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"Over the years, I have had the absolute pleasure of meeting countless wonderful people in every corner of this beautiful planet, and a lot of times these music enthusiasts have expressed a very similar-sounding story. That our presence – whether it be via a studio recording or our ferocious show – is capable of transporting them to a better place and washing away all earthly worries. Doesn't this sound amazing – especially during these challenging times?"
This gentle voice belongs to the vocalist-guitarist Jonne Järvelä, who happens to be the creative force behind the unique Finnish ensemble KORPIKLAANI. Having experienced multiple triumphant years within the inner circle of folk-influenced heavy metal, Jonne now acknowledges his position as one of the most recognisable artists ever coming from the land of a hundred thousand lakes.

KORPIKLAANI – preceded by Jonne's own project SHAMAANI DUO (1993-1997) and the band SHAMAN (1997-2003) – was founded somewhere deep in the primeval northern forests in 2003. Ten celebrated studio albums, numerous world tours and hundreds of millions of digital streams alongside multiple other releases, have established KORPIKLAANI’s status as one of the leaders of innovative heavy music. For their diehard legion of fans, they are known as Folk Metal Superstars.

"I have always been fascinated by ancient Lappish/Samish culture and the infectious melodies of aged folk songs. However, that's only one side of the coin as I have loved rip-roaring metal since I was a frantic kid looking for some rebellious sounds. My butt was kicked by the likes of MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST", says Jonne.
"Since the early 2000s, KORPIKLAANI has combined these elements as we have tirelessly attempted to pump new life into the ancient tales of joy and heartbreak, and added the enormous energy of current heavy metal into that folk metal melting pot.We have always been on a mission to create something new and unprecedented."

Here and now, KORPIKLAANI’s fearless journey continues on – and this time, the journey is powered by rather serious subject matter. Their eleventh full-length studio record "Jylhä" (which has no direct translation but can be described as majestic, or wild and rugged in a beautiful way) brings all the well-known and essential ingredients to the table: heavy-duty guitar riffing, rhythmic folk melodies and more.

What about the tales of the wilderness then? The fascinating and miscellaneous tales have always been a crucial part of KORPIKLAANI’s journey within the realms of unspoiled Finnish nature, ancient Scandinavian myths, shamanistic voyages and beyond. "Did I already mention that "Jylhä" offers some new angles?", the singer/guitarist laughs. "Well, lyrically, there are definitely some previously unknown passages – such as fables connected to the infamous Lake Bodom murders in Southern Finland in early 1960s."

KORPIKLAANI’s long-time lyricist Tuomas Keskimäki – the renowned Finnish poet and author, comments: "When I am coming up with narratives, interesting wordplays and other ideas for KORPIKLAANI, I often feel like I am diving into some absorbing fantasy world. I would describe this state of mind as some kind of a deep trance", says Keskimäki.
"As a whole textual piece, "Jylhä" is rather widespread. For example, there are stories about the fragility of life, revealed by using nature metaphors. ‘Miero’ is one of these tales: after all, it's a fact that the lifetime of a human being is just one blink of an eye compared to the eternal aeons of the cosmos."
"On the darker side, there are several murder songs - I wasn't really planning these rather untraditional lyrics, they just happened... One of these is ‘Kiuru’, and that story is inspired by a famous Finnish double homicide case, which took place in the small village of Tulilahti in 1959. In these lyrics, the character called Kiuru – Skylark in English – acts as eyewitness and a prophet, but at the same time, this creature also functions as an allegory of many things... All in all, I am really happy with the lyrics and all these new themes!"

When asked about his current sentiment regarding the new KORPIKLAANI opus "Jylhä", the commander of the forest clan sighs and smiles. "Using "Jylhä" as our solid steppingstone, we are able to reach completely new heights. For me, it's crystal clear that KORPIKLANI has never been better."
It is a fitting album for our dark times, summed up well by the song ‘Huolettomat’ (The Careless). It talks about living in the present moment, alongside a story of joy and celebration. Today is today, tomorrow is uncertain.

In a time where everyone from Whitney Houston to Frank Zappa have been re-created in hologram form, where Grimes recently suggested in an interview that “we were at the end of human art”; there could scarcely be a better time for genre-shifting Leeds-based six-piece Team Picture to bring forth the thrillingly expansive synth-pop opus of their debut album The Menace of Mechanical Music.

Inspired by an early 20th century essay under the same name by American marching band leader John Philip Sousa, Team Picture take a look at the automation of creativity on this, their first record with a fully settled line up. Themes centre around the value of creative identity in an automated age, the increasingly disposable nature of art and where that leaves its creators. At twelve songs split into a three-part suite; The Menace of Mechanical Music is emphatically maximalist.

Tracks like the breathy, twinkling Flowerpots, Electric Beds and Handsome Machines’ Icarus-like striving for the sun are an antidote to a music world awash with digital production manipulation and songs written to algorithm. In debating the loosening of the human grip on creativity, Team Picture have poured every last drop of emotion into the recording process.

The group’s now trademark three-way vocal delivery and blurring of textures takes on new structure and purpose. They’ve always had a self-awareness to themselves, too. Initially grouped in with the guitar psych crowd, thanks to their fledgling repeato-rock, they were quick to disassociate themselves from that on 2018's mini-album Recital. With The Menace of Mechanical Music, they expand their sound further still, pirouetting from the likes of Sleeptype Auction – which glimmers like a late 80’s 4AD artefact – through various FX-laden dreamscapes, to the squelchy post-punk of closer Quit Reading. Yet the group were as much influenced by the work of the Early Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch, and his triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights, as they were music touchstones ranging from Kate Bush, Cass McCombs and The Cure.

It’s Sousa words that resonate most deeply within the record however: “The fears of Sousa echo the fears of today's musician,” says Lewis of the late band leader’s 1907 text. “The re-appropriation of funds and support that the artist needs to survive, the gradual erosion of musicianship and self-improvement, that art will become disposable, and that our cultural identity will disappear.”

Recorded with producer Matt Peel (W.H Lung, Eagulls), half the group were unemployed during the session and a daily routine would see them undertake universal credit meetings and job interviews in the morning, before heading to the studio to work into the night. “It was an anxious process but an enjoyable one” says the band’s guitarist Josh Lewis. Indeed, beyond the increasingly golden gated idea of ‘making it’ as an artist, this new album is simply about surviving as one.
Sousa’s vision of a society that had deferred to automation, where babies were rocked to sleep by wheels and pulleys, and people no longer played piano with their own hands. Well over 100 years later and on the precipice of a technological shift never seen before, The Menace of Mechanical Music is the most human response that Team Picture could have given.

Elzhi, the “Syllable Sensei,” is back again with a highly anticipated release titled “Seven Times Down Eight Times Up,” This 12-track LP is a collage of memories and metaphors layered atop beats crafted by up-and-coming producer JR Swiftz. With collabs from Detroit artists, Monica Blaire and Fes Rock on two of the album's stand-out tracks, Elzhi’s new masterpiece showcases his ability to create meaningful concepts while Detroit’s own comedian and “Real Hip Hop Advocate” Foolish provides commentary throughout the album.
As one of Elzhi’s most cohesive releases to date, his wordsmithing abilities paint images of royalty, excellence, and zombies wearing Gucci, all with an underlying message of resilience. “Seven times Down Eight Times Up” is the mantra for a year that has seen lots of “downs,” and reminds us that no matter what we're faced with, we will remain undefeated, and get back up after being knocked down by this machete-wielding maniac we call “life.”

In 1978 Pharoah Sanders went into the studio with pianist, Ed Kelly, who was an important figure in the local San Francisco and Oakland jazz scene. The two of them recorded six tracks which ranged from covers of standards, through soul jazz through to two real gems. The album was originally released as Ed Kelly and Friend due to Pharoah being contracted to Arista Records at the time. Indeed, as you can see, the cover shows Kelly playing next to Pharoah’s hat, shoes and Selmer tenor saxophone.

Rainbow Song, a Kelly composition, opens matters in a manner far removed from Pharoah’s work on his Impulse albums (although there had been a dramatic change of course when he signed with Arista and recorded). This is firmly in Grover Washington Junior territory with a liberal sprinkling of oh so tasteful strings. The Master’s sound is full and mighty as ever.

With the radio track out of the way it is business as hoped for and Newborn is a Sanders composition that burns with intensity. The power of his solo is as good as anything he has produced and he runs over the full span of the tenor’s range and onwards into territory lesser known or explored by 99% of sax players.

Sam Cooke’s You Send Me is treated with reverence and respect, with Pharoah delivering a sensitive and heartfelt rendition and ending with some extraordinary phonics, which we will meet again on later albums. Kelly’s accompaniment complements Sander’s playing before he receives his own space for a shimmering yet restrained solo which discloses what this non-pianist assumes to be an agile right hand.

Answer Me My Love is an early 50’s ballad with a fascinating back story. On its initial release in post-war Britain, covers of this fine melody stirred sufficient controversy for the song to be banned by the BBC. What led to it being barred from broadcast on the Light Programme and treated like Anarchy For The UK, Wet Dream and Give Ireland Back To The Irish? I can reveal that the reason for this draconian action was that the original version was entitled ‘Answer Me, My Lord’. In the olden days, it seems that a direct appeal to God was considered to be blasphemous- especially if set in a secular or selfish. Further research indicates that Nat King Cole made the most celebrated recording and that Bob Dylan used to sing it live in the 1990’s, presumably during his overtly Christian phase. Anyway, it is a grand tune.

Pharoah went on to record at least three studio versions of his great anthem You’ve Got To Have Freedom but the one here is the earliest incarnation that I am aware of. It is also the most restrained treatment of the theme, although Pharoah’s solo shows his ability to play with fire and power over the entire range of the horn. There’s plenty of space for Kelly’s piano too and he provides an elegant setting for Sanders’ exploratory work.

Philipp Otterbach’s psychedelic music never been a sunshine pleasure pill. But yet, the souls of his notes are deeply gentle. With “Everything Else Matters” the Berlin based DJ and producer now introduces his debut album, that follows a long introduction. Already since a while he devotes himself with endurance to music. He was an early resident at Düsseldorf’s shrine for outernational grooves Salon Des Amateurs. Since 2014 he releases music under his given name or as Grand Optimist on labels like Grokenberger Records, Knekelhuis or Themes For Great Cities and leaves marks as a remixer for artists like DJ Normal 4, Brainwaltzera, Wolf Müller and Niklas Wandt on labels like Growing Bin Records or Second Circle. His long DJ nights and already released music prefigures the spirits, that he now bunched on his first album. It’s a record, that does not want to pursue a straight categorization. It rather aims to spellbound with an atmosphere, that is made for moments in the absence of hysteria. Tribalistic, trip-hopping rhythms, menacing sounds, cold cool vocal passages, drone chants, morbid goth-ambient spheres, Indie rock indications: its many facets meld into some kind of black highway sound for thoughtful night prowlers in a dissociative state of mind. In context all particles achieve delicate sculptural effects that operate like the surprising architecture of a dream. A forward- thinking dream, that bundles something otherworldly, something unspeakable, that lives hauntingly between the sounds, rhythms and suggested melodies.

