It took a while before it was this. It was a place to find clothes made by people lost in a minefield of ideas who liked to party. It was a place for temporary visions that turned out to happen and were then forgotten. It was always a place to find a new circle of friends. A place for expression where the throttle had been loosened and we all careered into the next day and the day after that. We all need to meet in the flesh away from the pixels and connect our first thoughts. Somewhere to ruffle our own feathers and take off on a phantom flight. It has been all this and it still is. Only now there is a record label to try and actually document a little of all of that. Welcome to Sameheads.
This record is a morsel from the community. Novo Line, Twoonky, Kruton, Kris Baha and Antoni Maovvi and Balance Crew aka Dane Close & L. Zylberberg. Six acts whose sweat is in the carpet and who all owe more than seven euros to the place for one reason or another. Six songs that electrify a new way to no wave. Don't forget, this a mince based dish. Enjoy.
After their highly acclaimed debut album »Decadent yet Depraved«, Berlin and LA-based producers Belief Defect invited a variety of artists to join their »Remixed« project. The following 12' EP is a first four-track release of this project. The original tracks of the album are only an approximate starting point for »Remixed«. In contrast to »Decadent yet Depraved«, largely conceived in song structures, this EP is about transferring the pieces back into abstract space, and each remixer does it in his very own way. Alessandro Cortini's one-take live recording is a lesson in classical ambient music. Telefon Tel Aviv's remix is timelessly modern and extremely delicate sound design. Rather opposite concepts are coming from Surachai's brutal pattern design and Kangding Ray's expressive and analogously saturated repetitions for the dance floor.
Label fresh outta Glasgow. First release showcases a single sided journey into the heart of it's originator. With the track rolling around the city's underground for too long- its now time to introduce Watermelon Records and it's head honcho, DD Watermelon.
To kick off 2019 Haven are setting their sights on the farthest reaches of the resurgence in EBM. New Zealand based hardware warrior Body Beat Ritual grew up in the UK exposed to the body music of the 80s and 90s and his experiments in industrial-tinged dance tracks inspired by the likes of Front Line Assembly, Ministry, Subpoena The Past, Nitzer Ebb, and Revolting Cocks were made in complete isolation from, and with no awareness of, the EBM resurgence in Europe's clubland.
This EP represents the first of Body Beat Rituals explorations into this sound. The A1 starts the EP with 'Instinct Primitive' - a certified body moving slammer featuring haunting screams, samples ruminating schizophrenia, a funky bass-line and drum rolls aplenty. The A2 welcomes Poland's VTSS to Haven for the first time with a bouncy gabber kick and distorted tones on her tough remix of 'Instinct Primitive'. The B1 begins the flip with the hectic drum workout, cutting bass and synth programming and political samples of 'Crash Report', followed by the destructive drums and scratchy timbre of Blush Response's remix on the B2. Not one to be missed for fans of dance-floor focused, gnarled industrial techno and EBM!
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The four tracks on this EP represent a bit of a transitional phase for Louis Jaquet (aka Kid Who), marking a move from a basic setup with an MPC2000XL sampler and a computer to a fully-fledged hardware studio. The initial versions of these tracks were quick jams that he had made early on in this change, but which had lay dormant on his hard drive for some time, before being revisited and reworked for this release with the new equipment.
'Rhythm Code' began life as an exercise in using only freely distributed software synths, and the majority of those sounds are still there, bar some additional acid sequences and tweaks to the rhythm parts.
On 'ZF Cut' his focus switched to samples, in an effort to squeeze the most he could out of his MPC, which at the time had only recently been upgraded. The unassuming beige box gives colour to anything you feed into it (breakbeats in particular), and a host of basic onboard effects add further quirky character, in this case hollow drones and rumbles which are the core of the track.
One of Kid Who's early purchases was a cheap old Yamaha multitrack cassette recorder, which presents many opportunities for sound manipulation. Different tape speeds, tape types and manual manipulation during playback open up a world of noisy, woozy atmospheres, some of which formed the basis of 'Spool Night'.
Of all four, 'Timescape' required the least revising, and the version presented here is very close to the original, 100% computer-based draft. Although the beat was built with Roland 707 drum machine sounds, a staple of early Chicago house records, he wanted to juxtapose these with a more up-to-date techno aesthetic, with a handful of final touches added in the new studio to finish
The second release on AF Trax, again with all profits being donated to Hope Not Hate, is the debut from Al Jerry who has the following to say -
I was initially picturing Al as an ambivalent character trying to evoke in his music deep issues and emotions related to Middle Eastern cultures, but not without a certain self-depreciating sense of humour and a questionable taste for stereotypical arabesque harmonies.
On a personal level, I'm from a family who is half-French, half-Armenian (from Turkey). I grew up with this sort of historical ambivalence in mind, born and bred in the relatively untroubled French culture but not completely oblivious (how could I) of the troubled past of my modern Armenian ancestry who had experienced the first genocide of the 20th century - which as you may know some people and countries still deny its very existence as we speak now in 2018. So, instead of doing something purely on my personal history and origins, I just wanted to celebrate/acknowledge the modern history of the both fascinating and chaotic Middle Eastern cultures.
