Pop & Rock Vinyl New Releases - News

Facing global extinction on one side and reflecting flurring dystopia on another, Dmitry Distant and Lowfish teamed up in utopian electronic music release on 7″ vinyl.

Man Band kicks off 2020 with a new release by head honcho Toma Kami. The EP glides through a range of tempos with 2 gritty, contemporary dancehall rhythms and one 160BPM percussive melter.

Collection of psychedelic dub songs that sensitively touch acid fields. Defined by low pressure beats and choral vocals, recorded during the pandemic in 2020. Collaborative project by meritxell, oriol, ignasi and juns. Pressed throughout three 7" packed in a handmade sackcloth box. Download code printed on plantable paper.

Jiska Huizing and Rudi Valdersnes have again joined forces for their second collaboration on Ideophone Records. They continue on the paths they defined on their first release “Drum & Trails”, producing genre-defying club music that contains hypnotic rhythms and flirts with the electroacoustic. The second release, “IDE002”, has a more refined and developed sonic signature that is instantly recognizable. Mixing analog percussion and found sounds, the record meanders through ambient terrains that agitate the body into movement with precise rhythmic punctures and interjections. The result is a live recorded album both for ears, feet and mind.

IDE002 is a playful record with witty turns. Every track contains pulsing rhythms coming from Valdernes’ homemade percussion instruments and drum machines together with luring, curious sounds from Huizing’s field recordings, mixed with samples of her electric violin and voice.

The record shows that these artists are serious about their aim to make layered club music that does not want to make you forget but aims to remind you of curious, interesting places and pushes you to really listen to them. All while being very danceable all the way through. IDE002 is at once comforting and challenging, a real accomplishment for a second release, and a promise for what is to come from this exciting label and musical partnership.

In pairing words with art, the ESP Institute often does everything journalists hate. We drown the reader in hyperbole, abstractions as opposed to didactic or literal depictions, and paint the press release with superlatives that construct an existential struggle around the art and its conditions. To articulate our reasoning behind collaborating with the artist, or the synergy between their work and our catalogue, is sometimes so challenging that crossing that finish line is achingly delayed. Patrick Conway’s 2xLP 'Cellular Housekeeping', his fourth release with the label, is one of these works so monumentally exciting for us that we’ve strained over how to deliver with honor his art unto the masses. After the initial hurdle of visual representation (in this case handled with gusto by artist Hassan Rahim), how do we directly and intentionally talk about the art we deeply love, when in reality we’re largely guided by instinct? We explore many angles, often failing along the way, until finding a final click in the combination that unlocks the floodgates. With Patrick’s album, that elusive impetus revealed itself in a literary gem that both symbolized his aggressive, melancholic, romantic, and bleak overtones, as well as synchronized his work and our task with a metaphor so grand it justified putting these words to paper. In the deeply British poem of despair and hope, 'Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle', John Milton immortalized the classic idiom of the “silver lining”, and we find comfort in this transaction between struggle and what the poet considered divine intervention. Our bout of procrastination that brewed a cloud over the art may too tout a silver lining, the time that’s elapsed clearing a path for the album to exist in its rightful place, as opposed to fighting for a voice at an overcrowded table. In hindsight, this final hurdle might have only existed because without it, there is no glory, no resolution, but as all the pieces click and we collectively cross the finish line, Patrick Conway’s once captive 'Cellular Housekeeping' is now truly released.

Tecwaa is no newcomer in the Höga Nord-roster. He has already made two appearances on the label with an album and a single. This, his third release on the label is another 7” containing pure, high quality Left-field and Slow-disco.

The sound in Tecwaa’s music might be explained partly by his geographic position. Being based in York the sound is not as predictable as it might have been if the music was produced in one of the country’s larger cities. It holds a lot of influences found in, say Manchester and London, but still the music holds a contrasting quality with equal parts of freedom and melancholy resounding in the tracks. And the result is unique and beautiful: Airy and free-floating piano drills, dub effects from space and ghost-choruses recorded from secret rooms inside York’s Minister give the electronic sound an organic feel. The melancholy is more of an eerie feeling hiding beneath it all – maybe the case for most DJs living through these times.

Still the show goes on and on and with Tecwaa staying productive and keeping top premium music alive, all the messed-up kids missing life in the clubs get their share while in this hiatus.

