House News

Balearic. Disco. Italo. House. These are the styles that forged Filippo Colonna Romano, aka Modula. The diverse musician has always drawn on a rich musical seam for inspiration. His latest album, Sounds from Montenuovo, calls upon a spread of sounds and styles. From the birdsong of the title piece, the listener finds themselves in the stripped electro-wave of “Party Crime” and “Night Warrior” with Pamina Chauveau offering impassioned vocals. The colder edges of emotions are exposed in the unsheathed funk of “The Anger” before the summer brightness and overarching warmth of “Looking At The Horizon”. Modula island hops from genre to genre, dipping into one sound before diving deep into another style to resurface with audio pearls. Tribal tones and melodic bursts come together in the exotic “Malicumbà”, a track which anticipates the pure synthesizer joy of the instrumental version of “Looking At The Horizon”. A vivid collection of imaginings from Romano’s studio, sounds that arrive via the clear waters of the Caribbean and the cinematic echoes of the 1980s. A voyage from beginning to end.

NYC's Listening Center return to Ghost Box with another 45. The second in the Other Voices series, in which David Mason puts his analogue electronics to work on two powerfully melodic pieces. Drawing on the classic library-esque, music for schools and colleges sounds that inspired Ghost Box at its very beginnings.

A Letter from TreeTops is the debut album from Pneumatic Tubes, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Jesse Chandler. Grounded here in his own bucolic makings, Chandler opens his imagination to the world with this very personal and contemplative album. It’s a kind of American Kosmiche Music, a paean to the wild landscapes of the Adirondacks and Catskills of Upstate New York where he grew up. (TreeTops is the name of a summer camp, fondly remembered by several generations of the Chandler family.)

The album came to Chandler almost as an automatic transmission. Shortly after the death of his father, he holed up alone in the old family home with a few synths, a couple of vintage keyboards, percussion instruments and of course his beloved flutes and clarinets - the “pneumatic tubes” of his nom de plume. Channelling raw memory and landscape, Chandler laid down most of the material for this mystical and elegiac suite of music in just a few days. He later called on some talented friends to flesh out the final recordings; Paul Alexander on bass, Bill Campbell on drums, Marissa Nadler backing vocals and Robert Gomez on electric guitar.

The result is a series of beautifully faded musical photographs. Gentle melodies are propelled along by synth arpeggiators or laidback sidestick and felt beater drums. Chandler’s wind instruments are woven throughout like wild vines binding the elements together. Towards the end of the album an underlying note of melancholy swells into grief during the very moving Witch Water, which is subtly underpinned with Marissa Nadler’s haunting voice. The clouds soon clear, the mountains reappear, and the wheel of the year and of the generations turns again as A Letter from TreeTops signs off with the same lilting melody on which it began.

Originally hailing from Woodstock, New York and now living in Denton, Texas, Jesse Chandler is the keyboard and woodwinds player for the bands Midlake and Mercury Rev. His particular warmth as a composer and improviser is informed by a childhood ensconced in the mystical Catskill mountains, where he absorbed the area’s rich musical history and developed a fascination with keyboard and woodwind instruments.

A Letter from TreeTops is not his first appearance on Ghost Box, he also contributed organ and flute on the Soundcarriers’ incredible Entropicalia album.

Evocative liner notes are provided by Justin Hopper, author of Old Weird Albion and writer of the Ghost Box spoken word album Chanctonbury Rings. By happy coincidence Hopper also grew up in New York State and has his own deep connection to the landscapes there.

Dream Diary, the Brixton-based electronic label, is pleased to announce the release of ​Horizyn​ by recording artist and producer Ruven. Recorded during a weeklong lockout at the label’s newly minted Octagon studio, ​Horizyn​ is a three-track “space overture” inspired by science fiction, Afro-futurist comics, and Eastern spiritual practice.

