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Mind Maze is, amazingly, Trees Speak’s fifth album to be released on Soul Jazz Records in the space of little over two years– an output matched only by the intensity of their music created during this short time.

The first pressing only of the album comes with a bonus seven-inch single containing two tracks that are not available on vinyl anywhere else.
As with all their previous releases, ‘Mind Maze’ is a mind-boggling tightrope walk across an array of musical influences that seamlessly create the unique present-day world of Trees Speak.

The band’s sound is characterized by a combination of German krautrock motoric-beat rhythms, angular New York post-punk attitude, 60s spy soundtracks, psych, rock, jazz, and 70s synthesizers and vocoders. There is also a cosmic spatial awareness to their sound; both personal inner space and galactic outer space, as well as a wilful pushing of sonic boundaries.

Trees Speak are a musical duo based in Tucson, Arizona, composed of Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz. Their music is heavily influenced by the cosmic magic of the natural desert landscapes of Arizona, creating a unique and captivating sound that is both experimental and innovative.

Here you will find the myriad sounds of 1970s German electronic music (everything from Can to Cluster, Popul Vuh to Tangerine Dream); 1980s New York post-punk and synthcore (from No Wave to Suicide); John Barry’s 1960s movies, John Carpenter’s 1970s horror. You will also hear the influences of French and Italian progressive rock (Magma, Goblin) as well as cosmic, new age and experimental space soundscapes …. an almost endless list of diverse influences that ebb and flow like an ocean of sound, in the process creating a truly unique soundscape that Trees Speak have made wholly their own.

The name Trees Speak reflects their interest in the concept of using future technologies to store information and data in trees and plants, with the idea that trees communicate collectively. This interest in nature and technology, combined with their passion for experimentation, has led Trees Speak to create a truly one-of-a-kind listening experience that is both unique and engaging.

If you ever wanted to hear Can, Neu!, Destroy All Monsters, Pere Ubu, electric eels, John Cage, Liquid Liquid, Tangerine Dream, Suicide, Laurie Spiegel, Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Barry, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company, Sun Ra, Stockhausen, John Carpenter, Electro-Acoustic and Musique Concrete and Mars in one band - then this is it! Trees Speak are a band that defies categorization and offer an eclectic listening experience, both exciting and memorable.

The two bonus tracks (‘Seraphim’ and ‘Orpheus’) included with the album give us a further window into the complex mind maze of the group - two stunning acoustic tracks that explore a distinct early 70s sound of Yes, Argent and other progressive rock accolytes.

Dune Castle Records Presents… For Private Use Only by Cantrips, two heaving psychedelic funk pieces composed by Cantrips' Patrick Ryan and recorded over one day by a studio band including members of Surprise Chef and Karate Boogaloo.

Cantrips is a Melbourne psychedelic funk and cinematic soul group led by multi instrumentalist and studio producer Patrick Ryan. With heavy groove sensibilities, Ryan composes head nodding psychedelic funk music from the Dune Castle Throne Room, a DIY studio in Thornbury, Melbourne, from where he operates the label Dune Castle Records. Ryan composed two tracks in homage to David Axelrod's work with Psychedelic Pop band The Electric Prunes in the late 1960s. Ryan performed these pieces with members of Surprise Chef, with Henry Jenkins (Karate Boogaloo, Surprise Chef, Emma Donovan and The Putbacks) producing the two pieces.

This release follows a psychedelic funk LP composed by Ryan under Dune Castle named Dark Age Martial Arts. A self released record; it was nominated for the Australian Music Prize 2022. It received airplay and support from Radio DJs around Australia on stations such as PBS, RRR and FBI, as well as featuring on radio shows across England, Scotland and France. It also received considerable support from record stores in Australia and the UK.

On April 7th electronic luminary Nathan Fake presents the new longplayer ‘Crystal Vision’ on his own Cambria Instruments imprint, which features collaborations with Clark and Wizard Apprentice.

This is music for music’s sake – recorded without angles, agendas and themes – so Fake was free to simply continue honing his craft and express himself non-literally. Aptly titled, there’s a clarity of execution and ambition, and a peak effectiveness to the record that just sounds right.

Continuing to set a personal bar higher and topping his own best, the mark of master craftsperson is everywhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s polished; There’s plenty of rawness evident, with spiky sonics keeping ears on high alert – full of endorphin-flooded rave energy.

