If the ideal greatest hits collection captures the fundamental truth about an artist, Eric Kupper’s – “A Lifetime In Dance Music” highlights an envious catalogue, extraordinary production skills and ultimately reveals a passionate maven of house music.
The 24-track compilation celebrates the vast work and revered career of Eric Kupper and is a collectable occasion to re-acknowledge his influence and golden touch as a remixer for over five decades. This second volume of “A Lifetime In Dance Music” highlights another selection of Kupper’s finest productions and remixes of greats such as Whitney Houston, Earth, Wind and Fire, Curtis Mayfield and Moloko.
Emblematic of an iconic nightlife and reflecting on the sheer scale of his work for seminal artists including Diana Ross, Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer, this ultimate collection serves as a reminder of Kupper’s astounding blend of studio power, control, and agility as a producer and remixer. As the writing and production partner of the late godfather of house music, Frankie Knuckles, Kupper is a true musician and multi-instrumentalist who has played on, remixed, produced or engineered over 2,000 records spanning a wide range of contemporary musical genres.
An eavesdrop to Kupper’s sophisticated, faultless production style that has amassed an unprecedented catalogue captivates the imagination back to bygone musical decades. His work in the mid-to-late 1980s/early 1990s, especially with Def Mix Productions and remixes for the genre’s superstars Alison Limerick, Ce Ce Peniston, Inner City and Frankie Knuckles is considered to be part of the foundation for house music as it exists today.
Once is not usual Chat Noir Tools is welcoming an established producer in the name of Robbenspierre for his tenth installment. Since 2017 the italian artist and Club Vision resident has released top notch music on labels such as Land of Dance, Alphaville records, Tone Dropout, Threads, Nugs on board or System Error. After a short break, we're glad to have him for his first vinyl release in three years. His Lacrimosa EP, five tracks filled with melancholic goodness, will stand as the first Tools record sitting halfway between homelistening & the club.
Macho Diva is the anarchic queer electro-wave project of Mima and Spacemaker. After five years of live gigs, doubt, activism, sadness, and revolt, the comrades of Macho Diva release their much-anticipated mini album Fetishista Kommunista.
A musical troika supported the creation of this great release: Vive la Fete remixed two tracks with great results, Rude 66 was also on remix duty and delivered a smashing electro-disco punk mix. All other tracks are produced by Venderstrooik. Let's dance on the ruins of capitalism, solidarity, and equality for everyone!
Adam Beyer re-links with Green Velvet for their first collaboration in five years, as the muscular ‘Simulator’ takes effect.
Hot off the back of ‘Legend’, an early 2023 highlight, the boss continues his inspired form streak. ‘Simulator’ sees Beyer and Chicago legend Green Velvet re-unite for their first musical outing since ‘Space Date’ in 2018, produced with Layton Giordani. The title track stands as one of the most beloved Drumcode releases of the last decade and reinforces the special musical synergy between Beyer and the Cajual Records founder.
Their latest union is no less memorable. A rugged techno beast, it’s characterised by a distinctive industrial groove, brain melting oscillating effects and one of Green Velvet’s deft vocal lines - ‘constant stimulation inside the simulation’ - which speak fittingly of our times.
A mammoth track that’s been doing the business everywhere from the Ultra events in Miami, Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi, to Awakenings.
Pressed on Limited Edition NEON Green Vinyl with its own Sleeve.
Finally back on tape, officially reissued. Must have! 3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by hip hop trio De La Soul and was released on March 3, 1989 It marked the first of three full- length collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and commercial peak of both parties. Critically, as well as commercially, the album was a success. It contains the singles, "Me Myself and I", "The Magic Number", "Buddy", and "Eye Know". The album title came from the Johnny Cash song "Five Feet High and Rising". It is listed on Rolling Stone's 200 Essential Rock Records and The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. When Village Voice held its annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1989, 3 Feet High and Rising was ranked #1. It was also listed on the Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Released amid the 1989 boom in gangsta rap, which gravitated towards hardcore, confrontational, violent lyrics, De La Soul's uniquely positive style made them an oddity beginning with the first single, "Me, Myself and I". Their positivity meant many observers labeled them a 'hippie' group, based on their declaration of the 'D.A.I.S.Y. Age' (Da. Inner. Soul. Yall). Sampling artists as diverse as Hall & Oates, Steely Dan and The Turtles, 3 Feet High and Rising is often viewed as the stylistic beginning of 1990s alternative hip hop (and especially jazz rap).
*MILKY CLEAR VINYL - 300 COPIES ONLY FOR WORLD!!* Technology + Teamwork’s fizzling synths, interweaving textures and punchy rhythms are beguiling on their long-awaited debut album We Used To Be Friends. However, at the heart of it all it’s the connection between the group’s two members, Anthony Silvester and Sarah Jones, the friendship the much-travelled duo have managed to maintain for nearly 15 years and a showcase of the slow-burning construction of the electronic world that they’ve surrounded themselves with. We Used To Be Friends is ultimately the tale of two storied artists in their own right, holding onto each other through personal and career twists and turns, relocations and broader movements through respective phases of their lives. Silvester and Jones first met and then collaborated as part of biting post-punk five-piece XX Teens in 2008, eventually breaking off to forge their own path together even as the latter’s demand as a drummer grew. Performing with everyone from Hot Chip, Harry Styles and Bloc Party among many others, Jones has been a constant percussive presence across the sphere of alternative UK pop music – she’s also found time for her own solo project Pillow Person and played on records by the likes of Puscifer and Kurt Vile. Silvester meanwhile has performed in art galleries across Europe including: Fridericianum in Kassel, Kölnischer Kunstverein in Cologne, and Vleeshal in Middelburg, as well as providing sound design and composing work for several art films. Technology + Teamwork is the constant throughout all of that though. “Technology + Teamwork's name perfectly describes how we work” Silvester explains. “Sometimes the teamwork is between each other and sometimes it’s between us and the technology.” Although going by the name Technology + Teamwork as far back as 2014, two events conspired that pulled the project into focus for the pair of them: firstly, Silvester spent a year constructing a soundproof studio shed on the border of London and Essex where he lives. Secondly, inevitably, the pandemic brought the globe-trotting Jones back home to just seven miles away from her long-time collaborator and friend. “We probably hung out more than we had for a few years” says Silvester. “Also, after all her Pillow Person releases Sarah had gotten really good with recording vocals and knowing what did and didn’t work and had a really good home studio set up. We still worked separately though, exchanging ideas via email and WhatsApp.” As with many artists through 2020 and early 2021, working separately was a new necessity that they were forced to adapt to. However, it became clear that there were creative benefits to it. “It really changed our sound and our sounds became a lot more focused as a result” Jones says. “I wanted to use the same ideas of improvisation that I might use while playing the drums for myself and apply that to melodies and lyrics.” The album bristles with hyperpop modernity. You can hear it in the manipulated vocals most prominently on Big Blue’s disco strut and on Moving Too’s heady mix of pitched up voice and burrowing sub bass. However, the pair also looked to San Francisco and the West Coast synthesis movement of the 60s, Silvester inspired by the likes of Suzanne Ciani and Don Buchla. The plaintive lo-fi and melancholy of Amsterdam incorporates Mutable Instrument’s Marbles by Émilie Gillet which – inspired by Buchla’s own synthesis work – outputs random voltages to give the track an air of unpredictability. It’s something that occurs throughout the album, the duo revelling in the happy accidents that disrupt the flow of their hook-laden pop. “The ‘Buchlian’ ideas of music having randomness and uncertainty, completely freed us up” Silvester explains. “It felt a bit like having more members in the band, machines that didn't do what you expected or intended.” Perhaps more subtly, is the influence of 17th and 18th century Baroque music, with Silvester drawing a line between it and the 90’s R’n’B he and Jones both love – exemplified perhaps best on K+B’s percussive claps and sultry grooves. The portentous juddering synthpop of the title track, meanwhile, alludes specifically to Handel’s Sarabande. It’s typical of an album that only needs a scratch of its seemingly glossy surface to unearth a myriad of contorted touchstones and reference points that’ve fermented beneath it. Thematically there’s an anxious sense to the record, with tracks often balancing above a quiet sense of unerring tension even at their most bombastic. Moving Too is the result of an existential doubt that hit Silvester while out cycling, with the outro refrain "it's not enough to die you also have to be forgotten" a take on something Samuel Beckett once said. These worries are echoed on the album’s closing track What A Year, which borrows a lot of lines from the late drag performer and fashion designer Dorian Corey including the grimly defiant "you're gonna leave your mark somewhere in this world just by getting through it”. Those clouds offer a counter point to We Used To Be Friends, but then isn’t that what great pop albums do? Technology + Teamwork undoubtedly love the craft of the hook and the song, but they always position themselves left of centre, prepared to scuff things up, pull something out of shape or manipulate something to leave it sounding warped. Much like their friendship, nothing here is particularly linear – and it’s all the better for it. Bio: Anthony Silvester & Sarah Jones first collaborated as part of biting post-punk five piece XX Teens in 2008, eventually breaking off to forge their own path together even as the latter's demand as a drummer grew. Performing with everyone from Hot Chip, Bat for Lashes, Harry Styles and Bloc Party (among many others), Jones has been a constant percussive presence across the sphere of alternative UK pop music - she's also found time for her own solo project Pillow Person and played on records by the likes of Puscifer and Kurt Vile. Silvester meanwhile has performed in art galleries across Europe including Fridericianum in Kassel, Kölnischer Kunstverein in Cologne, and Wleeshal in Middelburg, as well as providing sound design and composing work for several art films. Technology & Teamwork is the constant throughout all of that though. "We Used To Be Friends" proves that Technology & Teamwork undoubtedly love the craft of the hook and the song, but they always position themselves left of centre, prepared to scuff things up, pull something out of shape or manipulate something to leave it sounding warped. Much like their friendship, nothing hear is particularly linear - and it's all the better for it.
