Search:matt french

Following up their critically-acclaimed 2024 LP Avoude (5 stars and 'Top of the World' on Songlines, Bandcamp top pick, Le Monde, BBC Radio, Pop Matters and more), Sol Power Sound is proud to present a blistering EP of remixes from the thrilling psychedelic West African outfit, Dogo du Togo & the Alagaa Beat Band.

Combining iconic traditional Togolese rhythms and melodies, Dogo du Togo’s sound is anchored in the country’s often overlooked, but extraordinary rich cultural history, reflecting the local Vodun religion and traditions that permeate everyday life in Togo.

For the remixes, Sol Power Sound enlisted a cast of renowned producers to rework the scorching originals into deeper club-friendly burners.

Captain Planet leads off the A side with a modern and percussive African house groove that will get any room with a pulse up and jumping

Sol Power All-Stars ask the question 'what if Prince joined Dogo du Togo in 1983?' and answer with a blistering dance funk track laced with synths, arpeggios, and Moog.

Rounding out the A-side is Detroit legend John Beltran, who transports Dogo and crew to Bahia for an Afro-Brazilian balearic heat rock. Perfect for your next sunset soiree.

Blair French, another Detroit icon, leads off the B-side with a deep and organic house groove that works equally well day, night, or early morning.

Sol Power All-Stars reappear again on side b with their mid tempo groovy Afrobeats flip of Von Na Agbeto, the one track that was not featured on Dogo’s LP.

Finally, DC mystery man Glenn Echo gets loose and trippy on the boards with a psychedelic digi dub (in 12/8!) that rattles your chest and puts your being directly into the echo chamber.

Besançon, sometime before lockdown… Still in high school, Laszlo, Baptiste, Matthieu, Maël and Marius, driven by a common desire to make people dance till they sweat, formed Wet Enough!?, and began to make music together, driven by a burning passion for funk, electro, rap and disco.

Early 2023, they were contacted by Antoine Rajon from label KOMOS who was to go on to produce their debut EP “DASH”, released in January 2024. A series of gigs followed in Paris, London, Brussels and the Jazz à Vienne festival under the aegis of Astérios Spectacles. That same year, they were also selected to take part in the Inouïs talent showcase at the Printemps de Bourges, as representatives of the Bourgogne Franche-Comté region.

The “Burgundy Five” then studied at music schools in Brussels, Amsterdam and Lausanne, in institutions more open than their French counterparts when it comes to exploring the full gamut of musical styles; they also frequently met up for composition sessions and concerts.

In September 2024, they left for London to record their debut album, in the studio of producer and musician Malcolm Catto, as he was charmed by a live at ‘91 Living Room’ in Brick Lane. The Heliocentrics drummer and sonic wizard behind Yussef Kamal’s famous ‘Black Focus’, used his trademark analogue approach to help craft 10 powerful tracks, collectively composed and arranged by the group.

On this release, we detect the influence of American groups like Ghost-Note and Butcher Brown, but also an energy almost akin to punk rock. And especially, we can sense an enthusiastic appetite for defying genres, without a care for codes or the constraints of aesthetic purism.

Their starting point is new jazz, conjuring up current scenes in the UK and America (‘Green Tangerine’, ‘Emile Lédonien’, ‘Lullaby for a riot’), but they soon wander into the club with the unashamed housey inflections of ‘Dump’ (carried aloft by Galawesh Heril on vocals). When Marius, the trombonist grabs the mic, he displays mastery of chiselled flow and old school French hip-hop vibes (‘Lascars, San Pé’) as well as ultra-modern, alternative aesthetics (Les 2).

During the studio sessions in London, the band invited two British musicians to guest on the record - a junglist rapper from Manchester, OneDa, who illuinates up single ‘One Leg’ with the brightness of her rhymes; and a Londoner, saxophonist Camilla George who offers a vibrant solo, riding high over the amped-up groove of Funk4.

There’s no doubt they shall join the group for upcoming shows whose philosophy is also expressed in the album’s title :

DANCING PEOPLE DON’T DRY.