Karsten PflumReal Name:Jacob Helverskov MadsenIDM legend hailing from Denmark now living in Berlin germany
been making music since 2002 been on many labels such as Hymen Records, Mindwaves Music, Touched Music, Touched Revolutions

Let’s Dance – 08PM – by Reda Saiarh is a 10” release on AM Records. Four oddball “New Beat – not – New Beat” tracks produced by this young dj from Geneva (of the duo Ramin&Reda) for renewed appetite for dancing after the lockdowns… title track Let’s Dance is Reda’s 2021 take on the classic Bowie song, followed by an original new production Quinz Lord, in which he samples his girlfriend’s cat. On the flip he worked with Thomas Lavanchy on E-O, a song constructed around traditional Gabonese chanting before finishing off with an ode to Yello medley, mashed up to the deepest kick of the record! Super heavily cut 45rpm!

With this new release Row Records goes deep and dubby
with Bhed for a trippy summer. Including a stunning remix by
Melbourne's bass-pioneer Pugilist!

splatter vinyl

Portuguese artist Lake Haze (Goncalo Salgado) makes his return to Shall Not Fade with an album of spacious club music. Salgado is a key player in Portuguese musical exports, delivering masterful blends of techno grooves and retro melodies, and released his debut LP on E-Beamz in 2019. This second LP is titled Sun Rising On Concrete Landscapes.

This record explores further the atmospheric, slightly melancholic timbre to Salgado's music. The use of reverb across the LP elucidates a sense of looking back to the past; "The Rave That Saved My Life" sounds like echoes from a distant memory. It turns the sounds of the rave into something sombre, expansive and scattered with space age breaks.

The title track feels dramatic, starting with melodic loops and scattered percussion but building into an untamed electro banger. The sci-fi theme develops in a gorgeous soundscape of minimalist synth stabs in "She Took Me To Her Favourite Club", while "Always By Your Side" lingers in echoing percussion; the purposefully dated snare gives it some hints of an 80s ballad - deeply retro and deeply emotional.

Salgado turns to more raw, club-ready sounds like the scattered breaks and electronic sound effects of "Neurotoxins Dancing On My Tongue" or the punching kick and creeping acid trills of "Liquid Serotonin". His skills as a producer are clear as he constructs the cavernous "Digital Petals" with reminiscences of classic trance sounds. The expansive LP closes with "Emotional Encore". It's an industrial retro chugger with the dust of lofi sounds across it, eclectic and headsy.

splatter vinyl

Portuguese artist Lake Haze (Goncalo Salgado) makes his return to Shall Not Fade with an album of spacious club music. Salgado is a key player in Portuguese musical exports, delivering masterful blends of techno grooves and retro melodies, and released his debut LP on E-Beamz in 2019. This second LP is titled Sun Rising On Concrete Landscapes.

This record explores further the atmospheric, slightly melancholic timbre to Salgado's music. The use of reverb across the LP elucidates a sense of looking back to the past; "The Rave That Saved My Life" sounds like echoes from a distant memory. It turns the sounds of the rave into something sombre, expansive and scattered with space age breaks.

The title track feels dramatic, starting with melodic loops and scattered percussion but building into an untamed electro banger. The sci-fi theme develops in a gorgeous soundscape of minimalist synth stabs in "She Took Me To Her Favourite Club", while "Always By Your Side" lingers in echoing percussion; the purposefully dated snare gives it some hints of an 80s ballad - deeply retro and deeply emotional.

Salgado turns to more raw, club-ready sounds like the scattered breaks and electronic sound effects of "Neurotoxins Dancing On My Tongue" or the punching kick and creeping acid trills of "Liquid Serotonin". His skills as a producer are clear as he constructs the cavernous "Digital Petals" with reminiscences of classic trance sounds. The expansive LP closes with "Emotional Encore". It's an industrial retro chugger with the dust of lofi sounds across it, eclectic and headsy.

A nightmare inspired by the vision of Dario Argento's “Suspiria”, or a dark soundtrack for a movie just imagined in a couple of visionary minds. “Iris” is the first release on souterraine.org by Luciano Lamanna and Adamennon.

Two eclectic musicians who don't need any introduction, improvisation lovers as well as experimenters. The notes of fear are those of vintage keyboards and synthesizers which resound again among labyrinthine woods and gothic buildings.
Mixed at the Subsound Studio by Luciano Lamanna and mastered by Andrea Merlini, “Iris” takes you one step from the abyss.

