Two amazing jams! The Perpetual Singers are a collective of gospel singers from Amsterdam - both songs produced by Arp Frique.
Supported by Gilles Peterson, Louie Vega, Antal, Lerato, Tama Sumo, Palms Trax, Gigi Testa, Hunee, Coco Maria, Josh FB + + +
"Hot Love It" - Lerato
"Amaaaazing" - Tama Sumo
"Ah amazing!" - Palms Trax
Influenced by ‘50s/’60s cocktail culture, the exotica of Martin Denny and a passel of other mid-century thrift-store denizens, Combustible Edison’s music already seemed like the lost soundtrack to some early-’60s Hollywood farce. With its woozy beatnik jazz and seductive bongo beat, this hip-swiveling score gets a first ever vinyl release!
Debut EP from Kujo pressed on 180g 12" in a ltd edition of 300 copies w/ inlay artwork by Maria Kassab on Modular Mind. A sonic confrontation of a lost generation narrated by Industrial drums and Oriental noise.
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GU presents Unique #2, we have chosen twelve of the most exciting producers in electronic music to create exclusive tracks for this release. With music from Pig&Dan, Solee, Victor Ruiz, Hannes Bieger & Tara Brooks, Spencer Brown, Johannes Brecht, Musumeci, Helsloot & Rose Ringed, Brian Cid, Biesmans, Mariano Mellino and Gorgin. Available as a limited edition double, heavyweight, coloured vinyl format and a special digital album edition.
2024 Repress
Mariah was a Japanese outfit in the field of art pop, way back in the very late 70s and early 80s with 5 albums up their score from 1980 to 1983. The album from 1979 entitled as “Mariah” was actually made before the band Mariah was formed, and was released as a solo album by Yasuaki Shimizu. The album at hand is the fifth and for the time being last album in this row, released as a double vinyl back in 1983. Original copies, that are at least in very good condition, are hard to find. The brand new reissue on Everland, unlike the original and the first vinyl reissue from 2015, comes housed in a thick and artfully designed gatefold sleeve with OBI, which finally does justice to the progressive spirit of the music you will find here.
The musical basement of Utakata No Hibi is a fusion of dreamy synthesizer pop and haunting new wave music, that could be found all around the globe back in 1983. In the vein of TEARS FOR FEARS or more adventurous DAVID BOWIE stuff, with a touch of KRAFTWERK or even BRIAN ENO here and there, but all this gets spiced up with an atmosphere of Japanese traditionalism, with a few bits and pieces from the old music from this Far East island, which sounds so magic to us Westeners. The progressive, wacky art pop of this project was led by the popular Japanese composer and musician Yasuaki Shimizu, a relentlessly exploratory saxophonist who even dared to rework Johann Sebastian Bach’s cello suites for saxophone.
As brilliant as this man is, the music on „Utakata No Hibi“ turns out to be. And the master himself approved and much appreciated the brandnew remastering of this album by assisting a highly professional team of sound engineers who dusted off the ancient tape reels. For certain the record sounds and feels 80s through and through, electronic to the very rhythmical bone of each song sugar coated with catchy melodies that resemble Japanese classic and Enka music, which is a kind of folksy pop music. The listener gets directly drawn into a feverish dream of steaming Far Eastern cities and their darkest and most depraved corners where you find everything cheap in sleazy bars and unlighted backyards and alleys. The next moment he strolls through a beautiful Japanese park surrounded by a sea of blossoms. This change in mood and style you will experience in the sparsely instrumented tune „Shisen“, which indeed comes closest to classic Japanese folk tunes without any too catchy and pop oriented melodies. But we certainly find these harmonies allover the album. Some tunes even feel like ancient BEACH BOYS compositions and Brian Wilson creations played by a then contemporary electronic pop act and sung in Japanese.
An amazingly colorful album with songs that are based on solid substance rather than cheap pop structures. This is music for the bold listeners and music lovers and this awesome reissue should quickly find it’s way into the record collections of 80s synth and art pop aficionadoes.
Yasuaki Shimizu did what he wanted with MARIAH, pushed the borders of popular music further than anybody would have thought. Listen to a track like „Shonen“ with a repetitive rhythm pattern that hypnotizes you and somehow silky melodylines by saxophone and synth piano upon which a female voice sings in a very spiritual way. Praising pop or whatever this can be called, it is sheer magic put in music. I wonder if this would have made it into the charts back then, but you never know. It is a piece of musical art that shall be listened to.
Ever since he made his first trip to Japan to DJ, Optimo Music founder JD Twitch has been bewitched by Japanese music, and particularly the vibrant, imaginative, and often far-sighted sounds which emerged from the island nation during the 1980s. Now he’s put years of digging in Japanese record shops to good use on Polyphonic Cosmos, the latest release on his compilation-focused Cease & Desist imprint.
Subtitled ‘A Beginners Guide to Japan In The ‘80s’, the collection offers a personal selection of Japanese gems recorded and released between 1981 and ’86 – a period when advances in recording and musical technology offered the nation’s artists and producers a whole new tool kit to employ. When combined with the unique musical culture of Japan, where local traditions are frequently fused with Western styles to create timeless, off-kilter aural fusions, this embrace of locally pioneered music technology had spectacular, often unusual results.
Eight years in the making, Polyphonic Cosmos provides an endlessly entertaining musical snapshot of Japanese music of the early-to-mid ‘80s with all of the open-minded eclecticism and sonic twists that you would expect from the Glasgow-based DJ.
