quête:minimal

s Luminessence, ECM's new audiophile vinyl-reissue series, is a kaleidoscope, shedding light on the jewels of the label's deep catalogue in elegant, high-quality editions - audiophile vinyl pressing, high-grade tip-on gatefold sleeves that include new liner notes Recorded in 1977 and now reissued in ECM's audiophile Luminessence vinyl series, the debut album of the Azimuth trio was truly ahead of its time. Formed by adding Canadian-born trumpeter Kenny Wheeler to the British duo of pianist John Taylor and vocalist Norma Winstone, the group's futuristic musical palette embraced hypnotic, minimalistic pulse patterns, otherworldly synthesizer sounds, songs, collective improvisation and solo flights. In recent seasons, the number of listeners under Azimuth's sway has grown exponentially, as the music has adapted itself to new contexts. The vast international audience that has heard fragments of Azimuth's "The Tunnel" as part of a major rap hit by Drake in 2023 (on his 200M+ streaming "IDGAF"), can now discover the original in its pristine form, still magical after all these years - as is the whole album.

Omit’s in/Sec is “new,” but not new. Recorded in 2013, the masters lost in the label’s murky somewheresville that always shows up when moving. For those who don’t know, Omit is an experimental electronics artist from New Zealand’s south island who, since 1990, has released thirty-some xerographed cassettes and CDrs in the Dead C orbit for those who do. It’s not enough to say that in/Sec is an ambient masterpiece bringing to mind a John Carpenter soundtrack performed by the Hub because listening to it engineers new species. The infectious and corrupting sounds synthesize new life forms in your brain's enzymes. If you specialize in a niche too much, you are prey to predators outside, but Omit never goes for low-hanging fruit and isn't simulating anything. I can vomit a better looking face than the ones on these little fuckers eating my brain right now. In this century that flatters itself to be of drinking age, it is a queer thing we haven’t come face to face with aliens. There is a time for everything and they're all intermixed. Besides the xenobiological effects, Omit constructs your sentiment through timbral concepts that repeat and shift with minimal reference to harmony, melody, key, or mode. Streams jump and skitter, knitting tightly high and low in a dense rattling driven to the long and most plaintive tones amongst the countless gizmos (that’s including you, but not “you”). This one is for big fans of Anode/Cathode, Ikue Mori, Papa Srapa, Fronte Violeta, and Insignia refrigerators.

Everything flows. Arutani's third album is a very personal note on change and life. The stories we see and create, the balance of hope and melancholia that accompanies every step we take. Calm, light, modest and mindful as the artist himself, with a glimpse of light in every aspect. Minimal in character and rich in detail. Luise is once again oh so happy to give a home to this masterpiece.

Diese Band war Mitte der 1980er Jahre, als Independent Project Records zum ersten Mal Kontakt mit den Brüdern Mark und Clive Ives aufnahm, den bemerkenswert produktiven Vertretern exquisiter
elektronischer Musik unter dem Namen Woo, die Ende des Jahrzehnts Kultstücke wie Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong und It's Cosy Inside zum ersten Mal in den USA veröffentlichten. Fast vierzig Jahre später sind die Brüder bemerkenswert produktiv, und Independent Project Records befindet sich im vierten Jahr seiner Wiederbelebung. Zeit, die Kräfte wieder zu bündeln.


Das neue Team-up von Woo und IPR ist mehr als nur eine einfache Wiederveröffentlichung, sondern debütiert mit einer besonderen Auswahl von zwei Werken, Robot X und Xylophonics: Die Alben
wurden 2016 bzw. 2017 erstmals digital auf ihrer Bandcamp-Seite veröffentlicht und wurden nun neu gestaltet, erweitert und als Begleitstücke neu konzipiert. Robot X und Xylophonics nebeneinander zu hören, ist eine faszinierende und immer wieder überraschende Reise in die experimentelle retro-futuristische Electronica.