Big Crown Records is proud to present Ekundayo, Liam Bailey’s debut record on the label. This album is a long time in the making, and after listening, clearly worth the wait. It didn’t take a long time to record, but it did take years for all the stars to line up.

Bailey, born and raised in Nottingham, England, the son of an English mother and Jamaican father got his early influences from his mom’s record collection. Bob Marley and Dillinger, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix would eventually shape the singer/songwriter we know today.
Fast-forward to 2005, Liam is in London and doing the whatever-gig-you-can-get musician hustle with hopes of landing a record deal. And it was through this time that Liam first teamed up with Leon Michels, musician / producer luminary, and the co-founder of Brooklyn's own Big Crown Records. Liam flew out to New York and those first sessions together produced the now classic tunes “When Will They Learn” and “I’m Gonna Miss You” which still get spins at reggae spots around the globe. That trip helped kick off what was to follow next for Liam: a slew of record releases, label deals, and working with some wildly-notable mainstream producers. Even a just-famous Amy Winehouse heard one of Liam's apartment-made, lo-fi recordings through a friend and liked what she heard. Regardless of the audio quality, Liam's particular sound shone through—all guitar, warm-rough and genuine soul. She signed him to her label shortly after.

But, as the story can go with major labels, they already had an idea of the Liam they wanted to make, promote, and push. With the typical pay-day enticement, Liam did his best to fit into whatever shape they put him to. "'Maybe I can make it work,' that's what you're thinking," Liam remembers, "but, you quickly find out that you can't."

While Liam’s career went through a bunch of record industry twists and turns he and Michels stayed in touch and would regularly connect and collaborate. Finally, in 2019, the time was right to do a full-length album together. And this time, it would be free of any restricting major label presumptions and opinions. "This is the record we always wanted to make," says Michels. Set to release in November 2020, the album is called Ekundayo. And the word's meaning may be all you need to know to get to the essence of this project. It means "sorrow becomes joy" in Yoruba, a language spoken mostly in Western Africa. On the surface, Ekundayo is a weighty Reggae record, full of new and old textured riddims. But listen more in-depth, and you'll find subject matter that's more recognizable from a modern-day R&B record. An example of the former is the first single off the album. Sung to the most beautiful woman at the nightspot, "Champion" is a joyous anthem powered by a silly-thick Juno-bass throb and 808-proof drums. In short, "Champion" is dancehall-ready. But then there's a song like "Don't Blame NY." Moody and sparse with a somber drive, you might have to resist the urge to compare it to a Frank Ocean-ish type vibe. Liam's voice is in a different but fitting element here, showing stripped-back emotion and soulful restraint. Anyone who has lived and tried to thrive in New York won't have a hard time relating to the lyrics but they may join the masses who blame the city, while Liam points the finger at himself and sings praises to The Big Apple.

Credit to Leon's hand, elements of Jamaican production are everywhere, peppered throughout the record. Like the pitch-perfect organ stabs that push through the authentically positive "White Light," or the muted, percussive guitar strums that chug along in the back of "Fight." In the same vein of any fantastic singer/songwriter album, Ekundayo is a reflection of who Liam Bailey is, taking on topics and approaches he never would think of just a few years ago. Some evidence: "Ugly Truth" is about reconnecting with his biological father, a subject he once thought would be too personal to address. The journey from conforming to major labels to this latest record has been a long one for Liam, and a bit of a struggle. But struggle may be the only way we truly grow and evolve. With a new clarity of purpose, sound, and life, Liam has found joy out of those struggles. And it's called Ekundayo.

Unbegrenzt is the third in an ongoing series of archival records of the unheard music of Swedish composer Catherine Christer Hennix, co-released by Blank Forms Editions and Empty Editions. It follows Selected Early Keyboard Works and Selections from 100 Models of Hegikan Roku (named the #1 archival release of 2019 by The Wire), in addition to a two-volume collection of Hennix’s writing titled Poësy Matters and Other Matters.

Recorded in February of 1974 and featuring Catherine Christer Hennix (recitation, percussion, and electronics) and Hans Isgren (bowed gong), Hennix’s realization of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Unbegrenzt” (German for “unlimited”) from Aus den Sieben Tagen is an elaboration both rigorous and radically different from the canonical 1969 recording issued by Shandar. The collection of 15 text pieces written in Paris during May of 1968, Aus den Sieben Tagen, denies its performers notated direction and instead provides poetic cues that hinge upon Stockhausen’s conception of “intuitive music,” a Eurocentric perspective on improvisation antithetical to the vernacular forms Hennix had engaged with as a young drummer performing in Stockholm jazz clubs with musicians like Bill Barron, Cam Brown, Hans Isgren, Lalle Svenson, Allan Vajda, Bo Wärmell, and many others. While both Hennix and Isgren saw the formal prospect of Aus den Sieben Tagen as a productive development of and beyond La Monte Young’s event scores, she here steadfastly counters his rationalization of intuition with the Principle of Sufficient Reason. (Cf. Brouwer’s Lattice.) Eschewing the busy, conservatory-addled lapses into idiomatic citation of Stockhausen’s 1969 recording, Hennix’s alternative realization of the “Unbegrenzt” score’s instructions to “play a sound with the certainty that you have an infinite amount of time and space” is based on her concept of Infinitary Compositions, the trademark of her ensemble The Deontic Miracle which, at one time, considered adding Stockhausen, La Monte Young and Terry Jennings scores to its repertoire. Taking a mature, minimal iteration of Stockhausen’s compositional method of “moment-forming” to heart, her version’s dark, controlled feedback and amplified bowed gong subtly shift through an immanent sequence of formative moments, step by step. Its bubbling computer noise, percussion, and repeated ominous transient sounds of temple blocks over the bowed gong terminate with the integrated recitation of exotic text fragments from Hevajra Tantra which faithfully take Stockhausen’s score into deeper vistas of the unconscious and a more devastating opening to the unlimited time and space of a dreaming mind.

Audio restoration and mastering by Stephan Mathieu, with an essay by Bill Dietz.

Catherine Christer Hennix (b. 1948) started her creative life playing drums with her older brother Peter, growing up in Sweden where she heard jazz luminaries, such as John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Dexter Gordon, Archie Shepp, and Cecil Taylor perform from 1960 to 1967. Directly after high school, Hennix went to work at Stockholm’s pioneering Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), where she developed early tape music, incorporating computer generated speech done at the Royal Technological University (KTH), where she was an undergraduate student. After traveling to New York In 1968, she met artists Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles who invited her to stay at the Something Else Press Town House where she had the opportunity to meet, among others, composers John Cage, James Tenney, and Phil Corner. During the following years she developed fruitful collaborative relationships with many composers in the burgeoning American avant-garde, including, most significantly, Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. Young introduced Hennix to Hindustani raga master Pandit Pran Nath and she would later study intensively under him as his first European disciple. While Hennix continued to make music performing alongside Arthur Russell, Marc Johnson, Henry Flynt, and Arthur Rhames, she also served as a professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at SUNY New Paltz and as a visiting Professor of Logic (at Marvin Minsky’s invitation) at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In recent years Hennix has led the just-intonation ensemble the Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, which has featured musicians Amelia Cuni, Amirtha Kidambi, Chiyoku Szlavnics, Hilary Jeffrey, Amir El-Saffar, Benjamin Duboc and Rozemarie Heggen. She currently resides in Istanbul, Turkey pursuing studies in classical Arabic and Turkish makam.

Big Crown Records is proud to present Ekundayo, Liam Bailey’s debut record on the label. This album is a long time in the making, and after listening, clearly worth the wait. It didn’t take a long time to record, but it did take years for all the stars to line up.

Bailey, born and raised in Nottingham, England, the son of an English mother and Jamaican father got his early influences from his mom’s record collection. Bob Marley and Dillinger, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix would eventually shape the singer/songwriter we know today.
Fast-forward to 2005, Liam is in London and doing the whatever-gig-you-can-get musician hustle with hopes of landing a record deal. And it was through this time that Liam first teamed up with Leon Michels, musician / producer luminary, and the co-founder of Brooklyn's own Big Crown Records. Liam flew out to New York and those first sessions together produced the now classic tunes “When Will They Learn” and “I’m Gonna Miss You” which still get spins at reggae spots around the globe. That trip helped kick off what was to follow next for Liam: a slew of record releases, label deals, and working with some wildly-notable mainstream producers. Even a just-famous Amy Winehouse heard one of Liam's apartment-made, lo-fi recordings through a friend and liked what she heard. Regardless of the audio quality, Liam's particular sound shone through—all guitar, warm-rough and genuine soul. She signed him to her label shortly after.

But, as the story can go with major labels, they already had an idea of the Liam they wanted to make, promote, and push. With the typical pay-day enticement, Liam did his best to fit into whatever shape they put him to. "'Maybe I can make it work,' that's what you're thinking," Liam remembers, "but, you quickly find out that you can't."

While Liam’s career went through a bunch of record industry twists and turns he and Michels stayed in touch and would regularly connect and collaborate. Finally, in 2019, the time was right to do a full-length album together. And this time, it would be free of any restricting major label presumptions and opinions. "This is the record we always wanted to make," says Michels. Set to release in November 2020, the album is called Ekundayo. And the word's meaning may be all you need to know to get to the essence of this project. It means "sorrow becomes joy" in Yoruba, a language spoken mostly in Western Africa. On the surface, Ekundayo is a weighty Reggae record, full of new and old textured riddims. But listen more in-depth, and you'll find subject matter that's more recognizable from a modern-day R&B record. An example of the former is the first single off the album. Sung to the most beautiful woman at the nightspot, "Champion" is a joyous anthem powered by a silly-thick Juno-bass throb and 808-proof drums. In short, "Champion" is dancehall-ready. But then there's a song like "Don't Blame NY." Moody and sparse with a somber drive, you might have to resist the urge to compare it to a Frank Ocean-ish type vibe. Liam's voice is in a different but fitting element here, showing stripped-back emotion and soulful restraint. Anyone who has lived and tried to thrive in New York won't have a hard time relating to the lyrics but they may join the masses who blame the city, while Liam points the finger at himself and sings praises to The Big Apple.

