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By the late 1980's Ton Lebbink was a well respected figure in Amsterdam's alternative scene: he was the drummer for the Amsterdam post punk group Mecano, a true punk poet and worked as a bouncer at Amsterdam's main music venue Paradiso. He released two solo albums, both in his unique narcotic style: laying absurd Dutch wordplay over stripped down frigid instrumentals. As the decade came to an end, Ton - already well in his forties - moved away from the often destructive and dangerous nightlife. After a series of odd jobs Ton started as a fitness instructor at an Amsterdam gym called Splash. Meanwhile, the 90's brought the latest musical craze to Amsterdam: House music began to flourish through clubs like RoXy, iT and Mazzo. With House being the ideal score for his fitness classes, the once well known cult figure faded into anonymity at a 120 beats per minute. His musical endeavours were focusing more on finding the right beats for aerobics exercises with self-devised exercise - eventually leading Ton to bootleg some of them on cassette tapes himself. In parallel to this radical shift, Ton did not stop making music. On the contrary, piles of demos showed high activity but in a direction no one was looking. Inspired by music to move to, Ton recorded hours of music that activated the body while staying true to his playful mindset. Discarding his voice as an instrument, the Roland W-30 sampler became his tool to communicate. Gathering vocal snippets from close friends, barflies and pets, a repertoire developed where witty repetitiveness could exist. Going through a vast collection of demos, pictures and many anecdotes, Rubber has been able to create an EP that gives insight into Ton's overlooked 90's era. Three playful dance tracks by Ton Lebbink taking his complete own take on the Amsterdam House revolution of the 90's. Full of inventiveness: hip-shaking grooves, hypnotic beats and rousing vocals. Tracks to move to and tracks to groove to. Essential dancefloor workout tunes for you and me. Ah yeah!

DJ, Edit entrepreneur - Record Mission Records & Record dealer extraordinaire Nick The Record continues to deliver the goods via his Natural House label...

Joining forces on this one with Jaime Read to beautifully remake an underappreciated mid-80's jam.

The A Side is all about that Natural House sound, a solid 4/4 core, hooks galore and an atmospheric vibe for maximum effect on the floor.

Over on the B, Nick turns out a classic Disco interpretation, full of tension and release it's a big, big sound & absolutely guaranteed to be a staple across the coming summer & beyond...

Kuedo wird sein neues Album, „Infinite Window“, am 29. Juli 2022 auf Brainfeeder veröffentlichen. Das Ende Juli erscheinende neue Album ist das erste seit „Slow Knife“, das 2016 bei unseren Freund*innen von Planet Mu erschien.

Mit einer Mischung aus Synthesizer-geladenen Avantgarde-Kompositionen und donnerndem Drum-Programming, verdankt das Album modernen R&B-Ikonen wie Frank Ocean und The Weeknd ebenso viel wie legendären Komponist*innen wie David Axelrod, Tangerine Dream und dem jüngst verstorbenen Vangelis oder zeitgenössischen Breakbeat-Aficionados wie Sully und Jlin.
Kuedo (englisch ausgesprochen: Q-dough) ist bekannt für seine Kompositions- und Sounddesign-Arbeiten für Unternehmen wie u.a. Fendi, Bvlgari, Iris Van Herpen oder Nike. Die Veröffentlichung seines kommenden Albums folgt auf eine Zusammenarbeit mit Brainfeeder-Chef Flying Lotus im Jahr 2017 für den Soundtrack von „Blade Runner: Black Out 2022“ (unter der Regie von „Cowboy Bepbop“-Regisseur Shinichiro Watanabe), wobei Kuedo auch die Filme „Eurasia (Questions On Happiness)“ und „The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda)“ von Metahaven vertonte. Die Vorstellung von „Zeit“ - der Blick nach vorn und zurück - zieht sich wie ein roter Faden durch das Album und den Aufnahmeprozess. Die Entstehung von „Infinite Window“ begann Anfang 2021, als Kuedo sich hinsetzte, um ein komplettes Album für Brainfeeder zu komponieren. Die fertige Platte ber ist eine akribisch zusammengestellte Collage aus neuen Kompositionen und verschiedenen Demos und Tonaufnahmen, von denen einige fast zehn Jahre zurückliegen.

Die limitierte Auflage der gelben Vinyl-LP enthält Artwork von den aufstrebenden visuellen Künstler*innen Monja & Vincent und ein Cover-Design von Raf Rennie (Acronym, Prada, Nike).

Als renommierter Produzent, der für seine innovativen Produktionen und sein Gehör gelobt wird, ist Pete Rock weithin als einer der einflussreichsten Hip-Hop-Produzenten aller Zeiten anerkannt. Als Pionier der Verschmelzung von Jazz, Funk und Soul im Hip-Hop gilt er für viele als Wegbereiter einer gefühlvollen Produktion im Hip-Hop. Er revolutionierte die Rap-Produktion mit seinen Studiotechniken, machte Remixe wichtiger als Originalsongs, etablierte Ad-Libs als Standard für Aufnahmen ... und die Liste geht weiter. Pete Rock hat mit großen Namen wie Run-D.M.C, Public Enemy, J Dilla und Busta Rhymes etc. zusammengearbeitet und seine Arbeit als Produzent hat sich in über 25 Millionen verkauften Alben weltweit niedergeschlagen.

Hame's music is all about shared feelings without the barrier of words. In this three tracker debut EP on the new label of Lola Haro called 'Small Steps', he found the sweet spot between housy energy combined with emotion.

His patiently evolving backgrounds combined with subtle energy buildups through themusic keep you in an hypnotic lock on the dance floor.

Hushed has a straight forward and groovy low end with energy right from the start, while slowly evolving in a viby detailed trip.

Relieve has a more subtle bassline combined with lush percussion elements and a melancholic,yet hopeful human touch - creating a feeling of acquiescence.

Moments Like Now is a groovy, deep, club night bomb. Its ever changing yet repetitive lead is carried by a deep sub bassline and a punchy kick that keeps you moving while textures pads and vocals guide you through the track.

Freestyle dig out another rarity in the form of a DIY brit-funk 7" from Highway Motion aka David Humphrey (a session drummer who played with Sparks, and with PiL on the iconic Metal Box LP & Death Disco 12"). Tinged with raw post-punk edge and 70s library music-style synth leads, this 45 is quite simply massive amounts of fun.

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David Humphrey's professional career as a drummer began aged 19 with Public Image Ltd, providing some of the drum tracks on their iconic Metal Box album and Death Disco single. Humphrey would then go on to work with Mike Oldfield and then Sparks, playing with the latter on their Number One Song in Heaven tour, Top of The Pops and recording sessions for Beat the Clock and Tryouts for the Human Race (those sessions were included and featured in Edgar Wright's recent film 'The Sparks Brothers).

In 1980, Clap Hands and Double O One Disco were recorded under the name 'Highway Motion' - intended by Humphrey as "raw experimental tracks" they were both laid down on a 4-track and subsequently released on the DIY Star Records imprint. Rough, grooving, candid and playful; these two tracks seem to somehow simultaneously meld the burgeoning brit-funk sound of the early 80s with a riotous post-punk edge, along with a good dollop of synth-led library music.

Following it's release David formed the group Reflex, recording and releasing the Funny Situation 7" in 1981 - forming the only other title in the Star Records catalogue. A more straight-up brit-funk dancer yet still pressed and sold in small quantities, Funny Situation became a sought-after record on the second hand collector's market, and finally saw reissue last September 2020 on the start-up Paint A Picture label - garnering plays from from Gilles Peterson on BBC 6 Music and Worldwide FM, StreetSounds radio and reaching No 1 in Juno records Chart. David has now started to working on new music using the name Davey H, and released his first new material in decades recently on Six Nine Records.

