quête:mu el

Hubie Davison returns to Leisure System December 1st, 2014 with the Khayyam Grey EP, his second release for the Berlin-based label and one that marks both his and Leisure System's funkiest output to date.Following on his 2013 debut of pastoral electronics and muffled house, Khayyam Grey highlights Davison's vivid production skills, drawing from a deep well of influences varying from Werkdiscs and Sound Signature to Bill Withers and Otis Redding. The three tracks here are also the strongest representative document yet of the 26-year-old Davison's DJing, which incorporates all manner of memorable house and assorted wonkiness and has seen him play in Panorama Bar, Corsica Studios, and Gaité Lyrique in Paris amongst numerous others.The title track takes cues from Daphni's stand-up-and-shout, sample-heavy house, while "Get On" is a comparatively restrained yet incredibly funky mid-tempo number. "Vowels", which first appeared as the opening track on the LSR-LSD1 compilation, appears here in extended and altered form, breaking down vocals on a syllabic level from smooth to percussive.These three tracks of addictive house have been on constant rotation at Leisure System for the past few months - it's high time everyone else joined the party

American Intelligence' is Theo's long awaited follow up to 'Sound Sculptures vol 1' and its truly sensational. Huge tip!!!
On this album Theo fuses jazz & soul music with electronic production, making this album sound both futuristic and grounded in the past at the same time. Contributions come from Marcellus Pittman, Ideeyah, Duminie Deporres.

As one of contemporary alternative music's most elusive figures, Dean Blunt returns on Black Metal and delivers his most assured and ambitious record to date for Rough Trade. An album of two halves; the crestfallen baritone on Blow is juxtaposed by the inner-city sermonising of Grade, just as the melancholic strumming of 50 Cent gets rattled by the unrelenting stagger of Mersh. With ominous narratives of hunger and loneliness rumbling underneath the gloomy surface, Black Metal is a moonlit cruise through Blunt's cloudy metropolis. There's no telling where he'll go next, but this is one of his finest trips to date

This release blows the trio's instrumental palette wide open for a single continuous piece.
Begun as a one-off collaboration in 2009, the trio of Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi has now become a solid working group, refining its craft through a series of annual concerts at Tokyo's legendary SuperDeluxe.  Much of their recorded work has focused on their intense, ritualistic take on the rock power trio of electric guitar, bass and drums, with last year's 'now while it's still warm let us pour in all the mystery' (BT09) containing a series of instant compositions of stunning power and concision that demonstrated how familiar and attuned to one another the three have become.

Presenting the entire first set of the trio's March 2013 concert at SuperDeluxe (the second set will follow on Black Truffle later this year), 'only   wanting to melt   beautifully away is it a lack   of contentment  that stirs affection   for those   things  said to be as of yet unseen', their fifth release,  blows the instrumental palette wide open for a single continuous piece focused on acoustic strings, synth, flute and percussion. Featuring one of Haino's most delicate and moving recorded vocal performances, the opening section of the record takes the form of a spare duet between O'Rourke's 12-string acoustic guitar and Haino's kantele (a Finnish variant of the dulcimer), behind which Ambarchi provides a hovering backdrop of wine glass tones. While on previous releases the listener has often sensed that Haino was firmly in the driver's seat, here O'Rourke takes centre stage with an acoustic guitar performance that takes the lyricism of John Abercrombie or Ralph Towner and refracts it through the free improvisation tradition of his mentors Derek Bailey and Henry Kaiser. The atmosphere of meditative, abstracted song is reminiscent of some of Haino's greatest recordings, such as the legendary 'Live In The First Year Of The Heisei' volumes recorded with Kan Mikami.

BARNT - geboren in den 70ern, Kind der 90er.
Seine Klassenkameraden hörten Grunge, während er Techno studierte, als die gleichen Klassenkameraden dann Techno entdeckten, hatte er sich bereits die HipHop DNA in Form von ITF und DMC Meisterschaften vorgenommen und als alle nach Berlin gingen um - Minimal' zu zelebrieren, blieb er in Köln und begab sich auf eine Exkursion in die Geschichte deutscher Elektronik- und Rockmusik - stets angezogen von den zwei Hauptmerkmalen dieser Ära: Präzision und Freies Spiel. Diese musikalischen Schlüsselpunkte und seine nun schon zwei Jahrzehnte dauernde DJ Erfahrung sind die Basis für die Formel aus Pathos, berechnendem Dilettantismus und Dance!oor-Funktionalität, die alle seine Produktionen kennzeichnet - von seinem Beitrag für Cologne Tape auf der EP Render, der ersten Veröentlichung auf seinem mit Jens-Uwe Beyer und Crato betriebenen Label Magazine, bis hin zu dem berüchtigten Geen. Render und seine Debut EP What Is A Number, That A Man May Know It wurden 2010 direkt zu Underground Hits und die Platten sind seitdem begehrte Sammlerstücke. Zu dieser Zeit war Barnt schon ein etablierter Teil der Musikszene Kölns, der Stadt in der er zunächst sein Biologiestudium abschloss und darauf noch ein Kunststudium folgen liess, was erneut die beiden Pole ,Präzision' und ,Freies Spiel' in seiner Entwicklung vereint. In der fruchtbaren Atmosphäre der Stadt fühlt er sich noch immer wohl und entwickelt von hier aus seinen eigentümlichen Stil weiter, der ihn bereits vom Robert Johnson zum Trouw, vom Montreux Jazz Festival zum Mutek und vom Berghain zum Burning Man gebracht hat.BARNT - geboren in den 70ern, Kind der 90er. Seine Klassenkameraden hörten Grunge, während er Techno studierte, als die gleichen Klassenkameraden dann Techno entdeckten, hatte er sich bereits die HipHop DNA in Form von ITF und DMC Meisterschaften vorgenommen und als alle nach Berlin gingen um - Minimal' zu zelebrieren, blieb er in Köln und begab sich auf eine Exkursion in die Geschichte deutscher Elektronik- und Rockmusik - stets angezogen von den zwei Hauptmerkmalen dieser Ära: Präzision und Freies Spiel. Diese musikalischen Schlüsselpunkte und seine nun schon zwei Jahrzehnte dauernde DJ Erfahrung sind die Basis für die Formel aus Pathos, berechnendem Dilettantismus und Dance!oor-Funktionalität, die alle seine Produktionen kennzeichnet - von seinem Beitrag für Cologne Tape auf der EP Render, der ersten Veröentlichung auf seinem mit Jens-Uwe Beyer und Crato betriebenen Label Magazine, bis hin zu dem berüchtigten Geen. Render und seine Debut EP What Is A Number, That A Man May Know It wurden 2010 direkt zu Underground Hits und die Platten sind seitdem begehrte Sammlerstücke.Zu dieser Zeit war Barnt schon ein etablierter Teil der Musikszene Kölns, der Stadt in der er zunächst sein Biologiestudium abschloss und darauf noch ein Kunststudium folgen liess, was erneut die beiden Pole ,Präzision' und ,Freies Spiel' in seiner Entwicklung vereint. In der fruchtbaren Atmosphäre der Stadt fühlt er sich noch immer wohl und entwickelt von hier aus seinen eigentümlichen Stil weiter, der ihn bereits vom Robert Johnson zum Trouw, vom Montreux Jazz Festival zum Mutek und vom Berghain zum Burning Man gebracht hat.

Schlammpeitziger's album yields even more fruit. Six weeks after the release of his longplayer "What's Fruit" Pingipung releases this 12inch EP with remixes. The motley set of six electronic musicians and bands dice Schlammpeitziger's countless melodies into a delicious fruit salad! Candie Hank (Patric Catani) deals with the title track "What's Fruit" and beams the mantra-like vocals of the original unerringly to the dancefloor. Andreas Dorau, the infamous hero of German New Wave music form the 80s, is a year long companion of Schlammpeitziger. He sings about autumn leaves, on top of the instrumental hit "Balcony Sofaune", which is transformed into a disco piece by Dorau's producer sdfkt. (Golden Pudel Club, Hamburg). Springintgut dedicates himself to the complex melodic layers of "Pipe Claphorse", waves a giddy tambourine and tops it off with a three voiced cello chorus. The B side is opened by Mouse On Mars who turn "Balcony Sofaune" into an ever growing and collapsing bass monster, while focusing on the bold brass theme of the original. Thomas Mahmoud Zahl slows it down with a head- nodder. He thwarts the melancholy of "Schneid ein Stück aus der Zeit" with a stoically bouncing beat, which dubs and grooves like it wants to go on forever. Dub-Master hey (one half of Pingipung's Hey-Ø- Hansen) sends the same track through his studio, offers new harmonies with his quiet acoustic guitar and sugars it all with a galactic vocoder.

Heidi Lord Wife of Rephlex/WeMe artist Jodey Kendrick 3 of Heidi's tracks are featured on the famous "EDM" Compilation Albums This is the Debut album from Heidi Using a unique pallet of sounds from MRI machines to modular synthersizers to conversations in a super market to her own processed voice Co produced by her Husband "I could describe what the album means to me, But i would much rather leave it to listener to experience and feel and to interpret how they see fit"

REPRESSED !!
Tim Xavier's newest imprint looks to cross the boundaries between House and Techno, this time featuring Jamaica Suk with her Spektrum EP. Stepping into harder Techno territory the up and coming artist brings a solid 4-track EP with style and flair like none other.
Born and raised in California, Jamaica Suk has always been surrounded by music playing many instruments as a child. In her teenage years she began to play bass guitar in many Math Rock and Shoegaze bands. After becoming frustrated with the conflicting ideas of band members she would eventually find a new love in electronic music.
After enrolling in audio engineering school in San Francisco, she quickly became a known force within San Francisco's electronic music scene. Once she completed her audio engineering studies she decided she wanted more. Traveling around the world following her Techno dreams, she would eventually find her new home in Berlin where she has built her own fully functioning production studio at Salon Wilde Renate.
Jamaica makes her vinyl debut on Face To Face, following her Embers EP on Coal Recordings. Her sound can be described as sexy and sophisticated contemporary Techno but still packing a punch that puts it perfectly in line for prime time sets. The 4-track EP with a bonus digital only track explores all her ideas as a musician and artist including taking inspiration from her rock roots with gritty raw elements.
Already highly respected amongst her professional peers as a tour de force of creative energy and drive. There is nothing this woman can't do, as all her work is produced and mixed solely by herself. She continues to push the boundaries of Techno music while staying true to herself as an artist and it's through this determination we're sure to see more from Jamaica as she continues to evolve.

Now part of the family for more than a year, TvFrom86 aka Thomas Zander is releasing his 1st solo EP on the imprint. Tvfrom86 did a brilliant debut on Roche Musique with the single 'Loosing you' including the very good electro funk song 'Brooklyn Business'.

Keeping the good work and the talent for sampling, TvFrom86 explored the funk with dexterity and exactness in Purple People adding just what the sample needed to sublimate it and make it as powerful as it deserves to be. Creative Swing Alliance, side project of the talented label manager for MCDE, Pablo Valentino, and Steven Wobblejay, gave their own interpretation with and heavier bass and no less efficiency.

S3A was invited on the project for the rework of Flying Piano, the third original of the release. The French producer, very proactive at the moment with releases on Lazare Hoche, Hold Youth, Faces, Large Musique and more, definitely didn't steel his nickname. S3A Is telling us three stories in one with a rough analogic sound for an impressive result.

Efficient DJ tool, perfect to turn a dance floor into a mess, By all means combines great rhythmic, samples and voices around a bass guitar for the last original of this French touch record.

