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Sabaturin is Charles-Émile Beullac (Galerie Stratique, Canada) and Simon Crab (Bourbonese Qualk, United Kingdom). In the spirit of old school tape exchanges that resulted in musical collaborations developed over long periods of time but informed by the infinitely easier processes of the digital age, "Kenemglev" was assembled without the musicians ever meeting.

The title "Kenemglev" means "consensus" in Breton, something which quite naturally had to be achieved between both musicians. The other consensus was a sort of virtual middle ground symbolized by the Breton language, particular to a geographical area (Brittany) that both agreed would stand for a neutral meeting point between their respective native languages and, consequently, cultures. All titles are Breton words and the name Sabaturin ("standing on one feet", "to be off-balance") expresses mainly Charles' excitement: "Simon's bold approach has been some kind of a shock therapy for my music".

The sleeve was designed by Simon Crab, using a Chladni pattern simulation based on specific pitches. Looking like stained glass, it sort of reflects the way the music is presented: although including 9 titles, the album's tracklist flows uninterrupted on each side of the vinyl, semi-mixed, blended.

Detailed electronic ambience, glitches, loops and tiny details are augmented by a sort of signature rhythmic grid we recognize from "My Government Is My Soul"-era Bourbonese Qualk. It never settles into a formula and so the music remains loose, as much Mille Plateaux as classic 80s industrial shortwave-sampling or dub, rolled into one same entity, touching base with the gorgeous glitch dub "Morgouskus". This concludes a gentle and discreet album that doesn't require the validation of being associated with any of the current keywords in the electronic music scene.

Southern Lord announce Crush The Machine, the debut EP from West Coast hardcore punk collective D.E.A (Dead End America), formed by the late, great Steve "Thee Slayer Hippy" Hanford of Poison Idea, with current and former members of Queens Of The Stone Age, Eyehategod, The Accüsed A.D, World Of Lies, Ape Machine, and more.

Captured before Hanford’s passing earlier this year, D.E.A's debut shall be released on 7" and digital EP on 30th October (Non-Returnable) Recording details, liner notes from Mark Lanegan and more info below.

Crush The Machine sees the primary writers, drummer/vocalist Steve Hanford and guitarist Tony Avila (World of Lies, Why Won't You Die, Aborted Cop, Here's Your Warning) joined by lead guitarist Ian Watts (Ape Machine, Minmae) and bassist/vocalist Nick "Rex Everything" Oliveri (Mondo Generator, The Dwarves, ex-Kyuss, ex-Queens Of The Stone Age), with additional lyrics and vocals from Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod, Corrections House, Outlaw Order) and Blaine Cook (The Accüsed A.D, The Fartz, Toe Tag).

"A perfectly appropriate title for this 7 inch EP of jack-hammering, oldschool style hardcore tunes released by Southern Lord, written and played by a rogues gallery of real deal music lifers as a condemnation of the criminal Trump administration and republican party, in the same spirit of those by-gone days when Ronald Reagan or George Bush was the crooked, self-serving president of the crumbling United States empire. Never before has there been a more obvious target, as Donald Trump and his mafia family cabinet rape the country while Rome burns. D.E.A. is Tony Avila, Ian Watts, Nick Oliveri, Mike IX, Blaine Cook and the legendary and beloved, late producer and drummer of Poison Idea, Steve "Thee Slayer Hippy" Hanford. Dying shortly before the completion of this record, it stands as a final testament to his genius, one last hot-wired blast of his epic musical brilliance."

Mark Lanegan
Los Angeles
August, 2020

As Midnight Sister, multi-disciplinary LA artists Juliana Giraffe and Ari Balouzian make motion pictures. Yes, sometimes with moving images _ but most often only with the music they create together. Balouzian's serpentine, string compositions are movie scenes that allow Giraffe, a brilliant character actor, to cloak herself in a new roles and voices. A bit of Jon Brion's score work; some old Hollywood strings; a solid dose of glam and outsider disco from 70s independent cinema. Any perceived artifice is always matched by an indelible human fingerprint, something perfectly off. Giraffe and Balouzian's respective work in fashion, visual art, video and film scoring _ along with the gang of virtuosos with which they surround themselves _ all wonderfully coalesce as Midnight Sister. And if 2017's `Saturn Over Sunset' was their collection of short films about outcast life in The San Fernando Valley, then their new album `Paining the Roses' is the inventive, meta motion picture that cements them as auteurs. `Painting the Roses' is in many ways a fairy tale -- not so much the sweet-and-happyending kind as something richer, packed with imagination and rooted in the complex human messiness beneath a story's artifice. Frontwoman Giraffe describes it as "this tightrope of being real yet synthetic, organic yet staged, light yet dark, logical yet irrational, beautiful yet dilapidated. Joyful nonsense." Here, disguises like masks and paint are not meant to hide but to liberate, to "set a part of us free", and Midnight Sister often embody this themselves, appearing highly stylized, curious, warm and inviting but a little askew. `Painting the Roses' is a story told through the looking glass, one where we examine ourselves in a funhouse mirror but find clarity in its twists. Giraffe traveled to visit family in Argentina during the making of the album and reconnected greatly with that part of her family history, art and culture. Balouzian created the core album opener "Doctor Says" during a session in the desert outside of LA. The guitar, which reminded Giraffe of South America, has a slow, sweltering surf-tango to it, like Dick Dale doing Carlos Gardel. And even though the song was inspired by Giraffe's reconnection with Argentina, the song is about the fading of some close friendships during the making of the album. "Man, you have changed," Giraffe sings, unclear if tis directed to a friend or to herself. Later on the album, "Wednesday Baby" _ named after Giraffe's rescue dog _ is patient, subtly baroque pop. It follows Giraffe through one of those gloomy days spent in tunnelvision doldrums from which only a sunbathing turtle or your canine companion can pull you out. By the time collaborator Max Whipple's saw comes beaming down from heaven in the song's 3rd part, we're hypnotized by the song's charming ennui. The song lands someplace both familiar and aloof, a little slice of timelessness taken straight from The Cake of Perfect Songcraft.

Remastered by Bob Weston, ‘Mountains’ comes back to us as a gold foil-embossed gatefold double LP and includes the previously unreleased original takes of ‘Return to Pirates’, ‘Poison Moon’ and ‘Killed by the Telephone’, which were delivered along with the original master tapes 20 years ago but were omitted from the final album.

The record is completed by a newly recorded orchestral version of ‘Valley of One Thousand Perfumes’ produced by composer Joe Wong (Russian Doll, Midnight Gospel) and mixed by Dave Fridmann.

At the turn of the Century, Timony (Ex Hex, Wild Flag, Hammered Hulls) was already a celebrated presence in American underground music - a fixture of D.C. and Boston rock ’n’ roll via her work in Autoclave and Helium respectively. By 1998, though, Helium was drawing to a close and Timony was feeling uncertain about the future. “I had never been good at the rock ‘n’ roll business, and making a living from being in a band just didn't seem like it was in the realm of possibility for me,” she writes. “I just knew I wanted to make another record because that was the part of being in a band that I liked the most.”

“If you have a vacancy for Favourite New Band, Pom Poko would like to apply for the role,” tweeted Tim Burgess in April, as Norway’s finest punkpop anti-conformists revisited their joyous debut album, ‘Birthday’, for one of Tim’s mood-lifting Twitter listening parties. Pom Poko pimp their CV on all fronts with their glorious second album, ‘Cheater’. Between the quartet’s sweet melodies, galvanic punky ructions and wild-at-art-rock eruptions, ‘Cheater’ is the sound of a band celebrating the binding extremes that make them so uniquely qualified to thrill: and, like Tim’s listening party, to fulfil any need you might have for a pick-you-up.

As singer Ragnhild Fangel explains of the leap from ‘Birthday’ to ‘Cheater’, “I think it’s very accurate to say that we wanted to embrace our extremes a bit more. In the production process I think we aimed more for some sort of contrast between the meticulously written and arranged songs and a more chaotic execution and recording, but also let ourselves explore the less frantic parts of the Pom Poko universe. I think both in the more extreme and painful way, and in the sweet and lovely way, this album is kind of amplified.”

The sound of four distinct personalities driving in divergent directions towards one destination, the result is an evolved snapshot of the bracingly contrary chemistry forged when Fangel, Tonne, Jonas Krøvel (bass) and Ola Djupvik (drums) united to play punk during a jazz gig at a literature festival in Trondheim (the band-members studied jazz there).

Along the way, the band drew praise from NME, Interview Magazine, DIY, PopMatters, The Line Of Best Fit, The Independent and BBC Radio 6, where Miranda Sawyer was moved to note that “‘Birthday’s ‘Crazy Energy Night’ seems to contain about 20 songs in one.” Meanwhile, a huge touring schedule included countless sold-out headline shows and a rapturously received UK jaunt with Ezra Furman.

‘Cheater’ does its predecessor proud on every front. Bursting with colour and wonky life from its cover art (by close collaborator Erlend Peder Kvam) outwards, it differs from ‘Birthday’ primarily in that its songs did not have a chance to be road-tested before going into the studio. But you wouldn’t know it. As Ragnhild explains, “That meant we had to practice the songs in a more serious way, but it also meant the songs had more potential to change when we recorded them since we didn’t have such a clear image of what each song should/could be as the last time.”

140g clear vinyl LP with PVC printed outer sleeve and digital download code.

Reissue of Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones fabulous country soaked duets album Foreverly will be reissued on creamy orange coloured vinyl on January 15th 2021.

Oldschool to death!

Hard and inexcusable oldschhol hardcore, with a pinch of gabba ambiance and a bit of acid... FAT sound !

The one and only of ficial reissue of a stunning work by Moggi, better known as Piero Umiliani. “News! News! News!” (1979) was originally released in few copies on the small imprint Sound Work Shop, both label and recording studio owned by the cult maestro. Musica Per Immagini gave another chance to its eleven amazing electronic and jazz tracks played by some of the best musicians who took part in the golden age of Italian music libraries. This sought-after album is the way the composer tried to tell us what were the experimental and futuristic sounds of the old media world, especially on paper, to which he has always been drawn. The titles of the tracks refer, not surprisingly, to a series of technical terms and some tools of journalism. “News! News! News!” thus represents the 'draft' of a different story of a fascinating music without borders, not necessarily composed for documentaries or films. Simply brilliant!

Visitor, founded in 2017 is a two piece Canadian act comprised of Veronica Stefanuik and Philip Traikovski that seamlessly combines the best elements of old school EBM with new beat. The result is something out of time yet uniquely modern. Dark frantic beats and bass lines, Visitor will take over your body.

Black Vinyl

Docile Recordings continues with part two of a five cat series. Docile #29, the pepper ep, was produced, arranged, and crafted on vinyl by Andy Garcia at Archer Record Press in Detroit Michigan U.S.A.. Docile Recordings believes vinyl is the best medium to convey our message. Our message is our sound, a sound that is unique in its’ path and loyal to its’ character. Our mission is redefinition and the redirection of minimal techno.

Side A starts with an ol’ timey 4/4 tec- spiritual of crunch confusion rocking and clapping faithfully until the rapture of synth begets a righteous clarity of beat. A2 is a calm to topsy-turvy scurry through digital tweaks and stutters that form a havoc funk requiring a reprimand. B1 opens with the ringing energy of a pest highly motivated to infect a sickly synth, glitching yip, and rolling cymbal into the bloodstream of a dirty grind. B2 is a gentle vibe that is simple, clean, and fresh as a cool breeze that carries the rhythms of birds speaking in tandem.

500 COPY LIMITED EDITION ~ INCLUDES 4 INDIVIDUAL FULL SIZE ARTWORK INSERTS. Hyperdub are excited to present our first soundtrack release, Lawrence Lek's score for his debut feature film `AIDOL', which premiered at Sadie Coles HQ in 2019 and has been shown at numerous virtual and physical festivals and exhibitions worldwide. Lawrence Lek is a simulation artist who uses computer-generated animation and video game engines to create films and virtual worlds that play with the language of science fiction, music videos and corporate world building. He has released soundtracks to five of his previous projects, most recently `Temple' OST (Vinyl Factory, 2020). `AIDOL' continues his on-going 'Sinofuturist' cinematic universe, which posits the creative theory that China's technological rise is an emergent form of Artificial Intelligence. `AIDOL' is a CGI fantasy that tells the story of a fading superstar, Diva, who enlists an aspiring AI songwriter to mount a comeback performance at the 2065 eSports Olympic finale. Set in a realm of spectacular architecture, sentient drones and snow-deluged jungles, `AIDOL' revolves around the long and evolving struggle between humanity and Artificial Intelligence; a shifting and seductive virtual reality, punctuated by Diva's songs and the voice of Kode9 as the unforgiving label boss. The soundtrack is a delicate lattice - complex, opaque and entirely synthetic. Diva's yearning vocals - created with a Vocaloid voice synthesiser, sung in English and Mandarin - cast classical melodies over billowing, intricate arrangements. The instrumental tracks, produced with composer Seth Scott, are elegiac and beautiful, hybridising the film score archetype, folding in patterns from game soundtracks, vaporwave, and ambient fourth world music.

This compilation sees the coming together of independent music makers from across the globe to meet in one place and gather as a single entity. That simmering hub of warmth and affection is known as Motor Jazz - a place for artists to congregate and share their devotion for songs that are infused with rhythms created by anodic wires, buttons and other digital paraphernalia. That's electronic music to you and me, and in this case electronic music with swing, a sense of freedom and improvisation that some might call 'Jazz'.

The album opens with the ominous drone of the Mega Corp., sounding like one of the parties responsible for 2020's almost post-apocalyptic feel. It's perhaps an unlikely opener for a what's a positive and optimistic collection courtesy of young musicians from across the globe, but we all need to be reminded of who's in charge sometimes, and Dutch producer Jon Sewi does just that!

The mood soon lightens though, with the soulful strings and enticing keys of Gladdics by the mysterious Black Soyls, before well established German musical artisan Renegades of Jazz brings the family in for It's Tea Time with ticking clocks, warm tea pots and slices of cake, whilst being serenaded by a very vintage sounding horn section.

Serafin Plum almost steer us into drum & bass territory with their off-the-wall percussive nugget Jagged, whilst keeping a calming hand on the shoulder (as all good parents should) with soothing keys, before it's playtime once again.

There's nothing conventional about the Motor Jazz family though, and after tea time and play time, it's time to rave! In Greek mythology, The Maenads were female followers of Dionysus; their name literally translating as "the raving ones". Often they were portrayed as being inspired by the god into a state of ecstasy through a combination of dancing and intoxication, during which time they would dress in fawn skins and carry a thyrsus - a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leaves and tipped with a pine cone. With a sound ranging between Jazz, Techno, Rave and Breaks their track, Opera, delivers a psyche and Jazz influenced piece with colliding styles, busy drums and rich melodies.

Heading over to Dublin, Ireland, and multi-talented producer, musician and DJ, Donal Sharpson (aka Double Screen) makes his presence known with grandiose brass preempting a four-to-the-floor wood block frenzy in the shape of Sheikah, complete with enthusiastic whoops and a persuasive bassline. Meanwhile, somewhere below the Irish Sea, aquatic artiste Stubby Dials delivers the bass worrying Put It On Ice the only way he knows how - living in a submarine, he emerges from time to time to leave his master tapes on the beach with a note saying "Release this!" before submerging, never been seen again.

Back in the Netherlands, Bram van der Hoeven, otherwise known as Lucinate, is an electronic Jazz producer par excellence. His effortless balance of organic musical roots like Fusion, Bossa Nova and Soul, into the world of modern beat orientated sounds is something to behold, and with The Cards he offsets life-affirming keys with rolling drums reminiscent of some of the seminal liquid Drum & Bass he grew up with.

As the global Motor Jazz family expands, we head to Canada, where the wonderfully monikered Woodpecking Mantis brings a little acid to the party with his squelchy, stuttering and brilliantly entitled Waving At A Melting Square Tooth Of A Specific Rabbit……. We're guessing they like acid a lot in Canada.

We're going down under to Newcastle, Australia next, where things take a more serene turn. Wrenasmir, known to his parents as Craig Smith, used to be a baroque pipe organist before he discovered samplers and synthesizers. Now he makes imaginary soundtracks at his studio for the twilight beachside city that lives in his head - full of vinyl and pixels and bittersweet memories. The gorgeous Lucempight is exactly that.

Keeping things low key and tranquil, Poets And Rockets, the latest offering from Jay Solomon is a horn driven slice of futuristic dub that makes way for The Motion Orchestra's majestic Midnight Sun, complete with Alexander Bednasch on double-bass, Mark Matthes on violins, Andy Sells on drums and David Hanke on electronics and production. Though influenced heavily by neo-classical and jazz sensibilities they occupy a musical space that sits in neither sphere, with a compositional style that deftly fuses the orchestral and electronic worlds. The full Motion Orchestra album, All One, will be released later this year on Bathurst.

Sixteen year old, self taught producer and multi-instrumentalist Teis Ortved is something of a prodigy. The Copenhagen based wunderkind has so far self-released two EPs, and if What, his offering here, is anything to go by, he's going to be making big waves across the eclectic music spectrum for years to come.

If Teis is the new kid on the block then what better way to round off this compilation that with its patriarchal figure. Funki Porcini has over a quarter of a century of recordings in his back catalogue, and has spent fifteen of those years dedicated to the independent UK behemoth that is Ninja Tune records. The Last Recording From Earth is exclusive to this album and is in many ways the perfect closing song. Perhaps more concept art than traditional piece of music, the idea behind it is that an alien archeologist has found this recording tens of thousands of years after humans have disappeared into the sand…. You never know, it might just happen, and hopefully Them To Us will take on a whole new meaning.

Flaming Tunes' sole release is perhaps the finest elegy to the '80s home recording ethos that you've never heard. Originally released in 1985 on cassette (with individually hand-colored covers), this self-titled album grew out of the collaboration between childhood friends Gareth Williams and Mary Currie.

Williams is best known as a member of English art-rock band This Heat. After leaving the group in the early '80s, he travelled to India where he studied classical Kathakali dance – an experience that would profoundly shape the music of Flaming Tunes.

In an old Victorian house in South London, the duo recorded during the day while Currie's young son attended school and Williams conducted tape treatments at night. They were joined by various guests including This Heat guitarist Charles Bullen as well as long-term collaborators Martin Harrison and Rick Wilson.

Using whatever instruments they had on hand (clarinet, piano, bells, etc.), Flaming Tunes create lo-fi melodies around simple arrangements, oblique rhythms and densely layered natural sounds. The results are a mesmeric collage of instrumental daydreams and sideways pop songs, floating into one another in a hazy confluence of late '60s Canterbury psych-folk and early Residents experimentation.

All of these beguiling elements converge in a personal manner, quietly insistent in listeners' ears like the blood pulsing in one's veins on a warm summer day.

“We have always been very fortunate to meet and know many talented producers. In recent years, we have been exploring those relationships with different remixes and collaborations, and every time something exciting came out. That’s why we started our Synchronicity project. To challenge ourselves making inspiring, fun and beautiful music.‘Synchronicity’ means "the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection. This very well describes how our path led to the place we are now – somewhere between the club and indie scenes.” – WhoMadeWho

KOMPAKT welcomes back Copenhagen’s WhoMadeWho. Tomas Barfod’s penchant for electronic music poetically juxtaposed with Tomas Høffding and Jeppe Kjellberg’s respective backgrounds in rock and jazz, gives their music an electrifying combination of sounds, merging a variety of influences to produce a unique sonic fingerprint that is emotive, irresistible and immensely satisfying.

Though we both have yet to strike a note together since the release of their 2012 full length “Brighter” (KOM 254), WhoMadeWho have been remarkably productive. With two full lengths, a DJ mix for Watergate’s series and releasing two of 2019’s most played out club tracks together with Rampa (Innervisions) and Artbat (Watergate Records), the trio have found themselves diving more and more into the world of electronic music, tapping into their goldmine of connections within the scene to spearhead an array of collaborations.

Synchronicity is all about ‘meaningful coincidences’ – bringing interpretation to bear on connections that have no actual causal relationship. It’s a canny concept to pin onto Copenhagen trio WhoMadeWho’s latest album, which sees them return to Kompakt for the first time since 2012’s Brighter.

This re-established connection helps us to understand the synchronicity at play, the way that the WhoMadeWho core ave built an album around collaboration with friends and peers, much as Kompakt is all about cross-connections and family. On Synchronicity, WhoMadeWho call on friends old and new – Michael Mayer, Echonomist, Adana Twins, Alex Boman, Robag Wruhme, Frank Wiedemann, Sainte Vie, Mano Le Tough, Marc Piñol, Rebolledo, and Perel is the cast list; WhoMadeWho direct the material, shaping it into one lovingly flowing gem of dance-pop glory.

There’s something particularly generous about hearing an album as all-inclusive and open-hearted as Synchronicity in the midst of the profound social and cultural shifts we’re currently experiencing. While some songs on Synchronicity were recorded together, in real time, such as the collaborations with Adana Twins and Rebolledo, most of them have taken place via long distance, thanks to the pandemic lockdown. But you don’t need to know who was where to understand either the magnesium-flare melancholy of “Sooner”, recorded with Piñol, which has you holding your breath with the gentle thrill of the song’s lush melody, or the stomping strut of the following Adana Twins collaboration, “Shadow Of Doubt”.

Elsewhere, there’s the stentorian robot voice at the heart of “Hamstring”, where they’re joined by Michael Mayer; the lustrous headsoak of “Twenty Tears”, a tender intervention by Rebolledo; the strip-light, slow-motion disco strut of “Cecil”, produced alongside Echonomist; or the glittering, arpeggio dreamwork that Perel helps sculpt into shape on “Der Abend birgt keine Ruh.”… Really, there’s so much to celebrate here, a panoply of pleasures. From pop revelations to dancefloor delirium to slow-burning brooders, Synchronicity is just that; a space for the joys of the unexpected to collide, and to be given meaning by their coincidental co-existence in WhoMadeWho’s beautiful world.

"Wir hatten immer schon das Glück, viele talentierte Produzenten kennenzulernen. In den letzten Jahren haben wir diese Beziehungen durch verschiedene Remixe und Kollaborationen vertieft und jedes Mal kam etwas Aufregendes dabei heraus. Aus diesem Grund haben wir unser Synchronicity-Projekt gestartet: um uns selbst herauszufordern inspirierte, lustige und schöne Musik zu machen. “Synchronizität” bedeutet das gleichzeitige Auftreten von Ereignissen, die scheinbar in einem signifikanten Zusammenhang stehen, aber keinen erkennbaren kausalen Zusammenhang haben. Das beschreibt sehr gut, wie unser Weg zu dem Ort geführt hat, an dem wir jetzt sind - irgendwo zwischen der Club- und der Indie-Szene". – WhoMadeWho

KOMPAKT freut sich über Rückkehr der Kopenhagener Band WhoMadeWho. Tomas Barfods Vorliebe für elektronische Musik im poetischen Kontrast zu Tomas Høffding und Jeppe Kjellbergs jeweiligem Hintergrund im Rock und Jazz macht ihre Musik zu einem elektrisierenden Konglomerat, in das verschiedene Einflüsse zu einem einzigartigen klanglichen Fingerabdruck verschmelzen: gefühlvoll, unwiderstehlich und immens befriedigend.

Obwohl wir seit der Veröffentlichung von "Brighter" (KOM 254) in 2012 keine gemeinsamen Dinger gedreht haben, waren WhoMadeWho in der Zwischenzeit bemerkenswert produktiv. Mit zwei Full-Length-Alben, einem DJ-Mix für die Watergate-Reihe und der Veröffentlichung von zwei der meistgespielten Clubtracks aus dem Jahr 2019 zusammen mit Rampa (Innervisions) und Artbat (Watergate Records), taucht das Trio mehr und mehr in die Welt der elektronischen Musik ein. Für ihre Kollaborationen greifen WhoMadeWho immer wieder auf ihre Goldgrube an Bekanntschaften innerhalb der Szene zurück.

Bei “Synchronicity” geht es um "sinnvolle Zufälle" - also um die Interpretation von Verbindungen, die keinen tatsächlichen Kausalzusammenhang haben. Es ist ein ausgeklügeltes Konzept, das dem neuesten Album des Kopenhagener Trios WhoMadeWho anheftet: Diese wieder hergestellte Verbindung hilft uns, die Synchronizität im Spiel zu verstehen; die Art und Weise, wie WhoMadeWho ein Album um die Zusammenarbeit mit Freunden und Gleichgesinnten herum aufgebaut hat: schließlich geht es auch bei Kompakt um Querverbindungen und Familie. Auf Synchronicity richten sich WhoMadeWho an alte und neue Freunde: Michael Mayer, Echonomist, Adana Twins, Axel Boman, Robag Wruhme, Frank Wiedemann, Terr, Sainte Vie, Mano Le Tough, Marc Piñol, Rebolledo und Perel stehen auf der Liste. Das Trio führt Regie und sorgt für den Feinschliff. Das Ergebnis: ein echtes Juwel aus Dance, Pop und Glorie.

Inmitten der tiefgreifenden sozialen und kulturellen Veränderungen, die wir derzeit erleben, ist es etwas Besonderes, ein Album zu hören, das so offenherzig ist wie “Synchronicity”. Zwar wurden einige Songs gemeinsam und in Echtzeit aufgenommen – etwa die Kollaboration mit den Adana Twins und Rebolledo – die meisten Sessions fanden aufgrund der Pandemie jedoch über größere Entfernungen statt. Letztlich muss man aber gar nicht wissen wer wo war, um die Melancholie von "Sooner" mit Marc Piñol zu verstehen und im sanften melodischen Rausch des Liedes den Atem anzuhalten. Auch die eher brachiale Energie der darauf folgenden Adana-Twins-Kollaboration , "Shadow Of Doubt" vermittelt sich eingehend über die soziale Distanz hinweg.

An anderer Stelle ertönt die schallende Roboterstimme im Herzen von "Hamstring", wo sich Michael Mayer zu ihnen gesellt; die schimmernden "Twenty Tears", einer zärtlichen Intervention von Rebolledo; der Zeitlupen- Disco-Nummer "Cecil", die zusammen mit Echonomist produziert wurde; oder der glitzernde Arpeggio-Traum, den Perel in "Der Abend birgt keine Ruh" in Form bringt.. Ja, es gibt tatsächlich einiges zu feiern: Von Pop-Enthüllungen über Dancefloor-Delirium bis hin zu Stücken, die sich ihre Zeit nehmen - Synchronicity bietet Platz für all das; das Album spendet Raum, in dem die Freuden des Unerwarteten aufeinanderprallen und durch ihr zufälliges Nebeneinander in der Welt von WhoMadeWho Sinn ergeben.

Despite current circumstances, Speedy have had a busy year. The London-based label run by producer Dan Carey alongside Alexis Smith and Pierre Hall were recently coveted with the Best Small Label Award by AIM after being nominated for the second year in a row. Carey also picked up UK Producer Of The Year earlier in the year at the prestigious Music Producer Guild Awards. He also produced the critically acclaimed sophomore album ‘A Hero’s Death’ by Fontaines D.C. which landed a welldocumented No. 2 position in the official album charts.
Speedy Wunderground released their fastest ever selling 7” - The Lounge Society’s timely tour de force ‘Generation Game’, the second band to be signed to the label for a forthcoming EP release following Squid’s ‘Town Centre’ EP in 2019. They also announced the label’s first ever full album release - Tiña’s ‘Positive Mental Health Music’, with recent single ‘Golden Rope’ having just come off the A-list at 6 Music.
Bringing bands into the studio wasn’t an option so the label started an ongoing project called ‘The Quarantine Series’ in which Carey under his Savage Gary techno/electronic alter ego collaborated with artists and friends, old and new over the internet and then uploaded them to the label’s Soundcloud/socials with little or no fanfare - no PR-ing or radio pluggers, just let the bands do their own thing, organically.
The common thread throughout all is Carey, whether it be in his regular name or his Savage Gary guise. However, collaborators in the series so far have included a wide range of people: Kae Tempest, PVA, Willy Mason, Heartworms, Warmduscher, Charlotte Spiral, Boxed In, Stephen Fretwell, Goat Girl and more.
“We chose two tracks/artists that I think we really wanted to shed some more light on” says label co-runner Pierre Hall. “Two that we really didn’t want to go under the radar - and in our opinion reflect this parallel strand of the label that’s forming - with new artists we’re really excited about - and that will hopefully draw people in to explore the series as a whole.”
First on the release is ‘Wait & See’ from rising Bajan artist RoRo. A hypnotic masterful flow which meanders seamlessly around Carey’s pulsating electronics. It’s bursting with attitude and originality. “I saw Dan Carey play with Kate Tempest on one of my first few times ever being out in London” she says, “it was such an amazing show. I was extremely excited to then get the chance to work with him. I’d been trying to do so while in London, but it didn't quite work out that way. We did manage to make it happen remotely whilst I was back in Barbados though, and we knocked it out!”
Second is ‘Cigarettes Pt. 2’ from the enigmatic Londoner youngblackmale AKA Rutare Savage: “It’s a poem, transformed into a song by the ever amazing Dan Carey. It touches (lightly) upon the topics of fear of the police, drug and alcohol abuse, family, and pulling oneself out of a nihilistic worldview driven by a newfound lust for life. This is me trying to reason with the void.”

A contemporary dance score for award winning British choreographer Wayne McGregor inspired by Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (1872-1929). 'My composer for Dyad, Icelandic musician ?lafur Arnalds, is coming in next week to finish work on the score. It's an amazing piece of music ? it's melancholic and spatial then cuts to extreme rhythmic violence - it's hauntingly inspiring' ? Wayne McGregor (Random Dance) 2009 has already proved quite a year for Iceland's neo-classical export ?lafur Arnalds. Still high on the success of his 7-song series 'Found Songs' ? recording a song a day for 7 days and instantly making each track available via Twitter; ?lafur was approached by the world renowned and critically acclaimed choreographer Wayne McGregor to create a 30-minute score for his ambitious new work 'Dyad 1909'. The dance piece, inspired and created 'In The Spirit of Diaghilev' premiered at the Sadler's Wells theatre this October and became an unpredictable and much talked about 5-nights of live music, dance and visuals. This 'fascinating collaboration' (Guardian) will go on a EU-wide tour this autumn with Arnalds included in an impressive creative line-up alongside visual artists and filmmakers Jane and Louise Wilson. In December ?lafur's 'evocative and lyrical score' (The Times) will see a 10" vinyl, CD and digital release via Erased Tapes ? the label behind his previous releases as well as Peter Broderick's recent and much noted dance score release 'Music For Falling From Trees'. Born in 1987, ?lafur hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsb?r, just a few kilometres outside of Reykjav?k. He has immersed himself completely in a world of delicate symphonic compositions generating near weightless orchestral pieces. Arnalds explores the crossover from classical to pop by mixing chamber strings and piano with discreet electronics which makes him a perfect fit for cinematic pop label Erased Tapes. His motivations are clear: "The classical scene is kind of closed to people who haven't been studying music all their lives. I would like to bring my classical influence to the people who don't usually listen to this kind of music?open people's minds." This young artist is steadily gaining recognition worldwide since his 2007 debut 'Eulogy for Evolution' and the 2008 follow-up EP 'Variations of Static'. In April 2009 online experiment 'Found Songs' received more than 200,000 downloads via foundsongs.erasedtapes and the physical edition released this August has instantly become a best seller, demonstrating that music in its physical format still attains a particular charm. ?lafur conceived 'Found Songs' as a way to collate several lost and found musical sketches and ideas in a 'very challenging, but fun' series. The experiment offers its listeners an intimate insight into ?lafur Arnalds' creative world with artwork contributions from fans via Flickr. With the next full-length release due in 2010, 'Found Songs' hasn't just inspired 2-D work. Esteban Di?cono ? a young motion graphic artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina ? created an astonishing animation video for 'Lj?si?', which found its way into the heart of UK illusionist Darren Brown among over 400,000 others within 4 weeks via Vimeo and YouTube. The music video is now available for download via iTunes. ?lafur is currently in the studio with Bardi Johannsson (Bang Gang) who will be co-producing his upcoming and highly anticipated second full-length album.

Icelandic composer ?lafur Arnalds set to release his first Hollywood film score. ?lafur Arnalds' original motion picture soundtrack for Sam Levinson's feature film debut 'Another Happy Day', starring Ellen Barkin and Demi Moore, will see a worldwide release via UK modern classical label Erased Tapes Records on February 27, 2012. In his own words: 'In mid-December 2010 I was on a holiday in China when I received an email from Sam Levinson about the film. We got on the phone at like 4 in the morning Beijing time and ended up talking all through the night, instantly connecting. He told me that they had been listening to my music while making the film, so the film was already very influenced by my music. However, it was not until Ellen Barkin ? the beautiful force that she is ? had pestered the producers for a week, calling them every day about how I am the right one for this film, that they finally gave in. The only catch was that it had to be done two weeks later, in the first week of January. So I ended up scoring nonstop all throughout Christmas, making my mother mad in the process.' ? ?lafur Arnalds Born in the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsb?r, a few kilometers outside of Reykjav?k, the 24-year old composer has always enjoyed pushing boundaries with both his studio work and his live-shows. Through relentless touring and determination this young artist has steadily gained recognition worldwide since his 2007 debut Eulogy for Evolution. ?lafur Arnalds' second full-length album ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness, continues his mission to lure an indie-generation of pop and rock fans into an emotive world of beguiling electronic chamber music and delicate classical arrangements. After recently having supported Ryuichi Sakamoto throughout Germany, ?lafur will return with a European 'Trio Tour' in spring 2012.

A year before Wild Pitch Records properly introduced us to the trio of Queens native Large Professor and Toronto’s Sir Scratch and K-Cut, the soon-to-be-legendary group self-released their own debut single. Dropping on Actual Records, the 12” of ‘Think’ and ‘Atom’ was soon a sought after rarity, with scarce originals still fetching upwards of three figures.

On it, they only hint at the greatness to come, while simultaneously showing that they’d already mastered the three-minute rap single – this is concise brilliance with no flab whatsoever.

Engineered by the late, esteemed Paul C, ‘Think’ is a study in how to turn well-worn samples into something new. The combination of several James Brown snatches, along with bits lifted from Lyn Collins and Jimmy Castor Bunch, could have been tired and almost parodic by 1989, but instead the group weave something interesting from old fabric.

‘Atom’ is arguably even better, built around a brace of elements from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 duet ‘Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl’. On it, Large Pro gives the first real hints that he’ll not just be a super-producer, but a committed MC to watch. Mixing threats with humour, positivity with braggadocio, it’s a calling card performance on a track that could have still sat comfortably on 1991’s ‘Breaking Atoms’ album.

Heavily bootlegged, this is the first official double-sided 7” release bringing together both these foundational cuts.

THUGWIDOW (Circadian Rhythms / Tar) is an artist that creates 'modern jungle with a sense of atmosphere and space that alludes most of his peers' (Resident Advisor), Bruised Skies (Pure Life Records / Blank Editions) creates ambience that captures a hyper-real landscape. Here on 'Requiem For a Sesh', the pairs first collaborative record, these two worlds collide to bring the listener an offering of strobe-laden 4x4, disfigured break beats, low slung sqaure waves and euphoria inducing top lines.

EP opener 'Epic Questing' is arguably the most dance-floor refined offering from either artist - sliced vocal chops and hard hitting kick drums tip the hat to classic 90's house anthems before heavily chopped jungle breaks and compressed 808's splinter around your ear drums like it's 3am at Unit 18 and the lighting technician is coming up riding the lazer fader. The ecstasy-laced piano melodies of title track 'Requiem For A Sesh' sounds like the sonic fruits of children raised on Olvie's 'You're not alone' and early XL Recordings 12"s. Elsewhere, 'Void Release' is a peak time 6-minute cataclysm of heavily sliced jungle breaks and jittering basslines, whilst EP closer 'Infinite Bass' feels like the clock winding down on the end of a night that we wish could go on forever.

Bruised Skies has recently been receiving radio support from Murlo, Lee Gamble & Francis Redman. Whilst THUGWIDOW's recent releases have received support from Team Sesh, Amy Becker & Whities as well as glistening reviews on The Quietus, & Resident Advisor.