Beats News

On June 16th, 2023, Steven Julien and Kyle Hall return with their first EP together in ten years, CROWN. The record follows earlier EPs the duo created under their former alias Funkinevil, 2013's Ignorant and 2012's Night/Dusk. The record once again brings together two artists from opposite sides of the pond—Julien hailing from London and Hall representing Detroit—with a shared love for soul in its purest essence.

Opening "Page 1", a pitched-down vocal by James Massiah pronounces, "My plan—won't let you take it from hand." That alone could be considered the nut graph of a record about taking ownership, created by two vanguards in the electronic music scene that, a decade ago, insisted on infusing their music with soul in a commercial club circuit lacking in it.

Assembled from a few years-worth of studio jams in Julien's studio, Crown dials up the staticky warmth present on earlier Funkinevil tracks like "Dusk" and "In The Grid." Across seven songs, Funkinevil shaves off some of their tougher elements, instead shooting for pastoral melodies and funky basslines, like on "Page 2", where Vicky Flint's flute flutters sleepily over breaks and a groovy Korg synthesizer. But the atmosphere on the EP is also grander than ever—on "Page 5," Cloud's wistful melisma soars over Flint's bleating saxophone and wandering sci-fi synths.

With all this attention to funky musicality, it's only fitting that two legends specializing in the craft would land on the B-side—Däm Funk revs up "Page 3" with a slamming kick and his unmistakable coolness, and Reggie B turns "Page 5" into a sludgy, jazzy dance party.

In the words of Julien, "I think a lot of people have forgotten about what this whole thing is about. Musically, artistry and everything. So I'm happy this is what we represent on this project."

What if music had no beginning, no end Can music exist 'for itself' or 'of itself,' without structure constraining it, defining it Can music be non-linear, non-narrative, simply experiential, existential The second full-length album on Mysteries of the Deep, Musica Enterrada from Portland's William Selman, neither answers these questions nor supposes them. But in listening, one can't help but wonder: What if I disappeared into this record forever In another time and place, William Selman was known as Warmdesk, an alias through which he issued a series of sharply precise minimal techno records. In recent past, Selman shifted gears, shedding the dynamics of tension and release that characterized his previous alias' output. Under his own name, Selman began releasing process-oriented, freeform experimental music on cassette-focused outlets like Digitalis and Hausu Mountain. Now comes Musica Enterrada, a diaphanous, weightless musical vision not unlike the theoretical square root of GRM and Popol Vuh's early electronic forays. Split into six tracks across two sides of vinyl, Musica Enterrada bubbles, churns, drifts, and dozes. Dulcet tones pile up gently like waves on shore. Patterns repeat and reconfigure, as if heard from different angles. Rhythms appear, shift the frame, then disappear, into the ether whence they came. Play Musica Enterrada on repeat. And if you disappear into it, fret not — you have drifted into solace.

Repress!

The recording of Improvisational Loops began in 2012 during yoga classes at Body Actualized Center in NYC.
.
In the spirit of past 'New Age' or Minimal music, it aims to open up a space within the room giving the listener a chance to explore inward or outward.

It was recorded using a digital synthesizer, reverb, and looper."

Terekke, January 2018

In Silent Series pools together four innovative tracks of deep, textural and explorative Techno Music from four of this era's most inventive Artists: Sigha, SNTS, Dadub and Positive Centre.

