Buscar:natural element

This album presents two multichannel works recorded at the seminal INA GRM Studio in Paris and ZKM Institute in Karlsruhe respectively, mixed to stereo at the composer's Cellule 75 Studio in Hamburg with excellent mastering by Rashad Becker. While his releases under the Black To Comm moniker often touched the fringes of acousmatic techniques and Musique Concrete this is Richter's first foray into a more abstract spatial music.

Recorded in the week leading up to the Paris terror attacks at the GRM studio, "Diode, Triode" (21:57) is loosely based on a reading of (and, in parts, a failure to understand) "Le Parasite" (1980) by Michel Serres, a philosophic metaphor about human interaction and communication (which can also be interpreted as a lyrical essay on capitalism; part confusion, part enlightenment).

As core elements Richter is using speech synthesis and the transformation and distortion of concrete sounds, instruments, voices and breathing. Abstract incognisable sounds are combined with strings, reeds and percussion while dismembered musical fragments emerge and vanish rapidly. Chunks of interfering noise are followed by long periods of silence; chaos and order are alternating. Choirs of synthetic and processed human voices are recounting stock market values, seemingly random sequences of numbers and inscrutable lyrics while parasitic sounds are trying to crack, collapse and fractionise the compositional stream and sonic interactions. Finally, a haunting piano chord is wrestling with a broken Publison machine. Like the book, it's part confusing, part enlightening - and a radical piece of sonic art.

"We are buried within ourselves; we send out signals, gestures, and sounds indefinitely and uselessly. No one listens to anyone else. Everyone speaks; no one hears; direct or reciprocal communication is blocked." (Le Parasite)

"Diode, Triode" was premiered on the Acousmonium at INA GRM's Akousma Festival in Paris, January 22, 2016 alongside new works by François Bayle, Robert Hampson, Leo Kupper and Ragnar Grippe.

The second piece "Spiral Organ of Corti" (17:00) has been composed in 2014 for the 47-speaker Klangdom concert hall at ZKM Karlsruhe at the foot of the Black Forest (where Richter was born and raised).

How does one listen with closed ears? Sine tones, alienated human voices and breathing noises build a labyrinthine puzzle alternating between the natural and the artificial. Human sounds merge with winds and strings, sine tones morph into metal sounds. Acoustic illusions confuse the listener, and dense noise-clouds slowly emerge from deceptive silence. Deep base sounds define space. Temporary focus glides into chaos. "Spiral Organ of Corti" is yet another extended composition that proves Richter is on a path of his very own.

"Spiral Organ of Corti" is dedicated to the late Gary Todd.

"Tongues that came from wind and noise. To speak in tongues after the fire." (Le Parasite)

Marc Richter records as Black To Comm for Thrill Jockey, Type and Dekorder and under the Mouchoir Ètanche and Jemh Circs monikers for his own Cellule 75 imprint. He collaborated with visual artists such as Ho Tzu Nyen, Jan van Hasselt and Mike Kelley. Under his own name he is composing for film and installations.

Presenting a brand new vinyl compilation featuring artists from the electic Funkiwala label – from Brasillian Afrobeat to Bengali Funk to Indo-Cuban-Nigerian Jazz to European Jazz Soul to traditional Baul Myticism - 3 newly released tracks by Phil Dawson, Cubafrobeat and Lokkhi Terra, with other tracks previously released digitally or on CD only - "if further proof were needed that London is a hotbed of cross-culturally inspired expression, it's new record label Funkiwala"Evening Standard

1. QUE BELEZA - Phil Dawson feat Nina Miranda and the +2s (Domenico, Moreno and Kassin)

A funky version of a Tim Maia classic from the legendary 'Racional' period. Guitarist Phil Dawson grooving with Brasillian musicians Moreno Veloso, Domenico Lancelotti and Kassin Alexandre (the +2s), vocalist Nina Miranda and co-producing with Marco Dalle Luche

2. ON A SUMMERS DAY - Archie the Goldfish -

A project co-led by trumpet player Graeme Flowers and guitarist Chris Bestwick. This track is a nod to the great Miles Davis electric albums of 50 years ago, taken from a 5-track EP "Water & Light' incorporating elements of jazz, drum & bass, funk and hip hop (released in 2021)

3. ENI AGEE - Cubafrobeat -

Formed out of the collaboration between London fusionistas LoKkhi TeRra ("probably the worlds best Cuban-Afrobeat-Bangladeshi group"Songlines) and UK's Afrobeat Ambassador Dele Sosimi ("A true legend"Clash), Cubafrobeat was initially the name of their critically acclaimed album from 2018 (" A total Stonking Blinder"All About Jazz). This has evolved naturally into an entirely new musical beast – and this is their first single.

4. HARMONIUZINHO - Lokkhi Terra

Taken from their debut CD album "No Visa Required" (2010), this is one of the tunes that put Lokkhi Terra on the map. Recorded in Kishon Khan's home studio the track captures the beginning of this London band's journey.

5. KANDE REVISITED - Lokkhi Terra

This a reworking of Lokkhi Terra's version of a classic Bangla Folk song written by Hason Raja. Maintaing the spirit of unique sound clashes, the track combines a typical London Afro Funkiness with the sublime Bengali vocals of Aneire Khan, Sohini Alam and Aanon Siddiqua. The original version was released on their 2012 CD album "Che Guava's Rickshaw Diaries".

6. NUORACLE - Justin Thurgur

Originally released as a digital single, this release from Justin Thurgur, composed in collaboration with Kishon Khan, is a Cuban Jazz track that features driving Timba bass lines and Afrobeat inflected horns and is a nod to the Nuyorican Latin Jazz scene of the '50's, '60's and '70's, which has been a big inspiration to them.

7. EU TOPO - Beiju

Beiju is the combined work of two unique practictioners: Firstly, Adma Macedo Newport from Salvador da Bahia, a singer who has integrated the great Afro-brazilian musical traditions of her native city with that of those she's lived in on her travels. Secondly, Phil Dawson, a London-based guitarist and music writer who has collaborated with many stylistic originators internationally, including those from all four corners of Africa. .

8. SHADHO KI RE AMAR - Shikor Bangladesh All Stars

Taken from their debut album "Soul of Bengal" - This Folk super group is made up of legendary session musicians from Bangladesh. This track features the late great Baul Rob Fakir and is written by the great mystic, Baul Lalon Shah, whose songs are still be found throughout the Bengal today.

"His music filled me with the urge to connect with the world," Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith says of Emile Mosseri. She first heard his work while watching the 2019 film The Last Black Man In San Francisco; just minutes in, she paused it to look up who did the score and wrote to him immediately. "I love Emile's ability to create melodies that feel magically scenic and familiar like they are reminding you of the innocence of loving life." Those talents saw recognition in 2020 with an Oscar nomination for Mosseri's original score to the film Minari. He was already a fan of Smith's and became increasingly intrigued by her impressionistic process as they started to talk. "The music feels so spiritual and alive and made from the earth," Mosseri says. "I think of her as the great conductor, summoning musical poetry from her orchestra of machines." I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon, their two-part collaborative album, introduces an uncanny fusion of their sonics. Constructed using synthesizer, piano, electronics, and voice, this soft-focus dream world is lush, evocative, and fleeting. It finds two composers tuning their respective styles inward as an ode to mutual inspiration, a celebration of the human spirit and its will to surrender to the currents of life. As a full album set, I Could Be Your Dog / I Could Be Your Moon moves fluidly from track to track, panning through textural vignettes. Two roughly 17-minute halves, the set evokes the bittersweet sense of something too bright or rare to last, a short-lived glimpse into a golden hour. There is a dreamy, elemental intention to this music, which Smith and Mosseri say came naturally, as they both embraced intuitive interplay throughout their creative back-and-forth. The stylistic threads of each composer are recognizable yet become more ambiguous as the album progresses, sewn into a singular vision.

Rose City Band is celebrated guitarist Ripley Johnson. A prolific songwriter, Johnson started Rose City Band to have an outlet to explore songwriting styles apart from Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo, where he is often not the lead songwriter. Rose City Band allowed him to follow his musical muses as they greet him and not be bound by the schedule of bandmates and demands of a touring group. Stepping out from behind the psychedelic haze that envelops his other output, Rose City Band"s lean yet richly textured arrangements lay bare the beauty of his songcraft. On Earth Trip, Johnson reveals more of himself than ever before, coloring the project"s country-rock twang with a melancholic, wistful undertone. It charts a journey of personal growth and introspection with surprising honesty, from pining for summers spent with friends to meditations on space, stillness and the splendor of the natural world. It continues Rose City Band"s celebration of summer warmth and the great outdoors, seen from a new vantage point, and with newfound appreciation for the freedom and joy that nature provides. Earth Trip was written during a period of sudden shocks and drastic lifestyle changes for Johnson. Forced to cancel extensive touring plans for 2020, the guitarist found himself home for an extended period for the first time in years. No longer in constant motion, he was able to experience and enjoy the simple pleasures of home life, of being in one place: hikes in nature, bathing outside, and waking with the dawn. Forming new connections to his surroundings, from tending to a garden to sleeping out under the stars, Johnson found hope and healing in a more mindful relationship with the natural world. Themes of recalibration and finding personal space are equally mirrored in Earth Trip"s lean production. Recorded at his home studio in Portland and mixed by Cooper Crain (Bitchin" Bajas, Cave), Johnson makes deft use of space while experimenting with new sonics. Shimmering pedal steel, woozy harmonica melodies, and stately piano enhance the album"s introspective tone without ever clouding arrangements. Psychedelic elements that nod to Johnson"s other projects and influences still appear throughout, but hover at the edge of perception, a subtle halo adding colour and texture to Johnson"s songwriting rather than taking centrer-stage. He elaborates: "I told Cooper I was trying to capture that feeling when you take psychedelics and they just start coming on - maybe objects start buzzing in the edges of your vision, you start seeing slight trails, maybe the characteristics of sound change subtly. But you"re not fully tripping yet. He got the idea right away and his mix really captures that feeling." Johnson"s lithe guitar playing throughout treads a fine line between country and cosmic, taut melodies spiralling out into long reverb trails or free-form solos buoyed by a breeze, radiating summer warmth. Through its daring honesty and masteful arrangements, Earth Trip cements Johnson"s place as a singular songwriter of inimitable skill. It"s message of mindfulness and our interconnectedness to the environment expands on a long country and blues music tradition that draws a symbiotic relationship between storyteller and the land, capturing the beauty of the natural world while also emphasising our responsibility in preserving it for future generations