Robot X und Xylophonics erzählen gemeinsam eine Geschichte retro-futuristischer Visionen aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln: Beide sind stolz auf ihre Experimente und kombinieren eine Flut musikalischer Einflüsse, um etwas zu bieten, das auf bemerkenswerte Weise vielschichtig und gleichzeitig minimalistisch ist. Die unvorhersehbaren Instrumentalstücke, die sie entfesseln, laden den
Hörer dazu ein, seine eigenen Fantasien mit dem, was er hört, zu verbinden, egal ob diese Fantasien der Vergangenheit, der Gegenwart oder, was wahrscheinlicher ist, einer roboterhaften Zukunft angehören.

Diese exquisiten Artefakte, die zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl und CD als Doppel-CD-Sets in der einzigartigen Letterpress-Verpackung von IPR-Labelgründer Bruce Licher mit einem handgefertigten Booklet mit Briefmarke veröffentlicht werden, sind ein Muss für jeden ernsthaften Sammler von fesselnder zeitgenössischer Musik.

Diese Band war Mitte der 1980er Jahre, als Independent Project Records zum ersten Mal Kontakt mit den Brüdern Mark und Clive Ives aufnahm, den bemerkenswert produktiven Vertretern exquisiter
elektronischer Musik unter dem Namen Woo, die Ende des Jahrzehnts Kultstücke wie Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong und It's Cosy Inside zum ersten Mal in den USA veröffentlichten. Fast vierzig Jahre später sind die Brüder bemerkenswert produktiv, und Independent Project Records befindet sich im vierten Jahr seiner Wiederbelebung. Zeit, die Kräfte wieder zu bündeln.


Das neue Team-up von Woo und IPR ist mehr als nur eine einfache Wiederveröffentlichung, sondern debütiert mit einer besonderen Auswahl von zwei Werken, Robot X und Xylophonics: Die Alben
wurden 2016 bzw. 2017 erstmals digital auf ihrer Bandcamp-Seite veröffentlicht und wurden nun neu gestaltet, erweitert und als Begleitstücke neu konzipiert. Robot X und Xylophonics nebeneinander zu hören, ist eine faszinierende und immer wieder überraschende Reise in die experimentelle retro-futuristische Electronica.

Robot X und Xylophonics erzählen gemeinsam eine Geschichte retro-futuristischer Visionen aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln: Beide sind stolz auf ihre Experimente und kombinieren eine Flut musikalischer Einflüsse, um etwas zu bieten, das auf bemerkenswerte Weise vielschichtig und gleichzeitig minimalistisch ist. Die unvorhersehbaren Instrumentalstücke, die sie entfesseln, laden den
Hörer dazu ein, seine eigenen Fantasien mit dem, was er hört, zu verbinden, egal ob diese Fantasien der Vergangenheit, der Gegenwart oder, was wahrscheinlicher ist, einer roboterhaften Zukunft angehören.

Diese exquisiten Artefakte, die zum ersten Mal auf Vinyl und CD als Doppel-CD-Sets in der einzigartigen Letterpress-Verpackung von IPR-Labelgründer Bruce Licher mit einem handgefertigten Booklet mit Briefmarke veröffentlicht werden, sind ein Muss für jeden ernsthaften Sammler von fesselnder zeitgenössischer Musik.

"For his fourth full length album, we see the proficiency of instrumentalist and composer Prins Emanuel in full bloom as he turns head deep into the techniques he established on the preceding outing of Diagonal Musik. Here, he revisit what he refers to as a diagonal approach in composing; i.e. starting at one point and then moving to the farthest point in the process, as a way for him to connect the dots somewhere in the middle, or - like I previously described it for the liner notes of that album - “something akin to drawing only shadows and then finishing with the contours”.
And in the tradition of great sequels, this is a much larger and intricate production. While relying on the guitar as a formative backbone to many songs, the layering of brass and woodwinds houses these compositions in bold and sharply lit structures. Mallets and percussion adds an air of momentum but also grounds these tracks in earthy hues.
Thawed and gracious, Diagonal Musik II in essence creates a space that bridges the various paths of Prins Emanuel’s musical universe. At once post-minimalist and avant garde in nature while also peeking through the door at both IDM and folk music, the lingering sensation is that of a well balanced palate that doesn’t break under the presence of repetition. Enveloped in a fourth world approach to jazz and incorporating the more contemplative side of post punk or art pop, there is a story hidden in here that gives cause to the appropriation of these influences.
The inherent warmth of certain instruments play their part in this story. Emanuel often builds on the notion of ‘organic music’ but broadens the definition via subtle electronic enhancements that sit naturally alongside their acoustic counterparts. Take for instance the voice emulator sequence that opens “Kadens Tre” and is dashed on by guitar slides and flute drills to roll further down a hill of staccato percussion. A few tracks in, the lines are so blurred it becomes a natural state until the harsh and eerie sample loops of closing track “Östan Vind” finally breaks the spell. ”