Following a short, scene-setting ‘Arrival’ – a simple major chord arpeggio played on a Jupiter 6 which sounds like curtains opening at dawn, things begin apace with ‘The Grass’, which hurtles like a precision-tuned bullet train through Arctic tundra. The undulating effect of compression is emphasised by the classic techno trope where 2 rhythms jar yet interlock, creating an exquisitely disorientating strobe-like flutter. On the track’s guest, Fake comments, “I fell in love with Wizard Apprentice's ‘I Am Invisible’ and felt our musical styles were similar. Their vocals are smooth and clear and sharp at the same time. They’re like a calm within the storm.”

Inspired by Italo disco but sounding wholly alien and futuristic, ‘Vimana’’s fizzing buzzsaw arpeggiated bassline, popping snares and bright whirling melody are equally an electro trance melange, with an effervescent major chord Arp that kicks in midway.

Reminiscent of what used to be called ‘funky techno’ but with sparklier sounds, ‘Boss Core’ blinds like sunshine bouncing off ice. Using his trusty Boss DR550 drum machine, and inspired by Autechre's ‘Vose In’, the track peaks by reaching that melancholic/euphoric axis for which he is loved.

With chugging slow breakbeats not a million miles from Board Of Canada or trip hop, ‘Crystal Vision’ rolls along, with the melody opening up, revealing more hidden notes as it progresses, building into a fractal, kaleidoscopic mosaic.

An emotional outpouring with serotonin surging through the circuitry, classic breakbeats and layers of lazers, ‘Bibled’ has all the hallmarks of a classic. This is a bonafide festival-set closing, hugging-your-mates, moment – or, with its guitar solo, “a power ballad” – as Nathan calls it.

A minimalistic moment of calm midway through the album, ‘CMD’’s gently comforting dreamscape is conjured with FM stacked and detuned sine waves which are left to breathe, whilst the chunky Chicagoan house jack of ‘Hawk’ brings to mind classic Relief records, but even more detuned and wibbly, and laden with synths.

As the title suggests, ‘Amen 96’ is in Fake’s own words, “me having a go at jungle. I grew up listening to it, and I remember as a teenager it sounded like the most intense and otherworldly music ever. It still does. This track is an experiment to see how my melodic style works against amen breaks”. Closer to the braindance end of the spectrum than ‘proper’ jungle (and all the more interesting for it), Fake channels the spirit of Squarepusher but makes it his own, brimming with melodious twinkle.

A collaboration with Nathan’s close friend and genuine musical hero Clark. ‘Outsider’ finds this dream team alchemising pure gold that’s bigger than the sum of their parts. Skittering, intense, far-reaching end epic, the pair close proceedings on a grandly dramatic note. In 2020 Nathan released the album ‘Blizzards’, which was described by The Quietus as “his best work”, and “his best LP yet” yet by Resident Advisor. The equally well received ‘Blizzards Remixes’ EP which featured Afrodeutsche and Irene Dresel followed in 2021, as did a nationwide UK tour.

An in-demand remixer, Fake has added his magic to tracks by Radiohead, Clark, Perc, Jon Hopkins, GoGo Penguin, Dominik Eulberg, Christian Löffler and Damian Lazarus, working for labels including Ninja Tune, Domino, Warp, Blue Note and Kompakt.

Death Is Not The End's 333 sub-label follows the reissue of Devon Russell's Darker Than Blue LP late last year with a first-time reissue of a veritable reggae-dancehall holy grail - Robert Ffrench's 1985 LP 'Wondering'.

Pioneering artist and producer (and cousin of the late, great Pat Kelly) Robert Ffrench was born in central Kingston in 1962, recording his first records in 1979 at the age of 17. Coming out off the back of a slew of roots & early dancehall-style 45s cut with a wide range of producers thoughout the early '80s, the Wondering LP followed closely after two acclaimed LP sets ('Showcase' produced with Lord Koos & 'The Favourite' for Ossie Thomas' Black Solidarity label - plus a split showcase LP with Anthony "Gunshot" Johnson for Jah Thomas' Midnight Rock label).

Ffrench would write and produce the Wondering LP himself in it's entirity, laying down the tracks at Herman Chin-Loy's Aquarius & Michael Carroll's Creative Sounds studios with the help of engineer Christopher Daley. Representing the sound of an artist first confidently sriking out on his own, the album elegantly mixes a classic rub-a-dub & lovers rock-inspired sound with nascent digi-esque flourishes. It boasts an enviable list of contributors too, incl. Sly & Robbie, Dwight Pinkney, Robbie Lyn, Nelson Miller (Burning Spear) and Ronald "Nambo" Robinson among others, with Beres Hammond also providing backing vocals in places.