When I introduced that vague idea of a project/alias to B with an early version of Sana'a Riots, he got instantly into it. The hybrid feel of the project really allowed us to experiment and mess around with odd tonalities and enthused solos. It was the first time for both of us that we manage to collaborate on an EP with someone else. We had never tried something together before and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. More to come from Al then :)
AF Trax = Against Fascism Trax and is a new label project instituted by JD Twitch/Optimo Music. Its aim is to make a musical and cultural protest in opposition of rising far right politics and ideology in the world. Encouraging artists to make music intended to interrogate these toxic ideas, and with all label profits donated to Hope Not which campaigns to counter racism and fascism. Against Fascism Trax's intent is to provoke conversation, inform and financially support the opposition to fascist thinking. Its simple idea is that we must do something more than just talking. The moral thing to do is to act
On 8th February 2019, Eric Gales returns with his brand new album 'The Bookends' on Provogue/Mascot Label Group and it features collaborations with B. Slade and Provogue artists Doyle Bramhall II and Beth Hart. The challenge for making 'The Bookends' was for Gales to challenge himself. 'As a guitar player it's been established that I can play a little bit, just a little bit,' he smiles. But for this album he not only wanted to push himself as a musician, but also as a vocalist, to build up his vocal discography. Gales' story is an incredible one, he was a child prodigy and released his debut album The Eric Gales Band in 1991 as a 16 year old on Elektra Records. It was the first of 10 albums on a major label through a blistering career. He has released 15 studio albums in total ahead of 'The Bookends' and a host of other collaborations. He has battled drink and drug issues and spent time in jail in 2009 for possession of drugs and a weapon. Gales proudly tells his story every night before every show, now over two years sober he is creating some of the most breath-taking music he has ever made. If his previous album 'Middle of the Road' was the rebirth of Eric Gales, then 'The Bookends' is him knocking away his boundaries and taking flight on a voyage of self-discovery asking himself what do you think you can do and pushing that into the stratosphere.
Mark Van Hoen (prior jaunts in Seefeel, Scala, Autocreation among others) as Locust emerges with the first of a series of EPs for Transfusions that dive into unadulterated techno spaces that you were clearly not prepared for. Four powerful weapons start this series with sounds and textures that clearly incorporate Locust's indescribable signature that we have all fallen in love with but take the dance floor to an undisclosed locale where deep vibes transfix our minds into pure bliss. Armed with a new razor sharp identity and vision, we are in for an adventure. Completely new Locust logo and extra special sleeve artwork masterminded by Paul Nicholson (OG Aphex Twin artwork visionary). This is serious.
Alk-e-d is one of the longest standing Kniteforce artists, always bringing a perfect blend of dancehall, jungle and techno and mixing it into something fresh. His EP contains both the genesis of his style and some of his largest hits. Absolutely Flying was a cheeky release, the flip side to his debut 'selecta', which is included here via the epic Dj Ham remix. Meanwhile, his two jungle classics, 'Shine On Me' and 'Shining Bright' show two very different ways of approaching that genre, but both remain as fresh and current as they were in '94
Moff & Tarkin's second Lagaffe installment marks the label's 8th vinyl release. The release sports three original tracks from the Austrian-based Icelander and a remix from label boss Jonbjorn.
The record starts of with the track 'Buzz Lightyear', who flies us off out of the atmosphere filled beginning into the depths of the spacey synths, delays and feedback.
Followed is the track 'Friends Be like', which feels like a refreshing strut down the boulevard where everyone you meet knows you and you know them but instead of saying hello you are wearing headphones and just strut down the street nodding, winking and walking in beat with true swagger. A track with confidence written all over it.
The flip side features the track 'Takk!' which roughly translates as Thank You! in Icelandic. Maybe not roughly, but rather exactly. The track is dramatic and starts off rather stress inducing but takes a whole new direction when Moff n Tarkin adds in soothing piano chords and makes the track's whole mood switch.
Maybe its a fitting goodbye for the listener as you make your way through label boss Jonbjorn's remix which has a very warm and feel good atmosphere, lush drums and elements that add on layers to the already great original. A very personal remix and a good ending to a great record that we hope you can enjoy.
Midday Moon is a survey of ambient and experimental music that emerged from Australia and New Zealand between 1980 and 1995. These recordings are sourced from a rich variety of micro-labels, private pressings, theatre soundtracks and artists' personal archives. Curated by Melbourne based DJ and archivalist, Sanpo Disco (a.k.a Rowan Mason), the collection delves deep into the world of outsider music that emerged in Australia and New Zealand in the latter half of the twentieth century, as synthesisers and early workstations began to enter the consumer marketplace. The record is an odyssey in itself, a journey that takes listeners into the unsung world of Australian new age composers. There are stories abound within this volume, from the mysterious disappearance of Helen-Ripley Marshall after the release of her 1988 album 'Green Chaos', to the journey of American-born, Perth based blues/rock guitarist John Heussenstamm, who unexpectedly turned his finger to 'ambient' music in the late 80's; and again from Melbourne based Ros Bandt, who made a series of recordings exploring the resonance of a hollow concrete cylinder 5 stories beneath busy Collins Street in Melbourne's CBD. Compiled by Sanpo Disco / Mastered by Mikey Young . '(Ambient music is) a surrounding influence that induces calm and a space to think... it can accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular.' - Brian Eno / 'A richer and more diverse ambient genre began to form. Music that crafts a unique cultural geography of landscapes and atmospheres: real and imagined, natural and man-made. Some artists turned their attention to the singular acoustic ecologies of overlooked spaces around the country. Others fostered interests in non-Western music cultures and instruments. The common thread is their use of new technologies to conjure interior and exterior regions, through acoustic and synthesised sounds.' - Sanpo Disco
It gives me the greatest honour to finally be able to announce the release of this amazing triple vinyl masterpiece by log(m) and Laraaji on Invisible, Inc.
It's been over a decade since Laraaji first joined forces with log(m) in their Canadian studio in early 2007. In those ten years the trio recorded many hours of music. Over time these recordings, beginning essentially as live jams, were polished, dissected, processed, re-arranged and then finely and painstakingly distilled down to the 105 minutes of music that now form this album, which finally reached completion just earlier this year. The wait has been more than worth it.
The Onrush Of Eternity is a melding of minds like no other. Ever the pioneer of experimental ambience, Laraaji's signature hammered dulcimer, zither, mbira, auto harp, sruthi drone box and of course his exceedingly positive vibes are here combined with log(m)'s unique vision of gronky hi-tech psychedelic space dub. The resultant voyage into deeply meditative ambience and trance-inducing dub is as unexpected an outcome as it is a bona fide "Eureka" moment. It sounds neither like log(m) OR Laraaji....but of course like both. It is one of those rare collaborations that is, without a doubt, even greater than the sum of its already great parts.
