Search:hi rhythm

The new DUB! 4 great tracks with funky machine rhythms and beautyful layers of sounds and melodies. Hi-tech electronica... TIP!

1994 by French artist Continental and backed by a remix from Cosmin TRG.
Amrboise Boret is a French engineer, mixer and producer located in Paris who released material under various guises from the nineties through to the early 2000’s. Here we see his Continental moniker brough back into the limelight, highlighting a selection of material from the Pushin' It Up EP on Alliance Records. Up first is ‘Flying Dub’, as the name would suggest a dub-infused excursion through gliding chord sequences, snaking bass licks and bright string sequences while swinging analogue drums dynamically evolve throughout. ‘Way U Jack’ follows, introducing a more Chicago leaning attitude rhythmically alongside low-pitched vocal murmurs, fluttering dub chords and a bumpy bass line. Title-track ‘Whispers’ follows on the b-side next, employing ethereal atmospherics, flute like synth melodies, organ bass tones and crunchy, shuffled percussion. Rounding out the EP Cosmin TRG reworks ‘Whispers’, offering a contemporary twist on the original with intricately programmed drums, subtly nuanced introductions of the originals atmospherics, winding low-end pulsations and an overall ornate, dynamic feel.

- First 45 from new label 3 Palm Records - Classic deep funk and soul cover featuring singer Adryon De León - Hard break beats and soaring vocals // West Coast soul and funk powerhouse Orgone returns to their roots with this scorching cover of the James Brown-produced Marva Whitney song "It's My Thing (You Can't Tell Me Who To Sock It To)." The original is considered a breakbeat classic and has been sampled by hip hop's golden era stalwarts (NWA, Public Enemy, & EPMD). Orgone brings their brand of heavy hitting, gritty production to update the song for new ears and a new era. Lead vocalist Adryon de León struts and belts with swagger and soul, riffing and owning Marva's response to the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing." Orgone's seasoned rhythm section chugs hard and heavy in their crusade to do justice to the legacy of James Brown's renowned band The J.B.'s. Topped off with percussion breaks and killer horn lines, this side is ready to be embraced by soul aficionados, beat junkies, and deep funk crate diggers_not to mention the hardcore fanbase that Orgone has established over two decades of critically acclaimed studio releases and a well-earned reputation for fiery live shows. This is the debut 45 from 3 Palm Records.

Four veteran musicians who share a broad background of music influences and experiences. The album ’Doorways of Time’ is a unique trip through a musical landscape that contains hints of psychedelics, Rock and Metal. It has been said that you cannot relive the 70’s and 80’s but Butterfly manage to give you just that experience. Powerful vocals, twin harmonies and a pounding rhythm section keep your attention focused. Hints of NWOBHM as well as influences of bands such as Kiss, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin manage to blend in together flawlessly. This is not just a nostalgia trip, this is a window to the future... And guess what; the future is looking bright! A solid revolution of Rock music that will drive all the turmoil away.

December 4th, 2020 -- THE LICKERISH QUARTET — Band members of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Slash’s Snake Pit, Finn Brothers, Alice Cooper, Air Beck – and all formerly of Jellyfish – reunite for 2 nd EP with their first official UK release. Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Tim Smith and Eric Dover are excited to announce their highly anticipated THREESOME VOL.2 EP, to be released 8 th January 2021, will be their first on British indie label Lojinx. The first single, “Snollygoster Goon,” is out now. Of “Snollygoster Goon” Eric Dover says “The music is Adderall-based, in theory, to reflect the absolute breakneck speed at which the corruption flourishes. A frenetic forensic foray into classic old-as-civilization themes involving greed, graft and corruption as applied to any political sphere. The snake oil salesman kissing babies, the saccharine unimaginative public image.” The new release is, naturally, the follow-up to their debut EP, THREESOME VOL.1 - lauded by critics as “a masterpiece” - which was released in May 2020 in the US. With song titles “Snollygoster Goon,” “The Dream That Took Me Over,” “Sovereignty Blues,” and “Do You Feel Better?” Manning, Smith, and Dover’s undeniable chemistry can once again be found throughout THREESOME VOL.2. The songs formed from the same sessions that begun in 2017 offer a slinky and feisty landscape of temptation, freedom of thought, hope and dreams, and a shout out to all who game the systems. An edgy second round of soaring vocals, angular guitars, and pulsing drums, enveloped by timeless keyboard arrangements requires multiple listens to appreciate fully. Manning, Dover and Smith ruminate on the other 3 new songs: “Do You Feel Better?” as told by Tim Smith: A romp along the primrose path of temptations, internal and external, real or imagined, the tiny demons we dance with throughout our lives. A pulsing bass and hypnotic guitar rhythm plays like the backing band to a striptease you’ve sneaked into, and don’t know where to sit, but all are welcome! Some things are more dangerous than others, of course, but this song is sort of a combination of letting your guard down, because of preconceived notions of what’s right or wrong, and justification of actions you think you understand to have under control. Who knows? Experiences do give us perspective, and this song tries to play between the id and superego - a Screwtape letter demon, and an Angel of Mercy. “Sovereignty Blues” as told by Roger Joseph Manning Jr.: “Fears fire’s all they’re fanning, but I won’t light up their fuse.” A tale as old as humanity. Group control over another through the tried and true tactic of fear. And always partnered with a fatal dose of “divide and conquer.” But who’s actually pulling the levers and pushing the buttons of the propaganda machine behind the Wizard of Oz’ curtain of crowd control, so to speak? “THREESOME VOL.2 finds our threesome in fine form, with four new songs to get you through COVID times and beyond!”

