris, it is the result of a true collaboration by a team of musicians who wanted to bring a modern twist to a classic and timeless sound, staying true to the original late seventies/early eigthies dance music spirit and the passion of Chuwanaga for the original Britfunk.
On bass, you’ll hear Lester Batchelor aka LB from Atmosfear, the legendary British JazzFunk band best known for their En Transe LP and the classic track « Dancing In Outerspace». Killing it on the drums, Roy Mistry is their 2020 official drummer. Recording together in Studio Delta, with Koji playing almost all the other instruments, from keys to guitars to percussions, they all had a blast collaborating on these two new tracks. Add a blazing Rhodes solo by Jean-Michel Bernard on « Maloja Pass », some precious magic from producers Seiji Ono & Saint-James, a great dose of savoir-faire by sound engineer David Cukier aka Greita (Disques Flegon)… And you end up with two killer tunes ready to blast their way through your speakers.
On both tracks, you’ll immediately recognize Koji Ono’s touch – as found on his previous Incognito EP : simple but uplifting melodies on synthetizers, sparkling guitars and a certain playfulness in the arrangements. On side A, « Ricochet » sounds like an irresistible mid-tempo boogie banger. On B side, the uptempo « Maloja Pass » is faster paced and bursts with energy, giving the listener an irresistible urge to travel endlessly through the night.

On their Night Dreamer debut, Sarathy Korwar and his allstar “UPAJ Collective” gain brand new ground in their mission to rebalance spiritual jazz with authentic Indian classical music. “UPAJ” means “to improvise” inHindi, and recording direct-to-disc at Artone Studios with almost no preconceived directions, they truly capture the “spirit of spontaneous improvisation”, as Sarathy puts it, like never before.


Sarathy Korwar 2020

"Recording in one take, direct-to-disc is a unique scenario to be in. I feel very blessed to be presented this opportunity. I decided very early on that in order to make the best use of this scenario, the music had to be completely improvised and spontaneous. That is the only true way to record within the limitations of one take. No regrets, no mistakes, no fear and no judgement. These were the ideals. In a way, this was about creating a utopian vision of a world I would like to live in. A microcosm of the ideals that I would like to live by, in the recording studio. The vision of going into the studio with this in mind, was more important than the resulting music we created. Process over product.

Before the session we did some collective breathing exercises that I have learnt from my mother (who is a pranayama practitioner/teacher) and Wim Hof. I believe this helps centre the focus of the group and balances the mind, making it most receptive to new sounds and inspiration.

The song So said Said is a tribute to Edward Said. Intimate Enemy, a tip of the hat to the book of the same name by Ashis Nandy (Intimate Enemy: Loss and recovery of self under colonialism). A cover of Flight IC408 by State Of Bengal is on Side B, as I am a massive fan of the band. Elephant Hangover is the imagery that the tune conjures for me personally on listening to it. A beautiful remix by the brilliant Osunlade of So said Said is on side D.

Thank you to the gifted musicians - Al, Tamar, Achuthan and Giuliano for trusting and letting go. I am lucky to spend time with you."

Clash lands once again on his very own label with a powerful statement: "Nuevo Orden Mundial" (spanish for "New World Order"), a taste of the singular and trademark sound from the Madrid-based producer, but in a very particular way... A release fully oriented to the dancefloor!

Five cuts of raw techno and modular sounds with a rave touch, influences that come together to give shape to this EP. The release includes three original productions by Clash: "Overflow", "Alone" and "Pills"; along with two totally killer remixes.

The first one by the Russian duo PTU (formed by Alina Izolenta and Kamil Ea) who took “Overflow” and dismantled it and then blended it back together to leave their characteristic stamp, a strong and energetic sound, a proof of frenetic rhythms. This track has been an essential part of the shows the duo has been doing live during the last few months.


The second remix comes by the berlin-based italian techno veteran Davide Carbone, better known as D.Carbone. In his "Pills" remix, Carbone injected all of his industrial techno power and translated the track to a rave oriented atmosphere. There's no doubt his remix will definitely be considered a dancefloor anthem for this post-pandemic times to come.

Usm Are Pleased To Announce The Vinyl Reissue Of Stereophonics' decade In The Sun: Best Of'.

This 2lp Hasn't Been Available Since Its Original Release In 2008, When It Debuted At #2 In The Chart. Across Formats, This Release Has Sold 1.4 Million Copies To Date And Features Hit Singles 'dakota', 'have A Nice Day' And 'maybe Tomorrow'. The Release Will Have A Gatefold Sleeve With Printed Inner Bags And Will Contain A Digital Download Card.

10th Anniversary reissue of Cloud Nothings acclaimed and beloved debut album.
Clear w/ Opaque Light Blue Marble LP - Uncoated Jacket with Spot UV Gloss on Cover Photo, w/ download card.

It’s been 10 years since the release of Turning On, Cloud Nothings’ debut album. Singer-songwriter Dylan Baldi was just 18 years old when he began recording the album, creating each track in his parents’ basement in Cleveland, Ohio. Over one winter, Baldi produced an album of taut, lo-fi guitar-pop songs, playing each instrument himself. His music gained traction in the increasingly popular music blog circuit, allowing Baldi to book his first shows in new places, like New York City. He gathered a band together to play live, and Cloud Nothings were on their way.

The band has accomplished a great deal since Turning On, signing to Carpark Records, releasing seven albums, and headlining numerous international tours. Yet, their debut isn’t dusted over in the band’s history. Turning On still remains the stripped-back core of Cloud Nothings style: raw and grungy, filled with catchy earworms that are surprisingly pop. The album carries all the stored potential of someone ready to venture off into the world, a feeling that bursts with energy even 10 years later.

All the tracks on Turning On are eruptive and restless, its lo-fi quality embodying the desperate need to record an idea by any means necessary. Songs like “Hey Cool Kid” encapsulate Baldi’s talent for churning, hook-filled guitar. The vocals on songs like “Can’t Stay Awake” are distorted, with scattered lyrics that echo the angst of a teenage diary. As a whole, the album delivers dissonance and edge, without sacrificing the authentic romanticism of someone who is on the verge of something big and doesn’t know it yet.

ENDLICH....das Live-Album der Bluegrass/Folk-Helden mit 17 Songs! Vor über 6 Jahren entdeckten wir die vier Gentlemen von THE DEAD SOUTH aus Regina, Saskatchewan während der Canadian Music Week in Toronto sehr spät am Abend in einem eher spärlich gefüllten Club. Unsere Begeisterung wurde von einer Vertragsunterzeichnung begleitet und so veröffentlichten wir im November 2014 ihr Debütalbum "Good Company". Natürlich sind wir ziemlich stolz, dass wir eine Indie- Erfolgsgeschichte mit der Band schreiben konnten, die nun mit einem Doppel-Live- Album namens "Served Live" gefeiert wird. Natürlich ist die Idee nicht ganz neu, aber wenn es bei einer Band doch Sinn macht, dann bei The Dead South, denn ihre Live-Shows sind schon jetzt recht legendär und vor allem auf der Bühne zeigen sich ihre Stärken, die doch recht schwer auf einem Studioalbum zur Geltung kommen: unbändige Spielfreude, eine genre-sprengende Live-Dynamik, eine gute Prise Humor sowie ein sich gegenseitiges Pushen sind nur einige Attribute, die mir gerade so einfallen wollen. Die "Die-Hard-Fans" der Band werden natürlich nicht 100%ig zufrieden sein, da trotz lediglich drei Studioalben sicher der eine oder andere Song fehlt - mir vor allem _ÇÜGunslinger's Glory', aber dieser ist halt auch sehr lang. Auch sind einige ihrer Cover- Versionen von Bands wie den Animals, The Decemberists oder diverse Tradionals Teil ihrer Live-Sets, aber hier sollten es halt nur eigene Songs auf die Platten bzw. CDs schaffen. Die 17 Songs auf "Served Live" wurden auf 17 verschiedenen Shows mitgeschnitten, denn die Band wollte so vielen Fans wie möglich ein kleines Dankeschön sagen, aber leider hat Covid-19 diesem Unterfangen einen für uns bedeutenden Strich durch die berühmte Rechnung gemacht und es fehlen jegliche Deutschland-Shows, wohingegen USA (L.A., Seattle, Portland, Boston, Atlanta, Denver, NY), GB (Manchester, London, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Belfast, Dublin) und ihre Heimat Kanada (Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal) vertreten sind. "Served Live" ein unglaublich energetisches und authentisches Live-Dokument, das auch hiesigen Fans von The Dead South sehr viel Freude bereiten wird und ein warmes Trostpflaster für die Zeit des Wartens auf die nächste Tour.

Unique composer duo Rebekka Karijord & Jon Ekstrand create compelling, hybrid score to intimate portrait of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg `I Am Greta', the intimate Hulu documentary by Swedish director Nathan Gross-man, tells the story of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg through compel-ling, never-before-seen-footage. Starting with her one-person school strike for cli-mate action outside the Swedish Parliament, Grossman follows Greta in her rise to prominence. The film culminates with the extraordinary wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. To musically accompany Greta and the children of the Fridays for Future movement on their journey, composers Rebekka Karijord and Jon Ekstrand spent time searching for the right balance when it comes to how much emotional triggers the music should of-fer: "With the music for `I Am Greta' we aimed to find a sonic counterpoint to the friction between the shy, contemplative inner world of Greta, and the unbounded ener-gy of the natural world and climate change movement. From the start we found it useful to separate the score into three distinct voices: Greta's Voice, the voice of the natural world, and the voice of the climate change movement." "We choose to work with repetition and persistent musical patterns, often illustrated through energetic string arpeggios. This we felt helped underline the remarkable persistence and focus of Greta has on the climate issue, as well as that of the re-lentlessness of nature. Then we found a few places throughout the score, where more melodic aspects could be introduced and carry the story through its dramaturgical journey. It allowed the melodic aspects to shine through when they are introduced." "The score consists of a string octet, modular synthesisers and a voice instrument built by Rebekka of 25 unique singers sampled in their full range. Our soloist on the soundtrack is the cellist Linnea Olsson, whom has a very specific airy and organ-ic tone." "Rebekka and Jon's dynamic score to `I Am Greta' is huge and intimate, uplifting and melancholic, and manages to carry the emotional nuance of Greta's story. The score forms a musical parallel to Greta's journey and narrative voice throughout the film. It's energy, urgency and emotional depth reminds us that the time for climate action is now." - Nathan Grossman, director of `I Am Greta'

Recorded in 2011 in a dusty, beloved barn, ‘Even Your Drums Will Die’ is a time machine, a real one, to a moment packed thick with Richard Swift’s singular, crackling liveliness. Where Swift’s studio recordings are marked by texture, tone and mood, ‘Even Your Drums Will Die’ puts a spotlight on Swift’s voice, his lyrics and his songwriting.
Running through all of Swift’s tunes is a certain agitation - a fidgetiness, a restlessness. It’s clearer than ever now, over two years after Swift’s passing, that he used his music to let a little pressure out of his tire. ‘A Song for Milton Feher’ nods to all this, its namesake coming from the professional dancer and director who taught his students to release their “habits of tension.” The song feels like a skeleton key to Swift’s oeuvre, a clear look into the wild wheels spinning inside his big old artist noggin.
On the flipside is ‘Lady Luck’. The classic. The revived ghost of a lost 45 that never existed, or maybe always did, but that only Richard Swift could make real.
If you know these songs, you will find them set alight here. If you don’t, ‘Even Your Drums Will Die’ is an incomparable snapshot of both art and artist. It is a genie, a real one, let loose from the lamp with Richard Swift’s explosive energy, imagination and mischief.
Recorded Live at Pickathon, 2011.
Swift was a celebrated recording artist, collaborator (The Black Keys, The Shins, the Arcs) and producer (Nathaniel Rateliff, Kevin Morby, Guster, Pretenders).

2015. Two boys with guitars on their chests, stretching songwriting muscles and finding, to their delight, new possibilities at every run up the neck. This means trading vocal parts mid-song, then trading back again, modulating madly through rhythm changes, looking for a note in the harmony they’d never played or sung before. All in the service of locating the feelgood pop alchemy in a song in which no parts are repeated. Laying it all down with a sweet solid state vibe.
“Whatever happened to ‘She’s a Beam’!?!” has been a question/passive-aggressive demand from Ty and Cory aficionados over the past few years. This is what happened. It went to Heaven and lived a beautiful life there. This is the sound of it. Guitars and harmonies. Helium-coated keyboards. A celestial, Steve Millerish synth transformation. Positivity. Lightness. Rock. Epic. Energetic. Happy, headbanging days.
‘Milk Bird Flyer’ is a perfect other ‘A’ to pair with ‘She’s a Beam’, hovering on a fade-in fanfare of gleaming guitar godness before shifting into a countryish tripper with cheerful Psilo-sci-fi-bin lyrics to bend and stretch the ecstatic shuffle of the beat. As with ‘She’s a Beam’, Ty and Cory are floating so tight in the harmony that we’re like “Who’s who?”
The pure sounds of yesterday are bright like a moment in time just waiting for its chance to exist, a nugget of potency landing right between the eyes in any era. Turn it up and smile, smile, smile.

Passion is the fifth and final part of a series of five double vinyl releases that bring together some of Ennio Morricone’s greatest soundtrack music. Each collection centres on a different movie genre, together they allow the listener to rediscover the unmatched genius of the greatest movie composer of all time. Passion once again reminds us that everything in Italian life is approached with gusto, energy and passion.

Passion is available as a limited edition of 3000 individually numbered copies on pink and purple marbled vinyl. The package includes a 4-page insert with liner notes written by Claudio Fuiano. The gatefold sleeve contains a diamond glitter foil spot varnish on the outside and images of iconic movie posters on the inside.

The Sea and Cake's fifth album Oui is back on vinyl. Pressed on color vinyl for the first time (yellow with white!) and packaged in a high gloss jacket with a free download card. Oui marks the triumphant return of The Sea and Cake after a three-year absence which saw the members of the band pursue a variety of interests; musical, professional and personal. The line up of the band remains Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt, Eric Claridge and John McEntire. The Sea and Cake formed in 1994 out of the ashes of Shrimp Boat (Sam and Eric), and The Cocktails (Archer). John was a friend of the three and had just begun playing with Mosquito, which would later rename itself Tortoise. In fall of that year the band released their self- titled debut record and followed it with three more for a total of four in four years, each gaining in popularity and critical acclaim. In 1997 after months of touring in support of their most successful record The Fawn, the band decided to take some time off to focus their energy in other places. Eric went to work on his paintings with a series of shows in Chicago and a bi-monthly insert in the Chicago Reader. Archer recorded his second solo record, toured and continued to concentrate on his Sof' Boy merchandise and comics (published by Fantagraphics). John played with Tortoise, built a studio (SOMA) and engineered the Stereolab record among many others. Sam painted for his debut solo show in Chicago and a July 2000 show at Clementine in Chelsea, released his debut solo record and toured extensively. When things began to quiet down in late 1999, the four began setting aside the time to record what would become their finest record yet, Oui. "Surprisingly the long lay off didn't seem to pose any ill effects, somehow the distant perspective supplied a new necessary focus", says Prekop. There were no impediments as far as reconvening and songwriting were concerned. Sam added that "I think (the fact that) Archer and I continued to work together during The Sea and Cake's down time was crucial. So when we started writing it wasn't like we were starting over, we were just working in a new context."