When  DFC TEAM (PERSI, COLLINO & GEMOLOTTO)  started their Atahualpa project Techno Music was far to be a cool trend in the venues. Even more innovative was to mash up acoustic, electronic,  traditional instruments as Peruvian panflutes and synthesizers while  evocative voices drive listeners to the world of last Inca emperor.
It was in 1990 when  ULTIMO IMPERIO by ATAHUALPA topped   in several countries around the world  becoming a milestone in the dance music history. 
Nearly twentyfive years later DFC LABEL releases 4 amazing new Remixes and the story goes on.

Esta es la historia de ULTIMO IMPERIO. HASTA SIEMPRE ATAHUALPA!

Producer CRISTIAN VOGEL, born in Chile and in raised in Bristol, England, represents an inner turmoil within the history of electronic music and techno. Like only a few other artists such as Aphex Twin, he personifies the second wave of techno during which authorship, previously pronounced dead, returned in full force. The former punk, who had completed studies in composition (20th century classical music in Sussex) conveyed a powerful force in his music, which now finds its place very naturally as electronic music; back then, it did more than just shake up the concepts of techno. Complex and intricate rhythms (Süddeutsche Zeitung) dig deep chasms in dark (listening) spaces.

In 1996, together with JAMIE LIDELL as SUPER_COLLIDER, he made a final attempt to breathe life into electronic music, which was still primarily seen as dance/rave/club music, and produced clustered break funk music that was so relevant to its time that many considered it more a music of the future: science fiction for the dance floor. Although the project was not a failure, it did not succeed even halfway in meeting the expectations of an artist who was rather perplexed by the lack of interest he perceived in others in music as art and research. Vogel believes that music has a will to unfold, like a jungle from the undergrowth of industrial cities where music is thought of as an attack and a defense.
Seemingly out of disappointment in the predictably declining hedonism of the scene, he moved to Barcelona and bound his explosive ideas to more accessible formats, founded labels, created networks (No Future, Sleep Debt) and, at the same time, revisited his early days by working more and more on formats such as music for ballet and similar concepts. He also sought freedom precisely in what was referred to as functional electronic music through conceptual and serious endeavors in the artistic sense.
Vogel went under for a time and lived in Vienna before arriving in Berlin nearly two years ago, where he made his first new and daring attempt to assimilate everything that electronic music represented to him on one album: 'The Inertials' on SHITKATAPULT. Shortly after that, his mystical, floating ambient work 'Eselsbrücke' was released, which already spoke the language of the new city.

He now presents a new album on SHITKATAPULT entitled 'POLYPHONIC BEINGS' - a true masterpiece in the inimitable Vogel style, as his fans will no doubt claim. 'POLYPHONIC BEINGS' begins, after two minutes of an irritating noise wave, with a surprisingly classic dub track and grows darker and more abstract from track to track, minute by minute. An eerie and unbelievable sound, with all as it should be: every reverb tail, every movement of the fader, every composed note takes the listener piece by piece into Vogel's own cosmos.
He foregoes interwoven elements for swaying towers of rhythm, powerful sound passages, spaces, roads, mirrors and pathways, leading to a stream of ideas that never wants to end. He aptly quotes Karl-Heinz Stockhausen in the liner notes: These are the "atomic layers of ourselves." And so it is. We are what we hear. This is the definitive CRISTIAN VOGEL.

BERLIN, BRISTOL, CAIRO, JOHANNESBURG, KYIV, LAGOS, LISBON, LUANDA, NAIROBI, NAPLES
50 electronic music producers and instrumentalists from these ten cites were invited to collaborate
in studios over the course of more than six months. As a result hip-hop from the squats of Naples,
dubstep and bass from Bristol and Lisbon, experimental techno from Berlin and jazz-tnged deep-house
from Kiev are thrust upon the pumping kuduro of Luanda, the free-thinking crackled electronica of
Cairo, the afro-jazz of Lagos & Johnannesburg, and the Sheng street slang of Kenyan hip-hop and rap.
A selecton of the results of these cross-contnental experiments can be heard on this record.


















Ten Cites Masala

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Fantasma, the latest project of South African innovator and creatve pioneer Spoek Mathambo, is a fve-man collectve which weaves together electronica, hip-hop, traditonal Zulu maskandi music, shangaan electro, South African house, psych-rock and punk to form a unique, original and fresh hybrid.The godfather of 'Bacardi House', producer DJ Spoko joins with former Machineri guitarist André Geld- enhuys, drummer Michael Buchanan and maskandi mult-instrumentst Bhekisenzo Cele to complete
the line up. Fused by Spoek Mathambo's futurist vision, Fantasma pulls inspiraton from all corners of South Africa:
the sounds and spirits of townships and cites as well as the rural countryside. It is diverse not only in its membership but also in its forward-looking music. The band will be in the studio this summer recording their debut LP set for release early 2015. Watch
this space.

Saxophonist Sean Khan is a multi-instrumentalist distinguished for his ability to fuse traditional jazz with contemporary styles. His involvement in the West London broken beat scene as band leader of the cult soul/ jazz outfit SK Radicals and as a collaborator with the likes of the Bugz in the Attic collective, have seen his unique breed of jazz put to full effect in London's clubs, at nights like the legendary bruk orientated 'CoOp'.

In anticipation of Sean Khan's second album on Far Out Recordings: 'Muriel', this four track 12' release features remixes from 4hero and Nicola Conte with father of British Neo-Soul, Omar on vocal duties. 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down' is uplifting and sophisticated dance-floor jazz. Dego and Marc Mac (4hero), two pioneers of broken beat, jungle and UK dance music as a whole, re-work the single from 'Muriel' into a delicately crafted downtempo number, which tames the original somewhat with club focused intentions, yet retains all of its fluidity and groove. Along with the eminence of rhythmic elements, Omar's instantly recognizable, thick and soulful vocals are sparsely and subtly layered to create beguiling, unconventional harmonies. Elevating the track to its peak, Sean Khan's exquisite alto sax solo demonstrates both his technical prowess and keen understanding of jazz's history, whilst working to carve out its future. The B side hosts Nicola Conte's remix of 'Things to Say'. Renowned for his input and influence in the lineage of acid jazz and fusion, as a producer, Dj and musician, Nicola Conte provides a deeper, darker take on Sean Khan's unique blend of jazz. A bouncy 4/4 house beat skips along beneath contemplative, whirring Rhodes, while the ghostly soulful vocals of Diana Martinez and samples of Sean Khan's expressive sax playing see the track taken to more introspective yet still clearly club focused territory. The final track is the intro to 'Sister Soul', previewing more material from Muriel, Sean Khan's forthcoming studio album on Far Out Recordings.

Zeitgeber and L.B Dub Corp split the second in Stroboscopic Artefacts' series of fifth anniversary records. Zeitgeber is the collaborative project of SA label boss Lucy and Dutch techno royalty Speedy J. Their joint alias birthed an exceptional long-player last year and has since been presented as a b2b act at festivals and clubs around the world. 'Totemism' is their first officially released output since that album, and is every bit as compelling. 'Totemism' opens with distant, reverberating bells and a thin film of hiss and crackle. But, one minute in, heavy and incessant drums cut through the ambience, hitting you straight in the chest. The surrounding atmosphere evolves and filters in-and-out of the mix until, halfway through, the track takes an unexpected turn with an elastic bassline and acid squelches. Then, the drums hit you again. This is an 11 minute masterclass in widescreen, narrative techno from two of the scene's most experienced and inventive producers. Luke Slater, a man of many aliases, slips into L.B Dub Corp mode for the B-side of this record. This particular moniker of Slater's generally trades in raw, culturally-inspired house music, though has also appeared on Stroboscopic's Stellate series with two deep and beatless dubs. For his contribution to SA's 5 Year anniversary, Slater re-visits a classic club cut of his own, delivering 'Take It Down Again (In Dub)'. 'Take It Down Again' is a brilliantly-realised exercise in tension, dub delay and mixing board creativity, all made to shine by a dose of oddball musicality and sampling. This version of 2010's 'Take It Down' is more restrained and tonally varied, equipped to instil a brooding and tribal darkness on the floor.

Audiojack's Gruuv label returns this October with a four-track package from French producer Okain, featuring a remix from Tuccillo. Parisian artist Samuel Thalman aka Okain has quite the standing in contemporary electronic music having been a prominent name as a DJ and producer for the past fifteen years. Playing at some of the leading nightclubs across the globe such as Fabric, Watergate, Space Ibiza, Rex Club and Electric Pickle to name but a few. Thalman's also built quite the respectable back-catalogue in his time, releasing material via the likes of Tsuba, BPitch, Memento and Cadenza, and here we see him add Gruuv to his affiliations.

Kicking off the release is 'Down the Block', seeing Okain offer up a rugged percussion and bass led house cut, fuelled by swinging rhythms, rumbling sub tones, sporadic sax licks and processed vocal lines, opening up the EP on an energetic tip.

'RZ One' follows this, retaining a similar aesthetic with an insistent drive and penetrative low-end, though Okain opts for a grittier production feel here, distorting the drum sounds, instilling expansive, atmospheric reverb tails and drawn out delays alongside hip-hop imbued vocal lines.

On the latter half of the release we have two versions of 'By Your Side', the first of which is the original mix from Okain, which takes on a more stripped-back approach in comparison to the preceding composition's, laying its focus on fluttering synth sounds, a stab-led bass hook and warm motown style vocal chops. 2020Vision artist Tuccillo then rounds off the package with his mix of 'By Your Side', turning in his signature percussive-led style on the mix with intricately programmed drums and a subtle underlying tension that softly bubbles away in the depths over the cuts seven minute duration.

Bell Gardens combines the musical visions of Kenneth James Gibson (formerly of Furry Things, now recording as
*Bell Gardens' origins began arguably as more of an experiment than the duo's current 'experimental' projects - McBride's drone- and string-laden ambient symphonies, and Gibson's ventures in dub and minimalist techno - as they sought to manifest their mutual reverence for folk, psychedelia and chamber pop in a traditional band structure without cannibalising any particular past genre. Bell Gardens' sound is less reliant on effects and studio trickery than the pairs' independent guises, laying bare as it does vocals and live instruments with emotional sincerity, and presenting songs imbued with an almost pastoral or gospel simplicity and timelessness.
Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions was again recorded mostly at home studios, but additionally the band made use of a friend's desert cabin in Wonder Valley, California, and it seems this willingness to retreat from the city has lent an expansiveness to the tracks, in particular the spacious, ceremonial 'Silent Prayer' (written in a snowbound mountain cabin in Idyllwild, C.A.) and the crepuscular 'She's Stuck in an Endless Loop of Her Decline' (mapped out under the stars in the desert).
While the addition of strings (contributed by Lauren Chipman of The Rentals and The Section Quartet) and trumpet (Stewart Cole of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros) provides a double rainbow of tonal textures throughout, the nine tracks of Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions are united by an understated elegance belying the newly expanded, communal effort in the studio: each instrument earns its place, nothing is overwrought or conspicuous. Moreover, it is McBride and Gibson's artistry in building stirring soundscapes from the barest of materials in their other guises that lends such assurance and sophistication to these arrangements.
The band is a result of the complimentary cross-pollination of Gibson and McBride's musical tastes - borne from a late-night conversation between the two that grew wings - and it is the universality of the sentiments and their restrained, reflective approach to writing and recording that allows the music to simultaneously straddle the past and the present. The music avoids pastiche, its pedal steel, sleigh bells and harmonies giving a nod to the ghosts of musical genres past, but never overriding or distracting from the emotional content of the sum of its parts.
The album ends with the glorious 'Take Us Away' - one of the first demos Gibson gave McBride when he was on tour with Stars of the Lid - neatly bringing their work to date full circle and exemplifying the band's mindfulness of their own serendipitous beginnings: the dawning of an auspicious, unique musical force.