Log(m) started making waves in the early '90s as Legion Of Green Men with their visually striking 12"s, complete with eternal opuscules (locked grooves) and mathematically inspired titles, all lovingly issued on their own Post Contemporary imprint. These deservedly got the attention of Richie Hawtin who promptly asked the duo for an album on his own classic Plus 8 Records. 20+ years later and the music (much like their name) has morphed into something more sophisticated: even more complex, atmospheric and deeper than ever.
Laraaji's reputation of course precedes him: he first came to wider attention when Brian Eno released his "Day Of Radiance" as part 3 of his Ambient Series in 1980. Since then, Laraaji has released over 40 albums, yet his stellar path seems still to be on the ascendant - a recent landmark being the 2017 "Sun" series of albums for the wonderful All Saints' Records.
This unique triple LP in tri-fold sleeve is limited to 200 copies on coloured vinyl and 300 copies on black vinyl featuring ten of log(m)'s signature eternal opuscules and cryptic engravings on all three discs.
Mystique Sound Explorer Scherbe Is Bursting Out Danceable Groove Science Between Epiphany And Delusion. Urban Misty Visions Of A Past And Current Future Deconstructed And Cludged Together Again, Twisted And Dubbed Into Danceable House.
The Ep Contains 6 Tracks In Mid Tempo, Each Of Them Having A Distinct Emotive And Dense Energy. Ready To Be Played In Clubs As Well As Tailored To Accompany You In Your Everyday Frenzy.
Steady Work By Dear Friends, A Heidelberg (germany) Based Label, Is Feeling Honoured To Disseminate His 3rd Release Featuring Scherbe, Who Used To Live A Long Time In Heidelberg And Is Now Based In Dresden. This Release Fits Well Into Scherbe¥s Discography Who Yet Released A Variety Of Records On Numerous German Underground Labels Like Uncanny Valley, Or*s, Kashual Plastik And Big Bait.
James Baldwin was an unparalleled master of the written and spoken word. He was best known for his brilliant essays, plays and novels that shone light on his insights into race, sexuality, spirituality and humanity. Baldwin was an incredible orator who commanded the power of words. Whether on the pages of his books or in speeches and debates, he was passionate, compelling and powerful. This EP is the second half of a project that is a tribute to Baldwin. It features extracts from the audio portion of a documentary film shot of a discussion led by James Baldwin and Dick Gregory at the West Indian Student Centre in London in 1968.
Peabody & Sherman is a partnership between Phillip C Hertz and Curtis Ruptash - drummer and bass player respectively. They share common interests in dub, afrobeat, funk, jazz, ambient and improvisational music. They have long histories of the employing 'studio as instrument' approach to recording. The foundations for this EP was P&S rhythm tracks recorded at the Wayback Machine Studio in 2011. Supplemental instruments were layered on to create the final product. The same original sessions were also the source for their James Baldwin EP released in 2012. That EP featured remixes by Area and Afrikan Sciences.
The same concept is applied here, with remixes being contributed by Waajeed and BusCrates. Waajeed is a Detroit producer known for inventive and genre-defying music. He is background includes his work with Slum Village through to the Platinum Pied Pipers and to his work with his own Dirt Tech label today. BusCrates is a Pittsburg based producer known for his inventive use of electric and vintage synths to create deep layers of analog goodness.
** interview & airplay of the whole album @ OE1, ORF - Zeitton Extended 3rd of february 2019 **
In his latest composition, DOLOMITE DUB, the Vienna-based South Tyrolean sound artist Ulrich Troyer presents his perceptions of a several-day high alpine hike across the Dolomites transformed into a soundscape.
The more than 40 minute track DOLOMITE DUB leads the listeners through this landscape of heights transgressing different moods - in which autobiographical memories flash up as well.
Subsequently to the experimental dub trilogySongs for Williamand the EPDeadlock Versions, a cooperation with Vin Gordon and Didi Kern, DOLOMITE DUB features besides Didi Kern on drums & percussion, Susanna Gartmayer on contra-alto clarinet and Juergen Berlakovich on bass, both long-time ensemble members of the joint project "The Vegetable Orchestra".
Names You Can Trust presents the second installment of Rueda de Bullerengue, a collaborative series with NY-based Bullerengue collective, Bulla En El Barrio. Named after the group's ongoing monthly performance and workshop in Brooklyn, Bulla's collaborative spirit and dedication to the tradition of los bailes cantados has made an indelible mark on the bubbling tropical music scene of New York City, and in turn, found their way into the crates and sets of DJs and vinyl aficionados via their first 7-inch release on NYCT in 2017. Since those initial moves, Bulla has continued to grow and add working members while maintaining a philosophy and connection grounded in the traditions of their Colombian origins. They've studied and collaborated with elders and legends like Emilson Pacheco and Darlina Sáenz, and this past year embarked on a recording with Barranquilla-based collective Tonada Baile Cantado — the focus of this edition's recording and release.
Considered one of the premier groups advancing the tradition of Bullerengue within Colombia, this incredibly talented group of young musicians are a rarity for their skill and age. In a region where there are ongoing festivals celebrating the tradition of Bullerengue that still command massive audiences and performers, Tonada is a true representative of what can happen when such an amazing tradition is passed forward to an eager next generation. Produced by Bulla members Camilo Rodriguez and Diana Herrera (aka Carolina Oliveras) in between their time smashing stages across the U.S. for Combo Chimbita, this is a carefully nurtured and powerful bridge to the beloved traditions of Colombia's Caribe region.
Without further ado, here lies Volume 2 of Rueda de Bullerengue, featuring Tonada Baile Cantado, a new generation of traditional Colombian dance music transmitted directly from Barranquilla — Four dance floor crashers in the styles of fandango and chalupa, ready-made for your 45 spins in the inimitable style of Names You Can Trust.
A welcome branching out into the reggae universe, Rocafort is proud to present The Circle of Confusion featuring the legendary sweet falsetto voice of Cornel Campbell. Lausanne Switzerland meets Kingston Jamaica in this heartfelt, stripped back, feel-good homage to the late 70s roots reggaestyle.
