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"I think most of it takes place in dreams," Caleb Landry Jones says of his debut solo album, The Mother Stone. "I'm talking more about dreams than I am about what's happened in the physical realm. Or I'm talking about both, and you're not sure what's what." Caleb Landry Jones was born in Garland, Texas in 1989 and comes from a long line of fiddle players. Three, maybe four generations back, on his mother's side. His grandfather wrote jingles for commercials, his mother was a singer-songwriter who taught piano lessons in the house, and his father was a contractor who did a lot of work for the Dallas music-equipment retailer Brook Mays and knew a guy if you needed a bass or a banjo. But Jones is not sure if you can hear any of this in his music and he does not play the fiddle. Jones has been writing and recording music since age 16, around the same time he started acting professionally. Played in a band called Robert Jones for a minute, lost his guitar player to higher education, moved into his own place, and broke up with somebody, at which point the songs really started coming hard and fast. "I started playing guitar and playing more keys," he says, "and then started writing record after record after record after record, because I didn't know what to do with myself. It was a good way of healing. And it felt like as soon as I started doing it, it felt like it needed to happen all the time." In the ensuing years he'd spend a lot of time carrying unrecorded songs around in his head like goldfish in a bag, waiting for a chance to record them in marathon sessions in his parents' barn. "You gotta play the songs every day, or every two or three days, to keep `em," he says. "Otherwise I forget them." Sometimes the ideas fuse together, one chapter to the next; this is how songs grow into seven-plus-minute epics like the ones on The Mother Stone. His back catalog is around seven hundred songs deep_ a whole discography of full albums, most of them unheard outside the barn, at least for now.

WRWTFWW Records is very happy to announce the official reissue of Motohiko Hamase’s astounding ambient house album Technodrome (1993). The album is sourced from original masters and available on vinyl for the first time ever as well as on CD. It comes with liner notes from the artist. This marks the fourth release from the ESPLANADE SERIES which focuses on the works of Yoshio Ojima, Motohiko Hamase and Satsuki Shibano. Inspired by John Cage, Jon Hassel, Brian Eno, and the emergence of house and techno music, Technodrome is jazz bassist turned electronic experimentalist Motohiko Hamase’s foray into what he calls ambient house or, as he explains, “using the gritty sensation inherent to the core of house music” to create an ambient record “aiming to express inverted images, optical illusions, and the sense of déjà vu that modern people can get in the city". Technodrome is constructed around innovative minimalism, a robotic funk orchestrated by bass lines and percussions, and monochrome moods. It’s the most intriguing project in Hamase’s discography, a ghostly ride set in 90s urban landscape, where repetition sets the groove and brings things to life, echoing Hamase’s deeper subtext for his compositions: “and attempt to recreate (as metaphor) the time in our mother’s womb". The album was initially released in 1993 by Newsic, the cult label started by Tokyo’s Wacoal Art Center (also known as Spiral), home, notably, of Yoshio Ojima who co-produced the album. It is now reissued in conjunction with Motohiko Hamase’s #Notes of Forestry and Anecdote albums.

This Spring, Life And Death hits a half century of releases with a suitably standout album from leftfield innovator Autarkic. Terms and Conditions is a 10 track window into the Tel Aviv artist's rich, wildly-infused electronica.

Critical acclaim has followed Nadav Spiegel's every move since he debuted in 2015. He is impossibly hard to pin down, and brings real songwriting ability to club tracks that colour far outside the usual lines. Weird dub, psychedelic rock, all forms of wave, sideways pop, swampy techno, Middle Eastern subtleties and plenty experimental in-between sounds all inform his work. It defies convention in ways many cannot, and has come on labels like Disco Halal and Turbo, as well as Life And Death with the Heavy Dreamer EP in 2018.

2016 and 2017 brought his first two albums, Can You Pass The Knife? and I Love You, So Go Away, both on Disco Halal. Both were full of intensely emotional wave, synth and lo-fi sounds that fizzed with innovation. Says the artist of its follow up, "Terms and Conditions was created to celebrate the moment in time that is now. The moment we became peasants in a new digital-feudal world, happily giving away our privacy for the privilege of owning a smart phone."

Terms and Conditions is a unique melting pot, a reimagining of familiar sounds in unfamiliar ways, and is another standalone record from Autarkic.

Once more we're ready to take flight on Africa Airways, for this sixth journey we're taking you above 5280 feet and laying on the funk.

The flight opens with the punchy horns, afro rhythms & groovy bass of Eko Roosevelt's "Ndolo Embe Mulema". Keeping the tempo high we usher in fellow Cameroonians JM Tim & Foty for another punch of brass with the funky "More And More (Ye-Male)". We stay in Cameroon with Ngalle Jojo, here he lays down another funktastic bass heavy stomper with "Ngigna Loko". Jude Bondeze hails from Bangui, Central African Republic and is probably best known for his more traditional Tene Sango album... but his debut 1981 release saw him in a very funky mood indeed!

Next up, Nigerian Vicky Edimo gets his thumb out and lays down some glorious slabs of deep funk... along with a rather splendid bass solo! JK Mandengue played bass off & on for the British Afrobeat band "Osibisa", playing on the uber funky "Super Fly TNT" Motion Picture Soundtrack album.. Certainly putting him on a path to the Wahahwah'tastic "Kosa Mba" taken from his 1979 self-titled album.

Slow percussive classic raw street funk from Nigeria's Akwassa, who's line up is the same as "Heads Funk Band", are up next. Another outing for Vicky Edimo on this 1978 beauty from Mike Kounou. Also on guitar duties for Mike Kounou is Francois Amadou Corea, who's funky chops can be heard on "Ngigna Loko" & "Njonjo Mukambe".

Hi-Octane funk from Airto Fogo, percussion, rhodes & horns aplenty on this 1974 instrumental cut "Black Soul". As we prepare to start our decent Francois Misse Ngoh drops in some filth with this 1980 bass face monster "Njonjo Mukambe"... head nodding isn't essential, but it's best to brace yourself for impact.