Credit to Leon's hand, elements of Jamaican production are everywhere, peppered throughout the record. Like the pitch-perfect organ stabs that push through the authentically positive "White Light," or the muted, percussive guitar strums that chug along in the back of "Fight." In the same vein of any fantastic singer/songwriter album, Ekundayo is a reflection of who Liam Bailey is, taking on topics and approaches he never would think of just a few years ago. Some evidence: "Ugly Truth" is about reconnecting with his biological father, a subject he once thought would be too personal to address. The journey from conforming to major labels to this latest record has been a long one for Liam, and a bit of a struggle. But struggle may be the only way we truly grow and evolve. With a new clarity of purpose, sound, and life, Liam has found joy out of those struggles. And it's called Ekundayo.

• Original 1996 compilation by Gene acts as a fine album in it’s own right
• Featuring early tracks such as ; ‘For the Dead’, ‘Be My Light, Be My Guide’, early live performances from Glastonbury, Radio 1 Session and The Forum and stand out cover versions of ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Down’
• Double LP pressed on 180g Heavyweight vinyl, with original artwork and printed inner sleeve
• Inspired by the songs of The Smiths, The Jam and The Faces, Martin Rossiter’s literate vocals and Steve Mason’s fluid guitar lines were perfectly complemented by the intuitive rhythm section of Kevin Miles and Matt James. They released four studio albums and a collection of B-sides and radio demos between 1995 and 2001, were named Best New Act at the inaugural NME awards in 1995, and went on to score 10 Top 40 hits.

Brigitte Barbu's Muzak pour ascenseurs en panne (Muzak for broken lifts) marked a bold new addition to the Circus Company repertoire. In a gilded haze of resonant tones conjured by traditional and non-traditional methods, Brigitte Barbu created an inviting sound world brimming with life and doffing its cap to 1970s signal processing. Out of such sonic research and development comes a wealth of material for other artists to sink their teeth into, and so we proudly present an accompanying remix EP that takes Brigitte Barbu's distinctive stamp into new territory.

Roman Flügel makes a first appearance Circus Company with two versions of "Dae-Boj DeMoya" that showcase this constantly versatile lynchpin of European techno. First up is his "kraut remix", which unsurprisingly channels the grainy beauty of Neu! and early Kraftwerk, before his "synth remix" dials back the drums and diverts our attention towards an expansive arrangement of melodious flourishes from classic synthesisers.

John Tejada and Reggie Watts reunite as Wajatta following their triumphant LP Don't Let Get You Down on Brainfeeder to deliver a particularly inventive, soul-stirring vocal techno version of "Couvre chef en peau de taupe". Watts soars over the signature warmth of Tejada's production, while Brigitte Barbu's mysterious tones linger in every fold of the mix.

Matthew Herbert offers up a "Butter Dub" version of the album interlude serie "Trou Vert" that pits his signature stark sampling methods against Brigitte Barbu's material and creates a fruitful dialogue of crooked 4/4 mechanics with all the playful curiosity of the original and a strong dose of Herbert's inimitable musical personality.

Like many electronic artists, Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles spent his early years experimenting with IDM, glitch and dance, but one consistent element in his musical journey has been his desire to create a more organic, humanised sound. Through these experimentations he has found a process of producing electronic music that feels close to this urge. Restricting himself to a small selection of analogue equipment, West engages his hands directly with instruments and is very selective about what he then records into the computer. He reduces musical parts even further, leaving enough space around the sound for it to breath.

‘Odyssey’ is a reflection of West’s quest to create atmosphere and space from minimal arrangements. ‘I don’t like music to sound overly laboured, so I restrict how much is going on. I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of reduction.’ The new 5-track EP was mastered by Naweed and will be released worldwide on October 21 in the form of a 12" Vinyl and Download via Erased Tapes.

‘Odyssey’ and ‘Voyager’ are both incredibly stripped down and have a great sense of space throughout them. It's all about using the right ingredients at the right points in time. A lot of these ingredients are short recordings, such as ice cracking, mechanical clicks, clicks from synth errors, sounds of debris, guitar plucks etc., which interact with the simple arrangements and create little hints of rhythm. I also love the technique of swelling in music, but I realised that hardly anyone has done that in electronic music. So when I first got the synth to swell in and out with the opening chords of ‘Philip’, it was a great moment. Because it creates a human mood in a matter of seconds, which is very difficult to do with electronic sounds. That track is very important to me, and I think it will influence how I make music in the future.’ – Ryan Lee West

West will perform alongside his contemporary composer mates Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm for a special electronic Erased Tapes night as part of London’s The Hydra series on October 18. The same day will also see a special in-store event at Phonica Records, where West will showcase the ‘Odyssey’ EP amongst other tracks on his beloved analogue gear, joined by South London artist Supermundane creating a live art piece in the shop window.

For their sophomore album, Chemical Reaction, Galaxians have stripped back the music and pumped up the vocals. Emma Mason's unstoppable voice elevates the group to a fully-formed musical act. This new LP is all about her voice.

Mason's powerhouse vocal on the West End Records-inspired Chemical Reaction beckons you onto the dancefloor. Jed Skinner's bright and breezy synth melodies allow the song to really breathe, whilst Sam Bell's front-and-centre conga groove (straight out of Double Exposure's My Love Is Free) and Matt Woodward's intricate rolls ramp up the track's energy and momentum. The shorter Mama Ghetto Vogue Edit is brought to life by Darren Pritchard, vogue dancer and mother of Manchester's House of Ghetto, who meets a neon wonderland in the electrifying video.

Elsewhere on the album, Heartbreaker champions female empowerment and personal freedom over a pounding boogie groove. It's a tight arrangement which drops into a delay-drenched Levanesque drum break before crescendoing back into a final chorus via one of Skinner's trademark JX-3P synth solos.

On the proto-house funk of Fight For Love, where Emma flexes her vocal chords to jaw-dropping effect, a failing relationship is thrust into the spotlight over a punchy Linn Drum groove. On the silky shuffle of after-hours jam Work It Out, which brings to mind the classic Sly & Robbie Compass Point productions, Emma croons about a lover, her voice cast in a softer, more subdued glow. Heat of the City sizzles with the essence of an urban summer, and is peppered with heart-stopping hand claps.

Third single Horizon sees the band in more reflective low-key mode, and could be their minor hit of the summer. There's some neat drum programming here, intertwined with Woodward's intricate fills and hi-hat playing.

On Not The Money, Mason's vocal shifts to a lower register in the mid-section, bringing to mind Grace Jones at her most commanding.

All in all it's a life-affirming experience, one born out of a sense of community and collaboration. Seven years on from their early explorations Chemical Reaction sees Galaxians retain sight of the principles that make their output, and dance music as a whole, so vital - commonality of experience, singular moments shared by a crowd, and rhythm as the best medicine.

Kenton Slash Demon return to Tartelet Records with Zstring + remixes by Urulu and Kasper Marott + 12' comes in vintage Tartelet sleeves circa 2009-2010. Limited Edition 400 copies. It's been ten years since Kenton Slash Demon landed on Tartelet with their debut EP Khattabi followed by the much-celebrated The Schwarzschild Trilogy singles - Sun, Matter and Daemon all released 2009-2011.Ten years have passed since our first release on Tartelet and with this record it feels like we've gone full circle. It's a beautiful thing.'Zstring marks their return to Tartelet - but it's also a precursor for things to come within the next year. With talks of a full-length album, the KSD project is now being given the attention it deserves.
Kenton Slash Demon have always had an affinity for uplifting melancholic tunes - and Zstring cements their ability to create just that. The track oozes with dance-floor euphoria, offering up a distorted arpeggio bassline, lush pads and layered melodies, all built around a tight and ever- changing groove. There are clear references to Italo disco, early techno and trance, but it's hard to pin down the exact style - if that even matters.On remix duties, man of the moment and label collaborator, Urulu, delivers a fresh take in his signature early 90s style, while local hero and close friend Kasper Marott of Monkeytown fame comes through with an obscure melodic techno workout of the finest sorts.
To further advance the concept of 'full circle,' the 12' comes in vintage Tartelet sleeves circa 2009-2010, salvaged from three different releases - which have been in storage since being produced.Zstring will be available April 12 th 2019 on vinyl and April 26th on all digital platforms.

Repressed in 2023, limited!


Hull/Leeds based five-piece bdrmm release their much anticipated debut Bedroom on July 3, via Sonic Cathedral. The 10-track album was recorded late last year at The Nave studio in Leeds by Alex Greaves (Working Mens Club, Bo Ningen) and mastered in Brooklyn by Heba Kadry (Slowdive, Beach House). It's a hugely accomplished debut and a real step up both sonically and lyrically from their early singles, which were rounded up on last year's If Not, When? EP. Musically, there are nods to The Cure's Disintegration, Deerhunter and DIIV, while the band reference RIDE and Radiohead. There are also echoes of krautrock and post-punk, from The Chameleons to Protomartyr, plus the proto shoegaze of the Pale Saints' The Comforts Of Madness, not least in the cross fading of some tracks, meaning the album is an almost seamless listen. As a result, Bedroom becomes an unexpected and unintentional concept album, running through the different stages of a break-up set against the backdrop of the ups and downs of your early twenties. "The subject matter spans mental health, alcohol abuse, unplanned pregnancy, drugs_ basically every cliché topic that you could think of," reveals frontman Ryan Smith. "But that doesn't mean they ever stop being relevant. It's a fucker growing up, but I'm lucky enough to have been able to project my feelings in the form of this band, surrounded by four of the best people I've ever met." And that band name, in case it needs explaining, is pronounced the same way as the album title. "I never thought I'd get to the stage where I would have to explain it so much," says Ryan. "We have been pronounced as Boredom, Bdum and my old boss thought we were a ska band called Bad Riddim. We're all sarcastic cunts, so Bedroom spelt correctly seemed like the perfect title." He's right. The perfect title for the perfect debut album.