The Circle of Confusion are a Swiss production duo: Seb.K (Shakedown productions) and Phil'eas (Black Diamond Sound). Diehard reggae fans, they dared to contact their favourite Jamaican singer and got a result with Campbell delivering the lyrics on the spot, written on the day of Nelson Mandela' death. There's depth and feeling in this wonderfully lilting, plaintive song, typical of Campbell's social consciousness and beautiful soul. Hard to believe it was all strung together in a shiny, clean Swiss studio when the sound is so simply warm and Jamaican. Beautiful run on the keyboards by Jah Lou.
If you were moved by the Rhythm and Sound album of 2001, you will not be disappointed with this splendid roots collaboration. We can only hope there's more to come.
After the success of their sophmore album "Nick & Astro's Guide To The Galaxy" last year, Potatohead People are back with a special remix of the first single "Morning Sun" off the album (featuring vocalist Nanna.B) on the album rom the legendary DJ Spinna.
Spinna gives "Morning Sun" his signature Galactic Funk flip, beefing up the drums into a cosmic shuffle, with an analog arpeggiating bassline, lifting strings and synth squelches. Also included is the instrumental on the flip. Cover art comes from Berlin's Rahel Susskind who revists the Guide To The Galaxy concept from inside the funky spaceship. Blast off!
White Shadows In The South Seas is the title of a book written in 1919 by Frederick O'Brien as part of a trilogy he wrote based on his experiences living in the Pacific islands in the early part of the 20th century. His book was taken as the starting point for a film to be directed, initially, by Robert Flaherty (famous at the time for his groundbreaking documentary / fiction film Nanook Of The North) with W.S.Van Dyke as his support. The film, ultimately, apart from the title, had little to do with O'Brien's book and Flaherty left the film after a few months leaving Van Dyke to finish it.
I purchased O'Brien's book, along with many others, from Basement Books, a secondhand bookstore in Melbourne/Australia. Part of my 'Islomania' and on going fascination with all things Pacific. When I discovered there was a 1929 silent film based on the book I sought it out and started to present it as part of my 'Live Music/Silent films' repertoire. Tabu by Frederick Murnau, which coincidently also had Flaherty as co-director originally, was the first film I ever wrote / improvised a score for and presented as a live film/music performance. My repertoire extends to over 23 films now.
My eclectic and diverse musical and artistic interests extend into 'Hawaiian', 'Exotica', 'Ambient' and 'Electronic' Music. I have produced several volumes of so called 'Electronic, Ambient, Exotica' on CD and Vinyl, including Kiribati, Globe Notes, Rayon Hula ( on Vinyl, CD and digital format ) and most recently, New Globe Note on Vinyl and White Shadows In The South Seas on CD.
White Shadows In The South Seas features some of the music presented in my live screenings of the 1929 silent film.
The film is the story of Dr. Matthew Lloyd, an alcoholic doctor who is disgusted by the exploitation by white people of the natives on a Polynesian island. The natives dive for pearls, however, numerous accidents occur and one diver dies. In anger, Dr. Lloyd punches Sebastian, the employer. As revenge and to prevent further interruption of his activities, he tricks Dr. Lloyd onto a ship with a diseased crew (thinking they are ill) and his men rough him up and send the ship off into a storm. Dr. Lloyd survives and is washed ashore on an island where none of the natives have ever seen a white man before. Lloyd is rescued and ultimately falls in love with the chief's daughter, who is Taboo, hence Lloyd is prevented from pursuing his love for her. An incident occurs and a young boy is thought to have drowned but Lloyd is able to revive him, earning him points and permission with the chief's daughter. Lloyd begins to realise that the local islanders have no sense of the value of the black pearls which grow in abundance around their island and he starts to dive for them and collect them. One morning the white man Sebastian unexpectedly turns up on a scooner and starts to offer the islanders trade for their pearls. Llloyd tries to interrupt the encounter and is shot and dies. His wife and the islanders morn for his dead body and, symbolically, the passing of a way of life.
Mike Cooper plays - Electric and acoustic lap steel guitars / electronics / Zoom Sampletrack / Kaos Pad / Casio SK1 / Korg Drum Machine / Self Made Instruments.
It also features field recordings made on Pulau Ubin by Mike Cooper during a month as Artist In Residence for The Artist Village / Singapore.
I would like to acknowledge and thank Lawrence English (Room40 Records) for his assistance and encouragement with the original recordings and the CD version of White Shadows In The South Seas.
All music written and played by Mike Cooper PRS/MCPS - except Po Mahina (trad. Arr. Cooper) and Hilo Hanakahi (trad. Arr. Cooper)
Recorded and Mixed at the Steelworks in Rome 2012/2013.
A White Shadow In The South Seas
In February 2014 'A White Shadow In The South Seas' was the title of an audio-visual installation I made at the Teatro In Scatola in Rome, Italy, presented as part of a series of sound installations titled 'Visitazioni' produced by Proposte Sonore.
The essay below, as well as our collection of Hawaiian shirts, Exotica and Hawaiian vinyl records, was an inspiration for this installation.
'..the transformation and reconstitution of the souvenir commodity as an indigenous ethnic art form and a scarce relic of Hawai'i's romanticized past...' from - Clothing and Textile Reasearch Journal - From Kitsch to Chic by Marcia A. Morgado.
And....
Michael Thompson's Rubbish Theory (1979)
' ...a critical aspect of Western culture is the pre-disposition to see objects in terms of two overt categories: the transient and the durable. Objects identified as transient have finite life spans and lose value over time, whereas those identified as durable have infinite lives and over time increae in value....category assignments are arbitrary, but once assigned a category membership determines relative value. Fashion apparel-by defenition-is assigned to the transient category; paintings commonly are designated durables....how is it that transient objects.. ( e.g. Hawaiian shirts and vinyl records ) ..sometimes become durables.