Across The Globe is the new series of releases from Low Key Source which sees established producers team up with vocalists and MC’s from Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

Volume 1 showcases the beats of Detroit’s Apollo Brown known for his production through Mello Music Group which has seen him work with the likes of Oddisee, Guilty Simpson, Skyzoo, Ras Kass, OC, Sean Price, Boog Brown, Big Pooh and most recently Planet Asia on their new album “Anchoives”.

“Reminiscing” sees the UK’s Jehst team up with Children Of Zeus vocalist Tyler Daley and has them reflecting about back in the day and giving a special mention to the passing of UK Producer Mark B. It’s special boom-bap throwback sound with sweeping strings captures perfectly the message of what life was once like being free from responsibilities.

The English city of Nottingham is represented on the posse cut “Time’s Different” showcasing the lyrical skills of up and comers Juga-Naut and Vandal Savage alongside veteran Cappo. It’s hard hitting snare snaps into a crispy beat which instantly takes you into headnod mode.

Apollo Brown never fails to execute his signature robust Hip Hop production as heard on "World Revolves" where Dialectrix spits fire with a rhythmical flow that resembles the way a sparrow would slice across the air - in short bursts left and right, up and down with ease. Rounding out the EP is Brisbane’s Lazy Grey with “First Come First Served”. Another sharp serving of distinct Apollo Brown production paired with Grey's own verbal dexterity.

With the renowned illustrator and designer Dan Lish holding down the artwork for each volume in this series, “Across The Globe” is a limited edition release every good music lover needs in their collection.

Out on Friday 4 October, independent label Low Key Source is proud to be releasing Raiza Biza’s forthcoming album Bygones.

A hypnotic culmination of hundreds of hard drive demos, eclectic musical inspiration and collaboration, enter Bygones - a record striking the balance between the intricacies of electronic production and at times, melodic half-sung poetry, delivered with raw intensity.

The nine track record features cameo appearances from Sudanese-American rapper/producer extraordinaire Oddisee, Australia’s REMI and B Wise along with AmmoNation collaborators Blaze the Emperor, Embher, VULC, and more.

Speaking with a sense of urgency in his flowing baritone voice, Biza’s work has always carried a socially conscious heart, backed up by honest storytelling and captivating jazz/soul infused
production as the aura to his words. His new material follows a new sound arch, and with those changes comes a newly found freedom.

On Bygones, Biza found inspiration in the deeply written metaphors of the Marvin Gaye-era soul and the heart-hitting rhythms of 1970’s funk groups like Gapp Band. Binding his grounding in socially conscious thought and observational storytelling, he studies the human condition and the world around us - from his own experience.
Though this time, he admits, the record finds the balance between fun and seriousness. Rather than be ruled by the lyrics, the music plays an emotive part.

“I wanted to create space for emotional interpretation of the audience,” he reflects. “I’ve tried to find a balance between the things I’ve released in the past and the further left-sitting things on my hard drive.”

The newest generation of hip-hop has forced him to just do; and overthink less. “Being able to take that fun within the music and combine it with raw melody, you hopefully connect with people.”