Re-Issue on Extreme Eating. Housed in a gatefold sleeve designed by Steve Lippert, mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy. Everything else was done by Sleaford Mods. From Original Press Release 2015 "Key Markets was a large supermarket bang in the centre of Grantham from the early 1970's up until around 1980," explains Jason Williamson. "My mum would take me there and I'd always have a large coke in a plastic orange cup surrounded by varnished wood trimmings and big lamp shades with flowers on them. Beige bricks with bright yellow points of sale and large black foam letters surrounded you and this is why we called the album 'Key Markets'. It's the continuation of the day to day and how we see it, the un-incredible landscape." "The album was recorded in various periods between summer 2014 through to October of that year. We worked fast as we normally do, the method was the same as the other albums and like the other two, the sound has naturally moved itself along. 'Key Markets' is in places quite abstract but it still deals heavily with the disorientation of modern existence. It still touches on character assassination, the delusion of grandeur and the pointlessness of government politics. It's a classic. Fuck em." 1/Live Tonight 2/No One's Bothered 3/Bronx in a Six 4/Silly Me 5/Cunt Make It Up 6/Face To Faces 7/Arabia 8/In Quiet Streets 9/Tarantula Deadly Cargo 10/Rupert Trousers 11/Giddy on the Ciggies 12/The Blob

Matt Karmil's fifth album is a meditative collection of woozy loops and soft focus house. STS371 is the follow-up to IDLE033, - - - -, ++++ and 2018's acclaimed Will. Matt Karmil is British born - growing up in the rural town of Salisbury, near Stonehenge. Suffering a prolonged illness as a child, he spent much time indoors whiling away the long hours by playing with a classical guitar. Eventually he was well enough to see the world that had almost left him behind, and he spent his early twenties as an international traveller, DJing, record collecting and working as a producer-engineer in London, Paris, Stockholm and Berlin. In 2012 he decided to settle on Cologne âÇ" a city famed for its excellent club scene and ultra-minimal take on techno via the collective of artists and producers around the Kompakt label. With a studio established in Cologne, Matt made his LP debut with the well received (but hard to Google) "----", combining dusty samples and elegant tape hiss with scuba-diving grooves and minimalist vibes. In the same year he released the jubilant club anthem 'So You Say' on Tim Sweeney's Beats In Space label and remixed John Talabot and Axel Boman's (Talaboman) single 'Sideral'. Recent years have seen a raft of new releases from Matt, remixing XPress 2 for Skint, the albums idle 033 and ++++, as well as 12"s for YumAc Records, Idle Hands, Endless Flight and Studio Barnhus, received with great reviews in publications from The Wire to Resident Advisor and beyond. 2016 also saw Matt much in demand for his skills in engineering, mixing and mastering, working extensively with Matias Aguayo for Crammed Discs, Kornel Kovacs for Studio Barnhus and Talaboman for R&S, among many others. At the invitation of artist Christine Sun Kim, Matt composed a sub-20Hz piece for Bounce House at Sound Live Tokyo 2015, while his video collaboration with Boston's MIT Media Lab, Time Moods, was premiered in late 2017.

180g - Vinyl Only

After messing about with vinyl, Ableton and music in general for more than 10 years, Dyzz from The Illuminated decided it's time to take 'matters' into his own hands:

Introducing Degenerate Music - a label focused on bass heavy, chest rattlin', floor shaking & dub influenced soundsystem music - starting off 2020 with his inaugural and sharply curated 040 - 010 EP.

On "That Side" we can find 2 sought after VIP's from the duo Dyzz & Rebus, better known as The Illuminated. Both originals Scavenger & Eindhoviah have been released on New Moon Recordings, the deeper / techy sister label from the Moonshine camp and Underslung Audio (digi only). Scavenger got picked up early by the likes of Skream & Benga (BBC1 Extra radio premiere), Joe Nice (cut on dub), N-type & Walsh (Rinse.fm) and more. Eindhoviah became a warehouse dub for the gentlemen and close friends. The VIP's go way beyond the originals, fulfilling the gunfinger reload requests from the last few years.

On "This Side" we find another Scavenger version, this one fully locked on the triplets and loaded with some vocal samples from a galaxy far far away. Last but not least, Eindhoviah gets the young gun Hebbe treatment, this one's for the heads.

Now all the VIPS, versions & remix get the treatment they deserve, freshly cut on a 180 grams 12" heavyweight plate

The 11-track album titled “Needledrop” provides a suite of both uplifting and easy-listening moments, refined and understated individually yet cohesively crafted with the honest musicianship and inarguable credentials that we know of production duo Session Victim.

The German pair of Hauke Freer and Matthias Reiling are no strangers to releasing quality long-format albums and while rising through a discerning community of DJ’s have previously released three consecutive albums on tastemaker label Delusions of Grandeur culminating in 2017’s “Listen To Your Heart”.

Their latest and fourth studio album via the label Night Time Stories (the London based sister label to the coveted LateNightTales) marks a notable move towards the home listening dynamics of their career counterparts such as Nightmares on Wax and Portishead that have played such a strong influence in Session Victims variety of output over the last decade.

As accomplished producers, Session Victim have been intent on delivering a characteristic body of work for uninterrupted easy listening and with Needledrop have landed with significant inspiration from the engaging jazz and soul compositions that found their way into early 2000’s trip hop.

Fusing downtempo beats, smooth tones and hedonistic grooves via their intuitive sampling sessions, Session Victim’s fourth album succeeds in actively engaging the listeners mood and intellect in equal measure.

The albums clear stand out is "Made Me Fly” which presents a soothing yet expressive live vocal performance by singer songwriter Beth Hirsch, best known for her collaboration with French duo Air on their 1998 album Moon Safari.

As self-confessed semi-reclusive studio geeks, Session Victim have turned their 2020 album focus towards a large arsenal of dusty influences which has inspired them to rediscover the intuitive and playful side of their production personalities while also demonstrating their cherished music knowledge.

"Kiska" is the lead single off Kedr's sophomore release, Your Need. The album is a celebration of life and rebirth. It's about a fighter's spirit, and if you will, a little audacity and courage. DJ'ing and early forms of dance music inspired a furious burst of creative energy after months of melancholy, sadness and reflection to record the album in only a matter of weeks. After her breakout album, Ariadna, which put her on the forefront of Russia's burgeoning electronic scene, Kedr felt lost with her identity and was searching for the direction of her next chapter. For a while she felt trapped by her own image and needed quite some time to resolve this internal dissonance - to grow, to evolve. DJ'ing was the main catalyst to pull her out of this rut. The art form shifted her inspiration to mainly old school styles of dance music: ghetto, house, breakbeat and UK garage. For the prior year and a half she was listening to ambient, kraut-rock and more experimental genres - one can hear the brighter, more energetic influence of early electronic music in the songs on Your Need. One day she was talking with her friend Flaty (Zhenya), a very talented artist from St. Petersburg who's signed to the GOST ZVUK label, and they decided to do a single together. He came to visit her in Moscow, but they ended up spending 10 whole days writing music together, from dawn to dusk. They vibed off each other's musical ideas perfectly and understood each other even without speaking. Zhenyais a beatmaster and pays attention to even the smallest details of a track. He brought incredible richness to the composition and Kedr considers him her teacher in this area. Kedr was in charge of the melodies and vibe of the tracks, and the vocal elements. Your Need is like a chapter of life. It's a story that illustrates different scenarios and moods that our mythical hero experiences, living in an urban jungle. From lost love to a bad trip on the dance floor, from euphoria to deep introspection. Our hero sometimes feels bold, lost or devastated, but also tender and full, like all of us at some point in life. The ending is joyful and bright. The last song gives hope and faith that a new day will come and wash away the old. You can feel like new every day. Your Need reflects an array of genres and a mix of cultures - a harmonious combination of differences. Everything Kedr loves about ghetto music, in the traditions of house, dub, breakbeat, 90s electronic music and modern sounds - she's embraced and expressed it all throughout. Your Need is Kedr's ode to music from different eras and changing periods.

For over half a century, Takehisa Kosugi was one of the most unique and enduring figures in the Japanese underground. As an art student in Tokyo in the early 1960s, he joined the Fluxus-styled performance unit Hi Re Centre and then founded the improvisational ensemble Group Ongaku, but his most legendary project was The Taj-Mahal Travelers – a multicellular organism that included Kosugi, Ryo Koike, Yukio Tsuchiya, Seiji Nagai, Michihiro Kimura, Tokio Hasegawa and sound engineer Kinji Hayashi.

With a penchant for long psychedelic jams (some lasting 12 hours or more) The Taj-Mahal Travelers lived up to their name. Touring in a Volkswagen van across Europe and Asia in the early '70s, they eventually reached the actual Taj Mahal in India. Upon their return to Japan, they held a concert to raise more touring funds and released their very first recordings. Their debut album, July 15, 1972, would extend the band's matter-of-fact titling: all the tracks were named precisely for the times they began and ended.

With a grab bag of instrumentation (electric violin, double bass, santoor, vibraphone, harmonica, radio oscillators, sheet iron, etc.), The Taj-Mahal Travelers weave together mesmerizing waves of sonic texture. Featuring longtone concepts that Kosugi discovered while working with sound generators in New York in the mid-'60s, July 15, 1972 remains just as much a collective tone poem as psych workout. These leader-less sounds coalesce into a unified whole that feels both subconscious and sublime, as if the waveforms bypass the listener's ears and land directly inside one's synapses.

Featuring Prince Jazzbo, Dillinger, Dennis Alcapone, Lone Ranger, Michigan & Smiley and many more. Soul Jazz Records’ new Studio One DJ Party is the latest installation from the mighty Studio One Records catalogue, a wicked new collection of the finest DJs and toasters ever to inhabit the world of reggae – seminal Jamaican artists including Prince Jazzbo, Dillinger, Dennis Alcapone, Michigan & Smiley, Lone Ranger as well as a host of lesser known artists and rare cuts from Studio One. From the earliest days when Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd ran his Downbeat soundsystem up and down the length of Jamaica, DJs and toasters such as King Stitt and Count Machukie were always a part of the sound of Studio One, introducing new records and exciting audiences with catchphrase lines such as: “No matter what the people say these sounds lead the way It's the order of the day from your boss deejay” King Stitt So when DJ emerged as a distinct reggae style at the start of the 1970s, Studio One was, as always, way ahead of their competitors. Legendary artists of the calibre of Dillinger, Dennis Alcapone and Prince Jazzbo all queued up to record for the equally legendary label. At the end of the 1970s, as dancehall exploded onto the island, Clement Dodd was once again able to maintain Studio One’s position on the throne as the number one sound in the Jamaica, fighting off upstart competitors such as Channel One and Joe Gibbs who tried to replicate Studio One’s unique sound. During this period Clement Dodd released a series of stunning dancehall releases from young DJ/dancehall artists at the label including Lone Ranger and Michigan & Smiley. This selection spans the early 70s up until the mid-1980s, from the earliest days of deejay toasting right up until digital dancehall, ground-breaking tracks over the finest selection of the ultimate Studio One rhythms and tracks. Who could ask for more? Studio One DJ Party includes specially commissioned sleevenotes by Chris Lane, founder of the legendary British reggae label Fashion Records, as well as fantastic original artwork commissioned by the illustrator Ski Williams. The album is released as double heavyweight vinyl (+download code), and distinctive Soul Jazz Records CD with slipcase

Body Beat: Soca-Dub and Electronic Calypso (1979-98) comprises 17 obscure Soca B-side versions, dubs, instrumentals and edits as well as vocal tracks influenced by disco, boogie, house-music, soul and the more conscious lyrics of roots reggae. This compilation traces the soca genre from its explosion in the late 1970s right up to the period just before contemporary soca became established around the end of the 1990s. TIP!!