Objects assigned to the rubbish category are largely invisible, have no value and, ideally, no life span. Fashion for example, no longer worn and relegated to the back of the wardrobe has fallen into the covert rubbish category. But rubbish can be rescued and transformed. Thompson says ' What I believe happens is a transient object gradually declining in value and in expected life span may slide across into rubbish. Here it exists in a timeless and valueless limbo where it has a chance to be re-discovered and be successfully transformed to a durable. Such transferes are radical: objects gradually slide from transcience to rubbish, but the transformation from rubbish to durable involves an all-or-nothing leap across two boundaries, that separating the worthless from the valuable and that between the covert and the overt. Things drift into obscurity but they leap into prominence.
The delightful consequence of this hypothesis is that in order to study the social control of value we must study rubbish.
The rubbish-to-durable transformation is accompanied by the development of highly specialized knowledge derived from the discovery of subtle variations and complex details that went unnoticed in the objects transient stage. The discoveries initiate renewed interest in the object and its market value begins to climb. As prices soar beyond the reach of ordinary people, the object becomes available only in high priced collectors' markets. Furthermore, as market values rise, the aesthetic value of the object undergoes a reassessment as well, and it becomes increasingly apparent that the objects intrinsic beauty has been overlooked. Ultimately the object is re -assigned as a durable and becomes recognized as a timeless classic.
Exotica, Ambience and Pacificism - A dialogue with Mike Cooper & Professor Philip Hayward Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor of Research Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia.
Art is a matter of different phases and influence. The artists' core reaches out like heat waves. And very rarely do these artists' core merge like Brigitte Fontaine and Arseki Belkacem have. Their Saravah Era lasted ten years (1969 to 1979), ten years of "folle sagesse" (crazy wisdom), above all genres and song limitation.
"Le plaisir secret que donne une chanson, dessin à la craie sur le mur de tes sons" (the personal delight within song, a chalk drawing on your wall of sounds) whispers Areski, right after Brigitte's voice on the penultimate song of the double album "Vous et nous". Released in 1977, this free flowing record contains 33 songs, it's their 6th album after "Comme à la radio", "Brigitte 4", "Je ne connais pas cet homme", "L'incendie" and "Le bonheur", and it continues to spread the wide and generous spectrum of the couple fully blossoming talent. Electronic experiments, North African trance, refined acoustics and medieval drones gracefully blend with the acid and candid tongues of the singers, surprising us each step along the way. The making of this record was also full of twists and turns. It started out as a solo effort by Areski at Jean-Pierre Chambard's studio. Little by little, as Areski was filling tapes with poems and improvised skits, Brigitte would sneak into the studio at nightfall, adding her voice here and there, her whispers then became screams, giving fuel to the fire in a total blaze, a surreal blaze. The solitary work ("je") thrived to become us ("nous") and you ("vous") ...
Following a split tape with Ondness on Discrepant's imprint Sucata Tapes , Serpente returns to Tormenta Electrica after its debut with 'Rituais 101' . A circular suite in four interchangeable parts, 'A Noiva ' projects itself as a gateway into off kilter hypnosis summoned from ecstatic polyrhythms, jungle debris, dub tactics and the occasional 4/4 thump via free jazz streams of consciousness. A drawn out percussion workout around the communal fire. Come along. We're here.
Off the back of the highly conceptual project 'Plata - Last Dayz', Circadian Rhythms quickly return to focus on their white label series and solidify their signature sound. CRWL003 takes form of three club driven tracks from the arsenal of Leicester based producer R@ (Lewis Ireson). The 21 year old's current studies in Video Game Development have evidently started to seep into the ferocious sound that has drawn him attention.
His praised debut EP 'Neural' was released on Stella Beats in October 2018 and following his DJing debut at the CR003 Live event alongside Mssingno and Plata, he now continues this run with his first vinyl release, showcasing his signature production.
* These recordings stretch back to the tail end of the late 1980's, with the original line up of Dub The Earth, who were one of a few dub reggae-inspired groups sprouting up in the west of England in those times, such as Military Surplus (who morphed into Radical Dance Faction), Rhythmites and Revolutionary Dub Warriors who all had a strong presence in the free festival scene in the UK at that time.* Featuring the late Steve Swann (Revolutionary Dub Warriors, On-U Sound) on vccals and mixed & produced by Rej Forte from Jah Works.
* The 10" features a vocal, dub and a violin cut.
* The vocal and violin cut have only previously appeared on the cassette only various artists release `One Foundation' from 1990.
Toby Dreher makes Techno spark, Turns your mind into an amusement park. Mechanical like a machine, yet organic like a flower, This record will charge your dancing feet with unknown power.
Born Marian Himburg, Causa has been on the rise for several years now, with a tight and impressive discography on labels including Crucial Recordings, Infernal Sounds, and J:Kenzo's Artikal Music UK. Known for carefully focused cuts that marry dub sensibilities with dubstep weight, his debut for ZamZam is exactly what you'd hope: heavy 140 wares for deep dances.
'Space Dub' is an orbiting station of decaying delays and insistent bleeps that resolve into an absolutely massive riddim that causes pure murderation on the floor. Machine sounds and lasers spar over dread, lurching bass, while thick snares cut through the reverb haze to reveal the cold, starry cosmos beyond.
'Concrete Dub' works with a similarly industrial sound palette in the service of a minimalist, skanking steppers that drives hard into the heart of sound system. Disembodied voices, growling-deep horn stabs, a single piercing flute note, and a myriad of other sonic signifiers emerge and retreat, as if being pulled under by the unrelenting force of the primordial sub & kick attack. You've been warned!
"In 2013, the For Those That Knoe imprint burst into record shops with a release from one of the UK's unsung heroes, Jaime Read under his LHAS alias. 5 years later, we're proud to present a reissue of a selection of Jaime's music from his 1997 album ""The End of the Beginning"".
Jaime's take on futuristic chi-town influenced house is present across the selections. Written 21 years ago, the music is more relevant that ever. Serene galactic themes and time travel optimism permeate the collection: the music tells tales of optimism rather than the bleak images carved by other similar compositions of the time. Originally pressed in finite numbers, this is an opportunity to get a copy of the key material on vinyl again, split across two 180g 12"" EPs with a free digitial download code."