Compare and contrast, for example, the gently breezy, morning-fresh folk-plus-electronics bliss of ‘ばら二曲 Baranikyoku (Fellini&Rota)’ by World Standard – the most familiar alias of long-serving musician/producer Sohichiro Suzuki – and the hallucinatory, slow-motion tribal rhythms, post-punk rhythms and tape delay-laden electronics of Imitation’s ‘Exotic Dance’. Or, for that matter, the tipsy mid-‘80s electronic reggae of Pecker’s ‘Sha La La’, the grungy but melodic post-punk strut of ‘You Go On Natural’ by Earthling (a track Twitch accurately describes as “sheer unrelenting groove”), and the unearthly, swirling sonics, new age instrumentation and flotation tank vocals of prolific (and seemingly mysterious) act Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s ‘Rimme Kohkyogaku Meiki’.
It’s a credit to JD Twitch’s curatorial skills that the quality never dips, and sonic surprises lurk around every corner. Consider for a moment the hard to describe, far-sighted audio immersion of D-Day’s ‘Ki-Ra’ – all languid post-pop guitar, enveloping chords, spoken word vocals, shuffling 808 beats and marimba melodies – and the two contributions from video games soundtrack specialist (and driving instrumental synth-pop specialist) Hiroyuki Namba.
The collection naturally includes some selections that have long been favourites in Twitch’s DJ sets – see Masumi Hara’s ‘Your Dream’ – as well as a handful of tracks from artists who may be more recognisable to those with only rudimentary knowledge of Japanese musical culture. The great Yasuaki Shimizu, whose work as Mariah has become far better known in recent years thanks to reissues of some of his most magical albums, is represented via ‘The Crow’, a picturesque chunk of horizontal, hard-to-define jazz-not-jazz smokiness, while the collection fittingly concludes with a sublimely funky, oddball electronic workout from Yellow Magic Orchestra legend Ryuichi Sakamoto (the frankly incredible ‘Wongga Dance Song’).
Matt Anniss
Mood Child Presents 'Various Moods Vol. 2' VA; six multi-mood tracks from artists including DJ Sneak, Antss, Marian (BR), and more.
Mood Child, the brainchild of Manda Moor and Sirus Hood, is back with ‘Various Moods Vol. 2’, a captivating collection of six tunes, each possessing its own distinct mood and power.
The VA kicks off with ‘Pakit Ban’ a timeless percussive and funky anthem. Brazilian talents Marian (BR) and Freenzy join forces to create this highly requested track, which has graced not only Manda and Sirus’ sets but also those of Jamie Jones and The Martinez Brothers.
House legend DJ Sneak returns to Mood Child with ‘Wemen’s Groove’. Prepare to be hooked by Sneak’s bouncy rhythms and to feel a masterclass with the massive buildup and incomparable vibe. Making his debut on the label, Barcelona-based artist Dafgal delivers ‘Gozando’. This high-energy tune features a universal groove and a captivating female vocal that will undoubtedly get anyone in a good mood.
UK rising star Antss drops ‘La La Lala’, a simple yet immensely effective track. Its powerful bassline, combined with playful voices, is tailor-made for electrifying crowds.
Brazilian duo Rokke & Techin present ‘Diamonds’, a shiny gem. Its addictive bass-led loop is complemented by an unforgettable bubbly synth, leading to a drop that etches memories.
Riffel & Jack Baron’s ‘Flute’ boasts an irresistible groove, complete with wonderful flute melodies. It’s auditory candy for discerning listeners.
‘Diré’, Idrissa Soumaoro new album, comes as a surprise to Malian and international audiences. Composer, singer, guitarist and master of the kamalen n’goni Idrissa Soumaoro presents here a beautiful collection of songs on his third album, Diré, named in honor of the town where he met his wife and where his first daughter, who is no longer with us, was born.
In 1971, after his studies at the INA in Bamako, Idrissa was transferred to Diré to teach music at the lPEG (Pedagogical Institute of General Education). He was 22 years old when he arrived in Diré. Idrissa has always been nostalgic for this beautiful place in the 333 Saints of Timbuktu region. As Idrissa sings in ‘Diré taga’ (Going to Diré), the track that opens the album, the city evokes deep emotions for the artist, as if it were a long-lost friend or lover. Celebrating the memory of the city of Diré leads the artist to retrace stories and lived situations that marked and animated him in years gone by: ‘I really miss the people, the colleagues, the friends and that period. Despite the time that has flown by, I would ardently wish to see Diré again’. Today, at the difficult time Mali is experiencing, remembering the city of Diré in the 1970s also means for the artist not giving up hope for peace: ‘The memory of Diré, a beautiful town in northern Mali, strengthens my hope for peace, union and real independence for the happiness of my people’; as he sings in ‘Sababou’, ‘Without hope, there is no life. Together we will succeed’.
The ten highly original compositions of the album are strongly based upon traditional music of Mali, but Idrissa’s life experiences, travels, education, collaborations and personal musical career have led him to compose and perform music with other influences. As Idrissa quotes: ‘My inspiration generally comes from the donso n'goni, a Bambara instrument played by and for hunters throughout Mali. This is a pentatonic instrument, similar to the blues exported to the USA by black African slaves. I've also spent so much time playing a variety of music that my music also reflects rumba, salsa (as well as Bamanan blues and a few derivatives: jazz, country, soul, rhythm and blues) etc. I have looked for and hope to have found my own form of expression from these influences’.
Throughout the album, his strong, clear voice sings in French, Bambara and English. It rides seamlessly upon a complex rhythmic sea of distinctly West African stringed instrumentation and percussion with accents of flute and balafon. There are keyboards in a few songs, but these, happily, do not dominate the music as we hear so often in today’s music. This album presents the music of a mature artist who has ‘been there, done that’ and returned to celebrate his country, his roots and his dreams in a flawlessly produced collection of songs of love, reassurance, fatherly advice and hope.
The album already has a long history: it was initiated in 2012 by Marc-Antoine ‘Marko’ Moreau, former producer and manager of Amadou and Mariam. Moreau had plans to produce the album and invited Idrissa Soumaoro to start recording in Manjul's studio in Bamako. When Moreau suddenly passed away, work on the album was still missing. The pandemic still added time for the production to continue. With the help of Climax Orchestra, arrangements and orchestrations were finalized in France. At the artist's behest, 'Diré' will finally be presented to the public by Mieruba, the independent label based in Ségou, the home of the blues in Mali. 'Let's stand together so that Mali can flourish': from conception to production and distribution, this is the message that 'Diré' carries.
