Photonz is the alias of Marco Rodrigues a DJ, producer and driving force of Lisbon's underground scene. For little over a decade now, he's been crafting his own deeply personal style of Portuguese house and techno for labels such as Créme Organization, 20:20 Vision, Don't Be Afraid, Skylax, Unknown To The Unknown and his own One Eyed Jacks. As a DJ, Photonz grew a reputation for deep crates and intensely euphoric sets and in 2017, together with Violet (co-founder at his Radio Quantica) and Lisbon's own Rabbit Hole collective, he started the now infamous Mina parties - a monthly, sex-positive, queer and intersectional-feminist techno party aimed at using the dissociative potential of intense raving to create a temporary space of suspension away from patriarchal expectations.
Etheric Body Music is Photonz's debut 6-track EP for Dark Entries and a simultaneous reference to hermeticism and EBM (Electronic Body Music). Marco loves that 'aesthetic when 80s industrial and EBM bands split up and start to make trance in the early 90s and all the ritual magick pushes them to zen stuff and they do ecstasy.' There's this concept in theosophy and hermetic philosophy of the Etheric Body, which is an energy body superimposed and connected to the physical body, similar to the acupuncture idea of an energetic body. That idea manifests itself as six primal club cuts, which also channel early techno, Drexciyan rhythms, balearic & old school jack. Raw arpeggiated synth lines and bass blast jut against metallic stabs and highly percussive shakedowns to create mournful atmospheric warped house. All songs have been mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a psychedelic jacket with snakey green and purple velvet in an electric acid spewing weird biological alien energy form designed by Eloise Leigh.
quête:le vision
'Sounds from the Great House! Outernational Sounds proudly presents a Nimbus West spirit jazz essential: the Creative Arts Ensemble's classic debut One Step Out. Mastered at 45rpm on double vinyl for enhanced sound, this release features all tracks at full length for the first time on wax.
One of the most sought after and highly regarded titles to have appeared on Tom Albach's celebrated Nimbus West imprint, the Creative Art Ensemble's One Step Out is a timeless work of spiritualised jazz. A true gem from the Los Angeles jazz underground, the album was pianist and composer Kaeef Ruzadun Ali's first recording as leader of the Creative Arts Ensemble, the only large ensemble group that emerged directly from Horace Tapscott's legendary Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra community jazz group.
A Los Angeles native, Kaeef was introduced to the Tapscott circle in the late 1970s. His first experience of the Arkestra's ethos was through PAPA tenorist Michael Session, who took him to the famous 'Great House' at 2412 South Western Ave., LA - a large mansion house which members of the Arkestra had taken over as a space for communal living. Life in the Great House was a continuous stream of music, dance and community events. 'When I walked in there,' recalled Kaeef, 'it was like this whole rush came over me, just from going in the front door...It was like a very, very warm feeling of love. I went and I came out with 'Flashback of Time', and that was my first arrangement.'
Kaeef quickly became a significant contributor of compositions to the Arkestra's songbook - his piece 'New Horizon' would be recorded by Horace Tapscott for the latter's Tapscott Sessions series. But 'Flashback of Time' would eventually appear on One Step Out, played by the new group he had put together from stalwart Arkestra members. Inspired by both Tapscott's example and by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Kaeef had wanted to follow their lead by assembling a larger unit. 'I would like to form a group that would be an extension of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra,' he told Tapscott. The group was to be known as the Creative Arts Ensemble, and One Step Out, released in 1981 by Nimbus West, was their debut.
Featuring seasoned Arkestra regulars including reedsman Dadisi Komolafe, drummer Woody 'Sonship' Theus and altoist Gary Bias, with veterans Henry 'The Skipper' Franklin on bass and George Bohannon on trombone, One Step Out is a key document of the Los Angeles radical jazz underground. Featuring the sanctified vocals of Kaeef's sister, B. J. Crowley, the album is a tour de force of spiritually energised independent jazz music. Community uplift and sacred vision straight from the Great House, back on vinyl for the first time since 1981!
Composer, Synthesist And Producer Matt Robertson Is Set To Release His New Album 'entology' Via Tape Club Records On 16th November 2018. It Follows His Warmly Received 2016 Album 'in Echelon', Described By Mojo As "nils Frahm's Modern Classical Meets Jon Hopkins' Grainy Techno", "an Album Of Symphonic Electronica And Leftfield Techno Thats Cinematic In Scale" In Mixmag And "magnificent Wild Sound" By The Line Of Best Fit.
As Musical Director For Björk, Cinematic Orchestra And Anohni As Well As Working With Lamb, Emiliana Torrini And Bat For Lashes, Matt Has A Wealth Of Experience Collaborating With Some Of The Most Exciting Artists In The World. Working With A Collection Of Vintage, Modern And Diy Synths, And Combining Electronic Music Production With Classical Composition And Cinematic Soundscapes - Artists, Producers And Film Composers Alike Seek His Enveloping And Distinct Sound.
