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On Miniatures, Swiss composer and producer Samuel Reinhard looks to indeterminate techniques of mid-century experimental composers to produce a sonic path forward that’s as refined as it is evocative. While Miniatures is built from recordings of short piano gestures decaying towards silence, amid the four movements that comprise the suite, something else grows. Notes cycle, collide, and wash away within boundaries the artist has set, but in their wake new processual textures develop. A hiss blankets the harmonic material, and clicks that once marked sharp cuts between repetitions become a percussive undercurrent.

Working with digital tools, Reinhard conjures the interior of an animate environment and extends an invitation to notice the small stuff that swells when we settle in with duration.

Ital Tek (a.k.a. Alan Myson) returns to Planet Mu with his sixth album ‘Outland‘. The album was written during a period of new beginnings following a move out of the city to a quieter space and the birth of his first child. During this time of self-imposed isolation Alan recorded a huge amount of source material and spent weeks and months sitting up at night with his newborn, listening back and making notes on how the new record should take form, focusing and developing ideas to shape this lean ten-track album.

Alan talks of the record being a collaboration between two parts of himself, something that definitely comes across as the album unfolds. Textures are something Alan excels at and on his last album, the largely beatless ‘Bodied’, it felt as if he was building a new sound-world. On ‘Outland’ he expands upon this. The album brings together the extremes of Alan's sound, contrasting roughened bass and beats with starker more detailed atmospheres and emotions.

The most beat-driven song here is ‘Deadhead’, with its gnarled bouncing bass, angular distorted melodies and cavernous textures. On tracks like ‘Bladed Terrain’ the contrasts are even more defined with buzzing drones and razor sharp drums plunging into a grainy fog, giving the track a dramatic 3D feel.

Then there are the stop-start pauses of ‘Leaving The Grid’, where the song evaporates into space before reemerging with shuddering rhythms and ghostly textures. Melodies crawl around these tracks as if they’re just waking up, as heard on the atmospheric ‘Angel In Ruin’.

The sleep-deprived fraying of the senses became Alan’s routine and one which he says gave him a renewed creative energy; half-asleep, working through the night, and then into the daytime super-focused but exhausted. Prone to audio hallucinations whilst writing the album, he aimed to capture these distortions in his perception of pitch and time, and you can hear these effects interpreted on tracks like ‘Endless’ and ‘Open Heart’ as melodies phase and slip out of time like an emotional Doppler effect.

This is also true of the soaring atonal synths at the peak of ‘Diamond Child’, which feel like the aural equivalent of eye floaters. These intuitive feelings and functions are a difficult thing to capture in sound, but Alan manages it beautifully and always makes the result feel warm and adventurous, heartfelt and epic.

In 1981, London-based E.G. Records released the debut album from a young Ghanaian group called Edikanfo. Edikanfo quickly rose to international notoriety following the release of “The Pace Setters” because of the infectious, forward-looking highlife meets afro-funk synthesis the band committed to tape. But the album also caught an additional wind of publicity due to its producer, the already legendary British musician and sound conceptualist Brian Eno. During that time, Eno was researching and openly propagating West African musics. He often mentioned his love of Fela Kuti and called his own rhythm-driven experiments the search for a “vision of a psychedelic Africa.” He had recently been collaborating with The Talking Heads on their Avant-funk masterpiece “Remain in Light” and with The Talking Heads frontman David Byrne on “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts,” an album which foretold the sort of cross-pollination and global music interconnectivity that today we take for granted. Eno and Edikanfo’s work together at Studio One in Accra (Ghana) was yet another inspired morphing of soundworlds and processes and a significant touchstone for both artists. As Brian Eno recently noted: “the actual recording sessions were joyful - the band played with such verve that you couldn't resist.”



But just when the sky seemed the limit for Edikanfo, the coup d’état in Ghana on the last day of 1981, tragically put the brakes on the band’s quickly developing fortunes. For years after that, the country endured enforced curfews at night, which of course ultimately gutted the live music scene in Accra and elsewhere. Because of this and other financial setbacks, the band ceased activity and its members spread out in exile, all over the world. It clearly seemed as though the story of Edikanfo, one of Ghana’s greatest bands of that era, had come to a premature end.



Now, almost four decades later, Edikanfo has returned. And with its surviving members gearing up to reissue and tour their classic 1981 album, “The Pace Setters,” the band is once again excitedly pointed towards the future.

The sickest French band, a trio called France, drums, bass and amplified hurdy-gurdy. They only performs live, in the middle of the audience - turned in to face each other - full on smoke machines and strobes. And they play only one ‘song’ for the duration of their hour-long set. And it’s the most transfixing live experience of intense physical and mental focus, and there is something of early rave too, the togetherness, the energy, the euphory. The distorted hurdy gurdy plugs France’s sound into the country’s history of folk music and popular festivities, of communal trance and immersive pleasure. The rhythmic basis is pretty much the same throughout the whole live. One doesn’t need to actually be tripping balls for the auditory illusions to start coming thick and fast. Those who’ve stayed for the whole duration of their performances know they’ve shared something. However disparate the phantom forms each might have discerned in the midst of the howls and groans. Gigs like this you leave feeling you’re not quite the same person who went in, even though you’d be hard-pressed to pinpoint precisely what has changed. Far Out Far West was the band’s first gig outside of their usual comfortable friendly circle and thus was perceived as a somewhat hostile environment. This was where they met the fellows of Les Potagers Nature who will later release France’s debut untitled album. One certainty remains at least, that there is still a France we can believe in. David McKenna (The Quietus). Sales Points: - New album from trio France - All previous releases now sold out and sought after - For fans of drone, rural trance, stoner, psychedelic - 131st release on Mental Groove Music, home of WRWTFWW

Open minded EP opening on a 145 BPM kicker, straight solid and heavy in da bass from Spered... Then comes Ludien with his mental light speed kicks hiding a secret little melodies full of beauty and nostagly... The flip opens with Ito and a solid mental crucher, loud basses and hypnotic hardcore kick. Kebrat finally comes with a broken 165 BPM hardtek tune. Hardfloor loudness ! Fat ! With anonymous style.

Echocord welcomes the return of STL this May with the ‘Take Off Music’ EP, comprised of three murky, dubbed out cuts from the acclaimed German producer. Stephan Laubner, better known as STL has long been one of the most respected producers in the underground electronic music scene. Racking up releases on the likes of Smallville, Perlon, Echospace Detroit, his own Something and of course Echocord where he returns here. ‘Fluxxy’ leads on the package, embracing STL’s signature style via, dusty analogue drums, choppy dub stabs, penetrating low end flutters and airy atmospherics before ‘Dub Plus’ lays focus on a stripped-back, perfectly balanced drum groove, hazy field recordings and bubbling chord delays and bell chime synths. ‘Magic Thing’ then rounds out the release, fusing fm synth melodies and gritty bass stab sequences with thunderous subs and Laubner’s robust rhythmic style. Once again STL delivers a touch of class with a contemporary Dub Techno style for Echocord.