Commissioned and curated by Flora Yin Wong for her label and publishing house Doyenne, ‘Venus Rising From The Sea’ is a collection of love-themed cover versions featuring Teresa Winter, Susu Laroche, Alex Zhang Hungtai, aya, Maria Minerva, Christina Vantzou, Spivak, Salamanda, clare rousay, Wild Terrier Orchestra, Dania and Flora Yin Wong herself covering songs by The Cure, Robert Wyatt, Mariah Carey, The Cranberries, Pentangle, The Carter Family, Spiritualized, Debussy and more.
‘Venus Rising From The Sea’ takes its cues from the classical deity Aphrodite - whose name literally means “sea foam” - for an ever necessary expression of love in the modern age. The label asked friends and collaborators to interpret “love” in whichever way they saw fit, be it obsession, self-love, unrequited, unconditional, whatever. But despite the open brief, and the vastly different modes of execution, all the artists involved somehow ended up linking hands with a shared determination to smudge the original songs into bleary-eyed, uncanny traces of the originals.
To open, Pentangle's jaunty 'No Love is Sorrow' is puffed into stormy clouds by Teresa Winter, who retains the original’s unmistakable bass twang and teases Jacqui McShee's siren song into a saturated buzz of layered, obfuscated words. Verses twist into verses, lines into echoed-out lines, capturing the song’s boundless yearning, rather than tracing its exact contours. Next, Susu Laroche yields one of the set’s highlights on a brilliantly nuanced, highly impactful version of Nina Simone’s take on folk standard ‘Black is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair’, turning the original’s multi-faceted Appalachian/Scottish routes into a heart-stopping, Nico-esque fuzz we haven’t stopped playing for weeks. Christina Vantzou (the CV ov CV & JAB) is joined by pianist Ezra Fieremans in the absorbingly filmic scenes of ‘Hot Springs’, while Maria Spivak's interpretation of Robert Wyatt's 'Just as You Are' finds her singing Brazilian vocalist Mônica Vasconcelos' words with reverence, smearing them into a hypnagogic fantasy.
Flora Yin Wong takes an inconspicuous approach on her love-letter to Mariah Carey's 'The Roof (Back in Time)', itself a melodramatic interpolation of Mobb Deep's Herbie Hancock-sampling 'Shook Ones, Part II'. The unmistakable piano line is frayed into a granulated gurgle, fleshed out by gauzy cries; Mariah's ecstatic diva logic haunts the edges like a furtive glance, hanging beautifully behind Wong's dense soundscapes. Alex Zhang Hungtai's take on the 1927 standard 'Me and My Shadow' is even more atomised, reduced to a disembodied vocal that oozes around a clattering woodblock.
Always a standout, aya's tribute to The Cure's 'Lovesong' infuses the 1989 classic with the same self-investigatory charm she exhibited on 'im hole', slowing it down to a giddy, infatuated lurch, and replacing the guitars with eerily-tuned oscillations and drums with hollowed-out, electrically charged thuds. "I will always love you," she moans through a wall of static, like some lost “Pop Artificielle” addendum. The album’s biggest surprise is saved for last, however, a cover of The Cranberries' 'No Need To Argue' from Paralaxe Editions boss Dania Shihab. Already a poignant memory of a faded romance, Dania's version is even more glacial, her tender voice gusting over inverted guitars and looping, wordless moans, guiding us ever so gracefully into the nether-world.
‘Venus Rising From The Sea’ is a gooey, emotionally raw set of recollections and affirmations from some of the scene's most open-hearted operatives. In the end, the love that's most evident is the love each of the artists has for their source material, somehow binding loose threads into a rich tapestry that will leave you gasping, perhaps a little tearful too.
Musica Per Immagini is glad to present the first vinyl release of Detto Mariano's “Delitto Al Ristorante Cinese”, the second original Soundtrack in the so-called 'delitti' series. It's another classic iteration of the crime-comedy films that came out of the partnership between director Bruno Corbucci and actor Tomas Milian, a special connection that had started with the great success of “Squadra Antiscippo” and was followed by eleven more pictures, all centered on the character of Nico Giraldi, a former criminal who, while having become a cop, was unwilling to give up his in your face attitude and the Roman slang of the city's thieves. The score by the Italian composer is a mix of sounds characterized by a unique investigation of musical timbre. Nine tracks that cross the entire sound spectrum: electronic pulses,
funk rhythms, jazz and Mediterranean sounds and some oriental atmospheres. A brief summary of the artist's creativity passed away a few months ago.
Ghastly and hallucinatory – 'last liasse' is a sign of the times, alternative pop record by helen island. Within this debut album, the artist captures the saccharine gaze of digital escapism through characteristic filtered high notes, cut-up genres, and processed vocals. Providing a comprehensive overview of helen island’s self-distributed initiatives, with the ethos of the Parisian Simple Music Experience collective, the twelve tracks set a solid musical score that resonates with the age to come.
Originally released on the seminal self-titled Nucleus Roots album at the turn of the millennium, Under De Kitchen is finally getting a well-deserved vinyl pressing with new dubs and remixes!
Vocals come courtesy of Manchester's Des Nia Lashimba, accompanied by Moses, Dub Dadda and Maria
Bristol's Sasha Steppa steps up on remix duties with her debut production, elevating the track even further with her trademark high-energy peak-time stepper style
Normandy via Glasgow dubber Stalawa strips everything back for his futuristic interpretation, channeling plenty of Rhythm & Sound inspiration
As usual, Dub Junction isn't doing things by halves, with three separate records being pressed to house all six mixes, all with their own unique two-colour marbled effect.