Following the release of Wondering, Ffrench would continue to write and produce, soon after releasing two further self-produced LPs for Edgar White's Parish label - and founded his own 'France' label in the late 80s, through which his productions would start to hit big, most notably alongside Courtney Melody on 'Modern Girl', and with US rapper Heavy D on the track 'More Love'. Robert's productions released through later label 'Ffrench' would go on to boast the cream of the crop of dancehall artists throughout the 90s and early 2000s, and he is often credited with discovering Buju Banton (producing his first single "Ruler" on the Stamina riddim). Ffrench is still actively producing music of his own to this day, having released singles 'Everyday of My Life' and 'Black Is a Colour' in late 2022 and Feb 2023 respectively, available through all digital platforms now.

333, under exclusive license from Robert Ffrench.

Elements. is back with its third release signed by Crihan. 'Recurring Figures' finds Alin right in his element, showcasing three purely minimal tracks rich in detail and deeply engrossing textures reminiscent of the golden ages of (organic) minimal circa 2010.

A-side's 'Periodic Arrangement' kickstarts the EP in distinctive, contemplative tones. Drum samples meticulously syncopated amongst a canopy of modulated noises, bass bleeps and dramatic piano chords - they keep the groove moving amidst cinematic soundscapes reminiscent of dark fantasy scenarios.

Flip-side's 'Regular Intervals' (B1) moves closer to micro-house realms. There's plenty of swing and playful sampling while maintaining the same cinematic deepness introduced before. 'Again & Again' (B2) sits perfectly as the EP's closing track, merging swingy, dance-focused drum arrangements with dramatic atmospheres and picturesque tones.

Music From Memory is delighted to be turning 50 with a special release: MFM050 - V/A - Virtual Dreams: Ambient Explorations In The House & Techno Age, 1993-1997 (3xLP/2xCD). The first in a series of compilations, alongside more in depth artist-focused releases, Virtual Dreams will delve into music produced during the 1990’s that redefined the boundaries of ‘Ambient’. This was music that explored the possibilities of Ambient music within a new setting, created often by House & Techno music producers for a world beyond dance floors but made very much with the pre and post-clubbing listener in mind.

When House and Techno exploded out of America in the mid 1980s a whole generation was redefined not only musically but also culturally and chemically speaking. Peaking, quite literally, with a second ‘Summer of Love’ in 1988, millions of young people across the world would experience the life-changing ups of a brave new world but with it of course came the downs; enter the concept of a ‘Chill-out’ room. Whilst early Chill-out rooms lacked a specific sound and were often soundtracked by music such as reggae and soul, slowly young Techno and House producers themselves would become increasingly interested in developing a futuristic ‘Ambient’ soundtrack to a world beyond the thud of the main room.

‘Ambient’ in this new age now though had sharper teeth than in Brian Eno's key text for ‘Music for Airports’, instead here the sounds were the mode of transport rather than the backdrop. While the melodies were pretty, the soundscape steered away from the pastoral, dreaming of outer-space and technology as opening up exciting new dimensions. Much like in the first Summer Of Love; the musicians were again exploring psychedelic, mind-altering and transcendental possibilities of music. And also much as in the first Summer Of Love, a psychedelic visual language would accompany the music. Though now the tracks could be accompanied by music videos, utilising early CGI techniques, they would look almost entirely to the future: envisioning technology, nature and humanity intertwined in a new Utopian future. Virtual Dreams of a better world.

From Ambient and early Chill-out classics, to lesser known one-off projects, as well as Ambient deviations by some of House and Techno’s leading producers, Volume One of Virtual Dreams features tracks by Bedouin Ascent, LA Synthesis, LFO, Marc Hollander, Mark Pritchard & Kirsty Hawkshaw, Richard H. Kirk and more.

To celebrate our 50th release the first 1000 copies include a holographic 'Virtual Dreams' sticker plus a special insert poster with artwork by Victoria Pacheco and design by Steele Bonus.

Individuality, Harmony, Wit.
Originating from the heart of Asia - Taipei, Taiwan, Zy The Way is a fusion collective spear-heading a new musical movement in a digital age. As the offspring of a film director, entertainers and multi-genre musicians, Zy The Way aims to create artistic content that will rock your socks. We believe that true balance is achieved not through the uniting of different social groups, but when we come together with our stories as an individual. Voices and vision, musical styles, personalities, and our own beliefs, Zy The Way is the fabrication of our collective imagination, where no one is left out.

Musical legends from opposite sides of the world come together on Hell Yeah's next EP as Japan's Calm and Finnish musician Jimi Tenor collaborate on big city takes. It features two new singles as well as remixes from the celebrated tapes and Belfast's best-kept secret, The Vendetta Suite.

