quête:hyperactive

Following a run with Cherry Red Records that featured a potential major label jump, guitarist Maurice Deebank quitting and rejoining multiple times, several pop stardom carrots just out of reach, mixing battles with Robin Guthrie, and a shocking entry into the record charts, Lawrence (just “Lawrence”, like “Cher” or “Madonna” thank you very much) knew he would be making a change with his band Felt. He would be seeing out his plan of ten albums and ten singles in ten years alongside a new partner in Creation Records. This compilation beautifully captures those years.

Creation was beginning a rapid ascent at the time, with Alan McGee serving as its hyperactive mouthpiece and focal point. McGee was all in on the band. “Lawrence achieved pop perfection, a breathless rush of sensitivity and intelligence. It was too understated to be commercial, too art to go pop, too pop to go art—in other words it was a perfect combination of all the music I loved at the time.” McGee was thrilled to have what he considered a real star on the label, and Lawrence was equally thrilled to have such an enthusiastic cheerleader. He funneled that enthusiasm into some of the most focused songwriting of his career, as well as some of his wildest experiments, all of which are on display here.

Pure Adult are a Brooklyn-based experimental rock duo formed
by Jeremy Snyder and Bianca Abarca. At the centre of their
music is the far-left political ethos and DIY attitude the pair
share.
Having grown up in the unusually sheltered environment of a
church-turned-cult, Snyder has always found himself drawn to
the harsh, dissonant music that was off-limits during his
formative years. In 2017, he and contemporary dancer and
visual artist Bianca Abarca formed Pure Adult, who released
their debut EP, ‘Pure Adult I’, in 2019. Now they are set to
release their debut album, ‘II’, on FatCat Records.
After leaving the church in 2007, Jeremy began studying
religion, philosophy and politics whilst working as a sound
engineer. “I ended up touring with some small pop rock bands,
while my studies brought me through an array of beliefs and a
far-left political worldview. While I’ve identified as a communist
for almost 20 years now, I didn’t fully give up on religious belief
until around 2010. A fundamental element to our belief system
was this sort of unverifiable feeling that must be something and,
because I’ve experienced that feeling, virtually nothing can
make me deny it. And it’s comforting, in a world of quantifiable
uncertainty, a guise of certainty,” he says.
In more recent years, Jeremy has become the engineer of
choice to internationally acclaimed acts such as Mdou Moctar
and IDLES, both of whom are big fans of Pure Adult. IDLES
lead singer Joe Talbot says of the band’s forthcoming album:
“Pungent chaos that serves no pomp, instead it throws around
dark innuendo like a rag doll to the cadence of fury and fucking.
The best album I’ve heard in ages. The best band you haven’t
seen. Go dig, it’s beautiful at its worst.”
As well as the release of their debut album at the start of 2023,
Pure Adult are also preparing to release a collaborative EP with
Gustaf, Thank and Heavy Lungs in the Spring. They will support
Gilla Band on tour in the US early next year.
“Blown-out, hyperactive, aggressive, and danceable rock
informed by punk and post-punk.” - Brooklyn Vegan
“A furious piece of work” - Steve Lamacq, 6 Music