He tells the angles of the human condition through high octane moments, the party life, through to the low, self-reflective moments found in tracks like ‘Stolen Youth’ and ‘Trouble’ where he teams up with Oddisee and Zenyth. Both tracks have gone onto become student radio network hits, sitting in the top 10 of the Radioscope Alternative Airplay chart in New Zealand for consecutive weeks.

A humble titan within the antipodean isles and Aotearoa’s underground scene, Biza has firmly planted roots, supporting the up-and-coming generation of local MCs and hip-hop producers. As the hearty driving force behind AmmoNation, Biza believes in the power of community and the sharing of knowledge. A voice from within the African-New Zealand diaspora, Biza has strived to bridge the gaps of understanding and preservation of his experience in New Zealand, while also supporting his fellow artists on the same mission.

“We, the African diaspora, we are no longer toddlers in the places we immigrated to. We have an identity and a growing presence.”

“A good piece of rocking jazz, miles away from an academic approach but with a good shot of euphoric guitar and down-to-earth energy instead.
Here the band “”Tini Thomsen MaxSax”” brings its own nuanced,
powerfully stylistic sophistication.
”Just moving up a gear,” says Tini Thomsen. One woman and one saxophone - a match made in heaven! In the hands of Katharina ”Tini” Thomsen, the baritone saxophone - a rather massive, heavy instrument, after all - attains a sonic beauty definitely worth listening to.
The spectrum ranges from robust, resounding rhythms to versatile melody parts and fast-paced, earthy solos and - occasionally! - on to excursions into the more tender and balladesque. Considering that the instrument is a rarity among male musicians, the combination, Thomsen & ”Bari” holds membership - both nationally and internationally - to a small and exclusive group of such ”duos”.
It is even more fortunate that, in Nigel Hitchcock on alto saxophone, she has found the perfect counterpart not only musically, but privately as well.”

‘Cuba: Music and Revolution’ is a new album compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) that explores the many new styles that emerged in Cuba in the 1970s as Jazz, Funk, Brazilian Tropicalia and even Disco mixed together with Latin and Salsa on the island as Cuban artists experimented with new musical forms created in the unique socialist state of Cuba.
The album comes as a deluxe double CD and heavyweight triple vinyl, complete with extensive sleeve notes, jam-packed with heavy basslines, synth and WahWah guitar funk combined with the heavyweight percussion, powerful brass lines and the all-encompassing Latin rhythms of Cuban music known throughout the world.
The album is released to coincide with the massive new deluxe large format book ‘Cuba: Music and Revolution: Original Cover Art of Cuban Music: Record Sleeve Designs of Revolutionary Cuba 1959-90’, which is also compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) and which features the music and record designs of Cuba, made in the 30-year period following the Cuban Revolution.
The music on this album features legendary Cuban groups such as Irakere, Los Van Van and Pablo Milanés, as well as a host of lesser known artists such as the radical Grupo De Experimentación, Juan Pablo Torres and Algo Nuevo, Grupo Monumental and Orquesta Ritmo Oriental, groups whose names remain largely unknown outside of Cuba owing to the now 60-year old US trade embargo which remains in place today and which prevents trade with Cuba - and thus most Cuban records were only ever available in Cuba or in ex-Soviet Union states.
The music on this album reflects the most cutting-edge of Cuban groups that were recording in Cuba in the 1970s and 1980s - who were all searching for a new Cuban identity and new musical forms that reflected both the Afro-Cuban cultural heritage of a nation that gave birth to Latin music - and its new position as a socialist state. Most of the music featured on this album has never been heard outside of Cuba.
Both Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker have been involved in Cuban music for more than two decades - Gilles Peterson with his many Havana Cultura projects for his Brownswood label and Stuart Baker with a number of Soul Jazz Records albums recorded in Cuba. This Soul Jazz Records album is released in conjunction with Egrem, the Cuban state record company, and has been put together after the many crate-digging trips that both compilers have made on the streets of Havana and beyond in Cuba stretching over a 20-year period, searching out rare and elusive original Cuban vinyl records.
Press - Reviews & features in Mojo, The Wire, The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, Pitchfork, Irish Times, The Observer, Clash, Vice, Metro, Record Collector, Uncut, Independent, Q.