‘Searching’ is a five track extended play exploring the polarities of ecstasy. This record is an acknowledgement and homage to the searcher within me. Searching for myself, searching for truth and purpose. Learning to navigate light and dark and the trivialities of life.
These sounds and ideas have guided and consumed me, equally. In an endless pursuit of being lost in time. Surrounded yet untouched by the chaos of life... but not at all separate from it. 'Searching for myself... I find a place there.' - Soul Wun
A lost MPB gem from rural Finland! We Jazz presents the first ever reissue of this rare 1990 local release by Brazilian duo Rosanna & Zelia. 7" EP with inside out 3mm spine sleeve. RIYL: Gilberto Gil, Joyce, Musica Popular Brasileira, bossa nova, bossa jazz
Liner notes by Mikko Mattlar:
"Rosanna & Zélia were a Brazilian duo of singers and musicians Rosanna Guimarães Tavares and Zélia Nogueira da Fonseca. They moved from Minas Gerais, Brazil to Europe in 1988, released five albums in Germany between 1993–2004 and featured vocals on an Ian Pooley house track Coração Tambor before Rosanna died of cancer in 2006. Zélia still continues her career in Germany, touring actively and releasing new music.
The duo's journey from Brazil to Germany also included two brief visits to Finland. In the years 1989–1990, they spent time in the small town of Seinäjoki in Ostrobothnia. Rosanna & Zélia performed Brazilian music in Finnish clubs and festivals and recorded a 7" EP for local label Maumau Music. The record was distributed mostly in the Seinäjoki area, but the three songs are well-performed and authentic Brazilian MPB, so the largely unknown record now gets its first reissue for a wider audience on We Jazz Records.
But how did two Brazilian women find their way to a small Finnish town to record an EP? The main reason for this was music journalist and promoter Risto Vuorinen, who was on a holiday in Albufeira, Portugal, where a friend of his lived. The streets were almost empty that evening, but Vuorinen and his friend heard fine guitar playing and singing from a bar. There were Rosanna and Zélia performing on a small stage, and the two Finnish men happened to be the only customers. When the artists ended their performance, Vuorinen's friend, who spoke Portuguese, went to talk to them. Rosanna and Zélia told him they had recently come from Brazil and are trying to gain ground in Europe with their music.
Because Rosanna and Zélia didn't know where they would head next, and because Vuorinen liked their music, he thought of bringing the duo to his hometown, Seinäjoki. They immediately liked the idea, and in the autumn of 1989 they arrived in Finland. The national Finnish jazz festival was held in Seinäjoki, and Vuorinen thought Rosanna & Zélia's Brazilian music would fit right in. They performed at the festival and in November 1989, also made recordings in a local studio with backing musicians from Seinäjoki.
Music enthusiast Pertti Hakala had a record shop and label Maumau Music in Seinäjoki releasing music from local artists. He released a three-track EP from the sessions. with two tracks written by Rosanna & Zelia themselves and their cover version of Extra (Brazilian Reggae), written and originally performed by Gilberto Gil in 1983. A small pressing was made for the Finnish market, and Hakala also sent a box of records to Brazil, but for some reason it was sent back.
After their first visit to Finland, Rosanna & Zélia headed back to central Europe, but Vuorinen decided to organize more performances for them for the next summer. Maybe he also wanted to show them the beautiful Finnish summer, as Rosanna and Zélia had so far seen the country only during the darkest autumn. The duo came back to Finland for the summer of 1990 and performed at the Womad world music festival organized as a part of local Provinssirock. They also played in Nummirock and Puistoblues, both respected music festivals, and performed on TV in Helsinki.
Rosanna and Zélia lived in a small apartment in Seinäjoki and played two to three gigs per week all summer. Because there were only two of them, even small pubs could afford to book them, and in 1990 the economic situation in Finland was good. It was before a major economic depression hit the country. The duo travelled by bus or train, and because they were an acoustic duo, they could easily carry their instruments in public transport. Vuorinen got excellent feedback from organizers. Rosanna and Zélia were good performers, but also really nice people.
With the income from their summer gigs, Rosanna and Zélia could buy a PA mixer and other musical equipment. When the summer 1990 turned to autumn, they continued their journey from Seinäjoki to Germany where they settled down."
The next transmission from planet BRUK comes courtesy of Lårry, an enigmatic artist ploughing an individualist furrow through various fields of electronic expression, one hand tweaking the tiller and the other casually dismissing the rules of rave. You might have caught their sharply-pointed sound on Super Hexagon or Awkwardly Social, or perhaps stumbled across their fabled 2021 live performance from Fitzroy in Berlin, or even unconsciously swayed to something spun in a set any time over the past five years. Lårry's discography is modest but mighty, and How Was That For You builds into that idea with four
precise tools for forward-leaning soundsystem communion. From the fractalised barbs of electronica stepper 'In Water' to patiently dread-eyed wobbler 'Angela's Knife', 'Uniform Uninform's icy incisions to the snaking spiral staircase of 'Yargachin', this is brain fodder first and foremost, with bassweight impact threaded through as an added bonus. Keeping fine company amongst the other oddities inhabiting the Bruk mandate, Lårry continues to keep us on our toes, literally and figuratively.
GREETINGS returns with release numero five ‘Look Within’. Stepping up to the mic for the first time, his original vocals up the sauce factor with dreamy hooks that will have you singing along into your wildest dancefloor fantasy.