Mastered by Daniele Antezza @ Dadub Studios - Artwork by Maria Mendes
Positive Centre / In Silent Series Bio:
Positive Centre is the Experimental Techno alias of British born Artist Mike Jefford. Currently located in Lisbon after a long period of living and producing music in Berlin. Positive Centre combines analog machines with tape and effects processing to create hypnotic and textural techno music, with releases on Our Circula Sound, Stroboscopic Artefacts, SNTS, Pole Group and Leyla.
The first of three Positive Centre releases came in 2013 on Sigha's Our Circula Sound label concluding with his debut album In Silent Series, of which his label takes its name. Positive Centre established the In Silent Series label in 2017 to promote and cultivate releases that develop the potential of textural sounds that reflect sonic landscapes.
The First Release was Positive Centre's Reassembly EP - A Record made of reconstructed tracks from his Our Circula Sound back catalog that featured a remix of 'Hiding Knives' from SHXCXCHCXSH. This was followed by the 'Myths' EP by Mastering Engineer and one half of Techno Duo Dadub: Daniele Antezza under his Inner8 moniker.
With ISS003, Positive Centre draws on the Artists that have played a hand in his previous releases by bringing Sigha, SNTS and Dadub together onto this Various Artists EP.

Cavernous, mystical beat tribalism from the GT zone; loose yet conscious-minded dub-wise runnings land on planet Earth. Murderous tempos create fiery, twisted percussion dances, lifted and buried in blazing licks of dabbed bass-weight. 808 moves left to right, upside down, with a melodic, hypnosis-minded sway. DEEP transforms waves of metallic drum machines, isolated melodies, and wooden beats into rooted sonic spiritualism recalling distant, future bygone eras. Hand made cover artwork.

In hand-stamped, paper taped sleeve.

2023 Repress

The Hypnus clergy is pleased to present the debut album of our beloved initiate Luigi Tozzi.
Released in the light of the summer solstice full moon of 2016.

Supported by Cio D'Or, Claudio PRC, Deepbass, Evigt Morker, Ness, Svreca, Oscar Mulero, Artefakt, Ben Buitendijk, Giorgio Gigli, Exium, I/Y, Jonas Kopp, Kwartz, Samuli Kemppi, Eric Cloutier, Abstract Division, Brando Lupi, Nobody Home and many more.

Different Fountains return with Time Signatures, an ep that boasts luscious leftfield house grooves, other-worldly rhythms and dubby melodies. Four tracks, ready for the dancefloor, whilst brushing against the avantgarde.

"Dirty Tree" (A1) is moody four to the floor, carried by tumbling percussion over a droning synth line, while "Drain Eye" (A2) serves some jumpy not-quite-jungle vibes over a smooth melody, on the flip "Said Its Fine" (B1) is broody house again revolving around warm chords and whimsical percussive elements, "Water Ending" (B2) is a more introspective yet funky track where counter-rhythms are the true stars.

Time Signatures sees the light a year after Different Fountains’ acclaimed album “Cue Raw City”.
Different Fountains also released records on Meakusma, Shubaka and their own imprint Different Fountains Editions.
Different Fountains consists of Michael Langeder (Austria) and Bernardo Risquez (Venezuela).
Time Signatures is the fourth record on the Brussels’ based label Someguy Records, a label that focuses on leftfield house music.

Mudd is back! Following years spent working with Benjamin Smith and countless others, the Claremont 56 founder – real name Paul Murphy – is finally set to release a new solo album, In the Garden of Mindfulness, later in the year. It will be the storied producer’s first lone full-length since the Rong Music released Claremont 56 way back in 2006, a set that was lauded by San Fran dub disco freaks, Balearic enthusiasts and music critics alike.

To get us all in the mood, Murphy has decided to deliver a flavour of what’s to come via a limited-edition two-track sampler 12”. Both tracks demonstrate the musical journey that he’s been on over the last two decades, with warm and tactile grooves smothered in dense layers of alluring instrumentation, with additional keys and solos by his friend and frequent collaborator Michele Chiavarini. Fittingly, side A boasts album title track ‘In the Garden of Mindfulness’ (named after a painting that will adorn the front cover of the LP). Ushered in by spacey electronics and twinkling, effects-laden keys, the track shuffles along at a deliciously low tempo, with woozy lead lines, subtle Clavinet licks, sun-soaked jazz guitars and cascading synthesizer motifs reclining over head-nodding beats and the squelchiest of synth basslines. It’s classic Mudd, with a few nods to his collaborative Hillside project thrown in.