Despite arriving from New York with a suite of demos prepped for production, Parker’s creative flow was piqued by his first visit to London and he started from scratch. Swerving from the minimal techno of his first Dream Diary release ​Pour​, he wanted this follow-up to have a greater focus on musicality, composition, and theme. With the studio lights dimmed and a projection of ​Blue Planet ​on repeat, he spent a week deconstructing and molding guitar loops, analog synth patches, vocal melodies, and field recordings into vignettes of the future.

Brian Parker was born in Hampton, Virginia, and spent his formative years studying percussion, guitar, and voice while absorbing the visionary sounds of local legends like The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Missy Elliot. While living in New York, his eponymous electronic pop project landed him in songwriting sessions with Sony Music/Epic Records, and he began producing electronic music under the Ruven alias as a contrast to his more accessible work. His forthcoming projects bridge the gap between these domains and incorporate hip-hop, R&B, and soul influences.

All tracks written and produced by Ruven. Cello on track B2 performed by Rob Lewis. Recorded at Octagon in Brixton, London, UK Mixed by Tom Gillieron

SW2 returns to GD4YA after his previous release with Moses Boyd, this time with Joe Armon-Jones & Badwithphones+

Remixes from SP:MC & Hodge

Vox Populi Field Works Vol.II is the second part of a broader project entitled 'Field Works', in which the label travels to different locations in the world in order to collect sounds, eventually creating an archive of some of the finest and humblest musical traditions. Inspired by academic methods proper to ethnomusicology and ethnography, this project's aim is to showcase the diversity of our human cultural heritage, which is threatened by accelerated globalization and homogenization of the worldwide musical spectrum.

This record is the result of a twenty-day trip to Japan. Led by anthropologist and label founder Fred Scharf and his Vox Populi Records crew, this is the second instalment on the 'Field Works' series. This 12'' vinyl release is a collection of field recordings, jam sessions, studio recordings, street soundscapes, religious rituals, fighting championships and wedding ceremonies, all of which were remixed and reinterpreted by Japan Blues, Tim Karbon, Hiroaki Oba & Shizka (aka Inoue Shirabe), delivering tracks whose core represents a wide array of traditional Japanese sounds.

Ever since the first white labels appeared at the end of Summer 2013, Emotional Especial has been putting out music that is slightly left of (club music) centre. Influenced as much by and including dub, electro, disco, proto-house, house and techno, guided more by a feeling than a sound.

This thinking has been that exemplified by every 10th release being a label sampler - a showcase of unreleased tracks or remixes of what has come before, plus the odd one off cut by an artist to watch. Some 4 years since the last Sampler, the label's 40th release presents new label heads Giraffi Dog, returning after their recent "live" Multiverse EPs, here teaming up with GF Rich for a breaks anthem. Sub bass rising, the persistent build leads to piano before drop and Acid mayhem ensues, highlight why G Dog are such a producer to watch.

Label mainstay Alphonse returns, with White Pepper from the "Stolen Sunrise EP", here remixed by House stalwart Toby Tobias. Having released for a who's who of labels including REKIDS, ESP Institute, Delusions Of Grandeur and Futureboogie, the illusion these past years of who is Alphonse can finally revealed as Toby himself. The remix of his alter ego takes the 'Balearics' of the original and adds breaks and 303, all retaining a laid back feeling for summers return.

On the flip, the label welcomes rising star, Remotif. With a series of EPs showcasing a growing talent, his recent Coymix release sealed the deal. Here, his comedically titled Beam Me Up Softwoiii belies a party anthem, where breaks and arps rise in unison before an Aphex sunrise burst, drops and heads down in pure dance.

Akio Nagase returns to close with another of his Japanese folk meets lilting 303 Acid House. An Okinawa traditional folk song, conveying a life lesson, here to Hosenka flower is laid across slo-mo acid bubbles to quirkily and perfectly complete another 10th release of the Especial path.

