quête:force 10

Bog Bodies - the band consisting of Robert Stillman, Anders Holst and Seán Carpio delve into deep time to carve sonic abstractions across their self-titled new album on MIC.

Navigating the “liminal territory between noise and signal, chaos and control, form and abstraction,” the trio recorded and mixed the album on an

8-track cassette machine. Bog Bodies is a searching inquiry into the mythologies and magical undercurrents that knit together our existence in the information age.

Bog Bodies opens with a leftfield homage to Superman III, exploring the mythical qualities of technology through a series of angular horn lines that dissolve into the mire of feedback noise on the album’s raking, anthemic title track. Reverberating in tectonic sheets of sound on ‘One That Is Reflected In The Image Becomes All’ and Bog Bodies reaches its climax on the 11-minute ‘Cave Painting 2019’ - a subterranean epic of mystic force, drawn up from the earth in sweeping drones.

Bringing together their combined experiences playing with the likes of Manuel Göttsching, Luke Temple, The Smile and more recently Coby Sey.

Flautist Johanna Orellana teams up with Carmen Villain for a collection of horizontal, pastoral field recordings and close mic-ed flute sounds that zero in on the instrument’s unstable resonance and levitational magic. There’s no cringe virtuoso business or fourth world firewalking here - just sonic purity, sublime minimalism and the precise capture of time, place and poetry.

You might have come across Johanna Orellana before if you’ve listened to Carmen Villain’s music (or seen her perform live), and Villain appears here in a producer’s role, using her engineering expertise to impart a level of restraint and sonic fidelity that’s quite startling. There are only really two central elements to the album: environmental recordings and flute. There’s no psychedelic delay, no cavernous reverb; no audible treatments at all - Orellana and Villain instead force us to consider the flute and its musical lineage.

‘El Jardín I’ introduces the instrument as a physical conduit; Orellana allows her breath to distort the sound - the padded pat pat of the keys forms a kind of rhythm, closely recorded so it’s amplified and jarring, linking to primal wind instruments like conch shells, bamboo flutes and wooden whistles. Recalling the way in which Debit interfaced with the ancient world using AI- assisted tech on last year’s ‘The Long Count’, Orellana uses a comparatively modern contemporary transverse flute, an instrument with roots that stretch back through the baroque era, into Medieval Europe, back to the Byzantine era and into Asia. The component that connects the instruments and eras is breath, and its amplification and modification through differently shaped pipes and vessels.

Orellana lets the environment sing: insects, rushing water and zephyr-like winds form a stage that presents her mortal energy, suggesting a harmony between our use of breath and its environmental ubiquitousness. Her technique is steeped in folk history and decouples itself from expectation by rooting itself in nature. It allows her to bridge the gap between equal temperament and less ordered (less commercially-focused) microtonality without overstating the concept. Other sounds waft in from the sidelines; what might be an Indian bansuri, stray notes, a gust of air.

There’s a link to the foundational new age recordings that Joanna Brouk made with Maggi Payne back in 1980, but Orelanna also absorbs the outdoor folk magic of Fonal or Stroom, and the improvisational grist of Bendik Giske or legendary US horn duo Nmperign.

This is another piece to my musical puzzle. After "The Forced..." album, I still felt there was further I could go in... So again, with David's support, we ended up here...what a place! Never stops amazing, what happens while making music from the soul. This album is dedicated to my amazing Mum Sylvia (all I am)! Pearls Don't Lay On The Shore will be released physically as 2 x 12" vinyl LP - each single copy coming in a unique coloured pressing - on March 27th 2023, followed by the digital release on March 31st 2023.