Raw Mt’s break-through landscapes showcase. Warm and hypnotic arpeggiator textures infected by the 90s Italian progressive era. Retro-future sound for your mind your body and your soul. Mastered by Lucretio with NeverEngineLabs' ZDF Filters for Symbolic Sound Kyma and a G SSL 4k compressor.

Todd Modes comes through with another slab of killer leftfield house sounds for the fledgling Psychic Zebra label, run by the man JP Carpenter. This record needs to be heard loud. In the dark. Twirling like a top at 4am. 'I Can't Stop' is a moody cut that distances itself far away from the usual House jams. It's sleek, sexy and oh so wobbly. The darker psychedelic option 'Wizard Man' is a bonafide wrecker. A must for all weirdo collectors. These are bonafide discotheque weapons.

This is a strictly vinyl only release. There is no digital release whatsoever.

All tracks written and produced by Todd Modes. Vocals by PRLZ.
Mastering and lacquer cut by George Horn at George Horn Mastering.

Pressed in Detroit MI by Archer Record Pressing.

I dream of you so quietly. Your likeness is not visible, the wind obscures your silhouette. You create spirals and don't know why. A burning star whirling in an orbit of its own. Each today is yesterday's tomorrow, which is now. And now is all I have, in my dream, so quietly...

Four new tracks on RIO, catalogue number 006. Conducted, dreamed, in- and exhaled by Benedikt Frey and Tim Toh, featuring cosmic whisper and aerospace vocoder poetry by Lisa Toh, Tyler Pope, Lukas Diller and Niklas Wandt. Tripping music, dancing with organic Reprazent-break-infinity, saxophone melodies, Neu-Kraut-transcendence, nervous drones, gloomy bass figures, minimal pop and manic computer malfunctioning tones. All wrapped in a warm void of Melancholie, touching the eternal with murky gloves. Pointillist tunes, thoughtfully peculiar, seriously serious. Now is all they need. Now is all they want. Now I dream of you so quietly.

Having finished the announcement for RIP Swirls first EP that was out late last year on Public Pos-session, titled “9Teen90”, with the words: “A better life starts here”… we now find ourselves in a situa-tion where we might have given a slightly off prognosis. Despite whatever happened out in the real world, Rip Swirls music was a good & constant companion in the last couple of month.
On his new EP he picks up where he has left off in terms of mood, subtly introducing more silhouet-tes of his broad musical tastes. As icing on the cake the record includes features by “Catnapp” and “Sofie”. Wherever you may be - we “Hope U Are Well”. Enjoy the music.

A true highlight of the early ‘00s melodic IDM scene makes a welcome return, released in full on vinyl for the first time! (a now highly sought-after 5 track sampler was the only vinyl version originally produced) This release also includes 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks, all made during the same era.

Released by Merck in 2004, after acclaimed releases on Toytronic and Parotic, Sinking’s unique amalgam of crystalline sound design, blissed-out atmospheres, and gorgeous melodies made for an instant classic, inspiring euphoria and music nerd procreation around the world. A supremely deep record, nobody has made anything quite like it, before or since.

“Just know that it’s huge, meaningful and smart…and stunningly beautiful.” - XLR8R

Vinyl re-issue of Future Sound of London’s seminal album, Dead Cities. Marking 25 years since its original release this cult album is pressed on vinyl for the first time since its 1996 release.

“Herd Killing” and “We Have Explosive (Herd Killing mix)” both feature several samples from the Run DMC album Tougher Than Leather.

Title track “Dead Cities” contains a vocal sample at the beginning of Laurence Fishburne from the film Deep Cover.

Single “My Kingdom” features A vocal sample of “Rachael’s Song” (aka “Rachel’s Song”) by Vangelis, from the Blade Runner soundtrack .

The album charted in the UK top 40 with “My Kingdom” & “We Have Explosive” both entered the UK singles chart in the top 15.

Imagine Prometheus, the thief of fire, the father of civilisation, had been spellbound by the sirens chanting and never felt pain, when the eagle bit his liver. Total enchantment, created by sound to overcome the pain of existence. A sound, styled by the ideal harmony of body and soul. And yet, the pain is still there, hidden between the notes, driving a romantic vision of salvation.