Compiled by Soundway Records label founder Miles Cleret and DJ/collector Jeremy Spellacey, Body Beat, as with many compilations on the label, explores the fringes of this often maligned (by outsiders) genre. Boiled down to the bare bones of the matter though: soca is party music.

Soca was originally a re-invention of Calypso music; a genre that in the 1970s was fast becoming usurped around the Caribbean by Jamaican reggae and American soul, funk and later disco. The originator of soca (or sokah as he called it), the calypsonian Lord Shorty, began experimenting and modernising on the formulation of calypso in the early 1970s. His first album featured a strong emphasis on East African rhythms and a punchier recording style that emphasised the beat, and introduced arrangements that often owed as much to American funk and soul as to calypso.

So here you go - seventeen slabs of soca crossover, rapso, electronic calypso, and Caribbean ‘soca-soul’ for your enjoyment - and bound to fit well into modern, open-minded DJ sets alongside the resurgence of burger-highlife, digi-reggae, soukous and zouk.

Factory Benelux presents a limited edition vinyl album by Tunnelvision, the youthful Blackpool band who released cult single Watching the Hydroplanes on Factory Records in 1981. Just 500 copies of have been pressed on clear vinyl, matching the original Factory release.
Formed in 1980, the sombre post-punk quartet were mentored by Section 25 before impressing Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson at an early New Order gig in Blackpool in September 1980. Two songs from their first demo were mixed by Martin Hannett at Britannia Row and released as a 7-inch single (Fac 39) in June 1981, sleeved by Martyn Atkins in an opulent sleeve referencing dictionaries and leather-bound books. After several more gigs with New Order and other Factory artists Tunnelvision taped a second strong demo, mixed for release by Peter Hook. However the turbulent teenage band disintegrated before a second single emerged. 
Newly remastered from the original analogue reels, Watching the Hydroplanes features includes all 8 tracks from their two Cargo demos, including the Hannett mixes of the title track and Morbid Fear. The set also features Emotionless, recorded live at Bristol Trinity Hall in March 1981.
The outer sleeve is printed using silver PMS with a matt varnish. The printed inner bag features new liner notes and an attractive facsimile flyer for a gig with New Order at the Forum, London, in May 1981.

In-demand deep modal jazz tune from Belgium featuring Babs Roberts!

The lesser-spotted jazz atoms that formed the fusion of Futurist Flanders! It might sound like an ambitious claim but having been a firm fixture at the top of many European jazz collector want lists over the past decade Finders Keepers wouldn’t be alone when proclaiming this extremely rare, lesser-known two-track 7” from 1969 as one of the best jazz 45s of all time! Alongside Polish pianist Krzysztof Komeda’s soundtrack 7” for the film Cul-De-Sac and ranking closely with François Tusques’ commemorative Le Corbusier exhibition 45 (featuring Don Cherry) this format-specific release known only as Brussels Art Quintet might well sit at the top of the podium while striking similarities and arguably combining the best stylistic traits of both aforementioned contenders.

This is all speculative and clearly a matter of individual opinion but it’s not often that one should find a recording from this era, comprising such high production qualities, keen compositional values and robust craftsmanship spread across two equally spellbinding individual tracks, all of which awards this record justified hyperbole albeit subject to a 50 year delay. It is safe to say that this unique release is “rare” on many levels. Like all privately pressed art projects this 45 comprises some serious outsider art trappings. However, on closer inspection it also stands as a pivotal record in the micro-genre of Belgian jazz, pin-pointing an early axis for some vital progressive jazz players who went on to become sturdy pillars of the central European happening.

Essentially as a five-piece, the short-lived Brussels Art Quintet neatly combines members of both the mythical Babs Robert Quartet (early exponents of Belgian spiritual jazz) and key players from the leading progressive jazz/rock/funk unit known as COS (formally Classroom) who would stand as close affiliates of the likes of Marc Moulin, Kiosk and Placebo through the 1970s. Reproduced in close collaboration with COS leader Daniel Schell, who, under the early guise of Daniel “Max” Schellekens, authored both tracks that make up this facsimile 45 single, this one-off single includes the only known output by the Brussels Art Quintet thus marking the essential in-road to instantly start and complete your entire BAQ collection not without reliving the early germination of the froward-thinking jazz fusion that came to shape Belgium’s truly unique movement.

“The year is 1982. Rita Mitsouko has not yet recorded its eponymous debut album. The pile of ashes that once was Disco is still smoking on the field of Comiskey Park. New Wave is a phrase, Post-Punk Rock a thing. In France, young musicians dream of New York City – some with more devotion than others. Lapassenkoff are to early 1980’s downtown New-York what seminal New Wave act Marie Et Les Garçons (who met John Cale on their way to CBGB) are to the city’s musical scene in the late 1970’s: an unexpected cousin from Lyon.

Indeed, going through Shing ‘n’ Tsé! sometimes feel like an impromptu meeting between John Lurie and Tom Tom Club in the basement of some French record store. If we press pause for a minute, a question comes to mind: how on earth such a unique blend of funk, post-punk, jazz fusion & hip hop (!) – more easily associated with, say, The Mudd Club, than with Les pentes de la Croix-Rousse – made its way to the brains of three French musicians?

The answer probably lies in a Swiss chalet, some 40 kilometers away from Zurich. Sent there by the wise people from Mosquito (the label which also gave Ramuntcho Matta and Carte de Séjour the opportunity to record their first album), the band experiences Alpine ennui and mysterious neighbours (a certain Carlos Peron, for instance). That is probably during this stay in Swiss meadows that they opened a Pandora’s box called experimental music, leading them into recording the mind-blowing sample-based – and accidentally proto-everything – M Le Maudit,, that would later grace Belgian airwaves via the famous Liaisons Dangereuses radio show.

But if we’re looking for a bigger picture, M Le Maudit is just an example of how inventive their approach to music was. This compilation is a testimony of a decade-long feverish flirt between the Lyon trio and dance music. From the infectious electric boogie cuts Shing A Ling and Roadie to the somehow euro-house-fuelled Ma Poubelle Angelina, via many unclassifiable yet iconic songs like Bossi Le Bosseman or Fièvres, Frissons, the compilation demonstrates one thing: Lapassenkoff took the road less traveled by and contributed to a different history of French Pop music.”

Pierre-Arthur Michau.

INXS live on the Coffee Break Concert series at the Cleveland Agora on 27th June 1984.

Following the April 1984 release of their fourth album, The Swing, INXS began to make commercial headway outside Australia. They toured relentlessly to promote the album, and had an international hit with Original Sin.
The performance captured here, on 27th June 1984, was part of the WMMS Coffee Break Concert series, a live radio simulcast on 100.7 WMMS in Cleveland. It captures them at the peak of their early game, and is presented here with background notes and images

The Jazz Diaries is proud to announce NYC’s favorite underground papi Toribio will be releasing his sophomore EP June 14th 2019. Hot of-the-heels of his Gator Boots 12” for Soul Clap, which received hands in the air support from Seth Troxler, Adam Port, and Soul Clap, Toribio makes you feel at home in the club with his expressive new EP - Capicua!

Growing up playing Dominican percussion instruments from an early age, and being a staple DJ in the NYC circuit for the last 7+ years playing with a who’s who of DJs (Danny Krivit, Rick Wilhite, Louie Vega etc), Toribio expands the palette of what dance music is, fusing his Dominican roots, afro-cuban latin riddims and 90s hip-hop to create a cultural melting pot that signals a change in the guard for NYC House Music.

As Toribio rightly puts…
“Capicua!” is an expression Dominicans yell as they slam the last domino of a certain hand with belligerent righteousness. It means you win on both sides of the table no matter which way you look at it. Top to bottom. This my musical way of saying in a Dominican style... I won on both sides with this record.

This is certainly true of EP opener ‘Get Up’, which hits you on the upside with a nasty dose of p-funk over a bed of live and programmed house riddims. The record showcases Toribio’s penchant for the funky, yet rhythmically inquisitive. It is this trademark sound that permeates the record and continues its way through the acid tinged ‘Make Your Mark’, where long time friend and collaborator Byron the Aquarius steps in on remix duties - providing a lush reprise from the frenetic afro-cuban percussion found in the original mix.

Last but not least, Toribio rounds of the EP with a sensual, take your girl home cover of ‘Household’ by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. The tune showcases the broad depth of Toribio’s musical portrait, prominently featuring his voice and guitar, further giving credence to the musicality and diasporic nature of the new Nu York, and further cementing Toribio’s place in it for years to come.

Groove Line Records series of officially licensed disco / funk 12' reissues continues in 2019 with two fabulous cuts of gospel disco from The New York Community Choir (NYCC), 'I'll Keep My Light In My Window' & 'Express Yourself'.

The New York Community Choir (NYCC) began in the early 1970s, a gospel ensemble which developed a style that also gave secular R&B, soul, and pop songs a spiritual dimension; bridging Saturday night and Sunday morning, as it were.

'I'll Keep My Light In My Window' is a slice of joyful uplifting gospel disco, which is as needed in these times as it was when it was released in 1978. This was a great favourite of David Mancuso and Larry Levan at the time, and has remained a much loved dancefloor track for the disco cognoscenti ever since.

This came from NYCC's second LP for RCA, Make Every Day Count, produced by Warren Schatz (who also produced The Brothers, which was Groove Line's first reissue 12' in 2014).

NYCC released a self-titled debut album, also produced by Schatz in 1977 included the dance hit "Express Yourself," the B-side of this release in its 11m45s David Todd & Warren Schatz Disco Mix version.

All Groove Line Records releases are fully licensed and taken from the original master tapes, this 12' has been remastered and cut at half-speed by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering (Mastering Engineer of the Year 2013 & 2018). All vinyl is heavy weight 180g manufactured Optimal Media in Germany, one of the world's finest pressing plants.

Groove Line Records cut no corners when making sure that each and every one of our releases has the highest quality performance possible.