Part I (Disc 1)

The Taiwanese artist Yutie Lee covers six Chinese folk songs about Flowers.
Tuberosa, Rose, Jasmine, Plum Blossom, Orchids & Chamomile all are odes to the beauty of the plant. The flower also being a metaphor for something we are desperately longing for, but can never quite get. However you may want to interpret the songs, they are all telling a story of something pure and indestructible. In the end nature will prevail?
Romantic thoughts created in a time long before the current state of the world.
By artificially mutating her voice, Yutie Lee successfully manages to transfer the songs into 2020s arguably much more complex, dystopian reality. She does this not without a bow to the past, prevailing something of the original songs sweet essence, even adding a layer of humour… in the end leaving the listener with a feeling of good hope.

Part II (Disc 2-3)

To complete the package Yutie Lee’s versions have been remixed by, Alva Noto, Bell Towers, Laura Groves, Oceanic and Suzanne Kraft.

Who put the dance into Factory Records?”

Be With would like to refer you to FAC 59.

Working with founding member Tony Henry, we’re honoured to present the reissue of 52nd Street’s crucial debut single “Look Into My Eyes”, backed with “Express”. Originally released on Factory Records in Summer 1982, this ultra-rare 12" is a double-sider in the truest sense. Unrivalled Manchester jazz-funk-boogie-soul.

Both “Look Into My Eyes” and “Express” came out of a five day recording session in the spring of 1982 at Revolution Studios in Cheadle Hulme, just outside Manchester. Rob Gretton had just signed the band to Factory, snatching them from under the noses of RCA and WEA Records who had been sniffing around and seemingly ignoring Tony Wilson’s concerns that Factory might not be the right home for a black soul act. Rob clearly thought different.

The band of Tony Henry on guitar and vocals, bass player Derek Johnson, drummer Tony Thompson, lead vocalist Beverley McDonald and John Dennison on keyboards were put in the studio with A Certain Ratio’s drummer Donald Johnson producing the sessions. The band also found themselves with an interesting new member.

The back cover of the finished record credits synth F/X to a mysterious “Be Music”. Turns out that’s Bernard Sumner. Yes, that one. Tony Henry explains that bringing Bernard in was another part of Rob Gretton’s plan, “Barney was a real soul boy at heart and had always wanted to produce and work with black artists… with 52nd Street, he was an honorary member”. The results suggest he fit right in.

“Look Into My Eyes” squeezes so much aural pleasure into one side of a 12" single. A strutting, rich, soul-gliding funk with bass and guitar high in the mix above twisted, bubbling synths. Like Nile and Barney drenched outside the Haçienda that first summer. How can something be this liquid loose whilst sounding so, so tight? The hypnotic, naïve-cum-insouciant vocals from McDonald, backed by her fellas, only add to the track’s charm. Put simply, it sounds like nothing else.

On the flip, “Express” is sheer drama on wax. Tony’s opening lesson in good manners (“Excuse me miss, is this seat taken?”) sees us strapped in for a wild, chaotic, rhythmic ride. All bold keys, synth brass blasts, insistent bells and a galloping groove giving *that rush* atop a bassline to die for. No surprise it was a Frankie Knuckles favourite. Blistering heat.

The 12" was Paul Morley’s single of the week in the NME but his approval did little to get daytime radio play or to sell the record when it was released. It probably didn’t help that, in Tony Henry’s words, Factory were a label “notorious for not promoting their bands, not wanting any communications with the written press and not answering their office phones.” It came and went with none of the fuss that music this good deserved.

But in the near-40 years since they were released, these two tracks have gone on to become cult underground hits for those in the know. Of course that means those original 12"s have gotten rare and pricey. So here’s your chance to own this particular piece of post punk Factory Records funk.

But this record isn’t just a vital slice of Manchester soul history. Tony’s not shy about just how important he thinks the collaboration between 52nd Street and Bernard Sumner was: “this worked out quite well for us in the band but even better for New Order and Factory Records as Sumner studied grooves, rhythms and how to write and construct funk and dance music from 52nd Street and producer Donald Johnson”. You just have to listen to Blue Monday to hear what Bernard did when he started putting what he’d learnt into practice.

“Look Into My Eyes” and “Express” come from a chapter of the history of Factory Records that no-one seems to have gotten around to writing. Working with Tony to reissue the original 12" is the start of putting that right. The story of 52nd Street is more than just a footnote.

UPSIDE DOWN SMILE WAS RECORDED AND PRODUCED BY EWA JUSTKA AND BY SELF-DESIGNED, SELF-MADE, SELFSELFSELF, ODD LOOKING SLIGHTLY DYSFUNCTIONAL SYNTHESISERS AND BY A TRANCE PURPLE KILLER ROLAND JP8080 AND BY HIS BROTHER VIRUS AND SOME OTHER ROLAND BROTHERS NO SISTERS INCLUDED DURING THE TIME WHEN EWA JUSTKA WHO CURRENTLY LIVES IN GLASGOW, GOVANHILL, ALLISON STREET, WHERE RECENTLY HER PASSPORT WAS STOLEN DUE TO THE BURGLARY, WHERE SHE LIVES IN JOY, ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES THE FLOOR GETS WET DUE TO THE LEAKING WINDOWS AND SOMETIMES ONE CAN FIND DEAD PIGEONS LAYING ON THE STAIRCASE BUT IT'S NICE AND COSY AND EWA JUSTKA HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL PERSON IN THE DEEP DARK TRANSISTOR LADDER CIRCUITS LIVES SINCE SHE IS STUDYING PHD AT EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART WHERE SHE THINKS A LOT ABOUT IMITATION IN SYNTHESISER DESIGN AND FILTERS AND VCOS AND FORMANTS AND ACID AND HARDCORE MUSIC AND TWIN T FILTERS AND OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS AND SHE TURNS KNOBS AND THINKS AND THE UPSIDE DOWN SMILE ALBUM WAS MADE IN THE DEPTH OF THOSE THOUGHTS QUITE OFTEN SAD THOUGHTS UPSIDE DOWN SMILE IS A BIT OF A CYNICAL SMILE BUT AN HONEST SMILE CYNICAL BUT HONEST UPSIDE DOWN SMILE IS A SMILE THROUGH TEARS BUT TEARS OF JOY SCOTTISH JOY UPSIDE DOWN SMILE IS UPSIDE DOWN ACID ONE COULD SAY UPSIDE DOWN SMILE COULD BE INTERPRETED AS A SAD SMILE BUT IT IS A SMILE IN THE END OF THE DAY

Epic link-up between two of the top live techno and house performers working today. After playing a few rare sessions with Juju & Jordash at Dekmantel Festival 2018 and Pittsbugh, Shawn Rudiman and Jordan GCZ spent a few days in Amsterdam laying the foundations for this collection of music. The tracks were transported to the Synthdrome in Pittsburgh and completed with love and craftsmanship. Spanning the gamut of electro, house, dub techno, and future jazz there is something for everyone. Enjoy this rare convergence of the creative energy of two masters.