The EP kicks off with A1 ‘Look Within’ – an evocative tribute to the magic of discovering the dancefloor, with commanding lyrics centred around discovery and inhibition. A2 ‘Come and Go (Dirty Talk Mix)’ expresses the ecstasy of meeting someone on the dancefloor and finding passion among the grooves. To be played when the dancefloor is just right and ready (il bon tempo), consider it your next club serenade. B1 ‘Won’t You Believe’ weaves an epic acid bass line into a ground-shaking chugger, that will whip any crowd intona frenzy – to be used responsibly!
B2 ‘When I Dream at Night’ is a cosmic closer, taking you on a journey into forbidden nocturnal yearnings as GREETINGS dreams of a certain someone, unable to shake them from his mind, lost in a memory of melody.
Gated kick off 2023 with a corker of a remix package, featuring an epic electro workout from Radioactive Man and lo-fi deep house from Max Wheeler of Anushka fame.
Marcela Dias Sindaco’s breathy Portuguese vocals always lent themselves to remixes and these five cuts use them to great effect.
Keith Tenniswood’s storming version of Missao Controle kicks off the EP, with a near-8-minute bass-heavy acid monster that retains the original’s funky elements but pushes them way into the future.
German upstarts not even noticed take Extincao nice and deep for those loved-up dancefloor moments, again bringing in melodic elements from the original, but twisting them just enough to flow into a dreamy acidic breakdown.
Flip to the B and Anushka’s Max Wheeler goes it alone, with a deep and crackly analogue house version of Dois Lados. Injected with just a smidgeon of jazz, this is definitely one for the heads.
Next up, longtime Gated collaborator Dip Shim, whose debut album only just dropped, brings a straight-up electro jam version of Pro Meu Bem, with haunting pads and insistent arpeggios.
Rounding off the EP is Perseus Traxx’s deeper than deep take on Missao Controle, a tripped out reverby journey laden with his signature hardware sound.
Kerri Chandler delivers ‘Lost & Found Vol.2’ this March, marking the second instalment of the series which focuses on tracks from his archives.
Kerri Chandler’s Kaoz Theory unveiled the label bosses ‘Spaces & Places’ LP in 2022, showcasing Kerri’s globetrotting career of the past few decades and featuring recordings produced on the dance floors of many leading clubs such as DC10, Sub Club, Rex, Printworks and more.
Here the label kicks off 2023 with a glimpse into Chandler’s archived material, offering up four cuts in his inimitable, iconic style.
‘Fluff Rehab’ leads the way and see Kerri offering up crisp drums, spiralling dub stabs and fluttering low-end pulsations throughout.
‘What If’ follows and tips the focus over to a more soulful feel, fusing a wandering bass line and airy textures with vocal chants, choppy keys, and a gritty drum groove.
‘Who Are You (Main Vox)’ then opens the B-side, retaining a similarly soul drenched feel, bringing Kerri’s own harmonious vocals into the mix alongside a crunchy, swinging rhythm and jazzy elements.
‘Dem Joy Ride’ rounds out the EP next, flipping the switch to a funk-infused, organic feel as brass lines, hypnotic keys, dynamic drums, and guitar licks collide across an ever unfolding five and a half minutes.
Last year the Atlanta artist releaed her debut EP Swan, made with producer Marshall Vore who is known for his work with folk dynamo Phoebe Bridgers. The five song col¬lection found a supportive home with Royal Mountain Re¬cords, and drew remarkable acclaim for a debut EP, earning praise from outlets like NPR, FADER, Nylon, Paste, Under The Radar, Coup De Main and Line of Best Fit among many others.
When I’m Alone is the debut album from Girlpuppy. Across the record, Harvey weaves in several cinematic allusions: a Keanu Reeves look alike pops up in “Teenage Dream,” named for the alternate title of an ‘80s movie he stars in;
For this uniquely personal retrospective spread over twelve vinyl discs, Sven Väth takes us back to the early days of his DJ career. On What I Used To Play we meet great pioneers of electronic music, gifted percussionists, obscure wave bands, and innovative producers of a bygone 'new electronic' era. Rough beats and irresistible grooves from the identification stage of house, techno, and acid remind us not just how far electronic music has evolved over the past four decades, but how great it was to dance to EBM, techno, and house for the very first time.
If there is one protagonist of the electronic music scene who has remained curious, innovative and at the very cutting edge of music for over four decades, it's Sven Väth. His multi-layered artist albums and Sound of the Season mix compilations have been defining the genre for over two decades, and even today, he is constantly on the lookout for the next top tune to add to the highlights of his next set. At least, that's the case when he's not producing them himself as an artist or remixer. "Actually, it's always been part of my DNA to think ahead," and nothing had been further from his mind than looking back at his past, but when in spring of 2020 the international DJ circuit had to be scaled down to virtually zero, the 'restless traveler' suddenly had time. Time to stop and reflect on "how it actually was back then, at the very beginning of my career..."
"It was a great trip and with every track, beautiful memories came flooding back".
In the London apartment, he had just moved into, Sven has set up a "little music room", where he cocooned himself for several days, "to look way back for the first time and review my musical journey through the eighties, so to speak."
The interim result was six thematically oriented playlists with a grand total of 120 tracks from 'early 80s' to 'Balearic late 80s', together with excursions into afrobeat, European new wave, and EBM sounds and a few epochal techno/house tracks from the USA in between. From these 'Best of Sven Väth's favorites', the project What I Used To Play crystallized. Sven remembers how the Cocoon team reacted to his proposal: "They found the idea of making a compilation out of it MEGA from the beginning and everyone said 'Sven, go for it', but then, of course, the work really started, namely, to clear the rights and to get clean sounding masters of the up to 40-year-old tracks. There was also disappointment, of course. We couldn't clear certain titles because the rights holders in the USA had fallen out with each other or simply disappeared from the scene. In short, it wasn't easy, but now I can safely say we got the most important tracks."
Finally, after two years of research, curation, design, and administrative fine-tuning, the "little retrospective" from 1981 to 1990 is available. The exquisitely packaged, and three-kilo heavy box set is not only physically impressive, WIUTP is also the definitive record of Sven Väth's musical development. On each of the twenty-four sides of vinyl, you can trace track by track, what influenced him during which phase, and how he took off as a DJ from his parents' Queen's Pub straight into the spotlight at Dorian Gray. There and at Vogue (later OMEN), Sven became the style-defining player in the DJ booth that he still is today.
1981 - 1990: Future Sounds of Now
In the early eighties, the crowd in clubs like Vogue and Dorian Gray danced to what nowadays we call 'dance classics' - mainly disco, funk, soul, and chart pop. It was up to a new generation of DJs, including Sven Väth, the youngest protagonist in the Rhine-Main area at the time, to create their own club-ready music mix. Good new tracks and potential floor-fillers were rarities that had to be sought out and found, in order to prove oneself worthy.
Without MP3s, internet streaming, or other digital download possibilities, music didn't just gravitate to the DJ, instead, it had to be tracked down. In well-stocked record stores in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden or even in Amsterdam, London, or New York, Sven and friends sourced the material for countless magical nights. On WIUTP we can follow Sven's very personal journey through this wild, innovative era in which synth-pop, funk, hip-hop, and disco were successively replaced as 'club music' by house, techno, acid, and breakbeat. By the end of the decade, it was clear to see that these once exotic 'fringe' phenomena would soon become 'mass' phenomena.
Early 80s
Dirty Talk by the Italian-American duo Klein & M.B.O. represents the most innovative phase of the Italo-disco genre in the early eighties like no other track. Mario Boncaldo (I) and Tony Carrasco relied entirely on the original synthetic drum and percussion sounds of the Roland TR-808, coupled with the raunchy vocals of Rossana Casale and guitar accents of Davide Piatto. Of course, other tracks from this period were also influential in style, most notably Unit by Logic System, which worked as the perfect soundtrack to the laser lighting system at the legendary Dorian Gray club. With stomping beats and robotic rap interludes, Bostich by Yello also belongs on Sven's eternal playlist - after all, it caught the attention of Afrikaa Bambaataa, who invited the Swiss duo to perform at the Roxy in New York in 1983.
