quête:hard ton

Acid Techno supergroup The Wipeouts (Chris Liberator, Sterling Moss, Aaron Liberator) return with 2 cheeky adrenalin fuelled cuts of twisted 303's, hard-as-nails beats, and tongue-in-cheek vocals. On the flip Geezer and Rats On Acid deliver rolling Acid Techno shenanigans, with Geezer finishing off the EP with his firebrand chunky beats. A 4 track instant Acid party!!

Spencer Parker invites Swedish artist Billie Jo to Work Them Records with five driving techno cuts entitled 'The Ravenous' EP featuring a remix from Me Me Me boss Man Power.

Hailing from Stockholm, Billie Jo is a founding member of the .WAV collective and resident DJ at Gothenburg's Rottweiler when not performing at clubs like Tresor. She now joins Work Them Records, bringing an array of robust productions with her.

With its pounding drums and ghostly vocals, 'Erroneous' quickly sets the tone of the release, leading into 'Saturn' with its glassy textures and echoing effects. 'Ravenous' then takes us into murkier territories, generating a duskier aesthetic with its twisted sounds before British producer Man Power provides a vigorous reinterpretation under his newly minted MPX moniker, which focuses on raw club tracks, featuring hard stabs and acid licks.

With its saw-like lead and trippy atmospherics, 'Dir Vsseu' sounds like being pulled through a vortex, making way for the powerful 'Planet 9' which concludes the package with metallic elements and subtle pads.

On their debut album as DOVS, Tin Man and AAAA summon the ethereal spirit of acid. Tin Man, AKA Johannes Auvinen, has been studying the emotional potential of the Roland TB-303 for 15 years now, and AAAA (Gabo Barranco), a fixture of the Mexico City underground, might as well be his acolyte. While the coincidental similarities of their studio and live approaches make this collaboration feel natural, even expected, Silent Cities is anything but. We recognize most of the elements here—the ubiquitous acid box and hardware drum machines—yet Auvinen and Barranco arrive in new, mysterious territory this time out. Lush arpeggiation, breakbeats and atmosphere imbue tracks like 'Nostalgic Oblivion' with a widescreen grandeur. 'Rene Figures' recalls Specific Momentific-era Cristian Vogel, symphonic, melodic techno with a kick heavy enough for dark, cavernous rooms. Meanwhile, beatless cuts like 'Whining Acid' are as intricately crafted as Tin Man's well-loved classical work (Vienna Blues). But as a duo, they craft a virtuosic harmonic narrative almost solely with 303s. Tin Man and Donato Dozzy's 'Nonneo' was the first release on Acid Test, setting the tone for the label and unlocking new potential for the genre. DOVS' closer on Silent Cities, 'Diazepam Blues', is the label's new melancholic acid anthem and a statement of purpose for Tin Man and AAAA, two hardware masters who have created an album of remarkable emotional depth.










[J}] D2 - Dysphoric Fix

Creating a composition means making decisions. During times in which you virtually have all sounds that have ever been recorded at your availability, composers must choose between infinite possibilities. The duo Ellicist does not perceive this contemporary ocean of possibilities as too much choice, they are swimming in it. Ellicist are weaving thick textures from the most diverse tones and rhythms. Their tracks are placing synthetic buzzing, the croaking of frogs, low frequency billowing and humming, flutes, the droning of flies, and the whole spectrum of the digital creation of sound next to one another. This intensity of sensations is not supposed to overstrain the listener, it invites them to follow a process. This music does not have a strict structure; instead, it is breathing openness at every moment. Ellicist are incessantly oscillating between abstraction and elements of pop music. Melodies are being hinted at, and sounds are being piled up, at times tirelessly. Fragments of etheric choirs or field recordings are unfolding their associative power. The melodious Ink is a track full of touching intimacy and is in constant motion until it eventually pauses to create a silent ocean of sound. Passage People is permeated by a groove of throbbing synths. The tapestries of sound of Ponds & Graves, on the other hand, are creating the foundation for expressive percussions. Ihnen Steg is almost a dub track. During the opener Hennepin and its follower Lilei sounds of palpable corporeity are being combined with ones that are hardly tangible. Point Defects has a incredible spatiality. At one point you might believe that you are able to precisely localize the sounds in an imaginary system of coordinates. And then the whole systemization crumbles. It is an astonishing production: you can almost taste the sounds. Biographical Notes: Ellicist are Thomas Chousos & Florian Zimmer. Chousos studied composition in Greece before moving to Berlin, where he is working as a producer and sound engineer under the moniker Tadklimp. Florian Zimmer has been playing with several groups. Besides Ellicist he is a member of Saroos and Driftmachine.