Bell Gardens - Take Us Away -
Harmonies alert!! Actually, this is rather lovely. Slow-tempo, just the right side of 'twee' and packed full of strings, as if Air and Midlake had been taking balloon trips over the mid-West and sprinkling good-vibes dust across the land. From L.A. and subconsciously plugged into the '60s dream-pop scene, taking in a little bit of Mercury Rev and Brendan Perry en route, stopping off at Pearls Before Swine and Big Star's house for inspiration, before getting stoned with '70s era Brian Eno and Harold Budd.

Boston based production duo and room-mates John Barera & Will Martin continue their journey into sculptural, storytelling House music, with their debut album on Dolly - ' Graceless'. The pair's work has found a wider audience since the success of 'Reality', which found its way into the hands of Berlin's Steffi, and acted as a central gear and in her 2013 Panorama 05 Mix. John Barera has been a firm disciple of the House and Techno world for the past 10 years, and after launching Supply Records in 2011 has brought an elegant, resoundingly universal mixture of underground club tracks to the fore. A fresh and fruitful partnership with close friend Will Martin grew out of the pair's rapidly growing studio, and the latest results can be found here over the 8 cool, classy and refined contemporary House tracks.

In Musik und Text verschmelzen über alle 11 Titel hindurch Stimmungen, Eindrücke der Sub-Sahara Konzert-Tour von B.Friedmann 2013 und Fetzen von Erinnerungen an eine imaginierte Zukunft. Sie reagieren auf reale "Kpafuca" - "things falling apart" - Zustände afrikanischer Metropolen und kollabieren zu Grooves und Phrasen, die an Chris Marker´s Science-Fiction-Apokalyptik ( "La Jette"/ "Sans Soleil" ) erinnern. In dieser Polyphonie der Un-Orte schwingt auch der Geist reisender Klangabenteurer, zB. der musikethnologischen Praktiker Hartmut Geerken und Roman Bunka (Embryo), deren Visionen und Musik-Wirken sich gegen reduktionistische, essentialistische Inszenierungen sträubt. Gegen jene kulturellen Landkarten, die in die Musik immer wieder zwanghaft hineingezeichnet werden, setzt Friedman auf "Cease To Matter" im intuitiven Modus die befreiende Kraft des Rauschens, der Über-Mensch-Maschinen-Musik, der krummen Beats und des technischen Zufalls-Defekts, kurz: das "Un-gehör-sam" (Johannes Ismaiel-Wendt) gegenüber der normativen Deutungshoheit musikalischer Weltkarten.

Die Stimme des aus Texas stammenden in Berlin lebenden Performers und Vokalisten Daniel Dodd-Ellis wirkte bereits 2007 auf Burnt Friedman´s Album "First Night Forever" (non22). Die Lyrics stammen von beiden Autoren und wurden von Friedmann während der Produktionsvorgänge 2013 bis 2014 mehrfach zerlegt und neu zusammengesetzt. Die Zeile "Sky Is Blue Inside Of You" ist dem 1932 erschienenen Roman "Brave New World" von Aldous Huxley entnommen. Tracks 04 und 09 ("Cease To Matter") enthalten ein Piano Sample Edit basierend auf einer Komposition von Georges Invanovich Gurdjieff (1872-1949).

The III Rivers juggernaut sets forth once again, release number 4 The Charivari EP, putting Voiceless in the cockpit and leading the charge.

Second Nature sets a dark, sultry and ominous tone as Voiceless deploys a plethora of sounds and moods that resonate with all the tense drama of the label's affiliated club night, Bohemian Grove.
Big laser beam synths dart through a thick pitch black haze while a factory line percussion section hammers on.

Always keeping a foot in the sonic warfare division, we get three locked grooves loaded and ready for battle, funky, electrified technoid wobblers that should fight off most opposition with ease.

Flip the disc and Opt-out opens with a controlled urgency as a barrage of kick drums sets the train in motion. Voiceless layers up rich, untreated piano chords against the backdrop of dark industrial chaos, percussion artefacts career around the mix and various elements are put through an aural meat grinder before the familiar and welcoming piano motif returns like a long lost friend, guiding us through the smoke hand-in-hand. A beautiful juxtaposition of soulful melancholy and cold, glacial machines.

Final track Charivari really hits the accelerator as a tough and mechanical rhythm jolts against blurred, radioactive pads and searing string lines before collapsing into a fractal breakdown introducing mystical, weaving high end leads. An eyes-down fist pumper of the highest order and one that commands excessive smoke & strobe light abuse late, late into the session.

One to close off one of their infamous soirees in style, hoards of mutant dancers leaving the industrial backdrop of the club's venue and crossing paths with the early morning dog walkers and Sunday strollers. Four releases in and we've lost none of the quality control, unique drive and free minded 'true spirit' (to quote Tresor's legendary catchphrase). The label goes from the strength to strength and with it, brings a whole new generation of techno shamans under their wing.

Pulshar return to Desolat with another stunning long player filled with a selection of sumptuous productions that further demonstrate their grasp over intimate and deeply ethereal electronic music. Vinyl version of 'Blood and Mathematics' features the originals and instrumentals via download code, and is perfectly timed for when the days begin to draw to a close. Barcelona based duo Sergio S. Vidal and Pablo Bolivar have cemented the Pulshar name and reputation as proponents of dub-heavy, soulful and at times psychedelic electronic music. Their first Desolat long player 'Inside' received critical acclaim and effortlessly bridged the gap between the dance-floor and the home listening environment. They returned to Desolat in 2013 with a deliciously deep and trippy EP in 'Different Drum', and now continue their relationship with the label with 'Blood and Mathematics'. Pulshar continue their affair with Electro, Instrumental Hip-Hop, Dub and Psychedelia. They have distilled this to create a distinctive and soulful brand of electronic music and the new Long Player represents where the artists are in 2014. All the tracks are written and produced by them, with only Guti as a featuring artist on 'Running Away'. This has resulted in them cultivating a traditional 'album' experience where one track effortlessly segues into the next and takes the listener through a range of emotions across the record. Blood and Mathematics is a contemporary electronic music listening experience that will be revisited again and again.

Poker Flat is gearing up to celebrate fifteen years strong, with a series of releases that will assure their standing as one of electronic music's best known and most loved imprints. Poker Flat's unwavering dedication to the finest underground house music has unearthed new talent, developed rising stars and welcomed veterans into the fold, and the first of the label's 15th anniversary compilations brings together four of the brightest leading lights of the scene. With four seminal labels - Raw Elements, Dessous, Traffic Signs and Poker Flat - to his credit, Steve Bug has little to prove, but the tireless artist has never been a slouch on the DJ and production front, as he's proven time and again. Tracks like 'A Shot In The Dark' showcased his musical chops, and tied together elements of classic warehouse sounds, deep and sophisticated production and an uncompromising techy edge. The anniversary reworking of the tracks made for 4 Jacks boasts the remix talents of Taylor, whose sleek approach chops up the old school piano chords of the original for a bumping, more streamlined result. Another smashing new remix features in the form of Boris Dlugosch's 2012 acid-disco-house hit 'Sweet Talk". Here The Organ Grinder crafts a bass-heavy monster with a walloping kick drum and syncopated handclaps that enhance Boris' acid melodies and make it rough and ready for underground tastes. Two brand new productions round out the Jacks package.

Mathias 'SHOW-B' Schober makes his Pooledmusic debut with the Arps EP. A talented producer & engineer, Schober has been releasing under his SHOW-B alias since 2007, since when he has had EP releases on Poker Flat & Compost Black Label, an exclusive track featured on La Fleur's Watergate 16 compilation, and a release on Delusions of Grandeur with Milton Jackson as Pattern Select. The Arps EP sees SHOW-B blending his various talents in the A side 'Arps To Heaven', a heady deep house track with a swirling melody that recalls the trippier end of Strength Music and Deepblak's respective outputs. On the B1, Ian Pooley follows up his huge Innervisions EP 'Floris' and the Rejected re-issue of his anthem Chord Memory by fusing the original's psychedelic elements with a classic, irresistible Pooley groove. The B2, 'Isifuba', sees Schober focusing on a swinging house beat structure for the early hours dancefloors.

Davide Squillace, the Italian DJ and producer behind the This And That Lab and Hideout imprints, has kept up a hugely productive schedule since the 1990s, and lands on Luciano's Cadenza Music this fall with the 'Goiânia' single release. Previous musical output on a multitude of labels such as Primate, his own Sketch Music & Minisketch labels, Ovum, Supernature and M_nus has also seen the artist collaborate with plenty; Guti, Martin Buttrich and Philip Bader among those who he has conjured up some inventive and dancefloor-centric minimal electronic music with. On the lead track 'Goiânia', Squillace opens up a highly musical pot of orchestral stabs and brass hits, morphing bottom end and freestyle synth licks, cavorting around a steady percussive beat to great effect.'Blossom' comes heavier in vibe, but maintaining the classical atmosphere developed on the EP's opener. Pizzicato synths play a call and response with dramatic strings whilst an electro tinged drum pattern and sizzling hats lay the foundations of a track with more than a nod to the classic house sounds developed on labels like Innervisions and Ibadan. 'Unit 9 closes the release, and Squillace goes on a Galactic ride through meteoritic bleeps and humungous pads for a cosmic and pacey techno number, dubbing it up midway for a most enjoyable ride and a fitting closure to a classy release on Cadenza.

Mark Henning returns to Soma with yet more jacked up machine funk in Titan. Mark has firmly established him self within the Soma mainstays and continues to further his sound on the label. This latest EP sees him take to the street with two energetic drum workouts laden with his unique flavour.

Title track Titan is very typical Henning, keeping the ingredients simple yet effect and created live. A solid groove from his trusty 909 that just oozes dance floor compatibility hooked up with a quirky synth stab, weird vocals and a eerie organ-like riff all rounded off with a fantastic arrangement makes for one seriously infectious track

Roots gives of a real ghetto-tech feel, as once again a 909 groove is enough to get things going while squelchy synth hits bounce of rimshots working up to a subtle rolling bass line. Mark's skill in the arrangement process take hold as he allows the tracks to develop into a full drum workout with mutes here and there and the simple addition of more stuttering percussion help to pick up the pace.

Henning as the enviable talent of being able to create dance floor burners with the simplest of elements, a task he delivers of with blinding result on this EP.

Ein wahrer Überraschungserfolg in unserem 2014er Release-Kalender, führte VERMONTs gleichnamiges Debüt-Album die Hörerschaft an eine überraschend andersartige Seite des musikalischen Schaffens der beiden Projektgründer MARCUS WORGULL und DANILO PLESSOW (aka Motor City Drum Ensemble) heran. Ein Langspieler voller abenteuerlustiger Jam-Sessions und schnittiger Synthie-Klanglandschaften, berief sich 'VERMONT' lieber auf kompositorische Neugierde und einen informellen, kollaborativen Geist als auf den laser-ähnlichen Fokus, welcher den Club-Produktionen der beiden Künstler zu eigen ist.

Mit VERMONT - THE PRINS THOMAS VERSIONS betritt nun ein weiterer, hochverehrter Held zeitgenössischer Tanzflure die Bühne: der norwegische Disco-Connaisseur und Bootleg-Experte PRINS THOMAS taucht mit drei brillianten Neubearbeitungen tief in die VERMONT'schen Klangwelten hinab und betont die rhythmischen Elemente der originalen Album-Tracks DYNAMIK, ELEKTRON und MACCHINA - ohne jedoch deren zurückgelehnten Grundgestus zu verraten. Er tut dies unter Zuhilfenahme von luftiger angelegten Varianten klassischer Tanzmusik-Stile - Techno, House, sogar eine Prise Dub Reggae - und lässt diese die Hauptbeinarbeit versehen. Das Ergebnis präsentiert sich dementsprechend so drängend wie nötig und so entspannt wie möglich.

