Cerca:m black

Hard Times welcomes back Alex Arnout and his BLACK LOGIC project, following their recent ‘Pull Up’ EP with a second installment of new music from collective - The Illusions EP.

Hailing from West Yorkshire, Arnout spent his formative years on the Hard Times dancefloors, absorbing the beats and vibes that would later shape his own productions. His journey with the label reignited when he was invited to remix Michael Watford’s classic 'Love Change Over' and Steve Silk Hurley’s fresh hit 'All I Need'. Now, he returns with something truly special.

“Black Logic was born out of the pandemic,” says Arnout. “I wanted to move away from drum machines and synths, getting back to sampling jazz and the deep house sounds of the ‘90s - taking inspiration from artists like Bugs in the Attic, Jazzanova, and Ernest Saint Laurent.”

What began as a solo project soon evolved into a collective effort. Bassist and guitarist Alan Riggs, a former member of Delta 5, joined the sessions, bringing warmth and groove to the productions. Vocalists Tempo O’Neil, Anthony Beckford, Mariana Orsho, and Sophie Barker added their distinct voices, completing the vision

Across four tracks, The Illusions EP pulls us deeper into Black Logic’s rich, live-wired universe. The title track pairs Tempo O’Neil’s vocal with a grooving, low-slung bassline, whilst “Dusty” drifts in on brushed snares and ghostly Rhodes, its saxophone lines curling through the mix like smoke. “Chasing Daze,” analog synth shimmer and Tempo’s velvet tones, is a track suspended between head-nod groove and astral lift.

The curtain falls with “Disco Down,” a jubilant ensemble of Hammond organ, flute, guitar, bongos, and horns locking into joyous conversation.

Among the true Keiji Haino devotees, Nijiumu’s Era of Sad Wings (released on P.S.F. in 1993) has always held a special place in the pantheon. Operating for only a few years in the early 90s and apparently only performing a handful of shows, Nijiumu operated at the opposite end of the dynamic spectrum to Haino’s famed power trio Fushitsusha, dwelling in a hushed, meditative realm of mysterious droning sonorities and free-floating melodies that occasionally erupts into violence. Black Truffle is pleased to announce a new double-LP edition of a lesser-known 1994 Nijiumu recording, When I sing, I slip into the microphone. Into that void, I bring comrade “prayers”, then, turning to face the outside, together we explode. Here, Nijiumu is the trio of Haino, Tetuzi Akiyama and the obscure Takashi Matsuoka, the three performing on a wide variety of string, wind and percussion instruments, as well as electric guitar and bass, and Haino’s unmistakeable voice.

Like on the early solo Haino album that shares the group’s name (released on P.S.F. in 1993), the instrumentation swims in reverb (the use of which Akiyama recalls as ‘a kind of point of the band’), often obscuring the instrumental sources. On the short opening piece, a distant reed instrument arcs long buzzing melodies over a bed of cymbals and gongs, like a psychedelic take on Tibetan music. The epic second part, occupying almost 50 minutes, begins as a splayed, near-formless cloud of electric guitar and bass, shadowed by bowed and plucked strings, the three elements working through twisting atonal shapes. At various points in the recording, we hear what seems to be the sounds of musicians moving between instruments, their shuffling and bumps fitting seamlessly into this radically open music. Eventually, what sounds like electric guitar moves closer to the foreground, fixing on a repeated melodic cell around which hover mysterious clouds of long tones and a sporadic shaker. At the half-hour mark, the music begins to build to a violently emotive climax, Haino’s impassioned vocal cries punctuating a lumbering, bass-heavy murk, contrasted at points by what sounds like a tin whistle. Suddenly, the volume drops to a near-whisper, opening the way for the stunning final moments, which touch on the slow-motion balladry of Haino’s classic Affection, here given an eccentric twist by an occasional woodblock hit. The third piece opens with a hazy trio of rumbling bass, bowed strings and abstracted slide guitar, the latter calling to mind some of Akiyama’s later solo work. Eventually joined by Haino’s voice, its fragile, haunted tone might remind the listener of the man in black’s documented love of the madrigals of the murderous Count Gesualdo, before the recording abruptly breaks off mid-note. In this new edition, the Nijiumu trio recording is supplemented by a piece recorded solo by Haino in 1973, a bracing electronic blowout stretching almost half an hour. Using a homemade electronics setup to unleash a barrage of crunching distortion and shuddering harmonic fuzz, it takes its place in the canon of extreme live electronics next to Robert Ashley’s Wolfman and Walter Marchetti’s Osmanthus fragrans, looking forward to extreme noise years before Merzbow. Taken as a whole, these four sides of music are a stunning document of some of the lesser-known waystations of Haino’s singular creative path.

2025 Repress
New LP from Dax J - War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is strength
Referencing the political slogans in Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, where language is manipulated to control and oppress, we find a stark reflection in modern society, where truth is frequently distorted, and freedoms are increasingly compromised-echoing the very tactics Orwell warned against

Repress alert! Due to high demand and increasing popularity, it was just about time to repress this Delta classic! And since a new cut was required, we decided to include a very special bonus track: a neo-classical piano rework of Black Endlessness, composed and conducted by the highly talented Area Forty_One.

Two Seminal albums from cult Ghanaian musician Alhaji K. Frimpong and his group the Cubano Fiestas, recorded in 1976 and 1977 respectively and considered to be some of the best highlife albums ever recorded, at the pinnacle of West African musical tradition and innovation.

Both originally self titled, they have become known by the colour of the covers - Blue and Black respectively. The Blue Album brings new arrangements to traditional Ghanaian melodies and features the masterpiece Kyenkyen Bi Adi M’awu (come back my love) - universally known in Ghana, covered and sampled by artists such as Chronnix, Gnarls Barkley and many more. The Black Album expands the electronic elements and features the equally visionary Hwehwe Mu Na Yi Wo Mpena, although the real gem is hiding on the B side: the extended groove of “Adam Nana”. Sinuously evolving guitar lines, clavinet vamps, harmonised vocal snatches and otherworldly percussion expand and contract over a full quarter of an hour - a Ghanaian repost to the Afro Jazz experiments going on at the same time on the other side of the Atlantic. Although popular in Ghana at the time of the release, the albums were never distributed internationally and original copies of the album are extremely rare.

The albums got a limited reissue in 2011 and have been unavailable since - even reissue copies sell for high prices on the second hand market

Black Truffle is pleased to announce Melopea, presenting two new pieces highlighting the incredible voice of Amelia Cuni (1958-2024), the great Italian singer, based in Berlin in later life, whose mastery of the classical Indian dhrupad developed in parallel with a commitment to contemporary experimental approaches. After two stunning archival releases documenting traditional dhrupad performances in India in the 1990s (BT079 and BT092), the two side-long pieces here embody the freedom with which Cuni explored new contexts and settings for her singing.

Both make use of a long recording of Cuni singing the pentatonic Raag Bhoop (or Bhopali) made in 2012 by her partner Werner Durand in Berlin. ‘Melopea’ began from Cuni and Durand’s superimposition of this recording with violinist Silvia Tarozzi and cellist Deborah Walker’s performance of Éliane Radigue’s ‘Occam River II’. Inspired by the beauty of this chance encounter (and other experiments with non-synchronous collaboration during the pandemic years), Tarozzi and Walker recorded independently, without hearing Cuni’s voice but ‘having her present in memory’. Tarozzi and Walker’s bowed strings places Cuni’s magisterial performance in a new context, emphasising, as Radigue commented upon hearing the initial layering of her piece with Cuni’s voice, a shared ‘searching toward the partials, overtones, these natural constituents of acoustical sounds in their richness’. Beginning with whispered bowed harmonics, the violin and cello swap the stability of dhrupad’s traditional tanpura drone for a slowly evolving, uneasy web of harmonic interactions recalling some of Harley Gaber’s work, sometimes sitting on dissonances for long periods or allowing changing interference patterns to come to the fore. Primarily focusing on her lower register, Cuni’s performance demonstrates her mastery of microtonal pitch subtleties, elegant sweeping glissandi and meditatively unhurried pacing.

The continuation of the same recording by Cuni forms the foundation of ‘Bhoop-Murchana’, with Anthea Caddy on cello and Werner Durand on soprano saxophone. In contrast to the randomised layering of the first piece, here Durand and Caddy have carefully selected pitches based on the raag Cuni sings, using the ‘Murchana’ form, which uses the constituent notes of the raag as tonics of new raags, retaining the same interval structure. Both players who have developed tones of striking depth and harmonic purity on their instruments, Caddy and Durand’s patient long tones are simultaneously rigorously grounded in the physical properties of sound and possessed of an immaterial, floating quality. Combined with Cuni’s voice and, near the piece’s end, her contributions on hammered and plucked tanpura, the effect borders on miraculous. To surrender to this music is like slipping into an onsen pool, feeling the instantaneous release of every tension. Accompanied by liner notes from Durand, Tarozzi and Walker, Melopea is both a moving tribute to the profound art of Amelia Cuni and, for the uninitiated, a perfect introduction to it.

Logbook. Exploration mission.

Day 1. The planet is dead. An anomaly is detected — the time flow is slightly distorted.
Day 2. Landed in the central crater. The clocks of our suits show different times from the clocks on the ship. The gap is increasing.
Day 4. Logs contain records of events that never happened. A report of tomorrow’s evacuation appeared in the system. No one wrote it.
Day 5. We found footprints leading from the landing site to the crater, identical to ours. The ship log was discovered nearby. Final entry: “Do not enter the crater.”

Log transmission terminated. The crew did not reestablish contact.

The Belfast duo make ready this exceptional 6-Track Sampler from their forthcoming debut LP...

After showcasing their broad and boisterous tastes on a series of super limited Edits 12's, plus original releases on labels like Touch Sensitive, Hoga Nord, Duca Bianco and Optimo Music, we finally have a fully formed suite of original cuts which take us on a journey through their varied and vivid vibrations...

A general tip of the hat to the dark, post industrial basements illuminated by Weatherall's 9 O'Clock Drop comp.
From haunted dancehall, via beautifully throbbing ethno-chug and mesmerising clank-fests, to gloriously scuffed and foreboding Crammed Disc and Wax Trax! reminiscent offerings to the strobe gods.

One very limited press wrapped in screen-printed sleeves - one for the ages !

Mexican artist Barbara Alvarez drops a fresh vinyl release on her own label, showcasing her signature sound. The record features three deep tech tracks with crisp electro basslines, tailor-made for the after-hours groove. Each cut pulses with hypnotic energy, pushing dancefloors into deeper territory. A standout breakbeat track rounds out the EP, layered with lush atmospheric pads for a dreamy finish.

CLUB U NITE RECORDS PRESENTS: OUT OF THE BLUE E.P.
This EP starts with infinite depth and warmth - "All That Matters" by Black Chunes Productions has everything that makes a bouncy club track.

"Don't Stop" appears in new splendor and serves up a lot of drive on the dance floor in the "NYC Deep Mix" with percussive organ sounds and a jazzy touch.

Manhattan Project's "Do U Wanna Dance" - no question! No one can resist the rough and pumping shuffle beats on this track with a lot of old school feel.

The second track on the B-side "Time 2 Scat" puts a big end to this EP: pumping drums, dope piano samples, organs and a lot of jazz!

Für die 100. Eccentric Soul 45 widmet sich Numero Group ihren Wurzeln in Ohio mit drei Replika 45s aus dem Capsoul-Universum. Eine dieser Singles, Marion Blacks zeitloser Two-Sider ,Who Knows" b/w ,Go On Fool`, wurde bei Veröffentlichung 1970 fast übersehen, hat aber ein Eigenleben entwickelt und wurde nach 65 Jahren Soundtrack für prestigeträchtige Fernseh- und Autowerbung rund um den Globus wiederentdeckt. Eccentric Soul from the heart of it all.

Second album by influential British hard rock band Black Sabbath, originally released in 1970, containing some of the band’s most famous tracks such as War Pigs, Iron Man and the title track.

Feedasoul Records is proud to welcome South African deep house craftsman KaySoul with his debut full-length LP, Black Rose. A ten-track body of work, with six cuts specially selected for a limited vinyl release, Black Rose is as personal as it is profound - a record that reflects KaySoul’s journey into fatherhood, love, responsibility, and self-transformation.

Black Box Records is back.
The label's sixth release is a five-track vinyl VA, a real coup de theatre. They've called upon a strong selection of artists behind the EP's artistic direction, including Ortella , V.I.C.A.R.I. , Nicola Brusegan & Phill Prince with a super Remix by Chklte and the label's founder, Vito Fattore.

Black Box Records has proven once again that they are a company that produces classy, ​​mature and dancefloor-ready house tracks, with many more to come this year.

BerettaMusic has long been a cornerstone of Detroit’s underground dance scene, launching the careers of renowned artists like Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Luke Hess, and many more. With its latest release, the label continues to cement its legacy—this time with a standout record from label boss Ryan Sadorus.

Sadorus has been on a production streak, making waves not only in Detroit but across the globe. His recent work includes the deep and driving “Down Below” on Norm Talley’s esteemed Upstairs Asylum label. Now, he teams up with the incredibly talented vocalist Simon Black to deliver a fresh slice of Detroit house music.

Their track “Hot in the D” captures the raw, moody, and hypnotic essence of the city’s signature house sound. While Detroit is often synonymous with techno, its deep and soulful house scene has also made an undeniable global impact. The track has already been turning heads at underground parties in Detroit, with dancers and DJs alike asking, “What is this?!” and “When can I get it?!”

On remix duties, Delano Smith—a true pioneer of the Detroit sound and someone that needs no introduction—delivers his signature deep, rolling, and hypnotic style to “Hot in the D”, making this release a must-have for house music lovers globally. Stay tuned—this one is destined to move dance floors everywhere… Already getting heavy rotation from Jimpster, Gilles Peterson and DJ Harvey to name a few.