EBM Wave - Mid 80s
From today's point of view, the almost ten-minute-long, downtempo track Giant by Matt Johnson's band project The The, would probably not be considered an obvious club classic. However, a closer (re)listen reveals the rhythmic intricacies of the percussion overdubs by JG Thirlwell (aka Foetus) on Johnson's composition, and it becomes clear why this exceptional piece of music is one of Sven's absolute favorites. Other classics from this phase include Kaw-Liga by the mysterious The Residents, the hypnotic-synthetic Our Darkness by Anne Clark (and David Harrow), and last but not least, the somber, monotonous anthem Where Are You? by 16Bit, one of Sven Väth's projects together with Michael Münzing, Luca Anzilotti from 1986.
US House - Late 80s
You certainly can't talk about Chicago house without mentioning Frankie Knuckles. The resident DJ at the Warehouse not only gave the name to an entire genre, but also produced epochal floor fillers on the Trax label like the timeless Your Love, sung (and moaned) by Jamie Principle. Acid house protagonists Phuture also hail from Chicago, and on We Are Phuture (also released on Trax) we hear the chirping acid sounds of the legendary Roland TB-303 in full effect. Another featured classic is No UFO's by Detroit's Model 500 aka Juan Atkins, who is rightly considered the 'Godfather of Techno' even if the genre-defining track from 1985 still breathes with the spirit of hip-hop and electro from the first breakdance era.
Afrobeat
Le Serpent, by Algerian-born Abdelmadjid Guemguem, is a track that sounds completely different from everything else on WIUTP. Made in 1978, it's a monumental, rousing groove created without bass or synths, just with five congas! Even though Guem sadly passed away in 2021, his immortal, acoustic beats are understood all over the world and will continue to enrich many thousands of DJ sets for years to come. Another classic that not only Sven appreciates beyond measure is Hugh Masekela's Don't Go Lose it, Baby. In addition to being one of the most important jazz pioneers, the trumpeter and freedom fighter from Johannesburg was very experimental, integrating electronic sounds into his music in later years, in a similar vein to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. Dutch jazz pianist Jasper van't Hof's afrobeat project Pili Pili has also aged well. The trance-like, almost sixteen-minute-long track of the same name, manages to fill a whole side on the seventh of twelve vinyl discs in the WIUTP box.
UK-US-Euro - Late 80s
Time for a change of scene, in the truest sense of the word, and from a musical perspective, this section is like landing on another planet. First up is Andrew Weatherall's classic remix of Primal Scream's Loaded, featuring the iconic Peter Fonda sample (lifted from the 1966 biker film Wild Angels) that came to personify the mood triggered by the British Second Summer of Love in the late eighties: "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do, and we wanna get loaded...". This period also saw the emergence of M/A/R/R/S whose only single, 1987's Pump Up The Volume, became a club classic with support from DJ legend CJ Mackintosh. In this most eclectic of sections, we also encounter New York house and reggae producer Bobby Konders and his seminal Nervous Acid.
Balearic - Late 80s
Those who know him, know that Sven had already lost his heart to the 'magic island' of Ibiza as a teenager, so with that in mind, the WIUTP project couldn't end without a Balearic chapter. Inspired by Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4, the immortal, eponymously titled Sueño Latino belongs in there without question. Equally popular on the island was, and still is Break 4 Love by Raze, which thinking about it, would also fit perfectly into the house chapter. Last, but not least, there's an overdue reunion with Sven Väth himself, in his role as frontman of the successful Frankfurt trio OFF. Together with Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti (later of Snap!) this 'Organization For Fun' created the off-the-wall club hit Electric Salsa in 1986 which incidentally turned into an international chart smash, putting Sven in the enviable position of having to decide between pop stardom and a DJ career. Well, we all know how that decision turned out and the rest, as they say, is history. A not insignificant part of his story is What I Used To Play. Enjoy!
The debut studio album from multi-platinum singer RAYE. Featuring number one single Escapism feat. 070 Shake.
Four times BRIT nominated, RAYE is one of the most streamed artists in the world with over
2.3 billion streams of her music. She has a double-platinum, four platinum, two gold and
three silver singles to her name. She is also indisputably one of the UK's premier
songwriters. Her songs have amassed over 3 billion streams, having written for some of the
world’s biggest artists including: John Legend, Ellie Goulding, Khalid, David Guetta, Diplo,
and Beyonce. In 2019 she was awarded The BMI Impact Award in recognition of her 'groundbreaking artistry, creative vision and impact on the future of music, in 2022 she was
nominated for the Ivors Songwriter of the year, landed R1 Brits List and made her debut solo
TV performance on Jools Holland. During the summer of 2021, her cries of frustration for not being able to release her album were heard worldwide, leading to a mutual separation from her label and allowing her to
carve her own path. Having made her public tirade, followed by her personal 'declaration of
independence', Raye in effect has obligated herself to deliver the ground-breaking first
album that her 2019 BMI award prophesied.
Bernard Szajner is a French composer, musical theorist, visual artist. He is credited with the invention of the laser harp, which he patented.
Between 1979 and 1983, Szajner released five albums of innovative and Avant-garde electronic music. He became renowned as a light and visual effects technician with artists such as Magma, Gong, Stomu Yamashta and The Who.
During the 1970s, he became a pioneer in the field of using laser technology as an artistic tool. As a measure of his success, he became renowned by his work with companies such as Cartier and Renault. In 1980, inspired by the novel, Nova, by Samuel R. Delany, he first created the laser harp. The laser harp became so successful that Jean-Michel Jarre ordered a version from Bernard Szajner for his tour of China. Despite all this, Szajner would only occasionally use this instrument in his own performances. He has stated that he would rather the public not know him solely for his work on the laser harp, and that it not be allowed to take precedence over his work in musical composition that it enables. This is also why he continues to develop other instruments which use other innovative methods of interaction, such as tactile or holographic.
Towards the end of the 1980s and disgusted with the music industry, he chose to abandon music entirely, and shifted his focus towards digital and visual arts, and theatre.
From Bernard Szajner : “These tracks are my preferred ones .... Ever ! ... For a long time I've been waiting for a record label to release what corresponds to what I like playing these days... Until Sleepers records decided to release this compilation which contains most of the tracks I enjoy playing live on stage ! At last my wish is fulfilled !”
If you decide to look up the strict definition of outsider in any dictionary, you'll find that the term is understood as "a person who is not involved with a particular group of people or organization or who does not live in a particular place".
Perhaps this is the most accurate description of Santiago Merino. For a long decade and from his native Medellín, this DJ and producer has always tried to keep his sonic spectrum open. An interdisciplinary artist capable of freely navigating through a myriad of genres is rarely encountered, and that may be the reason why Santiago enjoys a non-negotiable respect in the different scenes that make up the music circuit of his city. On this occasion, Back Door Records is pleased to serve as host to receive one of the most anticipated facets within the range of music produced by this Colombian artist.
The Outsider marks the debut of a new project signed by Merino, a new hunch in which house takes the helm of an EP entitled 4 Club Use. Composed of five tracks, 4 Club Use seems to show us the true essence behind a genre that has almost been trivialized over the years. In this case, El Outsider decided to take the basic ingredients of tech house to produce a recipe much richer in flavors, textures and melodies. "Fire People", for example, leaves the window open for the airs of Detroit techno to come in and cool off any sunny afternoon. "Outsider" and "The Heat", on the other hand, are seasoned by the purest amen breaks, as if it were a blessing intended solely for the dance floor.