It comes accompanied by ‘Katanaboy’, a gentle nudge towards sun-down dancefloors pushed forwards by metronomic Balearic disco beats and rubbery jazz-funk bass. On top of this rock-solid bed, and worming their way into your subconscious, you’ll find a heady blend of electric piano riffs, psychedelic electronics, sparkling guitar motifs, funk-fuelled flashes of Clav and sax, spacey chords, fizzing synth solos and all manner of additional percussion by Patrick Dawes – not to mention Murphy’s usual swirling and mind-altering special effects. It’s the kind of tactile, enveloping workout that sounds as good on a big rig as it does at home – and there’s no greater praise than that.

As NuNorthern Soul eases into its second decade, the label welcomes back a familiar face: Benjamin J Smith, a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and pro-ducer whose emotive, colourful and atmospheric compositions are the very definition of ‘Balearic’.

Famously, it was Smith’s The Movedrill Projects album that kicked off the NuNorthern Soul story way back in 2012, and he’s periodically returned to the imprint on numerous occasions since. It’s fitting, then, that Smith is stepping up once more, with NuNorthern Soul found-er Phil Cooper selecting to showcase two overlooked gems from his bulging back catalogue.

Both tracks are taken from Smith’s digital-only album Mojave (Vintage Californian Dreams), a set of thor-oughly gorgeous, West Coast-inspired library music compositions smothered in sumptuous strings and in-formed by the artist’s love of jazz-funk, languid jazz-rock and the kind of luscious, sunset-ready soundscapes that defy neat categorization.

Opening proceedings, and sitting on side A of the vinyl release, is the breath-taking ‘Marina Del Rey’, where layered, reverb-laden harmonic vocalisations, twin-kling electric piano improvisations, lazy guitar licks, spacey synth flourishes and sultry strings slowly rise above a toasty bassline and gentle, Latin-tinged beats. Smith cannily adds layers of sound throughout while moving the musical story forwards, leading to a mem-orable, awe-inspiring conclusion.

In contrast, ‘Big Sur’ sees Smith take an imaginary road trip through the driest, dustiest parts of the Cali-fornian countryside. Psychedelic rock style organ mo-tifs, sustained Hammond B-3 chords and glistening West Coast rock guitar solos dance atop a rubbery bassline and intoxicated, loose-limbed drums, with Smith’s eyes-closed vocalisations – drenched in reverb and delay – adding extra layers of aural loveliness. Like ‘Marina Del Rey’, ‘Big Sur’ is a vivid, widescreen con-coction tailor-made for soundtracking films that have yet to be made.

repressed !

Heading from Oslo straight to the breakfast club Crussen wakes anybody with his heavy trumpet and eponymous tune 'Breakfast in the Hut' that is part of Underyourskin's latest four tracker by the Norwegian. Grooving on a downtempo pace delightfully playing with chimes that alternate and merge with different synth patterns Crussen creates the cereals for a strong day and night. Viken Arman abstracts the original synths and raises the beats per minute to recreate a deepish and summerish remix anthem with a subtile melancholy. The EPs second and highly anticipated track 'The Lambert Interpretation' is a melodical masterpiece combining piano and guitar elements smoothly before sweeping one into different spheres. Crussen's reinterpretation of the original is enriched with a choir like vocal that pours down all the emotions on the dance floor and hunts one throughout the night.

Four years after wowing listeners with his surprise debut album, All One, Ferdi Schuster is back with a similarly inspired sequel. Taking his distinctive, freewheeling approach to its predecessor, Playing Life offers a set of inspired instrumentals full of soft-focus grooves, alluring musical motifs, subtle mood shifts and plenty of intricate musical details. In fact, such is the layered nature of the productions, you’ll still be noticing new things on your fifth or sixth listen. Those who know Schuster’s story and previous work for Claremont 56 won’t be at all surprised. Arguably the label’s best-kept secret, Schuster ended up on Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy’s label in 2017 after speculatively submitting a demo. Murphy was blown away by the quality of the publicity-shy multi-instrumentalist’s work and asked him to work on an album; two years later, All One appeared in stores and the rest, as they say, is history.