This most satisfying of eps came together when the psychedelic space-jazz-funk king and noted musician, composer and producer Jimi Tenor was in tour in Japan. Label head Marco arranged for him to head into Calm's studio in Kawasaki, Tokyo, and real magic happened.

'Big City Takes' is gloriously lush, with serene chords, delicate flutes and organic percussion. Tenor's airy vocal brings the soul as an intimate and late-night groove emerges to melt your heart.

Then come two remixes from tapes. The first is powered by dusty old-school drum breaks. They're doused in subtle euphoria with a nimble bassline down low, while the second one is stripped right back to a pulsing rhythm and killer phased bass. Spread chords bring sunrise feelings to this most colourful of grooves.

On the flip side, Calm offers a version of 'Time & Space' that is nearly eight minutes of exquisitely blissed-out downtempo. Chords ripple like waves, flutes flutter like birds and the whole thing is filled with the joys of a new spring day. The remix comes from The Vendetta Suite, a label regular and under-the-radar talent who is defining his native Northern Irish scene with his fresh fusion sounds. His version brings a new age ambiance to post-rave Balearic comedown. It's one that douses you in life-affirming synths as drums gently persuade you to sway along.

Northern Soul legend Billy Prince returns with his next Common Good Records dancefloor filler. Following up the sold-out Angel/I Need You 7” with a Detroit-styled uptempo heartfelt offering. Born and raised in the Motor City, Billy developed a passion for music at a very young age, in part due to him spending much of his childhood in his father’s record shop during the Detroit soul explosion. Billy is one of the founding members and lead singer of The Precisions, who are best known for the legendary Northern Soul stomper, “If This Is Love (I’d Rather Be Lonely)”.

Into The Woods returns with ITW002 produced by none other than the Legendary underground hero, Swoy. Recently signed to the Into The Woods Artist Agency and Record Label - Swoy hands over 4 previously unreleased classics, heard on club dancefloors throughout the world over. The Fairytale EP consists of 4 dreamy and dramatic dancefloor smashers ready for any occasion.

Following their iconic remix of ‘Space Date’ in 2019, the classic collaborative work of Adam Beyer, Layton Giordani and Green Velvet, we are thrilled to have Pleasurekraft back on Drumcode for their debut solo release on the label.

Not keen to colour within the lines, the production duo caught Adam Beyer’s ear as they carved out their self-dubbed ‘cosmic techno’ niche within the techno genre. Conceived as a musical vision that attempts to go beyond mere hands-in-the-air moments, Pleasurekraft incorporate a cinematic soundscape as a canvas for philosophical themes regarding humanity's place within the cosmos. Their 2020 album, ‘Love in the Age of Machines’ explored the myriad and often dystopian relationships we have with the ubiquitous technologies that pervade our every interaction.

The new two-tracker ‘Sex and the Machine’, continues this thematic trajectory in considering the role machines will increasingly play in satisfying the more carnal desires of our species. The title track considers questions such as, will machines of the future have the capacity for thoughts and feelings? Will our answers to such questions be forever tainted by our singular perspective, unable and unwilling to grant future silicon entities such capabilities? The EP’s second track, ‘Body Horror’, with its repeating refrain, “You are changing”, considers the manner in which future technologies will continue to merge with biological entities giving rise to all manner of unimagined consequences. Both tracks showcase the tough, yet still melody-driven cosmic techno sound Pleasurekraft has become synonymous with. However, despite the cerebral content that inspired the music – the form is still pure dance floor muscle.

• Gil Scott-Heron’s “Pieces Of A Man” is one of the most important albums in the history of black American music. Although it didn’t set the charts alight, it stands as a masterpiece alongside contemporary works such as Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”, Curtis Mayfield’s debut LP, Funkadelic's “Maggot Brain” and Isaac Hayes’ “Shaft”. All were brilliant in their way, but lyrically Scott-Heron was on a different level from almost every other writer.

• It was a landmark album with its bold, poetic lyrical content allied to progressive and melodic music, and it saw producer Bob Thiele help Gil and his musical partner Brian Jackson paint the picture they needed to get their message across. Thiele put Gil and Brian together with Ron Carter, Hubert Laws and Bernard Purdie, giving them the musical heft they wanted.

• For many years the focus was on ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, which was included in the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2014, but this focus sometimes overshadowed the heights which Gil reached throughout the album. Today ‘Home Is Where The Hatred Is’ and ‘Lady Day And John Coltrane’ are also considered standards, whilst the album’s title track is a prescient and heart-breaking warning about the way in which big business dehumanises its workers.

