Suche:new world

Born in Majorca, Marc Melià is a composer/producer, who’s been based in Brussels for over 10 years. First spotted alongside Françoiz Breut, Lonely Drifter Karen or Borja Flames, he released Music for Prophet in 2017. It was issued on Gaspar Claus’s label Les Disques du Festival Permanent, as part of Flavien Berger’s curation.

On that first album, Marc Melià had explored the possibilities of a mythic synth; on Veus, as if sloughing, he applied the process of sound modification to his own voice, until becoming an android. But an android who sings of love and dreams, a sensitive automaton who plays with the tropes of pop music. Through this device, Marc Melià knowingly seeks poetry and beauty within transgenics, in the search of a universe where one can surf though waves of profoundly moving chord patterns, hear voices unconstrained by range limitations, or dance freely, as in zero gravity.

Part of the album has been recorded in Une ferme dans les Vosges, courtesy of Rodolphe Burger. It was recorded with Roméo Poirier, one of the most promising figures of ambient, and the elegant multi-talented Lou Rotzinger. As if progressing in parallel with his own linguistic experience, to add another layer to the sloughing, side A is sung in Catalan, Marc Melià’s mother tongue, and side B in French, his adopted language.

Like an echo to his previous album, Veus opens with an instrumental, “Pulse on a E”, which starts with a sequence created with a single note transposed to its octave, just like “Fata Fou”, the last song on Music for Prophet.

Although the title seems to reference an iconic 80s synth, “DX7” is actually about the seven days of the week. It is a love song, about the temperamental oscillations which make every morning the blank canvas of an unpredictable story. Wednesday, I hate you, Sunday, I love you. With few words and a lot of emotion, a synthetic voice is trying to grow more human each day.

“Dent de Serra” deals with the weight of memory on our relationships, but also with the way we revisit them constantly in order to integrate souvenirs within present relationships. Suddenly, the song stops and enters a new dimension, everything is different, as if what had just happened was now forgotten forever.

Oxytocin (“Oxitocines” in Catalan) is said to be the hormone of love. This song deals in a playful way with the duality between science and faith, between rational and magic, when it comes to sentimental relationships. Love is a universal theme, it is everywhere in the world, and love songs have been written for a very long time. But this particular love song is an ode to an aspect of love that has been less sung about: biology, which makes it possible to feel like you’re floating in space when you fall in love.

“Les étoiles” is a trio with Flavien Berger and Pi Ja Ma. The song is about attraction. What attracts humans to each other, but also the inevitable gravitational attraction. The song is also about accidents, magic moments that take us outside of our daily lives and give us the possibility to imagine a sidereal, infinite love.

“A propos d’une chanson” was born after Marc Melià had dreamed he had written the most beautiful song he’d ever created. When he woke up, he realized that song was actually O Superman by Laurie Anderson.

Aside from these songs, Marc Melià offers a few breaks, instrumental but no less narrative.

“Final d’hivern” conjures these quiet moments between two intense events; sleeping at night between two days; the calm that settles in after a hard winter, right before spring properly starts.

Using a musical language that clearly references Ryuichi Sakamoto, “Romain”, with its theme based on a melancholic chord pattern, could be the soundtrack to a 1970s movie lost in time. Little by little, elements that seem to come from a completely different context find their place, while turning the initial mood into something strange and unexpected.

Finally, “Retorn”, which finishes the album, is a reprise of the theme of “DX7”.

From the chords that make up a song, to the days that make up our lives, existence is but a cycle, and Veus is an exploration of them. Marc Melià keeps on drifting on his personal path, between homage to the past and visions of the future.