FRN Dancehall might have emerged in Jamaica, but over the last few decades the popular genre's tendrils have stretched out across the globe. In Kampala, Ratigan Era is adding a distinct Ugandan twist to dancehall, fusing it with East African humor and hyper-melodic afrobeats elements imported from Ghana and Nigeria. The versatile MC grew up listening to Jamaican music like Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal and Mavado - in his hometown of Kawempe there was almost no way to avoid it - and it blurred into the background, blending with local church music, US hip-hop and radio pop. He developed this diverse range of influences into a completely unique Afro-dancehall flow that simmers between Luganda, patois, Spanish and English, reflecting the melting pot of cultures and dialects that characterizes contemporary Africa. Ratigan broke out with a memorable feature on Pallaso's Ugandan hit 'Nsaba', a track that echoed throughout the country booming from nightclubs, motorcycle loudspeakers or from convenience stores. Now he's assembled his first album "Era", a furiously inventive interweaving of rubbery vocals and memorable chants backed by futuristic beats from Hakuna Kulala's most boundary-pushing producers. Congolese producer Chrisman takes the reins on 'Gorilla Attack', providing a downtempo groove that echoes recent Jamaican chop deployments from breakthrough artists like Skillibeng and Skeng. For his part, Ratigan ducks and dives between Chrisman's gqom-inspired low end womps and corrosive synths, commanding attention with his smart, dextrous flow and tongue-twisting lyrics.The Modern Institute and Golden Teacher's Richard McMaster handles 'Top Strike Force' leaving space in his wiry, minimal beats for Ratigan to flit between anthemic repetitions and ice-cold AutoTuned wails. On stand-out track 'Badman Style', Ratigan's guttural patois is measured against a dizzy trap-dancehall hybrid beat from HHY & The Kampala Unit's Jonathan Uliel Saldanha, aka Lithium Beats, while on the surreal 'Drop it Down', Japanese mad scientist Scotch Rolex brings out Ratigan's cheeky sense of humor with toytown bleeps and laser zaps. MC Yallah collaborator Debmaster appears on 'Gan Dem', meeting Ratigan's double-time raps with soundsystem destroying rolling subs, and veteran US noisemaker Kush Aurora sprinkles magic dust on 'Cool and Deadly', galvanizing the link between global bass mutations, Jamaica and East Africa.And despite the grab-bag of producers and inspirations, "Ratigan" is a strikingly coherent listening experience that accurately snapshots Kampala's colorful froth of sounds and phrases. Ratigan's outsized personality is welcoming and captivating, providing the sights, sounds and smells of the city with a frenetic rhythm that's as intimate and local as it is far-reaching. It might just be the future we so desperately need.

Kaleida are the transatlantic duo whose darkly mystic soundworld finds glimmers of hope in the disquiet. Span- ning an ocean, the pair have nurtured a long-distance partnership that withstands the shifting patterns of life. They first formed in 2013 when a friend introduced them over email. Christina Wood was working in the Indone- sian forest while recording demos in her bedroom each night, and Cicely Goulder had been composing for film productions in London. Despite the miles between them, they found an instant musical chemistry.
Kaleida first came to international renown in 2014, when their single “Think” went viral overnight and was featured in the soundtrack for the cult Keanu Reeves film, John Wick. Their debut album Tear The Roots arrived in 2017 and crystallised the pair’s moody pop aesthetic, which merges Wood’s sylph-like, operatic vocals with Goulder’s neo-Noir electronica. The record earned the duo their sec- ond spot in a film soundtrack, this time for Atomic Blonde with a tender take on Nena’s 1980s anti-war classic “99 Luftballons”. It was followed in 2020 by the pair’s second album Odyssey dubbed “a consummate work of electronic artistry.” Their new album In Arms is a record that leans into a near transcendent spiritualism, where their minimalist production conceals a raw, celestial power. With a departure from their previously insular way of working, they invited other musicians into the production process, most notably producer Johan Hugo (Self Esteem, M.I.A, Skepta).

New York / Toronto producer Tony Price makes his Telephone Explosion debut with the Interview/Discount LP. Made up of two side-long tracks, the record is an electrifying collision of fractured jazz-concréte and combustible downtown funk that crushes the entire continuum between minimalism and maximalism into a hypnotic wreck of metropolitan sound matter. Finding inspiration in the quicksilver impressionism of modal jazz, the manic bombast of early electro-funk and the narcotic non-linearity of 1970s minimalism, Price assembled a crew of jazz-funk heavyweights and free-improv wizards and set out to create an auditory representation of the soundscapes of New York City.

"As Bill Orcutt’s most mature and exhilarating LP to date, Music for Four Guitars was a slab of undeniable Apollonian beauty. Its approachability and obvious novelty landed it not only on the year- end lists of every key-pushing codger in the underground in 2022, but also on NPR in the form of the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, an ensemble assembled to perform this music and featuring Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza, and Shane Parish in addition to Orcutt. But while their Tiny Desk Concert gave a whiff of the quartet’s easy intimacy, the sterile confines of the virtual recital medium still left a puzzle unsolved: how might these brutally mannered bricks of minimalist counterpoint sound on a stage in front of actual breathing bodies?" "This was the question foremost in my mind when I first saw the quartet in San Francisco a few months before this double live LP was recorded. I was already familiar with the prowess of Eisenberg and Mendoza, two of the most technically intimidating shredders to blast out of the noise/improv underground, and knew Parish as the mastermind behind the epic translation of Orcutt's quartet recordings into a fully notated score. I was ready to be 'blown away'—and I most assuredly was. The quartet navigated Orcutt's jaggedly spiraling right angles into the shining core of the compositions with joyous ease, faithful to the originals in nearly every way (though their tempos were slightly ramped up, Blakey style, to communicate their breathless rush). The renditions were flawless, stellar and inspiring. I had expected nothing less." "Which leads us to this album, Four Guitars Live, recorded in November of 2023 at Le Guess Who? festival during the quartet’s first European tour. The true essence of this set is not simply in its faithfulness to the source compositions, but in the group's easy familiarity (no doubt the result of weeks on the road) and the generosity of their improvisations, both collective and solo. Orcutt, clearly cognizant of both the caliber of his collaborators and the singularity of their voices, has given everyone room to stretch out, and all have delivered some of their most moving passages to date." "One of this record's great thrills for me is imagining a listener, perhaps unfamiliar with the outer limits of contemporary guitar improvisation (or the Tzadik catalog), slammed into catatonia by Mendoza's liquefying lines on Out of the corner of the eye, then revived and healed by the languid, breathy lines of Parish's unaccompanied, spaced-out breakdown of the track's main theme, finally only to be crushed by Eisenberg’s staggering extended solo on Only at dusk (somehow channeling both Eugene Chadbourne and Buck Dharma)." "There's another peak, which begins at the end of side B, in Orcutt's own languid solo, encapsulating the flowing focus of his recent solo LPs, and serving as an introduction to the next side's ensemble tour de force, the psychic heart of the album, On the horizon: its melodic core passing first to Orcutt, launching into a sublime solo turn by Eisenberg, a duo of Parish and Mendoza, before parachuting back into the ensemble for a smashup rendition of Barely visible and Glimpsed while driving (renamed Barely driving) knitted together with an softly bubbling ensemble improvisation. The transfer is orchestrated yet seamless, its tonal form undeniable even in the presence of obvious dissonance." "The breadth of Four Guitars Live gives lie to the false notion that agile, polytonal improv is necessarily without soul, is necessarily inaccessible. Rather, Four Guitars posits a human avant-garde music that the most conservative will recognize as virtuosic and revel in its classic intervals, boiling counterpoint, and precisely- layered facets. Even the rockers in your life might dig it, so why not pass it on?"—Tom Carter

United States Of Islam is the second part in a series of 4 outstanding double vinyl albums with bonus songs, previously released on CD between 1990 and 1994 on the Australian cult label Extreme Music. Armed with a cleverly provocative title, USoI showcases a moodier side of Muslimgauze. While the trademark blend of driving percussions and minimalism reigns supreme as always, the general feel is much more dreamy and mysterious than on some of Bryn Jones’ more forthright pieces.

The original tracks were perfectly remastered for this first time ever vinyl release and the new masters received high praise from the Extreme Music owner Roger Richards.

New sleeve designs were created by Oleg Galay, who is famous for his artworks for many Muslimgauze reissues. All 4 album covers are made from extra heavy cardboard with deluxe spot UV finish and inside print.

'Moments Remixes' began from a conversation with Jlin. We did an interview together for Talkhouse in fall of 2019, in season with the original Moments release on Unseen Worlds. Her poignant and effusive dialogue sparked the inspiration for us to do a remix together. That organically evolved into a full project idea. Xiu Xiu did the second remix in January 2020, and before things continued further - the pandemic was upon us. During the course of the pandemic, it evolved more, and organically became a more focused project for the isolation and lack of in-person collaborative environments/performance halls. All of but one remix were completed by 2021, and then refined and curated further over the following (four) years. The highlighted dialogue across the album is how these sparse, melodic minimalism of piano and vibraphone could manifest in a diversity of experimental sub-genres: electronica, IDM, avant-rock, drone/ambient. The careful curation and illustrative collaborators elicit the transportive 'new moments' and permeable qualities of the core compositions, that discover uncharted life in this project. (Michael Vincent Waller, October 2023)

After making waves with their 2020 self-titled debut LP (championed by the late, great DJ and synth/wave connoisseur Silent Servant), Toronto’s Analytica return to Suction Records’ minimal synth sub-label Ice Machine, for the second full-length LP, “Strategy Of Tension”. Comprised of kosmische synth artist Gabe Knox and electro-industrial performer David Lush, Analytica is a synth-pop duo who confront the race-to-the-bottom ethos of our time, but utilizing sounds and tools from the early ‘80s synth-DIY era.

The album was recorded to a 6-track cassette portastudio in a two week session in Summer 2022, and mixed down live to tape in an afternoon. Analytica pair classic, holy grail analog synthesizers like the ARP Quadra, Roland System 100, and ARP 2600, with uncommon analog rhythm machines including the Univox SR-95, Soundmaster ST-305, Roland TR-77, and Korg KR-55B. The result is Strategy of Tension: a stinging rebuke to cynical political actors and a reminder that the only thing to fear is fear itself.

2024 Repress

Queeste emerges with the nocturnal sounds of Haron's Wandelaar, an album exploring his long-term interest in music's talent for inducing and affecting dreams, successfully turning listening into an act of transport, leaving you in the midst of falling asleep, at a junction of dislocation, hazily arriving in a liminal world. In Wandelaar we hear Haron's playful reaction against the confines of dance music, gathering energy from his estrangement from the scene and using it as a means to reorder and interrogate sound. The modest piano takes centre stage, allowing each solo note to becoming fertile and full, suspended and considered, guided by the principles of minimal composers such as John Cage and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Haron delicately translates sparse chords into a cinematic narrative of ascension, conjuring up a 'moony landscape,' grey and desolate from afar, intricately detailed on approach. Haron's Wandelaar is available 6 July 2018 on LP. The vinyl release includes an art print by Fallon Does, who is also responsible for the graphic design of Wandelaar. All tracks written and produced by Haron Aumaj, mastered by Wouter for Brandenburg Mastering. Words by Jo Kali.

Early support by Ben UFO, Call Super, Beatrice Dillon, Kara-Lis Coverdale, Matt Werth (RVNG), Blowing Up The Workshop, Oceanic, Khotin.

Cardinal Fuzz and Little Cloud Records bring to you the new LP from a band we hold dear, Firefriend – ‘Decreation Facts’ – From São Paulo in Brazil and now close to two decades of creating and honing what has become their trademark, a heavy reverb, minimalistic slow-burn menace which sends chills down your bones. If you don't know Firefriend from somewhere along the last decade, you must cut a safe course through music. ‘Decreation’ is the undoing of creation, something destructive and primal and that Firefriend carry through on all the twelve songs written for this LP. Yury explained that the album "is a commentary on our 21st century, so violent and radical. We live in times of accelerated transformation. We wrote and recorded this album between the pandemic and WW3 – times of ground-breaking changes – and somehow that uneasy feeling got into our songs. Reality is the most crazy trip, isn it? And we are always trying to explore new territories: we want a new album to take you to new places, so we were chasing the sounds, structures and moods to make this a truly new album to match this wild new world’ ‘Decreation Facts’ is all this as they simply inject you with a liquid paranoia for their dark conjuring’s that is hugely dark and foreboding – Julia and Yury’s uber cool stoned and detached delivery creates a seriously dark menace with Julia’s delivery having echoes of Nico – all the while THAT claustrophobic reverb and tremolo encloses and swirls around the inside of your head and vibrates your inner core. This is HEAVY shit. Decreation Facts’ is an unsettling sonic fuck you to those that seek to destroy this planet for their love of money and power and we think it is a stunning achievement. As Terence McKenna might once have said – ‘Firefriend should be consumed alone, in the dark, in silence, with your eyes closed’. Firefriend advises, “Express yourself through any method you want. That is how you become a transmitter, generating waves that will open connections with others vibrating on the same frequencies. That energy field will change the game.” Now that is a truly psychedelic perspective if there ever was one. RCKNRLL, FUZZ, FEED YOUR HEAD

2024 repress :)

The long-awaited repress of "Baby EP" - Ricardo Villalobos's first solo single on raum...musik under the Villalobos moniker - is finally here. Featuring two tonally and energetically distinct cuts of dancefloor minimalism that are undoubtedly Ricardo. "Baby EP" sounds as cutting-edge as when it was initially released 12 years ago.

From the slightly euphoric and light-hearted atmosphere of 'hansup' (A) to the emotionally charged groove of 'Baby' (B), "Baby EP" travels through a world of intricately layered micro/macro percussions, eloquently programmed synths, and Ricardo's own vocals spread across the frequency spectrum - an added human touch to his usual machine funk. And while rhythm seems to be at centre stage here, in usual Villalobos fashion, both tracks resolve into pure jazzy melancholy. After dragging the listener into a world of (very) human feelings so uncommon in electronic dance music, "Baby EP" makes it very clear you are listening to Villalobos.

Heavee is a Queer Chicagoan DJ & producer with a long history in footwork. His 2022 'Audio Assault' EP on Hyperdub showcased synth-driven, melodic footwork, but ‘Unleash’ goes much further into audio world-building, with a fresh, spongy and citrus-y sound palette and rich, bright chord sequences.

It's minimal, airy, balancing light and dark, sometimes breezy and sometimes clinical. Heavee works simultaneously outside and inside the box, rebuilding footwork's framework and vibe to his own unique specification. Rhythmically, it's dance floor ready, using footwork's 160 template as a springboard for building new drum sounds to express these rhythms, and draws from R&B, rap, jazz and grime, with a sprinkling of bitter-sweet vintage Detroit techno.