Pink Vinyl
Canadian producer Dylan Khotin-Foote has kept his Khotin alias going for the better part of a decade; the impressionistic electronic project shifts with the movements in his life. Sometimes it leads, like when the club-friendly grooves of 2014's Hello World immersed him in the heart of Vancouver's underground dance scene, and sometimes it follows, like 2018's Beautiful You, a downtempo salve for DJ fatigue His melodic sensibility and playful ear for atmosphere remain the rippling core of the project's fingerprint; whether beat-driven or ambient, a foggy smear or a dusted and pristine print, a Khotin track has a distinct and instantly recognizable swirl. During and after the 2020 release of Finds You Well, his second LP on Ghostly International, Khotin-Foote settled back into a slower vibe in his hometown of Ed- monton. Even before the pandemic, his pivots to softer production, and away from DJing, left him with fewer opportunities in Vancouver and club bookings overall, and as a self-identifying introvert, he was fine with that. But the change of pace did open space for Khotin-Foote to grapple with concepts of adulthood and career. At his lowest, he almost walked off this musical path altogether; instead, he doubled down on the craft _ the tone, pacing, and dynamism of new material _ arriving at a definitive full-length. With Release Spirit, Khotin releases himself from the pressure of expectation, fusing and refining everything we know about his music. The warmth and familiarity of Khotin's dreamy, dulcet style meet new ideas and frameworks, a natural progression, a modest revelation; Khotin confirms it is okay to move slowly and he's never sounded better doing it. The album title borrows from the "release spirit" mechanic in the video game World of Warcraft. When players die, they are prompted to release their spirit and return as ghosts to find their corpses and come back to life. Khotin sees it as a worthy metaphor for the impending change his return home presented and the resulting process of purging artistic expectations to find his creative self again. On this go- around, he is freer, more playful, and more intentional within his palette of warped synth, breakbeats, and piano sounds _ including the classic Casio SK-1 presets he's used since the start _ mingling with wistful samples, field recordings, and other abstract snippets. For the first time, he enlisted Nik Kozub to do the mix and assist with sequencing. Khotin-Foote has long worked with the Edmonton-based musician and engineer in the mastering phase, as well as their days co-running the label Normals Welcome, and this time was able to involve his ears earlier given their newfound proximity. "I think it's my best sounding record to date." We begin on "HV Road" or Happy Valley Road, where Khotin-Foote spent time during a family vacation in British Columbia's Okanagan Lake. His plans to record crickets at night are quickly foiled by his younger siblings; the cute exchange orients the listener to a core memory of sorts, setting the tone of universally understood warmth and wonder that has defined some of Khotin's most transportive tracks. Hazy percussion takes hold, and we are swept further into the wisp of "Lovely," a grooving, melodic standout built on the interplay between the beat and human voice-like hums. Khotin knows this zone well; equally suited for a reverie or a club warm-up. The bubbling atmosphere and absurdity of "3 pz" offer a cosmic/comic interlude and also speak to reflections on his family's move to Canada two generations ago, and the audio tutorials they used to learn English. "I can only imagine my grandpar- ents repeating some of the bizarre phrases." "Fountain, Growth" finds Khotin in collaboration with Montreal's Tess Roby (Dawn to Dawn) for the project's first-ever vocal track. Roby's soft cadence echoes atop spiraling air pockets of rhythmic production, lending a breezy, almost shoegaze pop feel. Throughout the single and the album, wind gusts between the compositional layers, akin to the roaming spirits of its namesake, curving around the birdsong of "Life Mask" and seamlessly reaching "Unlimited <3." The latter bumps in slow motion; disembodied whirrs from his Casio collide with 808 drums and sub-bass for a vibe that teeters on trap and instrumental hip-hop. Release Spirit rests in a dream sequence. Oscillating synth lines dance around the heartbeat of "Techno Creep," a hyperactive REM state before the digitized ambient sprawl of "My Same Size." In the final pass, Khotin imagines transcontinental travel from the glow of his screen. He recorded "Sound Gathering Trip" to soundtrack a genre of YouTube videos he's taken to that follows train routes through Europe and Japan. The scene is serene and moving; piano keys warble as static-filled sound design shimmers off the rails, from cityscapes to the countryside, an introspective ride through a world beyond his bedroom. It doubles as an apt parting image for Khotin's project as a whole: dreaming big but happiest when riffing on the details, shaping environments from the inside out. Over the last decade, he has stretched from his core in Edmonton, leaving a trace in Vancouver and beyond; but when all signs point home, he loops back to see it all from a different vantage, revitalized, refined, and free.