Autumns Meets Post-Punkers Uptown. A couple of years after the Dyslexia Tracks EP, and following a volley of killer releases on labels such as iDEAL, Death & Leisure and Opal Tapes, Autumns returns to Touch Sensitive with perhaps his most complete set to date. Pitching down the BPM but maintaining the intensity of his recent recorded output and incendiary live shows, Dyslexia Sound System sees Christian Donaghey turn the edit on himself with a grip of eight dub-wave zingers. Pulling from his love of On-U Sound, The Pop Group, and Public Image Limited, Dyslexia Sound System perfectly fuses dubbed-out dynamics with the tough and unrelenting electronics that has become Autumns' signature sound. Guitars squall, clarinets skronk, vocals echo, roto-toms repeat and - as always with Autumns - rhythm is king. Dyslexia Sound System is the sickest handbrake turn in Autumns' relentless and wired journey to date. Ltd. 250 vinyl. Mastered by The Bastard. Cut by Kitaro at Schnittstelle. Artwork by Rinky. Forthcoming Press: Ransom Note Premiere The Thin Air Premiere The Quietus Review Previous Highlights Radio/Mix/DJ play: Trevor Jackson, Ruf Dug, Regis, Broken English Club Gig / Tour Highlights: Playing with Wire, Beak>, Silent Servant, Veronica Vasicka 2016 performance at Paris Fashion Week for Downwards Records w/ Samuel Kerridge Recent online performance as part of Ireland's Celtronic Festival w/ Gerd Janson, Move D, David Holmes, Space Dimension Controller Previous Releases: Downwards Records, iDeal, Opal Tapes, Death & Leisure (Broken English Club)

Following their debut compilation last year, Accidental Meetings are back with their first album by Vancouver-based artist, wzrdryAV aka Kelly Nairn.

The tape is a tale of two sides, one beats, one beatless. Using field recordings, audio collage, sound object manipulation, synths & samples, Nairn explores his extensive repertoire.

"`To take two of my worlds and put them in one place as an experiment in contrast"
Side A explores the groovier, rhythmic side of Nairn. While deliberate melodies are uncommon, repeating fragments of chords and foggy loops combine in a pulsating way. Touching on Detroit techno & Jamaican dub throughout, Nairn creates trance-inducing mini jams from start to finish. Side B leans more on Nairn's granular synthesis side. With fragments of field recordings scattered over drones & layered tones that manifest themselves in the most unexpected ways.

“I'm putting together and playing back sounds for the audience that I find evocative for my own escapism”