On his fourth solo album, much as in Oh! (2020), the French composer, pianist and vocalist follows his ongoing exploration of the crossroads between poetry and songs, piano and synth, old-time verses and contemporary sounds. Inspired by the rhythms, effects and speech patterns of urban music, he also delivers, with a warm and moving voice, the texts of three poetesses from the past.
Since 2013, Ezéchiel Pailhès has been crafting a unique French synth pop. On his first three albums, he switched between songs inspired by poetry, instrumental ballads and electronica with hummed
choruses. This latest record is a collection of eleven new songs, two of which he wrote: "Opaline" and "Ni toi, ni moi" (neither you nor me). The others are adaptations of poems written in the 16th, 18th and
19th centuries by French poetesses Louise Labé (1524-1566), Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786- 1859) and Renée Vivien (1877-1909).
Poetesses from the past...
From classical music to songs, poetry adaptation is an old French tradition. "My universe has always embraced the musicality of this literary genre," the artist recalls. He actually started this project in 2017 with poems and sonnets by William Shakespeare, Pablo Neruda, Victor Hugo and above all Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, who can be heard again on songs such as "Dors-tu?" (Are you sleeping?),
"Élégie" or "L'attente" (The wait). A figure of romanticism, the author left her mark on the early 19th century through the quality of her texts and her formal inventions, particularly praised by Balzac, and
apparently a decisive influence on Verlaine and Baudelaire. "Marceline's poetry is very musical," says Ezéchiel admiringly. "Her use of rhythm and repetition sounds great and takes on a new perspective when set to music. In fact, she wrote some of her texts with singing in mind.”
“Ces longs secrets dont l'amour nous accuse, Viens-tu les rompre en songe à mes genoux ? Dors-tu, ma vie ! ou rêves-tu de moi ?”
“These long secrets for which love accuses us, Do you come to my knees to break them in a dream?
Are you sleeping, my life! or do you dream of me” (“Dors-tu ?”, after “Les pleurs” (the tears), 1833)
Besides her, we find the more famous, and rebellious, Renée Vivien, whose texts inspired three songs, "Regard en arrière" (Looking backwards), "Mélopée" (Melopoeia) and "La fille de la nuit" (The
night girl). Sometimes nicknamed "Sapho 1900", this figure of lesbian culture and, more broadly, of female genius, combined in her work the themes of desire, dreams, melancholy and the relationship with nature.
“Ta forme est un éclair
Ton sourire est l’instant Tu fuis, lorsque l’appel
T’implore, ô mon Désir !”
"Your shape is a spark of lightning
Your smile, the very moment
You flee, when the calling
Begs you, O my Desire!"
(After “Parle-moi, de ta voix pareille à l’eau courante” (Speak to me, with a voice like flowing waters) and “Ta forme est un éclair” (Your shape is a spark of lightning), Renée Vivien, 1901)
Lastly, with "Tant que mes yeux" (As long as my eyes), Ezéchiel was inspired by a 1555 poem by Renaissance poet Louise Labé, whose main topic explored female love, physical and spiritual desire,
and the torments and pains they generate.
" At the start of the project ", Ezéchiel continues, " I was interested in many poets, men and women, past and present, before my selection was narrowed down to these three female authors. Their works,
often written in difficult or secret conditions, express a raging romanticism, a passionate soul, fuelled by desperate and tormented love. I found it interesting, as a man coming from another world and time, to face this otherness, to trade viewpoints. Obviously, I could loudly claim that the album was the result of a concept, that it reflects today's world, and that it allows me to explore the notion of gender,
giving visibility to the work of a few women, while at the same time pairing these ancient texts with a more modern and rhythmic music, and obviously, there is some truth in that. But more than anything, I
wanted to serve the text itself, to express the emotion and connection I felt with these works.”
Today's rhythms and prosody...
Ezéchiel Pailhès combines texts from French literature with electronic music, its effects and rhythms, as well as a form of scansion that echoes rap, R&B or the current fusion between hip hop and pop,
which is part of our musical background and that of younger generations. "I wanted to cross-reference texts from the beginning of the century with this type of music. I wanted to use today’s techniques to tell the tale of different daily lives and experiences.
The album is thus marked by contemporary electronic orchestrations, in which he drops his favourite instrument, the piano, and his digital collage technique to use more extensive synth melodies, enhanced by drum machines, bringing a gentle and bright vibe to the romantic texts. Lastly, we can hear slight digital tones of Auto-Tune, which Ezéchiel uses sparingly and inventively.

Beyond its sophistication, the term "melopoeia" means a "sung declamation", a "recitative song", sometimes interpreted in a monotonous way. On this album, it could also refer to a sense of phrasing, which does not come from rap, but rather from jazz, Ezéchiel's first love. " In the past, I tried to hide my jazz culture, but it naturally came back on this new album, as can be heard, for instance, in Regard en arrière.” With its verses anchored in our literary memory, the following track "Mélopée", perfectly illustrates the album's vision. It manages to transcend eras, mixing past romanticism with a modern
prosody, fuelled by the nonchalance of hip hop and the warm chords of jazz.
“Qu’un hasard guide enfin mon désespoir tranquille
Vers l’eau d’une oasis ou les berges d’une île,
Où je puisse dormir, mon voyage accompli,
Dans la sécurité profonde de l’oubli”
"May chance guide my quiet sorrow, at last
To the water of an oasis, the shores of an island,
Where I may sleep, having traveled my way,
In the safe depths of oblivion".
(After “Sillages” (Trails), René Vivien, 1908)

B. Bravo (aka Adam Mori) returns to Bastard Jazz with the long-awaited follow-up to his 2017 debut LP, "Paradise," with a fresh full-length offering: "Vizionz." Replete with his signature future funk vibes, infectiously soulful grooves, and talkbox excursions, "Vizionz" sees the multifaceted artist take the classic West Coast into outer space. If B. Bravo's last album sought to get lost in paradise - enjoying the moment here and now - "Vizionz" looks forward, feet placed firmly in an established LA vibe, while the matured eyes of a veteran producer gaze keenly to the future.

"Vizionz" arrives following a slew of diverse singles, which highlight B. Bravo's stunning versatility as a songwriter, producer, and collaborator. Last year's "Lifted (What U Waiting 4)" came first, at the end of May, 2020, pairing g-funk talk-box verses and synth lines with rich vocal harmonies and a dance-floor-ready beat. Frequent collaborator Reva DeVito (Miami Horror, Kaytranada) makes a standout vocal appearance on "Fly Bye," the second single. Here, Adam surrounds Reva's vocals with ambient pads, a Dilla-inspired beat, and an irresistible bassline, while Reva's dreamily sings about getting away from it all. The final single, "Believe," sees Chuck Inglish (of the famed duo The Cool Kids) rhyme in his distinctive baritone over a bass-heavy instrumental meant to rattle some car stereos.

The singles offer a view into the rest of the album: Solo B. Bravo joints include "Moon Bounce," a talk-box boogie jam begging for late-night drives with the top down; the largely-instrumental synth improvisation, "Midnight Rider;" the upbeat "Penelope," which showcases Adam's vocal and harmonic prowess; a bumping g-funk interlude, with "Flip Out;" as well as the laid back album opener, "Da Essence."

Further vocal assists come by way of Sally Green on the flirty "10/10," and Rojai on the slow jam ""No Regrets" . Both singers have worked on B. Bravo projects in the past, with Rojai additionally joining forces with Adam to form the duo Kool Customer, whose self-titled debut album was released on Bastard Jazz in 2018. Two more hip-hop-leaning tracks are aided by Def Sound ("Back Times Two") and Nico Fasho ("Ms. Stardust"); leaning heavy into outerspace G-Funk Hip-Hop vibes.