If Prometheus could have translated his fictitious epiphany into singing, it might sound like Ghédalia Tazartès’s chanting in “White Layers Over Black Paper”, one of the eight snake dance tracks-not-tracks by German producer Detlef Weinrich aka Tolouse Low Trax and French singer, hurdy-gurdy, spinet and harp player Emmanuelle Parrenin. During some days of intimate plays in Paris they created “Jours de Grève”, a bouquet of music full of mirrors, eyes, statues, secret doors, rooms, and blood. With the offhanded help by friends and like-minded souls like Versatile aura mystic Gilbert Cohen, French avant-garde saxophone player Quentin Rollet and his fellow countryman, experimental voice artist Ghédalia Tazartès, they transformed in Cohen’s studio impulsive emotions into a kind of medieval cult sound that dances with tribal dub layers in search for a higher ground.

The session took place during an intensive time of public strikes in the French capital, that tied up the public life of Paris and gave birth to the album’s title Jours de Grève. After the jam, Weinrich drove back to his old hometown Düsseldorf, sat down with his friend Jan Schulte aka Wolf Müller and mixed the captured notes, sounds, rhythms and singings into pristine tripping music, that avoids stylistic categorisations. As rather architecture, sculpture, painting, performing or film could express what Parrenin’s hypnotic hurdy-gurdy performances, Tazartès’s ancient deeply emotive ululations, Rollet’s almost religious saxophone notes and Weinrich’s toting grooves evoke in the psyche, it might be better to go back to Prometheus and the fire, that brought us light and warmth. Jours de Grève does too.

And it is a stolen one. A borrowed one. Affected by art and life outside of sound. Lent from a forgotten monument in a random city around the world. Swayed by an afternoon glass of wine in a Parisian street café. Affected by music of all ages. Unconsciously developed in the spirit of Philippe Doray and Les Asociaux Associés, Théâtre du Chêne Noir d'Avignon or Areski Belkacem’s collaborations with Brigitte Fontaine. Above all Emmanuelle Parrenin extramundane voice swings, mutating between speech and chant, while Ghédalia Tazartès mourns like a wise illusionist. In tunes like “Caltec’s Dance” you even feel the airiness of early Fun Boy Three recordings. All that is rooted on Weinrich’s Tolouse Low Trax magnetic signature grooves, this time floating between dark tribal upbeat sexiness and dubbed-down bass sculpturalism.

If it is true that illuminating music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it, then “Jours de Grève” is an in impulse composed primitive state of rhizomatic paranormal psychic phenomenon, that incorporates all the worlds, that the naked eye cannot see.

Normally records that take a long time to make can sound fractious, convoluted self-absorbed. This is not the case with SORRY! WE DID SOMETHING WRONG, the debut from Moscow’s Simple Symmetry, which despite taking three years to create, is a total gas to listen to.

Simple Symmetry — aka the Lipsky brothers (Sasha and Sergey) — haven’t really looked to reinvent any wheel, rather they have managed to collate a vast amount of good vibes and well-loved sonic conceits and breathe new life and colour into them. Temporarily ditching the electrifying dance music they are famous for in favour of a universal pop sound — replete with flutes, cello, “all kinds of percussion” and synths, sitar and guitars — the brothers have made an upbeat and incredibly accessible record; a tonic for these uncertain times.

At first glance, some of the titles: ‘End of Days’, ‘I Must Not Fear’, ‘Oh Lord’, and ‘Out Of Body Experience’ don’t suggest the expansive and very danceable soundtracks we get to hear. But with the aforementioned tracks and rug cutters like ‘Che Che’, Simple Symmetry re explore those moments in the early-to-mid 1990s when artists like David Holmes, St Etienne, Andrew Weatherall and Death in Vegas looked to plunder the grooves and licks of the 1960s and early 1970s. The bell rings, flutes, harpsichord and vocal harmonies in ‘End of Days’, for instance, suggest the Beach Boys at their most laid back and sunkissed. Or The Monkees when they chowed down with Zappa and made Head. Even the countdown makes direct reference to the 60’s Space Race. Sometimes, the Lipsky’s reappropriations of these kinds of moments in popular music’s history are so brazen it’s best just to laugh at the sheer cheek of it all. Whilst shaking your hips, of course. Life-affirming, comforting even, SORRY! WE DID SOMETHING WRONG shows that old tricks can still be magical if used with the right spirit.