Rudie will recognise Bobby Sarkie from The Tartans and The Immortals (not to mention his solo roots killer Better World). His singing here is expertly reined in by desolation, numbness and regret, over a hollowed-out, mesmeric rhythm, with some nasty synth-work and casually brilliant effects on the drums. The vocal cut is more than a minute longer than the version which opens the Jah Son Invasion album with such a flourish; and the mix is different, with more prominent keys, and toned-down bass. It's previously unreleased, like the dub.The B-side is booby-trapped with sensational instrumental excursions on Junior Delahaye's Working Hard For The Rent Man and Jackie Mittoo's almighty Drum Song, which conclude the same original tape-reel as Over And Over. Rent Rebate features masterful, boppish soprano saxophone-playing by Roland Alphonso, and restrained guitar interjections by Barry Vincent, with a Spanish tang. The superb hand-drumming on Mount Zion is by Ras Menelik; and it's Mittoo himself on organ (or just maybe Clive Hunt, Wackies can't quite remember).

In 1959 Michel Giacometti moved to Portugal and dedicated the following thirty years of his life recording traditional music all over the country. In the present decade Portuguese music has been thriving and finally travelling abroad, long gone are the days those hidden gems were kept in secret in this distant corner of Europe. The discovery of current Portuguese music sparked an interest to Portuguese music, past and present.
With both of those ideas in mind, Giacometti and the interest in Portuguese music, 'Antologia de Música Atípica Portuguesa' creates an anthology of current sounds to the future. You can see it as history being made or a broad catalog of sounds that live and breathe the experimental and electronic that is happening in Portugal. The first step happened two years ago with the releasing of the first volume on this anthology, 'O Trabalho' ('The Labour') and we now move onto Vol. 2, 'Regiões' ('Regions'), with each track connecting with a different province from Portugal.
Some names return to this volume, like Live Low with the beautifully haunting 'Montemor' or Gonzo (our own Gonçalo F. Cardoso), affirming his path in building detailed and processed field recordings music. More than a list of names, or songs, this second volume of 'Antologia de Música Atípica Portuguesa' recreates a passage throughout different landscapes of Portugal, constantly leaving a trail of past, present and future. The trail doesn't limit itself to the music, but to the traditions contained in the sounds and the stories spelled by the words.
The beautifully slowed haunting-waltz 'Por Riba', by Síria (Diana Combo), sets everything in motion and builds the way to Random Gods' upbeat march 'Gazulo à Estronca da Santosa'. 'Malta Inquieta' (Ondness) embraces the most modern/contemporary side of this volume, proving that 'Regiões' goes beyond the idea of catalog or even its own concept of 'anthology' and provides music that's hard to categorize or even judge by modern standards. We are not afraid to say it: 'Malta Inquieta' is an experimental jazz-electronic modern gem.
It's followed by the guitar of Rui Carvalho, aka Filho da Mãe, with 'Manta', closing the A side with one of his enchantments. B side strikes with the aforementioned 'Montemor', setting the tone for a different trip, building up on more abstract and freeform music by Banha da Cobra ('Asylo'), Fantama ('Lamento das Beiras') and the track by Gonzo. 'Regiões' finishes with the right tone, fields recordings worked by Luís Antero, that tie the connection between Giacometti and the now - with the now still happening and building up on the story of the future 'Antologia de Música Atípica Portuguesa'.