Just as he did on his celebrated debut album, Schuster played every instrument, note, chord and riff on Playing Life, arranging and producing the whole thing at different points between 2020 and 2023. The results are undeniably spellbinding, with the talented artist arguably delivering an even more assured, attractive and entertaining set. For proof, check opener ‘Dream Quality’, a sumptuous affair in which immersive pads, jazzy guitars, twinkling keys and smooth bass rise above a dubby, minimalistic beat, the steel pan-infused gentle jog towards the dancefloor that is ‘A Step Further’, and the Balearic ambient jazz masterpiece that is ‘Due’. Or, for that matter, the lapping waves and deep, dubbed-out grooves of ‘Playing Life’, and the starry magnificence of ‘Light Minded’, where Ferdi offers a few nods to the great Pat Metheny over twinkling synths and sparse, spaced-out beat.

Everywhere you look across the album, you’ll find a softly spun, exquisitely executed highlight. There’s ‘Moving Forms’, whose instinctive beat pattern and sun-bright jazz guitars enrich the soul, the marimba-sporting sunset wonder of ‘Universal Dance’, the chunky dub disco shuffle of ‘Pulsing’ and the awe-inspiring brilliance of ‘Vastness’, a suitably star-gazing, effects-laden excursion that provides a fittingly impressive conclusion to an album dripping with emotion-rich sonic gold.

Montreal’s sapphic mixxtress, the elusive mogul Maara, unveils her debut full length LP via Step Ball Chain. A pairing written in the stars, with twelve dynamically diverse and emotive soundscapes of downtempo bliss, spine-chilling drum and bass and elevated electronica - timeless anthems for sonic indulgence and reflection. Take a deep dive into the sensually charged inner workings of the already prolific producer’s mind.

An effervescent atmosphere envelopes it’s way through the records entirety, whether it be gloriously lush pads, melancholic words and whispers from her own lips or subterrantian bass. Maara’s world of sound showcases the wild spectrum of emotion, the empathetic passion of joy in Awaken, Plum Plum and Sapphic Rehabilitation Centre alongside the darkness of Insidious Force or Rough ‘N’ Ready. But like most things, the purest beauty can be found within the grey areas, where majority of this records lies. A powerful ebb and flow between cloudy twilight and it’s recurring silver lining, Nothing Sacred wraps you around it’s finger whilst Erotics Of Betrayal pulls you in unexpected directions sure to conjure feelings you didn’t know existed.

A masterfully united album from start to finish, each listen unveils endless intricacy, delicately and deliciously revealing the potent DNA of Maara.

REPRESS of a Zanias’s Into The All…. On Fleisch Records,,, 300 CLEAR MARBLE Zanias, has been hard at work over the years as part of many projects including the Dark Entries affiliated ‘Linea Aspera’ and minimal wave band ‘Keluar’ with Sid Lamar. Since then, she has been curating ‘Fleisch’, a club series and record label releasing music from the likes of Schwefelgelb, Forces and Kontravoid. As a solo artist, she has released her debut EP ‘To The Core’ in 2016 and has been collaborating with some of electronic music’s most respected figures. Appearing on Dax J’s critically acclaimed ‘Offending Public Morality’ LP, as well as providing vocals on Black Rain’s ‘Dark Pool’ album on Blackest Ever Black and working with Ancient Methods on last year’s ‘Andromeda’ which was released on Candela Rising. ‘Into The All’ is the culmination of extensive recording and experimentation. It charts a journey of psychospiritual evolution, from an unconscious state through to death and enlightenment. Inspired by the works of Ken Wilber and Yuval Noah Harari, it expresses both a personal journey and one that applies to all of humanity. Utilising field recordings of birds, gibbons and insects from Malaysia and Australia, and samples of instruments from Indonesia (a reference to her childhood spent there), Armenia and ancient Norway and Sumeria, alongside synthesisers and drum machines. credits Written and produced by Alison Lewis & Alex Akers. Mastered by Alain Paul. ‘Thanatos’ featuring vocals by Lynette Cerezo of Bestial Mouths. Cover photography by Andras Varga. With thanks to Eavan Derbyshire and Katrina Sjöstrand.