This record is also the sound of coming together. Literally, as well as metaphorically. Simple Symmetry confirms that “there were many collaborations with artists we love and admire from all over the world, from Russia, Israel, Germany, UK, Brazil and the USA.” Including a guest vocal by their good friend Petr Chinavat on the beautiful, hippy-dippy technicolour paean to one of the ocean’s most mysterious creatures, ‘Octopus’.

After a while it’s impossible to think too critically about the whys and hows, especially when confronted by floorfillers like ‘I Must Not Fear’ or the marvellous, gonzoid ‘Koko the Gorilla’ which stomps its way through the simplest, sugariest of melody lines and throwing out kooky vocal samples and comic roars for good measure… Koko turns up on the album cover, courtesy of Athens artist Dimitris Rocos. In a way the beast is a spirit animal for this release: in your face and brazen but (to steal a lyric from Julian Cope) kinda cute. For those needing some respite from all the high jinks, there is plenty of space to sink into a pleasant reverie, courtesy of the Gong-like comedown that goes by the name of ‘What A Relief’ and the Glide-tastic ‘Rounded with a Sleep’; both of which allow the gentlest of comedowns in your favourite seat at the Korova Milk Bar.

Apparently putting out records is just as addictive as putting on parties. Naturally, we are itching for more and it’s about time that we announce our next release. It’s one that we’re particularly looking forward to as for the first time we have the pleasure of curating a various artists EP - and we believe it turns out to be one that we have plenty of reasons to be excited about!

From J.Wiltshire’s cinematic ambience to Yushh’s floating wobbles, from Pugilist’s sinister stepper to Lårry’s ghostly glitches, every artist on this EP brings their distinct style and adds to the general vibe and overall great harmony of this record.






d B2 Lårry - Latz End Orf (5:07)

Eric Copeland (Black Dice) returns to DFA with a brand-new set of hyper and hectic leftfield club music. 'Goofballs' places its emphasis on playful melodies, ear worm hooks and vocals mixed with trademark machine funk rhythms that hit hard and land off balance. Any other way would be too obvious for an artist like Eric.

Eric explained the creation of this new album via email from his home on an island in lovely Balearic Palma Spain: i made it here in Palma at my studio, this is the first full record i've made entirely here since moving. some of this material was road tested September 2016 on tour supporting Animal Collective. This album was the result of real isolation here, countless hours, focused only on this. The whole recording & writing was a fast process. I focused most on the bass groove. I had a very minimal gear setup: 90's drum machine, cheap bass machine and a sampler. But most important was a homemade 'drum brain' that Barry's London custom made for me. Barry was in the Van Pelt Soldiers of Fortune & Oneida. That piece of gear was a big part of this record and informed the direction it took the most.'

Eric Copeland is a founding member of Black Dice as well as a prolific solo artist. Besides DFA, he has released albums on L.I.E.S., Post Present Medium and Paw Tracks.

As part of legendary groups such as Avarus, Hertta Lussu Ässä and Olimpia Splendid, Jonna Karanka has been a key player in the Finnish underground for most of this century. Through her Kuupuu alias, she dwells among an illustrious generation of Finn sound wizards which includes Tomuttontu/Jan Anderzen, Tsemba/Marja Ahti, Lau Nau et al. Through the collaging of warbled acoustic instruments and looped-up electronics, Kuupuu has long been carving out her own lines into this post-free folk/neo-psychedelia lore.

New FLEE publication focused on Arabian Gulf's pearl divers, their culture through their soundscape, traditional songs & rhythms. Including archival recordings and reinterpretations by moderns electronic artists such as Joakim, Tomaga, Ben Bertrand, Conny Frischauf, Hieroglyphic Being .....

Available as 2LP, black vinyls & 2LP+258p book (English & Arabic text) bundle.

The pearls of the Gulf have stoked the imagination and desire of people around the world for centuries, their magnificence matched only by the courage of the divers who found them. This project aims to honor the memory of these valiant free-divers, their culture and their music by the means of a 2XLP compilation with undisclosed original recordings of pearl divers and inspired modern-day compositions by artists like Tomaga, YPY, Ben Betrand, Tarek Yamani or Hieroglyphic Being. Along with that record, a 258 pages long book in Arabic and English is available featuring contributions from regional experts and artists to contextualize the tremendously rich theme that is pearling and its music.