Groove Line Records' deluxe reissue of 'I'll Keep My Light In My Window' & 'Express Yourself' is an essential purchase for any serious Disco, Gospel, Funk, or Soul vinyl collector who demands the very best in quality vinyl pressings. Find out more at

"kiska" Is The Lead Single Off Kedr's Sophomore Release, Your Need. The Album Is A Celebration Of Life And Rebirth. It's About A Fighter's Spirit, And If You Will, A Little Audacity And Courage. Dj'ing And Early Forms Of Dance Music Inspired A Furious Burst Of Creative Energy After Months Of Melancholy, Sadness And Reflection To Record The Album In Only A Matter Of Weeks. After Her Breakout Album, Ariadna, Which Put Her On The Forefront Of Russia's Burgeoning Electronic Scene, Kedr Felt Lost With Her Identity And Was Searching For The Direction Of Her Next Chapter. For A While She Felt Trapped By Her Own Image And Needed Quite Some Time To Resolve This Internal Dissonance - To Grow, To Evolve. Dj'ing Was The Main Catalyst To Pull Her Out Of This Rut. The Art Form Shifted Her Inspiration To Mainly Old School Styles Of Dance Music: Ghetto, House, Breakbeat And Uk Garage. For The Prior Year And A Half She Was Listening To Ambient, Kraut-rock And More Experimental Genres - One Can Hear The Brighter, More Energetic Influence Of Early Electronic Music In The Songs On Your Need. One Day She Was Talking With Her Friend Flaty (zhenya), A Very Talented Artist From St. Petersburg Who's Signed To The Gost Zvuk Label, And They Decided To Do A Single Together. He Came To Visit Her In Moscow, But They Ended Up Spending 10 Whole Days Writing Music Together, From Dawn To Dusk. They Vibed Off Each Other's Musical Ideas Perfectly And Understood Each Other Even Without Speaking. Zhenyais A Beatmaster And Pays Attention To Even The Smallest Details Of A Track. He Brought Incredible Richness To The Composition And Kedr Considers Him Her Teacher In This Area. Kedr Was In Charge Of The Melodies And Vibe Of The Tracks, And The Vocal Elements. Your Need Is Like A Chapter Of Life. It's A Story That Illustrates Different Scenarios And Moods That Our Mythical Hero Experiences, Living In An Urban Jungle. From Lost Love To A Bad Trip On The Dance Floor, From Euphoria To Deep Introspection. Our Hero Sometimes Feels Bold, Lost Or Devastated, But Also Tender And Full, Like All Of Us At Some Point In Life. The Ending Is Joyful And Bright. The Last Song Gives Hope And Faith That A New Day Will Come And Wash Away The Old. You Can Feel Like New Every Day. Your Need Reflects An Array Of Genres And A Mix Of Cultures - A Harmonious Combination Of Differences. Everything Kedr Loves About Ghetto Music, In The Traditions Of House, Dub, Breakbeat, 90s Electronic Music And Modern Sounds - She's Embraced And Expressed It All Throughout. Your Need Is Kedr's Ode To Music From Different Eras And Changing Periods.

Chicago-based Matt Warren has been a DJ for forty years and has been a producer since 1984, when he released his debut single Rock The Nation. This inspired Matt to cofound Sunset Records in 1985, which released several house classics. However, in 1987, Matt resigned from Sunset Records and founded AKA Dance Music.

The first single that AKA Dance Music released was Bang The Box, which sold over 50,000 copies in America and nowadays, is regarded as the first hard house track. Bang The Box was the first of seven singles that AKA Dance Music released between 1987 and 1988. By then, Matt's second label was part the history of house music.

After the demise of AKA Dance Music, Matt Warren continued to travel the world DJ in some of the top clubs. Meanwhile, Matt continued to produce new music, remix tracks by some of the biggest names in music.

By the nineties, Matt was also writing, arranging, mixing, and producing a wide variety of artists and bands. He sometimes was asked to play on a number of albums. However, he still loved house music, and worked on several releases.

As the new millennia dawned, Matt continued to work in a variety of roles in the ever-changing music industry, and occasionally released some new music. Over the next few years, Matt has been working as a producer, engineer and remixer, which meant he had to put his own career on hold, until he began working with a familiar face.

In 2016, Matt was reunited with house diva Pepper Gomez, who was now running her own label Wake Up! Music. By then, Pepper Gomez had dawned the MyMy Lady G moniker and embarked upon a career as producer. She had travelled to Chicago, to record Elena Andujar's genre-meting album Flamenco In Time at Matt's Sound Studio Recording. Matt took charge of engineering, programming, mixing and production on Flamenco In Time while MyMy Lady G added backing vocals and assumed the role of executive producer on this groundbreaking project. After the completion of Flamenco In Time, MyMy Lady G asked Matt Warren if he would like to record an album

It didn't take long for Matt to answer in the affirmative, and in early 2018, he hit the comeback trail. He was accompanied by a group of talented musicians and vocalists including gospel singer and soulful diva Jan McGhee, Elena Andujar and legendary house diva Pepper Gomez who plays a starring role on the album. That album was recorded over the course of several months, and eventually became Music Is My Life which marks the comeback of Mark Warren.

Matt Warren has been away to long, now one of the pioneers of Chicago House makes a welcome return with a groundbreaking new album. This is Music Is My Life, the first ever Nu House album, which is guaranteed to transform Matt Warren's career and become part of dance music history.

White Shadows In The South Seas is the title of a book written in 1919 by Frederick O'Brien as part of a trilogy he wrote based on his experiences living in the Pacific islands in the early part of the 20th century. His book was taken as the starting point for a film to be directed, initially, by Robert Flaherty (famous at the time for his groundbreaking documentary / fiction film Nanook Of The North) with W.S.Van Dyke as his support. The film, ultimately, apart from the title, had little to do with O'Brien's book and Flaherty left the film after a few months leaving Van Dyke to finish it.

I purchased O'Brien's book, along with many others, from Basement Books, a secondhand bookstore in Melbourne/Australia. Part of my 'Islomania' and on going fascination with all things Pacific. When I discovered there was a 1929 silent film based on the book I sought it out and started to present it as part of my 'Live Music/Silent films' repertoire. Tabu by Frederick Murnau, which coincidently also had Flaherty as co-director originally, was the first film I ever wrote / improvised a score for and presented as a live film/music performance. My repertoire extends to over 23 films now.

My eclectic and diverse musical and artistic interests extend into 'Hawaiian', 'Exotica', 'Ambient' and 'Electronic' Music. I have produced several volumes of so called 'Electronic, Ambient, Exotica' on CD and Vinyl, including Kiribati, Globe Notes, Rayon Hula ( on Vinyl, CD and digital format ) and most recently, New Globe Note on Vinyl and White Shadows In The South Seas on CD.
White Shadows In The South Seas features some of the music presented in my live screenings of the 1929 silent film.

The film is the story of Dr. Matthew Lloyd, an alcoholic doctor who is disgusted by the exploitation by white people of the natives on a Polynesian island. The natives dive for pearls, however, numerous accidents occur and one diver dies. In anger, Dr. Lloyd punches Sebastian, the employer. As revenge and to prevent further interruption of his activities, he tricks Dr. Lloyd onto a ship with a diseased crew (thinking they are ill) and his men rough him up and send the ship off into a storm. Dr. Lloyd survives and is washed ashore on an island where none of the natives have ever seen a white man before. Lloyd is rescued and ultimately falls in love with the chief's daughter, who is Taboo, hence Lloyd is prevented from pursuing his love for her. An incident occurs and a young boy is thought to have drowned but Lloyd is able to revive him, earning him points and permission with the chief's daughter. Lloyd begins to realise that the local islanders have no sense of the value of the black pearls which grow in abundance around their island and he starts to dive for them and collect them. One morning the white man Sebastian unexpectedly turns up on a scooner and starts to offer the islanders trade for their pearls. Llloyd tries to interrupt the encounter and is shot and dies. His wife and the islanders morn for his dead body and, symbolically, the passing of a way of life.

Mike Cooper plays - Electric and acoustic lap steel guitars / electronics / Zoom Sampletrack / Kaos Pad / Casio SK1 / Korg Drum Machine / Self Made Instruments.

It also features field recordings made on Pulau Ubin by Mike Cooper during a month as Artist In Residence for The Artist Village / Singapore.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Lawrence English (Room40 Records) for his assistance and encouragement with the original recordings and the CD version of White Shadows In The South Seas.

All music written and played by Mike Cooper PRS/MCPS - except Po Mahina (trad. Arr. Cooper) and Hilo Hanakahi (trad. Arr. Cooper)

Recorded and Mixed at the Steelworks in Rome 2012/2013.

A White Shadow In The South Seas
In February 2014 'A White Shadow In The South Seas' was the title of an audio-visual installation I made at the Teatro In Scatola in Rome, Italy, presented as part of a series of sound installations titled 'Visitazioni' produced by Proposte Sonore.

The essay below, as well as our collection of Hawaiian shirts, Exotica and Hawaiian vinyl records, was an inspiration for this installation.

'..the transformation and reconstitution of the souvenir commodity as an indigenous ethnic art form and a scarce relic of Hawai'i's romanticized past...' from - Clothing and Textile Reasearch Journal - From Kitsch to Chic by Marcia A. Morgado.

And....
Michael Thompson's Rubbish Theory (1979)
' ...a critical aspect of Western culture is the pre-disposition to see objects in terms of two overt categories: the transient and the durable. Objects identified as transient have finite life spans and lose value over time, whereas those identified as durable have infinite lives and over time increae in value....category assignments are arbitrary, but once assigned a category membership determines relative value. Fashion apparel-by defenition-is assigned to the transient category; paintings commonly are designated durables....how is it that transient objects.. ( e.g. Hawaiian shirts and vinyl records ) ..sometimes become durables.

Objects assigned to the rubbish category are largely invisible, have no value and, ideally, no life span. Fashion for example, no longer worn and relegated to the back of the wardrobe has fallen into the covert rubbish category. But rubbish can be rescued and transformed. Thompson says ' What I believe happens is a transient object gradually declining in value and in expected life span may slide across into rubbish. Here it exists in a timeless and valueless limbo where it has a chance to be re-discovered and be successfully transformed to a durable. Such transferes are radical: objects gradually slide from transcience to rubbish, but the transformation from rubbish to durable involves an all-or-nothing leap across two boundaries, that separating the worthless from the valuable and that between the covert and the overt. Things drift into obscurity but they leap into prominence.

The delightful consequence of this hypothesis is that in order to study the social control of value we must study rubbish.

The rubbish-to-durable transformation is accompanied by the development of highly specialized knowledge derived from the discovery of subtle variations and complex details that went unnoticed in the objects transient stage. The discoveries initiate renewed interest in the object and its market value begins to climb. As prices soar beyond the reach of ordinary people, the object becomes available only in high priced collectors' markets. Furthermore, as market values rise, the aesthetic value of the object undergoes a reassessment as well, and it becomes increasingly apparent that the objects intrinsic beauty has been overlooked. Ultimately the object is re -assigned as a durable and becomes recognized as a timeless classic.

Exotica, Ambience and Pacificism - A dialogue with Mike Cooper & Professor Philip Hayward Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor of Research Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia.

Günter Schickert, four decades of multi-instrumental cosmic explorations, under Berlin's sky, above genres, and compromises.