But the real deal across 4 Club Use is definitely El Outsider's own edit of Merino's track "Those Days". Raw and forceful kicks, meticulously sampled vocals and pads that seem to wrap them magically, make this bomb one of the candidate tracks to take the absolute podium of 2023.
One thing that is written in stone even in these days of near endless uncertainty is that when Topical Disco unleashes one of their vinyl releases they are a no questions asked, must have. For a label which regularly dominates the top spot of the download charts they still consistently manage to up the ante for their vinyl drops. It’s no wonder at all that the previous editions have gone on to become collector’s editions, disappearing from the shelves as quickly as you can say here today, gone tomorrow.
Volume 24 easily keeps this incredible run of club vinyl masterpieces going strong. Packed across two side of black gold are tracks from newcomers and scene heavy hitters alike Toscana, Toby O’Conner, Charly Angelz and Frank Virgilio.
The mysterious Toscana leads the way with the wonderfully enigmatic ‘The Girl With The Red Hair’, a six and a half minute slice of pleasure packed Balearic disco. Incessant, warm and inviting it combines a divine groove heavy bassline, funky guitar licks and a subtle percussive backbone with a rather brilliant stand-out guitar solo. This is a track which is guaranteed to fill those summer dancefloors.
Next up is Toby O’Conner who is returning to Tropical Disco after his lauded ‘The Heist / 1920 EP’ with another high energy slice of disco goodness in the shape of ‘Cave Of Gold’. Again this is classic Tropical Disco, combing both live chops with jazz overtones as throbbing club ready drums provide the framework for a bubbling bassline, subtle keys and sax solo’s aplenty to weave their magic. Expect jazz inspired shapes to be thrown on dancefloors across the globe when this one drops.
Over on the flip is Charly Angelz, another artist who has been making a considerable swirl on the disco scene of late. ‘Mother Phunk’ is very aptly named with an absolute gem of a bassline front and centre as classic funk vocal chops, vibey pads and guitar stabs all combine perfectly with earworm strings for anther sure fire floor filler.
Closing the EP out is scene stalwart Frank Virgilio. Hailing from Napoli Frank has been behind a virtual disco smorgasbord over the five years including regular chart bothering appearances on Tropical disco. ‘What We Love’ tips its hat to the golden era of house music, think 90’s Soulfuric meets MAW. Vibes abound here from the classic drum sounds right through to the divine ethereal percussion which adds that touch of class. This is another track which will sound just perfect on the golden Isle this coming summer, did some-one say Ibizan boat party? We’re onboard!
Flexi Cuts is pleased to introduce Lazy Snail's new EP, Lucky Life. A truly valuable work, the result of time and research, where Alessandro (aka Lazy Snail) wanted to explore different sides of electronic music of an inner and mature nature at the same time.
Lucky Life is like going up to the attic and finding something precious to take care of; it sums up a long musical journey, from the past to the present, in five tracks full of meaning.
The first track, Remèrcier, is a tribute to 'dance' music, an intense talk over a hypnotic moog bass.
This is followed by Vagrants, dedicated to his hometown (Cudgnola), where we find an 808 rhythmic patterns as involving and beating as a walk in the rain.
The B-side opens with One Place, which features a vocal stunning collaboration with Flicker Fox, who brings the track into a techno universe with percussion and intimate echoes.
Climbin' High was inspired by Alessandro's passion and admiration for the mountains. He composed it imagining an extreme climb, and immediately afterwards an equally dangerous but necessary descent. Just like in reality.
The record ends with No Evil, an ambient-flavoured gem that opens on the climax in a riot of expert snares and synths.
(Produced, Arranged and Conducted by Claus Ogerman)
Not long after the dawn of her career, as a teenager in Rio de Janeiro, Joyce was declared “one of the greatest singers” by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Yet despite reputable accolades and the fact that she has since recorded over thirty acclaimed albums, Joyce never quite achieved the international recognition of the likes of Jobim, João Gilberto and Sergio Mendes, all of whom became global stars after releasing with major labels in the US.
There was a moment when it seemed she might be on the cusp of an international breakthrough. While living in New York, Joyce was approached by the great German producer Claus Ogerman. Ogerman had already played a pivotal role in the development and popularisation of Brazilian music in the 1960s, recording with some of the all-time greats like Jobim and João Gilberto, as well as North American idols like Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Bill Evans.
"I met him in New York City, in 1977”, recalls Joyce. “I was living and playing there, and João Palma, Brazilian drummer who used to play with Jobim, introduced me to Claus. We had an audition, he liked what we were doing and decided to produce an album with us.”
Featuring fellow Brazilian musicians Mauricio Maestro (who wrote/co-wrote four of the songs), Nana Vasconcelos and Tutty Moreno, and some of the most in-demand stateside players including Michael Brecker, Joe Farrell and Buster Williams, the recordings for Natureza took place at Columbia Studios and Ogerman produced the album, provided the arrangements and conducted the orchestra.
But mysteriously, Natureza was never released, and what should have been Joyce’s big moment never happened. As Joyce remembers, “I returned home, but Claus and I remained in contact, by letters and phone calls. He was very enthusiastic about the album and tried to hook me up with Michael Franks. He wanted me to go back to NYC in order to re-record the vocals in English with new lyrics, which I actually wasn’t too happy about. But then I got pregnant with my third child and could not leave Brazil. And little by little our contact became rare, until I lost track of him completely. And that was it. I never heard from him again."
While Claus was known to be something of an elusive character, the album’s disappearance might also have been a result of timing. The Brazilian craze was coming to an end, making way for disco and new wave at the end of the seventies, and Ogerman struggled to find a major label interested in a new Brazilian sensation. Additionally, as Joyce mentions, it wasn’t quite finished. Ogerman wanted to add finishing touches to the mix and to record alternative English lyrics for the US and international markets - a critical artistic difference between Joyce and Ogerman.
As the military dictatorship’s grip on Brazil began to subside in the 1980s, Joyce had a handful of hits in her home county, including a tribute to her daughters ‘Clareana’, and the iconic ‘Feminina’ - an intergenerational conversation between mother and daughter about what it means to be a woman. But already a feminist pioneer, these successes were hard fought. Joyce had caused controversy as a nineteen-year-old when she became the first in Brazil to sing from the first-person feminine perspective, and the institutional sexism she faced was worsened by the dictatorship who would often censor her music. Even once the Junta was out of the way, Joyce found herself up against the male-dominated major record companies in Brazil, who sought to dictate her career and sexualise her image, before dropping her for refusing to play along.
A few years after the success of her albums Feminina and Agua E Luz in Brazil, Joyce’s music began to find its way to the UK, Europe and Japan, and “Feminina” and “Aldeia de Ogum” became classics on the underground jazz-dance scenes of the mid to late-eighties and early-nineties.
The full-length version of “Feminina” from the Natureza sessions was first heard on a Brazilian Jazz compilation in 1999 and “Descompassadamente” was licensed for a CD compiling the work of Claus Ogerman in 2002. Following these, word began to get out about an unreleased Joyce album with Claus Ogerman and the legend of Natureza grew.
Forty-five years since it was recorded, Natureza finally sees the light of day, as Joyce intended: with her own Portuguese lyrics and vocals. Featuring the fabled 11-minute version of ‘Feminina’, as well as the never before heard ‘Coração Sonhador’ composed and performed by Mauricio Maestro, Natureza’s release is a landmark in Brazilian music history and represents a triumphant, if overdue victory for Joyce as an outspoken female artist who has consistently refused to bow to patriarchal pressure.
***Disclaimer! While “Feminina” and “Descompassadamente'' were mixed by legendary engineer Al Schmitt and mastered from the original master tapes, the remaining five tracks are unmixed. Due to significant deterioration of the master-tapes, the best audio source for these tracks was an unmixed tape copy Joyce had kept of the recordings. The best care has been taken in the restoration and mastering of this release, but the sound quality may differ from other releases on Far Out Recordings. We advise listening to sound clips before buying where possible.
The treasure chest that just keeps on giving. Another refreshing, reissued dose of solid gold UKG heaters from one of the finest garage acts of the ‘90s, 24hr Experience. Highlighted here, the first EP under the 24hr Experience name from Grant Nelson and Simon Firmin back in 1994 - Dub Essentials Part 1.
Samples galore, grooves upon grooves and that sweet swing to keep the bodies moving. Five iconic cuts from skippy vocal bumpers to percussive workouts and bass heavy whompers, this ain’t one to miss.
Magnificent Wolof drum music, performed by an extended griot family over seven consecutive days, in the mystical setting of Lac Rose, outside Dakar.
Doudou Ndiaye Rose — who died in 2015 — is a key drummer in the musical history of the world. He developed a system of five hundred original drumming patterns, ancient and new. Amongst the modern rhythms here is Bench Mi — ‘under the Baobab tree,’ a spot where problems get solved. Also Hibar Yi — ‘passing on information’ — the theme-tune of Senegalese TV national news for decades — and Les Rosettes, the signature rhythm of Senegal’s first ever all-female percussion group, convened by Doudou, and named after his grandmother.
These original compositions sit alongside important traditional rhythms, familiar to every Sabar player, such as Farwu Jar (a courtship game sometimes resulting in a wedding), Ceebu Jin (also the name of the national dish of fish and rice), and Gumbé, often played after a successful harvest.
Recorded in joyful single takes, with no overdubs, mastered by Rashad Becker, the music is deep and thrilling, polyrhythmic to the bone, with a complex, pointillistic intensity at times evoking Jeff Mills in full flight.
London’s SlothBoogie records welcomes Subjoi to its roster with his four-track ‘Reflections’ EP.
Hailing from Warsaw in Poland and now residing in Adelaide, Australia, Subjoi has been gaining steady traction in the House scene over the past five years, racking up releases on the likes of clipp.art, Shall Not Fade’s Lost Palms sub-label, Lobster Theremin sub-label Distant Hawaii and 13th Hour amongst others. Here we see him joining the roster of SlothBoogie Records with some more soul-infused and sun-drenched house cuts.
Up first on the EP is ‘At A Time’, seeing Subjoi lay down an amalgamation of disco string, brass and vocal samples atop a swinging drum groove, dynamically evolving with filter sweeps and a loopy feel throughout. ‘Gone’ follows next and employs more classic house tropes courtesy of a bouncy piano line, robust drums and hooky vocal chops.
Opening the B-side is ‘What You Do’, shifting things aesthetically to 2-step drums alongside airy stab sequences, bubbling synth melodies and processed R&B style vocal lines. ‘Sapporo Nights’ completes the EP next on a deeper tip, journeying through hazy string lines, warm bell chimes, heavy doses of sub bass and stripped-back, bumpy drums.
"The haunting ambience of Beat fit somewhat with the then-popular Massive Attack and Portishead, but the album's subsonic drone made it more of a minimal mood piece than a collection of songs." MAGNET
The second in a trio of albums released by the core duo of Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener, Beat is without doubt their definitive artistic statement.
Coming 20 years to the day of its original release, this is the first time this album has been available on vinyl in almost two decades, and the first ever U.S. vinyl release. (Was released here on Beggars Banquet, original copies very hard to find..)
The second album from New York City's Bowery Electric was released in late 1996, less than 15 months after their self-titled debut, but it found them having traveled light years musically in the interim, the group having seemingly decided to see how far they could take the guitar/ bass/ drums/ vocal setup into the atmosphere.
Every aspect of their approach had been refined and focused: squalling, distorted guitars had been transformed into hazy, sensual sheets; the live drums transmuted to sampled rhythms more in debt to the blossoming downtempo sound of the day; bass lines reduced to their most basic diagrams; vocals submerged to become one with the narcotized fog of the instruments; even the lyrics were reduced to a few minimal lines used sparingly so as not to overshadow the dynamic.
Beat is a lush and dense mantra of shadowy percussion, barely-there vocals and immersive drones that envelops the listener in an opiated blanket of sound.
quotes:
"Bowery Electric have made something utterly astonishing here. So deep, so wide, and somehow as intimate as a train crash. The first six tracks are just the most crushingly beautiful thing I've heard in 1997; the last five are even better. Good god, THIS IS IT." Melody Maker
"While cymbals shower down over the songs like a torrent of shattered glass, their austere beauty is never static. Ambience has rarely sounded so messy." Exclaim
A near-perfect mix of shifting dance beats, menacing electronic drones, analogue bleeps,
syncopated rhythms and ethereal vocals." Now UK
Initially released in 2006, ‘Revep’ is the third collaboration album between Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto and the third installment of V.I.R.U.S.’s five albums series.
Remastered in 2021 in collaboration with Calyx Studio, the album’s recordings are accompanied by three new compositions titled ‘City Radieuse’, ‘Veru 1’, and ‘Veru 2’.
‘City Radieuse’ was composed for the 2012 short cinematic essay titled ‘Cité Radieuse’ and part of Carsten Nicolai’s ‘future past perfect’ series.
The video shot at le Corbusier’s Unité D’Habitation in Nantes (called ‘cité radieuse’) takes the viewer through the modular system and design applied to the residential buildings. The film’s narrative unfolds
through a sequence of images tracking the apartments’ indoor space and details, and points to the different benchmarks of standardized production as they correlate to their environment and its inhabitants.
The album’s original recordings resulted from musical exchanges that began with ‘Vrioon’ and revolved around a collaborative arrangement of Sakamoto’s classic ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,’ the theme music
to the 1983 movie starring David Bowie, Takeshi Kitano, and Ryuichi Sakamoto himself.
In ‘Revep,’ the piano takes the lead while the padded bass and pitched electronic frequencies mark sudden change. Deeply evocative and effortlessly colliding worlds of analog beauty and digital mastery,
this album is considered another indispensable record from the duo’s ongoing collaboration.
• A Guy Called Gerald’s soundtrack to Trevor Miller’s Trip City novel was originally released in 1989 on cassette bundled with the book. It went on to sell 12,000 copies in a year before becoming an underground cult classic.
• Reissued in 2021 on vinyl for the first time as part of a bundle with the book, the vinyl is now available to buy on its own.
In the summer of 1989, when Trevor Miller’s Trip City book was first released with a five-track cassette EP by A Guy Called Gerald, there had been no other British novel like it. For 2021, Trip City came back and the original soundtrack by A Guy Called Gerald was also reissued on vinyl for the first time as part of a bundle with the book. Now the vinyl is available to buy on its own.
“I remember back in the 80s, in my hometown, Tony Wilson (of Factory Records fame) was fond of calling Shaun Ryder the WB Yeats of his day. In that vein, whether or not I like to see myself in the canon of Anthony Burgess and Clockwork Orange - with these five tracks, A Guy Called Gerald feels very much like the Ludwig Van to my Alex DeLarge.” Trevor Miller
“Coming on the heels of the acid house classic “Voodoo Ray”, the cut-up vocals, driving bass and hand claps of “FX” and “Trip City” blurred the line between the fictional Tower club and its real-world counterpart The Limelight. This reissue further blurs the lines between past and present, memorialising those heady times
of the Second Summer of Love that anyone invested in the counterculture, much like Valentine, can’t afford to forget.” The Wire
“The EP comprises five acid rollers that showcase his transition into the world of sampling, with the title track functioning as the main theme.” The Quietus
Daje Funk Records makes a triumphant return with the latest instalment to the spectacular ‘Slam Dunk’ series bringing you the Slam Dunk EP3.