Erik Sumo is one of the most established Hungarian music producers of the last 20 years.
His various acts gained national and international, underground and mainstream success, he scored movies - think of the now cult 'Liza, The Fox Fairy' soundtrack on one of our early 7"s.
His latest album 'Mount Fuji' came out in November 2019, it contains 'Run Into The Wild', an odd yet catchy leftfield floor-filler with an unmistakable mood built of glamorous disco vibes and sinister imaginings from the woods around Fujisan.

On this EP you can hear the previously unreleased disco dub version of the song and 3 remixes taking the original into completely different directions.
Mytron & Ofofo of Multiculti fame chose to go the tribal way by adding some extra percussion and reconstructing the chorus making the track even more dance floor friendly than it was originally.
Oakland based producer E. Live turned the tune into a contemporary boogie burner, while Budabeats staple M.W.D.'s version has an atmosphere that is impossible to describe.

Limited to 400 copies worldwide.

Drawing influence from the South London underground of the late nineties and early noughties with a nod to more contemporary Bristol sounds, London's Two Shell debut on Livity Sound this Autumn with their four track 'Access' E.P.

The duo have forged an EP of warm but stripped, deft uk style grooves to mark an anthemic debut.

Asyncro presents the second release of the series - a collection of tracks produced by OL between 2017 & 2020. In addition to solo works the record includes collaborations with Sensational, Flaty and Micxail. These interactions emphasize the author's interest in communicating with other artists through the music recording process. "Wildlife Processing" is an archive of compositions reflecting OL's trajectory and personal vision of electronic music over the past years.

Pillow Queen, the production duo of D. Tiffany and Vani-T, continue their sonic, sensous charting of the dancefloor in their new 3-track release Calling Me, a collaboration with the vocalist, writer and sex worker Ruin. Sexual drive has always been in the alchemy of Pillow Queen’s music, but at the fore is a wider, more encompassing erotics – one of the spirit and uninhibited body. Such is the force Ruin and the girls incant on this record.

The opening track, which also gives the release its title, begins with wide, introspective chords. “Calling Me” is spacious, and takes its time to build over 10 and a half gorgeous minutes, riding on at 118 BPM. Akin to some works of Robert Leiner or John Beltran, it’s a track situating spirituality in the genre of trance via the builds and flows of the music itself, rather than gimmicky cues of “Eastern” Goa vocals or overblown psychedelic drama. As always with Pillow Queen, the vocal samples are pitched and twisted with the greatest care.

By their third release, one can begin to note the duo’s characteristic gestures, and “Tunnel Vision” is somehow emblematic here: those pitched vocals, synth loops frayed out from filters, and crisp, bright drum programming that makes 134 BPM feel like the most natural metronome your feet and ass could follow. We hear Ruin for the first time two minutes in: “You cannot tunnel vision me”. She speaks of a “dance without dogma” in between short choral swells, picking up on the theme of a rewritten divine that figures into Pillow Queen’s Burn Me Up (2020). The phrase “dance without dogma” refers to the writings of Gabrielle Roth, a dancer and author noted for founding the 5Rhythms movement-meditation. Roth’s phrase “sweat your prayers” has also been held aloft as an ethic of the party series Radiant Love, where this EP's final track, “She’s Hot Magic,” was intended to be performed live by Ruin and D. Tiffany. Again we start airborne with birdcall and floating chords. Picking up a kick drum after 3 minutes, and a bassline after 5, this is truly some deep-dancefloor-7AM-body-and-soul-fully-merged shit. Concurrently, we hear Ruin asking us “Unconscious floor, do you know what good touch is?” and “Can you trust this sound?” No doubt, we are being called.

After his debut "Mare Aperto", Amsterdam-based Gropina returns to the light with a four tracks 12” EP out on Paesaggi Records.

“Microcosmo” is a synth melody with a slow-rolling Roland 606 drum-machine rhythm, Quena flute by Hamburg saxophonist Linus Kleinlosen, ambient pads, and natural field recordings. The atmosphere of the song brings you into a dewdrop in a blade of grass in the early morning hours right after the twilight of a sunny day. Following we fade into a dreamy dancefloor jam called “Awumbuk” where bittersweet chords are backed with a Yamaha RX5 rhythm, a groovy FM baseline from a Yamaha DX100, and Roland D50 Lush pads. On the flip, we can find an adventurous downtempo break jam called “Natura Naturans” marked by trance-y elements, a solid bassline, and an evocative flute melody. The journey ends with “Omen” which is a dark slow jam characterized by a live processed drum machine groove with a hint of wave influence and a metaphysical vibe to it.

