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Book of Roses is yet another brilliant Vollenweider album, yet it's notably
different from the rest of his works to date
There is a wide range of styles and a tremendous range of different instruments
and sound effects used here. In addition to his electroacoustic harp, you hear
orchestral music, vocals, hammer dulcimer, bassoon, flutes, harmonica, horns/
brass instruments, piano, electric and acoustic guitars, accordion, bass, and
many different types of percussion, e.g. hand clapping, chalk/crayon scratching,
and various kinds of drums. In addition you hear many sound effects: pages
turning in a book, footsteps, clocks ticking, dogs barking, birds chirping, bow and
arrow, and many other special effects.Even though this album is perhaps more
"chopped up" into different songs (and four separate "chapters" like in the book) it
flows together nicely as do the rest of his albums and the songs are great to
listen to. There is a diverse range of styles. It starts off with orchestral
movements, then we have the cheery "Morning at Boma Park" and the smooth
crayon- scratching rhythm of the title track, to the optimistic sounding South
African "Passage to Promise" to the fast paced Spanish- guitar/ harp piece
"Jugglers in Obsidian." Track 13 "Hirzel" is probably the most mainstream
Vollenweider track on this CD. It is an upbeat song with a pop-rock feel and brings
back a similar style and intensity of many of the songs from "Dancing With the
Lion." The final track "Letters to a Young Rose" has a somewhat festive African
feel and beat with several different kinds of percussion and is a perfect way to
end the album.Bottom line: It may be different and more diverse from many of his
previous albums, with many different instruments and sound effects in addition
to his harp, but "Book of Roses" is another must-have Vollenweider album.

Emotional Rescue turn their attention to Rare Silk and their sublime cult classic "Storm". It's one of those rare tracks with a wonderful otherworldly quality that manages to be smooth and accessible, and somehow not like anything you've ever heard before. It must be somewhere in the mix, between the dreamy harmonized vocals, lush instrumentation and curious sense of space. The original on the A side is a treat enough, but then throw in a mercurial dubbed out version by Arp on the flip and you've got yourself a 12 inch portal to a most delightful dimension.

Nat Birchall continues apace with his “one-semble” recording projects, this album being the fourth one to feature only Nat himself playing all the instruments.

The Infinite presents seven original compositions loosely based around various mystical aspects of the universe.

The recording demonstrates Nat’s belief in the music having its own life outside of any human input, and also that it has its own laws and innate sense of balance and form, as does the universe itself. As the ancient saying goes - as above, so below.
The track Kalaparusha Arha Difda is named for the late, great tenor saxophonist who Nat considers to be one of the deepest and most Spiritual musicians that have had an influence on him.

If you're into the classic sound of the best releases from the seventies and eighties era Jazz-Funk or Fusion with a slightly modern and exciting touch, you don’t want to miss out on Fusion Affair’s first album: Venom! Proudly presented by Parisian label Chuwanaga, Venom is filled with sharp synths, electrifying basslines, serious guitar licks, amazing themes, in-the-pocket drums grooves and true excitement all over the six tracks of the album.

Starting with "Fruits Rouges" which introduces the listener to the beautiful and soulful harmonies spread throughout the album but also an overall overview of how Fusion Affair and Venom brings together strength and delicacy. Then, the impetuous and dangerous ride of "Venom" will leave you either dancing or shocked. A dangerous trip with a perfect climactic ending: watch out for the snakes! The serious but fun-filled groove of "Bounce" will take you back to Herbie Hancock’s seventies, with a jazz-funk style that you cannot resist bouncing your head to! Despite its chordal simplicity, the dreamier yet modern track "Dasha" begins with an unconventional use of berimbau. After several expositions of its beautiful main melody, the track intensifies with a perfectly executed drum and bass interlude. "Missing Cat" returns to a classic Jazz-Funk vibe with late seventies synth brass accentuating its playful theme. This one’s definitely got a vintage vibe! Finally, "Bougie Noire" ends Fusion Affair’s first album with powerful chords and orchestration while keeping it truly mysterious : to be continued...

Fusion Affair brings together the talents of French musicians from Lyon, Paris and Montréal, all gathered by the producer LeMatoux. Following many sessions at the infamous Studio Delta, record label Chuwanaga and the band are ready to spread their infectious groove all over the globe!

Repressed!

Berlin-based contemporary composer Nils Frahm has built a steady reputation for his intimate, poignant piano recordings, yet they so ...

On Al Hadr, Sabrina Bellaouel taps into myriad influences: from spirituality, astrology to club culture, romance, the body and self-love. Creating a balance between places, identities and sounds is a huge part of the charm of Al Hadr. As a true Libra, she’s finding a balance between honoring her roots and carving out her future.

Following two solo EPs, also on InFiné — 2020’s We Don’t Need To Be Enemies and 2021’s Libra — the French-Algerian producer and vocalist’s unique style of electronic R&B blossoms with Al Hadr, a 13-track album featuring collaborations with dance producer Basile3, experimental club DJ and writer Crystallmess, jazz musician Monomite and pop singer Bonnie Banane, among others.

Born, raised and based in Bagneux, outside the southern périphérique of Paris, Bellaouel lives between worlds. At home, her Algerian heritage and Muslim faith have fused tight familial bonds and a keen sense of history and culture; as “Berbers”, she speaks French and Arabic. In her headphones, she finds comfort in the sparse experimentalism of Radiohead and romantic tales of Jill Scott. On the hot club dance floors of Paris, driving house beats connect her to her body.

In swirling these private and public passions together on Al Hadr — which translates from Arabic as “the present time” — Bellaouel is the most vulnerable she’s ever been on record. Classic neo-soul and silken R&B blend with club electronics. Tender harmonies are sung and rhymes are spoken in English, French and Arabic, exploring love, faith and identity. Samples of drum machines are the backbone for wisps of woodwind, strings, keys and environmental ‘found sounds’, including Bellaouel’s own live recordings.

Creating a balance between places, identities and sounds is a huge part of the charm of Al Hadr. As a true Libra, she’s finding a balance between honoring her roots and carving out her future.

Originally released in 1979 on Mistlur Records in Sweden, Nyanser is widely considered Thomas Almvqvist’s masterpiece.

It's almost unspeakably beautiful.

With his adventurous, virtuoso guitar technique to the fore, the album explores a unique path through world music, folk, jazz and acoustic experimentation, whilst retaining a very personal vision.

It’s aged very, very well indeed and is now rare and immensely sought-after, coveted for many years by collectors of all musical genres. This Be With re-issue, remastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.

The majority of the album is a solo exercise with Thomas playing Rhodes, flute, synthesizer and percussion as well as his idiosyncratic guitar on all tracks. Alongside Thomas in the studio were an array of young, experimental Swedish musicians in the nascent stages of their careers including the much lauded Swedish composer Ann-Sofi Söderqvist, vocalist Turid Lundqvist and perhaps the key contributor to the album, Hans Peter Andersson, whose alto, tenor and baritone saxophone contributions shift the album from into the realms of jazz, most notably on “Horisont” and “E.M.”

The whole ensemble comes together on the centrepiece of the album, the joyous aquatic harmony of “Coral Reef”, one we've been playing out for the past 5 years to dropped jaws. The album presents a very visual aesthetic, each track evoking images of landscapes and far-flung corners of the earth. Almvqvist himself considered the visual aspect of his sound very important, describing his approach as “picture music.”

Nyanser is considered one of the earliest examples of a fusion of world music, jazz and folk traditions, certainly from a Scandinavian artist. Despite its impact on release being minimal outside of those aficionados tuned into such sounds, over the years the album has become something of a "lost" cult classic and a fine example of the experimentalism going on in Scandinavian music at the time. The English translation of nyanser - ‘shades’ - is a particularly apt description of the sounds contained within.

Thomas very sadly passed away in 2008 at the age of 55. We hope this reissue will go some way to bringing his unique output to a wider audience and secure the legacy he deserves as one of Sweden’s great guitarists and musical visionaries. It sounds sensational, if we do say so ourselves. Working with audio from the original analogue tapes, the vinyl mastering chops of Simon Francis are on full show here in what he considers to be some of his best ever work for Be With. Pete Norman’s cutting skills have made sure nothing is lost whilst the beautiful artwork has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to helping this revered work find a rightful place in every record collection.

American singer-songwriter, poet, and photographer Thomas Meluch, known musically as Benoît Pioulard, returns with his most structured and vocal release to date. Titled »Eidetic,« a word denoting the ability to recall mental images with extraordinarily rich precision, the album presents unprecedented clarity and vitality for Benoît Pioulard. To access its thematic ground, Meluch looked inward with an affinity towards the people he loves during a period marked by his move from Seattle to Brooklyn in 2019. The resulting work engages with the universe's unflinching mortality and, as he says, »the ways it has modified and improved my relationships, especially with family.« Embodied by the creek, leaves, and ferns of the cover photography — taken in Michigan’s Burchfield Park, where he and his dad used to hike and »muse on existence« — the music glistens and unfurls with the flow of life he’s come to know. »Eidetic« is the culmination of Meluch's craft both as a producer and writer. An evocative sonic vocabulary meets deft lyrical introspection, articulated with the nuance, vulnerability, and confidence of a longtime artist hitting a stride.

Meluch has continually refined, redefined, and adjusted the focus of his gentle pop project over the last 20 years. Recorded primarily with guitar, tapes, and voice — and spanning labels with albums for Kranky, Morr Music, Beacon Sound, and Past Inside the Present — his catalog flows seamlessly between ambient improvisation and pop composition. Much like the analog photos that often accompany his releases, songs can feel dreamily softened and distant, and others beautifully vivid and detailed. 2021 full-length »Bloodless« found Meluch deep in droning decay, expressive yet wordless. With »Eidetic,« he swings back to sharpened forms. Lush banks of treated guitar and synth brush against hushed percussion; there is mist in the distance, but everything up close is intricately constructed and radiant. Meluch's voice is notably forward in the mix — a warm and calming tenor, a harmonic coo more than a whisper — ever-observant and actively processing.

To record much of the album, Meluch filled a cabin in rural Maine with his usual setup of simple percussion, a couple of Fender electrics, and a parlor guitar made by his friend who does bespoke luthier work. The modest utility is what he knows best, and here he pushes the output to its most pristine potential.

»Eidetic« opens in a swirl of familiar haze; »Margaret Murie« eases listeners in, as lush and verdant as the landscapes conserved by its famed namesake. With the setting established, Meluch, the narrator, enters the foreground with »Crux,« a tender piece written about finding new motivations in a new city. »We covet this rare green hue / Here at the farthest point from home,« he sings above a reassuring pattern of strums and percussion. Meluch's prose shines on the swiftly-moving »Nameless,« inspired by the neurological effects that came with the antiquated practice of manufacturing mercury mirrors; »folks would slowly go insane while looking into their own reflections every day,« he adds. The idea informs a series of surreal abstractions before everything drops out in the final minute, and we are left free-floating in eerie nothingness.

Across the album, labyrinthine lyrical ponderings scatter with dazzling imagery, artfully blurring scenes from world history with Meluch's more personal, present-day. The propulsive and earnest »Thursday Night« catches his mind overly active and too stoned, riffing on black holes and songwriting itself. »Halve« references the splitting of the atom, what he considers »the beginning of man's downfall,« and the unrealized initiative proposed by the US government that would have created 'nuclear refuges' in its national parks. Meluch's loved ones weave throughout; »Tet« holds his father's experience in Vietnam and its lasting effects. »Lillian Isola« touches on his maternal grandmother's spinal curvature, and »Pastel Dust« navigates the wake of his cat, who died on New Year's Eve 2020.

At first blush, Meluch's atmospheric and melodic sensibilities resonate purely in their own right. Upon closer meditation, his ability to render stories — many of which surround human tragedy, misfortune, and understanding — through the prism of his poetry makes »Eidetic« even more rewarding.

Dark Green Vinyl

American singer-songwriter, poet, and photographer Thomas Meluch, known musically as Benoît Pioulard, returns with his most structured and vocal release to date. Titled »Eidetic,« a word denoting the ability to recall mental images with extraordinarily rich precision, the album presents unprecedented clarity and vitality for Benoît Pioulard. To access its thematic ground, Meluch looked inward with an affinity towards the people he loves during a period marked by his move from Seattle to Brooklyn in 2019. The resulting work engages with the universe's unflinching mortality and, as he says, »the ways it has modified and improved my relationships, especially with family.« Embodied by the creek, leaves, and ferns of the cover photography — taken in Michigan’s Burchfield Park, where he and his dad used to hike and »muse on existence« — the music glistens and unfurls with the flow of life he’s come to know. »Eidetic« is the culmination of Meluch's craft both as a producer and writer. An evocative sonic vocabulary meets deft lyrical introspection, articulated with the nuance, vulnerability, and confidence of a longtime artist hitting a stride.

Meluch has continually refined, redefined, and adjusted the focus of his gentle pop project over the last 20 years. Recorded primarily with guitar, tapes, and voice — and spanning labels with albums for Kranky, Morr Music, Beacon Sound, and Past Inside the Present — his catalog flows seamlessly between ambient improvisation and pop composition. Much like the analog photos that often accompany his releases, songs can feel dreamily softened and distant, and others beautifully vivid and detailed. 2021 full-length »Bloodless« found Meluch deep in droning decay, expressive yet wordless. With »Eidetic,« he swings back to sharpened forms. Lush banks of treated guitar and synth brush against hushed percussion; there is mist in the distance, but everything up close is intricately constructed and radiant. Meluch's voice is notably forward in the mix — a warm and calming tenor, a harmonic coo more than a whisper — ever-observant and actively processing.

To record much of the album, Meluch filled a cabin in rural Maine with his usual setup of simple percussion, a couple of Fender electrics, and a parlor guitar made by his friend who does bespoke luthier work. The modest utility is what he knows best, and here he pushes the output to its most pristine potential.

»Eidetic« opens in a swirl of familiar haze; »Margaret Murie« eases listeners in, as lush and verdant as the landscapes conserved by its famed namesake. With the setting established, Meluch, the narrator, enters the foreground with »Crux,« a tender piece written about finding new motivations in a new city. »We covet this rare green hue / Here at the farthest point from home,« he sings above a reassuring pattern of strums and percussion. Meluch's prose shines on the swiftly-moving »Nameless,« inspired by the neurological effects that came with the antiquated practice of manufacturing mercury mirrors; »folks would slowly go insane while looking into their own reflections every day,« he adds. The idea informs a series of surreal abstractions before everything drops out in the final minute, and we are left free-floating in eerie nothingness.

Across the album, labyrinthine lyrical ponderings scatter with dazzling imagery, artfully blurring scenes from world history with Meluch's more personal, present-day. The propulsive and earnest »Thursday Night« catches his mind overly active and too stoned, riffing on black holes and songwriting itself. »Halve« references the splitting of the atom, what he considers »the beginning of man's downfall,« and the unrealized initiative proposed by the US government that would have created 'nuclear refuges' in its national parks. Meluch's loved ones weave throughout; »Tet« holds his father's experience in Vietnam and its lasting effects. »Lillian Isola« touches on his maternal grandmother's spinal curvature, and »Pastel Dust« navigates the wake of his cat, who died on New Year's Eve 2020.

