Limited pink vinyl. Through the album trilogy Misanthropical House, Algorithm and Blues and Research and Destroy, The Good The Bad and The Zugly have limped their way through midlife crises and pubescent antics. Loud-mouthed and bitter, we have embraced our fate as mediocre losers on the narrow and winding Scandirock path. Haunted by a constant bad conscience over the outcome of our miserable lives, which in addition to bitterness, have resulted in substance abuse, pettiness, greed, spiritual lethargy, bastard offspring, excessive self-confidence, understated self-awareness, and of course - bodily decay. In breif; A urinal without a drain. The question has always been nagging: Why us? Why have we, since the dawn of time, been made to curse the day we were born? Well, the truth shall set you free, as they say.
Cerca:not me
"After two EPs and an illuminating start to his career, Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Venna releases his debut album, Malik. Not wanting to be rooted in jazz alone, Malik embodies the melting pot of sounds that
reflects Venna’s environment. Bossa Nova influences can be heard across the album, as well as a deep love for Soul, R&B, and Rap. Venna’s broad range shines bright in his choice of collaborators, including vocalists Jorja Smith, Leon Thomas, MIKE, and Smino, as well as instrumentalists such as Yussef Dayes and Marco Bernardis.
It’s a beautiful rarity when an artist sees themselves as a vessel of the music, and though Malik is a manifestation of his experiences and how he sees the world and years of craft, Venna wants Malik to be an invitation. An invitation to let go, be present and submit to sensory experiences."
Das estnische Vokalensemble Vox Clamantis und dessen Leiter Jaan-Eik Tulve haben sich im Laufe der
inzwischen 25 Jahre langen engen Zusammenarbeit mit Arvo Pärt als führende Interpreten seiner Musik
etabliert – eine Beziehung, die auf der fast ein halbes Jahrzehnt währenden künstlerischen Partnerschaft
zwischen Pärt und dem Produzenten Manfred Eicher baut. Über die ECM New Series-Aufnahme The Deer’s
Cry des Ensembles meinte das BBC Music Magazine: „Das künstlerische Niveau, das nötig ist, um eine so
lebendige und atmende Interpretation wie die von Vox Clamantis zu erreichen, ist selten anzutreffen. Diese
eindringlich authentische und hervorragend gesungene Aufnahme gehört wohl zu den überzeugendsten auf
einer CD befindlichen Einführungen in Arvo Pärts Musik”. And I heard a voice, aufgenommen im Dom zu
Haapsalu, Estland, und anlässlich von Arvo Pärts 90. Geburtstag veröffentlicht – zeigt, wie sich die enge
Verbindung zwischen Chor und Komponist, getragen von einem gemeinsamen Gespür für Gregorianischen
Gesang ebenso wie für zeitgenössische Musik, weiterhin vertieft.
4x12"[103,78 €]
Am 5. September erscheint zum ersten Mal seit fast 25 Jahren eine brandneue Sammlung der beliebtesten
Songs von Yusuf / Cat Stevens aus seiner fast 60-jährigen Karriere. ”On The Road To Find Out: The
Greatest Hits wird in mehreren Produktformaten veröffentlicht und präsentiert einen der größten britischen
Künstler und sein phänomenales Werk, das von Titeln wie ”The First Cut Is The Deepest”, ”Where Do The
Children Play?”, ”Wild World”, ”Moonshadow”, ”The Hurt” und ”Father and Son” geprägt ist. Außerdem
sind weitere zahlreiche Songs enthalten, angefangen bei seinem Debüt ”Matthew & Son” bis hin zu ”King
Of A Land” aus dem Jahr 2023.
Die einzigartige Sammlung erscheint weltweit als 1CD,2CD,2LP und 4LP und bietet in Remaster Qualität mit jeweils 24 Songs und 78 Minuten ein besonderes Hörerlebnis.
Außerdem dazu ein Booklet mit allen Lyrics zu den zeitlosen Songs sowie Notizen von Yusuf Cat Stevens
selbst.
