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Written, performed and produced by Thomas Moen Hermansen @M57 Studios Asker Jan-Sept 2016

Published by Smalltown Supermusic/Sony ATV Scandinavia

Mastered by Schnittstelle , Photos by Ragnhild Fors, Design by Metric Design

After the slightly more conceptual "Principe del Norte"album, "5" takes two steps forward and one step back
collecting a batch of tracks that was recorded right after it's preceder and in tandem with the recent "Square One"album with Bjørn Torske.
A "freedom"album of sorts, beyond the slightly misleading album opener "Here comes the band" there's a variety in these tracks tracing inspiration from 35 years (unhealthy)obsession with all things "good music" played enthusiastically.
"5" also marks the launch of my new label "Prins Thomas Musikk".

A run through the tracks with a couple of hints to titles and inspiration:

"Here comes the band"
A planned album of a fake band consisiting of me only was ditched. This is their only entry...
Very loosely inspired by "Bandwagonesque"era Teenage Fanclub

"Villajoyosa"
Melodic ideas hummed into a handheld recorded and specific notes about instrumentation scribbled down while on holiday in Villajoyosa in Spain turned into this little ditty when back in slightly colder Norway.

"Bronchi Beat"
Made in bed during a rough patch of bronchitis. Heavily influenced by prescription cough medicine.
Orbe from Madrid made a dizzy techno version which comes out soon enough...

""
I find great inspiration in working on new ideas while travelling the skies. Partly inspired by a detour into the soundtrack of my early teens (Paul Hardcastle, Warp 9, Maze, Mtume...)this particular one was started on a bumpy flight home from Athens and later finished in my tiny M57 Studio(R.I.P.)

"Æ"
Another bronchitis-ridden idea. Slow and low is the tempo. Beat originally inspired by Brian Briggs "AEO", melodies beamed in from Wally Badarou.
"Æ"is the norwegian pronounciation of the A in Acid refering to the 303 screeches going through the "song"

"Ø"
By the title you might think I'm running out of ideas. Not sure what happened here and why...

"Lunga Strada"
The track that took me the longest to complete hence the "long road".
Personal favourites The Pilotwings from Lyon sent over 2 ridiculously good and fun remixes which will
be released on a separate 10"

"London til Lisboa"
Another idea made on a plane when I should have tried to catch some sleep.
Direction steered by Plaid and Pat Metheny. Thank you for the inspiration

"Å"
Initially the final track AND then: scrapped idea for the alphabet soup of "Principe del Norte".
Later evolved into what we have here. Comes with a really nice remix by Pional on a separate 12"

"Venter på Torske"
The final recorded addition to the album. Made while waiting for Bjørn Torske to reply on a text message...

"Aske Hermansen"
In all seriousness, this is probably as soppy as it gets with me.
Tears into my computer keyboard, made on the road missing my wife and kids.

For the 9th instalment in DBA's Dubs series Ikonika and Big Strick square off head to head, following the Hyperdub artist's genre-defying Distractions LP earlier this year. Oral Suspension is an instrumental which switches rough-shod between a UK halfstep crunch and a Hoop Dreams era Chicago bounce. On the flip Big Strick brings his characteristic smooth groove to the table for the remix, which, though laidback, is nevertheless bound to energise the dancers.

Evading the ubiquitous pigeonholes, Ikonika has variously been known for her dubstep innovations, her uk funky experiments on Hum and Buzz and her post-urban sketches for Hyperdub. Meanwhile though an interest in techno and specifically the sounds of the Midwest have underpinned her work.

Nach seinem im August 2016 erschienenen siebten Studioalbum "Partners" schließt Peter Broderick das Jahr 2016 mit der außergewöhnlichen EP "Grunewald" ab, die wie gewohnt via Erased Tapes veröffentlicht wird. Für alle die Hall mögen, ist "Grunewald" ein wahrgewordener Traum. Die fünf Tracks entstanden in nur einer Nacht in den majestätischen Räumen der etwas abgelegenen Berliner Grunewald-Kirche. Sie erkunden die faszinierende Partnerschaft zwischen der Raumakustik und Brodericks Solo-Darbietungen auf dem Klavier und der Violine. Während des Mischens der Aufnahmen wurde kein künstlicher Hall oder Delay benutzt, nur der natürliche Klang des epischen Kirchenraumes kommt zur Geltung. Die Größe des Kirchenraumes und dessen natürliche Interaktion mit den genutzten Instrumenten wiederspiegelnd, ist die "Grunewald"-EP zugleich auch eine Hommage an einen ungewöhnlichen Ort, der Zufluchtsstätte für eine ganze Generation zeitgenössischer Komponisten geworden ist. Tatsächlich war die Kirche zwischen 2008 und 2011 ein Hotspot für eine bestimmte Künstlergruppe um Nils Frahm.

There is no end to composer Peter Broderick's creative output, and so we present to you his new album titled All Together Again — available worldwide on November 17th 2017 via Erased Tapes.They say music takes you on a journey, and this collection of commissioned work by Peter quite literally does that. From a ferry boat ride in Istanbul, to walking down the aisle at a wedding, these songs were created for particular situations, yet Peter found a way to work without any sort of limitations and on his own erms. The result is an assortment of works from the past ten years, coming together as one: Peter's new album. Words from Peter, October 2017: Ever since I started releasing records in 2007 (10 years ago now!), people have contacted me periodically to ask if I'd be interested in making music to accompany their projects. Most of these projects have been things like films, dance pieces and theatre plays . . . but every so often I get the odd request for something a little different. Peter, would you write a song for my wedding My one year anniversary A ferry boat ride
In early 2015 I was asked to perform 12 minutes of music during a runway show as part of New York Fashion Week. I agreed and began composing a 12-minute piece which I could perform on my own with a few different instruments and some looping pedals. I made a recording of the piece and sent it over to my contacts at the fashion show . . . but a few days before I was to fly out to New York, they wrote back and told me they actually just wanted me to play a few older songs that they were already familiar with. Feeling slightly disappointed, I shelved the other piece, giving it the title If I Were A Runway Model.It is with great pleasure that I now present this piece in a collection of commissioned works spanning the last decade . . . it's All Together Again. This group of oddball works does indeed include a couple pieces written for weddings (Our Future In Wedlock and The Walk), and a song someone asked me to write as a gift for his wife on their first year wedding anniversary (Emily). And indeed, there's a 17-minute piece written to accompany a ferry boat ride in Istanbul (A Ride On The Bosphorus). A few of the pieces were written for films (Robbie's Song, Atlantic and Seeing Things), and one for a kind of interactive installation (Unsung Heroes).In my early days of recording, I took pride in playing all the different instruments myself and doing the recording myself as well. And then at some point I started branching out, working with other musicians and recording engineers. But this record is very dear to me in that it's a return to that original approach . . . playing all the different instruments myself, working with my limits on each one, and my own limits in recording and mixing. I've always held a broad curiosity for all different instruments and all different styles of music, and if nothing else I hope this record will portray that curiosity, and my pure love for this thing we call music. Can you dig it The cover art was made by Peter himself in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, by cutting and sticking different coloured paper fragments to depict the individuality of each track.