"i Love The Idea That Not So Very Long Ago, The Idea That A Species Could Become Extinct At All Was Laughed At. In The 17th Century, Fossils Were Believed To Be From Mythical Creatures Like Dragons. In 1796, George Cuvier Presented The Idea That A Species Could Have Existed And Now No Longer Existed, And He Was Laughed At By Scientists. Darwin Then Suggested That Evolution Did Not Need Catastrophic Events To Explain Extinction - More That It Was Due To Perpetual Competition In An Overcrowded World.
I'm Adopting The Word "entology" To Be An Awareness Of Our Current Period Of Geological Time Being An Extinction Period, Where An Extinction Period Is Defined As A Time When A Significant Proportion Of Species Die In A Geologically Insignificant Amount Of Time. I Was Trying To Imagine The Obvious Desolate Spaces Of A Post Apocalyptic World, But Also The Slightly More Opaque Vision Of The Fact That So Many Things Are Becoming Extinct Around Us Without Us Noticing, Or Even Being Aware Of Their Existence In The First Place.
The Idea Is Of Desolation But, Because Of The Awareness, Also Of Hope."
- Matt Robertson
The latest release on Arma comes from Dutch legend and devoutly deviant underground operator Ruud Lekx, aka Rude 66. With a legacy that reaches back to the early 90s and the rough and ready Dutch electro sound of Bunker Records and The Hague, he's maintained a distinctly non-conformist approach that touches on acid, Italo, techno and more besides, all finished with the punky attitude that sets him and peers like Unit Moebius and I-F apart.
The tracks gathered together on The Witch Trials EP come from throughout Lekx's career. As the artist himself says, 'tracks from wildly different eras and sessions suddenly can combine to form one coherent EP. It's almost like the A-side tracks were waiting for 20 years to be combined with the B-side tracks.'
The overriding theme that binds together these timeless machine excursions is that of medieval witch trials - a global phenomenon that peaked in the 15-1600's. Considering the suspicion, propaganda and mass moral panic involved in this strange curio of distant history, Lekx points to the parallels with the current age, 'of political polarization and fake news accusations flying all over.' The EP title is also a tribute to two records close to his heart: The Fall's Live At The Witch Trials, and the one-off Witch Trials project by members of the Dead Kennedys, Adrian Borland and Christian Lunch.
'Werewolves & Poisoners' and 'The Crusade Against Idolatry' are both archive tracks from the 1994-5 period when Lekx made his first albums for Bunker Records. The first track's charging arps, rugged kicks, nagging acid lines and discordant paranoia all speak to that trailblazing period, while 'The Crusade...' revels in canny programming of interwoven synth lines feeding into an unhinged, psychedelic rampage that reflects the righteous fervour and spiritual confusion of the EP concept.
'The Absence Of Diabolism' opens up the B-side with a different tone, having been produced in 2016 and demonstrating the deeper acid undulations Lekx has become known for in more recent years. Still delivered via the same trusted tools he was using in the 90s, the sound feels like an extension of the Rude 66 vision rather than a separate entity. 'Envious Are All The People, Witches Watch At Every Gate,' a cut from the late 90s, closes the EP out in a spacious, snarling exploration of broken acid electro laden with cinematic sweeps of synthesizer and a constant sense of unresolved tension.
Across these four tracks, Lekx displays the scope of his craft as Rude 66 while also proving that timeless music can make sense in any context, and that the threads of inspiration in an artist's journey can be followed, explored and even resolved 20 years later, when you least expect it
After two visionary LPs for his own tiny Nodlew label, Weldon Irvine signed to RCA for Cosmic Vortex (Justice Divine), exploring the deeply spiritual and political terrain of his previous efforts on the kind of grand musical scale that major-label funding accommodates.
This is a big, bold record by any measure, with a startlingly pronounced focus on lyrics and vocals. At the same time, however, the melodies spread out like tentacles, informed by the improvisational sensibilities of jazz and the deep-groove spirit of funk. Jason Ankeny/AMG
- A1: And The Gods Made Love
- A2: Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
- A3: Crosstown Traffic
- A4: Voodoo Chile
- B1: Little Miss Strange
- B2: Long Hot Summer Night
- B3: Come On (Part I)
- B4: Gypsy Eyes
- B5: Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
- C1: Rainy Day, Dream Away
- C2: 1983....(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
- C3: Moon, Turn The Tides....gently Gently Away
- D1: Still Raining, Still Dreaming
- D2: House Burning Down
- D3: All Along The Watchtower
- D4: Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
- A1: 1983...(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
- A2: Voodoo Chile
- A3: Cherokee Mist
- A4: Hear My Train A Comin
- B1: Angel
- B2: Gypsy Eyes
- B3: Somewhere
- B4: Long Hot Summer Night (Demo 1)
- B5: Long Hot Summer Night (Demo 3)
- B6: Long Hot Summer Night (Demo 4)
- B7: Snowballs At My Window
- B8: My Friend
- C1: At Last... The Beginning
- C2: Angel Caterina (1983)
- C3: Little Miss Strange
- C4: Long Hot Summer Night (Take 1)
- C5: Long Hot Summer Night (Take 14)
- D1: Rainy Day, Dream Away
- D2: Rainy Day Shuffle
- D3: 1983...(A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
- A1: Introduction
- A2: Are You Experienced
- A3: Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
- B1: Red House
- B2: Foxey Lady
- B3: Fire
- C1: Hey Joe
- C2: Sunshine Of Your Love
- C3: I Won't Live Today
- D1: Little Wing
- D2: Star Spangled Banner
- D3: Purple Haze
Available as either a 3CD/1 Blu-ray set or a 6LP/1 Blu-ray set, both packages include:
· The original album, now newly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes. For the LP set, Grundman prepared an all analog direct to disc vinyl transfer of the album, preserving the authenticity.