With his new album "What's Fruit", Schlammpeitziger touches the dancefloor more than ever before in his 22-year long career. Yet his dancefloor is a playful one. The Cologne based composer's sounds electrify with their multi-layered melodic structures. He weaves countless details in perfection, to a high density of musical activity, always focusing on the slow, driving beats which hold everything together. Each of the eight tracks represents shades of the unique humour we love about Schlammpeitziger: The tricky question about what's those things we call fruit, or his mantric German lyrics on "Schneid ein Stück aus der Zeit" are charming messages which never fail to be heard in the guise of those lovely synth hooks. This new Schlammpeitziger disco has its source in a situation which does not quite promise relaxed creativity: In the past year Schlammpeitziger's studio in Cologne has been surrounded by construction works. Locked up in his private space between massive hums, squealing saws and pulsating jackhammers, he delivers this indeed relaxed album with eight tracks. It comes across with the freshness of a debut work. Contrary to his previous records which had been mostly made with analogue synths, this album has been produced with iPad synths at 90% of the time, before taking the mixes to Stefan Mohr's (ex- member of the band "Workshop") mixing console.

Erlend Øye is a skinny nerd, but maybe that's what makes him a pop star. His huge thick spectacle-lenses act as an interface between his inner life and his numerous collaborators and fans. Erlend Øye is a travelling singer-songwriter, who has been making music in various constellations since the late nineties. He sang for Röyksopp, while his own bands are Kings of Convenience and The Whitest Boy Alive, who recently split up. A laid back, everyday vibe runs through Erlend Øye's music. Erlend is not larger than life, at the most his songs may be. The pop star from next-door doesn't make any drama, but leaves that to life itself. His relaxed, laid back sound opens your eyes and ears for places, situations and encounters. A certain mournfulness runs through the songs, although they deal with a longing for self-fulfilment. Erlend sings of loneliness, and in doing so, he creates a 'we'. Until now Erlend's projects have often been based on simple concepts - two guitars and two vocals with Kings of Convenience, and four instruments with The Whitest Boy Alive. With his new solo album he frees himself of these parameters; for the first time everything is possible, for the first time Erlend Øye stands alone. The songs on 'Legao' were arranged and recorded with the Icelandic reggae band Hjálmar.

The magic of 'Legao' lies in the fact that Erlend's vulnerable vocals and his sincere lyrics are supported by the elegance and consistency of the band. Today roughness is often used to counterbalance roughness, whereas on Legao a equilibrium is sought - and found. A simplicity, clarity and minimalism is created that is rarely found in pop music. Erlend Øye has grown up. He accomplishes nothing less than the step towards an independent, free-standing solo musician, who can perform in any constellation - with a band, orchestra or alone with a guitar.

The incredible return of Flying Lotus on Warp. You're Dead! sees producer Steven Ellison taking us on a transcendental voyage into the afterlife. A wholly immersive, psychedelic journey, it's a virtuoso performance from one of the decade's most talented and inventive artists. The album features contributions from (in order of appearance) Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar, Captain Murphy, Snoop Dogg, Angel Deradoorian, Thundercat and Niki Randa. Original artwork by Japanese comic book artist Shintaro Kago

The third imprint on Dirty Session sprung from Luca Bear s idea with the intention of spreading a new concept of music.

No schemes, no compromises, the only prerogative is quality.

The love for the sounds of the past combined with new technologies: the key concept of the label is to propose a precise sound, characteristic, that evoke the early days of electronic music with an eye to the future. A journey into the unknown from the early 90s. House or techno It is not important! What matters is the sound.

In what will certainly be ranked as one of his most intriguing releases so far, Kompakt staple MATIAS AGUAYO not only takes a quick breather from his commitment to Cómeme, but also opens up fresh and exciting paths for him to explore with his music: LEGENDE is both the continuation and alteration of Matias' well-established aesthetic canon, drawing from all stages in his production career und ultimately synthesizing various sonic strains into a wholly new listening experience.

Having established a firm artistic presence in the annals of electronic music through iconic collaborations like Closer Musik or his genre-defying solo work, MATIAS AGUAYO is an artist well known for his deep investment with innovation in club sounds and a keen sense of the varying social context that informs them. This led to the inception of Cómeme, internationally acclaimed label by day, breeding ground for the revolution by night, sonically and otherwise. One can safely assume that - besides constant performing and travelling - this makes for a pretty busy schedule.

PAULINE MURRAY , LEGENDARY VOCALIST OF MUCH LOVED PUNK BAND PENETRATION.
GUEST MUSICIANS JOHN MAHER (BUZZCOCKS) and VINI REILLY (DURUTTI COLUMN).
PRODUCED BY THE GOD-LIKE MARTIN HANNETT.
ARTWORK BY PETER SAVILLE AND TREVOR KEY
LINER NOTES BY JON SAVAGE
The double vinyl edition also includes a bonus CD featuring instrumental versions of all the album tracks (a must for students of Hannett's unique production sound), along with alternate takes of key singles.
Les Disques du Crepuscule presents a deluxe remastered edition of Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls, the debut album by post/punk icon Pauline Murray, produced by revered sonic architect Martin 'Zero' Hannett.
Recorded at the famous Strawberry Studios in July 1980, the album offered epic electronic pop written by Pauline and partner Robert Blamire and marked a radical departure from their shared past in pioneering punk band Penetration. 'This is sophistication,' enthused Paul Morley in NME. 'Lovely songs of anxiety, malaise and self-doubt.' According to Melody Maker the album was 'unquestionably a musical highpoint of this year or any other.'
As well producer/arrangers Martin Hannett and Steve Hopkins (aka the Invisible Girls), the album features a stellar cast of guest musicians including John Maher (Buzzcocks) and Vini Reilly (Durutti Column). Indeed Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls presents almost a Factory record, exquisitely sleeved by Peter Saville and Trevor Key. Stand-out tracks include the popular singles Dream Sequence and Mr X, with the newly remastered Hannett tracks now augmented on CD by a wealth of bonus material including non-album singles, live recordings (from tours in 1980 and 1981) and a John Peel session (1980). The liner note is by Jon Savage.
'It's a bit of a missing link album,' says Pauline today. 'Written and recorded after punk, but before Martin Rushent and the Human League made airy pop respectable again. We chose the other Martin in 1980 because we wanted the incredible sounds he achieved for Joy Division and Magazine. Thundertunes, basically.'

Absys Records is proud to present the labels 7th dnb vinyl outing ! For this release, we have stellar music by our long time Italian comrade, Arp XP backed with a collaborative effort courtesy of Belgian duo Glyph and Canadian veteran, Gremlinz. This release is diverse, showcasing very different aspects within the Drum & Bass spectrum while maintaining the quality and craftsmanship associated with Absys.

The A side Seems Like by Arp XP, is a classic, laid back, liquid track flavoured with a touch of Jazz. It is a nod to old school and reminds us of the lightheartedness of summer with its congenial and atmospheric tune progression!

The flip sees newcomers Glyph (who are creating quite a buzz in the scene) team up with acclaimed veteran, Gremlinz, resulting in a beast of a track! Much like the flip, Evolution is touched by an element of Jazz, kicking off with a vibe that will conjure up a sense of being in a dark lit Jazz Cafe. Following a memorable sample referencing the apple in the Garden of Eden, the tune does what the name suggests and evolves into a trippy stomper that will pummel any system, making this one of the highlights of this years Absys releases!

Out soon in all good stores with a digital bonus in the form of Mesmerize by Glyph!

The Viennese duo, otherwise known as Tosca, confound expectations on their new album, 'Outta Here'. The sonic collages and smooth downbeat jams with which they made their name are replaced with a soul/jazz/blues confection that's closer to a band like Brand New Heavies than anything else. 'It's called 'Outta Here' for a reason,' explains Rupert Huber. 'The title stands for change, a change to the concept we've had so far. It refers to a change in energy and dynamic. We've been know for an almost ambient sounds. The new songs are much more beatoriented and direct. Basically, it's just a lot more energetic.' it certainly is that. See tracks such as 'Crazy Love' for evidence. Built on a muscular bassline, it sees Rob Gallagher (ex-Galliano) doing his slinky, soulful thing, while keyboards and muted sound effects flare in the background. The rare groove revival starts here. 'Swimswimswim' reworks the same elements, with the addition of Cath Coffey (Stereo MCs) into a irresistible pulse of feel good vibes. Meanwhile, the title track, 'Outta Here', sounds like a lost gem from the early '90s acid jazz era. 'It was a natural evolution,' says Richard Dorfmeister. 'In the past, we were very focussed internally because we were in a studio on our own, working slowly making sonic collages. This time, because we were working more with singers the process was naturally quicker and the results more instant and upbeat. In that sense the title 'Outta Here' literally means that we got out of our studio.'
Do Tosca think the new sound will wrong foot their fans 'It's not completely different. It's still our style and mood, it's just more direct,' says Richard Dorfmeister. 'People always have a picture of you and it can take a long time to change that. You stand for something and that's how they see you. I think people see us in that laid-back and chilled kind of way. Over the last 20 years we've been described as lounge, chill out, downbeat. We always ignored it because we felt it was more about the music. We've always seen ourselves more in terms of being an alternative to commercial music. That's still what we're doing, just in a different, more direct kind of way.'

After great success of 2 previous releases, 'Sound Of Vast ' is now about to hit 3rd release. The producer of this deep monster is one of the most respectful Japanese artist, and Womb's resident Dj 'The People In Fog (aka DJ Sodeyama).'
Even though DJ Sodeyama is more known as techno producer, The reason that Sodeyama used the other nickname was, As you could guess from poetic sentence, to express his music in more deeper and emotional ways, he even choose EP name as 'Deep', also, all the track's titles contains the word 'Deep', funny but straight forward way of thinking, if you want to deliver right moods on the dance
floor, by not only sold beat but also unusual emotions that come from organic percussion, this whole EP will give you the answer.
As usual of SOV policy, this EP contain one each of exclusive digital, and vinyl only tracks, this time, 'Deep
Woods Remix' chosen as vinyl only exclusive, the remixer 'Elbee Bad' is the legend of US House, as known as 'The Prince Of Dance Music', if you are fan of Rush Hour Records you should be heard about his name, as he is one of the be loved, and featured artist from the label. His remix of 'Deep Wood' is indeed funky and sexy, one more reason to have this vinyl in your collection.
Lastly, this EP will pressed 500 copies only with out repressing, quicker people will have a benefit as usual.

LP with Gatefold Sleeve and silver hotfoil spine. Short info: Nearing its first birthday, Other People is celebrating the only way it knows how: Work. The label has put out new material every Sunday since it launched with last year's Trust compilation, and the culminating Work comp doesn't break that streak-consisting almost entirely of new material from Other People's artist roster, and a few remixes from some special guests. Work is not, however, an uncooked mash of music. It's sequencing is deliberate and its selection purposefully not encompassing. In fact, Work is more an album than anything else. Kicking off the affair is Soul Keita, whose roots run back to the days of Nicolas Jaar's first label, Clown & Sunset. Dave Harrington follows with a cover of the Nick Drake song 'Things Behind The Sun' with the singer Tamara. His amorphous chords flow right into the tight groove of VISUALS' 'A Pixel', produced by Nico and featuring some guitar by Dave. Darkside also pay their dues with two unreleased tracks from their Psychic sessions-'What They Say' and 'Gone Too Soon'. Putting a nail in the coffin, German pyro-techno duo Ancient Astronaut do battle with a troupe of remixers. The first comes in snarling at the hands of Powell. The second builds gently with the subtle touch of Jenilek. And last comes a deadly dub mix by Francis Harris and Gabriel Hedrick. Work paid off.

My Panda Shall Fly AKA musician and visual artist Suren Seneviratne, is set to release 'Tropical' It's a brand new 6 track vinyl release.