At first blush, Meluch's atmospheric and melodic sensibilities resonate purely in their own right. Upon closer meditation, his ability to render stories — many of which surround human tragedy, misfortune, and understanding — through the prism of his poetry makes »Eidetic« even more rewarding.

Sebastian Gummersbach's Yore debut brings with it a further refinement of the material he's created for the German label Raw Soul. It specializes in material infusing modern house and techno grooves with flavourings of jazz, funk, and soul, the result a timeless take on house music. Anyone who's been keeping tabs on Andy Vaz's Yore releases will realize immediately that the same description could be applied to his imprint.

Given all that, it's easy to understand why Gummersbach, a producer hailing from Neuss, Germany, is such a natural fit for Yore. There's no small amount of artistry in play in the EP's four tracks, each one arguing strongly on behalf of his skills as an arranger and mood shaper. No cut better shows that than the opening “Rough Edges,” which is, frankly, anything but rough. He builds the arrangement methodically, starting with warm, billowing washes and then layering in step-by-step dub atmospherics, a strutting house pulse, congas, and synth ear-worms—a seductively smooth intro to the release.Gummersbach might have been listening to Hall and Oates's “I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)” prior to crafting “Calming Solitude” when the latter sounds so much like a clubby instrumental riff on the hit. Here too silky chords and synth textures merge with a rousing beat pattern to draw listeners to the dance floor.
On the flip side, “Eden” initially changes things up with a classic B-Boy beat and handclaps, but the tune gradually aligns itself to the character of the EP's other body-movers, even if acid-tinged synths become part of the mix. Closing out the release is the most techno-oriented of the four cuts, “Undisclosed Thoughts,” acid once again central to the track's identity and the chugging groove frothy. The word Eden naturally calls to mind the Biblical paradise, and consistent with that the tone of Gummersbach's EP, its A-side cuts especially, is generally smooth, serene, and harmonious; it's also, as stated, a seamless addition to the Yore catalogue.

Cluster was the pioneering German duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. Formed on the cusp of the 1970s, they were a part of West Germany's nascent Kosmische Musik scene. The group would use restrained improvisational techniques similar to Gruppo Nuova Consonanza, working with both electric and acoustic instruments (organ, guitar, tone generators, cello, etc.) to create a singular sound that Julian Cope called "a huge beating heart, planet-sized and awesome."

Originally released in 1972 on Brain, Cluster II features six pieces of atmospheric, proto-ambient drones – a step forward from Cluster's 1971 self-titled debut, which had all untitled songs. On "Im Suden," hypnotic bass pulsations and repetitive guitar patterns flow serenely, while side two opener "Live In Der Fabrik" dives deep into Roedelius and Moebius' foreboding industrial soundscapes and synergistic textural interplay.

As Roedelius told Uncut magazine in 2022, "This feels like a breakthrough? Well, we were just getting more into it, and getting more experienced at being able to elaborate it. Conny (Plank) was working with us again – as well as being a multi-talented artist, he was a very experienced sound master and great human being. He contributed as a fellow musician, adding sounds with his mixing table such as reverb, delay and other effects enriching the whole pieces so that they finally became somehow unique."

It's no surprise that when Neu! guitarist Michael Rother first heard Cluster II, he suggested a collaboration with the band – resulting in the supergroup Harmonia who would make their first album together the following year.

Following well-received collaborative outings for us as 1/2 of the SF dynamo duo Moniker whose classic “Billy D” anthem and respective Patrice Scott remix graced the early catalog, followed by the galactic
flex Straylight EP with Cali brethren Dave Aju on velvet vocoder vox b/w a stellar Kai Alcé remix on the Another offshoot imprint, and of course his indelible contributions to the arrangements/derangement of the wondrous KAMM LP Cookie Policies, Kenneth Scott is essentially an extended family household name for our camp and so we’re beyond proud to present his initial solo release for the Circus Company label proper. Schooled as always in the deepest of electronic music roots and classiest of track traditions, the three pieces that form the Light Blooming EP puzzle display all the prized synth wizardry and production ingenuity we’ve come to expect from the Berlin-based veteran.
“Firesound” kicks us off in fine form, with a glistening array of pads and tight arpeggios that give way to a soulful funk strut that any fan of Detroit-style electro flavors will enjoy to the fullest. We then move to
the stylized 4/4 pulse of the aptly-titled “Lost Sonar”, an extended live set for Lost Sonar Collective skillfully condensed and finessed into a smooth-as-silk true deep house cut, where warm synth tones set the sound bed while shards of sharper percussion and angular textures flash and fizz throughout, creating an ultra-fresh contrasting feel while a rock-solid groove grinds us along faithfully. Scott then finally closes out the set with the powerful and titular “Light Blooming” which begins with a similar rising pad intro before unleashing fierce and raw overdriven drum programming, teasing us out to the two minute mark when the mighty sub bass line and multi-layered arps drop in to devastating effect, bubbling and building to a bold harmonic apex, before eventually bringing us down softly and somehow with ease
after such a glorious rise.
Filled with early-Warp feels and futurist sci-fi hopes in equal measure, the Light Blooming EP is three tracks of pure funk precision and expressive musical class from the man Kenneth Scott

Armed with a thrift-store synth, bizarre wit and arresting vocals, the intergenerational, all-female micro-choir Alice release their second album L"Oiseau magnifique. Hailing from Geneva, Alice"s music subverts French and Occitan folk music to create a playful and poignant blend of intricate harmony and storytelling lyricism - a unique sound that is deep yet deceptively minimal.

Das Emil Brandqvist Trio ist mittlerweile eine feste Größe im europäischen Jazz Circuit und erfreut sich mit jedem Album größerer Popularität, bis auf Position 3 führte zum Beispiel die Reise in den deutschen Jazz Charts. Traumwandlerisch bewegen sich der Göteborger Schlagzeuger und Komponist Emil Brandqvist und seine seit sechs Alben konstanten Trio Partner Max Thornberg am Kontrabass und Tuomas A.Turunen am Piano durch ebenso poetische wie bildhafte Soundwelten, man kann mit Fug und Recht konstatieren, dass dieses Trio zu den wenigen in Europa gehört, die einen ganz eigenen und vom Publikum euphorisch gefeierten Sound gefunden haben.
Das neue Album "Layers Of Life" gerät zweifellos zum Höhepunkt ihres bisherigen Schaffens. Gleich dreizehn neue Songs aus der Feder von Emil Brandqvist überzeugen mit filigranen, hochkomplexen und doch so eingängig daherkommenden Arrangements, bei einem der zentralen Stücke des Albums, "Solitude" war als Co-Autor auch der finnische Pianist Tuomas A. Turunen beteiligt. Schon eine gute Tradition ist es, dass Brandqvist auch das Sjöströmska String Quartet für einige Songs ins Studio gebeten hat, um das Trio Format zu einem Breitwandsound zu erweitern. Daneben sind auch Maija Kauhanen (Kantele,Voice und Harmonium) und sein Bruder Martin Brandqvist, der punktuell mit Flöte, Klarinette und Bass Klarinette ergänzt, zur Verfeinerung der Klangwelten eingeladen worden. Emil Brandqvist selbst lässt es sich nicht nehmen, besondere Akzente durch die Verwendung eines Moog Synthesizers zu setzen.
Erstmals werden sämtliche Songs spielzeitbedingt auch auf einer Doppel - LP erscheinen und so die komplette musikalische Reise auf 180g Vinyl abbilden. Das Emil Brandqvist Trio wird im April / Mai und dann auch nochmal in Oktober / November für Konzerte durch Europa reisen.

Die kreativen Zentren von Obsequiae und Inexorum vereinen sich in der neuen, überragenden Band: Majesties. Für diejenigen, die mit den einzelnen Stücken von Majesties vertraut sind, wird der Sound des Debütalbums "Vast Reaches Unclaimed" eine weitere beeindruckende Ergänzung ihres jeweiligen Oeuvres sein und an die glorreichen Tage von Wrong Again und No Fashion Records erinnern.

Majesties erinnern an eine Zeit, in der Göteborg begann, Stockholm als unantastbare Stadt für schwedischen Death Metal in den Köpfen der internationalen Metalszene abzulösen. Sie haben das Gespür für die wütende Intensität des Death Metal und die mühelos befriedigende melodische Fähigkeit, die Alben wie "The Jester Race" und seine unmittelbaren Vorgänger zu sofortigen Klassikern machte. Die Mischung aus Dur-Melodien und Twin-Gitarren-Harmonien, die sich durch jeden Track schlängeln, schmücken die kraftvollen Riff-Eruptionen und den gequälten Gesang in einem Glanz von schimmernder Brillanz, der sich als ein berauschender Triumph erweist.

Ohne einen Hauch des Verfalls, den der Stil in einer Welt nach "Slaughter of the Soul" erfahren hat, ist "Vast Reaches Unclaimed" eine glühende Erinnerung an das, was war und was wieder sein wird. Majesties reanimieren den Leichnam des wahren Melodic Death Metal-Stils, der die Death Metal-Szene Mitte der 1990er Jahre sowohl spaltete als auch belebte, bringen ihn ins Jahr 2023, als wäre er nie weg gewesen, und klingen dabei so neuartig und aufregend wie eh und je.

- Debütalbum von Göteborg beeinflussten Melodic Death Metal
- Mit den kreativen Kernen der beliebten Obsequiae und Inexorum
- Cover-Artwork von Juanjo Castellano (Gates of Ishtar, Moondark, Varathron, The Black Dahlia Murder)
- FFO: In Flames, Eucharist, Dark Tranquillity, A Canorous Quintet, Gates of Ishtar, Iron Maiden, Ceremonial Oath, Obsequiae, Inexorum

Die kreativen Zentren von Obsequiae und Inexorum vereinen sich in der neuen, überragenden Band: Majesties. Für diejenigen, die mit den einzelnen Stücken von Majesties vertraut sind, wird der Sound des Debütalbums "Vast Reaches Unclaimed" eine weitere beeindruckende Ergänzung ihres jeweiligen Oeuvres sein und an die glorreichen Tage von Wrong Again und No Fashion Records erinnern.

Majesties erinnern an eine Zeit, in der Göteborg begann, Stockholm als unantastbare Stadt für schwedischen Death Metal in den Köpfen der internationalen Metalszene abzulösen. Sie haben das Gespür für die wütende Intensität des Death Metal und die mühelos befriedigende melodische Fähigkeit, die Alben wie "The Jester Race" und seine unmittelbaren Vorgänger zu sofortigen Klassikern machte. Die Mischung aus Dur-Melodien und Twin-Gitarren-Harmonien, die sich durch jeden Track schlängeln, schmücken die kraftvollen Riff-Eruptionen und den gequälten Gesang in einem Glanz von schimmernder Brillanz, der sich als ein berauschender Triumph erweist.

Ohne einen Hauch des Verfalls, den der Stil in einer Welt nach "Slaughter of the Soul" erfahren hat, ist "Vast Reaches Unclaimed" eine glühende Erinnerung an das, was war und was wieder sein wird. Majesties reanimieren den Leichnam des wahren Melodic Death Metal-Stils, der die Death Metal-Szene Mitte der 1990er Jahre sowohl spaltete als auch belebte, bringen ihn ins Jahr 2023, als wäre er nie weg gewesen, und klingen dabei so neuartig und aufregend wie eh und je.

- Debütalbum von Göteborg beeinflussten Melodic Death Metal
- Mit den kreativen Kernen der beliebten Obsequiae und Inexorum
- Cover-Artwork von Juanjo Castellano (Gates of Ishtar, Moondark, Varathron, The Black Dahlia Murder)
- FFO: In Flames, Eucharist, Dark Tranquillity, A Canorous Quintet, Gates of Ishtar, Iron Maiden, Ceremonial Oath, Obsequiae, Inexorum

If we want to look into the future, we have to start considering the implications more holistically. All too often, science fiction is a dystopian projection of the current era's grimmest realities spiked with pragmatic historical hindsight - but what if instead it was able to reflect our needs, hopes, and dreams? On "SPINE", award-winning Danish composer SØS Gunver Ryberg considers a sustainable alternative, buoyed by interconnectedness, empowerment, and understanding. Channeling her dextrous sound design into advanced, time-bending music that fluctuates through techno, experimental ambient, and soundsystem-vibrating bass music, she maps out an artistic landscape that's futuristic and complex, but never oppressive.

Ryberg is an accomplished producer who's developed her sound over many years, playing concerts and working tirelessly on video game soundtracks, film scores, dance, performance, and multichannel installation pieces. Her first solo album "Entangled" appeared in 2019 on Berlin's esteemed Avian imprint, and was praised for its sensitive approach to noise and abstracted techno, while its EP-length followup "WHYT 030" was nominated for the Nordic Council's prestigious music prize this year. "SPINE" is the inaugural release on Ryberg's own label Arterial, and stands as a thematically dense statement of intent. The label provides a platform to extend Ryberg's artistic goals and reflect not just her world but a world she wants to see develop in the future: somewhere connected and creative, where exploration and free expression is prioritized over genre division and petty compromise.

This philosophy is central to the sounds on "SPINE", which have been carefully sculpted to accurately lay out Ryberg's worldview. Opening track 'Unfolding' presents a sonic ecosystem that flourishes as it spreads itself out, and quivering kick drums vibrate alongside unstable atmospherics. There's the faint fingerprint of Chain Reaction's notional dub techno in there somewhere, but Ryberg interrupts the thought before it can coagulate, assuring the listener that her vision isn't ponderous but playful and optimistic. This mood flickers into view again on the title track 'Spine', as fragmented breaks rumble beneath disorienting synths, faint images of a life we once knew refracted into cosmic beams of light. 'Mirrored Madness' meanwhile is warm, assertive, and optimistic, contrasting skittering cybernetic percussion with dense, enveloping harmonies.

When she pushes rhythm into the background, like on the cinematic 'We tumble on the edges', Ryberg's compositional skill is placed under the microscope. We're presented with the opportunity to examine another dimension of her work, the mystery beneath the stone, hearing saturated, alluring pads infused with hidden harmonies. In these moments, Ryberg implores all of us to consider the environment, asking us to think about the earth's essential nutrients on the dreamy 'Phosphorus Cycle', and what we might do to save ourselves on the delirious 'Where do we go from here'. Ryberg's concern isn't chastising, it's laid out in a warm embrace. The future could still be bright - there's something beautiful in the complexity if you just take the time to look closely.