Betino's Records proudly presents its third release: an EP by the very sharp collective The Big Hustle. The band founded in 2014 by bass player and composer Sébastien Levanneur, brings
together 70's old school funk with the hippest actual sound with influences spanning from Steely Dan to Snarky Puppy, from Mandrill to Lettuce and from Herbie Hancock (Manchild era) to Soulive.
With mighty horn players, a rock and funky rhythm section, and percussions added to it, The Big Hustle's music has a very large variety of sound landscapes. Still, the music never loses the groove and always stays close to the funk.
The A side opens with "Afrorever", a tribute to African culture and music. The guest of honor on this song is legendary Malian musician Cheick Tidiane Seck, longtime partner of Salif Keita, and collaborator of Joe Zawinul, Carlos Santana and Damon Albarn to name a few. After Cheick's introduction, the songs jumps into a typical afrobeat vibe featuring a tight and powerful horn section, suddenly breaks into an electro funk groove and ends in a furious percussive party.
Second track on the A side is "Faure is the Magic Number". It is dedicated to Thomas Faure (co-composer of the track) and François Faure (both featured on this song on tenor sax and keyboards respectively). This piece displays the band's ability to blend jazz-funk groove with a heavy hip-hop beat. Kind of DJ Premier meets Steely Dan.
The B side starts with "Afrorever (Sun's Up Mix)". Through this mix, one can acknowledge instantly Olivier Portal's touch. From the very first chords, he conveys us into his realm blending warm and melancholy keyboards with an old school deep-house rhythm pattern.
The fourth track is called 1, 2, 1, 2'. It is a purely improvised moment in the studio while the band was sound checking before recording with special guest rapper Raashan Ahmad. Nicolas Gueguen had the good idea to press the R button and what you hear is basically what happened afterwards.

Enjoy!

Remixes from Ruede hagelstein & Amin Fallaha, Scuba, Julien Bracht and Tom (Alt-J) Hymn to the Night is the debut album from rising electronic post-punk duo, Lea Porcelain. The album was writt en and recorded over a two year period in Berlin's FUNKHAUS, a broadcasti ng house created under Soviet supervision that now houses the world's biggest recording studio. We are proud of what we have made and we have learned a lot through the process,' recall the band. The spectrum of the album is extremely wide.

Every song works together, playing with very different moods. We would describe it as atmospheric, cinemati c and melancholic'. Including the singles, 'Bones', 'Out Is In', and 'Warsaw Street' The song is rich in vibrant synthesizers and gentle vocals laced with percussion as lively as a marching band, creati ng a track as quixoti c as a lucid dream. - Stereogum

Ominous motorik kraut rumblings and the thudding electronic trickery of prime era Underworld. - Godisinthetvzine

Music-wise, we're thinking of smooshing together Joy Division with Echo & The Bunnymen (sure) coupled with the modern-downbeatness of The XX. So everything dressed in black basically. Brilliant stuff . - Killing Moon

An electronic duo from Frankfurt, Lea Porcelain have a dark, twisted yet oddly enti cing sound. - Clash Magazine

For the fourth release on 6dimensions, Steve Bicknell has delved into the catalogue of the Lost Recordings series on his previous imprint; Cosmic.Steve Bicknell's Awakening The Past feature three tracks from Why And For Whom, the first of Bicknell's Lost Recordings releases. Originally released in 1996, Why And For Whom Has been named one of the best UK Techno records of all time with Bicknell being billed as a 'criminally underrated producer'.With the re-release of these tracks in 2017, it is clear to see that the tracks have stood the test of time. All four-tracks on Awakening The Past were previously untitled but have been renamed with a focus on the human condition. With the 6dimensions label being founded on the principles of the 'human mind's natural make-up' it seems a natural decision to rename the tracks to suite the label ethos. Although one quarter of Awakening The Past was released 20 years ago, Bicknell's focus on mood shows coherence between his work then and now. The era of production can be distinguished in the EP, however, this is only eminent through a difference in recording technique. More importantly, the mood of older and newer productions are indistinguishable from each other and display Bicknell's unrelenting dedication to his own focus on concept of aesthetic. Physical Life' opens the EP with a rawness that is carried through the EP. With tape hiss underpinning the track, Bicknell's signature bass grumbles hold together hi-hats which progressively filter in and out over the course of the track. Bicknell's use of filters carries through onto the second track of EP, 'Natural Vibrations' boasts an erratic and high-pitched 303 sequence that shows a bit of experimentalism before the EP steps back into Bicknell's more familiar techno odysseys. 'Fearing The Minds Fears' paints a tense atmosphere, lashings of motoric modular synth are added with little fuss as the track title confirms its significance. Finally, 'Conscious Awakening' drives the EP to a close with dizzying pace: it's here that Bicknell's ability to control the emotion of the listener is really evident.

Between the end of the 70's and the early 80's, a new sound appeared in London and its surroundings, a unique mix of Funk, Jazz-Funk and Disco labelled as Britfunk. Characterized by its raw energy that can put the needle In The Red, this up-tempo sound was a match for the UK's dancers and Jazz-Funk clubs.

This first release by French label Chuwanaga features some of the most exciting, rare and powerful tracks from that era compiled by the Parisian DJ and activist Saint-James, with bands such as Equa, Potion, Inch by Inch, Congress, Index and Spookey. It features also an insert with an in-depth focus on this musical era.

These young British musicians were equally inspired by the American Jazz-Funk productions and by Dub music and Reggae pushed by the Afro-Caribbean community who were at the heart of Britfunk's development. They gave Funk a unique British flavor. However, more than just a music genre or an enclosed expression of black Britishness, it was part of a genuine musical and social movement with its own dedicated labels, fashion sense and most importantly its own set of values that fueled the whole scene. Britfunk built itself within a multicultural evolution: black people, white people, straight and queer, all dancing in the same room to the same loud sound.

Mint Condition - A reissue label focussed on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. Unreleased mixes, classics and overlooked gems mined from the last 20+ of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London and beyond, Mint Condition have got their expert digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been on your wants list for years! Dig in....
Hot on the heels of his 'Relief Sevensixty' EP we are pleased to announce the latest instalment of Jaime Read cuts from the vaults. The 'Target This MF' EP is another collection of golden-era jams from Read's envious archive. Steeped in history, these infamous tracks are now seeing the light of day again. You only have to have a quick online search to read the fascinating story of the journey of this music and then maybe this EP title will make sense! Kicking off with the serious Detroit leanings of 'P.E.G.' you get a real taste of what's in store, frantic claps and detuned synth swells combine to create a pacey and essential slice of futurist Techno. A2 'Sux' is another epic piece of space electronics, tough drum machine programming and swirling sounds give the track an epic feel, mildly disorientating in the best possible way it's hard to believe this music originates from the South coast of the UK! B1 'Rein (Pt.1)' is mining a deeper, House infused sound. A sublime groove that tips it's hat to the masters with a serious bassline that just won't stop. Funky machine music of the highest order. The EP finishes with the absolute killer 'Peeano', a jam that flips Jazz on it's head in zero gravity, incessant piano lines drive us deep into the speaker stacks and it feels great. The whole EP is a total trip. Essential music from an unheralded UK legend.
The 'Target This MF' EP has been legitimately released with the full involvement of Jaime Read for 2017 and remastered by London's Curve Pusher from the original sources especially for Mint Condition. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at Mint Condition!