It was memorable the time when I firstly listened to his debut LP of 1974, the monumental Samtvogel. It overwhelmed me with layers of echoing guitars roaring into space, causing a powerful release of dopamine spreading through my skin, in the way an Interstellar Overdrive', or a Richard D James Album would do. It was a proof of the divine to discover Günter Schickert, it is a profound honour today to present on Marmo his seventh album to date, Labyrinth, the first to be released on vinyl format since 1983`s Kinder In Der Wildnis.

Schickert's Samtvogel, self-published first, then licensed to Brain, equaled the imaginative leap and sonic power of the early Pink Floyd, Manuel Gottsching's Inventions For Electric Guitar or A.R. & Machines's Die Grüne Reise. What followed, from his second LP Überfällig on Sky Records to his collaborations with Klaus Schulze, Jochen Arbeit and Schneider TM, even if little acclaimed, spans a large spectrum of music styles, always through a distinctive and personal aesthetic, that is deeply linked to the one he firstly crafted back in '74, when Schickert pioneered the use of echo effects applied to guitar playing.

And now Labyrinth, a record that stands for versatility, where genres do not matter, soundscapes or life situations take over, song-writing emotions pop out, handing out a spectrum of surprises to the listener. You may find yourself flying low along steep cliffs and with a blink of eye you are thrown into a Middle Eastern scenery.

The album is divided into two parts, two different production bulks and periods of Günther Schickert's life. Side A features a selection of tracks recorded in 1996, appearing on the 2012 album HaHeHiHo, released via Pittsburgh based VCO Recordings, on a limited press of 100 units, tape format only. I felt that the visionary and emotional richness of these pieces deserved the vinyl format and a chance to reach to a wider audience.

The Raga-inspired Morning' opens Labyrinth with exotic charm and bitter-sweet nostalgia. Sieben' kicks off with the same guitar scales of the previous theme, before the motorised progressions of a Korg MS-20 synth surprisingly storm in, carrying along an intersecting multitude of filters and sharp guitar effects, flowing into an epic, paradisiac ending. Ninja Schwert' remains on astral dimensions, it is a struggle of cosmic forces, where the steady ride of a pounding beat gets embraced by different guitar layers and analogue electronic filtering. The side closes up with HaHeHiHo', a slow ballad featuring Mr. Schickert on vocals, guitar, bass guitar and drum machine - an example of simple, stripped down yet gifted songwriting that is capable to reach the heart of the listener.

Side B contains material produced between 2007 and today. The intricate, bewildering Tsunami' shows the multi-instrumental and recording abilities of Günter Schickert: a field-recorded storm with mesmerising powers, a peculiar progressive approach to guitar playing. Mysterious sinister spirits and sounds are emerging and the feeling of being lost in a pleasant trance arises. In contrast, Oase' muffles the intensity and jumps into a completely different soundscape, where in liaison with the sounds of a rolling drum tom and a desert-like trumpet, the microphone carefully captures the found sound tones of everyday-life objects and actions. Like HaHeHiHo on side A, Checking' represents the vocal gem of the B side, in a raw and direct way of songwriting like if Syd Barrett was his invisible helper. Palaver' (which means unnecessarily talk' in German) assembles different vocal recordings of Schickert into a bizarre free-style conversation through a mysterious language, where he attempts to emulate illiterate children conversating. The final track, Morning (Slide)', reprises the opening theme, this time solely performed through the caressing dilated sounds of Günter's slide guitar.

Sleep-deprived, breakbeat-driven vignettes of unclear authorship, from somewhere west of Lake Lagoda, near the Russia-Finland border.Sekundenschlaf has significant points of correspondence with contemporary European electronic music, as well as the golden age of (early) jungle and ambient techno. But its response to tradition, and to the zeitgeist, is idiosyncratic to say the least - with an atmosphere and psychogeography rooted in the tranquility and majesty of Western Russian nature, and the anxiety and distress of the country's post-Soviet working class. Pastoral calm meets dissonance and unease. The music has a loose, improvised feel, but its arrangements are intricate, its melodies iridescent: cascading arpeggios that stir a sense of optimism and renewal, sighing string-pads that evoke the deepest melancholy. Rhythms simultaneously hyped-up and burned-out, collapsing in on themselves as they race to destinations unknown. All bound together with field recordings of eavesdropped conversations, blurred into abstraction, a droning subliminal menace.Trust me, you'll be fine

This highly prolific UK Drum and Bass producer returns with his second Tempo Records release. This work sees Alex' Judd rhythmic tweaks and overlays of texture with intricate melodies, heavy dub basslines giving the tracks a live & energetic feel. He draws out each track with his own distinctive craftsmanship and still giving them space to breathe. ''U Got me'' might be his best work to date but that's just our opinion. ''No Hype'' on the flip side says it all; music shouldn't be a hype but this release surely creates a huge buzz with all the dj's worldwide. This release comes as a limited 140g crystal clear vinyl pressing with full artwork sleeve + white glossy inner sleeve, including a mp3 download voucher + a free poster/inlay and all tracks mastered by Stuart Hawkes of Metropolis Mastering London.

Early Dj Support & Feedback
More Coming Soon!
Ltj Bukem thanks For Sending'
Grooverider good'
Icicle thanks, I'll Support No Hype On Rinse Fm'
Dj Flight nice Release, U Got Me & Loved Up Are Probably My Picks On First Listen. Will Play The Former This Weekend.'
A-sides no Hype', Thanks!'
Doc Scott thank You'
Drumsound & Bassline Smith nice One'
Gremlinz dope'
Hyroglifics (aka The Executioner) nice Ep!'
Villem hype Hype Hype'
Lynx yesssss Not A Media Hype!'
Chromatic nice Ep, Big Up Alex!'
Dj Clarky great Tracks On This'
Dj Chef (ministry Of Sound) big Ups Full Support'
Dj Tendai (swerve) loved Up Is Sublime'
Dj Kalm great Release Thanks!'
6blocc love The u Got Me' Track'
Earl Grey u Got Me Is The One, Badness.'
Arkaik will Be Supporting 'no Hype' Thanks'
Bulletproof Tiger (nyc, Usa) always A Pleasure To See Tempo In My Inbox. Biggups Y'all'
Dj Ros (addiction Fm + Label, Poland)'!'

...

Radio & Podcast
Coming Soon!
Icicle (rinse Fm) thanks, I'll Support No Hype On Rinse Fm This Thursday 20-09-2018'
Dj Chef (ministry Of Sound) big Ups Full Support'
Onedek (origin Radio Uk) awesome!!!!!'
Andre (soulsurfer - Bassdrive) now This Is A Strong Release... I Agree That This Is Alex Greatest To Date. U Got Me, Loved Up And Feel Good Are Immediate Favorites. Support In Club And Radio!'
Benjamin (the Dance Mission Dnb Show - Kiss Fm Australia) cool Music'
Overfiend (bassdrive) superb!'
Stunnah (bassdrive) big Release!!'
Chris Muniz (insomniac / Bassrush) mashing It Up Proper!'
J Swif (dnb Hq Podcast) dope Release Duded, 'feel Good' Is The One!'
Stanislav (zima - Czech Radio 1) gonna Play no Hype' Today... Cheers. Stanislav'
Matze (urban Wildlife / Syncopix Records) 5/5 The Rework Of Sweet Sensation Is Killer. The Crowed Loved It. Cool Arrangement And Use Of The Vocals. Feel Good With It´s Long Bassline Is Also A Most Functional Dance Floor Banger. Thanks For This One!'
Jose (nas Radio Show - Brazil) awesome Crazy Material Right Here'
Simon (see You Next Life Podcast & Night) soul Intent Fan Here So It's All Good. Cheers!'
Francesco (delta9 Recordings / Podcast) interesting And Diverse Album! All Are Great, Fav Are Loved Up And No Hype'
...

Reviews Blogs & Magazines :
More Coming Soon!
Julian (mixmag Germany Dnb Reviews) i Really Enjoy loved Up'.
Aliina (jungledrumandbass) big Up !!
Matthew (one Hour One Dj) great Tunes. Particularly Feeling The Two 2 Sides, Loved Up And Feel Good. Lovely Gritty Rollers.'
Rohan G. (dj Mag Spain) pow!'
...

In 1990, raising their voices over the sound of Neuropolitique's 'Mind you don't trip' Sebastian S. and Mike DMA (Direct Memory Access) met, breaking the ice by swapping opinions on LFO and 808 State. They later went on to create the first live configuration of BWP Experiments (Bad Woofer Posse Experiments, for more info see basicmoves), and produced dozens of tracks together which, for the most part, were live takes and remain unreleased. Only
a few made it out into the world, and to this day have stayed well under the (discogs) radar:
Our Techno Theory' was put out on an 8-tracker cassette by Research and Development,
while only two productions 'Escape' and 'Pay your taxes' were pressed on vinyl for the same
imprint. Now Sebastian S. (aka Caustic 14) returns to the label with two previously unreleased tracks
found in his personal archive. 'Excalibur' was produced in tandem with Mike during the last
session the pair ever did in Sebastian's studio (Z'ha'dum) in 1996. It's a vibrant hommage to
their common passion outside of music: Sci-fi. This track refers specifically to the series Babylon
5 , which was a revolution in the genre, and the first tv series to outdo Star Trek (the intergalactic
reference since the early 1960's). The idea of being 'united against darkness' was key to the
series, and the motto remained essential for Sebastian, Mike and Deg's music productions,
collaborations, live shows and dj sets. The influence of what had been a passion since
childhood can be felt in their sound: unconsciously they had dreamt up the soundtrack to their
own space journey. The second track 'Cliffhanger', a solo production by Sebastian S., is a dig from several years
earlier (1994). The Detroit influence is strong here, yet the signature Caustic 14 "space opera"
melodies hold their ground and shine out.
We are very proud to propel this Belgian electronic music heritage out into the world.

In memory of Matt Cogger.

walrus & islas , September 2018.

The New York Downtown Producer/Composer Returns With His First New Album In 3 Years

EIGHTEEN: the year of release, 2018. EIGHTEEN: the age at which I first used a synthesizer.

In creating EIGHTEEN I worked independently in the studio, initially building up tracks with synthesizers and found sounds recorded in my daily comings and goings. After working with the tracks over a period of months,I shared them with a few musicians, who added their own instrumental layers. Though working independently, we all shared a similar working process: working in our personal recording spaces, as opposed to larger recording studios.

The musicians are: Gabe Gurnsey (drums) of Factory Floor, with whom I collaborated on the Beachcombing EP and performed live at London's ICA. I appear on Gabe's newly released album Physical;

Larry Saltzman (guitar) has played in my Love Of Life Orchestra since the 1970's. Well-known for his work with Arthur Russell ('Kiss Me Again', Flying Hearts), he is in high demand in NYC by acts such as Simon and Garfunkel;

Paul Nowinski, (bass) has played with LOLO since the 1980's. Paul has an impressive list of credits, including Les Paul, Keith Richards, Bernard Purdie and the Boston Pops; Matt Mottel, (electric piano), is the newest addition to the Love Of Life Orchestra. He is half the duo Talibam!, a leading act in the noise jazz scene; Lewin Barringer, (guitar), is a talented guitarist and producer in Philadelphia.

After mixing the final tracks, I brought the mixes to Berlin. There I worked with the brilliant mastering engineer Mike Grinser who helped to give the album a unified sound.

I think of this album as electronic music. It was created in my home studio, using analog and digital synthesizers, found sounds recorded on my phone, and instrumental parts contributed by friends. Finely crafted melodies and harmonies are set against subway noises, street construction, and distant foghorns. Sometimes there are sustained clusters, generated by my leaning against the keyboard. Deliberateness paired with randomness: this is what guided the artistic process.

This album is atypical for me as I am not playing saxophone. (I do play one reed instrument - a harmonica.) I grew up with the sax as my primary instrument. Yet my father was a radio journalist so the reel-to-reel tape recorder was a ubiquitous presence in the family home. From an early age,

I experimented with the tape machine: recording, overdubbing and splicing tape. I learned about Varese from Frank Zappa liner notes; I read John Cage's 'Silence.' Electronic music was on my radar.

My first exposure to an actual synthesizer came when I recorded my first single at the fabled Sound City Studio in Van Nuys, CA. The studio had a custom Neve board, but it also had a firstgeneration Moog modular synthesizer sitting unused in the maintenance room. I asked and they kindly let me experiment with it. Soon, I enrolled at the University of California - San Diego after I discovered they had separate studios for their Moog and Buchla systems. These large modular synthesizers were affordable then only by institutions and rock stars. But these would be soon eclipsed by smaller, cheaper synths in the 70's and early 80's. In the same way, recording studio technology became accessible in the 90's. . And thus the personal computer and digital audio allowed studio quality production in the home studio. Electronic music had become democratized.
Handmade music by way of digital technology: this is the music of EIGHTEEN

After more than a decade of deep, expansive productions on labels such as Detroit Underground and CPU, Annie Hall arrives on MUSAR for a record typically rich in texture and understated grooves.

Opening track 'Linium' immediately seduces listeners with a complex drum pattern that somehow feels spacious, subtly twisting and turning its way around Hall's analogue world. Dutch artist Mattheis maintains this understated feel but adds a soft, compelling kick in response on his suspenseful remix of 'Lavandula'. The original, moodier version of this cut the follows to open the B side, gradually erupting around a killer distorted bassline. The EP continues to hit a more urgent note with the tense machinations of 'Silene', where dense layers of stuttering, frenetic drums interweave with Hall's trademark, melancholy keys. The record concludes on a weightless, transcendent note with 'Santolina', taking each visceral element featured thus far and slowing each down, with affecting results.

Indebted to vintage electro and IDM, Hall's music is no throwback, always looking forward and moving dancefloors in the most unexpected ways.



DJ FEEDBACK

Early support from



Michael Mayer (Kompakt) : Nice vibes from Mattheis... will play for sure!

James Zabiela (Born Electric) : Linium is a nice one, thanks.

Arnaud Le Texier (Cocoon / Chronicle) : Nice music. Thx!

Marcel Dettmann (Ostgut Ton/MDR) : Thx!

Carl Craig (Planet E) : Thx!

Gonno (Beats In Space Records / Endless Flight) : I like Mattheis' :)

Thomas Hessler (Index Marcel Fengler) : Nice one! Thank you!

Slam (Soma) : Thanx

Âme (Innervisions) : Thanks

Blasha & Allatt (Meat Free / Manchester) : Amazing!

EREZ / John Byrun : A superb EP

Tom Lye (Melodic Distraction - Liverpool) : Big fan of the whole EP. Strong, building electro with different moods. Essential!

Afrodeutsche (NTS / LuckyMe / Skam) : Glitchy melodica... Right up my Strasse...

DJ Shiva / Noncompliant (Valence / Detroit Underground) : Stellar music here. Moving beyond "DJ music", this is just really fantastic to listen to in headphones. Gorgeous stuff.

Lonya (Asymmetric Recordings) : Great stuff here!

Nori (Posivision) : Cool work.

Cinnaman (Rush Hour / Naked Naked) : Lavandula and Santolina are my favorites! thanks

Dj Windows XP (E-Beamz) : Dope E.P. Will play Lavandula.

Ambivalent/LA-4A (Delft/Cocoon/Ovum) I'm a huge fan of Annie Hall and Mattheis!!! This is a FANTASTIC release!! One of my favorites of recent months just on first listen!!

Benoit C (Tsugi) : Linium for me

Ian Blevins (ESP Institute / Sulk Magic) : Linium and another bit of top work from Mattheis. Santolina is pushing my buttons too. Aphexy vibes.

Joe Europe (Ransom Note) : Very nice!

Azterisco: Very interesting record. Nice remix!

Oded Peled : What a fantastic release! Was hard to choose a favourite between Linium and the Mattheis Remix of Lavandula. Both will come in handy in my sets. ....Thanx a lot and keep em coming.

Naduve (Cocktail d'Amore / Disco Halal) : Both A1 and A2 are great!..Thanks.

Anastasia Kristensen (Nous) : I dig this a lot, it's a crazy well produced record.

Demia E.Clash (Darknet) : Such a good ep-.i love them all,quality production yess.

Pedro Martins (Karakter Records) : Nice EP overall. Linium, Silene, and Santolina are my favorites. Thank you so much!

Xinobi (Discotexas) : Great record. I'm specially enchanted by the original version o Lavandula. Congratulations.

Scan Mode (DJ Mag Spain) : Lavandula in both mixes for me

John Osborn (TANSTAAFL) : Can't pick a fav. it is all Devine. thank you.

Madloch (Sound Avenue) : Nice EP, Linium & Lavandula original are my favs, thanks.

DVS NME (Transient Force) : The standout track is Lavandula.

Almost three decades after he put out his first record as one half of Tummy Touch twosome Tutto Matto, Paulo Guigliemino continues to produce effortlessly brilliant music that joins the dots between vintage disco, boogie, proto-house and sun-kissed Balearica. For proof, just check the heavyweight dancefloor sunshine that is 'Bella Topa', his first release on Leng Records.

Slow, sensual and blessed with all manner of delay-laden drum machine percussion hits, the track fixes the producer's usual colourful, boogie-era synth flourishes and ear-pleasing instrumentation (think fluid electric pianos, fluttering flutes, eyes-closed jazz guitar solos, lilting saxophones and spacey electronic chords) to a chugging, head-in-the-clouds groove reminiscent of Lindstrom and Prins Thomas's early collaborative work. 'Bella Topa' cleverly shifts shape several times throughout, utilising jazzier rhythms and bolder melodies to light up key moments.

Remixes come from Guigliemino's old pal Federico Marton, a producer best known for being one half of sometime Get Physical, Superfiction and Snatch Recordings artists Italoboyz. He lays down two distinctive revisions, starting with a 'Slow' club reconstruction that adds additional percussive heaviness and sparkling electronics to Super Paolo's twinkling, sun-baked original.

His other version, a 'Fast' club reconstruction, drags Guigliemino's track towards peak-time dancefloors kicking and screaming. Making the most of his friend's killer groove and finding sufficient time and space for each life-affirming musical element to sparkle, his mix bobs, weaves and eventually soars for 12 mesmerizing minutes. The mix, like his slow version, makes use of additional percussion and wisely gives more prominence to the A-side's spacey electronics and boogie-influenced synthesizer flourishes. The results are little less than breathtaking.

If you think of music as a moving, changing form, and painting as a still form, what I'm trying to do is make very still music and paintings that move. I'm trying to find in both of those forms, the space in between the traditional concept of music and the traditional concept of painting.' Brian Eno.

Musician, artist, thinker, activist Brian Eno first came to international prominence in the early '70s as a founding member of Roxy Music, and immediately followed by a series of highly acclaimed solo albums. His visionary production work includes albums with U2, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Coldplay and many others.

His recordings and other collaborations are endless and endlessly known, however his visual experiments with light and video covers an even longer span of time and have been exhibited all over the globe - from the Venice Biennale to the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg, from Beijing's Ritan Park to the Sydney Opera House. Eno's installations are the fertile ground from which so much of his other work has grown and continue to parallel his musical career.

Music For Installations is a collection of original recordings from these installations with new and unreleased work covering the period from 1986 until the present and beyond.
________________________________________________

Designed by Brian and long-time collaborator Nick Robertson, this limited edition 9LP Vinyl boxset comes with a 64-page booklet featuring rare and unseen exhibition photographs and a new essay written by Eno.

- 12 x 12 rigid box set of 9 LPs containing music from Brian Eno's installations past, present and future.
- 64 Page book containing a brand new essay by Eno plus rare and previously unseen photographs from his various exhibitions from 1997 to the present.
- Each album is housed in a beautiful die-cut sleeve designed with long-time collaborator Nick Robertson and all music is guaranteed first time on vinyl.
- 50% of the music contained in the box set has never been available in any format and the rest has only ever had very limited cd release direct to consumer release.
- Vinyl mastered and cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering, London
- 100 % First time on vinyl, strictly limited edition

Harlem's legendary Disco label Queen Constance has long been a cult favourite among fans of underground dance music for decades.

One of many labels operating under the equally legendary P&P family of imprints Queen Constance was operated by one Peter Brown, a truly colossal figure in NYC's music scene, it's catalogue still fascinates music lovers to this day. Covering a wide range of styles including Gospel, early Rap and Disco the label's output continually finds it way into the playlists of respected DJ's and selectors across the globe. High Fidelity will be the first in a series of Queen Constance rarities to be reissued, an extremely rare and coveted record that can change hands on the second hand market for big big money, avoid those low rent bootlegs that are out there and cop this fully licensed repress.

The group's self-titled sole long-player is a fantastic 6 track set of gritty, soulful and uplifting funky Disco with a DIY edge. Not too much is known about the artists themselves, or even when the record was performed, recorded or released but it certainly sounds like a group who knew their craft inside out. The energy is high across the record and the group sound like they're on fire, just check the outrageously funkified 'Magic Carpet' and you'll see what we mean. Amazing. The whole project has that enchanting lo-fi, back-street feel to it in terms of production and the mind boggles as to how such a record would have come off had it been recorded at a Motown or any other 'big' studio, but no matter as this release is perfect the way it is, an essential piece of street-level NYC Disco straight from the underground.
This is a 100% legit reissue, made in conjunction with Above Board distribution and the Demon Music group, lovingly remastered with love by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK.