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Alex G - the Philadelphia singer, songwriter, and producer Alex
Giannascoli - releases his highly anticipated ninth studio album,
‘God Save The Animals’, on Domino.
 ‘God’ figures in the album’s title and multiple of its thirteen
tracks, not as a concrete religious entity but as a sign for a
generalized sense of faith (in something, anything) that fortifies
Giannascoli, or the characters he voices, amid the songs’ often
fraught situations.
 Filtering his experiences through fact and fiction, Giannascoli
also opened up the songs through a more practical method:
collaboration. ‘God Save The Animals’ features several
individual contributions from his bandmates (guitarist Samuel
Acchione, drummer Tom Kelly, and bassist John Heywood) or
frequent collaborator Molly Germer on strings and / or vocals.
 CD in printed inner wallet and spined capacity outer wallet with
8-page folded poster insert.
 LP in gatefold outer sleeve with special gold foil print and white
polylined inner sleeve with digital download card.
 C45 audio cassette in coloured shell and standard clear plastic
outer case with cassette inlay (J-card with panels) and digital
download card.
 UK headline tour in 2023.

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

A1 Somber ambience and dark drones pair well with small, silent melodies and form this perfect teaser track by Ninze & Niju.

A2 With their well-known ear for details, Ninze & Niju deliver the soundtrack for riding your skateboard through deserted downtown past midnight.

A3 Another signature tune by genre-defining NInze & Niju, bringing together hushed drum patterns and filtered organs to this mind-boggling brain bender.

B1 Not much time is wasted when rhythmic layers, driving arpeggios and moving percussion slowly unite to this hypnotic peak time beast to be unleashed by Ninze & Niju.

B2 This pretty straightforward, yet hard-to-grasp track unfolds in too many layers to leave you calm - another twisted tune for bare feet in morning dew.

In 2011, Ard Janssen was one of the first musicians to grace Shipwrec. Now, some eleven years later, the sound sculptor returns for a full album on Phainomena. Music for Delirious Episodes brings together eleven compositions. Ard Bit is known for his delicate, almost brittle, works. This collection focuses on that same fragility that fascinates Janssen. From the first steps of "Troubled Veil", the listener is absorbed into a digital weave of field recordings, everyday undulations, other day modulations and loose harmony. Traditional instruments, string and wind, are filtered and re-imagined. The mundane echoes of routines are reborn as the percussive hum of pieces like "Stripped" and "Broken Respirator (White Funnel)." Behind the shifts and shuffles lurks something triumphal. Memories are given new form through audio carvings. Birdsong is handcrafted through knob tweaks, elephant trumpets bellow past swells of electronic insects as a glowing sun rises through the speaker. Hazes of static are shorn back, as in "Seppuku", to allow moments of intense focus and reflection. And then we return, to that ephemeral beauty that permeates this record, with the final embrace of "Awakening Delusion". An artist who finds the extraordinary in the often overlooked, or unheard.

Back on track with a fresh Depth Over Distance release. Jean Bressan delivering the goods with a remix full of filtered percussion by Voigtmann on the flip side.

Important: all records are uniquely different visual versions with a mix of colored, marbled and transparent vinyl, making each record 100% one of a kind.

Toronto-based musician and producer David Psutka aka ACT! (fka Egyptrixx / Anamai / Ceramic TL) will release his latest project ‘Strange Bounty / About Life’ for his own Halocline Trance imprint.

‘Strange Bounty / About Life’ is Psutka’s debut album proper as ACT! following the release of the “sonic mixtape” ‘Universalist’ in 2018 and the augmented reality soundtrack ‘Grey Matter AR’ in 2021; a series of Snapchat filters created by artist Karen Vanderborght and soundtracked by ACT! which explored the poetic and existential potential of AR and social media.

The new album represents a refinement of aesthetic and compositional ideas that exist across Psutka’s various projects and collaborations. It is a bold blend of new psychedelia braided with ecstatic groove. It’s a collage of physical sound, composition and freeform electronics that is simultaneously original, bold, and balmy whilst retaining a certain timeless familiarity and the obvious, indelible hallmarks of Psutka’s creative vision.

“‘Strange Bounty / About Life’ is in some ways my most refined record. The previous period of solo material was quite experimental and spontaneous, whereas this was written slowly and with more intentionality, and as a result, feels very clarified. Robin Dann of Bernice, and Alanna Stuart of Bonjay both contributed lovely vocal work to the record and it was written and performed primarily on guitar. I think it is fair to call this an 'experimental guitar record'.” David Psutka (ACT!)

On opener ‘Oblivion Shuffle’ synths trickle and squelch beneath vintage arcade bleeps, an off-kilter rhythm and mournful vocals. The palette of faintly dystopian electronics, unnerving ambience and scorched, wonky rhythmic pulses reoccur across the album on tracks like ‘Separation Code Is Togetherness Meta’, ’50 Million Motives For Making’, ‘Peace Javelin Heaven Bound’ and ‘Street Racer’.

Elsewhere on the record the guitar is more obviously prominent, and its presence allows the thematic subtleties of ACT’s music to flourish. It becomes clear after numerous listens that there is a push and pull at play across the whole project; one of optimism vs existentialism, of anxiety vs hope - a consistent theme of Psutka’s back catalogue. The track titles themselves even begin to reveal juxtaposition contained within and a deeper inspection of the lyrics reveals more.

‘Lotto’ and ‘Rebuild Your Body’ and title track, ‘Strange Bounty / About Life’ all feature slick classic soul hooks, silky vocals and smooth Balearic guitar licks over the idiosyncratic beats and distinctive electronic instrumentation. A perfect melding of the two seemingly disparate stylistic directions on the album. A real testament to the refinement promised by Psutka on this project.

In addition to ACT!, Psutka has released music with numerous projects including Anamai, Egyptrixx and Ceramic TL, he has collaborated widely with artists such as Junior Boys, Ipek Gorgun, and Kuedo as well as Jessy Lanza (2016) and an official remix for Massive Attack’s ‘Hymn of the Big Wheel (2012). The contributions on this album, from Robin Dann and Alanna Stuart, reflect the deeply collaborative nature of the Halocline Trance label and the Toronto creative scene more broadly.

Many of Psutka’s releases have received critical acclaim from media outlets such as Pitchfork, Exclaim, The Quietus and Resident Advisor. As a live performer, he has toured extensively including performing at Sonar Festival, Roskilde, Mutek, MOMA PS1 Warm-UP and CTM Festival. He’s also presented sound installations at various institutions such as Galeria Civica Commune di Modena, and Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

In 2015, Psutka launched Halocline Trance as a home for his various sound projects, events and collaborations. Now a creative collective and label, it has grown to include a diverse array of artists including Casey MQ, Xuan Ye, Myst Milano, Colin Fisher and others. The label is described as “genre-agnostic” and conceptually open, supporting work across a wide spectrum of creative fields including soundtrack recording, AR design and traditional artist albums. Their impeccable roster also includes, theorist/improviser Eldritch Priest, and AR/VR artist Karen Vanderborght. In recent years, Halocline Trance has established itself as a platform that facilitates many of Canada’s most exciting creative music projects. Many of the releases have received critical acclaim from outlets including Pitchfork, Exclaim, Bandcamp and Resident Advisor.

Belgian duo Chassé keep the acclaimed Black Jukebox series rolling with a 4-track EP that pays homage to classic US house sounds in accomplished style.

‘Fake Real’ kicks off with sunny abandon, all breezy piano chords and synth sax creating an authentic early-’90s NYC house vibe over plump plucked bass and lazily skipping percussion. Deep pads, bright strings and delicate synth arps bring the atmospheric edge.

‘People Dancing’ ups both the chonk and swing factor, getting more jaunty with its live piano chords and lilting rhythm. Hazy, filtered electric piano chords swoon over classic drum hits, the deep and the pumping meeting in perfect harmony.

‘Nightlife’ takes snatches of classic house vocal and peppers them between melancholic chord samples and dramatic snare hits, and a tense breakdown that exacerbates the subtle qualities of this soulful stomper. A few carefully placed organ notes are all that’s needed to draw the most out of the cool bassline funk.

‘True Game’ rounds off this delicious EP, finding itself somewhere between the classic US house vein and the French touch era, where graceful pads cut against jazzy organ chords, pitched-down vocals, garage snare patterns and seductive bass throbs.

After the Pacific Northwest grunge raids of the early '90s that saw Nirvana, Mudhoney, and even the Melvins hoisted up the major label flagpole, Unwound's 1993 debut came as a welcomed reprieve for underground noise-niks everywhere. A pulsing cluster of wiry feedback, lurching bass, and single stroke rolls, Fake Train entangles the energies of frustrated backpack emo, faded Riot Grrrl back issues, and their own dash of teen spirit and unleashes it all in an earsplitting 10-song assault.

Comes on like an homage to Wire's 1 2 X U' as filtered through Minor Threat and a broken bottle of Robitussin.' —Pitchfork

It's no contest: Unwound is the best band of the '90s.' — A.V. Club

Very limited vinyl pressing, 500 copies in a full colour single outer sleeve and full colour printed lyric inner sleeve, housing a 2-colour blue and yellow cosmic swirl vinyl. Full download included as well. Blacklab are back. The self-proclaimed ‘Doom witch duo from Osaka’ are set to drop their 3rd album ‘In A Bizarre Dream’ this summer. Their debut ‘Under the Strawberry Moon 2.0’ saw them taking Sabbath inspired doom, mashing it with a Japanese sensibility and a fuzzed-up groove. It certainly caused a stir, but only hinted at their potential. Album two ‘Abyss’ added to the mix. A Stooges like squalor to the riffs, dollops of lo-fi hardcore punk and loose riffing, pointing the way towards a signature sound. So what of the ‘difficult’ third album? Not so difficult at all it seems. ‘In A Bizarre Dream’ ups the ante considerably, to let rip and define what Blacklab are about. The combined talents of Jun Morino on production and Wayne Adams (Big Lad, Green Lung, Pet Brick, John, Cold In Berlin) on the mix have conspired to produce a towering beast of a record. A real step forward for the ‘Doom Witch Duo’. The drums have a humungous ‘Fugazi’ like welly, and the guitars are a boiling maelstrom of fuzz dense riffola and warped psychedelics, with added synth. Yuko’s throat shredding snarls are as mean as a pissed off Satan, and melodious, often within the same song. This is doom meets hardcore punk, hooky melodies, and killer riffs, all cranked up to the max. Japan has always had a special take on ‘noise’ and ‘heavy’ and with ‘In A Bizarre Dream’ Blacklab add their own spin to that tradition. Gone is the lo-fi approach, here is Blacklab in full effect. ‘Cold Rain’ and ‘Abyss Woods’ (debuted at their storming set at London’s Desert Fest and appearing here in its full version) are two nuggets of epic fuzz heavy doom with added screamo and a neat and canny grasp of melody at its core. Very much a Blacklab trademark. ‘Dark Clouds’ is D-beat fuelled hardcore, fierce and ferocious, with Chia’s rolling thunder drumming underpinning the distorted guitar. It’s pretty exhilarating stuff that shifts the mood perfectly. ‘Evil I’ is just that, a riff as evil as it gets, morphing into a chugging punk wig out. Then followed by ‘Evil II’ a breather, almost mellow, melancholy, with layers of dark overdrive threatening to explode beneath a sweet yet menacing vocal. Then, the mid-point of the album drops a real surprise. Yuko has said before that the band’s name is a combination of her two favourite bands, Black Sabbath and Stereolab. Odd bedfellows to be sure, but if you want to know what that combination might sound like ... here it is. ‘Crows, Sparrows and Cats’ actually features Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, no less, providing the lead vocal, adding a layer of cool over Blacklab’s Hawkwind meets krautrock sludge. It’s a stoner groove with pop at its heart ...Sludge Pop even, a surprising gem amongst the maelstrom of sound around it. The skewed, sludgecore of ‘Lost’ with its push-pull riffs and rolling thunder drumming, signals that it’s back to business as usual. And after the brief atmospheric instrumental interlude that gives the album its title, comes ‘Monochrome Rainbow’ a huge beast of a track so simple, yet so seductive, from its filtered bass intro to its massive ebb and flow groove and stomping ending. The vocals are all mystery and melody, and the music is kind of a Groundhogs meets Goatsnake ten-ton fuzz-fest, with a singalong, wave your arms in the air chorus. The new Japanese Doom-blues, and what could be the album’s defining moment. ‘In A Bizarre Dream’ closes with ‘Collapse’ verging on noise rock, complete with throat shredding vocals and a crushing wall of guitars, that switch from a stoner groove to full on punk assault, teetering on mayhem before finally ending with the sound of Yuko switching off her fuzz pedal. Perfect. Blacklab have negotiated that ‘difficult’ third album with aplomb and have created a sound that, despite their many influences, is all their own.

Option Explore, Dylan Moon’s second full-length album, is a glassy-eyed survey of pop’s playing field both past and present, and a collection of clever, colorful songs filtered through frequencies, timbres, and dreams discovered and discarded while its maker shifts from one sub-genre to the next.

Option Explore signals a significant departure from Moon’s debut 2019 album Only the Blue s, which at its heart is a folk record from the forlorn fringes of psychedelia: a little mysterious, but ultimately lucid in its internal logic and generous with standalone, but sing- along, songs. Dylan’s 2020 EP Oh No Oh No Oh No suggested both a shift in his writing and listening habits, culminating with the 2021 compilation Moon’s Toons Vol. 1. On Option Explore, Moon willfully spins multitudes. With a careful study of synthpop, a penchant for warped yet unwavering guitar grooves, and an effortless songwriting ability, he leans into unlikely convergences, and arrives at something deeply futuristic in its disregard for genre sanctity.