Since the late aughts, Helsinki-based multi-instrumentalist, linguist, and skateboarder Olli Aarni has released a steady stream of diverse and remarkably consistent recordings via labels such as Mappa, Longform Editions, Cotton Goods, Laaps and Superpang. “Koko maailma” constitutes a major new work in his discography, finding a fertile middle ground between what might be understood as his two primary compositional modes: organic/chaotic/aleatoric music and rule-based, longform works of minimalism. The source material for these compositions was recorded exclusively using the Serge system at EMS Stockholm, but the timbres that Aarni arrives at do not recall archetypal Serge music as most know it. Meticulous editing and processing of the material with an array of digital tools has resulted in music that preserves the erratic and cybernetic character of the Serge system but sounds totally unique unto itself. The first piece, “Ylhäällä,” has the sonic character of fireflies at dusk or ants in the dirt — mercurial, hypnotic, flittering, and scattering tones presented in the spirit of the best environmental music. “Alhaalla” functions almost like a zoomed out impression of what precedes it, with just intonation tuning applied to sine wave generators to create grid-like, harmonically rich, and surprisingly emotive drone music. Micro and macro — two pieces of music, two perspectives of a world.

On her third album, Berlin-based Dutch-Italian composer and sound designer Aimée Portioli, aka Grand River, asks what guiding forces might be driving, enticing, and affecting us. “All Above” is rooted in her deeply personal philosophy as an artist, blurring the boundaries between electronic music and acoustic music and sculpting familiar ambient forms into personal themes painted with rich emotional colours. Written painstakingly over the last two years, the album is the most ambitious and divergent set of music Portioli has assembled so far, with a wide variety of instrumentation (including voices, strings, organs, guitars, and synthesisers) focused around the piano. She‘s keen to assure listeners that while that instrument isn‘t always heard, it‘s constantly at the forefront of the album, shepherding its emotions and anchoring its mood. It makes sense then that on the opening track ‘Quasicristallo’, the acoustic piano is the first element we hear, recorded closely, so its characteristic rattle and creak can speak as loudly as the familiar tones themselves. When the music blooms into abstraction and processed electronics, it‘s almost imperceptible: reverb mutates into ghostly vapour trails, and distortion forms the keys into another instrument entirely.

“All Above“ follows 2020‘s acclaimed “Blink A Few Times To Clear Your Eyes“ and 2018‘s “Pineapple” released on Donato Dozzy and Neel‘s Spazio Disponibile imprint. Having garnered praise from outlets like Resident Advisor, XLR8R, The Quietus, Inverted Audio, and The Verge, Portioli operates in a unique space within the electronic music scene, straddling the art world and the wider electronic music scene. She‘s developed sound art installations for Rome‘s La Galleria Nazionale and the Terraforma Festival-related Il Pianeta, and has appeared at Barbican, MUTEK, Le Guess Who?, Kraftwerk, and other internationally renowned venues and festivals, often collaborating with Marco Ciceri on A/V presentations. Ciceri also maintains the visual identity of Portioli‘s label One Instrument, a concept imprint that asks artists to create music only using a single device. All this experience is poured into “All Above”, a richly visual album that‘s far more than just an imaginary film score. While on ‘Human’, her piano punctuates a rhythmic synthesised bassline and smudged choirs that can‘t help but trace out the silver screen. The composer is keen to clarify that she doesn‘t think of her music (or sound in general) in visual terms.

Portioli studied as a linguist and used her art to develop an emotional language that‘s not bound by expected cultural constraints. When she adds a different instrument or process, it‘s not to reference a visual cue but to mark a journey through different states of being. Each element embodies a different emotion or mood: the electric guitar represents strength or violence, synthesisers shuttle us into the dream world, and the acoustic instruments highlight intimacy and warmth – even heart. Read like this, the tracks are like meditative poems rather than cinematic vignettes: ‘The World At Number XX’ is seemingly centred around a chugging synthesised arpeggio, but the cosmic, Klaus Schulze-esque pads, strangled guitar and evocative organ tones hint at the open-hearted, literate psychedelia of the 1970s; ‘In The Present As The Future’ meanwhile is breathy and windswept, juxtaposing urgent rhythmic phrases with light, flute-like gusts of harmony.

Dedicated to Editions Mego founder Peter Rehberg, who died suddenly last year, “All Above” demands engagement and refuses to evaporate into the background. The album asks listeners not just to absorb the album as a whole but notice the cracks in the structure and discern the tension they cause. That‘s never more evident than on the closing track ‘Cost What It May’, a piece of music almost jarring when Portioli chops into noisy waves of electric guitar. In the wrong hands, this might sound like a power move – some rock posturing to act as a finale. But Portioli‘s expression is different. She‘s forcing a level of engagement that perceives the negative space as just as necessary as the saturated positive, and what could be more haunting and emotionally resonant than that?

Composed, produced and mixed by Aimée Portioli.
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu.
Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin.
Photography by Federico Boccardi.
Design and layout by Riccardo Piovesan.

In celebration of the fifth Piano Day, Nils Frahm will release his acclaimed All Encores album on 3LP vinyl. Originally only available as a CD and digital download in October, All Encores encompassed the three Encores EPs as one full length featuring 80 minutes of music, following his masterful 2018 album All Melody. Whilst Encores 1 focused on an acoustic pallet of sounds with solo piano and harmonium at the core, and Encores 2 explored more ambient landscapes, now Encores 3 sees Nils expand on the percussive and electronic elements in his work. “The idea behind All Encores is one we had from before All Melody; to separate releases each with their own distinct musical style and theme, perhaps even as a triple album. But All Melody became larger than itself and took over any initial concepts. I think the idea of All Encores is like musical islands that compliment All Melody.” Moulded during All Melody but refined by his live performances, All Encores is testament to Nils’ exceptional ability to craft his art on stage. Artificially Intelligent which showcases his ‘mad professor’ organ, and All Armed which has been a live favourite for some time, appearing on set lists since 2015, are now available to hear on record for the very first time. The final track of Encores 3, as well as the whole series, Amirador, perhaps aptly nods to the Spanish word for ‘lookout’ and hints at what’s to come.

The Moment Is Forever' by Draso finally on vinyl.

Across 2LPs comes a unique collection of authentic 70s nostalgia.
Blissful and relaxing, compiled together onto vinyl is the warm sound of 32 of the decade’s finest works of easy listening pop.
Find classic lounge tracks from The Manhattan Transfer, Neil Diamond and Demis Roussos alongside Dionne Warwick, Commodores, Billy Joel and many more.

Parisian quintet En Attendant Ana have dazzled since day one. From the muted strains of their 2016 EP "Songs From The Cave", to the assured 2018 TiM debut "Lost & Found", to the sparkling refrains of "Juillet"; released just before the world collapsed around us, and which stood as the band's rebirth and purest statement of their music ambitions - until now. "Principia" is the band's third album and is without a doubt their best yet. Bandleader & principal songwriter Margaux Bouchaudon's voice anchors many of the songs on "Principia", her crystalline delivery ringing out like a bell as the band swoons & sways beneath her. The songs on "Principia" were composed from a place of confusion about the state of the world and her place in it, looking outward and inward for answers. They question our perception of others, the one they have of us and finally the one we have of ourselves in a society where the individual is king and the group is forgotten. Guitarist Max Tomasso - newly joined just before the recording of "Juillet"- feels more "moved-in" on these tunes, his sly guitar-work gliding effortlessly through. No showboating - only prickling at the precise moment necessary in suit of the song itself. New member Vincent Hivert (their touring sound man, Hivert joined the group just as touring was underway for "Juillet", replacing founding member Antoine Vaugelade)'s bass-work is rubbery & flexible, bouncing around and thru the melodies on a rhythmic sugar-high, practically urging on drummer Adrien Pollin's metronomic swing. The band's secret weapon, multi-instrumentalist Camille Frechou's trumpet & saxophone are more present & considered in the arrangements, adding a new layer of sophistication to the group's already debonair indie pop. Her beatific harmonies add a yearning to Bouchaudon's lilting phrases; sometimes uplifting, other times melancholic. Bouchaudon says "One of the most important points we tried to focus on was the place given to each instrument. For the first time, we withdrew parts, we were careful not to play everyone at once and I think that the result is a much lighter album in which every musician has a specific place and moment". But this album is also the first one to have been shaped entirely by the band, from the conception to the production. The meeting of Vincent Hivert and Margaux Bouchaudon gave birth to a duet in which the technical and artistic aspects were intertwined from the very beginning of the conception of "Principia". Apart from reshaping En Attendant Ana's dynamic, Vincent Hivert was able to think as a musician and producer as soon as they started working on Margaux Bouchaudon's demos which brought a new dimension to their music. The two of them recorded and mixed the album together reuniting their references and artistic goals. "Principia" is a great step forward without sacrificing the things that make the band unique. The nods to French pop (both current & classic) still permeate the proceedings, and the group's penchant for Anglo-Saxon indie pop from The Nineties (think Electrelane, Stereolab, American Analog Set) still rings out, but there's an air of - dare we say - maturity in "Principia"s twelve songs. The group always felt a little 'out-of' and 'ahead-of' its time, but tunes like "Wonder" "The Cutoff" and "Same Old Story" are cinematic and romantic, and absolutely feel like the next great phase of an already great band.

Peach Vinyl

Parisian quintet En Attendant Ana have dazzled since day one. From the muted strains of their 2016 EP "Songs From The Cave", to the assured 2018 TiM debut "Lost & Found", to the sparkling refrains of "Juillet"; released just before the world collapsed around us, and which stood as the band's rebirth and purest statement of their music ambitions - until now. "Principia" is the band's third album and is without a doubt their best yet. Bandleader & principal songwriter Margaux Bouchaudon's voice anchors many of the songs on "Principia", her crystalline delivery ringing out like a bell as the band swoons & sways beneath her. The songs on "Principia" were composed from a place of confusion about the state of the world and her place in it, looking outward and inward for answers. They question our perception of others, the one they have of us and finally the one we have of ourselves in a society where the individual is king and the group is forgotten. Guitarist Max Tomasso - newly joined just before the recording of "Juillet"- feels more "moved-in" on these tunes, his sly guitar-work gliding effortlessly through. No showboating - only prickling at the precise moment necessary in suit of the song itself. New member Vincent Hivert (their touring sound man, Hivert joined the group just as touring was underway for "Juillet", replacing founding member Antoine Vaugelade)'s bass-work is rubbery & flexible, bouncing around and thru the melodies on a rhythmic sugar-high, practically urging on drummer Adrien Pollin's metronomic swing. The band's secret weapon, multi-instrumentalist Camille Frechou's trumpet & saxophone are more present & considered in the arrangements, adding a new layer of sophistication to the group's already debonair indie pop. Her beatific harmonies add a yearning to Bouchaudon's lilting phrases; sometimes uplifting, other times melancholic. Bouchaudon says "One of the most important points we tried to focus on was the place given to each instrument. For the first time, we withdrew parts, we were careful not to play everyone at once and I think that the result is a much lighter album in which every musician has a specific place and moment". But this album is also the first one to have been shaped entirely by the band, from the conception to the production. The meeting of Vincent Hivert and Margaux Bouchaudon gave birth to a duet in which the technical and artistic aspects were intertwined from the very beginning of the conception of "Principia". Apart from reshaping En Attendant Ana's dynamic, Vincent Hivert was able to think as a musician and producer as soon as they started working on Margaux Bouchaudon's demos which brought a new dimension to their music. The two of them recorded and mixed the album together reuniting their references and artistic goals. "Principia" is a great step forward without sacrificing the things that make the band unique. The nods to French pop (both current & classic) still permeate the proceedings, and the group's penchant for Anglo-Saxon indie pop from The Nineties (think Electrelane, Stereolab, American Analog Set) still rings out, but there's an air of - dare we say - maturity in "Principia"s twelve songs. The group always felt a little 'out-of' and 'ahead-of' its time, but tunes like "Wonder" "The Cutoff" and "Same Old Story" are cinematic and romantic, and absolutely feel like the next great phase of an already great band.

Tape
Parisian quintet En Attendant Ana have dazzled since day one. From the muted strains of their 2016 EP "Songs From The Cave", to the assured 2018 TiM debut "Lost & Found", to the sparkling refrains of "Juillet"; released just before the world collapsed around us, and which stood as the band's rebirth and purest statement of their music ambitions - until now. "Principia" is the band's third album and is without a doubt their best yet. Bandleader & principal songwriter Margaux Bouchaudon's voice anchors many of the songs on "Principia", her crystalline delivery ringing out like a bell as the band swoons & sways beneath her. The songs on "Principia" were composed from a place of confusion about the state of the world and her place in it, looking outward and inward for answers. They question our perception of others, the one they have of us and finally the one we have of ourselves in a society where the individual is king and the group is forgotten. Guitarist Max Tomasso - newly joined just before the recording of "Juillet"- feels more "moved-in" on these tunes, his sly guitar-work gliding effortlessly through. No showboating - only prickling at the precise moment necessary in suit of the song itself. New member Vincent Hivert (their touring sound man, Hivert joined the group just as touring was underway for "Juillet", replacing founding member Antoine Vaugelade)'s bass-work is rubbery & flexible, bouncing around and thru the melodies on a rhythmic sugar-high, practically urging on drummer Adrien Pollin's metronomic swing. The band's secret weapon, multi-instrumentalist Camille Frechou's trumpet & saxophone are more present & considered in the arrangements, adding a new layer of sophistication to the group's already debonair indie pop. Her beatific harmonies add a yearning to Bouchaudon's lilting phrases; sometimes uplifting, other times melancholic. Bouchaudon says "One of the most important points we tried to focus on was the place given to each instrument. For the first time, we withdrew parts, we were careful not to play everyone at once and I think that the result is a much lighter album in which every musician has a specific place and moment". But this album is also the first one to have been shaped entirely by the band, from the conception to the production. The meeting of Vincent Hivert and Margaux Bouchaudon gave birth to a duet in which the technical and artistic aspects were intertwined from the very beginning of the conception of "Principia". Apart from reshaping En Attendant Ana's dynamic, Vincent Hivert was able to think as a musician and producer as soon as they started working on Margaux Bouchaudon's demos which brought a new dimension to their music. The two of them recorded and mixed the album together reuniting their references and artistic goals. "Principia" is a great step forward without sacrificing the things that make the band unique. The nods to French pop (both current & classic) still permeate the proceedings, and the group's penchant for Anglo-Saxon indie pop from The Nineties (think Electrelane, Stereolab, American Analog Set) still rings out, but there's an air of - dare we say - maturity in "Principia"s twelve songs. The group always felt a little 'out-of' and 'ahead-of' its time, but tunes like "Wonder" "The Cutoff" and "Same Old Story" are cinematic and romantic, and absolutely feel like the next great phase of an already great band.

"Dynamic Root Rock Experience" ist der Begriff, mit dem
SIENA ROOT ihre Musik beschreibt, und genau diese
Erfahrung ist es, die das neue Album "Revelation" der
Schweden für den Hörer so attraktiv macht: eine
kompromisslose Mischung aus hypnotisierenden
Rhythmen, schweren Riffs, schönen Soli und emotionalem
Gesang. Die Band verwöhnt den Hörer mit einem Ritt, der
weiter geht als die Band jemals zuvor, um zu erleben,
wie östliche akustische Folk-Melodien mit hartem Rock
und nordischer Wildnis verschmelzen. Es ist eine
dynamische Roots-Rock-Offenbarung!
Das neue Album "Revelation" ist das vielseitigste in der
Karriere von SIENA ROOT geworden; die Band springt
zwischen starken Melodien und schönen Harmonien,
geführt von dieser fantastischen starken Frauenstimme.
Mit ihrer unglaublichen Bandbreite an verschiedenen
Stilen zeigen die elf Tracks den musikalischen
Einfallsreichtum der Band. "Revelation" wird ein
musikalisches Lieblingsgericht für den Hörer werden, mit
all den klug ausgewählten Zutaten, sorgfältig gewürzt von
erfahrenen Musikern, die ein perfektes Gespür für den
richtigen Moment haben, wenn handgemachter Root Rock
serviert werden soll.

"Dynamic Root Rock Experience" ist der Begriff, mit dem
SIENA ROOT ihre Musik beschreibt, und genau diese
Erfahrung ist es, die das neue Album "Revelation" der
Schweden für den Hörer so attraktiv macht: eine
kompromisslose Mischung aus hypnotisierenden
Rhythmen, schweren Riffs, schönen Soli und emotionalem
Gesang. Die Band verwöhnt den Hörer mit einem Ritt, der
weiter geht als die Band jemals zuvor, um zu erleben,
wie östliche akustische Folk-Melodien mit hartem Rock
und nordischer Wildnis verschmelzen. Es ist eine
dynamische Roots-Rock-Offenbarung!
Das neue Album "Revelation" ist das vielseitigste in der
Karriere von SIENA ROOT geworden; die Band springt
zwischen starken Melodien und schönen Harmonien,
geführt von dieser fantastischen starken Frauenstimme.
Mit ihrer unglaublichen Bandbreite an verschiedenen
Stilen zeigen die elf Tracks den musikalischen
Einfallsreichtum der Band. "Revelation" wird ein
musikalisches Lieblingsgericht für den Hörer werden, mit
all den klug ausgewählten Zutaten, sorgfältig gewürzt von
erfahrenen Musikern, die ein perfektes Gespür für den
richtigen Moment haben, wenn handgemachter Root Rock
serviert werden soll.

"Dynamic Root Rock Experience" ist der Begriff, mit dem
SIENA ROOT ihre Musik beschreibt, und genau diese
Erfahrung ist es, die das neue Album "Revelation" der
Schweden für den Hörer so attraktiv macht: eine
kompromisslose Mischung aus hypnotisierenden
Rhythmen, schweren Riffs, schönen Soli und emotionalem
Gesang. Die Band verwöhnt den Hörer mit einem Ritt, der
weiter geht als die Band jemals zuvor, um zu erleben,
wie östliche akustische Folk-Melodien mit hartem Rock
und nordischer Wildnis verschmelzen. Es ist eine
dynamische Roots-Rock-Offenbarung!
Das neue Album "Revelation" ist das vielseitigste in der
Karriere von SIENA ROOT geworden; die Band springt
zwischen starken Melodien und schönen Harmonien,
geführt von dieser fantastischen starken Frauenstimme.
Mit ihrer unglaublichen Bandbreite an verschiedenen
Stilen zeigen die elf Tracks den musikalischen
Einfallsreichtum der Band. "Revelation" wird ein
musikalisches Lieblingsgericht für den Hörer werden, mit
all den klug ausgewählten Zutaten, sorgfältig gewürzt von
erfahrenen Musikern, die ein perfektes Gespür für den
richtigen Moment haben, wenn handgemachter Root Rock
serviert werden soll.

Canto Ostinato is the new volume of classical minimalism from musician and producer Erik Hall. Written for four pianos in 1979 by Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt, the piece is freshly framed as an intimate, hour-long solo performance consisting of multitracked grand pianos, electric piano, and organ. Modern yet warm, ethereal yet tangible, Hall's Canto Ostinato expertly bridges a revered piece of meditative concert repertoire with a tactile and highly personal studio setting. Chicago-born and Michigan-based, Erik Hall is known as a multi-instrumental pillar for the groups NOMO, Wild Belle, and his own songwriting moniker In Tall Buildings. He has composed music for feature films, and as a producer/engineer he has shaped records for Natalie Bergman and Western Vinyl labelmates Lean Year. In a 2020 creative pivot, he chose to reinvent composer Steve Reich's monumental contemporary classical masterpiece Music for 18 Musicians as a solo undertaking, applying the piece's score to the familiar keyboards, guitars, and synthesizers in his studio. "At the time I think I was working through my identity as a musician and an artist," Hall explains, "and on a level there was some sort of exorcism of a long held pop spirit." The album was celebrated for being "freshly thrilling" and "legible in history but assertive of the moment" (Pitchfork) and "beguiling, meditational, and magical" (Electronic Sound). It won the 2021 Libera Award for Best Classical Record, and it quickly joined the canon of the piece's quintessential recordings. "There is a pseudo-meditational benefit to working on a longform piece that's built on repetition," Hall says. "Every stage- from internalizing the music, to executing the performance, to editing and mixing the record- requires deep and sustained presence of mind. I've always been drawn to a hallucinatory combination of harmony and repetition, and I found the entire process addictive." An apt second chapter, Canto Ostinato is inherently vast, and its score gives great creative license to the performer. Comprising 106 sections, complete freedom is given to repeat each one as many or as few times as desired. Additional leeway is given with regard to dynamics, articulation, and even instrumentation. On the heels of his previous, rather maximal arrangement, Hall chose to limit this album's palette to three foundational keyboards of his studio: a 1962 Hammond M-101 organ, a 1978 Rhodes Mark I electric piano, and his family-heirloom 1910 Steinway grand piano. "This particular piece brought the added challenge of rekindling my dexterity as a pianist, something I haven't maintained in earnest since I was a teenager," he admits. The ensuing five-note rhythmic motif- the piece's primary building block- is steady and workmanlike, forgoing virtuosic flare for depth, texture, and resonance, and eventually giving way to the stunning gratification of a gorgeously lyrical left turn. As with Music for 18 Musicians, Hall employed no loops nor quantization nor any programmed or sequenced instruments of any kind. Every part was performed live in a room and captured with microphones, one at a time, each informed by, and reacting to the last. In this way the record breathes with interplay and an organic humanity, complete with flaws, noise, and the faint sound of turning pages. The recording quality is nonetheless toneful and saturated, characteristic of Hall's production style and straying from the usual transparency of classical albums by using gear with tubes, transformers, and various stages of compression in the signal path. Always there is unmistakable realism and the feeling of being present in the room, sitting among the keys, hammers, and tines. Ten Holt said: "Time, patience and discipline are the prerequisites for making a genetic code productive." His landmark composition provides Hall once again with a wondrous space in which to reverently embody this sentiment and deftly convey the elegant beauty of this music.

First time vinyl reissue. Originally released in 1976.

"The human voice is more than just a musical instrument; it is ally to the thought. Vocal art is one of the most beautiful forms of musical expression and an endless resource. It's a shame that so few devote themselves to it in our popular music. I would therefore like to congratulate Aquarius and Continental for the release of this LP and may it be received by all with the same affection and attention than those who dedicated themselves to making it" --Paulinho Tapajos.

These notes, originally printed on the back cover of this 1976 beauty, are a perfect introduction to the vocal harmonies and arrangements and excellent guitar work that are masterfully combined creating a joyful journey that features the undisputed talent of Raymundo Bittencourt, Octávio Burnier, and Paulo Moura. An amazing bit of Brazilian samba funk that also touches on MPB, bossa nova, jazz... This sought-after gem opens with the beautiful version of Burnier & Cartier's "Só Tem Lugar Prá Você" (one of the two B&C versions included on this album, with a pitched-down "Europanema" sparkling on the B-side), building up a mellow, airy vibe that stays throughout the entire album.

The Ethiopians was one of Jamaica’s most popular bands during the late ska, rocksteady and early reggae periods. As a much loved harmony group. After a series of major ska and rock steady hits, the group began working with producer, Karl ‘J.J.’ Johnson, with whom they subsequently enjoyed some of the biggest reggae sellers of the late sixties and early seventies, most notably ‘Everything Crash’, ‘What A Fire’, ‘Feel The Spirit’, ‘Hong Kong Flu’ and ‘Woman Capture Man’. The Reggae Power album is chock-full of these tasty melodies and rhythms and comes wrapped in a cool sleeve photo of future Carry On Girls actress Pauline Peart.

Reggae Power is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on solid orange coloured vinyl.

• The Classic Example were a Los Angeles duo - possibly the song-writing team of Curtis Colbert and Harriet Hurst who provided four of the songs on the eponymous 1972 GSF LP. Inexplicably the superb dance track ‘Right On’ was the only one omitted from the album, but Kent’s licensing deal with Mickey Stevenson’s Stevenson International revealed this gem.
• It was finally released as a promo 100 Club Anniversary 45 in 2021 and has been in demand ever since. Now it can be purchased at a reasonable price with the duet’s excellent harmony ballad ‘I Found Me A Girl’ added on the B side. The backing group is none other than Hodges, James, Smith & Crawford.

With his new album, Gecko Turner confirms that he is a standout artist in the global groove scene, a must for the outernational sounds aficionados.

Somebody From Badajoz is the fifth studio album in his much lauded discography and his first in seven years, eagerly anticipated by both his fans and himself: "this business of dedicating yourself to music and making songs... it's a long game."

With the release of his first two, remarkable, albums, Guapapasea! (2003) and Chandalismo Ilustrado (2006), Gecko started cultivating what one astute journalist defined as Afro-maduran soul—the "maduran" bit referencing Extremadura, a region in central-western Spain.

Badajoz, Gecko's birthplace, is the biggest city in the area, on the border with Portugal, by the Guadiana River. It is a place that oozes history, where there is constant movement at the border, and people's character is friendly and open-minded with foreign habits.

Gecko's Afro-maduran soul isbuilt on Afro-American music and drenched in Brazilian, African, Latin American and Jamaican sounds. There are also echoes of a youth marked in equal parts by our man's admiration for the Beatles and the flamenco that could be heard everywhere in Badajoz in the seventies. It makes for a singular sound and a musical language of its own—spicy, succulent, full of nuances, but with a very personal flavour.

The album opens with the Nigerian talking drums of Twenty-twenty Vision, (neo) soul in a magical falsetto, carried by a sumptuous orchestral arrangement with a cinematic flavour: "I'd been thinking about doing something called 'Twenty-twenty Vision' for some time, making a play on words with the vision we have of the world after the year 2020 and the medical expression, which, in ophthalmological terms, means 'normal or complete vision.' Beyond that particular song, I think that's the mood of the album: a look at society in the twenties of the 21st century and the feelings and demons it produces."

It's followed by De Balde, a very special song born from a posthumously discovered lyric by the great writer Carlos Lencero, a regular collaborator of Camarón, Pata Negra, and Remedios Amaya, and also from Badajoz. While conceived as a fandango, Gecko has moulded it into his sound in such a seamless way it now seems as if the words could only have been written to be embraced by the percussion, brass, and backing vocals heard on the album. It's the only lyric on Somebody From Badajoz not written by Turner, still it sits rather comfortably with the rest, sharing the same emotivity and sensitivity, as well as the trademark humour and irony.

Other tracks see more protagonism for the rhythm.The beat-driven Ain't No Fun Preachin' to the Choir features Gecko's vocals walking the thin line between singing and talking over a phenomenal afro-disco-funk-infused trailblazer. In Am I Sad? it's impossible to not bob your head to the queen of Papatosina's mongrel rhythm, as close to the banks of the Guadiana river as it is to the shores of the Mississippi. Qué Siesta Tan Buena, He Babeao Y To! is an ode to the snooze in true Afro-Maduran fashion. And in Come And Try, the Caribbean influence is evident—lovers' rock that invites you to dance in good company.

In these songs, and throughout the album, for that matter, the musicians accompanying Gecko, who himself plays many of the instruments as well, shine brightly. All hailing from Extremadura, Javi Mojave (percussion), Álvaro Fdez 'Dr. Robelto' (bass), and Rafa Prieto (guitar) have been carrying him with delicate forcefulness since he started out as a solo artist. At the same time, the wonderful and essential voices of Deborah Ayo, Astrid Jones, Fani Ela Nsue, and Miriam Solís give the album a sunny variety of colours. And there are many more—a sensational group of musicians contributes dazzling harmonic bursts to many of the songs. The palette of sounds is very diverse and rich in textures and nuances, including, for example, the ngoni, bells, and various repurposed kitchen utensils.

The groove is always around, moving between the magical border sound of Everybody Knows Somebody From Badajoz and Little Dose, the silky soul of The Sibariteo Appreciation Society, and the exultant celebration of End Of The World (which surprisingly sees Gecko turning to the occasional use of autotune), a piece that could be used for the final credits of a Monty Python film and, in fact, closes the album.

Gecko Turner has done it again with Somebody From Badajoz, looking to the future without losing sight of the roots. In times of upheaval all over the globe, when people are looking for purity, he delivers a formidable piece of work: risky, optimistic in spite of everything, and with a decidedly bastard sound. Let's rejoice.

BASSIST/COMPOSER PETROS KLAMPANIS LOOKS TO PAST AND FUTURE AS HE TRANSFORMS TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC WITH TORA COLLECTIVE

Unique instrumentation bridges Greek folkloric and modern jazz worlds, with Klampanis (bass, artistic direction), Areti Ketime (vocals), Thomas Konstantinou (oud, laouto), Giorgos Kotsinis (clarinet), Kristjan Randalu (piano), Ziv Ravitz (drums, electronics, co-production) and more.

Following up his acclaimed recent outings Rooftop Stories and Irrationalities, bassist and composer Petros Klampanis creates one of his most inventive musical settings to date with Tora Collective, his sixth album as a leader. For Klampanis, who grew up in Athens, Greece
surrounded by the confluence of Mediterranean and Balkan folk cultures, making music has always meant navigating cultural crossroads. With Tora Collective (“Tora”=“Now”) he puts traditional Greek music at the centre, even as he presents it from a bold new angle.

In addition to the two new originals “Disoriented” and “South By Southeast,” Klampanis and his compact hybrid jazz/Greek folk ensemble interpret popular Greek songs such as “Xehorismata,” “Sybethera,” “Hariklaki” and “Menexedes ke Zoumboulia.” These songs, Klampanis asserts, are “not just part of Greek cultural heritage or a fragment of the past, but also as part of the future: they live into the present, breathe into the ‘here and now,’ while constantly evolving in a dynamic state and in dialogue with contemporary music.”

“For me it’s a personal thing,” he says. “I want to reflect on what Greek music and culture offer the world. How can music from the Aegean to Epirus and from the Ionian Islands to Crete, meet and speak to the hearts and minds of musicians and audiences from different parts of the world, different traditions and backgrounds?”

To that end, Tora Collective draws on regional characteristics, as Klampanis explains: “Every region has a strong identity. In Epirus the clarinet is more prominent and the music has this slow, groovy, meditative vibe. The islands are lighter sounding, Macedonia is groovier, faster tempos and energetic dances. Music from Asia Minor or Istanbul is more sophisticated. Greeks often refer to Istanbul as ‘Poli,’ from Constantinopoli, so the songs from there are called ‘Politika.’”

There is magic in the clear and consistent voice of Areti Ketime throughout Tora Collective, as can also be said for the supremely voice-like articulation of Giorgos Kotsinis on clarinet. Ziv Ravitz, on drums and electronics, also plays a pivotal role as coproducer: “He added so much in the orchestration,” says Klampanis. “His knowledge of electronics, all these non-acoustic sounds and keyboards, treatments of the acoustic instruments, it’s all because of Ziv. He brought a new perspective on the whole thing.”

The string element in Tora Collective is also strong: in addition to Klampanis’ bass there is Thomas Konstantinou on oud and the traditional Greek laouto, as well as Kristjan Randalu (the pianist in Klampanis’ Irrationalities trio) providing an anchor and bringing Klampanis’ inventive arrangements into harmonic focus. Additional guests appear: Alexandros Arkadopoulos on clarinet for “Disoriented,” Laura Robles on percussion for “South by Southeast” and trumpeters Sebastian Studnitzky and Andreas Polyzogopoulos on “Milo Mou ke Mandarini” and “Hariklaki,” respectively. (“Milo Mou” is slated as a post-release bonus track.)

Using traditional Greek music to discover a common new voice, the project aims to build dialogue, spark creativity, cultivate respect for the past, pave a path forward, discover a new musical storytelling powerful enough to reach and touch audiences in many countries. This is an experiment that bridges worlds: the east and the west, the traditional and the modern, the nostalgic and the forward-looking, using the power of music and improvisation.

In 1976 Michael Hoenig had a brief collaboration with Ash Ra Tempel's
Manuel Gottsching in Berlin; A 48-minute recording of one of the
sessions, which was released in 1995 under the title "Early Water" on
Bernd Kistenmacher's Musique Intemporelle label.The album was deletedand unavailable for a long time
Now, finally, a re-issue of "Early Water" will be available again.
Michael Hoenig still remembers: "While I had been working on the "Departure From The Northern Wasteland" album, Manuel Gottsching had asked me if I would team up with him for some concerts in France, since his group had just gone through one of its hibernation
periods. We rehearsed in my place for three or four weeks. One evening we got a call regarding some missing guarantee, which ultimately led to the decision to cancel the tour. Just for fun, we played one of the planned sets for a last time.
Even though I do not recall pressing a record button, somebody recently dug up a Revox tape of that very set. After performing some digital sonic archaeology on it, it was just released under the very appropriate title Early Water."
And Manuel Gottsching adds: "Unfortunately, some of the concert dates were not confirmed in time and we had to cancel the complete tour just on the day before we wanted to leave for France.
On that evening, nevertheless, we recorded our last rehearsal "just in case". It turned out as a flowing harmonic piece, reflecting much of the optimistic air of 1976. Michael made his 'departure' to Los Angeles in the early 1980ies. When we met again in November 1994 I proposed to release this old track of ours. Michael took the original tape to Los Angeles, lovingly restored it and - well, here is it again!"

BROODING PSYCHEDELIC REVELATIONS FROM THE STAVANGERIAN OUTSIDERCORE

The uncanny is never out of bounds in the debut release by shadowy Norwegian duo Firmaet Forvoksen. Gaute Granli and Thore Warland, two archetypes of the Stavanger experimental scene long active through solo work (Gaute Granli’s recent Ultra Eczema notoriety, for one) and other collaborative projects (Thore Warland’s ongoing drum devolutions with Golden Oriole, for another), have joined forces under multiple configurations over the years in order to finally coalesce under the FF banner. Together they project an ever-unfolding vision that sonically erodes into a radiant abyss, like some serious atonement from probable jazz school fugitives.

Undone Shal is an unfurling tapestry of erratic guitar pickings, muffled percussive conjurings, barging synths, and moans that are part lamentation, part incantation. These arrangements evoke a definite psychedelia, plunging the listener into unsettling yet luminous expanses of liminality that recall only the most brooding of outsiders. Like craggly rocks piled on top of each other forming an incomprehensible, gravity-defying tower, Firmaet Forvoksen’s disjointed musical deployments forge something lucid and concrete while grazing the edges of complete inscrutability. This strange relic of a record follows the lineage of KRAAK rosterees past and present - the KRAMPs, Ignatzes, Red Bruts and Calhau!s of our hearths - through its assemblage of crude elements that incite the universe to vomit its hidden harmonies and forcibly test the boundaries between fluency and unintelligibility. No Norwegian wood wisecracking to be made here, for these two dwell in a malleable zone where chaos aligns to draw you in, hinting at all that is obfuscated like a marching band to nowhere.

Truly intrigued as a kid by the weird sounds his DIY electronica building kit could make, Mich L. (aka Mich Leemans of Paper Hats and curator of AB Salon) never stopped his quest for more beauty in hidden frequencies and harmonics of modular synths and old tape recorders.

His search into the deep mysterious sound spectrum unexpectedly made a surprising u-turn after a seizure of increasing tinnitus and enduring nausea.

The concept of listening, as stated by Pauline Oliveiros as 'the involuntary nature of hearing and the voluntary, selective nature of listening' took focus in his being.

These new insights, together with a studio rearrangement and the purchase of the EMS Synthi A are the keystones which shaped the contours of his debut solo album 'air near silence'

A precious, fragile and ultra personal sonic exploration of the inner self translated in carefully constructed synth and tape compositions : a microscopic auditive dissection of time and soul.

Slow burning stripped down shifting patterns, patched and wired straight from the heart, crawling steadily under your skin, with no plans to leave.

Hushed analogue splendor for patient music lovers who dare to be surprised.

File under:
deep immersive and profound listening, (dark) ambient, electronica, analogue synths, tape compositions

Recommended if you like:
Eliane Radigue, Coil, Kali Malone, Lucy Railton, The Caretaker, Pauline Oliveiros, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Throbbing Ghristle, early electronics, DEATHPROD...

After stellar releases on Ilian Tape and Nostro Hood Soundsystem among others, ,,Mutualism” represents the much-awaited return of Atrice on their own label Miras. The follow-up EP reflects the culmination of a year-long exploration of compositional techniques and sound design, and acts as a first step towards a debut album. The result is a complete work, divided into eight chapters, that applies previous artistic research on textures, harmonics and rhythms in a rigorous yet playful manner. Whilst continuing to touch upon a broad spectrum of uptempo reference points, ,,Mutualism” offers a first glimpse into the pairs underlying pliancy next to the ever-present intricate complexities in their output.

That's all, hasta abajo!

Some 30 years after first putting on a slab of vinyl in front of an audience Belgian DJ mainstay Red D presents his debut album called ‘Fantasize Then Realize’ under his Red Basics guise. An experienced and versatile DJ if ever there is one, it was logical that his album takes in a wealth of influences from around the house and techno block and features some of his best musical friends and inspirations. From his ‘go to’ singer Lady Linn, to his musical friend and partner in FCL San Soda via Belgian stronghold Lefto, to his Detroit buddy Reggie Dokes: these are the people Red D has been working with and learning from for years on end.

The music ranges from the dreamy beatless title track to the sleazy spoken word ‘Just Like Hercules’ up to the Larry Heard-inspired deepness ‘Compelled’ and including the melancholy of ‘The Larkin’.

Locked down during the first months of the Covid 19 madness Red D had no more ‘I’m too busy to get into the studio’ excuses and all the inspiration gathered during the countless hours of DJ’ing and listening to records in the last 30 years simply poured out. Making track after track was daily (and nightly) business and after a while the idea of a full album simply came naturally. The next lockdowns were spent fine-tuning the tracks, coming up with lyrics and finalizing the tracklist.

The result is ‘Fantasize Then Realize’, Red D’s debut album and a testament to his sound and attitude.



DJ FEEDBACK:

Mousse T:”22 Shoulders, hell yeah!”
Laurent Garnier: “Thanks a lot for these tracks. There’s some lovelyyyyyyy deeeeeepness in there. Love it.”
Levon Vincent: “I gave the LP a listen, nice one! I thought ‘Devious Monday’ was captivating and I liked the work with Classy Lassy as well. Congrats!”
Ka§par:"When a guys knows what he's doing, it sounds like it's real. Great tracks, loving it more and more the further we go."
Roberto Rodriguez: "Classy album! Red D quality!"
Nacho Marco: "Loving it, hard to pick a favorite. Thanks!!"
Kong: "Big up Bart, well done. Belgium = house = Red D!!"
Melon: "House music represent! Love it, feel it & gonna drop it. Great stuff :)"
Simon Caldwell: "Some really special house music on this album. Many thanks!!"
OOFT!: "Yes! This sounds amazing! Authentic underground house music just the way I like it :)"
Massimiliano Pagliara: "Nice tunes!"
Tomaz: "We all knew Bart knows where it's at but this is ridiculously good. Hard to pick a fave. The collabs are great, so are the ‘solo’ tracks. I picked the single with Lien as fave because that'll hopefully draw the deserved attention to the rest of the album. Top marks !"
Juliano: "Congrats for your album Bart ! love the deepness of the tracks and the authenticity you brought. Thank you"
Harri: "Liking these a lot, will play and support."
Alex Barck: "That's a great piece of work"
Quintessentials: "All around fantastic album! Congrats!"
Lauer: "Respect, amigo!"
Darko Esser: "Beautiful album, congrats mate great work!"

Still transmitting from Lockdown in the UK. Banoffee Pies Records 14th release in the original series comes from London based ANGEL D'LITE. A deep passion for rave and NRG with an established high-octane approach to music, heavily influenced by hardcore and early pop bangers, her debut EP further reflecting this mood. Three heavy club tracks and a broken beat dubbed remix from JAY to round things off.

The A side is laced with harmonic 90's vocals and euphoric trance synth lines with two versions of "CRYSTALZ". The original, heavily packed with punching drum patterns and UK hardcore builds, followed neatly by the "DIAMANTÈ MIX". A nostalgic UK Garage take with building pads and rolling hats, partnered by murmuring emotional vocals. Perfect late night club fodder.

The B side flips the mood with "DANCE LIKE DOLPHIN" - the original version setting the tone for early AM adventures. Junglists, sonic communications and club lazers setting in throughout the growing euphoric 90's blends, aquatic frequencies and swirling sub bass. The remix from JAY, another London based producer, follows with an energy shift to a more minimal and rough edged depth of textures and colour, with splatters of surprise elements throughout. Everyone has a crystal and dolphin side right? Love core music from BP xx

Within any creative expression about love there's a shared experience, a sentiment hard to articulate but understood through emotion. One of the defining examples of a song that holds such sincerity is 'My Heart Is Broken' by 'The Four Dudes'.

Charles 'Pooky' Russell, the lead singer of 'The Four Dudes' shares his story of a broken heart; his ambition to pursue a life immersed in music is what led Charles to leave his hometown of San Antonio for Houston and in doing so, leaving his lady. Charles' music career began whilst studying at Sam Houston High during the mid-60s. During choir is where he met Reginald Whitaker & Lawrence Alexander, and the trio would go on to establish their first vocal harmony group, 'The Three Dudes'. The Dudes, inspired by groups such as The Cadillacs & The Platters, would gain a strong local following that led to their first single 'Sad Little Boy' & 'I'm Beggin' You' produced & released in 1967 on E.J. Henke's 'Satin' label.

By 1969, 'The Three Dudes' had become 'The Four Dudes' with the addition of Kenneth Ball. The Dudes had made the decision to pursue a full time career with their music and the opportunities available Houston propelled the move. Within the first year 'The Four Dudes' had found themselves a manager, James Davis, whom pieced the vocal group with Houston's own 'The Heavy Accents Band'. The group were gaining notoriety around town, performing several times a week, which led Davis to bring the outfit into the studio to release a single on his independent label, 'Sivad-J'. It was when Davis heard 'My Heart Is Broken' for the first time that they decided this would be the single, and within the same year would be recorded at SugarHill Studios & released as a 7" single.

The sincerity of the song is what serenaded Houston across the airwaves in 69', a staple for George 'Boogaloo' Frazier on his show for KYOK 1590 AM amongst many others. The single became a local hit however, due to the lack of distribution and small pressing, the single barely made it out the city limits. 'The Four Dudes' continued to perform in Houston for 3/4 more years before heading to Philadelphia and forming a group called 'Image'.

For the first time since its 1969 release, 'The Four Dudes' single is once again available through Symphonical Records as a limited 7" pressing. Licensed directly through the Davis family with the approval of Charles Russell.

“A unique and refreshing release.” — Earmilk
“Stellar… an exciting and surprising release” — Popmatters

Cut Copy’s January Tape, an ambient project originally released in 2016 as a limited-edition run of 400 cassette tapes, comes to vinyl for the first time on January 2023 via Cutters Records and Diggers Factory.

Dan Whitford of Cut Copy said the project took shape after the band took a break from recording the follow-up to 2013’s Free Your Mind. “Having worked for much of the previous 12 months on a new Cut Copy album, we decided in January it was time to give ourselves a well earned break, “Whitford stated. “But instead of retreating to the wilderness or decompressing on a beach somewhere, we spent ten days in the studio making a collection of ambient instrumental works. We wanted to share outtakes from these sessions in all their unedited glory with you, and put them out as an extremely limited edition cassette, available mainly through our webstores.” Now with this limited vinyl release, more fans will be able to grab a hold of a physical copy of the music (the OG cassette’s are now a long-gone and highly coveted collector’s item).

Composed and recorded by Whitford and Cut Copy’s guitarist Tim Hoey, January Tape was accompanied by a short video, January Trip, by Glen Goetze and Brendan MacLeod. The video takes from several parts of the tape, evoking the lush, cinematic and occasionally disparate moods in the music via split screen themed imagery, both man-made and elemental in origin. More meditation than music video, more hypnosis than hype, January Trip works as a harmonious visual companion to the soundscapes in the tape.

New edition of this Soul Jazz Records out-of-print classic album available now as a new limited-edition one-off pressing triple yellow vinyl album (plus download code), and limited-edition one-off pressing special yellow CD edition. Soul Jazz Records" Space, Energy and Light is a collection of music by early electronic and synthesizer pioneers (from the 1960s through the 1970s), mid-1970s proto-new age gurus and 1980s guerrilla D-I-Y cassette-era electronic artists, spanning in total over a near 30-year time frame. All of these artists used electronic advancements in music technology as a means of exploring not only space and the idea of the future, but also of looking inwards to the soul and of creating music in harmony with the natural world.

Tape

A full length collaboration from DUANE PITRE and ELEH. PITRELEH use high resolution analog and digital tools to create music utilizing natural vibrations and harmonics as rhythm and melody. Inspiration is drawn directly from vibrational waves (sound, gravity, water). The electronics, of which both pieces are constructed, are tuned using pure intonation which utilizes the prime numbers: 1-3-5-7. The debut live performance of Pitreleh was recently presented at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn as well as the Museum Of Contemporary Art in Cleveland.

Das Kollaboalbum „Only Built for Infinity Links‘‘ der zwei Rap-Ikonen Takeoff & Quavo erscheint auf Vinyl!
Das Album ist die erste Kollaboration der beiden Rapper auf Albumlänge nach ihrem „Migos‘‘-Bruch und erreichte Platz 7 der US-Charts.

Wie auch bei ihren bisherigen Projekten arbeiteten die Künstler mit namenhaften Produzenten wie Buddha Bless, Murda Beatz, Zaytoven, DJ Durel oder Mustard zusammen.

Der Name „Only Built for Infinity“ soll die Unzertrennlichkeit zwischen Quavo und seinem Neffen Takeoff verdeutlichen.
Soundtechnisch machen die beiden Artists da weiter wo sie vor dem Migos-Bruch aufgehört haben: Auf gewohnt mitreißenden 808s rappen die beiden geschmeidig und flow-wechselnd in Harmonie, wie sie es
schon ihre halbe Karriere lang machen.

Leider ist das Projekt die letzte Kollaboration zwischen den beiden Erfolgsrappern gewesen, da Takeoff im November auf tragische Weise nach einer Auseinandersetzung verstarb.

Fans dürfen sich freuen: Das Erfolgsalbum wird als 2LP erhältlich sein und 18 Songs enthalten

Unreleased before music by Otto Sidharta, pioneer of Indonesian electronic music. Inspired by Indonesia's multifarious styles of traditional music, that he tries to preserve, the four pieces on Kajang express a contemplation of the self.

Otto Sidharta loves to travel, everywhere within Indonesia, in order to collect almost any environmental tones and harmonies he can gather, as an endless source of composition. He is also deeply inspired by Indonesia's multifarious styles of traditional music, that he tries to preserve, as in some remote places, they keep their own tradition very strongly.

What really interests Sidharta is musicians not interacting with other kinds of music, as in those deep villages, where one might find sounds that feel like very "natural". It results in works expressing Sidharta's personal impression from their music: "I just use my own feeling, with no calculation", not using the tribals motif or style.

Kajang is the name of a tribal people living in the south of Sulawesi, a giant island in eastern Indonesia, a closed community, that Sidharta visited twice: "They cut off their communication with the outside world. They live in a very traditional way and try to avoid any new development in culture that might impact their way of life."

Sidharta's previous album collected early pieces under the title Indonesian Electronic Music 1979-92, released on Sub Rosa in 2017. Kajang gathers a quartet of compositions from 2015 to 2020.

Otto Sidharta is born in Bandung, Indonesia November 6, 1955. In the late 1970' he studied first in Jakarta, under guidance of Slamet Abdul Sjukur, later at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Holland. In 2015 he accomplished his doctoral study at Institute Seni Indonesia Surakarta and finished in 2016. For years he felt isolated as a composer, not only because of living in Indonesia, but because the nature of his music lay outside the mainstream of electronic composition. Until 2019 he taught for many years in the music departments of several Indonesian universities. He also managed an Indonesian symphony orchestra for five years, a job that included setting up a tour of Japan.

Musique Pour La Danse is proud to present the Donkey Kong Country 2 OST Recreated of the much appreciated and globally followed Donkey Kong Country OST recreation project led by NY-based composer and producer Jammin’ Sam Miller.

Using hex SPC data crudely converted to MIDI, Jammin' Sam Miller painstakingly recreated DKC's soundtrack note by note, by finding the original equipment used to create it, translating the MIDI into a modern studio context, adding in keyboard samples, and re-mixing the sounds with added effects and mastering. To find out more about his process watch an explanatory video here: cutt.ly/ulUHE6J

Remastered for vinyl, licensed, and presented in a limited edition green forest double LP.

Exclusive and limited 7” with two new recordings by The Phenomenal Handclap Band and Buscabulla, recorded for the new RELATIN project (the reimagining of Latin musical roots from another time for our generations).

The Phenomenal Handclap Band is a dance music trio from NYC, a heady mix of raw soul, vocal harmonies, African percussion, fuzzy guitars and analog synthesizers. They take the first single from the colombian sisters, from 1971… imagine the mix: Sweet sixties soft pop meets funk & club culture.

Buscabulla is the music project of Puerto Rican duo and Brooklyn resident.

Their diverse influences make up a hybrid that combines a mellow Caribbean sensibility. Their particular taste for tropical and unique
chilled sounds now added to Elia y Elizabeth. This version is exclusive to this 7”.

Cantaro Ihara won himself plenty of friends in the deep-digging vinyl community last year with a very special Japanese cover of free soul star Weldon Irvine's 'I Love You' on a lush little 45rpm. It is now a hard-to-find and expensive record that has been remixed by the one and only beatmaker DJ Mitsu The Beats. He adds one his tight, textbook beats under the lush and airy vocal harmonies to make for something playful and jazzy. On the flip is an instrumental version that really showcases DJ Mitsu The Beats next-level production chops. Cop this one while you can, because it's sure to fly just like the original.

Limited edition run of 500 copies - pressed on transparent blue vinyl

Following a CD-only release in Japan in 2021, legendary downtempo producer Calm finally releases his “Before” album on vinyl and digital courtesy of Hell Yeah. The 10-track record is a slow-burning Balearic beauty.

Calm aka Kiyotaka Fukagawa has never been to the White Isle, but he sure knows how to capture its musical essence. He has done so over a long and storied career that has taken in 17 albums and some 35 EPs on many labels including this one over the last 20-plus years. His unique blend of ambient, jazz and leftfield was last showcased on this label in 2018 with his By Your Side album, and now he does it again with another timeless and escapist offering.

The record was written, arranged, mixed and produced by Calm, but with gorgeous musical embellishments, trumpets, flutes, saxophones, violins, bass and keys played by friends and guests like Shiba, Sinsuke Fujieda, Fumiko Takeshita, Tomokazu Sugimoto, Yuichiro Kato and Toshitaka Shibata. Tracks from it have already had support from Cosmo Coleen Murphy on Worldwide FM, while Phil Mison says it is "100% reminiscent of an old Café Del Mar or José Padilla record." He is not wrong.

As soon as the opening chords of 'Beauty on Earth' wash over you there is no escaping the naturalistic charm and beauty of this record. 'Long Summer Dream' layers mystic wind sounds and gentle percussive patterns into suspensory bliss, 'Blue in Void' is a plaintive moment of sombre sax and pensive piano, then 'Liminal Moment' awakens the soul with its gorgeous flute lines and looping arps.

There is perfect horizontal sunset house on 'I Love You,' 'Feel It' picks up the pace with seductive saxophone motifs and psychedelic synth loops and 'Before Sunrise Blue' is crushing downtempo melancholia. 'Kunpoo' reawakens you with leggy bass and expansive synths that reach for the heavens, while 'Freedom Sunset' is an epic 10-minute journey out to sea. Lastly, 'Let's Make Harmony' is super slow motion jazz-funk that swells the heart. Before is a superb album that is well-deserving of this double vinyl pressing and is sure to become a Balearic classic.

DJ Support:

Phil Mison, Colleen Cosmo Murphy, Chris Coco, Buena Onda Crew

New edition of this Soul Jazz Records out-of-print classic album available now as a new limited-edition one-off pressing triple yellow vinyl album (plus download code), and limited-edition one-off pressing special yellow CD edition.
Soul Jazz Records’ Space, Energy and Light is a collection of music by early electronic and synthesizer pioneers (from the 1960s through the 1970s), mid-1970s proto-new age gurus and 1980s guerrilla D-I-Y cassette-era electronic artists, spanning in total over a near 30-year time frame. All of these artists used electronic advancements in music technology as a means of exploring not only space and the idea of the future, but also of looking inwards to the soul and of creating music in harmony with the natural world.
From computer software and hardware experimentalists and sound pioneers such as Laurie Spiegel and Kevin Braheny, as well as Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company – the first synthesizer ensemble created in collaboration with Robert Moog – through to musique concrète experimentation, the album shows how technological advancements and creative artistic expression often went hand in hand. 
In the mid-1970s artists Steven Halpern and Iaxos were instrumental in creating proto-new age music, experimenting in both the healing properties of sound and its relationship with the natural world. These artists also pioneered a new self-contained and underground D-I-Y approach to music, creating their own record labels, forming new distribution networks (with albums sold in meditation centres, health food stores and ashrams) far away from the commercialism of the mainstream music industry. In the early 1980s after the revolution of punk, these D-I-Y attitudes and ideas appeared once more in the growth of the distinctly anti-commercial and underground cassette-only careers of artists such as Germany’s Stratis and Carl Matthews in Britain.
Artwork includes some of the earliest photography of the Plieades star cluster dating from the 1880s.

"Listening to Space, Energy & Light in one sitting is a bit like experiencing constellations exploding within constellations inside your brain." Record Collector
"Incredible collection of spacey electronics and meditative soundscapes dating from the early 60s to the late 80s here, lovingly assembled by the Soul Jazz team. This compilation has it all if you like your music deep. Big names such as Iasos and Laurie Spiegel feature, but even if you think yourself a bit of a nerd in this field, there are some lesser known pearls to be found." Bleep
"Quite simply an amazing mix of some quite bizarre and interesting pieces of music, no way to describe it other than to buy it, put on some headphones and drift off to inner space.” Amazon
"New compilation charting almost three decades of experimental
electronic and synthesizer music from the most influential and often
unsung composers of their generation. Beginning and 1961 and
following the story until 1988, Space, Energy and Light connects
proto-new age gurus and DIY tape vigilantes who were equally
inspired by the advancements of new technology and its potential to
unlock utopian futures in both the music and the soul." Vinyl Factory

Known for their dynamic sound and complex song structures, De Beren Gieren deliver an extravagant blend of polyrhythmic soundscapes and elitist twists, showing an ability to change mood in a way that constantly holds the listener’s attention. They effortlessly shift from more rigidly styled compositions to improvised sections and thus reveal the pulsating and ominous futuristic sound of a new world.

Produced by Dijf Sanders and Frederik Segers, ‘Less Is Endless’ is an ode to a universe teeming with life. Seen as an extension to the critically acclaimed 2017 album ‘Dug Out Skyscrapers’, it searches for vents through which life can emerge and evolve. The secret of communicating creativity can be found in the cultivation of the unfinished; the missing piece of the puzzle tickles the imagination more than the perfect end result.

From the psychotropic opener ‘A Funny Discovery’ and off-kilter piano rhythms of ‘Animalcules’ to the impressionist melodies and harmonic soundscapes of ‘Tuin’, De Beren Gieren give the music the space to breath and grow with every unexpected twist and turn. Elsewhere, ‘Guggenheim House’ is a lesson in the avant-garde, while ‘Gentse Leugentjes’ is a far cry from the traditional piano-bass-drum set-up, before the affecting ‘Moments Never a Moment’ and 18-minute ‘A Random Walk’ is an adventure in improvisation and electronics that defies any logical convention.

Forming in 2009, Fulco Ottervanger (piano, fx, synths), Lieven Van Pée (double bass, electric bass) and Simon Segers (drums, fx) quickly built a reputation across the Benelux region with their ‘must-see’ live shows and have since taken their transcendental live energy across Europe, Morocco and Japan and have performed at North Sea Jazz, Jazz Middelheim, Trondheim Jazzfestival, Ljubljana Jazz Festival, Moers Festival, Gent Jazz, Kanazawa Jazz Street and Eurosonic.

The trio’s breakthrough came with second album ‘A Raveling’ (2013) which received rave reviews, and the following year, a live recording with Portuguese trumpet player Susana Santos Silva was released as ‘The Detour Fish’ (2014) on the Clean Feed label, gaining De Beren Gieren further widespread recognition. Their 2015 release ‘One Mirrors Many’ was lauded by Dutch magazine Jazzism and signalled the beginning of their electronic quest, finding its maturity in ‘Dug Out Skyscrapers’ (2017). In 2019, they celebrated their 10th anniversary, releasing the limited edition ‘Broensgebuzze EP’.

De Beren Gieren have collaborated with renowned jazz artists including Louis Sclavis, Ernst Reijseger, Joachim Badenhorst, Marc Ribot, Jan Klare and Jean-Yves Evrard.

Hollie Kenniff's second LP for Western Vinyl, We All Have Places That We Miss, is a gallery of cloudlike synths, seraphic strings, and humming guitars, all coaxed into cohesion by Hollie's own wordless singing. The album's 2021 precursor, The Quiet Drift, landed on Bandcamp's Best Ambient list alongside the description "Drawing on the deep tones of drone, dream pop harmonies, and new age's bright tranquility, Kenniff evokes the forests, lakes and rivers of her past and present surroundings with a zen patience." Here on Places_ she strides even further into reminiscence, seeking and commemorating the fondly tragic ache of half-remembered locales lost to time: A grandparent's dim living room from an ambiguous decade; a lonely clearing beside a trail we can't remember if we walked or just dreamt; the calming light of a movie that aired years before we were born though our feelings insist we were there with the characters. We All Have Places That We Miss transmutes such glimmers into a palpable sonic kingdom that can be revisited at will, recalling the pedal-board ambience of Windy & Carl, Adam Wiltzie, and Liz Harris.

It seems fitting that a trilogy of albums celebrating nature should conclude some eight years after its second chapter. Manchester-via-Todmorden based instrumental trio Plank’s first two LPs – 2012’s kosmiche-inspired Animalism and 2014’s more expansive and structurally disruptive follow-up Hivemind – enjoyed relatively quick gestation periods. However, Plank are firm believers in letting nature run its course, and so it is that their third LP Future of the Sea arrives early in 2023. “I always knew I wanted to make three albums inspired by nature” says Plank main-man David Rowe (synths / guitar). “Future of the Sea is another exploration into odd time signatures and traditional rock instruments alongside synths and electronics.”

“Future of the Sea is a celebration of the power and majesty of our oceans and how humankind has been destroying them through industrial scale fishing and global warming” says Rowe. “Rachel Carson put it more eloquently in her book The Sea Around Us: ‘It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.’” A post apocalyptic underwater city scape adorns the cover in an illustration by Jake Blanchard, whose work you'll also see on Richard Dawson's latest album 'The Ruby Cord'.
The synthetic nature of Plank’s sprawling rock odysseys feel at their most pronounced on Future of the Sea which leans to the band’s love of Pink Floyd era Meddle, Camel, film score composers like John Carpenter and Vangelis, 70s experimentalists Harmonia, 1980s King Crimson and 90s post-rock adjacent group Tortoise. In polyrhythmic dexterity if not heaviness, Plank also take some influence from Meshuggah, and it’s in their movement between the 16 minute final album track’s sections that it feels most prominent. They swerve from crunching stoner rock jams to more ambient spatial explorations, crescendoing progressive peaks, 80s synth pop and finally a crushing riff-laden finale.