Taken as a whole, "Vizionz" is a much needed boost of serotonin: Uncompromisingly positive, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes aspirational, but always funky. The range of styles is a testament to Adam's indelible production chops, songwriting skill, and ability to collaborate. While it has been a long 5 years since "Paradise," "Vizionz" proves more than worth the wait.

Born and raised in California, with roots in Japan, B. Bravo's signature style of Cosmic Funk and late night synth grooves have made him a favorite among DJ's, dancers, and music lovers worldwide. A tasteful producer, sought after remixer, party rocking DJ, master of the talkbox, band leader, and alumnus of the Red Bull Music Academy, Mr. Bravo is an accomplished performer both at home and abroad.

Heavily inspired by the synthesizer-enhanced R&B grooves of the late '70s and early '80s, B. Bravo debuted in 2009 with the seven-track "Analog Starship" EP. A deeper impression was made the following year with a shorter extended play, "Computa Love," the title track of which was supported by BBC DJ Benji B months prior to release. Additional strides were made with a batch of singles and EPs that followed throughout the next few years, as Bravo toured and performed at numerous festivals around the world.

His relationship with the Brooklyn tastemaker label, Bastard Jazz Recordings, began in 2016 with the 7" single "I'm For Real / Stay The Night' (which notably featured a Mr. Carmack remix of the latter). Bravo's debut solo LP quickly followed with 2017's critically acclaimed "Paradise" - which shone a light on vocalists and frequent collaborators Reva DeVito, Trailer Limon, Kissey, and Lauren Faith - with a remix album appearing six months later.

Additional solo releases have found a home on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings and Frite Nite, while production credits have appeared on releases from the legendary Blue Note Records, HW&W, All City, Friends of Friends, and Tokyo Dawn. B. Bravo has worked on projects with the likes of Salva, Mr. Carmack, Teeko, DJ Lean Rock, Reva DeVito, Lauren Faith, and Kate Stewart.

Having toured throughout the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia, he's shared the stage with performers like Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, DāM-FunK, Hudson Mohawke, at a world-spanning range of festivals such as Detroit Electronic Music Fest, HARD LA, Northern Nights, Laneway Singapore, Sonar in Barcelona, Snowglobe, SXSW, Basscoast, Do-Over, Low End Theory, Boiler Room, and Soulection.

B. Bravo's "Vizionz" LP is out on Brooklyn's Bastard Jazz Recordings Spring, 2022.

Martyn joins the Ninja Tune family to present his third long player. Universally respected for his ever-evolving, but inimitable sound, the Dutch-born, Washington DC-based producer brings an entirely new sonic direction with The Air Between Words. This is an exploration of the essence of all of Martyn's music: a rugged four-to-the-floor groove, intelligently sculpted and artfully composed

After just thirty four years! Prophet releases the follow-up to 1984's highly influential 'Right On Time', a holy grail among boogie / funk vinyl collectors (reissued by PPU).Album produced by Mndsgn.
Featured artists include Mndsgn and Nite Jewel.
File under Modern Funk / Soul / Boogie. For fans of Mndsgn, Thundercat, Doug Hream Blunt, Dam-Funk. Exclusive 24 x 36' poster included with the vinyl format. Here's hoping we won't have to wait so long for the next one.

Art has the power to mirror and capture its creators surroundings and environment. Art can also reflect something much more personal by offering us a glimpse of the artist’s mind. Hands Rest, the 2nd studio album by German composer and musician Aparde, does both. While reflecting the essence of Berlin’s club scene, in which Aparde undoubtedly is immersed in, the album also takes us to the depths of the musician himself, far from clubs and live sets, to a world that is both intimate and profound. “I think that I always process circumstances uncon- sciously in my music and that my way of thinking is full of internal conflicts,” he says. It is this duality, of an artist who is both entertaining Berlin’s nightlife through electronic sounds and delving deep into his own emotions through avant-garde pop, that epitomises Aparde’s work.


Hands Rest, which was created over the span of one year, has a cathartic feel to it, “the process was very diffused in terms of time, because over the past year my life circumstances have been very complicated and often frustrating, and I had to motivate myself again and again.” While he crafted the tracks, Aparde was in fact processing his own thoughts and feelings after the end of a long relationship, and listeners navigate through varying soundscapes that seem to accompany Aparde’s own internal commotions as he himself navigated a turbulent year. “It the break up was accompanied by numbness and repression. This was followed by a period of inactivity and the thought of ending my activity as a musician,” he tells.

Italian legend Daniele Baldelli & DJ Rocca team up for ‘Cielarko’ on Gottwax this May.

Often mentioned in the same breath as DJing pioneers Francis Grasso, David Mancuso and Nicky Siano, Baldelli’s storied history includes his various long-running residencies, the most well-known being the legendary Cosmic club in Italy, and establishing the now world-renowned ‘cosmic sound’. Teaming up here with his regular production partner DJ Rocca, the duo reunite for four immaculately produced and colourful tracks for Gottwax Records, the record label from the UK’s Gottwood Festival.

Leading the release, ‘Blanka’ brings rolling low end and psychedelic synth work together with floaty yet punchy percussion for a mid-tempo trip. ‘Flava’ follows with sharp staccato drum hits and Italo disco inspired leads, making for a light and playful closer to the A-side. On the flip, ‘Verdeta’ brings twisted basslines, FX-laden licks and wonky drums for a fun and enjoyable track before ‘Helblua’ rounds out the release with light keys, chugging percussion, and catchy riffs.

Jonathan Fitoussi & Julie Freyri are Model Alpha. 8 years on after their first album Dimensions, Perceptions is the duo's second album and was entirely composed on analog synthesizers.
Model Alpha is inspired by electronic artists such as Kraftwerk, Laurie Spiegel, Manuel Göttsching or early Detroit techno productions. An elegant blend of synthesizers and drum machines including remix by Chloé (Thévenin).

Longtime Daptone Hammond ace, Adam Scone was seduced when his travelling performances brought him from Brooklyn, New York to Brooklin, Brasil, where he found a trove of new love and music. Produced by Bosco Mann, and featuring Jimmy James (True-Loves, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio) on guitar and Neal Sugarman (Sugarman 3, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings) on tenor sax the group took this newfound inspiration into the studio and tracked some of the freshest soulful music we've heard in some time.

With help from his intergalactic choir, the opening track, "Cold 40's", leaps out of the speakers with the screaming organ sound that has put Scone on the short list of goto organ players. The Hammond then gives way to a dreamy, funky groove that's perfectly seasoned with ethereal background vocals that will transport you to a place where summer is on repeat. "Brooklyn to Brooklin” brings you deep into a fever-dream of tropical rhythms and seductive flourishes of psychedelia, sure to delight dancers and dreamers alike. Come take a trip!

Tracklisting

Die 13 Tracks auf "Polymer", darunter energiegeladene Banger, helle, melodische, viszerale Rhythmen und hypnotische Strukturen, bilden das vielleicht kompakteste Album von Plaid. Das Duo ging Anfang der 1990er aus der Formation The Black Dog hervor und zählt neben Acts wie Aphex Twin, Autechre oder Nightmares On Wax zu den Eckpfeilern des Warp-Labels. In ihrer langjährigen Karriere arbeiteten Plaid zusammen mit Björk, London Sinfonietta und den Southbank Gamelan Players und füllten Venues vom Sydney Opera House über das Londoner Bloc bis zum Berliner Berghain. "Polymer" trägt all die Emotionen, Einflüsse und Inspirationen in sich und funktioniert als ihr Statement in modernen Zeiten.

She Sleeps is the second single from FaltyDL's coming-of-age masterpiece, Hardcourage, and perhaps the centrepiece of the album. The only vocal song on the full length, "She Sleeps" features a brilliant, haunting turn from the Friendly Fires' Ed Macfarlane. Mysterious, tender and reflective, his lyrics weave around the driving, purposeful percussion and a melody that's singularly exploratory and gentle.