Repress

KRTM's "Placebo". The word "placebo", Latin for "I will please", dates back to a Latin translation of the Bible by St Jerome...
As a student in Rome, Jerome engaged in the superficial escapades and sexual experimentation of students there, which he indulged in quite casually but for which he suffered terrible bouts of guilt afterwards.

"Often I would find myself entering those crypts, deep dug in the earth, with their walls on either side lined with the bodies of the dead, where everything was so dark that almost it seemed as though the Psalmist's words were fulfilled, Let them go down quick into Hell."
Patrologia Latina 25, 373.

Tymon's "VL". A comeback in style. Influenced by a contemporary wave of techno music, Tymon retains his own chorus and signature energetic beating thunder. Reminiscent of his own discography, he is now crafting a foundation for further exploring of uncharted sonical territory.

Welcome him to the SSSPCR family.

The Anticipatory Organization is an energetic EP that could only be the work of The Sun God. There are three rousing tracks to stir the attention. The Things We Don't Know is a mesmerising key driven journey. It features gorgeous keyed sparkles, washing waves of acid and clopped beats. The Disbelief Habit is driven by a strong melody that really grabs you and won't let go. This is accompanied by a strong bassline, focused keys and closely held percussion. The Achievement Factory rounds off the EP with another distinctive musical effort that marches straight into the middle of the dancefloor. Punishing percussion and an in-step cavernous bassline are joined by loose acid and riffing keys. Once more, The Sun God delivers as only he can.

“The earth shall rise again...”
AMOR/LEMUR finds the Glasgow quartet AMOR in partnership with Norwegian improvising ensemble LEMUR to hopeful and ecstatic effect. Conceived before the onset of Covid 19 but finished during spring lockdown, their eponymous EP is the most loose, alive and elevated recording in AMOR’s catalog. AMOR/LEMUR takes the template of throbbing avant disco expanded upon on previous recordings for Night School and lifts it into new

territories, with new tonalities and unexpected turns on the journey. More than anything, the expanded, near- cinematic expression of human connectivity feels like a lightning new energy to grasp in the dark.

Following a revelatory concert in Glasgow in January 2020 wherein the two sets of musicians met and performed together for the first time, a recording session was arranged the following day, resulting in the most elevated permutation of AMOR’s art to date. Each track was built upon a rhythmic bedrock of percussion and drums performed by Paul Thomson and samples/synthesizer by Luke Fowler. Thomson used bamboo Javanese gamelan (most notably on For You) and scrap metal, as well as traditional percussion and drums while Fowler incorporated processed ambient field recordings recorded in enclosed acoustic spaces around Glasgow. Singer/pianist Richard Youngs contributes some of the most bright and mindful work of his career. Acoustic bass player Michael Francis Duch, whose lush playing as ever provides the elastic spine to each song, scored the string parts for LEMUR on piano at home in Norway. The addition of swelling strings and drones fills out the AMOR sound significantly, lending a sonorous tone to 8 minute, epic closer For You or an ascending melodic introduction to Stars Burst that feels like a new morning dawning on a world saved from certain death. With the circumstances of lockdown forcing the musicians to work differently, a thread of optimism and utopia grounded in the moment weaves through these tracks. Unravel reveals a spine tingling vocal from Youngs. It’s a song about the simultaneously grounding and ecstatic effect of love, feeling connected to others. It’s a simple message, “I’m finding myself in your smile, always unravels me” speaks of ego death, the dissipation of the material into a nirvana of pure energy, the power of surrender. This isn’t a quasi-religious message, this is the power of each other, a love song to connection in a temporary age of isolation. Stars Burst is a play on the inner and outer cosmos, with narrator Youngs exploring wonder to a pounding galloping rhythm and snake-charming synth. It’s an open dance, with the group locked in together for the wild ride. Fear is the centerpiece of the record, starting with drones and scraped overtones before swirling synth notes filter upwards to meet reverberating minor chords. Over 8 minutes of tight but loose playing, Youngs is the shaman instructing us to use Fear as a celebration of the moment, embrace it and jump into the unknown. The only way to overcome your fear is to feel it, use it as an energy. The use of the studio as an instrument throughout side 2 is particularly important, with the dubbing and mixing prowess of engineer Paul Savage (who mixed unattended due to lockdown restrictions) and tape manipulations performed by Jason Lescallet coming into play. For You closes out with a largely instrumental, evolving composition that uses many of the abstract and novel aspects of this permutation to aid the trance. It’s massive, an unfurling creature with unexpected tonalities and serious heft.

UK collective We Are FTR launch their vinyl only imprint with an impressive debut outing from label head T. Fitzgerald. "A Formal Introduction" presents three cuts of immersive, hypnotic and transcendent minimal house well suited for both the club and home listening. "Present Now" kicks things off with the most energetic track of the EP featuring a powerful, groovy low end and encapsulating vocal. On the flip, broken beats sit underneath layers of rich pads in "Transcendence", while "Helles" delivers a heavily syncopated drum workout.

RECORDED LIVE ON THE BAND’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR. LIVE AT THE FORUM, LONDON, DECEMBER 2006. INCLUDES THE CLASSICS ‘EVER FALLEN IN LOVE’, ‘ORGASM ADDICT’, ‘WHAT DO I GET?’, ‘HARMONY IN MY HEAD’, ‘WHY SHE’S A GIRL FROM THE CHAINSTORE’ AND TRACKS FROM ACROSS THE BAND’S EXTENSIVE BACK CATALOGUE.

NEVER BEFORE ON VINYL.

PRESSED ON RED VINYL.

LIMITED TO 1,000 COPIES WORLDWIDE.

Join Buzzcocks as they celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the band’s formation in front of a ravenous London audience. Recorded in December 2006, and never before released on vinyl, ‘30’ captures the band on excellent form, performing twentyeight songs from across their back catalogue, including the seminal late ‘70s hits and highlights from the rest of their career. Still wired, still buzzing with punk energy and still playing loud, fast and unapologetically, this is the sound of a band on unstoppable form, led, as ever, by the inimitable combination of Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle.
This red vinyl edition promises to be a must-have for die-hards and collectors, and a brilliant primer for those not yet in the know.

Following the 2020 release of RoundAgain, Nonesuch reissues on vinyl Joshua Redman's first album with his own band — pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade — originally released in 1994. MoodSwing was Redman’s third recording as a band leader and his first featuring all-original compositions. The young saxophonist sought to change what he believed to be the public perception of jazz — a largely academic and overly intellectualized form of music devoid of the emotional themes that drive many other genres. As he explains in the original liner notes, jazz was seen as, “an elite art form, reserved for a sophisticated intelligentsia who rendezvous in secret.” With MoodSwing, Redman makes the case that jazz can be an accessible musical medium that could evoke basic and visceral emotional reactions.

From the playfully coy ‘Chill’ to the urgent energy of ‘Rejoice’, Redman offers up a communicative and inspired record ofemotional diversity. Joining him in this task was a young band of his peers, all of whom have since become established and esteemed figures in jazz. MoodSwing was one of the first exposures the jazz community had to young pianist Brad Mehldau, then beginning his career in Redman’s quartet. Mehldau anchors these compositions behind Redman’s lyrical playing, occasionally stepping out front to show his talents in ‘The Oneness of Two (In Three)’ and ‘Past in the Present’. The band’s rhythm section has since been recognized as one of jazz’s best, with Christian McBride on bass, and then little-known Brian Blade on the drums.

As the follow-up to his breakout Wish, MoodSwing was universally praised by critics and enjoyed commercial success, selling over 300,000 units worldwide. Entertainment Weekly wrote, ‘saxist Redman finds ingenious ways of creating a modeof acoustic jazz that is both entertaining and enlightening.’ This record continues to provide a cornerstone for Redman’s currentcareer; many of these compositions are still featured in the saxophonist’s live sets today.

Redman’s previously announced European summer 2020 tour dates with Mehldau, McBride and Blade have been rescheduled for 2021, including London’s Barbican, now on July 11.

Terry Gross is an engrossing trio composed of guitarist Phil Manley (Trans Am), bassist Donny Newenhouse, and drummer Phil Becker. The trio are also connected as owners and engineers at Bay Area recording spot El Studio, where they began improvising together as a way to test the boundaries and gear of the studio. Their loose, organic chemistry burgeoned into a deep camaraderie and a sound both expansive and exacting. The three experienced musicians crafted their first fulllength album through the pure joy of playing together with no expectations. With the tapes rolling on their rehearsals, the band captures the exuberance of live performance and elevates those recordings through a deft use of the studio as their collective instrument. On their debut LP Soft Opening, Terry Gross channels their cosmic powers and considerable chops into a gleefully mesmerizing odyssey fit for an arena. Soft Opening took shape over the course of 2016-2019, with Terry Gross writing and refining their songs. "Space Voyage Mission" and "Worm Gear" parallel one another as sinuous jams that pulse with adamantine fervor. Each mountainous epic churns spellbinding repetition and simplicity into dizzying gallops that take hairpin turns into sinewy riffing and elysian vocal melodies. Phil Manley's guitar takes on a constellation of tones across "Space Voyage Mission" with drifting delays soaring over the Newenhouse and Becker's driving rhythm section which all succumb to frothing overdrives that spin the song into entirely new pastures. The hypnotic throb of "Worm Gear" grows all the more enchanting as Newenhouse and Becker add subtle shifts to the single-chord barrage. "Specificity (Or What Have You)" contrasts these two in its more traditionally pop-oriented structure while retaining its predecessors wide-eyed energy and delves further into the album's lightheartedyet-earnest take on sci-fi tropes from space and time travel to the singularity. As Terry Gross, Phil Manley, Donny Newenhouse, and Phil Becker are sonic scientists traversing the borderlands of rock. Soft Opening captures the simple joy of a no-holds-barred trio in stunning detail, transporting the listener into the splendor and freedom of rock.

Generative music seems to imply a systems approach to music, or a system that once created can utilise randomness in a creative way. The benevolence of nature’s creativity belies this musical term, and can flip the word ‘generative’ to mean to involve constantly flowing creativity with purpose. In Europe there was a time in the Pagan Renaissance when architecture would mirror nature’s generative quality. Sculptures and columns were to imply animation or movement.

That’s where Milan W.’s album comes through in 2020. His music involves the night shadows of Europe’s architecture and its growth. In Bloom personifies itself by showing Antwerp’s influential ‘Night Play’: a term that can relate to many European cities such as Bologna, Vienna, and so on and so on. The leftovers of Renaissance and gothic architecture are everywhere in Europe still; layers of ruins that can generate the impression of simultaneous time periods. Tracks like Spa and Helium Queen reveal and revel in the power of shadow movement that is generated by the night. In Milan W.’s past works, the poignant and simple creative play of dark wave and synth beat music was his vehicle for expression, but now on In Bloom he departs to a touching sidereal impressionism allied with Coil’s instrumental pieces on Horse Rotorvator — an album whose cover portrays the potential powers of the pavilion just as Milan W. is portraying the generative soul and alienation of Europe’s ‘Night Play’. Because of In Bloom we can come to believe that there is a secretive energy in alienation, a playfulness that is alight at Night.

• Doctor Who Edge of Time is an immersive VR video game and Demon Records are proud to release the soundtrack to this adventure.
• On Vinyl for the first time, this is an original composition by Richard Wilkinson, specially created for this VR experience.
• Double LP, pressed on 140g colour vinyl (Red and Purple LP) and presented in a gatefold. Side D has an etching of the ‘Seal of Rassilon’
• Story line: Mysterious enemy threatens to tear apart the universe and only you can stop them! Armed with the Sonic Screwdriver, players will solve mind-bending puzzles, grapple with iconic monsters and encounter new horizons in a quest to find the Doctor and defeat a powerful force that threatens to destroy the fabric of reality.

When Ajax Tow travels in his Pop Western landscapes, you can be sure there’s always a perfect 70’s road trip soundtrack. Italians cowboys meeting the legendary Miriam Makeba in Rennes suburbs... For his 3rd album The Soul Vegetable Orchestra, Ajax Tow is bringing us on a ten tracks sonic adventure, where many inspirations and references collide. The succession of tracks inspires many feels and moods from sipping a good old bourbon, dance in the kitchen, or gallops though the plains of Napoli.

We can found the influence of Danger Mouse paying hommage to the late Ennio Morricone (Roma, 2011), a cinematic side of Shawn Lee and Misha Panfilov, from music library à la Jean-Claude Vannier to the Band Voilaa, a little glimpse of pimped Ninja tune, a Reworked organic Mo’Wax vibe, all mixed up and spiced up with a Tricky style.

This album is also the result of a collaboration with Dan Voisin (Modul-Club, Eighty…) at the production and drums with Rennes city scene musicians who gives a hand on this album: Romain Baousson (Coupe Colonel, Bikini Machine…) on drums, Sax Machine and Racecar (Saxtoys Records) on horns and vocals, Dj Marrrtin (Funky Bijou, Lord Paramour) on beatmaking, Medline (My Bags) on Flûte.

As a special guest, the late and legendary Miriam Makeba appears on “Magic Miriam”. “Feel it” is definitely setting a west coast on the LP with a Jurassic 5 inspiration, accompanied by a spicy rhythm, MC Racecar (Sax Machine) flows and lyrics brings even more energy to the track. On “Movie” and “Silence”. Ajax Tow give us a nice taste of his favorite psychedelic blends, romantic and intimate at the same time, where we found back Fuzz guitar with 60’s Eric Clapton style (Cream era) and Pink Floyd synths Flavors. The cinematic style and first notes of “So What” reminds Air first EP and the beautiful bass of “Melody Nelson”. For the dessert, “Smallville” is a kind of wedding cake with 70’s loops sprinkling that brings us to Phillipe Sarde’s La Grande Bouffe soundtrack, but with a more contemporary feeling.