There’s something new under the sun. If you look at it closely,
something new is only (and always) created at crossroads –
when different and signi¦cant traditions are connected and
combined. On their own, these traditions have often existed
for a while. However, in this new form they have never
appeared together. The latest manifestation of something
new can now be found on the album “No Future Dubs”, the
interpretations of “No Future Days” – the most recent album
by German band Messer – by Finnish producer and old
friend of the group Kimmo Saastamoinen aka Toto Belmont.
The intentional traditions that merge on this grand and
digni¦ed album are post-punk, dub and techno. A new
chapter in the culturally constant narrative of dub is written
here. Through their past and parallel activities in hardcore
and post-punk bands, Messer drummer Philipp Wulf met and
befriended Kimmo, originally a drummer too. In their
continuous dialogue discussing their musical journey, Philipp
and Kimmo over the years more and more immersed
themselves in the aesthetic possibilities of dub and reggae.
Indeed, lots of musicians do not listen to the type of music at
home that they write and play in their respective projects
(Take me as an example: House is the music that I produce
and put on as a DJ. On my own, I listen to various stuff,
music by Monk and Messer for example). The same applies
to the protagonists involved here. By discussing dub und
through Toto Belmont’s steadily increasing producingexpertise, the idea of creating dub versions of selected
Messer tracks was born. The Messer album “No Future
Days”, released in 2020, proved to contain the perfect raw
material as the songs on this album are already produced in
a much more transparent way than on previous LPs – and
are hence more suitable for dub. Still, it’s a giant leap from
the originals to the dubs. These add a third dimension to the
described character of the post-punk/dub amalgam: techno.
The result is a sound that hasn’t existed before, especially
not with German lyrics (which scarcely, however, carry
meaning or messages here. Hendrik Otremba’s voice is used
more like an instrument, as if he was the ghostly ¦gure which
he often sings about and which now §oats and screams
through the sound space). The history of mutual contact and
in§uence of (post-)punk and dub (reggae), which Messer
have kept on writing, is glorious and reaches back far in
musical history. Still, it has always been a rather marginal
chapter not only in punk but also in dub history. But already
in the beginnings of punk (the British version, less the
American one), the presence and in§uence of reggae was
obvious in many places as both are united in their resolute
attitude as rebel music. This is how the two genres
recognized each other – especially the punks regarded
reggae as rebellious. As is known, already Johnny Rotten
mainly listened to dub in private. By using the name John
Lydon, he then – together with bass player Jah Wobble –
established the group PiL as one of the most exemplary
bands at the crossroads of dub and punk. The Slits, Pop
Group, Killing Joke, The Ruts and last but not least The Clash
along with the Mick Jones offshoot Big Audio Dynamite –
the thriving British music scene in the early 80s was full of
dub-in§uenced acts. The echoes meandered everywhere. In
the USA, it took longer until the in§uence of dub became
noticeable and it has never been as distinctive as in the UK.
The history of US hardcore, however, cannot be told without
bands like Bad Brains from Washington D.C. who on their
albums occasionally inserted conscious reggae and dub
tracks between breakneck hardcore tracks. Another
important group is Blind Idiot God who similarly included
dub tracks on their LPs – the contrast between densely
droning rock tunes and widely breathing dub versions can be
experienced very vividly here. In the 90s, dub’s in§uence on
post-punk decreased while turning up even more distinctively
somewhere else: Techno was in many respects susceptible
to dub, to say nothing of the music from the so-called British
hardcore continuum (jungle, drum & bass etc.), which directlydeveloped from dub and reggae. But also “pure” techno –
meaning techno without breakbeats – discovered its a¨nity
for the possibilities of dub at an early stage, in England for
instance in projects like Left¦eld or The Orb. In addition, the
project Rhythm & Sound was established in Berlin with close
ties to the Hardwax record store. With regard to this project,
you can’t really say where dub ends and where techno begins
(or vice versa) because of the interconnection of the two
genres here – everything is based on the steppers pulse
which links the two styles like a common DNA. With dub
techno a new genre was created. Until the present day, there
are producers who don’t produce anything else and DJs who
don’t put on any other music. The Messer dubs are
characterized by a grand majestic manner and force that
presumably someone like Mad Professor is able to produce
and that is also inherent in many Scandinavian productions
of the last 15 years; a crystal-clear aesthetic which locates
itself far away from Kingston or Brixton, but features a pulse
referring clearly to Berlin and Helsinki. The songs appear in a
completely new and deconstructed form, the instruments are
exclusively used as particles and raw material, not as riffs;
merely glaring guitar textures ¦ll the wide dub space. There
are many new elements that were added by Toto Belmont,
especially synthesizer sounds and drums. The ¦nal result
creates an enormous aesthetic power and dignity, and an
atmosphere you don’t want to leave anymore. “No Future” is
a well-chosen title as a reference to the protagonists’ punk
association; as a main thrust of the album, however, a
comma between these two words is imaginable as well.

12" Vinyl with Download Code. Expanding their rich sound palette Forbidden Dance moves on to the next plateau with their third release. After releasing two legends Alton Miller and Vick Lavender, new EP is signed by a young and sound broad producer from Naples - The Mechanical Man. Drawing influences from the sound of Chicago, Philadelphia and Motor City he achieved to catch the multi essence of the house sound into a four-track journey marked with slow and fast-paced soulful corners dominated by toned vocals and stripped-down beats all the way to the underexposed lounge sections and playful intermissions.
Drum programming is a strong point for The Mechanical Man and it can be clearly heard in "A1 - The Streets Of Revelation". Infused with most probably vintage Linn Drum hits, the track intertwines numerous elements in a hoppy and gentle swirl riding on double vocals. Everything takes a full sonic conclusion in the third quarter when the main synth starts to breathe fully.
Residing on almost the same rhythm hits, "A2 - I Keep Thinking" is more of a deep dive into love dreams. Emotional and subtle pads and chords progression are really felt here as the track rubs under soft vocals in need of a response.
The light essence is captured on "B1 - What Your Eyes Don't See". While the delayed vocals are cutting the motion and the rhythm is rougher, it still manages to keep the terrace vibe movement. Rhode-like section carries the track all the way with occasionally reduced percussion hits spicing up the background.
On the other note, "B2 - Take Her In Your Arms" is a gentle dance of maracas and rhodes. The acoustic bass is quite seductive and inviting whilst flutes and other elements riddle the track with a toned-down lounge feel and sway into hypnotic slow-motion.
Diverse, rich and enchanting tunes by The Mechanical Man!