Canadian producer Dylan Khotin-Foote has kept his Khotin alias going for the better part of a decade; the impressionistic electronic project shifts with the movements in his life. Sometimes it leads, like when the club-friendly grooves of 2014's Hello World immersed him in the heart of Vancouver's underground dance scene, and sometimes it follows, like 2018's Beautiful You, a downtempo salve for DJ fatigue. His melodic sensibility and playful ear for atmosphere remain the rippling core of the project's fingerprint; whether beat-driven or ambient, a foggy smear or a dusted and pristine print, a Khotin track has a distinct and instantly recognizable swirl. During and after the 2020 release of Finds You Well, his second LP on Ghostly International, Khotin-Foote settled back into a slower vibe in his hometown of Ed- monton. Even before the pandemic, his pivots to softer production, and away from DJing, left him with fewer opportunities in Vancouver and club bookings overall, and as a self-identifying introvert, he was fine with that. But the change of pace did open space for Khotin-Foote to grapple with concepts of adulthood and career. At his lowest, he almost walked off this musical path altogether; instead, he doubled down on the craft _ the tone, pacing, and dynamism of new material _ arriving at a definitive full-length. With Release Spirit, Khotin releases himself from the pressure of expectation, fusing and refining everything we know about his music. The warmth and familiarity of Khotin's dreamy, dulcet style meet new ideas and frameworks, a natural progression, a modest revelation; Khotin confirms it is okay to move slowly and he's never sounded better doing it. The album title borrows from the "release spirit" mechanic in the video game World of Warcraft. When players die, they are prompted to release their spirit and return as ghosts to find their corpses and come back to life. Khotin sees it as a worthy metaphor for the impending change his return home presented and the resulting process of purging artistic expectations to find his creative self again. On this go- around, he is freer, more playful, and more intentional within his palette of warped synth, breakbeats, and piano sounds _ including the classic Casio SK-1 presets he's used since the start _ mingling with wistful samples, field recordings, and other abstract snippets. For the first time, he enlisted Nik Kozub to do the mix and assist with sequencing. Khotin-Foote has long worked with the Edmonton-based musician and engineer in the mastering phase, as well as their days co-running the label Normals Welcome, and this time was able to involve his ears earlier given their newfound proximity. "I think it's my best sounding record to date." We begin on "HV Road" or Happy Valley Road, where Khotin-Foote spent time during a family vacation in British Columbia's Okanagan Lake. His plans to record crickets at night are quickly foiled by his younger siblings; the cute exchange orients the listener to a core memory of sorts, setting the tone of universally understood warmth and wonder that has defined some of Khotin's most transportive tracks. Hazy percussion takes hold, and we are swept further into the wisp of "Lovely," a grooving, melodic standout built on the interplay between the beat and human voice-like hums. Khotin knows this zone well; equally suited for a reverie or a club warm-up. The bubbling atmosphere and absurdity of "3 pz" offer a cosmic/comic interlude and also speak to reflections on his family's move to Canada two generations ago, and the audio tutorials they used to learn English. "I can only imagine my grandpar- ents repeating some of the bizarre phrases." "Fountain, Growth" finds Khotin in collaboration with Montreal's Tess Roby (Dawn to Dawn) for the project's first-ever vocal track. Roby's soft cadence echoes atop spiraling air pockets of rhythmic production, lending a breezy, almost shoegaze pop feel. Throughout the single and the album, wind gusts between the compositional layers, akin to the roaming spirits of its namesake, curving around the birdsong of "Life Mask" and seamlessly reaching "Unlimited <3." The latter bumps in slow motion; disembodied whirrs from his Casio collide with 808 drums and sub-bass for a vibe that teeters on trap and instrumental hip-hop. Release Spirit rests in a dream sequence. Oscillating synth lines dance around the heartbeat of "Techno Creep," a hyperactive REM state before the digitized ambient sprawl of "My Same Size." In the final pass, Khotin imagines transcontinental travel from the glow of his screen. He recorded "Sound Gathering Trip" to soundtrack a genre of YouTube videos he's taken to that follows train routes through Europe and Japan. The scene is serene and moving; piano keys warble as static-filled sound design shimmers off the rails, from cityscapes to the countryside, an introspective ride through a world beyond his bedroom. It doubles as an apt parting image for Khotin's project as a whole: dreaming big but happiest when riffing on the details, shaping environments from the inside out. Over the last decade, he has stretched from his core in Edmonton, leaving a trace in Vancouver and beyond; but when all signs point home, he loops back to see it all from a different vantage, revitalized, refined, and free.

Finnish producer Aki Latvamäki also known as Artificial Latvamäki is not a newcomer to Goldmin as he already appeared on two compilations of the label. Notably with the sensational and distinctive track called "Symphony of a Metropolis" which was one of the true highlights of the Goldmin 5 Years Compilation. Yet we were desperately hoping for a proper album of him one day, checking the very few demos he was sending to us with a lot of curiosity and interest. Suunta is the result of years of creativity and of Aki's very own mastery at seeking cultivate the uncommon, and the rare sounds, might it be through an hyperactive electro-track or an organic deep techno ballad like "Baumwolle" is, he is always transposing difficulties and trumping the constraints, making techno not only a functional music for clubs but a full member medium of expression, capable of sarcasm, irony and rebellion and so all throughout a fragile and precarious melody. Has Aki escaped from this scene? That's all for the best, as he as also escaped from all these easy, prefabricated structures and schemas and is still doing his own thing as he always did.