Joni Void, the artistic persona of Montréal-based French-British producer Jean Néant (he/them) returns to songcraft on their warmest and most welcoming record yet, where the acclaimed sampledelic sound collagist chills out with an emotionally resonant song cycle tinged by downtempo, lo-fi, avant-pop, and trip-hop. Guests include Haco, Ytamo, Sook-Yin Lee, Pink Navel and N NAO. Every Life Is A Light expands on Void's recent stylistic turn towards more languorous and mellow lo-fi production, foreshadowed by the drifting looseness and ambient bricolage of their preceding experimental sound-art record. This transitional sensibility now shapes more defined song structures and styles, with loops are given time and space to unspool, and rhythms shot through the softer-focus lens of trip-hop and dub. Every Life Is A Light swaps the twitchy insistence of Void's acclaimed early albums for a newfound lightness and suppleness, still imbued with all the restlessness, sonic detailing, and emotional resonance that made their name. The neurotic brokenmachine kinetics of earlier Void, summarized by Sasha Geffen as "drawing despair and wonder from within the vast unfeeling of digital communication" in an 8.0 Pitchfork review, may be chilling out, but Void is becoming an ever better conjurer of hauntological feeling. Every Life Is A Light summons this in a comparatively buoyant, benevolent, head-nodding journey more open to tenderness and modest joys. Perhaps it's the sound of Void at greater peace with themselves and the world, despite the bittersweet cost: even as it channels grief, memorializing comrades and companions recently deceased, this album wants light. Void's raw materials continue to draw heavily from samples (their own Walkman cassette fieldrecordings and songs by others) and from a wide community of musical guests. Vocalists Haco on "Time Zone" and Ytamo on "Cloud Level" help levitate what could be lost tracks from a mid-90s Too Pure Records compilation of skewed-lounge electronica. Canadian musician Sook-Yin Lee sings on lead single "Vertigo," a sinewy 80bpm tape-loop and bassline groove propelled by psychedelically-layered lyrics that eventually turn the song in on itself entirely, like Grace Jones' "Nightclubbing" covered by Animal Collective. One of Void's greatest hip-hop loves is the Ruby Yacht collective; charter member Pink Navel drops some brilliant verses on "Story Board." The album's two minimal tracks, an extended piano loop set to a slow beat and shimmering electronics on "Muffin-A Song For My Cat" and the languid sampled bass riff and breakbeat of "Event Flow," are perhaps most overtly `lofi chill.' Indeed the whole album could be said to sit adjacent to those viral (if not already AI-generated) genre trends, which maybe begs the question on a lot of our minds: can specificity and authenticity of musical materials still be heard, still meaningfully signify substance and difference, still matter? Perhaps a question that fades in comparison to the career break Void could catch by landing on generic streaming playlists. More likely, these tracks remain too off-kilter, too genuinely lo-fi and ineffable, and too disqualified by the status of its peasant rights-holders, to catch the algos. Context remains the poor cousin of content. Meanwhile Void marches on, as a tireless organizer of local music events, bouncing around and often living in DIY venue, depending on the latest apartment eviction. With an ubiquitous polaroid camera in tow, they also document each communal happening with a single shot (and often a blinding flash bulb): a memory and metaphor for lives illuminated preciously, singularly, `imperfectly' in the moment. Dozens of these polaroids adorn the album's back cover and inner sleeve art in grid-like montages, as a fitting analog for the careful construction, grainy intimate materiality, and ephemeral feeling of these songs. Every Life Is A Light is Joni Void's most coherent and congenial record while relinquishing none of their experimentalist acumen as a producer or emotional attunement as a composer. Instead these qualities flourish, on an album that lights a humble flame for the fragile promise of homespun creative collaboration as unalienated labour and therapeutic communion, making an enchantingly idiosyncratic contribution to downtempo sample music along the way. Thanks for listening.

Finnish-born producer and pianist Idealism (800K Spotify Monthly Listeners) and French transplant Lucid Green (175k SML) are no strangers to each other’s subtle, yet potent productions. Having worked together on „Untold“ their Sophomore, fully collaborative LP “Unsaid” is a natural journey into the beautiful ambient, downtempo, lo-fi worlds they’ve each created. Through visits to Lucid’s flat in Paris and ideas being exchanged remotely, the duo experimented with different sounds, instruments and aural environments, in the process crafting a natural partnership that sits in a comfortable, melancholic pocket.

With lulling guitar and poignant piano progressions that provide a pillow to rest your ears, and downtempo percussions that keeps you ebbing and flowing along on a subtle current, unsure where one wave ends and the next begins, only the albums progressions dictate the head-nod. The album soars, reminiscent of life’s simple, yet wholly memorable moments.

As with all 823 releases, the project is a visual one as much as it is a musical project. The first singles visualizers are a fusion of Hopes & Dreams Club & 823’s design aesthetics with personal super8 footage captured by Idealism & Lucid Green, beautifully expressed from Hopes & Dreams Club membersi. Each visualizer and single art will easily stand on its own, transporting you to worlds familiar, yet undeniably groovy and sonically comfortable.

823 is a multifaceted Perth-based record label, fashion brand, and artistic community, founded by Australian producer and all-around creative, Ta-ku (630 SML). With an astute attention to detail and an ethos that appreciates the everyday things in life, 823 doesn’t stick to any particular genre. Past 823 releases include “So Far To Go” EP via Cabu (500k SML), Ta-ku and matt mcwaters’s duo project “Black and White,” featuring Masego collaboration “Flight 99” (38mil streams on Spotify), the “All Things Considered” compilations, a curated, collaborative series featuring both budding and well-established artists around the world and have included Idealism, Wun Two, pastels, L.Dre, Flobama, SwuM, Jinsang, Tenderlonious, among a host of others, as well as multiple sold out clothing capsules.

