First part of a trilogy, Unforeseen Alliances is a meeting of the French artist Voiski aka Kartei (DEMENT3D, Silicate records, WT records) and the duo Deception Plan, Doryan Javan based in Paris and R. Hernandez (Historia and Violencia, Droid Behaviour) based in Los Angeles. The techno in its purest expression - On the A side, Voiski delivers a very strong deep techno track, perfect balance between mechanical drums and hypnotic melody : emotionally intense !!
One of the all-time classic ambient albums finally available on strictly limited edition 180gr vinyl. The vinyl edition of Substrata is released by Geir Jenssen's own label Biophon Records. It comes as a double gatefold album featuring the bonus track Laika (14:35). Biosphere is widely regarded as one of the legendary names in ambient / electronic music. Residing in Norway, near the Arctic Circle, he has found the focus to slowly and steadily create a self-contained aural universe, made up of reflective and immersive sound sculptures. For almost fifteen years he has released a string of critically acclaimed albums. Substrata, which marked Jenssen's embarkation towards an intensely minimal style, is not only often considered to be Jenssen's best work to date, but is also seen as one of the all time classic ambient albums. David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 1997: "The best ambient album I've heard in an ice age, an album of terrifying, desolate and all-enveloping beauty". Re-mastered by Stefan Betke @ Scape Mastering, Berlin. New artwork by David Coppenhall.
Exactly one year after Developer's 5 year anniversary release on Modularz which also was also celebrated in a special label night at Berlin's premiere techno club Berghain back in November 2015. He returns for is next ep named "Dispatches from LA" Developer went to his home city of LA over the summer 2016 to play a calendar of shows in the US and to record this ep from his 2nd studio in Los Angeles. Its more of his trademark sequenced based yet hypnotic sound with a bit more of analog gear used for this one.
Air Texture Vol. VI selected by Steffi and Martyn
The Air Texture Series asks two Producers/ Performers to select a double CD worth of unreleased music. The only guidance is the music should not be main floor bangers, other than that we get out of the way, allowing them autonomy over their selection. This time Steffi and Martyn were asked to step up. Exciting, since as residents at Berghain/Panorama Bar - two of the most important dancefloors in the world... how would two such respected artists approach our experimental ethos.
Limited to 500 copies
Pablo Gad Joins King Earthquake For This 2012 Lp Of Firing Uk Steppers.
Having already proven that he is capable of maintaining sonic quality and distinction over the course of a full original program, Chevel (a.k.a. Dario Tronchin) now makes his LP debut for Stroboscopic Artefacts. His other S.A. contributions (including the inaugural entry in the label's singular Monad series, the "One Month Off" EP, his participation to the label's five-year retrospective series) have already hinted that a more complete exposition of his unique inner world would surface, and here it is at last.
Over the course of his young career, Chevel has gained a mastery over several compositional elements: Polaroid-like slow melodic fades, sharp ricocheting beats, and simply making one's headphones feel like a viable means of physical transportation. All of these elements come into play shortly after the needle hits the grooves of (Track A1), a euphoric introductory track marked by a spectral panning sequence and by beats chopped with a culinary expert's sense of elegance. The drum kit sounds that feature throughout are used sparely but - either because of this or in spite of this - provide maximum impact upon the listener's nervous system. The almost 'far Eastern' use of 'block' percussion on (Tracks A2 and B1) perfectly complements the synthetic sheen produced by fuzz distortion, radio static and bandpass-filtered sound bites, taking us to a terrain where a palette of decay effects provides just as much aesthetic inspiration as the presence of technological advancement.
There is more than enough humor and playfulness at work here, too, helping to once again banish the persistent stereotype of the modern techno producer as a sterile technician: the queasy melody line, sliced-and-diced whistling and gelatinous bounce of (Track D2) evoke a child's wonderment at playtime more than they do the rarefied rigour of the laboratory. The less pulsating numbers like (Track C3) and the closing (Track D3) will engage the listener as well, being like short audio films of abiogenesis (i.e. spontaneous generation of life from 'non-living' material) taking place. These tracks are not so much 'interludes' or contemplative retreats from the action as they are enhancers of it, utilizing fluttering cycles of melody to engage in a kind of conversation with the more driving tracks. As to the 'driving' tracks themselves: the places that they drive the listener to are satisfyingly beyond customary experience.
In other words, despite Chevel's keeping the sonic toolkit and overall atmosphere consistent from track to track, there is a rich variety in the emotional affectivity on display here. The net effect is like a dream state that leaves strong impressions even though one can't pinpoint exactly why they are doing so (and which leaves one wanting to dive back into the dream pool and experience something similar again.) This is a talent that unifies the diverse constellation of Stroboscopic Artefacts producers, and one that makes Chevel in particular one to continue watching, listening to, and experiencing.
Wire (USA/Germany/UK) - ''Very intriguing, can/'t wait to dive in.''
Pitchfork (USA) - "Nice use of space, though do find the atmosphere a little one-note. Percussion really pops."
RBMA - "Thanks for reaching out. Having a listen now and the album sounds really good. Happy to give it a shout on RBMA Twitter whenever is best for you."
Paramount Artists (UK) - "20/10 top effort!"
NTS Radio (UK) - ''Nice IDM music with fine textures and bass frequencies..''
Groove (Germany) - ''Very interesting delicate structures. Suggested for review in Groove.''
Exclaim! (Canada) - "I like this. I'll float it to my team and I'll let you know if anyone's interested in covering it."