We’ve worked with Ian Willson to reissue his insanely good, self-released West Coast classic “Straight From The Heart”. Privately pressed and originally released in 1985, this is the only album Ian ever put out. A magical blend of AOR/sophisticated funk/synth-boogie/spiritual jazz and modern soul, it’s a spellbinding record of many colours.

You might already know “Straight From The Heart” for the dubby-disco paranoid-balearic anthem “Four In The Morning”, and it’s easy to assume this is probably just another one of those one-track LPs. But trust us when we say it’s definitely not. This is an impressively slick record from start to finish, just ask those modern soul DJs and AOR collectors who’ve managed to find a rare copy in the last 35 years. It could’ve (should’ve?) been number 1 all over the world back in 1985.

Album opener “Think About It” is all sorts of right. It’s emotional. It’s tops-off. It’s funk in its purest form. And take the proto-modern-funk of the title track (half Dâm-Funk / half Dâd-Funk).

The shimmering, spiritual Bossa-Jazz of “If I Were You” serves as the album’s soaring centrepiece. A gorgeous suite of Cosmic vibes to get Gilles frothing, it sounds like nothing else on the record which makes sense given that it was recorded a couple of years earlier, and is the only track on the LP that wasn’t recorded in Ian’s own studio.

Side B opens with the propulsive ode to love that is “Two Is Better Than One”. Wonderfully sparse when it needs to be, it’s also richly percussive and that special kind of California-warm. Frenetic, speaker smashing synth and horn workout “Funk Invasion” dares you not to dance and “A Game Called Love” is heavily indebted to Prince with its lush, deep funk stylings. The sweeping sax-drenched instrumental “Song For Katelyn” is head-nod, beat-heavy AOR for that melancholic magic hour we spend our days longing for. It all adds up to the ultimate BBQ record.

Almost all of “Straight From The Heart” was recorded over a few months between 1983 and 1984 on Ian’s brand new Otari 8 track in the Oakland, California studio he built just the year before. Only “If I Were You” was recorded elsewhere, at Bay Sound in 1982.

A “full time poor musician” at the time (and he says he still is), Ian produced the album himself and played all of the instruments, except for guitar. That’s Peter Fujii you can hear, his good friend from growing up together.

Tower Of Power, Average White Band, Earth Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder was the list of influences Ian gave us when we asked. No wonder the record’s just so easy on the ears.

And why did he put the record out himself? Simple, he had no idea how to go about getting a record deal.

When we first got in touch with Ian he had no idea that “Straight From The Heart” had become something of a cult record, let alone that there were those of us out there that thought the album deserved to be pressed again. The original tapes have long since been lost so this re-issue was only made possible by remastering Ian’s one and only pristine copy of the finished LP.

The end results have been worth the work, including reproducing the original’s unmistakeable sleeve. Ian Willson’s “Straight From The Heart” is yet another Be With release that will find an easy home on the shelves of those of you who up to now have only dreamt of finding a copy and also those of you who who never knew it even existed.

Pitto is not one to flood the scene with new music considering he’s only released two ep’s in the last three years. He takes the time to let ideas evolve and it’s clearly noticeable on last year’s EP on ‘Something Happening Somewhere’ sublabel ‘Ooshaa’, where his feel for an almost poppy hook is perfectly combined with his love for darker electronics. On the ‘Baila baila EP’ –his return to Heist after his last ep in 2018- he explores this path further. The EP is filled with live percussion, a dark and rolling acid line, chopped beats and catchy piano riffs. The three originals are accompanied by a remix courtesy of Pete Herbert that has ‘summer’ written all over it.

Opening track ‘Sammie’ has a beautiful sense of melancholy to it, where an emotional piano riff is combined with some 80’s tinged vocals and loads of live percussive elements for a smile inducing experience.

‘Discko’ takes a darker approach with a deep and ‘dubby’ low end and a guitar riff that wouldn’t be out of place on a Caribou track. The horn section and synth lead give it a real crossover appeal and it’s the kind of track you imagine working just as well on a summer festival as in a dark basement.

On the flip, there’s the title track ‘Baila’, a proto inspired acid stomper with a nice wink to early 90’s dance music vocals. An acid line gives the track its backbone, but it’s the combination of Pitto’s chords and instrumentation that give this track it’s unique edge.

The EP finishes off with Pete Herbert’s remix of ‘Sammie’. Pete’s version has that full-on summer appeal with his recognizable style of modern day island disco. He adds a bit of drama to the track with some big breakdowns, changeovers in the piano riff and turns the Balearic vibe up a notch with an added dreamy solo.

We’re happy to have Pitto back on Heist and this unique and diverse EP is one we hope will create a lot of smiles on the dance floor in the coming months.

Yours Sincerely,
Lars & Maarten

Something is stirring in downtown Tucson. That's no great surprise perhaps: Calexico have been sending out missives from the desert for 20 years now, Giant Sand for even longer than that, and the Green on Red revival is surely overdue. Let us remind ourselves that this isn't a big city in the American sense, but that its hinterland is indeed as big as it gets. For an hour south, Mexico starts. And this is where things get interesting.

Born in Nogales, Arizona, raised in Nogales, Sonora, multi-instrumentalist and band-leader Sergio Mendoza grew up listening to the Mexican regional styles jostling for headspace in a young, music-mad mind - cumbia mainly, but mambo, rancheras and mariachi too. The border is always a fierce arena of exchange, both commercial and cultural, and so there was American music too. At one point 'rock and roll, the classics', as Mendoza himself deadpans, seemed to win out and he stopped playing those 'Latin styles' for a good decade and a half.