A kaleidoscope of rainbow textures and rhythms disperse into the exotic soundscape of 'Tropical'. Electronics, real folk instruments and noise-making objects feature here generously on this six-track concept album, blending together a sonic palette influenced by a rich variety of music, people and places.

The material was initially written over the course of a few months during what Seneviratne called "a beautiful burst of inspiration". Working with veteran producer Asier Leatxe Ibanez d'Opakoa (Electric Lady Studios, NYC), Seneviratne then set about disassembling all the songs and re-working them meticulously, enriching the sounds by adding a huge range of live instrumentation, before processing the audio through vintage analogue studio gear.

Suren Seneviratne, born in Sri Lanka before settling in London in 1996, first caught the attention of the music world with a remix that featured on Pitchfork back in 2010. Since then he has released a plethora of diverse records, gaining support from the likes of Clash Magazine, The Fader, Mixmag and Dazed Digital, as well as regularly touring internationally. He has also remixed the likes of The Weeknd, Stay Positive & Little Boots as well as appearing at festivals like BBC Hackney Weekender, Outlook Croatia & Glade as well as performing at prestigious venues such as The Design Museum, Tate Modern & Barbican.

With the release of 'Tropical', My Panda Shall Fly has yet again set himself apart as one of the most unique contemporary electronic musicians around today.

After their very large re-make of 'Dinosaur's 'Kiss Me Again' on Volume 2, Pablo and Shoey go straight for the jugular again here, extending an old housed up bootleg version of Eddie Kendricks' 'Keep On Truckin' into 8 minutes of dancefloor devastation.
Pre- Discogs, pre MP3's of everything ever recorded on the 'net, this little gem was one of the most potent secret weapons for The Unabombers in the heyday of Electric Chair. Some old fashioned, dusty crates digging by Pablo turned it up - now the world gets to have a listen !

Also included in the package is Detroit legend Terrence Parker and his deep, shimmering 1996 house classic 'Your Love', an after hours staple for the DTS boys since year dot.
Drenched in a hypnotic organ loop and a beautiful, tender vocal, it's house music with a warm heart and a sharp kick, perfect for a 'Let's All Have A Hug' moment at 5am !

Scuba Death is Ricardo Donoso's alter ego. With more of a focus on analog sound, percussion, sampling, and location recordings, there is an organic undercurrent on Scuba Death recordings that isn't as prevalent in his solo work. This music is rich in atmosphere while still tethered to the deeper ideas that Donoso often explores in his work. Treatises on fear and death­anxiety, the underlining thematic framework for the project, run rampant throughout these claustrophobic electronic passages, and teeter on the edge of being oppressive. Nitrogen Narcosis marks the first full length and strongest statement in the Scuba Death repertoire after the privately issued, ruthless 'Demon Seed' twelve inch back in 2011. The album alternates between surprising lethargic dance inflections all nestled between 75 & 100 bpm, the normal resting heart rate for adults, and the more conceptual, numbness­inducing pieces like '50­-70 Meters' and 'Nociception.' Sequencing plays an integral role on Nitrogen Narcosis as the listener is suddenly thrust into the darkest reaches of the ocean after dark alley grooves are sucked into an aquatic abyss. For a project named after Donoso's near­drowning experience in the South Atlantic when he was younger, there's an impressive amount of reflection & vulnerability present - the field recordings that permeate throughout the album were captured at the same location the undertow caught hold of him that bright Summer day 20 years prior. An inner battle between paranoia and euphoria is played out in well­conceived, precision sonics on Nitrogen Narcosis as Donoso reminds us to look back, break through the surface and go deeper.

dedicated to promote young and evolving artists and to present musical diamonds in the rough, raster-noton is curating the unun series, which name derives from the atomic numbers of the chemical elements 111-119. »vortices« is ueno masaaki's first release on raster-noton, and the seventh release of this series.ueno masaaki takes his musical cue from natural phenomenon and laws of nature by trying to reconstruct, not simulating them. the results are mainly rhythmical patterns that set off a chain reaction, expanding and contracting and creating new formations all the time.the four tracks he presents on the EP are characterized by solid sound structures that appear to be very harsh and straight, sometimes even brutal, whereas the high pace even intensifies this impression. apparently repetitive at first sight, the tracks are in fact highly complex and intelligently arranged, presenting unforeseen breaks and shifts in direction.

Inception: Audio's goal is to alter the perceptions of what electronic music can be.
Gathering the unique talents of underground artists from the darkest corners of the globe, we aim to create experimental, challenging and alien soundscapes that are truly not of this planet.

Took a bit of a break from demos and releases after extending the family with a cute little boy, but now we're back with some of the best deep techno and house lined up for you! But first, something completely different.
Michele Mininni hails from the south of Italy and counts everything from post- and krautrock over new wave, house and disco amongst his influences. He's been a DJ for years, but only recently released his debut EP on Optimo Trax in Glasgow. He immediately found himself on the playlists of Beats In Space and Rinse FM. We were literally blown away when he sent us his music and didn't hesitate to release it although it's not what you're used to hear from us. It's hard to describe 'Endless Ceremony'. Epic, but not as you know it. Cosmic, definitely.
For the remix we thought of Rocketnumbernine. Two brothers with releases on Soul Jazz, Four Tet's Text label and more recently an album on Smalltown Supersound. Currently touring with James Holden and Neneh Cherry. Their remix could be described as almost dreamy electronica/idm.
We think this is a really special release. The following people already agree: Gavin Russom, Âme, Ripperton, A Made Up Sound, James Holden, Optimo, Deadbeat... First pressing on coloured vinyl!

"Teilstueck" (German for part or segment) is the next excerpt of Jacob Stoy's ongoing attempt to translate his surroundings into music. It's his second EP for Uncanny Valley and is even more multifaceted than his debut "Redenswart" from 2012. With "OMG" you'll get the feeling that something sublime will happen right from the beginning. It's one of those tracks whereby time stands still until a mighty synth-line unfolds in all its glory. "CFM" comes in the same musical vein with a similar and slightly melancholic bass-synth dominating the drumming. By far more cheerful is "MKM". Based on a catchy bass line foundation, Jacob Stoy showcases wonderful synth-effects and sound with the beautifully oscillated pad making the cut. This is House music for machine lovers. The flipside starts with "HIM" and probably the most floor-friendly track on the record. The slowly but steadily rising organ chords prepare things and when the carefully targeted percussion elements come in, it feels like summer will never end. In contrast, "QFL" lives from its mysterious atmosphere and is very good example for Jacob Stoy's preference to use Electronica-like sounds for his House Music. The record is rounded up with "HHM" and a little nod towards past times when he used to play in a Jazz band. With its Delay effects, a fuzzy guitar and a great bass melody it's not far away from Krautrock either. For the artwork Jacob Stoy teams up with fellow student Chris Dietzel.

2nd single cut from kza's latest album "dig&edit 2 (endless flight cd 12)".

our one of the most respected dj daniel baldelli picked up kza's cosmic track for remix
and made real cosmic sound.

"one hundred fifth wave" on b2 is already included on mule's compilation "i'm starting feel ok vol.6 -mule 10 years edition-", but happy to see on vinyl.

cosmic never die!!

The world of roots reggae & dancehall has been fully awoken to the fantastic analogue sounds of Kalbata & Mixmonsters' music - and even Rob Da Bank, Robert Elms, & Toddla T and The Wire magazine have supported and enthusiastically raved about their brand new yet wonderfully old school music.

And now - in time for summer festivals and carnivals, the floor shaking, speaker rattling track Congo Beat The Drum featuring Major Mackerel gets the 12 inch single treatment. The pounding drums and the larynx busting vocal performance from the Jamaican veteran is an unstoppable, unforgettable and frankly mesmerising experience!

Released alongside the original (and an instrumental version of stand out album track Out Of Road) is an amazing remix by Kahn - the Bristol based producer, renowned dubstepper, remixer, member of the Sureskank Collective - who with this remix displays his mastery of blending all kinds of styles, and injects his remix with some of his favourite influences - including Middle Eastern music scales - which ensures his reworking of Congo Beat The Drum is fresh, original and inspiring.

This single will be one of the sound system hits of summer 2014!

Green Vinyl Pressing!
Here comes the second EP by our new artist on Echocord Colour, the super talented Roberto Clementi from Italy. Roberto is one of the most inventive and creative electronic music artists currently making his name known in the underground scene at the moment. Roberto is mostly known for his releases on Soma, eps + recently he released his rst album. He has also been releasing on Brendon Moeller's label Steadfast Records. The track Barrel is a super powerfull Techno track full of deepness, heavy staps and dubby elements.Traps is a slower heavy Dub-Techno trip also perfectly for the peaktime hour.This ep also comes with a heavy monster Norman Nodge Remix.

Sitting down and writing about our latest EP was a fun but challenging exercise, we scratched our heads and this may sound bad but we couldn't think of deep, dark interesting stories on how we made these tracks or what they represent. These jams are simply a combination of previous and random happy accidents that have come together and saying anything else would be a lie. This however does not mean that the thinking behind them is completely random, the three cuts that we selected for this EP we feel are a journey of experimentation and a culmination of unexpected sounds and feelings. A word that we found best described the EP was 'Irony'. The most ironic thing we feel is that the main basis of these tracks were born on the stage during our live performances and they have now been reworked and moulded into a record. We however feel that this brings an interesting element to the EP that yes it is recorded and set, but you are not quite sure where the next sound or feeling will come from. A hi hat A kick It is pure 'organised randomness'... I suppose we should talk about some of the music and try and explain what we mean! We start with 'Pe dos', which in plain English means inside out and it was a track that we had started back in 2011. We were flicking through our 'curiosity closets' one day and found it, we played around with it and heard a kick drum that was not arranged correctly in the sequence due to a random manipulation of the sequencer. Our first thought was to just change it, but then we decided to wait..... when all the other sounds of the tracks came together we threw the kick back in and BAM, Even the acapella voice of the track was screaming. Therefore it was a simple for us to name this track as we worked on it in a completely back to front and 'Inside Out' way!

Optimo Music is usually known as a 12" label, but occasionally something rare and dangerous comes our way that compels us to release a full length album...

It's not exactly a dance album, although there is music you can dance to on it. It's more filmic in nature, with gads of references to wonderful directors like Kubrick and Carpenter that will enthrall a film buff, particularly if they're interested in electronic and dance music. There's a sleazy and unsettling feel to much of the tracks ("Tina Weymouth" is a sleaze-floor monster groove...), but we hope it will intrigue and delight!

The film references are directly relevant as Felizol and The Boy are film directors Yiannis Veslemes and Alexandros Voulgaris, who live in Athens, Greece and have composed music for numerous feature films. They also perform live in house clubs, heavy metal dungeons and hippy-friendly festivals...

They have this to say about their release: "We had a loose concept for this album and we compiled tracks that we've recorded the last 3 years that have to do with the cannibalism. Literally but also as a metaphor for the blessing and the tyranny of paying homage and influenced from music and films (and directors and musicians).

So these are songs about the agony of creating something new and personal when so much information and influences are fused in them."

Earlier this year, Micha Acher and his band The Notwist returned with their latest full-length 'Close To The Glass' and received rave reviews around the globe. Yet, it's not the only album he's going to release this year, since Acher's about to introduce his latest musical entity - the Alien Ensemble. It's an all-acoustic line-up, devoid of electronic enhancements. And even though all members have a background in jazz, this is no classic 'jazz music' either - there's simply no need to show off technical skills... Since you'll hear anything from Minimal Music to Krautrock influences, from delicate brass sections to the sound of New Orleans, it's pretty much impossible to pigeonhole Alien Ensemble's sound or slap a genre term on it.