Following the stellar trip through Woo’s Arcturian Corridor , Quindi Records continues to explore intimate, inviting sounds with an experimental bent by facilitating the return of overlooked Italian duo Cabaret du Ciel.
Initially formed in 1986, Cabaret du Ciel’s debut album Skies In The Mirror was a low-key and extremely rare cassette release of spellbinding electro-acoustic ambient music created by Gian Luigi Morosin and Andrea Desiderà. A reissue on Hybride Sentimento in 2018 brought renewed attention to the startling music contained within this unique project.
The Breath Of Infinity is an album comprised of new works recorded over the past year, either as new pieces or reworked from old ideas with the assistance of Giorgio Ricci. Morosin and Desiderà’s natural instincts as multi-instrumentalists shine through across the record as they did on Skies in the Mirror , although these tracks were in fact composed as raw live takes using electronic workstations (with a little additional fretless bass provided by a close friend Giampaolo Diacci on “Different Suns” and “Climatic Variations”).
There is a crisp, digital timbre to the worlds Cabaret du Ciel shape out on The Breath Of Infinity – utopian pastureswith an air of optimism similarly expressed in the first waves of ambient electronica. Folk traditions exert a guiding influence on the sparkling, ethereal melodies and full-frequency harmonisation, but this is music enamoured with timeless plateaus rather than hackneyed interpretations of the past, present or future.
It’s also an album of variety. “Different Suns” tumbles with a pastoral, elemental earthiness thanks to the interwoven rhythmic murmuring of percussion and live bass, while “Lakota” pivots in sharply rendered bio-mechanical formations.
There’s a widescreen bombast to “Theatre Azure” which calls to mind mid-90s US electronica, while “Meredith” reclines in a blissful bath of plush 80s FM synthesis. “Sunset Parade March” has a distinct sense of propulsion thanks to its overdriven, broken techno rhythm and “Highlands” skips with an infectious energy despite not using any formal
kind of percussion, but even in these more kinetic moments a preference for mellow musicality maintains the dreamlike mood.
Consider The Breath of Infinity like an archipelago, where each track functions as its own distinct island of ideas while being intrinsically interconnected to the others. In a similar fashion to acts such as Ultramarine (who appeared as remixers on Quindi 001), Cabaret du Ciel emphasise the musicality in their electronic music, shaping out an
evocative, imaginative environment to idly glide through or attentively explore.

Legendary Turkish psych innovators Moğollar grace the Artone Studios in Haarlem for a masterclass in the original Anadolu psych roots, cutting a compendium of their rawest hits and most-wanted psychedelic rock classics – including the J.Dilla-sampled ‘Haliç’te Güneşin Batışı’ – for the latest edition of Night Dreamer’s essential Direct-to-Disc series.

In the beginning, there was Moğollar.

Formed at the end of 1967 with five young musicians, Moğollar were the original Anadolu psych originators. They were the first Turkish pop band who tried to blend the microtonal folklore and traditional instruments of rural Anatolia with Western pop and rock; they were the first Turkish psychedelic band to achieve overseas recognition, winning the prestigious French Grand Prix Du Disque in 1971 after a period in Paris; and they coined the very phrase ‘Anadolu Pop’ with their first album release. They were radical, innovative, and hugely popular, and when the great artists of the Turkish rock revolution appeared on the scene, Moğollar were already there – stars including Barış Manço, Selda, Cem Karaca and Ersen all recorded with them or briefly joined the line-up. Moğollar were and are the undisputed pioneers of the style.

More than fifty years after first forming, Moğollar materialised in the Artone Studios to give a masterclass in fuzzed-out folklore and Turkish psychedelic roots for Night Dreamer’s Direct-to-Disc series – a fitting follow-up to Night Dreamer’s BaBa ZuLa set, coming straight from the group who laid the foundations of the genre.

In 1971, having already released numerous singles, they secured an album deal with French label Guild International du Disques. Travelling to Paris that year, they recorded their first major statement, Danses Et Rythmes de la Turquie d’Hier à Aujourd’hui, a set later released in Turkey as Anadolu Pop. The album won a prestigious French award – the Grand Prix du Disque from the L’Académie Charles Cros, an honour that had been won in the past by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Soft Machine. Moğollar, and Anadolu psychedelic pop, had arrived on the international scene.

In 1976, after many more releases and line-up changes, and pressured by an increasingly difficult political situation in Turkey, the group dissolved for seventeen years, and various members dispersing to exile in Paris and Berlin. However, after a petition from their fanbase asked them to reform, they agreed to play a comeback concert in 1993. It was a huge success, and reunited, they went on to record some of their greatest work. Led today by original member Cahit Berkay alongside original bass player Taner Öngür, and joined by Cem Karaca’s son Emrah, Moğollar continue to push their uniquely original brand of fuzz-scorched folk-rock and crackling Anadolu psychedelia forward into a new millennium.

For this Night Dreamer session, Moğollar spent two days in the Artone studios, recording sides A and B on the first day, and C and D on day two. With BaBa ZuLa’s Murat Ertel adding contemporary sonic punch behind the boards, the band revisited their most renowned hits to lay down energised new versions, and dusted off some of the most sought-after cuts from their enormous catalogue. The result is a showcase set by a band that are one of true pioneers in global psychedelic rock, and a masterclass in the true roots of the Anadolu psych sound: fuzzed-out, committed, and straight from the source.

Highlights of the set include:
-‘Haliç’te Güneşin Batışı’, an Anadolu psych classic which was first issued as the b-side to the ‘Ternek’ single in 1970, before being recorded again for the Danses Et Rythmes de la Turquie d’Hier à Aujourd’hui LP in 1971. A tense slab of roughneck psychedelia, the final breakdown of the original recording was sampled by none other than J. Dilla for the ‘Intro’ cut on Welcome To Detroit.
-‘Gel Gel’, a 1974 song with head-nodding tempo change, originally featuring Cem Karaca. It is here voiced by his son Emrah Karaca, now a permanent member of Moğollar.
-‘Çığrık’, a 1972 cut which originally appeared on one of Moğollar’s most coveted singles, is a funky psych-rock workout with an unforgettably riff, a ringing guitar motif, and twist of Led Zeppelin.
-‘Düm Tek’, the title track of the bands second full LP (Düm Tek, 1975), a raw psych screamer, laced with hardcore davul drum patterns.
-‘Bi’Sey Yapmali’, first recorded for the 1996 Dört Renk album, became the anthem of huge street protests that took place in Turkey that year after an investigation uncovered a huge network of state, police and mafia corruption.
-‘Dinleyiverin Gari’, a hit from the 1994 come-back album Moğollar 94, addresses a notorious corruption scandal of the era.

"When Candy Opera first appeared on the kaleidoscopic early 1980s Liverpool music scene, by rights they should have changed the world" ~ Louder Than War
"Very welcome news as a highly underrated band who is now back with a force. While their previous output is stellar, this new single is even more commanding of attention. This is absolutely stunning, the band reaching higher than ever before" ~ Big Takeover Magazine
Sometimes it takes a while to realise what you’ve got. So it goes with pop craftsmen Candy Opera, who emerged during Liverpool’s 1980s golden age and whose new LP 'The Patron Saint of Heartache' is their first collection of new material in nearly three decades.
Ahead of that, they present 'These Days Are Ours', a rally cry of hope for the current times and the first single from this long-play, which is due for release in mid-November via European / UK label A Turntable Friend Records. The video was created / produced by James
Davies and Paul Malone.
Mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Guy Massey and featuring back vocals by Paul Simpson of The Wild Swans, the track was recorded at Elevator Studios in Liverpool.
With all the hallmarks of an enduring pop anthem, this impeccably produced, adrenalin-fuelled song captures the essence of Candy Opera’s infectious energy and celebrates life with a genuine wonder-lust, whilst delivering the excitement of their live performances.
Following the overdue release of two archival sets - '45 Revolutions Per
Minute' and 'Rarities' (released in 2018 by Firestation Records., quickly selling out of their first runs) - their new album 'The Patron Saint of Heartache' picks up where the band left off, with 14 fresh songs ready for discovery of a sound as timeless as any Candy Opera output.
Candy Opera were formed in Liverpool in 1982 and went through various incarnations before calling it a day in 1992. By 1985, the band had played alongside the likes of The Pogues, The Go-Betweens and The Redskins, as well as appearing on Granada TV.
The band's current line-up is drawn from all eras of the band’s existence and features Brian Chin Smithers (guitar, vocals), Alan Currie (drums), Frank Mahon (bass), Paul Malone (vocals, guitar), Ken Moss (guitar) and Gary O'Donnell (keyboards, vocals, percussion).
This new LP also features a swathe of friends and contemporaries, including Paul Simpson (The Wild Swans) and Phil Jones (Afraid of Mice). The result is an exquisite piece of pop craftsmanship that brings their songs into the light. This is a labour of love born of experience, but retaining the sense of wonder that brought the band together in the first place.

Musa Ancestral Streams remains a relative oddity in the pantheon of jazz's black consciousness movement -- a solo piano set of stunning reach and scope, its adherence to intimacy contrasts sharply with the bold, multi-dimensional sensibilities that signify the vast majority of post-Coltrane excursions into spiritual expression, yet the sheer soulfulness and abandon of Stanley Cowell's performance nevertheless vaults the record into the same physical and metaphysical planes. Cowell's energy and touch are remarkable, as if guided by divine power, and for all the music's structural spaciousness and rhythmic freedom, not a note feels out of place, let alone excessive. Most intriguing is "Travelin' Man," an overdubbed "duet" featuring Cowell on both acoustic and electric piano that underscores his uncommon affinity for space and presence.

Jeremy Gara, drummer of Arcade Fire, releases his second solo album ‘Passerine Finale’ on Invada Records.

The album was mastered by Helge Sten (Deathprod, Supersilent) and composed, produced and recorded by Jeremy over the last three years. ‘Passerine Finale’ is a varied collection of songs and disparate sounds, from arranged static noise to extended melodic drones, improvised and chiselled at, ignoring form or structure, and completed the moment things ‘felt’ something.

The album comes pressed on silver vinyl and is housed in a heavyweight sleeve with digital download card included, with artwork throughout by Jeremy himself.

Jeremy explains: “‘L_06’ - the visual thing, like the song it accompanies, comes from trying to push really simple objects and figures to a place where they hopefully, somehow, become imprinted with a kind of emotional energy - attempting to entwine single note drones and simple straight lines together tightly enough that they dance a little.”

Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Jeremy has been a member of Arcade Fire since 2004. Outside of the band, he has recently collaborated with bandmate Sarah Neufeld and world-renowned dancer and choreographer Peggy Baker on composing music for a large-scale dance production called Who We Are In The Dark and performed it live at various dance festivals. He’s also been touring and performing his solo material across the world since his first album, ‘Limn’, was released in March of 2016.

“If you have a vacancy for Favourite New Band, Pom Poko would like to apply for the role,” tweeted Tim Burgess in April, as Norway’s finest punkpop anti-conformists revisited their joyous debut album, ‘Birthday’, for one of Tim’s mood-lifting Twitter listening parties. Pom Poko pimp their CV on all fronts with their glorious second album, ‘Cheater’. Between the quartet’s sweet melodies, galvanic punky ructions and wild-at-art-rock eruptions, ‘Cheater’ is the sound of a band celebrating the binding extremes that make them so uniquely qualified to thrill: and, like Tim’s listening party, to fulfil any need you might have for a pick-you-up.

As singer Ragnhild Fangel explains of the leap from ‘Birthday’ to ‘Cheater’, “I think it’s very accurate to say that we wanted to embrace our extremes a bit more. In the production process I think we aimed more for some sort of contrast between the meticulously written and arranged songs and a more chaotic execution and recording, but also let ourselves explore the less frantic parts of the Pom Poko universe. I think both in the more extreme and painful way, and in the sweet and lovely way, this album is kind of amplified.”

The sound of four distinct personalities driving in divergent directions towards one destination, the result is an evolved snapshot of the bracingly contrary chemistry forged when Fangel, Tonne, Jonas Krøvel (bass) and Ola Djupvik (drums) united to play punk during a jazz gig at a literature festival in Trondheim (the band-members studied jazz there).

Along the way, the band drew praise from NME, Interview Magazine, DIY, PopMatters, The Line Of Best Fit, The Independent and BBC Radio 6, where Miranda Sawyer was moved to note that “‘Birthday’s ‘Crazy Energy Night’ seems to contain about 20 songs in one.” Meanwhile, a huge touring schedule included countless sold-out headline shows and a rapturously received UK jaunt with Ezra Furman.

‘Cheater’ does its predecessor proud on every front. Bursting with colour and wonky life from its cover art (by close collaborator Erlend Peder Kvam) outwards, it differs from ‘Birthday’ primarily in that its songs did not have a chance to be road-tested before going into the studio. But you wouldn’t know it. As Ragnhild explains, “That meant we had to practice the songs in a more serious way, but it also meant the songs had more potential to change when we recorded them since we didn’t have such a clear image of what each song should/could be as the last time.”

140g clear vinyl LP with PVC printed outer sleeve and digital download code.

"When Candy Opera first appeared on the kaleidoscopic early 1980s Liverpool music scene, by rights they should have changed the world" ~ Louder Than War
"Very welcome news as a highly underrated band who is now back with a force. While their previous output is stellar, this new single is even more commanding of attention. This is absolutely stunning, the band reaching higher than ever before" ~ Big Takeover Magazine
Sometimes it takes a while to realise what you’ve got. So it goes with pop craftsmen Candy Opera, who emerged during Liverpool’s 1980s golden age and whose new LP 'The Patron Saint of Heartache' is their first collection of new material in nearly three decades.
Ahead of that, they present 'These Days Are Ours', a rally cry of hope for the current times and the first single from this long-play, which is due for release in mid-November via European / UK label A Turntable Friend Records. The video was created / produced by James
Davies and Paul Malone.
Mixed by Grammy award-winning producer Guy Massey and featuring back vocals by Paul Simpson of The Wild Swans, the track was recorded at Elevator Studios in Liverpool.
With all the hallmarks of an enduring pop anthem, this impeccably produced, adrenalin-fuelled song captures the essence of Candy Opera’s infectious energy and celebrates life with a genuine wonder-lust, whilst delivering the excitement of their live performances.
Following the overdue release of two archival sets - '45 Revolutions Per
Minute' and 'Rarities' (released in 2018 by Firestation Records., quickly selling out of their first runs) - their new album 'The Patron Saint of Heartache' picks up where the band left off, with 14 fresh songs ready for discovery of a sound as timeless as any Candy Opera output.
Candy Opera were formed in Liverpool in 1982 and went through various incarnations before calling it a day in 1992. By 1985, the band had played alongside the likes of The Pogues, The Go-Betweens and The Redskins, as well as appearing on Granada TV.
The band's current line-up is drawn from all eras of the band’s existence and features Brian Chin Smithers (guitar, vocals), Alan Currie (drums), Frank Mahon (bass), Paul Malone (vocals, guitar), Ken Moss (guitar) and Gary O'Donnell (keyboards, vocals, percussion).
This new LP also features a swathe of friends and contemporaries, including Paul Simpson (The Wild Swans) and Phil Jones (Afraid of Mice). The result is an exquisite piece of pop craftsmanship that brings their songs into the light. This is a labour of love born of experience, but retaining the sense of wonder that brought the band together in the first place.