The return to those sounds was a strong one in 2012's Mambo Mexicano, co-produced by Mendoza and Joey Burns of Calexico - a band for which Mendoza has become an increasingly integral touring and recording member. While that record had a studied air, tentative in parts (as befits the renewal of an old love affair), ¡Vamos A Guarachar! is another beast entirely: by turns raucous ('Cumbia Volcadora', featuring Mexican electronic pioneer Camilo Lara), tender ('Misterio', surely Salvador Duran's finest moment with the band so far) and plain serious fun, as in 'Contra La Marea' and 'Mapache', it also bears a robust electronic edge, a keen pop sensibility and all the hallmarks of Mendoza's love of 60s rock, with the closing track, 'Shadows of the Mind', sure to be included if anyone decides to update the Nuggets collection for the 21st century. This is roundabout way of saying that it appears to have everything, but never too much of anything. Focused, fierce and beautifully executed by a superbly drilled set of musicians, it is a record that fully matches the band's explosive live performances.

You could, of course, take the trip to Tucson yourself, to the home of this essential set of field recordings. The scene hangs out together, so ... if the stars align and their frantic tour schedules permit, you might see any number of folks from Calexico, Giant Sand or up-and-coming cumbia rockers Xixa deep in conversation somewhere in town with a quiet young man in black. That's Sergio. Right now, in this endless game of Tucson tag, Orkesta Mendoza are IT.

Eglo Records are proud to present Fatima's highly anticipated debut album 'Yellow Memories'.

Featuring production work from the likes of Floating Points, Theo Parrish, Oh No, Scoop DeVille, Computer Jay, Knxwledge and more... the velvet toned Swede has truly crafted something special.

Offering a modern take on classic Soul and RnB, the album strikes a beautiful balance of cutting edge, contemporary production, soulful expression, melancholic introspection and vibrant, candy coated melody. An accomplished singer /song-writer with a stunning range, her prowess and versatility are a force not to be reckoned with. As powerful and mesmerising on stage as she is in the studio, Fatima possesses a talent heard all to rarely in todays musical climate.

Parisian cinema composer Jean-Gabriel Becker is best known for idiosyncratic soundscapes, has worked alongside Massive Attack on acclaimed film soundtracks and recorded with John Foxx. Susumu Mukai, originally from Osaka, Japan, is one of London’s most sought after musicians, whose list of collaborators includes Floating Points, Vanishing Twin, Alexis Taylor and Fimber Bravo.

Together they’ve created fresh new music that floats effortlessly above traditional genre delineation, with a dubbed-out and experimental melange of modern acid house, post punk, global grooves and clattering beats. Still not complying to genres,’TimeVery Near’ is their tentacular new album, which gathers sounds and inspiration from an ever-expanding palette of influences, assembled into something amorphously intangible that’s simultaneously refreshing and sharp, meandering and cosmic, futuristic but timelessly vintage.

We instantly fell in love with Razen the first time we saw them live in September 2018. It was during a unique Sunday morning mass at the Friedenskirche (which translates literally to mean ‘the church of peace’), as part of the Meakusma Festival. Slightly sleep deprived and still euphorically intoxicated from the night before, their performance in front of a full mass of devotees had a biblical aura to it from the first note they played. They delivered a stunning set which was somehow, paradoxically, both relaxing and formidably tense.

Two years later and the group are now bringing their talent for restraint and slow tension-building to the fore on “Robot Brujo”. Each of the six improvisations on this double LP is made up of the barest of materials, with the three musicians relying on a limited combination of tones. They lay their focus on small variations in timbre, timing, articulation and vibration, which creates a narrowing of consciousness, and feels something a bit like staring meditatively at the minute changes of leaves blowing in the wind.

Recorded over two sessions, in what Razen themselves refer to as their detached playing style, "Robot Brujo" stands as an auditory magnifying glass of concentration, in all its uncanny and minimal glory.

It is yet another new step up from the deep listening ensemble from Brussels, after 10 years exploring music together.

It is a cliché to describe music as a trip or an ocean or whatever, so this album, Tecwaa’s album “Beyond the Altai” released on Höga Nord Rekords, will in part be described as a snowman: the snowman has its characteristic familiar shape. He is cold yet there is something warm and cuddly about him, something that makes you feel happy and safe.

The A side on the album goes from that warm/cold cosy feeling but elements of destruction like melodies in minor keys slowly transforms the album to become only cold and not so cosy - the snow turns grey and the snowman’s smiling mouth becomes a twisted grin. Its contours disappears and the shape dissolves as the snow melts and floats out on the ground beneath its body. As the album develops, the sound gets harder and darker and the York based DJ moves closer to his roots in electro and Roland-machine knob-turning.

In some ways, “Beyond the Altai” is a call from the eighties and nineties dancefloors like in the tracks “Back To The Atomic Ether” and “10 Swords” on the B-side but all melts together in Tecwaa’s music to create his own obstinate and loose sound!

You learned that there are genres. Everything separated into categories with their own canon and rules: Major, minor, 4/4, 6/8, highs, lows, high head, butt end. Techno here, Disco there. You learned that art and music are two different things. Visually auditory, audio-visual, optically acoustic, not to mention the surface feel. Listen to me, look at me, touch me. But everything in that order please! You have learned that understanding takes you further. Night / life, rhythm / dancing, substance / excess, water / holding out, sleep / rest, headache / not good. But what would it be if all of that wasn't just right? If all of our knowledge is based on the mistake of having to put everything in relation? To classify it, to make it responsive. What do we do with something that doesn't follow the rules of this logic? That is not based on 0 and 1 and therefore not bound to our binary systems? Is this all at once? After all, what if the whole thing has no limits?

Jens-Uwe Beyer recently released the Yellow Book with Albert Oehlen on Gagosian and on his own label Magazine. He also runs PNN and Schalen. His 4th album „Horizons“ as Popnoname is the very first long player to be released on Cologne based label Feines Tier.

Nina Simone was an exceptional artist. She was gifted with a precocious talent and she played music at home and in church. Nina originally counted on becoming the first black female classical pianist ; her plans were thwarted and that frustration no doubt permeated almost her entire career. Yet she became a diva capable of combining the jazz world with those of the classics and soul, and among other titles she recorded are some of the most vibrant and moving performances of Wild is the Wind or You Can Have Him, I don’t Want Him.

She was one of the greatest artists of her time, and her fervour and rigorous demands concerning the quality of her music took her to the highest summits, whether in her compositions or in her vocal and piano performances. For all that, she never forgot her condition as a black woman in the America of the Sixties, and her active commitment to defending the rights of the black minority was exemplary - and at times even excessive, for which she was often reproached.

She has left us some of the most beautiful chapters in jazz and soul music, among them the 23 titles that appear in this album.