Guillotine is an electronic music duo from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Saulo Pais (Dada Attack) and Zeno Mainardi. To create these tracks, they used a heavy setup of analog electronic equipment. This resulted in three raw eclectic techno tracks with a sharp edge. Equipment: Korg MS-20, Roland TR-808, Simmons Clap Trap, Serge Modular System, LinnDrum LM-2, Roland CR-8000, Roland TR-707, Star Instruments Inc Synare 2, Lell USD, Moog Voyager, Moog Opus-3

'Second release of the Gost Zvuk label, strictly focused on the contemporary Russian electronic scene. This joint was made by AEM 'Rhythm-Cascade' also known as Dada Ques and many other monikers. Locked in his studio in St. Pete he built his path from a beatmaker to a fundamental composer exploring the acoustics, sound synthesis and sampling techniques. It is hard to relate this music to a certain genre, but you can definitely hear the quality and deepness, spiced with the original slavic touch. Simple and raw these multilayered symphonies bring out the new breed of Russian composers backed up by their prolific heritage.'

Meridian Brothers are back with a new studio album, the bizarre and wonderful 'Salvadora Robot'. Heading deeper into the tropical rhythms of Latin America and the Caribbean each song on the album focuses on a different style and playfully twists it into Meridian Brothers's surreal landscape. Released on Soundway Records on 16th June the album was recorded at Eblis Álvarez's appropriately named Isaac Newton Studios in Bogota, Colombia.

Originally formed in 1998 it was the previous album 'Deseperanza' that brought Álvarez's Meridian Brothers to the attention of the wider world. Released worldwide in 2012, the album's unique aesthetic and freaked-out blend of Latin rhythms and psychedelic grooves won him new fans the world over. DJ and tastemaker Gilles Peterson selected 'Guaracha U.F.O (No Estamos Solos...)' as his favourite track of 2012.

'Deseperanza' focussed heavily on salsa rhythms but on his new release Álvarez based each track in a different Latin American style. For example 'Somos los Residentes' finds it inspiration in Dominican Republic merengue while 'Baile ultimo....' is a slow and sad reggaeton. The lyrics talk of a man who has been sent to the electric chair because he was dancing too much reggaeton, a style that isn't accepted as 'good taste' within Colombia.

The release of 'Deseperanza' brought them to Europe for the first time, making appearances across Europe and at some of the prestigious festival including Roskilde and Transmusicales. The band will be returning to Europe this summer.

in the past ten years lots of little and big stories happened in the music culture. house literally disappeared almost from the scene in order to come back as strong as never before. 

minimal morphed back into techno while leaving the question mark why the term minimal ever got invented. some originators like frankie knuckles or romanthony passed away, while others like larry heard just stopped to perform. 

in-between countless new artists appeared, twisted dance music with new perspectives on the old, and released their fresh ideas on even more countless labels out there in the void called music market. 

one of the rare platforms that stayed solid as a rock in all these years is mule musiq, the tokyo based label that spreads miscellaneous sound vibes that long from jazz to disco, house, and unobtrusive ambient since 2004. 

with a versatile artist roster consisting of producers such as henrik schwarz, lawrence, dj sprinkles, dj jus-ed, kuniyuki, eddie c, roedelius, or new kids on the blog like barnt or lord of the isles the japan based record company developed a status of her own for being one of the most free spirited organisations in contemporary music. 

'if the music is good, any kind of music is welcome. i don't like labels which release one style music.' 

mule musiq's mastermind toshiya kawasaki once said in a rare interview. now he celebrates a ten years of freedom jubilee with the sixth instalment of his famed 'i'm starting to feel ok' compilation serial.  a real massive international anniversary celebration that is ventilating all what happened in the past ten years in order to form something that travels right into the future. and that is where mule musiq tries to be since a decade to tell some unheard musical stories that stay for good even when the future is long past.

Art Fine was the duo of Fabrice Bellini (electronics, vocals) and Rush Blakemann (guitar, synthesizer) from Tuin, Italy. They met in art school and became friends, inspired by New Wave, dance and electronic music. They recorded their only single 'Dark Silence' in November of 1984, which was released by Discomagic in 1985. It is now remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl is housed in the original jacket featuring a photo of the duo and that Art Fine logo in puzzle pieces. Each copy includes a double sided postcard insert with lyrics and liner notes by Fabrice Bellini

EP in Sleeve with 3mm spine + download card Territories: World, Ex F,UK Tracklist : A We Got Soul B Time Bomb At the end of 2013, Boston Bun released his second EP, 'Flasher", on Ed Banger. The three tracks were hypnotic and tailored for clubs. They were played on the radio (BBC1, Le Mouv, France Inter) and also by the best DJs on the electro scene (2manyDjs, Skream, Duke Dumont, Erol Alkan, Surkin, Boys Noize, Daniel Avery...). Boston Bun's new EP, 'We Got Soul", is a great step. Vocals are more important than ever, it's club music with soul! 'We Got Soul' features Bear Who (DJ Sneak's voice) on vocal. It's an anthem-tribute to The Mongoloids, Boston Bun's main influence that adds a contemporary flavour to the special scene. The B-side, 'Time Bomb' (featuring the DJ/singer Piu Piu) is an emotional growing track, between pads and explosion. With such a unique and breakthrough sound, Boston Bun establishes further more among the French producers who really matter.

Among a thousand projects, Para One is back on the dance floor with 'Club", a new album which was not meant to be one, but believe it or not: it's serious stuff! 'The 'Passion' album is the background for this, as I decided to reshape it for my live act, explains Para One. I've rebuilt the tracks entirely, making live versions for festivals and bigger clubs. Then I found myself with a totally different album. It's not a live album. The tracks have been modified and reinterpreted. It's my tribute to Soulwax's 'Night Versions". Subtlety was not really an option, it had to hit kind of hard. The tracks had to sound real in a club situation and people are now meant to dance to them! It's also a 'treasure hunt' kind of record with many references. It sounds like my DJ sets, when I mix many things and styles, old and new, because that's how a club should sound. It's a place where memories belong.' The pop, melancholic and highly danceable 'Passion", was meant to be listened to at home or on quiet dance floors, but 'Club' only retains the melodies and vocal hooks. It smells like sweat, joy and abandoned bodies. Packed with English acid house piano, huge beats, elegiac vocals, references to UK Garage, EDM filtered french touch and house, 'Club' dives into the heart of dance music. It's a 3.0 rave emblem, a daring record to make people dance without selling out.

Pink marble vinyl / Sleeve artwork by ' The 'Warm'
Friendly Feeling Embodied in a Red-Pink One 1961 by Mcdermott & McGough.

ISNISNT offers it's second release of forward leaning electronics with a diverse group of modern techno from label head Jesse Siminski. Acting under his Heartthrob guise, Jesse initiates the release with 'Someone Called Again' a tough, but funky, bass driven tune that marries detailed production with his signature ominous melodies to great effect. Subtle modulating percussion work against harder, swung snare and synthetic drums workouts, as surprising analog synth bursts glue things together. Building smoothly into a headfirst groove, the track pressurizes and never loses it's drive as heady synth riffs keep things musical and emotionally interesting. In an even funkier tangent the two mixes of 'Cougar Juice' draw together an irresistible bass line with pushing breakbeats and precise synth stabs. These horn like synthesizer bursts mark surprising turns and recall similar moments in classic Hip-Hop jams or even tracks from Detroit's Anthony Shakir or Robert Hood- two of Jesse's production heroes. The 'Driving Past the Jail Mix' incorporates these synth stabs hypnotically within the melodic structure, while the 'Reduced Dub Mix' dials things back and focuses on the bass line, drums and dubbed out flourishes. With their funk driven momentum constantly moving forward, either mix will bring something unique to either a house or techno set. And finally 'Let Them Go' rounds out the group in a deep, yet still driving fashion. It splices sub bass pulses, a melancholic synth atmosphere, absurd bleeps and submerged voices amongst stripped down drums into a steadily building hybrid cut- not quite house and not really techno.

In the wake of Blocks & Escher's recent outings on Metalheadz, Critical, and Zomby's Cult Music, Narratives present the first solo
excursions on the label from one of its founders, Blocks. Varied, emotive and beautiful, the Séance EP is innately Narratives Music in sound and yet unlike anything the label has delivered previously. The Séance EP fleets between ethereal vocals, forlorn strings and analogue bursts of glassy synths, while drum machines dance with live kits that would be fitting of 90s Mowax records. Bass lines loom heavy throughout, simple and driving rhythms that bed the delicate keys and story telling harmonics above. As immersive as it is succinct, Blocks has created an extended player awash with feeling and juxtaposition; again displaying why Narratives Music has been lauded across electronic music from the likes of Goldie and
Com Truise to Zomby and Rob da Bank. Forming the veritable gem of the collection, is the vocal laden 'Haven', a collaborative piece between Blocks and the hugely talented Jennifer Hall. Live instrumentation of bowed strings and bass provide canvas for the heart wrenching tones of Hall. Doc Scott describes the track as 'Deep, deep blues'. More akin to a personal reflection of the artist than the frenetic speed of a club, more Twin Peaks meets Portishead than dance floor energy; this is music at a Drum & Bass tempo by a producer that doesn't want to be caught in a debate on style or subgenre. In essence it seems to emphasise a recent quote by Blocks, 'Drum and Bass is anything you can get away with'. Label support from Goldie, Kuedo, Doc Scott, Rockwell, Benji B, Paul Woolford, Zomby, Friction, ASC, Jubei, Teebee, Pedestrian,
Rob Da Bank, Midland, Kasra.

Luciaen, AKA Lucien Nicolet, presents the second chapter in his Basaec series, with Origins. The new label from the Cadenza Records boss looks back to the roots of his production career, whilst presenting a wholefully futuristc take on electronic dance music. Origins (Wild Origins) leads release #2, a collosal twelve minute piece of neo-classical electronics. Waves of arpeggio synth dominate the beatless track, its mighty stabs and light percussion propelling the track along at great speed and urgency. The heads will no doubt hear inspirations from Detroit techno in here, but you can't put this piece in any genre box, rather it's a huge musical showcase from one of dance music's most enigmatic figures. The Great Amael finds Luciaen in more familiar territory, a lo-fi bubbling groove and dusted Hammond organs hustle along whilst the live percussions shine through. Energetic and infectious, the tone softens with the oceanic pads that provide its classic melody and threatens to envelope the listener in a wall of beautiful sound.

From the ruins of the birthplace of techno ...
Detroit Underground returns with this, their twenty second release, in a catalogue that has come to define the outer limits of experimental electronics while still adhering to dance floor basics.
This edition sees DU label boss Kero return to the spotlight in collaboration with LA based sound designer and interactive director Drasko Vucevic, aka Drasko V of Los Angeles based DRASTIC Music + Technology. Drasko has recently created, among other things, sound design for a promotional featurette for the Academy Award nominated film Gravity.
Given the label's long time fascination with the intersections of music, art and technology the collaboration is as fitting as it is fruitful.


Side A ups the collaborative ante as this 12'' comes blasting out of the gate with two very strong remixes, Exponent is the subject of a relentless 4/4 treatment from LA techno exponents Drumcell while Superheavy gets an acid-style work out from Canadian producer Jesse Somfay's Borealis project.


It is not until the second side that we hear the original versions of Exponent and Superheavy, both of which reveal themselves to be undulating masses of hip hop tinged beats over dark, bass rich undertones, with the latter offering some brighter tones as well - in other words pretty much what you might expect out of a Drasko V and Kero collaboration.


Side B is further rounded out with a couple of remixes from England's Si Begg and Valance Drakes the former coming in with a super compressed, squelched out, electro inspired take on Exponent while Valance Drakes chills us back out with an impossibly mellowed out version of the same

The phrase 'feux follets' from which Archipel 105 draws its title, comes from the Latin ignis fatuus, and translates as will-o'-the-wisp. The etymology reaches back to old folktales in which ill-intentioned spirits would cast an atmospheric glow at night, in order to lead weary travellers astray. Today, the term refers to ghost-lights - artificial light reflections caused by decomposing organic emissions. Anyway you choose to understand it; this music contains the mysterious and unattainable. Feux Follets are meant to depict an elusive (and perhaps also illusive) ambition. A tense equilibrium colours the constant, foundational sounds with aleatory movements. The compositions are detail-oriented, and boldly explore their tangential elements.

On the back of an exciting debut album in 2012 that saw him perform live at Sonar festival and later with his band at Vienna's Volkstheatre, before disseminating music on Permanent Vacation, Suol and Connaisseur Recordings, enigmatic Basque Country producer El_Txef_A returns with his sophomore longplayer 'We Walked Home Together'.
El_Txef_A (pronounced 'Elchefa') has crafted a work that just like its journey-conjuring title, charts a shifting palette of sounds and moods, exemplifying its creator Aitor Etxebarria's breadth of skill.
Produced entirely in Aitor's homeland of the mountainous Basque Country, the album showcases the talents of not just its creator who producers, sings and plays piano on the record, but also some of the Spanish region's most outstanding musicians.
Local artist Biskonti is one contributor, whose vocals coat a brooding bed of rough-cut drums on the ice-cold slice of electronica 'I'm Going to Paint You', while Hannot lends his pipes to the moving 'You Left Us In This Physical World' that sweep over a delicately crafted brew of guitars and keys. Both Basque vocalists featured on El_Txef_A's debut 'Slow Dancing in a Burning Room'. Sublime title track 'We Walked Home Together' turns into a family affair, with Aitor's brother Hibai playing the grand piano.
A graduate at 2013's Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid, El_Txef_A has an impressive array of sonic strings to his bow and the Detroit techno inspired 'Claim of Planet Earth' deliciously rubs shoulders with the album's single, the alternative slice of pop 'The Love We Lost' featuring DFA's Woofly.
Elsewhere, Aitor paints a dream-like soundscape with the sublime shoegaze-inspired trip '0730' that seamlessly bleeds into 'Every Day Is Blue Monday', with its atmosphere-heavy swirl of subtle acid lines, floating synths and evocative vocals delivered by Suol records contributor Meggy.
An artist whose music is inextricably connected with his homeland, the album concludes with the stirring 'Mugarrirantz' sung in the native tongue of Euskera by country folk band Napora Iria. It's proof that El_Txef_A is equally adept at doffing his cap to tradition as moving a dancefloor with his inspired brand of electronica.

Nomine's third release on Tempa, following last year's spooked-out Nomine's War, is Enma / Zen Circle / Mindfulness. Containing his most expansive and exploratory music to date, pushing his already intricate and varied sound to new depths of atmosphere and intensity.
As their titles attest, the three tracks here are intense meditations as much as they are club firepower. Drawing equally on his love of UK sound system music and formally experimental composition and sound design, they further highlight Nomine's status as one of the most adventurous new producers operating in electronic music today.Lead track 'Enma' blasts from the tracks in flurries of metallic drums and plucked sino-grime esque melodies, an atmosphere heightened further on 'Zen Circle' whose reedy pipe motifs stalk through the mist like figures through a haunted forest. 'Mindfulness' rounds the EP out with shadowy, delay cloaked digital dub, riding out atop clustered kickdrums and roughly effected drums.

Hi5 is the latest prank from A Different Jimi, aka Jimi Siebels. It's is a bitchy chicago house smasher in a surprisingly refreshing kinship to New York's hard bop of the 1960s, without ever being in danger of becoming acid jazz. Because in order to create his own definition of jazz-infected-house, Jimi makes no use of already overstrained rare groove samples, but a classic range of instruments and musical friends who he invites to recording sessions in his studio. So we hear RVDS (It's / smallville) at the piano, Hayo Doin (Die Boys / Deichkind) on drums and last but not least DJ Björnski (dérive) on guitar. And yet everything comes together to be pushing electronic music. Hi5 is like the joy of a child over a bucket of water on a hot summer day. And after the refreshment the B side reveals a deep disco pearl in brilliance, plain beauty and a warm, vespertine elegance, that has been created due to the cooperation between a different Jimi and Björnski, the dérive label tycoon himself. 'Hi 5 & Sweet Fancy Moses' is a vinyl-become-south-sea-island in an ocean of tears of joy.

'You become responsible, forever, for what you've tamed", Antoine de Saint-Exupéry writes in his modern fairy tale 'The Little Prince', in which his protagonist travels through various worlds in search of friendship and benevolence. The quote is, no doubt, fitting for Niko Schwind, since the Berlin-based DJ and producer consistently demonstrates a deeply anchored love for and close bond to house music, the art form he himself has tamed. As a DJ, he travels the globe, having played in Europe, Australia, Thailand, Brazil, the US and Mexico, and in his sets he creates a feeling of connectedness between himself and others, as well as within the crowd. On Stil vor Talent, Niko Schwind now presents the fruit of his labour in the from of his third album: 'Grippin' World' captivates the listeners with its versatility and coherence, and kidnaps them to a world of sound, made up of elegantly reduced grooves, organic arrangements and accessible vocal-melodies. With 'Perfect Fit', the first single of the album, we are handed an absolute highlight, as Heartbeat's warm voice and a simple guitar-loop form a flawless musical symbiosis, accentuated by a synthetically creaking bass-line. Niko thus proofs he's more than capable of practicing restrained Minimalism with a pop-impact. 'Perfect Fit' then gets the floor treatment: while Niko turns in a reduced, tool-oriented club cut, the hitherto unknown Proud bursts onto the scene with a dreamy arrangement centred around atmospheric synths on his remix. Grippin'!

That Dope Loop Pinning down Sascha Dive as Cocoons deephouse wunderkind wouldn't really hit the nail on the head however it isn't far from truth. Compared to most other artists of this genre he can for sure be classified as a young gun but there is no soundproof for his age in his music at all. Sascha Dive's music is loaded with a respectful amount of taste and house history you would normally find in the productions and DJ-sets of artists who started in the early 90s. And this is not unwanted: Dive admires and follows the big names of house and deep house and his musical efforts to pay respect to them brought him on par with his legends! So it's no wonder that Sascha Dive productions found their way to top notch labels like Tsuba, Freebase, Deep Labs (Balance US) or Raum...Musik. Not to forget his release for Ornaments and the Moodyman remix for 'Deepest America". Having in mind where Dive started with his first album 'Restless Nights' and what he achieved until he received remix-honours from Mister Kenny Dixon Jr. one could think Sascha Dive scored all goals he wanted to score. However the journey didn't stop here: Being a Cocoon artist and having played for some of the major Cocoon nights in Ibiza and around the globe Dive incorporated a decent amount of electronic soul and after-hour-madness to his music over the last years. He even admits that his current productions and DJ-sets are definitely influenced by current techno- and techno-house artists and this special feeling this music adds to a party. And this progression is clearly audible in his new and upcoming album 'Dark Shadow' which is a great example of the sound of Sascha Dive in the year 2013.

#3 Live Act of 2013 at Resident Advisor, one of the most in demand remixers around, a total of 156 gigs in 2013, releases for Rush Hour, Ovum, Macro; booked out months in advance from Berghain to Ibiza to the main electronic festivals ... KiNK: Arguably the world of dance music has not witnessed anyone else rising so clearly from bottom to top just by the centrifugal force of sheer talent. Being based in Sofia, Bulgaria, without a support network, a campaign or any media hype, his music alone - live and in the studio - created a momentum whose end we have yet to see. Lenin said: 'Communism is Soviet power + electrification of the whole country.' Hardly did Lenin suspect what an inspired take on these words could do: post-socialist techno. A child of 80's late socialism, KiNK grew up on the home computers Bulgaria's IT scientists had created by backwards-engineering Western technology. Fueled by nuclear energy on the edge of desaster, a whole generation of kids was trained to hack. Dance music gradually dripping in through early dial-up internet connections, the acoustic fingerprints of distant parties put Eastern producers from KiNK to Nina Kraviz to Vakula under a spell. Yet KiNK spent years of backwards-engineering the sounds of Detroit, Chicago and early Warp.

117 Presents Forbidden Codes.
This compilation project is compiled and envisioned by DJ Trace, a veteran of UK dance music.New School players Verb and Quartz take on two classics to kick things off.
Mutant and Sonar get a modern and minimal touch up on crystal clear 10" collectors vinyl. Three more 10's continue this sonic experience featuring a group of the finest underground producers in today's scene.Kid Lib, Tim Reaper, Gremlinz & Homemade Weapons, Friske, Fade and Genotype appear over 3 plates.
Artist's on the LP display their 2014 vision which compliments the direction that 117 is heading.This moves far away from the soulless noise that plagues in various electronic dance music genres today. They use in this compilation, modern studio techniques enhanced with a passion and respect for the history of drum&bass.This LP is not to be filed under throwaway music.
Breaks and vibes unite to reminisce the days agone whilst outlining a new blueprint that pushes the boundaries of music technology.The essence of the 117 sound is explored and continues into the 24 digital tracks written by a gifted selection of hand picked talent from around the world.
Now is your turn to be possessed by the sounds of the 'Forbidden Codes' Released 28th April via ST Holdings.Mastered by Beau @ Ten Eight Seven, London.

Right after the tremdendous irritation caused by Pommes 001 has reached its peak, here comes - surprise surprise: pommes002 ! This time reviving the worst or the best 90ies club music had to offer. The A-Side belongs to Daniel Nentwig aka one half of The Working Elite, one third of the now defunct Extraproduktionen and Whitest Boy Alive's Keyboard-Wizard. He's wearing his brandnew D'Lonely Al sweater and presents "We can have it all" , a well hung slice of sparkeling proto house that could have fit very well on a KissFM Mastermix by Tony Humphries! Next up we have the pleasure to present to you the debut release of Cologne based Skateboard Pro Jeremy Reinhard aka Jeremaier, who teamed up with Paco Guedes and no other than Arj Snoek (whose track People Know had been and still is a true milestone for the Terre De Pommes possee!) . "Goldnugget " is something like the alternative college radio version of Show Me Love by Robin S! Good vibes galore-- - Just like Robin Hood - Terre Des Pommes takes it from the rich and gives it to the poor.. Probably the only explanation for the Trance Acid Remix of tech house outlaw Phillip Lauer.. Panflutes anyone

After two strong releases on Electronical Reeds, the Brussels-based artist Exon Bacon inaugurates Play Label Records with his latest EP, Watching Dogs. Play Label Records is the extension of the collective Play Label that has become a key player in the music scene of Brussels with more than hundreds of events to its credit. This first release sets up the artistic direction of this label that seeks to develope a real dancefloor approach and a strong party spirit.

The release is opened by the original mix that could be summarize with the expression 'powerful bassline, persistent heady voice and burning dancefloor'. The Parisian duo Villanova embarks us into a spin with a darker atmosphere, a deep foreground voice and a strong and repetitive gimmick. This remix reminds us why this Parisian duo knows such rapid ascent on the worldwide electronic scene. The Berlin-based and San Francisco born artist Yooj takes the opposite course to two first tracks with a deeper approach and a lighter atmosphere to offer a sunny and tasty deep house track that will delight all the dancefloor. Lastly, DC Salas, another Belgian talent, filters the voice, redefines the percussion and opens the horizon to take the direction of Tech House track.

This Exon Bacon's EP acts as the foundation stone of a future label to keep an eye on and to follow with a great attention.