Strut present the first ever international reissue of one of the most sought-after albums from the Black Fire catalogue, Lon Moshe & Southern Freedom Arkestra's life-affirming 'Love Is Where The Spirit Lies' from 1977. This first international reissue of the album features new sleeve notes including interviews and commentary by Lon Moshe, Plunky Branch and band members with original illustrated artwork by Mary E. Greer. Audio was remastered from original tapes by The Carvery. "Lon was creating his own path in his music life at this time," remembers Black Fire's Plunky Branch. "We had met in San Francisco and he had become an original member of JuJu during the early '70s. He then wanted to pursue his own music, primarily in jazz; he was an avant-gardist and loved Tribe, Strata-East and Sun Ra." For his Love Is Where The Spirit Lies album, Moshe drew from musicians within the Black Fire stable. Oneness Of Juju's Jackie Eka-Ete sang and helped to write songs and members of Southern Energy Ensemble contributed, including their bandleader Marvin Daniels. "The band name, Southern Freedom Arkestra, was a proud declaration that this music was from the U.S. South," continues Branch.

After a brief period of studio lock-down at the start of 2019, Brame & Hamo are back and present their fifth EP ‘Pressure’ on their eponymous imprint, due out on the 24th of June.
Having recently appeared in the Mixmag Lab, and put out a highly-curated mix via Ninja Tune’s Solid Steel Radio late last year, the duo from Sligo have an ever-increasing tour schedule, which is taking their vibrant brand of music to dancefloors worldwide. They recently completed a sell out four-show tour in Australia, and have trips to the USA, Canada and Asia booked for later in 2019.
This EP is a contagiously energetic three tracker. Starting off with ‘Pressure’, an infectious drum pattern morphs into a driving and spacey dance floor weapon. ‘Transit’ is an intricate commute of driving synths, whilst ‘Dial Up’ is the guy’s take on breakbeat rave, taking inspiration from Josh Wink and Chemical Brothers.
“The start of 2019 has been a few months locked away in the studio juggling demos for various labels and making sure everything is just the way we wanted it. We have been putting ourselves under a lot of (self-inflicted) pressure to continue to deliver music of the standard of previous releases, and finally we got there. Each of the tunes took only a few hours and were all done in one take, using all the hardware in our studio during some intense jam sessions’.

“The greatest thing about being a musician is experiencing it with other people,” says Ed Riman, the Brighton-based Eurasian singer, songwriter and sound-scapist who records as Hilang Child. “Whether that’s playing with others, creating together, sharing a vision, whatever, I just think in all aspects it’s a totally elevated experience when you’re not alone.” Proof rings out with force and feeling on Hilang Child’s superlative second album, ‘Every Mover’, released on Bella Union.

In 2018, Riman delivered a serene, textured debut album in ‘Years’, rich in sound and feeling. Lauren Laverne, Q, MOJO and others lavished praise but the “isolating process” of making the album left Riman hungry to find alternative ways of working. Meanwhile, the “lonely, pressured” aftermath of ‘Years’ found Riman grappling with “rough selfesteem and anxiety issues,” amplified in part by social media’s “fulfilment narratives.” Duly, he set out to navigate and overcome these mindsets, drawing deeply on his own insecurities and those he recognised in others.

These themes converge emphatically on ‘Every Mover’, an album steeped in everyday emotional states and crafted for cathartic, communal performance. Drawing on a rich spread of collaborators, sounds and themes, Riman uses his frustrations as the impetus to transform the brimming promise of ‘Years’ into upfront and expansive new shapes. “I wanted it to sound a bit gutsier than the first album,” he says, succinctly, “heavier and closer to the kind of stuff that hits me when I go to shows or blast music in the car. I started out in music as a drummer playing for pop or beat-driven artists and grew up listening to louder stuff, but a lot of the music I’ve made as Hilang Child has been more ethereal. I wanted to bring it back to a place that feels more ‘me’ and make more of a thing of having big hypnotic drums, aggressive bass, ripping distorted instruments and a general energy to it.”

‘Good To Be Young’ serves swift notice of this leap, its banked synths and twinkling sound clusters leading to an assertion of fresh force when the main beat lands and a congregation of friends - AK Patterson, Paul Thomas Saunders, Dog in the Snow, Ellen Murphy, members of Penelope Isles - unite for the gang-vocal refrains. “It’s all iridescent colour I’m on,” Riman exults, a claim lived up to on the full-flush folktronica of ‘Shenley’.

A reflection on spiralling insecurity, ‘Seen The Boreal’ ups the ante again with its monkish chorales, looping samples, spectral woodwinds (from multi-instrumentalist John ‘Rittipo’ Moore, of Public Service Broadcasting and Bastille previous) and ecstatic chorus, Riman transforming a meditation on hindsight’s limiting effects into a spur to look forwards. And surge forwards he does with the glittering synths, spacey guitars and Krautrock propulsion of ‘King Quail’, developed in jam sessions with dream-pop wonder Zoe Mead (Wyldest) in her basement studio.

Brought to a sublime close with ‘Steppe’, the resulting album projects its own epiphanic force. Thankfully, most of the main parts were recorded pre-lockdown between East London, Gateshead, Brighton, Wandsworth and elsewhere, before mixing proceeded remotely. Meanwhile, alongside indie-pop trio OUTLYA’s Will Bloomfield (percussion/coproduction on ‘Play ’Til Evening’), visual design collective Tough Honey (accompanying videos) and other collaborators, Riman’s bond with co-producer JMAC (Troye Sivan, Haux, Lucy Rose) proved crucial. “It felt freeing to work collaboratively and have that push-andpull of ideas,” says Riman. “Even the moments where we didn’t see eye-to-eye made it feel like I wasn’t alone, with someone else working just as passionately on the project.”

LP pressed on red transparent vinyl.

Casper Clausen, frontman of Efterklang and adjacent project Liima, has today announced details of his first ever solo record. ‘Better Way’ will be released on January 9th via City Slang and today he shares a first taste with the juddering, krautrock-tinged, 9-minute opening jam “Used To Think”.

“Used to Think” was one of the first songs I wrote for “Better Way” a couple of years ago” Clausen comments. “I had a run of some small shows around Portugal testing the new songs I was working on at the time, and this one became one of my favourites, I really like the energy of it. It was also the song that made me reach out to the producer Sonic Boom. He ended up mixing / co-producing the entire album. There is some inspiration from his band Spacemen 3 luring around in there and he lives in Sintra, very close to Lisbon where I’ve been the past couple of years, so it all made sense.”

“Me and My Friends” play truly genre-defying music which is soulful,
poignant and gloriously danceable.
The UK-based quintet create a timeless sound with a global outlook, subtly referencing everything from vintage Ghanaian highlife to classic Jamaican roots, via influences from Brazil and beyond. Performed with an infectious energy, the result is instantly recognisable and totally irresistible.
Their joyful sound has garnered radio play on BBC Radio 2, 4 and 6, as well as plaudits from the likes of Quantic and Steve Lamacq.

Bristol-based trip hop trio Jabu this week announced details of their second album. ‘Sweet Company’ will be released on November 20th via the group’s own do you have peace? imprint.

Sweet Company is the second album by Jabu. Where their first LP, Sleep Heavy, was an unflinching exploration of grief, dark and disembodied, Sweet Company’s deep, sedative soul feels like more of a lovers’ outing: optimistic, becalmed, looking outwards as well as inwards, and longing for the kind of human connections where ego and self-consciousness might dissolve. It is perhaps also an exhortation to love and accept yourself, to recover a lost innocence and peace – that paradise which has always been lost. Released via their own do you have peace? label, Sweet Company is on the one hand a very intimate and private-sounding work - the sound of life played out in a room, a bubble, a home, a head. The rhythms of everyday domesticity: listening to the plants, cars in the street, voices through the wall…. going to work, not going to work, sleeping heavy or not sleeping at all. Wavering on the brink of a revelation, of something just beyond the material world, while you wait for the kettle to boil. The core Jabu trio of producer Amos Childs and vocalists Jasmine Butt and Alex Rendall is present and correct. Sweet Company has theexhilarating sweep and confidence of a collaboration between people who trust and understand each other implicitly, and, secure in that knowledge, are able to give the absolute best of themselves to us. As before, Jasmine’s voice is a textural, painterly instrument, layered and blurred into abstraction, resisting the limits of language; the songs she sings on are portals into vast internal landscapes where the normal rules of gravity are suspended, every sound is smothered in a cathedral-like resonance, and you're both fearful and hopeful that you might never find your way back out again. Alex takes a more narrative, confessional and no less engaging pop tack: as on the gauzy, decelerated 2-step of ‘Lately’, with his masochistic, self-mocking entreaties to “be cruel to me … I like it when you make a fool of me”. Childs has a true hip-hop fiend's ear for a striking sample, and how to loop it to most hypnotic and rapturous effect, but here takes things to ever more powerfully uncanny and auteurish places, drawing inspiration from the voidal bliss-outs of shoegaze (AR Kane’s amniotic dream-pop epic 69 is one influence cited) and the space-time disturbances of dub, commanding both a raindrops-on-cobwebs delicacy and an immense, oceanic pressure. His productions seem to resist linear progression - instead they move by a kind of unstoppable diffusion, like weeds reclaiming an unkempt garden, or alien flora patterning the sea-floor and coral-caves of the subaquatic level of a computer game which may exist only in your, or his, imagination. Perhaps it's Daniela Dyson, the British-Afro-Colombian artist who contributes her vivid, energising poetic mysticism to two tracks, who best sums up Sweet Company's ambition and effect: “Me quiero perder en los momentos tan puros en su esencia que Las Horas mismas se detienen para ser testigo de nuestro amor” (I want to lose myself in the moments so pure in their essence / that The Hours themselves stop to bear witness to our love…). For a precious half an hour, we're invited to celebrate the smallness of our lives - and the limitless grandeur which that smallness contains. When it ends, we step back from the brink but things aren’t quite the same anymore: we’re haunted by what we briefly almost knew.

It’s time for another dose of Classic Symptoms and this time get ready for an NHS trip back to the years of 2003-2006.
The fourteenth instalment of the exclusive release series which sees extremely limited vinyl presses of Hospital classics, has drawn for four untestable originals from Logistics, Q-Project, London Elektricity and Danny Byrd.
First up is Logistics’ 2006 liquid-funk anthem ‘City Life’ originally featured on his era-defining debut album ‘Now More Than Ever’ supported by legendary figures including Fabio & Grooverider, LTJ Bukem and Andy C. Hypnotizing piano loops and deadly subs keep things rolling on this exemplary slice of fast soul funk.
Drum & bass all-star Q-Project is up next as his timeless banger ‘Obsession’ gets a 2020 vinyl revival. Originally supported by the likes of High Contrast and Friction, ‘Obsession’ still receives widespread rotation to this day as its unforgettable melody and groove assert it as a certified dance music destroyer.
“Fast Soul Music” is the brainchild of Hospital head-honcho London Elektricity and was initially featured on his 2003 album ‘Billion Dollar Gravy’. A clear cut example of the much loved loungecore sound, the uplifting London Elektricity classic influenced styles and the legendary Hospital “Fast Soul Music” compilations for years to come.
Signing back to Hospital Records in 1999, Danny Byrd’s musical endeavour has been commendable to say the least. “Soul Function” represents the classic sounds of Danny Byrd with 2005 dancefloor energy. Garnering support from pioneers such as Bryan Gee and Total Science, Danny Byrd’s drum & bass style continues to go unmatched.
Don’t sleep on securing your extremely limited press of four Hospital classics from the 2003-2006 era. This one is for the serious collectors - once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Without warning, a group of young girls from a remote region of Benin is shaking up the world of garage rock with breathtaking freshness, ingenuity and energy, playing spot-on, loud and clear.

A musician named André Baleguemon decided to form an exclusively female band rooted in the concerns of its time. He puts the spotlight on the guitar, drums and keyboard, instruments he has admired since his childhood, symbols of modernity in this remote region. His observation is simple: “In the North, girls have no room to advance and women are put aside. I simply wanted to show the importance of women in the societies of North Benin by forming a female orchestra “.
On July 25th, 2016, with the support of the city of Natitingou, André launched a press release on Nanto FM offering to help train girls in music for free. A few days later, dozens of aspiring musicians showed up at the Youth Center. “The girls who came didn’t know anything about music. We selected seven girls of the Waama and Nabo ethnic groups from the surrounding villages, some had never even seen these types of instruments before. “
The girls quickly became passionate about their new musical activities, learning how to play drums, guitar, piano and sing vocal harmonies. Their progress was astounding. An intense work of musical training took place, starting with drum workshops, their favorite instrument. Angelique and Urrice on drums and vocals, assisted by Marguerite, the third drummer. Sandrine is on keyboards, as is Grace, who also sings vocals. Julienne is on bass and Anne on guitar.
André’s determination is one of the key elements of this human and artistic success. The girls have already performed dozens of concerts in the region, forging and expanding an already solid repertoire, while attracting an ever-increasing local audience. In addition to musical progress, he has been personally involved with each family, showing them the importance of his project, both musically and humanly and in particular the fact that each girl must remain in school and not be forced into marriage.

At the end of 2018, their encounter with the young French sound engineer Jérémie Verdier accelerated the course of things. On a mission in the region, he called on his Spanish friends Juan Toran and Juan Serra who showed up with their recording equipment in order to record the band’s first songs in the annex of the local museum. Random encounters and fate led Jean-Baptiste Guillot to hear the tapes. He decided to go meet them at the end of 2019. This short but memorable journey sealed the fate of the record you are now holding in your hands.

Stephan Bazbaz heads to LOCUS to deliver his Voyage EP, backed by a remix Casey Spillman.

An artist at the heart of Tel Aviv’s blossoming house and techno scene, Stephan Bazbaz continues to showcase his skills as one of the city’s leading lights within electronic music. With releases and remixes via the likes of Djebali, hedZup and INFUSE in 2020 alone, he now closes out a fruitful twelve months with an impressive label debut via FUSE imprint LOCUS to deliver three fresh cuts in the form of his ‘Voyage EP’ – whilst INFUSE regular and LOCUS alumni Casey Spillman makes a swift return to step up on remix duties.

A low-slung and moody effort from the off, opening cut ‘300’ combines swinging percussion and icy hats whilst escalating synths and rumbling sub-bass take hold and transport the production firmly into the peak hours – unsurprisingly featuring as a stand-out track within Enzo’s sets over the past 12 months. Next up, ‘Key To Success’ offers up a groove-heavy roller, with tracky drums guiding off-kilter samples and rich piano flourishes throughout, whilst Casey Spillman’s interpretation ups the energy levels as he works punchy kicks, warping synths and menacing low-end tones to turn in a bustling remix. To close, ‘The Life’ showcases yet another side of Bazbaz’s vast production skills, opting for hazy synths and dreamy chords to round out proceedings in impressive fashion.

Black Vinyl

Docile Recordings continues with part two of a five cat series. Docile #29, the pepper ep, was produced, arranged, and crafted on vinyl by Andy Garcia at Archer Record Press in Detroit Michigan U.S.A.. Docile Recordings believes vinyl is the best medium to convey our message. Our message is our sound, a sound that is unique in its’ path and loyal to its’ character. Our mission is redefinition and the redirection of minimal techno.

Side A starts with an ol’ timey 4/4 tec- spiritual of crunch confusion rocking and clapping faithfully until the rapture of synth begets a righteous clarity of beat. A2 is a calm to topsy-turvy scurry through digital tweaks and stutters that form a havoc funk requiring a reprimand. B1 opens with the ringing energy of a pest highly motivated to infect a sickly synth, glitching yip, and rolling cymbal into the bloodstream of a dirty grind. B2 is a gentle vibe that is simple, clean, and fresh as a cool breeze that carries the rhythms of birds speaking in tandem.

Born out of a love for extended live performance and late night studio jams, Adam Collins' and Marky Star's much revered Omni A.M. collaboration released their debut LP 'Key' 23 years ago, also launching their label Euphoria Records. A very limited amount of CDs were pressed and sold exclusively at Euphoria events throughout Chicago at the time, and with Omni A.M. and Euphoria's stock rising over the following decades, this timeless classic has become a Holy Grail amongst music heads and collectors alike, as the eye watering discogs prices will attest.

Although heavily influenced by the Chicago house scene and it's luminaries Derrick Carter, Gemini, DJ Heather and Tyree Cooper, the pair embarked on a remarkable mission to record an album that owes much to their love of The Orb and KLF, the experimentalism of Psychic TV and Cabaret Voltaire, industrial favourites Skinny Puppy and the mind bending dub of Lee Scratch Perry, through to San Fran's West Coast house scene and the Tech-House sounds emanating from South London in the late '90s.

LP opener 'space horse' rolls out the breaks before swathes of synths and sonic trickery abound, 'wo ist meine bier?' is characterised by haunting IDM-esque melodies, underpinned by the chug of a 4/4 beat. Over onto the flip where Villalobos favourite 'naked groove' unleashes an infectious rhythm, bass riff, synths and vocal, before 'splendid idea' moves into a more tripped out acidic territory, keeping the musical elements and energy to the fore. On disc 2, the aptly titled 'fusion' turns up the breakbeat heat, adds a hypnotic dub-funk b-line, building into an inspirational lead line. 'v.23's other-worldly throb neatly segues into the moody burning breaks of 'bitch', and closing track 'ready to know' is playful and confident in it's execution, without ever losing any depth or substance.

What comes across is an unwavering dedication to creativity and pushing the boundaries of what's sonically possible, whilst defying the genres through a unique and essential collection of musical moments and psychedelic jams underpinned by beats that deliver the funk. These tracks have stood the test of time and have remained exciting and relevant throughout, this is the first time they have ever been released on vinyl.

This double LP features exclusive edits and never heard before versions, lovingly remastered by Lawrie Curve Pusher from the original DATs and artwork recreated from, and inspired by the original release.

Limited Gold Vinyl Pressing!
Out of the ashes of Raceway Recordings and Racetrax, rises the new label from Sterling Moss - Rebeltek. With well over 100 tracks out on vinyl, Sterling decided it was time to start his own 12inch project again, so 2014 sees rise to the Rebeltek Alliance - an infusion of stomping 303 inspired Techno beats, soon to hit the streets.

Having played in every continent on earth and with releases on over 50 different record labels, Sterling is using his vast musical knowledge gained through his travels and productions to harness an energy for Rebeltek that is both unique and compelling, whilst retaining an counter-culture attitude direct from London town that will drive the label forward.

The debut track 'Don't Fuck Around' has been road tested at the massive UK Techno event 'London Underground United' and subsequently received extremely positive attention. This special first release will be available on limited edition gold vinyl and will be sure to be a collector's item for years to come.

REBELS FOR LIFE

Nèg Ginen is a song composed by Jean Claude Dorvil on a traditional Nago rhythm (from Benin). Nèg in Haitian creole means “the dude“, “the guy“. It is about pride of being Haitians with solid African roots. As a matter of fact, when we mention Ginen, we talk about Africa. Like the majority of Chouk Bwa’s songs, this one is full of references mentioning Haitian voodoo rituals and spiritual /igures. For instance, Simbi Ganga is a lwa (voodoo spirit) from the Lakou Soukri Danach (voodoo temple) that lives in the water. Wild and brutal when he is chained up, he faithfully represents the Iwa Kongos, notorious for being real party-starters! Kebyesou is an Iwa who lives in the Lakou Souvnans (another temple). He is a royal /igure, like the Dahomey Iwas in general. The voodoo families are, so to speak, all present in this project!

Biography
After a /irst European performance in 2015 at Roskilde Festival leading to many other performances all around Europe, including WOMEX and WOMAD, Haitian traditionnal vodou band Chouk Bwa met the Brussels based duo The Ångströmers in 2016. Their new project combines a renewed dub sensitivity and Haitian rhythm science and spirituality. The ensemble has performed in Haiti and in European festivals including Trans Musicales de Rennes before releasing their /irst album Vodou Alé via Bongo Joe in 2020.
Modular synths and other vintage electronic instruments bring another dimension to Chouk Bwa’s music, although obviously it is always the band’s groove and /luent tempo that leads the energy of the ensemble: no laptops, no drum machines. There are certain freedoms that cannot be coerced. Even more, the electronic instruments are wired directly to the drums that feed them with impacts and caresses. All the Vodou families are there with their many rhythms and songs. Radical Vodou roots for urban audiences.

Utter presents the debut album ‘Taiyō’ by Vādin, a new collaborative project from Lucie Štěpánková (Avsluta) and Christian Duka.

They describe the record:

“Vādin is a shapeshifter formed through sound, a seismic energy. ‘Taiyō’ is Vādin’s first word. It was improvised and recorded in the Welsh wilderness over three days within a makeshift yurt studio using analogue and digital synthesizers, voice, location field recordings and amplified objects. ‘Taiyō’ is an entity emerging from the process of opening up, inviting, curiously exploring and being vulnerable; it is inspired by the flow of life in all its finite magic, intangibility and imperfection.

The album opens with the drizzling drone scenery interweaved with shivering whispers of ‘The Seven Laws’ followed by the disintegrated rhythms and warm ripples of ‘First Contact’. ‘Merging’ is a multi-layered organism of spiralling undulations, astral droplets and hypnotic pulsations while ‘The Forest’ narrates a sensuous connection with the world where the suggestive monologue and extra-terrestrial pearls float atop galloping liquid rhythms. ‘Sufi Trance’ is a slow-burning cyclone, an ecstatic rite, a hypnotic pilgrimage into the centre of the Sun - ‘Taiyō’ - which brings the journey to a stirring climax with its morphing drops and electrifying trills.”

I’m breaking out of the basement – the basement of the freedom to be tied and the relationship of ropes to tie. There is something in the gross energy, in the autonomous rhythm that sustains this labor, that almost makes you close your eyes. Strip the costume of barren perception designed by contemporary civilizations”.

A MUST HAVE RECORD for all fans of REGIS Downwards, Birmingham Techno…

Gang of Ducks welcomes back Haf Haf, whose Notch ep, released in 2014, helped define the early sound of the label. Pattern of chaos is a journey through 8 heterogeneous tracks, where Haf Haf's unique timbre is the narrative voice.The pleasure of the exploration, finding out new places beyond what we're used to, is the main concept of the record.All the tracks sit on a blurred line. On one hand you feel the echoes of different genres, extracts of voices, samples, that you may be familiar with.On the other hand these tracks take a final shape you're not used to, making each one of them hard to label. Every track feels like observing a planet through a window, which filters the landscape while at the same time reflecting the image to the observer.Pattern of Chaos is a really singular record, which moves energies in a new way."

Theo Nasa makes his debut on Rekids this December with ‘Worldwide Ravers EP’.

The Alien Sound Trax boss, who has previously appeared on the likes of World Unknown, Suara, and UNCAGE, makes his mark on Radio Slave’s imprint with the hard-hitting and distinct ‘Worldwide Ravers EP’.

Deeply infused with the unmistakable sound of the UK, Nasa draws from his broad range of influences for his EP, distilling elements of Jungle, Rave, and Hardcore into his own brand of meticulously crafted, difficult-to-pigeonhole techno. Opener ‘Dubska’, clocking in at over ten minutes long, is a relentless and fast-paced affair, bubbling along at breakneck speed with the help of classic vocal samples, while ‘World Dance (Rinse Out Mix)’ fuses breakbeats and droning bass to create a high energy track that twists and turns at 140bpm. Field recordings of birds in ‘Summertime Raving In London’ sit alongside classic drum kits and emotive chords while living up to its titular character.

Sharpen, Moving celebrates five years of the Timedance imprint, blending the labels original aesthetic and opening it up into new corners of leftfield club music. Artists featuring include the regular faces of Batu, Bruce, Ploy and Metrist, alongside newcomers Kit Seymour, Akiko Haruna and Mang x GRAŃ. Timedance also welcomes techno royalty Peter Van Hoesen with one of his most broken tracks to date, plus new appearances from Patina Echoes contributors Via Maris, Cleyra and Nico.
The compilation showcases Timedance's evolution from 'Bristol techno' to a more global conscious sound, incorporating energies from different scenes and synthesising them into new modern forms.

"I have been in love with the Detroit sound of techno since forever, so when I discovered Subradeon, I was immediately struck by the soul and energy of their music. I have been lucky enough to get to know Giuseppe and Salvatore over the last year and so it was always a dream for me to have them release a record together on Sous. Now this is happening, I couldn't be more excited. They have made three spectacularly good tracks that I know will last forever in my heart, and hopefully in yours too" opens Anja.
Sous has been drip feeding us top line releases all year long, despite the world coming to a standstill, Anja believes that continuing to release music is important to keep spirits high. She has been showcasing some of the newer talent from around the globe alongside some household names including Marcus Suckut, Fort Romeau and Mella Dee to the last release from Italian duo Reform.
October brings Subradeon. Hailed as the new school of the techno scene, they might have grown up in the Neapolitan underground scene, but their sound has become a melting pot of influences from their current home town of Berlin and the duo's self- confessed spiritual home of Detroit.
Giuseppe Salone and Salvatore Lannotta deliver their debut release 'Breaking Down Borders' on Sous, compromising of their characteristic raw soul, profound meaning and energetic purpose. This package includes a remix from Techno pioneer Stephen Brown (Djax Records, Transmat, Music Man).

Joshua Abrams’ first album Natural Information from 2010, superb avant-jazz, newly remastered at Dubplates & Mastering.

In his book Powershift, published in 1990, writer and businessman Alvin Toffler predicted that the century ahead would be defined by speed and that time itself is destined to become our most valuable commodity. When Joshua Abrams recorded Natural Information, originally released by Eremite in 2010, he was reacting against such commodification of time and the diminishing attention span that accompanies it by offering music with an irresistible groove, rooted in the sinuous rhythms of the human body and the full play of our senses.

At the heart of this music is the sound of the guimbri, a North African three-stringed bass lute, which Abrams started to play following a visit to Morocco during the late 90s. Traditionally the instrument has a key role in mystical healing ceremonies. Abrams, already a well-established figure in Chicago’s vibrant musical communities, had no desire to repackage tradition. He recognized however that the involving, springy and percussive sound of the guimbri was just the right voice to communicate vital data, to relay the natural information we all need in order to get back in touch with the pulsating continuities of a world we all share.

With Natural Information Abrams entered a new phase of his musical life, extending an invitation to the trance, where time intersects with timelessness. He carried with him a wealth of playing and listening experience. As a bass player he had worked with a host of notable musicians including guitarist Jeff Parker and percussionist Hamid Drake, and had been a member of back porch minimalism outfit Town And Country and the improvising trio Sticks And Stones.

The guimbri is a shaping presence on this remarkable recording, but Abrams also plays bass, bells, kora, sampler and synthesizer. Sympathetic friends including guitarist Emmett Kelly, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and drummers Frank Rosaly and Nori Tanaka join him for the project. They set out not to contrive some neat hybrid but to enable coordinated energies and enriching influences to pulse and flow through living, breathing music. Ten years further into a century seemingly dedicated, as Toffler foresaw, to the survival of the fastest, the deep involving groove of Natural Information seems still more relevant, more illuminating, more vital.

Joshua Abrams: guimbri, mpc, percussion, harmonium, bass, bells, dulcimer, donso ngoni, ms20
Jason Adasiewicz: vibraphone
Emmett Kelly: guitar
Frank Rosaly & Noritaka Tanaka: drums

“We have always been very fortunate to meet and know many talented producers. In recent years, we have been exploring those relationships with different remixes and collaborations, and every time something exciting came out. That’s why we started our Synchronicity project. To challenge ourselves making inspiring, fun and beautiful music.‘Synchronicity’ means "the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection. This very well describes how our path led to the place we are now – somewhere between the club and indie scenes.” – WhoMadeWho

KOMPAKT welcomes back Copenhagen’s WhoMadeWho. Tomas Barfod’s penchant for electronic music poetically juxtaposed with Tomas Høffding and Jeppe Kjellberg’s respective backgrounds in rock and jazz, gives their music an electrifying combination of sounds, merging a variety of influences to produce a unique sonic fingerprint that is emotive, irresistible and immensely satisfying.

Though we both have yet to strike a note together since the release of their 2012 full length “Brighter” (KOM 254), WhoMadeWho have been remarkably productive. With two full lengths, a DJ mix for Watergate’s series and releasing two of 2019’s most played out club tracks together with Rampa (Innervisions) and Artbat (Watergate Records), the trio have found themselves diving more and more into the world of electronic music, tapping into their goldmine of connections within the scene to spearhead an array of collaborations.

Synchronicity is all about ‘meaningful coincidences’ – bringing interpretation to bear on connections that have no actual causal relationship. It’s a canny concept to pin onto Copenhagen trio WhoMadeWho’s latest album, which sees them return to Kompakt for the first time since 2012’s Brighter.

This re-established connection helps us to understand the synchronicity at play, the way that the WhoMadeWho core ave built an album around collaboration with friends and peers, much as Kompakt is all about cross-connections and family. On Synchronicity, WhoMadeWho call on friends old and new – Michael Mayer, Echonomist, Adana Twins, Alex Boman, Robag Wruhme, Frank Wiedemann, Sainte Vie, Mano Le Tough, Marc Piñol, Rebolledo, and Perel is the cast list; WhoMadeWho direct the material, shaping it into one lovingly flowing gem of dance-pop glory.