LIMITED EDITION 300 ONLY WHITE VINYL

There was a terrible egregious shift in vibration the day the transmission arrived. It came to me in a dream, as was natural for these particular occurrences, and left no time for preparation. The sound was unmistakable, a low baritone that echoed wildly and reeked of ancient fumes. A deeply monumental and monolithic apparition stood before what appeared to be a crowd of hexagonal beings. The vibrations worked through them in an apparent communicatory way, though would be impossible to translate in any logical linguistic fashion. I don’t know how but I knew they were aware of me, though their disposition was imminent of their consciousness as being collective, rather than individual; and were largely unbothered by my presence.
 
Once the transmission had finished it was clear that there had been a tamper. The kind of which Id seen  before, and had resulted in definite yet undefinable change in the fabric of reality.
 
I initially stumbled upon the odd and highly dangerous musical practices of Perhaps while on an assignment in Bermuda. There had been rumors of a local tribesman partaking in occult practices, of which I knew was native strictly to the Goat Bleeding Bad Men of the Congolese jungle. These rumors intrigued my journalistic nature, so I took the afternoon off in the hopes to possibly glean something that would be an easy pitch to a tabloid back home.
 
Upon arrival it was clear there was a strange foreign intervention within the community of the tribe, which was largely uninhabited upon first glance. Much of the surrounding foliage had been strung with the entrails of various animals and there were several disturbing fixtures composed of bones and various organs lining the commune. I managed to track down the tribesman, who appeared to be in some deep trance and was entirely unable to communicate, though seemed to be fixated on a single task: the drawing of a peculiar symbol. My researching the symbol resulted in only one hit, a piece of musical literature by a band Perhaps, who I later found to be recording in the area just weeks before.
 
It didn’t take long for me to become fully fixated on Perhaps, who were anything but coy about their whereabouts and metaphysical practices. Wherever they went a small commune followed, which was typically composed of deranged acid freaks, occultists, and Norweigian dairy farmers who had sold all their assets to follow the band after “hearing their music speak from the mountains”. After managing to crack into one of their camps that was stationed in an abandoned motel, I spoke with Jim Haney of Perhaps regarding their cultish practices, who gave little in way of detail but claimed to be working towards a deconstruction of reality through a linguistic utilization of vibration.
 
My stint with the cosmic beings through the telekinetic transmission had lead to one conclusion; that Perhaps have been in the works on something new. It seems as if they may have landed on the result which Haney had mentioned years ago. Through my continued interest I’ve procured the names of other members of this current project, which include: Sean Mcdermott, Tom Weeks, Ricky Petraglia, David Khoshtinat, Ben Talmi, Makoto Kawabata, Lucas Brode, Isiah Mitchell, Olivia Kieffer, Tyler Skoglund, Chang Chang. Though I can’t say exactly what is to come, it seems as if the ideas that were proposed during my initial meet may have been surpassed. Perhaps’ plans have begun to surface, and we are all at risk, for whatever that means. The great column and the vibrational prismic beings have shifted their attention to earthly matters, it would be foolhardy to not heed their warning. Though, self-preservation may be an impossibility.
 
Sam Hailstone Dec 24/ 2019

The Allergies are back with a new single A-side, 'Felony' – A storming soul-sensation, dripping with bittersweet emotion and driving, late-night grooves. It marks a return to that classic Allergies sound, full of dusty sampled beats, toughened up with punchy drums and re-worked lyrical loops. A dancefloor sure shot.

On the flip is Rile 'Em Up', a Latin funk bomb that showcases something of a new chapter for The Allergies. As the new album will testify, the duo have swelled their ranks to take in a full touring band, bringing in rapper Andy Cooper, soul diva Marietta Smith, and sax don Mr. Woodnote.

'Rile 'Em Up' represents some of that new live intensity, with its infectious boogaloo samples, party-starting chorus, and club-friendly breakdowns. It's sunshine in a single. And if it's a clue at the new direction The Allergies are taking us in, we like it.

On the flip is Rile 'Em Up', a Latin funk bomb that showcases something of a new chapter for The Allergies. As the new album will testify, the duo have swelled their ranks to take in a full touring band, bringing in rapper Andy Cooper, soul diva Marietta Smith, and sax don Mr. Woodnote.

'Rile 'Em Up' represents some of that new live intensity, with its infectious boogaloo samples, party-starting chorus, and club-friendly breakdowns. It's sunshine in a single. And if it's a clue at the new direction The Allergies are taking us in, we like it!

Hot on the heels of its debut release, Montreal’s Chambre Noire is back with its second record: an EP by Québecois artist Vromb, a veteran producer around since the mid-90s, known in particular for his releases on Ant-Zen. Over the course of five tracks on vinyl (six in the digital version), the artist’s sounds seem to take on physical shapes, like living origami: constantly mutating as they open, close and transform into something else. With attention to movement and boundary-challenging textures, this EP is ready to ensnare listeners in a variety of contexts, from club environments to more contemplative environments.

Unreleased album from 1981, a collaborative project by David Behrman, Paul DeMarinis, Fern Friedman, Terri Hanlon and Anne Klingensmith recorded at Mills College in 1981.

Previously known only to cognoscenti through an obscure self-released three-track 7”, this is the first publication of the complete album, an outrageous confection that mixes art-song and theatrical monologue with live electronics. Starting life as a performance art piece described by the artists as ‘Western Performance Noir’, the record centres on a series of texts written by Friedman and Hanlon in which female narrators comically embody a series of iconic roles (The Recording Artist, The Former Movie Star, and The Rancher). Other lyrical themes include recurring references to the notorious cannibal pioneers, the Donner Party, an ironic take on Japanophilia, and the luscious “Archetypal Unitized Seminar,” a satirical poke at self-help culture, whose lyrics are rendered in Indian raga style to the accompaniment of electronic glissandi and toy noisemakers. Delivered by Friedman, Hanlon, Klingensmith and special guest Maggi Payne in forms ranging from spoken monologue to Country & Western waltz, the texts are accompanied by instrumental and electronic contributions by Behrman and DeMarinis. Musically, She’s More Wild is truly unique, demonstrating these two pioneers of live-electronic performance adapting their signature processes to something approaching a ‘pop’ format: we hear the gliding, frequency-sensitive electronics familiar from Behrman’s classic On the Other Ocean and the mutant hacked Speak n’ Spell heard on DeMarinis’ Songs Without Throats propelled by drum machines and twisted into song forms. Perhaps comparable only to the David Rosenboom and Jacqueline Humbert’s contemporaneous Daytime Viewing in its interweaving of performance art tactics, high-tech electronics and pop sensibilities, She’s More Wild is an essential document, both immediately gratifying and ultimately thought provoking.

A new sublabel of the longstanding Canadian electro imprint Suction Records, Ice Machine — focusing on old-school wave/post-punk sounds — launches on Valentines Day 2020 with two fresh Canadian synth-pop LPs on vinyl. Along side a reissue of Ceramic Hello’s cult 1981 minimal synth classic “The Absence Of A Canary,” comes this, the self-titled debut LP from a new Toronto-based duo, Analytica.

