quête:kat

David Byrne & Fatboy Slim’s acclaimed 2010 album Here Lies Love receives its first-ever vinyl release to coincide with a new production opening on Broadway this summer. Here Lies Love is a double-disc song cycle – improbably poignant, decidedly surreal, surprisingly thought provoking – about the rise and fall of the Philippines' notorious Imelda Marcos. It was conceived by David Byrne; composed by Byrne and DJ/recording artist Fatboy Slim, AKA Norman Cook; and performed by a dream cast drawn from the worlds of indie rock, alt country, R&B and pop. Byrne's taste in collaborators is as imaginative as it is impeccable, including Cyndi Lauper (who recounts, to lighthearted disco beats, Imelda's courtship with Ferdinand Marcos), Steve Earle (as the power-hungry Ferdinand), Dap-Kings vocalist Sharon Jones (recalling Imelda's introduction into New York society) and Natalie Merchant (as spurned Imelda confidante Estrella, anticipating the onset of martial law). Along with vocals turns from such stars as Tori Amos and the B-52's Kate Pierson, Byrne works with rising indie rockers St. Vincent and My Brightest Diamond; New York chanteuses Nellie McKay and Martha Wainwright; and dance-music divas Róisín Murphy and Santigold. Byrne himself appears as the voice of imperialistic America on ‘American Troglodyte’, a send-up that wouldn't have seemed out of places in Talking Heads' True Stories.



Byrne originally envisioned this as a musical theatre piece, to be mounted in disco and nightclub settings, reflecting the globe-trotting Marcos' taste for such velvet-roped spots as Studio 54 and Regine's. In 2006, he performed work-in-progress versions to enthusiastic audiences at New York City's Carnegie Hall and the Adelaide Festival in Australia. While plans for a US theatrical production continued to evolve, he delivered this unique recording. The award-winning theatrical production eventually premiered at The Public Theater in New York in 2013, travelled to London’s National Theater for a sold-out run (2014–15), and was remounted at the Seattle Repertory Theater (2017).



Here Lies Love has an effervescent disco feel, redolent of Fatboy Slim's own dance-floor anthems, with warm undercurrents of the Latin rhythms that have percolated through Byrne's recent solo work. The sunny arrangements act in counterpoint to the reality of the Marcos' increasingly repressive regime, reflecting the imagined inner life of the glamour-obsessed Imelda. Explains Byrne, "For me, the darker side of the excesses are, for the most part, a matter of record. A lot of the audience is going to come with that knowledge already. What's more of a challenge is to get inside the head of the person who was behind all of that, and understand what made them tick." Byrne offers no judgment and avoids the obvious – there is no mention of Imelda's infamous shoe collection.



Many of Byrne's lyrics are, astonishingly enough, constructed from actual Imelda quotes, including the project's title, the words that Imelda, now returned to the Philippines from US-assisted exile in Hawaii, would like to have inscribed on her gravestone. In addition to his new liner note, Byrne illustrates the story with archival photos. In a detailed preface, he reveals what drew him to this subject and the bumpy route he took to launch the project and, ultimately, record this album. The booklet is indeed a page-turner, just as Here Lies Love is a wonderfully old-school album that rewards start-to-finish listening. Once again, Byrne – beloved as musician, thinker and bicyclist-about-town – reveals the breadth and singularity of his vision.



The new production of Here Lies Love will premiere at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. Performances begin June 17, ahead of an official opening night on July 20. Tony Award winner Alex Timbers (direction) and Olivier Award nominee Annie-B Parson (choreography) reunite with Byrne (concept, music, and lyrics) and Fatboy Slim (music) to bring Here Lies Love to Broadway, continuing a ten-plus year collaboration on the project. Tom Gandey and J Pardo contribute additional music. Here Lies Love is produced on Broadway by Hal Luftig, Patrick Catullo, Diana DiMenna for Plate Spinner Productions, Clint Ramos, and Jose Antonio Vargas. The staging at the Broadway Theatre will transform the venue’s traditional proscenium floor space into a dance club environment, where audiences will stand and move with the actors. A wide variety of standing and seating options will be available throughout the theatre’s reconstructed space. The producers of Here Lies Love said, “As a team of binational American producers – Filipinos among us – we are thrilled to bring Here Lies Love to Broadway! We welcome everyone to experience this singularly exuberant piece of theatre. The history of the Philippines is inseparable from the history of the United States, and as both evolve, we cannot think of a more appropriate time to stage this show. See you on the dance floor!”