First up on the A-Side of this stellar four tracker is Strange, with the acid laced disco burner, ‘Keep On’. From the intro of delicious 120bpm beats with added ‘Bongonaise’, the cleanest of guitar riffs leads to a hot disco bass with stabs of Rhodes keys lovingly applied. Just when you think you have it all worked out, the acid rug pull is a masterstroke. ‘Keep On’ has a classic (but often elusive) disco vibe with a wickedly acidic twist. ‘Strange’ will rule the summer, guaranteed. Any questions?
For A2, the considerable production chops of Ezirk are on full display with ‘Erotik’ - an 80s funk inspired taxi ride through rush hour traffic to the best cocktail bar on the planet. It’s infectious, demanding fist bumps and virtual high fives. It’s a melody that sets all the possibilities of a great night out through wielding the ultimate synth power. And that breezy sax? Heaven. Put the needle down and let it take you!
On the B Side, we start with label co-owner and master of the groove, De Gama and his carefully crafted ‘Higher’. The tempo is dropped right down here, with De Gama showing his darker and funkier side. Like a joint Gil Scott Heron and Robert Plant fever dream, ‘Higher’ is an intricate lecture in immaculate beats, unimaginable concepts and chord progressions. Serious grooves. Very serious.
Rounding things off on the B Side and closing the EP is ‘R.O.C.K.’ by Hungary’s The Magic Track. These boys know how to deliver a chugger from the MT workshop. You expect them to lure you in, and ‘R.O.C.K.’ does just that. One minute you’re in church, the next in a heaving club with retro beats, thumping bass and driving piano filling the air. The Magic Track are selling magic dreams and you’re buying. The whole bag.
The Slam Dunk EP 3 slam dunks with such force it shatters the backboard. Get it in your record boxes for the summer, and let it stay there!
Mr. K is back again with a double-sider that tackles the ups and downs of love and does it in fabulous style with two solid soul classics.
Yvonne Fair was a veteran of the soul music world when she finally got the chance to record her first full length album in 1975. She had recorded multiple singles under the guidance of James Brown (her “I Found You” was reworked by Brown into the chart-topper “I Got You (I Feel Good)”) and, after leaving the JB camp for the auspices of Motown, a clutch of 7-inches with Norman Whitfield. These were gathered together to form her first (and only) full-length, but before the album was completed a final song was added to fill things out. This last minute touch would turn out to be the crowning achievement of her career. “It Should’ve Been Me” didn’t seem to be a notable addition at first. The song was originally done by Kim Weston a decade earlier and then by Gladys Knight. But Fair’s version had something special. In addition to the novel addition of a percolating drum machine pulse, Fair imbued the lyrics with a heartfelt sincerity and gruff emotion that touched listeners in a way that other versions had missed. Released as a single in the UK in late ’75, the song rose to the top ten of the British charts by February of the following year, inspiring Motown to release it as a US single. The song never replicated its UK success in the States, but went on to have a long life as a staple of drag performances and gay club life. Gay club life being the heart of all great club life, it’s only natural that the impact of the song has continued to spread, from Adeva’s hit house version in 1991 to Miley Cyrus’s recent revival of the song. Danny Krivit pays tribute to this storied history with his own version, a simple yet effective edit that stays true to the original but gives DJs a little more room (and fans a little more time to sing along!) than the all-too-brief original.
Continuing on our theme of lovelorn loss and redemption, Mr. K turns his attention to the New Birth’s “Brand New Lover” for our B-side. While the original slowly moves from the tentative, immediate aftermath of breakup to the eventual positive path forward, Krivit’s edit jumps straight to the joyous resolution to find new love, riding a delicious call and response chorus punctuated by signature breakdowns from master producer Harvey Fuqua. Danny’s edit provides a natural uplifting opportunity that never stops building over the course of its extended five minutes. Until now, the track has only been available on the group’s debut 1970 full-length, and never on a 7-inch single.
As always, this release has been mastered to the highest standards and is certain to find a spot in the bags of discerning listeners and DJs alike.
All comes together to present the 3rd release on La Rama Records. Nahash provides five pieces of varied influence for a cohesive effect, downtempo dance steppers to cinematic breaks for raw human motion.
After releases on Shanghai’s SVBKVLT and Lyon’s POLAAR, Nahash goes local with brick and mortar operation La Rama. Working with New Jack samples and obscure orchestral Jazz, ‘Stockpiling’ is Nahash in a dance floor style, providing discerning DeeJays a tune for every moment of the night.
Having crested the west coast modular-ambient wave in just a few releases - including 2018's Sharing Waves on the influential LA experimental imprint Leaving Records - Sean Hellfritsch has swapped the mossy analog synth improvisations of his prior output for refined melodic arrangements dressed in sprightly dawn-of-digital textures. Big Earth Energy plumbs the depths of Hellfritsch's multimedia mind and naturalist heart, spinning an impressionistic narrative world off of cultural touchstones like the PC game MYST, and the work of Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi. Inspired by the aforementioned, and guided by Hellfritsch's experience as an animator and filmmaker, Big Earth Energy is the soundtrack to a hypothetical video game with a pointedly ecological premise, and a twist of psychedelic charm. In Hellfritsch's imagined virtual journey, the player assumes the perspective of a treefrog sixty-five-million years ago, hopping epochs with each new level, forming a comprehensive picture of the massive changes the planet has gone through over the eons. The ultimate goal of the game is not to amass resources, defeat enemies, or gain power, but to fully witness the unfolding of one of the biggest systems of energy imaginable - or as the album's creator puts it - "to explore the incomprehensibly vast energetic expression and mystery that is Earth." Big Earth Energy is steeped in exploratory RPG intrigue, possibility, and contemplation, lovingly overlaid with Miyazaki-an sentiments and aesthetics. The through-composed, organic, meandering synthesis heard on previous Cool Maritime albums has been fully replaced by meticulous polygonal arrangements that recall the computerized sheen of late 80s work by composers like Hiroshi Yoshimura, and Yoichiro Yoshikawa - using true-to-period gear no less. Even given its referentiality, Big Earth Energy comes off as forward-facing where so much reminiscent music remains fixed to a bygone moment in pop culture. Hellfritsch has created a musical world where the endless verdancy of the biosphere finds its parallel in the golden age of early 1990s video games, and late 80s Japanese environmental music, all while pointing to a hopeful planetary and artistic future that vindicates the motives of all of these muses.
Charlotte de Witte takes charge of her KNTXT label's 15th release with the new Universal Consciousness EP. It comes after Amazingblaze - Venture EP and features four more powerful and psychedelic techno cuts.
Charlotte is soon to be playing her biggest ever KNTXT party in mid April. It shall take place in her hometown of Ghent and see her play a historic 10 hour set to a vast crowd of people who shall go on an all night long journey. Also in April, Charlotte returns to London’s iconic Printworks for the first time in five years, this time with her KNTXT concept and once again is set to raise the roof. While staying busy on the road, she continues to curate the Apple Music x KNTXT page while cooking up ever fresh sounds in the studio. This latest EP is another subtle evolution in her signature style.
Says Charlotte of the EP, "following up on my latest Asura EP in September, I decided to delve a bit deeper in the world of psychedelia. All the tracks of the EP are psy inspired, some more than others. I’ve been playing these tracks for a while now in the clubs. It’s been a real pleasure to see the crowd’s reaction and see the amount of track ID requests online. This one is from me to you, I hope you enjoy my Universal Consciousness EP!"