• The album reached its landmark 50th year in 2021 and we decided that we would create this special edition to celebrate its incredible sound. The original master tape was taken to Frank Merritt at The Carvery in London, who cut it as a double disc 2 x 45 RPM record, in an all-analogue chain. The original record - especially side two - was long, and serving it up this way allowed the music a greater level of fidelity.

• The release is packaged in the original album’s gatefold sleeve.

(6LP Box Set, 180gr vinyl, 4c print + Glossy varnish). Stephan Bodzin, Luna Semara, Solomun, Adriatique, Mind Against, Maceo Plex, Jupiter Jazz, AVNU, Fideles, Denis Horvat, Kevin de Vries, Ben Böhmer, Boris Brejcha, Roman Flügel, Agents Of Time, Patrice Baumel, Echonomist, Hernan Cattaneo, Soundexile, Dubfire, Anfisa Letyago, ANNA, Wehbba, Reinier Zonneveld, Ameloar, Christopher Coe, ANII, Hannes Bieger, MEUTE, Innellea

'A Winged Victory For The Sullen' is the first installment of the new collaboration between Stars Of The Lid member Adam Wiltzie and L.A. composer Dustin O'Halloran. The duo agreed to leave the comfort zone of their home studios and develop the recordings with the help of large acoustic spaces, hunting down a selection of 9ft grand pianos that had the ability to deliver extreme sonic low end.

Other traditional instrumentation was used including string quartet, French horn, and bassoon, but always juxtaposed is the sound of drifting guitar washed melodies. The recordings began with one late night session in the famed Grunewald Church in Berlin on a 1950's imperial B?sendorfer piano and strings were added in the historic East Berlin DDR radio studios along the River Spree. One last session on a handmade Fazioli piano in a private studio on the Northern cusp of Italy, before the final mixes took place in a 17th century villa near Ferrara with the assistance of Francesco Donadello. All songs were then processed completely analogue straight to magnetic tape.

Their secret to harvesting new melodic structures from the thin air of existence was for the duo to push themselves to dangerous territory, realising that clear thinking at the wrong moment could stifle the compositions. The final result is seven landscapes of harmonic ingemination. In 'Requiem For The Static King Part One' ? created in memory of the untimely passing of Mark Linkous ? they have taken the age-old idea of a string quartet and then shot it out of a cannon to reveal exquisite new levels of sonic bliss.

Of the 13 minute track 'Symphony Path?tique', Wiltzie says 'after almost 20 years of struggling to create interesting ambient drone music, I feel like I have finally figured out what I am doing'. Notable guest musicians include Icelandic cellist Hildur Gudnadottir, as well as Erased Tapes label comrade Peter Broderick on violin. A Winged Victory For The Sullen is not a side project ? it is the future of the late night record you have always dreamed of. A Major release for Forte, Non exportable.

Endlec starts his label "Renegade Methodz" with one of his most powerful & personal EPs.

"Year Of The Kill" is a product of its time, having been written and produced during one of the most challenging and unique periods of the modern age, between March and April of the "lethal" 2020.
When the world was in a state of full lockdown, a moment in history that we, as a generation, forever will remember.

It's a pessimistic piece of work, that, across it's 3 trax, features, dark & melancholic melodies, sitting on top of heavy beatz, with Endlec's signature, dirty texture, and his unique brutal kinetics raising the energy, forcing you to take notice and dance until u release WHATEVER THE FUCK bothers u!
Scream from anger, scream from joy.
Cry from happiness, cry from sadness.
Raise your hands in the air and just let your self go.
Listen to the music, in whatever corner of the world u are, alone, with friends, with your lover or with whoever TF u care about and just feeeel.
BE IN the moment.
And dance, dance, DANCE U MTF!

So, at the end "Year Of The Kill" is a very personal work of art,
It is what it is, and if u like it that's great, if u don't, then fuck off
and try figure what's wrong with your ears!!

WE are who WE are, WE do whatever the fuck WE want,
WE ARE RENEGADES!
AND THOSE ARE OUR METHODZ.
credits

2022 Repress
Dear Friends,

25 years of KOMPAKT is no reason to get hysterical. Then again, it's a nice occasion to have a laid back look at the situation in electronic music today. Minimal techno in all it's varieties is now established as the worlds best dance music, as you may know. So far, so good. What's next Nothing. Dance on!

I've gain two essential insights with the passage of time. First off, that music which over the years only knew 'faster, better, stronger' and 'forwards ever - backwards never' can constantly repeat, quote and loop itself without killing itself. A music that suspends the meaning of time and eventually can set a parallel, better universe of fantasy against the twisted grimaces of reality. Again and again.