There’s something particularly generous about hearing an album as all-inclusive and open-hearted as Synchronicity in the midst of the profound social and cultural shifts we’re currently experiencing. While some songs on Synchronicity were recorded together, in real time, such as the collaborations with Adana Twins and Rebolledo, most of them have taken place via long distance, thanks to the pandemic lockdown. But you don’t need to know who was where to understand either the magnesium-flare melancholy of “Sooner”, recorded with Piñol, which has you holding your breath with the gentle thrill of the song’s lush melody, or the stomping strut of the following Adana Twins collaboration, “Shadow Of Doubt”.

Elsewhere, there’s the stentorian robot voice at the heart of “Hamstring”, where they’re joined by Michael Mayer; the lustrous headsoak of “Twenty Tears”, a tender intervention by Rebolledo; the strip-light, slow-motion disco strut of “Cecil”, produced alongside Echonomist; or the glittering, arpeggio dreamwork that Perel helps sculpt into shape on “Der Abend birgt keine Ruh.”… Really, there’s so much to celebrate here, a panoply of pleasures. From pop revelations to dancefloor delirium to slow-burning brooders, Synchronicity is just that; a space for the joys of the unexpected to collide, and to be given meaning by their coincidental co-existence in WhoMadeWho’s beautiful world.

"Wir hatten immer schon das Glück, viele talentierte Produzenten kennenzulernen. In den letzten Jahren haben wir diese Beziehungen durch verschiedene Remixe und Kollaborationen vertieft und jedes Mal kam etwas Aufregendes dabei heraus. Aus diesem Grund haben wir unser Synchronicity-Projekt gestartet: um uns selbst herauszufordern inspirierte, lustige und schöne Musik zu machen. “Synchronizität” bedeutet das gleichzeitige Auftreten von Ereignissen, die scheinbar in einem signifikanten Zusammenhang stehen, aber keinen erkennbaren kausalen Zusammenhang haben. Das beschreibt sehr gut, wie unser Weg zu dem Ort geführt hat, an dem wir jetzt sind - irgendwo zwischen der Club- und der Indie-Szene". – WhoMadeWho

KOMPAKT freut sich über Rückkehr der Kopenhagener Band WhoMadeWho. Tomas Barfods Vorliebe für elektronische Musik im poetischen Kontrast zu Tomas Høffding und Jeppe Kjellbergs jeweiligem Hintergrund im Rock und Jazz macht ihre Musik zu einem elektrisierenden Konglomerat, in das verschiedene Einflüsse zu einem einzigartigen klanglichen Fingerabdruck verschmelzen: gefühlvoll, unwiderstehlich und immens befriedigend.

Obwohl wir seit der Veröffentlichung von "Brighter" (KOM 254) in 2012 keine gemeinsamen Dinger gedreht haben, waren WhoMadeWho in der Zwischenzeit bemerkenswert produktiv. Mit zwei Full-Length-Alben, einem DJ-Mix für die Watergate-Reihe und der Veröffentlichung von zwei der meistgespielten Clubtracks aus dem Jahr 2019 zusammen mit Rampa (Innervisions) und Artbat (Watergate Records), taucht das Trio mehr und mehr in die Welt der elektronischen Musik ein. Für ihre Kollaborationen greifen WhoMadeWho immer wieder auf ihre Goldgrube an Bekanntschaften innerhalb der Szene zurück.

Bei “Synchronicity” geht es um "sinnvolle Zufälle" - also um die Interpretation von Verbindungen, die keinen tatsächlichen Kausalzusammenhang haben. Es ist ein ausgeklügeltes Konzept, das dem neuesten Album des Kopenhagener Trios WhoMadeWho anheftet: Diese wieder hergestellte Verbindung hilft uns, die Synchronizität im Spiel zu verstehen; die Art und Weise, wie WhoMadeWho ein Album um die Zusammenarbeit mit Freunden und Gleichgesinnten herum aufgebaut hat: schließlich geht es auch bei Kompakt um Querverbindungen und Familie. Auf Synchronicity richten sich WhoMadeWho an alte und neue Freunde: Michael Mayer, Echonomist, Adana Twins, Axel Boman, Robag Wruhme, Frank Wiedemann, Terr, Sainte Vie, Mano Le Tough, Marc Piñol, Rebolledo und Perel stehen auf der Liste. Das Trio führt Regie und sorgt für den Feinschliff. Das Ergebnis: ein echtes Juwel aus Dance, Pop und Glorie.

Inmitten der tiefgreifenden sozialen und kulturellen Veränderungen, die wir derzeit erleben, ist es etwas Besonderes, ein Album zu hören, das so offenherzig ist wie “Synchronicity”. Zwar wurden einige Songs gemeinsam und in Echtzeit aufgenommen – etwa die Kollaboration mit den Adana Twins und Rebolledo – die meisten Sessions fanden aufgrund der Pandemie jedoch über größere Entfernungen statt. Letztlich muss man aber gar nicht wissen wer wo war, um die Melancholie von "Sooner" mit Marc Piñol zu verstehen und im sanften melodischen Rausch des Liedes den Atem anzuhalten. Auch die eher brachiale Energie der darauf folgenden Adana-Twins-Kollaboration , "Shadow Of Doubt" vermittelt sich eingehend über die soziale Distanz hinweg.

An anderer Stelle ertönt die schallende Roboterstimme im Herzen von "Hamstring", wo sich Michael Mayer zu ihnen gesellt; die schimmernden "Twenty Tears", einer zärtlichen Intervention von Rebolledo; der Zeitlupen- Disco-Nummer "Cecil", die zusammen mit Echonomist produziert wurde; oder der glitzernde Arpeggio-Traum, den Perel in "Der Abend birgt keine Ruh" in Form bringt.. Ja, es gibt tatsächlich einiges zu feiern: Von Pop-Enthüllungen über Dancefloor-Delirium bis hin zu Stücken, die sich ihre Zeit nehmen - Synchronicity bietet Platz für all das; das Album spendet Raum, in dem die Freuden des Unerwarteten aufeinanderprallen und durch ihr zufälliges Nebeneinander in der Welt von WhoMadeWho Sinn ergeben.

The 4th in the Transhumanism series is here. These four now well established Dutch producers approach Electro from their own angles, resulting in four energetic cuts ranging from the haunting vocal laced work of TFHats to the swirling darkness of RXmode.

The successful Transhumanism series has been supported by the likes of Dave Clarke, Juan Atkins, Helena Hauff, UMEK, Alienata and many others.

Fabrizio Maurizi makes his debut on Infuse this October as he delivers his latest EP ‘Jumping’, backed by a remix from Pierre Codarin.

A staple within the Italian house and techno scene for over a decade, Bologna’s Fabrizio Maurizi is a producer and DJ now known across the globe for his seamless blend of the two styles across his productions and DJ sets. One half of the duo Bassa Clan, with material via their self-titled imprint, and a member of the Bolo Represent collective, Maurizi’s recent releases include EPs via labels such Bodyparts, Memoria, Want?, Re.face, whilst playing sets worldwide for renowned institutions such as fabric, Robert Johnson, Womb and Cocoricò. Next up, October signals the arrival of a new name to his catalogue as he heads to FUSE sister imprint Infuse to deliver three fresh productions in the form of his ‘Jumping’ EP – accompanied by bubbling UK talent Pierre Codarin on remix duties.

The slick and paired back title track ‘Jumping’ opens proceedings as Maurizi fuses minimal soundscapes with more jazz-influenced notes and tones, whilst Pierre Codarin’s remix ups the energy levels as he introduces metallic drum licks, spiralling electronics and a snaking bassline to the mix. On the flip, ‘Night and Day’ harnesses a classy blend of dubby chords, slinking hats and echoed vocals, before closing the package via the off-kilter rhythms and loose, glitch-driven drums of hypnotic after-hours cut ‘Caravel’.

Blue Note 1963 - Classic Vinyl Reissue Series Lee Morgan’s magnum opus The Sidewinder — recorded in 1963 and release in 1964 — was both a comeback and a coronation. The prodigious trumpeter had debuted on Blue Note in 1956 at the age of 18, but personal problems in the early-60s forced him off the scene temporarily. His rebound recording turned out to be The Sidewinder, an assured and energetic set of 5 indelible Morgan originals featuring tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Barry Harris, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Billy Higgins. The album became his biggest commercial success fuelled by the irrepressible title track.

FILM Recordings will release the debut LP from Denial of Service.

The album follows up EP's Sensou (2015), and more recently Contour & Shape (2017) - but marks the producer's most expansive release on the label thus far by some margin. Clocking in at 15 tracks, the lengthy opus draws from the same palette found on previous work - drum machine driven, heavily mutated Electro and IDM sit alongside low slung Techno cuts and arpeggiated EBM references. As ever, the production is stunning - crisp and plosive, as much a record for the club as it is a tempered headphone experience; whilst the mood channels that same dank, claustrophobic energy found on previous missives.

As a body of work, the LP displays the distinctive touch of a production veteran. The transformative shifts in structure on opener A Fine, New Mother Now belie a kind of boldness found less often across the contemporary electronic music landscape; and the drum programming on IDM-leaning explorations Autoimmune & Supercell bear the hallmarks of a perfectionist with time on his hands and in full control of his art. Space and the placement of sonic components plays a huge role in the artist's work and the 3 Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch displays this canny knack for generating both textural, wide angle soundscapes whilst maintaining that wrought-iron edge to drums and percussive elements - even more fervent, noisy compositions like Dr Manahattan manage to keep hold of this remarkable balance. It's impressive stuff, a fine and well worked meeting point between artistic vision and engineering prowess.

An elongated discussion, no doubt - but worth hearing every word. Each twist and bend, however sharp, remains carefully placed and beautifully recorded. Dryer works Slither & Junkie Foxtrot towards the LP finish offer a less introspective, more hard hitting angle to the work, and by the time the listener arrives at dual closer the Daisy Chain - Adults - they're ready for its heady catharsis.

The debut album from Denial of Service is a trip, and the line between club space and home listening environment is decidedly blurred - an emotive exploration of true psychedelic Electronica, delivered direct from the source.

We are very pleased to finally present you a new Lorenz Rhode release, for the „Sandpaper EP“ Lorenz Rhode and Jamie Lidell get together again. Their first collab „Any Kind of Pressure“ was followed by Lorenz joining Jamie’s world tour and a remix of „Big Love“ for Warp Records. Jamie performs with an amazing energy, and his
soulful voice is carried by a warm and playful house backing: Minimoog bass, Rhodes piano and just some sparkles of a very old Roland synth that Lorenz had just bought, and which is now broken.
The second new jam „On the Nightshift“ is a fun stabby tune based on a spiraling chord progression. It loops every three-and-a-half bars, just to make life harder for DJs. A real nice warm groover.
The remix for „Sandpaper“ is a true family affair! Sound Support is the all new project by Lars Dales better known as 1/2 of Detroit Swindle and Lorenz himself. They’ve just released their debut EP on Prins Thomas’ “Internasjonal” label in October this year, here they take Jamie’s vocal into a more dramatic and electronic territory touching
electro grounds. To close things out we also added an instrumental on the vinyl and radio mix on the digital version of this new EP. Enjoy as much as we did putting this together for you!

GILA is an electronic music producer from Denver, Colorado. His debut album, Energy Demonstration, blends bass-heavy, leftfield techno with detailed ambient textures, and showcases GILA’s impeccable production style.
Energy Demonstration - out 20th November on Lex Records - follows earlier, club-focused releases on XL Recordings, LuckyMe & Benji B’s Deviation. GILA, (pronounced “hee-la”) takes his name from the gila monster, the only venomous lizard native to the United States -- slow yet powerful with a potentially deadly bite, this colourful reptile possesses many of the same qualities as GILA’s music.
GILA started to make his mark as one half of rap duo, Gorgeous Children, before striking out on his own. As GILA, his signature, hard-edged sounds have been championed by Thom Yorke, Flying Lotus, Benji B, Jamz Supernova, and led to collaborations with Boys Noize and Rustie. Since signing with Lex, GILA’s released a pair of EPs; 2019’s Trench Tones and 2020’s Three Riders.
As a DJ GILA has shared stages with Metro Boomin, Telefon Tel Aviv and fellow Lucky Me alumni Rustie & Hudson Mohawke.

On his first EP, Forgiveness, the artist Max von Sternberg delivers four new tracks on the Munich label Musica Autonomica. With its strong basslines and expressive hi-hats, the eponymous piece, Forgiveness, is clearly made for the dance floor. It comes in two versions – one with lyrics and one as a dub version. Falling Star, the first track of the vinyl's B-side feels likely energetic. New Day, on the contrary, gets the more quiet tones, occasionally leaves a melancholic impression and is by that also made for contexts beyond the club.

Stars are created by gravitational collapse of large molecular clumps. Once formed, they stay in the universe for millions of years – and outlive all human life. The artistic creation of Max von Sternberg also is about outliving. With his driving and melodic sound he creates unheard soundscapes. Complemented by well placed lyric pieces, he underlines the the continuous change of our world and shows that nothing is forever. With his first EP, Forgiveness, on Musica Autonomica, he delivers four deep house pieces that cover the entire bandwidth – from bassy dance floor bangers to more quiet, melancholic sounds.

Roots and full of energy. That's the best way to express it for me !

Nach der gefeierten Premiere des Dokumentarfilms „L.A. Originals“ in diesem Frühjahr erscheint nun der Offizieller Soundtrack zum Netflix-Film.
Die Geschichte dreht sich um den Hip-Hop-Fotografen Estevan Oriol und den Tätowierkünstler Mister Cartoon (Mark Machado).
„L.A. Originals“ folgt den beiden L.A.-Einheimischen von ihrem ersten Treffen im Jahr 1992 bis hin, dass sie zu den größten und einflussreichsten kreativen Chicano-Künstlern der SoCal-Straßenkultur, des Hip-Hop und darüber hinaus wurden.

decade into its ongoing experimentation that has pushed the sonic fusion between science andtechnology, SCI+TEC remains at the very forefront of electronic music. From day one Dubfire’s label has
continuously forged its own path, with its feet firmly on the dance floor and its sights set on the future.
SCI+TEC has consistently championed and encouraged new and unsung talent from around the world,amplifying legions of rising names; Carlo Lio, Paul Ritch, SHADED, Reset Robot, The Junkies, Alex Mine, Basti Grub, Habischman and countless more include SCI+TEC releases in their rich histories.
Next up on SCI+TEC is this two-tracker by Romanian DJ and producer Faster. His interest in music began at the age of 16, when he started producing underground hip-hop music. This passion for music soon led him to electronic music, where he quickly learned how to take over the decks and became a sought after DJ in Romania and later, playing at famous clubs and underground parties world wide for more than 10 years.
It was time for the creative label-owner to have his SCI+TEC debut release.
‘Butter Twisted Cables’ delivers two unique tracks, each with a unifying energy. The A-Side opens with ‘Twisted Cable’, a stand-out energetic groove, providing a warm feeling of satisfaction. ‘Butter’
on the flipside is the stand out track melting into your ears with an eclectic housy vibe.

ANRMAL ist Juana Molinas erstes Livealbum auf ihrem langen Karriereweg. Es wurde beim NRMAL Festival in Mexiko aufgenommen, kurz bevor die Welt im März zum Stillstand kam, und ist ein Zeitzeugnis, wie die Welt "vorher" einmal war. Durch das kraftvolle Set zieht sich ein so mitreißender Punkrock-Vibe, dass er uns auf bessere Zeiten hoffen lässt. Als Juana Molina vor mehr als zwei Dekaden als Musikerin startete, waren ihre Kompositionen eher reflektiert und auf das Wesentliche reduziert. Zumeist spielte sie Solokonzerte mit ihrer Gitarre, einem Keyboard und Effektgeräten. Über die Jahre wurden ihre Konzerte immer wilder und ihre Platten immer intensiver und extrovertierter, was bei den Tourneen zu ihren letzten Alben zu erleben war. Auf dem am 23.10.2020 erscheinenden ANRML wird Juana Molina von ihren Bandkollegen Odin Schwartz am Bass und Pablo González am Schlagzeug begleitet, die eine Extraportion Energie zum Auftritt beitragen. Das Set enthält Stücke aus Juanas letzten Alben Halo, Wed 21 sowie der Wiederveröffentlichung Un día und der EP "Forfun", alle erschienen bei Crammed Discs. Gemischt wurde das Album von Juana Molinas Toningenieur Marcelo Coca Monte.

COLOR VINYL LP

Indie Retail Exclusive *Cosmic Moment* Color Vinyl LP Multidisciplinary abstractivist Rob Mazurek has made an indelible impact on creative music over the past 30 years. Emerging from the musical nexus of the 1990s Chicago scene, he's written more than 400 compositions and is featured on more than 70 recordings (including International Anthem's very first, IARC0001, Alternate Moon Cycles). He's led many ensembles - including the Chicago Underground (Duo, Trio, Quartet & Orchestra), Isotope 217 (alongside members of Tortoise), Pharoah and the Underground (feat. Pharoah Sanders), and a duo with Jeff Parker. He's been on the cover of WIRE Magazine twice and is well-known as one of the prime 21st century progenitors of "The Chicago Sound."

Over the course of three EPs this year alone, Stones Taro has affirmed his skills as a producer with a rare talent for taking old school breakbeats and UK garage into fresh territory. Now the Kyoto-based artist raises his game with his new EP ‘Pump’, which will be released on October 23rd by Highball Records (HB003), the London-based label that exports forward-thinking music from Japan.

If you were enamoured by the playful rush of energy that Stones Taro captured earlier this year on ‘To Rave’, ‘Pump’ takes it to the next level. The title track quickly sets the agenda for what’s to follow: a maddeningly addictive loop, a flurry of breaks that emerge at an anarchic pace and a stuttering vocal sample that takes you back to early ‘90s house. Somehow Stones Taro has glanced back at the sounds that have preceded him and pushed them forwards.

The second track ‘I Want’ is more direct, again echoing ‘90s house but this time from the NYC scene. But still Stones Taro hasn’t peaked, with the manic beats of ‘Ride On The Ride’ recalling the intensity of Metalheadz’ ‘Platinum Breakz’ compilation. The closing ‘Understand’ changes the mood with fevered breaks contrasting a more melancholy ambience.

Stones Taro began his career in 2014 and debuted for Scuffed Recordings (ran by High Class Filter and Ian DPM) in 2017 with the acid house meets 2-step EP ‘Spiral Staircase’. Subsequent releases have largely been split between Scuffed and his own label, NC4K. His tracks have been included in mixes by the likes of Yaeji, DEBONAIR, Qrion and Pinz & Pelz, while media support has included Clash, Hyponik, Inverted Audio and The Ransom Note.

The 4th release on Sofia by KiNK is all about warmth. The harmonies are deep, the instruments are muffled, the rhythms are humanised. Even when some of the tracks are getting a bit aggressive, they are not hurting, but giving the right amount of energy and surprise. This record is built from some of the live streams Strahil was doing during the pandemic lockdown in April. "101 Reasons" is a track with disco epic-ness and techno attitude. It captures KiNK's dream of being on the sweaty floor again, surrounded by dancers, one big family, like it used to be. "Dreamer" is low key house music, with melodies, leaking between the notes and the rhythms are somehow derailing, but instead of chaos, you get that dreamy feeling like if you watch a ribbon in the sky. The phenomenal Dutch artist Frits Wentink delivers a tighter version of the track with his unique swing on the drums and extra chords, which uplift the track with new energy. The closing song "Set The Mood Right" is recorded with his usual collaborator Rachel Row on the vocals. It's a very relaxed downtempo track, which takes an unexpected turn and it's a perfect open end for the record. A warm record for the cold days.

´Distant Memories - Live in London´ vereint ausgewählte Songs von DREAM THEATERs aktuellem Album ´Distance Over Time´ (2019) zusammen mit der vollständigen Aufführung von ´Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory´ (1999). An einem lang herbeigesehnten und fast schon als historisch zu bezeichnenden Abend in der Geschichte der Band entstand dieses bemerkenswerte Live-Album. Die Tour ´The Distance Over Time Tour: Celebrating 20 Years of Scenes From a Memory´ war ein Dankeschön an die Fans für ihre jahrzehntelange Wertschätzung und Liebe. Für die Band war ´die Tour in vielerlei Hinsicht wirklich unglaublich. Wir durften unsere neuesten Werke präsentieren, die von DT-Fans auf der ganzen Welt auf eine Weise aufgenommen wurde, für die wir unglaublich dankbar sind. Und die zwei Abende, die wir in London aufgenommen und gefilmt haben, gehörten definitiv zu den besten Shows der Tour.´ Petrucci fährt fort: ´Egal ob man die Gelegenheit hatte, diese Tour persönlich zu sehen und das hoffentlich großartige Konzerterlebnis noch einmal erleben möchte, oder ob man das Konzert zum ersten Mal auf Video genießt: ´Distant Memories´ fängt die Live-Energie sehr genau und sehr schön ein - ebenso wie die positive Aufregung, die wir alle im vergangenen Februar gemeinsam im Apollo verspürt haben.´ Er hebt das ´unglaubliche Touring- und Produktionsteam sowie unser großartiges Filmteam hervor, die allesamt perfekt abgeliefert haben und es uns ermöglichten, in bestem Licht präsentiert zu werden. Wir sind überaus stolz darauf, diese Veröffentlichung dank unseres talentierten Mix Engineers, unseres Regisseurs und Art Directors mit brillantem Sound sowie in visueller und künstlerischer Perfektion anbieten zu können.´ Die bedeutsame Performance ´Distant Memories - Live In London´ ist als Limited Deluxe 3CD / 2Blu-Ray / 2DVD 44-seitiges Artbook, Limited Edition 4LP + 3CD Boxset, Special Edition 3CD + 2Blu-ray Digipak, 3CD + 2DVD Mulitbox & als Digitales Audioalbum erhältlich.

3 x LP - Live in Sharjah Box Set + Booklet. designed by Lorenzo Mason Studio.

If you’ve ever travelled to Egypt and wandered through its crowded streets, you probably ended up buying a cassette or a CDR of popular synth based music heard in most cabs, cabarets, or alleys around town: the almighty Shaabi.Raed Yassin and Paed Conca based their project PRAED on research between Shaabi and Mouled (traditional trance music from Egypt) and the hypnotic structures of both these genres. Repetitive beats, loud Mizmar and loads of energy, with a strong influence from psychedelic rock, free jazz and electronica.

During the years in which the duo produced 4 albums and performed on an endless number of stages around the globe, PRAED started working on anambitious expansive project: an orchestra that could transpose this study of rural and popular culture into an immense, iconic work. In autumn 2018, supported by the Sharjah Art Foundation, PRAED Orchestra! premiered “Live in Sharjah”, interpreting new material merged with some of the band’s iconic pieces. The composition process started with the choice of musicians: the line-up consisted of some of the most innovative artists coming from a wide spectrum of musical practices. Each musician was chosen for a defined role, and the common denominator was their capacity to interpret written material, and their ability to improvise effortlessly. Each role was clearly set to work in unison with the rest of the group, while simultaneously sustaining a centrality in the choir. Solo parts masterfully drawn over the structure as a fil rouge connecting every piece of the entire concert; massive and powerful orchestral sections leading to a breathtaking trance-like state of mind; all of this material ultimately coalescing into an Egyptian Operette that narrates the sorrow, love, and deeply rooted culture of this urban music called Shaabi.

Paed Conca: Clarinet, Electric Bass, Electronics
Raed Yassin: Synthesizers, Vocals, Electronics
Alan Bishop: Alto Saxophone, Vocals
Nadah El Shazly: Vocals, keyboard, Electronics
Christine Kazarian: Electric Harp
Hans Koch: Bass Clarinet, Soprano Sax
Martin Kuchen: Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Sax
Maurice Louca: Keyboard, Organ
Radwan Ghazi Moumneh: Buzuk, Vocals, Modular Synthesizer
Sam Shalabi: Electric Guitar, Oud
Ute Wassermann: Vocals, Mouth Harp, Whistles
Khaled Yassine: Drums, Percussion, Darbuka
Michael Zerang: Drums, Percussion

Recorded live at Calligraphy Square on November 3rd, 2018 in Sharjah, UAE by: Sudish Suman & Shuaib Ahmad Poonthala
Edited by: Rabih Beaini at Morphine Studio, Berlin, Germany
Mixed by: Radwan Ghazi Moumneh at Hotel2Tango Studio, Montreal, Canada. Mastered by: Harris Newman at Grey Market Studio, Montreal, Canada.
Artwork by Lorenzo Mason Studio.
Project manager : Simsara Music

After a long delay due to his previous powerhouse 'Hypnotised' blowing up the worldwide spot, German maestro Purple Disco Machine finally lets loose the next step in his world dance domination. Every superlative under the sun has been used for this man's talents and he does not disappoint with a return to his updated Italo disco stylings on new single 'Exotica'.

Purple Disco Machine remains at the forefront of world dance music, following a series of remixes for A-list icons Diplo, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson, Foals, Calvin Harris, Fatboy Slim, Sir Elton John, whilst more recently delivering his stellar cuts of Duke Dumont’s ‘Ocean Drive’, and Lady Gaga and Adriana Grande’s international hit single ‘Rain On Me’.

He now unveils yet another side of his impressive production prowess with new single ‘Exotica’ featuring the Italian electro funk producer Mind Enterprises on vocals, creating an electric club record exploring and playing homage to '80s German and Italian euro disco records that he grew up with.

Based around a replayed sample of 80’s Italo disco classic ‘Void Vision’ by Cyber People, Purple Disco Machine creates a high energy dance-floor heater with a lively modulated vocal. ‘Exotica’ shares its name with the forthcoming studio album, which the artist confirms will feature his playful interpretation of the music of the decade that birthed the Purple Disco Machine sound; Synth Pop, Italo Disco, Electro Funk, Soul, R&B and Boogie.

Certified as one of the most prolific electronic artists of our generation, the Dresden born producer ranks #2 on Beatport’s all-time Top Artists, with his 2013 breakthrough hit ‘My House’ remaining as one of the platform’s best-sellers through to today. With an undeniable midas touch, Purple Disco Machine landed himself in the record books once again in 2018, whilst amassing a stunning 100 million streams across his original ‘Dished (Male Stripper)’, and remixes of Weiss’ ‘Feel My Needs’, and most notably his remix of the seminal ‘Praise You’ by industry icon Fatboy Slim. With a slew of varied releases including hit singles ‘In My Arms’, ‘Body Funk’ and ‘Devil In Me’, the producer’s status was propelled by his debut LP ‘Soulmatic’, earning him critical acclaim across the globe.

nine-sum sorcery is the debut release of Berlin-based sonic duo LABOUR, the ambitious project led by Farahnaz Hatam and Colin Hacklander gaining a reputation since 2018 for their large-scale works and collaborative pieces in large concert spaces and museums such as Kraftwerk Berlin, Martin Gropius Bau and Kunsthalle Zürich. Since 2020 they are residents on NTS with a monthly show.
Grounded in the rich and enigmatic digital soundworld of LABOUR, nine-sum sorcery features the renowned Kurdish singer, Hani Mojtahedy, a prolific performer and recording artist firmly grounded in the traditional vocal styles of both Kurdistan and Iran.
Following LABOUR’s now legendary closing of Berlin Atonal’s main stage in 2018 with their inaugural work, next time, die consciously (یگناگیب), the duo embarked on a grand journey with Hani Mojtahedy, towards a remarkable synthesis of traditions and practices, uniting computer music and avant-garde sensibilities with traditional vocal practice.
nine-sum sorcery is a long-form piece that unfolds over two sections, A and B, and can be understood as an occult incitation to the dark energies, natural, political and otherwise, that are released when oil is extracted from the ground. This ritual is focused through the enigmatic electronic and percussion composition from LABOUR which alternates between foreground and background for the haunting vocal performance of Mojtahedy, who interprets Kurdish and Persian verses.
This is first release on Studio LABOUR, the new independent label in Berlin that provides a platform for avant-gardists creating works based on sound.
Studio LABOUR seeks to contribute toward spaces of non-conforming social practices and identities, and revisits the nature of work as a potentially transformative activity.
From sound artists to electronic musicians to composers; visual artists to performance artists to critical theorists; the represented artists are united not via discipline or genre, but rather through individuated orientation towards radical perspective that are either based-in or engaged-with sound as a medium, at least in the instance of their release/work with the label.

Powerful new spiritual jazz from Chile on Soul Jazz Records!

This album comes as a very limited one-off unique pressing of 1000-edition vinyl, limited editon CD and digital release.

Enrique Rodríguez and the Negra Chiway Band group have an instantly powerful and unique sound that is reminiscent of the ensembles of Sun Ra and his Arkestra as well as Horace Tapscott and his Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, one that channels the righteous spirits of Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and McCoy Tyner together with a stunning Latin rhythmical and new consciousness and percussive energy. Added to this are elements of the Samurai film soundtracks of Akira Kurosawa, Popol Vuh’s musical spirituality (especially their work with film director Werner Herzog), Tibetan Buddhism and over-blowing chants, that all combine to give a truly unique new sound.