Your next Africa Airways departure will be ready for boarding soon,
so keep your passports at the ready!

Kristian Craig Robinson, aka Capitol K, is a multi-instrumentalist and record producer with a long history in London’s most interesting under-the-radar music places and spaces. With a musical story like his, you can expect side streams. New record ‘Birdtrapper’ is “the sound of an initiation rave in a utopian hidden village”, and his latest exploration of Mediterranean audio mythos following from ’Goatherder’ (2018). The six track mini-album was similarly formed from ritualistic improvisations performed in Malta (where Capitol K was born), using home-made flutes, reed pipe, bamboo percussion, drum machine, bass guitar, but this time features a wider use of synthesizers, with the alternative dance floor in mind. Where ‘Goatherder’ was an awakening of genetic primitivism, ‘Birdtrapper’ is an evocation of sonic bird callers, proto-rave abandon, ambient resonance and an ecstatic captive state, along with the previous work's visions of hunters, temples and scrub land music
‘Goatherder’ caused a quiet kind of quake and was beloved by The Quietus, BBCR3 and 6Music. Vinyl Factory described it as “like a series of manipulated field recordings that have an ancient, ritualistic quality … Goatherder shimmers with Balearic strangeness, rooted in an earthy outer-national dance music tradition”. For the last seven years K has been behind the consoles at the heavily influential Total Refreshment Centre, recording and mixing records with the likes of Trash Kit, The Comet Is Coming, Rozi Plain, Alabaster DePlume, Dry Cleaning, Flamingods Cykada, Ibibio Sound Machine, BAS JAN and John Johanna. It’s not just recording. He’s also become an influential if understated mentor to a new wave of producers and bands. His experience in studio environments is long and storied, including stints at Studio Plateaux on an island in the middle of the Thames and in the Royal Symphonia’s squatted rehearsal rooms. Capitol K has released seven albums and the 'Birdtapper EP' follows a legacy of influential releases on early 2000s electronica labels including Planet Mu and XL. Aside this he also runs the record label Faith & Industry. It’s a friends and family, love not money affair and he has released music by Champagne Dub, John Johanna, Super Best Friends Club, Blue House & Clémentine March.

Tyyni is the third album by Finnish-born sound artist and musician Cucina Povera aka Maria Rossi. The second album recorded using a more studio-based scenario – as opposed to last year’s Zoom, a collection of in-situ, spontaneous recordings – Tyyni feels like a slowly unfurling mediation on the clash between nature and mechanical living, a rumination on the complexities of modern life that begin to unveil more about the inner landscape of the artist as it progresses. A Finnish word referring to still, serene weather, the title belies a new note of turmoil in Cucina Povera’s soundworld. Tyyni represents a more detailed focus on the sculpting of sounds that curl around Rossi’s hymnal vocal performances. It’s a more adventurous work than Rossi’s previous output that goes further into noise elements and vocal abstraction while maintaining the balance and ecclesiastical ecstasy of her debut Hilja.

While tension at the core of Cucina Povera is always prevalent, previously it was organic sounds that were used to counterpoint Rossi’s singing but on Tyyni these are often replaced with aggressive synths and distortion, profane clashes with the seemingly sacred hymns. Whether close mic’d and intoning in a loop or in full flight, Maria Rossi’s voice remains in the foreground, set here against a more synthetic backdrop. This development builds new worlds for Cucina Povera, a digital environment which brings in a sense of the alien for Rossi’s vocal to duel. The effect is often dazzling. On Salvia Salvatrix, an ode to the medicinal plant used to ward off evil spirits, Rossi’s invocation is encircled by a distorted synth sound tearing at the fabric of the composition. It’s an inspired juxtaposition, leaving the listener to appreciate both sounds as separate and as a duet. Anarkian kuvajainen embraces a sense of chaos, an accidental transmitting mobile phone’s pulse is swept up gently with looped synth swells as Rossi’s prayer-like vocal rhythmically teases the composition into loops that embrace and then drift apart. Teerenpeli flirts with a minimal beat rendered by sampler and processed, layered field recordings of capercaillies, while Side A ends with one of Rossi’s most beautiful, simple tracks yet recorded. Varjokuvatanssi is an a cappela recording built on top of a wordless glossolalia, a shadowy interplay which foregrounds the solo vocal.

Pölytön nurkka is the most melodic song yet recorded by Cucina Povera. While it still maintains an off-the-cuff performance style, the synthesized chimes and 4/4 beat are smothered by a distorted synthesizer which almost replicates the bravado of an electric guitar feedbacking into the night. Rossi’s subject matter talks of trying to start anew, getting rid of extraneous material, perhaps still feeling powerless to affect positive change. On Haaksirikkoutunut, the protagonist vocal is lost, a vessel rudderless on the ocean, buffeted by waves metaphorical or real, digital, atonal chords gurgling and splashing against the bow, a storm forever brewing on the horizon. Saniaiset recalls Coil in its eldritch, nocturnal tone and digital-bell like synth, Rossi’s half-spoken/half-sung voice attaining a creepy tone before flipping into flight. Album closer Jolkottelureitti uses an escalating, sequenced synth that splinters into both abrasive tones and harmonising chords creating a kosmische effect, reminding the listener of Kluster or synth-era Popol Vuh, all the while elevated by Rossi’s searching vocalising.

For an artist with such a singularly unique musical language, Cucina Povera is continually teasing new strands and emotive tones from an evolving palette. Most importantly, Tyyni appears to be pulling back the veil to uncover an artist finding a synergy between her own emotional inner world and practice. As such, on her third album, Maria Rossi has found a third way between abstraction and extraneous emotion, personal experience turned inside out to reveal more about the listener.

In the deepest hour of nightfall, an explosion occurs on the horizon. An explosion so bright that daylight shows, just for a moment.