Another bomb in the rebound! SOUNDS. presents "Modal - Lovers Remixes".

This high demanded remix double pack was originally released in 1996. The re-mastered version will be soon available again.
Highly recommended!

Less than a hundred miles inland from the capital city of Lima lies the great Peruvian jungle, an untamed land of impenetrable forests and endless winding rivers. In its isolated cities, cut off from the fashions of the capital, a unique style of music began to develop, inspired equally by the sounds of the surrounding forests, the roll of the mighty Amazon and Ucayali Rivers, and the rhythms of cumbia picked up from distant stations on transistor radios. With the arrival of electricity, a new generation of young musicians started plugging in their guitars and trading in their accordions for synthesizers: Amazonian cumbia was born.

Powered by fast-paced timbale rhythms, driven by spidery, treble-damaged guitar lines, and drenched in bright splashes of organ, Amazonian cumbia was like a hyperactive distant cousin of surf music crossed with an all-night dance party in the heart of the forest. While many of the genre’s greatest tracks were instrumental, and others were simple celebrations of life in the jungle, the goal of every song was to keep the party going.

Radio stations in Lima remained unaware of the new electric sounds emanating from the jungle, but a handful of pioneering
record producers ventured over the mountain passes to the cities of Tarapoto, Moyobamba, Pucallpa – even Iquitos, a city
reachable only by boat or plane – and lured dozens of bands to the recording studios of the capital to lay down their best
tracks. Although many became local hits, few were ever heard outside the Amazonian region … until now.
With eighteen tracks from some of the greatest names in Amazonian cumbia, Perú Selvatico is both the improbable soundtrack
to a beach party on a banks of the Amazon and a psychedelic safari into the sylvan mysteries of the Peruvian jungle.

(GF Col. LP + DL
Formed in 1980 by guitar prodigy Leonardo Vela Rodriguez, Sonido Verde de Moyobamba created some of the hardest, craziest Cumbia to emerge from the Peruvian jungle. With distorted, surf-addled guitar facing off against lysergic organ and hyperactive tropical rhythms, Sonido Verde conjured the organic sound of the dense forests surrounding their hometown while riding their dance-party grooves to dizzying psychedelic peaks.

Compiled by Analog Africa, Sonido Verde de Moyobamba presents eight ultra-rare tracks of guitar and organ madness drawn from the band’s five albums recorded for Discos Universal between 1981 and 1987. Pressed on Sun Yellow colored vinyl, housed in a screen-printed jacket and strictly limited to 2000 copies, Sonido Verde is a definitive trip into the heart of the jungle.

Limited Edition 180g LP - Comes with a Silk-Screen printed cover and a Sun Yellow colored vinyl
Download for LP from Bandcamp also includes unlimited streaming of *Sonido Verde de Moyobamba* via the free Bandcamp app along with high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more Analog

Egyptian artist Hassan Abou Alam debuts on Nehza Records. On Ice, the producer and DJ delivers a 4-track collection of unusual textures that glide through multiple soundscapes, including techno, breaks, bass and unclassifiable noise.

The opener "Shmoolaire" starts with a skittery drum pattern before descending into a squelchy bassline while squeaky vocal clips snake through the track. It's weird, wonky and the perfect dancefloor curveball. Dominated by massive drums, the title track blends a sultry vocal with bleepy percussion, conjuring a sticky atmosphere. Things get spooky on "Hollow In C#" as Hassan pairs a voice saturated in reverb with chugging drums and eerie pads. Freaky but fierce. The closing track "Lost In A Jar Of Thyme" ends on a distinct note. A warbling bassline slithers throughout the track as siren-like sound FX and hyperactive drums evoke tension. A true artist aligned with the vibe of Nehza Records.

Hassan Abou Alam has spent the last decade exploring several sound palettes and genres, from breaks to techno to bass. Today, his curiosity is unwavering. Hassan produces music with a hybrid setup of analog and digital instruments, conveying organised but compelling chaos that's won him legions of fans worldwide.