Originally released on the seminal self-titled Nucleus Roots album at the turn of the millennium, Under De Kitchen is finally getting a well-deserved vinyl pressing with new dubs and remixes!
Vocals come courtesy of Manchester's Des Nia Lashimba, accompanied by Moses, Dub Dadda and Maria
Bristol's Sasha Steppa steps up on remix duties with her debut production, elevating the track even further with her trademark high-energy peak-time stepper style
Normandy via Glasgow dubber Stalawa strips everything back for his futuristic interpretation, channeling plenty of Rhythm & Sound inspiration
As usual, Dub Junction isn't doing things by halves, with three separate records being pressed to house all six mixes, all with their own unique two-colour marbled effect.
Hannah Archimbault is a multidisciplinary French artist based in London. Hannah opens up her inner deep emotions throughout minimal sequences and loops of sustained and touching organ notes, with reminiscences of Philip Glass, Eva-Maria Houben, Harold Budd or Kali Malone and a contemporary vein that questions love in current times. "The EP came after a break up as I decided to compose in the process of going through this love grief and how you could grow from it, learn to love oneself after the break-up. Each song represents a different stage on this life chapter.". Indeed moving anger, sadness and acceptance are well represented on this sonic, brave redemption of the grief through the artform.
As a complete artist, Luna Maria Cedron gently and melancholy brings together the influences and facets of her existence. Behind her alias, Fiesta En El Vacio, the artist summons a number of Latin musicalities that make her career: Castilian flamenco, popular ballads from Venezuela meet the new generations of urban music: reggaeton rythms and sharp electronics. The uncompromising texts leave no alternative: this record claims the emancipation of women, the fight against this order of things that no longer suits anyone. Fiesta En El Vacio is a cry from the heart for and an encouragement to hope.
Halbert kicks off "OUR STORY“ EP with no fear and no compromises to his sound legacy. It has been produced during the last year in the neighborhood of Santa Catalina - where everything is happening - under the experience and influence of local parties such as private villas and small sweaty clubs.
A1 "OLEEVA" features a weird half-tempo break, grooving along a 4x4 kick and Bmore loop style. The "Spanish" trumpets act as an irresistible hook, leaving a long lasting impression. A fusion of folklore and timeless sounds, "Oleeva" is a true party anthem that defies genres. Continuing the journey, A2 "WHAT IS IT?" is a playful cocktail-Molotov made of fat FM rolling bassline, slap bass guitar, arabic strings, and other mind-bending surprises. Get ready to let loose and immerse yourself in this freaky gem.
On the flip, B1 "SECRET PATH" delivers a functional old catchy house jam with a non-directional arrangement where organic meets dark electronic synth sound. An ideal companion for a pool party or daytime vibes. Wrapping up the EP, B2 ”POWER UP!" shines as a high energy breakbeat tune influenced by Plank Records sound. Featuring an evolving big guitar synth stab, lively percussion, uplifting trancy synths and robust old school bass.
Mixed by Halbert and Hamid at MariaDiaz Studio. Mastered by Marco Pellegrino at AnalogCutMastering Berlin.
The first solo excursion on Half Grand Records comes from label boss, Jon Doppler. Clocking in at 37 minutes, this collection plays more like a mini album than a 12”.
The Artifact is full of the cavernous electro vibes that Doppler hinted at on the previously released compilations from the label. And if this record is an Artifact, it belongs at the bottom of the Mariana Trench with its alien percussion and deep, fluid bass.
It’s hard to pick a favorite as any one of these tracks would add atmosphere and color to a set. “Sapphire” sounds like it would perfectly underscore the discovery of an ancient Atlantean civilization. While Tar Like Gold’s driving, arpeggiated basslines and vocal samples “tomorrow holds the key” look to the future.
Take a listen and see for yourself, there’s a lot to love on this one.
For fans of Morphology, CPU records, Versalife
The decade of the 80s is revived through recordings like "Eyes" that allow you to travel through the music and trigger those old emotions of innocence, joy and adventure. It's possible you don't understand a word of what they're singing in the chorus, but the song is very catchy! Maybe not even Maria Chiara Perugini knows what she sings about, but she makes you hang on to every word of her like a nursery rhyme of synths, beach and bubblegum. "Eyes" is so amazing, so mesmerizing and more and more people are discovering this italo-disco masterpiece that usually satisfies and makes fun of you at the same time. If you try playing it at 75% speed gives a hypnotic vapor wave vibe! And even more, the song would have fit well in the dance club scenes from Scarface. Beyond the words - difficult to find a text that makes sense, sometimes out of context, unundestandable even for a French listener - the piece is so surprisingly likeable for the unique tone of Clio's voice, a strange cross between teenager and adult, and the part where she spoke another language, with some really cool synthesizers, are people's favorite parts. 0:31 "Je suis bien heureuse" , 0:47 "La nuit a ses merveilles", 0:57 "Il y a de quoi y perdre la tete, pour toi, sha, pour toi", 1:36 "Je n'ai plus de bulles", 1:52 "Je vous prie applaudissement". "Eyes" by Clio contains all the emotions that a dance-pop song should contain plus the essential element of mystery, a kind of magic that takes place between the chorus and the bass line, a shot in the dark drizzly night of the Italo-Disco. made by Roberto Ferrante, a guarantee for the perfect productions of the 80s, when he was only 20 years old.
Cole has provided vocals and percussion for Joey Bada$$ (“Curry Chicken”), Chiddy Bang (“Ray Charles"), Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, Aloe Blacc, Nickodemus, Little Jackie, and more. -William's vocal performances have been featured on television shows as prominent as Conan, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America, The Jools Holland Show, and The Craig Ferguson Show. Cole Williams debut 7" single on the Soul Tune imprint known for launching Maria Sanchez career, and for having a genuine and classic soul sound. This 45 is certainly no exception! "A Better Woman" brings you back to the golden age of soul in the 60´s. Cole´s voice is described by many as hypnotizing and unique. Fantastic Soul music! Look out for the album!