A guiding principle for Option Explore was the “explore/exploit trade-off” concept, a behavioral mechanism of foraging (“the choice between exploiting a familiar option for a known reward and exploring unfamiliar options for unknown rewards”) which has been employed within computational neuroscience and psychiatry. Moon uses exploratory foraging as a manifesto for song construction: music without end, without limit. Many of these songs avoid conclusive compositional conventions, and sound more like turning a radio dial than pressing preset play. Tracks begin at what feels like a midpoint and fade out with little warning, adding to the sensation of sonic melt.

Option Explore, Dylan Moon’s second full-length album, is a glassy-eyed survey of pop’s playing field both past and present, and a collection of clever, colorful songs filtered through frequencies, timbres, and dreams discovered and discarded while its maker shifts from one sub-genre to the next.

Option Explore signals a significant departure from Moon’s debut 2019 album Only the Blue s, which at its heart is a folk record from the forlorn fringes of psychedelia: a little mysterious, but ultimately lucid in its internal logic and generous with standalone, but sing- along, songs. Dylan’s 2020 EP Oh No Oh No Oh No suggested both a shift in his writing and listening habits, culminating with the 2021 compilation Moon’s Toons Vol. 1. On Option Explore, Moon willfully spins multitudes. With a careful study of synthpop, a penchant for warped yet unwavering guitar grooves, and an effortless songwriting ability, he leans into unlikely convergences, and arrives at something deeply futuristic in its disregard for genre sanctity.

A guiding principle for Option Explore was the “explore/exploit trade-off” concept, a behavioral mechanism of foraging (“the choice between exploiting a familiar option for a known reward and exploring unfamiliar options for unknown rewards”) which has been employed within computational neuroscience and psychiatry. Moon uses exploratory foraging as a manifesto for song construction: music without end, without limit. Many of these songs avoid conclusive compositional conventions, and sound more like turning a radio dial than pressing preset play. Tracks begin at what feels like a midpoint and fade out with little warning, adding to the sensation of sonic melt.

Black Truffle is thrilled to announce Drumming Up Trouble, the first release of previously unissued music by Alvin Curran on the label. Collecting works recorded between 2018-2021 and a side-long epic dating back to the early 80s, as the title suggests, Drumming Up Trouble focuses on a hitherto almost unknown aspect of Curran’s encyclopaedic and omnivorous musical world: his experiments with sampled and synthesised percussion. As Curran’s wonderful, wildly sweeping liner notes make clear, his fascination with drumming belongs to the radical investigation of music’s fundamental elements that has marked his output since the beginnings of MEV, who aimed (as he says in a recent interview) to return ‘in some collective way to a non-existent start time in the history of human music’. Whatever kind of music our proto-human ancestors played, he writes, ‘drums were front and centre in the mix. Drums rule!’

In a paradox typical of Curran’s approach, Drumming Up Trouble interrogates this most ancient dimension of music with contemporary technology. On the first side, we hear recent pieces performed using the sampling software and full-size MIDI keyboard setup Curran has refined since the 1980s. Two of them are wild real-time improvisations, primarily utilising an enormous bank of hip-hop samples. Building from polyrhythmic layers of drum machine fragments to wild cacophonies of clashing vocal samples, scratching, and frantic pitch shifting, these energetic and at times hilarious pieces occupy a space somewhere between John Oswald’s Plunderphonics, Pat Thomas and Matt Wand in the Tony Oxley Quartet, and the propulsive Kudoro/Grime fusion of Lisbon’s Príncipe label. They are improvisations are accompanied by two austere, minimal compositions realised in collaboration with Angelo Maria Fallo: ‘End Zone’ for orchestral bass drum and high oscillator, and ‘Rollings’, where a snare roll is gradually stretched and filtered by digital means into ‘floating electronic gossamer’.

The incredible breadth of Curran’s output makes it pretty unlikely that a listener familiar with his work would be surprised to find it branching out in a new direction. But no degree of familiarity with his work can really prepare for side B’s epic and bizarre ‘Field it More’. It’s perhaps best to let the maestro describe this unhinged and infectious offering in his own words: ‘It features an 8 bar funky minimal riff à la James Brown, played on synth and an-out-of-tune piano, synced to a pre-paid patch on the Roland drum machine. Over this is laid a heavily processed track of the voices of dancer Yoshiko Chuma and movie-maker Jacob Burckhardt discussing an upcoming performance of theirs at the Venice film festival, capped by a track of my playing an increasingly out of control blues over the top of all of the above’. Only Pekka Airaksinen’s Buddhas of the Golden Light comes to mind as a reference point that might even vaguely compare to this wild home-brew of drum-machine funk, mad improvisation and squelching electronics, which eventually dissolved into a massive, layered cluster. Ancient and modern, synthetic and human, hysterical and rigorous, Drumming up Trouble is 100% Curran.

Over the past decade, the mysterious, London-based artist Moiré has perfected a syrupy, addictive brand of dance music via labels like Actress's Werk Discs and illustrious imprints like Ghostly and Rush Hour. For most of this period, Moiré seemed pramarily concerned in creating alternative universe club tracks. The beats were hypnotic, if wonky. The pads were deep before they were refracted through an oblique filter. In a discography bearing a surfeit of leftfield high points, Circuits, Moiré's latest album for the Berlin-based Avenue 66 (Lowtec, John Frusciante, Joey Anderson) is a massive creative leap that fully breaks with the strictures of a "conventional" dance music.

While there are still nods to the low-slung, slow house style Moiré's perfected in the past ("Circuit 1"), as well as the looming shadow of hardcore ("Circuit 8), Moiré's style now billows into a liminal, cinematic zone that recalls the canonical SAW albums, BOC or even Seefeel's enduring, genre-free experiments. Rhythms come and go at all tempos, from Hauntological four-on-the-floor to flickering downtempo and ambient house approximations. But the emphasis lies with the melodies. From the queasy orchestral style of "Circuits 1" to the glacial, "end credits"-style synths that close out the album, these motifs bear an uncanny familiarity, as though they always existed. You recognize them, not from a previous listen, but rather, some half-remembered dream, or, perhaps, a previous lifetime.

"Art is awe, art is mystery expressed," writes Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. "Art is somatic, even if it is experienced cerebrally. It is felt." The central mysteries of Smith's ninth studio album, Let's Turn it Into Sound, have to do with perception, expression, and communication: How can we communicate when spoken language is inadequate? How do we understand what it is we're feeling? How do we translate our experience of the world into something that someone else can understand? For Smith, a self-described "feeler," the answers are inspired by compound words in non-English languages, translation, sculptural fashion, dance, butoh, wushu shaolin, and other forms of sensory and somatic experience. Just like fashion uses lines, shapes, colors, textures, and silhouettes to communicate on a sensual level separate from the conscious mind, Let's Turn it Into Sound strives to use sound to communicate what words alone cannot. "The album is a puzzle," Smith says. "It is a symbol of receiving a compound of a ton of feelings from going out into a situation, and the song titles are instructions to breaking apart the feelings and understanding them." The energized "Is it Me or is it You" comes from traversing the gaps between how you see yourself and how another might see you, through a filter of their own projections. The hushed sense of revelation that brackets "There is Something" refers to the feeling of walking into a room and being subconsciously aware of the dynamic present. All the while, Smith interprets these feelings through sound. This auditory interpretation process, driven by earnest curiosity, led Smith to record some thoughts and questions that popped up along the journey in Somatic Hearing_a booklet which accompanies the album. Over three frenzied months, recording alone in her home studio, Smith allowed herself to pursue new experiments to accompany her usual toolkit of modular, analogue, and rare synthesizers (including her signature Buchla), orchestral sounds, and the voice. She created a new vocal processing technique, and gave herself permission to pursue a pacing that felt intuitive, rather one that followed typical song structures. She walked around in the windiest season with a subwoofer backpack and an umbrella, listening to the low end of the album amidst 60mph gusts. She listened to herself, and, in doing so, to an inner community which suddenly opened to her. Underlying the album is a dynamic relationship between what Smith describes as six distinct voices, each a multifaceted storyteller. By acknowledging these characters, she was acknowledging her whole being: the woven plurality of self, the complex process of noticing and resolving inner conflicts, and the joy of finding harmony in flux. "I started to feel so embodied by all of these characters. This is all the felt, unsaid stuff my inner community wants to communicate but it doesn't have the English language as its form of communication, and so this album was a form of giving space to let it talk and not judge it and just let it play." By not adhering to expected song structures, each song feels even more like a conversation, with each character getting to express themselves in full.

"Art is awe, art is mystery expressed," writes Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. "Art is somatic, even if it is experienced cerebrally. It is felt." The central mysteries of Smith's ninth studio album, Let's Turn it Into Sound, have to do with perception, expression, and communication: How can we communicate when spoken language is inadequate? How do we understand what it is we're feeling? How do we translate our experience of the world into something that someone else can understand? For Smith, a self-described "feeler," the answers are inspired by compound words in non-English languages, translation, sculptural fashion, dance, butoh, wushu shaolin, and other forms of sensory and somatic experience. Just like fashion uses lines, shapes, colors, textures, and silhouettes to communicate on a sensual level separate from the conscious mind, Let's Turn it Into Sound strives to use sound to communicate what words alone cannot. "The album is a puzzle," Smith says. "It is a symbol of receiving a compound of a ton of feelings from going out into a situation, and the song titles are instructions to breaking apart the feelings and understanding them." The energized "Is it Me or is it You" comes from traversing the gaps between how you see yourself and how another might see you, through a filter of their own projections. The hushed sense of revelation that brackets "There is Something" refers to the feeling of walking into a room and being subconsciously aware of the dynamic present. All the while, Smith interprets these feelings through sound. This auditory interpretation process, driven by earnest curiosity, led Smith to record some thoughts and questions that popped up along the journey in Somatic Hearing_a booklet which accompanies the album. Over three frenzied months, recording alone in her home studio, Smith allowed herself to pursue new experiments to accompany her usual toolkit of modular, analogue, and rare synthesizers (including her signature Buchla), orchestral sounds, and the voice. She created a new vocal processing technique, and gave herself permission to pursue a pacing that felt intuitive, rather one that followed typical song structures. She walked around in the windiest season with a subwoofer backpack and an umbrella, listening to the low end of the album amidst 60mph gusts. She listened to herself, and, in doing so, to an inner community which suddenly opened to her. Underlying the album is a dynamic relationship between what Smith describes as six distinct voices, each a multifaceted storyteller. By acknowledging these characters, she was acknowledging her whole being: the woven plurality of self, the complex process of noticing and resolving inner conflicts, and the joy of finding harmony in flux. "I started to feel so embodied by all of these characters. This is all the felt, unsaid stuff my inner community wants to communicate but it doesn't have the English language as its form of communication, and so this album was a form of giving space to let it talk and not judge it and just let it play." By not adhering to expected song structures, each song feels even more like a conversation, with each character getting to express themselves in full.

incl. mp3
A deepening sense of life, love, health, loss, and luck shaped the outlines of Tuttle’s fifth, and most collaborative album to date. Following a surprising exhilaration and exhaustion from the hitherto most innocuous of moments in mid-2020 - a half-hour drive to collect an online order, the furthest distance he’d traveled in months; Tuttle commenced working on new musical ideas loosely based around navigating the aftermaths and interregnums of a restless era. “I was thinking about what’s going on in the world and how localised it has become for so many of my friends in different places,” Tuttle explains. “Not in a negative way but more so focusing on how lovely it is when things are good.”
Thinking of musician friends and peers around the world – each confined to their own immediate surroundings – Tuttle’s generative and collaborative musical practice became a silvery through-line, connecting American innovators Steve Gunn, Chuck Johnson, Luke Schneider and Michael A. Muller (Balmorhea), to French/Swedish violinist Aurelie Ferriere and Spanish guitarist Conrado Isasa, back to Australian friends such as Voltfruit (aka Flora Wong and Luke Cuerel) and Darren Cross (Gerling) – among many others – each fitting seamlessly into Tuttle’s vibrant musical world.
Whilst previously a feature of Tuttle’s music, the exploration of space and texture found within Fleeting Adventure feels particularly vast and generous. The involvement of Chuck Johnson and Lawrence English mixing and mastering the album respectively, as with their work on Tuttle’s previous and breakthrough album Alexandra (Room40, 2020), inspired Andrew to develop songs that are as serene and patient as he’s ever sounded. Stripping elements back, the idea of pulling the songs apart somewhat, was just as important as adding the work of Andrew’s collaborators. “It is spacious through intent, process and assistance,” he confirms. "I thought carefully about what instruments - both what I played and what I asked others to provide based on my unadorned banjo track - would best work with what I was wanting to create.”
The road to Fleeting Adventure has been both long and short, but it sits as a tender and perhaps even vital reflection of an era in progress, in retrospect and in anticipation. A poignant contemplation on the many bonds that make up our lives from friends and family to the myriad places we inhabit and pass through along the way. The idea that an adventure doesn’t necessarily have to be a grand statement Andrew Tuttle has gathered up a number of his contemporaries and crafted something quietly spectacular, a new beginning to familiar habits.

“Tuttle’s plaintive banjo is encircled by an array of majestic sounds: serpentine electric guitar from Steve Gunn, enveloping electronics courtesy of Balmorhea’s Michael A Muller, violin swirls from Aurelie Ferriere , and the gentle saxophone of Joe Saxby. The result is a lush and unabashedly beautiful sonic landscape.’’ 8/10 UNCUT LEAD REVIEW
Andrew Tuttle's new single New Breakfast Habit is the perfect sonic condiment for the most important meal of the day. A banjo flecked ambient/cosmic journey with a psychedelic video courtesy of Matmos
His new album 'Fleeting Adventure' is the soundtrack of the world re-emerging and getting a release on Basin Rock (Julie Byrne, Aoife Nessa Frances, Johanna Samuels) this summer.