This was Charles Tolliver's first album as a leader. The setting is unique only because his second Freedom-Black Lion album 'The Ringer' and all of his subsequent albums on Strata-East featured his quartet Music Inc. with pianist Stanley Cowell. Here he is surrounded in quartet and quintet formats with a truly stellar cast of the leading players on the New York jazz scene.

Charles plays the role of leader, composer and trumpeter. But it is surely that last role that deserves the most attention. The trumpet is a brass instrument that leans toward a hard sound and staccato phrasing. Yet Tolliver is the quintessence of fluidity. While it may be undeniable that he has learned from his musical heritage and past trumpet masters, a trumpeter of such flow, tone, control, lyricism and creativity is, by definition, a major musician.

Charles Tolliver first came to the professional jazz scene in the mid-sixties, when he first met Jackie McLean. Under McLean's leadership, he played on a number of Blue Note record sessions, some of which have yet to be released. He contributed original tunes to many of those sessions.

Within a couple of years, Tolliver was a well known figure in New York circles, playing and/or recording with Booker Ervin, Archie Shepp, Andrew Hill, Roy Ayers, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Willie Bobo, Gerald Wilson, McCoy Tyner, Hank Mobley, and many others. His compositions were getting recorded by many artists. He gained his greatest recognition during a two year stint with the Max Roach quintet that also included Gary Bartz and Stanley Cowell.

There is also a previously unreleased bonus track of the song, "Repetition", recorded by Charles for this LP which will be included on this new release of the album. This song was originally made famous by Charlie Parker's LP With Strings.

This album is certainly an important and lasting document in light of the musicians involved and in light of its unique context for Charles Tolliver. But basically, it is just a great album to listen to. Michael Cuscuna

Alt. folker Will Oldham - better known as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - is set to drop a joint record with gently psychedelic crew Trembling Bells

Just four years after their debut album Carbeth, Trembling Bells are amassing a formidable body of work at a startling velocity. Just twelve months after the release of their critically acclaimed third album The Constant Pageant, the Glasgow quartet return to share the billing with a similarly restless creative spirit. A few thousand miles separate Will Oldham and Trembling Bells' drummer and principal songwriter Alex Neilson, but their stories intersect as far back as 2005, when the young Leeds-raised Neilson found himself playing drums on Alasdair Roberts' No Earthly Man, with Oldham producing. In time, a friendship between mentor and student became one between two kindred musicians. Neilson augmented his work with free-psych-drone practitioners Directing Hand by playing with the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy band. The drummer's eagerness to experience new epiphanies yielded unforgettable memories. In Big Sur, he recalls, 'we took mushrooms at midnight, then visited a natural hot spring built into the dramatic cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The stars were as vivid as frozen fireworks.' All of which is worth dwelling on, because without that background of mutual openness and empathy, it's hard to imagine The Marble Downs existing.

Neilson recalls a conversation about a 'collaboration' in the summer of 2010, though stresses that it 'was nothing too formal at first'. By the end of that year, a limited-edition seven-inch New Year's Eve Is The Loneliest Night of the Year showed what an inspired match the vocals of Trembling Bells singer Lavinia Blackwall and Will Oldham made. The cut-glass precision of the classically-trained student of medieval music and the worldly, careworn tones of Oldham created an unlikely chemistry. It must have seemed that way to Neilson too. He set about assembling a cache of songs with the purpose of further harnessing that chemistry. The result is an album that has, once again, redrafted the boundaries of what Trembling Bells can achieve together. Indeed, genre-lines aren't terribly helpful this time around. Yes, Trembling Bells' love affair with traditional music remains a constant — most emphatically so on the unaccompanied Blackwall/Oldham two-hander, My Husband's Got No Courage In Him. Then there is Blackwall's musical setting of Dorothy Parker's poem Excursion Into Assonance — and the thorough-going new-found classicism of Neilson's increasingly assured songwriting. Albeit delivered with Trembling Bells' rain-lashed sense of abandon, Love Is A Velvet Noose sounds like a standard of sorts — a warped consequence of Neilson's increasing fascination with the songbooks of Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael. 'I'm not saying I stand any chance of emulating them,' he adds, 'but the appreciation is definitely there.'