David Byrne’s recent works include the launch of Reasons to be Cheerful, an online magazine focused on solutions-oriented stories about problems being solved all over the world (2019); Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, a theatrical exploration of the historical heroine that premiered at the Public Theater in New York (2017); The Institute Presents: NEUROSOCIETY, a series of interactive environments created in conjunction with PACE Arts + Technology that question human perception and bias (2016); Contemporary Color, an event inspired by the American folk tradition of color guard and performed at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Toronto’s Air Canada Centre (2015); Here Lies Love; Love This Giant, a studio album and worldwide tour created with St. Vincent (2012); and How Music Works, a book about the history, experience, and social aspects of music (2012).



Byrne curated Southbank Centre’s annual Meltdown festival in London in 2015. A co-founder of the group Talking Heads (1976–88), he has released eight studio albums as a solo artist and worked on multiple other projects, including collaborations with Brian Eno, Twyla Tharp, Robert Wilson, and Jonathan Demme, among others. He also founded the highly respected record label Luaka Bop. Recognition of Byrne’s various works include Obies, Drama Desk, Lortel, and Evening Standard awards for Here Lies Love; an Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe for the soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor; and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Talking Heads. Byrne’s work as a visual artist has been published and exhibited since his college days, including photography, filmmaking, and writing. He lives in New York City. In addition to 2019’s cast album for American Utopia on Broadway, Nonesuch has released eight other David Byrne records since 2003, including 2018’s American Utopia studio album and two versions of his musical Here Lies Love.



















q C6. Please Don't feat. Santi White Santigold

Japanese artist Toru Katsuta returns on Ø Phase's Modwerks label with six space trips to send minds into hyperdrive.



b A2 Entry Path (Ø Phase edit)
c A3 Javelin Throw (Ø Phase mix)

After three so elegant, as well as successful EPs on the mother ship, you can sometimes get cocky. Jonathan Kaspar invites himself to the Speicher Party and really lets his hair down. “Topper” may or may not refer to Charlie Sheen’s epic performance in ‘Hot Shots’. It certainly takes no prisoners either. The track rattles and squeaks like an old feather bed while… oh, let’s leave that to your imagination. After such an exhilarating burst of exuberance, comes “FEZ” to smooth the waters. An arpeggio that seems quite serious at first glance doesn’t quite manage to get past Jonathan’s riotous mood unscathed. Half he pulled it, half it sank into him. Nobody gets out of here without a hangover.

Nach drei so eleganten, wie auch erfolgreichen EPs auf dem Mutterschiff, kann man schon mal frech werden. Jonathan Kaspar lädt sich nun selbst zur Speicher Party ein und lässt so richtig schön die Sau raus. “Topper” nimmt vielleicht Bezug auf Charlie Sheen’s epische Schauspielkunst in den ‘Hot Shots’ Filmen. Er nimmt jedenfalls auch keine Gefangenen. Der Track rattert und quietscht wie ein altes Federbett beim… ach, überlassen wir das Eurer Fantasie. Nach einem derart erquicklichen Ausbruch von Übermut, kommt “FEZ” um die Wogen zu glätten. Einem auf den ersten Blick recht seriöses Arpeggio gelingt es nicht ganz, ungeschoren an Jonathans Krawall-Laune vorbeizukommen. Halb zog er es, halb sank es in ihn hinein. Ohne Kater kommt hier keiner raus.

