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Out of the Fog is a masterpiece of divine beauty and charm from the Norwegian composer / performer Daniel Herskedal featuring fellow Norwegian singer-songwriter Emilie Nicolas (4 Times Norwegian Grammy Winner - 2014: Pop soloist of the year and new artist of the year. 2018: Album of the year and pop artist of the year). Crafted with a warmth and awe-inspiring finesse, it’s the blend of Daniel’s unequivocally trademark sound of multi-layered brass, empowering harmonies and soaring melodic lines, with warmth and emotive power of Song and the collaboration with Emilie Nicolas that gives this album its uniquely defining quality. Having emerged in recent years as one of the most prolific and exciting Norwegian composers, Daniel is adeptly capable of straddling Jazz, Classical, soundtracks and now High-Art Pop as well as being a performer who has pushed his instrument beyond its limits. As a consequence it has earned him numerous awards and accolades including a Norwegian Grammy for Best composer and seen him write music for a global Coca Cola ad, the film (The Last Black Man of San Francisco), and the soundtrack for the 9/12 podcast (nominated for Best Score And Music Supervision at Ambie Awards) as well as his own acclaimed albums. Featuring legendary guitarist Eivind Aarset and percussionist Andreas Helge Norbakken, Out of the Fog is an astonishing album from Norwegian Jazz and Pop royalty, with music that is long-lasting and that leaves you wanting more and more. It’s breathtaking and powerfully moving.

For Fans Of... Sunny and the Sunliners, Rene Y Rene, Ray Camacho. The second offering by The Revues continues to explore the intersections between Tejano music, Latin Soul, and funk. This updated take on Rene y Rene’s coveted version of “Mi Corazón Esta Llorando” is tough but with a touch of sweetness. On the flip side we get the instrumental version only with the vocal melody being swapped out for tenor and alto saxes, heightening the Tejano influence and flavor. Also Available From The Revues: Take Me For A Little While 7”. Tracks: 1. Mi Corazón Esta Llorando 2. Mi Corazón Esta Llorando

Daniel Barenboim will turn 80 on November 15th. Warner Classics are celebrating the great musician, who has had tremendous success since the ‘60s both at the piano or conducting, with an album made in the mid-90s that is close to his heart and Argentinian origins, though aside of the classical repertoire. Tangos Among Friends - Mi Buenos Aires Querido (named after a tango by Carlos Gardel) proves again all the talent and swing Daniel Barenboim has, and has been a huge success since released by Teldec on CD in 1996.

“I spent the first nine years of my life in Argentina and only in Argentina. The rest of the world was far away. Everything Argentinian was close to my heart. The concepts of cosmopolitan existence or international thinking were not yet awakened. The air that I breathed was Buenos Aires, the language that I spoke was Spanish porteño and the rhythm to which I danced (figuratively speaking…) was the tango! My idol was Carlos Gardel. Nearly half a century later I came back not only to Argentina, not only to my childhood but especially to my Buenos Aires querido and many other wonderful melodies that make up this sentimental record.”
Daniel Barenboim – from album booklet


In an interview made in the 90s, Daniel Barenboim added: “In Argentina during the late 1940s there was no chasm between classical music and the tango, in the way there was a chasm between classical music and jazz. The tango is a basic part of Argentine popular culture; when you went to a restaurant or a party, that was the music you would hear. (…) Already as a child I was crazy about the tango. I still am.”

“The young Daniel found himself drawn to the bittersweet tales of passion, tragedy and nostalgia sung by Gardel, the tango singer and songwriter who exerted a major influence in popularizing the tango throughout the Western hemisphere and Europe. (…) Over the following decades Barenboim would regale friends at home or at parties with piano arrangements of tangos he heard in his youth. (…) Barenboim never thought of sharing his passion for tangos with the public until last year when he had returned to Buenos Aires for concerts with his Berlin Staatskapelle orchestra. At a reception he found himself talking tangos with a young Argentine. Learning of Barenboim’s interest in performing them, he offered to drum up a few local musicians with whom Barenboim could play tangos at home. That’s how he met Mederos and Console. “The first day we just played for fun,” Barenboim says. “Then we decided to make a recording. So we rehearsed for two days and made the record in one afternoon.” (…) Once he, Mederos and Console set out to record their tango program, Barenboim was surprised at how much of the characteristic tango rubato – a subtle alteration of rhythmic weight and accent – he still had at his fingertips, more than four decades after leaving Buenos Aires. That said, he insists on sharing credit for the success of the disc with his Argentine colleagues. “What they gave me was a pure sense of the tango, especially in the melodic freedom over a very strict rhythmic foundation. Performing tangos, you are constantly anticipating the downbeat or coming after it; this is part of the tradition. What I gave them was the necessity to rethink certain aspects – say, the volume and transparency of sound – so that playing tangos didn’t sound routine.”
– The Chicago Tribune, Oct. 1996

THERION have always been a band that have challenged themselves to explore new paths, while remaining true to their musical core values. For their 17th studio album, mastermind Christofer Johnsson and his collaborator Thomas Vikström have created something that has been previously unthinkable to the guitarist and the singer. "We have done the only thing that was left of all the different angles to explore", explains Christofer. "We have decided to give the people what they kept asking for. 'Leviathan' is the first album that we have deliberately packed with THERION hit songs."

True to the Swede's words, the album opens with the catchy and swift tune 'The Leaf Of The Oak Of Far' featuring female and male antiphonal singing as well as a choir that seems to have evolved straight out of THERION's breakthrough full-length "Theli" (1996). This is immediately followed by the obvious highlight 'Tuonela', in which Christofer cleverly underscores this hit-track's Finnish vibe by employing NIGHTWISH’s "metal voice" Marko Hietala. Next up in this parade of future fan-favourites is the title track 'Leviathan' that offers classic THERION material with operatic female vocals and a massive choir.

Christofer Johnsson's passion for classic voices, choirs, and orchestral elements as well as his penchant for epic melodies in combination with rock and metal shines clearly through the following sing-along ballad 'Die Wellen Der Zeit', which indicates another nod to German romantic composer Richard Wagner. "Ever since 'Theli', Wagner has been and will always be at the core of THERION", emphasises Christofer. "When we started to combine metal and opera, it was something new and original. Today, symphonic metal has long been a firmly established genre." When THERION came into being in 1988 by changing name from the already existing band BLITZKRIEG, which was founded a year earlier, Christofer had rather taken inspiration from SLAYER's "Reign In Blood" among other classic metal albums.

At the beginning, the Swedes were firmly rooted in death metal, a genre which they helped to define, as witnessed by their debut album "Of Darkness...." (1991). Yet even back then, there were hints of "something else" lurking beneath the rough surface. The use of female vocals is another core ingredient of THERION today, which developed gradually. CELTIC FROST had basically introduced the female element to extreme metal on "To Mega Therion" in 1985. THERION began with both a female and male vocalist emulating a church like choir already in their sophomore full-length 'Beyond Sanctorum' (1992). With Symphony "Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas" (1993) and "Lepaca Kliffoth" (1995), Christofer continued to developed his trademark sound by gradually drifting towards cleaner vocals and more keyboards.

With "Theli", the Swedes had firmly established a reputation of pushing the boundaries of metal in the 90s –among such acts as their compatriots TIAMAT, THE GATHERING, and MOONSPELL that were often referred to as "gothic metal" at the time. THERION continued to break new ground leaving inspiration for others to follow in their wake: On "A'arab Zaraq -Lucid Dreaming" (1997), Christofer further explored the use of Near Eastern music in metal which he had already begun in 1992, while "Secret Of The Runes" (2001) dared to have Swedish lyrics in some songs.

While critics were left confused and fans challenged, THERION were often ahead of their times and vindicated in hindsight. Even the band's 25th anniversary excursion "Les Fleurs Du Mal" has by now overcome the initial shock the album caused and is only beaten in terms of streaming by the classic "Vovin" (1998). When Christofer faced the question of where to go next after the dramatic "Beloved Antichrist" (2018) had finally fulfilled his musical mission, his answer is "Leviathan" named after a giant sea monster from Judeo-Christian myth that has roots in Babylonic lore: THERION have created a giant hit album –and for the first time in the history of the Swedes, their fans are not asked to explore something new, but simply to lean back and enjoy the best from their band!

Seit der Gründung im Jahr 2015 und dem sofortigen Senkrechtstart haben dArtagnan 5 Alben aufgenommen und Hunderte Konzerte und Festivals gespielt. Schon das Debütalbum heimste Gold ein und erreichte wie alle Nachfolger die Top-10 der Album-Charts. Auf ihrem fünften Album "Felsenfest" meldet sich die Band "rockig, wild und weltgewandt" zurück, denn dArtagnan sind nicht nur angekommen, sondern mit ihren geradlinigen Melodien, ihrer Spielfreude und dem unverwechselbaren Sound, Schrittmacher der Folkrockszene. So überrascht es wenig, dass oft genug mehr als die Hälfte der Single-Streams aus dem Ausland kommt. Das Doppel-Album enthält konsequenterweise neben 12 deutschsprachigen Songs 8 weitere Songs mit Folk-Klassikern und prominenten Duettpartnern wie Candice Night (Blackmores Night/USA), Luc Arbogast (France), Blackbriar (Netherlands) und den O'Reillys and the Paddyhats (Deutschland)."Felsenfest" erscheint erstmals in 5 verschiedenen Ausführungen: Neben der Doppel-CD und dem Digitalalbum gibt es die Vinyl-Edition (180gramm black vinyl), die "Holzbox-Edition" (mit Fahne, Lilien-Kette, Autogrammkarte und Instrumental-CD) sowie das limitierte 3CD-Earbook, ein etwa 30 x 30 cm großer, gebundener Bildband mit dem Doppel-Album, den Instrumentalversionen sowie einer von allen Bandmitgliedern handsignierten, großen Autogrammkarte.Das neue Album von dArtagnan: Felsenfest, verwegen und frei!

For Fans Of... Sunny and the Sunliners, Rene Y Rene, Ray Camacho. The second offering by The Revues continues to explore the intersections between Tejano music, Latin Soul, and funk. This updated take on Rene y Rene’s coveted version of “Mi Corazón Esta Llorando” is tough but with a touch of sweetness. On the flip side we get the instrumental version only with the vocal melody being swapped out for tenor and alto saxes, heightening the Tejano influence and flavor. Also Available From The Revues: Take Me For A Little While 7”. Tracks: 1. Mi Corazón Esta Llorando 2. Mi Corazón Esta Llorando

'Tempo Sem Tempo' is the fifth studio album by São Paulo based clarinet player, singer and composer Joana Queiroz, now available on vinyl for the first time outside of Brazil.
It is indeed a timeless record. A cocooning blend of looped reeds and low-key electronics holding melodies and lyrics.
When Joana sings, it's with noble restraint and grace, as can be heard on four songs including Gilberto Gil's 'Seu Olhar' and 'Dois Litorais' by her friend and Quartabê band mate Mariá Portugal.
Standing out on 'Tempo Sem Tempo' is a wistful beauty that makes it easy to immerse oneself in the intimate vastness of this album.

Low Company presents Yuta Matsumura’s Red Ribbon, a sequence of introspective, lavishly melodic dream-songs and amphibian atmospheres recorded in scattered periods over 2018-21. Having played in bands like Low Life, M.O.B. and Orion, and the duo Jay & Yuta (with Jay Cruikshank), Red Ribbon is Matsumura’s first solo outing, and represents a conscious effort to move away from guitar-based songwriting. He composed its nine tracks mostly on piano - layering vocals, bass, keyboards, flute (courtesy of Maeve Parker), violin/cello (Laurence Quinn) and clacking drumbox rhythms into dynamic, dubwise avant-pop structures which are supple and spacious but fizzing with detail and vivid inner life. The laconic 4/4 pulse, heat-warped synth-tones and haunting vaporous melodica of opener ‘Box Garden’ set the tone: its surreal psychedelic patternings barely concealing a deep sting of longing and regret. The cryptic lyrics suggest chance encounters, hidden logic, missed opportunities, fatalism, serendipity. A city submerged: everyone else paused mid-movement, while you’re allowed to swim free and fish-like through the streets, over the rooftops...‘Tangled Orchid’ is a tense night-drive through dry desert heat and into the unknown, running away from your old life, chased down by dust-devils of half-baked schemes and abandoned plans, while ‘Myth Machine’ drops the tempo and something mind-altering, guiding us on a tripped-out dub-disco scuba among alien flora and fauna, a world of impossible shapes and sensations. At which point, the mood of the album decisively shifts, firstly with ‘Sake No Otoh’, sung in Japanese by Haruka Sato: an instant-classic, breathtakingly intimate lover's lament that sounds like it got lost on its way to heaven and is now doomed to orbit the earth forever. The songs that follow continue in this more confessional, imploring mode. As if the travelling's done, the baggage has been cast off, and we’ve arrived at our destination, where the real process of rebirth and repair can begin. The music’s textures become less overtly dubby and electronic, with more of an organic, earthy, chamber-pop/avant-folk feel, at once sad and hopeful-sounding. Three songs in particular bear the influence of Eno’s 70s work (and its mutant bedsit offspring Lifetones, Flaming Tunes, etc): ‘‘E. Potential’, where baroquely chorused vocals - half-agonised, half-beatific - teeter on top of simple oscillating piano loops, and the stately, dawntreading ballads ‘Tabula Rasa’ and ‘No Sleep For Birds’. The bulk of the album was made prior to lockdowns and all of that; its themes of reset, self-examination, the need to f**k it all off and take spiritual stock, are timeless. Though they perhaps have a more bittersweet resonance now the world has returned pretty much to how it was, only worse. Track list: 1. Box Garden 2. Tangled Orchid 3. Myth Machine 4. Red Ribbon 5. Soko No Ato 6. Tabula Rasa 7. E. Potential 8. No Sleep For Birds 9. Zookeeper's Trial

TNT is the third full length studio album released by Tortoise in 1998 1998 : Tortoise"s third studio album TNT is released. In and out of print over the past decade we are happy to finally give everyone what they have been asking for - TNT on vinyl again! Pressed on high quality virgin vinyl, the two LPs are packaged in a deluxe old-style tip?on gatefold jacket fully replicating the original artwork and includes a download coupon for the first time! Tortoise"s third full-length release, TNT, was written and recorded during a 10-month interval in 1997. This longer-than-usual writing/production schedule was purposefully undertaken by the group in the hopes of crafting an expansive, diverse, yet thematically coherent offering. TNT builds upon the spare, instrumental framework of the group"s first, self-titled album, and the extended edits, melodic adventures, and klangfarben of the subsequent full-length release, Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Further to this, Tortoise"s interest in the possibilities offered by the remixing of tracks was realized within the actual production of TNT; individual elements, sections, or sometimes whole compositions mutate within the album"s shifting framework. These techniques were suitably realized thanks in part to the use of non-linear digital recording and editing methods, the first example of such work for the group

Max Loderbauer’s career in music spans the last 3 decades, yet he’s still managed to keep his listeners hungry by releasing only 3 solo albums to date. Two of those releases (Transparenz, 2013 and Donnerwetter, 2020) were on Tobias Freund’s label Non Standard Productions - his long time collaborator and Templehof studio mate. In between those releases, Loderbauer graced Marionette with Greyland in 2016, revealing a previously unheard youthful and sentimental side. Now in 2022, the seasoned mind voyager is back with Petrichor, making yet another rare and treasurable solo appearance.

Petrichor distills the elements of Loderbauer’s work that are fundamental to the initiation of the label. With his Buchla, modular synth, and Haken fingerboard, Loderbauer’s improvised studio maneuvers dilate into imagined journeys from glacial peaks into the exosphere. This is Maxi at his most exhilarating state, morphing through bittersweet and optimistic soundscapes to bleak moments of throbbing unease - all while maintaining a sense of grace and elegance. Petrichor is a reflection of Loderbauer’s impactful trips to the mountains, and returning from these summits with an electrifying urge to paint this mighty perspective. The harmonies and melodies on the tracks simulate emotional peaks and valleys, with vibration and rhythm rooted in the foundation of the sound, as though it's woven into the fabric of the fauna and flora.

Legendary collaborations like Vilod (with Ricardo Villalobos), the Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Non Standard Institute, Sun Electric in the early nineties, and the newly formed Ambiq ensemble have gained this unique artist the respect of the underground and avant garde scenes alike.

As a duo they embrace both sides of the coin, drums and guitar, chaos and order, male and female, ying and yang, the angel and the devil. They are more than the sum of both counterparts though, making for a maximalist auditory experience. PIKA brings her skills of mystifying performance to the table, all free-drum bluster and vocals veering between shrine maiden and wild spirit. Kawabata's guitar-work moves from a roar to a whisper, a yell to a sob, he's working on the same canvas of extremes. The aim of their unity is to write truly celestial hymns for the outer world and odes of love for the inner cosmic context.
 
No strangers to one another, the pair have not only gigged together with their respective bands but also recorded together, when these two outfits temporarily fused in 2005 to become Acid Mothers Afrirampo (releasing an album of the same name). Two years later they distilled their collaboration, all other players being stripped away to leave the core of Pikacyu's manic drums and pop vocal, and Makoto's schizoid guitar conjurings. In 2011 they spent five weeks touring the US and their first album, 'OM Sweet Home: We Are Shining Stars From Darkside', which was released by the esteemed UK label of all things heavy and brilliant, Riot Season. Last year they spent two weeks touring through Europe whilst writing a new album suffused with the outreaching sound and message of their impulsive live performances. This new album is entitled 'Galaxilympics' and will be released by Upset The Rhythm on August 4th on LP and CD.
'Galaxilympics' is an album of contrasts, so much colour, so much shade! 'Space Sumo' kicks off the record in explosive style. Pikacyu's drums jitter, crash and stumble, but steadfastly refuse to groove. Makoto attacks his guitar, cloaking himself in reverb to produce a wall-of-sound, alternating between melody and noise. 'Funifunikonefuni' follows with it's frenzied take on pop music, bubbling with energy and PIKA's multiple vocal layers. 'I'll Forgive' is chant-like in its devotion to following the tumbling melody line of the song even to absurd and unpredictable dimensions. 'Pika Mako Hall' is a more serene affair, with whispered echoes and guitar drones swirling amongst bursts of rapid sequencer ambience. 'Castle Of Sand' picks up on this more spacious approach with slowly developing programmed electronics, before the title track erupts with gurgling synths, soaring guitar trails and PIKA's most searching vocal yet.
 
The album concludes in reflective manner with the suitably titled 'Sayonownara', a song as much in the present as it is in the act of saying farewell. It's positively elegiac with washes of cymbal and deep acres of guitar drone for the first five minutes before PIKA's drums take things up a gear and into more psychedelic out-rock terrain. This insurgence eventually peaks and the album melts away to silence. PIKACYU-MAKOTO have made an album that takes you on a trip into your very soul before emerging once more at the edge of another galaxy. 'Galaxilympics' is a triumph of opposites united, it enjoys walking out into the unknown, but it's also a portal into the very real world of two musicians who find peace and semblance through their interaction. Hymns and odes to one side, this is a giant album of future-facing song and noise, where better to find harmony enthroned

After Polyschematic EP 1 +2 (RMCE009 and RMCE009.1) Polyfan Polyphenix is back with the Polyvalence EP.
The record includes 4 cuts of melodic electro breaks + 1 digital exclusive track that connect seamlessly to his previous EPs on RAWAX.

AI-32 signals the arrival of ‘The Fifth World Recordings’, by Son of Chi (Hanyo van Oosterom) and long-term collaborator Arthur Flink. A tribute to the late Jon Hassell, who passed away in 2021, the album connects a deep running thread that goes back to the source of Chi project. Carrying on from where Hassell left off, the album takes inspiration and references from his Fourth World music concept and the ancient Hopi tradition of Native America. Illuminating the subliminal space of the arising Fifth World, Son of Chi pays respects to an inimitable force in contemporary music. 

Hassell’s ‘Dream Theory in Malaya’ forms a touchstone to Hanyo van Oosterom’s musical journey, which soundtracked long, deep and reflective periods living in the cave of the Kallikatsou (Patmos, Greece) back in the early 80s. This period resulted in Hanyo’s track as Chi - ‘Hopi’ - in 1984. Hanyo met Hassell shortly after in 1987 at his “The Surgeon in the Nightsky” concert in Rotterdam - it wasn’t until twenty years later that Hanyo invited him for two magic nights of “Instant Composing Sessions” with the Numoonlab Orchestra (with a host of other artists) at the LantarenVenster, the very same stage where Hassell had performed in 1987 and also where Chi did their first live performance. 

Dreamful, mysterious, prophetic, the Fifth World Recordings features the quiet yet elaborate sound of Chi awash with rich instrumentation, field recordings, and old stories by the firelight. Sketches were created with drones, loops, and soundscapes, with which Arthur Flink (also a member of the Numoonlab Orchestra) jammed on trumpet. Channelling Hassell’s idiosyncratic style, floating melodies and lyrical improvisations are parsed into the mix, where Hanyo has processed and manipulated the recordings, also referencing Hassell’s exotic scales and unique harmonics.

Additionally, the wah Bamboo flute at the closing piece is an homage to the works of Chi co-founder Jacobus Derwort (1952-2019). For this piece Hanyo used his first bamboo flute he made at the cave of the Kallikatsou in 1984. Arthur Flink answers in counterpoint with the wah trumpet, almost like the intuitive communication of the nightbirds..

Eight years after their first collaboration, ‘The Compass Joint’, slipped out as an ultra-limited white label, Charlie Soul Clap and Tom Trago have reunited to bring us a similarly warming, sun-splashed sequel, ‘The Compass Jawn’.

Like its predecessor – a now near-mythical 12-minute epic recorded late one night in Tom’s former squat-turned-studio close to legendary Amsterdam venue Trouw, and subsequently championed by DJ Harvey – ‘The Compass Jawn’ was inspired by the pair’s mutual love of both Caribbean keyboardist and FM synthesis enthusiast Wally Badarou, and the 1980s output of Chris Blackwell’s legendary Compass Point studio in Nassau, the Bahamas.

As sequels go, ‘The Compass Jawn’ is a bit of a belter. During the recording in 2019, Tom and Charlie sought to subtly evolve the original’s memorable lead line, reaching the for Yamaha DX7’s percussion patch – something utilized many times by Badarou during the 1980s.

The resultant ‘Studio Version’ is, if anything, even more emotive and uplifting than its predecessor. Underpinned by a shuffling rhythm pattern, the track ebbs and flows brilliantly, with jaunty synth stabs, undulating melodies and sparkling keyboard riffs ushering in held-note chords and a gorgeously rushing, ever-rising lead line. Throw in some starry pads and sunset-ready synth motifs, and you have another gorgeous, life-affirming treat.

‘The Compass Jawn’ comes backed with two top-notch alternative mixes. First up is an ambient ‘Dub’ mix from Trago that strips back the beats and instead focuses on the track’s many key melodic elements. Pushed forwards by drum machine handclaps, it’s a bubbly, sun-bright revision full to bursting with twinkling electronic motifs, jammed-out motifs, hands-aloft riffs and a bleeping take on the fluid and kaleidoscopic lead line.

Rounding off the package is the duo’s original demo mix – a raw, tough, and slightly more sub-heavy affair that’s notably more percussive and sweat-soaked whilst still sporting the key lead lines and FM synth sounds that make the studio version such a memorable and mood-enhancing affair.

Nation’s Sub label Kode presents a new project between Chicago’s visionary Traxx and Athens, Greece June Records label mates Tsampikos Fronas & Trenton Chase as External/Internal…a new wave electrabeat collaboration.

This 1st 12” showcases 2 tracks with different energy and emotions drawing musical influence from the early 80s pre-proto sounds of alternative and progressive chemistry and also offbeat rhythms that creates tension of feelings in character and musical arrangements with vocals sung on both productions from Trenton Chase.

A-Side:
Trespass concludes the storm of
emotion, reaching the end.
The need to find long gone harmony
and existence. Coming to peace with
the inner self while taking a self made
path into the kosmos without pushbacks and interruption. Pure melodic freedom

B-Side:
A Conviction of Fantasy is an eruption
of emotions and confusion while trying
to maintain sanity. Avoiding truth and confessing while keeping balance is impossible. Lost in the abyss where
reality and fantasy is hard to perceive.

Yazzus follows up her appearance on the Tresor 30 compilation with a new EP named BLACK METROPOLIS.

Within its, at times, rough-hewn textures lies a core
that explores joy and energy within the roots of black techno. In her words: “I want this release to be black and beautiful, to be queer, and playful, a nostalgic nod to the 90s but also reimagining it in the current times.”

The Ghana-born, London-bred, now Berlin-based producer’s research into afro-futurism, envisaging a path forward for science, technology and culture through the black experience, has impressed a deep
vision on this EP. Yazzus sets like a cartographer, using her tracks to explore a technologically advanced world, each representing dierent regions and environments.

Human Error Processor introduces an ear-worming percussion pattern nearly swamped by distorted bass drums and a vocal sample screwed just beyond recognition. Perforated leads with a 150bpm four to the floor stomp, infectious and supercharged. Gluey synth
motions soak in an otherworldliness, where industrious,
mechanical rhythms map out futurist structures in all directions.

Metro City Bay Area exhibits a ghettotech soul, lean and bouncy - this part of the galaxy is an infinite source of fun, with the heart of groove at it’s core. Three Deities brings adventurers of its region towards higher powers, its ravey synths and an engulfing bass provoke a complete NRG release, ascending into a spiritual trance where dense melodies bubble and fizz.

Digital-only track United By Fate meddles busy vocal samples with searching melodies, a fitting end to the kaleidoscopic that is BLACK METROPOLIS.

Im Jahr 2017 feierte das Album ‚Second Nature' die triumphale Rückkehr von Lionheart in die melodische Rockmusikszene mit einer Sammlung von kraftvollen und denkwürdigen Songs. Wegen vertraglicher Umstände verschwand das Album 2020 außerhalb Japans vom Markt. Nun wurde das Album neu gemastert, um noch druckvoller zu klingen als je zuvor, hier kommt die Ltd. LP Gatefold Edition in goldener Farbe.

Massimiliano Pagliara returns to Permanent Vacation with his fourth studio album "See You In Paradise". After the highly acclaimed "Nothing Stays In One Place For Long" EP from 2020, this is the first full-length from the Italian-raised and Berlin-based producer for the label. Albums in the dance music genre can often be a challenge in terms of finding the right balance between the dancefloor and listening at home. Massimiliano, however, mastered this craftmanship perfectly while reviving the art of the album format.
Mostly written and produced in the lockdown period of spring 2020 these 10 tracks offer the whole sonic spectrum from the "Massi universe". The hardware enthusiast blends analogue-heavy and bright synthesizer melodies, pop hooks, Chicago house groove with more technoid tracks and atmospheric soundscapes. Taking you on a journey through his mind, body and soul: From his underground disco passion and pulsating dancefloor moments to ethereal and meditative ambience.

Inspired, both musically and aesthetically - one of his favourite carnal catchphrases titles the album - by Disco hero Patrick Cowley, Massimiliano channelled past, present and future in searching for new adventures within his music. For the first time working with live musicians (saxophone and piano) to bring a new facet on the table, that flows with the production seamlessly.

Communication and getting into a dialogue is a crucial part for Massimiliano as an artist. Whether it used to be as a ballet dancer, as a DJ, most prominently as a resident of the legendary Berghain / Panorama Bar, a producer and in collaboration with other artists and musicians: Maestro Massi has gathered an illustrious group of friends and like minded artist such as Snax, Fort Romeau and Init (with whom he has worked before), as well as new collaborators including Curses, Coloray and Vanessa. Under the artistic direction of Massimiliano each artist was able to bring his own unique talent into the album's coherent production and together with Massimiliano they created something that is more than the sum of its parts: A refuge full of beauty and harmony and free from worries in an upside down world. In other words: "See You In Paradise”

GOSPELHEIM haben mit "Ritual & Repetition" eine ebenso wunderbare wie wunderliches Wesen erschaffen: Seine glitzernde Haut ist aus eingängigen Dark Rock Melodien gemacht, seine Knochen aus massivem Gothic Metal geschnitzt. Seine gespaltene Zunge singt sowohl mit weiblicher Schönheit als auch mit klarer männlicher Härte. In seinen feurigen Augen spiegelt sich eine tiefe Melancholie, doch seine scharfen Zähne beißen ohne jede Reue zu. Diese junge britische Band legt auf ihrem Debütalbum ein erstaunlich ausgereiftes Songwriting vor, das scheinbar mühelos eine Fülle diverser Einflüsse vereint und mit seiner stilistischen Spannweite beeindruckt. Neben dem offensichtlichen Dark Rock und Gothic Metal fügen GOSPELHEIM eine Vielzahl an Klangaromen hinzu, die sogar Blues Rock und eine gesangliche Prise Rush aufbieten. Diese und andere würzige Zutaten kitzeln den musikalischen Gaumen und schmeicheln den Ohren. Gitarrist und Sänger Ricardo hat GOSPELHEIM zusammen mit Bassistin und Sängerin Coco in Manchester während der dunklen Tage des Jahres 2020 gegründet, als die Welt zum Stillstand kam. Das Duo ließ sich von der Lage der Menschlichkeit, Moral und existenzieller Konzepte wie Gut und Böse inspirieren, sowie von Horrorfilmen der Stummfilmzeit. Anfang November 2020 nahmen GOSPELHEIM im No Studio in Manchester ihr Debütalbum "Ritual & Repetition" mit Joe "Doctor" Clayton auf. Das Line-up der Band wurde später durch den zweiten Gitarristen Jordan und Rob am Schlagzeug komplettiert. Mit einer so beeindruckenden Visitenkarte wie "Ritual & Repetition" hinterlassen GOSPELHEIM einen bleibenden Eindruck bei ihren Hörern. Für alle, die sehnsüchtig auf ein Dark Rock Debüt gehofft haben, das es mit dem glorreichen Erstling von BEASTMILK aufnehmen kann, ist dies ein Album, das sich mit Nachdruck für eine Hörprobe empfiehlt.

GOSPELHEIM haben mit "Ritual & Repetition" eine ebenso wunderbare wie wunderliches Wesen erschaffen: Seine glitzernde Haut ist aus eingängigen Dark Rock Melodien gemacht, seine Knochen aus massivem Gothic Metal geschnitzt. Seine gespaltene Zunge singt sowohl mit weiblicher Schönheit als auch mit klarer männlicher Härte. In seinen feurigen Augen spiegelt sich eine tiefe Melancholie, doch seine scharfen Zähne beißen ohne jede Reue zu. Diese junge britische Band legt auf ihrem Debütalbum ein erstaunlich ausgereiftes Songwriting vor, das scheinbar mühelos eine Fülle diverser Einflüsse vereint und mit seiner stilistischen Spannweite beeindruckt. Neben dem offensichtlichen Dark Rock und Gothic Metal fügen GOSPELHEIM eine Vielzahl an Klangaromen hinzu, die sogar Blues Rock und eine gesangliche Prise Rush aufbieten. Diese und andere würzige Zutaten kitzeln den musikalischen Gaumen und schmeicheln den Ohren. Gitarrist und Sänger Ricardo hat GOSPELHEIM zusammen mit Bassistin und Sängerin Coco in Manchester während der dunklen Tage des Jahres 2020 gegründet, als die Welt zum Stillstand kam. Das Duo ließ sich von der Lage der Menschlichkeit, Moral und existenzieller Konzepte wie Gut und Böse inspirieren, sowie von Horrorfilmen der Stummfilmzeit. Anfang November 2020 nahmen GOSPELHEIM im No Studio in Manchester ihr Debütalbum "Ritual & Repetition" mit Joe "Doctor" Clayton auf. Das Line-up der Band wurde später durch den zweiten Gitarristen Jordan und Rob am Schlagzeug komplettiert. Mit einer so beeindruckenden Visitenkarte wie "Ritual & Repetition" hinterlassen GOSPELHEIM einen bleibenden Eindruck bei ihren Hörern. Für alle, die sehnsüchtig auf ein Dark Rock Debüt gehofft haben, das es mit dem glorreichen Erstling von BEASTMILK aufnehmen kann, ist dies ein Album, das sich mit Nachdruck für eine Hörprobe empfiehlt.

Die Musik der Pianistin Masako Ohta und des Trompeters Matthias Lindermayr fließt in sanften Wellen mit Leichtigkeit zwischen jedem imaginierten Thema. Sie ist größtenteils improvisiert, umarmt den Zufall und folgt dem Klang verschlungener Pfade. Das erste gemeinsame Album der beiden Musiker, MMMMH, unterstreicht diesen lockeren Prozess durch sein entspanntes Tempo, überraschende Wendungen und treibenden Stil. Es präsentiert kleine Vignetten frei fließender Bewegungen und ruhiger Melodien, die aus einfachen Ideen einen blühend-strahlenden Sound erschaffen.

Stellar Legions is four experienced space cadets from the Antwerp interstellar legion, led by Captain Andrew Claes (STUFF., BRZZVLL, Internal Sun). With a sound rooted in jazz, improv, hip-hop, dub and electronic music, brace yourself for an intergalactic trip through colourful musical worlds and allow yourself to be carried away to indefinable, otherworldly but always hospitable beacons.

Alongside Claes, the delegates on duty are all heroes from the Allied star: Bram Weijters (Raymond Van Het Groenewoud, Crazy Men), Klaas De Somer (Tourist Lemc, Selah Sue) and Fre Madou (ex-DAAU, Namid). With them, come stories and artifacts from the multidimensional cosmos to our beloved mother planet Earth and this autumn, they passionately present their first omnibus 'Stellar Legions', released 21st October via the groove-obssessed Sdban Ultra label.

The album consists of eight tracks recorded in the studio and live, resulting in one big cosmic experience that exhilarates down to every last arrangement. From Claes' twisted sax on the semi-electronic ecstatic dream world that is an 'An Arp in Tunisia' to the jazzy snatches of 'Wessel' where De Somer's hurried drum patterns and Weijters frenzied keyboard solos catch light, Stellar Legions unites the adventure and improvisation of jazz with contemporary sounds.

At the core of the Stellar Legions sound is a rhythm section Sly & Robbie would have approved of: loose and sticky, grinding and unwinding: De Somer's drums fizz with expectation while the relentless bass strokes from Madou provide the beating pulse. It's fresh, it's raw and it keeps us listening, grooving and wanting more. Elsewhere, 'Odyssey' is a cataclysmic mix of feverish sounds and melodies that take you to an extra-terrestrial place, while the live recording of 'Alcyone', basks in a spatial mix of futuristic grooves and ethereal soundscapes before album closer 'Covix', results in a spacious and wonderfully atmospheric affair.

Electronics wizard Andrew Claes has recorded music in a wide range of styles ranging from free jazz outfit Chaos of the Haunted Spire (duo with Teun Verbruggen) to techno icon Marco Bailey and New Wave hero, Marcel Vanthilt. In addition, he has collaborated with Zach Danziger, Zap Mama, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Hermes Ensemble, Mauro Pawlowski, Josse De Pauw and many others and released music with the electro-jazz collective AAN/EOP and his solo project, Internal Sun.

Claes is also a teacher of 'Live Electronics' at the Conservatory of Antwerp and a doctorate in the arts, where he is currently investigating the possibilities of an electro-acoustic saxophone. He also regularly gives workshops on the Belgian synthesizer microcontroller platform, Axoloti. His latest achievement is AI-driven robot-jazz project 'BotBop' with Dago Sondervan and Kasper Jordaens, which explores the possibilities and limits of 'computer aided music performance'. Their latest project 'Integers & Strings' premiered at the Sònar festival in Barcelona in November 2021.

'The Arbitrary Dimension of Dreams' is Cate Kennan's oblique exploration of memory, nighttime, and narrative. The resulting 12 compositions are brisk, evocative, and lingering. Kennan's sonic palette is vast yet harmonized, deftly matching spectral synthesizers to hazy lap steel guitars and watery analog effects. Existing in the sparsely occupied world of early melodic electronic music, her songs call to mind the sonic landscape's of Malcolm Cecil, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, and Deux Filles. Each individual track sculpts a setting, constructing an amorphous landscape of surreal musical vignettes. Picture a boat tied to a dock, bobbing with the waves, wisps of fog refusing the complete vision. This is the nebulous space of 'The Arbitrary Dimension of Dreams,' an enveloping, insistent realm that feels both intimately familiar and profoundly otherworldly.

Press play on Lanois’ captivating new instrumental collection, Player, Piano, and you’ll be transported, too. Each song here is a portal, an invitation to lose yourself in the moment and disappear into a world of imagination and memory. Lanois recorded the entire collection himself, capturing a series of gentle, exotic piano performances at his studio in Toronto with the help of co-producer Dangerous Wayne Lorenz, and the results are both intimate and expansive all at once. Melodies unfold slowly with patience and grace; ethereal arrangements drift around them like fog rolling through the mountains. More than just an album, Player, Piano is a gateway into a cinematic sonic universe full of mystery and wonder, a place where the lines between reality and fantasy blur and deep truths and desires reveal themselves in profound and unexpected ways.


“Making this record transported me,” says Daniel Lanois. “I got to travel to Cuba and Mexico and Jamaica. I got to visit with the ghosts of Erik Satie and Oscar Peterson and Harold Budd. I got to go back in time to my work with Brian Eno and Kate Bush and Emmylou Harris. And I did it all without ever leaving my studio.”

What Are People For? make the perfect kind of dystopic dance music for our times. Born from a collaboration between artist Anna McCarthy and musician/producer Manuela Rzytki, the band could be the illicit lovechild of Tom Tom Club and Throbbing Gristle, displaying the ideal balance of hip shaking vibes and dark provocative content.

On their collaborative debut, McCarthy and Rzytki share songwriting duties. The album was produced by Rzytki herself. They are joined by Paulina Nolte on backing vocals and Tom Wu on drums, while Keith Tenniswood mastered the record.

The whole project stems from a publication and exhibition by McCarthy laying the foundations for the content and lyrics of the album, which is humorous, poetic and political. As a lyricist, McCarthy uses her storytelling ability to explore anxieties and desires, digging into free surreal word associations reminiscent of Su Tissues’ tongue in cheek experiments with Suburban Lawns, but also explosive and gripping like a Kae Tempest rap.
Rzytki’s precise sonic palette and talent at penning structured bangers perfectly complement McCarthy’s playful and subversive language manipulations. Rzytki's beats are rooted in old school Hiphop loop principles and an authentic love for the analog. Her use of an array of synthesizers and other "real" instruments adds to WAPF's depth, soul and sincerity.

The album opens with a joyful anthem, full of energy and melodic hooks. The audience is confronted with the quintessential titular question What Are People For? and told that they are just a mere disposable commodity. Throughout the album, lyrical themes revolve around underground aspects of society, violence, political ideologies, sexuality and mysticism. The content is deep but the album is as danceable as it is biting.

73, with its drum machine hysteria and hypnotic synth basses is a a text collage written on the 73 bus through London, consisting of situations and conversation snippets encountered along the way. Drones indulges in the narrator’s paranoia as they feel they are being watched by cigarette machines, whilst the haunting choir is half spoken, half sung, ending on the orgasmic chanting of the word “mummy”. Nursery Rhyme brings more soothing incantations. There is definitely an affinity for fairytales, albeit adult ones and especially the anarchistic ones such as The Moomins, who were a consistent influence on the band. The artwork for the record, created by McCarthy, is a beautiful children's book-style painting of the group in a forest, seemingly about to engage in a magical encounter to which we are invited.

WAPF? have absorbed and digested a variety of influences. Trip hop, Punk and Techno are rubbing shoulders on Party Time. 1977 was coined “Summer of Hate” in the UK and unsurprisingly in WAPF?’s Summer of War, ethereal singing alternates with a powerful marching Garage/Grime chorus reminiscent of street protests and UK culture.

Mz. Lazy starts like an invitation to meditation and references Gertrude Stein’s book Ida in which she develops the idea that publicity is a new religion and people are now famous for being famous. Repressed anger explodes into violence and freedom at the end of the song as our heroine eventually grabs an axe to destroy her oppressors.
Fantasize, on its part, is raw, sexual and liberating while the closing track Bring Back the Dirt is a welcome hymn into a world that is becoming more and more sanitised.

While exploring deep subject matters throughout their album, WAPF? manage to remain satirical, exciting and funny. Each and everyone of their songs have a cathartic quality.

The visual identity of the band is intrinsic to their appeal. Live, they are eccentric, wild and unapologetic, wearing see-through costumes, bright miniskirts and intricate headpieces while delivering their songs with sharp intensity. Their performances radiate queer sexiness and transcend B52's thrift store aesthetics, creating a space for collective dreaming.

WAPF? is a rare combination of contemporary punk energy, irresistible groove, absurdist dry humour and astounding depth of field. They have the mighty power to create a party with their music and soon you will find yourself lifting your arms as if controlled by an external force, to chant: WAPF? WAPF? WAPF?

– Marie Merlet (Malphino, Little Trouble Girls, London)

Perpetual Doom proudly presents the new album from Austin Leonard Jones: Dead Calm. On this collection of nine new tracks, the Texas-based troubadour channels his eclectic talent into a melancholy country groove. Full of signature tumbleweed melodies and his deadpan wit, it is an essential addition to Jones’ unique and varied catalog.

Like any good country record, Dead Calm starts with a joke and ends in tears. “A werewolf walks into a bar,” Jones sings on opener “Cape Fear,” where vampires pour drinks and no one seems to escape. The town might be full of the undead, but it could be anywhere—after all, as Jones says, “It’s hard on the living in Cape Fear.” The slide guitar and faint bright keys set the tone for an album that mixes domestic sorrow with a touch of kitsch, like Conway Twitty at a seasonal Halloween outlet. “I’m the sole survivor of the all-night show,” he sings on “Back in the Black Lagoon,” “and it cost a thousand tears for every episode.” Somewhere between a funeral and a costume party, Dead Calm bursts with classic songwriting sure to get you on the dance floor and crying.

All these ghost towns, desert bars, and haunted capes emerge from the small town outside Austin where Jones wrote and recorded the album. Alongside producer Jesse Woods, he crafted a sound based on the traditional country palette of acoustic and slide guitar, organ and gentle drums. Songs like “Night Parrots” and “Demon Sands” take stock of life’s disappointments as Jones’ maudlin voice and Jesse Siebenberg’s pedal steel twist tighter around each other. “The Australia Song” puts autobiographical storytelling first, while “Exotics” laughs at our tendency to seek satisfaction in far-off places and things. It all comes together on “Its Treachery,” where Jones confronts the intimate betrayals of “a whole life not working out as planned.”

Sound familiar? Austin Leonard Jones invites you to join the club.

Heist Recordings has been pushing the envelope for house music since day one and we’re always on the lookout for artists that represent our vision on electronic music. Our next guest on the label fits that profile and more. He is the embodiment of modern-day electronic funk and a true wizard on the keys: Atlanta raised cool guy Byron the Aquarius.

Byron has a solid history on the label: He remixed Parker Madicine back in 2017 and did a mad solo on the 2019 released Dam Swindle track ‘The life behind things’. We’ve done some shows together and stayed in touch while Byron was working together with Jeff Mills on his 2020 jazz crossover record ‘Ambrosia’ on Axis. Now, after a solid string of releases on labels like Shall not Fade and Purveyor Underground, Byron is making his solo appearance on Heist. His ‘Akira’ EP goes from dark basement grooves to dreamy broken beats and features a remix by New York dance music wizard Kush Jones.

The Akira EP kicks off with ‘I love yo’. In this track, Byron decides to leave his keys at home and goes in deep with a moody club workout. ‘I love yo’ is a track that juxtaposes dreamy samples with rough percussion and vocal chops with a clear nod to the work of Mr. G. The melody is mellow, but don’t be deceived; clever drum programming and plenty of sub take this track into the club vibe just the way Byron likes it: warm, hazy and sexy AF.

Byron is not known for delivering straightforward house tunes, but when he does deliver them, he does it in style. Enter ‘Get up’; the A2 of the EP. There’s everything we love about house music: smart vocal chops, driving percussion, classic house keys and a booming sub to get you bumping to this beat.

The B-side sees Byron up the tempo and take a deep dive into bass territory with ‘Love’. In this track, there’s lush pads running over a percussive broken beat and chopped R ’n B vocals to add some serious sex appeal. It’s deceptively simple and clean but ever so catchy, which clearly shows Byron’s prowess as an electronic music producer.

Going back to classic house mode, we’ve got ‘Success’: A spoken word house track that fits right in with the classics. Byron sets the mood with some bumpy key-and synth work while brainstorming about originality and blackness throughout the track. Even though the message underneath might be a serious one, Byron succeeds in delivering this in a fun, uplifting way that never gets pretentious or divisive.

The EP finishes with a remix by New Yorker Kush Jones. This is an artist who understands how to build a groove. He could take you anywhere from house to juke, footwork and techno, which is exactly why he’s been getting so much love for his music recently. Kush is an artist who sees no boundaries in his music and still manages to create his own sonic universe. His remix of ‘I love yo’ takes a dreamy approach with soft chords running over an electronic groove with a pure and improvised feel. All elements fit together perfectly and it’s the clever ad-hoc programming and arrangement that suck you into his unbounded world from the first beat.

As always, enjoy the music and play it loud.

Yours sincerely,
Maarten & Lars

Herbert Bodzin's "Revival II" is the next exciting vinyl highlight on our young label. It features completely unreleased electronic music which was recorded between 1979 and 1982. On the album we can hear the sounds of legendary analogue machines like the ARP 2600, the Korg PS-3300, the Roland System-700 Modular synthesizer, the PPG Waveterm and the PPG Wave 2.2 as well as classic synths like the Roland Jupiter-8, the Polymoog and the Prophet-5. The album additionally features Bernd Hollendiek, as well as Bodzin's two sons, Stephan and Oliver Bodzin. Most of the music they performed was completely synthesizer based while Oliver Bodzin played drums on a few tracks. The songs are a mixture of mostly ambient, deep, psychedelic, yet experimental and futuristic sounds as well as more vibrant recordings that featured the complete band. One of these vibrant tracks is "Lifting Blue" which qualifies as a unique version of space rock. On other tracks like "Voices of the Mind" we hear deep melodies topped with dreamy vocoder voices. "Against the Wall" sounds like it could be taken off of an Italian horror movie soundtrack while the mid-tempo "Orbital" pre-dates the sounds of techno and trance. As a side note, the album may also show early musical influences of Stephan Bodzin, who became world famous in the 1990s as one of the leading techno producers. Without any doubt, "Revival II" should be an exciting lost masterpiece of German electronic (rock) music and a must have for synth music lovers - revived and finally alive!

OVERVIEW: Field Medic’s latest album doesn’t waste any time getting to what feels like a mission statement for the record with the first lines “I want to fall off the face of the earth and probably die” on opener “Always Emptiness.” The longtime songwriting project of Kevin Patrick Sullivan - Mr. Field himself, the bay-area native who finds himself living in LA these days - has always had moments of melodrama like this, but his latest album grow your hair long if you’re wanting to see something that you can change feels as emotionally charged and poetically devastating as anything he’s ever given us. Sullivan has been turning turmoil into beautiful music for almost 10 years as Field Medic. The project that had origins in busking San Francisco streets has blossomed into a full-time touring act with a few TikTok viral moments. 2018’s full-length Fade Into the Dawn and the pandemic-era mixtape/album hybrid Floral Prince both offered a glimpse into how Sullivan’s songwriting has evolved since his earliest songs

Following the compass of an entrancing debut, Flore Laurentienne’s Volume II presents another palette of rich orchestral sound, where changing forces of water inspire metaphorical markers that navigate passages of life and loss.

Mathieu David Gagnon resumes his voyage into environment and emotion with Volume II, drawing inspiration from the rivers and rugged wilderness of the composer’s native Quebec. In his return as Flore Laurentienne – the namesake of an inventory documenting St. Lawrence Valley flora – Gagnon assembles vivid melodic motifs and delicate modulation with a vast string ensemble to emulate the tides of human experience.

Listeners of Volume I will recognise Gagnon’s signature approach towards reworking and reframing an emblematic melody or concept across a series of works inVolume II, a process he likens to that of a painter creating multiple sketches of the same view. Continued from the first album, the enigmatic “Fleuve” series is conjured to evoke the multiple personalities of the great St. Lawrence River, and the “Navigation” works (“III” and “IV”) wade through dappled progressions and expansive streams of string, the latter of which harbors the gentle meanderings of improvised clarinet.

“Haunting vocals backed up by an intimate guitar” -
Rolling Stone
“With its icy charms unfolding at a devastating
pace, this marks the emergence of a bold new
talent” - Clash Magazine
‘they only talk about the weather’ is an album of
acute emotional exploration. It’s Arny’s coming-ofage journey, from writing in school, staring out of
dorm room windows, being on the road, to today.
With poetic proficiency and a knack for composing
melodies that bury themselves deep into the
subconscious, Arny writes of loneliness and
existentialism with stark relatability. There’s a quiet
confidence that comes from these tracks; crystal
clear in their conception, completely honest, and
masterfully arranged.
She walks us through her relationships growing up
and her realisations about other people as well as
herself. We listen as she unpacks herself to a
backdrop of vividly painted natural landscapes.
Pink vinyl LP.

Following their eponymous debut in 2007, Exploding Head is A Place To Bury Strangers’ most notable record, garnering the New York noise rock outfit critical praise and a cult fanbase. Lead by Oliver Ackermann, the band had a simple goal for ‘their first proper studio album’; “to create the craziest, most fucked-up recording ever."

Recorded at their Death By Audio studios in New York and released on Mute Records, the album was critically praised for its explorative sound, taking inspiration from shoegaze icons such as Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Pitchfork described the album as “frustrated aggression, lacerating feedback… saturated with slender indie-pop melody."

The album has now been digitally remastered by Oliver Ackermann and is presented in three formats; Deluxe 2LP (Band Website & Tour D2C Exclusive), 2CD Deluxe & 1LP Standard. This 1LP 140g Transparent Red Vinyl is housed in Standard Sleeve and features exclusive sleeve notes by music journalist Tris McCall.

Jan Anderzén and his partners celebrate the transcendental power of ecstatic music. Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa is the first Kemialliset Ystävät album in four years. It is the result of chance enhancing online collaboration methods, desire to get lost in the sound archives and the high art of meticulous editing. The album title is from visions of rivers running down from Heart of Darkness to the City of Joyful Noise. If contemporary music is a high speed train passing by then KY's music would be an orgy of light under a railway bridge.

A band member Lars Mattila experiences the music of Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa in spatial terms:

"There are worlds accessed only through our auditory system. I hear a Wunderkammer of freestanding sound objects. Rhythms like sequences of seemingly random stuff laid out on the forest floor: a pair of thrones, a Henry Moore sculpture, a watermelon, two thrones, a Moore sculpture, a melon... I trust the path to go on even if I can't see behind the hill. There's motion, wether it be drunk driving or super human rapid eye movement. The sheer amount of detail makes it impossible to take everything in at once. One's perception and shifting focus reshape the experience on each listen. I remember my visit to Cappella Palatina in Palermo where Normann architecture, Arabic arches and Byzantine dome form a harmonious whole. Various cultural and spiritual influences are recognized as equals. The sense of space also brings to mind the end scene of The Lawnmower Man when the dude is trying to escape the virtual world."

Isokratisses (Greek for "women who sing the "iso" or "drone") is a vocal ensemble comprised of eight women who carry the ancient tradition of polyphonic songs from Epirus: a region in northern Greece and southern Albania. Born and reared in the Greek speaking villages around Deropoli and Politsani in Albania, the women of Isokratisses have sung these songs since childhood. The group ranges in age from 19 to 56 with some sisters in the group as well as an aunt. They were nurtured by this archaic music, listening and singing it with their family and friends. The songs were passed down from generation to generation. The group started its artistic activity in 2015, after the singer Anna Katsi took the initiative to encourage the younger members to perform regularly. The communal nature of polyphonic singing is a way of revitalizing an art that has declined in recent years and to reassert the primacy of female voices in the southern Balkans. Singing these songs builds an invisible bridge that connects the present with the past, the memories of childhood travel with the immediacy of daily life. On Oct 14, 2022, Third Man Records will release a full album of these solo polyphonic songs, with Grammy-winning producer Christopher King. "It is social music, woven into the fabric of poor, marginalized, and disenfranchised communities. Many of the songs are variations of mirologia (songs of fate, songs of morning) that used to be sung throughout the southern Balkans but have largely disappeared on an informal cultural level except for Epirus. Structurally, the songs are pentatonic (five notes with no semitones) and are composed of three or four distinct melodic voices that weave together in an organic yet unexpected way. The remaining members of the group provide the iso or “drone” that is the low tonic note of the melody." - Chris King.

IND in his special skillz... With melodious and nostalgic beautyful intros, opening on a light speed kick... and a crazy ambient drop sensitive and touchy.
The kick then turns more threatening... to turn Hardcore, without becoming that crazy either...

Both tunes in a pure Joe IND style.

Superb !

Giorgia Angiuli’s 13 track album ‘Quantum Love’ on her UNITED label combines and contrasts fast, insistent dance beats with her signature melodic synths and dreamy lyrics; ‘an eclectic work including piano downtempo tracks and techno melodic tracks with ethereal vocals’ (Angiuli).

The multi-talented live artist/DJ/producer/vocalist/lyricist and studio-building tech wizard used lockdown as a creative nexus. Einstein’s ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’ led her to explore quantum physics, while her first India tour inspired ongoing interest in sound meditation and philosophy, culminating in the LP.

‘Quantum Love’ has many moods and speeds; physics and philosophy, contemplative and full-on fast, sweet vocals, meaningful lyrics or purely instrumental, it’s all there. ‘’Quantum Love’ is my inner soundtrack to my recent transformation, summarized in the following sentences: we are made of energy, everything is vibration. We are each our own placebo, happiness can be a choice, we have all the elements inside us for the right path. Nature can teach us everything.’ (Giorgia Angiuli)


Press:

DJ Mag Feature

Flow Music Interview

DJ Mag Post

Four Four Magazine News Piece


DJ Feedback:

Sasha (Last Night On Earth) - solid!

Guy Mantzur (Kompakt, Bedrock, Lost & Found, Sudbeat) - love them all

Anthony Pappa (Selador) - The Timo Maas Remix is excellent.

AFFKT (Sincopat) - Superb remixes!

Fur Coat (Oddity / Delete) - Nice Armonica and Glowal remixes

Israel Sunshine (Fur Coat / Oddity) - Great job! digging all tracks specially Timo and Glowal

Animal Trainer (Mobilee / Stil Vor Talent) - fab remix by Armonica!

Dee Montero (Knee Deep in Sound, Selador Recordings, Anjunadeep) - Timo Maas mix for me

Siavash (You Plus One) - Glowal mix takes the cake in this ep

Chris Fortier (Thoughtless / Sullivan Room / Balance) - super super

Pisetzky (JUST THIS / Last Night On Earth / Oddity) - amazing giu

Sinca (Anjunadeep) - Great remix ep

James Trystan (Suara / Bedrock) - Feeling this!!! Timo Maas for me

Henri Bergmann (Automatik) - armonica always!

Cesar Romero (Simply City) nice!

juSt b (Bedrock / Configurations of Self) nice release, love the key work and vox.

Nhii (No Human Is Illegal) (Sounds of Khemit / Stil Vor / Kindisch) - Timo Maas remix right up my alley!

'Razen is the collective consciousness of core members Brecht Ameel and Kim Delcour, who since 2010 have realized themselves through virtuoistic and highly expressive improvisations with lesser-heard instruments. Experimenting with repetition of tones through controlled breathing and phrasing, Razen arrive at a synesthetic playground of auditory textures and colorful imagery.

The ensemble is carefully orchestrated for every occasion with the intent and desire to escape to environments unbeknownst to them, taking shelter in the fleeting ego-dissolving moments that arise, whether divine or disturbing. While the formula of instrumentation and like-minded peers may appear mundane on paper, it’s Brecht and Kim’s outlook and imagination beyond musical references that’s the immeasurable catalyst to their peculiar pursuits. Conversations about paintings, books, or films ultimately manifest themselves into live performances or album recordings - with the philosophy of embracing playfulness and exploration through the lens of a child’s eye.

Only six collaborators have been invited to their inner circle to date. This is mainly attributed to the rarity of finding spiritual counterparts that are seeking freedom outside the confines of written musical scores. Trading notes and rhythms for strokes and color, the band embodies emotive and meditative drones that demand a deep listening state. Joined by Will Guthrie and Paul Garriau, Razen venture into their vision of Arcadia through Regression, proudly presented by Marionette. On this album, Brecht Ameel turns to his trusty prepared harmonium and celesta, while Kim Delcour controls air and breath on various wind and reed instruments. Featuring Will Guthrie on tuned and melodic percussion (timpani, glockenspiel, marimba, vibraphone), the recordings have a distinct flow and fluid movement when compared to some of Razen’s previous works where rhythm is taking a backseat. Hurdy-gurdy specialist, Paul Garriau, plays accompanying melodies and drones on Moon, Aether and Nebula.

The album's earthly elements deal with survival, timelessness, and simplicity; such as the life affirming rewards of finding refuge and the wonders of observing the interstellar. The unearthly elements pitch this narrative into the realm of mythology and superstition, in the hopes of trying to understand our primeval universe and thrive in the unknown. Regression also addresses Razen’s fascination with inhospitable places and how to adapt to the sorrows that come with this sort of brutalism. The resulting destination is a mind and time bending zone - one that can be reached by riding sound waves that transcend the past, future, and present.'

'Marasma Vussa is the Brainchild of Antonio Feola a long standing figure on the London music scene, Antonio has been running the Fish Factory Studio in Willesden, North London for over two decades now. Throughout the years, he has had a major role in helping many of the current lead players of the London scene have a place to record and define their sound.

Antonio's project Masmara has existed for over 30 years and here has found its place on record. Recorded on tape over time with some of the most sought after players in London and edited during the lockdown period, Vussa is an album of mind-bending deep, cosmic mediative jazz experiments. Boasting catchy melodies and heavy, heavy jazz breaks!'

Drawing from a strong history of electronic influence, Tomashevsky has created his own underworld of foreboding techno. We enter this EP with Incoherent, which exudes ominous sounds - reminiscent of murky radar blips that may be heard deep underwater in the metallic bowels of a submarine. Bubbling electronic delays remain adjoined to these metronomic blips and oer lateral, spontaneous movement around an otherwise sturdy song structure. Jittery melodies scatter nervously under lead elements, remaining disjointed and resulting in increased energy and a darkened excitement.

As we move through the EP, we face ups and downs, both in tempo and mood. Leading on from the first, Rollback is destabilizing, energetic and mean in all the right ways. Wobbling low ends open into a mood of uncertainty, held in place only by the stability of the drums. Rollback suits a peak-time club atmosphere thanks to the gritty synth leads and fast-paced feel.

Ending with the two tracks on the B-side, Tomashevsky still seeks to surprise. Rejected seems to be a distant relative of the Incoherent, following the synthetic blip structure but allowing snares and other percussions to build more prominently. Finally, we arrive at the closing track which marks itself as more obscure. Leaning on kick drum patterns initially reminiscent of electro/breaks, the use of half-time tempo gives a change of pace and a platform for a slightly different song structure and mixing potential.

Mesmeric and entrancing, these songs give any DJ or listener to chance to turn mind chatter o and lock into a hypnotic groove. Drawing on classically techno foundations, Tomashevsky has tipped his hat to the founders of the genre whilst adding his own flavour and subtle techniques that make this EP shine.