The single comes with a remix package that more than does justice to the quality of the original. Holland's electronic pioneer Martyn has reworked the track into a writhing, muscular dancefloor stomp. Gang Gang Dance need no introduction, and their take on the song proves why once more. Lifting the inter beauty of the song to the fore, they've turned it into an opus of rich texture and uplifting, melancholic melody.
Ital is the solo moniker of Planet Mu's Daniel Martin-McCormick, and his remix takes things a touch darker and industrial edged, warping the melody into something altogether more ominous. Finally, exuberant London boogie-ists 2000Black have worked "She Sleeps" into a deep, hypnotic soulful groove

After the boundary breaking, experimental excursions of recent album 'In The Wild,' Brooklyn- based FaltyDL was hungry to return to the dancefloor music that made his name. That hunger shines through on his 'Rich Prick Poor Dick' single - a sleek, stripped back duo of dancefloor stalkers.- Recommended for fans of Floating Points, Four Tet, Machinedrum, Martyn.
- Heavyweight 180g 12' vinyl in a 3mm spined sleeve.

Clear Vinyl

Laila Sakini and Lucy Van’s sought after 2017 EP Figures resurfaces on a newly expanded and remastered edition, deploying taut poetry and creeping electro-pulses for an alchemical suite of slowly encroaching trip hop x dub-pop.

Long before releasing her slow-burn classic ‘Vivienne’ and last year’s compelling Princess Diana of Wales album, Laila Sakini was at work with acclaimed poet Lucy Van for an impromptu session for a local noise and spoken word night in Naarm, Australia. Those initial ideas marinated and eventually resulted in ‘Figures’ - an EP that was originally released on tape via Purely Physical Teeny Tapes, offseting Sakini’s minimal production against Van’s text, spoken in a carefully enunciated dialect lifted and wrapped around Sakini’s nocturnes. It’s the sort of thing that reminds us of Tin Man & Rashad Becker’s ‘Wasteland’ sessions, fused with the spirit of the contemporary Naarm/Melbourne scene.

For all those references, Sakini and Van’s songs are displaced from the contemporary wellspring too. The dusky blue waltz of opener ‘Those Who See’ comes off like a lighter Leslie Winer or melodic, early AFX, as Van dryly intones “...all my enemies in an orgy, of IQ to body ratio,” while ‘Deep End’ sees them nudge into more claustrophobic introspection, before shoring up a dank sort of trip hop sleaze with the title song, slithering with a similar energy to early 90’s Autechre as the narration echoes to a blur.

The three previously unreleased songs flesh out the release into the full album it always should have been, cut of equally rare, hand-spun fabric. With its post-Sleng Teng B-line and noctilucent chords, ‘What You Need’ feels like an Eski rhythmic bump accompanied by sub-aquatic synth bass, and the opalescent, gumtree-shaking shimmer ‘Rough Desires’ secretes its intimations with an absorbingly hypnagogic slow-burn that pools into the perfect curtain closer; ‘Trees Make Me High’.

Repressed !

The Rare Groove collection is an exploration of the meeting of the funk and the world music thanks to a vintage collection of 70's and 80's tracks. The African Rare Groove and the Oriental Rare Groove album welcome you to the music world of groovy from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Libya, Lebanon or Egypt...

Auf ihrem zweiten Album "Anywhere But Here" verfeinern Sorry ihr Songwriting und begeistern einer Mischung aus Post-Punk und Leftfield 90s Pop. Produziert von Adrian Utley (Portishead).

Sorry's Debütalbum "925" (2020) war nicht nur ein künstlerischer Erfolg, es wurde von Kritiker*innen hochgelobt. Der Zeitpunkt der Veröffentlichung hätte nicht unglücklicher sein können: März 2022. Es kam der Lockdown, an Konzerte war nicht mehr zu denken. Trotzdem hat die Band nicht stillgestanden und hat im letzten Jahr die Twixtustwain-EP und ein Charity-Live-Album zur Unterstützung ihres geliebten Venues Windmill veröffentlicht sowie im fleißig Material für ihr zweites Album geschrieben. Als die Zeit reif war, zog die Band nach Bristol, um mit Adrian Utley von Portishead zu arbeiten und die Welt von "Anywhere But Here" zu erschaffen. Das Ergebnis ist ein mysteriöses, grenzüberschreitendes Album, auf dem die Songschreiber*innen Asha Lorenz und Louis O'Bryen versuchen, mit dem umzugehen, was die letzten zwei Jahre für uns alle mit sich gebracht haben. Im Zentrum steht das zeitlose Songwriting des Duos, das zwischen dem hookigen Post-Punk von "Let The Lights On", dem schrägen RnB von "Key To The City" und dem leftfield 90er-Pop von "Screaming In The Rain" hin und her springt und überall dazwischen Halt macht.

THE RETALIATORS MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK is the high-octane original soundtrack from the award-winning horror-thriller THE RETALIATORS. It includes special appearances from some of the biggest names in rock music such as Five Finger Death Punch, Tommy Lee, Papa Roach, The Hu, Ice Nine Kills, Escape The Fate and more, both on screen and on the original soundtrack. The album is available on a limited collectors edition 180gm red & black splatter vinyl pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve with exclusive movie stills, a 24x36 movie poster collectable, blood spattered o-card and including a digital download. It is also available on digipak CD and cassette formats.

In the autumn of 2003, Flunk - then consisting of producer/vocalist Ulf Nygaard, singer Anja Øyen Vister, guitarist Jo Bakke and drummer Erik Ruud - booked in at the Hotel de Roubaix in Paris. The framework for their second album "Morning Star" was recorded during a busy week in the Paris hotel room, before being worked out and finished in their Oslo studio early 2004.

The album was licensed to Kriztal Recordings in the USA the following year, and their version of the album included five tracks not on the original Beatservice Records versions, and omitting the Kinks cover "All Day and All Of The Night".

On this expanded edition of the album, all of the US bonus tracks are included to the original Beatservice Records tracklisting, making it a 14 track album.

Two cover song are included: The Kinks' "All Day and All Of The Night", performed as a duet by Anja and Ulf. The cover is the most up-tempo track on the album, capturing the energy of the original Kinks' classic in Flunk's slightly odd way. There is also an acoustic live-in-studio version of New Order's "True Faith". But most of all "Morning Star" includes very strong original material. Both the title track "Morning Star", and the singles "On My Balcony" and "Blind My Mind" showcases the songwriting talents of Flunk.

The track "Play" didn't make it on the original release of the album. But the band did a total makeover of it for the US release, and the track ended up as the feature song in an episode of the show "The O.C.", and on the fourth "The O.C." compilation album.

Other tracks included from the US version of "Morning Star" are the beautiful "Probably" (originally recorded for the debut album "For Sleepyheads Only"), the New Order classic, "True Faith" (a different version than the b-side to "On My Balcony"), the poppy "Skysong" and the lush "All My Dreams On Hold".

"Folk electronica" has been used by a.o. american press to describe Flunk, and on the "Morning Star" album, they have evolved this further. The album is pure indie pop, less electronica - all tracks built around Jo's trademark guitar sound and the voice of Anja Øyen Vister.

"Morning Star" is an instantly tuneful pop injection, now further expanded and with a new superb sounding 2022 24-bit re-master.

ITWVA001 was born as the first deep collection of House Music. This collection was entirely produced by young and talented Italian artists. Italian Weapons are always looking for sounds from the Italian house scene, allowing their artists to travel back to these golden age sounds.

ITWVA001 Includes 5 tracks carefully selected by the Italian Weapons label. Owned by Niccolo Turini and Gunther Mian. These tracks were mastered by Michele Mucci of Nachtkerzestudio Berlin. The first various artist ranges through all the nuances of Italian house music produced by artists located throughout the country and beyond.