It's album time for Sam Goku aka Robin Wang: "Things We See When We Look Closer" is the second album from the Chinese-German artist, releasing nearly two years after his debut album "East Dimensional Riddims", that combined traditional Asian instruments and field recordings with his own modern take on dance music that focuses on fluid rhythms, beautiful melodies and ambient haze.

Based in Munich, things came together naturally with Permanent Vacation as a label for the DJ and producer. Not only sharing the same hometurf, but also a certain eclectic approach on music. After two EPs on the label, that found their way into DJ Sets from the likes of Ben Ufo & Four Tet, DJ Voices, Call Super and many more, Robin is drawing ever wider circles with his new album.

On eleven tracks he is refining his unique approach in his productions, probably described best as a deeply nature-rooted and aethereal sound from twinkling ambience over bright, bouncy kickdrums to shuffling breaks. Robin is hunting for the bigger picture by taking a closer look. Finding new life in the different microcosms and gaining new perspectives on things by switching the angle and developing a meditative and psychedelic swirl.

„Meraki“ ist LESKYs erstes Album. In weniger als drei Jahren hat sich LESKY als einer der vielversprechendsten und ambitioniertesten Produzenten der deutschen Beatszene etabliert. Für einen aufstrebenden Künstler zeichnet sich seine Diskographie als wahnsinnig tiefgehend und vielseitig aus. Egal ob er sich in Sample-gestützte Lofi-Beats oder Trap und Phonk stürzt, es gibt immer eine starke melodische Seite in seiner Musik. LESKYs Sound kurz zusammengefasst: „All meat - no fat: harte und busy Drums, Neo-Soul Akkorde auf dem Fender Rhodes und eine gefilterte Moog-Basslinie“, wie er sagt. Mit einer Gästeliste, die alte Freunde wie Phlocalyst und Sátyr neben MPM Künstlern FloFilz, MC Turt von den Summers Sons, Sakura Murakami und neue Talente wie das Kölner (Beat- )Wunder Midan oder New Jersey Sängerin Tally Schwenk umfasst, bringt „Meraki“ das Beste aus vielen Welten unter LESKYs Groove zusammen. Weitere Künstler, die auf dem Album erscheinen sind DDob, Meadow, Cuebe, Flynn und Mensing. „Meraki“ ist griechisch und eines dieser Worte, die sich nicht ins Deutsche übersetzen lassen. Man könnte es so formulieren: „Wenn du ein Stück deines Selbst, deine Essenz und Kreativität, in das legst, was du tust.“ Für LESKY steht es außerdem für den Wandel vom Hobby zum Beruf. Geboren und aufgewachsen in Leipzig, ist LESKY mit 21 nach Köln gezogen, zunächst für ein Praktikum, später für einen Job bei MPM. Vorgespult in‘s Jahr 2021: LESKY hat ein weiteres Mal seine Taschen gepackt und sich nach Tiflis begeben, der Hauptstadt Georgiens. Es scheint ganz so, als hätte die Reise des jungen Produzenten gerade erst angefangen.

There are constellations within the grooves of Cymbalom Solos. Innumerable points of light, rendered audible in glowing, radiant sound. There are entire worlds too - undiscovered, yet familiar - both terrestrial and celestial. There are moments of quiet comfort and exultant discovery. And all of it conjured by one man with a handful of ancient and invented instruments, recorded mostly-live, with precious few overdubs.