Analytica is comprised of David Lush, who’s released several killer solo tapes under the name Memorex, and Gabe Knox, who made a big splash last year with his awesome instrumental synth/kraut solo LP “ABC” on acclaimed UK label Polytechnic Youth.

Analytica make synth-pop the old-fashioned way: driving, verse/chorus pop songs utilizing hardware synthesizers and drum machines, vocals and bass guitar, and recorded to tape. The comparisons to early-Depeche Mode (there’s even a cover of “Reason Man” — an unreleased, Vince Clarke-penned, Depeche song that was part of their earliest live sets), and prime-era New Order (right down to the Oberheim DMX percussion and Peter Hook-style bass guitar) are inevitable, but rarely are these sounds executed with such style and conviction. According to the band, lyrically Analytica “explore facets of the dark age ahead — the propaganda, the nationalism, the environmental disaster in front of our faces - while attempting to offer something of a defence against a nihilistic response to these fears. It's at once a call to arms and a recognition that we're entirely fucked.”

The LP contains 11 songs, and is housed in a stunning reverse-board jacket, and is limited to 500 copies.

To coincide with the announcement, the pair have shared a video for the album’s title track directed by Sam Davis and Tom Andrew, who has previously received two UK Music Video Awards nominations for his work with Avery. Speaking about the video, Andrew explains, “We were keen to capture a visual representation of the tempo and atmospheric emotion of the track and make a video exploring the notion of collaboration. A super-motion approach allowed us to explore details of motion shared between two people, in tactile actions of aiding and supporting.” Cortini adds, “The video embodies the volatility and hidden nature of the music’s subject and meaning. A meaning that is ultimately personal and unique the listener/spectator.” Watch the clip .



Beginning as a collaborative experiment before the pair had even met, Avery and Cortini then worked remotely and free of concept or deadline over several years. The result, finally completed when both artists were touring with Nine Inch Nails in 2018, is a quietly powerful album rooted in trust, process and experimentation. The first fruits of their labour were unveiled last year when ‘Water’ and ‘Sun’ appeared online, subsequently released as a very limited 7” run that was sold at FYF Festival and Mount Analog in Los Angeles, and Phonica Records in London. Both tracks are included on the album.



“It was very much a shared process”, notes Avery. “I would like to credit Alessandro with his belief that music has a life of its own, as well as the importance he places on the first take... That even something that may be considered out-of-step by some should be respected. Some of the tracks were borne simply out of a tiny synth part, or a bit of tape hiss that we had recorded. And that approach taught me a lot. It’s a record that’s been worked on hard, but not laboured over.”



“I was a big fan of Daniel’s, and his work always spoke to me in a certain way,’’ explains Cortini. “Then, when we started working together, it just clicked. It’s very hard to explain, but I can always hear the love in his work, and that is true on this record. After our first collaboration, we just kept sending each other music and maintaining that dialogue. Next thing you know, we’re sitting in a hotel room in New York and had finished the record in three hours.”



The collaborative album follows Avery’s second record Song For Alpha, released in early 2018, and last year’s expanded edition B-sides & Remixes. Mixmag called the sophomore LP “A beautiful maturation of Avery’s work as a producer,” while The Guardian hailed its “Majestic, cavernous techno” and Loud & Quiet praised Avery as “A producer fast approaching the peak of his powers,” “This album cements Daniel Avery as one of the best,” wrote DIY. The London-based producer will perform at BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified Live on April 3rd, a new series of concerts in the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall presented by Unclassified host and presenter Elizabeth Alker and conducted by André de Ridder – tickets are available here. Avery has also just been announced in the first wave of acts for London festivals Re-Textured and the inaugural Wide Awake, taking place in April and June respectively.



Cortini released his most recent solo album Volume Massimo on Mute in July 2019, following Fine, the Italian artist’s final album under his SONOIO alias, which came out the previous year. The Quietus called the former “an album that showcases just how much Cortini‘s aesthetic has developed since his early days,” while Exclaim! hailed it “a melodic exploration of textures and layers … an instrumental masterpiece that adds to an already incredible body of work by the gifted and skilled composer.”

Limited edition vinyl imprint Absence Seizure established in 2015, focusing on late-night grooves and bass. Matuss’ 13th release on the label Seizure No.13 EP comes at full-force with its melodic deep house ready for the dance floor or the afters.

The first track on the EP is ‘Continuum’, combining an ambient sensibility with deep house energy, an epic slow-burner which morphs into something quite spectacular as the groove moves on. Next, we have the hypnotic ‘Mer De Soleil’, carried along a melodic bass and a snipped vocal pattern which carry a weightless feel ready for dancing.

The addictive and emotive ‘Solicitors Are Welcome’ employs twinkly synths with a house beat, and features a dreamy vocal from Sophie Buskin. A real end-of-the-night track, its given a re-working from Silent Surrender, sending percussion rushes and an expert manipulation of the vocal work to form an intoxicating listen.

Matuss has shown once again her expert crafting of deep, dance floor rhythms with Seizure No.13.

The Hong Kong based Homesick team are back with their yearly release of quality reworks that has made the label sought after since their first release back in 2014.
For the 8th opus they're going back to their Disco roots and have worked with Cocktail D'Amore regular "Trent" for four edits that have been thoroughly tried on Asia's dance floors for the past two years.

Spencer Clark is back with a futuristic eco-friendly record. It’s life on earth as you never heard it.

The story goes like this: Spencer wanted to do a soundtrack for the yet to be made “Avatar 2”. And if you know Spencer’s work, you’ll know that he engaged on this mission reading material that influenced the rich and crazy imaginary world of “Avatar”. If you think about it a little bit, something like “Avatar” could have really come out from the mind of Spencer Clark.

But it didn’t. So, he dwelled around the idea of that soundtrack, working on what is now known as “Avatar Blue”. The record we now release is a selection he made from the 2CD released last year on his own Pacific City Sound Visions.*

Like many of Spencer’s other alias or incarnations, Star Searchers introduces the listener to a new world. Besides making sounds/soundtracks for alternative realities he cares about making a world for his music to live in. It’s never superficial or dedicated just to the act of imagination, Spencer creates sounds that sustain the reality he imagined. That’s why they’re so rich and consequential in the realization of music as a medium.

“Avatar Blue” is music but also literature. And cinema. Star Searchers’ sound creates an absorbent sound about what’s happening in aquatic life. It goes beyond the perception of what we’ve seen or what we’ve known, it’s a neo-future aquatic life, with a world building structure and sounds and narratives that go along with it.

All done with a sound-aesthetics that could be described as slowed-down-trance, that fits 1980s synth nostalgia and dreams of sci-fi to come.
*Note: The 2CD version is available as a digital download with a purchase of the album on selected stores.

Max Essa completes a trio of terrific releases on Hell Yeah with The Great Adventure EP. It's packed with more grown up dance floor dynamite and later in the year will be collected together with the first two parts to make for a full album.

By now you will know that Essa is part of the UK's Balearic mafia. He's served up big tunes on Is It Balearic?, Aficionado, Music For Dreams, and his music always acts as a sonic raft that floats you out to sea and leaves you bobbing up and down in a state of pure bliss.

Opener 'Tombolo' starts as acoustic music and the sound of a muffled crowd but soon awakens into an uptempo affair littered with toms, guitar licks and claps that are driven by bumping drums. There are elements of old school, Italo and classic house but somehow it feels completely new and fresh as it takes you ever higher.

'The Great Adventure' is masterfully sun kissed disco with crisp 80s drums, love struck chords and a yacht rock feel that is pure joy, something like topless dancing with sand between your toes and umbrellas in your cocktails.

Closer 'Fool in the Pool' sinks into gentle tabla drums and unhurried chords. It's horizontal and thoughtful - the sound of a lazy afternoon somewhere on the Mediterranean coast, gazing at glistening seas through the romantic lens flare in your sunglasses.

This EP is already great feedback from the DJ dons who have been giving it early plays, so act now to snap up your first summer sounds of 2020.

Pressed on Vinyl for the first time ‘Hi- Fi Serious’ was the third album from ‘A’ released in 2002. It includes their hit single, "Nothing", which became the band's first and only top ten hit when it reached number 9 in the UK singles chart. "Nothing" was followed by top 20 hit "Starbucks", named after the coffee chain.
The tour following Hi-Fi Serious saw the band headlining the 5,000 capacity Brixton Academy as part of their Inner-City Sumo Tour. At the end of the year they won the Kerrang! award for Best British Band.In 2004, their single "Nothing" appeared on Beyblade's Let It Rip! official soundtrack. In 2007, "Something's Going On" and "The Distance" appeared on the Surf's Up video game soundtrack.

Red Vinyl LTD

Pressed on Vinyl for the first time ‘Hi- Fi Serious’ was the third album from ‘A’ released in 2002. It includes their hit single, "Nothing", which became the band's first and only top ten hit when it reached number 9 in the UK singles chart. "Nothing" was followed by top 20 hit "Starbucks", named after the coffee chain.
The tour following Hi-Fi Serious saw the band headlining the 5,000 capacity Brixton Academy as part of their Inner-City Sumo Tour. At the end of the year they won the Kerrang! award for Best British Band.In 2004, their single "Nothing" appeared on Beyblade's Let It Rip! official soundtrack. In 2007, "Something's Going On" and "The Distance" appeared on the Surf's Up video game soundtrack.

Deliberately breaking all the rules Mr. Hornby once famously outlined regarding the creation of homemade (tape) compilations, Saroos’ members indeed had the term “mixtape” on their minds while working on their latest full-length – albeit in the hip-hop sense: a sonic snack box, interconnected shots from the hip, something that just came together and immediately felt right.

Whereas hip-hop folks nowadays often use the vacuous term “project” in order to steer clear of the ontological debate caused by the almost synonymous use of album/mixtape, Florian Zimmer, Christoph Brandner, and Max Punktezahl, otherwise busy with The Notwist, Driftmachine & Lali Puna, stick to the classics: their new 16-track project “OLU” (Off Label Use) is, officially, still an album. But it’s wild and vibrant like a mixtape, interwoven like its cover: a seamless burst of ideas, impulsively combined to form a split-screen snapshot of recent moments and momentums.

Re-appropriating the term “Off Label Use” – which actually means: using prescription drugs in ways that aren’t mentioned on the instruction leaflet – in their own “off-label” way, Saroos never sounded more loose-limbed and elastic. Whereas the trio’s earlier releases were rather conceptual and homogenous, “OLU” indeed has a more loose, spur-of-the-moment feel, a spontaneous force at its core. Checking the weighty sci-fi inspirations at the door, they use that Bomb Shelter-type of freedom to reinvent themselves at every turn, chasing sounds that happened to emerge in the group’s triangular energy field.

Kicking it off “with a killer, to grab attention” (Hornby/Cusack, after all), the massive reverb-stumblin’ adjustment between beats and bass of opening track “Quarantaine” cross-fades smoothly into “Humdrum Rolloff,” an early hint at the group’s off-label practices: the underwater creepers floating around here were really voices (mostly). From majestically built oriental sound-pieces (“Looney Suite Serenade”), synth-based “End House Mario” and a triptych of speaker-boxxxing gas lamp experimentations entitled “Cord Burn 1-3,” Saroos have rarely sounded this playful and unrestricted: there’s a new energy at work that welds all the different sonic playing fields together to create one continuous 40 minute mix.

For the B-side descent, “Tatsu Jam,” at less than 4 minutes still the longest cut, billows over the kind of sizzling hi-hats you’d expect to hear on real trap tapes from Hotlanta. A prelude to a bunch of quicker-paced instrumentals (“Scratch Pets”, “24h Love Gumbo”) and ambient sun showers, until the next “Plateau” (Mo’Wax vibes!) brings the beats to the fore once again (“Tomorrow’s Kudos”), and the ultimate “Whirligig” sounds like a mix of Oktoberfest 2020 and Johnston’s “Casper The Friendly Ghost” coming apart at the seams.
Whatever you wanna call it – album, LP, mixtape, project, who cares? –, it’s definitely a double A-side tour-de-force.

La Sabbia is a group of friends who share the passion for music. In the last five years we succeeded in building and developing our own studio, where nine people are working and researching. We see music as a universal language to connect people, telling stories and creating new life shapes and patterns accessible to everybody, without boundaries of any kind.

Voltage Controlled Fingerz is Alessandro Paolone's first album, the synthesis of his trip in the various forms of electronic music. From the obsession for the Yamaha DX7's and Roland 707's raw sounds, through the complexity of jungle drums and poly-rhythm, to an almost maniacal analysis of the '70s progressive rock scene, you will taste these classic ingredients mixed in the new recipe of Doc Pavlonium.

You'd be forgiven for not realising this is " Nymfo's " first EP for 'Metalheadz' considering he's one of the Netherlands' finest drum-
and bass exports boasting releases on some of the genre's most revered labels.