Die perfekte Ergänzung für jede Plattensammlung!
Yusuf / Cat Stevens
On The Road To Find Out: Greatest Hits LP 4x12"
2x12"[34,03 €]
Am 5. September erscheint zum ersten Mal seit fast 25 Jahren eine brandneue Sammlung der beliebtesten
Songs von Yusuf / Cat Stevens aus seiner fast 60-jährigen Karriere. ”On The Road To Find Out: The
Greatest Hits wird in mehreren Produktformaten veröffentlicht und präsentiert einen der größten britischen
Künstler und sein phänomenales Werk, das von Titeln wie ”The First Cut Is The Deepest”, ”Where Do The
Children Play?”, ”Wild World”, ”Moonshadow”, ”The Hurt” und ”Father and Son” geprägt ist. Außerdem
sind weitere zahlreiche Songs enthalten, angefangen bei seinem Debüt ”Matthew & Son” bis hin zu ”King
Of A Land” aus dem Jahr 2023.
Die einzigartige Sammlung erscheint weltweit als 1CD,2CD,2LP und 4LP und bietet in Remaster Qualität mit jeweils 24 Songs und 78 Minuten ein besonderes Hörerlebnis.
Außerdem dazu ein Booklet mit allen Lyrics zu den zeitlosen Songs sowie Notizen von Yusuf Cat Stevens
selbst.
Die perfekte Ergänzung für jede Plattensammlung!
Originally out as a free Net-7inch on Jahtari in 2008 to pay respects at the shrine of arcade machine fighting games, these undying hiphop-infused martial arts Dubs by disrupt are finally reaching their intended destination: white blood-splattered 7inch vinyl (attention: not actual blood!).
"Samurai Showdown" (which eventually became Solo Banton's classic "Kung Fu Master", from his Music Addict EP in 2010) is taking place at sunrise, of course, when two master swordsmen are matching blades in a battle to the death. Can the wave-cutting technique of the Jahtari-school prevail?
The B-side is the meditation after the battle, mentally re-creating the epic struggle move by move and in slow motion...
So draw your Katana and prepare for beats as sharp as a battle sword, deadly moves of Ninja swiftness and basslines coming straight from the six paths of hell.
In the smoggy orange light of a new millennium, the young Deb Demure would take the bus, once a week, from his home in crumbling Hollywood to his grandmother's apartment, nestled in the pastel pristineness of Beverly Hills. During these visits, Deb couldn't help but notice the disconnect between the glow of his grandmother's temple, and the downtrodden, alienated figures that populated the seats of the mass transit that took him there. Week after week, he would observe these characters: fading B-movie starlets, leisure-suited alcoholics and forgotten civil servants. But one fateful commute home, as the twilight waned to the purple Los Angeles night, he realized these figures were not as lost as they appeared - there was a nobility in their failure, reflective of the dignity of the city's vanishing golden era. They were survivors, in need of a voice: a spokesperson for every color of hope and hopelessness, transcendent of gender and time; Drab Majesty became Deb's musical podium for this undertaking. Raised in a music-centric household, Deb would find the time to teach himself to play his father's right-handed guitar upside down and left-handed; an unorthodox fashion from where his earliest understanding of chords and harmony were conceived. Exploring the bins of discarded vinyl in his neighborhood thrift stores, his toolkit expanded with the subterranean sonic gems of the recent past. Influences range from the virtuosic arpeggiated guitar work of Felt's Maurice Deebank and the grittier pop progressions of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's Chris Reed as well as Steve Severin from Siouxsie and The Banshees. He also studied the harmonic oscillations and utilization of the occult power of vibratory frequency present in New Age sounds of Greek artist, IASOS. In terms of orchestration, he consciously culls from the seaside maximalism of Martin Dupont and mechanized grooves of early Depeche Mode. Like a dualistic pendulum, his vocals swing from a preistly baritone to a choir boy's falsetto reflecting the sepulchral ambiance of church visits with his grandmother. Currently the drummer for Los Angeles lo-fi rock ensemble Marriages and having honed an unorthodox home recording style, Deb sources his sounds from a repository of "mid-fi" synthesizers and other lesser-quality instruments. Following the release of his debut cassette EP, "Unarian Dances", he also shared a split 12" with synth pop forefathers, Eleven Pond. During the Spring of 2015, Drab Majesty signed with Dais Records and released his first single, Unknown to the I, as a introduction for his first initial foray into the album format, romantically titled Careless. Written over the course of 2 years, "Careless" is a compendium of songs that have outlasted a malicious burglary of his studio, his struggles with substance addiction, and most recently, the death of his beloved grandmother.