An’archives announce the release of Ricshari, the first LP from Japanese free improvising duo MAI MAO. Consisting of Shizuo Uchida of Hasegawa-Shizuo, Albedo Gravitas, Archeus, Kito Muzukumi Rouber, TERROR SHIT, UH, etc. on bass, and Kyosuke Terada, of HUH (who have their own release due on An’archives soon), TERROR SHIT, Bay City Rolaz, Praymate, The Obey Unit, etc. on guitar, they’ve previously released two wild cassettes, Curvature Improvement Plan (Haang Niap, 2020) and Folk Dope Rally (2021), both documenting one-take improvisations from live gigs. Ricshari was recorded by Nobuki Nishiyama in January 2021, and is proof, if any was needed, that this duo is one of the most fiercely unique, out -there units currently extant – in Japan, or anywhere, for that matter.

The music of MAI MAO seems to proceed by opposites and juxtaposition, shifting from frantic, hectic runs of splattering note spray to moments of granular stasis, where Uchida and Terada coax their instruments into and out of deep wells of silence, or rest, temporarily, in a lagoon of fermenting fuzz. Spiralling kinetics are largely the order of the day, though – the opener, “Chew a flying flash prayer”, skitters here and there, guitar and bass jumping over one another in games of leapfrog and Twis ter, finding new ways to perplex and puzzle the listener, and perhaps each other in the process, Uchida and Terada fully committed to the short -circuiting spirit of the moment.

The energy here is hyperactive, but it also speaks of a curious and committed attention to improvisatory responsiveness, one that’s just as likely to fork off into different directions in a split second – it’s real edge-of-the-seat stuff, as though the hands are moving too fast for the mind to follow. That’s all the better, then, to let the gush of genuinely free-thinking, devoted duo improvisation to fly at its most playful and intelligent. File next to the likes of Davey Williams & LaDonna Smith and their TransMuseq companions, or th e wickedly perplexing bass-synth/trombone duets of Dave Dove Paul Duo, and you’ve some idea of what’s going on here, provisionally at least, ‘cos this one’s an enthralling, yet welcoming, head-scratcher of the highest calibre.

NOAHFINNCE’s ‘STUFF FROM MY BRAIN / MY BRAIN AFTER THERAPY’ is a collection of songs written before and after therapy.

The debut double EP collection features guest vocals from Chris Freeman of Hot Mulligan and builds the world of NOAHFINNCE’s unique, hyperactive brain.

The project tackles issues like depression, anxiety, ADHD, past trauma and the path toward prioritizing mental health.

Deeply personal, but always expressed with a cheeky, quirky, not-so-serious sense of humour, NOAHFINNCE showcases the big personality that has amassed a huge YouTube following and led
him toward being a leading voice in Trans/LGBTQ+ youth issues.

With songs like ‘AFTER THERAPY’ and ‘LIFE'S A
BIT’, NOAHFINNCE is poised to break out as this
year’s new star of the new wave of pop punk.

For fans of YUNGBLUD, Waterparks, Set It Off.

LP pressed on cloudy blue vinyl.

Triple album, Gatefold sleeve, LTD edition. WaveBNDR is the AKA name for Collision from Cult Collective / OBS:C UR, an artist organising parties , booking, Labels, and making music... Hyperactive man, secret raver of a kind... With this first full vinyl album designed by Artcoton through the time too, he offers 12 tunes in a Raving style 150/160 BPM, progressives and acid-dark, melodious or sobre... A music for hangars, dirty clubs and Bunkers.... and open air when the sun rises !

After turning heads with the densely orchestrated Riddles, produced by Dan Deacon, the Baltimore-based duo Ed Schrader’s Music Beat have given us another giant leap forward with their fourth record Nightclub Daydreaming. The whiplash-inducing stylistic shifts between aggressive noise rock and operatic gloom pop that have become the band’s trademark have given way to a single aesthetic that fuses both impulses. On Nightclub Daydreaming, menace teems just below the surface as propulsive, stark arrangements leave space that Schrader fills with strident, reverb-soaked narration.

LIMITED GOLD VINYL w/ Download Card

When Ed Schrader and Devlin Rice began writing the record in 2019, the idea was to make a fun, danceable album, but an underlying moodiness proved unshakeable. As Schrader puts it, “The cave followed us into the discotheque.”

The duo road-tested the songs “This Thirst,” “Echo Base” and “Black Pearl” with drummer Kevin O’Meara on tour with Dan Deacon in February 2020. COVID restrictions cut the tour short, squashed plans to go immediately into the studio and sent the touring party on a sprint from LA to Baltimore. “We broke down outside Roswell,” Schrader recalls. “And these cops laughed at our dumb asses as we used all our pent-up stress and fear to propel our half-submerged bus out of the muck, yelling epithets to the sky.”

It was one of the last experiences they had with O’Meara, whose death in October 2020 weighed heavily on Rice and Schrader’s minds as they worked on the record. It was also a cathartic moment that presaged the aesthetic that would permeate the songs on Nightclub Daydreaming: “mad euphoria in the face of doom,” as Schrader puts it.

“This Thirst” is an alienation-fueled barn burner barely restraining itself through musically sparse, lyrically dense verses to culminate in a howling, synth-saturated chorus that beats horror punk at its own game. “Came from the north with a twisted planetarium, rock salt, nervous tic and novocaine,” Schrader sings, assuming the guise of a vagrant whose irresistible urges lead him through a fever dream of chemicals, back-alley bartering and existential threats.

The hyperactive “Echo Base” exudes agitated-cool, with breakneck drum fills and a relentless bass line. The narrator is stranded in a frozen landscape and running out of options. “She is just a night train away,” we are assured, and yet we sense that may not be an altogether good thing.

The band recorded and mixed Nightclub Daydreaming over a two-week period with Craig Bowen at Tempo House in Baltimore with David Jacober on drums, turning demos with artificial sounds and placeholder melodies into fully realized songs playable by a live band. The end result is not the album of “sunny disco bangers” that Rice says the band set out for, but something deeper, darker and more rewarding.

Nicfit are a four-piece punk band from Nagoya, Japan. Comprising Hiromi on vocals, Charley on guitar, KenKen on bass and Kuwayama on drums the group are by turns melodic and menacing. Nicfit are a nervous itch, incessant and impossible to predict. They flip between head-down tumbles of hardcore bounce and freaked feedback clamber with glee, sounding as casual as a slap in the face.
Formed in 2009 after Charley relocated from San Diego to explore the Japanese punk underbelly, Nicfit bonded through a mutual appreciation of Essential Logic, Magazine, Black Flag and Wire. They quickly recorded a demo and started opening for groups like DMBQ, Thee Oh Sees, Total Control and Wimps. To date the band have released a debut 7” EP, a split cassette with Pinprick Punishment and most recently shared a 7” with their comrades M.A.Z.E. too. Now they’ve gathered a spiky new batch of hyperactive songs together into their enthralling debut LP entitled ‘Fuse’, which Upset The Rhythm will release this December.

‘Fuse’ is a flexing treat of a debut album, packed with browbeaten stomp, taut breakouts, guitars that sound more akin to warning sirens and an astute railing vocal delivery. ‘Fuse’ was recorded, mixed and mastered at the Geru Studio in Toyota City with the help of Shigeru Matsui at the board. These ten original blasts of song, and one cover of the Urinals (‘Ack, ack, ack’) are as pummelsome as they are keen to race against the clock. Total life-affirming trample, with pointed metallic moments and glammy undercurrents that forever soar out of the sprawl.

Since its creation in 2007, Hifiklub has led more than 150 collaborations which have allowed the Toulon trio to open its music to multiple artistic experiences revealing a constant desire for research and novelty. From unprecedented encounters to unique projects, Hifiklub has developed over the years a now substantial discography whose musical proposals range from pop to jazz through the most experimental sounds and even traditional music. One path, however, remained unexplored: contemporary music."Last Party On Earth" is organized around the association of three energies: contemporary composer Jean-Michel Bossini, singer Duke Garwood and the instrumental ensemble Hifiklub.

Surrounded by mysticism and darkness, the creation has cinematographic dimensions. It positions the listener in a depth and disposition of soul where the voice - and the poetry - of Duke Garwood is carried by Hifiklub and Jean-Michel Bossini around cold and tormented atmospheres. The album seduces by the detail of its sounds, its apparent tranquility and its intimate atmospheres thwarted by harsh flashes.

Mixed by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Eleven), the album sees the exceptional participation of the string trio Anpapié (Alice Piérot, Fanny Paccoud and Elena Andreyev) who magnificently perform the score by Jean-Michel Bossini.

All songs performed by Hifiklub, Duke Garwood and trio Anpapié (conducted by Jean-Michel Bossini)

Pascal Abbatucci Julien – drums, percussion
Eléna Andreyev – cello
Jean-Loup Faurat – guitar
Duke Garwood - vocals, guitar
Régis Laugier – bass
Nico Morcillo – guitar
Alice Piérot – violin
Fanny Paccoud – alto

Collaboration is an essential ingredient to this open trio’s creative approach, forming a recurring theme in Hifiklub’s extensive discography and filmography. Based in Toulon, the hyperactive experimental rock band offer a diverse ever-evolving catalogue that now boasts over 150 artist collaborations since they started in 2006. Over the years they have formed as many fruitful artistic friendships allowing them to explore the endless possibilities of expression combining sound, image and text.

Some of the artists that feature in Hifiklub’s kaleidoscopic discography: Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Eleven), Roddy Bottum (Faith no More, Imperial Teen), Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden), The Legendary Tigerman, Jad Fair (Half Japanese), Iggor Cavalera (Sepultura, MixHell), Jean-Marc Montera, R. Stevie Moore, Mike Watt (Minutemen, The Stooges), Fatso Jetson, Nels Cline (Wilco), Scanner, Mike Cooper, Eugene Chadbourne…

black vinyl repress

Our next release, and now long-awaited, is a collaboration between IMOGEN and Ben Pest. This follows IMOGEN's earlier appearance on Earwiggle which was a highlight of the Eel Behaviour series. We're big fans of Ben Pest and are very pleased to have the pair debuting their first full release together on the label.

From the hyperactive opener "Volts", that effortlessly juggles raw analogue techno with UK hardcore and all manner of rude bass wobbles, they soon delve into further chaos through the squawks and clatters of broken industrial cut "Gramalkin". "Shibooty" is a perky take on Chi-town techno, upping the funk levels through bustling shuffled 909s, humming bass and cartoonish vocal sequences. With the brooding acid electro of "Misjudgement Day", IMOGEN and Ben pile on some extra modular drones for the road, finishing off the EP in killer fashion.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce the latest offering from underground legend Richard Youngs. Hyperactive since the late 1980s, Youngs is widely celebrated for his remarkably extensive and varied body of recordings. His works range freely over a vast terrain, wandering from tender acoustic balladry to raging psychedelic noise and orchestral D-beat, always imbued with his distinctive, often mournful, melodic sensibility and irrepressible sense of joyous experimentation.

Comprised of two side-long pieces, CXXI carried on the experiments with chance operations used to generate material on many of Youngs’ recent releases. On ‘Tokyo Photograph’, a slowly changing, randomly generated sequence of 121 minor chords played by sine waves and accented with a brushed snare hit on every change provides the harmonic foundation for Youngs’ fragile yet impassioned vocal performance, shards of field recordings and electronics and Sophie Cooper’s long, tape-echoed trombone notes. While the melancholic drift of the chords calls up prime Robert Wyatt sides like Old Rottenhat or Dondestan, only the most vestigial sense of song remains here, as Youngs arranges his minimal ingredients over a spacious fifteen-minute expanse that often drops to nothing more than the rich hum of sine waves.

‘The Unlearning’ carries on directly from the first side, presenting another, more harmonically varied, sequence of randomly generated chords played by sine waves, distressed with tape echo flourishes and sparsely sprinkled with electronic touches. Like some of Youngs’ most single-minded instrumental works in recent years, such as his recordings of foot-played guitar or his shakuhachi pieces, ‘The Unlearning’ is deeply meditative but entirely remote from ambient or minimalist cliches.

Named after the number of chord changes on the opening piece and (Chicago-style) the number of records Youngs has released, CXXI arrives in a striking monochrome sleeve featuring play-along chord charts for both pieces. Both rigorously conceptual and endearingly off-the-cuff, CXXI is classic Richard Youngs.

Following “La Contra Ola” (BJR015), Bongo Joe presents 'La Ola Interior', a compilation exploring the ambient side of the Spanish electronic music produced in the 80’s, bringing together 19 little-known and innovative pieces from the golden age of Spanish electronic music !

It gathers musicians from various horizons and of many generations, who shared the desire to create an immersive soundscape and to combine electronic music with non-Western musical traditions. As a general rule, the Anglo-Saxon tropism did relate the spanish peninsula’s ambient music to the Balearic Sound, that is to say to the relaxing music played in Ibiza’s nightclubs. But this music takes place in the productive territory of experimental musics, and particularly in its two main breeding grounds: the tape recording underground and the independent musicians-producers scene.