Vocal driven electronica, pop sensibilities and a touch of melancholia is a tried and tested recipe of SILENCE MUSIC cuisine. A new release titled My Holy Senses is no exception. This creative venture joins together a renown Lithuanian multi-instrumentalist and composer Vygintas Kisevicius, an up-and-coming singer and songwriter Markas Palubenka and a versatile SILENCE producer Few Nolder. Original acoustic versions come under the name of Kurak, a project which Vygintas started a couple of years ago with a goal of bringing together some of the most talented young Lithuanian singers and songwriters for something new and exciting. And indeed they managed to produce some well worthy musical material generating quite a few waves of interest and success back home. Few Nolder picked out a couple of tracks from an ever-expanding Kurak's repertoire and threw them onto the sweaty dance floor. Included in the package are two DJ friendly adaptations from David Krasemann aka Dave DK and Vidis. My Holy Senses is a short modern day Love story about Acoustics giving an adoring kiss to Electronica in a dim light of a nightclub.
- Early support from Âme, Tim Paris, Alex Barck, Michael Rainboth, Hannes Fischer and many others

You Know Who You Were Multi-faceted producer and DJ Ben Westbeech has accomplished something that eludes most artists - after ten years in the industry he successfully stands with 'one foot in the underground, one in the commercial' - and nowhere is this more apparent than on his first release on Aus Music as Breach which see's Ben digging deeper than ever before. After a year of high-power, unshakably catchy chart topping singles ("Jack' and 'Everything You Never Had"), a killer collaboration with Naked Naked cohorts Dark Sky and a well-received DJ-Kicks mix, Breach indulges some of his more underground and experimental tendencies on the 'Artis' EP. Bringing in bits of his past (the exotic, colorful vibe of 'Fatherless' can be detected in the lush atmosphere of 'Artis") along with some sounds newer to the moniker, Breach gets beautifully moody here and will once again keep people guessing as to what's coming next...

KRAKE is an annual Berlin based festival for challenging electronic music. Krake means - octo- pus' and the festival is organised in a comparable way: reaching out to selected locations during one week presenting the best in electronic music whatever style it is. The festival is not huge, not expensive, does not have big sponsoring deals or four different colour are passes. It's just a good and so far successful try to bring back the focus on artists who dare to step off the beaten tracks.
KRAKE 002 contains mostly exclusive tracks of artists who played at the Krake festival in 2013. The A-side starts with a dark ambient drone by DÄMMERN, followed by a pop-fueled two-step hit by PHON.O. Next in line is Irishman EOMAC with a warm and deep IDM track already char- ted by none less than Thom Yorke of Radiohead, followed by - Resolution', a little melancholic stepper by BILL YOUNGMAN.
The B-side is being opened with a techno track by grandmaster MONOLAKE in his most typical dubby percussive style. For the next track FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER reduces the sounds to the max again to deliver a percussive track as minimalistic as can be. Legendary techno producer CRISTIAN VOGEL, known for his constant search for new values, closes the compilation with an avantgarde piece of noise and drones.
Outstanding, we'd say!

Cute Heels is the solo project of Bogota´ born, experimental producer Victor Lenis. Since the early 2000's Lenis has been working on a myriad of electronic projects, including the management of the labels Black Leather Records and Romance Moderne, in his current home of Brussels. Drawing on the influences of the radical punk scene that surrounded him growing up in Columbia while nurturing his passion for synthesizers and drum machines, Lenis developed the broody, gloomy brand of electro-techno that is Cute Heels. Deemed by Juan Atkins as ''the new blood and spirit for the next step in techno music'' Cute Heels has released various digital only releases over the years, as well as his first vinyl release, an EP on Gooiland Elektro. His debut album Spiritual, rides the line between cold electro-techno and left field electronic body music. Inspired by equal parts Liaisons Dangereuses and Drexciya, Spiritual takes the listener on a journey over 8 tracks and 40 minutes of music. Listening to "Spiritual" you can see why. The songs on this full length reveal a sublime influence from Detroit techno, early Chicago house and new wave; advanced electronics for the dance floor, pumping and sophisticated. The album was recorded and mixed by Victor at Sensorium Studio in Zagreb, Croatia in November 2013. Each song has been mastered for vinyl at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley by George Horn. Each LP is packaged in a custom-made jacket by our in-house designer Eloise Leigh and incorporates the geometry of analog synthesizers and celestial rose patterns. 

The Hamburg based Hannes Rasmus released a record in 2013 called "Analog Ist Besser" on Gold Panda's precious label Notown which also featured Luke Abbott from Border Community. This put him on the map for minimal electronic melodic music with a lot of tastemakers and friends of melodic techno. Hannes Rasmus who can be described as a shy person who has eveloped a big knowledge for vintage synthesizers over the years. His challenge has been to write music with hardware, sequence und synths. This may sound not so much of a challenge but for "people who know" the analog sound can bear as much beauty as it can be disastrous since it can be pretty much unpredictable and hard to handle as well. So we are talking here about a person who really loves and lives with analogue g
Time led him through various forms/genres of electronic music making, going step by step towards minimal electronic techno and house music. Meanwhile his aim alongside writing music is to build in Hamburg according to his personal demands, so this is as much of a process as doing music and time as he says. When he is not making music you can see him with a soldering iron building synth
with DIY kits or fixing old synths.
His EP on Traum "Musik Für Fünf Maschinen" refers to the equipment he used to write the music... the tracks however refer to swimming pools.

MF DOOM is the man in the iron mask. The most mysterious figure in hip-hop has also become one of the most popular, supplying beats and rhymes for Gorillaz, De La Soul, Madlib, Danger Mouse, and Wu-Tang Clan, and drawing praise from heavyweights like Just Blaze, Nas, and Mos Def. Since 2002, DOOM has released numerous volumes of Special Herbs, one of the longest-running instrumental series in hip-hop history. Now, volumes three and four of the acclaimed series are available on vinyl for the first time in years. With obscure loops and dusty samples galore, Special Herbs Vol. 3 & 4 is a must-have for any DOOM fan or hip-hop head. Also includes a limited-edition bonus 7', featuring two beats from DOOM's days as a member of 90s hip-hop trio KMD.

It's now almost two years since German producer Sawlin made his debut on Ann Aimee, but now he is back for a third EP on the Delsin sister label. Entitled 'Niedertracht', it features four more tracks of searing techno in truly uncompromising Sawlin style.

'Kontraktion' goes first with heavy metallic hits, lots of industrial machinery found sounds and thumping kick drums. It's lumpy, mechanical and stiff stuff that is slow and purposeful. The surface of 'Padjam' is then covered in squirming, scratchy little effects as syncopated drums swing deep down below. Eventually the thing gets fleshed out with some malfunctioning melodies and slurred vocal stabs yet still it sounds like no other techno out there.

'Niedertracht' takes up the b1 with a spangled techno track that has gurgling synths and fizzing drills all encased in a ravey arrangement of horns and windy howls. The broken sounding 'Weißhaupt' is made up of metal loops, punctured drums and rasping synths that sound like factories in melt down. This is truly inventive electronic music that's laced with a very real and unmistakable sense of industrialism, and proves Sawlin is one of the day's most exciting producers.

Die Stimme von DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) ist
zurück!!
Nach über 30 Jahren erscheint am 28 Februar 2014 Gabi Delgados neues Album - 1' auf GoldenCore/ZYX Music.
Geschichte schrieb DAF, die sich 1978 in Düsseldorf gründeten, mit Hits wie - Der Moussolini' oder - Der Räuber und der Prinz'.

Das mit 18 Titeln bestückte Album wird alle DAF Fans, aber auch und vor allem die Freunde moderner elektronischer Clubmusic begeistern.
DAF-artige Sequenzen, modernste House- und Electro-Beats, dazu die für Gabi Delgado typischen deutschen Texte bilden ein einzigartiges Gesamtbild, das sicher für Furore sorgen
wird. Vorab wird am 31.01.14 die Single NEBELMASCHINE/LIPPENSTIFT' digital veröffentlicht, auf
der sich neben einem IN STRICT CONFIDENCE auch ein EISBRECHER REMIX befindet.
Zum Release startet Gabi seine Solotour, auf der das gesamte Album und einige DAF/dos Hits präsentiert werden. Die Tour wird präsentiert von INTRO und SONIC SEDUCER. Gabi DelGado ist als einer der Pioniere deutscher Techno- und Electromusik anzusehen und sorgte zusammen mit Robert Görl in der 1978 gegründeten Formation DAF (Deutsch amerikanische Freundschaft) für nationales und internationales Aufsehen.
1995 gründete er zusammen mit dem Schauspieler und Musiker Wotan Wilke-Möhring das Projekt DAF/DOS.

PRAYMOND is a French Artist and long time record collector. After years of travelling and playing across Europe and America, he decided to release his first EP. This record is not just an elegant DJ tool but it's also a really smart take on how to bring a discrete touch of acoustic in a music usually dominated by analogue and digital sounds. 3 tracks on this EP. Huguette uses a lot of acoustic elements to deliver an epic dancefloor track Chamalowe slows the tempo in order to make the pattern heavier Timeless Memory is a tribute to Dub Techno with an acoustic take, touch of Platon records

Like the parent label, Optimo Trax will release music by new artists and excavate forgotten classics.
Optimo Trax is an offshoot label of Optimo Music for tracks aimed at DJs/dancefloors. Yes, we know there are too many record labels already, but we felt an overriding desire to start another one as so much music that didn't seem quite right for Optimo Music (i.e. music that was specifically designed for dancing) kept coming our way. Like the parent label, Optimo Trax will release music by new artists and excavate forgotten classics.


Michele Mininni is from Southern Italy where he says people are not interested in his type of music so he was forced to reach out to Glasgow where it turns out some people most defintely are. Citing his influences as kraut, post rock, new wave and electronic amongst others, this is his debut release and most accomplished it is too. Lowering the tempo somewhat compared with previous OT releases, Tupolev Love is a sub 100bpm cosmic trancer while Telekomdisko raises the tempo and heads off into sun drenched space territory. The EP is completed by Michele's fellow countrymen, Boot & Tax's great acid-inflected remix of Tupolev Love.

Vincenzo returns to Dessous Recordings with something a little special. 'Merry Go Round' features the stunning vocal talents of Language aka Kaori Kaneko, a haunting, drifting and highly affecting piece of music that sounds like nothing else. Kaori already released two albums on Japanese Crue-L Records as Kaori and three albums with her band Language on Madoromi / Atari Productions and was also featured on the Chi Chi Squads classic 'Treat Me Right'. Built on dreamlike, evolving pads and textures, the vocals are reminiscent of the best work of Tracey Thorn, rising and falling over the 7-minute duration of the original mix. After some minutes a crisp, chugging, mid-tempo beat develops and lifts the track yet further, a moment perhaps best enjoyed at sunrise. The Reprise Mix is a totally beatless mix, emphasising the pads, guitar and piano work. The third track sees Axel Boman on remix duties, who primes it for the dance-floor with a loopy, hypnotic rework that retains the original character but adds a visceral, gritty quality for the dancers.

Gray Hoodie is the debut album from french musician / composer Elise Mélinand. The album, written in Berlin then sequentially recorded throughout various locations in France, was initially inspired by the techniques she was exposed to after being recruited as part of Christina Vantzou's (Kranky / The Dead Texan) Little Prism Ensemble. Her newly adapted recording and composition tool, the laptop, is undeniably the norm today. However, it allowed Mélinand to better visualize her compositions while experimenting with techniques that Gray Hoodie so skillfully showcases. Crafted by Mélinand to tell a story of a friend who gave her a gray hoodie one cold evening. This gray hoodie was a symbol of their friendship and this album is said by Mélinand to be "A way to thank him for everything he gave me". Gray Hoodie showcases Mélinand's childlike voice and legato string work juxtaposed over frenetic experimental beat-work that is injected into ten cinematic vignettes that exude the comfort and warmth of a sweatshirt on a cold day.