· Electric Ladyland: The Early Takes, which presents 20 never before heard demos and studio outtakes. Included are incredibly intimate demos for song ideas Hendrix recorded himself on a reel-to-reel tape at the Drake Hotel, as well as early recording session studio takes featuring guest appearances from Buddy Miles, Stephen Stills and Al Kooper. Full tracklist included below.
· Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At the Hollywood Bowl 9/14/68: Part of Experience Hendrix's Dagger Records official bootleg series, this live album documents their triumphant Los Angeles concert held a few weeks before Electric Ladyland was released. The recently discovered two-track soundboard recording captures the energy that had the audience in such a frenzy that many concert goers jumped into the reflecting pool that separated the bandstand from the seats. Full tracklist below. Experience Hendrix's Dagger Records releases are physical only so this will ONLY be available as part of the physical release with no digital.
· Blu-Ray: includes the acclaimed full-length documentary At Last... The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland, the first ever 5.1 surround sound mix of the original album overseen by Hendrix's original engineer Eddie Kramer plus the original stereo mixes in uncompressed 24 bit/96 kz high resolution audio. NOTE: unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the documentary will not have translated subtitles.
· Electric Ladyland 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition includes a full color, 48-page book containing Jimi's handwritten lyrics, poem and instructions to his record label, as well as never before published photos from the recording sessions that were shot by Eddie Kramer himself. Also included are essays by celebrated journalist David Fricke and Hendrix authority John McDermott
· All contained in a numbered luxe casemade book for CD+Blu-Ray release and casemade lifttop box for the LP+Blu-Ray release with new cover art which is true to Hendrix's original vision of the album's cover: a Linda (McCartney) Eastman photograph of the band and children at the statue of Alice In Wonderland in New York's Central Park.
Freedom To Spend's first catalog wide deep dive into an artist's career focuses on four albums from Rimarimba, beginning with 1983's Below The Horizon, followed by 1984's On Dry Land, 1985's In The Woods, and finally, the once-imagined, now-realized assembly of 1988's Light Metabolism Number Prague.
Somewhere out there around the turn of the 1980s, to the left of the post-punk crew, to the right of the minimalists, and surfacing with a friendlier face than the dour industrialists of the time - there existed, seemingly unbidden, an entire, networked, tape-trading community; a community that crossed continents and oceans, that relied on the postal service to do its bidding; a community full of humble visionaries and lost, misunderstood, or just plain ignored home steeped genius.
Exploring that thicket of weirdness in the UK wild, you'd likely stumble across labels like Cordelia, Hamster, and Unlikely; compilations like the should-be-legendary Obscure Independent Classics series, or the Real Time cassettes; and inexplicable one-offs like The Deep Freeze Mice, Jody & The Creams, R. Stevie Moore, Leven Signs, Jung Analysts, and Rimarimba.
Rimarimba was the project of Robert Cox, based in Felixstowe, on the seaside in Suffolk, UK. Rimarimba was not Cox's first entry into the world of recorded music, but was the first time he explored, most perceptively, the parameters of a particular musical mode: one where minimalism is removed from its 'high-art' mantle, Cox inveigling its practices in amongst the doit-yourself creativity of a burgeoning and beguiling underground, letting the music breathe - and most importantly, letting it play, gifting it with imagination.
The first in the Rimarimba series, 1983's Below The Horizon, feature Cox in exploratory mode, figuring out exactly how to make his music. There's a pleasure in hearing how he feels out the parameters of his aesthetic, here - there's a boxy minimalism, slightly clunky and charming with it, that reflects the home-spun, improvisatory tenor of the compositions. It's ambitious music, though, wanting to do the most and the best it can with its limited resources. Cox himself admits to not being 'pre-wired' to making this music, but that only makes it more compelling: 'Were I to be properly musical, it wouldn't actually work as well in some ways; it'd be just another album of contemporary clattery music.'