A collection of improvisational electronic mantras, premiered earlier this year on NTS, where Parisian artist Shelter explores odd meters, Indian-inspired drum cycles and expansive drone harmonics. It's a dreamed folklore, reminiscent of Hariprasad Chaurasia and Charanjit Singh's Eternity, John Hassel's fourth world or Craig Leon's Nommos. The LP blurs the line between organic and synthesis where drum machines melt into surreal harmonium textures and programming is indistinguishable from improvisation.

A Notwist concert is a Notwist concert is a Notwist concert. The band around the core trio of Cico Beck and the Acher brothers Markus and Micha usually takes its studio recordings as a mere starting point for their live performances, considering them to be possibilities that need to be explored further. This is especially true for »Vertigo Days - Live from Alien Research Center,« a live record made under unusual circumstances. The band members rearranged songs from their ambitious 2021 album »Vertigo Days« in their studio in Weilheim to record and film a special performance. The songs took on a new life, becoming more psychedelic and intense when rearranged into a spontaneous, Krautrock-esque collage.

»Vertigo Days« was meant to transcend the conventional notion of a band as well as the creative and geographic boundaries inscribed into that concept. And even though life had other plans, this is precisely what the album did when it was released to both commercial success and critical acclaim in early 2021. Contributions by Tenniscoats singer Saya, Angel Bat Dawid, Ben LaMar Gay, Juana Molina, among others, as well as new member Theresa Loibl on bass clarinet, harmonium, and keyboard, expanded the band’s sonic palette, stylistic range, and even lyrical focus through the addition of different instruments, artistic approaches, and languages.

All of that was missing when the band retreated to their studio—dubbed Alien Research Center in response to, and in spite of, a nearby church called Christian Outreach Center—to further explore the possibilities of the source material. The band members considered this a challenge rather than an insurmountable problem and not only accepted, but fully embraced it. Trying to work as little as possible with the computers and samples—Saya’s voice on »Ship« being a notable exception—the band rearranged six tracks from »Vertigo Days« and a piece from the »One of Those Days« film soundtrack in order to allow themselves to improvise more freely, especially thanks to Loibl, who takes on a key role during these 45 minutes.

The intro sets the tone for what’s to come, contrasting loose jazz drumming with curious synthesizer rhythms in an abstract rendition of the first sounds that greeted the listeners on »Vertigo Days«. While the next four tracks—»Into Love / Stars«, »Exit Strategy To Myself«, »Where You Find Me« and »Ship«—follow the chronology of the album, they use the originals as a blank slate for further experimentation. The first track morphs into a feverish long-form jam that draws on the underlying groove to shift the dynamics from and leave behind the song structure of the studio version. It’s an exemplary piece in a recording that sees each individual musician leaving their mark on the overall sound, all while being perfectly attuned to what everyone else is doing around them. This continues up until the record’s triumphant finale, a whirring rendition of »Loose Ends.«

»Vertigo Days - Live from Alien Research Center« is at once a snapshot of a certain moment in the band’s history and the quintessential Notwist live record: a unique performance that both explores the untapped potential of the »Vertigo Days« studio recordings while also serving as an inspiration for upcoming live shows.

As with the studio album, the artwork for »Vertigo Days - Live from Alien Research Center« features photographs by Japanese artist Lieko Shiga, taken in the '00s.

"All This Is Chance" ist das erste Album von Lisa O"Neill auf Rough Trade Records. Der Vorgänger, laut The Guardian das Folk Album of Year 2019, erschien noch beim Imprint River Lea. In ihrer Karriere konnte Lisa bereits fünf BBC Folk Award Nominierungen einheimsen, richtigen Schub erlangte sie aber in diesem Jahr dank eines großartigen Bob Dylan Cover, das im epischen Finale der Serie "Peaky Blinders" zur Geltung kam. Für ihr neues Album beginnt beginnt O"Neill als Erzählerin ihre Reise auf irischem Grund, lässt sich vom Autoren Patrick Kavanagh und dessen Erzählungen über die Große Hungersnot in Irland inspirieren, um daraufhin über die Verbindung zur Natur, zu Vögeln, Beeren, Bienen und Blut zu meditieren. Die Musik dazu ist orchestral, dramatisch, geradezu cinematisch - wie zum Beispiel bei der ersten Single "Old Note", die sich als trauriges Wiegenlied über den Verlust der Verbindung zur Natur entfaltet. Der Song ist dabei eine Reaktion auf ein Interview mit dem traditionellen Musiker Tony McMahon und zwischen den Noten spürt man geradezu die enge Verbindung und Liebe O"Neills zur Tierwelt und der Natur um uns herum. Beim Album wirkten viele etablierter (Folk)-Musiker mit. Angefangen von Joseph Doyle am Bass, Cormac Begley, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Kate Ellis (Crash Ensemble), der Pianistin Ruth O"Mahony Brady, Lorcan Byrne an den Drums, Produzent Dave Odlum an der Gitarre, Colm O"Hara an der Posaune, Brian Leach am Hackbrett, Mic Geraghty am Harmonium und David Coulter an der Säge. O"Neills Nichte Sadie-Mae O"Neill ist dazu noch als zweite Stimme auf "Old Note" zu hören.

Priscilla Renea Hamilton , known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long"), is an American singer and songwriter. Under her birth name, her solo debut studio album, Jukebox, was released through Capitol Records in 2009. She then spent the following decade co-writing songs for other recording artists, including the singles "California King Bed" by Rihanna, "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony, "Love So Soft" by Kelly Clarkson, "Imagine" by Ariana Grande, and the global chart-topper "Timber" by Pitbull featuring Kesha. She has received four Grammy Award nominations throughout her career, including for Best New Artist, Best R&B Song ("Hrs & Hrs"), and Best R&B Performance ("Hrs & Hrs"). She also received a nomination for Album of the Year through her work on Back of My Mind (2021) by H.E.R. . Public Displays of Affection is a soundtrack of intimacy that seemed to offer an answer: You let love lead. "I am a lover," Muni Long explains. "I prefer to be kind. I believe in fairytales. The reason Public Displays of Affection worked is because love was absent in R&B." For that breakthrough project, Muni wanted to mimic the ebbs and flows of a relationship, dipping and diving between moods and sounds - which is real, because love can be tumultuous, too.

Frokedal is a popular folk singer-songwriter whose haunting vocals have scored the music of various acclaimed bands over the past decade. The members of Sa^ver are veterans of the Norwegian heavy scene. Having toured all over the world playing renowned festivals like Roadburn and Psycho Las Vegas, they now fill and orchestrate the gap between eerie softness and furious anger as a three-piece atmospheric sludge metal ensemble. This split 10" sees each of these artists present a song from the respective other artist's back catalogue, finding a transcendental middle ground between the other artist's musical realm and their own sphere. Commenting on the beginning of her own musical career, Frokedal notes: "Because everyone has a computer these days there's no limit to how many times you can multi-track. I was sick of that. I hoped to go the other way - to remove as much as I could and be left with a beating heart." Remarkably, Sa^ver have done just that in their execution of Frokedal's track «Shot-Put», turning down their guitars to give space to clean vocals and laying bare the synths that are an integral part of their sound. Driven by deep drones and soft layered vocals, the Homeric simile of a meeting at the shot put becomes even more compelling, turning the folksy original into a haunting ambient rock opus. In turn, Frokedal lays bare the heart of «I Vanish» from Sa^ver's debut LP in a gently swaying but bewitching folk version. In a world somewhere between the triple harmony magic of The Staves and the polyphonic madness of Le Myste`re des Voix Bulgares, Anne Lise conjures the unsettling path towards obliteration. Many things can be said about the way these songs sound and even about how they transcend the originals in some ways, but the true beauty of this EP lies in the way both Frokedal and Sa^ver incline towards each other to find a middle ground that is yet unexplored in their respective careers. Coming together, they prove that beauty is found in the eye of the beholder, but transcendence is found in the eye of the storm! Limited (100 copies ww) Single Colour (Dark Blue) Edition!

For our eighth release we are proud to host the Madrid-based producer Arnic with his first full record on tresydos. A familiar face of our label, Arnic not only plays regularly at the tresydos showcases in the Spanish capital, but also already appeared on a VA and delivered a mix for our podcast series.

From the start of the record, the style is strikingly groovy and deep, combining captivating funky basslines, sharp house rhythms, and jazzy harmonics. While some tracks come across as perfect ‘hands-up’ club gems, the production on this record shows a lot of depth to it, encompassing elegantly suspended atmospheres, softly psychedelic touches in its synths-work, and even some downtempo beats. Arnic’s tresydos record debut escapes easy formulations in favor of a strong personality in every single track - tresydos008 is a quality and versatile record not to be missed.

Up-and-coming tech house talent Andruss collaborates with Umberto Pagliaroli and El Apache Ness on Mueve. On the flip, Andruss joins forces with Fatboi, celebrating their South-American roots on Jamie Jones' long-running and internationally renowned label. Huge drums and fresh percussive sounds dominate the release.

The title track kicks off with chunky drums and organic textures, with El Apache Ness's vocals upping the energy—an instant club classic. On Agáchalo, Andruss teams up with rapper and singer Fatboi. Andruss explains the process in his own words. The result is a muscular tech house tune with tribal drums in perfect harmony with Fatboi's husky vocals.

For Fans of Aasha Puthli, Grace Jones, Minnie Ripperton, The Supremes, Love Apple, Liquid Liquid, ESG. Say She She's debut 45 features "Forget Me Not," an homage to New York City's Guerilla Girls and to all the women's rights and protest movements who have paved the way for change. Doused in the funkiest rhythm section and bursting at the seams with harmonies, the song is a psychedelic siren's call to disrupt and dismantle male dominated spaces. "Blow My Mind" is the fiery and seductive B-side. A song about returning to reignite the fire of a former flame you still carry the torch for - even after all these years. The impassioned and sultry cries "Mayday in my heyday, crying out for you to save me!" teeter between youthful yearning and blazing independence. Let the dreamscape bridges guide you to climactic hindi riffs, accented with operatic cries that will lift you yonder.

Back in 2010 Caribou's Dan Snaith hosted a remix competition for his track 'Sun' from his then-new album Swim. The winner was an unknown producer called altrice.

Hailing from Tucson, Arizona of Iranian/Mexican descent, altrice took the bright euphoric highs of the original and crumbled them into rumbling lows, the crystalline edges becoming rough and undefined. Along with a bursting goody-bag of prizes, Snaith also provided altrice with the stems for the rest of Swim and the offer to remix the whole album track-by-track, creating 'stem'. Aside from a further dream-come-true remix of Radiohead, this is largely the last we heard from altrice in the past 12 years.

A year and a half ago though, having kept up correspondence with Snaith over the years, altrice began sending new material. With encouragement from Snaith he eventually wound up with an EP which has since become essential DJ material for Snaith and the cohort of friends he's shared it with, as well as appearing in Leon Vynehall's Radio 1 Residency, KH (Four Tet)'s recent Essential Mix and more.

With three tracks already released from the EP receiving further DJ support from Avalon Emerson, Floating Points, Yu Su, Sofia Kourtesis, Mano Le Tough and more, today the EP is released in full officially via Snaith's own Jiaolong label. compciter is a collection of music that for the first time is entirely altrice's own sound, alluring and off-kilter, a wealth of sounds and styles that are tied together by an irresistible warmth.

Speaking of the EP, altrice says:

"This EP is the result of allowing my stylistic boundaries to be nudged in a new direction, putting away a self-inflicted notion that I’m only fluent in certain subgenres of electronic music. I made some production choices that, for better or worse, will make this project stand out. I’ve been overwhelmed by the reactions in clubs and at festivals, and individuals reaching out with kind words about the music. It’s surreal."
From the huddled and obscured yet comforting vocal samples - described by Pitchfork as "a beacon of light in an uncertain landscape" - of 'bda creature' to the swinging 90s eurodance drums of 'places faces' and the way the welcoming guitar melody and soulful vocals of 'eyes' gives way to a full on bass pummel, the tracks that have been released so far from the EP are already causing a stir both on and off the dancefloor. Today, the chopped up vocals and vast roomy sound of 'yoni' along with '1609km' - which would almost be straightforward house if it didn't pull the rug out to make way for delicate piano and harmonica flourishes - complete a set that fulfils a promise 12 years in the making..

* Comes with an 8 page booklet **

The Dead Mauriacs is the project of French artist Olivier Prieur, "Paravents et miroirs, une cérémonie" is a live soundtrack.

The Dead Mauriacs describe their music as "Exotica Concrete" - their music is composed of field recordings made on a daily basis, as well as a diverse collection of sounds, including piano, Indian harmonium, violin, ukulele, didgeridoo, pieces of wood, glass, paper, and metal plates. The album is a spectacular 40-minute sound collage, assembled by sampling Exotica music represented by musicians and arrangers such as Les Baxter and Arthur Lyman, who were active in the 1950s.

"Exotica is a musical genre or sub-genre that emerged in the 1950s in the United States with musicians and arrangers like Les Baxter or Arthur Lyman. It is an extraordinary music because it is false: bird calls imitate bird songs, you can hear the sound of the waves, it is a Western fantasy, particularly North American, of a world and an imagery that never existed. It is a music associated with mass tourism, mass entertainment, consumerism. Arthur Lyman recorded about 30 records in 10 years in Waikiki. With his band, they played and recorded under a geodesic aluminum dome. The dome belonged to the owner of the hotel he played for every night. They did this at night to avoid noise. It's music that is both profoundly naive and totally flawed. In this, it is seductive and intellectually interesting. It is music that could easily be criticized today, but it is an imaginary in itself, like the Italian film music of the 1960s and 1970s." (Excerpt from the calax's interview)

The Dead Mauriacs are not only involved in music, but also in a wide range of other creative endeavors, including video and painting. He also repsonsible for the artwork of this LP. The inside of the product is also accompanied by an 8-page interview with Mauriacs and compiled his amazing artworks.

The Dead Mauriacs
Paravents et miroirs : une cérémonie / Screens and mirrors: a ceremony

Side A
Courte dérive, une ouverture / Short drift, an opening
Le retour des insectes électriques / The return of the electric insects Les oiseaux étranges / The strange birds Tension, terreur factice / Tension, false terror
Dénouement malais / Malaysian ending
Rituels et vanités 1 / Rituals and vanities 1
Rituels et vanités 2 / Rituals and vanities 2
Italiens dʼHambourg / Italians in Hamburg

Side B
Secrets pour piano / Secrets for piano
La suite Monory, Padoue-Le Caire-Nassau / The Monory Suite, Padua-Cairo-Nassau Hommes à découper / Men to cut out Lassitude moite / Clammy weariness
Le soleil artificiel du pont croisière / The artificial sun on the cruise deck
Pirogues et palmiers, vus de la scène / Pirogues and palm trees, seen from the stage La traversée / The crossing Rideau / Rideau
Fields recordings : Semproniano and Siena, Italy, Figueira, Portugal, Charentes, France. An electrical wire with a frequency shifter gave birth to the insects. Real and fake piano. Everything made with a computer and a midi keyboard.
Music premiered at Hörbar, Hamburg, 28th of December 2017. Music (and video) Olivier Prieur.
Thanks to Thorsten Soltau and all people at Hörbar.
Hello to Felix Kubin & Marie-Pierre Bonniol, Julia & Jan Warnke. Kisses to Hélène.