Michael Masley has been a fixture of Berkley, California, since he arrived from Michigan in 1982. Even today, he remains a common sight, working as a street performer - catching the attention of passers-by as he summons otherworldly overtones from a coterie of arcane instruments. This is how he met fellow east-coast transplant and musical voyager, Barry Cleveland, in 1983. Cleveland was enraptured by the sound of Masley’s wildly innovative bowhammer cymbalom. The cymbalom is an ancient instrument, similar to a zither or hammered-dulcimer - originating in Eastern Europe in 1874, but with primitive early examples dating back as early as 3500 BC. Yet Masley’s approach to the instrument was wholly original. Masley replaced the two traditional cymbalom hammers, with bowhammers - an invention wherein he fitted each of his fingers with it’s own combination hammer/bow device, which allowed him to both strike the strings, and bow them like a violin. Outfitted with his bowhammers, Masley was able to wrest startlingly new sounds from a centuries-old instrument.

In 1985, after performing together for a couple years, Cleveland produced Masley’s first solo endeavour, Cymbalom Solos. With the help of Cleveland’s timely production, Masley’s technique reached its zenith. His complex and beautiful compositions combined elements of Eastern-European classical, new minimalism, and celtic/folk music, yet the end result falls squarely within the world of new age kosmiche. Music of the spheres, conjured by earthbound strings. Masley estimates that he sold tens-of-thousands of cassette copies of Cymbalom Solos over his years of performing. And now, Morning Trip is distinctly proud to offer it on vinyl for the first time ever - an album of startling, imaginative beauty, by a brilliant American folk artist.

Das Debütalbum des von Paul Bender - Bassist und Co-Produzent der dreifach für den Grammy nominierten Band Hiatus Kaiyote - ins Leben gerufenen Recordings Projects The Sweet Enoughs von 2020 jetzt erstmals auf Vinyl erhältlich.

Marshmallow ist Easy Listening für das moderne Zeitalter, Premium Entspannungsmusik und eine wahre Mund-zu-Mund-Sensation. So konnten die Sweet Enoughs u.a. Tyler The Creator und Kenny Beats für sich als Fans gewinnen und bis dato mehr als 20 Millionen Streams anhäufen.

Wave Shapers's approach to electronic music entails the collection of field recordings and foley sounds blended with sequences and live playing of synths over multi tracked backgrounds consisting of the blended captured sounds, all to create a free form escape for the listener. A form of auditory meditation/contemplation as the eventual goal. Enjoy!

On 'Models', Lee Gamble liberates sonic spectres to inform a suite of illusory anthems, subliming vulnerable, half-remembered fragments of dream pop, Soundcloud rap and trance in the process. Sung by cybernetic voices in an almost wordless language, his widescreen memories reverberate across the last few decades of pop history, smudging Elizabeth Frazer's surreal poetry into disembodied diva cries and Lil Uzi Vert's abstract, AutoTuned mumbles. Extracting haunted fragments of synthetic corrupted chatter and indecipherable non-words to sculpt dreamy pop simulacrums, Gamble takes the concept of the pop producer to its logical extreme; examining how intonation and language is engineered to monopolise our attention, his magical inversion of pop playing like a bewitching symphony of earworms.

When was the last time music saved your life? Yasumu has his own story to tell in ‘Escaping Reality’, a 13-track album that examines his relationship with music growing up; which shaped him into the skilled musician he is today. The German composer translates deep-rooted feelings of loneliness and uncertainty into sounds, through carefully composed drums and signature piano compositions. Intertwined with the melodies are orchestral elements that evoke the underlying beauty in his journey of self-discovery.

Parisian producer Nothingtosay is back after a long break with his album “Cold Thoughts”. Hauntingly beautiful piano melodies that linger like the chilly wind are accompanied by crisp drums and strings that pierce your soul.

The moon towering in the starry sky looks upon the icy desert coldly, while the wind whispers in your ear as if it is telling its deepest, darkest secrets. There’s something eerily peaceful about being alone in nature, far from the confines of humanity - the perfect time for some self-reflection.

aMess pays homage to his multicultural roots in his biggest project yet: ‘Tales from Babylon’. Divided into 3 chapters, the tracklist evolves meaningfully based on his cultural understandings, brimming with worldly elements that sound perfectly in harmony and transport you to new continents - from the Oud of the Middle Eastern desert plains to the djembe and wrist shakers of Africa. Come sit on the rug among the assortment of personal treasures, and play music to your heart’s content against the setting sun.