The first round of artists includes Matteo Mangano aka; James Brucke, Heat Alliance, Gunther Mian & Niccolo Turini aka; Funksonik, Samuele de Santis, and Sandro Pandullo

“I think it’s a mistake to equate ‘perfection’ with flawlessness. To be human is to be perfectly flawed,” Johanna Warren observes while describing the joys of analog recording. Her new LP Lessons for Mutants was tracked live with a band to two inch tape—a revelatory new way of working for Warren. “Tape forces you to commit to a performance, eccentricities and all. The little glitches and anomalies that we’re tempted to ‘correct’ are often what make a thing magical.”

Lessons for Mutants is the prolific songwriter’s sixth solo LP and her second for Wax Nine/Carpark Records. The album’s running theme of metamorphosis (the title of the closing track, “Involvulus,” is Latin for “caterpillar”) reflects major changes in Warren’s personal life: after a decade of relentless touring, as the world was closing its borders, the American multi-instrumentalist unexpectedly found herself quarantining in rural Wales, where she’s now permanently homesteading.

Though tracking for the new album began in New York in 2018 in tandem with the sessions for 2020’s Chaotic Good, the majority of Lessons for Mutants was recorded in the UK surrounded by sheep, cows and a forager’s paradise of wild edible plants—a far cry from the urban jungle of LA that Warren had most recently called home. The body of work that emerged from this dramatic about-face is Warren’s most dynamic to date, shapeshifting seamlessly from searing punk screams to sparkly psych-folk soundscapes, from the bootleg ambivalence of Dylan’s Basement Tapes to cosmic stoner grooves reminiscent of Black Sabbath’s acoustic moments.

“Sometimes I can relate to myself/ I disassociate more than I’d like to, but what can you do?” Warren croons in “Tooth for a Tooth,” a wistful piano ballad that conjures the grainy romance of some smoke-filled 1940s jazz club. This kind of to-the-bone lyrical honesty has always been one of Warren’s strong suits, but these latest reflections are especially unflinching. Being forced to stop touring brought no shortage of self-examination for Warren, who quickly came to view her history on the road as an addiction from which she’s been detoxing. This sentiment dances through opening track “I’d Be Orange,” a drum-driven indie rock number replete with Beatles-esque male backing vocals: “Thirst for power, hunger for fame/ Always was a junkie for pain,” Warren confesses. This exploration of masochistic ambition and artistic martyrdom overflows into grunge anthem “Piscean Lover”: “It’s alright, we’re not ok/ We burn out not to fade away.”

“There’s this unspoken rule in modern music—modern life, really—that everything needs to be Auto-Tuned and ‘on the grid,’” Warren concludes. “This record is an act of resistance against that. There’s beauty and power in our aberrations, if we can embrace them.”

Drawing the night in around his private, unnerving vigil, Ellis Swan returns to Quindi Records with an album of cracked beauty and haunted balladry. The Chicago-based singer-songwriter debuted on the label last year with a collaborative project called Dead Bandit, a vividly produced instrumental set in thrall to the badlands and a laconic, languid Americana.

Under his own name, Swan records intimate, poetic songs in a stark fashion, so fragile they might disintegrate in between your fingers were you to pick them up. He draws the microphone close to pick up every whisper and drags the music through layer upon layer of tape fuzz, leaving room for atmospheric impressions which loom out of the walls like the ghosts of past misdeeds. These pieces play on the natural distortion and delirium which occurs at the farthest end of the night - the hour before dawn might hope to break the veil of darkness.

Swan's is a hauntological sound, but like the late Israeli rockabilly icon Charlie Megira his process strikes a spooked tone past revivalism and out of time or place. The only anchor which places Swan anywhere is the subtle presence of Katherine Swan providing lyrics to '3am' and lyrics and backing vocals to 'It Could Be Worse'.

The impression cast is of one man and his guitar, but there are other textures tucked into the music - the muffled murmur of a drum machine or a low frequency organ hum, some desolate piano, other treated percussive impulses which might well have been the work of incidental sprites while the four-track was rolling.

There are fuller cuts like 'Evening Sun' and the title track '3am' which play with structural dynamics and creep out of the shadows a touch, while passages of plaintive, instrumental unease such as the hypnotic, mantra-like 'Chinatown' protract the space between songs. 'Swing' lolls between moments of bottomless silence and a discernible, rickety funk, and 'Puppeteers Tears' teases out a buried drama. But primarily, it's the light touch of 'Horses Bones' and tin can tenderness of 'She's My Sweet Summer Storm' which spell out the spellbinding character of 3am; a singular creation fusing the best qualities of folk, blues and Americana with a fearlessly experimental sound palette.

For most of us, life is a series of human interactions; some good, some bad, some happy, some sad. But what would life be without those peripheral characters who plant themselves into our worlds through the sheer force of their presence? Whether we speak to them or not, those vibrant contrasts to the everyday tide of ordinary people are a magical part of the human experience. Oddballs and misfits, flamboyant instigators or low-key game changers, we all clock them on our own hectic journeys, and they make the day a little brighter. Everyone has their favourite people.

Following the runaway success of their first one-shot single in 2020, Favourite People reconvene for a full-length of blues-tinged cuts stemming from sessions at Selva Studios in Brooklyn. The project’s roots predate the studio, from scattered jams and sweaty nights in New York nightspots to impromptu recordings on cruise ships, but the flashpoint of inspiration that truly set the album in motion was the arrival of a blonde 1960s Fender Telecaster. From there, the motley crew of sharp-shooting string slingers and sticks men set about crafting paeans to those striking souls who make the world a more colourful place.

The emphasis here is on the kind of forward-facing, electrically charged mix you felt (whether you realised it or not) hearing early Sabbath or Priest for the first time. With their undeniable bias towards vintage soul, Favourite People are far from heavy metal, but the same lineage of blues and by extension jazz informs the music, while the tonal crunch of that 70s era guides the sound. Feasting on tasteful overdrive and leaning on the unmistakable flavour of tape for much of the recording, the deal was sealed on this purposeful exercise in vibe thanks to the near-mythical texture of Guy Davie’s EMI Nigeria console at Electric Mastering.

Across the album there are mellow shades and bursts of good-time get-down exuberance, but the lead singles capture the essence of the band in no uncertain terms.

‘Promise Of Nibbles’ brings the Favourite People MO into sharp relief with a low-slung, hard swinging blues confection full of overheating organ and duelling guitars in pursuit of Southern-stewed boogie (im)perfection.

‘We’ll Be Late To The Party’ turns up the tempo and dials in the fuzz, striking an anthemic note which lands somewhere between urgent highway escapism and euphoric communal revelation.

‘Mass and Mustiness’ leans in on the funk dimension of the group’s sound with the sweetest licks and chops on that fabled telecaster backed up by an acutely angled beat and the slinkiest of b-lines.

These are but three of the vibrant vignettes laid down by this quietly unassuming collective of heads down jammers, loose groovers and vintage sound freaks –heavy grooving instrumentals pulled from their own moments of pure musical magic and captured on disc for your listening, dancing, living, loving pleasure.