The knowledge that Oldham and Blackwall would be sharing centre-stage on The Marble Downs gave Neilson extra impetus to flex his songwriting muscles. I Can Tell You're Leaving finds both vocalists on irresistible form, dissecting their dying relationship with no heed to the other's feelings. 'You treat me like a child,' sings Oldham. 'I need a man,' she responds, barely catching breath. 'Now like Merle Haggard, you'll see the fighting side of me,' he later promises. 'I guess that's one of the lighter moments on the album,' ponders Neilson, 'I was trying to get a Planet Waves-era Bob Dylan feel there, with the piano and walking bassline.'

Here and elsewhere, the band — Blackwall, Neilson, bassist Simon Shaw and guitarist Mike Hastings — has never sounded more psychically attuned to one-other. On the slow-reveal sonic establishing shot of I Made A Date (With An Open Vein), two minutes of manic modal chaos elapses before Oldham takes the narrative reins of a majestic call-and-response folk-rock epic. The electrifying free-folk portent of Riding — a revival of the Palace Brothers classic — is no less compelling, calling to mind the words of broadcaster Stuart Maconie when he praised Trembling Bells for their ability to invoke simultaneously 'the charm of folk music and the power of rock.' Ditto Ain't Nothing Wrong With A Little Longing, in which Neilson slams down a four-to-the-floor beat over a synergy of demonic krautrock keys and a dialogue between Oldham and Blackwall that scales Nancy & Lee levels of romantic intrigue.

With nine songs gone and one remaining, the album's sonic undulations find an arresting denouement in the form of an inspired cover. Adapted from Robin Gibb's 1970 solo masterpiece Robin's Reign, Lord Bless All sees Trembling Bells tease out the hymnal qualities of Gibb's original with a slow volcanic upswell which — on four minutes — explodes into heavy psychedelic technicolour. What pleases Alex Neilson when he listens back is 'a sense of a common vocabulary and identity being forged.' If, by that, he means that there isn't another band on the planet that quite sounds like Trembling Bells, it would be hard to disagree. The evidence is right here.

'I didn't know anything about Trembling Bells. I just heard them and was knocked out. I instantly became a fan.' Paul Weller

'Trembling Bells are my kind of band.' Joe Boyd

"Jesus fucking shit! These jamz claw so hard at the tatties below methinks the Lord misnamed them, having intended to say Trembling BALLS." Will Oldham

'A poetic incantation of British identity far brighter than Michael Gove's GCSE syllabus.' Stewart Lee

'This time, I'm attempting to reclaim the art of songwriting from the charity shop bargain bin.' Alex Neilson

RAWAX presents Metropolitan Soul Museum to the Family!
"MSM's latest Bleu EP is a collection of 4 original tracks coming from the duo's deeper and harder musical imagery The EP showcases a futuristic mix of rough drum machine grooves, relentless 303 lines and hypnotic synths. The result is the perfect fit for Rawax's vinyl series. "

Metropolitan Soul Museum (or MSM for short) is a London based live duo releasing sonically melodic electronic music on labels like Rawax, Normals Welcome, Toy Tonics, Trunkfunk, Dionysian Mysteries.

To kick off 2019 Haven are setting their sights on the farthest reaches of the resurgence in EBM. New Zealand based hardware warrior Body Beat Ritual grew up in the UK exposed to the body music of the 80s and 90s and his experiments in industrial-tinged dance tracks inspired by the likes of Front Line Assembly, Ministry, Subpoena The Past, Nitzer Ebb, and Revolting Cocks were made in complete isolation from, and with no awareness of, the EBM resurgence in Europe's clubland.

This EP represents the first of Body Beat Rituals explorations into this sound. The A1 starts the EP with 'Instinct Primitive' - a certified body moving slammer featuring haunting screams, samples ruminating schizophrenia, a funky bass-line and drum rolls aplenty. The A2 welcomes Poland's VTSS to Haven for the first time with a bouncy gabber kick and distorted tones on her tough remix of 'Instinct Primitive'. The B1 begins the flip with the hectic drum workout, cutting bass and synth programming and political samples of 'Crash Report', followed by the destructive drums and scratchy timbre of Blush Response's remix on the B2. Not one to be missed for fans of dance-floor focused, gnarled industrial techno and EBM!