A leading figure and respected elder in the Teklife family, Traxman has waited patientlywhile releases from young upstarts like Taso and Dj Earl have been enjoyed by footwork lovers all over the world. Now the time has come for Traxman to take centre stage, presenting a collection of new material that demonstrates his mastery of the footwork sound. Tekvision arrives hot on the heels of Teklife 005: Greenlight by DJ Manny, bringing an interesting contrast of production methods and styles. A prodigious crate digger, Traxman has provided the sample sources for many of Footwork's classic tracks over the years. So while DJ Manny recorded the majority of the vocals on Greenlight himself, Traxman uses his expert sample flipping techniques to add the human element to his productions. Traxman is a mainstay of the Chicago underground, with a discography stretching back to the golden era of Dance Mania Records in the 1990s. Ghetto House was an important precursor to Footwork, and Traxman was a key figure during this transition.

Echoes of the Ghetto House sound resonate through Tekvision, with tracks like Drop It Down and Twist The Party Out paying homage to the origins of Juke and Footwork music. Be Gagen feat DJ Earl is a beautiful opening track, with a soulful, melancholic synth unfolding patiently over a half-speed beat. When the bass kicks in after 1 minute 10 seconds it has a profoundly uplifting effect, and the late arriving vocal rounds off the composition perfectly.

Many of the tracks demonstrate brilliant and playful manipulation of vocal snippets, with Let Me Get Up and Control Ya Bitchezzz among the finest examples of this art. Finally,Tone Deaf and Whop Line show yet another side to Traxman's sound with an intoxicating and angular mix of bass and bleeps.

Professor Rhythm is the production moniker of South African music man Thami Mdluli. Throughout the 1980's, Mdluli was member of chart-topping groups Taboo and CJB, playing bubblegum pop to stadiums. Mdluli became an in-demand producer for influential artists (like Sox and Sensations, among many others) and in-house producer for important record companies like Eric Frisch and Tusk. During the early '80s, Mdluli projects usually featured an instrumental dance track. These hot instrumentals became rather popular. Fans demanded to hear more of these backing tracks without vocals, he says, so Mdluli began to make solo instrumental albums in 1985 as Professor Rhythm. He got the name before the recordings began, from fans, and positive momentum from audiences and other musicians drove him to invest himself in a full-on solo project. It was the era just before the end of apartheid and house music hadn't taken over yet. There wasn't instrumental electronic music yet in South Afric a. As the '80s came to a close, that was about to change. Professor Rhythm productions mirror the evolution of dance music in South Africa. They grew out of the bubblegum mold - which itself stems from band's channeling influences like Kool & the Gang and the Commodores - into something based on music for the club. His early instrumental recordings First Time Around and Professor 3 mostly distilled R&B, mbaqanga and bubblegum grooves into vocal-less pieces for the dance floor. Musically, these were a success and commercially the albums all went gold. There were countless bubblegum albums flooding the marketplace, with nearly disposable vocalists backed by mostly similar-sounding rhythm tracks. Most of the lyrical content was light and apolitical. But the keyboards used formed the musical basis for what would come next. By the time Professor 4 and this recording Bafana Bafana - the name references South Africa's national soccer team - were released in the mid-1990s, k waito had fully emerged. Access to instruments and freedom of expression helped its rise in influence among youth. According to Mdluli, "Once Mandela was released from prison and people felt more free to express themselves and move around town, kwaito was becoming the thing." Lyrically, kwaito championed the local township lingo while adapting "international music," house music, into the local context. "International Music," as house music and early kwaito were interchangeably known, in many ways reflects the sounds coming from America. But South Africans made it their own. Today, the largest part of the music industry is occupied by house music and its relatives.

Secret Operations enter the new year with 'Heavy traffic'. A heavy roller from Sweden's finest Seba teaming up with San Franciscos finest Method One. Heavy bassline, steppy beat, and chopping amen breaks is what this track is all about. The flipside 'Mr. downstairs' is more laidback, and draws the memories back to the Good Looking days, back in 96-98 era. Watch out for secops 016. This time Seba collaborates with Finnish Producer/DJ Physics. It's already got support from Storm on her Ministry of sound show

Brazilian mid tempo boogie double header. We've been playing these two out for the last couple of years and they are firm favourites.
'E Novamente Mas Que Nada' is the opening track from Reseda's 1979 album on Som Livre. An ultra catchy vocal hook, boogie guitars and synths lead into a piano and cuica breakdown and horns to finish. One of the finest in the genre in our
opinion.
'Ginga' is taken from Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti's self-titled
masterpiece, reissued on Mr Bongo. Arguably the most immediate and club friendly track from the album, it always turns heads. Another premium example of Brazilian boogie from the masters of the sound and producers for the likes of Rita Lee, Erasmo Carlos, Don Beto, Marcos Valle, Tim Maia, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Sandra Sa, Painel de Controle and many more.



 

A split single featuring Washington, D.C.'s Escape-Ism and Light Beams. The digital
download in- cludes an extra track by each band.

Escape-ism is called "the found-sound-dream-drama," "the grieving widow of rock 'n' roll" , the "press play and run away group", the strrrripped down sound machine starring Ian Svenonius, star of Chain & the Gang, singer in The Make Up, author of 'Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group.' Its a single occupancy combo, a one banana bunch, the gestural rock 'n' roll provocation which combines cave person poetry with beats and melody translated incorrectly from hieroglyphs found in arch-pharaoh Cheops' triangle shaped record collection. Escape-ism is a bid at inciting long- ing for a past behind an IRON CURTAIN, and hope for a future in flames. Escape-ism -- hear it, fear it, cheer it.'

Light Beams began in 2015 when Justin Moyer (Puff Pieces) -- influenced by 80s-era freestyle music and Sheila E. -- started playing sampler and timbales with Sam Lavine, the longtime drummer of D.C. hip-hop mainstays the Cornel West Theory. With the addition of bassist Arthur Noll the result- ing polyrhythmic melange, sometimes called "zap-tone" or "block rock," reinvents late-20th century dance-pop using the tools of the 21st.

Seriously, how is it possible to spend two years and four months making a pop music album It's obviously not because of a fetish with technical perfection. Not a single take on 'Chemistry and Math' has been recorded in a recording studio. It is all living room, bedroom or kitchen table work. Which is the way we have recorded almost all Flunk albums. So really, how does it take 28 months to put together 10 tracks of alternative, lo-fi pop music Well, life Just life. We're busy with stuff like everybody else, ordinary stuff. And it's all in there, really. In the air in the recordings and in-between the lines of words.

'Chemistry and Math' might be about how you acknowledge the inevitability of the rules and patterns and natural laws, it's not so much mystery, it's math, and chemistry, and hormones, and a constant chaos of coincidence. In there are also a lot of pop music references, some obvious one, some slightly hidden. 'Chemistry and Math' is installed in a bleak and more distorted soundscape, reflecting the mood of the world thrown at us in a fucked up era.

'Chemistry And Math' is the sixth ordinary album from Flunk, the Norwegian downbeat/'folktronica' trio now expanded to a quintett.

This is NovaMute's first release since MOTOR (Bryan Black and Oly Grasset) over ten years ago. The Release will be 3 weeks available as VINYL ONLY.