Dusky’s music has always been built on the pleasure principle, but JOY – as the title makes absolutely clear – takes that to new levels of purity and intensity.
Looking back to more innocent times and to rave music’s halcyon days, the duo of Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman have tapped into that special moment when raving was still a voyage into the unknown.

This project is a distillation of the spirit of people coming together in hard times, forgetting their troubles and celebrating life. All of the core elements here are familiar from the peak rave era and the birth of hardcore – the cascading pianos, the infectious bleep melodies, the Chicago and Detroit grooves, the rugged Belgian techno riffs, and the proto-jungle break beats – but retooled, rewired, and refreshed for this brave new world.

It’s both a natural development and noticeable evolution from the pair’s previous work. Natural, because these musical elements have always been apparent in Dusky’s sound, but a clear evolution in they way they are presented, with such an unreserved and joyous tone.

The result is a celebration - and expression - of the communal ecstasy of the dance floor experience. An expression of 18 months yearning to be back out there communing and celebrating. An expression of everything that dance music - and dance culture - is about at its very best.

JOY brings together all the finesse and subtlety that Dusky have honed while traversing the various corners of clubland over the past decade, all their understanding of fundamental dance floor dynamics, and channels it all to a single, unified purpose. At a time when we’ve all suffered, we’ve all struggled, and we’re all uncertain, we’ve never needed this sense of unity more. All the release we’ve so badly wanted is here: we all need JOY.
credits

Two years after their first major release on Nice Guys, the band Marcoca returns with a new full-length album Cosmic Blunder. It originated out of the urge to merge new psychedelic sounds with elements of funk, jazz and surf rock, while keeping the stuff that worked on the first record in place. The result is a reverb soaked ride through songs that cover the ups and downs of life and all the questions that come along with it. While some of the songs had been previously arranged, some instrumental parts developed during the recording process in order to preserve the natural flow of the music.

Inspired by their travels around the warm beaches of our beautiful planet, the eight tracks of this long-player help the listener walk through a colorful Californian dream. The husky voice of the singer Marco Rinke invites us to an auditory journey to the 70s. This LP proves to be a real cathartic experience for the ears and the mind.

Cosmic Blunder, the eponymous track of this release, embodies the soul of the whole album, influenced by psychedelic and surf rock. With its groovy elements and symphonic guitars, the four musicians succeed to elevate one’s mind to spheres of beauty and inner peace. Overall, this LP turns out to be a real cathartic experience for the ears and the mind that wants to erase the physical self in favour of the mind.

Jacob Long’s third Earthen Sea outing for Kranky, Ghost Poems, further refines his fragile, fractured palette into fluttering arrhythmias of dust, percussion, and yearning.
Composed during the first wave of lockdowns in New York, the pieces took shape patiently from samples of piano, texture, and domestic sounds (sink splashing, room tone, clinking objects), filtered through live FX to imbue them with an intuitive, immaterial feel. Wisps of melody splinter, shimmer, and refract, like light on water; pulses accrue and dissipate, as if mapping shifting sands. Throughout, there’s a sense of matter made animate, of absences felt.
Long cites notions of “the studio as a dub instrument” and the melancholy of “7th chords on a fake Rhodes patch” as central elements in his process, transforming raw materials into rare thresholds of symbiosis and hypnosis. This is music for night skies in hollowed out cities, for views across rivers towards unknown shores: restless, placeless, and profound.
track listing:1. Shiny Nowhere 2. Stolen Time 3. Felt Absence 4. Oblique Ruins 5. Snowy Water 6. Rough Air 7. Slate Horizon 8. Ochre Sky 9. Fossil Painting 10. Deep Sky
press quotes for previous album Grass and Trees:
“Jacob Long’s vaporous, lo-fi ambient tracks feel like snapshots of stillness made of moving parts.” Pitchfork
“As light as a warm breeze on skin, Earthen Sea’s latest album for Kranky showcases Jacob Long’s natural sensitivity for low-key, enchanting electronic sound craft.” Boomkat
“It’s exciting to hear such a significant change in his sound without sacrificing a personal touch and sonic character.” Igloo

Needle Mythology reissue a special expanded album edition of Finn, the album released by New Zealand’s most celebrated musical siblings Tim and Neil Finn to acclaim both from critics and long-time fans who had followed the pair’s work since their time in together in Split Enz. This is the first time Finn has received a vinyl release. Released in close collaboration with Tim and Neil, the newly-expanded Finn comes with an entire album The Finn Demos, which gathers together ten songs from 1989’s legendary Murchison St sessions, remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. Convening at Neil’s new Melbourne apartment with a view to making an album together, Tim and Neil embarked on an intensely productive period, writing several songs that would briefly result in Tim joining Crowded House for the resulting Woodface album. Assisted by the late Paul Hester on drums, the demos capture a host of songs that would go on to be played in arenas around the world in their newborn state: ‘It’s Only Natural’, ‘Catherine Wheels’, ‘Weather With You’, featuring a whole extra verse and the previously unreleased ‘Four Stepping in 3/4 Time’. For this release, long-time fan and collaborator on Neil’s 7 Worlds Collide project, Ed O’Brien (Radiohead) contributed liner notes, hymning the album’s “heavy” beauty and its “elemental energy.” Featuring brand new artwork designed by Needle Mythology’s James Gosling, the expanded Finn features newly-unearthed images of Tim and Neil taken by Darryl Ward during the sessions for the album. For this release, Tim and Neil have also shared the “listening notes” submitted by the brothers’ parents – something they would do for every song their sons wrote. For Finn, Tim and Neil enlisted the services of Tchad Blake, whose “feel”-based approach brought out the best in the brothers, who played every instrument on the record. Writing about the record for Mojo at the time, David Hepworth characterised Finn as a “warm and loose record” that hardcore fans would undoubtedly “adore”. Originally released on Parlophone Records, Finn spawned an unlikely top 30 hit, the mesmerising semi-improvised psych-rock fan favourite ‘Suffer Never’. The expanded double album edition of Finn has been cut at Abbey Road by Miles Showell and pressed on 180g vinyl at The Vinyl Factory.

Emerging Netherlands-based pairing Parallells will land on Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels imprint for the first time next month. Gifting us an emotive offering in Ashes of Snow (The Rebirth Of The Phoenix), it acts as a tribute to their favourite Portuguese beach club, Yamba, which was tragically destroyed by a fire last year.

The title track hits a wonderful sweet spot between electronic elements and organic instrumentals. It feels raw and authentic, blending saxophone segments, electric guitar tones and a jazzy-like backbone to form a cut that feels ripe for both sunrise or sunset. On The Banks of The River comes next, manifesting as a more toughened dance music number thanks to deep bass components whilst still retaining the boys’ natural sound. Rounding off proceedings is Clive Henry, who’s remix of Ashes of Snow flies the flag for contemporary minimal. Weighty kicks reside next to delicate hats before ethereal synths are brought in, creating a romanian-inspired piece that you can’t help but dance to.

Parallells are two Amsterdam-based brothers hailing from the south of France. Multi-instrumentalists, composers, producers and label owners (Klassified), their music cuts across electronica, electro-jazz and underground dance music. Their live, hybrid and DJ sets have graced some of the world’s most esteemed stages, including DGTL, Robot Heart, Mayan Warrior, The Gardens of Babylon, Wonderfruit and many more besides. Their music is also heavily influenced by world culture, a feat that led them to launch their video series concept A Day In. Through this, they immerse in diverse cultures around the world, capturing sounds from their day-to-day life and unfold the story through the medium of music. Clive Henry is a linchpin of house music as we know it today. Cutting his teeth as one half of the tribal house duo Peace Division, he has held a long-term residency at Circoloco, Ibiza and has racked up bookings at standout venues and festivals including Printworks and Houghton to name a few.

Following on from acclaimed recent releases on Hallow Ground and Boomkat’s Documenting Sound series, NOISEEM is a major new work from Japanese sound artist/instrument inventor Yosuke Fujita, who performs under the name FUJIIIIIIIIIIIITA. Where Fujita’s recent recorded output has focussed primarily on documentation of his remarkable self-built pipe organ, NOISEEM is the culmination of half a decade of work with highly amplified water. The evocative and timbrally rich sound of water has inspired concrete and experimental music practices since ground-breaking works such as Hugh Le Cain’s ‘Dripsody’ and Knud Viktor’s obsessively aquatic ‘Images’. However, other than his compatriot Tomoko Sauvage, few have explored the possibilities of water in live performance to the extent that Fujita has, constructing a series of water tanks that, with their pumps and amplification controlled by the performer, become a new musical instrument. The recordings contained here are drawn from live performances in Tokyo and London, edited and mixed by Fujita into two side-length pieces dominated by water, pipe organ, voice and subtle electronics. On ‘AWA’, which occupies the LP’s first side, the listener is immediately immersed in an aqueous world of recognisable drips and splashes, as well as more mysterious squeaks and squawks. While the liberal use of delay at times conjures up the sound world of early electronic music, the sparklingly clear amplification is unmistakably contemporary, lending the music a stunning weight and tactility. Building over several minutes, the piece eventually comes to a rapid boil, criss-crossed by washes of white noise splashes of electronics, before the untempered long tones of the pipe organ enter. The slowly shifting harmonies lend the remainder of the side a meditative, almost oneiric quality, inviting listeners to lose themselves in the aquatic layers that ripple across the harmonic foundation. On the second side, ‘UZU’ begins more starkly, with a single rapid bubble, quickly joined by full-spectrum wooshes and silvery, ringing tones. After a few minutes, the music undergoes a radical, entirely unexpected shift with the entry of a distorted, auto-tuned voice that repeatedly cycles through ascending and descending melodies. Left alone at times to be heard acapella, this mysterious element at times takes an odd resemblance to dhrupad singing. Eventually joined by rich, sonorous chords from the organ, the high tones of Fujita’s voice, and water, the piece takes on an ecstatic quality, channelling the sublime expansiveness of the natural element on which it is built. Disappearing as abruptly as they entered, the voices then make way for a haunted coda of isolated drips and distant whistles. Far from the intellectualised abstraction of much sound art, NOISEEM is strikingly immediate, both rigorously experimental in its explorations and unashamedly direct in its musicality. Tracklist 1. Awa 2. Uzu

Available on vinyl for the first time in 10 years, with new cover design by Tim Rutilli Califone's earliest roots lie in the band Red Red Meat, from whence came Califone's founding members Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella and its longtime producer Brian Deck. The band's first release was a self-titled EP on Flydaddy in 1998, followed later by the full-length debut, Roomsound, in 2001 (later reissued on Thrill Jockey) and eventually the band's Thrill Jockey debut, Quicksand/ Cradlesnakes in 2003. After touring for the release of Roomsound, Califone had little time off to take in the impact of the music they were creating. In three years, they recorded four albums (two instrumental, two song-based including Heron King Blues) and toured heavily in between with Wilco, Modest Mouse, The Sea and Cake and others. After the tour for Heron King Blues in 2004, Califone finally took a breath and came back together in late 2005 to begin recordings. They worked on it in chunks at 4Deuces Studio in Chicago with Brian Deck, in Long Beach and Phoenix with Michael Krassner, and at home in Los Angeles and Chicago until May 2006. The time away and each member's individual work naturally brought new elements into the sound of Califone's music. Both Rutili's and Becker's soundtrack work are more atmospheric, however the challenge of enhancing a scene of film without cluttering it or overwhelming it informed their approach to the new recording. Similarly, the burglary of Califone's equipment during the band's last tour (including guitars, banjo, a 1917 violin, bells and more) altered the sound as they had to find new gear on a tight budget. The instruments are new partners, new sounds that forced them to stretch in new directions. Limitations, obstructions and darkness, and the new possibilities they illuminate; roots and crowns. "In that way", says Rutili, "this album is a conscious and resolved thing. It fully realizes ideas we touched on in the past and where we come from as a band, and takes us into our next phase of life."

Available on vinyl for the first time in 10 years, with new cover design by Tim Rutilli Califone's earliest roots lie in the band Red Red Meat, from whence came Califone's founding members Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella and its longtime producer Brian Deck. The band's first release was a self-titled EP on Flydaddy in 1998, followed later by the full-length debut, Roomsound, in 2001 (later reissued on Thrill Jockey) and eventually the band's Thrill Jockey debut, Quicksand/ Cradlesnakes in 2003. After touring for the release of Roomsound, Califone had little time off to take in the impact of the music they were creating. In three years, they recorded four albums (two instrumental, two song-based including Heron King Blues) and toured heavily in between with Wilco, Modest Mouse, The Sea and Cake and others. After the tour for Heron King Blues in 2004, Califone finally took a breath and came back together in late 2005 to begin recordings. They worked on it in chunks at 4Deuces Studio in Chicago with Brian Deck, in Long Beach and Phoenix with Michael Krassner, and at home in Los Angeles and Chicago until May 2006. The time away and each member's individual work naturally brought new elements into the sound of Califone's music. Both Rutili's and Becker's soundtrack work are more atmospheric, however the challenge of enhancing a scene of film without cluttering it or overwhelming it informed their approach to the new recording. Similarly, the burglary of Califone's equipment during the band's last tour (including guitars, banjo, a 1917 violin, bells and more) altered the sound as they had to find new gear on a tight budget. The instruments are new partners, new sounds that forced them to stretch in new directions. Limitations, obstructions and darkness, and the new possibilities they illuminate; roots and crowns. "In that way", says Rutili, "this album is a conscious and resolved thing. It fully realizes ideas we touched on in the past and where we come from as a band, and takes us into our next phase of life."

For a prolific artist as Gerardo Frisina, almost two years without a new release from him seems like an eternity: this brand new 12" EP entitled 'Soul Drum' breaks the silence, giving us three new works composed by Gerardo, made up of four recordings if we consider the two versions of the title track.

This EP anticipates the full album already in the works, scheduled for release at the end of 2022.

Without losing his Latin trademark, Gerardo continues his research into hypnotic and pulsating rhythmic patterns in both acoustic and electronic form, which are now a fundamental stylistic element of his. As on his previous album 'Moving Ahead', the rhythmic style blends naturally with echoes of tribal voices, piano keys and wind instruments (trumpet, saxophone, flute), creating the 'Joyful Sound' (title of the forthcoming album) that reverberates on the surface. With an artist as meticulous as Gerardo Frisina, it is to be expected that even the simplest beat has been deeply thought out and chosen from a potentially infinite sound palette, and this can be heard perfectly in the depth of sound of the four tracks of this release.

"Soul Drum" is dedicated to the loving memory of bassist Enzo Frassi, who contributed to this EP - along with 'usual guests' Fabrizio Bernasconi, Gendrickson Mena, Alfonso Deidda and Ernesto Lopez.

»Sull’Accordo Mimetico (On the Mimetic Chord)« dates back to the end of the 80’s. It was commissioned by the artistic director of the ParcoScenico Festival, held in Treviso, Italy. Since the area where artists and the public gathered after the Festival was located to a very busy street, Marco asked me for a sound installation that could work as some sort of a defensive barrier for the street noise. I suggested that my work, rather than hiding the noise, should aim to harmonize the disturbances coming from the street within musical structures and forms, without burdening or saturating too much the acoustic spectrum of the place. In this way, I thought about sonic veils, consisting of repetitive – but also light and discreet – harmonic-rhythmic structures. Since the Festival took place in a beautiful centenary park, I also integrated the music with natural sounds and animal calls, always as an attempt to bridge these sound events and the other materials that made up the composition. The human voice constitutes a central element in this musique d'ameublement project, as a constant source of memory of places and times – here with many references to traditional music for children.

A pearl of ambient electro-acoustic mimimalism with field recordings components in which the nostalgia of Maestro Tiziano Popoli shines through in painting landscapes that slowly change to be seen with the ears. Nocturnal, emblematic, Lynchian.

After having released solo albums on Western Vinyl and Preservation, Domes presents the first entirely instrumental work of the California based multi-instrumentalist Heather Woods Broderick.

Domes is a collection of meditative pieces based around the cello. While not being her primary instrument, the cello holds a very special place for the artist. Throughout the past 2 years, Heather often felt the need to find moments of respite in response to the chaotic and turbulent times we all faced in that period. Her days started or ended with the cello. A single melody initiated a process in which new elements were gradually added to the initial loop until the sounds filled her up. This process and the instrumental nature of these pieces opened the path for self-reflection and enabled her to express emotions outside the world of words or lyrics:

“The cyclical nature of the loop combined with the sound feeling like it’s surrounding me feels serene and safe. My hope is that listeners experience this as well.” - Heather Woods Broderick

Domes is a documentation of that period and offers 7 pieces which to the artist feels like dense masses – strong grounding sounds that can hold weight or be used to disperse weight - in an emotional sense. The album title, Domes, reflects this idea as domes are made out of triangles – the strongest shapes in the physical world. Coincidentally, there are 7 different triangles. As such, the pieces on Domes each reflect a different triangle, a different strongest shape which offers the listener a solid basis to find rest and calmness.

Heather Woods Broderick is a composer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Growing up in a family of musicians, music took root in Heather’s life at a very young age. Evenings spent singing along to her parents folk music collection began to shape her sense of song as a child. After many years of classical piano training, she began to expand her musical toolkit by learning to play guitar, cello, and flute among others. Deeply influenced by rich tapestries of the natural world, she excels at crafting sonic landscapes that reflect both lushness and intimacy. Heather has released three solo albums to date, and over the years has recorded and toured extensively around the world with a multitude of artists including Sharon Van Etten, Efterklang, Alela Diane, Horse Feathers, Damien Jurado, Lisa Hannigan, Laura Gibson, and more.

‘Self Oscillation’ is made up of 5 club-ready psychedelic workouts swaying with natural momentum, from
Ecuadorian superstar Nicola Cruz, who makes his 2nd appearance on London’s Rhythm Section INTL.

The internationally renowned producer, Nicola Cruz, has been instrumental in pioneering the sound of Andean music over the last decade. Born and raised in Ecuador, Nicola has found his own unique way to tap into Latin America’s illustrious musical past to create something utterly contemporary. His previous projects have had the 4 elements running through as major themes: Fire and lava erupted during his sophomore album, Siku, with an Ecuadorian volcano doubling up as a recording space. And now, with his second Rhythm Section release, we are met with sounds of flowing water that Nicola describes as “aqueous explorations”. On this EP, ‘Self Oscillation’, Nicola Cruz fuses experimental production techniques with underwater, bass-heavy constructions. Moods change like the tides; from euphoric highs with acid riffs and latin drum patterns, the music quickly dives to moody submarine basslines and dark, frenetic rhythms.

‘Self Oscillation’ sees Nicola’s production move to new heights as he expertly bridges the gap between natural and mechanical sounds. With the help of iconic 80s and 90s synths and the retro colours of a Roland Space Echo, his newest work is a hybrid of electronic dance music and a synaesthetic image of nature. In the spirit of his previous EP on Rhythm Section INTL, ‘Self Oscillation’ showcases the synergy - or rather ongoing battle between the organic and inorganic, the analog and digital, civilisation confronted and confounded by nature. It’s within this dichotomy that Cruz revels, and manages to say so much, without words.

IATT is pleased to once again team up with Black Lion Records for the follow up to 2019's Nomenclature; our new full length album entitled Magnum Opus. We've meticulously crafted this album to leap from where Nomenclature left us thematically.
The listener is catapulted from the 1700s (Arsenic Ways) further back in time to a much darker, older world and the esoteric sciences of Alchemy. It was in this time man aimed to harness the world around him, bending the natural elements in a quest to obtain power, knowledge, control, and even immortality itself.
Alchemy was the key to unlocking the secrets of existence and elevating one's self to the pinnacle of enlightenment through transmutation and manipulation of the earthly elements. It was only through the process of Magnum Opus (the great work) that alchemists could harness the elementals in their purest form to create the Philosopher's Stone - the key to power, enlightenment, and immortality.
Just as in alchemy itself, creating this album has been a journey of transformation for us; a period of great growth as individuals and as a unit. It's through adversity, struggles, and the forging of the elements - of literal blood, sweat, and tears - we strive to transcend and elevate to our highest selves, "the great work", Magnum Opus.

Sound Like: (Immolation, Spawn of Possession, Death, Emperor, Obscura)

The “Tumult Hands” duet is made by Jacek Sienkiewicz and Jerzy Przezdziecki - the producers
whose composition has - to a large extent- defined the Polish techno music. Sienkiewicz - as
early as Recognition - started his adventure with music in the late 1990s. Subsequent records,
already under his own name, were released, among others, at Cocoon Records, Trapez, Klang
Elektronik and WMFRec. Przezdziecki started publishing a little later. Over the last two
decades, he has been presenting various types of electronic music, among others, as Praecox,
Epi Centrum and Jurek Przezdziecki.
“Tumult Hands” has two EPs on its account – “Tumult Hands EP” (2014) and “Tropic
Factory” (2016). Both were published by Recognition. So a full record was a matter of time.
The album titled: “TH” (Recognition, 2022) has been prepared for many years. The repertoire
was created mainly out of improvisation. As artists themselves say, “it is the result of
discovering and accepting a chance event.” For both producers, close contact with
instruments was important during their composition; the type of interaction between the maker
and an electronic device. Individual works have been maturing for a long time. Paradoxically -
the lapse of time did not cause them to be ageing but vice versa - allowed them to mature and
gain natural weight.
“TH” brings very diverse music. In part, it is the repayment of the debt that Sienkiewicz and
Przezdziecki incurred towards the most creative techno period, that is, the 90s of the 20th
century. The lovers of experimental dance music from before the quarter of the century will
easily capture in the duet’s themes the art of Cristian Vogel, producers known from the tin
series of Chain Reaction record company or early recordings of Richie Hawtin (Plastikman,
F.U.S.E.). This is a very similar, non-standard approach to sound structure and an original
approach to rhythmic structures. Minimalist melodies, accompanying e.g. the opening of the
“enter TH” or “pow” set, contribute to the composition an element of some sublimity and
metaphysical anxiety. Obviously, it is still the dance music but the duet - to some extent by
abandoning the club functionality (understood in the techno convention) - has given its music
a definitely sophisticated, artistic elegance.
Publishing cooperation between such important makers, as well as high quality of recordings,
leads us to see “TH” as something more than just another techno record. It is an event and an
electronic adventure that all lovers looking for dance music will appreciate.

Strictly limited to 10,000 numbered copies, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition enhances the blockbuster work for today – and the ages to come. Surpassing the sonics of any prior version, it peels away any remaining limitations to provide a transparent, lively, ultra-nuanced presentation of a record that won six Grammy Awards – including prizes for Album of the Year, Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, and Best Rock Song. The expanse and depth of the soundstage, fullness of tones, natural snap and extension of the guitar strings, realistic rise and decay of individual notes, and roll of Clapton's vocals all attain demonstration-grade levels.

Housed in a deluxe box, the UD1S Unplugged pressing features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording and the reissue's premium quality. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artifact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the images to the finishes.

Truly, everything about Unplugged matters. Having sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. and more than 26 million copies worldwide, the 1992 work resonates with listeners of all generations and speaks a universal language. Recorded for MTV before a very small audience on January 16, 1992, the 14-track set became the signpost for future acoustic-based endeavours that witnessed artists of all stripes re-examining their catalogues and, in many instances, as Clapton does here, placing familiar originals in fresh contexts and unveiling spirited versions of cover material. Needless to say, Clapton's session turned MTV's series into can't-miss programming for which the likes of Rod Stewart, Tony Bennett, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and more would soon participate.

Kicking off his performance with a spirited instrumental to establish the mood, Clapton immediately wades into the style that originally caught his attention as a British teenager in the early 1960s: American blues. Backed by a superb band that includes guitarist Andy Fairweather Low, pianist Chuck Leavell, bassist Nathan East, and drummer Steve Ferrone, Slowhand delivers a rhythmic, toe-tapping rendition of Bo Diddley's "Before You Accuse Me" that announces he's come to reconnect with his muse. What follows over the course of nearly the next hour stirs the heart, shakes the soul, moves the mind, and invigorates the senses.

Of course, there's no talking about Unplugged without keying in on "Tears in Heaven," the striking ballad Clapton penned about the death of his four-year-old son. More emotional, direct, spare, and healing than the studio version released a year prior, it crackles with an intimacy, maturity, poignancy, honesty, sweetness, and integrity that inform the entire concert. Indeed, how Clapton frames other favorites here – transforming "Layla" into a relaxed, comfortable stroll and ruminating on the seasoned ripples flowing throughout "Old Love," for example – indicate both a creative rebirth and gleeful acceptance of the next phase of his career.

And that very direction (two of Clapton's next three albums would be all-blues projects) is what really makes Unplugged so indispensable. Equivalent in mastery if not in volume to the output that earned him his "God" nickname, interpretations of Jesse Fuller's "San Francisco Bay Blues" (complete with kazoo!), Big Bill Broonzy's "Hey Hey," Robert Johnson's "Walkin' Blues" and "Malted Milk," and Muddy Waters' "Rollin' & Tumblin'" showcase a learned professor in his element and all the wheels turning.

In every regard, Clapton's Unplugged session was appointment listening when it came out in August 1992. With the arrival of MoFi's UD1S pressing, that sensation is more urgent than before.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior

Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master tapes and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. The exclusive nature of these very limited pressings guarantees that every UD1S pressing serves as an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master tape. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl

Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analog lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.



SACD



Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's numbered hybrid SACD enhances the blockbuster work for today – and the ages to come. Peeling away remaining sonic limitations to provide a transparent, lively, ultra-nuanced presentation of a record that won six Grammy Awards (including prizes for Album of the Year, Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, and Best Rock Song), it places Clapton and company in your room. The expanse and depth of the soundstage, fullness of tones, natural snap and extension of the guitar strings, realistic rise and decay of individual notes, and roll of Clapton's vocals all attain demonstration-grade levels. A perennial audiophile favourite, Unplugged now tosses its hat into the ring as a demonstration disc.

‘Director’ is the follow up to Chrome Canyon’s
2012 debut ‘Elemental Themes’.
Chrome Canyon is a composer for film and TV,
including the HBO Max / Cartoon Network series
‘Infinity Train’.
‘Director’’s lead track, ‘Broken Theme’, was used
in an iPhone 13 Pro advert.
Vintage synths were used to create ‘Director’,
including the PE-1000, which was Korg’s first
polyphonic instrument, and the Chroma Polaris,
which was the second synth made by
Fender/Rhodes.
Chrome Canyon’s music is greatly influenced by
scores that are as revered as the films they
soundtrack: ‘Tron’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Metropolis’,
etc. His new album, ‘Director’, arrives ten years
after his Stones Throw debut ‘Elemental Themes’,
and is his vision of a soundtrack to an unmade
film.
The ten pieces across ‘Director’ are intended spark
vivid, cinematic imagination. The album was
recorded between downtown LA and the
Californian desert and is inspired by the drama of
the natural landscape.
For fans of Ben Frost, Mica Levi, Kyle Dixon &
Michael Stein, Trent Reznor.
Radio - Radio 1, KCRW, 1Live, Byte FM.
Online - Music Radar, Music Tech, Fifteen Questions, The
Vinyl Factory.