Stólar label boss Philipp Priebe delivers his new album ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ this October, joining
the roster of Mainz/Hamburg, Germany’s Feuilleton.
Berlin-based artist Philipp Priebe has been steadily making his mark on the contemporary deep hazy
house and leftfield electronica scene over the past few years with a series of releases on his own
Stólar imprint. Here though we see him deliver his second album following his debut LP ‘The Being Of
The Beautiful’ released on Japan’s IL Y A Records back in 2014. Feuilleton is the brainchild of Chris
Gruber (Fossar) and Tim Eder and since 2018 has unveiled material from the duo themselves, RR
(René Raabe), Snad, Gari Romalis, Melina, Jakob Seidensticker and more.
Throughout the ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ LP Priebe delivers a concoction of styles and sounds cohesively fused together to form the bigger concept which is he tells us is ‘’an album about small towns and
villages and the needs and desires that brings one night out in clubs. The transport/travel, the preparty, all the things that you had to do, when you are not directly living in the big party places, but still
want to have a decent night out, away from your usual suspects.’’.
Throughout the ten-track LP Philipp delivers ethereal deep house with opening track ‘Desires’, the
succeeding ‘Interborough’ and ‘Chimera’, murky dub house leaning cuts like ‘Quiet Decay’, ‘Slalom’, ‘
Unfold’ and ‘Conclusions’ while ‘Transfiguration’ showcases a more classic Chicago House influence.
Title-track ‘Apparent Calm Palms’ and the interlude ‘Behind Their House’ then see Priebe offer a foray
into textural ambient sounds, once again showcasing his unique ability to craft raw, understated and
emotion fuelled material across a variety of genres.
Mastering by Sven Weisemann and Lacquer Cut by Stefan Betk

2 x 180 g LP + CD , Gatefold,

Mit über 20 Millionen verkauften Alben weltweit, unzähligen Auszeichnungen und einer Karriere, die sich nicht nur über mehrere Genres erstreckt, sondern auch deren Verlauf geprägt hat, sind QUEENSRYCHE nach wie vor eine Größe für sich. "Digital Noise Alliance", das 16. Studioalbum von QUEENSRYCHE und das vierte unter der Leitung von Gründungsgitarrist Michael Wilton, Sänger Todd LaTorre und Bassist Eddie Jackson, setzt das sich ständig weiterentwickelnde Vermächtnis der aus Bellvue, Washington, stammenden Band fort, das 1982 mit ihrer viel beachteten, selbstbetitelten 4-Song-EP begann. Ihre jüngste US-Tournee mit Judas Priest bewies, dass die Zeit, welche die Band abseits der Straße und im Studio verbrachte, ihren Ehrgeiz und ihr Feuer nur weiter anheizte. "Digital Noise Alliance", das erneut mit Produzent Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Hatebreed) eingespielt wurde, blickt nicht nur auf die vergangenen Erfolge von QUEENSRYCHE zurück, sondern auch in die Zukunft der Band: Vom frenetischen Opener "In Extremis" über das nachdenkliche "Forest" bis hin zu "Behind The Walls", das an QUEENSRYCHE-Klassiker und genreprägende Alben wie "Operation: Mindcrime" und "Empire" erinnert. "Digital Noise Alliance" ist QUEENSRYCHE, die mühelos all ihre Stärken ausspielen - unmittelbar und zum Nachdenken anregend. Durch und durch QUEENSRYCHE eben.

Der Soundtrack zum ersten Konzert-Video, mitgeschnitten im Mai 1993 kurz nach Veröffentlichung des erfolgreichen Debütalbums. Auf schwarzem Doppel-Vinyl mit bedruckten Inner Sleeves kommt das Album natürlich mit den Hits 'Animal Nitrate', 'Metal Mickey' oder 'The Drowners'. Inkl. Gimmick Cover als Cut-Out Sleeve!

Limited edition picture disc in full colour printed sleeve

Covered In Stars featuring members of Luna, Spacemen 3, Slowdive, Spectrum, Add N To (X), The Vacant Lots, Spiritualized, Slipstream and more.

This is a wonderfully colourful, beautiful fun and powerfully transcendent album by Fuxa, Featuring driving drum machines, gritty fuzz bitten guitars on The Sun Is Shining and Mary, 80's neon midnight post-punk disco grooves on Shadazz and perfectly blissed out floating in space vibes (Help Me Please and Cluster Fuxa). The synths shimmer and elevate, guitars attack and sparkle and the vocals deliver dark romanticism which evoke often David Cronenberg inspired fantasies such as photographs of car crashes, crushes on perfect strangers and unknown futures. 
 - Simon Scott (Slowdive)


Fuxa returns in 2022 with a new album  'Covered In Stars'
 
Eight new songs and several years in the making, of what can best be described as a full on sonic explosion. Mixing space-rock elements, krautrock rhythms, punchy beats and swirling electronic sweeps and beeps that would make for a perfect soundtrack for any warp speed travelling cosmonauts with phasers set to fun!!
 
For the past 25 years Fuxa front man Randall Nieman has no doubt been on a cosmic journey in sound and space. from his early beginnings a part of Detroit locals Windy and Carl as a guitarist/synth player, running and releasing close to 100 releases on his own label Mind Expansion, to later joining Sonic Boom's (Spacemen 3) group Spectrum for close to a decade. Performing the songs that Spacemen taught him touring across North America and Europe as well as recording and releasing several releases with Sonic under the Spectrum moniker. 
Randall has since worked with and released numerous amounts of material with the likes of Martin Rev (Suicide), The Telescopes and Dean and Britta (Luna) to name a few.
 
It is no surprise that Randall would once again build this new album with friends that he became close to over the years musically and there's certainly no shortage of indie royalty star power on this album
 
Produced by Randall Nieman, Richard Formby and Stefan Persson.
Mastered by Simon Scott (Slowdive)
This album features guest appearances from Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham (Luna), Ann Shenton (Add N to (X)), Mark Refoy and Jonny Mattock (Spiritualized, Slipstream), Roger Brogan (Spectrum/Dean Wareham), Jared Artaud (Vacant Lots) and more! Each adding an unmistakable and timeless element that Fuxa's core members have created. 
It would be hard not to notice the sheer aesthetic glory of this release as once again Randall has chosen the amazing James Marsh (most would remember him as the phenomenal artist responsible for all the Talk Talk albums over the years. His artwork is not only featured on the jacket but on both sides of the limited edition picture disc vinyl.
Covered in stars is a celebration of 25 years of music and friendships made along the way. 

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Fuxa! 

Seine Alben sind Welten, die Musikvideos legendär: Seit zehn Jahren ist Action Bronson der unverwechselbare HipHop-Held der Herzen. Heute veröffentlicht der in Queens geborene Rapper mit albanischen
Wurzeln, der zweifache ”New York Times”-Bestsellerautor, ehemalige Küchenchef und TV-Koch sein neues Album ”Cocodrillo Turbo” mit Features von u.a. Conway the Machine und Roc Marciano. Physisch erscheint das Album am 7. Oktober auf Vinyl &CD.

Auf dem Album ”Cocodrillo Turbo” kann man den neuen Hunger des 38-Jährigen spüren, der aufgrund gesundheitlicher Probleme während der Pandemie eine Bosstransformation absolvierte, über 160 Pfund abund das Kampfsporttraining aufnahm – und es so bis zum spielbaren Charakter in EA Sports ”UFC 4” schaffte. ”Ich habe nicht das Gefühl, dass mir der verdammte Respekt entgegengebracht wird, den ich verdiene”, erklärt Bronson, der auf ”Cocodrillo Turbo” seine Lines über Prog-Rock-Samples und gut abgehangene Beats von Produzenten wie Daringer und The Alchemist spuckt. ”Es gibt nicht viele da draußen, die mein verdammtes Suspensorium anfassen können.”

Auf ”Cocodrillo Turbo” taucht er tief in die psychedelische Schattenseite der amerikanischen Kultur ein. Wie ein Soziologe auf Säuretabletten. Wie Slavoj Žižek nach einem verdammt dicken Blunt. Das reptiloide
Albumcover stammt erneut vom Meister höchstpersönlich: ”Vertrau mir, wenn ich sage, dass es für keines
der Tiere da draußen sicher ist. Der alte Apexprädator ist wieder auf Beute aus.”