Cocoon Recordings presents: Cocoon Compilation T

Limited Vinyl Box Set including 6x blue vinyl & download code

Another year, another expertly curated compilation touches down courtesy of Cocoon Recordings. Somehow, the world keeps turning and with it the Cocoon universe keeps expanding, causing subtle yet persuasive shifts in the sonic soundscape that continue to
capture and captivate the imagination. In time-honored tradition the old guard and the new combine with devastating effect, to define the current state of play…
Veteran Techno producer Stephen Brown makes it clear the compilation series is back with a bang, opening things up in epic fashion with the lucid dreamscape ‘Level Steps’ - a true work of art. Another heavy-weight hitter steps straight up in the form of Claude von Stroke, who adds his own unique swagger to proceedings with those trademark shuffling beats and freaky, hypnotic bleeps scuffling for dominance on ‘Moody Fuse’. Denis Horvat then slows things down on ‘Monomono’, with post-raveNew Release Information
abstractions and disobedient synth-patches causing mayhem before the track finally unfolds in all its terrifying beauty.
Motoring on, the collection wastes no time reaching that familiar tipping point as we enter the techno phase of the journey. A very special appearance from Daniel Avery makes it all the more worthwhile amid a dense forest of chiming melodies and blistering electrical surges on ‘Your Future Looks Different In The Light’, before Jeroen Search’s aptly titled ‘Subversive Elements’ lead us deeper and
deeper, into the matrix.
Marco Bailey then kicks off a triptych of trance with some massive filtered piano action on ‘Kanai’ that’s destined to trigger a serotonin smile with everyone it touches. Revisiting the huge,
ever-growing pulsating brain of planet Orb, Damiano van Erckert continues the loved-up vibe on the gorgeously titled ‘500 People 500 Hearts 1 Love’, expertly complimenting the classic ambience with
some slick 909 snare and cymbal interplay. The melodic pull of ‘Vision99’ then signifies that the party is peaking at just the right moment as YOKTO concocts a glistening, psychedelic groove. The
emotional resonance climbs ever higher with brittle melodies endlessly circling a lush, throbbing bass drone to create the sense of something stirring out of reach.
Just when you think the acid sound is done and dusted, up pops a track like Jonathan Kaspar’s ‘CCC’ that somehow manages to offer an entirely new perspective. Riding in on a wave of expectant
arpeggios, the squelching bass and noise filter go toe to toe before Kaspar gets busy with a freaky tempo excursion that’ll be destroying dance floors all year long. ‘The Art of Electronics’ is, as the title
suggests, another superlative example of pure analogue fire, served up by UK legend, Andrew Meecham aka The Emperor Machine. The funk starts to flow as the bass drops, the machines cut loose and a swarm of cascading bleeps ride the trans-europa express to oblivion.
Electro overlord Carl Finlow, has come to define the UK take on the genre over the last couple of decades. Here, he makes his long overdue label debut, taking us into the closing straight with a
nervous sliver of dystopian futurism, complete with molten basslines and a fuzzy logic that underpins the tight, laser-guided groove on ‘Surface Control’. DeFeKT then draws this great adventure to a close
with the deliciously dark robo-disco overtones of ‘Terraform’ creating a dusky landscape that skillfully seduces the listener before the tension finally breaks in a wash of ecstatic chords.
All in all, it’s a supremely ambitious collection of tracks, generously featuring some of the most inspirational and durable artists of their respective generations. In fact, is this perhaps the best Cocoon
Compilation to date

Romperayo is back, with a brand new tropical 9 track album full of tropical riddims and humid Caribbean jams.

After two long sold out albums, Romperayo (Discrepant, 2015) and Que Jué? (Souk, 2019), Pedro Ojeda’s unique update on classic Colombian music returns for a full long player of future tropical instrumental tunes, heavy on the drum grooves mixed with slow, languid experimental interludes.

This is 21st century Colombian popular music taken to the next level by one of the most singular figures currently active on the Colombian scene. Romperayo’s, aka Pedro Ojeda (Los Pirañas, Chupame el Dedo) solo project uses his irreverent drumming techniques and filters them through a lens of new school psychedelia, historical sampling and acid synth solos.

With his sound obsessions clearly present over all of his work (and this record), Pedro effortless mixes the old school with the new with an avant-garde collage approach to composition, never forgetting his academic studies on Latin American drumming styles. The result expands the frontiers of Colombian tropical music and provides a new, multicultural dialogue whilst using many of the rhythms and melodies of the Colombian historical repertoire to a new generation. The Colombian Caribbean coast sonido never sounded so fresh!

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

10x12inch bundle + book

What is going on here then? Well, digging through the ever shrinking tunnels in the cave system that is our warehouse we come across many forgotten ore and metal deposits that silently beg to be unearthed. Since we are not the beroerdste, we reckon it's about time to put some of these on offer to you, the unsuspecting consumer. And we have hit the jackpot in this case! For a limited time only (and as long as stock lasts) we offer 10 (yes TEN) records from the vast Creme Organization back catalogue + a copy of the glorious Godspill Artwork Book for just 50 (yes FIFTY) Smackeroonies! Which titles you will get will be a surprise, so take a chance take a chance boys & girls and all shades inbetween, cause here's a breath of fresh air in these times of inflation and global uncertainty! Love, the management.

Paul Wise aka Placid is the driving force behind ‘We’re Going Deep’ – a thriving online community and record label that’s showing no signs of slowing down as we pop, dip and spin into the spring season. As a label owner, Paul’s mission couldn’t be clearer - releasing new music for heads of all persuasions. Fresh cuts aimed squarely at the dance floor, your front room or even just the headphones. Rather than staying too hung up on the past, he continues to focus on serving up the best in new Acid, Electro, Techno, Deep House alongside scintillating slices of Downtempo music.

Sticking to the trusted format of 4 superlative cuts from equally talented producers, the quality and talent on show does not disappoint on WGD 007. Starting the dance with 303 maestro and label legend Tin Man, A1 “I Said Acid” is a tantalising twist on the classic combination of a Roland TR-707 and SH-101. As a metronomic pulsating kick carves out a squarely hewn path, slow opening filtered lead and hauntingly repetitive “Acid” vocals exert maximal pressure to create a sheer moment of joy. Balanced out by the dreamy atmospherics of A2 “I’ll Meet You On The Dancefloor”. UK Deep House supremo Rai Scott exerts her perfected knowhow: blending organically tinged percussion with profound melodic touches that meander across the borderlines of your consciousness.

On B1 “Necessary Order”, the machine mastery of Sound Synthesis collides in perfect harmony as Keith Farrugia demonstrates his deft turns of the dials that are becoming more in demand. A sprinkle of stargazing soul is woven around light touch acidic tweaks and snappy drums, echoing the twinkling embers of the cosmos. Not to be outdone, Dutch born German bred producer Roger Van Lunteren takes control with the final slice on B2 “Le Dee Trois Trio Prends Trois”. A wince inducing, sawtooth heavy jam that should not be taken lightly. As the saying goes, this one’s only for headstrong.

Dewa Alit, Bali’s master of contemporary Gamelan composition, returns to Black Truffle with Chasing the Phantom, presenting two recent works played by the composer’s Gamelan Salukat, a large ensemble that performs on instruments specially built to his designs, using a unique tuning system that combines notes from two traditional Balinese Gamelan scales. Alit explains that the ensemble’s name suggests “a place to fuse creative ideas to generate new, innovative works” and both compositions demonstrate the composer’s ability to wring stunning new possibilities from variations on the traditional Gamelan ensemble. While using familiar elements of Balinese Gamelan music, such as unison scalar melodies and stop-start dynamics, Alit’s music is overflowing with harmonic, rhythmic, and timbral inventions, the latter often facilitated by unorthodox playing techniques.

“Ngejuk Memedi”, an English translation of which gives the LP its title, results from Alit’s reflection on the complex relationship between tradition and modernity in Balinese culture, particularly in the way that belief in the phantoms or spirits known as ‘memedi’ are shared through social media using digital technologies. Embodying this uncanny co-existence, the opening passages of the piece are at once immediately recognisable in their use of the metallophones of the Gamelan ensemble and strikingly reminiscent of electronics in their timbre and movement. At points, what we hear seems to have been fragmented with digital tools, or even to originate in some incessantly glitching DX7. Short melodic figures loop irregularly, with the ensemble splintering into polyrhythmic shards before unexpectedly recombining for intricate unison passages. After several minutes of this manically tinkling metallic sound world, the metallophones are joined by drums for a meditative passage of lower dynamics, as the uniformly high pitch range explored in the opening sections gradually opens up to include resonant low gong hits. Recovering some of the manic energy of the opening, but now enhanced with the full range of percussion, the piece weaves through a series of tempo changes to a stunning passage of rapid-fire melodies and ringing chords that sweep across the metallophones, their unorthodox tuning creating complex clouds of wavering harmonies.

“Likad”, written during Covid-19 lockdowns, channels anxiety and uncertainty into musical form, resulting in a piece that, even by Alit’s standards, is stunning in its complexity and the virtuosity it demands of Gamelan Salukat. Its opening section is perhaps most remarkable for its mastery of texture, with rapid transitions between dry, muted strikes and metallic shimmers calling to mind the use of filters in electronic music. At points, the complex irregular repetitions of short melodic patterns, where the music seems to get stuck or be suddenly interrupted by a skip, recall the mad sampler works of Alvin Curran or the skittering surface of prime period Oval more than anything familiar from acoustic percussion music. Moving through a dizzying series of twists and turns, the piece ends with a majestic sequence of chords possessing an almost hieratic power. A major statement from a radical contemporary composer, one cannot help but agree with Alit when he sees Chasing the Phantom as an answer to the “question of the future of Gamelan music”.

"From the time they were formed, Set It Off have never been your standard emo band. Or pop group. Or pop-punk band. They are all of those things and more. Just listen to the lead single “Skeleton” from their new album Elsewhere – moody, melodious pop-rock with fast rapping tearing up the break. The song is about embracing who you are unapologetically and without filters. “Skeleton” epitomizes Set It Off now – a group both fully committed to its roots and diving into its future by embracing inevitable change.
While the band’s full-length debut album ‘Cinematic’s in 2012 embraced their moodier rock side, later efforts took on an upbeat pop twist that culminated in a darker synergy of those styles on their last album Midnight. ‘Elsewhere’ is a transitional, moody, and forward thinking release, one in which they have faced their demons and come out happier and more full of life than ever before."

Stockholm post-punk band V**gra Boys (**= "ia" because spam FILTERS) are announcing a new album Cave World due out July 8th via YEAR0001 Produced by past collaborators Pelle Gunnerfeldt (The Hives, The Knife, etc.) and DJ Haydn, the album is inspired by current events, and aims to tear through the insanity and confusion the world currently finds itself in. Like sin- eaters if sins had to be ingested from a very small spoon, V**gra Boys have consumed the utterly incomprehensible chaos of our era and distilled it into the 12 immaculate tracks that make up Cave World.

As 2021’s Welfare Jazz was earning rave reviews from the likes of Pitchfork, NPR, GQ, NME, Stereogum, Fader, and more, Viagra Boys were in the midst of rerecording what would become their followup. After putting together an entire album at the legendary Silence Studio in the town of Koppom, the band decided they could push harder. "We let it marinate for a while and then rerecorded absolutely everything," Murphy explains. S

ome of the music made it through to what would become Cave World, but replacing the lyrics. In that iterative process,
Murphy found himself returning time and again to a misconception with deeper roots: the idea that humanity is moving forward. After watching a video late one evening about a theory that suggests evolution involved trading in some cognitive
abilities for others, Murphy began stewing on the fact that the result was mass shootings and science denial. "I just wrote down, 'Who is the true ape?'" he says.

"People look down at apes as primitive life forms, but we're just this horrible, lazy society killing each other and starting wars, while they’re able to love and feel.
Does that make them the true ape or us?"

The inspired pairing of Oxnard, CA producer/emcee/DJ Body Bag Ben and DC-based emcee/producer J Scienide resulted in this stellar, dark joint, ‘Enough To Plague a Saint.’ “To me, the soundscape of the album has a nostalgic feel to it… like it was crafted in the ‘90s in a basement somewhere,” says Ben. “This was the sound I was going for, lots of low ends and filtered drums. I knew J was the perfect candidate for this.” Longtime friends going back to Scienide’s work on Body Bag Ben’s first album (‘The Season’), here we see J on mic duties with Ben on production, joined by guests Rome Streetz, Napoleon Da Legend, Rasheed Chappell, and Wordsworth.

Emerging from the dark recesses of the Chicago and London underground, in 2000 Omni a.m. relocated to New York. This EP marked their first release in their new surroundings, it's an intense and highly sought after 4 tracker that showcases the duo's continuing originality and guile.

First up 'Smurfette's Big Night Out' is imaginative in it's approach, there's punchy beats and cascading percussion that drive the track along and really deliver the funk. Psychedelic acid touches interweave with haunting pads and a super deep b-line creates a chemistry like no other. Next is 'Buckshot' a more stripped back rolling affair. Undulating synths and swathes of infectious bass build the track throughout, whilst spacious analog delays and dub influenced sonic tricks abound. Over to the flip where 'I On U' is a wonderful floor friendly roller coaster of a ride, intro'd by a super phat kick, there's stuttering snares that jack and swing, whilst warm synths bubble and filter. Lastly 'Sick Sense' sets the controls for deep space, the bold throbbing bass makes it proper heads down groovin' affair, and the expertly programmed spoken word vocals interplay to add intrigue and atmosphere.

New York Sessions is a cherished release from the Omni a.m. catalogue, a classic where all 4 tracks ooze class and character. This EP has certainly stood the test of time and has been lovingly remastered by Curvepusher for today's discerning minds and dance floors, full support already coming from Raresh and SIT.

Ever since the release of his first solo album more than 20 years ago, German musician and producer Christian Kleine has experimented with blending and contrasting the varying textures and approaches of post-rave IDM, breakbeats, shoegaze and punk. His latest album offering, Touch & Fuse, shows he's continued to refine and perfect that combination, which is less a conscious concoction and more of a natural outcome of the music he likes. From the edgy Aphex-isms of 'Val 2' and the heavily filtered breaks of 'Reverse Angle' to the slowed down grunge meets pure electronics of 'Return of the Underground', this is unique, accomplished stuff.

Four killer tracks of high grade electronic soul from James Baker AKA REKAB. A fantastic EP showing both breadth of style and respect for the roots and traditions of the music from this artist.The first, Locked on Dodge, is a driving deep Detroit techno track with a hypnotic arpeggiated lead and filtered atmospherics to lose yourself inside. Don’t get too comfortable though, it’s capped with a surprise electro switch in the breakdown to keep the floor on their toes! The second track, We Need to Care, delivers a cool clear synth sound design over Chicago influenced house tempo beats and lush pads. Simultaneously groovy and comforting, this is a track for those special moments. Jacking with your eyes closed and a big grin on your face.
Third we have a clear tribute to Drexciya with In Search of the Deep Sea Dweller. Tough 808 beats and laser zaps punch through a bed of evocative strings whilst a filtered single note loop rises and falls like the tide. An abstract robotic voice presides over the track, adding atmosphere whilst giving it a sense of mysterious machine driven intelligence.
Lastly, Too Much Time gets its space boogie on. Electro funk beats jump round staccato synth chords and a simple but effective Moog-like bass line. Once the scene is set, a writhing 303 joins the proceedings accompanied soaring pads and beautiful melodic leads that make you feel like you’re being lifted into the cosmos.
----------
ReKab aka James Baker from the UK started Djing in the early 90’s. Later on he started playing around with music. Finally the ReKab sound was established in 2019 with his first release on Where We Met records. Other releases followed soon on Móatún, Withhold, Intellitronic Bubble, We’re Going Deep and Fourier Transform.
His music is very deep and full of emotions and influenced by his love for Detroit.

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, proudly presents the long awaited reissue of Version Excursions, first album by The Dynamics. Originally released in 2007 and highly hard to find today, it could be considered as a modern reggae classic.

The band composed of Bruno “Patchwork” Hovart (production & programming), Eric “Flab” True (programming) and a vocal trio made of Mr Day, Sandra “Mounam” and Stevie Levi, quickly became famous with a 7inch single series, displaying their unique recipe of covers from classic hits by Madonna, Curtis Mayfield or The White Stripes to name just a few. True to Rocksteady and Reggae’s timeless tradition, everything from Pop, Roots, Disco, Soul & Rock is distilled through their fuzzy hypnotic filters to create amazing cover versions.

Originally hailing from the villages of Cameroon, the halls of Harvard, the palaces of Versailles, the boweries of Bristol, or the squares of Provence, it’s then in Lyon that The Dynamics united and created their timeless music, both vintage and fresh. 15 years after its release, the album’s still a real success, with more than 350k listeners on Spotify every month. An achievement easily explained by the quality of the tracks gathered, which also brought the original release to become quite rare years after years, now selling for crazy prices on the second-hand market.

"Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin), "Fever" (Peggy Lee), "The Creator Has A Master Plan" (Pharoah Sanders), "Lay Lady Lay" (Bob Dylan), these are only a few of the Rock, Pop, Soul and Jazz most famous hits reimagined by The Dynamics. In addition to the original tracklisting, you'll find on our 2022 remastered edition their cover of "Music" by Madonna, previously only available as 7inch.

cool forward technotools

now back in !

In his tenth year with Acid Jazz, the ever-prolific Matt Berry
has crafted a psych masterpiece. Once again proving that
his artistic progression and ambition knows no bounds.
Following the acclaim of last year’s Top 30 album
‘Phantom Birds’ (★★★★ The Times), Acid Jazz release
‘Blue Elephant’, Matt Berry’s sixth studio album with the
ground breaking label.
Recorded during the summer of 2020, ‘Blue Elephant’ is
testament to Matt’s exceptional musicianship, production
skills and songwriting prowess with every instrument
played by Matt - including guitars, bass, a variety of
keyboards and synthesizers (piano, Wurlitzer, mellotron,
Moog, Hammond, Vox and Farfisa organs) - with the
exception of drums (supplied by Craig Blundell), on
arguably his best album to date.
This music soundtracks an album that explores themes
surrounding today’s close scrutiny in all its bewildering,
objectifying and unnerving experiences. Very much a
conceptual and, therefore, continuous long-player, the
album’s infectious grooves come to the fore on standout
tracks ‘Summer Sun’, heavy-psych instrumental ‘Invisible’
and the three-part ‘Blues Inside Me’, which encompasses
a psych journey through a late ‘60s and early glam filter,
mixed with the propulsive ‘Like Stone’.
‘Blue Elephant’ is available on digipack CD, blue vinyl,
black vinyl and audio cassette.

In his tenth year with Acid Jazz, the ever-prolific Matt Berry
has crafted a psych masterpiece. Once again proving that
his artistic progression and ambition knows no bounds.
Following the acclaim of last year’s Top 30 album
‘Phantom Birds’ (★★★★ The Times), Acid Jazz release
‘Blue Elephant’, Matt Berry’s sixth studio album with the
ground breaking label.
Recorded during the summer of 2020, ‘Blue Elephant’ is
testament to Matt’s exceptional musicianship, production
skills and songwriting prowess with every instrument
played by Matt - including guitars, bass, a variety of
keyboards and synthesizers (piano, Wurlitzer, mellotron,
Moog, Hammond, Vox and Farfisa organs) - with the
exception of drums (supplied by Craig Blundell), on
arguably his best album to date.
This music soundtracks an album that explores themes
surrounding today’s close scrutiny in all its bewildering,
objectifying and unnerving experiences. Very much a
conceptual and, therefore, continuous long-player, the
album’s infectious grooves come to the fore on standout
tracks ‘Summer Sun’, heavy-psych instrumental ‘Invisible’
and the three-part ‘Blues Inside Me’, which encompasses
a psych journey through a late ‘60s and early glam filter,
mixed with the propulsive ‘Like Stone’.
‘Blue Elephant’ is available on digipack CD, blue vinyl,
black vinyl and audio cassette.

In his tenth year with Acid Jazz, the ever-prolific Matt Berry
has crafted a psych masterpiece. Once again proving that
his artistic progression and ambition knows no bounds.
Following the acclaim of last year’s Top 30 album
‘Phantom Birds’ (★★★★ The Times), Acid Jazz release
‘Blue Elephant’, Matt Berry’s sixth studio album with the
ground breaking label.
Recorded during the summer of 2020, ‘Blue Elephant’ is
testament to Matt’s exceptional musicianship, production
skills and songwriting prowess with every instrument
played by Matt - including guitars, bass, a variety of
keyboards and synthesizers (piano, Wurlitzer, mellotron,
Moog, Hammond, Vox and Farfisa organs) - with the
exception of drums (supplied by Craig Blundell), on
arguably his best album to date.
This music soundtracks an album that explores themes
surrounding today’s close scrutiny in all its bewildering,
objectifying and unnerving experiences. Very much a
conceptual and, therefore, continuous long-player, the
album’s infectious grooves come to the fore on standout
tracks ‘Summer Sun’, heavy-psych instrumental ‘Invisible’
and the three-part ‘Blues Inside Me’, which encompasses
a psych journey through a late ‘60s and early glam filter,
mixed with the propulsive ‘Like Stone’.
‘Blue Elephant’ is available on digipack CD, blue vinyl,
black vinyl and audio cassette.

In 2018, artists Haroon Mirza and Jack Jelfs spent two months in residency at CERN, the European Centre for Nuclear Research, and home of the Large Hadron Collider. From this collaboration the artists created the fictional reality of 'The Wave Epoch', a sprawling multimedia artwork drawing influence from science, mysticism and the nature of belief. ‘The Wave Epoch’ project spans live performance, film, art installations and their critically acclaimed 2020 album of the same title.

'one1one' is the latest transmission from this same universe, a magical incantation spoken by Jessica Barter, with words filtered through Google Translate to produce what the artists describe as “algorithmic mysticism”. This release presents remixes by Fracture and Jack Jelfs, alongside the original album track by Mirza and Jelfs, here on vinyl for the first time.

Experimental drum n' bass artist Fracture has transformed Mirza and Jelfs’ raw materials into a heavy 160 BPM workout that harkens back to the Blue Note-era Metalheadz sound of the mid-nineties, a crunching minimalist construction of metallic breaks and analogue sub bass. Accompanying his track is an AR (augmented reality) work by Scott Utting and Mirza.

Label favourites Balearic Ensemble return to the fore following last summer's spectacular 'Cachonda' EP, this time with a 12" treasury of wonderful, eclectic dancing music of the highest balearic order. They're joined by Das Komplex, notable for recent excursions on DJ Harvey's Mercury Rising, to round out their five-track excursion for the label: this is the Mediterráneo EP.

Opener 'Pitiusas First' sets the tone with dizzy, downbeat percussions as a bass guitar skates and glissades underfoot; soaring, starry-eyed synth work and Latin organ stabs in concerto. This homage to the islands and islets of Ibiza comes with a note of melancholy, or nostalgia: waking up to find that your best years might have evaded you - and celebrating the fact. It's a maturing of the Residentes sound in a way we haven't heard before; a gorgeous moonlight serenade, the last tango on Formentera, and a tip for orange-tinted sunsets all summer long.

Second track 'Almendros y Drones' takes us deeper into the throes of that distinctive Mediterranean sound with dizzying arpeggios and analogue bass over teetering hihats and fizzing synths; it's an eruptive, volcanic beast of a track that will take liberties with your dancefloor. Over-the-top filter action and driving piano perforations, crashing snares and resonant howls, Almendros, Drones.

The third offering is 'Mojada', taking cues from classic deep house with its deep-set bassline and modular squeaks. It's a slow burner, an aquaplane on Eivissa, cueing 303 squelches and 90s drum machine riffing before its eventual, explosive peak.

After Mojada we enter the chugging, gritty realm of Das Komplex's remixes. He refashions the heady throes of 'Mojada' into a driving, churning unit; percussions, distorted into infinity; basslines bent and buckled into submission; slabs of piano lathered with space echo delay. Wonky late-nite dancing music at its very best.

Extra treat: Das Komplex also left us his 'Pineapple Bonus Mix' of Mojada, which is a more sunset-suited affair altogether. This special mix lasers in on that exuberant piano part, then plays with percussions and dynamics to create a full-on dub version of the original track.

Debut album by Goatman, now repressed. A solo project by one of the mysterious members from the Swedish collective GOAT. Recorded in GOAT’s northern Swedish hometown of Korpilombolo In late 2017 - the 6 tracks on Rhythms reveal a true collision of African Rock, Jazz, Reggae, Gospel and Psych, but all put through the famous GOAT filters.

First ever reissue of one of the most sought after titles in the catalogue of Peruvian's label MAG, in high demand not only among Latin music collectors but also among those interested in the most exotic and experimental psychedelic sounds around. - It includes 'Astronautas a Mercurio', a cosmic descarga full of electronic effects, filtered voices and fierce guitars with wah wah and raw distortion, as well as guarachas, cumbias and descargas. - Details: Hugo Macedo was a member of the first sonora in Peru, directed by his brother: the Sonora de Lucho Macedo. His brothers were the singers of the band while he performed as a timbalero. After nine years he founded the Sonora Casino of Hugo Macedo in 1964, later incorporating his wife, Lucía "Pochita" Rivera as a vocalist. "Trompeteros" was released on the Peruvian record label MAG in 1972. Previously, the Sonora Casino had already recorded several albums for Philips since the mid-60s. At the time their repertoire was fed by rhythms such as cha cha cha, bolero, guaracha... Their MAG period would start in 1970 with the album "Pochita y la Sonora Casino de Hugo Macedo" in which Hugo Macedo's wife was granted with an important visual presence on the front cover, with a similar follow-up on "Trompeteros", creating some confusion since vocalist Pachito Nalmy was the actual main singer on the record. The vocalist, who hails from Callao, demonstrates here a great vocal versatility as captured on songs like 'Guajira del amor', with a heavy rhythm that will surely delight boogaloo lovers, or the bolero number 'Pasa, pasa', being both songs own compositions of the multitalented Nalmy. Guarachas, descargas and cumbias complete the offering of this fantastic album, one of the strongest tropical LPs in the MAG catalogue. But the real banger here is the almost magical 'Astronauts to Mercury', a cosmic descarga full of electronic effects, filtered voices and fierce guitars with wah wah and raw distortion, closer to the sound of any psychedelic recording than the classic tropical sound of La Sonora Casino, and right next to those elements, an impressive brass section that boosts the intensity of the song to the highest levels. It is not surprising that "Trompeteros" has become in recent years a highly sought-after album not only by Latin music collectors but also by those after the most exotic and experimental psychedelic sounds around... Pablo Iglesias aka DJ Bongohead

Imperial Tiger Orchestra's Mercato 12th years Anniversary Edition includes the best of both albums Mercato & Addis Abeba remastered with bonuses live recordings in London, Paris, Addis, Tokyo & Cape Town.

Imperial Tiger Orchestra, the finest connoisseurs and grooviest performers of Ethiopian music from the Golden Age.