"The "Future Reference EP" see's Deepblak label head AYBEE pushing ever forward into the outliers of electronic rhythms.
Always avoiding convention "The Future Reference EP" continues to expand on the producers affinity for forward thinking dance music rooted in soul expression."
Martina Lussi's second album fuses together disparate sound sources with a disorienting
quality that reflects the modern climate of dispersion and distraction. The Lucerne, Switzerland- based sound artist released her debut album 'Selected Ambient' on Hallow Ground in 2017, and now comes to Latency with a bold new set of themes and processes.
The range of tools at her disposal spans field recordings, processed instrumentation, synthesised elements and snatches of human expression. The guitar is a recurring figure, subjected to a variety of treatments from heavy, sustained distortion to clean, pealing notes. Elsewhere the sound of sports crowds and choral singing merge, and patient beds of drones and noise melt into the sounds of industry and mechanics. The track titles manifest as a compositional game of deception complete with innuendos, empty phrases and claims - flirtations with perfume names and ironic assertions.
From the volatile geopolitical climate to the changing nature of music consumption in the face of streaming and digital access, 'Diffusion is a Force' is a reflection on fractured times where familiar modes and models change their meaning with the ever-quickening pace of communication.
Following a run of sought-after releases on cassette from artists including Anthony Naples, Xvarr and E Ruscha V, Good Morning Tapes switch to vinyl for their latest (and first with HJ).
By Mahbunzi Nahgo Pihndi ("All the Healing Green Leaves of the Forest') aka Brian Close, one half of New York avant-garde duo Georgia:
'This record is an extension of a foray into trance ritual music. It is structured as a companion for film, meditation, vision seeking & sound rest.
It is by nature a nature worship record, combining acoustic percussive improvisation, sensory foley, vocalized staccatos, and a specific brew of physical / metaphysical sound relations... mind hush / thought flush / spirit rush / sun rise.
Inspired by an initiation ceremony of the Bwiti / Fang people of Gabon. This collection relays a fragmented branch of timings of this ceremony and proposes other paths for the sacred (Mougongo) instrument.
Recoded + Restructured + Reflected as a time capsule, with fullest respect / blessings to breeze the Bwiti understandings through the current climate.
Proceeds of this record will be donated to Tata-Yo (Nganga), Ebando.'
Masterworks Music Rolls Into Town Once Again, This Time With France's Very Own Chevals Firmly In The Saddle. Four Peak Time Disco Edits Of Tried And Tested Dancefloor Anthems, Ready And Raring To Be Unleashed.
First Out Of The Blocks, 'my Feet Keep Changin', Drenched In Uplifting, Gospel Leaning Vocals That Will Have Hands Reaching For The Heavens. Couple That With Dazzling Piano Melodies, A Pulsating Bass And Staccato Strings, Alongside A Spiritual Breakdown That Will Bring About Full-on, Holy Disco Enlightenment. Next Up, A Filtered Disco House Gem In The Form Of 'this Time Is Dedicated To Love'. Shimmering Vocals, Synth Trills And Guitars That Radiate Warmth Combine With Fresh Percussive Samples And Lush Female Harmonies.
Take To The B Side And You're Hit With 'never Will I Leave You Baby'. Sun-kissed, Beachside, Wind In The Hair Vibes - Bringing Back Memories Of Those Warmer Months, Where Everything Just Seemed That Little Bit More Blissful. '80s Synths, Fuzzy Hats, Filtered Phrases And Sweet Chord Progressions In Abundance. Closing Out The Ep Chevals Goes Heavy On The Modulated, Wobbly Synthwork And Rich Bass Tones On 'love Somebody' Before Those Deep, Soulful Keys Take Centre Stage.
Disco Edits Done Properly!
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Last delivered 18 months ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Sometimes you produce a track with nothing but a dancefloor and a good sound system in mind. "Twelve Inch Jams" is offering you just that - strictly two A side tunes for the floor cut at 45 revolutions per minute. Jazz & Milk pays tribute to this classy release format with their new 12" vinyl series. Each record comes in a hand silk-screened printed and stamped sleeve!
The dreamteam of the highly successful first installment (JAMS001) teamed up again to share their love for raw and sample-based house music tunes produced on the MPC. Label artist Sam Irl and the man behind Jazz & Milk, Dusty never fail when it comes to layering colorful sample fragments and enriching them with raw beats and deep synthesizer chords.
"Broken Spell" starts off with a super moody atmosphere that slowly opens up until it reaches its energetic peak with bright synth stabs and a smooth bassline before colorful arpeggios are drifting the track into other spheres. "Love Prelude" has a rather dreamy vibe but its deep chord progressions and rough bass drums and claps create a truly unique contrast and a hypnotic atmosphere on top of it, while a later incoming bouncy bassline and dubby sample parts eventually pull you in cosmic dimensions!
The story of Seattle's rise to global rock supremacy in the late 80s and early 90s begins with Green River. Made up of Jeff Ament (bass), Mark Arm (guitar/vocals), Bruce Fairweather (guitar), Stone Gossard (guitar) and Alex Shumway (drums), the
quintet put out three 12's and a 7' single during its brief existence.
Green River's influence on Seattle's music scene spread far and wide thanks to the members' dispersion into bands including Pearl Jam, Mudhoney and Love Battery, as well as the punk glam sludge rock songs they left behind. 'By '83, '84, there was
definitely a movement that was happening within hardcore, like Black Flag slowing down for My War,' says Arm. 'The Replacements and Butthole Surfers were rearing
their heads, and they're very different bands, but they're not hardcore - the Replacements are pretty much straight-up rock, and Butthole Surfers were God knows what. Sonic Youth's Bad Moon Rising was around, and a lot of really
interesting post-hardcore things were happening.'
Green River, formed in 1984, were part of that evolution, with a sound that straddled a lot of different genres - blues, punk, bloozy straight-ahead rock. The mini-LP 'Dry As A Bone' - which came out in 1987 - and the band's lone full-length
'Rehab Doll' - which came out in 1988 - were released as a single CD with a few bonus cuts, including their sneering cover of David Bowie's 'Queen Bitch' and their marauding version of Dead Boys' 'Ain't Nothin' to Do', in 1990 - but they've been
unavailable on vinyl for years.
