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"Même Soleil" is the result of a dialog between the French photographer Gaël Bonnefon and the French musician Frédéric D. Oberland initiated by IIKKI, between December 2019 and June 2021.

Self-taught multi-instrumentalist & photographer, Frédéric D. Oberland finds himself at the crossroads of image and sound, favoring a synesthetic approach. He articulates different modes of narration, combining the raw character of the documentary form with the transfigured reality of myth and poetry, allowing him to question notions such as the sacred, the monstrous, the fraternity, while at the same time returning to the political news of the present. Attentive to the pulse of the body, his work is willingly itinerant, modulating between the ripples of dreams, watching the points of incandescence and the bursts of electricity that act as revelations of our presence in the world, here and now. He’s the co-founder of leading bands such as Oiseaux-Tempête, FOUDRE!, Le Réveil des Tropiques, FareWell Poetry and is co-curating the label NAHAL Recordings.

"Fueled by travels and their emanations, Frédéric D. Oberland’s music had to build new horizons this year, outlined by the curves of semi-modular synthesizers, the avalanches of effect pedals and the zigzagging paths of electric circuits. Même Soleil, his third solo album, manages to merge mystical visions of the unconscious and the absurdity of an apocalyptic present in a sensory whirlwind, operating an astonishing mutation with tones still unexplored in his previous releases. A visual as well as a musical journey that takes shape in a book and a record of the same title, Même Soleil is the result of a collaboration with the photographer Gaël Bonnefon. Seeking the tension between the blinding light of day and the glittering visions of saturated night skies, the two pieces in dialogue transcend reality to deliver their own truth, as bright as the first light of the sought-after morning." (Alice Butterlin)

Gaël Bonnefon graduated with highest honours from the Fine Arts School of Toulouse (Isdat) in 2008. He has exhibited at Villa Pérochon, at the Eté photographique in Lectoure, at the 104 in Paris during Jeune Création 2012, at Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles and at PhotoEspaña, at the Abattoirs Museum in Toulouse in 2014, at the Château d’Eau Gallery in 2012 and 2019 and in the Vitrine of Frac Île-de-France in 2020. His work is part of the collections of Frac Midi-Pyrénées, Château d'Eau gallery, Kulturamt in Dusseldorf and Kiyosato Museum in Japan ; he participated in Temps Zero projects Berlin, Braga, Rome, Bucarest, Groningen and Thessaloniki. He has also been granted artist’s residencies in Germany, France and Israel. His first book Elegy for the Mundane was published by La Main Donne in 2019. He continues his intimate and dense journey and presents his second publishing, Même Soleil with photographic works from 2009 to 2021.

"At first brutal and declining, the substance of Gaël Bonnefon's photography is just like a gaze that fears being one day extinguished and that is always looking to be born again. In photography as in love, recoil and desire, tension and easement, repetition, wandering and rest, flight and pursuit. Here photography allows itself to be traversed by flashes of life, renewed forces, echoes of far-off kindnesses and lost joys. It sings silently, lover of a thousand faces from which the thread of a single and same image is born, followed without relent, from the snowy peaks of childhood to the lost worlds of the present." (Michaël Soyez)

ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was originally released in 1987 as a hand-made micro-edition of about 40 cassette tapes. It was only the third ever release on the short-lived now near legendary SDV label which had been established that same year by Konrad Kraft, Bernd Sevens and Dino Oon in Düsseldorf.

Finally finding a more substantial and appreciative audience on vinyl over 30 years after its original limited release, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN is a strong testament to the explorative experiments of Detlef Funder a.k.a. Konrad Kraft, whose homebuilt studio sound attempted to bridge the clinical roughness of Severed Heads and the psychedelia of Coil with the density and force of industrial, post-punk and prototechno. Concurrent with his ever-expanding production skills, KONRAD KRAFT's sound work in the second half of the 80s stayed firmly rooted within a highly stylised underground spirit. Both his music and also the freshly launched SDV label first and foremost served as a medium for communication. The vital urgency of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN underlines the record's core narrative which arguably sounds even more futuristic today than it did 30 years ago.

Hallmarks of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN are an 8-track tape recorder, a Yamaha DX7 synth and a Roland 707 drum computer and the late 80s’ internationally ubiquitous shift from analogue to digital music production. Whilst its predecessor ARCTICA (another cassette-only release from 1986/87, previously reissued on TAL in 2018) was significantly more experimental and almost an in-between-states affair, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was the point at which Konrad Kraft really began to experiment with beat structures, sequenced synth pads and the framework of 'dance' music. However, the rhythmic elements are submerged so far beneath his expertly crafted drones it's almost impossible to label these sounds as “dancefloor oriented” work at all, as the tracks on the album joyfully disrespect the rules and boundaries of that or indeed any other genre.

ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN also epitomizes the decade's ending energy and sharp momentum with its successful merging of highly individual production and irresistible rhythm tracks.

The rich wealth of references is mirrored within the silhouettes and the graphics of the album’s unique artwork, which was created by Dino Oon. The new mastering has all sounds on ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN emerge in fresh shades and three dimensional plasticity, inviting the listener not to merely revisit the full palette of KONRAD KRAFT’s creation but offering an entirely new sound experience.

20 YEARS OF MUSIC FOR MARCEL ODENBACH

Richard Ojijo’s music for the films of german video artist Marcel Odenbach not only underscores and accentuates the imagery and motion, but also serves to propel the narrative too. The compositions are auditory distillations of the visual and create a synergy between music and image that draws the observer ever deeper.

With Odenbach’s and Ojijo’s collaboration now entering its 3rd decade, Ojijo was recently inspired to revisit and remix some of the themes contained within the extensive body of work.

— Matt Karmil, Aug 2021

Die Musik von Richard Ojijo für die Videoarbeiten des Künstlers Marcel Odenbach sind eindrucksvolle Beispiele dafür, wie Klänge Filmbilder nicht nur untermalen oder deren Wirkung atmosphärisch verdichten können, sondern neben dem Visuellen ein gleichberechtigtes Eigenleben entwickeln, das auf das Gesamterlebnis des Films zurückwirkt: plötzlich auftauchende innere Bilder oder Assoziationen, die das Gesehene mit noch größerer Komplexität und Mehrdeutigkeit versorgen.

Wenn sich etwa in „Innerer Sicherheit“ oder „In stillen Teichen lauern Krokodile“ sphärische Flächen und Soundeffekte ausbreiten, erinnert dies zuweilen an elektronische Stimmungen der späten 90er Jahre, obwohl die Thematiken der Filme in gänzlich andere Richtungen weisen. Dabei wird nie der Spannungsbogen der filmischen Dramaturgie vernachlässigt. Vielmehr kommt es zum Wechselspiel von dienender und freier Funktion, in dem die Musik nicht nur ihre schöne, sondern – den Themen der Filme angemessene – beunruhigende Wirkung ausbreiten kann. So tauchen wie aus dem Nichts Stimmen auf oder Geräusche, etwa von Stiefeln in „Beweis zu nichts“, die parallele Narrationen auf die Audiospur legen, um die zum Teil bedrohliche Wirkung der Bilder zu verstärken und womöglich Bereiche des Unterbewussten zu berühren.

Die Zusammenarbeit von Ojijo und Odenbach dauert mittlerweile über 20 Jahre an. Ojijo hat nun seine Arbeiten für die Filme Odenbachs neu zusammengestellt und neu gemischt. Die Platte erscheint im Herbst 2021 aus Anlass der großen Odenbach-Retrospektive im Düsseldorfer K21-Museum. Dort werden auch sieben Videoarbeiten zu sehen sein, von denen fünf in Zusammenarbeit mit Richard Ojijo entstanden sind.

— Michael Kerkmann, Aug 2021

M_SESSIONS - THE PROCESS

"M_Sessions" is offering a contemporary version of Mania D., Malaria and Matador’s music for the 40th anniversary plus the rare originals. Bringing the past into the now and into the future.
Monika Werkstatt seemed the perfect choice for new interpretations. Founded in 2015, comprising female electronic musicians and producers from the entourage of Monika Enterprise and Moabit Musik. The loose collective played dozens of improvised concerts around Europe and released a studio album and live recordings in everchanging artist constellations.

The M_Sessions involved Pilocka Krach, Beate Bartel, Midori Hirano, Mommo G, Lucrecia Dalt, Antye Greie-Ripatti, Natalie Beridze, Annika Henderson and myself. Here the form of interpretation is focussing on keeping the freedom of their improvised work and adapting it to the collective appropriation of songs. I cannot imagine a better reinterpretation of the material with its real life ups and downs and with its enthusiasm.
The original core team of Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster, Manon P. Duursma and myself selected "Rare Originals" from the repertoire of the 3 bands where we saw special relevance and beauty - these tracks are on LP2. We rediscovered live tracks, living room recordings and demo versions from our times long gone. (G.Gut)

M_DOKUMENTE // THE BOOK - THE RECORDS - THE EXHIBITION

The project M_Dokumente focuses on the All Female bands Mania D., Malaria! and Matador in the West Berlin music and art scene of the late 1970s and 1980s. We celebrate this 40 years retrospetive with a big festival weekend from 21.-24.10.2021 at Silent Green from a explicitly female perspective.
The three bands around their members Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster and Gudrun Gut played concerts in different formations from 1979 on, released records and toured around the world. The self-determined appearance of the musicians was new, raised some eyebrows and was reflected both in the music and the lyrics, but also in their unique style and the genre-crossing approach of "more art in the music, more music in the art". To this day, the bands are considered visionary, they shaped a new image of women in pop culture and are pioneers and role models for the still important and necessary emancipatory movement in the music industry. Far beyond the borders of Berlin.

3Ms

The three, reunited: Malaria, Matador and Mania D, unter einem Dach, but gutted, replaced with electronic hearts, new beats, new beasts, the time has changed, yet the politics, the problems, the heartache remains the same. 2021 sees the anniversary of the 3 M’s and therewith the production of an album of songs, covering a selection of the bands’ finest output, this time assembled by a new set of feminist misfits; producers, fangirls, instrumentalists, under the strict guidance of original members Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. M-Sessions features: AGF, Lucrecia Dalt, Sonae, Midori Hirano, Islaja, Natalie Beridze, Pilocka Krach, Annika Henderson (Anika), Lupe, Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. Beginning in West Berlin, in 1979, with the inception of Mania D, spawning Malaria! and later Matador; in a time when music was essential to movement, to escape, to space, to the scene and to the rebellion of the people; three bands stood for trial and error, trial and terror, anti- conformity, and anti-consumerism, for girl power and sticking it to the man, and for just doing whatever the hell they wanted. The three, their existence slightly staggered, with different members, different grudges, different heartbreaks, different instrumental expressions, were joined by a string of barbed wire, piecing pigeon hearts, within the playground that was the desolate ex-capital, now again capital, Berlin; a place where artists and freaks could run free amongst the wrinklies and army dodgers; no microscopes, no rules, no property developers. (ANNIKA HENDERSON)

"M_Sessions" is offering a contemporary version of Mania D., Malaria and Matador's music for the 40th anniversary plus the rare originals. Bringing the past into the now and into the future. Monika Werkstatt seemed the perfect choice for new interpretations. Founded in 2015, comprising female electronic musicians and producers from the entourage of Monika Enterprise and Moabit Musik. The loose collective played dozens of improvised concerts around Europe and released a studio album and live recordings in everchanging artist constellations. The M_Sessions involved Pilocka Krach, Beate Bartel, Midori Hirano, Mommo G, Lucrecia Dalt, Antye Greie-Ripatti, Natalie Beridze, Annika Henderson and myself. Here the form of interpretation is focussing on keeping the freedom of their improvised work and adapting it to the collective appropriation of songs. I cannot imagine a better reinterpretation of the material with its real life ups and downs and with its enthusiasm. The original core team of Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster, Manon P. Duursma and myself selected "Rare Originals" from the repertoire of the 3 bands where we saw special relevance and beauty - these tracks are on LP2. We rediscovered live tracks, living room recordings and demo versions from our times long gone. (G.Gut)

Following the footsteps of her SUPER MILD split album with TENTENKO (TAL15) from 2019, Tokyo producer KOPY makes a welcome return to TAL with a new EP full of gritty wonders and buzzing rythm structures. Eternal EP presents two of her new tracks plus luminous remix appearances by Elena Colombi, Harmonious Thelonious and Dynamo Dreesen & SJ Tequilla.

KOPY sums it up: "For Fujiko, I had an aggressive spaciousness in mind. The track LOK made me feel like my feet were firmly on the ground."

The pièce de résistance of the entire EP might be the extended reworking by Elena Colombi (Osàre! Editions), who in her debut appearance in the producer's chair offers up a cinematic bricolage, inspired by dreams and scraps of intimate, cartoonish ambiences. The eight minute long journey is full of space, swirling alarm clocks and candid evocations of imaginary creatures and environments crossed with diverse snippets of KOPY’s two original tracks.

Harmonious Thelonious who has already shared the stage with KOPY at Düsseldorfs Salon des Amateurs, contributes a trademark HT remix which combines infectious danceable beats with injections of oddness and raw beauty.

For their KOPY KONTRAST mix DD and SJT drew inspiration from a fulminant Kopy live set in Osaka which they had witnessed while being on a tour in Japan.

The 12"EP is lavishly presented, with a fully illustrated jacket and inner sleeve design by Sarah Szscesny.

AL presents the first musical collaboration between Hamburg based Asmus Tietchens and Japanese artist Miki Yui, operating out of Düsseldorf for almost 20 years now. Highly respected and hugely influential artist Asmus Tietchens first made his mark on the electronic music scene in the late 1970s, whereas Miki Yui debuted her sonic settings in1999.

Their first joint album NEUES BOOT envelops the listener with a poetic sound sensibility and a conceptual clarity which was processed and passed back and forth between their individual studios in Hamburg and Düsseldorf.

Asmus Tietchens: After Stefan Schneider suggested to release a Yui-Tietchens album on his TAL imprint Miki and I quickly developed some ideas towards our eventual collaboration. We agreed upon an ongoing mutual exchange of material. We have both been very familiar with each other's music for a long time and we found our individual approach towards sound design to be uniquely compatible. We do not use our electronic tools in order to merely achieve the maximum of technical possibilities, but to illustrate aesthetic necessities. This entails a deliberate reduction and refined perception of the sonic characteristics of the material. Only this approach enabled us to fully realise the complete spectrum of the sounds and noises we were working with in order to construct this New Boat. Each and everyone of my treatments is e x c l u s i v e l y based on a track supplied by Miki. I added no new sound sources. Naturally the spatial and temporal dimensions of the source material were thus altered. These transformations are exactly what makes our collaboration special and unique. Very early on we had agreed on New Boat as a working title and a guiding light . Of course in the beginning we had no idea where this New Boat might take us. Now we do know. After several months of ship-building the boat has now set sails for new sonic horizons. Ahoi!

Miki Yui: The title of the album as well as the individual tracks have been inspired by conversations with Asmus. When we had a chat after one of his concerts, he told me about Kōdō, the Art or the Way of the Scent. It is a 8th century Japanese incense ceremony. Very frequently the names of Japanese incense sticks are derived from natural themes, e.g. Bairin is the plum grove, the scent of the first blossom heralding the end of winter. This poetry, the ephemeral nature of the world reminded me of Kigo, words from a Haiku (a form of Japanese poetry), which reference a particular season or a natural phenomenon. So I chose the names of the individual pieces from Kigo as if The Boat was exploring nature whilst sailing through the seasons. Only in retrospect I realised that the titles combined create this poem:

Early spring a hazy view in the night (Oboro)
Plum groves (Bairin)
Over a Dayfly (Kagerou)
A Milkyway (Amanogawa)
Dawn (Akatsuki)
Art of fragrance (Kōdō)
On fragile thin ice (Usurai)

„Well recommended for the freaks“ the Manchester based independent music specialist Boomkat once finished a review about a release of Düsseldorf based DJ and producer Tolouse Low Trax aka Detlef Weinrich (also known as one fourth of the German avant-band Kreidler). What a freak distinguished we do not really know - we just assume he walks this world on a different path. Tolouse Low Trax surely does!

The latest evidence of this fact are four tracks of whom two are remixes by befriended artists, and two are coming right out of the middle of Tolouse Low Trax’s very own sense for odd and catchy grooves. His friend Miles, also known as one-half of the experimental industrial techno and dark ambient duo Demdike Stare, puts hand on the track “Sussing”, originally released on Tolouse Low Trax’s latest album “Jeidem Fall” in 2012. He covers it with an enigmatic, shadowy veil in terms of sounds, space, and obscure driving arpeggios in order to give the track a “brighter haze” feeling. A subliminal hypnotic transformation that swings with a unique dark and demanding drive. The second remix was done by Wolf Müller, a Düsseldorf based musician that released two highly acclaimed EPs on the German DIY label Themes for Great Cities. His profession as a percussionist calls the tune as he mutates the original track “Jeidem Fall” into a tribal celestial dance tune that jacks with an Afro-Baroque elegance.

Also the two EP contributions of Tolouse Low Trax himself move on very different terrains but seem to come out of the same experimental laboratory. With “Vindeland” he delivers a track full of dark synthlines and drunken shuffled patterns that morphs into a nervous soigné sensation. In contrast his arrangement “Eisenbahnzunge” starts with a celestial arpeggio until a strange alienated voice appears and everything melts layer by layer into an elliptical ambient experiment beyond the usual definition. Both tracks are deeply rooted in Tolouse Low Trax’s very own spontaneous minimal hardware approach of producing bold, hypnotic dance-not-dance music that shall not only illuminate the so called freaks!

There are few genres in which German artists play such a central pioneering role as they do in electronic music, be it techno, electropop, trance or rave. At the frontline for many years were Kraftwerk and U96, two absolute trailblazers of this musical direction. While Kraftwerk wrote international music history mainly in the 1970s with cult albums such as Autobahn (1974), Radio-Aktivität (1975), Trans Europa Express (1977) and Die Mensch-Maschine (1978), U96 had a profound influence on the global pop music, rave and techno scene of the 1990s with hits such as ‘Das Boot’, ‘Love Sees No Colour’, ‘Night In Motion’ and ‘Heaven’. Transhuman, scheduled for release on UNLTD Recordings on 30th October 2020, will feature a spectacular collaboration between U96 (Ingo Hauss

& Hayo Lewerentz) and Wolfgang Flür, Kraftwerk’s drummer in the years between 1972 and 1987 and therefore involved in the most seminal albums by the group from Düsseldorf.

This remarkable cooperation was first announced and implemented by two joint numbers on U96’s 2018 offering Reboot. Transhuman sees U96 and Wolfgang Flür develop their creative exchange across a full album, creating fascinating sonic worlds. The title song ‘Transhuman’ and an updated version of ‘Zukunftsmusik (Radiophonique)’ will be released as lead singles, including, as we’ve come to expect from U96, experimental video clips. That New York record label Radikal Records immediately secured the rights to the album for the US and Canada points to major interest in this project, not only on these shores but also across the Atlantic.

“Transhuman is a stylistic mélange of our different histories,” describe Wolfgang Flür and U96 masterminds Hauss and Lewerentz an offering that is spectacular in many respects, featuring, along with typical U96 tracks such as ‘Clone’ and ‘Specimen’, numbers such as ‘Transhuman’, ‘Planet In Fever’ and ‘Sexersizer’ that are inspired by Flür’s past. Notably, the content has been reduced to the sheer basics, in other words: sparingly used associative statements with deep, but at times also playful and mysterious messages that the listener feels rather than consciously registers. The lyrics are about the transformation of people through technology and our massive interference in life on our planet. Hauss: “Pieces like ‘Zukunftsmusik’ and ‘Transhuman’ don’t tell a story in the classic sense, they articulate emotions and associations in very few words, bringing to mind recordings such as Radio-Aktivität, Autobahn and Die Mensch-Maschine. In addition Transhuman, features a number of melodies created on the basis of computer algorithms, in other words fractal music which takes us even further back in history, to Klaus Schulze, Stockhausen, the electronics laboratories of the fifties and sixties and the musique concrete compositional technique.”

What does a contemporary album mean to us? Marc Pinol and Hugo Capablanca asked themselves this question when faced with the challenge of recording their first C.P.I. LP. To find the answer they went back to some of the most important records in their lives and listened to them from start to finish. At a time when the whole concept of an album might be at its lowest ebb for decades, they wanted to return to the old way of telling stories, recreating the notion of a narrative "journey" but doing so in their own original manner. 'Alianza' displays a wide range of emotions through only a few elements. There are no structures, barely any drums. It's a puzzling journey that moves through darkness and light, happiness and despair, hope and menace, as it unveils its own mysterious universe. Every track is a world in its own, yet all of them are linked by an invisible energy that reflects a coherent constellation. To achieve this, Hugo and Marc used a broad array of vocal timbres, including their own drone-treated voices, digitized vocals from an old vector synth, and those of several contributors. Most of the sounds on the album come from digital devices, as they wanted to "prove themselves" in the studio "by doing something as warm as we could while trying to avoid analogue if possible? The major part of 'Alianza' was recorded during the spring of 2018 in Barcelona, with further takes and additions recorded in Berlin, New York, Los Angeles and Switzerland. It features contributions from Spacemen 3's Will Carruthers, Tanja Siren, Veronica Vasicka, Anna Homler, Demetrio Martini and Pablo Sanchez. The album was mastered by Gordon Pohl in Dusseldorf. The artwork is by Dominic Brucia and features a picture by Tanja Siren. The album was created with the support of The Richard Thomas Foundation.

The man in the crowd is a wonderer with relaxed habits. In him the course of things and movement of the city is reproduced. The Düsseldorfer Detlef Weinrich is such a man in the crows. Some one who is constantly listening to future winds through rushes of the past. He loves the night for its free will. And his music tells stories about it. You might know him as a member of the band Kreidler. As a solo artist he goes under the name Tolouse Low Trax. And he's already got three Eps and two albums under his belt. His first solo album „Mask Talk“ thrives on a feathery beat frequency and cool new-wave-strength. His recently released piece „Corridor Plateau“, which appeared as a limited edition to accompany the exhibition „Corridor Plateau“ contains percussive electronics and Industrial sounding like its from the second industrial revolution. His third album „Jeidem Fall“, is also not from here. It sounds like music brought down to earth from the heavens. But its a dark cosmos in which there are only fleeting glimpses of light. All eight tracks were composed in a short space of time over the period of just a few months and fit together perfectly atmospherically. With a musical expressiveness that undoubtedly twists your emotions, „Jeidem Fall“ attacks the subconscious and clouds the mind. The drums have more movement that on „Mask Talk“. Along with the constant tapping of drumsticks goes melodical arpeggios dancing dark and dirty. At times longing vocals drift abstractly through the room, as on „Sa Seline“ or „Geo Scan“, without telling any obvious story.

To sound like stylistic cross references from the present and past is all just speculation for nothing on „Jeidem Fall“ really sounds like anything that has gone before. You could compare the dark minimal timbre of the drum computer aesthetic with Craig Leon's first reductive album „Nommos“. There is also a hint of the minimallist industrial of the Spanish band Esplendor Geometrico in the bubbly textures. But Tolouse Low Trax is still looking from the present into the future and filter and filters all his personal preferences through his MPC and his small synth setup to make them come alive here and now in a new way. Again Tolouse Low Trax has created a truly mysteriously vibrating drum computer music which offers hypnotic magic for the shadowy dance floor. Only a little light should illuminate the whole thing and the bodies that move above them should have no fear from threatening percussion which are displaced into a misty trance. A dark swaying shadowy mass, ideal for a journey at the end of the night and all those non-places where longing sleeps and the last romantics dance while getting drunk.

Another win for the Glowing Pin as Müller & Wandt drop a fresh new age groover on a killer club dub tip. Elsewhere Phazer Boys, Suzanne Kraft, Philipp Otterbach and River Yarra remix the pscht out of their favourite tracks from ‘Instrumentalmusik..’. Expect Goan hits, cosmic trips, loved up rave and chilled out wave on this flawless five tracker.

Growing Bin becomes Glowing Pin for the most anticipated rematch of the century. Back at the beginning of 2018, Wolf Müller and Niklas Wandt went head to head for a box office smash, throwing a high school percussion tray, wall of hardware and voodoo skull into the ring for the tribal trip of ‘Instrumentalmusik Von Der Mitte Der World’. Now the multi-instrumental duo face off once again, but this time it’s a royal rumble with Phazer Boys, Suzanne Kraft, Phillip Otterbach and River Yarra all bringing the noise to the Glowing Pin.

Müller and Wandt dominate the action on the A1, playing loose with sampler vox, serene pads and future primitive rhythms on the unreleased ‘Fun Dub’ of the also unreleased ‘Dub Dub’. Imagine Ferris Bueller’s trampoline tumble trading Chicago to the Weissenhof and you’ll sense the mood of this New Age groove. Germany’s number one party dudes, those freaky Phazer Boys take a break from dropping killer Candomblé cuts to reach for the lasers on the A2, taking ‘Ahu’ to another dimension. Dripping in neon body paint and armed with fire poi, the Düsseldorf duo power up progressive house sequences, didgeridoo bass and thumping tribal house percussion for a wall-shaking, speaker-breaking remix.

The B1 belongs to synth whiz Suzanne Kraft who revels in glistening, gliding glory on an expansive remix of ‘Auflösung’. Sleek, serene and futuristic, the track shimmers like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, free from inequality and rendered with the 5D(ub?) majesty of a DMT breakthrough.
B2 hears Salon associate and serious talent Philipp Otterbach take over on a stripped back and psychedelic post punk dub of ‘Expedition’. Angular bass by Süne Große and a stuttering rhythm underpin astral flourishes and the hazy vocals of Lucas Croon before the African elements begin to move to the forefront.
Last man standing is Australian outlier River Yarra, who leads us into the Krautback with a chugging dub of ‘Weltraumsandalen’. Lent a lysergic sparkle by a percolating one-note bassline, this slow motion stunner masters perpetual motion amid the eerie echoes of the bush, organic percussion and electronic animal cries fading into the night. Let the pins glow again.

Patrick Ryder

404 is a young collective based in Paris of 4 very different guys making music together. Last year they released a debut mini LP on Dusseldorf label Candomble and started performing live at Concrete and other prominent venues. This is their second release ever. Dark, improvised, smokey, claustrophobic techno of the highest psychedelic grade, bringing together elements of the « slow techno » sound, industrial textures and dub.

I remember the first time I read W.E.B. DuBois eclectic masterpiece The Souls of Black Folk. The way in which this Weberian scholar flowed from personal account to prose to sociological analysis to music and even political intervention has had a lasting impact on my own work as a cultural anthropologist. It made me understand that as scholars we must use different means in order to give expression to the totality of the lived experience: There is only so much in an academic text.

The experience of alienation has always been at the heart of my scholarly and artistic practice. I have used academic writing, lecturing, theatre performance and electronic improvisation to understand and represent it as a theoretical concept, postcolonial condition and lived experience. I believe, some issues need to be told like a story, some analyzed in most abstract terms and others need to be sung like a gospel. The medium changes the message.

In this sense, I guess, I’m a singing cultural anthropologist.

For some time now I have been engaged in the use of dystopian themes and sounds to paint a sonic picture of structural racism and whiteness of our present. But recently I have grown weary of this Ballardian idea of Future Now and the resulting phantasmagorian aesthetics myself and others have been invested in. The widespread availability of Digital Audio Workstations, sequencers, loopers and delay pedals has lead us into a futuristic cul de sac best described by Mark Fisher as the very absence of future.

Likewise, I am most skeptical of the “naturalist” countermovement, the return of folk. Especially in Germany, I am convinced there is no such thing as an innocent or progressive folk musical expression as it is always connected to the idea of the homeland (“Heimat”) which in turn produces the colony. It seems to me, the current zeitgeist is stuck between a “museum of a dystopian future” and a “museum of an idealized past”, but I wanted to sing about the present.

So, I involuntarily returned to pop music in its two-folded meaning of something popular and addressing not an essentialist notion of “Volk” or its woke cousin “communities”, but society as a whole.

I entered the studio just with a few lo-fi sounding melodies and rhythms from my circuit bent CASIO synthesizer. I had no clue what the finished product would sound like. But as soon as Markus started drumming, in a way strangely reminding me of CAN’s Ethnographic Forgery Series, my uptight sounds were suddenly embedded within a warmer global sound spectrum. The alien at home and abroad and the strange overlapped: We were seeing one and the same sound differently but were gently held together by Tobias’ producing.

Making music is about building coalitions. It’s about suggesting an articulation of styles, sounds and people, that hasn’t materialized, yet, but may help us in the current crisis: I wanted Amon Düül II to send their drug induced archangel thunderbird to rescue the refugees, that had tried to escape the police by climbing up a tree in Munich in 2016. I wanted Sun Ra to taunt far-right protesters in Chemnitz in 2018. And I wanted to mourn the loss of a former kebab shop cum discotheque that served as proof that there is such a thing as a minoritarian universalism.

SCHLAND IS THE PLACE FOR ME is a pop album featuring songs of alienation, not only as a tragic experience, but as a pop-cultural promise. Maybe Bill Callahan sung it best, “I am Star Wars today, I am no longer English grey”. I want those who suffer from alienation to stand in alliance with those who seek alienation, and vice-versa. A coalition, that tolerates the possibility that we are moved by the same groove for contrary reasons.

Fehler Kuti
Munich, Autumn 2019

Music by Julian Warner, Markus Acher & Tobias Siegert
Saxophone on RINDERMARKT by Franz Brunner
Trombone on RINDERMARKT and IL by Matthias Götz
Recorded and mixed by Tobias Siegert in Munich.
SONTAGSFAVORIT mixed by Dario Albiez in Dusseldorf.
Mastered by Duphonic in Augsburg.
Artwork by Atelier Grande, Munich.

Markus Suckut is a well known producer in the techno world, whose releases have found a home on such respected labels as Rekids, Odd Even, Hypercolour or Edit Select to name just a few. Suckut is also the founder of the SCKT imprint. The Düsseldorf producer has been a part of the 'made of CONCRETE' family for some time now and the pair up between the two on 'Voices In My Head' feels like an ideal match.

The title track 'Voices In My Head' may give off a tranquil feel but pay close attention and you’ll hear the psychosis bubbling below the surface. The synth scribbles that underpin the track would get the best of a sane mind in the right setting. '8' follows. It’s a smart, profound cut designed to raise the pressure on the dancefloor. On the flip, 'Drift' comes to life with fantastic mind-bending sweeps. Label bosses Rebar close the EP off on a quasi devotional touch with their rework of 'Voices In My Head'. The pair stays in the deep end with sublime synths and a stripped back rhythmic architecture. It’s a perfect counterpoint to Suckut’s original.

TCB aka Chris Beißwenger, our boy on Jah bless road, goes a little something like: 1977, born cross-eyed, parents like Boney M; 1984, suburbia USA, DSNY, still cross-eyed; 1988, 98.7 Kiss FM New York on the school bus radio; 1989, Frankfurt Am Main, hyperactive, outsider, got lazered; 1991, drums and piano in cheesy school band; 1993, kicked out of Omen, kicked out of school band; 1994, kicked out of Omen again, got his own band; 1995, kicked out of band, finally in at Omen, The Box, Wild Pitch Club; 1996, got first car, Fasttracker, EMU ESI-32; 1999, no more car, no more Omen, Robert Johnson instead; 2002, first release, High Tide; 2003, Ableton 0.1 Beta, less MIDI, more gefrickel; 2004, exchange High Tide for CB Funk, kicked out of Cocoon; 2005, a silly move to Düsseldorf, Burkina Faso, more synthesizers; 2006, again silly in Düsseldorf, Brontosaurus, disco-house, love; 2007, Cologne and Frankfurt, back to piano, more love, still no car; 2008, with love to Frankfurt, Arto Mwambe on the road, storyteller; 2009, Mwambe still on the road, bored of work; 2010, Live At Robert Johnson, four-day week (thank God), four bike accidents; 2011, Europe, bored of piano, invention of The Citizen’s Band; 2012, modular cookery, thoughts of moving; 2013, Burkinian's death, Delphi's rise, almost made it, 2014, broke out of seven-year cycle too complicate

This split release unites two female underground acts, both of whom have recently become pivotal parts of the contemporary electronic musical landscape in Japan. Hot on the heels of the acclaimed PAREDO EP compilation (TAL12), which has been released in May 2019 (and also includes contributions from Lena Willikens and Miki Yui), the SUPER MILD split album is the second outing by KOPY and TENTENKO on TAL. Their newest works punctuate their highly individual approaches to contemporary experimental dance music.

TENTENKO is a Tokyo-based electronic music producer. Her career began in 2013 when she joined the mainstream idol group BIS. Immediately after her departure from BIS in 2014 she commenced work on her solo project under her artist name TENTENKO. Since then she has radically reinvented her music away from glossy J-POP towards weird and industrial rooted dancefloor. TENTENKO first made a name for herself on the alternative Japanese music scene with a steady flow of live performances as well as collaborations with members of the legendary Japanese noise band HIJOKAIDAN.

For a few years now KOPY has been an unpredictable and charismatic part of the vital electronic music scene of Osaka. She has quickly garnered a reputation for creating her live sets exclusively with borrowed electronic equipment. Her name KOPY very much originates from this "concept". Apart from a few performances at Düsseldorfs famous nightspot SALON DES AMATEURS, she has been invited by LENA WILLIKENS to her showcase at the MEAKUSMA FESTIVAL in 2018. Her sinister dancefloor mystique is heavily steeped in the free spirited noise and rhythm cultures of her hometown.

Editions Mego is proud to present the latest addition to the compelling discography of Thomas Brinkmann. Throughout his career Brinkmann has focussed on the human operating amongst industry alongside rhythms that manifest as a result of technological advancement. With this new release Brinkmann makes a u-turn, looking back to the early industrial age. Comprised of recordings of various looms, Raupenbahn investigates the sonic properties and consequences of the first automatic loom as constructed by Jacques de Vaucanson in 1745. Thomas Brinkmann once again adheres to his tendency for clarity and simplicity whilst further investigating not only the sound and rhythms of the machines (looms) but also what role they serve in society and what consequences they have on the environment. Raupenbahn presents 21 tracks in total, 11 feature on the vinyl, the remaining 10 as digital bonus tracks. The majority of recordings were undertaken by Brinkmann in 2017 with a Neumann KM 184 stereo set. Additional recordings were sourced with permission from Monika W. recs. from 2014 Central Museum of Textiles Łódź, Poland. Each piece presents a diversity of material which borders on the breathtaking and beautiful in richness and complexity. The various looms unravel rhythms and patterns unexpected from machines of the early industrial age.

The loom holds a significant role in shaping our world being the catalyst for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine which, alongside the subsequent work of Byron's daughter Ada Lovelace, paved the way for modern computing. There is a linage of the loom that fits succinctly in Brinkmann's overall argument. Here we encounter a parallel between machine driven economies and the music that rose from such places, consider the Sheffield steel industries, the Manchester weaving industry or the Rhineland / Düsseldorf loom and machine industry. Is it a coincidence that the practice of such machines in the environment gave rise to today's predilection for electronic dance music, in pop, soundtracks, etc.

Raupenbahn features no treatment or processing and explicitly displays varying tempo and timbres which ascertain a wide range of acoustic structures. The artwork features Ingrid Wiener, Rosemarie Trockel and Alexandra Bircken, three different generations who would with ideas of fabric weaving, loming and the like. This exceptional release works on a number of levels alongside it's striking sonic palette.


i 9 Günne (Irmscher) BO Möhnesee / D

PAREDO presents new and exclusive works by three female japanese music producers: KOPY, TENTENKO and MIKI YUI who are based in Osaka, Tokyo and Düsseldorf respectively and a radical reinterpretation using elements of the featured works by Lena Willikens, the PAREDO MEGA MIX. All four contributions showcase their highly individual approaches to contemporary electronic dance music. Paredo is directly informed by multi-directional encounters of four musicians and their close observations of musical production and reception in practice.

In 2017 Lena Willikens and TAL founder Stefan Schneider have both, though independently from one another, been invited to Japan under the auspices of the Goethe Institut. While Schneider researched electronic noise music cultures in Osaka, LENA WILLIKENS and her artist partner SARAH SZCZESNY developed aspects of audio mix and filmed footage for their collaborational art project PHANTOM KINO BALLETT while in residency at Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto.

"While in Kyoto, we often went to Osaka or Tokyo to explore the diversity of the music subcultures there. It was fascinating to witness how Japanese underground cultures adopt influences from abroad and turn them into something original and very much their own. We also saw live performances by KOPY and TENTENKO whom we quickly befriended."

KOPY is a consistant part of the vital electronic music scene from Osaka. Besides a few performances at Düsseldorfs famous SALON DES AMATEURS, she has also been invited by LENA WILLIKENS to her showcase at the MEAKUSMA FESTIVAL in 2018.

TENTENKO begun to enter into the japanese music scene with a steady flow of experimental cdr productions as well as collaborations with members of the legendary japanese noise band Hijokaidan.

MIKI YUI originally from Tokyo has lived in Düsseldorf for more than two decades now. Besides albums of her solo work for LINE (US), or more recently, for Cusp Editions (UK) she also collaborates with Carl Stone in the duo REALISTIC MONK (on the Meakusma label) and was a member of Klaus Dingers last band JAPANDORF (Grönland Records).

LENA WILLIKENS who has a background in fine art, first honed her unique approach during a long residency at Düsseldorf’s Salon des Amateurs. Outside of the club, the Cómeme label was home to her first EP, 2015's Phantom Delia. In 2017 she has released a remix of Kenyan singer OGOYA NENGO for the ON MANDE EP, TAL02.

Brainchild of Multi Culti A&R, Sascha Funke and Niklas Wandt were introduced by Dreems, who charted a course for the seasoned Berlin-based producer and funky multi-percussionist and singer.

Wandt was just about to enter the scene forcefully with his collaborative 2LP with Wolf Müller and the debut single of his band Neuzeitliche Bodenbeläge. In the icey cold of his warehouse rehearsal space, Funke had him record a variety of slapped, bowed and scratched percussions (congas, talking drum, prepared cymbals played with a bass bow) over his tracks. These first efforts were later expanded into joint sessions at Sascha's home studio and, within a few weeks, the journey reached it's destination: Wibe strasse, Deutschland.

At first glance, they seem an odd couple: a techno veteran of almost thirty years meets a side-burned upstart socialized in Free Jazz and Krautrock. But the shared sonic influences come through in the hypnotic, dubbed-out sound, perhaps rooted in the close connection the two share to the Rheinland region in West Germany, Funke as part of the Kompakt family and Wandt by origin and socialization in the Cologne and Düsseldorf music scene centered around the Salon des Amateurs. Regional flavours, global appeal.

Multi Culti, promoting local collaboration, one freaky record at a time.

Strut Present An Exclusive New Compilation Curated By Optimo's Jd Twitch, 'kreaturen Der Nacht', Bringing Together Classics, Rarities And Oddities From Germany's Original Post-punk And Diy Scene. 1979 To 1984 Was An Era Of Particular Artistic Upheaval In Germany As Strong Subculture Scenes Formed In Many German Cities. Emphasis Was Placed On Expression Rather Than Technical Perfection, Artistic Impact Rather Than Skill. Diy Self-organisation Prevailed With The Establishment Of Small Record Labels And Independently Produced Records And Cassettes. Bands Experimented Across Genres And Consciously Abandoned The English-speaking Mainstream With German Band Names And Lyrics. 'although We Had A Small Underground
Scene, It Was Very Vibrant,' Explains Gudrun Gut Of Malaria! 'bands Like Die Haut, My Frst Band Mania D., Malaria!... We Organised Gigs Ourselves Or Friends Would Open A Gallery And
Have Bands Playing. We Hung Around Together In A Handful Of Clubs Like Risiko Or Dschungel And Went To Gigs At So36. West Germany Had Other Regional Scenes Too: Düsseldorf And
Köln Around Der Plan And The Ata Tak Label And There Was The Hamburg Side With Abwärts. Germany Didn't Have A Real Music Industry Like The Us Or England Back Then.'
This New Collection Is A Personal Selection From Jd Twitch, Built Over Years Of Playing The Tracks In Club Sets. 'it Is Not Designed To Tell A Defnitive Story Of What Was Going On In
Germany In This Era,' He Explains. 'rather, It Is Simply An Arbitrary Collection Of Records I Adore From A Specifc Era With A Specifc Attitude That Hopefully Together Sum Up Some
Of The Musical Undercurrents In Germany At That Time.'
The Package Features A Host Of Rare And Unseen Photos From The Period Along With Extensive Interviews With Artists Including Beate Bartel (mania D.), Christoph Dreher (die Haut),
Michael Hirsch (p1/e) And Thomas Voburka (weltklang). All Tracks Are Remastered By The Carvery With Artwork By Optimo's In-house Design Man Andrew Beltran.

Since 2008 Düsseldorf based producer and live wizard Stefan Schwander deeply concentrates on his always evolving electronic venture named Harmonious Thelonious. It besprinkles the world with fractional musical structures in the spirits of American minimal music, in order to immingle them with African rhythm patterns. Exceptional hypnotic opiates, enlarged with twisted harmonies and tricky rhythm archetypes. All heavy danceable!

After five magnetic albums for labels like Emotional Response and his old home base Italic as well as a highly acclaimed string of EPs for in-demand platforms like Asafa, Diskant, Disk, Kontra-Muzik, Meakusma, The Trilogy Tapes or Versatile Records, he now produced a heavy arresting 'Petrolia' LP for Marmo Music - a label that is not new to Harmonious Thelonious. Already on the label's second release Tru West: 'The DOWC part 2' his 'Sunset Liturgy' fingerprints are audible with a moving remix. Now he delivers six epic tunes that only partly dance the familiar Harmonious Thelonious dance. There are deeply traces from Africa and Arabia. There is the polyrhythmic witchery that makes his music special. But in contrast his new tunes are more mental then his former ones. They have a menacing industrial feel but yet continue to be enlarged with the enchanting spirits of the land of the Sahara. Furthermore, there is a slight manic touch arising from nervous electronic and foremost organic melodies. The live played jittery is coming from the Berlin based experimental musician Ghazi Barakat, also known under monikers like Pharoah Chromium or Crème de Hassan for mind shredding ambient, drone, experimental, noise, industrial, free jazz and free improvisation music from beyond. For Harmonious Thelonious Barakat, who also produced together with Marmo Music artist Günther Schickert the collaboration album 'OXTLR' in 2014, tuned his wind instruments Rauschpfeife and Kangling elflock-stricken the Master Musicians of Jajouka way. And instead of giving them a prominent lead position, Schwander deeply implements his tones into his propulsive creations to evoke a modern rhythmic meltdown of Occident versus Orient spheres that exhale a deeply absorbing soul.

A record, who's psychedelic energy fits perfect into the Marmo Music cosmos - a world where the progressiveness of the 70ties continues to live in the current to disband all white bread musical norms for the energy of music without classes. Dancers of the world, unite!

HINOSCH are a duo of Koshiro Hino from Osaka and Stefan Schneider from Düsseldorf, they first (met and) began their collaborative work of musical interaction and exploring contrasting possibilities in 2017. After a number of concerts in the EU and in Japan a debut EP (HINOSCH EP/TAL05) was released in late 2017. Fully instrumental, their first full-length album HANDS offers a more steeply focussed approach than its largely improvised predecessor.

Encouraged by the momentum generated during a number of on-the-spot recordings in Osaka, where Schneider had held a residency in April 2017, the overall sound of the album has been honed down through meticulous studio engineering. One of the outstanding qualities of HANDS certainly is an unprejudiced approach of sound and song structures. The instrumentation is condently reduced to a small range of analogue and digital machines. Snatches of tape-loops deliver lower-pitched vocal and drum machine samples. This characteristic technical set up soon proved ideal in order to dene a tactile vocabulary of fully unsynchronized rhythm patterns. The word tactile perfectly conjures that quality which is the very essence of HANDS. It is the result of the manner in which interdependent threads of rhythm units are deliberately disconnected to form a cohesive, soulful and exible whole. Most tracks on HANDS are devoid of a central motif and examine an unpredictable dialogue. A fantasy of constant change and a search for musical suggestions is the most vital ingredient in this abstract environment.

The album title HANDS refers to physical aspects of electronic music production. Every live concert of Hinosch usually starts out with a hand shake between Hino and Schneider. The general process of collective music making, programming, button pushing, playing, recording, decision making, all demand utmost concentration. The image on the front of the abum sleeve (designed by Takashi Makabe) reects the general approach of HANDS: layers of tuckled fabrics confronting one another to articulate a form for themselves to no other end than their own orchestration.

After having emerged from the ever thrilling Osaka music scene onto the international playgrounds of electronic music just a few years ago Koshiro Hino's solo activities as YPY and his involvement with the band GOAT have already garnered him a very favourable international reception. Stefan Schneider has over the years produced and collaborated with a.o. Joachim Roedelius (Cluster), Arto Lindsay, Klaus Dinger (NEU!), Dieter Moebius (Cluster), Alexander Balanescu, John McEntire (tortoise), Katharina Grosse, Bill Wells and St.Etienne.

After the great success of his new-classsical album 'Voyage de la planète' last year Marc Romboy releases a special 7' single according to the album. And once again as he experiments with his sound - pushing the boundaries between classical and electronic music to create both an emotional and atmospheric experience.

The title track - Voyage de la planete' was especially taped at the Robert-Schumann-Saal in Düsseldorf to create a highgrade recording of each classical instrument. The difference between a studio roon and a concert hall is remarkable.

Another highly acclaimed track, - La lune et l´etoile' comes along with an outstanding piano only version which improves once again that less can be so much more.

Desolats Labelhead Loco Dice präsentiert nach seinem Killer-Remix für Mobys Klassiker "Go" nun eine großartige neue Single als Vorgeschmack auf das später im Jahr erscheinende neue Album "Love Letters". "Roots" reflektiert Locos musikalische Wurzeln in Düsseldorf, Detroit und darüber hinaus und bietet wieder eine exzellente Kombination aus robustem House und Tech-Funk, die jeden Dancefloor sprengt.

fter the world applauded sascha funke for his latest album 'lotos land', he gave away some tunes to friends for remix duties.
düsseldorf based tolouse low trax formed 'twirl' into a foggy dark mpc-seducer for romantic nighthawks that love dancing.
also australian boy dreems prepared a remix that grooves odd and uncommon. his percussive version of 'im feiern und feuer' is a slow whirlwind, perfect to start and end a great dj night.
with tuff city kids a duo formed a remix that is good for big room love affairs. their version of 'purple hill' is a heartfelt melange between trance and house deepness that works on any dance floor.
the final edit comes from glasgow's junto club, who transformed 'comola', a tune that they already produced originally with sascha funke, into a longing dark melodic synth stepper.
four versions, four hits, four atmospheric dimensions beyond words. tune it loud!

Tom Ware is a Grammy nominated engineer, producer and musician from Omaha Nebraska. Throughout the 70s and 80s Tom was the drummer for many bands, including Norman & The Rockwells, Toy boat Toy boat Toy boat, and Hit N Run. Because of his love for electronics, mechanics, and machines of any kind, he was always the only one who truly knew how pa systems worked. Tom got an entry level job at a Rainbow Studios and would work at the recording studio during the day, play evening gigs till 2 in the morning, then go back to the studio and work on new ideas all night. During these teeth cutting sessions, Tom worked by himself, following his instincts and creating sounds he loved to listen to.

His reckless abandon approach and thrill to learn was a high octane fuel that resulted in his first solo self-titled album. The album's 10 songs were recorded and mixed between August & December of 1983 and self-released in early 1984. The album would be re-released in 1985 by independent Krautrock/Kosmische Musik label Sky Records in Germany and re-titled 'The Fourth Circle'. Some of the instruments used on the LP were a Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, & Pro One, Simmons SDSV electronic drums, Roland TR-606 drum machine, & Hammond B3 organ. While recording this album Tom was influenced by new wave sounds of Yellow Magic Orchestra, the Berlin and Düsseldorf schools of pulsing synth music and the celestial realms of Jean Michel Jarre. All songs have been mastered and lacquer cut by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Each LP is housed in a replica cover with computer graphics by Lars Erickson and photos by Ken Mayer and includes a postcard with liner notes by Tom Ware.

The return of Brain Machine, with their Peaks album, was one of the highlights of last year for Emotional Response. Juan Tripp (aka Jon Tye of Seahawks), Guido Zen (Vactrol Park) and Kyle Martin's (Spectral Empire/Land Of Light/Vactrol Park) acclaimed kosmiche opus is followed up with 2 remix EPs featuring some of the best proponents, peers and friends of deep electronic music.
Remixes One is given over to a quartet of trusted hands including man of the moment, Tolouse Low Trax, ambient visionary Gigi Masin, afro-techno-dub specialist Harmonious Thelonious and stalwarts Ronny & Renzo.First Detlef Weinrich shows his mastery of a unique percussive sound that has seen his identity become as respected outside of his native Dusseldorf as he is in it for his role as one of the founders and curator of Salon des Amateurs. A brooding, propulsive culmination, the original's haunting ambience is retained for a subtle, driving rework that hits the mark.
Surprise of the EP is Gigi Masin's remix of Crystal Clouds. Eschewing the original's celestial soundscapes, scattered percussion interplays with sub-bass to change the context, giving a rhythmic dimension while retaining the shimmering guitar and arpeggio infused cohesion.Starting the B-side is another Dusseldorf elder statesman, in the afro-visions of Harmonious Thelonious. Solo, as well as one third of The Durian Brothers, Stefan Schwander, has carved a distinct sound. Chrematistic percussion is matched with an atmospheric, dub-techno feel that perfectly fits the EP. Play loud for full understanding.
Finally, Remixes One concludes with the return of Ronny & Renzo. Long time associates of Brain Machine, their 10 minutes plus remix takes the glacial original's ambience to a darker plain, fusing rhythmic pulses with alluding acid intent.

Emotional Rescue starts its 5th year by shining a light on one of Europe's best underground 80s' label in Spain's Auxilio De Ciento. Their Terra Incognita Volumes I and II collated an international mix of synth-pop, new wave, world and industrial sounds to a small but appreciative following. Released in 1985 and 1986, the Volumes have become highly regarded and rightly sought after, finding a place in discerning playlists from London to Amsterdam and Dusseldorf to Glasgow. Here, taking a premise of avoiding the songs unearthed on other recent reissues, is a unique album itself. Starting with Denis Mpunga & Paul K's esoteric Criola, a fusion of fourth world ideals and poly-rhythmic funk. The music of Mal, Bene Gesserit and La Caida De La Casa Usher, however, soon highlight that the decade also belonged to dark, minimal synth as to shiny balearic ideals. The inclusion of Hector Zazou with Bony Biyake and their contribution Komba, is a fitting continuation from their cult Noir Et Blanc LP before, things continue with US avant-artist Danny Alias and his humorous Big Brother "response" to Laurie Anderson's Superman O. Image Pour Image loose indie-pop and the inclusion of seminal Beast Of Burden lead again to a Zazou contribution, this time in his collaborative Stranger In A New Light, before the compilation eclectically ends with the dadaesque Lakota and the post punk dub of Instead Of's closer, Angels .

Tadd Mullinix's Charles Manier project returns with a third double-LP, Luxus Steroid Abamita, an edict of nine new amorphous transmissions and clustered, clangorous, hemi-synthetic funk. This is experimental machine music: it's inspired by the fringes of dance, but skirts petrified arpeggios and other stock Wave and Technopop emblems. Its spirit elicits Sheffield Post-Punk and Düsseldorfer NDW desiderata, but exploits are crisp, psychedelic, and expansive. Lyrics come as laconic Dada, sociopolitical impressions—in counterpoint to concrète tape smears, echoing guitar deluges, and entrenched in ever-shifting grime. A wide spectrum of density is proffered. Atmospheric zones are submerged, modulating knells. When tempos increase, sample & hold mutations make synthesizers sputter and writhe. The title track and opus, Yopo (Calcium Tree)' carry this with heavy pulses—storming like locomotives.

The thrid an final installment of archive material, selected by Antinote. A killer suite if you ask us. TIP!
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You can trail away with it. It is easy to enter, but hard to drop out. Tolouse Low Trax just needs an MPC, a small Synthesizer set up and some effects to create subliminal hypnotic music trips, driven by dark synthlines and drunken shuffled patterns. The primitiveness in my music is linked to something simple, and that don't have to be obligatory minimal. For me it is enough to dance rough around the core. Music you don't shape till the end contains of a moment of beauty. A veil of secrecy. I work very simply. I rather reduce my possibilities in ompass. Limitations offer lots of liberties.' He reveals about his work ethic. Even if his music sounds darker then any ever experienced night, he mostly produces it in the morning in his highly inspirational studio home. During the dark times of the day Tolouse Low Trax mostly performs live around the globe. Or hangs out in his second home: the Salon Des Amateurs club bar in Dusseldorf, which he once founded and where he held until today two weekly DJ residencies. The moments and atmospheres he inhales during these lightless moments are mirrored in his shadowy music, about which he also confesses: My art is more a cinematic, literally idea of a large to explore Megacity. This is one of the pictures I would link to my music.' On ' part one he now offers five sounding visions about that Megacity'. They listen to mysterious names like Hidden Flat' or Studies in Drama'. They are nervous. They have ephemeral pieces of dub, Industrial, wave or Italian library music. And at times strangealienated voice samples dance within his highly addictive arrangements. Words can't express their magic. But one thing is fore sure: his hypnotic dance-not-dance tracks do not only illuminate so-called freaks!

The final part of the SchleiBen series brings the contrast of heavyweights for a special collaborative release featuring Colin Potter (Nurse With Wound), Alessio Natalizia (Walls/Not Waving) and Guido Zen (Brain Machine), backed up on the flp by a rising name, the (another) world ambience of Cass. Emotional Response completes the SchleiBen series, bringing together the legendary Colin Potter with two of Italy's best experimental / drone / industrial producers in Alessio Natalizia and Guido Zen for a one off special recording, plus again highlighting one last Dusseldorf affiiated project, with the Osnabruck based, beautiful ambient touches of producer Niklas Rehme-Schluter aka Cass. When the idea of the split series was born, one of the aims was to get producers who have worked with the label to come together and record special pieces. However, it was not until the fial release that this fially occurred and who better in which to do this. Having seen a number of reissues come out in the last 18 months - one of which on the distant relative label, Sacred Summits, Colin Potter has brought him in to the orbit of two
artists closely associated with Emotional Response in Mr Natalizia and Mr Zen. The assimilated Parts 1 and 2 provide a perfect marriage of methods. Percussion hinting at Industial and Techno is explored, while the constant Drone inflx and disintegration grab your attention, overlapping with rhythmic repetition deeper and deeper. To end is the ambience of Cass. Taken from the limited 'Hiding Place' cassette only album, the pieces here are the perfect completion. Found sounds, loops, piano, synthesis, all intertwine and overlap to bathe you in pause, a one last time call to stop and (un)listen.

clear vinyl pressing!
Soundtravels Recordings proudly presents "Point Of View Part 1". We have compiled six contemporary, electronic bombs from artists all around Europe.

For some we didn't have to travel that far though...

The Hagues Baz Reznik provided us with "Nightdrive To Stuttgart", a moody, sinister track with that typical raw Reznik sound and a melody that will stick in your head for days after you first heard it.

Amsterdam based Arctic Boogie boss Endfest came up with another killer, "Von Heijden En Verre". Almost ten minutes filled with frosty synths and arctic melodies, accompanied by an ever present, very sophisticated 303 which peaks halfway the track, shivers!

Our last, but not least, Dutch contributor is Rotterdam based Louis Guilliaume who you might know from several straight forward techno releases on various quality underground labels. "Promiscues" is a rough edged, energetic track which fits somewhere between Detroit techno and Dutch Westcoast elektronica. At the end of 2013 he will release the "Unknown Forces EP" on Soundtravels.

Okay, now we fly all the way over to Croatia for Le Chocolate Noir with "Futu.e Is B.ight". A short but powerful EBM track with vocals from the man himself. Dark industrial mechanics accompanied by a threathening bassline, but no need to worry... cause Futu.e is B.ight! In 2014 he will release his first EP on Soundtravels.

Next stop... Düsseldorf. After discovering Dircsen's tracks we definitely had to have him on board. The first result of that can be heard on his astonishing "Aspiration EP" (Soundtravels 003). This guy keeps on producing his solid, high quality electronics and shows us his love for the TB 303 machine in a brilliant way. "Exist" is actually a downtempo dubtechno track but off course it has a fierce 303 all over it. Timeless again. Early 2014 his second EP named "Acid Wheel EP" will be a fact.

New to our family is the Russian Neotnas. He makes his first appearance with "Rewind". Typical for his sound is that warm, organic feel all over his house and dubtechno productions. Very often accompanied by female vocals and it's almost like you hear somebody play a live instrument if you listen carefully. At the end of 2013 he will release his "Slow & Steady EP".

We call them the rat pack of our beat scene. With all diversity in sound, the three producers are unified in their love for dope beats and high-proof drinks, both catered and consumed with style and expertise.

Suff Daddy, the globetrotting gin connoisseur and minimoog player with domiciles in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Sydney. He has released three solo albums and has worked with artists like Miles Bonny, Fleur Earth, Ta-ku and Elzhi. After a one year stint in Sydney, he returned to Berlin this spring.

Brenk Sinatra, the Wien-Kaisermühlen homeboy, Westcoast rap fanatic and producer of the forthcoming MC Eiht album. Last year Brenk released the critically acclaimed S3 album together with US singer Miles Bonny and has laced beats for an armada of MCs from both sides of the Atlantic.

And last but not least Dexter, the Stuttgart based trip maker and platinum producer with a day job as a pediatrician. This June Dexter released his second solo-album 'The Trip' a homage to the psychedelic rock era and one of the most innovative and genre bending hip-hop albums of 2013.

All three first met at the Hi-Hat Club, the producer series that we started a couple of years ago with the goal to push and celebrate the art of beat making. With their respective volumes 'Suff Draft' (Suff Daddy), 'The Jazz Files' (Dexter) and 'Chop Shop' (Brenk Sinatra) each of the guys put the instrumental hip-hop thing on a new and different level. None of their beats need a MC to be complete, they are full songs in their own right.

The official birth date of the Betty Ford Boys was the 2012 Beat BBQ in Cologne where Dexter, Suff and Brenk performed together for the first time. Right after the now legendary gig, that was ended by police forces Suff Daddy left for Sydney so that most the recordings for the Betty Ford Boys debut album took place in the cloud. Right after his return to Berlin, the Boys jumped on the bus and played their first club tour which finished with a gig at the Splash Festival.

On August 30th, the Betty Ford Boys release their first album 'Leaders Of The Brew School' on Melting Pot Music. The record combines the best of three worlds and has a surprisingly chilled Westcoast vibe. It's perfect summer music, it's edgy and relaxed at the same time and keeps you thirsty for more ....

Quintessentials 32 or the 'B.D.D.K. EP' is a joint venture of up and coming Paskal & Urban Absolutes and House veterans Henry L & Ingo Sänger. All 4 producers are connected by their penchant for deep and raw house music, while living quite far apart in Berlin (B), Düsseldorf (D), Dortmund (D) and Köln (K). Paskal & Urban Absolutes recently released on the highly respected Sonar Kolletiv label among others, whereas Henry L and Ingo Sänger released on their own Farside label and have been playing House music all life long. The 2 original tracks plus the 2 remixes are all sexy swingers! Welcome to 2013!