Making her stage debut in April 2019 and selling out her first
headline show at London’s prestigious Southbank Centre less
than a year later, A.A. Williams hit the ground running. Similarly,
the acclaim for her performances and her music has been
unanimous from the start. After one self-titled EP and a
collaboration with Japanese post-rockers MONO, the Londonbased singer songwriter signed to Bella Union and released her
stunning debut album, ‘Forever Blue’, in July 2020.
 That Southbank show would prove to be the last time she would
take to the stage for a long while as the world struggled to cope
with unforeseen and extreme challenges. Never a musician to sit
still, the classically trained multi-instrumentalist focused her
creativity on arranging - firstly, by stripping back to the most
delicate bones on her ‘Songs from Isolation’ covers record and
now with a complete reimagining of her own material as the four
songs from her debut EP become ‘arco’.
 Not many musicians have the ability - or indeed bravery - to
rework a collection of their own full band ‘rock’ songs into a stringand-voice arrangement. A.A. Williams, however, is not like many
musicians and the minimalism of Arvo Pärt and Gorecki has long
since sat beside Vaughan Williams' folk-inspired classical work as
important influences on her music. Indeed, the intention with the
EP was for Williams to challenge herself by not retaining guitars
and drums, meaning ‘arco’ had to be truly reimagined with a full
string ensemble.
 As Williams describes it: “The main focus of the arrangements is
trying to maintain the authenticity of the original songs that, whilst
embodying some of the more familiar elements of the full-band
settings, draws focus on the voice.”
 Conducting the ensemble of string musicians in the studio, A.A.
Williams has evolved her own compositions with new
instrumentation and arrangements, encapsulating the singular
vision of a unique artist.
 12” pressed on 140g ‘Galaxy White Purple’ vinyl with signed
12”x12” print and digital download code.

Ross Sinclair is a drummer, guitarist and founding member of The Soup
Dragons. In the early 1990s Sinclair left the group to complete his studies at
the Glasgow School Of Art.
Ross Sinclair is best known for his Real Life project, initiated in 1994 when he
had the words ‘Real Life’ tattooed across his back. Since then Real Life has become a 23-year performance project, taking form in a wide range of exhibitions, public art and publication contexts. Over the two decades of the Real Life
project, Sinclair’s work has employed various mediums including performance,
painting and music, often at the same time.
Through installation and audience participation Real Life has sought to challenge the conventional exhibition practice and connect with the public. These
projects have been exhibited worldwide. Throughout the course of the project,
a consistent thread of Sinclair’s work has sought to address the nature of the
individual, collective and national identities of Scotland.
During August 2015, Sinclair exhibited his work in 20 Years of Real Life at Edinburgh’s Collective Gallery which celebrated 20 years of his Real Life project.
Sinclair worked with teenagers to create 5 bands and produce an LP titled Free
Instruments for Teenagers. Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life The most recent incarnation of the Real Life project came as part of a two-week residency
Ross Sinclair undertook at the Shanghai Himalayas Museum in China, ahead of
his solo exhibition titled Real Life is Dead/Long Live Real Life.
This exhibition served to herald a new phase of Sinclair’s on-going Real Life project. For the exhibition Sinclair added the text ‘Is Dead’ to the ‘Real Life’ tattoo.
The residency focused on the consistent themes of participation, performance
and collaboration, coupled with Sinclair’s use of music in his art throughout his
career. Sinclair worked with students at the GSOA over a period of two years to
develop and record two songs (Real Life is Dead and Long Live Real Life) which
lay at the core of the exhibition. The songs were recorded in both English and
Chinese.
In Shanghai, Sinclair worked with local musicians, artists and singers to create the Chinese-Scottish Real Life Orchestra - a musical dialogue between the
Chinese audience and Sinclair’s Real Life Project. The group came together in
a collective voice, in English and Chinese, to share experiences through music.
The orchestra presented a live performance at the opening reception of the
Phase Three exhibition of CURRENT: Contemporary Art from Scotland, which
provided the soundtrack to Sinclair’s installation consisting of multiple editions
of banners and videos representing the 23-years of the Real Life project. Participants were also invited to respond to the themes of Real Life is Dead/Long
Live Real Life with words and pictures which were displayed on banners and
placards.

Jazzland and OK World present the latest offering from Harpreet Bansal,
“Movements”.
This remarkable new album follows on from her Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannprisen) nominated album in 2019, “Samaya”, and will further consolidate
her reputation and garner yet more international acclaim for her deeply personal interpretation of the Indian raga tradition

On October 15th, Mac Miller's cult favourite mixtape Faces will be available on all streaming services for the first time since its initial release. The project, which originally debuted on Mother's Day 2014, is a vital release in Mac's catalogue that followed-up his critically-acclaimed sophomore album Watching Movies With The Sound Off. Upon its arrival, the mixtape served as the high water mark for Mac's technical prowess and cemented a creative actualization that would continue through his career; reinventing himself with each new project. Reviewing the project following its release, critic Craig Jenkins succinctly described it as "the best work of his career.
"In addition to being made available on streaming services, Faces will be available on vinyl for the first time on October 15th. .

The announcement of the mixtape’s release on streaming services next month arrives alongside a new music video for Faces highlight "Colours and Shapes." Its director Sam Mason speaks on the work: “The track felt very visual to me—like it had its own world. This atmospheric night time place that was sometimes dangerous, sometimes comforting, then I saw a picture of Ralph and a story emerged. To build it out I asked Malcolm’s family to send me bits and pieces from his childhood, scenes from the town where he grew up, objects, toys from his room—little pieces of his life that I extrapolated outwards and used to inspire the story. In the abstract, it’s meant to be a video about childhood—growing up as an artist and the highs and lows of that experience. It’s sort of a look at the emotional and difficult and perilous but noble path of an artist. ”Stay tuned for more Mac Miller and Faces news soon.

UMe will release an updated version of The Best Of Bond…James Bond, a 2CD and 3LP black vinyl compilation featuring celebrated theme songs from the longest-running film franchise. The new collection will include “No Time To Die” by Billie Eilish from No Time To Die, the 25th film in the series. Also now included will be Adele’s “Skyfall” from Skyfall, the highest-grossing Bond film to date, and Sam Smith’s Spectre theme, “Writing’s On the Wall,” – Oscar® winners for Best Song in 2013 and 2016, respectively. In addition to Billie Eilish, Adele and Sam Smith, included is the signature instrumental “James Bond Theme” by The John Barry Orchestra, which remains one of the most recognizable themes from film. The collection also includes Dame Shirley Bassey, Louis Armstrong, Nancy Sinatra, Paul McCartney and many other classics.

Business as Usual is the debut album of Australian new wave band Men at Work, which was originally released in 1981 and became one of the most successful albums internationally by an Australian group. It spent an unprecedented 15 weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 from late 1982 to early 1983, and five weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom Albums Chart in early 1983.

Business as Usual was also one of the highest selling Australian albums in the early 80s, with 6 million copies sold in the US and 15 million sold worldwide.

The first single Who Can It Be Now' was a strong top
3 hit single, but the second single Down Under' became a monster hit and reached the number 1 spot in several charts around the globe.

The high quality re-issue by Music On Vinyl has the original black and white (Australian) jacket artwork.

New album by french producer Joakim on his label Tigersushi. Through 16 tracks, he explores a world of sounds that blur the line between the natural and the artificial, a psychedelic journey on a modern Noah's Ark, back to his roots in IDM, Classical music, avant-garde Pop and Ambient.

Toolroom founder and Grammy-nominated producer Mark Knight announces his new album Untold Business: 13-track collection of vocal house music which aims to inject a much-needed dose of meaning and longevity into the world of dance music.

Mark Knight has gone back to his roots on his new album Untold Business, reprising the sounds and records that made him the artist he is today. Diving through his extensive collection of classic Funk, House, Soul and Disco records from the 1970s and 80s has provided the bedrock for the album, which is an homage to the soulful, vocal-led house music that Mark first fell in love with in the 90s.

Step forward Mark Knight with a collection of meticulously crafted, positive, life-affirming records with a focus on real instrumentation and properly crafted songs that will stand the test of time. Untold Business is the antithesis of the functional, cookie-cutter dance music that has become increasingly ubiquitous over the years, and it sounds absolutely glorious.

Lead single ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’ features vocals from Beverley Knight as well as the London Community Gospel Choir, who together bring a powerful message of positivity, solidarity and hope: themes that echo throughout the rest of the album.

“I wanted to write a song of hope as we come out of this incredibly tough time. I feel that musicians and producers have a responsibility to provide the soundtrack to people’s lives, and with this glimmer of hope on the horizon, I wanted this song to be a moment of positivity for the future ahead.” Mark Knight

From the string section, to the 14-piece London Community Gospel Choir, to the incomparably brilliant Beverley Knight on lead vocals – Mark worked with some incredible musicians on the single: an approach that informs his approach for the entire album. Untold Business features further collaborations with the likes of Shingai (Noisettes), Michael Gray, Robert Owens and many more.

In addition to the 10 new tracks recorded especially for the album, Untold Business also includes three of Mark’s singles from 2020, including one of the biggest releases of his career to date. All 4 Love was a collaboration with Rene Amesz and Tasty Lopez which became firmly lodged on the Radio 1 A list for six weeks with worldwide success following soon after. Picking up more than 10 million streams on Spotify it was without doubt one of the biggest house records of the year. Also included here are ‘If It’s Love’ - a joyous celebration of a soulful house sound that came to prominence in the 90s – and ‘Tonight’, which took inspiration from the brisk, looping, filtered house music of the early 00s.

“Friends! I am so pleased to announce ‘A Night At The Little Los
Angeles’ - the 4-track version of ‘Sundowner’. Recorded at
home and in my back shed - aka The Little Los Angeles - in
suburban Kansas during the summer and winter seasons of
2017 and 2018. This is quite simply the sound of me alone in a
room with a four-track to catch my songs as they fell out of my
mouth. When I later went into a proper studio to make
‘Sundowner’ my goal was to capture the essence of these initial
recordings, and here you will now have access to the very
essence I was chasing.

“In many ways, this feels like a proper album to me, as it’s my
initial attempt to capture the Kansas sunset and put it into
sound, whereas ‘Sundowner’ was an attempt of an attempt. I
love and am proud of them both, of course, but am happy to -
for the first time - share this vulnerable side of my songwriting
process with the public. Many of my favorite recordings have
been made inside of an artist’s home without regard of the
outside world, but instead deep in their own world that they’re
creating in real time. And with that - I’d like to invite you into my
own little world here and now and ask you to please... step
inside of... and spend ‘A Night At The Little Los Angeles’!” -
Kevin Morby

Released in 2020 on Dead Oceans, ‘Sundowner’, with Morby’s
distinctively conversational and reflective writing style, was
received with open arms and was beloved by fans and critics
alike. Pitchfork lauded it as “a vision of the Midwest that feels
mythical and enormous.” ‘Sundowner’’s vision was further
fleshed out in comprehensive features in Vanity Fair, New York
Magazine, Stereogum, The FADER, Vice, Aquarium Drunkard,
and more.

In addition to traditional music publications, Morby appeared on
Adult Swim’s Fishcenter and Office Hours with Tim Heidecker.
Morby also made his network television debut on CBS This
Morning, where he performed the songs ‘Campfire’ and
‘Sundowner’ as part of a special joint performance with his
partner and fellow songwriter Katie Crutchfield, aka
Waxahatchee.

Sound Wonders: A Series of Epics is the second compilation from Touchtheplants, the imprint and multidisciplinary creative environment founded by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Sean Hellfritsch (aka Cool Maritime). Following 2020's Breathing Instruments, the new collection features sonic responses to a new prompt. Like its predecessor (which explored music as an extension of the human body and the natural world), the medium of focus here dates back to ancient civilizations. Smith invited artists to compose music based on the idea of epics: the long poems and narrative verse works that have detailed deeds and adventures since the dawn of storytelling. The musicians — some of today's most exciting practitioners of experimental sound design, instrumentation, and synthesis — took this directive loosely, realizing a series of vibrant and transportive songs evoking wondrous visions, subjects, and locales.
From Elori Saxl’s chamber piece to Olive Ardizoni’s ode to the strange and beautiful phenomenon of starling murmurations with synth and xylophone tones the album splays out like chapters in a panoramic account of all that surrounds us.

Featuring an impressive list of collaborators, including Ty Segall and
members of Woods, Cibo Matto, Sharon Van Etten’s band, Wand,
Heatwarmer, Mega Bog and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, ‘Geist’ is the
follow-up to Shannon Lay’s 2019 Sub Pop debut, ‘August’, which
featured friends and collaborators Ty Segal (whose band Shannon
played in) and Mikal Cronin.

‘Geist’ feels like a window - or a mirror - into possibilities of the self
and beyond. Shannon Lay’s new album is tender intensity, placeless
and ethereal. It exists in the chasms of the present -- a world
populated by shadow selves, spiritual awakenings, déjà vu and past
lives. “Something sleeps inside us,” Lay insists on the opening track,
and that’s the guiding philosophy throughout. A winding, golden,
delicate thread of intuition that explores the unknown, the possibility.
Its title, ‘Geist’, the German word for spirit, is rife with an otherworldly
presence, the suggestion of another. The promise that you are never
alone.

Lay tracked vocals and guitar at Jarvis Tavinere of Woods’ studio,
then sent the songs out to multi-instrumentalists Ben Boye (Bonnie
“Prince” Billy, Ty Segall) in Los Angeles and Devin Hoff (Sharon Van
Etten, Cibo Matto) in New York; trusting their musical instincts and
intuition. She then sent those recordings to Sofia Arreguin (Wand)
and Aaron Otheim (Heatwarmer, Mega Bog) for additional keys, while
Ty Segall contributed a guitar solo on ‘Shores’.

As a whole, ‘Geist’ is both esoteric and accessible. Songs range from
a concise, pared-back cover of Syd Barrett’s tilt-a-whirl-esque ‘Late
Night’, to the meditative, Dune-inspired ‘Rare to Wake’, to the mostly
a-cappella ‘Awaken and Allow’, which channels Lay’s deep Irish
roots, a moment of reflection, before a drop happens - its intensity
mirroring the anticipation and anxiety that come with taking the first
step to accepting change for yourself. And the title track ‘Geist’, a
song about the power living in all of us, is a love song to the
possibility of healing, an ode to falling into the arms of what you’re
becoming. It’s a glimpse into the parts of yourself you have yet to
meet.

Initial copies of the LP pressed on Sun Yellow coloured vinyl.

In December of 2020, The Wild Feathers hauled
off to a pre-civil war-built cabin in VanLeer, TN,
where the ideas and songs from ‘Alvarado’ met for
the very first time.

In the past, the band typically liked to collect all the
tunes they’ve written over the past year,
brainstorm, conceptualize and rehearse isolated in
a cabin before heading into the studio.

This time, for their fourth studio album, they
decided to bring the studio to the cabin. The guys
spent a week jamming and creating while having
the ability to capture the performances while they
were fresh.

Produced by the band, ‘Alvarado’ is the truest
representation of The Wild Feathers to date. No
outside musicians, no outside opinions, just them
playing their new songs in a room with the best
mics they could find.

First non-major label release (formerly of Warner
Brothers).
 For fans of Blackberry Smoke, Jamestown Revival,
Langhorne Slim

Saxophonist Wendell Harrison has lived by a standard philosophy for his 50-plus-year career: One must have complete self-autonomy. Both his music and business dealings reflect this. Besides being a legend on the Detroit jazz scene and mentoring up-and-coming musicians through his non-profit organization Rebirth Inc., he co-founded the Tribe Records label in the 1970s, which produced a magazine and many classic albums.

Harrison is continuing Tribe’s legacy—this time around with a group of rising jazz musicians from the Motor City such as drummer Louis M. Jones III, trumpeter Trunino Lowe, and guitarist Jacob Schwantz—on his new recording Get Up Off Your Knees.

There’s a lot to digest here because the original compositions encompass R&B, soul, spoken word, and “world” music, all seen through the lens of jazz. Harrison tends to weave elements of African music into many of his compositions. On “Siera” and “Samoulén Khalé Yi,” both written by vocalist and bassist Pathe Jassi, he pays tribute to Guinea-Bissau and Senegalese culture. “Educators” also has African nuances in its hardcore drumming and Harrison’s sublime blowing on bass clarinet and clarinet.

Any discriminating jazz listener will be consumed by Get Up Off Your Knees, but it seems Harrison’s primary purpose for making this album is to encourage the current generation to put education first and build social awareness. On the title track, vocalist Miche Braden pushes the self-determination angle, which is again highlighted on “Revolution,” a reimagined take on Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” delivered with an adherence to contemporary events by the poet Rev. Mbiyu Chui. By Veronica Johnson from Jazz Times.

Through his dedication to the Los Angeles grassroots projects that gave so much stability and focus to many younger musicians, artists and the community, Horace Tapscott became a neighbourhood hero at a time when the world wanted his presence. He stayed in Los Angeles and focused instead on building a community, rarely giving interviews and instead focusing on passing on the message from his mentors. He shaped a unique sound with his arkestra and community minded musicians. It was a close-knit family that emanated a sound that was deep and unique, flowing with a creative spirit that definitely comes through on this album.

In 1961 he founded the Pan-African Peoples Arkestra, which aimed to preserve, develop and publicise African-American music through the ever-growing family that emanated within many of the deprived areas of Los Angeles. Through his subsequent collaboration with Bruce Albach, a producer and founder of Nimbus West Records, they sought to document the importance of this music alongside many artists who were energetically linked to the ethos and understanding which came from the collective dialogue.

Here the composer leads four extensive arrangements through his 16 piece orchestra, featuring many of the Nimbus West artists including Adele Sebastian, Jesse Sharps and Linda Hill. The music weaves the sound of afro-futuristic music through changing tempos and a relentless dynamic expressive sound that is complex and beguiling with a deep spiritual sound throughout all four tracks.

The ceremonial ‘Peyete Song no. III’ is a great swirling evocative piece from the large collective, with amazing solos from especially Horace Tapscott who seems to find a sound from the piano that is from another dimension. The arrangement airs an important message of a people and their rituals.

Horace Tapscott gives Cal Massey’s composition ‘Nakatini Suite’ a splendid futuristic big band interpretation. The composition had been earlier illuminated by both Lee Morgan on his ‘Lee-Way’ album and John Coltrane on his ‘Believer’ album titled ‘Nakatini Serenade’. Through the more expansive soundscape, the interpretation allows for some great interplay between saxophonist Jesse Sharps and drummer Everett Brown Jr. with the whole orchestra led by Horace Tapscott capturing the essence of Cal Massey’s message.

Vocalist Adele Sebastian opens up the free probing arrangement ‘Quagmire Manor at 5am’ composition with a similar delivery as with her ‘Day Dream’ from the classic ‘Desert Fairy Princess’ album before the music takes off onto the mothership adding a sense of what time and space within the manner was about amongst many great musicians and artists. Their journey and moments encapsulated within the music.

There are certain albums you hear something new every time you revisit the music and this is one of those albums. An important part of Afro-American history; the politics and art which surrounded the album. If you get a chance check out the film ‘Horace Tapscott, Musical Griot’, by filmmaker Barbara McCullough, or buy the book ‘Songs Of The Unsung’: The Musical & Social Journey of Horace Tapscott’. Mark Jones/UK Vibe

"Pianist Nate Morgan (1964-2013) was a central figure on the Los Angeles jazz undergound. A core member of the circle around the legendary bandleader, pianist and community organiser Horace Tapscott, Morgan had been part of Tapscott’s U.G.M.A.A. (Union Of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension) since he was just a teenager, and was a key member of the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra, known as ‘The Ark’. Through the 1980s and 1990s he kept the PAPA flame alive, organising the Ark’s sprawling songbook, running legendary jam sessions, and keeping LA’s deep jazz roots well watered. By the early 2000s he was bringing hard won knowledge to a new generation as part of the Build The Ark collective. He was a musician’s musician, at the beating heart of the radical, community-minded Los Angeles jazz network that Tapscott and his associates had first put together in the early 1960s.

Retribution, Reparation was the second of the two LPs Morgan recorded for Tom Albach’s storied Nimbus West imprint. His first, Journey Into Nigritia had been a declaration of arrival laced with energies drawn from Cecil Taylor and Coltrane. One year later, with nods to Herbie Hancock (‘One Finger Snap’) and Ellington (‘Come Sunday’), Retribution, Reparation was a confident statement of purpose. Politically charged with pan-Africanist and Black nationalist sentiments inspired by Marcus Garvey, and titled with uncompromising directness, the album focusses the sound world of the Ark into a surging, restless masterpiece of spiritualised modal jazz. With Danny Cortez on trumpet and Ark stalwart Jesse Sharps on saxophones the frontline is explosive (this set is also one of the few places the extraordinary Sharps can be heard in a small group setting), while Fritz Wise and Ark regular Joel Ector hold down the rhythm section. Morgan’s forceful, Tyner-like chords and virtuosic solos and bind the music together. From the poised drama of the opening dedication to Tapscott’s U.G.M.A.A. (‘U.G.M.A.A.GER’) to the propulsive militancy of the title track, Retribution, Reparation spreads the word: ‘Advance to Victory, Let Nigritia Be Free!’"

Subaerialis the latest and most sophisticated transmission from the long musical partnership of cellistLucy Railtonand keyboardistKit Downes, a collaborative history that stretches back thirteen years. From the beginning, the pair bridged musical worlds, with the former emerging from classical and contemporary music and the latter steeped in jazz tradition. This phenomenal new album captures the musicians erasing lines between approaches and traditions. While improvisation has always been a part of their alliance,Subaerialmarks thefirst time that the duo have used recorded improvisations as the core material for a release. The cello and organ, beautifully recorded byAlex Bonneyat Skáholt Cathedral, blend in richly striated harmonies, with phrases and cadences that stretch back centuries while sounding unerringly contemporary.

The pairfirst crossed paths whilst studying in London and spent the following decade collaborating in various groups whilst cutting their own distinct paths. By the time they rendezvoused in Iceland in the fall of 2017 to createSubaerial,Railton had moved to Berlin, where her embrace of electronics was leading her in new directions, exploring microtonality, psychoacoustics, and synthesis, an evolution captured on shape-shifting albums released by experimental imprints likeEditions Mego, PAN,andTakuroku. Her debut solo albumParadise 94released onModern Lovefeatures Downes on organ. Around the same time, Downes had been signed toECMand was directing much of his focus on the organ—his original instrument—on the two recordings he's made for the hallowed imprint, including the 2019 albumDreamlife of Debris, which features the cellist.

2021 sees the release of the long-awaited third album from Pola & Bryson - ‘Beneath the Surface’. Since their debut release in 2015, Pola & Bryson have transitioned from the exciting ones to watch to the unquestionable leaders of new school liquid drum and bass, grabbing the attention of the scene's greats in the process.

“Masterful production and musicality throughout, I love that the album has been made just as much for the home listener as for the clubs. For me, these guys are leading the new wave of liquid drum & bass.” Sub Focus

As digital streaming services continue to dominate as the primary source of music consumption, the wildly contested ‘death of the album’ debate continues to burn throughout the industry. To counteract the current trend of single tracks and playlist placements, Pola & Bryson wanted to experiment with a concept album.

