Beats Vinyl New Releases - News

Incl. Auto Sound City Remix

Rolling through with a fresh release for Concrete Castle Dubs comes Dutch producer Kid Sundance. An esteemed beat maker and producer who’s been known for his Hip Hop & Breaks over many years behind the mixing desk, always applying that original analogue style of production to his material. After leaving the Drum & Bass scene in 1999 he always kept a weak spot for the tracks that changed his life, he never sold his collection and last year he took them from the top shelf to the ground, rediscovered the love, linked with Disorda @ Concrete Castle Dubs and decided to get back on and release a record for the label...

First vinyl release for SYNTAX Electronix, 4 tracks are by Kör Boira, producer based in Berlin but of Valencian origin. It also includes two remixes, one by Hermeth and one by Detroit In Effect. Hybrid street sounds of electro, the ghetto and the essences of the street.

Incl The Meditator Remix

Lorca joins the Shall Not Fade family with a debut LP consisting of 8 melodic tracks with richly-layered soundscapes made up of samples and field recordings taken from his hometown, Brighton.

His first full-length album as Lorca, the Saudade LP sees Sam Cassman return to a melancholic and experimental sound for which he originally made a name for himself since his first release in 2012. The album's title, written in Portuguese - the language native to his current residence, Madeira - translates to English as "a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia". With stripped-back percussion and plaintive
atmospherics, it's clear to see why. We are soothed into things with the soft melody of "Lullabies" before being transported to Brighton Beach via field recordings of seagulls and the whisper of pebbles on the second track. The driving pulse of deep house track "Are You Gonna Love Me" picks up the pace whilst maintaining a sense of minimalism before the shimmering lull of "Two Pianos" brings things right back with
formless sonic collages and drifting atmospherics.

Flip the record over and the rolling beats are back. "Colraine" and "uTube" see the return of clever use of sampling, the latter including mobile phone recordings of live piano playing by friends, sampled from social media. "Colraine" offers up pulsating jazz rhythms, oozing with groove, before the aptly-named "Polly" ushers in a change of course with a razor-sharp polyrhythmic melody and acid undertones which are more suited to the club. On "Rock Paper", it's sound design that takes centre stage. To close the LP, Lorca manipulates field recordings taken from inside his studio to incorporate abstract, sample-based percussion, making for a truly unique take on techno and synthesis.

Following two duo releases on Le Cabanon Records (Crypto Tropic & Othello Aubern), French composer and producer Nebulo (Thomas Pujols) now presents his album Parallaxes, the second installment of our Albe series.

Parallaxes was written for the most part in the spring of 2018. Acting as a prequel to the EP Ascii Snake released in June 2019 on Conditional, it is a consequence of Zellige, released three years earlier on Phinery. These records are collections of polyrhythms and ritornellos of dramatic efficiency as much as they are an exploration of electronic tones. The phrase “music written for synthesizers” makes a lot of sense here.

This new chapter takes a final step in confirming an aesthetic turning point in Nebulo’s career, in which his polyphonic style, entirely concentrated on synthesised timbres (Parallaxes’ only sound sources), reaches maturity.

By blowing life into these coarse and glittering materials, Nebulo reveals with great ease both their emotional potential and their profound tranquility. The composer expresses himself within the slightest shades and accents of the inner life of his constructions, with that global sense that is the art of melody, thus satisfying both fans of sonic spontaneity and those more attuned to an art of nuances. Thus, the sounds are sculpted, twisted, deconstructed and recomposed to form rhythms and melodies that are free in each of their movements.

Having already begun to work on the friction between harmony and dissonance on his previous releases, Thomas Pujols takes things a step further with Parallaxes. Here, he takes to microtonality and other scales of pitch that escape the norms of equal temperament. The repetitions and motifs he uses balance the soundscape by facilitating the reading of melodic variations that do not fit within our usual patterns. These two seemingly contradictory directions maintain a sensation of blurriness as to the chain of events, as well as to the vanishing point towards which each composition reaches. Thus, repeated listenings of the record will necessarily entail a new angle of approach each time, allowing the listener to access the sonic picture in its entirety, and ultimately make the image clear.

The question of multiplicity is precisely the central theme of this work, wherein every change of position regarding one same object, one same point of attraction, results in the birth of a new entity. As we move from track to track, each layer of sound is often the mirror of another, near or far. In their construction, in their existence, their interactions and sometimes even in their absence, the sounds weave a subterfuge that we must dispel in order to truly explore it. Nebulo draws a narrative pattern designed to disorientate, both a mirage and a tangible phenomenon, that changes in the midst of our perception.