And secondly, that getting older living in/with this music is a quite relative term to which ideally a serenity of age can ring a bell. This shows that 25 years after 1993 so many protagonists, enthusiasts, DJs, musicians, relentlessly rave fighters - with all personal advancement - are still there and still celebrate, play or produce this/theirs music; and compete themselves and their music just with that.

Two such heroes of the neat and tidy bass drum culture are with no doubt T.RAUMSCHMIERE aka MARCO HAAS and REINHARD VOIGT. From day one, those two figureheads have given live-techno the glam of stage-diving rock 'n' roll, long before vodka and beer prevailed as alternative lube for ecstatic dancefloors.

Even better they both now raise the glass at the longest techno-bar in the world named KOMPAKT EXTRA/SPEICHER. With DREI MILLIONEN KO¨LSCH, Reinhard Voigt continues to establish his savvy 'way into sound', which he's pursued for a few years now on his many releases. He's turning genre cliche´s into a very personal take with his defiant mix of the deepness of a lonesome cowboy and his implicit faith in the dancefloor and gives the music a very personal touch of ennnoblement of the faith in itself. Technos dignity shall be inviolable.

For me, AUGEN ZU by T.RAUMSCHMIERE is one of the most beautiful masterpieces of bass-heavy 'Umta Umta' techno. A few strikingly brilliant vocal lines from the master himself, put through the machines and combined with a relentlessly sequencer that says it all. This cheers my heart and we will always need such tracks to remind us of ourselves. And to forget about ourselves. Smash hits of unreason! Or the prettiest declaration of love to a music which gets its magical moments from what's happening between the bass drum-beats. But only by this when the bassdrum remains linear and will do so forever. Both Marco Haas and Reinhard Voigt know that. Because after techno comes always techno.

Wolfgang Voigt - May, 2018 Wolfgang Voigt - May, 2018

25 Jahre KOMPAKT sind kein Grund sich aufzuregen. Aber dennoch ein schöner Anlass, einen gelassenen Blick auf die Lage der elektronischen Musik zu werfen. Denn der globale Minimal-Techno, in seinen unterschiedlichen Spielarten, hat sich bekanntlich längst als beste Tanzmusik der Welt etabliert. Recht so. Was nun Gar nichts. Weitertanzen.

Zwei essentielle Erkenntnisse haben sich bei mir im Laufe der Zeit durchgesetzt: Erstens - dass eine Musik, die über Jahre nur ein »Höher, Schneller, Weiter« oder ein »Forwards Ever - Backwards Never« kannte, sich ständig wiederholen, selbst zitieren und loopen kann, ohne daran zu ersticken. Die Bedeutung von Zeit und Vergänglichkeit im besten Sinne außer Kraft setzen und der hässlichen Fratze der Realität eine parallele, bessere Welt der Fantasie entgegensetzen kann. Immer wieder.

Und zweitens: dass »Altern in/mit dieser Musik« ein sehr relativer Begriff ist, dem bestenfalls Altersgelassenheit etwas sagt, Alter. Das zeigt sich immer wieder im schönsten Sinne, wenn 25 Jahre nach 1993 so viele Akteure, Enthusiasten, DJs, Musikanten, unkaputtbare Kampfraver, bei aller persönlichen Weiterentwicklung, immer noch da sind und immer noch diese/ihre Musik abfeiern, auflegen oder eben produzieren und sich und ihr Tun auch nur daran messen lassen müssen.

Zwei solche Recken der gepflegten Bassdrumkultur sind zweifelsohne T.RAUMSCHMIERE aka MARCO HAAS und REINHARD VOIGT. Zwei Rampensäue der ersten Stunde, die Live-Techno den Glam des Rock'n'Roll Stagedivings gegeben haben, lange bevor Vodka und Bier sich als alternative Gleitmittel eines ektatischen Dancefloors in der Breite durchgesetzt hatten.

Umso schöner, dass sich eben diese Beiden mal wieder an der längsten Techno-Theke der Welt, genannt KOMPAKT EXTRA/SPEICHER über die beiden Seiten einer Schallplatte hinweg musikalisch zuprosten. Mit dem Track DREI MILLIONEN KÖLSCH setzt REINHARD VOIGT seinen smarten »way into sound« fort, den er schon seit ein paar Jahren auf diversen Veröffentlichungen konsequent verfolgt. Mit einer trotzigen Mischung aus lonesome cowboyhafter Deepness und dem unbedingten Bekenntnis zum Dancefloor schafft er es, den Klischees des Techno eine sehr persönliche Note der Veredelung des Glaubens an sich selbst zu geben. Die Würde des Techno ist unantastbar.