Opeth wurde von den Kritikern für ihre Kombination aus progressiven Einflüssen und vernichtendem schwedischem Death Metal gelobt. Diese farbigen 140g Re-Issues sind ein Muss für Fans und Sammler, denn sie wurden von keinem Geringeren als Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Amorphis, Sepultura) mit Unterstützung von Mikael Åkerfeldt ein liebevoll remastert. Die Aufnahmen wurden mit halber Geschwindigkeit in den berüchtigten Abbey Rd von Miles Showell (ABBA, Beatles) geschnitten, und das gesamte Artwork wurde von Dan Capp sorgfältig restauriert und so gestaltet, wie es die Band ursprünglich beabsichtigt hatte.

Es gibt nur wenige Bands, die es mit den Schweden von Opeth aufnehmen können oder wollen. Seit ihrer Gründung 1990 in dem kleinen Stockholmer Vorort Bandhagen haben die Schweden alle Konventionen über den Haufen geworfen, sich trotzig gegen alle Widrigkeiten durchgesetzt und - was am wichtigsten ist -12 atemberaubend schöne und intensive Alben geschaffen und sich damit zu einer der besten Bands der Welt entwickelt.

Streng limitierte Stückzahlen!

Kraak & Smaak, eine treibende Kraft der elektronischen Musikszene der letzten zwei Jahrzehnte, Meister des Nu-Disco, Funk und allem, was mit Electronic zu tun hat, feiern 2023 ihr 20-jähriges Bestehen - mit einer handverlesenen Auswahl ihres herausragenden Katalogs auf Jalapeno Records und dem eigenen Label Boogie Angst. Das Doppelabum mit dem schlichten Namen TWENTY bringt 20 Band- und Fanfavoriten und viele der unglaublichen Gäste, mit denen das niederländische Duo im Laufe der Jahre zusammengearbeitet hat: von Lee Fields bis Parcels, Romanthony bis Mayer Hawthorne, Ben Westbeech bis Durand Jones. TWENTY ist von Anfang bis Ende ein abgefahrener Hörgenuss, der nie enttäuscht.

The formidable Rex The Dog returns with his first single for Kompakt in three years, “Change This Pain For Ecstasy”, a slow-burning disco-glitter stomp that’s charged with analog energy. Pushing his self-built modular hardware set-up to its limits, “Change This Pain For Ecstasy” is taut and thrilling, stripped-back and pulsating, with sweeping chords shimmering through a classic Moroder arpeggio, as a delirious voice sings out a psychedelic raver’s plaint for liberation, pleading for you to "take away my sorrow and this pain”. Deeply emotional, it’s also a masterwork in tension and release, dizzy with snare-rush peaks, and dark, humid valleys where Rex is bound to the patchbay.

On the flipside, Rex gives us “Moto”, which tickles your ear with cymatic phenomena, its gentle vibrations building, beautifully, into a monster-piece of stealth techno. Rex’s DIY synths work overtime as he chases patterns and phases through circuitry, wielding the tones until they erupt into a spray of pointillist pizzicato. The sounds here crackle and corrode, the textures so tantalizing, so sensual, you can almost grab hold of them with your hands. It’s great to have Rex The Dog back, making livewire, yet deeply human techno, alive and bursting with electricity.

Der formidable Rex The Dog kehrt mit seiner ersten Single für Kompakt seit drei Jahren zurück, “Change This Pain For Ecstasy”, ein mit analoger Energie aufgeladener, stürmischer Disco-Glitter-Stomper. Man kann förmlich spüren, wie Rex’ selbstgebautes modulares Hardware-Setup an seine Grenzen gerät. “Change This Pain For Ecstasy” ist eine Hymne an das Nachtleben, an die kathartische Qualität einer durchtanzten Nacht. Über schwungvolle Akkorde und ein hochenergetisches Moroder-Arpeggio bittet eine delirierende Stimme um Befreiung von allem Leid und Schmerz. Das ist zutiefst rührend und emotional – da es sich hier aber um ein Meisterwerk der Spannung und Entspannung handelt – schwingt sich der Track plötzlich auf in schwindelerregende Höhen der Euphorie.

Auf der anderen Seite gibt Rex uns “Moto”, das das Ohr mit zymatischen Phänomenen kitzelt, deren sanften Vibrationen sich zu einem Monster von Stealth-Technotrack aufbauen. Rex’ DIY-Synthesizer machen Überstunden, während er Muster und Phasen durch die Schaltkreise jagt bis sie in einen Sprühregen aus pointillistischem Pizzicato ausbrechen. Die Sounds hier knistern und korrodieren, die Texturen so verlockend, so sinnlich, dass man sie fast mit den Händen greifen kann.

Es ist großartig, Rex The Dog zurück zu haben, der hochverdrahteten und doch zutiefst menschlichen Techno macht, voller Leben und Elektrizität.

Repress.

Hear the sound of my feet - title says it all, but it would be too easy to bring it back to his african roots only. Zulu explores his double identity, both ways, extrovert as well as introspective, and draw a go-between, from club hit Hooligan Break to the feverish eponymous title Hear The Sound Of My feet. Trance synth stabs, sharp percussions as well as ambient (!) reminisce of his DJ record (alongside Bruits de la Passion collective and on Lyl radio) and lead the narrative - back to the roots he wants to introduce you to.

SAISEI founder Junki Inoue continues his vital archival work uncovering the riches of Japan’s distinctive electronic music scene and bringing them to new audiences around the world.
The PMA EP compiles four dynamic tracks recorded around 30 years ago by the duo of Shigeru Nakamura (drums/vocals) and Mikio Kato (synths) aka B-2DEP’T.

Nakamura and Kato’s first album as B-2DEP’T, Products Plus, appeared on cassette in 1993 on Trigger Records, the predecessor label to Transonic (given a retrospective on SAIS004). Its bright yellow and blue retro-futurist artwork – which is echoed in the design for this reissue on SAISEI – matched the sounds held within: inventive, out-of-the-box dance music blending overseas influences with an idiosyncratic Japanese sensibility.
Two tracks from Products Plus appear on this EP, All tracks re-edited by Junki Inoue and regular collaborator Yuzo Iwata for vinyl extended play and available now for the first time on vinyl. ‘Clockwork Giant Panda’ appearing in a version co-produced with Yoshinori Sunahara (ex - Denki Groove), merges a breezy US house groove and bassline with twinkling, almost parodic Japanese keys that act as a kind of meta commentary on Western perceptions of Japan (a concept pioneered by Yellow Magic Orchestra). The two parts of ‘BSMH’, or Body Sonic Mental Health from ‘Products Plus’, were originally remixed by Daishi Hisakawa of Tanzmuzik, who draws on darker sounds from Europe and the UK: restless Depeche Mode synth harmonies spiral above a pacy EBM pulse, with robot vocals intoning the titular slogan. The package is completed by the unreleased track ‘PMA’, whose driving, bass-heavy mood falls somewhere between Sheffield bleep and the ambient techno of early Biosphere.

SAISEI is a Japanese word which translates to ‘reproduction’ and ‘to play’ (as in playing records). Japanese culture is widely known for its traditional nature just as much as it is for being forward into the future and this label’s concept does justice to exactly that. Having started digging for records as early as 16 years old, Inoue delved into productions from 1990s Japan to uncover these native gems. SAISEI’s core concept is to recapture and reintroduce unique pieces of Japanese electronic music onto vinyl, to an audience it never reached before as most of this music was only released in Japan.

Some records just stop you in your tracks. They resonate with you and feel instantly familiar like an old friend, even on the first listen. SOYUZ's third album ‘Force of the Wind’ is one of those records. It holds all the trademarks, beauty, and eccentricities of classic Brazilian recordings, from the 60s and 70s, that we have come to love. Think artists such as Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, Burnier e Cartier, Arthur Verocai et al. But this record wasn’t made in Brazil and is in fact a brand-new release.