On October 5, Freedom To Spend will offer Below the Horizon in a one-time edition of 750 copies, followed On Dry Land and In The Woods on January 8, 2019 and February 22, respectively. Each album features artwork reinterpreted from its original edition by Will Work For Good, and accompanying abstracts by Jon Dale.
For its next release, No.19 Music welcomes one of dance music's most celebrated contemporary artists in Ryan Crosson for a new single coming on vinyl and digital.
Crosson is a true techno tastemaker who hails from Detroit. He's released on long established labels like Minus, as well as going on to form Visionquest with Seth Troxler, Shaun Reeves and Lee Curtis, and the label of the same name where he also put out key EPs and LPs with Merveille. From headline sets at festivals round the world via club gigs at the most tasteful venues in the scene, he is a real giant of underground dance music with studio skills to match, as this standout three tracker proves.
Superb opener 'Comet Pills' is a deep and thoughtful track that encourages your mind to wander off into the cosmos. Slick drums and melancholic chords set the tone, while the bass fleshes things out and sci-fi details bring out a cinematic quality.
The brilliantly mysterious 'Roscoe' is expertly stripped back and reduced house music that takes you on a trip. It's quick and smooth, with watery sound design, soft hits and muffled vocals adding intrigue to a track that is both cerebral yet designed to make you move.
Last of all, 'Snake Oil' is another fully realised offering which journeys to the edges of the galaxy, with long lingering ambient pads suspending you in mid-air as squelchy synths and shuffling drums keep one foot on the dance floor.
These are three terrific cuts of seriously atmospheric house and techno.
Following a first vinyl appearance on You And Your Hippie Friends' 'A Very Nice Combinado Volume Dos' (YAYHF 03) earlier this year, Mexican producer PAULOR aka Paulo Rodriguez gets ready for his first solo outing with Hippie Dance's sister label.
Curated by Rebolledo, the imprint has established an impressive talent pool within only three releases, including both veteran and upcoming talent such as Sebastien Bouchet, El Güero, Zombies In Miami, Beyou, Roman Flügel and more. It's a testament to the label's chiselled vision that an idiosyncratic and diverse group such as this is able to sustain individual approaches to electronic music while weaving a coherent sonic tapestry from all its ingredients, the whole quite organically being more than the sum of its parts.
Now, it's up to PAULOR to flesh out his own sound cosmos on You And Your Hippie Dance's latest 12' drop, presenting a concoction of salt-caked beats, riffing guitars and flexing bass that evokes a sense for space and untouched, psychedelic landscapes not unlike Rebolledo's very own desert funk vignettes. After 'La Race' (his contribution to 'A Very Nice Combinado Volume Dos') and the 'Discótico Desértico' remix for Rebolledo's 'Mondo Re-Alterado' (HIPPIE DANCE 10 LP) started making the rounds in tastemaker DJ sets, PAULOR caught a major moment of inspiration while performing at Monterrey's TOPAZDeluxe - which lead to the husky, hypnotic cut PAULOR'S BLUES, pièce de résistance and headstone in one, as it set the scene and also birthed enough follow-up tracks to naturally grow into a cohesive, full-blown EP.
From echo-drenched, beatless opener NEBLINA to the percussion-infused intrigue of DELIRIO EN CARRETERA, the athletic pop minimalism of AMIGOS or the slow burn of brooding mystery shuffle LUCES CALLING, PAULOR creates a unique, atmospheric sound panorama that excites minds and bodies alike. Adorned with a starry night sky, the record's cover artwork couldn't be more fitting - it's a dominant musical vista in PAULOR's work, whose vantage point is not necessarily a specific place (although all tracks were recorded in Xalapa), but a feeling of exquisite duality: the feeling of being lost between the stars, lonely and connected at the same time, a speck of dust and the center of the universe.