Nova Mute, a subsidiary of Mute (Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp, New Order, Liars, Erasure, Moby), began in 1992 as a response to the growing demand for techno releases in the UK. Originally presenting white labels and imports, NovaMute went on to release records by Plastikman, Speedy J, Juan Atkins, Luke Slater and Joey Beltram to name a few, this is Nova Mute's first release since over ten years ago

Nicolas Bougaïeff presents his new EP on seminal British imprint NovaMute. As a producer he harbours a diverse musical background, having studied in a conservatoire setting whilst foraying into anti-authoritarian rave culture. He is also a respected lecturer, regularly teaching masterclasses in composition and speaking at global events such as Mutek and Ableton Loop - the results of which come to life in the inquisitive spirit of his productions. Cognitive Resonance explores elements of psytrance, gabber and techno through a compositional lens, drawing on the artist's love for avant-garde forms and long-standing relationship with the electronic music community. The title track lays out long, expansive phrases and warped crescendos to create a disorienting structure, whilst distant harmonies, distorted kick drums and shattering effects merge into a hypnotic form on 'Truthful Hyperbole'. Lastly, 'Fake News' mangles our sense of rhythmic familiarity, disrupting the 4/4 beat with a complex metre and sinister melody. This is NovaMute's first release since MOTOR (Bryan Black and Oly Grasset) over ten years ago. T as well as forging invaluable links with labels such as Tresor and Probe, which allowed them to license rare tracks for a wider audience. Forthcoming releases on NovaMute will include EP's from Terence Fixmer and Charlotte de Witte.

* Dom & Roland's Label has gone from strength to strength from its conception in 2006. Featuring collaborations by Dom with other Artists such as Noisia, Hive and Amon Tobin the label has continued to push sonic boundaries whilst staying true to it's ethos of 'not selling out'. It is currently in A 'Dubs from the Dungeons' Phase releasing sought after unreleased music from the 90's from various accomplished artists every month on limited edition gold vinyl.

* PHOENIX - DOM ft TECHNICAL ITCH

A straight dancefloor DJ smashout made from two of the featured artists most seminal tracks combined. Dom & Rolands Thunder and Technical Itch's Reborn. Nuf Said!

*TEARS IN RAIN - DOM & ROLAND

A futuristic roller from the 'Bladerunner' Era. It perfectly captures the mood of the film. A big hitter at the Metalheadz sessions in the 90's this was smashed by Doc Scott and Randall in many of their sets. Again featuring a reworked alternating clean and distorted "flow break" and big 808 bass this style of production pioneered the way for Dom's later work. This turning point in Dom's history is now finally mastered and seeing it's release on vinyl 20 years later.

* DJ PLAY: Randall, Fabio, Bryan G, DJ Die, Jumping Jack Frost, Grooverider, Peshay, Loxy, Andy C, Break, Fierce, Doc Scott, dBridge, Goldie, Ant TC1, Gridlok, Marcus Intalex, SB81, Ulterior Motive, Noisia.

* RADIO PLAY: Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra , NRG, Noisia Radio, Many other radio stations around the world.

* PRESS: Bandcamp Interview, MIxmag, DJ , Various blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram.

Since our beginning, Manny Cuevas a.k.a. DJ M-Traxxx has been a big supporter of Snuff Trax. In return, we totally dig his amazing radio shows and podcasts. This man's heart is beating for Chicago House music and you can feel the impact on all of his productions.

Snuff Trax is very happy to present a whole Manny Cuevas record: - Thee Jackin' Zone E.P.'

For - You'll Never Know (Twisted Fantasy)' Manny invited the amazing DJ and vocalist Josh Caffe. Together they created a seductive tune that takes us back to the golden era of House. A truly irresistible affair.

With the tracks - A Matter Defined (Acid House)' and - Thee Jackin Zone' Manny captures the wild pulse of the dance floor. Sincerely raw, that's all we need.

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

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

Cosmin TRG is back on Sportiv with two tracks of stark, angular beauty. Afterburn harks back to 90s era Techno of the hyperkinetic variety, in the vein of Regis's seminal 'Gymnastics'. The obssessive vocal mantra adds to its hypnotic, frantic rhythm. Electra on the flip is on a trance-inducing mission, with it's cavernous 808 kick driving a tribal groove, carried by a pulsating bassline and eerie percussion. Sportiv is a dexterous white label operation that brings you heavy-weight rhythmic performances from the world of techno athletics.

Having made her mark on Brazil's rich musical legacy with three best-selling albums to date, Rio's original nu-bossa queen returns with a tour de force of golden-era Brazilian soul music. From the spiritual swing of the early pioneers of modern Samba, to the dizzying hedonism of Brazil's eighties disco/boogie craze, Clareia is a life-affirming journey through the rich and varied sounds Sabrina Malheiros has been immersed in since she can remember. For her most up-lifting and danceable album to date, Sabrina has (as always) enlisted her father Alex Malheiros - bassist of samba jazz-funk legends Azymuth - and visionary London based producer Daniel Maunick (aka Dokta Venom), son of Incognito's Bluey.

Sabrina Malheiros' career has often been characterised by her place in the succession of those special Brazilian women who, with unmistakable talent and effortless grace, have encapsulated the magical energy of Brazil with their voices. Elis Regina, Astrud Gilberto, and Joyce all had it, and Sabrina Malheiros has it in spades.'(MOJO) With her debut album Equilibria in 2005, Sabrina arrived on a wave of instant acclaim, carving out her place as the pioneering voice of a new brand of Brazilian soul music, rooted in the traditions of samba and bossa, but with an edge of contemporary electronic sophistication. Sabrina's innovative nu-bossa sound would continue with the 2006 remix album 'Vibrasons' followed by sophomore 'New Morning' - declared the best album of summer 2008'(Evening Standard), before 2011's best-seller Dreaming.

Six years on, Sabrina returns with Clareia. Itmeans to clear, light, brighten or illuminate, which, after seeing Brazil and the rest of the world go through some very difficult times, is exactly what the writing of this album brought to my life.' All tracks are written by either Sabrina, or in collaboration with her father Alex Malheiros and producer Daniel Maunick. Written and recorded in Niteroi, Brazil, overlooking Gunabara Bay and Rio's beaches, mountains and forests, the music basks in its surroundings and sings of ecological beauty, peace and sanctuary. Echoing Sabrina's emphasis on clarity, Alex notes that the album's title represents an appeal to the minds of our civilization today, to clear our thoughts for good and for peace.'

This pursuit of clarity continued into the studio: It took a little longer than usual' notes Sabrina, which was good in way, as all my previous albums were recorded in rush and we usually had a week for pre-production and another week in the studio, which always gave me the feeling that I could do better. With this album it was different... we took our time.'

Sabrina's unmistakable voice has never sounded better. Packed out with high-octane swinging samba-soul, like the title-track and 'Salve O Mar', the album also features some bottom-heavy Brazilian boogie cuts, like rejoicing album opener 'Celebrar' which harks back to some of Marcos Valle's cult '80s disco output, and 'Sol Ceu E Mar' is a Tania Maria-esque future classic of scorching latin-funk. Mellower moments are found in 'Em Paz', on which Sabrina's beguiling harmonies find an anchor in the rhythmic acoustic guitar of Ze Carlos', who Sabrina heralds as being the best guitarist I have ever worked with'. Azymuth's keyboardist Kiko Continentino's deft Rhodes, piano, organ and synth playing, add ever more textures of distinctly Brazilian brilliance throughout, while tropical brass and flute arrangements on cool bossa-jazz movers 'Vai Maria' and 'Sandore', come from Brazilian saxophone legend Leo Gandleman, a man who has worked with everyone from Gal Costa to Gilberto Gil. The rhythm section combines Daniel Maunick's seamless drum programming and the organic polyrhythms of Brazilian percussion legend Jakare, all punctuated by Alex Malheiros' inimitable (occasionally slapped) jazz-funk bass, giving the album its irresistibly danceable pulse.

Set for release at the height of summer this year, Clareia is an intergenerational masterclass of Brazil's soulful spectrum, led by a pioneering voice of today's scene on the very top of her game. The up-lifting compositions, which take inspiration from the stunning natural beauty amongst which the album was made, and the call for the clarity of mind needed to preserve it, are enriched by this special team of some of Brazil's most established musicians. Like the sun breaking through tropical storm-clouds, Clareia is a vessel of joy, as Sabrina puts it simply, I hope Clareia brightens the soul of whoever listens to it. That's the spirit of this album.'

Underground Jazz, Street Funk & The Roots Of Rap 1968-79. Soul Jazz Records' new release 'Soul of a Nation: Afro-Centric Visions in the Age of Black Power' is released in conjunction with a major worldwide art exhibition, Soul of A Nation: Art in the The Age of Black Power which takes place at the Tate Modern, London, UK (July-Oct 2017) and The Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA.

The album shows how the ideals of the civil rights movement, black power and black nationalism influenced the evolvement of radical African-American music in the United States of America in the intensely political and revolutionary period at the end of the 1960s following the assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and the rise of the Black Panther party.

Featuring groundbreaking artists such as Gil Scott-Heron, Roy Ayers, Don Cherry, Oneness of Juju, Sarah Webster Fabio, Horace Tapscott, Phil Ranelin and many others, Soul of A Nation shows how political themes led to the rise of 'conscious' black music as new afro-centric styles combined the musical radicalism and spirituality of John Coltrane and radical avant-garde jazz music alongside the intense funk and soul of James Brown and Aretha Franklin and the urban poetry and proto-rap of the streets.

The Soul of a Nation exhibition draws on the links between Black art forms - art, music, poetry - and how they came together during the civil rights and black power era as part of the wider black arts movement across the United States.

Iconic African-Amercian revolutionary figures such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Angela Davis, John Coltrane, Muhammad Ali all appear in the radical artworks of Barkley L. Hendricks, Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, Lorraine O'Grady and Betye Saar.
A selection of original radical jazz record sleeves artworks which appear in Soul Jazz Records' earlier groundbreaking Freedom, Rhythm and Sound - Revolutionary Jazz Original Cover Art book will also be on show at the Tate, London throughout the exhibition. The Freedom, Rhythm and Sound book is also newly back-in-print in conjunction with this major exhibition and the release of the Soul of a Nation album.

Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records) will appear on the panel of Jazz for Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power discussion at the gallery as part of the show. Soul of a Nation comes with extensive sleeve-notes and exclusive photography in a large 36-page outsize booklet and slipcase. Double gatefold vinyl album edition comes with full colour inners + bonus download code and includes full sleeve-notes/photography.

The long-awaited second installment of Route 8 & S. Olbricht "Selected Works" has arrived! Drenched in layers of the classic synths and drum machines of bygone eras, the Hungarian combo delivers a fresh testament to the power and warmth of analog production....."Selected Works 2" features some of the best cuts from their previous effort for Go! Finger, including "When I Pictured Myself", the banger "Horriflowers", "Nirrimi" and "Strobes". Mesmerizing deep analog material. Raw and physical sound at it's best..A must have! Available on 140 gr vinyl.

With this album Cypress Hill turned towards a more tranquil, sedate, slower, spooky sound with beats. The dark mood of this album reflects the strife within the band during this era, when member Sen Dog temporarily left the band to pursue other projects.
On this album both Wu-Tang Clan members RZA and U-God make appearances on "Killa Hill Niggas". Also notable was track "No Rest For The Wicked" which ignited the feud between Cypress Hill and rapper Ice Cube, who they claimed, stole material from the band.
At the time this album was well received by critics worldwide.

Q - 4 Stars - Excellent - "The production is sophisticated, incorporating Indian sitar and sloping, almost psychedelic bass grooves to create a vaguely threatening ambient hardcore."
Melody Maker - Bloody Essential - "...resonates with freakish cheese-wire paranoia...a gobsmacking paradox of expansive claustrophobia.... The funk patters like an erratic heartbeat, the voices are stretched to bursting with menace and loathing and mockery..."

Hemlock founder Untold is back on the label with his first vinyl EP since 'Doff' on sub-label HBLK back in 2015. This release follows appearances on last year's #savefabric compilation, and more recently on 'Magic City III' compiled by Mixpak boss Jubilee.

HEK029 follows a rewarding period of A&R for Hemlock that has so far delivered EPs from Bruce and Parris, with several more scheduled to drop throughout 2017.

This EP's two winding tracks are a natural progression from the fiercely textural drum work of Untold's previous singles and album 'Black Light Spiral.' Here the material is given more space to breathe and released from the grid creating a lighter more footloose feel.

'Tear Up the Club' carries the weight of DMZ era half-step using a loose web of elasticated breaks and builds to reveal a striking melodic line.

On 'Watton Res' exotic tones are further compressed and expanded in sequence, encasing drum machine, keyboards and guitar work within a delicate shell.

avorite Recordings proudly presents Natureza, first album of Joao Selva. The story of Natureza is made of the meeting between two passionate artists who are Jonathan "Matuto" Da Silva and Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart.Born and raised in Ipanema and son of a pastor, Jonathan Da Silva grew up in a community of ex-prisoners and converted artists. He made his first guitar notes before his 10th birthday, under the watchful eye of Wanda Sa (muse of the bossa nova), and influenced by a father who in addition to his work, was also a true music lover with a collection, where black music, rock and classical meet. From the age of 18, Jonathan began a life of entertainer, traveling the world to offer shows for disadvantaged children and intensively practicing the Brazilian traditional music arts (Capoeira Angola, Maracatu, Samba de Roda, Coco de Roda...). It was later in France and in Lyon that he put down his instruments. There he formed the trio Forro de Rebeca in 2008, touring the all country and winning many praise in media. The trio recently joined forces with American producer Maga Bo on the project Sociedade Recreativa, whose album was released in 2016 on The Jarring Effects label.Bruno Hovart is a recognized producer, multi-instrumentalist, and remixer. After passing through Angers, Birmingham and London, he's based in Lyon since 2001. Bassist and guitarist for various bands, he switched to production in the mid-90s. Passionate about music and tireless creator, Bruno has practiced in almost every imaginable style, when it comes to groove music, collecting many aliases and projects for more than 10 years: Patchworks, Voilaaa, Uptown Funk Empire, Mr President, Taggy Matcher, Mr. Day, Hawa, John Milk, Lightnin 3, The Dynamics or Metropolitan Jazz Affair ... Nothing resists and escapes his talent and production skills. Thus, when he discovered and met Jonathan and his music, Bruno saw an immediate opportunity to broaden the spectrum of his discography a little more, by looking at Brazil. Beyond its traditional heritage, Brazil has always been a land of extremely varied music, influenced by the international scene. Soul, Jazz and American Pop did inspire many local stars such as Chico Buarque, Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé, or Erasmo Carlos. Both fervent lovers of this movement and these names, it's with the idea to pay them a faithful tribute, that Jonathan and Bruno began the Joao Selva adventure. Together they gave birth to Natureza and embark us for a trip into the heart of the Tropicalist Pop influences of Jorge Ben and Caetano Veloso, the intoxicating Funk of Tim Maia, and the social poetry of Vinicius de Moraes.

Beautiful Full Cover Art, Limited to 300 - Lumière Noire - The new label by Chloé!

Il Est Vilaine aren't from Brittany, but they sure are tricksters. The Francophiles among you might have caught on to the corny pun in their name (beating a certain presidential candidate to the punch all while turning the name of the pastoral Ile-et-Vilaine region into, literally, 'he's a nasty woman") but the real takeaway is that these born-and-bred Parisians don't take themselves too seriously - especially in an era in which there is much too much of that happening. It was in 2014 (and on Dialect Recordings) that Florent and Simon tossed their debut 12 into the ring, the rightfully named Scandale - a tight little bombshell released that roused the electronic music scene out of its complacent little catnap.So there we had it, two outcasts refusing to eat at the same table as the tech-house scene queens, serving up three whiplash-on-the-dancefloor cuts drenched in sweaty hedonistic disco and wrapped in a battered motorcycle jacket (with a gooey post-punk-pop core for good measure.) A clear mission statement right out of the gates, watermarked with mystical incantations and throbbing with rock 'n' roll's primitive drive. Everything and the kitchen sink, and a bag of chips - an invitation to just let lose that's even better than the sum of its parts. Moving on to this new platter. We set the scene: motorcycles blazing from the airport strip to the strip joint, our heroes traded their Oberkampf stomping grounds for a sleepless weekend of Spanish groupies, discount bikinis, whiskey and bukkake. And a creative spurt that left us with a mutant of a record, the sound of rock and techno crashing through a drum kit mid-coitus, interrupted by La French Chanson

For the past four years Francesco Leali kept busy running Parachute alongside co-owners Manfredi Romano and Thomas Feriero, producing under different monikers and touring the globe as half of CW/A. Finally back as Clockwork, Leali reveals a five track EP featuring some of his rugged music to date. A briery shift into foggier territories where Leali explores layered sound-design and broken rhythms, something he had only hinted in his previous work.
'Online Entity' depicts Leali's hindrance with modern society's social networking obsession. 'In contrast to what these services were actually intended for', Leali explains, 'They seem to have impacted a lot of people negatively, resulting in unnecessary resentments, misinformation and feelings of proximity when these tools can easily alienate you from reality'.
'Constantly worrying about how you want people to perceive you is absurd already, but for many of us this constant sharing has become the only way to achieve happiness, to be satisfied. In an era where all of this is getting out of hand it's essential to remind yourself of the things that truly shape you as an individual. With
Online Entity I aimed for feelings of release, mutating resentments into something positive - more physical. I imagined it as a soundtrack to an escape from these very situations.'
The release showcases this approach with five club-ready numbers filled with calculated, pounding drums and gloomy atmospheres, with only rare glimpses of hope scattered throughout.
To round things up we mobilised fellow Parachute affiliate Ayarcana and Serbian Techno pro Lag who both deliver two startling interpretations of 'Escape Sequence' and 'Rumination'.

Over the years, Phil Mison has become the go-to selector for those looking for Ibiza-themed compilations. None of his previous collections, though, have been quite as personal as Out Of The Blue, a compilation inspired by his first spell behind the decks at the Café Del Mar in 1993 - and the remarkable chain of events leading up to it.

Mison made his first trip to Ibiza in the summer of 1991 and quickly fell in love with the magical music being played by Café Del Mar resident DJ, Jose Padilla. On his return to the UK, Mison began to cultivate his own take on the laidback, open-minded style, recording mix-tapes of Ibiza style chill out' tunes to give to friends.

In November 1992, Mison was hanging out in Tag Records, Soho, when Padilla walked in. He plucked up the courage to speak to the Spaniard because earlier that summer Mison had given one of his friends some tapes to take out to Jose in Ibiza so he wanted to see if he had got them. During the conversation Mison invited him down to his next DJ set at Nicky Holloway's club, the Milk Bar and less than three months later, and clearly impressed by what he'd heard on the tapes, Padilla invited Mison to fill in for him at the Café Del Mar, beginning in April '93.

It's that first trip to DJ in Ibiza - a crazy six-weeks spent dividing his time between spinning records at Café Del Mar, hanging out in Jose Padilla's house in the hills, and meeting some particularly eccentric White Isle residents - that proved the inspiration for Out Of The Blue.

The compilation contains a mixture of records that Mison played in his earliest Ibiza sets, those that remind him of that period, and recent discoveries that boast a similarly warm, loved-up vibe. Mison is at pains to point out that it's not a track-for-track representation of his first sets, but rather a collection inspired by this most momentous of experiences.

As you'd expect from a selector of Phil Mison's standing, Out Of The Blue is an outstanding collection. Some will no doubt hear the influence of his mentor - the man he credits with effectively turning his DJing career around - in the undulating rhythms and new age melodies of Kamasutra's Sugar Step', the meandering synthesizer solos and Spanish language vocals of Congarilla's sublime Sacred Tree', and the lilting flamenco guitars of Gambarra', an unreleased mix from Mison's popular Cantoma project.

Elsewhere, listeners can marvel at the starry ambient bliss of Belgian legend Frank De Wulf's The End', recline to the saucer-eyed fusion jazz of the Christoph Spendel Group, shuffle along to tactile, hard-to-find period deep house from Language, Moodswings and Don Carlos, and marvel at The Cactus Rose Project's ridiculously rare Jelly', a sparkling, disco-era jazz-rock outing partly inspired by the Doobie Brothers' Long Train Running'.

Out Of The Blue may well be a very personal selection of tracks celebrating a moment in time, but it's happily one that we can all enjoy.

Melodymathics brings there various artists concept to another level with a new line of 12 releases. Artists from all over the world gathered to bring funk and disco inspired house tracks, that will be noticed. With this first ep of the new series, they open the door to a new era in which happy, danceable music with 70's and 80's influences is the sound of the future.

Horse Follows Darkness is the second record by Delia Gonzalez, her follow up to the album In Remembrance'.

The title is taken from a werewolf genre film her 8 year old son Wolfgang had created. At this time, Wolfgang also turned Delia onto a genre of cinema she had always resisted - the American Western.

Delia explains that what she observed was all relevant - the album is based on our personal experience of moving back to America (from Berlin) and the journey that followed. The record is a manifestation of that, and what one creates for themselves under the given circumstances. Coming back to America, I felt like a foreigner and NYC / America felt like the Wild West. Most Westerns from the 1960s to the present have revisionist themes. Many were made by emerging major filmmakers who saw the Western as an opportunity to expand their criticism of American society and values into
a new genre.'

The narrative of the record is one of re-encountering the frontier mentality that shaped the country but somehow never faded. This time as a foreigner. The genre of the Western remains pertinent, many of the same stories of that brutally deromanticised era are still relevant today. America hasn't changed - the cast, times and settings have, but we still hold onto the same ideal.

Horse Follows Darkness is essentially a modern electronic soundtrack for the Revisionist Western. Even the idea for the record cover is inspired by one of the most well known modern Westerns, Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs Miller.

The album was recorded with Abe Seiferth at Transmitter Park studios, which Delia likens to going to the finest tailor'. Abe became an integral part of the recording, playing guitar and helping to suggest experimenting with different synthesizers, something Delia was keen to do. Delia refers to Abe as a magical and incredibly intuitive collaborator' regarding the sound of the record.

The music that emerged from these recording sessions combines a range of influences - from the compositions of Erik Satie to 'Salon De Musique', the solo piano record by Su Tissue (of the L.A. punk band Suburban Lawns). The record also took on a much different shape and sound with the introduction of the Sequential Circuits Prophet VS, as well as a vintage Korg Poly synth and the Roland SH-101. The golden era Krautrock recordings of bands like Neu!, Cluster & Harmonia were touchstones as well, the repetition, swirling soundscapes and locked-in rhythm tracks.

Never before reissued, this legendary 1968 EMI recording is a revered Indian jazz rarity, a collectors' holy grail. Raga Jazz Style is an original Indian excursion into Indo-jazz fusion. A one-away recording from the almost unknown Bombay jazz scene, it is among the few jazz LPs to hail from the subcontinent.Closely contemporary with the UK-based explorations of Amancio D'Silva, John Mayer and Joe Harriott, Raga Jazz Style takes the melodic, scale-based raga system of Indian classical music and marries it with a swinging jazz rhythm section assembled by Bollywood's most highly acclaimed musical directors, the soundtrack composing duo Shankar Singh and Jaikishan Panchal.Singh and Panchal were a dominant force in Hindi film music from the late 1940s onwards. Shankar had been trained in classical tabla, while Jaikishan was an expert harmonium player. They worked together on well over a hundred films, and their innovative compositions and orchestral scoring revolutionised the music of the nascent Bollywood industry. Central to their sound was regular collaborator Sebastian D'Souza. From 1952 onwards, D'Souza would work on every Shankar Jaikishan soundtrack, eventually becoming Bollywood's most coveted musical arranger.
Originally from Goa, D'Souza had cut his teeth in the dance-band era, arranging and playing with his uncle's jazz bands in Lahore and Quetta. After Partition, he had moved to Bombay to follow the reliable work provided by the film industry, where Goan musicians had become the mainstay of Bollywood's film studio orchestras. Goans were also the core of Bombay's thriving dance-hall and hotel-based jazz scene, with artists including saxophonist Braz Gonsalves, guitarist Amancio D'Silva and trumpeter Chic Chocolate all working in the city during the post-war years.
The team assembled for Raga Jazz Style were drawn from this inventive and forward-thinking milieu. Pianist Lucilla Pacheco, saxophonist Manohari Singh and guitarist Anibal Castro were all fixtures on the Bombay jazz circuit, while drummer Leslie Godinho is reputed to have taught Joe Morello the 5/4 'Take Five' beat when they jammed together during Dave Brubeck's State Department tour of India. To this jazz backbone was added the sitar of Ustad Rais Khan, scion of long line of classical instrumentalists, and nephew of the renowned sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan. Bombay's jazz modernists had been experimenting with the fusion of ragas and jazz since the 1950s, long before American or British jazz musicians had tuned in to Indian classical music. But very little of this exciting scene was ever captured on record. Raga Jazz Style offers a rare chance to hear the innovative sounds of the Indian jazz scene, as peerless composers Shankar Jaikishan and arranging supremo D'Souza join with veteran Bombay jazzers to explore classical themes in a jazz setting — eleven ragas to a swinging beat!This is a highly impressive inaugural salvo by Outernational Sounds, using original masters and beautifully rendered facsimile artwork, with 180g vinyl pressed at Pallas, in Germany.

French producer Hugues Rey unveils COMMUNICATION album via his new imprint NEW DAWN.
A pacifist soundtrack to the nuclear war, taking inspiration from the early synth music made in the post-hippie era.

Some try it with mouth-to-mouth insufflation and cardiac massage. Others with
psychopharmaceuticals or group therapy. Still others with divorce. By going cold turkey. With a new profile pic and a matching hairstyle. Seen it all at Robert Johnson, already endorsed everything - at least as long as it helps: as a lifesaving measure.
But since the year dot, the Offenbach-based club with its affiliated label recommends to all which are undecided or have doubts particularly one thing: Music. And dance.
Every two years, when life newly blossoms during spring, Live At Robert Johnson opens its windows widely, lets new music out and fresh air into the house. The beguiling scent of nature and aviation fuel blends with the scent of sweat and dry ice fog - and causes sundry healing confusion. As soon as the first tone of the Lifesaver Compilation 3 is heard, the swelling grunt of Vincent Feit's 'X04', the scenery of the dancefloor right at the Main river appears before one's eyes.
On Saint Monday Iconoclasts rebel against the age of self-optimization. A crack goes through the parquet of the dance floor (or the dancing party itself). The post-unambiguities era is beginning. The images become blurred. Bass case. Alternative facts. Resonance hole. No reception. And then it's only the queue answering the club emergency hotline. Finally there is a buzz on the line. 'Just drop the images!', it says.

'It's all not that tragic.' This helps.
The Lifesaver 3 Compilation, the yet most comprehensive package of the lifesaver history, sounds like electro, sharp-edged like the vault in a Hague bunker (Lauer), provides data pop with piano crescendo (Fort Romeau), brings the style characteristics of German Schlager music to the breakdance mat (Rolande Garros), lets the bulky lily-of-the-valley bells clang and sends the reverb tails away with the wind (Benedikt Frey). There are several new names to discover: Felix Strahd, Benjamin Milz, Vincent Feit; and of course there a many old acquaintances: Massimiliano Pagliara, Orson Wells, TCB, Chinaski. Roman Flügel brings us 'Good News', however: 'From Another Planet.' And Fort Romeau feels 'Lost, Again', but in such somnambulistically beautiful manner that you want to get lost with him instantly and jointly find the great joy.
Again and again there are mysterious chants. It's not required to decipher the specific words in order to get the message: Salvation is near. Salvation is here:









[)] e1 | Roman Fügel - Chang

Jigsawtooth is the third album from Hendrik Kroez's Miwon project.

Limited randomly packed red or white vinyl. Non-Returnable.

On this long-awaited follow up to is critically revered A to B (City Centre Offices) Kroez displays his skill in marrying motorik techno infused rhythms and soaring pop ambient melodies.

This is most evident on 'Charezza' which could very well be the most uplifting track in the n5MD cannon. Other cuts on Jigsawtooth utilize sweeping synth-work that encourage a near kraut/kosmische travel worthy flavor to the proceedings.

Other genre signposts are evident on Jigsawtooth but that's something that's always been a constant with Kroez's work as Miwon. In his hands such coalescence sounds cohesive, natural and is some much welcomed diversity to nought-era electronica.

Having come up with an annual-ish drop of 12's since 2010, Even Brenden AKA Chmmr set aside the spring of 2016 to challenge himself to a new format: a full-length album. A true nostalgic, he uses Compass Point-era and early Italo sounds for inspiration and attempts to simulate these styles. This makes for a melodic, chuggy and graphic album that belongs a little more in the living room than on the dance floor. With 10 tracks of dusty rhythms and the honest, naive and spacious themes that is Brenden's signature, it's a record designed to signal that today's technological future may not be as different as yesterday's. Features a nice-looking cover painting drawn by the late Harold Cohen's AARON program - automation at its finest. Hidden behind his Chmmr moniker is Even Brenden, whose summery debut found its way into the world via Norwegian psych-disco label Luna Flicks in 2010. The record became somewhat of a soughtafter item and after making pit stops at Relish, Dødpop and Untz Untz Records, he landed on Prins Thomas' Full Pupp in 2014 and have stayed put ever since, all the while enjoying a steady habit of record jocking and the occasional keyboard duty in Telephones' now-defunct live band. Even resides in Oslo makes odd waves without vowels.

2LP in gatefold with liner notes. 180gr vinyl. Download code included. A new, twenty-track compilation focussing on a twenty-year period (1950-1970) of modern jazz in the little kingdom, featuring the leading players from that era.