Kindheitserinnerungen und ein musikalischer Held sind die Inspiration für From Afar, das bislang persönlichste Album von Víkingur Ólafsson. Der isländische Pianist hat eine ungewöhnliche Entscheidung getroffen und das Repertoire sowohl auf einem Steinway als auch auf Klavier eingespielt. From Afar nahm im September 2021 Gestalt an, als Ólafsson einen seiner Lieblingskomponisten traf, den »Meister der wenigen Töne« György Kurtág. Dessen Aus der Ferne hallt wider im Titel der neuen ufnahme. Weil Ólafsson nicht die richtigen Worte fand, um Kurtág für die Begegnung zu danken, die ihn so »leicht und froh« gemacht hatte,
suchte er stattdessen nach der richtigen Musik. From Afar ist ein »Brief an einen Freund«, wie Ólafsson sagt. Originalminiaturen und Transkriptionen des ungarischen Komponisten hat er ausgewählt. Er verwebt sie mit isländischen und ungarischen Volksliedern und Stücken von Schumann, Brahms und Thomas Adès – Musik, die das Leben des Pianisten durchzieht. Zwei Klangwelten öffnen sich durch die verschiedenen Instrumente – farbenreich und atmosphärisch. From Afar erscheint am 7. Oktober 2022 bei Deutsche
Grammophon.

France is the trio of Jeremie Sauvage on electric bass, Mathieu Tilly on drums and Yann Gourdon on amplified hurdy-gurdy. They play one note / one rhythm producing energetic performances reminiscent of the early collaborations between Faust and Tony Conrad. Creativly recycled influences result in intense shows with pounding overtones and repetitive pulsing rhythms. Loud straight and trance-inducing.

The pertinency of the recordings only slowly appear On Occitanie" in the mass of sound, the rhythmic repetition and the elongated drones. The hurdy-gurdy forces you deeper, highlighting points of microtonal flux, cracking open the single note, the nodding rhythm, to imply the presence of every note, every sound, inside it. The insensible evolution, lurks in a corner of noise and finally imposes itself slowly on careful listening.

The band members of France perform in various other projects: Tanz Mein Herz, Toad and Jérico, all are member of the collective La Novià, an organisation based in Haute-Loire which brings together professional musicians and is a place for reflection and experimentation around traditional and / or experimental music.

In 2009, France was invited to play in Pau, a city far south-west of France, next to spain, by the people running Pagans Musica, a like-minded traditionnal-oriented group of people, also bent on educational issues concerning the local music and dialect: Occitan and on fusioning traditional musics and rock related sounds and instruments. They had set up a show for France and their band Artus and originaly wanted to have Acid Mother's Temple join the bill. The japanese band had done versions of songs coming from their village (eg. "La Nòvia") but weren't touring near France so instead they invited Duo Ancelin Rouzier as the third act, a band both Artus and France were also very fond of.

Pagans had everything set-up for the concert to be recorded and as France had plenty of time for sound-check, they went on to record the Pau" album in the afternoon, taking a thirty seconds pause in the middle of the session so as to mark both sides of the vinyl. The Occitanie Lp is the recording of the live set later that night, with no cut and a longer, more savage performance.

Rot-marmoriertes Doppelvinyl (140g) in Gatefold Sleeve inklusive Downloadcode. Photography by Nicole Ngai. Design by Jade Ping.

TSHA kehrt mit ihrem lang erwarteten Debütalbum, „Capricorn Sun“, zu Ninja Tune zurück. Das Album wurde in den letzten zwei Jahren aufgenommen und löst das Versprechen ihrer vorherigen EPs und Singles mit zwölf Tracks ein, die perfekt die gefühlvolle Mischung aus Underground-Elektronik und intelligenter Pop-Sensibilität verkörpern und die sie zu einer der meistdiskutierten neuen Künstler*innen der letzten Jahre gemacht hat. TSHA zierte die Titelseiten von renommierten Magazinen, war auf zahlreichen Plakatwänden zu sehen, wurde in die wichtigsten Playlists und Programmen mehrerer Streaming-Dienste aufgenommen und stand auf zahllosen Jahresend- und Talent-Listen, neben dem Lob der Musikpresse und des Radios - und 2022 wird ihr Jahr.

Das Album folgt auf ihre jüngste Compilation für die renommierte „fabric presents“-Reihe und einem immensen Tourneeplan, auf dem sie über 100 Shows in den Jahren 2021/22 spielt, unter anderem als Support-Act bei Disclosure bei deren zwei Shows im Alexandra Palace, oder für Bob Moses, wo sie vor 40.000 Fans an der amerikanischen Westküste gespielt hat. Sie spielte auch eine Reihe nordamerikanischer Shows mit Flume - einschließlich eines Gigs im imposanten Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado -, absolvierte eine Festivaltournee mit einem Auftritt beim diesjährigen Glastonbury und hat eine laufende Residency im DC-10 auf Ibiza für Circoloco, um nur einige zu nennen.

„Capricorn Sun“ ist sowohl ein Statement, wo sie als Künstlerin und Produzentin gerade steht, als auch eine Reflexion über die Zeit, die sie mit dem Schreiben und Aufnehmen des Albums verbracht hat, und die Auswirkungen globaler Ereignisse, familiärer Umwälzungen und persönlicher Kämpfe während dieser Zeit. Dieser Wechsel zwischen den Stimmungen und Emotionen wird deutlich, wenn man sich durch die zwölf Tracks des Albums bewegt.

Anthology introducing the first of a series of albums based on the concept of Aquapelago.

‘’ Since the earliest days of the planet there has been a rhythm of tides that creates coastal interzones where humans have foraged and pursued various livelihoods. Developing boats to fish from and technologies that enabled them to immerse themselves deep underwater, the aquatic realm has been one explored, experienced and imagined in various ways. In an effort to express the vitality and richness of this environment I coined the term aquapelago in 2012. The wordplay was deliberate. The neologism was designed to distinguish the liquid inbetweenness of this space from the dry, scattered, lands of archipelagos.

The concept of the aquapelago coalesced around themes taken from various places. Epeli Hau’ofa’s idea of an Oceanic “sea of islands’” was formative but a number of songs were also inspirational. Torres Strait islander Seaman Dan captivated me with his experiences of pearl diving in the Darnley Deeps in his song ‘Forty Fathoms’ and Norfolk Islander singer Kath King imaged how sea-turtles might have experienced ecological change in her song ‘Tech me how fer lew’. Other reflections on watery realms also appealed. Debussy’s solo piano piece ‘La cathédrale engloutie’ soundtracked me as I researched myths of lost Lyonesse while Mike Cooper’s Kiribati, an ambient exoticist album about the imperilled archipelago (recently re-released on Discrepant), caused me to reflect on the social and cultural impact of sea level rise before that topic became a high-profile concern.

This compilation album takes the concept of the aquapelago into new depths and breaches it on fresh shores. The tracks are soaked with the aquatic. Bassy sonorities boom as if heard deep underwater. Bubbly textures breach the surface, water drips and seabirds soar high above waves. Sugai Kei samples fragments of text concerning the Ningen, a fantastic humanoid/whale that reflects the ‘aquapelagic imaginary’ of modern Japan and its preoccupation with industrial whaling. Andrew Pekler continues the orientation of his Phantom Islands project - a sonic atlas of imaginary places - with a soundscape as if heard by a swimmer just offshore, mixing sounds of the island and the sea together. Mike Cooper’s sonic reflection on Hong Kong’s Lamma Island is similar, combining the island’s ubiquitous barking dogs with the slurp of waves on rocky shores, conjuring a languorous time before Chinese crackdowns on the territory.

Taking another tack, the Dead Mauriacs gleefully water-ski through collage of tropical island exoticisms, replete with glitchy orientalism, while Babau combines skittering idiophone melodies with resonant glissandi. Vica Pacheco moves between dense and airy sounds, as if crossing between surf lines and the space above. Yannkick Dauby’s track is also imbued with in-betweenness, evoking ambient sounds heard through a ship’s hull. Sculpture’s ‘Froth Surfer’ realises its title, with bubbling sounds and rhythms that evoke Hawaiian surfing filtered through layers of time and distance. Reminding us of the shore necessary for aquapelagic spaces, Franceso Cavaliere and Tomoko Sauvage’s composition anchors the album, centred around shaken rhythms and resonant ringing tones and drones.