'Dieser neueste Soundtrack aus seiner Feder fühlt sich an wie ein längst überfälliges Wiedersehen mit einem verloren geglaubten Freund: Sofort erkennt man die bekannten Züge wieder, es umgarnt einen und zieht einen hinein in eine Welt, die unverwechselbar seine ist – die Welt von N.O.W. Immerhin kann man dieses Mal drei Dinge identifizieren, die zusammenkamen und dieses Album ganz klar prägen sollten: ein persönlicher Schicksalsschlag, ganz viel Zeit (ein Nebeneffekt der Pandemie) und Black Lives Matter. Inzwischen eher eine Art Bandleader, streckte er seine Fühler aus und knüpfte Kontakte mit jungen Talenten, deren Ansatz irgendwie zu N.O.W. zu passen schien. Bald war er mit Leuten wie Shabaka Hutchings, Haile Supreme, Mara TK und Sabrina Mahfouz in Kontakt. Auch Greentea Peng, OSHUN und Pip Millett fragte er an, erklärte ihnen die Stoßrichtung: Sie alle sagten zu und nutzten die im Titel angedeuteten Freiheiten und Freiräume auf ihre Art, lieferten ihre ganz eigene, vertonte Definition von Freiheit ab.' - Don Letts aka The Rebel Dread

Sam KDC presents the first Auxiliary 12" EP of 2022, entitled Shedding Skin, a varied four-track odyssey that goes far and beyond the conventions of techno and 170 bass music. The EP opens up with the ominous underworld tones of Silver Serpent. Menacing snarls of metallic synthesis set against the backdrop of frenetic hi-hats and slow pulsing heavyweight bass make this a surefire way to inject something unique into any DJ set.

False Idols then takes things a step further with its relentless percussive torrent, set against a sea of uneasy undertones that wash in and out of proceedings. Prophecy Unfurling introduces breakbeats to devastating effect, as the journey continues underground. Dystopian pulses of synths interacting with the breaks play off each other in a distinct fashion that has become a trademark of Sam's after 2019's Omen Rising LP on Horo.

Finally, Sam brings it all to a head with the uptempo frenzy of Bloodstone. It's been a while since Sam has toyed with this tempo, but Bloodstone shows just why he's revered as one of the true innovators of 170. An almost playful bouncing ring-modulated bass tone sets the scene for Sam's now trademark ominous dark palette to paint a truly captivating picture for the listener. Shedding Skin shows an artist at the top of his craft truly doing his own thing.

USB Stick

A new label from the team behind the "contemporary jungle" imprint Repertoire. Rave styles from the UK garage, hardcore and techno continuum.

'Rave Age' is a ballsy firecracker of an album that showcases not
just a passion for big room electro smashers and electronica, but a
broad set of influences that stretch from punk and film soundtracks
to disco and indie dance. Vitalic has done away with the vocoder,
working with a myriad of talent to add diverse and sometimes
surprising influences to his distinctive sound. A body of work that
takes many twists and turns, exploring new directions and
absorbing genres while maintaining Vitalic’s trademark sound and
energy. Repressed on purple opaque vinyl.

Lost & rescued early recordings from cult dub punk band Reducer from back in '85

In demand repress of Bloto's 2020 sell out LP 'Kwiatostan'

The quartet made up of EABS members return with their 2nd LP - another killer suite of collective improvisations drawing influences from jazz, electronica, rap.