Side B and the riso-printed insert depict the head of the bifid siren from the Romanesque church of S.Pietro in Gropina. In Christian symbology, the fish-tailed siren represents the seductive power of the senses and illusion, which distracts man from the spiritual realm by attracting him to ephemeral pleasures. The siren, like every human-animal hybrid creature, is the duality of intellect-primordial instincts and the conflict between the double nature of man.

Microcosmo has been conceived and recorded between 2018 and 2020.

The release includes a riso-printed insert and a sticker.
The release is hand-stamped.
Mastered at MaSpaventi Studio.
Instruments used:
Roland 606 - Yamaha RX5 - Kawai K4 - Yamaha DX100 - Roland D50

The LP version is pressed on 140g black vinyl and comes with a printed inner sleeve, lyric sheet and a download code.

With 10 years in the 'biz' firmly under his belt, Jiah Wells is poised to release the first full-length LP of his Galtier project, Pulchra Es Elementis. Whilst Galtier is arguably one of the originators of the percussive style that would eventually fall under the Hard Drum label, the heightened theatrics of his recent output have seen him channel Blade Runner-styled sonics and move further away from absolute club functionality. Whilst Galtier's output often seems to soundtrack hypothetical, off-planet words, Pulchra Es Elementis turns the focus inwards: towards Wells' own emotional constellation, his evolving spirituality and his attempts to tap into planes of existence beyond the tangible. The album's Latin title translates to 'Elements are Beautiful' and encapsulates the artist's belief that there is grace in all of life's aspects; pushing past what we deem as good or bad, minuscule or massive.

Pulchra Es Elementis begins with Crystalised Larva, a brooding opener of breathy pad synths and expansive kick drums which reverberate through the mix as if the hits originate from the bottom of a valley. There's an indistinct sense of tension on this track, in part due to a central melody, which never resolves but only descends lower in pitch. This tension turns to explorative wonder on Wilfull Saviour, where a mirage of musical ideas come in and out of focus. Although the sonic worlds Galtier explores are internal to him, Wilfull Saviour still possesses that sense of a cosmic journey we've come to expect from Wells; an ardent fan of dystopian films and literature.

Continuing this emotional odyssey, Bruised, But Not Broken sees the artist push deeper into the psychological undergrowth; its murky tonality juxtaposes crisp, Reggaeton-inspired drum patterns with a heavily compressed one-note synth line that modulates wildly - cutting through the mix like a nagging thought that won't leave your mind. Next up is U Were, U Are & What U Will Be, one of the more club-ready tracks of the LP, which gets us moving with a snarling bassline and layers upon layers of percussive hits and inflections.

At Pulchra Es Elementis' mid-point is the LP's title track, a drumless interlude where blissful, shimmering synths create a patchwork of intensities. Galtier's approach to songwriting shines through here; ignoring musical pragmatics, he opts to feel his way through his compositions without knowing where they might end up. Following on from that weightless breather, Phantasiai turns up the freneticism with its head-spinning mix of drum programming and a glitched-out synth line that yo-yos up and down octaves. Things get even more furious on the Superficie-featuring Cavernam, a hollow Hard Drum banger inspired by Eskibeat sensibilities and designed to create a sense of self-implosion.

The album's penultimate track, (U Are) Beautiful, is a tale of two halves: beginning with a moment of serenity as synthesizers swell like an ocean tide before evolving into a marching crescendo of raw energy. Rounding off the album, Shine Forth hurtles through pacey drum work and all manner of strange zaps and klaxons before giving way to a final dose of nebulous ambience.

A musical journey unlike any other 'club music' albums, Pulchra Es Elementis is an LP that demands to be consumed in one sitting. Reflecting on his place within the universe and the musical landscape, the album could be viewed as a musical exorcism which sees Galtier working through and shedding huge chunks of his ego that stuck to him out of fear of the unknown. Pulchra Es Elementis begins on an insecure, overwhelming or, even, existential note before rounding off with a related sense of vastness seen with new, more positive eyes. It's a voyage we hope you will join him on.

The Screamadelica double-vinyl picture disc featuring the album’s iconic artwork pressed onto vinyl. This represents the first ever official Screamadelica picture disc.