Now, these slices of Seattle music history are not only back in print, they're accompanied by items from the vaults that had been forgotten about for decades.
'Dry As A Bone' was recorded at Jack Endino's Reciprocal Recording in 1986 and it shows the band in furious form, with Arm's yowl battling Fairweather and Gossard's
ferocious guitar playing on 'This Town' and 'Unwind' opening as a slow bluesy grind then jump-starting itself into a hyperactive chase. The deluxe edition includes Green
River's cuts from the crucial Seattle-scene compilation 'Deep Six', as well as long-lost songs that were recorded to the now-archaic format Betamax.
'Rehab Doll', recorded largely at Seattle's Steve Lawson Studios., bridges the gap between the taut, punky energy of 'Dry As A Bone' and the bigger drums and thicker
riffs that were coming to dominate rock in the late 80s. This new edition of 'Rehab Doll' includes a version of 'Swallow My Pride' recorded to 8-track at Endino's Reciprocal Recording, which features a more accurate depiction of how the band
sounded when they played live. 'When I listen to these mixes, I think, 'This is how we actually sounded - this is the kind of energy we had,'' says Shumway.
Green River's place in American music history is without question but these recordings paint a more complete picture of the band - and of rock in the mid to late 80s, when punk's faster-and-louder ideals had begun shape-shifting into other ideas.
CDs in digipack with 12-page booklet. 2LP formats in gatefold jacket with custom dust sleeve and digital download code.
Jimi Tenor delivers another 7" on Philophon. This time he teamed up with the two glorious gospel queens Florence Adooni and Lizzy Amaliyenga from Bolgatanga/Northern Ghana. This release is a first insight into the next album by Jimi on Philophon, which will be released later the year.
Vocalize My Luv is a charmingly presented lure for love. The secret of the song is that drummer Ekow Alabi Savage's upfront high-life beat is triggering a Jimi-operated Korg MS-20 bass synth. Man and machine are melting down into a light and sportive groove, which irresistibly invites you to do some frisky aerobic moves on the 3am dancefloor. Ki'igba is a classic Frafra gospel song by Alogte Oho, completed with some jubilating flute by master Jimi.
The blues roots grow surprisingly deep in the Finnish music scene. From this fertile ground rises singer Emilia Sisco, who debuts on Timmion with her phenomenal single "Don't Believe You Like That". With her strong background in fusing blues, r&b and jazz, Emilia apparently slips also nicely into the dark soulful grooves of Cold Diamond & Mink.
In "Don't Believe You Like That" Emilia sets herself into the role of a mistreated lover, who still tries to see a speck of hope in the doomed relationship. By dubbing herself, and accompanying the lyric with graceful harmonies, she succeeds in building a powerful beat ballad, that should appeal to the darker end of the dance floor.
There's a special lane in history for soul music this understated. It's cool and intimate at the same time, like there's something dangerous lurking under the surface. So roll up something nice, if that's your thing, and hop along for the ride.
Ken Oath slip on their moon shoes for a joint venture with Freda & Jackson, pressing up four cuts that will have you slipping the surly bonds of earth and dancing in the skies. Loaded with basslines heavier than a neutron star and well-chopped breaks, produced with a dubwise ear for space, this is some of the duo's finest material yet 'Kendama' is the heaviest cut here, a deep psychedelic outing that's swathed in an foggy haze. Abstracted digi-flutes and koto plucks are paired with a skull-boring bassline and exacting breakbeat dissection, adding some levity to the leaden heaviness of the track's bass-weight. 'Cubone' slows but retains the hallucinatory haze that coils around all these trackers. Thudding bass anchors the floating drones and glitches, while percussion snakes through the track, building, like smoke slowly filling a room. The steady build is transportive, to the point where you hear the final echo tail trailing out into silence, and wonder how that all time dissipated Flipping over the record, 'Platform 22' is where you'll find the two of them at their loosest. Submerged vibraphone melodies and swirling voices play over a bassline that sounds like its descending the stairs, boisterous and half-drunk, to culminate in an orgiastic percussion frenzy at the end. Spacious and dubwise, 'Noggin' is a tellingly heady closer. Samples are set adrift across the track as they are dubbed-out and dissolved into smears of sound. There's a buoyancy to the whole piece, a pleasant weightlessness that keeps you floating after the final notes fade out. One time for ya mind.
"It's been nearly five decades since Joe McPhee assembled a group of musicians to perform the weekend concerts that would become Nation Time, his debut LP. It was December 1970, thirty-one-year-old McPhee was inspired by Amiri Baraka's poem 'It's Nation Time,' and the students at Vassar College didn't know what hit them. 'What time is it?' shouted the bandleader. 'C'mon, you can do better than that. What time is it?!'
"The music on Nation Time came out of the fertile, but little-known creative jazz scene in Poughkeepsie, New York, McPhee's home base. Two bands were deployed, one with a funky free foundation featuring guitar and organ, the other consisting of a more standard jazz formation with two drummers and the brilliant Mike Kull at the piano. Across the concert and the next afternoon's audience-less recording session, the band was ignited by McPhee's passion and his gorgeous post-Coltrane / post-Pharoah tenor. On 'Shakey Jake,' they hit a James Brown groove filtered through Archie Shepp, while the sidelong title track is as searching and poignant today as it was during its heyday.
"Originally released in 1971 on CjR, an imprint started expressly to document McPhee's music, Nation Time has a sense of urgency and inspiration. Additional material from those December days would later appear on Black Magic Man, Hat Hut's first release. In fact, the first four records on this seminal Swiss label all featured McPhee.
"Nation Time was largely unknown a quarter century or so later, when it was first issued on CD through Atavistic's Unheard Music Series. On Corbett vs. Dempsey, we reissued the album along with all known tapes leading up to and around it as a deluxe box set, but the standalone LP has long remained incredibly rare. Now is the time for a new generation of freaks to lose their shit when settling into the cushy beat of 'Shakey Jake' and answer McPhee's call with the only appropriate response: It's NATION TIME."