- 1: Intro (Words From Keisha Plum)
- 2: Drama Time (Feat. Ruste Juxx)
- 3: Real Life (Feat. Smif N Wessun & Terror Van Poo)
- 4: Flatlined (Feat. Terror Van Poo)
- 5: Interlude 1
- 6: Bars (Feat. Ruste Juxx & Terror Van Poo)
- 7: Widows Cry
- 8: Gloomy (Feat. Terror Van Poo)
- 9: Interlude 2
- 10: Seans Gone
- 11: S.t.f.u. (Feat. Sean Price)
- 12: Skully
- 13: No Love (Feat. Terror Van Poo)
- 14: Now Ain't The Time (Feat. Terror Van Poo)
- 15: Do About It
- 16: Outro
Bernadette Price, wife of the late, legendary Sean Price, steps into the spotlight with her solo debut album, A Widow’s Cry. This deeply personal project features hard-hitting production from some of hip-hop’s finest producers, including Khrysis, Da Beatminerz, Stu Bangas, and more.
A Widow’s Cry not only honors Sean Price’s legacy but amplifies it, featuring collaborations with fellow Boot Camp Clik members Smif-N-Wessun, Ruste Juxx, Rockness Monsta, along with a rare, never-before-heard verse from Sean Price himself—a true gem for longtime fans.
More than just a tribute, this album is Bernadette Price’s bold statement that she’s here and ready to make her mark.
Posters announce a daily action: A professional marksman shoots daily at 12 o’clock from a distance of approximately 15 meters at a paper flower. The number of shots is limited to a maximum of three per day. Upon a hit, the flower is replaced by a new one, the action ends and is continued the next day with a new flower. The bullet holes in the wall are not removed. The flowers remain lying on the floor until the end of the exhibition or event and are then given away.
Posters are produced in color variants (yellow, orange, red, violet, light blue, green) to advertise the action:
Every day at noon a professional marksman will shot at a paper flower (place of action to be filled in).
This performance was first presented at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh in November and December 1999 and subsequently repeated (Aberystwyth, London, Nottingham, 2000 – 2002 and Langenhagen, 2007).
The action will be re-staged as part of the Klang Moor Schopfe Festival in Gais, September 4 –14, 2025.
In truth, singing is not all that different from acting. Performing a song is very similar to playing a role in a theatrical production. A singer's delivery — the way they interpret and emphasize certain parts of a song — is much like what an actor does with their character.
That's why we often find singers who go on to gain popularity as performers — some on stage, but more often on the silver screen (film).
These are called 'singing stars' — vocalists who are also featured actors, usually given roles specially created to suit their primary strength: singing.
Among them, a few have become even more famous for their acting talents, which sometimes surpass their singing ability. However, the number who manage to do this successfully is very small. Oslan Husein is lucky enough to be counted among that small number. As his fame as a singer began to rise sharply, he also began his film career as an actor. It's true that he had previously appeared in a film, but only as an extra, alongside the orchestra he performed with.
Following that, he appeared in several other films, including Detik-detik Berbahaya, 1000 Langkah, Kasih Tak Sampai, Hadiah 2.000.000,-, Maut Menjelang Magrib, and Antara Timur dan Barat. Six films over a span of just about 2.5 years — quite an impressive achievement.
Over time, a number of songs that Oslan had performed in his films began to accumulate. Together with a few additional songs — also from films — there were eventually enough to compile into one long-playing (LP) record.