Fortunately for us, Dmytro Nikolaienko agreed to open up the jewellery boxes of his tape-loop archive for his debut album on Faitiche. What came to light was a collection of dreamy glittering gems, masterfully presented using the compositional possibilities of analogue tape machines. Some may consider a tape machine to be limited as a musical instrument, but Rings makes a convincing case with its sure-handed use of the available parameters – moving tape over the tape head mechanically and manually, cutting loops, manipulating timbre and creating noise by means of saturation. The results are eleven blurred, repetitive, rhythmic patterns that can be understood as an intervention against digital precision, as mechanical irregularities and background noise become musical events.

For those familiar with Nikolaienko’s work, his nostalgic approach here will come as no surprise: born in Ukraine and now based in Estonia, he has chosen a historical medium (that has been enjoying a renaissance for some years now) to record historical-sounding sequences. The way he manages his own back catalogue is similarly archival, documenting the chronology of his tape loops in such a way as to leave no doubt as to their advanced age. And then there are his two wonderful labels Muscut and Shukai, the latter being an archival project releasing electroacoustic obscurities from the Soviet past. Which brings us back full circle …

With 'BREAKOUT', Echoes of Zoo push their adrenaline fueled jazz sounds to thrilling new levels. Rarely did one single word capture an entire musical atmosphere this accurately: the gates of the cages fell open and won't ever be shut again. 'BREAKOUT' celebrates breaking loose and is constantly

seeking for unexpected and exciting encounters - both culturally and musically. Infused with an eclectic range of western, oriental and African influences, Echoes of Zoo let their psychedelic and energetic jazz roam the streets in all freedom - much like an animal that has just stepped out of his cage and looks you straight in the eye. Meeting is direct, barriers are gone, the adrenaline and energy are rushing high. The band takes a deep dive into the musical melting pots which the world's biggest cities are today:

Balkan ornaments meet Brazilian rhythms

Gipsy scales meet fuzz guitars

Beninese grooves meet Turkish makam

Bass guitars meet Sufi rhythms

Rage riffs meet Kurdish trance

Indian raga meets western guitars

Romanian drums meet swing riffs

Tallava meets drum 'n bass

...

Echoes of Zoo are profoundly inspired by the endless variety of animals and musical genres. Join them on their trip through the city in all diversity, victory and freedom. BREAKOUT.

Echoes of Zoo is a band with a unique sound, under the high tension of Middle Eastern rock music with the striking complexity of West African percussion and a few Dub flavors, all in the service of psychedelic jazz played with a punk attitude. For this project, Nathan Daems (sax) is accompanied by Bart Vervaeck (electric guitar), Lieven Van Pee (electric bass) & Falk Schrauwen (drums), musicians you probably know from other projects they are part of such as Black Flower, De Beren Gieren, Sylvie Kreusch or Compro Oro.

After releasing a first self-produced EP - 'First Provocations' - in January 2019, the group was well received by both the audience and professionals in the sector. Supported and followed by some pioneering organisations and festivals, Echoes of Zoo has already been invited to Brussels Jazz Festival, BRDCST Festival (AB), Brosella Festival (carte blanche guesting Pantelis Stoikos), Leuven Jazz Festival, Amok Festival (KAAP), Recyclart, ...