“We envisioned a landscape to act as inspiration to us whilst writing this album. The landscape is made up of 4 distinct sections, each representing a different emotional state. The first being Shinrinyoku (a Japanese term for forest bathing), represented by a dense, peaceful forest environment. Mangata (loosely translates to moon river) takes you to the edges of a cold, misty lake which eventually leads you to Toska, representing a dark and endless cave. All transpiring with Yuugen, a vast and epic mountain range. The album, paired with bespoke animated visuals, paints the perfect reflection of the journey.” - Pola & Bryson

‘Beneath the Surface’ features collaborations with the drum and bass scene's hottest vocal talents, with each being selected to effortlessly meld with the respective soundscapes. After previously working with both Lauren Archer and Ruth Royall with beguiling success, Pola & Bryson knew that they wanted to send some ideas to both artists. This resulted in the creation of two beautifully blissful tracks ‘Under’ and ‘Friend’, which became the first two singles to be released from the album. While Solah and Kojo were specifically picked with their tracks in mind, Manchester favourite Strategy’s appearance on the release was an altogether more organic stroke of serendipity. The duo were unsure whether 'Anaesthetist' was going to make the cut as an instrumental, and were floating the idea of working with a vocalist when Strategy messaged them seemingly out of the blue. They knew in an instant that his sound was the perfect fit for the track.

Over the last five years, Pola & Bryson have steadily ascended from promising newcomers to well-respected leaders of the next liquid generation. The London based pair’s production credentials are now so well-respected that they have recently been commissioned for huge remix projects for Sub Focus x Wilkinson and Camo & Krooked and released a collaborative EP with Brazil’s legendary DJ Marky. Since their debut album ‘This Time Last Year’ on Soulvent Records and then 2018’s award-nominated Shogun Audio LP “Lost in Thought'', punters and peers have been on tenterhooks, anticipating what the duo would bring to the plate next. Effortlessly living up to its hype, anyone who journeys through the ever-changing soundscapes of ‘Beneath the Surface’ will be immersed into a new world of sonic expression.

EXPANSION introduce a brand new series of 10” CLASSICS back to back with the
coolest CONTEMPORARY takes of the same track. First off is the 70s masterpiece by
the MIZELL BROTHERS, as originally recorded by the master of the Hammond organ,
JOHNNY HAMMOND in 1975 on FANTASY REORDS – a jazz funk, timeless ‘rare
groove’ previously only a single as a 7” edit but glorified here in it’s full 6 minutes. The
new version is by QUASIMODE, the hippest new jazz quartet from Japan, signed to
BLUE NOTE RECORDS. They have taken the jazz world by storm and have recorded a
version of “Los Conquistadores Chocolates” worthy of comparison to the original and
on vinyl here for the first time.

This magnificent project was born in 2006 on one of the most famous labels in the world Mille plateaux . It was in 2006 and just in CD. It was important that a vinyl version existed.
Edith Progue is the project of Paris-based musician, Bernie Swell. After having formed izdatso as a gathering of musicians and visual artists in 1999, Bernie Swell has slowly but surely moved to a more minimal approach towards digital composing. Timeline consists of a chronological report of the different moods experienced by the composer over a 24-hour period of time spent in an apartment overlooking the dark waters of Canal St. Martin in Paris. The dreamy environment created by the melodic sound of an acoustic piano is only troubled by the intrusion of a few micro-electronic beats and sounds. The music was created as an attempt to reconcile the noisy environment that surrounds day-to-day modern urban life with the inner peace that can eventually be found through meditation. While listening to these pieces, you might leave the TV or radio on, or hear a cell phone's new message alert, a fridge sub-bass might rumble or, more simply, an opened window on a busy street would constructively mix with these hypnosonic soundscapes, revealing the hidden art behind any intruding noise/sound manifestation.