Der Track AUGEN ZU von T.RAUMSCHMIERE ist für mich eines der schönsten Meisterstücke in der Tradition des oktavbassgeschwängerten Umta-Umta Techno. Einige wenige markant brilliante Textzeilen, vom Meister selbst in deutscher Sprache durch die Maschinen geschickt, gepaart mit einem Sequenzer der keine Gefangenen macht, lassen keine Fragen offen. Da geht mir Herz und Rucksack auf. Solche Tracks werden wir immer brauchen, um uns an uns selbst zu erinnern. Um uns immer wieder selbst zu vergessen. Smash-Hits der Unvernunft! Oder die schönste Liebeserklärung an eine Musik, die ihre magischsten Momente immer aus dem gezogen hat, was zwischen den Bassdrumschlägen passiert. Das funktioniert aber nur, wenn die Bassdrum gerade ist und es für immer bleibt. Und Marco Haas und Reinhard Voigt wissen das. Denn nach Techno kommt immer noch Techno.

Wolfgang Voigt, Mai 2018

Hassan Ideddir’s 1989 single “Atfalouna” sees an expanded repress courtesy of Dark Entries. Born to Berber parents in Morocco, Ideddir began making music at the age of 10 after being discovered singing in the stairwell by his school’s headmaster. Encouraged by his peers, he began playing concerts, and his status grew. In 1987, he played a string of sold-out concerts in Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakesh, in support of a children’s charity. The success of these concerts secured him a record deal, and he went to Paris to record his debut single “Atfalouna” in 1988.

Released in 1989 on WEA, “Atfalouna” is a dense slab of multi-genre pop. An opening wash of digital synths and reverberant vocals quickly falls away to a cascade of orchestra hits and pulsing electronic drums; the monotone chant-rap of a female chorus collides with Ideddir’s soaring melismatic vocals, pleading against the injustice and hunger in the world. While Hip-Hop and New Beat borrowed tropes from Arabic music, “Atfalouna” inverts the gesture, resituating orchestra hits and sampling techniques within a Moroccan music framework. A shorter instrumental version follows, which preserves the female vocals. Also included are two tracks not on the original 12”. “Ibina” is a moody, downtempo instrumental that sounds like a cult Italo B-side. The record closes with “Ydouchababe”, an electro number driven by funky guitars, electronic claps, huge horn riff. Here, Ideddir sings of a youth festival honoring Hassan II, former king of Morocco.

All songs were remastered by George Horn. The sleeve is a replica of the original 12” cover art, featuring Ideddir set in a cheeky collage of clocks, columns, and camels. Also included is a postcard with a photo of Hassan, as well as lyrics in both Arabic and English. We will be donating 100% of proceeds from this release to Sphere who provide support to the young queer community across Ukraine and the Palestine Children's Relief Fund who help provide urgent humanitarian care for Gaza's children.

Having crested the west coast modular-ambient wave in just a few releases - including 2018's Sharing Waves on the influential LA experimental imprint Leaving Records - Sean Hellfritsch has swapped the mossy analog synth improvisations of his prior output for refined melodic arrangements dressed in sprightly dawn-of-digital textures. Big Earth Energy plumbs the depths of Hellfritsch's multimedia mind and naturalist heart, spinning an impressionistic narrative world off of cultural touchstones like the PC game MYST, and the work of Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi. Inspired by the aforementioned, and guided by Hellfritsch's experience as an animator and filmmaker, Big Earth Energy is the soundtrack to a hypothetical video game with a pointedly ecological premise, and a twist of psychedelic charm. In Hellfritsch's imagined virtual journey, the player assumes the perspective of a treefrog sixty-five-million years ago, hopping epochs with each new level, forming a comprehensive picture of the massive changes the planet has gone through over the eons. The ultimate goal of the game is not to amass resources, defeat enemies, or gain power, but to fully witness the unfolding of one of the biggest systems of energy imaginable - or as the album's creator puts it - "to explore the incomprehensibly vast energetic expression and mystery that is Earth." Big Earth Energy is steeped in exploratory RPG intrigue, possibility, and contemplation, lovingly overlaid with Miyazaki-an sentiments and aesthetics. The through-composed, organic, meandering synthesis heard on previous Cool Maritime albums has been fully replaced by meticulous polygonal arrangements that recall the computerized sheen of late 80s work by composers like Hiroshi Yoshimura, and Yoichiro Yoshikawa - using true-to-period gear no less. Even given its referentiality, Big Earth Energy comes off as forward-facing where so much reminiscent music remains fixed to a bygone moment in pop culture. Hellfritsch has created a musical world where the endless verdancy of the biosphere finds its parallel in the golden age of early 1990s video games, and late 80s Japanese environmental music, all while pointing to a hopeful planetary and artistic future that vindicates the motives of all of these muses.