La Monte Young was a primary influence on Minimalism, the Fluxus movement and performance art through his legendary compositions of extended time durations and the development of just intonation and rational number based tuning systems. With wife and collaborator, artist Marian Zazeela, they would formulate the composite sound environments of the Dream House. Seeing reissue for the first time since its initial 1969 release, Young and Zazeela's first full-length album is often referred to as »The Black Record« due to Zazeela's stunning cover design, complete with the composer's liner notes in elegant hand-lettered script.
JIMMY EDGAR's latest release for Innovative Leisure, LIQUIDS HEAVEN, is a psychedelic canvas of future R&B, euphoric bass, mutant tear-theclub-up rap, foundation-splintering noise, and gossamer soul.
On a surface level, it is a starburst of avant-garde fusion, collecting a diverse cast of eccentric geniuses and re- configured into an anthology of n - musique concrete.
As with all of his work, there is a deeper and subversive intent.
Do not mistakenly believe that LIQUIDS HEAVEN is merely a technicolor dream of ethereal abstractions. It bangs as hard as anything to ever bump from a subwoofer.
Over a polychromatic blast of crunk, bounce on Everybody like a rap
rave inside a 31st century space station. Bite That 2 finds Trinidad James spitting flames over booty- shaking, wall- crumbling bass. On Ya, 645AR chirps over a metallic chassis of booming industrial funk.For all the high energy propulsion, there is a counter-balance of melancholic beauty.
The album's opener, Euphoria features a Liz Y2K vocal that levitates with plaintive longing. The Milk- aided Dreams 1000000 sounds like the chimerical soundtrack to a manga utopia that needs to be imagined. Milk also appears on the finale, Never Leave, which
captures a bittersweet sadness, the wistful emotion of the tide slipping away.
Jimmy's career has been a series of fascinating left- turns. Signed to Warp Records as a teenage electronic music prodigy, his work needs a scholarly bibliography to properly assess. He's recorded for the world's most respected imprints (Warp, K7, Hotflush, Innovative Leisure and his own New Reality Now).
Raised in Detroit, there have been stints soaking up inspiration in Berlin, Atlanta, LA, and New York. His list of close collaborators includes the most innovative musicians of the millennium, including Hudson Mohawke, Danny Brown, SOPHIE, DAWN, Mykki Blanco, Vince Staples, and several full projects with Machinedrum
as J-E-T-S.
Extra Muros is an annual itinerant artistic residency initiated in 2017. The third edition was co-organised during the winter 2021-2022 by the FLEE art collective in collaboration with the Music Department of the Museum of Ethnography, Geneva (MEG). Five artists participated in this residency including: Prins Emanuel, Nabihah Iqbal, Jaakko Eino Kalevi, Cosmic Neman, and Maria Spivak.The residency was held at the MEG in two phases. The first part of the residency and encounter represented an opportunity for the artists to explore the museum’s archives, collections, and exhibition spaces. The second phase was dedicated to the composition and production of original musical content in an ephemeral studio set up in the auditorium of the Genevan institution.
In this context, the pieces presented in this album were all conceived during this residency. Having never worked together, the five artists and musicians, each with their own distinct musical path, discovered a variety of sound resources at the Museum. These included eleven traditional instruments from the African continent, Asia and Oceania from the MEG collections, as well as synthetisers, audio effects units, amplifiers and several other vintage emblematic analog electronic devices from the collection of the Swiss Museum and Center for Electronic Music Instruments (SMEM) in Fribourg. In addition, recordings of traditional music from the five continents belonging to the museum’s International Archive of Folk Music (IAFM) were also made available to the artists.
In pairs, the residency’s participants were able to combine their respective creative worlds with the museum’s historical instruments as well as sound archives. This compilation is the result of this rich dialogue.
In 1975, under the oppressive air of military dictatorship in Brazil, brothers Lelo and Zé Eduardo Nazario invited bassist Zeca Assumpção to join their musical experiments in a basement under Sao Paulo’s Teodoro Sampaio Street. As teenagers, the trio had already been playing together in Hermeto Pascoal’s Grupo, alongside guitarist Toninho Horta and saxophonist Nivaldo Ornelas, and it was while working together under Hermeto’s direction that the Paulista rhythm section (as they were then known) began to realise their own potential.
With many nightclubs and venues closed in the mid-70s and government censors dictating the output of radio, TV and art galleries, many Brazilian artists fled during the years of dictatorship. But underground, Grupo Um were fusing avant garde ideals with contemporary jazz and Afro Brazilian rhythm; making phenomenally free and expressive music - in stark contrast to the sterile, conservative conditions being imposed above ground.
Just like Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som from the following year, Starting Point was recorded over two days at Vice-Versa Studios, by revered engineer Renato Viola. The studio was one of the best in Sao Paulo and musicians communicated with engineers through cameras and a monitor, allowing the group complete immersion in the process. They also made use of the studio’s hemispherical tiled room, which served as an acoustic reverberation chamber.
The album begins with Zé Eduardo Nazario’s thunderous drum solo on “Porão da Teodoro”, before clearing the clouds with the lone Berimbau which opens “Onze Por Oito”. Built around a hypnotic electric bass line, heady Fender Rhodes improvisations, and more rip-roaring drums, it’s a rapturous, electrifying freak-jam in 11/8.
Like some invertebrate deep-sea curiosity, the free-form “Organica” is made up of Lelo Nazario’s playfully eerie prepared piano, with Zé Eduardo’s percussion flurries darting around Assumpçao’s double bass. The equally non-conformist, percussion-only piece “Jardim Candida” features many of Zé Eduardo’s home-made instruments, including a long saw blade played with vibraphone sticks and violin bow. While working with Hermeto, Zé Eduardo famously built his own all-in-one percussion set-up known as the “Barraca de Percussão” (Percussion Tent) - the first of its kind in Brazil, which he would also use on Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som and throughout his career.