‘Unleash’ takes footwork’s “eats all” approach to music and leads it in a fresh direction with a freedom of spirit. It's a strong addition to the footwork cannon and shows that experiments in dance music can be fun.

Celebrated new wave compilation from Japan reissued for the first time on Glossy Mistakes.

A much-cherished gem from the 1980s underground Japanese music scene returns as Soft Selection 84 is reissued by Glossy Mistakes for its 40th anniversary. Originally released on DIY label Soft, the compilation sees 13 tracks from nine acts spanning minimal, ambient, zolo and more for a beguiling listen.

The result is a charming time capsule of eclectic creativity in which nothing sounds dated. Take La Sellrose Can Can, whose two party jams predate Kero Kero Bonito's hyperpop by decades. In addition, an impeccable remastering from the original master tapes adds to the "could have been recorded yesterday" feel of the collection.

Soft Selection 84 also includes the eccentric Picky Picnic. One of the few featured artists with recordings beyond the anthology, the trio is an essential act for those curious about Japanese art pop of the era. There is also new wave introspection from Name, whose "Do We All Need Love" plays out as a sensual nod to John Lennon. In a similar vein is Clä-Sick, the recording name of Goro Some, the compilation's original producer and founder of Soft.

The record's rerelease comes with Some's blessing, along with his original artwork and photography. Ultimately, the listener is left tantalised by his selection and its bold excursions into no wave, synth pop, radioplay and bizzaro house. Most of the artists on this release would fade into obscurity, but the transient nature of the potential showcased has helped cement the compilation's reputation over the years.

Soft Selection will be released on vinyl LP by Glossy Mistakes on March 2024, with a remastering from the original master tapes.

Of the countless accolades and analyses that surround Blue, no point is more significant than the fact that the 1971 Joni Mitchell album continues to become more popular, revered, referenced, and relevant with each passing day. Such vitality is not only extremely singular; it is the ultimate measure of great art and, in the context of Blue, indisputable proof of the record's accessibility, integrity, and timelessness. If the most brilliant and everlasting music seeks to find truths shared by all of humanity, Blue can be said to be universal doctrine.

Sourced from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, and strictly limited to 12,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set presents the landmark album with reference-grade detail, tonality, and directness. Marking the first time the beloved LP has received audiophile-quality treatment, it's one of six iconic 1970s Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on definitive-sounding vinyl and SACD sets.

Everything about Blue sounds more intimate, involving, and inescapable on this transparent pressing, which benefits from a virtually non-existent noise floor and superior groove definition. Mitchell's voice, positioned front and center, and primarily accompanied by minimalist acoustic guitar, piano, and dulcimer playing, comes across clearly and prominently. Suspended notes and radiant chords double as question marks, commas, and phrases. The in-the-room presence and spatial dimensionality make absolute the full-range spectrum of introspective emotions — hurt and distress, self-awareness and joy, difficulty and uncertainty, warmth and desire — Mitchell navigates, queries, and contemplates throughout the record. The defencelessness the singer once spoke about is laid bare here like never before.

The packaging of the Blue UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe box, both LPs come in special foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artifact for listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including the unforgettable cover photograph of a ruminative Mitchell shot by Tim Considine.

Deemed the third Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone; universally celebrated by critics, fans, artists, and educators; and defined by a spell of disarmingly vulnerable songs that are at once confessional, intense, spare, honest, painful, hopeful, and exquisite, Blue charts love, spiritualism, independence, and loss like no record before or since. Widely considered the album that established the singer-songwriter template, the largely autobiographical LP changed everything shortly after its original release in June 1971. Amazingly, it continues to do so more than five decades later.

An incalculable influence on generations of artists, it stands as the through-line from Carole King, Elton John, James Taylor, Joan Armatrading, and Leonard Cohen to Patti Smith, Carly Simon, Emmylou Harris, and Rosanne Cash to 21st century contemporaries like Brandi Carlile, Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, and Courtney Barnett. Teetering between agony and optimism, it is — to borrow a phrase from Mitchell's eternal "A Case of You" — a bottomless "box of paints."