Taken together, the album sketches the contours of the aquapelago as it might be imagined and conjured in sound – an endless oceanic realm that laps on to beaches and crashes against cliffs. The performers navigate this space under alternately starry and cloudy skies, orientating themselves with sounds, textures and sonic samples of their terrestrial homes while we float with them. ‘’
Philip Hayward December 2021

CAUSTIC CASANOVA, die psychedelischen Heavy-Riffonauten aus Washington, DC nutzen auf ihrem fünften, das Gehirn schmelzenden Album die starke Kernkraft ihres hyperkinetischen Zentrums, um diverse Soundpartikel in die musikalische Wechselwirkung einzubinden und in einer kaleidoskopischen Heavy-Rock-Extravaganz explodieren zu lassen. Im Jahr 2005 als Trio gegründet, schlagen Schlagzeugerin und Sängerin Stefanie Zaekner, Bassist und Sänger Francis Beringer sowie Gitarrist Andrew Yonki, mit CAUSTIC CASANOVA immer wieder neue Wege ein, um ihre ebenso packende wie unvorhersehbare Musik spannend zu verfeinern. In ihren Klangräumen verbindet sich sardonischer Noise-Rock und proggiger Sludge im Stile von BARONESS, RED FANG und TORCHE mit der gewaltigen Wucht der MELVINS, der Experimentierfreude von BORIS und flottem Gitarren-Heldentum sowie einem Hauch von verdunkeltem Post-Punk. Mit der Aufnahme eines zweiten Gitarristen in der Person von Jake Kimberley im Jahr 2019 machte sich das nunmehrige Quartett auf eine Abenteuerreise mit dem erklärten Ziel, das waghalsigste und rockigste CAUSTIC CASANOVA Album aller Zeiten zu erschaffen. Dabei nutzen die Amerikaner geschickt alle erweiterten Möglichkeiten, die sich aus ihrer Verstärkung mit einer zweiten Gitarre ergeben. Gleichzeitig unterstreichen die Vier auf "Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" auch all ihre bisherigen Stärken: Beringers straffer, melodischer Bass pumpt heftig die beiden heiß-bruzzelnden Gitarren auf, die den gesanglichen Dreiklang flankieren. Zaenkers flexibles Schlagzeugspiel treibt die fünf mäandrierenden Songs des Albums einfallsreich an und fühlt sich sowohl im swingenden Bill-Ward-Stomp als auch in der Hibbeligkeit des Math-Rock wohl. Langjährige Reisende in CAUSTIC CASANOVAs Fahrwasser dürfen "Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" als eine Art von berauschender Rückkehr empfinden, zu der auch das ehrgeizig ausufernde, 22-Minuten-Epos 'Bull Moose against the Sky' erheblich beiträgt, welches die gesamte B-Seite des Albums in Beschlag nimmt. Doch auch wer den massiven Sound dieser galoppierenden Psychedelic-Sludge-Büffel noch nicht kennt, bekommt hier herausragendes Songhandwerk und eine reiche lyrische Erzählkultur geschenkt, die jede Sekunde und unzählige Wiederholungen wert sind. Drei, zwei, eins... nun geht es rund!

CAUSTIC CASANOVA, die psychedelischen Heavy-Riffonauten aus Washington, DC nutzen auf ihrem fünften, das Gehirn schmelzenden Album die starke Kernkraft ihres hyperkinetischen Zentrums, um diverse Soundpartikel in die musikalische Wechselwirkung einzubinden und in einer kaleidoskopischen Heavy-Rock-Extravaganz explodieren zu lassen. Im Jahr 2005 als Trio gegründet, schlagen Schlagzeugerin und Sängerin Stefanie Zaekner, Bassist und Sänger Francis Beringer sowie Gitarrist Andrew Yonki, mit CAUSTIC CASANOVA immer wieder neue Wege ein, um ihre ebenso packende wie unvorhersehbare Musik spannend zu verfeinern. In ihren Klangräumen verbindet sich sardonischer Noise-Rock und proggiger Sludge im Stile von BARONESS, RED FANG und TORCHE mit der gewaltigen Wucht der MELVINS, der Experimentierfreude von BORIS und flottem Gitarren-Heldentum sowie einem Hauch von verdunkeltem Post-Punk. Mit der Aufnahme eines zweiten Gitarristen in der Person von Jake Kimberley im Jahr 2019 machte sich das nunmehrige Quartett auf eine Abenteuerreise mit dem erklärten Ziel, das waghalsigste und rockigste CAUSTIC CASANOVA Album aller Zeiten zu erschaffen. Dabei nutzen die Amerikaner geschickt alle erweiterten Möglichkeiten, die sich aus ihrer Verstärkung mit einer zweiten Gitarre ergeben. Gleichzeitig unterstreichen die Vier auf "Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" auch all ihre bisherigen Stärken: Beringers straffer, melodischer Bass pumpt heftig die beiden heiß-bruzzelnden Gitarren auf, die den gesanglichen Dreiklang flankieren. Zaenkers flexibles Schlagzeugspiel treibt die fünf mäandrierenden Songs des Albums einfallsreich an und fühlt sich sowohl im swingenden Bill-Ward-Stomp als auch in der Hibbeligkeit des Math-Rock wohl. Langjährige Reisende in CAUSTIC CASANOVAs Fahrwasser dürfen "Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" als eine Art von berauschender Rückkehr empfinden, zu der auch das ehrgeizig ausufernde, 22-Minuten-Epos 'Bull Moose against the Sky' erheblich beiträgt, welches die gesamte B-Seite des Albums in Beschlag nimmt. Doch auch wer den massiven Sound dieser galoppierenden Psychedelic-Sludge-Büffel noch nicht kennt, bekommt hier herausragendes Songhandwerk und eine reiche lyrische Erzählkultur geschenkt, die jede Sekunde und unzählige Wiederholungen wert sind. Drei, zwei, eins... nun geht es rund!

Terence Etc., besser bekannt unter seinem Vornamen Terence Nance veröffentlicht sein Debütalbum "V O R T E X", am 19. August auf Brainfeeder. Terence, der sich an der Schwelle zur künstlerischen Form bewegt, ist vielleicht am besten für seine mit dem Peabody Award ausgezeichnete experimentelle Comedy-Sketch-Serie auf HBO bekannt: "Random Acts of Flyness". Aber er ist wirklich multidisziplinär. Er zeichnet. Er schreibt. Er singt. Er spielt Gitarre. Er baut Dinge. Er beherbergt in sich eine Vielzahl von Möglichkeiten, eine Vielzahl von Realitäten, die umherschwirren und nach Ausdruck und Gleichgewicht suchen. Und es ist dieser Wunsch nach Gleichgewicht - Gleichgewicht des Lebens, Gleichgewicht der Emotionen, Gleichgewicht der inneren Energien -, der sein Debütalbum "V O R T E X" hervorgebracht hat.

Das Album entzieht sich einer einfachen Kategorisierung, ist aber vom gleichen Experimentier- und Abenteuergeist geprägt wie Terence' Helden und Zeitgenossen, Künstler wie André 3000, Solange, Serpentwithfeet, Nelson Bandela, Standing on the Corner, Earl Sweatshirt, Nick Hakim und Moses Sumney und sogar der illustre Gründer von Brainfeeder, Flying Lotus. V O R T E X bezieht sich auch auf die Literatur von Louise Erdrich und Toni Morrison sowie auf die Zeichnungen von Ruby Amanze, deren Stimme auf dem Album zu hören ist.