Opening with the title track 'Sting Blade', the EP hits hard in true Nymfo fashion, but as he's shown over the last decade & more he's perfectly capable of executing several styles, something exemplified as you journey deeper into the release. Fellow Dutchman & Berghain staple Martyn also features for a vigorous work out on 'What's Happening'.

LTD editon - Orange vinyl and high quality download codes

Homemade synthesizers, banjo, guitar, recycled toys and broken electronic beats .. there’s more to Solo Moderna than just an unconditional love for analog tweaking. From his native town of Tilburg, Netherlands, Multi-instrumental virtuoso Bas Voorn is peaking in on all corners of the world, infusing Mento, ska, cumbia, Balkan, dancehall, dembow or afrohouse, into his minimal, joyful, 8-bit, approach towards electronica, to create strangely syncopated, ridiculously infectious grooves. It’s as if Kraftwerk and Señor Coconut went on a trip to Africa, the Balkans, the Caribbean and South America, and "Republica Moderna" emerged from these adventures. From the Balkan-Dembow of “Escúchame Como Soy” and the cumbia of the Washington-based Empresarios in “La Bandolera”, to the sun- kissed, afrohouse vibe of “Sonido SID Africano” and the west African “Republica de chonta”, Solo Moderna gleefully shifts from the acoustic to the synthesized to create a surprisingly coherent work. For Solo Moderna, life is not something to be taken so seriously. Instruments are toys, and Earth and it’s cultural diversity a playground. It is this unique lightheartedness and flippancy, moving you to smile, dance and enjoy life as it is, that makes Solo Moderna one of the few artists you can recognize immediately after an 8- bar snippet of a song heard in any club around the corner. Republica Moderna, his 3rd album to date, is a vibrant, delightfully upbeat, timeless homage to the world’s musical diversity.

This is GCLP157
It's an Orange LP and brings download Codes

Limited edition 180g 12″ record featuring 5 bangers. Comes with high-quality gloss sleeve featuring Gobsmacked skull artwork.

Taking influences from underground spaces and dark clubs, the GOBSMACKED! 12” series kicks off with a bang, dropping a five track vinyl from Diarmaid O Meara. The Irish producer describes himself as “trying to push the boundaries of electronic noise” and he couldn’t be more right. It’s just 30 minutes long and hugely pulsing, but packs more punch than a gym full of heavyweight boxers. “While working on new tracks in the studio, I’m always trying to create my own personal rave, and when I find myself in the middle of a dark and twisted sound, then I know I’m on to something,” he says of the creative process in his Berlin bunker studio.

The 12” includes a number of previously released digital singles by Diarmaid O Meara, which have been his chart topping and most widely played tracks, that have not yet made it onto black gold until this point. Featured as multiple Beatport number ones, peak time festival big room sounds, countless Boiler Room recordings, the 12” is a collection of club belters, tried and tested over countless sound systems and DJs.

At Diarmaid O Meara’s touch in the studio, the technotic sounds released from his control become alive, while dark vibes take a stormy ride through intense rhythms. Track titles like ‘Selfish Bass’ convey the vibe of music that chews up and spits out razor-sharp techno and rave fusions that race to tempos upwards of 140BPM. There are playful techno tracks like ‘In Your Head’ next to euphoric rave ups like ‘Live In The Night’ and bass contortions like ‘Ripcord’ that are masterfully concise but utterly devastating. Not to mention the ever hypnotic, chugging sounds meets massive crescendo of ‘Improbable Strip’.

“Whenever something crazy emerges through a rig, enough for you to you hear people screaming in ecstasy, and you know the production has delivered”, he says. And it is exactly this momentum that GOBSMACKED! wants to deliver – it sounds loud and obnoxious but also fun that draws on real appreciation for dancefloor destruction as well as countless hours of studio work. Therefore, it is no surprise that the artwork for the series also features the style of the well known Gobsmacked bunker parties run in Berlin venues like the infamous Griessmuehle, where said music has probably been overplayed to crowds with goldfish length memories. .

Welcoming the highly anticipated record label from the Reculture team following 2 years of successful London events. Reculture founder Hardt Antoine sets the tone with a 3 track instrumental EP.
The record holds 3 separate grooves and colours linked together by their analogue sound palate and grooving flow.

"The One" was written as Antoine's personal 'handover' track . It begins heavy groove with a powerful backbeat and electronic synths. Following the breakdown the sounds evolve into heavier patterns creating a special moment to let the dancefloor know - they are here to experience something memorable.

Ambre Noir is a sophisticated record with a breakbeat groove, evolving melodic touch. The name is inspired by the dark yet warming colours of the track. Redux's dark, modulated baseline hold in the listener while the progressive trip above takes them to another unique environment - a powerful weapon for a longer DJ set.

Disco pioneer and mix/production legend John Morales leaves his signature mark on his version of these two modern disco cuts cooked up by Philadelphia's Michael The Lion and Brooklyn’ Amy Douglas & Steven Klavier.

After the success of 'Funk Train' and 'Get It On', we wanted to push further and deeper and make an EP. As we started working, we knew there was one song that could be a successor to 'Get It On' - a song about overcoming hard times in our own personal lives. We wanted a chorus and a message that would burrow into your subconscious and become a kind of mantra - 'Find A Way'. Our incredibly talented friend, the vocalist Steven Klavier, was the perfect collaborator for this, and we three wrote something to stand the test of time. When struggles find you, and times are hard... reach down deep, look to the light, and “Find A Way.”

Comprising producer-engineer Joel Krozer ((Clark (Warp), Smerz (XL Recordings), When Saints Go Machine (Escho)) and Brian Della Valle (singer-songwriter of Of The Valley) the Copenhagen based duo got together when Joel heard Brian recording in the studio below his. Their encounter led to a series of late-night recording sessions, together with collaborator Søren Holme, that quickly became the cornerstone of their partnership and the formation of Fluqx. Monolith is the exceptional debut album of Fluqx and offers state of the art production and highly creative Electronica tracks with that special something. The sound of Fluqx is distinct - a merging of deeply warped synthesizers, swirling textures and Brian’s affecting vocals. There is a versatile range of sounds and atmospheres across these twelve tracks - from the delicate arpeggios of ‘Carvings’ and ‘Ephemeral Objects’, to the massive drum sounds and cutting synth leads of ‘Monolith’ and ‘Hanami’. Della Valle’s warm falsetto navigates through this dynamic landscape with ease and hooks the listener in on tracks like ‘Feather’ and ‘Staring At The Sun’, whilst providing space to breathe on tracks like ‘Here‘ and ‘Golden Hour‘. Elsewhere, ambient, droney textures are at the forefront on ‘Mojave Booth’ and ‘Diamond Dust’, maintaining the dreamy, otherworldly nature of the Fluqx sound