Real Real World is the first collaborative effort from Nantes-based Australian drummer/percussionist Will Guthrie and Australian keyboardist/composer James Rushford. Primarily recorded in a fluid, spontaneous studio session in Nantes, with overdubs added later in Melbourne and Nantes, Real Real World presents five spacious, unhurried pieces that inhabit a unique sound world characterised by wheezing, half-voiced organ chords, chiming metal percussion, and eruptions of small sounds. Beginning with the eerily beautiful, shakuhachi-esque sound of Rushford performing on detuned portative organ, the opening title track is abruptly transformed by the entry of Guthrie’s sizzling cymbals, deep gong strikes, and rustling hand percussion. On the epic ‘Lumbering’, which occupies the majority of the record’s first side, organ chords define a space in which a kaleidoscopic succession of amplified thuds, chiming bells, rustled and dragged objects, and abruptly silenced clusters advance and recede in an oneiric blur, eventually making way for a passage of Guthrie’s virtuosic polyrhythms, itself unexpectedly overtaken by waves of melting fairground organ. The record reaches an energetic climax mid-way through the second side with the stunning ‘Slakes’, where lugubrious chords in the organ’s lowest register are joined by Guthrie’s skittering rhythms, which somehow manage to call to mind both the most chaotic moments of Balinese Gamelan and the stochastic breakbeats of late-90s Autechre. On this piece, Guthrie and Rushford are joined by Melbourne saxophone maverick Scott McConnachie, who contributes an alto sax solo of burning precision, working with a single-minded palette of piercing long tones and wild intervallic leaps. Though it makes extensive use of overdubbing, Real Real World retains a strong sense of having been performed, rather than constructed: while at times the fleeting succession of events can recall electroacoustic music, its primarily acoustic nature and unhurried pace is also reminiscent of the music of AACM affiliates or Marion Brown’s classic Afternoon of a Georgia Faun. Immediately engaging while also hiding countless details in the folds of its polychrome fabric, Real Real World is a relaxed and joyous document of collaborative musical invention.

Artwork by Patrizia Bach. Layout by Lasse Marhaug. Mixed and mastered by Joe Talia at Good Mixture, Berlin.

The three players in Chicago’s Moontype orbited each other for years before they came in phase. Bodies of Water, their debut album for local label Born Yesterday, documents travel, insecurity, friendship, and the titular element—all of which are representative of the band members’ strong connection to place and to one another. “Being rooted in the landscape became important to me while studying geology, which completely changed how I think about the world,” offers songwriter, vocalist and bassist Margaret McCarthy of the album’s central themes. The arrangements themselves feel like open-hearted negotiations; sparse fingerpicking gives way to saturated tube-screaming as naturally as the changing of tides. Over twelve tracks, Moontype revels in the woozy concoction of its many influences, but always lands on punchy hooks, shifting between arrangements both spacious and mystifying without abandoning their conversational warmth.

Conservatory students at Oberlin College’s prestigious music program, each member focused on exploring different sounds. Guitarist Ben Cruz, who came up on classic rock shredding and migrated into jazz performance, admired the indie pop of Fountains of Wayne, the groundbreaking composition work of pianist Vijay Iyer, and the genre-morphing folk of heavy hitters like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. He played in several projects alongside Emerson Hunton, who’d drummed from age six and entrenched himself in the Twin Cities improvised music scene before even heading to college. Margaret—who grew up outside of Boston playing piano, singing in choirs and writing on guitar—spent her time creating knotty, riot grrrl-and-hyperpop inspired songs for bass and voice, as well as noise soundtracks for art installations. Inspired by artists like Adrianne Lenker and Gillian Welch, she recorded the EP bass tunes at home in an apartment over the town’s optician, releasing it upon graduation. A week later she migrated even farther west to Chicago, where Ben and Emerson had already enmeshed themselves in several projects, from avant garde ensembles to a country group.

Ben was instantly impressed by Margaret’s songs, at once “challenging and unlike anything I had played before.” The duo decided to try performing together, but knew this special music would be even better fortified with drums. Emerson was the obvious choice—as Ben puts it, “He’s our great friend and also the best drummer we know. Who else do you call?” Moontype-as-trio gigged around town, eventually embarking on a first fall tour in Emerson’s Prius. On that trip, they felt the music morph into something living, and the care and trust between them intensified. They decided to put together songs for a record, recorded at the end of 2019 with Jamdek Recording Studio’s Doug Malone, a dependable collaborator whose patient process perfectly captured the magic of their newfound familiarity. While Margaret’s skeletal demos still informed the bulk of Moontype’s full-band debut (some of which are re-recordings of bass tunes cuts), the resulting arrangements are songs reborn and strengthened by the three musicians’ absorption of one another’s ideas.

On Bodies of Water, Margaret’s soothing, unadorned alto is often peppered by the gliding, eerie harmonies of her bandmates. “We love the act of singing together,” explains Ben, who describes it as “connecting and grounding and wholesome.” The push-pull search for common ground characterizes the instrumentals as well. Round basslines occupy higher octaves, trading space with guitars chugging in lower registers, and all the while drums break apart and glue back together in idiosyncratic grooves that never lose the pocket. Of the complicated rhythms that sometimes result: “Any mathy moments are based on how the lyrics fall naturally, which feels like it frees us up from having to stay in one time signature,” says Emerson. “Rhythmic elements never feel like they’re being added in, more like they’re already there and we just float on through.”