Enrique Rodríguez is a composer, percussionist, keyboardist, and producer from Santiago, Chile, whose work shows many similarities with the music featured on Soul Jazz Records’ recent collection ‘Kaleidoscope - New Spirts Known and Unknown’, featuring new forward-looking jazz artists including Mathew Halsall, Theon Cross, Emma-Jean Thackray and Makaya McCraven.

Like all these artists, Rodríguez’s work is a progressive and experimental fusion of earlier influences that combine into a new and definitely 21st century ground-breaking sound that, on account of its South American setting, give the group its truly unique feeling. Hypnotic modal piano riffs, powerful brass and flutes, an army of Latin percussion instruments, and addictive vocal chants all combine in this powerful mix of radical 60s Afro-centric jazz, eastern spirituality and cosmology, and Latin American rhythmical movement.

International Day Off records became a new base for one of the most interesting characters of new wave techno in recent years - POST SCRIPTUM, whose name is already and widely known from labels such as Infrastructure New York, Ostgut Ton or Sonic Groove. This EP is a flagship example of what the sci-fi techno is. No doubt the most energetic and the most powerful sounding 3 tracks EP ever released on International Day Off. Everything what you will hear is concentrated on a solid base, with carefully constructed bit pulsation that marks the direction of your music powered space travel. IDO 013 is a very expressive musical proposal, a masterpiece that could be a soundtrack for landing on the Gliese 581 c. Overall this EP is a must have for every modern, post-industrial space traveler!

New imprint beam dump curated and run by Chris Geschwindner starts its operation with the usual madness. Following the idea of a beam dump, a device that captures and dissipates large amounts of radiation, the label showcases music that strikes through its energy and coherent complexity.

For its first release, beam dump introduces the newcomer trio of SINM from Lima, Peru with their infectious blend of breakbeat-infused house and no-nonsense tech groovers. Including 4 tracks, Simulation EP is a fun and innovative approach to current electronic club sounds borrowing inspiration from tech house as well as twisted UK garage and 2-step.

The Mighty Mocambos' new album "Showdown" sets another cornerstone in their prolific career as a globally active instrumental funk outfit. While maintaining their organic approach of recording real musicians live on tape, the group has refined their trademark sound with a dramatic edge, a hard hitting production and ventures into less obvious musical territories. While highly enjoying themselves as the tight unit they are, The Mighty Mocambos invited an exciting list of guests to contribute to their musical "Showdown": German film composer icon Peter Thomas, hiphop godfather Afrika Bambaataa, rap legends Charlie Funk aka Afrika Islan (member of the original Rocksteady Crew) and Donald D (of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate), plus Nichola Richards, Shawn Lee, DeRobert from peer label GED Soul in Nashville, Zulu Nation MCs Deejay Snoop & DJ Hektek and organ genius Guillaume Metenier all joined the group for their new musical adventure. "Showdown" is released on vinyl LP by Mocambo Records and on CD and digital incarnations by Légère Recordings.

About the Mighty Mocambos:

The Mighty Mocambos and their many incarnations have released dozens of 45s and several albums on their own imprint Mocambo Records and other labels such as Kay Dee, Truth & Soul, Tramp, Légère and Favorite Recordings, to name a few. They have collaborated with musical legends such as Afrika Bambaataa, Lee Fields or Kenny Dope, put new talent like Gizelle Smith and Caroline Lacaze on the map, brought Caribbean steel drums to funk clubs with their alter ego Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, and have toured through all civilized parts of the continent and beyond for the better part of the last years. Their unique style and trademark sound are loved by peers, fans and critics alike and distinguishes them from mere retro-copycat-acts as well as overproduced plastic soul. The Mighty Mocambos continue to deliver their brand of funk with blazing horns, soulful guitars, driving drums and basslines combined with an extra bit of quirkiness. When not producing records for one of their many incarnations and collaborations, the band is touring steadily. Whoever witnessed a concert will tell you about the musicality, passion, energy, humour and joy that the band loves to bring to the people. Background What started out years ago as a take on "deep funk" and its associated vinyl culture has completely grown into its own oeuvre d'art. With the launch of their production studio and record label in 2006, things started to gain momentum. Apart from self-releasing the group's own recordings, Mocambo Records became a household name by putting out highly collectable vinyl 45s by today's best funk outfits as well as unearthing lost library funk treasures. The Mighty Mocambos however did not restrict themselves solely to their own label. Their interpretation of the Furious Five classic "The Message", released under a pseudonym on an obscure phantasy label without proper distribution, got picked up and remixed by Grammy- nominated producer legend Kenny Dope (Masters at Work, Bucketheads). Their first single with UK funk singer Gizelle Smith, "Working Woman", became an overnight smash and a prime-time club favourite of funk & soul DJs worldwide. Initially released on the Finnish private press imprint Old Capital, it got the remix treatment by Kenny Dope and a re-release on Kay Dee Records as well. After earning their credits through vinyl 45s, the band stepped up their game with the full- length "This Is Gizelle Smith & the Mighty Mocambos" in 2009. The album received rave reviews, got lots of airplay - and sold a bunch of physical copies too. Its success led to an extensive tour throughout Europe with club dates from Marseille to Oslo, performances at massive festivals such as the Printemps de Bourges in France and live radio appearances at respected FMs such as the BBC and Radio Nova. With the following album "The Future Is Here" (2011), the band stepped further into the spotlight and explored new sounds with features by hiphop legends Afrika Bambaataa and Charlie Funk, French singer Caroline Lacaze and German rare groove queen Su Kramer, while manifesting their unique raw funk sound and refining their unmistakable instrumental style that had long gained international reputation. The album was toured extensively, including a legendary performance with Afrika Bambaataa at Hamburg's Reeperbahn Festival (covered by ARTE TV), support gigs for Lee Fields and headline shows at renowned venues such as Amsterdam's Paradiso, Islington Assembly Hall in London, Paris' Bellevilloise, Tempo Club in Madrid, or at home at Hamburg's Mojo Club. After producing the critically acclaimed debut album "En Route" (2013) of French soul singer Caroline Lacaze, where their adapted their sound to deliver a stunning mix of French Beat, Soul & Psychedelic Rock, the band went on to record a full length under their moniker Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band. Their interpretation of 50 Cent's P.IM.P. had long become a cult classic and was often mistaken for the original sample. The group's approach in stretching the boundaries of funk by adding Caribbean steel pans caught the interest of Brooklyn's finest label Truth & Soul who signed the band for the album "55", an explosive mix of funk and hip hop cover versions as well as original compositions that showcase the band's singularity in today's funk circuit. The Mighty Mocambos' recent album "Showdown" (2015) sets yet another cornerstone in their prolific career as a globally active instrumental funk outfit. While maintaining their organic approach of recording real musicians live on tape, the group has refined their trademark sound with a dramatic edge, a hard hitting production and ventures into less obvious musical territories, with a diverse list of special guests ranging from German film composer icon Peter Thomas to hiphop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa.

Cameroonian Joe Bisso's earliest musical influences didn't come primarily from his homeland, but more from the neighbouring Congo, where the kind of early 60's Congolese Rumba played by the likes of Franco / TP Ok Jazz, and Tabu Ley Rochereau was establishing itself as a musical force in the region.

Alongside this exuberant, swinging, jazz influenced sound, the growing impact of the all conquering US soul titans became inescapable, and sprinkled with a bit of Johnny Halliday & Co's smooth chanson over the top, we get a snapshot of where Jo Bisso and friends post school musical experimentation was headed in the late 60's.

As that decade drew to a close, the single minded Bisso headed off to France to begin his quest for the future, and by 1972 could afford the journey to the US that he'd long dreamed of.

Enrollment at the Berkeley School of Music in Boston soon lead to a new band coming together, and by 1974 the all conquering, multi faceted approach that marks Bisso's musical career, meant he'd written, produced and sung on his debut single for the mighty Decca Records. 'Flying To The Land Of Soul' drew heavily from James Brown's propulsive dancefloor funk, whilst wearing it's African colours loud and proud via 'African Express' chants, and drums front and centre.

At the same time, Bisso and friends had started to immerse themselves in the fast emerging disco sound pulsing outwards from Downtown NYC into the Boston nightclubs, and by the time his debut album 'Dance To It' was released on France's influential Le Disques Esperance in 1976, it was the driving, 4/4 floor power of disco that was to define Bisso's sound on that, and the following two albums.

Whilst Bisso's immersion in Disco was based around it's energy and musicality (rather than any associated hedonism), 'African Disco Experimentals (1974 to 1978)' paints a picture of an artist dedicated to the underground club side of the scene, rather than focused exclusively on the fast emerging pop potential of the sound at the time.

The album's tone is set by 3.20 mins of building, tribal percussion and rolling rhythms of the opener 'Love Beat', a 'strictly dancefloor' approach mirrored in the near 11 mins of 'Love Somebody', building from soulful keys to deep bass funk, extended percussion breaks, joyous squelchy Moog licks, breathy vocals and more (interesting footnote : Bisso is credited as Producer / Writer / Arranger, but 'Recorded by' is attributed to Joe Chiccarelli, better known in recent years for his work with The White Stripes, Shins, and Broken Social Scene.)

Still clocking in at a healthy 6 mins plus, "The Mystery With Me" (1978) makes a nod towards more radio friendly waters with it's hooky, floaty choruses and tight structures (a then 22 year old Arthur Baker is credited as sole writer on Discogs - Bisso himself doesn't seemed convinced by this idea, but that's another story...)

'Let's Keep it Together' (1977) loops the song title over a slower groove, with free form electric guitar licks adding new textures, whilst 'Disco Madonna' (1976) showcases Bisso at his most playful, combining spoken word Hispanic vocals, rattling percussion and more of the always welcome Moog, switching up keys at the end for an unselfconsciously camp finale.

And if anything sums up the ambition of Bisso's work in the field at the time, 'Play Me' (1978) can lay claim to being the magnum opus. It's presented here as a continuous 16 minute extravaganza (as opposed to the 4 parts it came in originally) : lush strings, hypnotic vocal sections, irresistible basslines, crisp drums, the odd Barry White style interjection, disco moans, the occasional nod to a chorus vocal. None of it seeming in much of a hurry to go anywhere in particular, choosing instead to joyfully revel in the expansiveness of the form.

CoOp Presents an all-new double-album compilation entitled 'Plug One'. It features a plethora of global talent from in & around the world of bruk and beyond - some already well-established in the field, some very much on the come-up and some brand new artists - this compilation is an acknowledgment of a continually evolving sound from the label formed by IG Culture & Alex Phountzi a few years ago. 'Plug One' affirms this electric movement, with a deeply fluid current running throughout, with tracks ranging from the cosmic psych jazz of LCSM, to the classic UKG tweaks of Groove Chronicles, to the thought-provoking vibes of Reginald Omas Mamaode IV, to a veritable who's who of 2020 bruk talent including Xtra Brux, Sivey, EVM128, Cengiz, Wonky Logic & many more.

From its beginnings as a classic club night and label in the early 2000's, CoOp always carried an undefinable and potent creative energy. A sense of freedom and uninhibited exploration was positioned at the core of CoOp's sprawling community and consciousness, communicated via movement and sound. From this seed and throughout the years that followed, this same energy permeated the worldwide underground music ecosystem. As CoOp's legacy continued to influence new generations of music makers far and wide. The syncopated rhythms, soulful keys and infectious grooves synonymous with the broken beat sound, now known simply as Bruk, became entwined with new concepts and progressions, leading to new movements carrying on the essence of the bruk energy.

IG Culture and Alex Phountzi took the helm of their CoOp Presents label in 2018, with the vision of championing these new waves of emerging artists, continuing the all-important exchange of energy at the heart of the original CoOp movement, but also giving room for the music to be pushed into new and uncharted territories. With burgeoning producers from around the globe being drawn to the explorative and expressive nature of the project, an incubator was created, providing a space and platform for these ideals to take on new shapes and sounds. Just as every generation must rewrite its own history books, CoOp Presents was born from a combination of influences, ideas and personalities, and in turn is now encouraging the next generation to do some re-writing of its own.

'Plug One' will be released on vinyl & digital on CoOp Presents in November 2020.

Sutja Gutierrez is back on Lumière Noire. The finesse of his productions and his implacable stage performances have given him a special place within the Parisian label. In 2017, he released the EP "The Legend of Time" and one year later, he appeared on the compilation From Above with his track "Allodoxaphobia". He comes back here with an LP entitled PHYLAX SOCIETY, which confirms that Sutja Gutierrez is indeed an artist in his own right. Phylax means guardian in Latin, and the album’s title is directly inspired by the “Phylax Society”, a group of people who, in the late 19th century, wanted to create the ultimate canine breed, but who due their lack of consensus failed and dissolved. Later on, an ex-member eventually bred the very first German Shepherd. On this heartfelt record, as emotional as it is catchy, the artist deals with the feelings that come after the loss of a loved one, chiefly nostalgia and melancholia. The result is an ardent record where crooning is sincere and never a posture. The artist’s lo-fi psychedelic pop trademark oozes in every track of this album. Many of these songs feature his vocals, often doused in ethereal echoes or even shrewdly chopped and distorted in a way that reminds us of the great musique concrete experiments of the past. A DIY approach sometimes indebted to punk and post-punk music, all mixed with a vast variety of traditional pop instruments such as guitar, bass, electric keyboards and real drums, but also drum machines, synth bleeps, found sounds and other strange but fascinating samples. EMPTY FLOWER POTS, which was released as a single ahead of the LP, is definitely one of the album’s standout tracks. This catchy mid-tempo song is the perfect entry point into Sutja’s finely twisted world. A world in which you can find that particular balance between nostalgia and optimism. Oh, life is great, what is life? Life is death. . he sings. It is one of those songs that stays in your head for a while. Do not let the idea of alternative pop fool you, it is quite impossible to listen to any of these songs without reacting in some way or another through moving, dancing or thinking, regardless of the tempo or meaning. I’M DIGGIN’ might be the perfect example of this. Deceptively simple and far removed from dance music, this rock-infused number will not only have you singing along instantly, but you will also find yourself dancing and responding accordingly to the energetic mantra of this song... I'm digging for the truth, I am so diggin' into it. Truly, the dance floor is never too far, sometimes quite blatantly and sometimes in a more oblique fashion. Another case in point is PHYLAX SOCIETY, the eponym track which closes the album, a song in two parts, where a slo-mo club groove carries Sutja’s trademark singing to yet another level of uniqueness, with his surreal soundscapes, twisted melodies and everyday life sounds. An ode to humanity and an homage to the ones who are risking their lives every day in the mediterranean sea. It is rare to encounter an album which is immediately satisfying on one hand but also reveals more and more beautiful secrets with each listen. PHYLAX SOCIETY is clearly one of those special albums.