Opener 'Satori' is dark and heavy. The chunky, raw drums hit hard and flat as the squelchy acid synths pan about the mix. An enchanting middle eastern vocal wail brings an extra trance-inducing element that is sure to lock in the hearts and minds of the crowd. The super 'Kali' is a slick and high speed piece that shows the love relation between psy trance and techno. The video game style synths peel off the groove next to alien sound effects, and the subtly evolving acid line burrows deep into your brain.
Then comes the dynamic, bouncy and acid laced-title cut ‘Universal Consciousness’. It's a fulsome tune with rubbery kicks and visceral 303 loops that will melt the mind as dancers fall into its hypnotic and tripped out spell. Last of all is 'Ahimsa' with its bright, lashing acid synths and hammering kick drums. It's the perfect mix of physical groove and psyched-out synth work, and is perfect for both sweaty basements and vast main rooms alike. When the mystical flutes come in, it takes things to another level entirely.
This is another all consuming EP of innovative techno from Charlotte de Witte.
Five-track EP of fine house music with Detroit's Jazz & Soul influences (Theo Parrish/Rotating Assembly above all), inspired by the spacetime continuum of the cosmos.
Moments is one of those exciting labels making the future of music indisputably optimistic. When the award-winning producer Guy Mantzur started this forward-thinking platform, he promised a gratifying balance between music, parties, and community. The fourth edition of Moment's catalog unquestionably fits the bill. The opening track is Eli Nissan's remix of the 2015 classic Inner Galactic Lovers (Kutiman Mixes Fiverr) by Kutiman. Eli's take on the material is futuristic and open-minded but still keeps the beauty of the original untouched. It's not a secret that Eli Nissan is a perfectionist when it comes to his studio endeavors. However, the approach he uses to polish this priceless masterpiece is something else. It is a game-changer! And so it is his closing track. Cordelia is more than another trendy dancefloor filler, but a future classic with exotic temperament and fluid arrangement perfect for clubs, beach parties, and home- listening.
Baby Buddha is David Javelosa and musical partner Charles Hornaday playing instruments and providing their own whacked-out vocals. Baby Buddha really was less of a band than a project; a side project in fact, for some members of another group, Los Microwaves. Baby Buddha would eventually record and release an album, 1981's provocatively-titled Music for Teenage Sex on Robbie Fields' L.A.-based Posh Boy label.
Happily, the project's guiding creative light, David Javelosa has recently seen to a vinyl reissue of the now-40-year-old record, mystifyingly retitled Music for Teenage Sects. Definitely among the stranger releases of the new wave era, Music for Teenage Sex/Sects could perhaps only have been created when and where it was made. But on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the music sounds as weirdly wonderful as ever. "We Are Not" sounds like Human League stuck in a car with The Residents. And their cover of "All Shook Up" sounds like a musical kin to those inscrutable eyeball guys too; it wouldn't be out of place on Meet the Residents. "Little Things" is a house-of-mirrors, scary track, with spoken-word vocals by Los Microwaves' Meg Brazill and label head Fields.
The album cover is slightly different as well: it displays a bedroom scene like the original LP, but with the young female model absent. The new release (on Javelosa's own Hyperspace Communications label) is pressed on beautiful translucent blue vinyl and comes in a gatefold sleeve with a lively collage of photos, buttons, gig posters. Limited to 500 copies.This playfully titled release features David Javelosa (on synth and vocals) along with Meg Brazill (on bass and vocals) plus drummer Todd "Rosa" Rosencrans. Side One features five studio tracks, none of which were included on the band's 1981 Posh Boy LP, Life After Breakfast. Three of these tracks were recorded in '82; there's no information regarding the provenance of the other two songs. The records' second side collects five live recordings, capturing Los Microwaves onstage in New York City (The Peppermint Lounge) and Boston as well as at San Francisco's own I-Beam, a venue that often played host to the band. Those tracks date form roughly the same ear, 1980-83. Sonically the songs variously recall Blondie, Flying Lizards, Gang of Four and a far less dour Human League. Importantly, the band rocks, even when it's employing a spare drum kit, solid but elemental bass, and monophonic analog synthesizers. The stripped down aesthetics of the group – necessitated by its minimalist instrumental approach – are nonetheless thrilling. Even if you weren't there in 1980, this'll take you back.
SAXON GO FULL CARPE DIEM WITH THEIR LATEST STUDIO RELEASE
Saxon, those seminal British Heavy Metal Heroes hailing from Barnsley, UK, will release Carpe Diem on February 4th 2022 through Silver Lining Music. Ten titanic tracks bristling with still-clad riffery and proud intent, Carpe Diem is the statement which reminds heavy metal fans worldwide who the true masters of British Metal are, drawing on a variety of ingredients from their career to forge what is Saxon’s most dynamic release in many a year.
"It all starts with the riff,” says frontman and co-founder Biff Byford, "if the riff speaks to me, then we’re on our way. It’s a very intense album, and that’s all down to the fact that the essence of a great metal song is the riff that starts it, and this album has loads of them."
From the title track’s roll-back attack to the incessant speed and power of “Super Nova”, this is Saxon at their purest and most definitive, aggressively parading the pure metal flag and imploring fans old and new to gather and celebrate the very best of both Saxon and the genre itself. “All for One” has the stomp and pure power of a “Princess of the Night” while “The Pilgrimage” is classic “Crusader”-era Saxon. Produced by Andy Sneap (Judas Priest, Exodus, Accept and Richie Faulkner) at Backstage Recording Studios in Derbyshire with Byford with Sneap mixing and mastering, Carpe Diem strikes the ear as one of the most essential British Metal statements of the last few years, one which will ignite the joy in stalwart supporters and attract a whole new legion to the Saxon fold.
“I love that sort of fast metal. I love Princess of the Night and 20,000 FT and I try and bring that style of Saxon into the music now but in a bit more modern style” affirms Byford “but it’s the same five guys playing it and singing it, so I think we don’t really sound like an old band on records because we’re not really sitting back on our past success. We’re always trying to make a great album.”
“We want every album we make to go platinum,” says Byford defiantly. "We never make an album that we don’t expect to be fantastic because there are no laurels around here, only a commitment to the best songs and riffs we can write.” Saxon have certainly made sure to Seize the Day; be sure you join them.
HDSN is an artist of distinct talent. Even he´s still flying under the radar of the broader audience chances are high that you came across his musical output that is singularly creative. His work not attached to any trends. Instead, he operates within a deeply personal sphere, working influence from experiences spanning his lifetime and old-skool records that inspire him. He made his name with balmy house thumpers carried out over twelve instalments on NBAST for the best part of more than five years now. So it´s no wonder that he follows up with a beefy sequel to his previous released joint “For My People” a release that did connect as closely with people’s hearts as it does with their feet in the club. “I House You But Love” marks another fruitful EP for the producer. A record that feels like he’s just cracking the next piece of the puzzle. By the time you get the opportunity to experience these tracks live, there’s no doubt they will pull you into the get down groove. That is to say: NBASTWAX013 is vivid and it will move you. Grab your copy #datsoulthang
This is the 3rd release on Zimp Recordings, an independent techno label based in Scotland.
Edinburgh based DJ and producer Filthy Rich, label boss at Zimp Recordings, is a deliciously slippery artist with an engorged techno sack who’s always at the ready to spurt his computer generated juicy tit bits all over your proverbial techno flaps.
There’s five techno bangers on this EP that definitely do not disappoint. Kraken, a sullen and atmospheric deep underwater masterpiece, Stinky Funk, does exactly what it says on the tin, a wonky banger. Next up, an oven ready techno commentary on Brexshite from Boris himself with Wiff Waff. 2 tonne bass on the flip side pierces your brain with electro noise which Randolph Glahs remixes with his signature industrial hammer to break your mind open on the final track! It’s no coincidence this titan of techno has landed just in time for the clubs reopening!