'Sometimes it's hard to say how you feel,' says songwriter-vocalist
Jade Vincent. 'These songs are vulnerable stories for me to tell -
they're things I couldn't say out loud. But I found that I could sing
them. And then I closed my eyes when they would listen.'
Listening to Vincent's songs were her partner - producer/composer
Keefus Ciancia - and DJ and producer/composer David Holmes.
Together, Vincent, Ciancia and Holmes make up Unloved, the musical
project that evolved out of a late-night Hollywood bar in 2015,
releasing a stunning debut album the following spring and this year
crafting the soundtrack to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's acclaimed new
series 'Killing Eve'.
Introduced to Ciancia through soundtrack work, Holmes found
himself invited to DJ one night and to curate other nights at the
Rotary Room. To invite Holmes to DJ is to unleash a kind of whirling
dervish of musical enthusiasm but through those nights the trio
discovered a shared love for 60s girl groups and French pop and film
noir soundtracks, Brigitte Fontaine, Shuggie Otis, George 'Shadow'
Morton, Bruno Nicolai, Lee Hazlewood and Jack Nitzsche, along with
a tremendous desire to work together.
Their debut EP - 'Guilty Of Love' - and the full-length, self-titled
album that followed in the spring of 2016, offered a quite remarkable
thing: a sound at once hauled out of the silty depths of the past and
simultaneously wholly modern. There was the soft hiss of a lo-fidelity
recording - the murky crackle of sample, beats and half-remembered,
long-lost favourite tunes. However, much of the songs' success
belonged to Vincent's sublime voice and lyrics, both possessed of an
aching, rich-smoked tone of loss and love.
Unloved's second album, 'Heartbreak', is about love. The album plays
out each song like a vignette of nothing but love. The songs that rose
up were in some ways surprising, but also felt insistent. 'They're real
feelings and real experiences that I had the guts to finally say, but
always ambiguous, this is very important to me,' she explains, 'and
always about love, one way or another.'
LP pressed on red coloured vinyl with digital download code.

2018 played host to a bumper crop of sounds from some of Philly's grittiest, including Great Circles mainstays M//R and Chaperone. To close out the year that was, we are pleased to present Heckadecimal's 'Murder Tape.'

A Minneapolis-based producer and acid auteur, Heckadecimal has been a fixture within the vibrant Midwestern electronic music community for nearly 20 years. Founder of the legendary 'Anti-human' events and co-curator of the ever-prolific Always Human Tapes imprint - alongside Ryan Wurst and Peter Lansky - Heckadecimal's reputation is one of unrelenting creativity and tireless advocacy for sonic experimentation. His work has found its way to light via a slew of pseudonyms and stage monikers, including The Worm, noface and Wonder Sirens.

In short - Heckadecimal lives and breathes the sonic matter that he leaves pouring out of studio monitors, busted bar systems and finely tuned rave stacks, wherever his travels take him.
Live performance lies at the core of Heckadecimal's practice. When he stormed through Inciting HQ in Philly earlier this summer, he took command over an arsenal of hardware that reminded us of how Octave One or Shawn Rudiman might show up. These were machines that he had lived with; touched with custom modifications, hand-drawn stickers and pockmarks incurred in battle, one got the sense that the gear was a personal extension of the artist.

Perhaps it's a bit maudlin, but we feel a certain kinship with this project. Indeed, these tracks at times feel very much of a piece with the gnarled tonalities in which our stable typically traffics; all low-slung riddims that reach at equal lengths towards mutated IDM aesthetics and post-Packard Plant techno extrusions. These are future perfect grooves that glide along under the vast Midwestern sky, providing a fertile communication conduit with the City of Brotherly Love.

Give thanks for acid. Great Circles will see you in the New Year..

Pete 'Bassman' Bain, one of the founding members of the UK cult psych rock band Spacemen 3, formed Alpha Stone after Spacemen 3 and his other band The Darkside split up in the mid-nineties. In 1996 the band recorded the album 'Stereophonic Pop Art Music' and it was released on Bomp! Records on Compact Disc. The album hasn't had a 'proper' vinyl release until now, 2018, when Hoga Nord Rekords continues their collaboration with Pete Bassman by releasing the album.

You can clearly hear that Pete Bassman was the driving force behind Alpha Stone; fuzz, synthesiser -sweeps, programmed drums and processed vocals are the cornerstones in Alpha Stone's sound. Raga-like mantras, heard in Farmer C, lies track to track with more percussion driven grooves and psychedelic pop oriented songs. The album's sound has obviously survived the 20+ years shelved in obscurity and proves the 'Drugby' sound still vital!

It's always hard to sum up a bands particular sound in a few words, but you could say that if you put guitar and bass, synthesisers, a drum machine, and Julian Copes record collection in the hands of an alien, you've got Alpha Stone!

Seit Dem Plötzlichen Und Völlig Unbemerkten Erscheinen Ihres Manifests Im Jahr 2016 Schwor Das Weird Folk-songwriter-duo The Mañana People, 100 Lieder Zu Schreiben, Die Die Wege Des Pop-genre-diskurses Erkunden. In Der Mitte Ihres Kampfes, Während Sie Eine Reihe Von Hausgemachten Freak-folk- Und Psycho-country-kuriositäten Erfanden, Wurden Ihre Bemühungen Gnadenlos Von Dem Deutschen Kult-label Unique Records Unterbrochen, Das Sie An Den Ohren Packte Und Ihnen Sagte, Dass Sie Aufwachsen Und Eine Richtige Platte Machen Sollten.

Das Ergebnis Ist Ihr Bevorstehendes Debüt "princess Diana", Ein Hauch Frischer Radioaktiver Luft In Der Welt Der Autorenmusik. Die Exzentrische Sammlung Von Melodien Bietet Theremin-getriebene Honky-tonk-kracher, Zombie-themen-electro-pop-balladen Und Horror-spirituals, Sowie Eine Zusammenarbeit Mit Dem Besten Troubadour Selbst, Bonnie 'prince' Billy.

Die Erste Anstrengung Der Mañana People Schafft Es, Harmonisch Zwischen Experimentierrinnen Und Der Angenehmen Leichtigkeit Der Popmusik Zu Schwingen. Tim Weissinger Und Alvaro Arango Trafen Sich An Einem Winterabend Auf Den Grünen Wiesen Ihrer Universität.

Ihre Musikalische Chemie Und Das Kalte Wetter Zwangen Sie Quasi, Sofort Musik Zu Machen. Ihre Debüt-ep "the Mañana People" Wurde Am Halloween-abend 2014 Online Veröffentlicht. Ihre Musik Wurde Sofort Von Ihren Freunden Gelobt, Von Ihren Feinden Gefürchtet Und Von Vielen Anderen Ignoriert.

Seit Anfang 2015, Und Mit Hilfe Von Tobi Mercer (keyboards) Und Simon Mead (schlagzeug), Haben Die Mañana People Ihr Wort Verbreitet Und In Jeder Bar, Café Oder Straßenecke Neue Seelen Gefordert.

Nach Einer Zweiten Ep - "horror Songs" - Ist Es 2016 An Der Zeit Für Ein Komplettes Und Mit Spannung Erwartetes Debütalbum Auf Unique Records!

Die Jungs Supporten Honig Auf Seiner Herbsttour.

Live
14.09.18 Ulm Roxy
15.09.18 Mainz Schon Schön
16.09.18 Dresden Beatpol
17.09.18 Berlin Privatclub
18.09.18 Leipzig Werk 2
19.09.18 Nürnberg Club Stereo
20.09.18 Essen Zeche Carl
21.09.18 Köln Kulturkirche
22.09.18 Bremen Tower
28.09.18 Konstanz Kulturladen
29.09.18 Saarbrücken Kleiner Klub
30.09.18 Aachen Musikbunker
02.10.18 Langenberg Kgb
03.10.18 Haldern Pop Bar
04.10.18 Hamburg Knust
05.10.18 Münster Sputnikhalle


Für Anfang 2019 Ist Eine Kleine Eigene Tour In Planung.

Sinnamon's '83 NYC boogie scorcher 'I Need You Now' gets the official remastered, reissue treatment - complete with the 'Fierce Reprise' dub mix alongside the accapella, providing essential sampling material.

Marrying the old with the new, 'I Need You Now' is drenched in funk bass slickness and colourful chords, yet embraces a wealth of synthesized sounds from electro sequencers to synth-based strings, giving it that early '80s post disco, boogie feel. Bernard Fowler of Peech Boys fame steps up on guest vocals bringing a deep, R&B tone to proceedings, complimented by the all-female vocal prowess of Sinnamon adding their trademark feminine touch to the track.

First up on the flip side, the six minute 'Fierce Reprise' mix. Reversed rides that suck back into the skull, tape delayed vocals and spacey synth echoes blend together, as elements are overlaid and dubbed out for maximum, heavyweight, proto house vibrations.

Last up, a favourite and much used vocal accapella that's been sampled by a whole host of early house, hardcore and garage producers from 808 State and Criminal House to Ray Keith and Paul Johnson.

An essential bit of kit for anyone with a penchant for that early '80s boogie flavour.

Neville Watson returns to DBA with The Midnight Orchard, his first full-length in five years. Watson is a key figure on the electronic music scene at large and has made regular appearances on Don't Be Afraid, as well as on celebrated imprints such as Crème Organization, Clone and Rush Hour, where he released some of his best-known work alongside Kink.

In a crowded landscape of factory-line jack trax and synthesis for the sake-of-it, it's little surprise that Watson's physical, arresting takes on house and techno have been such a staple in the record bags of the world's leading DJs for the past twenty years. Throughout The Midnight Orchard, Watson seamlessly bridges his futurist leanings gleaned from a lifelong commitment to electronic music with the anarchic spirit of his acid-house heritage.

The record still finds catharsis in the relentless pulse that has defined Watson's life since his early residencies where he peddled ecstatic escapism to towns on the commuter belts of London, notably via his involvement in seminal Reading party Checkpoint Charlie. However, there's a more somber, arguably introspective and perhaps even somewhat wistful tone at play throughout. This might surprise those who've invested their feet and hearts in tracks with titles like Night Of The Inflatable Muscleheads and Everything I Know About House (I Learned on Facebook).

In a move away from his previous musical leanings, The Midnight Orchard embraces a distinctly more UK sound, unapologetically chronicling the paranoia that can be found skirting the euphoria of rave. And while Watson has avoided the eyebrow-arching pitfalls of the self-serious DJ full-length, it must be noted that the rhythms here are more skittering, the atmosphere less jubilant and the signature lo-fi hiss, fully popularised and bastardised since Watson's last album, has taken on a more fore-boding tone.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere elsewhere harks to a more idealistic world, particularly on the cascading and subdued Eine Kleine Emusik, and the euphoric We Own The Night. Twin Tub and Reet Dux provide dubby, sensual moments of escapism. There's uncompromising, hard-nosed rhythms on Dee Sides, and cosmic electro throughout 4am in the Trees. The album then concludes in a bold fashion with Displays of Brotherly Love and the resolutely hopeful atmosphere of Phosphorescent.

Reflecting decades of immersion in club culture and taking inspiration from wider-found sounds, The Midnight Orchard is loaded with thrilling parallels and a sense of genuine unpredictability. Tracks like Come On In and Anarcho Midnight are layered with unease, utilising pitch dark arpeggios and skittish, growling electronics to devastating effect.

Having dedicated the last eighteen months of his life to the studio, Watson has rec-orded what is undeniably the most unexpected music of his career. Amid the dark-ness, The Midnight Orchard has borne fruit.

R+R=NOW is a collective of like-minded boundary-breakers featuring Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Derrick Hodge, Taylor McFerrin & Justin Tyson. The 'R+R' in the band's name stands for Reflect+Respond, and was inspired by Nina Simone who said an artist's duty is to reflect the times.
With Collagically Speaking the band presents an urgent musical hybrid that is distinctly of the now. As Glasper says, R+R=NOW tells 'our story from our point of view... It's a very honest, fluid sound that rings of hip-hop, EDM, jazz, at times - hell - reggae... a bunch of cats that respect each other so much that we always pass the ball.' The album features guest spots by Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Stalley, Amanda Seales, Amber Navran, Goapele, Jahi Sundance and Yasiin bey.

2018 played host to a bumper crop of sounds from some of Philly's grittiest, including Great Circles mainstays M//R and Chaperone. To close out the year that was, we are pleased to present Heckadecimal's 'Murder Tape.'

A Minneapolis-based producer and acid auteur, Heckadecimal has been a fixture within the vibrant Midwestern electronic music community for nearly 20 years. Founder of the legendary 'Anti-human' events and co-curator of the ever-prolific Always Human Tapes imprint - alongside Ryan Wurst and Peter Lansky - Heckadecimal's reputation is one of unrelenting creativity and tireless advocacy for sonic experimentation. His work has found its way to light via a slew of pseudonyms and stage monikers, including The Worm, noface and Wonder Sirens.

In short - Heckadecimal lives and breathes the sonic matter that he leaves pouring out of studio monitors, busted bar systems and finely tuned rave stacks, wherever his travels take him.

Live performance lies at the core of Heckadecimal's practice. When he stormed through Inciting HQ in Philly earlier this summer, he took command over an arsenal of hardware that reminded us of how Octave One or Shawn Rudiman might show up. These were machines that he had lived with; touched with custom modifications, hand-drawn stickers and pockmarks incurred in battle, one got the sense that the gear was a personal extension of the artist.

Perhaps it's a bit maudlin, but we feel a certain kinship with this project. Indeed, these tracks at times feel very much of a piece with the gnarled tonalities in which our stable typically traffics; all low-slung riddims that reach at equal lengths towards mutated IDM aesthetics and post-Packard Plant techno extrusions. These are future perfect grooves that glide along under the vast Midwestern sky, providing a fertile communication conduit with the City of Brotherly Love.

Give thanks for acid. Great Circles will see you in the New Year..

Four Floor Fillers (try say that one after a few shandies) by Irish producer, Conny. Making his Cold Tonic debut Tipping the hat to good solid chunky house from Jersey towards the opposite side of the two rivers with rave synth-piano breakbeat madness thrown inspired for a brooklyn rave.
Each side gets full club-decor by the one and only club beat maestro, Running back's SHAN who offers a punchy sunrise mix perfect for the winter blues and a hard hitting peak time club mix.

As she continues to make UK chart history with her 7th #1 single 'I'll Be There', Jess Glynne announces her glittering new album 'Always In Between'.
It's been 3 years since the release of Jess Glynne's momentous debut album 'I Cry When I Laugh'. Selling over 2 million copies worldwide and including a mass of smash hit singles including 'Hold My Hand', 'Take My Home' and 'Don't Be So Hard On Yourself', it consolidated Jess as one of the most important British popstars and a formidable songwriter.
Celebrated for her intimate yet universally appealing themes, Jess has connected with millions of people across the globe - demonstrating her peerless ability to tell the truths young women want to hear; about the loves that build them up and let them down; the aspirations and dreams that might turn sour but you'll smile through them anyway. These themes are passionately continued in 'Always In Between'.
'Always In Between' finds Jess on a breath-taking journey of self-acceptance as she comes to terms with her new-found fame, heartbreak and the well-known pressure of writing a second album. The result is a triumph that captures the heart of what being a 28-year old woman in 2018 can feel like - trying to balance real life with everything that you want it to be. With a tone of joyful harmony and acceptance set by 'I'll Be There' already, Thursday (co-written with Ed Sheeran), explores our many insecurities and the idea that sometimes stripping everything back can make you feel most yourself, while 'All I Am' attempts to answer the niggling voice inside so many people's head asking if they are enough. There's no doubt that 'Always In Between' will capture many under its spell as Jess Glynne once again reaches out her hand, and offers love and friendship and unity to all that can hear her.