The US-born, Norwegian-Mexican musician and producer Carmen Villain, real name Carmen Hillestad, has spent the last nine years and four albums gently unraveling song into the sound of emotional impulse. From the tilt and croon of her first two albums to the expansive warmth that flows and pulses beyond ambient in her more recent output, Hillestad's journey is artful musical deconstruction but also somehow spiritual growth.Hence new album Only Love From Now On, her fourth full-length and the culmination of a build-up that really began with the turn in sound evident from third album Both Lines Will Be Blue (2019, Smalltown Supersound) and the subsequent releases Affection In A Time Of Crisis (2020, Longform Editions) and Sketch For Winter IX: Perlita (2021, Geographic North). While the seed of her aesthetic was planted earlier, it has blossomed into something unexpected, benevolent in its composure and altogether luxuriant in its sensuality. If her themes, especially now, are wide, philosophical, and occasionally abstract, the emotional tenor of Hillestad's music is clear and purposeful. Makes sense that her key musical touchstones are dub, ambient, and cosmic jazz - flexible vehicles for tranquil wonder. While it may not contain voice or lyrics, as her two earliest records do, she describes it as, "wishing to maintain a sense of careful optimism for the future, while on the cusp of something unknown." Listening to Only Love From Now On is simultaneously comforting and alluringly strange. Partly it's the contributions of guests Arve Henriksen (trumpet, electronics) and Johanna Scheie Orellana (flutes). Partly it's the fluidity between instruments - such as clarinets - field recordings, the studio, jam, and careful composition. She calls the process a conversation with sound that occurs in her deliberate attempts to experiment with new methods, like granular synthesis, for her music-making. But mostly that strange comfort is in the peace and grateful contentment she has found via the stark recognition of her own privilege - laid bare by the pandemic. Only Love From Now On is fueled by the sense of scale in feeling small in the face of things so large, the contemplation of how the biggest impact we can have is in the people close to us, the attempt to make sure that impact is a positive one, and the choice to try to focus on love instead of fear.

On top of that, we have two cassette drops in the form of lost & rescued early recordings from cult dub punk band Reducer from back in '85, as well as a tripped out longform piece from Brazil's Felinto, raising money for the native Guarani people of São Paulo, fighting landrobbery, ecological destruction and gentrification.

Following Chari Chari and Rui Maia's albums, Organic Series releases another collection of beautiful music by funcionário, artistic alias of multitalented Pedro Tavares.

"Lisbon Dreams" is a conceptual album shaped by Pedro that evoques his travels between Setúbal and Lisbon, while studying Fine Arts at the portuguese capital city.

Music wise, "Lisbon Dreams" represents an unfolding new world, full of overwhelming feelings translated into musical landscapes and possibly inspired by contemporary producers like Nuno Canavarro or Susumu Yokota.

But when Pedro talks about his album he likes to quote John Cage: don't try to create and analyze at the same time. They're different processes.

- For fans of Susumu Yokota or Nuno Canavarro

Ambient Techno Reissue from 1994. Bomb

Long running Techno label Don’t kicks off their 22nd year with a really big one!

Serbian Techno artist LAG has always had a very distinctive style and here he makes his Don’t debut with a 4 track EP that builds impressively on that existing sound resulting in an inspired whirlwind of colour!
Sounds like: Explosive 2-Step Techno with dub flourishes topped by a wicked energy.

These tracks have been tearing up discerning dance floors in the hands of LAG and label owner Jerome Hill, with ‘Znoj’ also being featured on OBJEKT’s much lauded 2020 Essential Mix. So, with testing completed it's time for a deserved release on Vinyl and Digital with full artwork sleeve by Atact.uk!

From the mists of 1989 comes The Landlord with this monolithic slab of rave history - 'I Like It'. Instantly recognisable, those widely sampled piano stabs, that bassline.... it's all there. Produced by Canadian super-producer and Big Shot Records label owner Nick Fiorucci this much sought after rave anthem was highly prized and coveted by those in the know back in the day, no-one had any idea as to how huge the record would become as it soundtracked every dancefloor, warehouse, field and loft from '89 onwards, this is it, the real deal! Enter: The Maghreban. One of R&S Records contemporary artists and an unashamed Hardcore / Jungle / Breakbeat enthusiast, he seemed like the perfect remixer. Maghreban's mix is respective of the roots and the legacy of 'I Like It', referencing some of it's later sampled incarnations in a clever and knowing way, a true DJ tool that has been road-tested and checked in clubs across Europe and beyond, his epic 'Revenge Remix' shows a deep understanding of the history of these particular records and how they work on the dancefloor. This one will have people crying for more! Also featured on this special RSD 2019 release is the OG 'Blow-Out Dub', the one that started it all. Classic material from end to end right here. Essential business from Above Board distribution and Nick Fiorucci / Big Shot Records.

The next ten-inch cut of the Time Is Now series comes courtesy of Nicky Soft Touch. These four tracks are a taste of things to come, handpicked from an as-yet-unannounced double LP the
Bristol native has had in the works since 2019.