“Suite Orquidea Negra'' (Black Orchid Suite) was written by Lelo Nazario as the score for an imaginary movie - the story of a rare, black orchid which produced a substance meant to cure all diseases, but which had mysteriously disappeared from the laboratory… “As a screenplay it’s not very good” reflects Lelo in jest, “but the music ended up being very interesting, the way its parts are chained to one another carries a little of the mystery I imagined for the movie.”
The album closes with the triumphant “Cortejo dos Reis Negros” (Procession of Black Kings) - a groovy variation on the Maracatu rhythm, with a two-note bassline underpinning piano improvisations, exultant wordless vocals, cuicas, slide-whistles and a very special guest appearance from Zé’s dog Bolinha.
Starting Point was to mark the inception of one of Brazil’s most daring instrumental groups. Their debut now sits in the lofty echelon of otherworldly 70s Brazilian music, alongside the likes of Marcos Resende & Index’s self-titled debut, Cesar Mariano & Cia’s Sao Paulo Brasil, Azymuth’s debut and indeed Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som. But just like all of those titles, which were either shelved or largely ignored at the time, Grupo Um - so radically ahead of their time - struggled to find a label to release their debut album. So Lelo kept the tapes safe in his archives, which is where they sat for almost half a century. Finally, almost fifty years later, this mesmerising piece of history is here, and it was only the beginning...
Grupo Um’s Starting Point will be released by Far Out Recordings, on vinyl LP, with an insert featuring unseen photos and liner notes by the Nazario brothers, as well as a CD on 17th February 2023.
On his new album "Famous Last Songs Vol. 1" Westbam presents himself as a brilliant curator of his own music. With unerring instinct, the legendary techno DJ and producer succeeds together with guests such as Dieter Meier (Yello), Inga Humpe (2raumwohnnung) and Jon Marsh (The Beloved) in paying homage to the spirit of the Eighties and making the ultimate statement about the current time: music for the club in your head.
Electronic four-piece Big Yawn invites five revered artists to reconstruct their debut album No!, originally released in March 2020 through Research Records.
The remixes convey a unique combination of darker textures and brooding sounds, clearly indebted to their source material.
The release features interpretations from Sleep D, Jay Glass Dubs, Maria Moles, Bullant and Raymond Scottwalker.
Rhythm merchants Sleep D (Butter Sessions) up the tempo and weave their signature expansive production in their fearless take on 'Reflex'.
Prolific producer Jay Glass Dubs (Bokeh Versions) flavours the 'Body Double' refix with looping clattering drums and glitchy murk, creating a compelling arrangement.
Like a drift into a warm gorge, percussionist Maria Moles (Nice Music) inserts gentle sustained synth work into 'Doodle Damage'.
Bullant (Flightless Records) pulls the listener out abruptly with a rework of 'Skinrat', a house-streaked churner.
Raymond Scottwalker (Fallopian Tunes) wraps up the record with another rework of 'Reflex', creating a mind-bending, aggressive industrial rejig.
Big Yawn's remix EP is a dynamic pairing to No!, entrusting an exceptional group of musicians to adhere to the spirit of the record, yet take it in a totally re-imagined direction
Repress!
A MAJOR EXPLORATION OF TOKYO'S CUTTING EDGE 80S SOUND THROUGH THE MUSIC OF CULT JAPANESE LABEL NIPPON COLUMBIA AND ITS BETTER DAYS IMPRINT, SELECTED BY BRITISH RADIO PRESENTER AND DJ NICK LUSCOMBE.
‘Tokyo Dreaming’ is a superb selection picked from the highly collectible Nippon Columbia label and its Better Days sub-label. For the occasion, we’ve teamed up with journalist and Japanese music expert Nick Luscombe who was granted rare access to the much-guarded Nippon Columbia's vaults for a masterful selection encapsulating the fascinating sound of Tokyo in the late 70s and 80s. The selection mixes electro, synth-pop, funk and ambient and features such artists as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mariah, Shigeo Sekito, Juicy Fruits, Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama and Yumi Murata. The tracklist includes many sought-after rarities and hidden gems which have never been released outside of Japan and the set has been newly remastered by Nippon Columbia. The album has been designed by famed London-based designer Optigram and is annotated by Nick.
Nippon Columbia, one of Japan's oldest music labels is also one of its most collectible thanks to its sub-label Better Days which, in the late 70s, became a hotbed for Tokyo's new generation of pop artists eager to experiment with ambient, electro and funk. Armed with a string of new Japanese-made synthesizers and drum machines that would soon take the world by storm, they made cutting-edge music, which has since become highly sought-after by a new generation of Japanese music lovers. Nick Luscombe, who has long been a leading advocate of Japanese music from this era, has handpicked a selection of some of the sharpest music released on these labels at the time.
According to Nick, “Tokyo Dreaming is a look back to an incredible era of Japanese music, that still sounds and feels like the future. It was a moment when brand-new music tech from Japan helped forge new ideas and experiments that permeated pop, soul and jazz and helped create new forms of music including electro and techno. The perfect meeting point that would help create a new soundtrack for modern living.“
?The selection starts with "The End of Asia" by Ryuichi Sakamoto from his 1978 ground-breaking debut "Thousand Knives Of" (reissued last year by Wewantsounds). The track became a staple of Sakamoto's and YMO's live shows and was even re-recorded by the group for their 1980 album 'X Multiplies'. The track is followed by Mariah's cult Armenian folk flavoured synth pop classic "Shinzo No Tobira" (1983), which first spread outside of Japan when the Scottish DJ duo Optimo started playing the track regularly at their shows.