Bona Fide makes his triumphant return to Lee Burridge’s All Day I Dream label to release the Entropy double-EP.

For his debut EP release on All Day I Dream, Bona Fide showcases a diverse repertoire of sounds across the eight tracks. The record kicks off with the title track, where Bona Fide eases the listener in with soft percussion before incorporating fluttering melodic textures. Another highlight from the A-side is ‘Kikiri’ - a mesmerizing composition spanning nine and a half minutes which features filtered chanting over an enduring drum pattern, balanced out by mystical synth harmonies. On the B-Side, Bona Fide recruits Zone+ to collaborate on ‘Alter Ego’, a stripped-down groover with an infectious bass-line, and Wassu to collaborate on ‘Love Sparkles,’ a joyous track with maximum danceability.

Entropy may sound familiar to some, as unreleased cuts from the record have been staples of Lee Burridge sets worldwide over the last year and a half. Bona Fide’s main stage performance at the inaugural All Day I Dream Festival in Northern California left fans wondering when he would next be featured on the label. Delivering the eight track Entropy EP to be released in both digital and physical format, Bona Fide makes a massive contribution to All Day I Dream, as the world-renowned label adds another wonderful EP to their catalog.

Scene Unseen return with their second release, following the debut release from Jinjé and this time we see a release from a pioneer in the Chilean electronic music and Hip-Hop scenes, DJ Raff.

Having released more recently on the label Big in Japan (the previous label from the Scene Unseen camp), with his beautiful Resistancia EP, the label were keen to welcome him back onboard for the new project.

Raff’s routes were originally in the Hip-Hop scene back in his native, Chile. His influence of this scene cannot be understated, as his name appeared in the credits of over 50 Hip-Hop releases coming out of the country. Most notably with Anna Tijoux and Makiza, as well as seeing his own track ‘Latino & Proud’ used in the EA Sports game, FIFA 2012 and then later as the theme music for the Comedy Central show, Broad City.

As time moved on, so did Raff’s sound and he started to move into more of an instrumental focus, moving away from any vocals and the Hip-Hop rhythms. Since then he has released on Mutante Discos, Nacional Records, Wonderwheel Recordings and his own Pirotecnia label, among others. As well as remixing for the mighty Dengue Dengue Dengue, Landikhan and more.

DJ Raff has played events like Sonar Barcelona, Mutek.ES, Lollapalooza (US, Argentina, Chile), RBMA Mexico and Red Bull also invited him to mentor at the 2015 RBMA Bass Camp academy in Chile. His last album 'Movimiento' was released in 2017 on Nacional records and earnt him a nomination for best electronic music artist at the Pulsar awards in Chile.

Raff’s new EP for Scene Unseen, Estado Líquido, is an EP of true beauty once again, showcasing four tracks that combine his signature Latin American vibes with his hip-hop influences.

The title track opens the EP with the calm samples and inspiration from the sound of the ocean, an emotive nod to the people attempting to travel from Africa to Europe over the years and the struggles they have faced.

“Basta” translates to “Enough” in Spanish, this track is inspired by the large-scale protests in Chile back in 2019 and lasting until March 2020. An electronic hip-hop beat alongside a constant synth arpeggio that was something more common to his early productions. Casualidad is a reference to a more personal stage of Raff’s life, with soft, bright, and uplifting melodies flowing between more fine percussive works.

Final track, Ceremonia, combines percussive African rhythms with melancholic Synth leads and pads, alongside a deep solid bass line and repetitive chants. The repetitive chants and percussions hold together the opposite worlds of happy festive rhythms and nostalgic melodies, taking the song to a place where both feelings combine in harmony.

Artwork is made by DMNC (Francisco Meneses) a designer, art director and VJ from Santiago de Chile. Previous work is linked to 3D animation and he actively collaborates with various electronic music projects across Latin America.

Anticipated by the "Soul Drum" 12" EP (SCEP507, 2022), Gerardo Frisina's new double record "Joyful Sound" represents as usual another step forward inside his indefinite travel towards new musical paths. A journey made of wisely distilled notes, bright and sometimes mysterious atmospheres, harmonies that wander through shadows, silences, lights. A chameleonic Gerardo enchants with every release, mixing jazz, Latin, Afro-Cuban sounds, oriental fragrances, electronic beats, tribal percussions, funky variations and, dulcis in fundo, elegant symphonic arrangements with refined mastery.

WRWTFWW Records is proud to announce a brand new album by Irish producer Gareth Quinn Redmond, following his amazing Satoshi Ashikawa-Inspired Laistigh Den Ghleo released in 2019. Umcheol, his ambient-meets-Irish-traditional-music soundscape is available as a limited edition LP (500 copies worldwide) housed in a 350gsm gatefold sleeve with a superb triptych of paintings by Irish artist Conor Campbell. The album comes in digital format as well.
A splendid pairing of Irish folk instruments (harp, tin whistle, fiddle, harmonium) with synthesizers, Umcheol tells the tragic yet beautiful tale of two legendary figures of Irish mythology, Cú Chulainn and
Ferdiad. The 40+ minute ambient narrative is a subtle and touching alliance of past and present, tradition re-contextualized and retold with a modern approach.
Gareth Quinn Redmond explains: "For the longest time, I have desired to blend elements of both ambient and Irish traditional music. Umcheol - Cú Chulainn agus Ferdiad, is the first in a series of works that seeks to coalesce these two palettes of sound. The primary focus of this album was to begin using traditional instruments such as the harp, tin whistle, fiddle and even the harmonium, which in recent times has become commonly used in Irish folk music. By pairing these instruments with synthesizers, I hope to create a soundscape that gives new agency for the stories of my culture to be realized and retold."
Very personal and delicately visceral, Umcheol is a contemplative journey that will resonate with fans of Japanese environmental music, minimalism, folk experimentations, and mythological soundtracks.
Gareth Quinn Redmond’s previous album, Laistigh Den Ghleo, an ode to the work of Satoshi Ashikawa is still available on WRWTFWW Records - perfect time to re-visit!

Waxwork Records is thrilled to announce the release of GET OUT Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Music By Michael Abels. Written and directed by Jordan Peele, GET OUT is a critically acclaimed 2017 American horror film starring Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams. The film received numerous accolades and won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Kalluya. GET OUT is the directorial debut of accomplished actor and long time horror-fanatic, Jordan Peele. The film's music was scored by composer Michael Abels, and it also features his debut as a film composer. Included in the new deluxe double LP release of GET OUT are exclusive liner notes in the form of an in depth essay by Peele that illustrates the director's first meeting with Michael Abels, their approach to the film's music, and how it all came together to conjure a new sound. "I had some ideas. I envisioned distinctly black voices harmonically creating an unnatural sound. The absence of hope. The void of the voiceless. A disembodied Negro spiritual. The Sunken Place." GET OUT Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features the complete soundtrack by composer Michael Abels, deluxe packaging, new artwork by Leslie Herman, a printed insert with exclusive liner notes by Jordan Peele, 180 gram black and white splatter vinyl, and old style tip-on gatefold jackets with satin coating.

Robyn Hitchcock stands among the most energized and ambitious
recordings of the iconic troubadour's four-decade career
The album sees Hitchcock casting familiar shapes into surprising new forms, the
sci-fi fueled sounds and visions that first stimulated his work now ribboned with
experience and hard- earned wisdom. The album, Hitchcock's 21st studio
recording, was recorded in Nashville, TN, with producer Brendan Benson (The
Raconteurs) and backing by fellow Music City players that include guitarist Annie
McCue, bassist Jon Estes, and drummer Jon Radford. Harmony vocal
contributions include Emma Swift, Grant Lee Phillips, Gillian Welch, and Wilco's
Pat Sansone.This 5th anniversary edition is pressed on neon green vinyl.

Kirk Degiorgio is becoming somewhat of a mainstay on the Belgian De:tuned label. Here he returns with 'The Unveiling'. The title track stands out with a classical synth progression and beautiful harmonies, resulting in an uplifting Detroit fused techno cut. 'Descent Module' takes you on a driving acidic trip and has all the characteristics of a hypnotic floater for the after-hours. On the flip you'll find two exclusive remixes from Kirk's 'Communion' album on De:tuned. Ian o'Brien showcases his vast musical talent and opens up his soul with a warm and lengthy retake of 'The Ladder'. Luke Slater debuts strongly on De:tuned and provides a rare The 7th Plain remix of 'Absorption Spectra'. Luke's take is a sentimental and lush ambient techno interpretation where its unique sound oscillates between a melancholic state of nostalgia and modern escapism.

Kevin Foakes (Openmind, DJ Food, Ninja Tune) created all the graphic work. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis and pressed on 180 gr vinyl. A separate digital release will also be available at the usual digital shops. Stay tuned!

blue marbled vinyl

Kirk Degiorgio is becoming somewhat of a mainstay on the Belgian De:tuned label. Here he returns with 'The Unveiling'. The title track stands out with a classical synth progression and beautiful harmonies, resulting in an uplifting Detroit fused techno cut. 'Descent Module' takes you on a driving acidic trip and has all the characteristics of a hypnotic floater for the after-hours. On the flip you'll find two exclusive remixes from Kirk's 'Communion' album on De:tuned. Ian o'Brien showcases his vast musical talent and opens up his soul with a warm and lengthy retake of 'The Ladder'. Luke Slater debuts strongly on De:tuned and provides a rare The 7th Plain remix of 'Absorption Spectra'. Luke's take is a sentimental and lush ambient techno interpretation where its unique sound oscillates between a melancholic state of nostalgia and modern escapism.

Kevin Foakes (Openmind, DJ Food, Ninja Tune) created all the graphic work. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis and pressed on 180 gr vinyl. A separate digital release will also be available at the usual digital shops. Stay tuned!

Ma Spaventi is a wonderfully versatile artist. Over his decade-long career, the Italian musician has turned his capable hand to everything from ambient to techno. Once again, he is expanding his sound palette and challenging expectations with Vicino Lontano.

Across eight tracks, an array of ideas and influences are explored with additional guitar work coming care of Odeon’s Michele Righini. The reflective hues of “Solitario” give way to the warming strings and peaceful brightness of “Crepuscolo.” Written and produced in Amsterdam between 2017 and 2019, beautiful memories of the past are the source of inspiration. Radiating Summer sunshine bathes “Bring Me Back” in a comforting glow, while “Velvet Lights” teases rhythm sections with thick bass lines and shimmering synth work. Moments of introspection arrive in the elegant gliding forms of “Bomber” and “Intermezzo.” The rumbling “End Line” finds harmony amongst a spread of styles, cascading chords and rich textures, all combining beautifully. A moon rise closes, the grand curtain falls on “Bidderosa”, calling time of this stunning collection.

Celebrating its one hundredth release, Black Truffle is honoured to present a major archival discovery: a stunning document of the only performance by the trio of Tony Conrad, Arnold Dreyblatt and Jim O’Rourke. Across a two-night programme organised by David Weinstein at legendary New York experimental venue Tonic in January 2001, Conrad, Dreyblatt and O’Rourke presented individual projects before performing a collaborative set each night, the first with members of Dreyblatt’s ensemble and the second the trio heard here. As Dreyblatt points out in the wonderfully informative and reflective liner notes written for this release, this was a collaboration across generations, reflecting the profound impact of Conrad’s pioneering minimalism on Dreyblatt and O’Rourke. Both Dreyblatt and O’Rourke came to this collaboration armed with a deep appreciation of Conrad’s music and the just intonation principles at its core, Dreyblatt having first encountered the incredible power of Conrad’s precisely tuned violin chords during his tenure as an archivist for La Monte Young in 1975, while O’Rourke had performed with Conrad in various settings since the mid-1990s (as well as admiring, reissuing, and performing Dreyblatt's music). The flyer for the concert promised ‘massive, ecstatic, pulsating overtones’, and the trio certainly delivered. From the moment this keening stream of bowed strings begins, it is clear, as Dreyblatt writes, that we are in ‘Tony’s sonic universe’, as massively amplified, slowly shifting combinations of precisely chosen pitches fill the room with complex beating patterns and ghostly difference tones. For more than twenty-five minutes, the music operates at a level of intensity comparable to classic recordings such as Conrad’s Four Violins, until the texture thins out slightly in the performance’s final quarter, allowing for the listener’s first recognition of the individual voices that make up this enormous, overwhelming harmonic edifice. The constant stream of bowed tones is broken by a beautifully rich pizzicato from Conrad on monochord, the sliding low tones and metallic shimmer of the other strings taking the set's final moments on an unexpected detour into spacious pastoral psychedelia.

Though produced by three individuals known for their own distinctive bodies of the work, this is egoless music, the perfect expression of Conrad's desire 'to move away from composing to listening', to 'working "on" the sound from "inside" the sound'. Historically important and overwhelming in sonic impact, this release also serves as a moving tribute to Tony Conrad from two musicians profoundly marked by the example set by his art and life.

Timeless atmospheres, hypnotic sonorities, minimal arrangements. And a composer gifted with a never ending passion for music, experimenter in his genetic code, innovator by vocation, at ease with various instruments in order to forge avant-garde themes. Piero Umiliani was already forward in building completely new sounds in the late Seventies. “Tra Scienza E Fantascienza” finds his alter ego Moggi experimenting with alternative grooves, electronic music, jazz tunes and soundtrack motifs. One of the most interesting music libraries in the Italian composer's discography, reissued with a new remastering by Musica Per Immagini, is in full harmony with its title.

Science fiction has opened up our eyes to a variety of scenarios, possible or impossible, sometimes with a happy ending, sometimes apocalyptic, at times familiarly near, more often disarmingly far away, and always capable of inspiring our imagination. For the histrionic artist it took, perhaps, less of a cosmic leap to create this masterpiece. Centred on the cover, a strange creature with only one eye, its hands on a beaker containing a mysterious red liquid. To its right, a symbolic circle is imprinted on a sandy surface, and three bizarre constructions, similar to the volumetric flasks found in a laboratory, of differing heights and shapes. There is a strange blue planet in the distance.

For Dancer Only ist die legendäre Clubnacht von Bill Kealey, dem ebenso trinkfesten wie umtriebigen Sammler und Jäger aus Dublin. Quasi jedes Wochenende ist er mit seinem 7"-Vinylkoffer unterwegs und beglückt die Massen. Da er das schon ein paar Jahrzehnte macht, gehört er zur absoluten Champions League derer, die sich mit Rhythm & Blues der 50er und all seinen Spielarten beschäftigen. Dies ist seine erste Compilation und wir behaupten, dass es eine der Besten ist, die Stag-O-Lee je veröffentlicht hat.