Big Up Magazine (USA) - "Absolutely epic album."
Vicious Magazine (Spain) - "Great sounds, for our september issue, thx a lot!"
Little White Earbuds (USA) - ''Fantastic album from Chevel. I have unfortunately been at work today without my usual headphones but even listening on very poor quality ones, the rich sonic mastery comes through. Can't wait to get home and listen to this properly.''
Cone Magazine (UK) - "Thanks for sending this through. Looks great, and always interested about a new Stroboscopic release. I'll let you know when something goes up."
Rockets Audio starts the saga with 4 finest minimal house trackers by Matheiu, Denis Kaznacheev and the master trio Wareika. A rocket (from Italian rocchetto "bobbin" is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle that obtains thrust from a rocket engine. Rocket engine exhaust is formed entirely from propellant carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction and push rockets forward simply by expelling their exhaust in the opposite direction at high speed, and can therefore work in the vacuum of space.
In fact, rockets work more efficiently in space than in an atmosphere. Multistage rockets are capable of attaining escape velocity from Earth and therefore can achieve unlimited maximum altitude. Compared with airbreathing engines, rockets are lightweight and powerful and capable of generating large accelerations. To control their flight,
rockets rely on momentum, airfoils, auxiliary reaction engines, gimballed thrust, momentum wheels, deflection of the exhaust stream, propellant flow, spin, and/or gravity.
Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th century China. Significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology for the Space Age, including setting foot on the Earth's moon. Rockets are now used for fireworks, weaponry, ejection seats, launch vehicles for artificial satellites, human spaceflight, and space exploration.
SOUND rockets are the most common type of high power rocket, typically creating a high speed pitch by the wave of rythm with an oxilator. The stored delay can be a simple pressurized detune or a single filter delay that disassociates in the presence of a curve (EQ + FILTER ), two hats that spontaneously react on contact (RANDOMIZER), two snares that must be ignited to react, a solid combination of effects with oxidizer (solid GROOVE), or solid fuel with liquid oxidizer (hybrid FILTER BAND DELAY). Chemical rockets store a large amount of energy in an easily released form, and can be very dangerous. However, careful design, testing, construction and use minimizes risks.
Shovel Knight began as a modest, yet highly promising Kickstarter project in March 2013. Billed as 'a groundbreaking love letter to 8 bits!' by Indie developer Yacht Club Games, this 2D side-scrolling platform game released in June 2014 to universal praise and accolades. Fans and industry professionals praised Shovel Knight for its charming retro-2D visuals, humorous story, fun characters and strong gameplay design, which all came together to offer a game that is nostalgic yet very modern. The efforts of Yacht Club Games paid off when Shovel Knight was won the prestigious 'Best Independent Game' award at The Game Awards 2014. The game's chiptune soundtrack, composed by Jake Kaufman and Manami Matsumae, is integral to the game's modern-retro identity and has been similarly praised for its outstanding arrangements, memorable melodies and strong technical composition. This definitive soundtrack contains all music from the original Shovel Knight game released in June 2014, with a vinyl tracklist crafted by Jake Kaufman himself. The package cover and inner-gatefold have been designed exclusively for the soundtrack by Hitoshi Ariga; an interview with co-composer Manami Matsumae; and character artwork from the game.
The first record on Unterwegs sees the forces of two Bristolian producers: Decka and Other Form, combined on a split EP.
Decka's tracks are formed with pulsating, mind bending synth trips making you lose yourself into staggering locked grooves; both are killer dance floor weapons in their own right.
Other Form brings exquisitely produced, earth-shuddering artifacts to the B side. Concentrated in dark and heavy low end, both tracks show off Other Form's eloquent sound design and ability to sustain tension.
Top-compilation Des Londoner Labels Houndstooth, Das 26 Künstler Um Einen Musikalischen Beitrag, Angelehnt An Das Apokalyptisch-klaustrophobische Gedicht "the Hollow Men" Von T.s. Eliot Von 1925, Bat. Die Tracks Erschienen Bereits Anfang 2018 In Digitaler Form, Seitdem Wird Nach Einem Physischen Tonträger Gefragt, Der Jetzt Einen Zusätzlichen, Exklusiven Bonustrack Enthält. Stilistisch Erinnern Die Werke An Electronic Listening-acts Der 1990er (artificial Intelligence, Future Sound Of London, Global Communication). Dark Music For Dark Times. "a Work Of Pure Desolation, An Echo From A Point Of No Return." - Pitchfork
Top-compilation Des Londoner Labels Houndstooth, Das 26 Künstler Um Einen Musikalischen Beitrag, Angelehnt An Das Apokalyptisch-klaustrophobische Gedicht "the Hollow Men" Von T.s. Eliot Von 1925, Bat. Die Tracks Erschienen Bereits Anfang 2018 In Digitaler Form, Seitdem Wird Nach Einem Physischen Tonträger Gefragt, Der Jetzt Einen Zusätzlichen, Exklusiven Bonustrack Enthält. Stilistisch Erinnern Die Werke An Electronic Listening-acts Der 1990er (artificial Intelligence, Future Sound Of London, Global Communication). Dark Music For Dark Times. "a Work Of Pure Desolation, An Echo From A Point Of No Return." - Pitchfork
French producer LB aka Labat returns with a new LP named “Fake Memories” on his own label Alélah Records. He surprises us with some more Hip-Hop and R’n’B music, liberating his love for jazz rythms and harmonics.
Columbus, Ohio may not be spoken of in the same glowing terms as Detroit when it comes to '90s Techno from the Mid-West. However, the Columbus-based 21/22 Corp label was responsible for some of Future Primitive's favourite techno from this era. We've tracked down the multi-genre 'president and production manager' behind 21/22 Corp, Charles Noel, for our next release. Formed of two exclusive productions, this Archetype 12" is the essence of techno at its most individual
The latest release on Francis Harris' Scissor & Thread label out of Brooklyn is another exercise in deep and meditative atmospheres. The label, comprised of a tight knit collective of multi-faceted composers, vocalists and instrumentalists, always strives to develop new projects based on a shared aesthetic, and this five track EP is both boundary pushing and fully synchronized with the label's approach. With Melquíades' 'Blue Caves' Melbourne based Composer and Sound Designer Alexander Albrecht presents his solo debut EP following on from the 'Tidal River' album he released as part of the Albrecht La'Brooy duo. The title track 'Blue Caves' is a skittering, weightless exploration of space, seemingly built around lush field recordings and fragments of melody developing out of the ether. 'Avlemonas' flows from a similar source, but crystallizes around an off kilter rhythm and occasional subby bass, balanced against swooping pads and piano motifs. 'Morning Breeze' seems to revel in the evocative nature of its title, with hand played percussion backing more wistful, emotive piano sketches and wandering bass notes, before the track settles into a hypnotic groove. Label head Francis Harris provides another take on the track for his Re-form version, a more dancefloor aimed excursion that draws deeply from the classic deep house of the New York and Detroit masters. Ending the relases is 'Patio', which drifts back towards the ambient territories of the opening tracks, with exquisite, understated instrumentation and a melancholic yet elated vibe.
Taciturn Manner is Reggy van Oers's first full length on his own Telemorph imprint.
Pertained in a period of strained self reflection, several field recordings have become the core upon which the album has been created. A persistant continuous movement throughout the elements of the tracks causes a certain constrasting tension and gradually transforms into lush cinematic textures.
An intricate and mesmerizing journey, full of rich and surprising details, resulting in a rather emotional expression of his constraint style and coherent distinct sound.
In Silent Series pools together four innovative tracks of deep, textural and explorative Techno Music from four of this era's most inventive Artists: Sigha, SNTS, Dadub and Positive Centre.
Mastered by Daniele Antezza @ Dadub Studios - Artwork by Maria Mendes
Positive Centre / In Silent Series Bio:
Positive Centre is the Experimental Techno alias of British born Artist Mike Jefford. Currently located in Lisbon after a long period of living and producing music in Berlin. Positive Centre combines analog machines with tape and effects processing to create hypnotic and textural techno music, with releases on Our Circula Sound, Stroboscopic Artefacts, SNTS, Pole Group and Leyla.
The first of three Positive Centre releases came in 2013 on Sigha's Our Circula Sound label concluding with his debut album In Silent Series, of which his label takes its name. Positive Centre established the In Silent Series label in 2017 to promote and cultivate releases that develop the potential of textural sounds that reflect sonic landscapes.
The First Release was Positive Centre's Reassembly EP - A Record made of reconstructed tracks from his Our Circula Sound back catalog that featured a remix of 'Hiding Knives' from SHXCXCHCXSH. This was followed by the 'Myths' EP by Mastering Engineer and one half of Techno Duo Dadub: Daniele Antezza under his Inner8 moniker.
With ISS003, Positive Centre draws on the Artists that have played a hand in his previous releases by bringing Sigha, SNTS and Dadub together onto this Various Artists EP.
The first release from Heartless on Steve Bicknell's 6dimensions. Acid tinged techno lives throughout the EP. Hazy modular sequences, sizzling precision crushed atop of a constant kick drum creating an organic aesthetic.
Impulse Model exudes human emotion, the EP's emotional depth lies beneath its techno construct within coarse and bruised production which gives the release a confidently imperfect aura. The production process for Heartless is a 'way of absorbing things that have happened and completely escaping from them', ultimately Heartless has composed an EP that condones escapism whilst the listener stays firmly rooted in their emotional state.
Support from:
Steve Bicknell, Ben Klock, Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Derrick May, Francos Kevorkian, Function, Luke Slater, SLAM, Oliver Ho, Dj Nobu, Wata Igarashi, James Ruskin, Dimi Agelis, Phase, Ben Sims, Paul Mac and more.......
Taciturn Manner is Reggy van Oers's first full length on his own Telemorph imprint.
Pertained in a period of strained self reflection, several field recordings have become the core upon which the album has been created. A persistant continuous movement throughout the elements of the tracks causes a certain constrasting tension and gradually transforms into lush cinematic textures.
An intricate and mesmerizing journey, full of rich and surprising details, resulting in a rather emotional expression of his constraint style and coherent distinct sound.
he second time around: fred p aka fp-oner is back on mule musiq with another record that demonstrates the many cosmic qualities of his deeper shade of soul.
it is the second part of a trilogy that features his detailed sonic landscapes that are full of mystery and power. while his last fp-oner album 5' was leaning more to the jazzier, relaxed and atmospherically side of his artistically deep house expressions, the runner-up grinds even deeper into spherical worlds that enhance deep meditative highs.
they are not made for club use only. in fact all eleven compositions work also massively without big speakers. again the new york city native that is working on his very own music for almost 20 years produced a journey inwards that is compelling, mesmerising and enchanting.
you find cosmic dust in it as well as dark entropies, percussive power, sweet seducing melodies and rolling bass power that shakes your inner and outer profoundly. the tracks are listening to names like awakening co creator', alternate reality' or adjusted perception' and the album title 6' stands for a meaning,
that fp-oner describes like this: 6 represents the number of man and his or her limitations, weakness and imperfections.
this body of work examines and looks towards one awakening. adapting to a new way of being creating an alternative and reaping a higher state of mind and being. enhanced by love and serenity, satisfaction and joy.'
all tunes are produced around the world, as he is a guy who never stops feeling in sound. that is why he caries his studio around to get up in the middle of the night or right in the morning after a sweaty party to transfer his emotions directly into sound. the result is massively powerful music with slow, intimate passages for treacly melodies, stirring synth-lines and little rhythmical quaintness.
an almost lyrical house journey that works like a musical sculpture in which organic machine grooves float along keys on air. the evolution of the each track is impeccable and their power grows with any new listening session. fp-oner himself characterizes his art like that: 'my music is designed to enhance deep meditative, or altered states, to allow the listener to personally connect to the creator of all that exists in the universe.
my music style is to first create a foundation using cyclic, polyrhythmic music, then build several layers of improvised leads and rhythms that allows you to transcend time and space... we have memories of past lives that reverberate in our hearts like echoes from ancient caves'.
there is nothing more to add, except that those who do not know fp-oner so far should know that he danced in his younger years in legendary new york city clubs like the red zone, sound factory or tunnel to dj sets of larger-than-life selectors like david morales, frankie knuckles or danny tenaglia.
during those nights he learned that sometimes less is more. and that he should rather listen to your heart and soul, then to the susurrus of the music market. most of the eps and albums that he produced under his other monikers like fred p or black jazz consortium have been released via his very own label soul people music, which exists since more then ten years.
as fred p he also dropped 12inches on jus-ed's underground quality imprint as well as on toshiya kawasaki's mule musiq label. for the latter he now is working on a trilogy under the fp-oner alias. this little paper introduces the second part of it. the final one will hit your heart and soul in an unwritten future. whatever circumstances of life will be around by then: you can be sure that fp-oner will transfigure them into a dynamic emotional and spiritual terrain.
BARNT - geboren in den 70ern, Kind der 90er.
Seine Klassenkameraden hörten Grunge, während er Techno studierte, als die gleichen Klassenkameraden dann Techno entdeckten, hatte er sich bereits die HipHop DNA in Form von ITF und DMC Meisterschaften vorgenommen und als alle nach Berlin gingen um - Minimal' zu zelebrieren, blieb er in Köln und begab sich auf eine Exkursion in die Geschichte deutscher Elektronik- und Rockmusik - stets angezogen von den zwei Hauptmerkmalen dieser Ära: Präzision und Freies Spiel. Diese musikalischen Schlüsselpunkte und seine nun schon zwei Jahrzehnte dauernde DJ Erfahrung sind die Basis für die Formel aus Pathos, berechnendem Dilettantismus und Dance!oor-Funktionalität, die alle seine Produktionen kennzeichnet - von seinem Beitrag für Cologne Tape auf der EP Render, der ersten Veröentlichung auf seinem mit Jens-Uwe Beyer und Crato betriebenen Label Magazine, bis hin zu dem berüchtigten Geen. Render und seine Debut EP What Is A Number, That A Man May Know It wurden 2010 direkt zu Underground Hits und die Platten sind seitdem begehrte Sammlerstücke. Zu dieser Zeit war Barnt schon ein etablierter Teil der Musikszene Kölns, der Stadt in der er zunächst sein Biologiestudium abschloss und darauf noch ein Kunststudium folgen liess, was erneut die beiden Pole ,Präzision' und ,Freies Spiel' in seiner Entwicklung vereint. In der fruchtbaren Atmosphäre der Stadt fühlt er sich noch immer wohl und entwickelt von hier aus seinen eigentümlichen Stil weiter, der ihn bereits vom Robert Johnson zum Trouw, vom Montreux Jazz Festival zum Mutek und vom Berghain zum Burning Man gebracht hat.BARNT - geboren in den 70ern, Kind der 90er. Seine Klassenkameraden hörten Grunge, während er Techno studierte, als die gleichen Klassenkameraden dann Techno entdeckten, hatte er sich bereits die HipHop DNA in Form von ITF und DMC Meisterschaften vorgenommen und als alle nach Berlin gingen um - Minimal' zu zelebrieren, blieb er in Köln und begab sich auf eine Exkursion in die Geschichte deutscher Elektronik- und Rockmusik - stets angezogen von den zwei Hauptmerkmalen dieser Ära: Präzision und Freies Spiel. Diese musikalischen Schlüsselpunkte und seine nun schon zwei Jahrzehnte dauernde DJ Erfahrung sind die Basis für die Formel aus Pathos, berechnendem Dilettantismus und Dance!oor-Funktionalität, die alle seine Produktionen kennzeichnet - von seinem Beitrag für Cologne Tape auf der EP Render, der ersten Veröentlichung auf seinem mit Jens-Uwe Beyer und Crato betriebenen Label Magazine, bis hin zu dem berüchtigten Geen. Render und seine Debut EP What Is A Number, That A Man May Know It wurden 2010 direkt zu Underground Hits und die Platten sind seitdem begehrte Sammlerstücke.Zu dieser Zeit war Barnt schon ein etablierter Teil der Musikszene Kölns, der Stadt in der er zunächst sein Biologiestudium abschloss und darauf noch ein Kunststudium folgen liess, was erneut die beiden Pole ,Präzision' und ,Freies Spiel' in seiner Entwicklung vereint. In der fruchtbaren Atmosphäre der Stadt fühlt er sich noch immer wohl und entwickelt von hier aus seinen eigentümlichen Stil weiter, der ihn bereits vom Robert Johnson zum Trouw, vom Montreux Jazz Festival zum Mutek und vom Berghain zum Burning Man gebracht hat.
LP with Gatefold Sleeve and silver hotfoil spine. Short info: Nearing its first birthday, Other People is celebrating the only way it knows how: Work. The label has put out new material every Sunday since it launched with last year's Trust compilation, and the culminating Work comp doesn't break that streak-consisting almost entirely of new material from Other People's artist roster, and a few remixes from some special guests. Work is not, however, an uncooked mash of music. It's sequencing is deliberate and its selection purposefully not encompassing. In fact, Work is more an album than anything else. Kicking off the affair is Soul Keita, whose roots run back to the days of Nicolas Jaar's first label, Clown & Sunset. Dave Harrington follows with a cover of the Nick Drake song 'Things Behind The Sun' with the singer Tamara. His amorphous chords flow right into the tight groove of VISUALS' 'A Pixel', produced by Nico and featuring some guitar by Dave. Darkside also pay their dues with two unreleased tracks from their Psychic sessions-'What They Say' and 'Gone Too Soon'. Putting a nail in the coffin, German pyro-techno duo Ancient Astronaut do battle with a troupe of remixers. The first comes in snarling at the hands of Powell. The second builds gently with the subtle touch of Jenilek. And last comes a deadly dub mix by Francis Harris and Gabriel Hedrick. Work paid off.
Memory Remains unveils a deeply emotional and intimate Unknown Artist release, a record driven by feeling rather than form.
Shaped and refined through careful dancefloor testing across 2025, these tracks revealed a rare sensitivity: minimalist structures wrapped in warm grooves, gentle tension, and soulful, intimate vocals that connect on a subconscious level.
This is music that doesn’t demand attention. It breathes, resonates, and stays.
Free from names and narratives, the release invites the listener into a private emotional space, where sound speaks louder than identity.
The journey is visually completed by an original artwork from Alisa Kirik, capturing the same fragile beauty and timeless mood that defines this release on Memory Remains.
April Records proudly presents the new album from Stockholm Stockholm-based bassist and composer Jon Henriksson - a confident and flexible statement that deepens his place within contemporary Scandinavian jazz. Following the success of his 2023 debut Harmonia which placed second in Orkesterjournalen s Golden Album " readers " poll, Henriksson returns with music that foregrounds collective interplay, shifting forms, and a strong compositional voice. Born in Gothenburg and now active across Sweden and Europe, Henriksson has collaborated and toured with artists including Lars Jansson, Hakan Broström, Erik Söderlind, Klas Lindquist, Jonas Kullhammar and Christina von Bülow. Alongside leading his own ensembles, he remains a soughtsought-after bassist in a wide range of projects, balancing a deep connection to the jazz tradition with a modern, exploratory approach. Shapeshifter is built around a core quartet of tenor saxophone, piano, double bass and drums, expanded with guitar on three tracks and trombone on two. The album moves fluidly between contrasting moods, from forceful and driving to reflective and restrained, with each piece shaped by the musicians " intuition and responsiveness. The title reflects Henriksson s compositional philosophy: allowing roles, textures, and forms to evolve as the music unfolds.The ensemble brings together long long-standing musical relationships. Pianist Rasmus Sorensen and Henriksson have collaborated since their studies at Skurups Folkhögskola (Henriksson is a longstanding member of Sorensen s own trio), while drummer Jonas Bäckman forms part of a well well-established rhythm section partnership with the bassist across numerous projects including the Britta Virves Trio. Saxophonist Karl Karl-Martin Almqvist, a member of the Danish Radio Big Band, completes the quartet, with guitarist Pelle von Bülow and trombonist Rasmus Holm joining the session shortly before recording to expand the album s sonic palette where the music called for it. Originally conceived as a quartet album, Shapeshifter took its final shape in the lead lead-up to recording as additional instrumental colours were introduced organically. The piece Toninho , a tribute to Brazilian guitarist and composer Toninho Horta, features acoustic guitar and subtle wordless vocals, reflecting melodic influences that sit naturally within the album s contemporary jazz framework. Across the record, space, pacing, and interaction remain central. Rather than forcing constant motion, the music allows ideas to develop with clarity and intent, resulting in an album that highlights Henriksson s growing assurance as a composer and bandleader, while keeping the collective at its core.
WRWTFWW Records is very happy to announce the release of Renga, the new collaborative album from Gak Sato and Tadahiko Yokogawa - available on limited edition LP (300 copies worldwide !) housed in a heavyweight sleeve with inside out print of a beautiful artwork by Aoi Huber Kono.
Renga (??, linked poem) is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ku (?), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 morae (sound units or syllables per line) are linked in succession by multiple poets.
Inspired by the traditional Japanese poetic form of linked verses, Renga unfolds as a fluid 10-track journey spanning ambient, jazz, breakbeats, electronica, environmental music, techno, cinematic, library music, and musique concrète. Much like its literary namesake, the album is built on intuition and shared momentum, each piece emerging from what came before while opening new paths forward. Beats appear, disappear, then reassemble, while textures shift between organic warmth and electronic abstraction. The result is music that resists fixed categorization, existing somewhere between known subgenres and free-form exploration.
The album's visual counterpart, created by Aoi Huber Kono, mirrors the sensibility of the music. It's elegant, modern, and quietly expressive, extending the idea of linked forms from sound into image.
Points of interest
- For fans of ambient, experimental electronic music, jazz-inflected compositions, breakbeats, techno, cinematic soundtracks, library music, musique concrète, genre-blurring sonic exploration, linked verses, and dark blue.
- A unique collaboration between Gak Sato and Tadahiko Yokogawa, inspired by the Japanese poetic form of linked verses.
- Presented on limited edition LP housed in a heavyweight sleeve, edition of 300 copies.
- Artwork by acclaimed visual artist Aoi Huber Kono, extending the album's concept of interconnection across disciplines.
Death Is Not The End present the first volume in a survey of a form of Brazilian country music known as música caipira ("hillbilly music") - a stripped-back forerunner to música sertaneja, the Brazilian equivalent to US country & western which in it's contemporary form has come to dominate the domestic music industry in recent decades. This collection covers some of the earliest recordings made by the pioneering folklorist Cornélio Pires at the end of the 1920s, through to records from the 30s, 40s & 50s and the beginning of the 60s.
Somewhat rooted in Portuguese troubadour folk traditions, música caipira is typically performed by a duo singing in parallel thirds and sixths, drawing upon a Portuguese-Brazilian style known as moda de viola - with the viola being the viola caipira, a Brazilian-style ten-string guitar that is the core instrument of the music. Born out of the "outback"-style region in north-eastern Brazil, these songs tell stories of pain, love, loss & betrayal - often backed by homemade guitars using invented tunings. Away from the polished pop country & western-stylings of the sertaneja, these recordings could be viewed as the Brazilian equivalent to the roots music of the American dustbowl or Appalachia.
Le Futur c’est la drogue, which should here be translated as The Future Is the Drug, is not to be read as a promise, but as a statement of fact. The present is no longer an experience, but pure consumption. Life itself has taken the form of a dependency.
With this sixth album, Christophe Clébard goes straight to the point, driven by a free and repetitive form of writing, stripped of any syntactic rigidity. Words strike like balls against a wall, revealing darker zones of his mind where guilt, fear, and existential anxiety coexist.
The sound composition, equally minimal, sustains a dense and obsessive mental space, a vortex in which trance appears as the only escape. Driving drum machines, relentlessly hammered electronic loops, and a battered synthesizer, his music unfolds within a physical, strangely hypnotic synth-punk aesthetic that hits viscerally.
The Future Is the Drug is his sixth album.
As collaborative projects often do, 33 has in time found a more fixed form, a kind of structure that turned it from a loose collection of collaborators gravitating around founders Bill John Bultheel and Alexander Iezzi into something resembling more of a traditional band. Not that there is anything conventional in their creative process tho, nor in the music itself… Nontheless Tripolar - their second album and first for Haunter - seems to take them closer to song territory than ever before.
The (progressive) graduation of multi-instrumentalist Cem Dukkha and vocalist/clarinet player Ivan Cheng from collaborators to full-time members has brought 33 to a more refined awareness of their possibilities as a creative unit, although their compositional process has retained a high level of spontaneity and musical madness. Tripolar was in fact assembled by editing hours of improvisation that Bultheel, Iezzi and Dukkah recorded with no specific endgame in mind. The sessions saw them exchange a variety of acoustic, electronic and electric musical instruments: percussions, guitars, strings, piano, hurdy gurdy, synthesizers and even CDJs as a tool of live sampling manipulation.
By molding the pieces into what they are now, the band managed to concoct some beautiful vignettes of contradictory mental and emotional states, as sonically playful as a renaissance fair happening within a broken timestream. Cheng’s lyrical and vocal contributions helped them coalesce even further into proper songs, adding a melodic presence that’s at once seductive and uncanny. But vocal duties are often ceded to guests, namely Danish pop-neoclassicist Astrid Sonne, Kenyan metal guru Lord Spikeheart, Irish goth raconteur Olan Monk and Japanese body-poet Golin.The amount of different sounds arranged into each of the tracks produces a unique sense of awe and bewilderment, a testament to the incredible talent and craft the musicians have employed into putting together such a broad range of influences and approaches into a coherent and extremely effective musical journey.
An equally erratic thematic thread seems to run through all the tracks, one ultimately preoccupied with mental health and its ramifications. Without turning the project into a concept album, 33 and their collaborators have sprinkled it with references to personality disorders and mental conditions that are all too relevant to the contemporary age, reflecting on the lineage of human inner life. A wide display of lyrical and musical tools is employed to explore these themes, ranging from Sonne’s expressionist depiction of ADHD in the opener, to Cheng’s queer-themed reinvention of an Irish murder ballad in closing track ‘Babymusicc’. Tracing lateral trajectories for introspection, Tripolar is not only highly captivating, but it ultimately sounds esoteric in the best possible way: progressively revealing layer after layer of incredible aural magic, its true meaning living in the form and in its manic scope of energies.
Al Wahem (“The Illusion”) is the new full-length release by PRAED, the Swiss–Lebanese duo of Raed Yassin and Paed Conca. Recorded between Beirut and Berlin, the album returns to the group’s central aesthetic: a rhythm-driven weave of Egyptian shaabi, electronics, improvisation and the gritty pulse of street-level sound. Nearly twenty years into the project, PRAED have distilled their approach into four pieces that subtly shift the listener’s bearings, reordering grooves and fragments until familiar elements take on new identities.
The twenty-minute title track sets the tone. A tightly interlocking two-drum foundation from Pascal Semerdjian and Ayman Zebdawi shapes a structure that expands steadily: synth figures branch outward, clarinet and bass lines act as internal guideposts, and brief vocal calls from Yassin and guest singer Mayssa Jallad sit inside the texture rather than leading it. PRAED’s shaabi keyboard language is present, but the duo stretch it outward, building tension and movement through patient accumulation.
“Al Hathayan,” at 4:46, tightens the focus. Conca’s clarinet moves between melodic arcs and clipped rhythmic gestures, threading through electronic loops that surface and disappear. Zebdawi’s percussion adds a raw, tactile quality, placing acoustic patterns and electronics in direct conversation. The piece acts as a bridge between the album’s two long-form compositions.
Side B begins with “Al Maraya,” a thirteen-minute piece that relies on electronic, bass and clarinet interplay. The atmosphere nods to the breadth of PRAED Orchestra!, but remains anchored in the duo’s rhythmic foundations. Rather than building mass, the layering creates a sense of depth, as if new spaces were opening inside the groove.
The album closes with “Assarab,” featuring keyboardist Amr Said. Semerdjian and Zebdawi again form a dual percussive axis, while synths hover between melody and pulse, and themes recur in widening circles rather than building vertically. The porous boundary between electronic and acoustic sources — processed clarinet mistaken for a sequencer, rhythmic figures springing from live drums — is where the album’s theme of “illusion” shows itself most clearly.
Al Wahem follows a long arc: early releases on Annihaya, a key appearance on Ruptured Sessions Vol. 5 – Live at Radio Lebanon (2013), later albums on Akuphone, and the large-scale PRAED Orchestra! documented on Morphine Records. This new Ruptured/Annihaya co-release brings the duo back to a concentrated format, reorganizing their familiar materials with renewed clarity and intent.
Warehouse Find!
Introducing Red D, the Belgian DJ and producer, one half of FCL (alongside San Soda), long standing club promoter (since 1992), owner of We Play House and general all round good guy. With releases on Ferrispark and Delusions Of Grandeur (with MCDE), remixes on Eskimo, regular sets at the likes of Panorama Bar and an RA Mix under his belt you could say things are falling into place nicely. On top of all this his FCL project continues to go from strength to strength with a new
EP dropping soon on Kai 'KZR' Alce's highly regarded NDATL label. When he sent over two originals for Freerange it was love at first listen as the simple, warm beats and emotive chord stabs of title track Chez oozed from the speakers. This sounded to me like house music in it's purest form, from the days when the focus was on a feeling rather than complex sounds or technological
trickery. And the proof is in the pudding with this one as you can feel the dance floor go into some kind of collective bubble of love whenever you play it. The second original follows drawing you into a false sense of security with familiar 707 beats and gentle pads before taking a left turn. Appropriately titled Into Darkness the blissful vibes of the intro begin to fall away as the
track reaches a breakdown and we're treated to the rudest of Chi-Town basslines taking us down a somewhat less wholesome path. Flipping over we're treated to two Jacob Korn remixes, one of each of the originals and if the A side is the good cop, we can trust the Uncanny Valley regular to deliver some pure badness on the flip. His Remix of Chez is clearly inspired by his studio hardware as you can hear the improvised and 'live'
sounding arrangement, the machines taking on a life of their own as things twist and turn in a spontaneous and unpredictable way. A rattling white noise pulse drives the rhythm whilst bubbling synths add some lightness to the pummeling
kick. Into Darkness gets the Korn treatment next and here he puts it right through the sonic mangler, tape saturation distorting the mix to within an inch of it's life. Jacob puts the focus on the bassline of the original, keeping things simple at
first before winding in layers of Juno chords and the bleepiest of synth lines resulting in the finest of raw, bassment house jams.
6 LPS, DVD, 40 PAGE BOOK, CASSETTE
AND FIGURINE USB DRIVE
Endless Pain
(Swirl vinyl with original artwork & inner sleeve)
Pleasure To Kill
(Splatter vinyl with original artwork & inner sleeve)
Terrible Certainty
(Splatter vinyl with original artwork & inner lyric sleeve)
Extreme Aggression
(Half/half vinyl with original artwork & inner lyric sleeve)
Coma Of Souls
(Splatter vinyl with original artwork & inner lyric sleeve)
Renewal
(Swirl vinyl with original artwork & inner lyric sleeve)
Some Pain Will Last DVD
Containing ‘From The Vault’ mini documentary, plus two previously unreleased audio live concerts and an Andy Sneap remix of Live In East Berlin 1990.
Formed in Essen, Germany in 1984, Kreator are arguably the most influential and successful European thrash metal band ever, like many of their European speed metal brethren, Kreator fused Metallica's thrash innovations with Venom's proto-black metal imagery. Often credited with helping pioneer death metal and black metal by containing several elements of what was to become those genres. The band has achieved worldwide sales of over two million units for combined sales of all their albums, making them one of the best-selling German thrash metal bands of all time. The band’s style has changed several times over the years, from a Venom-inspired speed metal sound, later moving in to thrash metal, and including a period of transitioning from thrash to industrial metal and gothic metal throughout the 1990s. In the early 2000s, Kreator returned to their classic thrash sound, which has continued to the present. Their last studio album ‘Gods Of Violence’ charted top twenty in ten countries, including a number one slot in their home country of Germany.
Repress incoming!
Following the success of two collaborative releases (EMC “The Show”/2008 and Ace & Edo G “Arts & Entertainment” /2009), Masta Ace joins forces with the metal faced MF Doom for Son of Yvonne, a highly personal concept album that celebrates the life and legacy of Ace’s recently departed Mother. Like his 2004 landmark Disposable Arts, Son of Yvonne is meticulously constructed with stories, settings, and characters that resonate with flesh and bone humanity. Interstitial vignettes provide a thematic backbone to the experience, and each track complements and completes the previous to form a narrative whole: a sometimes visceral, sometimes nostalgic slice of Ace’s young life in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Entirely underscored by MF Doom’s iconic Special Herbs instrumentals, Son of Yvonne features the Juice Crew general Big Daddy Kane, new comers Pav Bundy (The Bundies), Reggie B and even MF Doom on the mic. It’s Masta Ace’s no frills flow, however, that looms largest above the dusty samples and digger loops that define Doom’s production. Ace’s photo-realistic rhymes about stick-up kids, spraycan artists and wack emcees add extra gravity to his already celebrated reputation as “truly an under-appreciated rap veteran and underground luminary” (Allmusic Guide). Like Eminem recalls in his 2008 autobiography The Way I Am, “Masta Ace had amazing storytelling skills. His thoughts were so vivid.” TRACKLIST: A1. DJ Ski's Intro A2. Ninteen Seventy Something A3. Son Of Yvonne B1. Da Pro B2. Store Frontin B3. Me & My Gang B4. Crush Hour feat Pav Bundy C1. Think I Am feat Big Daddy Kane & Mf Doom C2. Fresh Fest Reggie B C3. Hoe-Tel-leftovers C4. Slow Down D1. Home Sweet Home feat Pav Bundy D2. Dedication D3. I Did It D4. In Da Spot feat Milani The Artis D5. Outtakes
Accomplished trumpeter, composer, bandleader and educator, Kamal Abdul-Alim has been actively involved in creative music for decades. He has toured Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the United States. He has recorded with all kinds of bands, large and small, and performed in festivals all over the world. “He takes the postbop of the 50s and free-form jazz of the 60s and turns it into an even balance of fine textures. Alim, who is highly underrated, has one of the most beautiful tones and concepts of jazz. A master of improvisation, he knows the art of weaving different ideas, whether they stem from Manhattan’s lower East Side or Europe” (Hugh Wyatt, New York Daily News). “Dance” was recorded in 1983 but first released on vinyl in 1987. Rhythm section includes drummer Idris Muhammad. Original pressings are extremely rare and expensive. “Brotherhood” is a much sought after track on the jazz dance scene. There is a high demand for this title again on vinyl and pressings are limited to 1000 copies, all individually hand numbered.
Restock
Collateral Intelligence's Butterflies in Funerals is widescreen, sometimes dark, often hopeful electronica with one eye on the stars, but grounded in the sheer cathartic necessity of its creation.
The new moniker from Maltese wunderkind Neil "Acidulant" Hales, the album was formed during a turbulent period in the artist's life, when his father was seriously ill in hospital. Butterflies in Funerals is his way of expressing the complexity of emotion he was going through at the time.
"To me it all looked like a very dark movie," he says. "That's why the tracks are are at times cold or have a sad, emotional, or hopeful feeling."
Drawing on his impressive background in acid house and electro – with releases on Balkan Vinyl and Jack Trax – the album takes in mutant breakbeat, battle-scarred ambient, and tripped out 303 grooves, but pushes his sound further and deeper than ever before.
The album cover features specially designed artwork by rising star Fei Meng, who will be exhibiting at the Royal Society of British Artists later this year.
So in 2021 join Collateral Intelligence on a journey into the recesses of the soul, and emerge, purified, and ready for the rest of the trip.
Repress of the 10 year anniverssary vinyl reissue of “The Empyrean” By John Frusciante cut for the original analog tapes at Bernie Grundman’s mastering. includes hi res audio download card. THE EMPYREAN is the eighth solo album by JOHN FRUSCIANTE. It was originally released in January of 2009, reaching number 151 on the US Billboard 200, 105 on UK Albums Chart and number 7 on the Top Heatseekers. It contains contributions from RHCP bandmate FLEA and former guitarist of The Smiths Johnny Marr. John Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, composer, and producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He recorded five studio albums with them and was recently inducted into the ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME. Frusciante has an active solo career, having released twelve solo albums and five EPs; his recordings include elements ranging from experimental rock and ambient music to new wave and electronica. He has also recorded with numerous other artists, including the Mars Volta, for whom he was a studio guitarist (and occasional live performer) from 2002 until 2008; Josh Klinghoffer and Joe Lally, with whom he released two albums as Ataxia; and various collaborations with both Klinghoffer and Omar Rodríguez-López. He has also produced and/or recorded with Duran Duran, Wu-Tang Clan, Swahili Blonde, Black Knights, The Bicycle Thief, Glenn Hughes, Ziggy Marley, Johnny Cash, George Clinton, Johnny Marr, Dewa Budjana and others.