Nicky Soft Touch's recent outings include two dusty hip-hop dubplates on London's Ghost Notes Worldwide; for Lonely City Sampler he explores a more British sound. Using a tape deck and a pile of old jungle tapes, cut-up snippets were crafted into an audio collage balancing ambience with rave style crescendos. Driving dubwise bass dominates 'Lost In A Sea Of Rolling Eyes'
while disrupted breakbeats meet stuttering chords in 'Lonely City Cut 4'. The closing track's
garage-inflected UK techno beat is haunted by spaced out diva vocals, a melancholic mover for
city nights.

Lonely City Sampler drops December 10th via Time Is Now.

Enchanting, ambient-impressionist postcard depictions of the good life from composer/collagist Roméo Poirier, debuting on Manchester’s sferic with a round-trip to Venusian beaches and back. A must check for fans of Jon Hassell or Andrew Pekler’s phantom sound islands and Mike Cooper’s Pacific sojourns Working in the crème-concrète and frothy exotica style that made his ‘Plage Arrière’ a cult hit in 2016 (and on vinyl in 2019), Brussels-based Roméo Poirier conjures gauzily impressionistic beach scenes and heady sunny day feels from a fine mix of granular processing and bleached-out Balearic tropes in the dilapidated but deeply charming environs of ‘Hotel Nova’. Armed with a suitcase of floral shirts, trunks, paperbacks and a laptop, he checks into a lounging, relaxed and modestly lush sound that appears to shift and shimmer with the iridescent aftereffects of a micro-dosed daiquiri or the warm, turquoise waters by his feet.

Taking up residency in an imagined, hauntological lounge space where Jon Hassell and Andrew Pekler could have once seduced each evening’s guests, Poirier applies his filigree sampling and rearrangement techniques with rarified, ephemeral effect to float from smeared Hassellian brass in ‘Thalassocratie’ to smoky, ember crackle jazz in ‘Le bematiste’, and frayed loops in ‘Du Rocher’ redolent of Biosphere’s ‘Dropsonde’, with halfrecognisable motifs that thread through and tie the record together like tropical spider webs.
Along the fine line or flux between stylistic cliche and organic truths, Roméo Poirier uses tactfully textured electronics and timeless dubbing to realise an electronic simulacra of a world which becomes real through its eccentricities and cohesive integration of sounds. Trust there’s no mosquito bites or sunburn here, but you may not be able to escape the feeling you’ve been on holiday after immersing in Poirier’s careful world building.

The second release on Smalltown Supersound's highly promising offside jazz label, 'Le Jazz Non Series' follows Bendik Giske and Buttechno’s mighty label opener with a killer compilation bursting with contemporary/outsider Norwegian free music as a show of solidarity against racism in the scene, with a title that translates to "Freejazz against racism“.

Stitched and compiled by Anja Lauvdal and Tine Hvidsten, the set features 18 outsider Jazz burners centered around a varied and diverse cast of characters from the young Norwegian scene. While Norway has long had a positive relationship with free music, its players have invariably looked remarkably similar. "Frijazz mot rasisme" aims to address that by expressing the diversity of Oslo's contemporary scene and show its commitment to anti-racism; of the players featured on the record, many are regulars at Norwegian demonstrations against local anti-Muslim organization SIAN - with the compilation designed to collect funds for local anti-racist work.

Musically, "Frijazz mot rasism" is a fractal head-fry of the highest order, dilating a fertile movement thru spiraling outsider-jazz. If musical nodes are needed for a point of reference, it flexes from Don Cherry-inspired communal psychedelia sprawlers to fiery shredders, modal percussive cyclones and lushly expressive instrumental virtuosity of a sort we can only imagine would short-circuit and frazzle a pack of bleating Viking gammons.

With well over half the tracks originating from female artists, the set also represents a phase shift in perception, wickedly reprising the form’s historic function as fire music and a soundtrack to civil unrest, but with a decided female energy that’s more agitant than aggressive, in a way that might just calm and enlighten the xenophobes.

There’s a tonne to get down with; Sanskriti Shrestha & Andreas Wildhagen’s modal tabla groover ‘Eight hands’ is a real standout, with subtle treats in the liminal thizz of ‘Up There’ by Propan, and a strikingly stark solo performance by Inga Aas, held in balance with tussling razz-outs like ‘One out of town’ feat. Brian Sandstrom, and scatting, Dadaist mischief by Agnes Hvizdalek that’s sure to pique interest along with the chaotic swarm of its shred-out finale ‘Primary Antibody’.

Wall to wall enlightening, emotional bangers this one = highest Tip!

Hazy Ambient and bubbling Leftfield Beats from Berlin-based imprint Between Fields featuring members of the family.

After 3 years, New Zealand based Alicia Merz breaks her silence with her 5th Birds of Passage album ‘The Last Garden’. Alicia doesn’t share much with the public, except through her music, and so this album offers a rare glimpse into her secret world. Lose yourself in a universe of minimalist soundscapes, reinvented shoegaze, and the words of a poet who all too well knows the cold loneliness of the dark, but can find the breathless beauty in it also.

"Birds of Passage is humble and heartbroken. Her warm words are crimson berries that bear fruit in the cold depths of winter, hanging over crooked, bare branches where nothing else survives. Her dove-like vocals soar, but her introverted lyrics blossom with the fondness of love." (Fluid Radio)

"Alicia presents us with an endearing invitation into her fragile world, a captivating journey through the landscapes of her emotional euphoria and agony, a further commitment to musical experimentation… The cold minimalist-drones, distorted field recordings, and sparse instrumentation, illustrate an icy, desolate and dark world. It’s as if we are listening to the sound of winter itself; an audio exposure to the unforgiving elements of winter." (Headphone Commute)

Previously only available in digital format, Myor and Goddezz team up to get physical with Coco Bryce's '92 infused rave shuffler "Luv Ain EZ". Brought to you on a cotton candy coloured 10" with L Major on remix duties.

Following their critically acclaimed 2016 debut album, ‘Borderlands’, (nominated for ‘Best Album’ in DJ Mag’s annual awards), Conduct’s highly-anticipated second major work drops in 2017 via Blu Mar Ten Music.

‘Oma' is an immense LP, taking its sonic cues from 'Borderlands' while expanding them into far wilder territories. Organic clashes with electronic in a whirlpool of tribal head banging, fragile introspection and beautiful sonic architecture. Skittering rhythms, rock solid basses, angelic vocals and heartbreaking instrumentation are guaranteed to make 'Oma' one of the most notable drum & bass albums of 2017 and Conduct one of its prominent acts.

Striving to show the world what can be achieved at 170 beats per minute, Conduct’s palette is a dramatic juxtaposition between electronic and acoustic instrumentation, with a cinematic approach to composition influenced by the likes of Hans Zimmer and Jesper Kyd. While it’s common for drum & bass producers to concentrate on dance-floor impact, Conduct‘s primary focus is the evocation of an emotional response in the listener, creating a body of work that lasts far beyond the club.

First time on vinyl

White Vinyl

The Duo met on a rainy day in Tilburg (NL) while working for a dance project — they came down from very different roads. Fhunyue, a stage director–performer–musician chameleon, works alone or collaborate with Annalena Fröhlich (Robinrobin, Just Another Woman In Space), Thom Luz, Unplush, Peeping Tom, Dorit Chrysler, Ko Murobushi, Damien Jalet, The Scottish Dance Theatre, Bern Ballett, for a most colourful variety of venues in Europe. She is a member of the music association Bongo Joe (Switzerland). Sven, an established musician living between Hamburg and Nairobi, who released several records on Honest Jons and Bureau B and collaborated with several artists like Shabaka Hutchings, Ogoya Nengo, Marc Ribot, John McEntire, Sofia Jernberg, Nils Frahm, Hauschka, F.S. Blumm and Stefan Schneider.

Their encounter quickly revealed that both their musical sensitivity and their instruments (Marimbas, Drums, Percussions, Electronics, Theremin, Buchla Synthesizer, Piano) matched stunningly, and that they had to play together. After a short while of rocky life adventures and theatre projects in which they collaborated, their off rehearsal sessions would become a lively necessity. The wish to give birth to a project entirely their own, grew so strong that they locked themselves in Sven’s studio at Jaffestrasse in Hamburg, and started working on the debut of their duet. They are happy to present and share with you their labour of love, in hope that it will be good to your heart.

The Duo met on a rainy day in Tilburg (NL) while working for a dance project — they came down from very different roads. Fhunyue, a stage director–performer–musician chameleon, works alone or collaborate with Annalena Fröhlich (Robinrobin, Just Another Woman In Space), Thom Luz, Unplush, Peeping Tom, Dorit Chrysler, Ko Murobushi, Damien Jalet, The Scottish Dance Theatre, Bern Ballett, for a most colourful variety of venues in Europe. She is a member of the music association Bongo Joe (Switzerland). Sven, an established musician living between Hamburg and Nairobi, who released several records on Honest Jons and Bureau B and collaborated with several artists like Shabaka Hutchings, Ogoya Nengo, Marc Ribot, John McEntire, Sofia Jernberg, Nils Frahm, Hauschka, F.S. Blumm and Stefan Schneider.

Their encounter quickly revealed that both their musical sensitivity and their instruments (Marimbas, Drums, Percussions, Electronics, Theremin, Buchla Synthesizer, Piano) matched stunningly, and that they had to play together. After a short while of rocky life adventures and theatre projects in which they collaborated, their off rehearsal sessions would become a lively necessity. The wish to give birth to a project entirely their own, grew so strong that they locked themselves in Sven’s studio at Jaffestrasse in Hamburg, and started working on the debut of their duet. They are happy to present and share with you their labour of love, in hope that it will be good to your heart.

The artistic oeuvre of Berlin-based Sonja Deffner is as extensive and diverse as its contexts are high-profile: If the classically trained musician could in recent years be heard as a member of the groups Jason & Theodor, Die Heiterkeit, Globus and PTTRNS, as part of Christiane Rösinger's touring band, or as a recording musician on Andreas Spechtl's (Ja, Panik) albums, she has at the same time produced an acclaimed graphic work, video works and made her theater debut. Under the name Kalme, Deffner now presents her solo debut »Neue Sprache«, which feels like a culmination: Deffner doesn't need much space to present an artistic position of spectacular incisiveness and maturity.

The formal language of Kalme's debut evolves with reference to experimental pop and R&B, but equally informed by ambient electronics or dub techno. Analog and digital sound synthesis meet Deffner's characteristic use of field recordings, acoustic instrumentation (clarinet, percussion) meets musical post-production, sampling meets expressive synthesizer playing. At the center of the album, however, are Deffner's remarkable lyrics, written in German for the first time. Deffner creates a language of stark, emotional poignancy that is as conspiratorial as it is precise. The themes of the tracks develop between the poles of movement and stagnation, understood as motifs of biographical as well as musical ways of being or relating. In this forcefield, personal and political considerations coincide again and again, for example when Deffner reflects on her experiences with the social conditioning of femininity and motherhood.

The album title »Neue Sprache« (»New Language«), then, describes a search for forms of articulation of solidarization: language as a tool of a new relationship to the world that allows testimony to individual experience without reproducing categories of repression. In this way, Kalme's debut simultaneously achieves a radical intimacy, just as, on the other hand, the confrontation of language and sound repeatedly opens up fissures that deny any semblance of comfort. »Neue Sprache« does not stop at this modernist gesture, however, but unquestionably takes a stand. That's what Kalme's »Neue Sprache« ultimately is: the taking of a position. A statement.

Lion's Drums full length exists as en exploration in multiple dimensions. First by challenging the notion of the album format by presenting a body of work that lies snuggly between remixes, edits and original works and secondly as a means to delve into the transcendent potential of the drum. The album sets the tone by putting these two concepts fully on display with its hypnotic chant, swaying one into ease over the first two songs. In orderly cue folding and unfolding, meditatively through, melodies as muddied pastelle whispers cast over the measured language of the drum. Breaking away from the musing themes of the opening songs we find an ecstatic ritual in "Tanz der Korperlinge" and "Journey to Middle Earth", two distinct varieties but both of the same perennial species. Inky ether seeps back in through the second half of the album with a peak of frenzied tumbling toms and incongruous textures hovering above in the Manos Tsangaris' collaboration "Crying Tafel" and his re-imagining of Tullio De Piscopo's unhinged drum excursion "Fastness". The closing exemplifies the edit/remix/original ethos proposed for this work with Lions Drums drawing from tapes and original material of electronic pioneers Suzanne Ciani and Roberto Musci. Drawing from unreleased music and song sketches by the original artists as well as field recordings from travels & studio sessions made by Roberto Musci & Manos Tsangaris in the 80's and early 90's he constructs a side winding journey through playful textures and ethereal moods.

Second album from Nori, Tunisian producer influenced by north-african trance rituals and bass music. Expect something between The Maghreban, Guedra Guedra, Khalab, infused with UK-esque bass music.


This second album IRUN acts as a sequel to the first, creating an amalgam of then and now by combining archival field recordings from diverse African folkloric traditions with electronic beats. Contrary to DRUP, where Nuri prefered short song forms studded with abrupt contrasting changes, IRUN has longer tracks that allow the polyrhythmic grooves to expand and morph, echoing the techniques of trance music from North Africa.

With this new album, Nuri brings the listener into a cloud of layered sonic details that build a multisensory experience. Reworkings of West African songs and South African children’s songs add a joyful note to this playful exploration. 6 of the 8 songs are titled after a color in the Tunisian dialect, tinging the audience’s imagination with nuances as they listen.

Nuri is the artist name of Mohamed Amine Ennouri, a producer and percussionist from Tunisia that is now based in Copenhagen. Since the release of his first solo album DRUP in 2017, Nuri has grabbed the attention of audience and industry with his unique approach to electronica, an afro-futurism inspired sound spiked with live percussion. On stage, Nuri appears masked like a shaman conducting a ritual to take you on a journey through your own senses.

Nuri began his career as a kit drummer in Tunis, playing in bands of many different styles. From grunge rock to Tunisian wedding music to avant jazz, he was exploring and expanding his musical vocabulary. Ennouri became fascinated by cinema and decided to take an education in film sound production and animation. Working with a visual medium led him to join Atelier D, a dynamic multi disciplinary studio at the heart of Tunis’ underground subversive art scene led by sculpture Abdelaziz Ben Gaid Hassine. With this collective Ennouri worked on many performances that combined film, improvised music, and dance. In 2010 he was invited to the island of Bornholm in Denmark to produce a play co-written with butoh dancer Ainara Lopez. This was a seminal experience for Ennouri, where he connected deeply with both the artist community living there and the open Nordic landscape.

In 2013 Nuri moved to Lyon, France to collaborate with musicians living there. It was during this stay that he first met the Shouka collective and immediately connected with their vision of combining contemporary electronic sounds with archival recordings of disappearing musical traditions of North Africa and the Middle East.

However Bornholm continued to call to him, so in 2014 Nuri moved to Denmark. It was there, while isolated on a remote farmhouse on Bornholm, that the project Nuri was born. Inspired by this environment of expansive sky and sea and the extremes between the almost endless summer light to the long dark winters, Ennouri wrote his first album DRUP. In 2016 Shouka added DRUP to its catalog, pressing 600 vinyls. The same year Nuri gave his first live performance in Copenhagen, opening for Clap! Clap!

Since that time Nuri has been touring regularly throughout Europe, was given the Danish OOaward for artistic achievement, and put together a management and booking team from agencies Tone Chamber in Copenhagen and My Favourite in Paris.

Ten years after the transcendent syncopated debut ‘Progress Chance’, Ricardo Donoso returns with a pulsing retrospect of rhythmic determination and wide-eyed wonder with ‘Progress Trap’, his new album for Denovali. As is customary with Donoso, the moods on these electronic miniatures vary from piece to piece; some somber, brooding, and laden with mystery, others starry-eyed, tinged with sci-fi, and hungry for adventure.

Connections are finally forged between Donoso’s early hardware synthesizer arpeggiation experiments, his darker and more abstract work with an emphasis on synthetic textures, pulsation, and sound design and the more recent extreme full throttle electronic mayhem and prog inspired technical opuses found in the Calibrate/Re_Calibrate/Content era.

Progress Trap is as harmonious as its predecessor allowing dissonance to subtly seep in, providing mere hints at the undercurrent of threat hidden beneath the music's smooth surface. If ‘Progress Chance’ was naive and innocent, ‘Progress Trap’ is mature and calculated. Perhaps some of the optimism has extinguished, but there is a stalking exhilaration which threads through the entire album, taking on merely different shades between sides – as with most of Donoso’s work something verging on a deep longing always lingers heavily as an aftertaste. There's a lot to digest on Progress Trap, as with Donoso’s entire canon, but as always, the effort is repaid.

"Previously unreleased, Manchester, 1991. Betonska hits hard with their second release travelling back to an essential period of dance music history. A record blending rave, downtempo, ragga, dancehall, and early hardcore/breakbeat; a crossover which continues to shape and define some of the most innovative sounds of contemporary club culture.

Produced by Philip Kirby, with vocals/rap by Martin Merchant (together Two The Hardway). On the A side Graham Massey (808 State) accompanied them on the synths, and Howard Walmsley played the saxophone on the B1 and B2. All tracks were recorded in ’91 in Phil’s house, where “funnily enough Massey co-wrote ‘Army of Me’ with Björk!”. Find more info about it in the text below.

The whole release consists of solely ’91 originals: a deliberate choice to not take it out of context. The A side serves two versions of ‘Who Said?’, a mysterious midtempo jam with a jumpy acid line, organic yet punchy drums and a mesmerizing lead synth, played by none other than Graham Massey. The instrumental version has a more elusive feel to it, while the Vocal version tops it off with toasting by Manchester’s very own Martin ‘Sugar’ Merchant. Both tracks were pressed on the earlier test pressing from ’91, but have never been released officially before.

The flipside boasts two mesmerizing versions of ‘Hot Number’. Driving proto-jungle rhythms and Sugar Merchant’s ragga vocals, are fused with secondary vocals by Phil and a saxophone solo by Howard Walmsley to form a seamless and smokey sonic concoction that will get bodies moving. Whilst the B1 surfs on a slick breakbeat rhythm with a deep bassline, the B2 bounces on a 4/4 beat with a pulsing hardcore bassline.

To top it off, the B3 and final track in the running order is a deep and dub track. Originally produced in the 90s, but recently finished by Phil, ‘Blossom Street Dub’ has an added synth line and an iconic King Tubby filter which help to enhance a time-warping, headrush effect. This track, alongside the ‘Hot Number (Alternative Version)’ B1 tune, will both be pressed for the very first time on vinyl, having been absent from the original ’91 test pressing. "

Just over 20 years since its original release on Aphex Twin’s Rephlex records, DMX Krew’s classic We Are DMX receives its much needed first reissue on Cold Blow. It expands the original LP into a full 2xLP gatefold with four(!) bonus tracks, including instrumentals and the beloved Denki No Merodi now for the first time on 12”.

We Are DMX is a testament to the true depth of Ed DMX’s musicianship. From catchy electro pop sing-alongs to melodic dance tracks defying pigeonholes, the album was crafted almost entirely by Ed himself. True to the original album credits, the reissue is mastered by the legendary Matt Colton and is housed behind the iconic artwork by Manuel Sepulveda of Optigram.

Just over 20 years since its original release on Aphex Twin’s Rephlex records, DMX Krew’s classic We Are DMX receives its much needed first reissue on Cold Blow. It expands the original LP into a full 2xLP gatefold with four(!) bonus tracks, including instrumentals and the beloved Denki No Merodi now for the first time on 12”.

We Are DMX is a testament to the true depth of Ed DMX’s musicianship. From catchy electro pop sing-alongs to melodic dance tracks defying pigeonholes, the album was crafted almost entirely by Ed himself. True to the original album credits, the reissue is mastered by the legendary Matt Colton and is housed behind the iconic artwork by Manuel Sepulveda of Optigram.

“Rituals”, Flore’s second album is the map of a new continent and worrisome dark lands inhabited by a primal energy. 10 music pieces, 10 clues shaping a musical territory where nothing is given, where everything has to be conquered. From “Aether” to “You were here”, “Rituals” explores multiple facets of an electronic music crafted with meticulosity. It seems here that all of Flore’s path to this second album, every influence, every idea, every reference is digested, understood, reinterpreted and feeds into new shapes, layers of textures, indented rhythmics and menacing bass lines.

An imaginary African continent presides to this exploration, cleansed of clichés and stereotypes, more present in atmospheres than drums. The narration of Rituals is a tortuous promenade starting with “Aether” a mid-tempo introduction to the journey, stumbling on “Coded Language” and its obsessive enigma dressed in lace-like beats, to “Sigui So”, named after the Dogon ritual commemorating Earth regeneration, unfolding its hypnotic percussions evoking an ancient gearing. “Rituals” an uncomfortable and hazy musing and its counterpart “Psykhé part 3” are like each side of the same intoxicated dream. On to “Numen” the almost martial injunction to the dancefloor, “A thousand years”, the electro gem sewn into an insane bass, “Congos” the majestic invitation to a collective exultation rite. It is the nostalgic and atmospheric poetry of “You were here” which closes down this exploration, like a regret.

“Rituals” is a very sharp piece of work by Flore who delivers the result of 20 years of work, experiment, encounters and curiosity, all knitted together in these 10 pieces of music. This album is the outcome of 5 years of work launched with the eponym audio/visual live performance and prolongated by 3 EP’s released on POLAAR. “Rituals”, even if dark in its essence, transpires a savage energy, and open doors to new musical landscapes constantly oscillating between interrupted daydreaming and furious dances. Altogether, “Rituals” draws the portrait of a threatened universe healing in collective sarabands.