'XOROS' has it's genesis in techno and dance music, but while they remain important elements in the language of this record, the lexicon has evolved into something other.

Will Ward’s musical background - having released on prestigious European labels such as Leisure System and Newrhythmic - combined with the accomplished jazz, ambient and electronic musicianship of Jack Wyllie - a member of Portico Quartet and Szun Waves - results in a record that will not sit uncomfortably alongside other ambient explorations, but draws from a wide scope of sonic universes.

For Ward and Wyllie, when working together a focus on texture and space emerged as their common goal and provided a fertile ground for collaborative experimentation. The starting point was to explore the possibilities of using saxophone to create the textural landscape of a fully functioning techno record.

As it evolved the rhythmic pallet gradually vanished to reveal a largely beat-free landscape. Small fragments of sax, synth and field recordings were collected and layered together, sometimes hundreds of parts used to create the textural basis of a track.

These were then collaged into longer compositions; inspiring monolithic soundscapes that suggest futuristic worlds that sit outside of any specific time, place or genre. It is the dense layering of these fragments that gives each second of music its own individual sound and atmosphere. It demands a deeper listening, a particular attention to the intricacies of each moment.

‘Opening’ begins with a recording of the ambient noise in their north London studio and expands outwards into a slow circular motif that feels like a lost jazz loop, followed by ‘The Gift’, a track that breaths as if it is alive, an organism tentatively exploring a new world.

‘Cascading’ is aptly titled as its watery rhythmic patterns formed out of field recordings emerge into slowly ascending synth and layered saxophone drones while ‘The Machine’ combines that with a propulsive mechanical rhythm. ‘Paradise Cinema’ continues in a more widescreen format, opening out into deep synth melancholia and ‘Master Blaster’ takes it's name from the subtly embedded recording of an eponymously named New York street artist’s performance.

Finally closer ‘Futures’ concludes by settling into a slowly evolving world where time is no longer linear and there is the sense that it could keep going forever.

Long time friend of Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and collaborator (going back 20 years) makes his debut on the label with four helpings of weird and wonky machine funk jackers. This ep perfectly encapsulates the sound of Monox where we all met many years ago. If you close your eyes whilst listening you could be there - minus the damp smells and farting subwoofers!

Presented on lurid pink marbled vinyl and hand stamped labels with insert art from the talented Matt Consume!
Enjoy!

Sydney-based producer and co-founder of Velodrome Recordings, PZ Specialist comes through with an energetic and forward-thinking debut 12” Rattlehats.

Comprised of 4 versatile club cuts, these tracks range from trance-inspired electro to jazzed-out Balearic house. It’s a versatile EP that sees the Sydney producer blend vibrant, dreamlike synth tones with dense and playful percussion - a colourful record that remains grounded in club-focused practicality.

Fontela Games is proud to launch its very first boardgame Mascara…
Presented on a vinyl gatefold 7 inch sleeve, Mascara is a mystery game for 2 players.

The game soundtrack comes courtesy of Timothy J Fairplay (Asphodells, Dungeon Module) and contains 2 exclusive tracks. The prolific British producer presents 2 deft synth workouts recorded in a seedy studio in Tottenham.

The sleeve contains the board, instructions, one insert and a 7" record.
Numbered and limited edition of 150 copies.

The second release on Lempuyang comes courtesy of Tomoki Tsukamoto. In the late 90s Tomoki put out releases on Gez Varley's G Records, i220, and of course ran his own Metrojuice Records imprint; putting out some of the most sought-after deep & dubby techno records under his alias W-Moon. After a hiatus of over 20 years he now returns with four new tracks under his own name, still retaining that deep signature sound.

Ransom Note stalwart Bawrut presents his debut album "In The Middle", featuring vocalists Liberato, GlitterU¥U¥, Cosmo and Chico Blanco. The LP is a striking eleven-track journey through sunset pop, electronic melancholia and delusive migrations taking place around the Mediterranean.