Suns of Arqa is a sonic mission created by luminary Michael Wadada, who began in 1979 after receiving higher guidance in Jamaica while working with roots reggae chanter Prince Far-I. It is a prolific traveling music collective that has seen over 200 collaborators, meant to connect people from all cultures and walks of life through a “deeply spiritual vibration that merges cultures, faiths and musical genres”. Wadada combines ancient Hindustani raga systems with Piobaireachd and Nyabinghi roots drumming, creating ritualistic world music infused with dub and reggae.

The lyrics combine both mystical and sensory elements, often including prayer and referencing a higher power but finding root in experiences common to all people- memory, sight, and physical sensation.

Their first album, Revenge of the Mozabites, was a collaboration between Wadada and On-U Sound creator Adrian Sherwood. Following its 1980 release,Peter Gabriel invited them to perform at the first WOMAD festival. Today, the record is regarded by some as a cult classic. Over the years they have played at many major music festivals including Glastonbury, Big Chill, Telerama Dub Festival, and Transmusicales, and released over 40 albums on Virgin, EMI, Interchill Records, Antler Subway, Red Rhino, and their own label, Arka Sound.

Suns of Arqa has had a seminal influence on the World Beat sound, and continued to make appearances at seasonal festivals and sacred ritual spaces all over the world until 2021. Michael Wadada passed away in the midst of planning their U.S. tour for this release. The record is a compilation of some of Wadada’s and Sleepers Record’s favorite old Sun of Arqa tracks, mixed by Youth and Adrian Sherwood, and mastered by Eroc (drummer of Grobshnitt).

Notable collaborating artists include: Guy Called Gerald, UK producers Youth and John Leckie, Greg Hunter, 808 State's Graham Massey, Finley Quaye, Sounds From the Ground, Bryn Jones aka MuslimGauze, Adrian Sherwood, John Cooper-Clarke, The late great Professor Stanley Unwin, Eric Random, New age guru Tim Wheater, Astralasia, Prince Far-I, The Orb's Alex Patterson, Zion Train, and Gaudi.

"And although the Great Spiritual being Michael Wadada has returned to source and his body to earth at our time, his music is alive and will continue to be a great force for higher spiritual realms and raising vibration through occult frequencies...Suns of Arqa will continue to raise the vibration of the hearts and minds of humanity" – Angela aka Angel-Eye (Wadada's wife and bandmate)

Hailing from downtown Los Angeles, Nuklear Prophet, aka Erik Villalpando, is heavily influenced by West Coast Hip Hop and Electro. Winning multiple DJ awards, including 3x World Records DJ Competition under his DJ Dope-E alias, Villalpando cites his inspiration as coming from some of the most influential Los Angeles DJs of his childhood, including Tony G, DJ Joe Cooley, Julio G, and DJ Aladdin.

With releases on Urban Connections, Abseits Recordings, Diffuse Reality and Bass Agenda Recordings as Nuklear Prophet, the LA-based DJ/producer readies his full-length album 'Prophecies 11:21' for Utrecht-based U-Trax. Formed of an eclectic and energetic collection of gems mined from his overwhelming archive, the album takes in genres such as Electro, Hip Hop, Footwork, Juke, and beyond.
Leading the release is the 808 luminary Egyptian Lover's remix of 'L.A. Rockz', featured on the recently released 'L.A. Rockz' EP, kicking off the LP with his trademark 808-infused sound. A nod to Detroit-flavoured Electro is presented via the dark and brooding tracks 'Nuklear Prophet' and 'Compton', with the lighter atmospherics of the genre covered on 'Solar Winds'. The pounding electro killer '808 Plague' sounds like it came straight from the sewers of The Hague.
'Everlastin' Bass', 'Back Up Off My Tip', and 'The Train Ride To Coconino' offer Footwork inspired bangers, with the latter previously featured on the Legowelt curated U-Trax compilation 'U R Here!' earlier this year.
Moving across a spectrum of tempos, styles, and moods across the album, exemplified on the sluggish trip-hop of 'The Mars Goblin', Nuklear Prophet expertly touches on a range of bass-driven genres, displaying his widespread influences and knack for hard-hitting production throughout.

a 01: L.A. Rockz (Egyptian Lover Remix) feat. Krazy Dee & Nasim