Touring’s restlessness informed these songs, but so did the DIY scene that welcomed Moontype to Chicago—including, according to Margaret, the “wild harmonies” of Ohmme, the “deadpan explanatory rock” of Ratboys, and the “luxe math rock pattern music” of The Knees. Working at beloved venue Sleeping Village inspired Margaret’s observational vignettes; “We are sitting at the desk and you are mixing all the bands,” she reports in the middle of the dextrous folk hammer-ons of “3 Weeks,” gently admitting, “I am trying to have fun and I am trying to get paid” in a world of bikes, trucks, and velvet. “About You,” a robust power-popper written about a post-gig romp around Richmond with artist Bebé Machete, opens with a Phair-ian quip: “Looking at you with my fuck me eyes / Do you wanna get inside of mine?” Meanwhile, the spectre of lost camaraderie looms over “Ferry,” an atmospheric and anthemic standout that questions, “If I’m not your best friend / then who am I to anyone?” Alongside water, this preoccupation with friendship is a focal concern lyrically, but the palpable love between Moontype’s players is essential in communicating that desire for connection, and all three members are dedicated to exploring sound and meaning organically and together. Care and generosity are at the core of Moontype, and Bodies of Water is a clever album full of insightful music, as cosily enveloping as it is incisively honest.

Reuben Sawyer is nothing if not prolific. He's also a man of many talents - his various projects have included the coldwave sounds of The Column, Hollow Sunshine's blown-out psych-noise, Anytime Cowboy's take on countrified weirdo-pop, and even ambient house courtesy of Rose. Oh, and he's a visual artist too, of course. Pfft, who needs an attention span anyway? One thing he's also dabbled in, however, is post-punk. Human Trophy is firmly in line with that tradition, but pulling from multiple directions at once - one minute this album rattles along like Big Black with the tempo down and the textures dialled up, the next we're firmly in Christian Death territory. The twisting guitar lines and pummelling bass of 'Forming Horrors' even call to mind his blackened punk project Dry Insides, but with less velocity and a helluva lot more menace. Is 'Corpse Dream' a goth record? Possibly. Whether goth is a lifestyle choice for Sawyer or not, he's certainly adept at immersing himself in sounds and making them feel like a comfortable fit. As with all his projects, it feels like another effortless facet of Reuben Sawyer - and in keeping with the rest of his output, it's absolutely packed with songs you'll wanna play again and again. Penultimate track 'The Roads' is built on a none-more gloomy pile-up of darkly portentous rhythms and a firm sense of disquiet, but once you're locked into its circular riffage you'll feel an urge to keep the loop going endlessly. Then there's the closer 'Blood Apex', a dual-vocal nightmare set to music which draws you back in even as it attempts to push you away. Yeah, it's pretty great.

Live is a double live album released by Dutch rock band Golden Earring in 1977. With its long, spun out versions of classic Golden Earring songs (lasting between 5 and 12 minutes each), this record is vastly different than other live registrations by the band. It’s also one of only three albums where guitarist Eelco Gelling was a band member, adding a new dimension to the band’s sound with his incredible solos. Furthermore, this album emphasises Golden Earring’s strong rhythm section on swinging songs like “Mad Love’s Comin’” and “Radar Love”.

The album is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on white vinyl.

Despite the fact that we are all still hanging in there, 2021 kicks in heavy in style for CHILDHOOD with a killer 4-tracker 12" release by DON WILLIAMS. Thomas and I met a while ago on a dancefloor, however our friendship sealed for good when we met online playing endless Splatoon sessions on Nintendo Switch. Our common interest in a broad range of things and music in particular led to a deep exchange of ideas when it comes to the love for the vinyl product. Having started the label last year with DJ DEEPs VAINCRE EP, I can surely state that Thomas was kind of a mentor and of countless help when it comes to setting things up. I therefore couldn't be happier and more thankful to welcome him to the CHILDHOOD family with BLITHE SPIRIT, a true masterclass EP ranging from experimental and complex rhythms, over driving dancefloor madness to soulful early morning ecstasy cuts. The first 100 copies come in marbled red vinyl. Be sure to grab a copy and while listening to it at home, having in mind that these grooves will tear dancefloors apart in a not so distant future. WE SHALL DANCE TOGETHER! - David Muallem