During Blitzzega’s live concerts there is always that one guy, a big fan, jumping and dancing to the music while shouting and cursing: “Play fucking DISCO fuckers!!!”. So this was the main inspiration for Blitzzega’s next album ‘DISCO-5H-DMT’. It’s more light, accessible and more danceable than its predecessor ‘Highlight Reel’, more focus on the disco backbeat, but the slow kind, the Belgian kind.
5-HO-DMT is Bufotenine, it’s that stuff Blitzzega wants you to lick off a psychoactive toad before you enter that disco-moshpit.

Since 2000 Blitzzega is the electronic playground of Antwerp based musician Bjorn Eriksson, who is rather known for his work with other
bands like: Eriksson Delcroix, The Partchesz, Maxon Blewitt, Zita Swoon, and as a filmcomposer for the movie ‘The Broken Circle Breakdown‘.
He was raised with American folkmusic and bluegrass, but as a kid he fell in love with New Beat music. Especially the more explicit kind,
like Karen Finley’s ‘Belgian Waffles’ or Lords Of Acid’s ‘I sit on Acid’.

Having previously brought together world-renowned Theremin soloist Carolina Eyck and electronic producer Eversines for a specially commissioned collaborative mini album, yeyeh founder Pieter Jansen has now conjured up another unlikely but inspired joint album, this time featuring award-winning free-jazz vocalist Greetje Bijma and leftfield house, techno and ambient producer Oceanic.

The project has its roots in a chance meeting between Jansen and Bijma, a legendary figure on the Dutch jazz scene who in 1990 became the first woman to win the country’s top jazz accolade, the VPRO/Boy Edgar award. Apart from having previously worked with the likes of Anna Homler (aka Breadwoman), Jasper van ’t Hof, Han Bennink, Louis Andriessen and Willem Breuker and her own solo projects, she’s in a league of her own.

Jansen is a big fan of Bijma’s 1996 heavily electronic collaboration with Jasper van’t Hof and Pierre Favre, Freezing Screens, and was with the friend who first introduced him to it when he bumped into Bijma.
Excited to meet someone who had made one of his favourite records, Jansen took the opportunity to ask Bijma if she would be interested in working with young electronic music producers. To Jansen’s delight, Bijma quickly agreed.

Weeks later, Bijma stepped into the studio with Oceanic, a rising star of the Dutch electronic underground whose releases as Oceanic for Nous’klaer Audio and BAKK Plafond revolve around mechanical rhythms, opaque ambient textures, minimalist melodic movements and effervescent electronics. The pair quickly connected on an emotional and musical level, with Bijma taking her cues from Oceanic’s electronic sounds and rhythms, and Oceanic drawing inspiration from Bijma’s dexterous, mind- bending and otherworldly vocalizations.

After two hugely productive days, the cross-generational duo had completed a couple of mesmerizing songs – breathlessly haunting album opener “Swallow a Party” and chilly ambient closer “A Window Drifting” – and recorded several hours or improvisations that Oceanic later edited, layered-up and re-modelled.

The results are little less than spellbinding. The range and versatility of Bijma’s vocalizations is breathtaking, while Oceanic’s music – which cleverly incorporates the free-jazz singer’s vocal notes, tones and proclamations – swings between becalmed beauty and breathless intensity.

Some of the set’s most striking moments are those where Oceanic re-contextualizes Bijma’s varied vocal sounds with the dancefloor in mind. On the pulsating “Technicolour Memories”, up-tempo “Step Snakes” and hypnotic “Never Done”, Bijma’s scat outbursts not only ride Oceanic’s rhythms, but also form part of the densely layered percussion tracks beneath.

Like the release’s more downtempo and ethereal moments, these hybrid organic- synthetic compositions defy easy categorization, offering a unique brand of alien electronic/acoustic musical fusion that lingers long in the memory.

Repress

Sentiments is back with his very close friend Frank Gérard. Light on earth with tribal rhythms and forest atmosphere, it's all about two break house pieces. Delivered with a special label for your first listening...

VERVEINE is a music project that began with Joell Nicolas (CH) as a composer,songwriter and vocalist. Her classical background (piano) together with a strong taste for the pop, electronic and avant-garde cultures have allowed her to build something we could name « pop of the extremes » with her machines and her voice. Her work asserts its own identity and centers around an aesthetic duality, shaped both by a cerebral quest for sensation and a more visceral quest for emotion. After a few years in Berlin and Brussels, where she gleaned her taste for sounds hybridizations, HOTDRAMA (VRVN records, Fav Art Publishing) is a her first studio album