Back in 2007 in underground Geneva, band leader Raphaël Anker decides to gather musicians for a one off live performance revisiting the golden age of Ethiopian music.
A memorable event that forced all the musicians to carry on.
As Imperial Tiger Orchestra.

Consisting of members with very diverse backgrounds (free jazz, noise experimentations, contemporary music, twisted pop…) the Orchestra soon travels to Addis-Abeba where they perform with local luminaries and deep learn about the large diversity of Ethiopian music.
A life-changing experience which brings them back to the studio and to a plethora of successful gigs around Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and Africa.

The Tiger's unique sound is a mesmerizing re-interpretation of Ethiopian music's golden age mixed with the digitalized themes that appeared in the 80s and filtered through their eclectic influences, a sort of retro-futuristic and progressive Ethiopian rock. This Anniversary edition brings back thunderous rhythms and feverish hooks, down tempo moments and fast paced epiphanies, electronic sounds and ambient nirvanas.

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Ángel Rada is one of the most interesting music experimantalists of Venezuela. He started his career in the late 1960s as a member of The Gas Light, one of the big names on Venezuela's live circuit in the era, sharing the stages with other artists such as Apocalipsis, Un Dos Tres y Fuera, Vytas Brenner, Daniel Grau, Pablo Schneider, Miguel Ángel Fuster... Rada is one of the three basic artists who set an electronic music scene in Venezuela, along with Miguel Ángel Noya and Vinicio Adames.



Rada had attended the Escuela Superior de Música José Ángel Lamas and then continued his studies in Germany, where he was impressed by krautrock music, especially by its more electronic side. He met Kraftwerk when they were recording at Kling Klang Studio, and also knew Klaus Schulze–who would become an example for him to to follow. This contact with the Kraut scene would be the biggest influence on his works from the 1970s, which would end synthesizing in Rada's first record: 1983's Upadesa, originally released on his own independent label Uranium Records. Since then he has released more than 20 albums up to date, making him one of the most prolific experimental musicians not only in his country but also in the whole world.



Rada's aproach to electronic music is based in what he calls ethnosonic music. He is interested in the mixture of various styles which he filters through the use of technology, so in his electronic compositions one can hear echoes of ethnic sounds from all over the globe as well as some jazz influenced improvisation, ambient and synthesized sounds.



The Wah Wah edition is the first ever vinyl reissue of this landmark LP and has been remastered for vinyl by Roger Prades @ Prades Mastering. Includes an insert with liner notes by Salvatore Maldera.



It is a strictly limited edition of 500 copies only.

Woo-hoo! Two of the best Italian rare grooves ever are finally back on 7'' for the first time since their original French release on the format! Both are from that most iconic film soundtrack of the Italian 70s (the LP is now a holy grail for collectors), Armando Trovajoli's score to Dino Risi's anthology sex comedy Sessomatto (1973) starring Laura Antonelli and Giancarlo Giannini.

In the title track the influence of Manu Dibango's afro-funk hit "Soul Makossa" is filtered through, and enriched by, an exquisitely Italian approach, with a sweet 'n' groovy funk base (the terrific mid-song drum break has been a DJ favorite for decades) over which Edda Dell'Orso seductively laughs and repeats the words 'sesso' and 'matto' again and again. The wild and fun electronic samba "Kinky Peanuts" on side B is a wonderful example of 'strange incredible music', with infectiously quirky Moog themes and runs.

Pretty irresistible.

Fractal head rearrangement from Keith Fullerton Whitman on his first vinyl release in what feels like years, here blessing Japan’s NAKID label with a new instalment in his forever-evolving Generators project, arcing from bleeping post-Kosmische sounds into completely unexpected drum mutations in footwork and grime modes. It’s properly head melting gear that links the algorithmic mind-fukkery of Laurie Spiegel with the floor-bending rhythmic experimentation of Mark Fell, Rian Treanor or Jana Rush, and the first in a three part series that offers some of the strongest gear we’ve heard from one of the very best in the game.

Modular synth scientist, critic and historian Keith Fullerton Whitman first debuted his »Generators« set in 2009, using a modular setup to create non-repeating melodic patterns that basically came close to generating themselves. Over the course of hundreds of live shows (and a handful of releases on Root Strata, Editions Mego and other labels), Whitman glacially honed his process and allowed the concept to slither down different avenues, mutating as it picked energy from the various venues it was situated in. His rigorous method meant ‘Generators’ was never played out the same way twice, veering from psychedelic Kosmische experimentation to obliterated, off-grid Techno.

In 2019, on the tenth anniversary of the project, Whitman was invited by the GRM in Paris to set up in Studio C, where he avoided the arsenal of pristine, museum-worthy modular synthesizers and instead reprogrammed his classic ‘Generators’ patch. Recorded in a single take using luxe analog- to-digital convertors, the result is a 45-minute durational piece, split into two distinct sides for this release.“Very little manual interaction happened,” Whitman explains. The music is, as its title suggests, generative, and at this point basically sounds as if it reached its most advanced, final form. The first few minutes of the opening side mine the original theme, with clocked LFO shapes triggering oscillator blips in mind-expanding non-looping patterns. Soon, percussion enters the matrix, at first wrong-footing us with a 4/4 fake-out - possibly nodding to the piece’s 2010 Root Strata iteration - before splitting into staccato polyrhythmic abstractions of the most loose- limbed and deadly variety.

General MIDI drums can sound almost hilariously boxed-in, but handled by Whitman they show off a plastic cultural sheen to piercing effect, deployed in a way that re-draws the rhythmic bass music of someone like Jlin while nodding to Mark Fell and Rian Treanor’s quasi-generative dance explorations. These comparisons take on even more weight on the second side, where Whitman opens up his filters to allow the synth bleeps to sing even more loudly, introducing that all- important clap/hat interplay that dialogues with Atlanta and Chicago simultaneously.

Justin K Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu, JK Flesh) breathes new life into his FINAL project for an album on Helm’s ALTER label. Formed in 1984 out of an obsession with the industrial, noise & power electronics acts of the early eighties, FINAL made its public debut at the legendary Mermaid pub in Birmingham when Broadrick was just 14 years old. A string of cassette releases via his Post MortemRekordings label established the name within the underground noise scene of the time until increased activity with his various groups (Napalm Death, Head of David and later Godflesh) meant that FINAL naturally fell by the wayside before the end of the decade. Broadrick reactivated the project in 1993 during the British ambient “isolationism” period and FINAL's sound became focussed more on texture, producing beatless ambient work with a number of albums for labels like Sentrax, Utech, No Quarter and Neurot. ‘It Comes To Us All’ is the first FINAL album to appear on vinyl since 2015’s ‘Black Dollars’ on Downwards and continues to explore the textural nature of Broadrick’s ambient work - this time through a filter of blown-out harmonic noise that reconnects the project with its harsher roots. Rather than channelling the angst of early power-electronics, the noise here rumbles along blissfully through 8 untitled tracks, sombre in tone and at times beautiful. Melodies sampled from pop music are put through a process of decay, stripped of their form and worn down with a rusty, melancholic afterglow. Reducing all its parts to slow-motion shadows of their former selves, ‘It Comes To Us All’ is an exploration of the decay of all living things that we face collectively, day after day.

LNDFK (aka Linda Feki) presents her ground-breaking debut album, "Kuni" on Brooklyn-based Bastard Jazz Recordings. Undeniably on the rise after her 2019 breakout performance at Primavera Sound, LNDFK has already caught the attention of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Clash Magazine, Noisey, and Brooklyn Vegan (among many others) while being championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft, and Jamz Supernova & landing spots on tastemaker playlists like Spotify's "Pollen" and "Fresh Finds."

"Kuni" is a spellbinding exploration of dichotomies: Love & Death (Eros & Thanatos), Flower & Fire, Delicacy & Violence, Poetry & Realism, Purification & Destruction. These opposites are reified in the 10-track LPs multifarious and multifaceted sounds, elegantly meandering through a variety of styles and genres, spearheaded by Linda and features the production wizardry of Darrio Bassolino who co-wrote the album.

"Kuni" opens with "Hana-bi," an ambient instrumental piece that sets the tone for the album. Inspired by the Takeshi Kitano 1997 film of the same name – particularly Joe Hisaishi's stunning soundtrack, as well as Kitano's paintings which appear in the film. "Hana-bi" expresses the dialoguing opposites of flowers and fire, the first of many dichotomous representations throughout the album. "Takeshi" acts as an extension and to "Hana-bi," albeit one of opposing sound, with its driving, highly syncopated drums (which reappear throughout "Kuni") – à la Karriem Riggins, Questlove, or Yussef Dayes – frenetic bass line, and jazz chords. Linda's sultry voice is interspersed, initially jumping around in scat fashion, being triggered as if a sample, before her lyrics come in; her vocals are used like an additional instrument, adding to the song's rich texture. "Kuni" truly hits its stride with the next song, "Smoke – a moon or a button" (its title lifted from the 1959 book by Ruth Krauss and Remy Charlip), which is structured like a jazz standard yet flows into neo-soul territory sonically with those prodigious drums a highlight once again.

LNDFK touches on experimental hip hop in two songs on the record (both of which were released as singles in 2021): "Don't Know I'm Dead or Not (feat. Chester Watson)" – track #4 – and "How Do We Know We're Alive (feat. Pink Siifu)" – track #9. Although they embrace a more hip hop-leaning sound, these songs by no means shy away from the exploratory theme, and feature two of the alt-rap scenes rising stars with Chester Watson and Pink Siifu who offer provocatively impressing verses, combining dense word play with unconventional flows. While these tracks may first appear to be outliers on the album, they are undeniably in tune with "Kuni's" message and sonic palette, acting as testaments to LNDFK's willingness to explore and experiment.

Meanwhile, "Ku" – the third and last single before the album release – furthers the pre-established future soul sound while meandering through nu jazz and left-field electronic. Inspired by the graphic novel and film, "Sin City," and its female assassin protagonist Miho, "Ku" is a musical interpretation of Miho's story, incorporating both her beauty – the first half of the song – and murderous tendencies – the second half – to create a stunning juxtaposition, culminating in an ambient finale that suggests the character's vulnerability and inner peace. The song gracefully bridges the gap between Hiatus Kaiyote-esque songwriting, Dilla's rhythmic syncopation, and Thundercat's instrumental prowess (LNDFK has shared a stage Brainfeeder labelmate Kamasi Washington).

Mixed in throughout "Kuni" are a series of instrumental pieces that function as something akin to an interlude. The aforementioned intro, "Hana-bi," and the album closer "se mi stacco da te, mi strappo tutto:" act as bookends, while "Om" indicates the half-way mark, and "Ktm" sees Jason Lindner add his sound the album. These tracks are the ambient foundation of "Kuni," representing the thematic duality of the work. Clocking in at only 24 minutes, "Kuni" packs an astonishingly diverse array of sounds, styles, and themes, all while showcasing virtuosic musicianship and instrumental prowess.

Appearing on "Hana-bi" and "Ktm," renowned international artists Asa-Chang and Jason Lindner add an additional perspective to "Kuni": Asa-Chang on "Hana-bi," and Jason Lindner on "Ktm." Asa-Chang - famously of the Japanese avant-garde group Asa-Chang & Junray - provides vocals and percussion to an alternate version of the instrumental opener, while the acclaimed keyboardist Jason Lindner offers his synth expertise on "Ktm." These features highlight the spirit of collaboration found in LNDFK's music, always willing to try out new ways of working.

LNDFK is a singer and songwriter, born of two cultures – an Italian mother and Arab father. She grew up in Naples, away from her father, the Sahara, her homeland and traditions, which has helped nourish the desire to rediscover – through art – an engagement to her roots. Her music melts with jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop influences, filtered through her experiences and sensibility.

Her first EP, "Lust Blue," was composed with the artistic production of Dario Bass and released by Feelin' Music; after that she released several singles that saw international radio support (BBC, NTS, Wordwide FM) and gained a massive audience on digital platforms. Together with her band, she toured around Europe, performing alongside such notable artists as Kamasi Washington and Mndsgn, among others. Most recently she toured Italy, and performed at Primavera Sound Festival 2019 in Barcelona.

"Kuni," is due out on NYC label Bastard Jazz Recordings in February, 2022, while the vinyl LP will follow shortly after.

For their ninth iteration, Hamburg's The Press Group punches back in with the sizzling hot debut to a VA series bound to scout and shed a broader light on exciting artists from various territories and backgrounds.
Pulsating to the bone, "Future Prospects vol.1" showcases a quartet of heaters courtesy of Germany-based Robert Dietz and Aii PS on the A-side and Kyiv-based Vlad Stuparenko & Ghetto Sunrise plus Sasha Zlykh on the flip. Either sides of the
disc inbound for optimal and non-pareil impact on the dance floor. Dietz's "Salbung" paves the way old-school style, grinding everything from lethal breaks to rowdy drums, via lysergic synth flights straight out a wild sci-fi scenario.
Aii PS' bouncy and oneiric contribution "Donteven" is more of a low-slung affair with its mischievous fusion of filtered synths and acid-informed bass spurts painting the sky all shades of radioactive green.
Flip it over and Stuparenko/Ghetto Sunrise's stealth, aqueous weapon "Pine Water" ushers us in a corridor of groove-enslaved echolocation, delayed stabs and propulsive bleepin' n bloopin' from the depths. A further dusty, shuffling affair
blazing with clanky hats on a Chicagoan tip and futuristic electroid inflections, Zlykh's "Pidozepam" tops it all off in implacable fashion, casting a spell of exquisitely thrilling menace upon the ravers.

"For a whole decade, spanning between the second half of the ‘50s and the second half of the ‘60s, jazz took over the Italian screens. The Californian be-bop rhythms, filtered and reinterpreted in a typical Mediterranean key, became the perfect soundtrack to the Italy of the economic boom; the quintessential music for a country that was sailing through a moment of profound and exciting industrial, social and cultural renovation. A nation that was rapidly shedding its skin, changing its style, look and identity, but also its landscape, letting itself go to the inebriation of the economic miracle. The compilation was conceived like a sonic stream, a journey of discovery carefully sequenced from hundreds of soundtracks from the golden age of Italian jazz contained in the CAM Sugar archive.
33 tracks that go beyond music, telling the story of Italian cinema, society and of its unmistakable style and charm. A genre that even when nodding to Californian be-bop, to crime jazz or bossa nova still sounds surprisingly original and Mediterranean, elegant, and seductive, either with joyous peaks (the scat of I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni or of I 4+4 di Nora Orlandi) or with enigmatic and nearly dramatic nuances (La strega in amore by Luis Bacalov, Il batticuore by Marcello Gigante). The compilation also offers a precious insight into the Italian jazz scene of the times, with its string of formidable soloists like Gianni Basso (sax) and Oscar Valdambrini (trumpet), two Piedmontese men on duty for the RAI television orchestra conducted by Armando Trovajoli; like Nunzio Rotondo (trumpet) a legendary and elusive figure who had a special bond with Piero Piccioni; or like Enrico Rava (trumpet), Franco D'Andrea (piano) and Gegé Munari (drums) who often recorded with Piero Umiliani. Not to forget international stars like Chet Baker and Gato Barbieri, who were often fortuitously dragged into the recording sessions also thanks to Umiliani’s never-ending curiosity."

Last year saw Greek edit wunderkind C Da Afro drop two joints on Cardiology amongst a whole load more discofied party fodder for the likes of SpinCat, Sound Exhibitions and more besides. Now he's back on Cardiology with even more goodies to share with the people in the place, leading in with intention through the rabble rousing 'Get On Your Feet'. He's working the filter hard on 'The Solution', teasing the funk until that sweet release on the drop. 'Disco Gang' whips up Backlash's classic '81 stomper 'Hang With The Gang' and gives it a gentle house injection, while 'Doing The Boogie' burrows deep into the groove for a simmering cut to keep the crowd loose and limber.

Orange Vinyl


With his second contribution to the Lost Palms catalogue, Swansea-based producer Tom Vernon takes us by the hand and leads us with him on a contemplative journey through Japan's rural landscapes and their urban surroundings.

Following the success of his debut EP released on Shall Not Fade's sub-label Lost Palms, Tom Vernon returns with a blissed-out 5-tracker. Taking its name from the ancient temple district at the foot of the Japanese mountain, Minobu EP sees the emerging producer fuse field recordings with the stylistic tropes of house and broken beat, creating intricately woven tapestries imbued with memory and place.

The wistfully amorphous opening track "Onjuku" captures the stasis of a declining-population seaside town, taking its cue from the futile whine of the tsunami warning system that echoes daily through its empty streets. On "Minobu In The Train", the EP discovers its pulse, translated into the shuffle of maracas, reverberating cymbals and a hypnotic piano melody that New Zealand brothers Chaos in the CBD would be proud of. With instrumental-sounding percussion, a modest, throbbing bassline and the ambient backdrop of Tokyo station, "Unexpected Departure" takes jazz-infused broken beat as its reference point, and sees the EP at its most transportive. Bringing things to a close are the complex drum workouts and acid-tinged melody of "Route E52" and the more upbeat deep house track "Could This Be" with low pass filtered funk-infused melody that oozes sex appeal.

Minobu EP drops 22nd April via Shall Not Fade.

Artist/composer/producer and Algebra Records head Casually Here's ambitious second solo album Possible Worlds will be released on the 1st of April on vinyl and digital distributed by Kudos.

Casually Here (Nic Nell) is a multidisciplinary artist, composer, sound designer & record producer with a background in art & mathematics. Recent projects include producing, co-writing & mixing Orlando Weeks' acclaimed 'A Quickening' album (PIAS) with playlisting and 200+ plays across BBC radio and fantastic reviews "Nothing short of stunning" DIY. And a collaborative electronic art/dance album 'Many Worlds' w/ Lawrence Hart (Hotflush Recordings) released as a series of EPs with wide DJ/radio support in the dance world from DJs like George Fitzgerald, Sasha and The Blessed Madonna, and featured in two Radio 1 Essential Mixes.

His music has been featured by The Guardian, Pitchfork, FACT Magazine, The Fader, Dummy, The Sunday Times, Dazed etc. Other projects include being half of both Young Colossus & art pop duo Rainer. His music & productions have been streamed over 15 million times & released on labels such as XL Recordings, Play It Again Sam, Hotflush Recordings & Bella Union.

Nic founded and runs Algebra Records with a focus on supporting emerging artists practically, technically and collegiately to help foster artistic community and context. Recent Algebra releases included the two debut EPs from Heavenly Stems, artist/composer/architect Emma-Kate Matthews' 'Far Flung EP', Liam Hutton's Trials EP, ELY's debut album 'Are You Invested In The Economy Of Love?', Lake Turner's Prime Mover EP and Sunplus' debut album 'More Colour'.

Artist/composer/producer and Algebra Records head Casually Here's ambitious second solo album Possible Worlds will be released on the 1st of April on vinyl and digital distributed by Kudos.

Casually Here (Nic Nell) is a multidisciplinary artist, composer, sound designer & record producer with a background in art & mathematics. Recent projects include producing, co-writing & mixing Orlando Weeks' acclaimed 'A Quickening' album (PIAS) with playlisting and 200+ plays across BBC radio and fantastic reviews "Nothing short of stunning" DIY. And a collaborative electronic art/dance album 'Many Worlds' w/ Lawrence Hart (Hotflush Recordings) released as a series of EPs with wide DJ/radio support in the dance world from DJs like George Fitzgerald, Sasha and The Blessed Madonna, and featured in two Radio 1 Essential Mixes.

His music has been featured by The Guardian, Pitchfork, FACT Magazine, The Fader, Dummy, The Sunday Times, Dazed etc. Other projects include being half of both Young Colossus & art pop duo Rainer. His music & productions have been streamed over 15 million times & released on labels such as XL Recordings, Play It Again Sam, Hotflush Recordings & Bella Union.

Nic founded and runs Algebra Records with a focus on supporting emerging artists practically, technically and collegiately to help foster artistic community and context. Recent Algebra releases included the two debut EPs from Heavenly Stems, artist/composer/architect Emma-Kate Matthews' 'Far Flung EP', Liam Hutton's Trials EP, ELY's debut album 'Are You Invested In The Economy Of Love?', Lake Turner's Prime Mover EP and Sunplus' debut album 'More Colour'.

3x12"

Extraordinary musical talent returns with a deeply textured third outing on Blu Mar Ten Music.

Having made serious waves with the release of his debut album "Coeur Calme" in 2014 and the incredible 2016 follow up album "Zawadi", Kimyan Law steers his sound in a darker, more introspective direction with the twelve heavily themed set-pieces of his new album, "Yonda".

The album title, "Yonda", homophonically flits between a location in Kimyan Law's native Congo and definitions of something situated at a distance but still visible, foreshadowing the artist's move away from his typical uplifting palette into less playful territory.

While previous work seemed to be a personal exploration of joy-tinged melancholy, "Yonda", feels much more sober and pensive, infected with external events. In conversation with Kimyan Law the artist described one piece ("Krieg") as his "portrait of war", with the music moving through phases of violence, silence, panic, redemption and peace. Ever the allegorist, Kimyan Law relates themes of conflict and war not just to obvious geopolitics but also to his own physical struggles, and even an obsessive battle with the music itself, ("Yonda" has been more than three years in the making). In 2017 the artist wrote, "I've reached a point where I couldn't sleep because it bothered me so much... I have found myself unable to make any music except for Krieg".

An accomplished drummer in his own right, Kimyan Law's intricate rhythmic sensibility is the lifeblood that runs throughout the album, incorporating ever more outlandish sources of percussion recorded from his natural surroundings and filtered through technology.

"Yonda's opener, "Jaardin", is deceptively gentle, with off-kilter rhythms and pianos providing fertile ground for Elyn's delicate singing before the whole piece careens off into what can only be described as orchestral proto-jungle territory. It soon becomes apparent that this placid introduction is misleading, with subsequent tracks fluctuating between pounding tribal beats ("Arboreal Epitone" / "Kin"), chilling orchestration ("Byo" / "Krieg") and rehabilitated jungle forms ("Seven Ant Foley"). A constant mix of light and dark, futuristic yet primitive atmosphere hangs over the album, with waves of luscious synths and deeply musical string arrangements lovingly cloaked over the razor-sharp drum work.

Unusual conceptual themes litter "Yonda"; "Dor Rhythm" is about a Dung Beetle's journey, "Lampion" is about paper lanterns, "Nova" is about plant growth while "Kilele" is a song about peace, featuring Kimyan Law's own vocals in a new language he created himself, conjuring memories of Cocteau Twin's Liz Fraser.

While "Yonda" contains moments of incontestable beauty it can often be a difficult listen, an illustration of an anxious mind yearning for peace. An obsessive and intricate musician, Kimyan Law's use of African percussion, finely honed polyrhythmic patterns and celestial sprinklings of keys melded with slabs of sub-bass power and sheer energy makes for an intoxicating listen. As ever, Kimyan Law has delivered a profoundly serious piece of work that expands the vocabulary of his genre. Despite the darkness saturating the work, a soft light still breaks through the window. It is the east, and Kimyan Law is the sun.

Set those filters to stun and get the glitterball rotating, because Italy's Giuseppe Scarano is back with some serious glitzy disco gear on his Cardiology label. 'BEK Again' boasts a hefty house undercarriage on which the brass, handclaps and funk are transported, a Jackson-esque vocal hook proving to be the cherry on top. 'Remember Da Name' and 'Know About Me' are a little sparser, with a garage beat not a million miles from some of Van Helden or Roger Sanchez's late 90s work, the musical gloriousness squashed down by filters until it's finally allowed to peak and soar. 'New Funk' completes the four track package, a tad slower and funkier with a sublimely wriggling bassline the central factor.

Cro-Mags is one of the fundamental names for the birth of the so-called “crossover thrash” subgenre, which synthesized thrash metal and hardcore punk. Cro-Mags’ first full-length, The Age of Quarrel, released in 1986, is one of the first albums where the unadulterated energy of hardcore punk is filtered through the aggression and the fury of thrash metal.

Cro-Mags is one of the fundamental names for the birth of the so-called “crossover thrash” subgenre, which synthesized thrash metal and hardcore punk. Cro-Mags’ first full-length, The Age of Quarrel, released in 1986, is one of the first albums where the unadulterated energy of hardcore punk is filtered through the aggression and the fury of thrash metal.

* Strictly limited-edition 2x12” vinyl in full colour sleeve. Includes card to download full album in WAV format.
* ‘Strange Days’ the debut album from one of the standout Drum & Bass acts of recent years, due for release on the legendary V Recordings on 3rd December 2021.
* Features collaborations with Serum, Makoto, MC Fats, Lorna King, 2shy MC, Cleveland Watkiss, Blak, Riya, A Little Sound, Elipsa & T.R.A.C.
* With support already secured from the likes of Shy FX, Bryan Gee, Fabio & Grooverider, Rene LaVice, Hybrid Minds, Serum, Randall and with a growing international fanbase at their back, Paul T & Edward Oberon's new album 'Strange Days' is set to be one of 2021's defining drum & bass releases.
* Their recent run of singles, including two Beatport number ones and collaborations with vocal talents like Cleveland Watkiss, MC Fats, A Little Sound & Lorna Kings have given us a flavour of this monumental project. An eclectic array of influences from jazz to jump up have been filtered through the unique musical perspective of this duo to bring us something that we've never quite heard before.
* Drum & bass has the capacity to deliver, on the one hand, soulfully emotive musicality and, on the other, sheer rave-inflaming filth. Paul T & Edward Oberon, however, have consistently performed the alchemical magic of bringing together both the music and the mayhem without compromising either.
* But of course they have. Paul and Edward have years of experience creating music for some of the most prestigious labels in the scene and drawing from a myriad of influences. Individually, they have credits stretching back decades, and, as a combo, they've been dusting dances around the world since 2011.
* Having won an army of new-gen fans with anthems like 'Stomp', 'Look for the Light' and the absolutely huge scene smashing Serum-collab 'Moon in Your Eyes', these veteran artists have wasted no time in stepping things up to even greater heights as they gear up to drop their album.
* Balancing vibes and viciousness, 'Strange Days' lays out the definitive manifesto for Paul T & Edward Oberon's dirty soul sound. Operating as both a self-contained audio journey and a collection of rave-ready deejay weapons, this LP is a piece of work that demands your attention!

Clear Vinyl Repress!!!

The landmark hundredth single on Phantasy, Erol Alkan’s ‘Automatic’ accompanied with two remixes that further take the London DJ and producer’s psychedelic club vision in distinct directions. The original 12" pressing, limited to 100 and hand-numbered, sold out in less than an hour.

Palms Trax builds on the sensual reverie of Alkan’s production with an electrifying rework full of touches both French and personal. Throwing out a gloriously chic bassline, the Berlin-based producer sprinkles carefully considered sweeps, stabs and filters on a trip to timeless house euphoria.

Mirroring the first ever artist to release on Phantasy in 2007 where Alkan remixed 'Engine', LA Priest proves a perfect candidate to reconstruct the label’s centenary single, a task he approaches with typically esoteric nous. Coaxing a heavenly aura from the original’s glorious loops, Sam Eastgate’s collection of reengineered and self-made analogue equipment soon progresses to melt Automatic’s rhythm into sticky cosmic bliss.

Jerry Leger follows up his critically acclaimed 'Time Out For Tomorrow' with 'Nothing Pressing'; produced by Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies).Jerry's last self released album 'Songs from the Apartment' was a stripped-down lo-fi affair recorded in Leger's home using a cheap tape recorder with an internal microphone
This lead to two songs from Nothing Pressing, "Underground Blues" and "Sinking In," to be also recorded in Leger's home.The remaining nine tracks included on 'Nothing Pressing' present Leger's work in two starkly contrasting soundscapes.

"Nothing Pressing," "Protector," and "Still Patience," are soloacoustic recordings cut live in the studio with little embellishment. The other six tracks are prime roots rock and roll featuring his long-time band The Situation. Among the latter songs, "Kill It With Kindness" and "Have You Ever Been Happy?" have the kind of drive, energy and spirit that are sure to make them highlights of his future live shows.

Leger often times finds himself at a loss as to explain the source of his songs. He feels his songwriting, while clearly drawing on experiences filtered through a panoply of influences,often verges on being a supernatural experience. Over the course of the eleven songs on Nothing Pressing, the songwriter's songwriter engages with questions of existence, mortality,hope, trust and heartbreak while
simultaneously conjuring feelings of isolation, reflection, longing and gratitude.

Paired with such evocative lyrics are wonderfully crafted melodies, soulful vocals and the spirit and energy of a mature songwriter, comfortable in his skin and growing as an artist withevery release. Nothing Pressing serves a wonderfully refreshing tonic in troubling times

Emerging from Lower Franconia's hidden reverse, Johannes schebler, known as ambient-poltergeist "Baldruin" and surreal folklorists Christian Schoppik & Katie Rich of "Brannten Schnüre"-fame have puzzled and amazed outernational audiences from the stranger end of the avant/lo-fi spectrum in recent years. The trio is now collectively dreaming as "Freundliche Kreisel",reaching for terra incognita rather than common ground on their most bewildering and accessible outing to date. Arch-pontifices of the electro-acoustic and outsider-art realm, they fill in gaps and invent missing links on the go with somnambulistic ease, confusing the hypersensitive and hyaline timbres of contempo-electronic aesthetics with the naïve charm of Germany's obscure Kassettentäter and mutant-NDW.

Think Daniele Mana and Lorenzo Senni digitally rewiring the 4-track recordings of Gareth Williams' Flaming Tunes or sometimes, much scarier, it feels as if it's the other way round. There certainly is an air of whimsical yet post-ironic romanticism to the songs contained here, a madcap, tongue-in-cheek ghost story as filtered through the transcendental senses of a childhood perspective. This attitude is best personified in the disarming innocence of Katie's vocals whose intonation touches on nursery rhymes as much as on dirges and bizarre 'schlager' kitsch.

Heirs to the tradition of magic realism, examining fragments of an arcane sacred mundanity like a crack in the concrete of everyday life, Freundliche Kreisel dwell on this often neglected microcosmic topography, yielding an adventurous and visionary piece of a decidedly Franconian next-level post-modern folklore.

10th anniversary reissue of this rhythmically churning one-man-band monster of an album, recorded in a single inspired studio session & originally released in 2012 on Editions Mego.

From the original Editions Mego press release:

“For anyone who still associates Oren Ambarchi exclusively with the clipped, bass-heavy tones of solo electric guitar works such as Suspension, this rhythmically churning one-man-band monster of an album-length piece might seem to come out of nowhere. However, listeners who have followed the breadth of his work for the last few years (solo and in projects with collaborators from Jim O’Rourke to Stephen O’Malley and Keith Rowe to Keiji Haino) will have noted how Ambarchi has allowed increasingly clear traces of his enthusiasms as a music listener (for classic rock, minimal techno and 70’s fusion, among other areas) to surface in his performances and recordings, all the time filtering them through his signature long-form structures and psychoacoustic sonics.

Recorded in a single inspired studio session, Sagittarian Domain displaces Ambarchi’s trademark guitar sound from the centre of the mix, its presence felt only as an occasional ghostly reverberated shimmer. Endlessly pulsating guitar and bass lines sit alongside electronic percussion and thundering motorik drumming (familiar from his work with Keiji Haino) at the core of the piece, locking into a voodoo groove like Faust covering a 70’s cop show theme. The work is founded on hypnotic almost-repetition, the accents of the drum hits and interlocking bass and guitar lines shifting almost imperceptibly back and forwards over the beat as they undergo gradual transformations of timbre. Cut-up and phase-shifted strings enter around the half-way mark like an abstracted memory of the eastern-tinged fusion of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s classic Visions of the Emerald Beyond, before returning for an extended, stark yet affecting come-down coda, equal parts Gavin Bryars and Purple Rain.

While Sagittarian Domain contains traces of a diversity of influences, it mines all of them to uncover something that is clearly an extension of Ambarchi’s own investigations up to this point, exhibiting the same care for micro-detail and surrender to the physicality of sound that are present in all of his work, extending them in new ways to repetition, pulse and rhythm”.

We all know that people in Switzerland are different, but these guys take it over the top! The brainchild of mastermind Andy Dormann, an established musician of the Swiss Rock Scene (KISSIN’ BLACK, CHARING CROSS) proves that fun and filthy loud music is alive and kicking on the streets of Switzerland. Get ready for a wild ride Sunset Strip-Style with a Happy Ending. D’OR Rock ’n’ Rolls like a relentless big screen cargo train. Amphetamine-primed guitar artistes with a growl like a peppery G’n’T. A galvanizing groove machine. Filterless cigarettes and a chronic scratchy throat is served up with a double espresso and a thundering sidecar. Melodic? Of course! Pretentious? Absolutely! Clichéd? Hey, D’OR glitters AND is gold! Tongue in cheek? Could be! VENI VIDI IGNIS is fresh and packed with energy. Think Terminator going back in time in a DeLorean to fetch the sexy 80s attitude to life and throw it in your 2020 face. D’OR possesses your neck muscles with an alchemy of hard rock and heavy rusty metal. If you like SKID ROW, W.A.S.P or ALICE COOPER with a bit more dirt, you better be prepared. The Goldfingers are ready. Now fasten your seatbelts!

Limited exclusive red vinyl.Tim Armstrong, guitarist and frontman of
Rancid, took a different path on his 2007 solo debut, with able backing
from L.A

Reggae revivalists The Aggrolites, Armstrong crafted a grooving, fun-filled modern reggae album, influenced by ska, rock steady, roots reggae, and dancehall and filtered through a modern pop- punk attitude.The sound of the record (nimble, jumped- up, and retro but fully modern) impresses instantly, but as the record goes on, Armstrong's voice emerges as the star. His raspy croon, staccato
toasting, and ragged shout fit the reggae sound surprisingly well.

Quindi Records returns once more to the swooning romanticism of Cabaret du Ciel, the long-running project from Andrea Desidera and Gian Luigi Morosin. After the contemporary material which made up long-player The Breath Of Infinity, Raintears heads back into the group's archives and focuses on a limited cassette release from 1991.

Originally released on Morosin's own Ionisation Tapes, Raintears is described as heralding a new phase for Cabaret du Ciel following their earlier Solarisation and Weather Colours cassettes. This revised, expanded version of the release opens with 'Raintears (Piano Version)', which originally came out on an Ionisation compilation entitled Imago Sonora 1. Truly evoking the spirit of the track and its meaning, it was recorded on a rainy Sunday afternoon when Desidera's friend and trained pianist Francesco Martignon heard the original melody for 'Raintears' and proceeded to improvise on the theme, with Desidera and Morosin embellishinbg Martignon's exquisite playing with subtle touches of synth and sampling. In its fragile, tape-worn repose, the piece is loaded with the delicate ambience a rainy Sunday afternoon implies - calm, melancholic and wistful.

'A New Day' is a piece cast in light and shade, contrasting two core melodic phrases expressed through synth and guitar, with a light touch of speech sampling adding to the cinematic poise of the track. 'Time Of The Twins' originally appeared as a single track on the cassette release, but here it's framed as two distinct parts which meet in the middle. The first half is patient, gliding ambience rich in the harmonic interplay and winding narratives which typifies Cabaret du Ciel overall. The second half opens up like a flower looking for the sun, all pronounced keys pirouetting across the fundamental chord progression established in the first chapter.

'A Delvaux Postcard', previously titled 'East Roads', takes on a spectral, spacious form as it passes by slow, rhythmic pulses and freewheeling synths, momentarily joined by scattered shards of sampled voice layered and filtered in a manner which reminded Morosin of Belgian surrealist painter Paul Delvaux. The EP closes with the original version of 'Raintears' (billed here as 'Raintears II'), a plaintive and disarmingly beautiful ambient piece centered on Desidera's light and poignant playing. As Morosin himself describes, "Andrea is in a full state of grace, touching the listener through his fingers with the notes into their deepest emotions. The first time I listened to the basic version, I was just speechless."

The long awaited third volume of our "Algo salvaje" series, featuring untamed 1960s beat and garage nuggets from Spain. "Algo salvaje" is an anthology devoted to a rich period when hundreds of bands appeared all over Spain and, after paying attention to what their US and British contemporaries were doing, found their own way to vent their teenage rebellion through loud guitars. With amazing results! Many of the 28 tracks are reissued for the first time, including very hard-to-find records. This double LP gatefold package includes extensive notes by Vicente Fabuel featuring all the original record sleeves and artist photos. "Algo salvaje" ("Something Wild"), now reaching its third volume, celebrates the darkest, neglected and rebellious side of Spanish beat. Internationally labelled as nuggets (after the original compilation of the same name concocted by Jac Holzman and Lenny Kaye in 1972 for the Elektra label), the more common garage rock label has been used to place and describe one of the most fertile chapters of rock & roll history during its most creative years. An underground story which has luckily become known, with participants from all around the globe which included anonymous musicians, independent record labels with impossible names and ridiculously limited pressings, often not more than a few hundred copies. The tracks chosen for the occasion, a selection filtered strictly by their musical value, adhere to the rules of the classic nugget genre while demonstrating the permeability of garage sound and its inevitable evolution at the turn of the decade (1967-1974) through mixes that embraced psychedelia, soul and even prog rock. Epic and pretty wild. Just the kind of material that this record label usually handles. Many of the 28 tracks are reissued for the first time, including extremely hard-to-find records. This double-LP package includes extensive notes by genre-expert Vicente Fabuel featuring all the original record sleeves and artist photos. So let the band play...

Amsterdam based DJ and producer Perdu aka Alain van der Born returns to Live At Robert Johnson for his second release: On his Illusion Of Choice EP, Perdu drives his sound one notch harder, yet retains his trademark 1980s tinged vibe. Perdu has already secured releases on DGTL Records, Heist and Let’s Play House amongst others, and surely is a keen producer to keep your eyes and ears on.

A1 Archi gets into gear with a straight and focused beat arrangement. It’s a trippy uptempo vibe, intertwined by a slightly modulated Arpeggio-Bassline and its transposed twin figure.

A2 Grey Rush features a filtered broken beat, quickly rushing inbetween sprinkled effects and noises, off into a resonating Bass figure and outstanding melodic arrangement, both which dominate the better part of this energetic track.

B1 Sitrao doesn’t hesitate long in letting a pounding Kick Drum escort you right into an uptempo Cosmic vibe. It’s that arpeggiated Bass, catchy melody and silky pads, which might just get those hands in the air again.

B2 Blue Rush is a subtle variation of Grey Rush, omitting the resonating Bass figure. Yet it doesn’t compromise its level of energy, as this keeps the beat stand out contoured, compared to its twin track Grey Rush. credits

Jimpster’s lockdown LP was made throughout 2020 and finally sees the light of day at the end of February 2022 having been delayed around 6 months due to the ongoing vinyl pressing hold ups. Birdhouse is the revered producers seventh full length LP and can be considered a full circle as he takes a step away from the dance floor to revisit his early inspirations of jazz, 70’s fusion, library music, ambient and sample-based downtempo electronica. With its soulful touches, vocal and live musician features and trademark warm Jimpster production, we also think it could be his most accomplished and accessible yet.

The opening title track sets the tone for what’s to come with rustling percussion, widescreen choral samples, dub FX and drifting pads all coming together to create a sense of optimism. The first of six vocal features comes next. Ascension with UK vocalist Oliver Night (featured on IG Culture’s recent Earthbound LP) is a simple soul jam with live bass from Nick Cohen and Jimpster’s beloved Fender Rhodes joining the lo-fi drum groove.

Next up we’re treated to Voodoo featuring brilliant young NYC MC/poet/producer who first grabbed Jimpster’s attention with his mind-melting track Signs, released in 2020 on Youngbloods. Yoh’s sung (not sung) vocal flow adds a new dimension to the Jimpster sound and is hopefully the first of many more collaborations to come with this perfect pairing. Still Believe takes us on a tripped-out journey into slo-mo, lopsided MPC beats punctuated with otherworldly vocal samples, live bass and Rhodes making for an immersive late night mood.

The first of two tracks on the LP featuring London vocalist and songwriter Cairo drops next entitled Beautiful Day. Another incredibly talented young artist introduced to Jimpster through a mutual friend, Cairo adds a deep and uplifting vibe making for a track you’ll come back to time and time again. A slow-burning nu-soul groove which will draw you in with its warm glow. Lazarusman is a Johannesburg-native poet and vocalist known for his collaborations with Stimming, Joris Voorn and Booka Shade. Here he delivers a poem called Heavy, perfectly punctuating the haunting reverb-drenched horn, Detroit-esque chord stabs and filtered drums.

Future Paradise drops the BPM's further still for a slow-stepping synth ride mixing up rising arpeggios, dubby flugel horn FX and the lushest of strings. It’s been 15 years since Jimpster and Capitol A last joined forces on Left n Right from Jimpster’s Amour LP. Known for his work with Jazzanova, King Britt, Mark De Clive-Lowe and 2008 club anthem Serve It Up on Mantis, the San Francisco native MC delivers his inimitable flow to a blunted jazzy hip hop groove making for one of the LP highlights.

Up next, Rain is an intimate and understated slice of contemporary soul music which pushes another spellbinding Cairo vocal front and centre, underpinned by loose, crunchy beats, dusty keys and moogy flourishes. Picking up the pace, Doors Of Your Heart sees Jimpster get busy chopping up a funk groove whilst Nick Cohen lays down another killer live bass line. Lush keys, modular synths and some crazy FX processing take this into the stratosphere and call to mind some of his earliest productions in the late 90’s on his seminal LP Messages From The Hub.

Winding things down, Jimpster continues to revisit some of the sounds and flavours of his earliest work on Tell You, which goes seriously deep with touches of cinematic big band horns and a looped up vocal sample. Closing out the LP we have the aptly titled Full Circle complete with sublime Metheny/Mays-style pads, muted synth arps and subtle FX to drift away to.

repressed !

Free your mind and float away, you’re now entering the mode of the Growing Bin. Hamburg’s centre for audio enlightenment is back with another sublime sensory experience, this time from the land of the rising sun. Keen to get another stamp on his passport, Basso reached out to Japanese duo Singu, two open minded cats who just love to jam. Marrying Kiyo’s free drumming with Keta Ra’s melodic mastery of keyboard and guitar, the two-piece fuse free jazz, post-rock, kosmische and ambient into immersive and esoteric improvisations. Free from any compositional concerns, the Hiroshima outfit trade in energy, emotion and expression. The frenetic percussion and ephemeral melodies of opener ‘Aurora Gate’ instantly transport you to the breathless churn of a Tokyo crossroads, where thousands of people rush by but you stand still in the eye of the storm. Though they may be explosive, the drums sit back in the mix, offering a soft intensity behind the shimmering wall of melody. A nimble and nuanced affair, ‘Bop’ brings rapid fire rhythm, slick syncopation and hypnotic piano refrains. Cool bass rolls along like KDJ’s ‘Rectify’, as Singu update the acid jazz template like Toshio Matsuura covering Carl Craig. Singu journey from far out to Furthur on Aside closer ‘Nagebu’, strapping in for psychedelic synth wig out which is heavy on the resonance and free on the filter. Blooming out of the darkness on the B1, Basso favourite ‘Fazaria’ soothes and moves you with its twinkling keys, nebulous wave forms and delicate guitar, leaving you wide eyed in wonder as the drum fills burst like fireworks across a star-filled sky. ‘828’ sweeps into abstraction as Kiyo and Keta Ra combine snapping glitches and aquatic electronics with fractal guitar tones and woozy bass, pushing through a portal to see what’s beyond. An a-grade wal

Following his debut on the label in 2019 - ‘Mind Dweller’ (COUNTER013) - Frankfurt’s Stefan Alexis is back with his next chapter of four atypical, undulating club tracks.

The EP features ‘Eratosthene’, a shimmering up-tempo weapon in collaboration with label founder Inland, alongside three other diverse cuts highlighting some of the Macedonian psychotherapist’s favourite modes of play: filter-funk, acid, broken-beats, sampling.

This release comes on 180g 12’’ vinyl and digital, featuring artwork by Berlin-based Norweigan painter Tyra Tingleff.

Oftentimes in this busy and chaotic world it’s challenging to draw a parallel between two congruent events. In this case drawing its inspiration from Detroit’s meteoric rise from the ruins
of the past, BerettaMusic a label founded in Detroit in 2002 who took a several year hiatus is back in a big way, also rising from the ashes like it’s birth city has done.

Ryan Sadorus who co-founded the label with Brian Kage delivers some next level quirky Detroit house jams. Already getting spins by local Detroit DJ’s and the verdict is in and the tracks are
dance floor ready and sure to get people moving. The release also features vinyl artwork by renowned midwest artist Jon Griffin featured on full color vinyl jackets.

First off is “Slippah”, a shuffling and quirky bass heavy stormer. The track builds through various levels dropping into syncopated and distorted vocal riffs, lifting its way into some pulsing
synth stabs with perfectly timed filtering which lends itself to the overall energy rise through the track. With a huge breakdown and vocal stab sequence, it’s sure to have them moving! “Hit
'em with da slippah!”

Expansive is a chugging deep house tune with atmospheric synth business to really set the mood anytime of the night. A deep bassline carries the tune along into a breakdown complete with a quote from the man himself, Carl Sagan.

Brian Kage delivers a stunning remix of Expansive, imprinting his own defined style he’s known for as he keeps things level grounded with evolving Detroit-inspired soulful elements.

Last but not least, “Flexxin” is ripping speaker work out of epic proportions. Another quirky, bass heavy jam that will definitely wake up the dance floor. Written and Produced by Ryan Sadorus, mixed by Brian Kage at The Bear Cave in Detroit Mastered by Dietrich Schoenemann Label art by Brian Kage & Juju / painted original portrait art by Jon Griffin Special thanks to: Juju, my parents and family, Brian Kage, Ronnie Perez, Sims Cabrera and the entire Guam crew, Norm Talley, Dietrich and to you for your support! - Ryan Sadorus

One of the things that made Elvis Presley a truly great
singer was that he was singing material that he deeply
loved. He’d grown up listening to Country Music and
Gospel, to the Blues, and its near relative Rhythm & Blues.
In fact, Elvis grew up in the very heartland of the Delta
Blues, in Mississippi and Tennessee. All of that music
filtered through Elvis, who added something of his own as
he delivered it to the world. This album collects fourteen of
Presley’s greatest Blues recordings between 1953 and
1960.

This is Freestyle free from any style.
There is no need for the disembodied voice telling you THIS IS HOUSE.
It is simply felt and known.

Every kick.
Every arpeggio.
Every bass note.
Experienced through the prism of now.
Ribs rattle from the heart center to the endless reaches of consciousness.

The racks are stacked high beyond the heavens as the Filter Queen speaks of love without words.
Bound to no earthly constructs, beholden to no laws.
This is the joyous sound of overground resistance.

SweetSexySavage, the certified gold 2017 debut album from the Bay Area-born two-time GRAMMY Award-nominated multiplatinum songstress Kehlani, is out on vinyl on November 26th.

The 17-track, full-length debut, now available as a physical vinyl, includes the hugely popular tracks “Crzy”, “Distraction” and “Keep On”. It bowed at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and closed out the year on Pitchfork’s “The 50 Best Albums of 2017” and Rolling Stone’s “20 Best R&B Albums of 2017” before eventually going gold, accompanied by sold out dates on the SweetSexySavage World Tour.

Critically acclaimed R&B pop songstress Kehlani embodies the title of her 2017 full-length debut album, SweetSexySavage and is praised by Complex as “a special talent, making the kind of personal music that speaks to her fans as much as it functions as a therapeutic release for her”. It doesn’t really need an explanation – you know exactly what Kehlani means when she sings. Without sugarcoating or softening a word, she will drop a hard truth in one breath and flip a middle finger in the next. She may extend a seductive invitation or an empathetic plea before leaving you in your thoughts and feelings. Either way, she finds a way to consistently relate without filter and with each move she strengthens this connection to listeners everywhere.

While We Wait, the chart-topping 2019 mixtape from the Bay Area-born two-time GRAMMY Award-nominated multiplatinum songstress Kehlani, is out on vinyl on November 26th.

The 9-track mixtape, available as a physical vinyl, includes the hugely popular tracks “Nights Like These, “Nunya” and “Feels”, with appearances on the album from Ty Dolla $ign, Dom Kennedy, 6lack and Musiq Soulchild.

Critically acclaimed R&B pop songstress Kehlani is praised by Complex as “a special talent, making the kind of personal music that speaks to her fans as much as it functions as a therapeutic release for her”. It doesn’t really need an explanation – you know exactly what Kehlani means when she sings. Without sugarcoating or softening a word, she will drop a hard truth in one breath and flip a middle finger in the next. She may extend a seductive invitation or an empathetic plea before leaving you in your thoughts and feelings. Either way, she finds a way to consistently relate without filter and with each move she strengthens this connection to listeners everywhere.

Box Records is pleased to welcome the debut album from Leeds noise rock band THANK.

'Thoughtless Cruelty' is a stark observation of human cruelty filtered through the band’s grim fascinations including long term nuclear warnings, CNN’s Turner Doomsday Video (opening song 'From Heaven' is a partial reworking of the Latin verse from 'Nearer My God To Thee', the hymn performed in that video), the writings of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, and the "business as usual" liberal politics which has given way to the global rise of the far right.

Unlike THANK’s previous material, which was largely honed at gigs and then recorded almost entirely live, the pandemic found the band in unchartered territory as they hit the studio having not been in the same building for months, including most of the album’s writing period.

Says vocalist Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe on the recording of the album - "It was a very different way of working for us; most of the songs did not have an arrangement figured out, we added layers to serve each track without worrying about how it would translate in a live setting. I guess that's the norm for a lot of bands, but it was a very novel experience for us."

Clear Vinyl Repress

After the unbridled success of her eponymous debut album, and the subsequent relentless touring schedule that took her to all corners of the earth, Nina Kraviz has finally found the time to get back in the studio and has bestowed another gift of musical material to the Rekids catalogue. 'Mr Jones' is a neat, 6-track package featuring Nina's first original output since her 2012 LP, which has since been pulled apart, re-imagined and remixed by the likes of Steve Rachmad, KiNK, Marcellus Pittman, Fred P, DVS1, DJ Qu and Radio Slave to name but a few. Now it's Nina's turn to get back behind the mixing desk, and fans of her slightly lesser-known B-side 'Tanya' will be pleased to hear the release kick off with 'Desire' - as Nina's seductive voice surges in and out over a hypnotically dissonant groove with slightly menacing undertones, much like her aforementioned track. On title track 'Mr Jones' Nina's voice is very much the star of the show - musing on the mysterious man himself, while a constant 'oom-pah' backbeat props up ticks and whirling textures generated by Nina's own vocal chords. Detroit's Luke Hess joins the fold on 'Remember', and certainly brings the flavour of his hometown, as the track builds in intensity with battering ram percussion and siren-like bleeps that are sure to land this one straight in Jeff Mills' record bag. Next up, it's back to House on the spicy 'Black White', where enchanted melodic cross-rhythms filter in and out through an Afro-Caribbean bounce, while Nina chants and calls over the top. 'So Wrong' is a more solemn affair, reminiscent of the more melancholic yet danceable tracks from her much lauded album, and 'Sheer' ends the release much like it starts, unnerving whistles and warbling textures combine to disorienting effect over a steady kick drum pulse.

Life is slowly but surely returning to “normal”. From festivals to clubs,
many countries have begun to allow cultural events to take place with an audience again. It feels great - if occasionally still unfamiliar - to
rediscover and experience the way we used to live, love and party.
Janefondas’ new release “French love” is the perfect dancefloor weapon for this year’s summer season. This disco-house tune is driven by optimistic, uplifting vibes and funky guitar riffs. Strings full of desire and a touch of melancholy put smiles on faces whenever and wherever it gets played. Fortunea Records is proud to contribute this little treasure to the summer season of 2021.

"Ode To David”, the B-side track, rolls out darker vibes. It´s a thrilling
house tune that combines raw, crunchy disco-loop filter madness and
acid elements that let you forget the sorrow of the past.
Have fun this summer, be respectful, and stay safe.
Yours truly, Fortunea Records team.

This Release is limited to 300 vinyl copies.
Strictly no repress!

»Infuso Giallo aka Philipp Carbotta originally hails from rural Western Germany, first cut his teeth in the music scene of nearby Cologne and conducts a host of activities in Berlin for a couple of years now – co-running the label Kame House, designing graphics and producing and playing leftfield electronic music. His debut LP Ocular Soda presents an intersection of these activities – self-released, self-designed and of course self-produced. Even before the first synth chords and reverse atmospheres of the two-part opener 'Every Waking Hour' tickle the ear, it is the eye that is drawn to the bright, cut-out style cover art – itself made up of two eyes on the front and what seem to be their rough shapes or discarded counterparts on the back.
To stay within that metaphor, Infuso Giallo's music is indeed of a reflective and calm nature, taking cues from Berlin School, library and New Age musics from roughly the 1970s to the 1990s – steadily repeating and slowly evolving ostinatos, lush digital pads, quirky filtered toplines and electronic percussion that mostly eschews four-four monotony in favor of much more subtle syncopations. Balearic bomb 'The Big Rip' with its big drums and acid bass turns the energy level up a notch while retaining the somnambulistic, lingering quality that makes Ocular Soda such a coherent listening experience – music on the sheath of waking and dreaming, both worlds and their inherent logics freely bleeding into each other. There are moments of great expanse, such as in 'Mole Gaze' – I couldn't help but see myself hovering somewhere in mid-air while the music unfolds as if on a great deserted plane below me. Maybe this is what it sounds like once the mole leaves his tunnels and takes in the sound of the world overground. 'Hello World', indeed, in its multitude of information to eye and ear, in its gently overwhelming quality. The title track 'Ocular Soda' closes the proceedings with a whimsical nod to 1970s botany-centered library music, its brooding chord sequence and sweet lead lines gradually fading in the distance. A fitting ending to an impressive LP of highly evocative, at times sombre and at times blissfully naive pieces that leave me yearning for more.«

Written, recorded & produced by Infuso Giallo in 2020 & 2021 in Berlin. Mixed by Philipp Janzen & Sebastian Blume at Dumbo Studios, Cologne. Mastered by Sam Irl in Vienna. Design by Infuso Giallo.