ENARCHY is the debut album by Leipzig-based producer and singer Maria die Ruhe. It is the result of a deep and thorough look the
artist took into both her own inner workings and the world around her. In 14 tracks, she explores different types of energy,
oscillating between head and heart. Final destination of this sometimes painful process of self- exploration is the embodiment of
her own power and creativity; the realization, that she manifests her role as catalyst, healer, and fighter for freedom and equality
by reporting on her experiences. These songs are about nothing less than that. And you can also dance to them.
In a musical sense, Maria surpasses herself compared to previous releases. She is bolder, more explorative and dissolves genre
boundaries. Acoustic instruments like the cello and the piano unite playfully with electronic beats. Her expressive voice speaks and
sings from the lowest lows to the loftiest heights. Her self-disclosing lyrics communicate the deepest messages of the soul. One can
tell right away: something is at stake here, this is about a real human living through something real, and now reporting from the
front lines of the human experience.
With lines like „Things are changing all the fucking time“ (ENARCHY) she posts a reminder for the current zeitgeist and the resulting
global uncertainty. „Some things need to be destroyed before they can heal“ is a demand for openness towards change, even if it is
challenging, requires energy, and leaves behind some scars.
In ART IS THE ONLY REAL TRANSLATION OF LIVING FOR ME, Maria uses sentences like „I’ve been trying to please you, I got headaches
and I still don’t fit“ to express her desperation with existing structures of injustice and the lack of livability of the artist lifestyle.
„Ah, you’re an artist - and what do you do professionally?“ Everyone loves music and art! When, o when, will the understanding
follow that there need to be people who make this art as a central part of their lives?
Frustration takes turns with hope and a growing acceptance of the self. In EQUALISTA, Maria discusses antiquated conditions like the
inequality between the sexes in a kind of manifesto, with a simple proposal for solution: „Let’s both be selfish and raise our
energies, to create a whole world with all the things we need.“
In WE BELONG TO NEVER, Maria sings about the everyday horror of toxic relationships. Lines like „Disengagement and rage, I’ve become such a slave.“ express the despair of the emptiness that results from a lack of affection. She also describes treacherous
narcissistic manipulation: „You cut me small just to feel tall.“
In SKIN, she confesses: „I’m not as enough as everyone else.“ and describes the long and painful way from rejecting her own body
to loving herself unconditionally. „I hate what I feel, while I pretend to be free“ means she doesn’t want to be reduced down to
her body, doesn’t want to be seen as an instagrammable, thoroughly designed product; she wants to be acknowledged as an
individual.
In LOST, she poses a question that many are currently forced to ask themselves: „What do we do with all this solitude?“ Maybe
making use of the reclusion by exploring the shadow self. „Can you cope with the truth?“
The conclusion: energy is being freed up through the means of self-experience and living through the personal darkness -
ENARCHY. The realization: every human being is self-determined and should simply do what they feel. It is everyone’s right to
choose their own life’s path. Here, intuition serves as a signpost. This is both feminine and strong.
ENARCHY celebrates an embodied anarchy by working through the personal shadow and the genuine, healthy integration of the
struggle survived - not as a destructive rebellion, but as a testament of shameless, joyful self-empowerment.
„In the end, I want to be alive, because in reality, I’m free.“

Gayance joins forces with Rhythm Section for her debut album ‘Mascarade’ - a swaying dance that moves between poetic, soulful odes to the past, accounts of the Afro-diasporic feminine experience and playfully energetic dance floor grooves.

Mascarade is a collection of dancey, broken rhythms, interwoven with heartfelt stories and bright, unapologetic outpours of joy. In her own words, “It's the story of my 20's. I wanted to pay homage to this kid everybody knew, but not deeply. It's about taking back a power that is mine and was always in my hands...It's about making peace with the past and moving forward”.

Gayance (real name Aïsha Vertus) takes her alias from the Haitian creole word for joyfulness.Based in Amsterdam, born and raised in Montreal-Nord, she started as a DJ in 2013, and has toured the world with shows in Paris, Brooklyn, Marrakech, Berlin, Sao Paulo and more, bringing electrifying and contagious energy wherever she goes.

Her own production is influenced by underground UKG and the respective house scenes of Detroit and New York, with nods to the vivid, sun-soaked colours of Latin America. Shades of blues, jazz and gospel can also be heard in her newest project, pulling together styles from each corner of the world. Following her catalog of entirely self-released projects, Gayance announces her full-length debut album on Rhythm Section, bringing some fellow Montrealers along for the ride.

COLLECTION OF SIGH'S EARLY DEMOS, EP & RARITIES ON VINYL -
INCLUDES AN INTERVIEW & LINER NOTES COURTESY OF MAINMAN
MIRAI KAWASHIMA ON THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF THE JAPANESE
LEGENDS.
Cult Japanese black metal legends Sigh formed in 1989/90, featuring
mainman Mirai Kawashima, Satoshi Fujinami & Kazuki Ozeki
Following initial demos, Shinichi Ishikawa was brought into the band. It was following this shift that the band set about recording the masterpiece debut 'Scorn Defeat' for Euronymous' Deathlike Silence Productions, going on to become one of the country's greatest & most revered metal exports. With a journey through the strange & the psychedelic, incorporating a whole eclectic mix of genre styles & experimentation throughout their career, Sigh has remained a
vital creative force in the avantgarde field. However, at its core, Sigh has always remained true to its roots of old school metal.
'Eastern Darkness' contains a collection of Sigh's early rare works showing their swift musical evolution as well as the strong utilisation of keyboards in their compositional process throughout. The collection includes the band's legendary demo tapes, 'Desolation' & 'Tragedies', plus their 'Requiem For Fools' EP, along with the 'Far East Gate In Inferno' version of 'The Zombie Terror'. 'Eastern Darkness' is presented on the vinyl format & includes an interview with Mirai Kawashima about the early years of the band, along with his recollections of the origins of each title contained within the release, three decades on from Sigh's formation.

It is a huge honour to present the Disco Gospel 12”, curated and edited by Chicago's Marc Davis and Sadar Bahar. Featuring two under-the-radar disco / gospel fusion tracks that have been given a new lease of life courtesy of these masters of their craft.

We first came to know Marc through his always on-point Black Pegasus record label, which he’s been running since 2006. As a renowned international DJ, record collector, and an integral part of Chicago's underground music scene, we knew anything he sent our way was going to be serious and he didn’t disappoint. Joining forces with Sadar Bahar (Soul in the Hole), who is himself a gospel and disco legend and a DJ's DJ favourite across the globe, they dug deep and put us onto two absolute gems from their beloved collections. As DJs who play a wide range of genres, their ability to spot the real heat within any sound has placed them at the top of their game. As Sadar puts it, "We are always digging for records and these fit the criteria of disco and happen to be gospel”.

First up is the feel-good joint 'I'm So Happy' by Fountain of Life Joy Choir Under The Direction of Kevin Yancy. Originally released in 1978 on a subsidiary label of T.K. Productions entitled Gospel Roots, the clue is in the title with this one. It's an unadulterated, uplifting, joyous dancer. Marc and Sadar’s fizzing edit brings out the best elements of the song and extends them. Working the addictive vocal hooks and building the funky instrumental grooves produces a spirit-lifting mood that is bursting with enough energy to light a fire under any dancefloor.

'Optical Illusion' on the flip, takes the tempo down, but doesn’t let up on the vigour. It’s a driving, stomping anthem that features another lung-busting vocal performance. Working with a live recording of Rev. Charles H. Nicks and The Baptist Assembly Of Free Spirit Churches Mass Choir, this one proves to be the perfect accompaniment to the ecstatic vibe of the A-side. The duo has condensed and heightened the drama of the song and added some light-touch production elements to clean up and enhance the sound. We guarantee this will be filtering its way into the sets of discerning DJs worldwide.

Marc described the selections best when he succinctly put it like this, “We both knew these were two heaters on our first listen”.

We completely agree, and with recording and engineering contributions from Tone B. Nimble (Soul Is My Salvation) and Rahaan, here we have Chicago royalty creating an unmissable release that celebrates the crossover of dance music with the musical traditions of the church.

'Water Temple' is the debut album of the Berlin-based group Property. Comprised of Marijn Degenaar (NL) and Vivant de Non (AUS), the group use the theme of hydromancy to straddle the poetics of reverb from a post-punk perspective. The album wanders through dense end-of-world sensations without keeping away from piercing melodic instrumentation. As hazy as 'Water Temple' can get, Property just as easily trade the murky side of their post-punk sound for analogue synthesisers that feel almost celestial. Used to striking effect on 'Water Temple', the chorus-heavy bassline is interwoven with a strident melody that punctures the rhythm and accents the Neue Deutsche Welle energy that the pair play on at certain moments. Similarly, the vocals on 'Water Tempel' flirt with our cracked times from another angle, rendering a remarkable first transmission from this new duo. Foggy synthesisers fill the cavities of every track, though the driving leads ensure the ambience never overtakes the song-structures across the album. This tendency is best captured on the downer-anthem Blood Cube with its sharp drum machine rhythm, just as Clear Boys reprises this rowdy pop edge for a forceful album closer. The burning melancholy of 'Water Temple' is as shadowy as it is enlivening Track list: 1. Empty Leather Spell 2. Diet Of Worms 3. Water Tempel 4. Sea Wall 5. Blood Cube 6. Verbreek d Eed Niet 7. Het Oerslijm 8. Clear Boys