As soon as Martin Circus was born in 1969, the band laid foundations for the French "Pop Musique" genre, deliberately turning its back on both French yéyés and rock'n'roll to better embrace psychedelia and the French language. In 1971, they were a pioneering, innovative group moving as fast as a speeding train, building upon everything they found on the way. However, faced with band members changing often, management issues and music evolution, Martin Circus ended up trying to fit in every style: soul, R&B, glam rock, disco, new wave, 80s mainstream music. To follow their journey is to listen to the world shifting along music charts. Behind the scenes, since the very first days of the band, one man had been pulling all the strings. Manager and artistic director Gérard Hugé used to work for both the band and the label - this has never been good news. What he cared about the most was getting records out, no matter who played on them. In the mid-70s, he registered the Martin Circus name, granting himself full power over the band. Deciding that it no longer had either a lyricist or a composer, he made the remaining musicians embark on a series of American 60s hits adaptations. As a result, they made tons of money : "Marylène" was a huge hit and gave them a new impulse. The Martins adopted a new look by wearing shiny Courrèges-style suits and platform boots, and on stage they performed dance moves choreographed by the eccentric Amadeo. They completely fit into the disco craze which was about to take over. Still, their music blended doo-wop and rockabilly with glam rock and funk music. They eventually hit disco with a soundtrack in the mannerof French disco groups such as Space and Voyage. Effortlessly, they released the epic 14- minute "Disco Circus", a track which was to become a real underground gem. DJ and remixer François Kevorkian then released it on the American Prelude label in a self-edited version, shortened to 7 minutes while retaining all the dazzling passages of the original track. It came to be a hit in the clubs of New York and Chicago, making a lasting impression on everyone who heard it. It got sampled on at least 40 tracks over the following decades and featured in dozens of bootlegs and prestigious compilations - by Laurent Garnier, Carl Craig, Juan Atkins, Joey Negro, The Beatnuts, The Rapture, and by Danny Krivit in the DJ culture film Maestro. As the 80s arrived, Martin Circus once again changed the way they looked and their style. Inspired by Devo and their cold dance music, by Buggles' synthpop and Plastic Bertand's postpunk. Throughout their career full of ups and downs, Martin Circus nonetheless managed to keep up with one stable element: contrary to what they seemed, the musicians never took the easy way out. Their playing and arrangements were consistently flawless and polished, they relentlessly dedicated themselves to playing quality music and this can only compel admiration. As Coco Chanel once said, "Fashion goes out of fashion, style never does."

Tours (France) -based post-psych and deep-shoegaze powerhouse Stuffed Foxes are set to release their third LP, Standardized, on December 6th, 2024, via Bristol’s Stolen Body Records and French labels Reverse Tapes and Figures Libres. Songs / Revolving and Songs / Motion Return, a discographic diptych released in 2022, established Stuffed Foxes as accomplished ambassadors of the French rock scene. True to its predecessors, Standardized was recorded live in the Rennes studio of producer and musician Thomas Poli (Laetitia Sheriff, Dominique A). Mastering was entrusted to Matt Colton (Spiritualized, Swans, Shame). Early on, the six members transformed their youthful camaraderie into an adventure, embracing communal living (sharing a leaky roof had to be an integral part of the ride) and diving into the underground with their label, Reverse Tapes, a source of endless exciting music. They also adopted a democratic approach to creation fueled by endless jams, with the sexted striving to compose together from the outset. It is from this collective spontaneity that the unique expression of their music is born: long, hypnotic tracks, swirling mists of noise, and moments of vocal urgency that should be experienced in person during their invariably cathartic and incendiary concerts. It is a band that strives to stay true to its ethos, its soul haunted but never enthralled by the ghosts of its musical ancestors and battered icons. Their influences create joyful chaos: the musical walls of noise of My Bloody Valentine, the No-Wave drones of Swans, the psychedelic vapours of Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Post-Shoegaze eclecticism of Six-By-Seven. Standardized opens with Biting the Dawn, a Noise elegy that builds with relentless intensity. Léo's recitative voice soars above a searing blend of saturated guitars and echo-drenched drums. Next, Merry Xmas unleashes sharp, incisive guitar riffs reminiscent of Gang of Four and Fugazi, only to surprise with a dramatic twist that builds to a breathtaking, soaring climax echoing the brilliance of Ride’s most epic moments. Rough Up emerges as a Velvet Underground-inspired ballad, built on two simple acoustic guitar chords and an organ, showcasing a more subdued and vulnerable side of the band. In contrast, Standardized plunges into a powerful trance, unleashing a massive, deliciously primal wall of saturation with raw, unfiltered intensity. With Standardized, Stuffed Foxes appear to have reached an aesthetic milestone, transcending the semantics of the genres that once defined them. They have ‘de-standardized’ their sound and embraced a sense of freedom, opening up to the possibilities of a wider creative spectrum. Stuffed Foxes - Pretend to Be a Dog (Gamelle) (Official Video)

Repress!
Electro funky french tribe papa !!

In France: Live at the Nancy Jazz Pulsations Festival (1977) is a previously unissued live recording from the legendary bluesman B.B. King captured by the ORTF in France on October 7, 1977 and released on producer Zev Feldman's Deep Digs label in partnership with Elemental Music and INA France.
The limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP set will be mastered and cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, and include rare photos by Thierry Trombert, Val Wilmer, Jan Persson and more; plus liner notes by the acclaimed french author Jean Buzeline; and testimonials from fellow blues icons who knew or were inspired by B.B. King.

"Auto-Reverse" is a compilation of the greatest hits of Guillaume Fédou, a pioneer of French independent pop since 2003, the year of his first single "Garçon Moderne" released by Village Vert. Presented as a best-of and not an anthology, this project of 12 hand-picked tracks tells the sentimental and offbeat story of a "singer since 1974" who is both vintage and furiously contemporary.

Coming from collaborations with Arnaud Fleurent-Didier, Plaisir de France, Benjamin Diamond, Jérôme Plasseraud or les Soucis (his group composed of Victor le Masne, Pierre Leroux, Philippe Monthaye, Judah Warsky and Mattias Mimoun), these 12 songs are as many chapters of a melodic novel that defies the laws and especially the spirit of the times.

No need to rewind, Auto-Reverse does it for you.

Balancing glitch-pop and contemporary piano, the Belgian pianist explores the edges of her voice, language and twisted electronica



The Belgian pianist and producer maya dhondt releases a new album titled 'wow, x', marking her debut solo album under her own name. Navigating between bedroom glitch-pop and contemporary piano, she presents sounds of alienating beauty.



The album ‘wow, x’ will be released on September 13 on vinyl and all digital platforms via VIERNULVIER Records.



“I find beauty in the uncomfortable and disorienting" - maya dhont



The first single, 'desire,' is a mutated synth-pop track that gets under the skin. The song centralizes longing for something you don't know (yet). Perhaps it's the smell of damp earth, which can be both pleasant and unsettling? The single is now available on all streaming platforms and comes with a schizophrenic video by Sakis Brönnimann.



The first release show is scheduled for Saturday, October 5, at De Koer, Ghent.

More shows will be announced soon.



A postmodern cramp, that's how one could describe the music of pianist and producer maya dhondt. Her music is an intuitive and a never ending exploration that has the potential to be and become a multitude of things at once.



On her first solo album under her own name, 'wow, x,' she presents 10 varied tracks in which she creates equally idiosyncratic sound worlds. She takes the liberty to endlessly experiment with vocals, piano, and a mix of distorted lo-fi electronic sounds with an open mind. The result is sometimes synthetic and weird, sometimes compellingly beautiful, and always captivating, drawing you into its underlying melody. These intelligently crafted productions are connected by a penchant for alienating beauty: like a warm, but damp cave where it’s pleasant to linger just a little longer. Her original sound moves within a sonic spectrum reminiscent of contemporary artists such as Lolina, Astrid Sonne, claire rousay, aya or Carla Dal Forno.



"What I create never stands alone, it can be many things at once"



If the world were a sculpture garden, maya dhondt eagerly picks from it to draw inspiration from both visual and literary passages as well as personal experiences. Her highly personal bedroom productions are grounded firmly in the world due to philosophical references and politically charged messages. And the world she lives in is being questioned on 'wow, x', as the title refers to "What Or Why?". This is evident in the single 'desire': "What is the thing that matters / to exist / or to know you’re existing?" What does one choose in life: to live in the moment or to live to remember that moment?



In the lyrics on 'wow, x', maya dhondt plays - at times childishly - with language and its boundaries. On 'tip toe tip,' banal wordplay leads to an unexpected confession, and the seemingly simple phrases in 'untitled' conceal hidden life lessons. dhondt's world of words is multilayered and multilingual: Dutch ('kleine cijfers, groot verlies'), English ('desire'), and French ('untitled') are at her disposal. And on the fierce track that is 'minimalinvasiv,' not only she turns to hardstyle, but also to German - a language dear to her due to her Swiss heritage.

LRK are excited to announce their next full album release LRKLP-08

'ALL I EVER WONDER' By Johnny Burgos

Available on LP/CD/DIGITAL

Singer, songwriter, and producer Johnny Burgos converges with veteran soul producer, Jeremy Page, (Kendra Morris, Czarface, MF Doom) to offer their first joint album together titled, 'All I Ever Wonder.' The album is a vividly vulnerable and honest effort by Burgos, lyrically and vocally, supported effortlessly by Page's masterful production. The pairing of the two seems meant to be, with a sound steeped in retro soul techniques, the album is equal parts novelty and nostalgia, equalling a timelessness that speaks to the humanity in all of us. All I Ever Wonder will be released on Vinyl, CD and all digital platforms on Friday, JUNE 28th, 2024 via UK-based Soul label LRK Records.

Johnny - "Jeremy and I have been ships passing in the night for years now. However, our first official collaboration was a 2021 remix of my song The Grey, which featured his long-time co-collaborator Kendra Morris. From the get-go, the musical chemistry was strong, so we took a shot at writing some original tunes. Since then, we've locked in on a creative groove and churned out a bunch of material. As we learned how to complement each other's musical strengths, the project took on more form and purpose, exploring heavier subject matter and expanding its range of genres. I'm pretty sure that's what makes this project so fun for us, and possibly what the early gatekeepers and listeners resonated with most. Neither of us expected such a reception to the music, which only made us more excited to hone in with more intention towards a goal. This also allowed me to bring more raw ideas to the table and have the confidence in Jeremy to hear the potential, then work his magic to extrapolate on my foundation. The teamwork in this effort was inspiring as we listened and referred to each other in every step of the process, and had a crew of killer musicians on deck for when we needed the extra feels on some joints.

We worked really hard on this record and hope it reconnects our listeners to being human in a visceral way. It's accessible, honest, and soulful because I wanted it to speak to anyone who still wants music to relate to. Music to help you through the valleys, to celebrate the peaks, and handle everything in between. It's a journey of the soul that explores ego, insecurity, love, loss, survival, enlightenment and trusting the process. It's truly 'All I Ever Wonder.' "

"All I Ever Wonder" will have its digital release through LRK Records on all platforms on Friday, JUNE 28th, 2024.

Johnny Burgos is a Brooklyn - born singer, songwriter, producer & engineer. His brand of future-soul embodies a raw uncompromising sound revealing beauty from pain, hope from despair, and the will to keep fighting. Especially influenced by his uncle and world-class percussionist, Andre Martinez, Johnny grew a fascination with the percussive rhythms of salsa and soul music, eventually manifesting into a devoted passion for Hip Hop production using an Akai MPC. With influences from Michael Jackson, OutKast, J Dilla, Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo, Johnny's music draws upon the core principles of R&B, while encompassing elements of Hip Hop, Funk, Pop, Salsa and Reggae.

Johnny has collaborated with DJ Skizz, for Mobb Deep & M.O.P., Marco Polo, Frans Mernick, Liza Colby (The Gold Setting) and led his band Bridge City Hustle, with whom he toured nationally.

As a solo artist Johnny debuted with back-to-back brand endorsements from French's Mustard and Samsung US, using them as a platform to launch his 2018 EP 'Love Through it All.' His debut album 'Gone Into The Grey' was released to critical acclaim in March of 2021 and has since been added to multiple editorial playlists by Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, creating exponential growth. In 2022, Burgos' song 'Wild About You' was heard as the soundtrack to Neiman Marcus' "It's Your Moment" global streaming campaign. Johnny's currently amid promoting his latest album, The Tangent Tape, performing with his band The Butter, recording new collaborations and preparing his upcoming LP with Jeremy Page & LRK Records.

credits

releases June 28, 2024

After playing with Mingus, Coltrane, Lady Day and Abbey Lincoln, inventive jazz pianist Mal Waldron moved to Europe and first reached Japan in 1970, where he met Idahoborn double-bassist Gary Peacock, who had played with Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Bill Evans and free-jazz giant, Albert Ayler before moving to Japan to study zen buddhism. First Encounter, recorded in Tokyo in 1971 for French producer Herve Bergerat, shows that the intense pairing was quite natural, the harmonic dissonance of Waldron’s “She Walks In Beauty” contrasted by the up-tempo groove of Peacock’s “What’s That”; future Native Son founder Hiroshi Murakami makes important contribution on drums.

"In partnership with WaterTower Music, Waxwork Records is thrilled to release GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg! The epic monster-battle continues with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) features 23 new tracks created for the film by Grammy-nominated composer Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL (Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Zack Snyder’s Justice League) as well as composer Antonio Di lorio. Composer, Tom Holkenborg says, “I’m a huge Godzilla and Kong fan, and loved working with director Adam Wingard on 2021's GODZILLA VS. KONG, so returning to these monsters to score their biggest adventure yet was a dream come true. These are two of the most enduring names in Hollywood and Adam has done an amazing job implementing his vision for these icons. I was also delighted to be able to name Antonio Di Iorio, an incredibly talented composer, who has worked with me for many years, as my co-composer on this movie. I couldn’t be more enthusiastic to continue my adventures with Adam and expand our creative relationship in the Monsterverse.” Waxwork Records is excited to present GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE as a deluxe double LP featuring the original soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg pressed to 180 Gram colored vinyl, housed in heavyweight gatefold jackets with matte satin coating, a 12x12 heavyweight art print insert, and design and layout by Matt Needle."

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire by Tom Holkenborg & Antonio Di Iorio, released 21 June 2024, includes the following tracks: "Monarch Base - Red Dream", "Leaving Colosseum - New Dossier", "Friendship", "Approaching the Lake" and more.
This version of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire comes as a 2xLP in a(n) Gatefold Sleeve packaging. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

The vinyl is pressed as a swirl splatter, neon & pink & blue etc. disc. Another vinyl is pressed as a swirl splatter, neon & pink & blue etc. disc.

DJ and producer David Holmes is welcomed to the Late Night Tales fraternity with an evocative collection of personal songs and music, peppered with exclusive new material and rare gems. By now, I think we all know David Holmes, right There's acid house Holmes, with bone-rattling Chicago jams and Detroit destroyers, break-digger Holmes responsible for the grittily shaking 'Let's Get Killed' and seminal Essential Mix compilation (which brought Sixto Rodriguez to people's attention, and then there's soundtrack Holmes. His most enduring and vital source of musical inspiration - cinema - plugged into David's rst solo record 'This Film's Crap, Let's Slash the Seats' and inspired 2000's 'Bow Down to the Exit Sign', created as the soundtrack to a not-yet-made movie. Ofcial soundtracks have been bountiful, including scores for Soderbergh's Out Of Sight and Ocean's trilogy, '71, Hunger and Good Vibrations. In a series of personal songs sung by himself, David's last solo album 'The Holy Pictures' explored inuences of La Düsseldorf, The Jesus and Mary Chain and early Brian Eno. His Unloved collaboration with Keefus Ciancia and Jade Vincent then took us on a musical journey full of raw 60s pop-noir, psychedelia and French Ye Ye with a contemporary twist. Somehow he's also found time to produce records by Primal Scream and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Unsurprisingly, for someone au fait with matters cinematic, this Late Night Tales conjures up its own mindmovies. It's not only packed with the judiciously selected nuggets for which his mixes are noted but also stuffed with original material, including collaborations with BP Fallon and Jon Hopkins and an amazing new reading of 10cc's 'I'm Not In Love' by Holmes-produced Song Sung. In fact, there's a Celtic thread running through the whole journey with Stephen Rea's reading of an extract from Seamus Heaney's AENEID BOOK VI - Elsewhere Anchises. Among the other gems included here are David Crosby's lush 'Orleans', Buddy Holly's celestial 'Love Is Strange' and the Children Of Sunshine's 'It's A Long Way To Heaven'. David Holmes loves music. It's a way of expressing the sometimes inexpressible or the inconsolable, a questing desire to nd out just what is over the next hill. It's no surprise to learn he's a keen walker. Always on the move, headphones on, lost in some reverie or piece of music, the soundtrack to his life, the stuff that feeds his imagination. I walk a lot. It's amazing for listening to music: your phone or your emails aren't going and you're just in the forest listening to music. It's so intimate. Anyway, I was listening to the KLF's Chill Out album, which still sounds amazing, but it triggered an idea with concrete sounds through travelling and movement. And one of the things I was trying to do was to use this idea not just break up the moods but also as a metaphor for moving through life and arriving in different destinations or arriving at different stages in different parts of your life. Memory, Love, Living, Family, Friendship, Healing, Death and The Afterworld are some of the themes I wanted to explore within this record. Although these strong themes and tracks are personal to me, I also wanted it to be a great listen that was unpredictable yet had a seamless ow - a journey that was personal to me yet to the listener a great compilation of music that they may or may not have heard before. I hope I've succeeded in the later.' David Holmes 2016

ora’s most innovative modern exponent bathes in communion with a re-imagined classical guitar, unveiling a new and previously unsuspected musical universe. In a meeting between instruments, not traditions, these maestros emerge from quite different and distant musical worlds. Ballaké Sissoko’s kora tradition and lineage traverse the once powerful West African empire known as Kaabu. South African Derek Gripper’s roots are in European classical guitar but infused with a unique jeli music mastery that takes guitar’s modern history in a captivating new direction.

But we are not hearing these traditions in dialogue: these masters meet on the sonic groundings of the kora, instrument of the griots, resonant vessel of the sacred and profane, sound carrier of history and wisdom. Through two decades of commitment and study, it is to this terrain that Gripper brings his guitar to meet its multi-stringed cousin.

The two men do not share a spoken language, but if it is true that music speaks universally, then they were already involved in profound dialogue long before they met for the series of London concerts which yielded this recording session – a session which matches deep communion with sparkling improvisation, which pushes a living tradition into brand new sonic spaces, and opens a live and direct channel of communication between kora and guitar. In the complex web of theme and variations spun by Sissoko’s twenty-two strings and Gripper’s six, a new African string theory is elaborated.

“Musically we tested each other,” says Sissoko, explaining that the most magical aspect of their encounters are spontaneity. “We have the mastery of our instruments, the technique and a good ear. Derek is very curious, that’s very important.”

“He’s just such a good listener,” says Gripper about Sissoko. “It’s not what he plays, it’s how he plays it. He’s an amazing interpreter, the prime master of timbre.”

Recording by Taylor Pollock at Platoon Studios, London.
Mixed, edited and produced by Derek Gripper.
Mastered by Murray Anderson at Milestone Studios, Cape Town.
Produced for vinyl by Chris Albertyn and Matt Temple at Matsuli Music.
Mastered for vinyl and lacquers cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, London.
Vinyl pressed at Pallas GmbH, Germany.
Sleeve notes by Francis Gooding, French translation by Paulo Goncalves.
Cover design by Toby Attwell at Twoshoes, Cape Town.

Created with her accomplice Matthis Pascaud (guitars and production), her new opus Oizel , gives pride of place to her folk and pop influences. With her voice poised, naked and quivering, in subtly kneaded French - her language of sunken hearts, she calls on the inspiring birds, mocking blackbirds or wild geese, funny birds, libertarians and marginal people of all feathers. Between poignant laments and cheeky refrains, it resonates like a vibrant declaration of independence, and gives voice to the gentle yet fierce, tender yet unruly song of an artist and a woman who, more than ever, from the impregnable heights to which her music lifts her, tells us: "No, you're not going to put me in a box like that."

Warehouse Find! Test Pressing!

Simbad makes a welcome return to Freerange following last year’s brilliant Take My Hand EP featuring South African vocalist Brian Temba. Now based predominantly in Cape Town, the French Londoner producer and DJ is one of the most prolific artists in the scene having notched up countless EP’s, remixes and production work for labels like Apron, G.A.M.M. Faces, Hyperdub, Atjazz, BBE & Brownswood. His association with Gilles Peterson and Worldwide runs deep, hosting regular shows on WWFM as well as traversing the globe delivering his unique and eclectic sets from Africa
to Asia and beyond.

Peaceful Revolution is one of those special house tracks which transcends boundaries, encapsulating an outernational sound in a way that Simbad excels in. Featuring South African upcoming producer Zito Mowa & vocalist Lwandile Zulu who brings a raw and impassioned energy to the deep and soulful mood, this tune was recorded in support of the troubled events from the past few months (Black Lives Matter movement).

Next up we have a track entitled Let Go which could quite easily be the lead track of the EP if they weren’t all as good as each other! This is late night emotive house music at its most sublime. Drop this at the right time and watch the floor come together in collective bliss.

Flip over for SMBD’s Shaolin Dub remix of Peaceful Revolution which pushes the original to the outer limits of the audio spectrum. Sub-sonic low end rumbles sitting in contrast to the ghost like whispers, glitches and industrial noises that pierce the ethereal pads.

Closing out this special release we find the unassumingly titled Soulful Jam, a low-slung groove which sees Simbad going heavy on fizzing analogue synths with a serene synth solo takin centre stage amongst the lush chords.

Four years and one pandemic after his latest Dreams Of A Dark Building EP, the herald of dungeon synth pop is finally back from his shallow grave.

Life has not been gentle with Seattle-based solo producer Parker Lautenschlager over the past few years, imposing its unpredictability and forcing him to channel all the feelings that come with it into Profit Prison’s music.

It’s no surprise that his first full-length album Gilt marks one futher step towards the dark corners of italo / hi-nrg body music. Typical Profit Prison’s vocals and melodies, reminiscent of OG synth masters Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, are still here, buried in the mix and waiting to haunt the listeners and drag them down in one sulfurous dancing spiral.

Lead single Sophia juxtaposes some weirdly camouflaged vocals with one heavenly chorus that seems willing to revive your fortunes while instead it literally sings “But I lost it all”. A Matter Of Tact displays pop escapism over some throbbing minimal synth tension, Seven Words sounds like a throwback to 70’s italo filtered through the eyes of a 21st century punk rocker. Katalina has a rampant synth à la Carpenter climbing over a story of loss and Katalina, An Ascetic is a solo ramble reaching for the inner light on a carpet of cold keys.

What’s more, tracks got longer in Parker’s recent songwriting, with most of the songs being now five minute long and reaching peaks of seven minutes with the closing, almost progressive disco jam of A.R.P. (Amphetamine Research Project), nothing short of a lucid dream on the floor of Studio 54.

Last but not least, the artwork by French artist Robin Roche delivers medieval-yet-punk graphic vibes to match just perfectly the sounds on this record.

Four years and one pandemic after his latest Dreams Of A Dark Building EP, the herald of dungeon synth pop is finally back from his shallow grave.

Life has not been gentle with Seattle-based solo producer Parker Lautenschlager over the past few years, imposing its unpredictability and forcing him to channel all the feelings that come with it into Profit Prison’s music.

It’s no surprise that his first full-length album Gilt marks one futher step towards the dark corners of italo / hi-nrg body music. Typical Profit Prison’s vocals and melodies, reminiscent of OG synth masters Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, are still here, buried in the mix and waiting to haunt the listeners and drag them down in one sulfurous dancing spiral.

Lead single Sophia juxtaposes some weirdly camouflaged vocals with one heavenly chorus that seems willing to revive your fortunes while instead it literally sings “But I lost it all”. A Matter Of Tact displays pop escapism over some throbbing minimal synth tension, Seven Words sounds like a throwback to 70’s italo filtered through the eyes of a 21st century punk rocker. Katalina has a rampant synth à la Carpenter climbing over a story of loss and Katalina, An Ascetic is a solo ramble reaching for the inner light on a carpet of cold keys.

What’s more, tracks got longer in Parker’s recent songwriting, with most of the songs being now five minute long and reaching peaks of seven minutes with the closing, almost progressive disco jam of A.R.P. (Amphetamine Research Project), nothing short of a lucid dream on the floor of Studio 54.

Last but not least, the artwork by French artist Robin Roche delivers medieval-yet-punk graphic vibes to match just perfectly the sounds on this record.

For a few years Leo Robinson was the sort of hidden secret you sometimes come across in local music scenes. First in Manchester and now in Glasgow, he’d pop up regularly on DIY bills or as local support to a touring act, quietly blowing them off stage with his rich baritone vocal and homespun lo-fi tales of folklore and animism. With The Temple – his debut on PRAH Recordings – he looks set to cross over from being a cult concern.

“There's a spectrum within the album between fully mythologising or symbolising my lived experience, and just stating it in very matter of fact terms - that push and pull between the need to abstract and the need to break through the abstraction and have an honest moment with oneself” he explains. “This is one of the themes of the album as well as part of the process. The aim was to take all these anecdotal or symbolic elements and merge them into one narrative and one world, in a way that you can find your way through the record as if it were a landscape or language with its own logic.”

The record takes on a pastoral, slightly baroque nature that Robinson partly attributes to a friend screening a lot of ‘70s BBC material in his book shop that they used to hang out at. There are also elements of jazz, flickering to life in “The Spring”’s piano-led finale and coda.

Thematically, Robinson likens it to a Jungian ‘Hero's Journey’, his voice possessing a character who goes through several defined stages of consciousness. From conception and the beginning of an earthly life, the first half of the album recognises the development of the protagonist’s narrative and identity, before “The Pink Light”’s freeform departure from the hitherto more song-based suite devastatingly shatters this. The second half of the album then sees the protagonist witness “the uncontainable” water; learning that true divinity lies not in the individual self or lofty notions of gods and temples, but in the unremarkable nettles, insects and dogs on the roadside riverbank - referenced on tracks “The Cormorant” and “The Spring”.

Although now residing north of the border, The Temple was written while Robinson was finding his feet in Manchester, having moved there to go to art school as a teenager (as a visual artist, he has exhibited at the Tiwani Contemporary in London and Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre). As a result, many of the tracks bear out the shadows of his experiences in the northern city – at their most visible and explicit on the beautifully fragile storytelling of “The Pavement”. Written the day after the Manchester Arena Bombings, it recalls Robinson waking up to go to work on a hot summer’s day to discover that his street had been blocked off for terrorism investigations; it then progresses through the rest of his day, amidst the grimly surreal aftermath of the previous night.

Having written the chords, melodies and lyrics to the album, Robinson fleshed out the tunes by scoring out parts for the additional instrumentation, but it was only when a friend sent a demo to PRAH that he was able to fund its full recording. Guitars, vocals, piano and French Horn (the latter recorded by Lauren Reeve-Rawlings) were put down at Green Door Studios in Glasgow. Microphones were placed around the room and the sound of the musicians stepping on creaky floorboards and opening creaky doors were left audible to further the record’s live feel. The harpsichord heard on “The Serpent”, meanwhile, came from University of Glasgow lecturer David McGuinness. Strings were then recorded at PRAH Studios by Francesca Ter-Berg and Raven Bush, the Social Singing Choir adding their choral vocals to “Temple II”.

The result is an album that feels both luscious and yet intimately raw; as grand as Richard Dawson at his most panoramic but containing the rough edges and skeletal looseness of a Calvin Johnson work. At times Robinson lyrically moves towards the surreal, but ultimately this is a record grounded in reality; a true showcase of Robinson’s skill as a lyricist and songwriter.