And so, accompanied by Jack Lemmers — who, for this project, created special arrangements and musical treatments unlike the usual (for example, the use of four guitars at once) — Oslan carried out the recordings at Irama studios.
By releasing this LP of songs from the silver screen, Irama took an exciting step forward and opened many new possibilities in its history. Because the world of recorded music and the world of film, wherever they are in the world, are like siblings — and they work best when they collaborate, shoulder to shoulder, in harmony.
- A1: All Aboard
- A2: Get Set Go Kid
- A3: Everybody Loves You
- A4: Knock Me Off My Feet
- B1: Maybe
- B2: Fall Asleep / Backseat
- B3: Crying Your Eyes Out
- C1: I Was Blue Technicolour Too
- C2: Deja Vu
- C3: Scrapyard
- C4: Valentine, Shmalentine
- D1: Ybftbyt
- D2: Life Trainee
- D3: Missed Calls
- D4: Nothing Looks The Same
- 1: This Is A Never Ending Story (You Just Need To Close It)
- 2: Hidden Road (For Yoo Jae-Ha)
- 3: It Must've Been The Sunset (That Altered My Memory From That Day.)
- 4: Good Morning, Harrison, It's Time To Go
- 5: Let's Walk Down To The Swamp Together
- 6: Rainy Night Ride With Roy
- 7: Crows Over My Shoulder (Take Me)
- 8: Spiral Dance (Up Or Down, I'm Not Too Sure)
- 9: Dear Oddie, Today Rainbows Are Falling From The Sky
- 10: Lying Here Half Awake,Ii Hear Kids Outside Laughing With Their Hearts And I Think This Must Be The End Then
- A1: Charlie Parker - Roomance Without Finance (Mg9022)
- A2: Dexter Gordon - Dexter's Minor Mad (Mg9022)
- A3: J J. Johnson - Jay Bird (Mg9022)
- B1: Milt Jackson - Hearing Bells (Mg9022)
- B2: Leo Parker - Chase 'N' Lion (Chase'n The Lion) (Mg9022)
- B3: Stan Getz - Stan's Mood (Mg9022)
- A1: Fats Navarro - Hollerin' And Screamin' (Fatso) (Mg9023)
- A2: Allen Eager - Church Mouse (Mg9023)
- A3: Kai Winding - Always (Mg9023)
- B1: Don Byas - Byas A Drink (Mg9023)
- B2: J J. Johnson - Jay Joy (Mg9023)
- B3: Dexter Gordon - Long Tall Dexter (Mg9023)
- A1: Budd Johnson - Little Benny (King Kong) (Mg9024)
- A2: J J. Johnson - Mad Be Bop (Mg9024)
- A3: Milt Jackson - Bubu (Mg9024)
- B1: Leo Parker - Solitude (Mg9024)
- B2: Stan Getz - Don't Worry 'Bout Me (Mg9024)
- B3: Fats Navarro - Maternity (Lard Pot) (Mg9024)
- A1: Allen Eager - Donald Jay (Mg9025)
- A2: Kai Winding - Saxon (Mg9025)
- A3: Budd Johnson - Dee Dee's Dance (Mg9025)
- B1: J J. Johnson - Coppin' The Bop (Mg9025)
- B2: Milt Jackson - Junior (Mg9025)
- B3: Dexter Gordon - Dexter Digs In (Mg9025)
- A3: Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Stealin' Trash (Mg9026)
- B1: Roy Porter - Pete's Beat (Mg9026)
- B2: Serge Chaloff - Pumpernickel (Mg9026)
- B3: Morris Lane - Blowin' For Kicks (Mg9026)
- A1: Allen Eager - Unmeditated (Mg9026)
- A2: Leo Parker - The Lion's Roar (Lion Roars) (Mg9026)
”The Birth of Bop” kann ab heute hier vorbestellt werden und erscheint am 31. März in verschiedenen Formaten, darunter ein Vinyl-Boxset mit fünf 10-Zoll-LPs, ein 2-CD-Format und digitale Editionen. Jeder Titel der Sammlung wurde von Joe Tarantino bei Joe Tarantino Mastering frisch restauriert und neu gemastert, während die physischen Formate neue, ausführliche Liner Notes des GRAMMY-gekrönten Autors und Moderators Neil Tesser sowie alte Fotos aus dieser Zeit enthalten. Es ist eine unverzichtbare Einführung in
diese wichtige Periode der Jazzmusik: The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collection enthält 30 ausgewählte Aufnahmen von vielen der Pioniere des Genres, darunter Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Milt Jackson, Allen Eager, Fats Navarro und viele mehr.
Diese bahnbrechenden Aufnahmen aus den Jahren 1944 bis 1949
trugen maßgeblich zur Entwicklung des modernen Jazz bei und brachten junge Künstler dazu, die Grenzen des Genres in einer Zeit zu erforschen, in der Swingmusik der vorherrschende Sound war und Big Bands den Äther beherrschten.
- A1: Back Home (4 20)
- A2: Feel It In Your Heart (3 38)
- A3: Anatomy Of A Tidal Wave (4 28)
- A4: A Different Kind Of Pain (5 11)
- A5: Another Pill (3 46)
- B1: Happens All The Time (3 21)
- B2: When Heaven's Not Far Away (3 05)
- B3: God's Song (3 07)
- B4: When Angel's Fly Away (3 56)
- B5: Tell Me Why (3 18)
- B6: Ocean (3 38)
A Different Kind Of Pain is the fourth studio album by Jacksonville-based rock band Cold, which was originally released in 2005. It was recorded with award-winning producer Michael Baskette, who also worked with Alter Bridge, Limp Bizkit, and Slash among many others. The album further explored the band’s melodic and less aggressive sound that they first initiated with the predecessor Year Of The Spider. However, Cold proved that heaviness isn’t a requirement for the band to be effective and successful.
The album spawned two singles, “Happens All The Time” and the title track, but also included the additional standout tracks “When Heaven’s Not Far Away” and “Back Home”. Shortly after the release, the band went on a hiatus for three years. A Different Kind Of Pain is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on silver coloured vinyl it includes an insert and the sleeve has a linen laminate finish.
A multidisciplinary artist, and avant-garde icon in her own right, Little Annie leaves little room for an introduction that is worthy of her prolific career. She has remained relevant for over four decades through her innate spirit of experimentation and the multiplicity of her genre-bending collaborations with artists traversing the globe such as Adrian Sherwood, Swans, The Wolfgang Press, Kid Congo, Current 93—the list goes on!
For this release, Noir Age is proud to present a 7” single of new material from Little Annie in collaboration with South Florida-based producer and label owner Richard Vergez, recording here under the moniker of Night Foundation. Annie and Richard met back in 2016 after a gig at the ICA in Miami through their mutual friend: Drew McDowall of Coil.
Sharing a requited spirit for visual art and music, they became fast friends and began collaborating, conjuring what you hear on this release: Inertia.
Edition of 300 records, each housed in a silkscreened, custom black 7" envelope jacket with newsprint insert.
Reviewed in The Wire magazine:
"Night Foundation is one of the current electronic projects envisioned by Florida's Richard Vergez. In this instance, his work is smooth and bassoid enough to have a vague dancefloor-friendly feel without being overtly prancy. This notion is enhanced by the presence of a dub B side, so things are not as dark as with most of Verge's projects. But they're still not sunny. Of course, Little Annie's lyrics and casual vocals have more in common with urban menace than sunshine pop, so the pairing works quite well."
Editions Mego presents Bosko, landing exactly 30 years after the initial General Magic flights into the fantastic; the legendary first Mego release, a collaboration with Pita whereby all sounds were harnessed from the buzzing, drinking, humming sounds of fridges MEGO 001 General Magic & Pita and a 12” with Elin called Die Mondlandung (The Moon Landing) MEGO 002 which embarked on a minimal techno template so austere and strange it was one of the historic progenitors of austere and wonky rhythms alongside Sakho and other European explorers.
The initial return of the playful and mystical Austrian outfit General Magic came with the 20th year anniversary vinyl reissue of their classic debut Frantz eMEGO 010. A record so audacious and playful it still baffles as much as it entertains. At some point whilst working on this reissue GM’s Ramon Bauer and Andi Pieper were spurred on to rummage around with ideas and tools once more and after more than two decades of inactivity sonic sorcery was conjured once again. Live shows in honour of Peter Rehberg were performed in Vienna and London. Softbop, a limited risograph collaboration with Tina Frank came with the first new recordings as a digital download came out discreetly online. The first full length album following Rechenkönig in 2000 MEGO 032 “Nein Aber Ja” released in 2023 on Finlay Shakespeare’s GOTO Records on CD and cassette. An ongoing series of mix tapes online further highlights their interests encapsulating a new found angle on electronic mayhem. All of these elements retain the wildly eclectic and ecstatic glow that only they can harness and hand out to an unprepared world.
Now, we have General Magic’s second official full length comeback recording, Bosko. The new album is initially notable prior to the needle hitting the wax or the cursor identifying a track due to the artwork. Made by long term collaborator Tina Frank, this is Frank’s first analogue artwork, with a painting of a happy/nervous machine thing hovering in a landscape of no discernible identity. It’s quasi science fiction hovering amongst the potential for fun. Suited to the music? Natürlich.
Bosko sees Bauer and Pieper update and reframe their original investigations with a fresh supply of head scratching, heart racing tunes that hit the inexplicable with a wild mesh of drums, pianos, synthetic voices and all manner of immaterial sonic play. Startling sonics shock the ears on Club Duchamp which sounds like a conversation between synthetic adult ants in an environment still in development. Elfer features vocals supplied by a female-ish voice who, whilst grappling melody, has trouble executing a firm identity. Noorenhalt catapults along a mainframe of syncopation so unwieldy it feels like the voice, which is utterly alien, provides the only comfort. Seite 5 inhabits a fuzzy zone where a synthetic Horn of Jericho type ambience competes with rhythms never quite sure of who they are. Rise of the Ombré raises the spectral dread. Is this Science Fact? Absolutely nothing within Bosko is predictable.
The amount of change in the miasma of existence and the things we touch in order to make things has shifted so exponentially we are at the point where minds are starting to glaze over. All of this makes the return of the always original, always surprising, always fresh and exciting General Magic totally in tune with the artificial intelligent apocalyptic age we currently inhabit. The tools may have changed but the wonderfully warped gaze of Bosko offers a fresh new vision of perplexing funk and robotic punk.
- A1: Stetsasonic - Talkin' All That Jazz
- A2: Nwa - Straight Outta Compton
- A3: Salt-N-Pepa - Shake Your Thing (It's Your Thing) (It's Your Thing)
- A4: De La Soul - Say No Go
- A5: Young Mc - Bust A Move
- A6: Heavy D & The Boyz - We Got Our Own Thang
- B1: Digital Underground - The Humpty Dance
- B2: Monie Love - Monie In The Middl
- B3: Cypress Hill - How I Could Just Kill A Man
- B4: Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day
- B5: Black Sheep - The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)
- B6: The Pharcyde - Passin' Me By
- C1: Wreckx-N-Effect - Rump Shaker
- C2: Redman - Tonight's Da Night
- C3: Onxy - Slam
- C4: Digable Planets - Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat) (Cool Like Dat)
- C5: Lords Of The Underground - Chief Rocka
- C6: Da Brat - Funkdafied
- C7: House Of Pain - Same As It Ever Was
- D1: Method Man - Bring Da Pain
- D2: Rakim - Guess Who's Back
- D3: Jeru The Damaja - Me Or The Papes
- D4: Bahamadia - Uknowhowwedu
- D5: Outkast - Atliens
- D6: Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
- D7: Dr Dre - Still Dre (Feat Snoop Dogg)
Red & White Vinyl[37,61 €]
Hip Hop Collected will take you on a musical journey through the history of hip hop. This 2LP covers the first 20 years of the genre, showcasing 25 early pioneers who participated in the rise of hip hop. This compilation features music from the new labels that started to rise from the underground scene, like Sugar Hill Records, Profile and of course Def Jam. Including artists that defined a genre, a lifestyle and most of all, artists that inspired millions of young kids with both socially critical lyrics as well as classic party anthems.
This hip hop compilation album is part of the new Collected compilation series, which is a collaboration between Universal Music and Music On Vinyl. The compilations bring together the biggest and best names of its genre, combined with forgotten hits and less discovered gems, giving the listener an experience of both nostalgia and uncovering new musical grounds at the same time.
The 2LP features Kurtis Blow “The Breaks”, Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five “The Message”, Beastie Boys “She’s On It”, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock “Get On The Dancefloor”, and Eric B. & Rakim “Paid In Full” amongst many others.
Hip Hop Collected is available as a limited edition of 5000 individually numbered copies on red (LP1) and white (LP2) coloured vinyl. The album includes an insert with liner notes, photos and credits.
Lucas Chantre, aka WORLD BRAIN, last graced us with a solo release half a decade ago, with 2019’s Peer 2 Peer. As its name suggests, that album explored the promise and perils of universal connectivity via quirked-up songwriting and instrumental psychedelia. His new release, Open Source, deepens this internal and external journey. Bursting beyond the four walls of ‘bedroom pop’ and reflecting a move from Berlin to Paris—where much of the album was recorded—and on to Brussels, the album has a jazzy, cinematic scope (as on the Brubeck-inspired march “Fromage collatéral,”) enveloping the listener in a cosmic-pastoral audiosphere.
There are still many tones that evoke the software sounds of decades past (the exemplar here is “cAPTCHA,” whose virtual marimba and vocalese suggest a breathless, Exotica-inspired introduction .mov for the information superhighway) but the palette has become richer and more organic, lead by the woodwinds which play a major role throughout, with flute provided by labelmate Martha Rose. (On the aforementioned “cAPTCHA” one also hears the world-class whistling talents of the incomparable Molly Lewis.)
Yet the single most noticeable new element may be the use of Chantre’s native French, sung by his sister on “Ville fleurie” and the gorgeous, fluttering “Minute papillion” (the title an idiomatic injunction to slow down!) Chantre initially wrote these lyrics in English, but felt something wasn’t quite right, only realizing what was off when he heard them sung in another language. That spirit of discovery – of finding a new spark in returning home – suffuses Open Source. It invites us to play, beckons us to relax, reminds us to find serenity amidst the churn of the present: minute papillon, dans le tourbillon.
Rivet’s new album for Editions Mego is an uplifting and joyous affair coming in the wake of tragedy and disenchantment. It is yet another rebirth from an artist willing to take a step back and reprise the current situation he is in. Mika Hallbäck has a long credible history in the Swedish underground. First recognised for his industrial techno works under the Grovskopa moniker he worked privately on more experimental works that eventually came out as On Feather and Wire, an album released on Editions Mego in 2020. After much acclaim for this bold new direction that blended electronic abstraction, pop and industrial forms into a heavy synthetic trip two tragedies struck. One was the passing of label boss Peter Rehberg and then the passing of his dog Lilo, who was as close as a companion one could have. These events led to the release of the more unsettling follow up L+P-2 (Lilo and Pita minus two) on Midnight Shift Records in 2023. Peck Glamour sees Rivet return to the reawakened Editions Mego with an album of optimism inspired by reconciliation with loss and further explorations of new mental/sonic realms.
Hallbäck defines his approach as not being married to any particular machine, instrument, process or genre. However he holds a particular affinity to sampling, of which, he says, provides the dirt and grit amongst what would otherwise be pristine, generic machine music. The contemporary crate digging method of scouring obscure download music bogs for unique sounds was his preferred research practice.
Peck Glamour is an album full of tracks brimming with the excitement of exploration. It's the results of a mind informed by punk, industrial, techno, dancefloor, disappointment, trauma and rebirth. Here the synthetic and authentic is viewed simply as the same means of human rationale and expression.
The opening, ‘Catch Up to Light’, sets the scene with ecstatic and odd fluorescent vocals sliding amongst crystalline likembe whilst synths swirl amongst the external festivities. ‘Orbiting Empty Cocoon’ is somewhat a homage to the alien sound worlds of The Orb, one which takes the listener deeper into a mind melting array of teased potential as visual elements are executed in a mask of audio wizardry and euphoric staccato rhythms, the later being a nod to Singeli music. ‘Patitur Butcher’ is more dance frontal utilising the Ghatam drum and a YouTube rip of a Chinese language lesson. ‘Plastic Bag Putain’ was made during the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and should be clear of its intent. ‘All that Heaven Allows’ is a marimba cover of an imaginary Love Parade anthem. 'Kyrie Geire’ potentially briefly fills the void left by the demise of Coil. The entire trip of Peck Glamour is sewn up with ‘We left before we came’ whereby extraneous recordings of double bass player Gregory Vartian-Foss (tuning/strumming/moving the bass) are superimposed with local field recordings to create a gorgeous bed of sounds acting as an exciting exit music to this sharp collection of cinematic ear excursions.
Marja Ahti is a Swedish artist living in Turku, Finland. She works with found sounds, objects and electronics, creating auditory assemblages that reveal a profound sensitivity to sound’s tactile potential. This new record sees her palette expand to include more recognisable acoustic instrumentation, albeit working in collaboration with musicians who are already reconfiguring how those instruments can sound.
Touch This Fragrant Surface of Earth has its roots in a tape piece presented at Lampo in Chicago. Ahti then started working with Isak Hedtjärn (clarinet), Ryan Packard (percussion) and My Hellgren (cello) at the electronic music studios (EMS) in Stockholm. Incorporating recordings from those sessions, Ahti presented a new iteration of the work at the Seventh Edition Festival for Other Music in February 2024 with the trio performing live on stage whilst Ahti helmed the mixing desk, spatialising a specially made tape part through the INA GRM’s Acousmonium speaker orchestra. The piece has since gone through several further iterations before arriving at the version we have here on the LP's B-side where immense bass pressure and high frequency tones buffer restless amplified breath and scrape that folds over itself with extraordinary dynamics and subterranean activity before giving way to gorgeous resonant forms and passages of ritual purpose and sheer, unmistakeable beauty.
The A-side is Touch This Fragrant Surface of Earth’s gentle double. Still Life with Poppies, Mirror and Two Clouds offers a companion reconfiguration of Ahti’s resynthesised percussion sustain and the same recordings of Hedtjärn and Hellgren from EMS, but here they’re nestled in a sonic landscape of calm and restraint that gives them a wholly other character. Ahti also draws on older recordings she’d made of Sholto Dobie’s diy pipe organs and uses these to create repeating patterns and flourishes of sliding pitches that emerge unexpected out of cycling passages of Ahti’s clear struck metal, destabilising electronic interventions and minimal piano figures.
Marja Ahti: “I’ve been fascinated with the kind of elemental quality the sounds I'm using have such as airy sounds or earthy, wooden sounds. These qualities can also be found in wind instruments and percussion and the musicians I worked with on Touch This Fragrant Surface of Earth are really good at enhancing these qualities in their playing. I wanted to have this connection between found sounds, field recordings, or pre-recorded sounds, objects, and material, and see where these sounds might meet each other, and hopefully blend is a natural way without a divide between instrumental music, or acoustic music, or electronic music. But also, when you bring in people they come with their personalities and their ideas which is also energizing and brings surprising things into the collaboration that I couldn't come up with myself. I was really interested in making this a proper collaboration and not just coming up with the piece and giving it to them. We had the sessions at EMS where we could share ideas and Isak, Ryan and My could bring in their own ideas. Making recordings there gave me time to process these ideas and to also approach them in the same way that I would work with any other sound.”




