?Chika Asamoto's "Self Control" (1988) and Jun Fukamachi's "Treasure Hunter" (1985) are perfect songs in the synth-pop canon, while Yumi Murata's rendition of Akiko Yano's "Watashi No Bus" and Hitomi "Penny" Tohyama's "Rainy Driver" both from 1981, move closer towards the slicker, funkier sound of City Pop.
?'Tokyo Dreaming' superbly showcases the breadth of 80s Japanese music and the way electro pop was a playing ground for musicians to experiment with many styles, as showcased by Akira Sakata's dub-enfused "Room" from 1980, Kazumi Watanabe's discoid "Tokyo Joe" (1980) and Juicy Fruits' "kawai" robotic Techno pop song "Jenie Gets Angry".
?The selection flows effortlessly between many shades of synth and ends with two cult classics in the form of Yasuaki Shimizu's "Semi Tori No Hi" and Shigeo Sekito's ambient-jazz masterpiece "The Word II" from his highly sought-after album "Kareinaru Electone (The Word) Vol.2" which, although recorded in 1975, perfectly announces the synth revolution to come. Tokyo Dreaming showcases the groundbreaking sounds of a city turned giant sonic lab which was restlessly inventing the music of the future.
Nick Luscombe is a highly respected and in-demand music influencer who discovers great music from all over the world and shares it internationally through his many radio shows and DJ sets. He has been in charge of music selection for various radio programs since 1999, and from 2010 - 2019, was the DJ for the popular BBC Radio music program "Late Junction”. He has also curated and presented music shows for Monocle and British Airways radio stations. He has worked as both Chief Music Editor at iTunes and Director of Music at London’s Institute of Contemporary Art, and is the founder of MSCTY.
Hidden in a world of anonymity we are craving for intimacy.
AI. The second output in the MAT editions series on CLIKNO is a double 12" separated into "Anonymity" and "Intimacy". The digital world and social media in particular change our perception and behavior; our values and morals undergo a transformation and
shift. How much are we still anonymous? How much are we still intimate (with us/with others)? What does anonymity and intimacy mean to us today?
MUSIC. Dr.Nojoke shows on AI his deeper, darker and trippier side.
A. Petar Plet Plete is a Bulgarian tongue twister sung by anonymous voices, which hypnotize through endless repetitions over a straight Maurizio-esque groove with odd melodic percussion. Nivin grooves elegantly with typical Dr.Nojoke clicks and sophisticated loops of a mysterious female voice reminding slightly to Kraftwerk's Man-machine era.
I. EOW and Nuknot are both intimate orgies of thick textures of reverberations and reflections as if space is folding in itself and time is on hold. EOW seduces with a heavy kick-drum groove and a triplet bassline underneath crawling through unconscious memories. Woe! Nuknot is carried by transcending atmospheres, a dubby low end bassline and a repetitious glassy sound, that can drive a crowd into madness - inspired by Moritz von Oswald and Deadbeat. Nuknot ends with an ambient lock groove.
ART. CLIKNO curates artworks from living artists. On MAT ed.02 CLIKNO is proud to present digital artist Lucas Gutierrez and his work "Your Mesh.sgl", originally part of the exhibition - Knowledge Of - at Aperto Raum Berlin, 2017. An exhibition and dialogue exploring the term "knowledge" and the manner in which self-studies are structured within contemporary artistic approach.
TEXT. MAT02 comes with writings to anonymity and intimacy from the Danish philosopher, actress and choreographer Marianne Kjaer Klausen.
The album celebrates also the 15th CLIKNOversary of Dr.Nojoke.
Driving anywhere in Texas can cost you half a day, easy. For example, it'll take you over four hours just to get from R&B singer Leon Bridges' hometown of Fort Worth down to Houston, where the psychedelic wanderers in Khruangbin hail from. The state is vast, crisscrossed with rugged expanses of road flanked by limestone cliffs and granite mountains, forests of pine and mesquite, miles of desert or acres of sprawling grassland, all depending on what part you're in. And it's all baking under the Texas Sun that lends its name to Bridges and Khruangbin's new collaborative EP. "Big sky country, that's what they call Texas," Khruangbin bassist Laura Lee says. "The horizon line goes all the way from one side to another without interruption. There's something really comforting about that." On Texas Sun, these two members of the state's musical vanguard meet up somewhere in the middle of that scene, in the mythical nexus of Texas' past, present, and future-a dreamy badlands where genres blur as seamlessly as the terrain. It calls equally to the cowboys boot-scooting at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth, the chopped-and-screwed hip-hop fans rattling slabs on the southside of Houston, the art-school kids dropping acid in Austin, the cross-cultural progeny who grew up on listening to both mariachi and post-hardcore out on the Mexican borders of El Paso. All of these things, overlapping in a multicolored melange, purple hues as vivid and unpredictable as one of the state's rightfully celebrated sunsets. A journey through homesick reminiscences, backseat romances, and late-night contemplations, the kind of record made for listening with the windows down and the road humming softly beneath you. Like the highways that inspired it, Texas Sun is guaranteed to get you where you're going-especially if you're in no particular hurry to get there.
Inventing Importance - With its third vinyl release CLIKNO starts the MAT editions, which brings together contemporary art with profound texts and deep techno music equally, a conceptual and collectible series for heart, soul and mind - conceived by Dr.Nojoke.
music - Dr.Nojoke throws in three tunes in his unmistakable style hitting the dancefloors of a parallel universe. Stomping beats with gravitational bass-lines are folded with deep textured moods, dub delays and a plethora of subtle sounds and strange loops all in an intricate and organic production build from diverse noises and field recordings. This music aims as much for the dancefloor as it is enjoyable at home.
art - "You Brew Stew" is a digital painting by Denver-based artist Jonathan Canupp. The painting was created in 2018, took 25 hours and is made of 28,000 strokes, original size: 24" x 24". Jonathan is a multi-faceted artist also working as sound designer for video games and films and producing music under diverse monikers such as Ten and Tracer and Petrichoir.
text - Over the course of the MAT editions, philosopher, actress, director and performer Marianne Kjaer Klausen will contribute writings about humanity, society and freedom. Sample from MAT ed.01: "The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk. The paradox, to know when she has landed, would be one true turning point for the wisdom of humanity."
MAT 01 is a strictly limited vinyl-only release with a 12" x 12" inlay in a thick transparent PVC sleeve.
Artwork and text are reproduced in an offset print on offset paper for a premium look and feel.
Four years on since the landing of his immersive debut full-length "Marianne Brandt", Noorden main operator Alex Ketzer returns with his second studio album, "OTC"!
Perpetuating the non-linear narrative arc initiated by its forerunner, all the while establishing further club-functional bridges over the course of its eleven tracks, "OTC" weaves a fine tissue of lushly textured electronica, downtempo elegies and spacious tech-mospheres and old-school rave motifs through intricate combinations of sorts, marrying the entrancing primal power of the beat with a pastel-coloured palette of Rephlex-nostalgic electronics.
True to his genre-busting, non-formulaic standards of composition, Ketzer once again opted for the fragmentary rather than the straightforward, putting on a collection of variedly contemplative, dark, energetic and motion-inducing cuts in exploded-view.
West Africa's most iconic dance-band are back. A decade on from their last album and almost half a century since their formation, Senegal's Orchestra Baobab return with a timeless set of classic, swaying tunes fusing Afro-Cuban rhythms and African tradition in the group's trademark style.
Will Wood's very first LP displays a variety of genres, with a chaotic homemade anti-folk feel and an experimental edge. "Everything is a Lot" began its long production in 2014, when the singer-songwriter was still 20 years old and performing drunken alt-comedy at open mics. With no funding, Wood led a slapdash band into the studio to bring songs mainly from his teenage years to life, and the unstructured production process and youthful experimentation gave it a uniquely loose and chaotic feel. The debut LP's sound is defined by Wood's Jay Hawkins-esque vocal delivery, an out-of-tune old upright piano, wailing wind instruments, jangly guitar, high-powered yet loose drums, and sardonic overdriven kazoo solos. Delivering everything from swing jazz and twee indie pop to pseudo-mariachi and waltz, these sounds and their accompanying bizarre lyrics come together to match the existential title, "Everything is a Lot." Will Wood's early career can be primarily defined by his experimental vocal delivery, honky-tonk piano smashing, and darkly edgy songwriting. While his stylings have matured and taken on a more precise approach, his refusal to conform to expectations and constant shifts in the genre have continued to be hallmarks of his songwriting and production. In his "Will Wood and the Tapeworms" releases (Everything Is A Lot in 2015, SELF-iSH in 2016), audiences can see the first glimpses into what would eventually become his signature style, presented in a uniquely raw and chaotic state of potential.
Tape[16,39 €]
The definition of the word 'fado' is technically 'fate', though the Portuguese meaning bound up with this term is more complex. The music itself can be fairly closely compared with that of Greek rebetika - also the American blues or the original working-class tango music of Argentina and Uruguay - and similarly takes it's common subject matter from the various cruel realities of the world. Though perhaps what distinguishes fado in character is it's often poised acceptance of the pains of life rather than protestation or resistance - as writer Paul Vernon says "It speaks with a quiet dignity born of the realisation that any mortal desire or plan is at risk of destruction by powers beyond individual control"
Death Is Not The End compile here a spine-tingling collection of fado recordings, taken from records issued in the mid 1910s through to the 1930s. The fado's Lisbon and Coimbra variants are presented here by some of the music's earliest recorded stars - spanning a time period leading up to the emergence of the fado's all-conquering star, Amália Rodrigues.
Benefit compilation with exclusive tracks from live performances & installations at eavesdrop festival 2024. All revenues go to charities providing medical aid and food sovereignty in Gaza.
In november 2024, eavesdrop festival presented its 3rd edition of contemporary electronic music and sound art, taking place in the striking architectural setting of silent green’s Betonhalle in Berlin. ”to eavesdrop” - is invoked as a mode of listening intently, attentively and with curiosity. With its ongoing commitment to adventurous listening cultures, the festival brought together a top-notch line-up of Berlin based and international artists, who share a common practice in electronic sound composition whilst spanning a diversity of inter-related contemporary tendencies. Whether it’s multi-award winning Mariam Razaei’s exceptional turntablism, Ilpo Väisänen’s legendary DIY analogue electronics, Jasmine Guffond’s generative sound installation, Nina Garcia’s extraordinary electric guitar manipulations, Lottie Sebes’ AI voice synthesis or Rashad Becker’s idiosyncratic synthesizer explorations, to name a few, eavesdrop invited listeners to consider, from multiple perspectives, new social and technical developments in international music and sound cultures.
This compilation documents those 2 nights with 9 exclusive tracks - 7 live performances and 2 stereo mixes from multi-channel installations, edited by the festival’s curator / organizer Jasmine Guffond, with a total running time of approx. 78 minutes. All revenues will go to charities providing medical aid and food sovereignty in Gaza: Medical Aid For Palestinians & Thamra.
Mahjong Room is the second album Cameron Lew released under the artist name Ginger Root which explores his coming of age and discovery of his own signature sound; self coined as Aggressive Elevator Soul. Self Produced and Performed, this album marked the beginning of Ginger Roots' rise in popularity outside of his Huntington Beach hometown. Lew was still in film school at the time of recording and releasing Mahjong Room. His attention was equally focused on the music videos that were made for singles `Two Step', `Call it Home', `Jeanie', `Mahjong Room', and `Ohio'. Becoming a signature of Ginger Root releases, the video treatments of songs were humor-filled and directed and produced by Lew himself. Catching the attention of other touring indie acts Ginger Root spent most of the fall of 2018 on tour with artists Khrunagbin, Duran Jones & The Indications, The Marias, and Omar Apollo.