Due to the absence of its main players during the heydays of modern jazz, Belgium will not be remembered for a unique jazz sound or an extensive discography. However, the little country produced a number of highly talented musicians who played lead roles on the international jazz scene.
'Let's Get Swinging: Modern Jazz in Belgium 1950-1970' retraces their steps and presents some of their finest works, including guitarist Philip Catherine, saxophonist Jack Sels, multi-instrumentalist Jacques Pelzer and vibraphone player, percussionist and vocalist 'Fats' Sadi Lallemand.^

3xLP+CD Artbook
(en) - Nearly two decades after the last official GAS album release, Wolfgang Voigt returns to his iconic Ambient project with a brandnew full-length.
- NARKOPOP continues the classic GAS aesthetic of symphonic scope and subtle variation, taking the listener on an otherworldly journey to the depths of rapture and reverie.
- Available as luxurious hardcover CD incl. 24 pages booklet.

In the body of work of Cologne artist Wolfgang Voigt - who, like few others, has informed, shaped and influenced the world of electronic music with countless different projects since the early 1990s -, GAS stands out in particular as a saturnine sound cosmos based on heavily condensed classic sequences. Even after nearly 20 years, the sound of GAS doesn't seem to have lost any of its luster, as shown by the commanding success of Kompakt's fall 2016 re-release of the essential back catalogue as a 10xLP/4xCD box set.

The overwhelming feedback from a loyal international fan community and worldwide media outlets attests once again to the sheer timelessness of GAS. Which is why it will feel like hardly a day has passed since the release of the last official album 'Pop' nearly two decades ago, when Wolfgang Voigt resumes this specific creative path with the upcoming new full-length NARKOPOP.

Even in the here and now, the unmistakable vibe of GAS immediately hits home, taking the listener on an otherworldly journey with the very first sounds, drawing him or her into an impervious sonic thicket, down to the depths of rapture and reverie. From wafts of dense symphonic mist emerges a floating and whirling feeling of weightlessness, before the listener steps into an eerily beautiful forest of fantasy, pulled in by the allure of a narcotic bass drum.

While earlier GAS tracks were often based on the hypnotic effects of looping techniques, the 10 new pieces on NARKOPOP unfold their magic in a more entwined manner, sometimes with the sonic might of an entire philharmonic orchestra, sometimes as subtle and fragile as the most delicate branch of a tree with many. A main characteristic of Voigt's oeuvre, the coalescence of seemingly contradictory stylistic aspects such as harmonious and atonal, concrete and abstract, light and heavy, near and far is also a decisive feature of NARKOPOP.

In accordance with the transgressive spirit of his collective work, Voigt carries the aesthetic conceptions of his music over to the realm of the visual. Based on his abstract forest pictures, the GAS artwork addresses Voigt's artistic affinity to romanticism and the forest as a place of yearning. For the first time, a closer look at the cover of NARKOPOP reveals signs of architectural fragments which hint at another, maybe parallel world behind Voigt's forest. Truth is the prettiest illusion.
(de) - Fast zwei Jahrzehnte nach dem letzten offiziellen GAS-Albumrelease kehrt Wolfgang Voigt mit einem brandneuen Langspieler zu seinem legendären Ambientprojekt zurück.
- NARKOPOP setzt die klassische GAS-Ästhetik zwischen symphonischer Grösse und subtiler Variation fort, eine Reise zu den Untiefen von Rausch und Entrücktheit.
- Erhältlich als luxuriöse Hardcover CD- Erhältlich als luxuriöse Hardcover CD inkl. 24-seitigem Booklet.


Aus dem Gesamtwerk des Kölner Künstlers Wolfgang Voigt, der mit seinen unzähligen unterschiedlichen musikalischen Projekten seit den frühen 1990er Jahren wie kaum ein Zweiter die elektronische Musikwelt geprägt, gestaltet und beinflusst hat, ragt sein Projekt GAS, ein auf stark verdichteten Klassiksequenzen basierendes, düsteres Klangkunstwerk, in ganz besonderem Maße heraus. Dass der Sound von GAS auch nach fast 20 Jahren scheinbar nichts von seinem Zauber und seiner Kraft verloren hat, zeigte eindrucksvoll der große Erfolg des im Herbst 2016 als 10xVinyl/4xCD Box auf Kompakt wieder veröffentlichten Backkatalogs.
Die überwältigende Resonanz, sowohl seitens der treuen internationalen Fangemeinde als auch der weltweiten Presse, bezeugte einmal mehr die schiere Zeitlosigkeit von GAS. Daher fühlt es sich auch an, als sei kaum ein Tag vergangen, wenn Wolfgang Voigt nun mit NARKOPOP genau da den künstlerischen Faden wieder aufnimmt, wo das letzte offizielle Album »Pop« ihn vor fast zwei Jahrzehnten hat fallen lassen.


Auch hier und heute verfängt der unverwechselbare Geist von GAS unmittelbar und nimmt den Hörer bereits mit den ersten Tönen mit in eine andere Welt, zieht ihn hinein in ein undurchdringliches Dickicht aus Klang, hinunter in die Untiefen von Rausch und Entrücktheit.
Aus dichten sinfonischen Nebelschwaden entsteht ein Schweben und Taumeln, ein Gefühl der Schwerelosigkeit, bevor der Zuhörer von der Anziehungskraft einer narkotischen Bassdrum wieder hinunter in den schaurig-schönen Fantasie-Wald gelockt wird.

Während frühere GAS Tracks oft auf der hypnotischen Wirkung des Loops basierten, entfalten die 10 neuen Stücke auf NARKOPOP ihre Magie auf verschlungeneren Pfaden, mal mit der klanglichen Wucht eines ganzen Philharmonieorchesters, dann wieder so zart und zerbrechlich wie der feinste Ast eines weit verzweigten Baumes. Das für Voigts Arbeiten so typische Ineinanderfließen scheinbar widersprüchlicher stilistischer Aspekte wie harmonisch und atonal, konkret und abstrakt, leicht und schwer, nah und fern ist auch auf NARKOPOP essenziell.

Im Sinne seines grenzüberschreitenden Schaffens, überträgt Voigt die ästhetischen Konzeptionen seiner Musik auch auf die Ebene des Visuellen. Das auf seinen abstrakten Waldbildern basierende GAS Artwork thematisiert Voigts künstlerischen Nähe zur Romantik und dem Wald als Sehnsuchtsort. Wer einen genaueren Blick auf das Cover von NARKOPOP wirft, der wird erstmalig Andeutungen architektonischer Fragmente entdecken, die eine andere, vielleicht parallele Welt hinter dem voigt'schen Wald erahnen lassen. Wahrheit ist der schönste Schein.

Pioneers of electronic experimentation in Venezuela, Musikautomatika is one of the best kept secrets in Latin America's experimental sound scene. They were formed in the late 70s by Luis Levin, Alvise Sacchi and Stefano Gramitto, and counted on the complicity of Mirella López and Gabriela Gamboa. They issued four albums (Musikautomatika -1983, Boston Tape - 1987, Kuba - 1987 y Frecuencias en peligro de extinción - 1993), which are nowadays highly sought after pieces among collectors from all over the world. Free improvisation and cosmic electronic music defines the path this collective of sonic travellers took.'

For fans of 60s-era INA-GRM concrète, electro-acoustic free-improv ensembles, Jean-Claude Eloy, Maurizio Bianchi and even the kind of melodies Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan explored on Song of the Second Moon.

1983s Musikautomatika is at last available again on a gorgeous limited edition that features a booklet with plenty of photos and text written by Luis Levin plus an interview with the band made by Luis Alvarado (Cazar Truenos blogzine / BUH Records).