SOYUZ (which translates as 'union') is a creative collective from Minsk, Belarus, led by composer, arranger, and singer, Alex Chumak, multi-instrumentalist, Mikita Arlou, and drummer, Anton Nemahai. SOYUZ's previous albums explored and reimagined the legacy of jazz-oriented, non-English-language pop music of the 20th century. For their third album, there is a stronger focus, and it is influenced by 70s Música popular Brasileira and building bridges from it to present-day Belarus. Alex notes that from the moment he first encountered Brazilian music, he found in it a kind of concentrated emotion that felt as if it were familiar to him from his childhood. This non-verbal emotion and connection between the listener and musician echoes in the music, regardless of understanding of the language the album is recorded in.

‘Force of the Wind’ includes songs sung in Russian and Portuguese as well as instrumental compositions. Its musical palette is both acoustic and electroacoustic: rich warm Rhodes piano, soaring string arrangements, and a controlled drum swagger sounding both relaxed yet super tight. Alongside Alex's sublime vocals, that grace the majority of the tracks, the album features guest performances by multi-talented musician and vocalist Kate NV and rising Brazilian star, Sessa. Alex also recently arranged a number of tracks on Sessa's highly praised 2022 album 'Estrela Acesa'.

On the album, the trio is joined by a cast of friends; NY-based musician of Turkish origin percussionist, Cem Mısırlıoğlu, classically trained composer, Simon Hanes, who aided with string arrangements and conducting the string players, Netherlands-based Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, Gabriel Milliet, on flutes. With the collaboration of these friends SOYUZ have created nine songs/suites that are subtle and plenitude and like the best albums, leave you aching for more.

‘Force of the Wind’ is an enigma, Brazilian yet not Brazilian, vintage yet still contemporary, out of sync with modern culture yet completely relevant and necessary.

4 Tracks of high quality trippy, and atmospheric techno from mystery Japanese project MA!

Harald Björk follow up his recent releases on Cocoon Recordings, Traum Schallplatten etc. with the four track 12" Sketch On A Feeling. A record featuring German legends Extrawelt, no introduction needed and Swedish Teenage crime star Adrian Lux who we recently have gotten to re-known beyond his EDM stardom through his band Off The Meds (Studio Barnhus) and 90's techno banger alias Luxxy.

The record wears two original's written and played entirely on Roland MC-202 and TB-303 by the label head himself, Mr. Björk.

Textextext - (add your write up)

Kranglan Broadcast, established in 2009, is the record label of Swedish artist Harald Björk (Cocoon Recordings/Traum Schallplatten/Studio Barnhus). The shifting genres and gaps between releases might seem confusing? But… the core seems to be quality releases by good friends who have crossed each others lanes and teamed up in creativity, and there are some friends!!! Axel boman, Nathan Fake, Popnoname, Kate Wax (Aisha Devi), Fairmont, Anton Kubikov (SCSI-9), LOKATT and many more. Electronic music as it used to be before the "business era", friends sending files and pressing vinyl!!!

In 2021 Kranglan Broadcast have some fine gems coming up and Sketch On A Feeling is the first one to get public.

Harald Björk follow up a weird and packed year of 2020 with guest shows on John Digweed's Transition Show and releases on Cocoon Recordings,Traum Schallplatten, Studio Banrhus, Internasjonal and many more! The record features German legends Extrawelt, no introduction needed and Swedish Teenage crime star Adrian Lux who we recently have gotten to re-known beyond his EDM stardom through his band Off The Meds (Studio Barnhus) and 90's techno banger alias Luxxy. Dense stardom in a perfect blended EP with all modes included!

Long Story short Harald got in contact with Extrawelt over an old unreleased remix of Björk's that got to see release light on Traum in the summer of 2020. Similiar Harald reworked Teenage Crime duo Lux and Lune same year… What follows of great connection is often friendship and Kranglan Broadcast is all about friendship, quality and fun… Perfect soil for electronic music to grow organic and full of energy.

The record wears two original's written and played entirely on Roland MC-202 and TB-303 by the label head himself, Mr. Björk.

Artwork by Lukas Nystrand von Unge and mastered and cut by maestro himself LUPO!

Enjoy electronic music on vinyl at best!