Inseparable from the processes of self-publishing, distribution and exchange of music that were then taking place in Spain in an artisanal way, the vast underground movement of cassettes was divided between an "ethno-trance" combining industrial beats and oriental sounds on the one hand (Esplendor Geométrico, Miguel A. Ruiz / Orfeón Gagarin) and unclassifiable low-fi tinkerers on the other hand (Camino al desván, Eli Gras, Mataparda, Victor Nubla). Hyperactive, this scene is radical and strongly dominated by the hardest musical styles, but the ambient, influenced by the German Kosmische Musik and "krautrock", also develops here.

The second vein of Spanish ambient comes from some of the independent labels of the peninsula (DRO, GASA, El Cometa de Madrid, EGK) whose activity will mark the return of some of the most adventurous musicians-producers of the 70s. Some were influenced by American minimalism (Luis Delgado / Mecánica Popular, Suso Saiz, Javier Segura), others by Fourth-World Music conceived by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno (Finis Africae, Jabir). Having passed through folk, ancient, traditional or contemporary music, and being familiar with improvisation and studio techniques, these artists come from a mutant hippie culture, capable of phagocyting many musical styles from electronic ambient to ethnic improvisation and modal jazz.

These two scenes and generations that make up LA OLA INTERIOR intersect around a common interest in non-Western musical traditions. Their exploration may be that of the tribal origins of electronic rhythms or the Arab heritage of Spain. Above all, it is a dreamy exoticism, an immobile journey as the sounds, rhythms or instruments of these traditions are scrutinized by Western practices (avant-garde music, electronic technology). The result is a hybrid music, filtered and reinvented, neither Western nor extra-Western, with a pronounced taste for the fusion of opposites, which we have called "Acid Exoticism" because of its permanent search for trance or contemplation. Atmospheric, contemplative and serial, these musics still plunge us today into a sensorial journey, at the same time interior and distant, organic and technological, between exotic reminiscences and interior visions.

Shall Not Fade's Time Is Now series continues to showcase the cutting edge of breaks and bass oriented club music. This time they introduce Groovy D; this new solo project of one third of Sheffield-based trio Denham Audio curates a totally fresh take on garage which is soulful, unique and genre-defying.

Afterworld Groove EP features female vocalists and a collaboration with Time Is Now regular Interplanetary Criminal; vocal heavy tracks are a highlight of the record, taking the garage sound away from the confines of the club. "Outta Control" is one of these tracks; Emma Cannon's vocals walk the edge between soulful and mournful, contrasting the wild breakbeats and deep, dirty bass. The title track uses housey intoned keys; this is daytime garage, made for summer parties. Taking influence from his Sheffield home, "Keep Movin' On" has a classic bassline sound palette, cheeky stabbing synths and hyperactive breaks.

"Project Zeus" opens the B-side: stutters of snare and punching bass are broken through with a classic, uncontrollable bassline; the tongue-in-cheek sample that forms the drop will undoubtedly bring a smile to British fans. More minimalist B2 "Timeless" is a chorus of bubbling ear candy until the rolling sub bass looms into a deep, headsy climax. Manchester's Interplanetary Criminal joins to close the EP; with vocals from Anna Straker, "Higher" takes a genre-spanning approach in hazey garage percs and soaring pads. The tempo is down, and misty, romantic sax forms the backbone.

The music of porn movies of the 70s became the fad of diggers and Brigitte Lahaie an absolute icon of these years marked by sexual liberation. In 2020, feminist filmmaker Olympe de G. is embarking on the production of an inclusive and ethical

post-porn feature. Brigitte Lahaie, 64, activist for the right to die with dignity, plays the main role, driven by her deep desire to free the bodies and sexualities of women of her age. This film is certainly one of the most beautiful porn movies of the icon Brigitte Lahaie.

The soundtrack of the film is entrusted to Jb Hanak. A figure in the musical underground, this hyperactive has been multiplying projects for more than 20 years. With the group dDamage he formed with his brother Fred, he explored the frontiers of Hip Hop, IDM and electro. With Cobra, a punk rock group to be taken to the 14th degree, they crossed the lands of the absurd. At the end of 2020, he will release an album with actor Pierre Richard. At the same time, he exhibits his plastic works in art galleries ... hyperactive we have said.