The beauty of the stripped-down arrangements, intoxicating melodies, and Mitchell's wisdom on Blue didn't go unnoticed. Critical acclaim, coupled with the depth of the material and Mitchell's reputation, propelled the album into the Top 20 in the U.S. and Top 10 in the U.K. Yet while so much pop music diminishes with age, Blue has defied norms and headed in the opposite direction. Its 50th anniversary year witnessed an outpouring of tributes, reflections, and testimonials that helped frame the record's escalating importance and symbolism — apt in an age in which women have become the prominent trailblazers in rock, R&B, and hip-hop.

Perhaps most succinctly, in a 2021 article celebrating the LP, the Los Angeles Times declared: "In 1971, nothing sounded like Joni Mitchell's Blue. 50 years later, it's still a miracle." Nothing, indeed. Yet "miracle" suggests Blue partially owes to a divine agent or inexplicable circumstance. And though Mitchell's bracing conviction and forthright sincerity can appear otherworldly, her musical approach and lyrical storytelling is nothing if not personal and human. What we hear is pure truth — no matter how aching, complicated, or stark.

Much has been written about the circumstances that inspired the songs on Blue: Mitchell's romances; her time overseas; her disdain for celebrity; her lingering sense of loss at having given up her daughter for adoption; her treatment by the very same industry that her music made uncomfortable; her prolonged search for resolution. These situations and experiences pushed Mitchell to question everything — especially big-picture concepts that have always obsessed mankind: fulfilment, autonomy, love, honesty, being.

"I wanna make you feel free," Mitchell sings on the record-opening "All I Want." Mission accomplished. Blue is liberation — and the start of a freedom that continues to impact music, culture, and identity today.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.

One of the most successful and enjoyable debuts in history, The Cars' self-titled album doubles as a greatest-hits collection. That's because not one song here is unrecognized or unknown. A huge reason why the Boston quintet became America's most popular new-wave band, The Cars launched eight tracks still regularly heard on radio stations everywhere. Consider the hit list: "You're All I've Got Tonight." "Good Times Roll." "Just What I Needed." "Moving in Stereo." "My Best Friend's Girl." "Don't Cha Stop." If you're a fan of pop music, this album is mandatory. Just call it the best new-wave rock album ever made.

And now, The Cars sounds better than it has in any previous incarnation. Mastered from the original analogue tapes, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition LP allows the music's oscillating rhythms, futuristic keyboard passages, panned stereo images, and rippling textures to be experienced like never before. The songs take on a surreal quality, the Cars manipulating the vibrant music at will to mesmerize the listeners' senses and hold them at bay. Mobile Fidelity's pressing epitomizes the sensation of "moving in stereo."

Led by Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr, the Cars managed to unite then-disparate styles: bubblegum pop melodies, angular art rock, progressive arrangements, and terse minimalism. Orr's low, understated singing and Ocasek's cool, detached vocals lend shades of doubt and double meaning to the lyrics, which are further counterbalanced by orchestral keyboard flourishes and electronic beats. The brilliant arrangements also benefit from a laidback cool and understated irony that remain uncommon in the over-the-top world of mainstream music. Obsessed with incorporating the latest technologies and sounds into its palette, the band spiced its tunes with delightfully quirky accents — country-tinged guitar fills, echoing Syndrums, reggae splashes, hard-rock tones, robotic pulses.

The results are the sounds of a creative landmark. At once accessible and eccentric, edgy and catchy, The Cars explodes with emotion, energy, and hooks. It's impossible not to get caught up humming and singing along to every song, an appeal that comes courtesy of Roy Thomas Baker's stellar production. The legendary producer, best known for his work with Queen, ensured that the record seamlessly packed a smooth midrange, spacious imaging, and call-and-answer choruses in one tight package. Baker's trademark touches with harmony vocals abound.

"The MoFi disc is much better than the original in every way. It's more dynamic, much more natural on top, and all three dimensions have a lot bigger space. This disc is great from start to finish, but "Moving in Stereo" will blow you away on a great system in a big room."
—Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio