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* Dom & Roland Productions, the label, has gone from strength to strength since its conception in 2006.
It Features Dom's new solo work and his collaborations with other visionary artists such as Noisia, Hive and Amon
Tobin. The label has continued to push sonic boundaries whilst staying true to it's ethos of 'not selling out'.

* BEACH BUM - DOM & ROLAND

There's someone on the beach playing a catchy picked out guitar riff. The waves are lapping. A surfer walks along the beach carrying their surfboard, their hair is blowing in the wind. They are thinking about how powerful and awesome the ocean is in it's contrast to the serene and quiet sunset beach, They like the guitar a lot!

* DRED SOUND - DOM & ROLAND

Big Sound! In a large warehouse in Kingston Jamaica, a kid turns up with his laptop and a keyboard full of playable samples. The kid's twisted some funk era breakbeats into gigantic proportions and is trying out song structure ideas whilst listening back on the the huge sub bass system. There are a lot of people sitting around, everyone stops to listen, they never heard anything like this. It's raw, and powerful, and they like it!

To happiness through simplicity. Rendering a very personal tribute to well understood minimalism, the same that is based on simplicity and conceptual refinement and that is adapted to the creation and musical production -respecting that electronic maximum canonical of "less is more" - in terms of its compositional process, instrumentation, mixing, effects, etc. 'Simple Things' can be danced throughout the night. It is a collection of tracks with punch, made from the clarity and personality that characterize Nacho Marco, susceptible to being played at very different times and places. Exhale, from beginning to end, a natural love towards the dancefloor. From the simplicity of the search for this objective, its author -in his Warm Studio in Valencia- has used different rhythm boxes -programmed internally- for each track in order to, also based on a raw mix - especially in percussion and basses - to provide the tracklist with a varied air -between digital and analogue- through which to enjoy traveling through deep-house, nu-disco, acid, etc. and, therefore, in funk, soul, jazz, etc. From Chicago to Valencia, passing through N.Y. and Detroit. And all this avoiding arguments and essays of style. From a maximum freedom of creation and enjoyment. Yes, we are facing a "100% Nacho Marco" job.

The KBCS are:

Lucas Kochbeck - Drums

Nicolas Börger - Keyboards

Lars Coelln - Guitars

Daniel Stritzke - Bass

The KBCS were born in the northern hemisphere under the zodiac sign of snowman. They sound like Föhr and nicely topped pizza, tight as thinly folded pizza boxes and with drums dry as flour that would nearly make you cough. But hotter. Laughing is part of their ritual to get into the zone. Even though some of them prefer Ph without coriander, they still won't order it online because of plastic waste.

The moon shone happily while they recorded their spiced up cinematic, funky & atmospheric lowdown grooves album.And since the polar star was missing, they headed for Venus instead. Luckily, they didn't keep it four-dimensional but had old friend and funk head Mr Flo Mega himself on keys and good vibes - things got really wicked from there. Few people were present and those who were are not entirely sure how it all happened or where it began. Some people say it was Roy, others blame it on the sauna. Fact is that the session took its own course and most people were smiling during the recordings.

Nobody knew then about the flamingo on the cover or why the bird at least looks like one. Hailing from Hamburg, Germany the KBCS not only love to record but also play around Europe. Be sure to welcome them with a Ph in your city and they will surely return the favor by taking you on a ride utilizing a special horse: the (space) funk lama.

The second release of Samulis own label continues the analog excursions and direction set on the debut release. All tracks are recorded live performances executed with analog machines only. Raw and functional techno without compromises. Play it loud.

The third release from Samulis label Power Of Voltages is an excursion to broken 4/4 on the A-side tracks and muddy lofi aesthetics and restrained progression on the B-side tracks. All tracks are live recordings executed with hardware only. Raw and functional tracks, already tested and approved on some of the finest floors.

"The New Sicilian Sound"

Hailing from Palermo, Smuggler Brothers deliver a unique sound, deeply rooted in the diverse and rich heritage of their island - Funk-prog flavoured Mediterranean library music with Arab and North Afrika influences. Produced by Massimo Martellotta (Calibro 35). This 45rpm anticipates the band's full-length album with two non-LP new tracks, exclusive to this release!

Seit über einer Dekade gehört James Connolly als Produzent (L-Vis 1990, Dance System) und Betreiber des Hip-Labels Night Slugs zur progressiven Speerspitze der Clubmusik. Nach Releases auf Clone und Jimmy Edgars Ultramajic-Label (und einer fünfjährigen Auszeit dazwischen), meldet sich Connolly nun auf Modeselektors Monkeytown Records zurück. Seine Dance System "Wind 'Em Up" EP bietet in der ernsten Techno-Welt von heute und entgegen aktueller politischer Strömungen genau die Sorte verspielter Frischluft, die wir alle brauchen.

"When Night Slugs boss L-Vis 1990, aka James Connolly, slips on his Dance System alias, the mission is simple: slamming - but pointedly simple and unfussy - tracks that get your ass on the dancefloor." - VICE

The sensitive mountain » (la montagne sensible) is the nickname Alain Bashung came up with for Arnaud Rebotini. At the height of his fame, after the success of Fantaisie Militaire in 1998, Bashung readily agreed to create an album with Rebotini. The two men didn’t know each other; their record label had introduced them. Bashung brought in “Mortel Battement” and “Nocturne,” two poems by Jean Tardieu, which he recited in a voice simultaneously warm and flat, and Arnaud produced an impressionist soundscape that ended with an apocalypse of metal. Bashung was so proud of their collaboration that he offered to give several interviews to promote the record. Today, listening back to this moving Léo Ferré influenced "talking singing" exercise, it’s hard not to hear the template for L'Imprudence, the album that Bashung went on to record with Rebotini two years later. In a similar way, the album Organique sparked a productive partnership between Rebotini and filmmaker Robin Campillo, which resulted in their being awarded a César for Best Original Music in 2018. The director, who trusted Rebotini to create the soundtracks for his films Eastern Boys and 120 Beats per Minute, never kept his love for the 2000 record a secret.

Yet it’s an understatement to say that when it was released, Organique was not in the spirit of times. That year was all about the French touch. The funky samples of Modjo’s “Lady” and Superfunk’s “Lucky Star” ruled the sweaty dancefloors. Although Rebotini was familiar with the electronic scene, he had something else in mind when he set about creating Organique. Under his own name or under the pseudonyms Aleph, Avalanche, Black Strobe, Maison Laffitte, and of course Zend Avesta, he had already released several quite bizarre and experimental techno, house, or jungle maxi singles on pioneering labels like P.O.F., Source, and Artefact, run by his friend Jérôme Mestre’s, whom he had met back when both were working as record salesmen at Rough Trade’s ephemeral Parisian store. It was at Artefact, still financed at the time by Barclay and Universal, that he naturally proposed this record project, which was a bit "different." It was his first real album.

Arnaud Rebotini has never hidden his love-hate relationship with the electronic scene. He’s a fan of rave music, Rex, and later Pulp, but he listens mostly to metal and contemporary music, mainly American minimalists such as Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Steve Reich. He wanted to mix this genre with a more French aesthetic inspired by Debussy, whose unconventionality fascinates him. From the first suspended guitar note of Organique, you can pick up another influence, possibly poppier. In the style of Mark Hollis, the erratic leader of Talk Talk, whose only solo album’s silences and dissonances left their mark two years earlier, we hear the fingers touching the keys of the clarinet on “Ondine.” The instruments have presence, character. Nothing is smooth. Everything is organic.

Although it’s sometimes labeled as electronica because of Rebotini’s career, there’s nothing digital about Organique. No "pro tools" editing or samples, only programmed drums and some synth layering. And his guest vocalists. Playing the role of electro producer, he invited Bashung, of course, to join him on the album, but also Roya Arab, who Rebotini first spotted while she was playing in Archive, and her sister Leila, Gus Gus alum Hafdis Huld, Kat Onoma’s Philippe Poirier on the “Samuel Hall” inspired track “Qu’est ce qui m’a pris,” and former KaS Product member Mona Soyoc.

The frustration of a tour where he had "little to do on stage," the desire to sing himself, and the creation of the Black Strobe project, a haunting mix of blues and rock, stopped Zend Avesta from putting out another album. Eighteen years later, the Organique we rediscover today has lost nothing of its strangeness, nor beauty. When it came out, Bashung said, "What is interesting for a musician is to feel that you have a piece of wasteland in front of you, something to clear.” That remains true today.

Remix extravaganza ahead! What started as an attempt to transport Feater's brillant outsider pop 'Time Millionaire' (taken from the Socialo Blanco album) onto a dance floor with one or two remixes, ended up as a feast served on three different platters with some heavy hitters. First up, Pépé Bradock and Ricardo Villalobos are crossing their beams. Spread over two 12s, the masters of idiosyncrasies and splendid aural design, Bradock and Villalobos treat the voice of Vilja Larjosto with love and care and bring it into their respective universe during peak time: vocals, dubs, acapellas and bonus bits included. Expertly, tricky and inventive. Remix EP no. 3 merges different trajectories of UK dance music traditions (or Ireland for that matter). Man of the moment Krystal Klear takes the material down to love town: the sound of 1980s Island records meets NYC boogie and UK street soul sounds. Hessle Audio's Pangaea follows the other path: uptempo bass fun with a driving dub and an instrumental pass. Last but not least, Feater & Sam Irl themselves deliver a blissed out dub of the original. Oh, and if you have enough time, flip over to the 10 with an Aba Shanti-I approved UK reggae and lovers rock take on it by Blood Shanti.

Switzerland's Alma Negra are known for their deft, tasteful explorations of world roots, anchored in digging, sampling and sharing. On this brand new remix collection, Alma Negra invite a trio of equally curious producers to remix some three of their best-received musical endeavours. French producer and DJ Bambounou capitalises on the quick tempo and raw-energy at the heart of the Maloya sound as the basis for his raw and hypnotic reimagining of 'Kabare', originally sourced from Christine Cabare, one of the most notable stars of the contemporary Maloya scene. Glenn Astro, meanwhile takes on another release, 'Haleto lale lalô'. Originally influenced by the Saho sound, the origins of which lie in the musical history and landscape of Eritrea, the Money $ex Records owner fashions two distinctive reworks out of the already adapted original material. After applying the soft pressure of his weightless, smooth funk for an initial, blissed-out remix, he switches up to a warm, percussive jack session on his 'Rhythm Trax' remix, available here as a digital bonus. Finally, cult producer and musician Michal Turtle, best known for his sensational LPs and compilations on Music From Memory, delivers only his second ever remix in a forty year career, conjuring a magical slice of dreamy, percussive pop from 'Tany Be', awash in signature brass.

Remix extravaganza ahead! What started as an attempt to transport Feater's brillant outsider pop 'Time Millionaire' (taken from the Socialo Blanco album) onto a dance floor with one or two remixes, ended up as a feast served on three different platters with some heavy hitters. First up, Pépé Bradock and Ricardo Villalobos are crossing their beams. Spread over two 12s, the masters of idiosyncrasies and splendid aural design, Bradock and Villalobos treat the voice of Vilja Larjosto with love and care and bring it into their respective universe during peak time: vocals, dubs, acapellas and bonus bits included. Expertly, tricky and inventive. Remix EP no. 3 merges different trajectories of UK dance music traditions (or Ireland for that matter). Man of the moment Krystal Klear takes the material down to love town: the sound of 1980s Island records meets NYC boogie and UK street soul sounds. Hessle Audio's Pangaea follows the other path: uptempo bass fun with a driving dub and an instrumental pass. Last but not least, Feater & Sam Irl themselves deliver a blissed out dub of the original. Oh, and if you have enough time, flip over to the 10 with an Aba Shanti-I approved UK reggae and lovers rock take on it by Blood Shanti.

We are not alone. Through the centuries we have created theories, heard stories, made films, and of course, music that is deeply inspired by the idea of the unknown, and the cosmos. We went far and deep into this cosmic void to gather 4 visionairs to help us present a new series on the label. "Visitations - Chapter 1", touches down through sonic dimensions with Damon Wild, Ben Sims, Steve Bicknell and Tadeo. These artists are amongst the few key figures who established the foundations of Techno music and continue to do so decades later.... Their influences are also undeniable to the aesthetics and sound of "Chronicle" and so we are more then honored to present each one of them on our new series. Their contribution to this compilation is of extraordinary measure, connected both in vision and purpose they provide us with extraterrestrial sounds that challenges the listener both intellectually and emotionally with each track standing strongly on its own while functioning in a cohesive way bringing the vision of Chronicle Records into focus.

To Celebrate The 6th Anniversary Of The Agency, Rotate Prepared A Hefty 4xlp Compilation Featuring Its Key Artists. 'rotations Ii' Is The Seven-chapter Follow-up To rotations I' Out In 2016 And Features Tracks From Most Of The Current Music Crafters In The Rotate Family: A Collection Of Personal Musical Excursions And Peculiar Studies Of Rhythm And Sound, From Artists Full Of Wit, And Grit. 'phase Five' (a1) Is Yuzo Iwata's Debut On Rotate And, Without Surprise, Is A Showcase Of Sonic Wizardry That Sets The Tone To The Entire Compilation With Its Dreamy (and Almost Delirious) Atmosphere And Marching Organic Groove. 'aphasia' (a2) Has Anestie Gomez Shifting The Gears To A More Minimalistic Sonic Palette Of Razor-sharp Drum Programming, Sophisticated Swing, And Deep Acidic Low-ends. The Flipside 'hypnosis' (b1) Is Leiris's Debut Solo On Rotate And A True Study On Reduced Raw Grooves And Abstract Sound-design, Wrapped In Amidst Of Hypnotic Mystery. 'partenaire Particulier' (b2) Brings Back Leiris Together With Ben Vedren As "monkey Nenufar": A Spellbinding, Steady-beat Ride Full Of Joyful Chords And Filtered Echoes For Certified Euphoria. Levi Verspeek Kicks The Flip-side With 'paying 420' (c1), A Focused 4 By 4 Excursion Focused On Groove And On-point Sampling Of Minuscule Percussive Loops Teeming Around A Central Pulsating Bassline. Funky, Vibrant And Full Of Emotion, Pit Spector's 'back From Cdv' (c2) Is A Love Letter To The Esteemed Club Der Visionaere, And An Ode To The Micro-house Aficionados, Especially Those With A Soft Spot For Latin Rhythms. Denis Kaznacheev's 'poromechanics' (d) Is A 15-minute Sonic Delirium Through Startling Soundscapes, Sweltering Rhythms And Barely-sane Micro-sampling, Ultimately Setting A Hypnotic, Enigmatic Tone To The Closing Of This Compilation. "rotations Ii" Is A Versatile Comeback To This V.a. Series Where Rotate Artists Can Be Themselves, Loyal To Their Own Sound And Their Very Distinct Personalities.

Jauzas The Shining (Shipwrec, Last Known Trajectory) returns to New Flesh Records, this time accompanied by his compatriot Eliot Forin aka Foreign Sequence (D.KO Records, Concrete Collage). The unexpected duo delivers four unreleased killer cuts of high caliber for your own pleasure. Very Sci-Fi-esque "Talking Machines" takes place in a dystopian future and brings together a collection of powerful electro tracks incorporating elements of rawness, acidity, and melancholy at the focus of this intent.

In overture of the A-side, gloomy "Death By Fuzz" offers an epic collaboration between the two artists: the song fully illustrates the analog brilliance and dancefloor dazzling that they are able to. This heading jam picks things up with solid metallic drums while punishing percussions lift the track even higher until the end. Brainwashing "Painful Headaches" instantly following sees Foreign Sequence in a brilliant solo exercise where he unleashes the acid whereas a solid rhythm leads you to the dancefloor for some robotic and insane movements!

Side B opens with eponymous track "Talkin' Machines", a pulsating journey into processors and computer drivers from the French pair. Characterized by unhealthy melodies, pounding beats and cyborg noises, the cut merges fascinating sequences and dark atmospheres. With its astral pads, Jauzas The Shining's final song "Colombia" takes you on a cosmic trip, traveling at light speed through time and space thanks to mighty distorted FX. A rough ride, deep and intricate to destination unknown, the perfect future funk soundtrack for an no return exploration.

"Talkin' Machines" celebrates the collision of two worlds, two artists with strong universe and personality to become one entity. Rush on it!

- Utopia Music are extremely proud to present UM022, Hydro's debut album 'Lateral Thinking'. - Spread over 3 plates (4 including the sampler), Hydro manages to really showcase the variety and musicality that he's known for. With over 20 years of experience, he manages to comfortably wear his many influences whilst offering something both fresh and new at the same time. The palette covers light and dark, warm & cold, ambience, jungle, funk, soulful, techy, rolling, half time, 130 & 140 bpm, hip hop, jazz, tribal, and even meditative vibes. Inspired by a lifetime of music, travel and memories the aim was to deliver an eclectic album that could satisfy both the DJs and the headz whilst also being able to transport the listener elsewhere on an emotional and cerebral level. Dance music that can work beyond the dance floor.

- Hydro has been releasing incredible music since 2003 on almost all of the big labels. Since his production beginnings collaborating with Break, he has continued to work on many different styles and with many other different producers. He's become known for his musical diversity and his name is synonymous with quality & finesse. It's an absolute honour to be able to introduce his debut album to you. This project also features War, who again establishes himself as one of the best engineers in the game. Since first collaborating in 2011, Hydro & War have proven to be a formidable team, known for consistently delivering essential releases, including for Utopia. The only other artist featured on the album is Mateba, who joins in for two of the more uplifting tracks. A talented French producer and a long time collaborator of both Hydro & War.

The fourth AF Trax release is a three-track EP from our long time ally The Fantastic Twins, who has the following to say about her EP:

This EP is a small collection of works I crafted over the past couple of years in the process of working on my live show. I have been performing versions of these tracks countless times and yet never played them twice the same way. To me, they have been material in constant motion, so shaping them into a 'finished' form was a risky challenge. Something I was also wary of - would it mean they would become set in stone Would it mean I'd have to somehow 'rationalise" the music - via the mind - as opposed to letting it run into the wildness of its physical live experiences

Whilst editing these tracks into a format that could be released, I realised that instead of shaping them into the mould my mind first intended to give them, I could in fact use the power they revealed each time I performed them to an audience and inject some of that energy - as much as it is possible to capture and recreate it in the studio - back into this EP. Then of course, it meant letting go on things I usually like to control more, and better.

But isn't it the power of music to let it take you where you didn't plan to go And how incomplete would the music be if our inspiration didn't feed off the collective experience of dancing to music together I've lost myself (and my twins) many times throughout the process - not only on German soil - I have sometimes landed in the wrong place, but I may have found one answer yet in the form of another question. Why are we here if we can't dance

That reminds me of the words of Pina Bausch 'Dance, dance or we are lost'. Lost in our internal struggles as individuals (or imaginary twins). Lost in a society where our relation to the other is often marked by fear, power or violence. We feel the need to resist. Yet nowadays, taking a political stance as an artist is too often being instrumentalised as another tactics or accessory to gather more popularity, reducing the political message to nothing else but a branding attempt. Isn't it anyway the power of capitalism to assimilate everything, even contradictory or once-upon-a-time subversive voices All to end up on a 'Rave' or 'Feminist' H&M t-shirt. Slogans that have been emptied of their initial force and substance, now replaced by their commercial value. I strongly doubt that more empty words poured in vain on social media will help us much. But, like Pina Bausch, like JD Twitch, I have always firmly believed in dancing as a physical, social and fundamental act that leads us to share a common space with others and embrace otherness. Standing together, dancing together when everything else forces us to divide.

4E used to be Khan’s apartment number in New York City’s East Village back in the late 90’s. 4E became the trademark sound for his downbeat acid infused electro work. On his kitchen floor he produced a very unique brand of futuristic funk tracks with only a ROLAND TB-303, SH-101 and the Hip-Hop fundamental SP1200 drum sampler.

Besides a couple of 12”s for Force Inc. Music and the “Gentle Killer E.P.” on Freddy Fresh’s Socket imprint, 4E released the highly acclaimed downbeat electro album “4E4ME4YOU” on German glitch label Mille Plateaux.

Back in 1998 4E shared the now legendary 12” with I-F “Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass” on the “From Beyond Series” by Ectomorph’s Interdimensional Transmissions.

“Pills & Thrills” on Temple Traxx is four previously unreleased acid-electro stomper that are as funky and noisy as it can get on an East Village kitchen floor.

Some two years after dropping his debut album, "Broken Knowz", Jay Daniel delivers a follow-up. Interestingly, the fast-rising Detroit producer opted to move away from his usual club sound on "Tala", recently telling Resident Advisor that it was, "an invitation to know me outside of DJing". It's as deep, jazzy and musically rich as you'd expect, with Daniel flitting between jazz-funk/broken beat fusion, spacey ambient soundscapes, head-nodding hip-hop beats, intergalactic R&B instrumentals, super-smooth beatdown fare and the kind of hushed, glassy-eyed grooves that are best enjoyed while lying flat on your back at six in the morning.

Montreal’s finest Dave Allison aka Ed Wizard & Disco Double Dee has been delighting dancefloors around the globe since 2009. With his signature brand of chunky disco dubs infused with hip-hop flavours and a slow mo house feel. “Funk Wit Me” is classic Ed Wizard and features the talents of Nebraska on the remix. LTD Edition Green Vinyl.

Véronique Sanson is one of the most famous French pop oriented female
singer, songwriter, and composer of the 80s. She began her career in the 70s,
and was the girlfriend of genius composer Michel Berger. Her world turnt
upside down when she met Stephen Stills of Crossby Stills & Nash. One Day,
during a recording session in Paris, she left the studio pretending to go buy
cigarettes, but never came back... She flew overnight to the USA, where she
married Stephen Stills. In LA, she records new music with superstar
composers such as Ray Parker JR and Harvey Mason. "On m'attend là-bas",
produced in 1974, was one of the single of the album Le Maudit.
Funky French League is an intergenerational collective (based in Paris)
formed by Young Pulse (Gamm) , Dabeull (Roche Musique), Arthur Chaps,
Woody Braun (Malka Family), Mr Willy, DJ Asko et Uncle T (Groove
Deluxe). All coming from different universe from hip-hop, to electronic music,
but united by their love for the groove and the funk.

Christy Essien was one of the leading female recording artists of her time in Nigeria. She was born in Akwa Ibom State in 1960 and enjoyed an accomplished career as a musician and an actress. Having conquered the music and TV worlds Christy moved on to feature in some of the early Hollywood films such as "Flesh and Blood" and "Scars of Womanhood", both of which addressed issues of child abuse and female circumcision. With a desire to make life better for Nigerian artists. She is also credited as having initiated the first meeting that brought about the formation of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria in 1981.

Dubbed Nigeria's "First Lady Of Song", Christy produced a respectable 9 studio albums across a number of labels. Her fifth album "Give Me A Chance" was released in 1980 by Afrodisia, and is being officially reissued again by the prolific Nigerian label.

"Give Me A Chance" showcases an impressive move on from her last album with a nice amount of variety. Her classic funky disco sound is most evident in what is her most notable song on the album "Rumours". This much sought after disco number is joined by a couple more disco grooves such as "Nobody Can Stop You" and "Onwu". "Ife" meaning love inflicts a little bit of reggae into the mix while the remaining tracks ("Saboteurs", "Don't Let Me Down", "Ikan Idomo" and title track "Give Me A Chance") take more of a traditional afrobeat - meets ballad approach.

Christy died after a brief illness in 2011. Close to the time of her death, she was involved in numerous successful businesses, organization and running the non-governmental organisation Essential Child Care Foundation involved in child welfare. Christy's achievements and awards are numerous. Too numerous to mention. Perhaps her greatest achievement however is her contribution to building a peaceful and tolerant Nigeria - which, alongside moral uprightness, remain constant themes of her songs.

New York's indie disco freaks Phenomenal Handclap Band is back with a second single on Toy Tonics: Jail. With remixes by Detroit's Waajeed and Marcel Vogel of Lumberjacks in Hell. Including a club edit by Toy Tonics head honcho Kapote. The band was responsible for one of Toy Tonics' biggest tracks in 2018: Judge Not: The Ray Mang version became a hit on open minded dancefloors around the globe: with support from DJ's like DJ Harvey, Cassius and Gilles Peterson (who put it int his - best track of the year' list) but also more house DJ's like Berlin's Keine Musik Crew, Soundstream or Superpitcher. The band's members are kind of heroes to many connoisseurs of the funk/ disco scene. The band leader Daniel Collas was playing keys in Amy Winehouse legendary backing band. Other members are connected to Mark Ronson's crew or San Francisco's Stones Throw universe.. just to give u the bigger picture. With The Phenomenal Handclap Band they blend the unique vibe of 1970ies Power-Soul in the traditon of Charles Stepney and Rotary Connection with today's new disco vibe. Parcels, Toro Y Moi, Roosevelt are not that far. Important fact: All played live, no samples. Mixed by the champs at DFA. The band is part of Toy Tonics's masterplan to expand their dancevibes into more live played scenarios.. stepping out of the strict DJ context. Fun fact Paul McCartney wrote the band a letter saying how much he loved their music when he first heard the band on BBC Radio 1.

Connaisseur posthumously releases Daso's self-titled long player to create a final memento for his musical legacy.

We first came in touch with Daso when we saw him performing live at the
Dachkantine in Zurich around 2006. He really had this stage talent which
fascinated us straight from the beginning. At this party we agreed on the first release on Connaisseur, the "Adventure EP" including the strong "Sam n Max", which was a great presentiment of the many releases to come.
Daso was a unique character with a lovely sense of humour, and surprising quirks which could be like marvels to us. One moment, we would be worried just seeing him crossing a busy street and in the next, he would be rocking the stage with major self-confdence and the attitude of a real rock star.
In our history of Connaisseur, he defnitely was one of our most important
artists, and some of his best music was released with us. He played many label nights, and together we enjoyed uncountable laughs, discovered cities and countries while touring and collected invaluable memories.
It is the way of the world that we as a label eventually focussed on new artists, and Daso, too, embarked in new directions. We still stayed in touch, even though the gaps between our contacts became bigger with time. The frst time we realized that Daso was ill was in the frst quarter of 2016. We had invited him to our 10th anniversary party in Berlin, but he didn't feel well enough to be able to come. Shortly after this, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with cancer. We were shocked. Daso was always such a positive person, it simply didn't add up for us that someone like him could get sick.
Obviously an irrational and unjust thought, but it just felt so unfair.
When he started chemo therapy I spoke to him on the phone, and my label partner Martin, who lives in Berlin, gave him a frst hospital visit early in summer of that year. A bit later we visited him together, and yes, he was optimistic, still full of humour and also motivated to pick up his career again as soon as possible. This impression was of course only from a distance, but I was delighted to see how confdently he presented himself on socials after all his treatments, and how after recovery he started playing gigs again.
At some point I realized Daso hadn't been active on his socials for a while, which concerned me. This was in the frst quarter of 2018. His last post on Facebook had been made on November 30th and I knew this couldn't bode well. After contacting some common friends I was told his prospects were not good. I was about to go on an Easter holiday but planned to visit him on my next monthly trip to Berlin. I didn't have the chance. On Easter Monday, April the 2nd, 2018 Daso passed away.
At Daso's funeral, which was on a wonderfully sunny day in late spring, his father came up to me and asked if I might be interested in releasing this album, which Daso had been able to fnalise in the last months and weeks of his life. We didn't decide on doing so lightly, knowing that the release of a post-mortem album can bring up certain issues. However, in the end, we agreed to do it, as we sincerely strive to create a fnal memento for Daso's musical legacy.

The self-titled album Daso will be released on April 5th, three days after the first anniversary of Daso's obit.

In 1978, Seattle funk group Epicentre recorded the infectious boogie wonder: 'Get Off The Phone', written by the group's keyboardist, Stacy Christenson, with Bernadette on lead vocals. The song was featured on a compilation at the time, KYYX:FM Seattle Grown, but never got released on a 45.
Fast forward three years, there was another call to make! Bernadette met Stevie Wonder and formed a lifelong friendship, prospective recordings were made, including a re-recording of 'Get Off The Phone'. Until now it has been locked away, therefore we are thrilled to bring the two versions together on a 7'' single, authentically packaged in a picture sleeve.

serenitatem, the fifteenth installment of FRKWYS, RVNG Intl.'s collaboration series pairing intergenerational artists in creative conversation, joins Visible Cloaks with Yoshio Ojima and Satsuki Shibano, two trailblazers of the Japanese avantgarde music and visual arts scenes of the 1980s and 90s.

Yoshio Ojima began his career as a composer of environmental and ambient music, with a particular interest, and optimism, in the possibilities of generative software. His compositional pursuit of human synthesis with computerized forms was realized in its fullest potential alongside Satsuki Shibano, a pianist renowned for her interpretations of Erik Satie and Claude Debussy. Together, they were among a handful of influential Japanese artists whose innovations still resonate, if not more vibrantly than ever, well beyond the tightly-knit scene's original core. In the early 90s, Ojima was among the programmers of the influential satellite radio experiment St. Giga, a constantly-evolving sonic landscape that combined field recordings and sound collage with occasional readings of Japanese poetry. Satsuki was a regular reader for the station. This musical terrarium bloomed out of sight in a small Tokyo studio, a greenhouse of sound with no set start or finish time that audiences could tune into, absorb, and immerse.

The perpetual flow state of St. Giga — recordings of which Ojima shared with Visible Cloaks — would be highly influential to serenitatem's constitution. As Visible Cloaks, the Portland, Oregon duo of Spencer Doran and Ryan Carlile have developed their own set of creative strategies that form an aesthetic fuse point between human intention, aleatoric composition, and improvisation.

These are notions most recently reflected in 2017's Reassemblage and Lex, a respective album and EP in which the duo combined generative software and virtual representations of global instruments into lacy, interlocking patterns. Long time admirers of Ojima's work on albums like 1988's Une Collection Des Chainons, Doran and Carlile discovered after an online introduction that they shared with Yoshio and Satsuki an abiding interest in pre-classical composers, the Lovely Music, Ltd. label, and the British avant-garde, as well as a mutual respect for one another's techniques and processes.

The four musicians met in Tokyo, Japan at Sounduno Studios in December 2017, at the tail end of Visible Cloaks' first Japanese tour, to commence work on serenitatem. Leading up to the studio sessions, Doran and Carlile sent Ojima processed sound sketches recorded while on a European tour, which Yoshio would add to and return. Visible Cloaks would then fold Yoshio's edits back into the original compositions, which Doran and Carlile brought to the exploratory recording session. During that week together in Tokyo, the quartet made use of a number of creative strategies — 'echoing sound together,' as Yoshio puts it. Among the strategies, MIDI randomization gave the quartet melodic lines and what Doran calls 'randomized clouds,' or 'tightly grouped notes that become smeared tonal clusters functioning more like chords in themselves.' Carlile would also feed Ojima and Satsuki's text into Wotja, a generative music software which produced a MIDI language around which the quartet expanded their compositions.

'The aim,' Doran says of serenitatem, 'was to make a work that was not specifically ambient (or environmental), but something more multi-hued, weaving these deconstructive concepts into an album that has a deeper architecture underpinning it.' Accordingly, serenitatem is a marvelously sharp record, its sutures between human and machine virtually impossible to find but suggested everywhere you turn. The collaboration among Ojima, Satsuki, and Visible Cloaks is both musically and conceptually inseparable from the technology that made it possible. Throughout the album, Shibano's playing resonates like Satie's, her rhythms cascading like drops from leaves an hour after the rain. Overtones are stretched and warped like modeling clay, then spun around and shown off from multiple angles.

A single soaring note might seem to be suddenly plunged underwater, its richness of sound made shallow and its sharp edges blunted. Pittering chimes and rapidly warping vocal samples hang in the luxuriously glossy space, water trickles from ear-toear, familiar melodies rise from nothing and dissolve before they can be traced. With the depth of its emotional charge, serenitatem burns away the easy cynicism of the day, presenting itself as the kind of delocalized work of art the internet promised us decades ago — a synthesis of artistic visions, technological sophistication, futurist ambition, and, occasionally, ancient polyphony. Listening to it can feel a bit like tuning in to a 21st Century version of St. Giga: It's a place where the future still grows.

Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima, and Satsuki Shibano's serenitatem, FRKWYS Vol. 15, will be available across LP, CD, and digital formats on April 5, 2019. The quartet will perform select live shows throughout 2019.

Krewcial Is Back On Wph After Some Seriously Funky Adventures On Marcel Vogel's Fine Lumberjacks In Hell Label. We Wanted To Finish Our 10' Series In Style And It's Safe To Say That Krewcial Provided The Goods. On The A-side 'plaster' Brings Us Raw Vocal Piano House Of The Highest Order And A Sure-fire Hands In The Air Moment On Any Discerning Dance Floor.

On The Flip 'proto' Is What Proto Says: Raw House Business For More Theo Parrish Or Ron Hardy Styled Slam Dancing Damage. Since His House Debut On Wph Krewcial Has Been Going From Strength To Strength And With This E.p. He Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down.

Available on vinyl for the first time in 40 years, Outernational Sounds is proud to present a masterpiece from the Los Angeles jazz underground - Horace Tapscott's burning, spiritualised 1978 set, The Call.

One of the unsung giants of jazz music, the composer, bandleader, arranger, pianist and community activist Horace Tapscott was the undisputed keystone in the grassroots Los Angeles jazz scene. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, his radical community arts and music formations the UGMA (Underground Musicians Association, later changed to UGMAA - Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension), and his protean big band, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, were at the epicentre of music, culture and politics in the Los Angeles area.

From their 1960s base at the Watt's Happening Coffee House on 103rd St, to their decade-plus- long 1970s residency at the Immanuel United Church of Christ on 85thE St and Holmes Ave, Tapscott's groups were the beating heart of underground music in LA. Hundreds of musicians passed through and played their part. Major figures in LA jazz such as Arthur Blythe, Azar Lawrence, Jimmy Woods, John Carter, Bobby Bradford, Sonny Criss, Ndugu Chancler and dozens of others all paid dues or just got down with Tapscott, not to mention the core Arkestra regulars who have since become celebrated names - Nate Morgan, Jesse Sharps, Adele Sebastian, Dadisi Komolafe, Gary Bias, to mention only a few.

Tapscott and the Arkestra were down on the ground - playing fundraisers in park and street, organising teach-ins and workshops for young and old, mixing it with radical theatre groups, firebrand poets, political radicals, Black separatists, community groups and churches. They lived communally, and built an ark for the Black arts in the heart of the city. But as a result of this grassroots community focus and Tapscott's antipathy to the music industry, the Arkestra didn't record for nearly two decades. That only changed when long-time jazz fan Tom Albach started Nimbus Records. The label was initiated specifically in order to document Tapscott and his circle, and the first three records showcased Horace and the Arkestra.

The Call was put together from two studio sessions in April 1978, one at Hollywood Sage and Sound, one at United Western - the latter session had the addition of a string section, who can be heard on the moody Cal Massey composition 'Nakatini Suite' and Jesse Sharps' swinging modal trip, 'Peyote Song No. III', with its swirling soprano solo. In keeping with the communal nature of the Arkestra, the other two compositions, 'The Call' and 'Quagmire Manor at Five A.M.' are also by Arkestra members. But at the centre of the music is the builder of the Ark, the visionary whose original call to action started a movement whose legacy continues to this day - Horace Tapscott.
Heed The Call!

'Producer and multi-instrumentalist FRNT BZNZZ returns with the second installment in a six-part series of 45s from the Aloha State.

Just like the rst 45, the A-side 'Separation Anxiety' takes to the same raw electro boogie feel, this time with more layers. The 4-minute ride into the artist's complex, often haunting production is up before you know it.

The B-side opens new doors in the series with vocals - angsty, yearning, a little somber. 'Always Wanted' is a slow burner for those looking to alleviate heavy doses of straight-laced modern funk. Something about Aiea High School prom circa 1990s, and a feeling of being left out.'

Bobby Sparks II ist vielen ein Begriff. Sei es als Keyboarder bei Snarky Puppy, Marcus Miller, Prince oder Liz Wright, Bobby hat überall markante musikalische Spuren hinterlassen. Und nun ist es endlich soweit: Mit "Schizophrenia - The Yang Project" steht Bobby Sparks Debutalbum (2CD Set) zur Veröffentlichung bei LEOPARD an. Es hat gedauert, um diese außergewöhnliche Sammlung unterschiedlichster Songs zu produziern. Aber es hat sich mehr als gelohnt: zeigt sich darin doch das breite musikalische Vokabular und der schier unerschöpfliche Schaffensdrang des Keyboarders. Vom slammenden Funk bis zu langsamen, groovigen Soul-Balladen und Streifzügen in die Genres Straight-ahead-Jazz, Fusion, Orchester- und Weltmusik: das sehr passend betitelte Album "Schizophrenia - The Yang Project" vereinigt eine Vielzahl verschiedener Musikstile in sich, ohne dabei das Gesamtbild aus den Augen zu lassen. Mit an Bord auf dieser außergewöhnlichen musikalischen Reise sind eine Reihe seiner alten Freunde aus Dallas, sowie viele Stars des Genres - etwa die Bassisten Marcus Miller, Pino Palladino, MonoNeon und Hadrien Feraud, der Trompeter Roy Hargrove, die Sänger Frank McComb und James - J. Rob' Robinson, Snarky Puppys Michael League und Jason - JT' Thomas, die Gitarristen Lucky Peterson und Eric Gales sowie die Drummer Mark Simmons, Brannen Temple und John - Li'l John' Roberts.

The late Deben Bhattacharya was a noted Bengali record producer, ethnomusicologist, poet, documentarian, radio producer, and all around renaissance man. Having moved from Northern India to London as a young man, Bhattacharya began working for the BBC as a radio producer. In 1955, having worked all possible angles to securing funding, Bhattacharya traveled to India to record musicians. The success of this trip allowed him to travel again soon after to the countries of the Middle East. With recordings from Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, as well as India and Pakistan, this LP is one of the best and earliest documents of the diverse and rich musical traditions of the Middle East. Subtitled 'A Sound Travelogue by Deben Bhattacharya', 'Music On The Desert Road' is exactly that, a beautiful and flowing document of the region's sound.

After a brief wander 'round the garden, Chilean-born Ricardo Tobar returns to the ESP Institute bearing earthly delights. With 2017's Liturgia, he introduced his creative point-of-view—instantly substantiating a sense of rhythm that was deliberately complex yet slightly rough around the edges, while touching upon his musical origins from the guitar-driven corners of psychedelia— however with his debut 2xLP Continuidad, he leaves us gobsmacked and seeking shelter as he leaps from dancefloor comforts and descends into absolute chaos (in more ways than one). Emotionally, the artist has crossed all previously self-imposed and subconscious thresholds, putting his true imagination on display and exposing an unwavering attraction to all things loud, orgasmic and transcendent. He's not subtly hinting at a fetish, but opening his arms wide with conviction, abandoning genre taboos and personally inviting everyone to join his enchanted caravan. Sonically, his appetite for intensity is clear throughout—epic chord changes, ascending peaks in arrangement, accumulating layers of grit that build into impenetrable blankets of distortion and feedback—a kind of aural hedonism that translates visually into the potent video abstractions our Mario Hugo has summoned for the album's packaging. This follow-up single surrounding the Continuidad album boasts the dirty little secret Bailemix of album track Recife—we wont go as far as uttering the 'T' word, but this is unbridled merciless tops-off festival gear for the massive. The flipside is another exclusive non-album cut Cuatro Meses De Verano, a rhythmic build-up that breaks into a low-slung funky stomper, Tobar's idea of a warm-up weapon.

Although Itta (Vocals, Harmonium) and Marqido (Analog Synthesizers) have been regular fixtures in Seoul's experimental music community for years, the vinyl release of Spiritual reflects the growing international recognition of their singular sound, described by The Wire as 'meditative synthesized vistas.' Spiritual certainly embodies the meditative element of their music, layering hypnotic modular synth with Indian harmonium drone and Itta's transcendental vocals. This is more than functional music for the metaphysically curious, however. Perhaps more than any of their previous releases, Spiritual offers an open accessibility, owing at least partly to the channeling of krautrock-influenced rhythms. Tracks like 'Luft' and 'Morgen Tempel' wouldn't sound out of place in any DJ set with kraut or psychedelic leanings, while 'Barabonda' and 'Dodeuri' dig deep into a more meditative place, serving as perfect expressions of the album's title and intent. Fans of Neu!, Kraftwerk, Laraaji or Klaus Schulze might find themselves in a comfortable yet unexplored place.

Spiritual was originally released in 2017 as a limited-edition cassette of 250 copies, produced in collaboration with Seendosi, an arts enterprise in Seoul Euljiro district, the city's heart of printing, packaging and electronics manufacturing. The cassette sold out within a year of its production, prompting Extra Noir, who had previously released Tengger's 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' on their Extra Noir Vol. 1 compilation, to propose reissuing Spiritual on vinyl. Working with Seendosi once again, the result is a beautifully produced piece of work. Closely attentive to the band's vision, the gatefold sleeve features rich landscape motifs that evoke Tengger's commitment to earthly travel and the less accessible places beyond. Pressed onto clear vinyl, the design of Spiritual has been carefully constructed to reflect the entirely unique music within: heavy ephemerality, dense transcendence and grounded wanderlust.

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- LIMITED EDITION OF 750 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES ON ORANGE COLOURED VINYL

The famous Jamaican record producer Duke Reid founded record label Treasure Isle in the 1960s. Some of his best production skills can be found on the compilation album Here Comes The Duke. Showcasing the talents of some of the giants of the rock steady era, the recordings, all issued during the latter half of '68, demonstrate just why the Duke is widely regarded as the king of the rock steady sound. The grooves are thoughtful and the brass section adds the right attitude to the different songs.

Here Comes The Duke is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl.

With brand new interest in beats and rhythm once again coming into play, Puzzlebox label owner, Keith (K-1) Tucker, has now decided to revise and revisit the music from his catalog as "Puzzlebox Classics." The very first release is a valued gem of an EP called, "Atomaton", featuring:

"Nemesis" - An instant classic, which brings on Tucker's signature Electro/Techno beats (Aux88), a tough as nails funky bassline, and his trademark eerie strings. Robo-vocals recall us to remember that "The future of the electro movement is upon us"... Believe it.

"Oscillator (bonus beats)" - Brings us the perfect beat, a dramatic bassline, and swinging percussion attitude to the fold.

Sure to be a hit with new ears as well as "heads" from its mid-90's release. Additionally brought to popularity in Detroit by WGRP TV's, "The New Dance Show", as a favorite go-to party recording. Made with the intent of DJ's, by a DJ.

"(Techno) On My Mind" - Mind-bending arps and clicky pecussion shoot this off-world thumper into overdrive for your ears. While the relentless hard snare battles for attention against a triggered piece of electrofunk provided by a 'K-1' bassline, weaving itself around anything constant in the tune, listeners are guaranteed transport to a realm within an alternate universe and the urge to move their feet. A mental-mover, indeed.

#thetimeisnow
#getthisenjoythis'AUX QUADRANT' for what it is.

PLEASURE ZONE presents MFDF aka Markus Fix & Dorian Paic!
The Frankfurt youngtimers teamed up for their first Pleasure Zone release called "Change of Lifgt". An superb sound demonstration between minimal, hypnotic and minimal Funk - worth to check!

The five-track EP by Leonid Nevermind has everything you want for your body and mind. Picturesque electronics with deep funky, jazzy and mellow Electro moods. Musically rich with a blend of attractive drifts between breezy and melodious Detroit House, dark and smooth 90s indie-house, jazzy piano flourishes, clunky broken beat, and sticky Lo-Fi House.

Jaali's sound reflects a timeless wave of electronic music inspired by futuristic ambient spaces and expressive techno rhythm. Subtle darkness meets haunting melody, a blurred picture of the vast electronic music history. Working out the tracks in their own studio, the record was finished in Nils Frahm's stunning Funkhaus Saal 3 Studio. The mixing was done on his Konsul 1 desk, enhancing the radiophonic touch with the original GDR reverb chamber.

Seasoned Producer Oliver Kapp Takes Us Back To The Glory Days Of Underground Techno Where Pounding Sound Systems Ruptured The Space Time Continuum For Fun. The Old Guard Will Already Know That Kapp Has Pedigree, From Running And Releasing On His Own Record Labels Indulge And Raygun To A String Of Appearances On Stockholm Ltd, Logistic And Gigolo, His Dedication To The Cause Is Unquestionable. Which Is Why His First Appearance On Cocoon Recordings Is Long Overdue. What We Get Are Dj Friendly Tools Designed For That Time Of Night When The The Second Hand Stops Ticking. Kapp Presents A Perfect Collection Of Timeless Warehouse Techno, Like The Genre Itself There Are No Beginnings Or Ends, Just A Constant Barrage Of Hi Octane Machine Funk, Underpinned By Heavy Duty Beats That Somehow Manage To Induce A Sense Of Weightlessness On The Dance Floor. Scaling Down The Bpms To A Sub 130 Tempo, The Ep Is A Masterclass In How To Balance The Old School With The New. - loud Whisper Is Both Tough And Relentless, Generating An Hypnotic State That Ensnares The Dancer In Suspended Animation As Strobe Lights Flicker Across Closed Eyelids. Scattered Hihats Motor Forward And Trance Inducing Sequences Splice And Dice Causing Mind And Body To Drift Apart. - mantash Is An Altogether Gentler Excursion. Loose Tribal Rhythms Slalom Through The Metronomic Kicks Before Giving Way To Distant Chords That Embrace The Dancefloor In A Warm Fuzzy Glow. This Lush Vibe Extends Over The Rest Of The Track While The Beats Roll On, Accompanied By Delicate Melodies That Enhance The Ride. Euphoria And Delirium Combine On The Aptly Titled - rapture , As Chopped Up Vocal Fx Alternate Across A Hard Hitting 909 Pattern Complete With Angular Snares And Ride Cymbals That Bang The Box Into Submissio

Blitzzega is the electronic project of Bjorn Eriksson. Bjorn is a famous Antwerp composer, guitar player and lead member of bands like Maxon Blewiitt, Eriksson Delcroix (together with his wife Nathalie Delcroix, better known from female folk group Laïs) and The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band (responsible for the mighty soundtrack for the highly acclaimed movie 'The Broken Circle Breakdown"). Although Eriksson grew up with country & western he - like many others of his generation here in Belgium - fell in love with electronic music thanks to the NEW-BEAT mania in the late 80s. Chavalo, Blitzzega's very first vinyl maxi, is a groovy sing-along electro bomb. It features the fantastic voice of Nathalie Delcroix and comes in 4 variations: Original version, a remix by Bjorn Eriksson himself, a remix by Milan W (JJ Funhouse, Ekster) and a remix by acid overlord Freddie Fresh (Analog, USA).