For the brief second, the landscape is exposed, vulnerable, like the alb of a high priest. 4 figures stand on a stand of gold leaf, staring out into a slow sea of crude oil. Invoke a violence from the sea, they say. The light goes out, and stays out. She Luv It carries in them an energy similar to a ritual of violence that can be heard in the music of Northern Europe as well.

The recording quality is bright with vocals that chug through an almost cassette-like sound. Bent notes harken back to Northern European scenery of "woods" and "darkness", but where they waded into shit politics rather than better music, She Luv It begins on a sturdy foundation of technical skill and intentional sound. Invoke the violence in yourself, stare into the black sea, and scream until your throat bleeds. This is 'She Luv It'.

Russia's Nocow refuses to mourn the failed experiment of human contact on his Turbo debut EP, delivering cathartic anthems alongside giant warehouse jams you are free to call "deep" and "cavernous" with full knowledge of the risks involved. ??

On lead track "Never Leave Me," the Saint Petersburg-based creator of "Cloud Techno" runs emotive vocals through a hazmat filter and into the emo-globin contained within your fluorescent-green blood cells. Meanwhile, after-hours love-weapons "Back On," "Avalon," and "Soder" each take different routes to activating the phantom arousal mechanisms of your soul. Finally, some people have been calling closer "Starfall" a "magical ticket to Vocal Sample Heaven" and "a timeless all-inclusive ravecation from the cares of this workaday world." While we would never choose to word it that way, we concede that both descriptions are generally pretty accurate.??

In these times of social isolation and uncertainty, we remind you that it's vital your Restless Heart Syndrome not turn into Reckless Heart Syndrome. Instead of frequenting illicit "Droplet Transmission Parties," why not peep the vast network of Landline Raves we've been hearing about via our vast network of peeper-drones? Also, please try to keep in mind that all of this is simply selection pressure forcing you to evolve new and viable ways of connecting with the hottest singles in your area. So stay inside for now and stay inside our hearts forever.

Zodiak Commune Records presents the sixth and last release of the White Cyclus series: Called ZC-KORE003 - White Cyclus VI EP. This time Zodiak Commune Records zooms in on Italian producer Acidevice. He started out in 2012, since 2016 as Acidevice. His style is a mix of Acid Techno, Hardcore Techno and lo-fi elements. All content is produced by Acidevice. For the third track he joined forces with JM23, a close friend from Spain.

Acidevice (IT) - Smile Land
Meet his style: banging, sinister thus painting the atmosphere. Smiling like a Dark Acid Clown hahaha!

Acidevice (IT) - Fire Walk with me
More poweracid. Acidevice takes you by the hand bringing Fire. Better watch out and don't get burnt.

Acidevice (IT) & JM23 (ES) - Dissection of a Smile
Mental Acid tale from this excellent team. We know you Love it!!

Acidevice (IT) - Bloody Hit
Tasty closing tune. Bang bang! Think you just took a Bloody Hit.

The Advent (Cisco Ferreira) delivers his first full-length Electro album in 17 years. Released this May on Sync 24's burgeoning Cultivated Electronics label, 'Life Cycles' finds the past meeting the future. Because, to get a truer feel for this new long-player, we should head back even further to a 1995 classic - The Advent's debut album, 'Elements Of Life'. In fact, fans will recognise a nod to the original artwork of that seminal release, as 'Life Cycles' takes us full circle, containing unreleased Electro gems from the '90s, available for the first time.

"I have been making electro music for nearly 3 decades now and excited to see that it is in demand with this new wave of talented producers out there. 'Life Cycles' is an album where I explore my older past and connect with the future, 2020 and this new electro generation," says Cisco. Ever since Cisco Ferreira discovered Acid House in the London clubs he frequented, his journey has been about making his mark on the electronic music scene.

Fresh from college he landed a job as assistant sound-engineer in several recording studios where he learned the art of translating feelings to frequencies, recording high profile artists from the world of Rock, Pop, Dance and Reggae. When acid label, Jack Trax moved in next-door, Cisco started recording for the likes of Adonis, Fingers Inc, Marshall Jefferson and Derrick May.

These rendezvous sparked the inspiration for his first EPs on R&S and Fragile. By 1994 Ferreira had signed a record deal for 12 EPs and 3 albums together with Colin McBean. This was the beginning of an era during which the duo set a worldwide standard for high quality underground Electro and Techno.

They hit the world with a refreshing sound, both as The Advent, and G Flame (Cisco) and Mr G (the alias Colin still uses today). Nowadays The Advent is a solo project for Cisco as he bombards crowds around the world with his trademark raw, energetic sound.

As much as The Advent is known for uncompromising Techno, so his Electro has been a huge influence for a lot of young Electro artists today (including his own son and sometime Electro collaborator, Zein) and when you listen to 'Life Cycles' you'll understand why. From the moment the beats kick in on track 1, 'Music Is Life' we're met with full on Advent power. The album explores classic old-school Electro vibes from the tough machine funk of tracks like 'This Is Not' and 'Vast' to the acid excursions on 'Panda', via some the ghetto boogie of 'L.U.' or 'Stasis V2'. And lest we forget what an amazing live performer The Advent is, there's even the deeply hypnotic 'Live@Motor 1998'.

Zweites Album von Andreas Kleerup, einem der besten Produzenten Schwedens, der mit Roxette und Cardigans arbeitete und zusammen mit Robyn eine UK #1 landen konnte ("With Every Heartbeat"). Während Lykke Li und Neneh Cherry zu den Gästen seines selbstbetitelten Debütalbums (2009) zählten, sind es auf "2" UK-Electro-Pop-Stars AlunaGeorge, das schwedische Powerhouse Rebecca & Fiona sowie Neuseelands Indie-Helden Yumi Zouma. Entstanden ist ein ausgezeichnetes Electro-Pop-Meisterwerk mit skandinavischem Ohrwurm-Potential.