Black Rain returns with Computer Soul: the final part of a sequence of Blackest Ever Black releases that began with 2011's Now I'm Just A Number: Soundtracks 1994-95, and a first glimpse of the project's richly imagined future. For this outing Stuart Argabright (Ike Yard, Dominatrix, Death Comet Crew) is joined by BR founder member Shinichi Shimokawa as well as more recent recruit Soren Roi and Zanias (vocalist on 2015's Dark Pool) - making for the most most group-oriented iteration of Black Rain since its earliest days. Sonically too, there is a sense of evolution but also of coming full circle: the cyberpunk techno of Argabright's celebrated William Gibson soundtracks (compiled on Now I'm Just A Number) and extrapolations of Dark Pool's neuromantic yearning cut with glimpses of the thrash and industrial rock energies that animated Black Rain's incendiary live shows - and sought-after tapes for Kombinat and TPOS - in the early 90s. More than ever, Black Rain is propelled by a powerful science fiction impulse, whether responding to the themes and characters of Gibson's Sprawl or the Blade Runner universe (particularly K.W. Jeter's spin-off/continuation novels which extended its mythology, and timeline, further). It's not news that many of these works' most powerful predictions and prophesies have come to pass - the replicants are already living among us - so Computer Soul projects further into several possible unforeseen futures, its events 'set' in the second half of the current century, fifty or so years after those of Dark Pool. The hyperpopulated metropolises of Dark Pool are no more; the apartments are empty, haunted by ghosts of AC current, devices and machines running lonely without their owners...a melancholy internet of things. Where has everyone got to Gone but perhaps not gone. Oblivion beckons - always does - but on the other side of that, something else... another time, another place, a river....and a new way of living.
I Marc 4, the brilliant quartet that collaborated with Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, Armando Trovajoli, Gianni Ferrio, Piero Piccioni, Piero Umiliani, Alessandro Alessandroni, and their fantastic sound, now again available on a unique and really representative release, their holy grail session: G.L.P. 1007 from 1971. The best and most valued volume of the GLP series featuring the fantastic modal madness of "André", "Peroche", "Suoni Distorti" and the milestone 'Alfio' feat the flute by Alfio Galigani. The music goes from insane Psychedelic tunes to Jazz, Funk and more Bossa and Lounge tracks with plenty of Fuzz guitars, amazing Hammond job, and totally catching drum Breaks. An insane trip into early gold Italian Psychedelic and Underground vibes with loads of laden beats and grooves with the mark of the legendary Italian quartet. Simply essential!
Malfunctioning speakers, & digital dreamscapes, SQUIRRELS ON FILM's 4th release explores the outer reaches of techno with impolite, reckless abandon.
Psychedelic sound explorer Its Own infinite Flower, who was
responsible, along with head squirrels Solar & C.l.a.w.s., for San
Francisco underground punk rave/happening Hostile Ambient
Takeover, unleashes his first official release, The Plumes of Love (ARE BLACK!). After contributing a track to 2017's Spacetime Continuum/ Juju & Jordash curated Air Texture V compilation, this four track EP of abstract tech-noise brings the sounds Its Own Infinite Flower refined in the basements & warehouses of the Bay Area's underground music scene to the wider world, whether it's ready or not.
'Drone, Drugs 'n' Dissonance' creeps into life as a thunderstorm of
white noise, out of which a cold-rave pulse somehow metastasizes into something resembling techno, although this is a deformed, uncivilized, unwanted mutation, separated at birth & raised in a toxic wilderness. It builds slowly before turning up in a rage of digital distortion, a black metal dub party held at the edge of a melting glacier. 'Oh, Empire of Roses' is a Dada Phycho Jazz Electro number. Dissonant synth chords snake around each other in a playful ouroboros of manic future funk, never knowing if it's starting or stopping, coming or going. Relentless bass throbs through the track, which almost threatens to bubble into classic acid electro before fizzling out. On side two there is 'Devotion to a Peacock Angel,' an angular breakdance groove for the characters in the bar scene in Star Wars. Electro dub rhythms keep stay grounded as everything else rips apart in all directions over the course of the track. On 'Misfortunes of El Dorado' a soundsystem bangs in the next room, only the deepest bass escaping, shaking reality until it's torn apart in waves of distortion, a classic techno synth string wandering over the top of everything in a full blown Techno Jazz Odyssey.
SQUIRRELS ON FILM continues its adventure at the edges of techno
with the mind bending stylings of Its Own Infinite Flower's debut EP,
fitted with another beautiful hand-drawn, full color sleeve by New York artist Bert Bergen. The Plumes of Love (ARE BLACK!).
The man behind Workshop and Out To Lunch famously takes his time to make electronic productions that are, in turn, out of time. Over the course of his career he's released tracks that could have been made yesterday, years ago, or a decade into the future. with Avenue 66 he's found a leftfield home that celebrates pure creativity, that embraces the liminal, the weird and the sublime. Light Surfing fits all of these descriptors.
The double-LP rewards deep, repeated listening. There's plenty to unpack, but those who cherish the murky bangers that have been Lowtec's stock and trade will find plenty to love. "Boy With The Broken Glasses" weaves a subtle, dancehall-inflected riddim into hazy ambient house, while the closer, "Burnt Toast," is the latest example of Kuhn's uncanny ability to perfectly fit a soulful vocal sample into an alien dance floor soundscape.
Unexpected moments of sideways beauty also unfurl across the four sides. The two-part "Light Surfing" is one of Lowtec's most evocative suites to a date-its mournful string soundtrack is the album's recurring, longing motif. Elsewhere, as on "Mynthenquai," Kuhn applies avant-garde strategies to his synth leads, taking us on head-spinning melodic journeys.
Light Surfing is a masterful balancing act between dream states and machine-like efficiency, the experimental and functional, precision and spontanaeity. Lowtec could have only gotten here by taking his time.