- A1: The Sound Of Confusion
- A2: 2.35 (Version 1)
- A3: Losing Touch With My Mind
- A4: Amen
- B1: That's Just Fine (Vocal Version)
- B2: Come Down Easy
- B3: Mary Anne
- C1: Feel So Good
- C2: 2.35 (Feedback Version)
- C3: Hey Man
- C4: It's Allright
- D1: 2.35 (Version 2)
- D2: Things'll Never Be The Same
- D3: Transparent Radiation (Organ Version)
- D4: Repeater (Demo)
Double LP on heavyweight 180 gram audiophile black vinyl in a wide spined sleeve with new artwork layout. Re-mastered by John Rivers at Woodbine Studios especially for vinyl release. Includes a bonus track not on the CD version and new artwork design. Never has a record been so aptly titled, or so perfectly descriptive of a band's particular vision of the universe. For all that, the original appearance of Taking Drugs was in fact a bootleg on the semi-legendary/semi-notorious Father Yod imprint in 1990, later supplemented with contemporary outtakes and cuts for the Bomp reissue in 1994 and one further song for the Space Age version in 2000. The original seven tracks, dated January 1986 and the first recordings to feature Pete Bain on bass, are collectively known as the Northampton Demos, understandably named for the recording location in a studio outside said English city. Both Sonic and Pierce have been on record as long preferring these takes to the eventual versions that surfaced for the most part on Sound of Confusion. Certainly it's a fine set of performances, showing a definite step toward the more familiar sound of the group and away from the rougher takes on For All the Fucked Up Children of the World. "The Sound of Confusion," aka "Walkin' With Jesus," rips along with fierce energy, Pierce's singing and the rampaging, primitive wail and rumble of the band just wonderful. "Losing Touch With My Mind" takes things to an even higher level, a huge wallop of feedback and beat (Natty Brooker's drumming in particular delivers just what the doctor ordered), Pierce delivering the lines with a flat, cutting drawl. On the slightly lighter tip, "Come Down Easy" is more or less fully in place (aside from singing about it being 1986!), possessing a more upfront but less vocally distinct feel than the Perfect Prescription take. The tracks that surfaced on the later reissues come from a variety of different sessions, including the original take on "Feel So Good" and a good live version of "Things'll Never Be the Same," one of several cuts featuring Brooker's drumming replacement Rosco.
- A1: Markus Gibb - Kuru
- A2: C O N T R A - Taurus
- A3: Ben Shemie - A Million Kinds
- B1: Drvg Cvltvre - Last Rites
- B2: Sutja Gutierrez - Allodoxaphobia
- B3: Théo Muller - Douce Transe
- C1: Dave E Brun Vs Frank Agrario - Grace
- C2: Benedikt Frey - Iaon
- C3: Lauer - Pythor
- D1: Bajram Bili - Restart
- D2: Il Est Vilaine - Fahrenheit 451
- D3: Jonathan Fitoussi - Cercles Polaires
- D4: Lumi - Izerditan
In just a year of existence, Chloé's Lumière Noire has brought emerging artists and promising newcomers together - and this first compilation of 13 brand new tracks expands the roster, exposing the label's eclectic vision in full daylight. When Chloé talks about her label, she puts forward the fundamental values that informed her own musical journey, her trust in her own musical taste - and, of course, the predominance of human relationships: 'I followed
my bliss and only commissioned tracks from artists that I respect and whose music I love. That to me is Lumière Noire's musical palette.' With this 13- track, unmixed compilation, Chloé makes a case for a label aesthetic that is based in open-mindedness. Familiar, elemental Lumière Noire artists are represented, as are new faces, producing a kind of group photo presaging what's next for the fledgling label. Lyon's Markus Gibb leads the track listing with Kuru with a deep chiaroscuro matching the label's ethos, followed by other mainstays Il Est Vilaine's Farenheit 451, which evokes Ray Bradbury's retro-dystopic angst with the
band's usual electro-pop elegance. Sutja Gutierrez, who released in debut EP, The Legend of Time on Lumière Noire in April, pursues his electro Shamanism with the ceremonial Allodoxaphobia, while Iñigo Vontier (whose EP Aluxes came out on the label in late 2017) brings his C O N T R A project
online with track Taurus, a further development in voodoo house. Elsewhere, Suuns lead singer Ben Shemie, who lent his fascinating art-rock croon to Recall, a single from Chloé's Endless Revisions LP, contributes A Million Kinds, a synthy, psych-pop debut that is as brilliant as it is surprising. On to the freshman class: Dutch producer Drvg Cvltvre (who gets personal kudos
from Chloé with each new 12') brings the uncompromising dark electro of his hypnotic and claustrophobic Last Rites. Jonathan Fitoussi's airy, minimalistic Cercles Polaires brings the respite of his recent Versatile Espaces Timbrés LP (a collaboration with Clemens Hourrières): 'I met him at Xavier Veilhan's
Studio Venezia at the Venice Biennale. He's a great guy, and his universe is unique,' says Chloé. Benedikt Frey's deep techno track Iaon, is on par with his smash 2017 album, Artificial, out on ESP Institute. First-timers are also part of the recruits: Bajram Bili with the ten cerebral minutes of Restart, Théo Muller with the ultra-deep Douce Transe, and Lumi, a Basque band that fuses
electronic sounds with acoustic instruments, brings the ompilation to a close with a track commissioned by Chloé. These audacious choices are anchored down with the likes of Permanent Vacation pioneer Lauer's hooky, 80s-infused Pythor ('Just like him, I was a resident of the Robert Johnson, and he was a guest of mine at one of my Lumière Noire nights at the Rex. He is one of these people whose music I highly appreciate'); Aergeworc & Franck Agrario, half of English duo Swayzak David Brown's project, weaves an ethno* mood into Grace's techno. Bringing together different generations, genres, and styles That may not necessarily be Chloé's MO. She invokes a more arbitrary, personal logic: 'I like to mix of-the-moment tracks and more timeless one, but the rule is above all 'do I love this or not'. That was my ethos when I started Lumière Noire.' In that way, the label is definitely in keeping with its time
David Holmes was drawn to DIE HEXEN by their 'magical sensibility that has both shades of dark and light, which is something that always appeals to me in music'. After featuring in his edition of the famed Late Night Tales compilation with a take on the original suicide song 'Gloomy Sunday', DIE HEXEN returns to expand upon their dark ambient journey towards transcendence with an eagerly awaited debut album.
DIE HEXEN's genre eschewing synth driven compositions draw inspiration from the disturbing beauty of Hieronymus Bosch's artwork and several brushes with death, evoking a spirit who traverses realms of the underworld to bring forth knowledge of an Ancient past and in doing so, to reveal the not so distant future.
The Garden of Unearthly Delights transports the listener through strange visions of darkness, beauty, creation, destruction, death & rebirth. An exorcism of body, gender, tribe towards a place of ultimate transcendence.
Somewhat of a polymath, DIE HEXEN has already shown their prowess with live performances part music/part performance art spectacle, as an avant-garde filmmaker and as an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, sound designer and film scorer.
DIE HEXEN's divergent interests from Japanese Butoh theatre to Wiccanism, Shamanism, celestial mysticism and time travel informs their method, as they explain themself; 'The compositions I write are not written, at least not by me. They appear to me as audio/visual hallucinations. I can hear, visualise, and feel the whole composition before me. My hands know instinctively what notes to play and like a stream of consciousness, voices emerge. Having suffered severe head trauma that resulted in a heightening of the senses, the theme of death is an increasingly present theme in my work. With this, my perception of death and what is beyond changes as I contort between this world and the next physically and mentally, musically and visually. Working with music or film, my vision is one. The calling to express these auditory hallucinations is inevitable'.
An Island In The Moon is the perfectly conceived minimal ambient project from Italian composers Pier Luigi Andreoni (Doubling Riders, ATROX) and Silvio Linardi. Andreolina being a mix of the names of the two musicians who were both deeply involved with the label Auf Dem Nil on which the album was originally released in 1990.
The duo stick to a disciplined and simple palette using only two synthesizers and a Roland S50 sampler. They are joined by fellow electronic journeyman Riccardo Sinigaglia who contributes piano and samples on two tracks. Taking influences from Italian minimalism while adding some jazz hints Andreolina sprawls, weightless instrumentals that never stay soporific for too long on this singular rare album.
Auf Dem Nil or ADN was one of the most adventurous Italian record labels of the 80's and early 90's with releases by De Fabriek, Riccardo Sinigaglia and Pierre Bastien. Leaving their mark on the experimental music scene back than and influencing musicians worldwide up until today.
As always, the return of Ruede Hagelstein is inevitable and with each return he ups the ante tenfold showcasing his ever growing prowess behind the studio door. It seems as if, with each Ruede EP, the amount of elements utilized shrinks while at the same time the sound grows in power and dominance and that could not be better exemplified than here.
Consisting of two originals and a remix from the one and only Martin Buttrich, the EP is a gross display of well thought out, mature dance floor jewels. Opening the short player is Hagelstein's 'Dematerialize feat. Justin Evans' where a sinister yet soothing vocal sets the tone for the entire track, laying the groundwork for a gorgeous bass drum and shimmers of distant percussion carry us into celestial spaces. 'Forward Vision' is up next and follows suit by relying on a brooding minimal groove to drive the shimmers of glistening atmospherics and sparkling sonics optimal for dizzy and delirious club moments.
Last but certainly not least we turn to the legend who is Martin Buttrich to twist the original 'Dematerialize feat. Justin Evan' into a more straightforward composition with his signature stylings
opening the doors of accessibility to a wider demographic of disc jockeys resulting in a track that stretches the playability to a wide range of disc jockeys making it a stellar addition and ensuring
the perfect variety to quench all desires.
Experiential composer Tim Hecker's ninth official full-length, Konoyo ('the world over here') was largely recorded during several trips to Japan where he collaborated with members of the gagaku ensemble Tokyo Gakuso, in a temple on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Inspired by conversations with a recently deceased friend about negative space and a sense of music's increasingly banal density, Hecker found himself drawn towards restraint and elegance, while making music both collectively and alone.
As with the Icelandic choir he arranged on 2016's Love Streams, the heights of Hecker's talent emerge in his manipulation of source material, bending and burnishing it into fantastical new forms. Keening strings are stretched into surreal, pixelated mirages; woodwinds warble and dissipate as fractal whispers of spatial haze; sparse gestures of percussion are chopped, isolated, and eroded, like disembodied signals from the afterlife. Both in texture and intent, Konoyo conjures a somber, ceremonial mood, suffused with ritual and regret. Visions flutter and fade; dreams gleam and decay.
Hecker will stage a series of special performances in tandem with the album's release, featuring members of the gagaku ensemble on sho¯, ryuteki and hichiriki, accompanied by Kara-Lis Coverdale.
Limited Edition 400 Only Translucent Violet Coloured Vinyl Lp. Housed In A Full Colour Outer Sleeve With Mind Bending Artwork And Download Code.
Third Earthling Society Album For Riot Season Following The Previous And Now Sold Out 'england Have My Bones' (2014) & 'ascent To Godhead' (2017)
'mo - The Demon' Was Recorded At Leeds College Of Music Between November 2017 - February 2018. The Basis Of The Album Was To Record An Imaginary Soundtrack To The Shaw Brothers Bat Shit Psychedicrazy Kung Fu Horror 'the Boxer's Omen' Aka Mo Or Demon.
The Story Is An Everyday One.
After A Hong Kong Kick Boxer Is Paralysed By A Cheating Thai Competitor, His Mobster Brother Vows Revenge And Journeys To Thailand For A Duel. Along The Way, Our Hero Is Met By Bizarre Visions, Entered Into A Buddhist Monastery, And Begins A Quest To Save The Soul Of A Deceased Monk (his Twin Brother In A Past Life) Who Died At The Hands Of A Powerful Black Magician.
We've All Been There. However The Movie Descends Into A Kind Of Spiritual Jodorowsky Mushroom Fest That Is Completely Deranged And Is Therefore One Of Those Perfect Midnight Movies.
So We Got Free Studio Time At Lcm In November And Just Went 'fuck It' Lets Make An Imaginary Soundtrack In Homage To Such A Great Movie.
Taking Inspiration From All The Things Musical That Have Inspired Us Over The Years. Berlin Era Bowie, Prime Magazine Circa 'correct Use Of Soap', Electric Funk Miles, 'caravanserai' Santana, Embryo And God Knows What Else (it Doesn't Really Matter As It All Ends Up Earthling Society), We Think We've Made A Groovy As Fuck Concept.
Then, Invited Back In February We Decided To Record 2 Stand Alone Pieces 'spring Snow' And 'jetavina Grove' And Bring All Our Space Rock Elements And Psych Raga Back Into The Fray. Throw In Some Super Cool Korean Vocals Courtesy Of Bomi Seo Of Tirikiliatops And Run The Guitars Through A Harmonizer H910 (as Used By Visconti On Low An Heroes) And Its The Perfect Swansong To The Last 14 Years Of Playing Live And Recording Together.
Hot on the heels of Rapid Eye Movement's journey of discovery and growth comes the EP 'Split: Remixes' featuring reworks of the quartet of cuts originally signed by label founders Memorial Home and VII Circle.
Invited to apply their own reflections onto the material are rising producers Nur Jaber and Wrong Assessment as well as renowned artists on the underground experimental scene Edit Select and Reggy Van Oers.
First up is Nur Jaber's take on VII Circle's 'Metaphysical Functions' showing how the young Berlin-based Lebanese artist is as much inspired on remix duties than in crafting her already much acclaimed productions. The perfect mixture of dark and intense driving techno beat with haunting ambient-driven melodic motifs and dramatic breakdowns encompasses much of what her sophisticated sense of sonic exploration is about.
Up next on a heavier kicking note is 'Dogma' refashioned by Milanese fellow Wrong Assessment who transmits his vision of both minimal and hard pounding techno by merging a strait rugged beat with undulating synth lines and bouncy cymbals that will drive the audience to an insane rave-spirited dance floor venture.
Following the path, Tony Scott a.k.a Edit Select's interpretation of Memorial Home's 'Second Floor' is a clear example of the unique and forward-thinking sound that the Scottish techno scene 'veteran' has developed throughout the years. Deftly combining a tension-building drum and bassline work with layers of hypnotic synth textures that makes the track both suggestive and trippy-hitting in equal measure.
Concluding the journey is Reggy Van Oers (RVO)'s rework of Memorial Home's 'Ampere' which evinces this quest for organic and mental techno soundscapes inspired by classical and cinematic music, characterising the both complex and powerful crafting signature of Dutch Telemorph label's owner.
Between dark shadows and brightness, REM confirms with this new release that quality and free-minded artistry are the key pillars of the platform's curation philosophy.
From the inheritor of John Coltrane's mouthpiece a re-integration of deep South African jazz roots with the Black Atlantic spiritual jazz continuum.
Celebration's release trumpeted the emerging dawn of South Africa's epochal changes. Sainted and blessed, Bheki Mseleku appeared as the herald of a new era, a prophet of rebirth and reconnection. This is a work signalling transition and change, and a sign of a South African music that was properly reconnected with global currents - a music that could journey far beyond the stifling combination of exile and oppression in which it had been bound.
Recognising Bheki as a kindred spirit to her late husband, Alice gave him the saxophone mouthpiece that John Coltrane had used during the recording of A Love Supreme. Coltrane was a permanent touchstone for the pianist, one of the few who Bheki felt had the same esoteric and spiritual focus as himself: 'the only musicians I know of who were deeply into this were Coltrane, and Pharoah and Sun Ra', he told an interviewer in 1992.