Welcome to the majestic world of Arodasio, a fictional floating island that finds its home in Dosi & Wishes and Dreams’ latest collaborative album. Though few tread here, the music recounts stories of the city’s former glory - soul-lifting piano melodies, cinematic drums and exotic ambience drift from far away in the distance, beckoning. Will you be the first to step foot on its land?

Keep your schedule free tonight, because you’ve been invited to a private concert in the woods to listen to xander. and Tonion’s new album “Stories of Synergy”.

Warm drum loops and airy pads combine with uplifting piano notes that soothe the soul, and the highlight of the performance is the cello that fills the air with its rich, layered sound; even the owls and fireflies have come out to listen. There’s no need to say a word - sit back, and enjoy the music that flows effortlessly between the duo, and you will hear enough inspiring stories to last the evening and more.

“Soothing Breeze” is a compilation of 21 carefully selected beats with oriental traditional instruments, soft drum loops and mystical appeal. The air is calm and pure - it’s time for absolute focus in this tranquil landscape.

As the nights get colder and longer, we often lose touch with those around us. Nights when loneliness takes hold of us as our only dependable friend, and our imagination becomes the universe; forever questioning the existence of our own reality, while perpetually stuck in an emotional limbo..

Delve into your thoughts with ‘Lonely Nights’, the latest Lofi Girl compilation featuring 31 artists worldwide. Soft beats, melancholic pianos, lulling guitars and a range of other instruments are knitted together like a warm blanket to bring ease and comfort for as long as you need. Focus on the ingressing dawn light, close your eyes, and breathe in - this feeling is only temporary, and better days are on their way.

As September unfurls and summer draws to a close, the city calls for a trip to your favourite cafe. ‘Afternoon Jazz’ is the perfect soundtrack to welcome the autumn colours that envelope the landscape. Today’s special on the menu - 13 tracks carefully crafted by 28 talented worldwide artists, in a wonderful medley of jazz-infused lofi hip hop. Swinging drum loops and warm bass lines flow from track to track seamlessly, met by mellow beats and the smoothest of grooves that administer a dose of blissful relaxation. It’s a hazy afternoon and the sun is slowly dipping beneath the horizon - the perfect time for sitting by the window and watching the world go by..

Blue Vinyl

Since 1996, Buddha-Bar has created and developed a new vision of Life. With its enchanting venues and intoxicating music, Buddha-Bar has created Lounge Music. Widely copied but never equaled, our musical signature has delighted millions of people around the world and through the years. Selected by Ravin, this triple Best Of Vinyl gathers the greatest titles that made the Buddha-Bar history from 1996 to 2013.

"This collection of tracks came about during a period of transition for me, from changing the way I wanted to make music to a method that was more intuitive and free-flowing. I spent a lot of time experimenting with sequencing and different bits of hardware I'd acquired. I was also playing around with an old four track cassette recorder, which was loads of fun. I think the end result feels a little broader in sound and composition as all but one of these tracks were the result of recording a live jam down to a stereo mix. I recorded dozens of these until I'd found 'the one'.

That way of capturing a performance really excites me, it's like a crystallised moment in time when the planets have aligned. When you're really absorbed into the flow of it and there's something extra guiding you.

Eddie Piller & Dean Rudland present Acid Jazz (Not Jazz)

Back in the early 1990s as Acid Jazz began a period of extraordinary commercial success where acts like the Brand New Heavies and Jamiroquai sold millions of records, and US groups such as A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Digable Planets were actively influenced by what was being played in London, the whole scene was being fuelled by a small number of clubs, led by Gilles Peterson’s Sunday afternoons at Dingwalls but taking in nights in Leeds, Bari, Munich, Tokyo, Stockholm and New York. In those clubs funky jazz, latin boogaloo and 70s soul soundracks competed for time on the dance floor with import records from New York, and the latest sounds coming out of bedrooms and makeshift basement studios that created contemporary sounds out of the past.

Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller and Dean Rudland have put together this compilation of the sort of sounds that we were playing at the time. They are releases on Acid Jazz and other label’s that surrounded the scene and they were mainly made by people we knew from either around the club scene, behind the counters of our favourite record shops, or from trips to New York or Europe. They range from The Ballistic Brother anthem ‘Blacker’ to the jazz house of A-Zel - a Roger Sanchez mix that still sounds fresh today. We have the Humble Soul’s instrumental version of ‘Beads Things And Flowers’ which at the time was only available as a DJ special on Acetate. There is the presence of A Man Called Adam before they went to Ibiza, and the early Mo’ Wax (before they went Trip Hop) single by Marden Hill ‘Come On’.

These records could fill a dance floor in seconds and we feel that they are today largely forgotten, as they were non-album, underground club records. It’s time to celebrate them!

orbit is the electronic project of 28 year old producer and songwriter Marcel Heym. With a soundscape marked by a blend of raw acoustic guitars and atmospheric synth leads, orbit combines imagery of life in the countryside with an immersive dream world. After releasing three EPs since 2020 and having an international Hit with his track “Perspectives” as well as several live shows and a Support Tour through Europe with Parra for Cuva, orbit announces his upcoming EP for April ‘23 alongside a special concert in the Berlin Zeiss Planetarium. The new EP is moving a newly dark sphere into the artist’s universe - a powerful piece of gloomy, vast synthie soundscapes, orbit’s characteristic hazy vocals and soft acoustic guitars.

Seeking the overwhelming vibration of the genuine sound wave and its profound echo on the soul, Kenneth James Gibson has spent his career experimenting under a variety of aliases like as many brushstrokes to an ever polymorphic palette - successively releasing as (a)pendics.shuffle, Bell Gardens, Reverse Commuter, dubLoner, Kenneth James G., KJ Gibbs, Bal Cath, Eight Frozen Modules, and Premature Wig... the list is long. Near to two years after his first incursion on Kompakt with his third studio LP 'The Evening Falls', Gibson returns with 'In The Fields Of Nothing', his second full-length delivery for the Cologne-based imprint.

A piece of intricate scales and moods, by turn streaming with the quiet flow of a small meandering rill, then suddenly veering off into an oceanic kind of tumult, 'In The Fields Of Nothing' was conceived as a proper film soundtrack with its rhythmic ebb-and-flow and deep sense of immersion, pulling the strings to an imaginary scenario where the uncanny rubs shoulders with a minute care for the immersion and deep emotional involvement of its whole.

Like entangling multiple levels of consciousness through a millefeuille of textures, piano and strings as well as a flurry of subtly FX-soaked instrumentals, Gibson reflects on his new album - created and recorded right after 'The Evening Falls' came out - as hugely inspired by the lushly forested mountain landscapes of his home region, the bewitching Idyllwild, California. With each track being an essential petal in the narrative corolla figured by Gibson, it's a breathing forest of sounds that deploys, bearing the memories of Kenneth's early morning and late night wanderings in the wild, alone and not, with the ancient trees' vital force for main companion. 
An attempt at capturing a slice of these ephemeral sensations felt when striding along across the steep ridges and stony paths of the San Jacinto mountains, staring at the star-studded dome or gazing into the quiet horizon at dawn, 'In The Fields Of Nothing' eludes the single genre encapsulation, opting for the all-embracing openness of scope as it hops from droney melodic interplays ("Her Flood") and roomy string-laden folk drifts ("Further From Home") through Ligetian webs of sound ("Thirsty Lullaby", "Fields Of Everything") and poignant threnodies ("Unblinded"), onto sorrowful pop ballads ("Far From Home") and lulling ambient scapes ("To Love A Rotting Piano", "Plastic Consequence")