While the idioms of post-Coltrane spirit jazz are certainly to the fore on Celebration, they are energised by a swift and original musical vision, quite specific to Bheki's music, in which whole musical systems - the marabi and mbhaqanga jazz of the townships, American jazz, European classical, and more - are seamlessly mended together by the pianist's quicksilver musical sensibility and legendary technical ability.
Celebration was originally released on compact disc and cassette in the middle of 1992 by World Circuit. It was Bheki's first statement under his own name, and the first recorded presentation of his personal musical vision. This vision had been tempered across two decades which had combined intense professional playing with profound personal trials in both the spiritual and earthly domains, all set against the greater backdrop of South African political turmoil and exile in Europe.
The band brought together musicians hailing from three signally important points within the interconnected, communicating spaces of the Black Atlantic continuum - North America, post-colonial Britain, and southern Africa. With them, Mseleku created the first major South African-led musical statement to be produced after the sufferance of exile was ended. The ultimate and most egregious remnant of the centuries-long colonial era, apartheid, was finally being dismantled as they played. At this critical point, Mseleku's musical spirit work, channelled from a higher source, spoke of a time to come where all divisions might be transcended by a greater unity.
Repress!
Copenhagen's Terry Tester (Brownswood / BBE) merges his love for Midwest house and cosmic funk butter on four-tracker 'Space Million' for Creak Inc., journeying through dream state deep house, gritty MPC workouts and low-end boogie territory for an undeniably original take on four-to-the-floor rhythms.
Within Terry Tester's two-decade long career as a turntablist and beatmaker his eminent take on house, hiphop and soul has been commissioned by Gilles Petterson for his 'Bubblers' compilation series on Brownswood Recordings, Jahi featuring american neo-soul singer Dwele, and Marc Mac (4Hero, Visioneers, Nu Era) on BBE remixing alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff, as well as releasing two full-length solo albums 'Horses and Diamonds' and 'Short Suite'.
Composer Tashi Wada has performed for years with his father Yoshi Wada—artist, composer, and early member of the Fluxus movement. However, they have rarely appeared together in studio settings. Nue, the fourteenth entry in RVNG Intl.'s intergenerational FRKWYS series, finally brings Tashi and Yoshi, along with an eclectic group of close friends and extended family, together on tape.
Nue draws on aspects of Tashi's background for his widest vision to date—among them the minimalist bagpipe music of Yoshi, who co-composed three of the tracks, the psychoacoustic and perceptual explorations of his mentor, composer James Tenney, and reimagined forms of ancient and devotional music. The album, however, is not a tribute to the past or a recapitulation of familiar sounds. Instead, Nue is an intertwining of people and ideas as a means of growing, of looking inward to move outward, and of looking back to move forward.
To achieve this growth, Tashi assembled a core group of fellow travelers, including Yoshi, composer Julia Holter, producer Cole MGN, and percussionist Corey Fogel, to give life to this multifaceted suite. As an experience, Nue subtly navigates the interactions, intimacy and spaciousness of this group.
The album's title itself is a nod to Tashi's abiding interest in duality and the unknown: nue is a mythological Japanese chimera with the face of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, and a snake for a tail, a composite form, at once disturbing and otherworldly. But, as the composer points out, nue is also French for naked—stripped of complexity, bare and exposed, but also raw and essential.
From the doubling of tones—and the world of harmonic nuances such an action produces—to the rich interplay between individual musicians, all baring their own personalities and experiences through shared performance, Tashi's compositions allow space for these elements to join and grow. The multipartite creature that is an ensemble melds in the simplicity and purity of the music itself.
As explained by Tashi, each part was written with an individual in mind, not simply an instrument. And each individual performer makes their mark, from Holter's vocal performances on the cresting, oceanic 'Mutable Signs' and 'Ondine' with guest vocalists Simone Forti, Jessika Kenney and Laura Steenberge, to Fogel's resonant, precise percussion on 'Bottom of the Sky.' Producer Cole MGN, who has worked extensively with artists like Beck and Ariel Pink, helped to create a world of sound with minimal yet multi-dimensional materials. Like many of its influences, Nue uses deceivingly simple means to create complex, coherent worlds and narratives.
Tashi notes the influence of legendary Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, whose work looked inward, investigating memory and emotion and dream, to understand the often overwhelming world outside the self. Like Lispector's classic novel Near to the Wild Heart, Nue cleaves these archetypal dualities—world/self, old/new, complex/simple—to create a work that allows them to coalesce into something singular.
As Tashi states in his liner notes: 'My desire was to create something both old and new sounding—ancient and futuristic—and ultimately something of its own world and other. Nue is a vision, an endless night of dreams, and a personal history of sorts, full of joys and demons.'




