The Current Inside”, Marja Ahti's sophomore album for Hallow Ground, plays with the theme of currents - connecting and animating movements in the form of air, water and electricity. It approaches sound as a poetic medium, focusing both on the experience of sound as form and energy and on a loosely narrative arc, suggesting a riddle on the relations between the sounds. It implements alternative as well as intuitive tunings, analog and digital synthesis, recordings of sonorous spaces and vessels, electromagnetic fields transduced into audio, acoustic close-ups of elements in motion and other field recordings. Fluently connecting quite diverse sound sources, Ahti's music lingers in a zone between abstract sonorities and vaguely familiar acoustic environments.

The first half of the album consists of ”The Altitudes”, a piece commissioned by Ina GRM for Présences Électronique and Sonic Acts. It was inspired by descriptions of the layers of Earth's atmosphere. Imagining a movement through layers of air, the piece unfolds with a slow intensity, interweaving concrete sounds and closely tuned electronic sonorities. Traversing the altitudes, a landscape of entangled elements, masses and currents emerges. The air around us has weight and it presses against everything it touches. As gravity pulls it to Earth, it is sensed as pressure. The rotation of the planet, the angle of the sun at any new moment sets the elements in motion in a chain reaction.

The other side consists of four shorter pieces. ”The Currents” opens with a dance of trembling charged movements. ”Lost Lake” extracts resonant tones from a trail of close-up recordings of winter environments, while ”Fluctuating Streams” channels streaming air in different forms. The closing track, ”Sundial”, could be construed as the steady turning of the planetary angle towards the sun, unfolding through fragments of everyday activity against the backdrop of piercing, slowly twisting, suspended tone.

Marja Ahti (b. 1981) is a musician and composer based in Turku, Finland. Originally from Sweden, Ahti has been a part of the Finnish experimental music scene for more than ten years in different constellations. She is currently active in the duo Ahti & Ahti with her partner and as a member of the Himera artist/organizer collective. Her critically acclaimed 2019 solo debut, Vegetal Negatives, explored a new formal language and sonic palette inspired by a short text by René Daumal.

In just a few years and with a handful of releases, the Canadian producer better known as Yves Malone has earned himself a reputation. In The Beginning of Nothing he continues working with many layers of analog synths and a keen sense of drum machines to create atmospheres and textures extracted from late twentieth-century collective fears of a dystopian future. Created as a sort of score to an internal elegy, Yves Malone creates soundtracks of the daily fear, regret, and resignation that is his waking life, an effort to isolate and negate this anxiety, which is a constant and unwanted companion. Sequenced on mostly working vintage gear, The Beginning of Nothing tries to extricate a bit of beauty from a rapidly darkening landscape.

After much anticipation, our Belgian disco diamonds Rheinzand present their debut full-length album. On their self-titled record, The Belgian trio wraps the human heart in synthetic threads of modular electronic disco. 9 songs writhing on timeless dancefloors, morphing in and out of shapes of luxuriant melody and vivid instrumentation.

The album is full of classic disco and electro sounds, wielded with imposing prowess by multi-instrumentalist Reinhard Vanbergen. It’s both an exploration ofdance music’s electronic genealogy and the vintage cool that has defined its different eras. Still, an organic atmosphere pervades as the blend of real instrumentation fixes a sort of retro-futurism, imagining an alternative timeline that’s a bit more exciting, more sensuous and libidinal, maybe more human, too, than our current outlook.

We start the engines with Break of Dawn, a compelling beat rises from the basement and soon we’re submerged by the pulsing bassline. Dark sunglasses on, we cruise through the night, letting flashing city lights flow into unbroken torrents of color. Blind awakens us, a splash of handclaps in the face, vivid strings and Charlotte’s trademark slick vocals enter the stage. Tantalizing sunbeams power up circuits of electronic synths blipping and beeping away.

Later down the road, we hit the Latin part of town. Porque fits enchanting vocal spells in beautiful Spanish on playful flamenco rhythms. Fourteen Again is a throwback to early electro, playing around with knobs and buttons. An oscillating synth imagines new worlds of plastic emotion. Still disco and still very cool, though. A constant velocity is sustained throughout the album bythis recurring locomotive synth, trudging away beneath the action. Once in a while, we hear the deep, mighty, trembling voice of Mr. Rheinzand speaking to us in incantations. Someone’s pulling the strings here.

On Slippery People, the trio cover the Talking Heads classic in a characteristic procedure of bouncy funk. We’re swirled around by the delirious glasswork of You Don’t Know Me into the hypnagogic funk noir of Strange World. Drifting through the house of mirrors after the fourth mojito.

Obey collects all these threads in a full-bodied future classic disco anthem, before Queen of The Dawn wraps up the show with a sky-bound epic of operatic choirs and ceremonious drums that lands somewhere between Kate Bush’s Aerial and Peter Gabriel’s most bombastic.

Mannequin Records is delighted to present their fourth full length of Polices des moeurs, the Canadian minimal synth duo formed by Francis Dugas and Manuelle Gauthier. With PÉRIL, Police des moeurs expands its sound and ventures into mysterious, bewitching and enigmatic landscapes. The foundation is still synthetic, minimal and punchy, relying on mechanical rhythm, powerful bass and catchy melodies, but it's now combined with more elaborate arrangements, punctuated by delicate textures and depthful laments with uncertain but sincere meanings.

Formed in 2010 in Montreal, Police des moeurs got noticed right from the start with its infectious and direct synth pop. The band has released several recordings, including Péril, their fourth full lenght album on Berlin's Mannequin Records. The Canadian group has performed in Mexico, the United States, as well as in ten European countries, and has share the stage with The Damned, ADULT., TR / ST, Xeno & Oaklander, Automelodi, Essaie Pas, Xarah Dion, Duchess Says, to name a few.

Official Mr Bongo 7” Hip Hop Reissue.

Craft a record iconic enough and, no matter what you’ve sampled to make it, you’re destined to be sampled more yourself. It helps if you’ve got Rakim’s voice, of course. When he and Eric B went into Power Play Studios in New York in 1987 to record ‘I Ain’t No Joke’, their next move was highly anticipated due to the critical success of the duo’s first record, ‘Eric B. Is President’. Rakim was already seen as a masterful MC with a distinctive slow, baritone flow and seamless access to a rich vein of words not often heard in hip-hop.

People’s first exposure to this track was on the landmark ‘Paid in Full’ album, and it was clear this had the potential to jump off as a single. The repetitive, simply scratched sample of ‘Pass the Peas’ by the JB’s was an infectious ear worm that needed a truly strong MC to stand up to it. He did more than that – here Rakim spun timeless lyrics and lines that would go on to be sampled and referred to dozens of times down through hip-hop history. He took one of rap’s great instrumentals and wrestled it to the floor.

Of course, you can’t have Eric B & Rakim without Eric B. The DJ gets his time to shine on the flip, and while he isn’t a man renowned for his dexterity and turntablist skills, the track still knocks. Maybe it’s because Eric B has already realised what many would come to work out later: If you haven’t got Rakim on your record, at least scratch his vocals. This re-release comes with a brand new cover utilising some of Dan Lish’s trademark artwork.

It goes without saying that the global metal scene would not be the same without Sepultura. For 35 years now, the Brazilian icons are not only a band revered worldwide; they have been, are and forever will be at the very forefront of Thrash Metal, trailblazing ever since they released their long-since legendary debut album “Morbid Visions” in 1986.
While quickly establishing themselves as leaders of the second wave of Thrash already in the late eighties, to this day they never came even close to stagnation. “Quadra”, their mighty new undertaking, is proof of a will unbroken, a thirst unquenched and a quality so staggeringly high it’s a wonder this band doesn’t implode. Now three albums deep into what may very well be their strongest incarnation yet – uniting the talents of old-school members Andreas Kisser (guitars, vocals) and Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. (bass), vocal force of nature Derrick Leon Green (vocals) and drummer Eloy Casagrande – Sepultura are an unleashed power to be reckoned with, uniting bucketloads of experience and youthful vigour in a totally revived way.
“On ‘Quadra’, we felt the urge to revisit that old thrash feeling of ‘Beneath the Remains’ or ‘Arise“,’ only seen through the eyes of today,” Andreas Kisser utters the magic words. “Add to that the tribal percussion, the orchestral elements, the choirs, the melodies and the clean vocals and you get a thorough run-through of our entire career, backed by a very contemporary approach.” Fuelled by an energy almost uncanny for a band that has been active for so long, Sepultura storm through a contemporary thrash monument, backed by sublime melodies, a very eerie atmosphere and a fiendishly high level of technicality. Kisser is appreciating these compliments, still maintaining his very down to earth approach. “We don’t heed the past and we don’t try to be preoccupied by the future too much,” he shrugs. “We’re in the now, trying every day to make Sepultura a little bit better. That’s what keeping us strong.”
And that’s what they have been doing for the last 30+ years. Album after album, tour after tour, no gap in between records longer than three years. “Music is all we do,” Kisser states matter-of-factly. “If it wouldn’t be for Sepultura,” he laughs, “I would be a sad and lonely guy. Sepultura is what we are.” And “Quadra” is living testimony to that. The old Sepultura echo through the very fibre of the songs in all its raw and morbid splendour, but yet it’s the present, the experienced and refined beast that is Sepultura in 2020 that’s blasting out thrash metal anthems for a fucked-up age.
With now 15 albums under their belts, Sepultura are the work horses of the metal world, always ready to attack. In many ways, “Quadra” broadens the vision the Brazilian thrash troopers had on “Machine Messiah” (2017), again relying on the impeccable talent of Swedish producing giant Jens Bogren and his Fascination Street Studios. “He is so full of passion, it’s unbelievable, man,” Kisser raves. “He’s really there, he really cares about the projects he’s doing. For Sepultura, he’s like the fifth member of the band. The chemistry was so amazing, 99 percent of what we were trying do to actually worked. That was insane!” Even after more than 30 years at the forefront of international thrash, guitarist Kisser sounds positively baffled by working with Bogren. “We felt like we were in our rehearsal room.”
Bringing together a monumental grandeur and a wild, untamed ferocity, Sepultura stepped up their game musically – and conceptually as well. “We were possessed by the number four, by the numerology of it”, Kisser starts to explain. “I divided the album into four parts as if we were doing a double vinyl. Side one is the pure and raw thrash side. Side two brings in the rhythms and percussion from our ‘Roots’ era. Three is getting a bit experimental and four brings forth the melodies and the acoustic guitars.” With John North’s book “Quadrivium” as a further source of inspiration, Sepultura dive deep into a mystical world full of hidden meanings. “You have four seasons and twelve month in a year just to pick one example. A lot of stuff in our culture is divided like that.”
Plus, Quadra also is the Portuguese word for ‘sport court’ that by definition is a limited area of land, with regulatory demarcations, where according to a set of rules the game takes place,” he adds. “We all come from different Quadras. The countries, all nations with their borders and traditions; culture, religions, laws, education and a set of rules where life takes place.” In the Quadra of thrash, however, we all are the same. And we bow our heads in unison to the mighty leader that is Sepultura.

Gigantic producer/DJ from Scotland, Creep Woland, lands back on the Astral Black heli-pad with his 'Chamberlain' EP. Four blistering breaks-led, club ready, jungle tracks intended as an ode to the rolling bass and rainy days that raised him. Picking up near enough where his Close Reading debut left off, Chamberlain sees a more refined and honed execution of the hard hitting electronica Woland has become known for.

Informed by the experience of playing to dance-floors, as well as educational journeys down to London for radio sets, these new tracks are fine tuned and bass heavy - perfect for existential club experiences or the driving of sports vehicles. The subdued intrigue of EP opener 'Imposter Syndrome' sets the mystical and reflective tone of the record, while down the line junglist anthems 'Medieval Draw' and '0800-Falkirk Triangle' call for slow motion gun finger. Written at a time of personal hardship and mastery of oneself, the hopeful promise of closer 'Lord Chamberlain' acts as a sonic representation of the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel of this particular time in Woland's life.

Recently, Chamberlain EP's 'Imposter Syndrome' has been receiving early radio support from Rinse FM's Jossy Mitsu & Impey on NTS, whilst his debut release Close Reading received radio support from the likes of Josey Rebelle (in her award-winning Essential Mix), Om-Unit and JD. Reid as well as critical acclaim from FACT, CLASH & Hyponik. In addition to its various accolades, Close Reading also lead to Woland being handpicked by Lanark Artefax as the opening act for his 'Enter The Gateway' performance, and has since performed alongside the likes of Om-Unit, Proc Fiskal, DJ Storm and more.

*More downbeat wickedness on the excellent Fasaan!*

This double A-sider is the fruit of a long gestating collaboration with fellow Malmö-based record collector/selector & producer Simon alias Rizzolo DJ (alias Moisture). Closely intertwined with the label in various ways since the start, his path to producing started with re-edits and a more wild-haired approach to deejaying, finally landing into his own groove with the 2018 album A Freak Is Born. Released as a privately pressed cassette, the album featured two tracks co-produced with Fasaan founder Prins Emanuel.

On that first album, the palette was a lo-fi reverie of minimal waves crashing into depths of goth and heights of camp. Here for the 12" format, we instead get the full onslaught of power tools gleaming in the blast of strobe lights. The weight of GAMMUT unfolds and delivers exactly what the title suggests: a complete scope of percussive barrage unleashed in tight locked grooves and smattering reverberations. In addition to that, we are treated with a spine-tingling re-imagining of the concept of a bass drop.

For ORGONE, a 1984 track by Norwegian group Fra Lippo Lippi serves as the backbone of the composition. Championed by cosmic DJ Daniele Baldelli and here pitched down to wrongspeeder tempo, Moisture uses the original song to bridge the gap between his roots in the re-edit scene as well as in the cosmic tradition. Thedry mechanical bassline is flanked by hollow percussion that eventually propels into a crystal-chimmering microcosm of orgone energy.

The two inimitable long tracks from George Thompson AKA Black Merlin have reached Offen on 13.11.2019, and Offen said: let there be 013! Featuring words by Alexandra Grübler on „Textured Land“. Artwork by Patrick Keuthen, mastered by Enrico Mercaldi at Time Tools Mastering.

Reconnected is compiled from Harold Lucious’ addictive 1990 release Connections, a visionary mix of soulful house, New Jack Swing and RnB, an American predecessor of street soul.

Deeply connected to music from an early age, Harold started his music career in the early 70s at the age of 16. He sang in his first group, The Final Seconds, who pressed a 7” single in New York City in 1973. The group would go on to record a full album called Neo Cosmic Blues, but never had the chance to press it. They would continue to perform and write together throughout the 70’s and searched in vain for a label to work with.

During that time, Harold landed a guest spot on the legendary Brother Ahh record Move Ever Onward, set up by his manager who was Brother Ahh’s sibling. Harold is listed as having played koto, but really he provided background vocals. Throughout the 80’s, Harold worked at WBI radio programming talk shows. On air, he would act out modified scripts to Richard Wright novels like “The Outsider”.

Connections was his effort to finally release a record after years of recording and playing music. Experimenting with dance music he came up with an album that was inspired by his love of house music and RnB. He sold the record out of his backpack, ending up with boxes of copies that were eventually destroyed when he had to move from his long-time apartment in Brooklyn. Few of the original LP remain, and it has become almost impossible to find.

Reconnected is a remastered redux with four songs taken from the original LP, and pressed onto a loud 45rpm 12” for maximum dance-floor potential. Mixed Signals is honoured to introduce Harold’s music to a contemporary audience around the world.

Bunny Wailer’s album Sings the Wailers successfully reworks many of The Wailers songs with the backing of top Jamaican musicians, Sly and Robbie. The way he edited the songs for the modern age is impressive. At some moments he’s harmonizing with himself, to keep the spirit of The Wailers alive. Dubby overtones and well produced arrangements are all part of the wonderful sound created by Bunny and Sly and Robbie.

• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• INCLUDES “MELLOW MOOD”, “HYPOCRITE”, “RULE THIS LAND”, “I’M THE TOUGHEST” AND MORE REGGAE SONGS
• REGGAE SERIES WITH SELECTED REGGAE CLASSICS STICKER ON SEAL

Tilman Robinson’s third album, CULTURECIDE, is an investigation of the anthropocene; a seven part lamentation for our chaotic world.

Tilman Robinson is an Australian composer and sound designer creating electro-acoustic music across a range of genres including classical minimalism, improvised, experimental, electronic and ambient. Tilman’s diverse output focuses on the psychological impact of dense sound employing acousmatic and psychoacoustic principles. His third album CULTURECIDE will be released on Iceland’s Bedroom Community label in April 2020.

CULTURECIDE: “...processes that have usually been purposely introduced that result in the decline or demise of a culture, without necessarily resulting in the physical destruction of its bearers.” D Stein

CULTURECIDE is a rich sonic collage, harvesting sounds from a range sources including field recordings, medical machines that monitor the human body, traditional instruments and synthesisers, often melted electronically. The result is an unsettling paradox with sounds constantly on the edge of recognition. Each piece references a specific socio- political issue ranging from colonialism to neo-liberalism to climate change and the impending singularity of humans and machines. Far from an answer to these questions, CULTURECIDE invites us to meditate on their place in our life and approach personal understanding.

Recorded and produced almost completely in Australia, a land at the forefront of the devastation of climate change, CULTURECIDE was an attempt at catharsis for its author frequently appalled at his country’s incredible apathy and inaction. Mixed by Bedroom Community regular Daniel Rejmer and mastered by Lawrence English, works from the ambitious and unsettling record saw Tilman nominated for the 2019 Melbourne Prize for Music.

TERANGA BEAT proudly presents Vol.2 of Kyriakos Sfetsas' 1976 "Greek Fusion Orchestra" project. Sfetsas' vision behind the formation of GFO, was to create a piece of work that would expand the boundaries of Greek traditional music. The result was a Progressive-Jazz Fusion masterpiece comprising complex and intriguing compositions, performed by Athens' best musicians of the day.

Following the success of Vol.1, Vol.2 is a compilation of musical pieces Sfetsas recorded with the group right upon the completion of the Vol. 1 material. Vol.2 is still reflective of his ambition of bringing together progressive jazz and traditional music, but it does so in a different manner. Although the element of traditional music remains present, it does not provide the compositional foundation for the songs (e.g. most pieces are no longer based exclusively on traditional musical forms). More jazzy and more complex than Vol.1, Vol.2 has a darker feeling, presenting Sfetsas not only as a musical experimentalist, but also as a demanding and distinctive composer, who truly puts his musicians through the test.

Following the success of Vol.1, Vol.2 is a compilation of musical pieces Sfetsas recorded with the group right upon the completion of the Vol. 1 material. Vol.2 is still reflective of his ambition of bringing together progressive jazz and traditional music, but it does so in a different manner. Although the element of traditional music remains present, it does not provide the compositional foundation for the songs (e.g. most pieces are no longer based exclusively on traditional musical forms). More jazzy and more complex than Vol.1, Vol.2 has a darker feeling, presenting Sfetsas not only as a musical experimentalist, but also as a demanding and distinctive composer, who truly puts his musicians through the test.

Thembisa’s Hot Soul Singers were formed in 1975 by promoter and producer Sam “Jiza Jiza” Mthembu. In the early years the trio was called the Thembisa Happy Queens and consisted of sisters Ntombifuthi and Nombuso Mabaso and Lindiwe Ndlovu. The trio would start out playing Jive, Zulu Disco and other popular sounds of the 70s . In 1979 they became the Hot Soul Singers and would begin a career in the emerging Disco scene which their group name was now more fitting for.

Their first single under the new name was a tribute to their producer Sam, and their first album “Together” would come 2 years later in 1981. It contained their Lamont Dozier rip off from a year earlier, and biggest hit to date “ Give Me My Love Back” which was playing in jukeboxes across the country. At this time the Hot Soul Singers were also gaining popularity due to their demand as an opening act for American groups. Sam’s ongoing pursuit to be a successful promoter also helped to ensure they were always in the headlines and playing shows. It would be in 1983 that the group would temporarily step away from a major label and go onto record their first Maxi single with the independent Raintree Records new Lyncell Imprint.

Like most places in the world the early 80s was a fast changing time in music for South Africa. Although the Maxi had a disco standard for years in other parts of the world it had only recently been popularized in South Africa. Thanks to the Brenda and the Big Dudes smash, Weekend Special, the maxi took over as the preferred format for pop music, replacing the cheaper but time restricting 7” single. Singles were being pushed to the limits in the early 80’s with running times of 4+ minutes a sides by some labels. The Maxi allowed for groups to extend their grooves onto a full side and later album art containing smiling musicians infant of cheesy backdrops became the norm. Synthesizers had been used in pop music for years already but the DX7 wouldn’t land in the country for another year. Drum machines were being used but had yet to fully replace live drummers like would happen in the years to come. The recording of this new single would require a full band resulting in it being one of the gems of the crossover period before the complete midi takeover. Durban’s Graham Handley was recording some of the best upcoming Disco sounds for labels like Heads Music and groups like Kabasa and Masike Mohapi and was tasked as engineer. Other known musicians in the session would be Jimmy Mgwandi from the group Image, who’s signature bass playing can be heard on both songs. A young Daniel Phakoe aka “sox” was also present and took care of the male parts of the vocal line. Both musicians have writing credits along with lead singer Nombuso. Other possibilities of musicians would be Thami Mduli aka Professor Rhythm who had been with the group since their early days as well as a young Chicco who was best friends with Jimmy at the time.

The single, which was packaged in a customized but simple company disco sleeve, went on to do quite well. Less than a year later they would feature on a track with Sunset which would lead to them singing with Sounds of Soweto records label. The group would enjoy the growing fame when tragedy struck in 1984. On their way to a show in Mpumalanga they were involved in a car accident which took the life of Nombuso and left her husband Sam with a leg injury he limps with to this day. Upon recovering Sam would organize a tribute concert at Soweto’s Jabulani Amphitheatre. Even though the tragedy left the group broken and without a member the band went back to work to record their second full length album. They worked with Mac Mathunjwa who had written Nombuso’s favourite song “Going Crazy”. This album would be released with two different names and covers. One took the former singer’s favourite song as the album name and used a photo consisting of all three girls where the other released under the name “ A Tribute” and would only have the remaining members on the cover.

Although the tragedy never halted the group, moving forward the trio of singers would see a few members change. Lindiwe would leave to join Freeway and then become Linda “Babe” Majika so by the time they were ready to record in1986, now with Teal records, the only original member was Ntombifuthi. She would also shortly leave the group and provide backing vocals to other artists including her old band mate Linda. The Hot Soul Singers would be kept alive by Jiza Jiza and go on to record 5 more albums before calling it quits in 1990 after a successful 15 year career. Today the only core member left is Sam Mthembu who still lives in Thembisa and is occasionally promoting live events. Even though he did produce a handful of artists back in the 70s, his most significant additions to the music industry were the Hot Soul Singers and his event promotions, which is what he is best known for and will most likely be the legacy of his career.

Moscow's leading deep and underground house label Deepology presents a series of releases, Four Seasons. Four releases, vinyl only, each corresponding to a specific season of the year.

The first record, EP 1, includes four tracks by residents and friends of the label - an international team of the artists from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and Finland.

Limited edition of 300 copies. Spread the analogue love!


DJ Feedback:

Mark Farina, Sascha Dive, Luna City Express, Martin Landsky, Jimpster, DJ Linus, Charles Spencer, Nick Holder, Terry Francis, Jay West, Igor Marijuan (Ibiza Sonica FM), Glenn Underground, Jesus Gonsev, Robert Owens, Patrick Lindsey, Lars Behrenroth, Carlo Gambino, Mucho Soul, Finest Wear, Fer Ferrari, Sumsuch and more.

Seb Wildblood readies his first new release of 2020, the ‘Hazy House’ EP. After a year that saw Wildblood releasing his landmark LP, ‘sketches of transition' – which received a glowing 8/10 review in DJ Mag and made it into Mixmag’s of Albums of 2019 round-up – his new two-tracker is set for release via his London / Los Angeles based label, all my thoughts, on April 17th. Along with his recently released edit of Rosalia’s ‘A Palé’ for charity, the EP marks the DJ/producer’s return to a more dancefloor-focused sound, having ventured further into the worlds of downtempo electronics, R&B and Balearic-imbued house on his introspective and accomplished debut album.

‘Hazy House’ is an encapsulation of what a Seb Wildblood DJ set sounds like in 2020, fusing tough house rhythms with electro’s futuristic atmosphere and an ear for emotive melodic hooks. With dreamy flourishes and subtle complexities, the EP retains much of the depth that ‘sketches’ emphasized, despite being his most club-ready work since 2018’s ‘Grab The Wheel’ EP. The resulting release is one that showcases Wildblood’s considered, painterly technique, and his capacity to create thoughtful soundscapes even when focused on mobility and energy.

‘Hazy House Vol. 1’ on the A-side is buoyant and lush, with a warm synth bed hovering on top of its bouncy beat before a soft, chiming arpeggio motif floats into the mix, tying everything together in a silky deep house bow.

‘Vol. 2’ is similarly inviting, if a little more robust. With a sharp beat, angelic choral synths, and a subtle vocoder, the track is one for the depth of the night, when the last push of energy carries you through, right into the warmth of the afterglow.

Inspired by moments experienced throughout his second world tour in 2019, which saw him playing DJ sets everywhere from Australia and Japan to the UK and across North America, the title ‘Hazy House’ is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the assumptions some may have about Wildblood’s sound. But as the EP highlights, there’s a subtle intricacy at play in the producer’s work that further establishes him as a distinct voice for both club-driven sounds, and for those more suited to headphones.

Palette 71 kicks off with legendary Warp artist Plaid on remix duties. Transforming the title track, re-synthesized 909 samp-les and lua scripted sequencing, Plaid builds melodies and ar-rangement to epic proportions in classic Plaid fashion.

Tejada’s new EP is an homage of sorts to the sample heavy production style of the late '90s. "Limiting the options and just creating and manipulating a batch of samples is my happy place,” says Tejada. The title track hints back to a personal favorite, Optical’s "Moving 808s." While the sound is quite different, the approach is similar: samples, editing, some fil-ters and not a whole lot more opens up a lot of creative possi-bilities without too much getting in the way. Of course, the bass plays an important role. Combing through some older influences of varying styles, the production became more in line with Tejada classics like “Timebomb” and “Western Star-land,” both sample collage pieces focused on groove.

The final track, "Infinity Room" also follows this production process while resulting in a slightly moodier sound.

Scottish trumpeter Malcolm Strachan is a founder member of top UK funk/jazz-funk band The Haggis Horns as well as being one of the busiest session musicians in the UK today. In a professional career spanning 20 years, he's recorded with the likes of Mark Ronson, Amy WineHouse, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamiroquai, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Jesse Glynne, The Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band, Black Honey, The New Mastersounds and Blue Note saxophone legend Lou Donaldson. Now he's finally releasing his first solo album, aptly titled "About Time", on Haggis Records and he's going back to his original roots... Jazz.

The album is a collection of original compositions, all written and arranged by Malcolm, which are firmly rooted in the classic acoustic modern jazz style typified by the great 60's and 70's recordings on the legendary Blue Note Records label. A nice variation of themes and tempos feature throughout the album. From full-on latin vibes to beautiful ballads, soul jazz grooves to cinematic soundtrack flavours, all woven together by a great group of experienced musicians.

Malcolm's core quartet is himself on trumpet/flugelhorn, fellow Haggis Horns members George Cooper (piano) and Erroll Rollins (drums), plus Courtny Tomas on double bass. Featured guests are Atholl Ransome on tenor sax (The Haggis Horns), Rob Mitchell on baritone sax (Abstract Orchestra) and Danny Barley on Trombone. Strings are courtesy of Richard Curran and the percussionist is one of the finest session players in Europe, Karl Vanden Bossche (Incognito, Robert Palmer, Joss Stone, The Gorillaz, Sade, Blur - He and Malcolm met while touring with Mark Ronson)

Malcolm's love of jazz comes from his parents. Aged 7, his jazz musician father gave him a trumpet. From then on, jazz was his life. His musical education came via music teachers, youth jazz orchestras and jazz summer schools but mostly from his dad's record collection listening to Art Blakey and Dizzy Gillespie records and learning to improvise and solo by ear. At 18, he enrolled at Leeds College of Music and quickly immersed himself in the city's vibrant acid jazz, funk and soul scene and from making his recording debut in 1999 with The New Mastersounds, jazz was his musical passion but took a back seat to funk/soul/pop which were the day job. Until now.

Jazz is back. The wait is over. It really is "About Time" for Malcolm Strachan.

Substance, the second album by producer Moisture, sets out to deliver an immersive tech-noir fantasy of emotional and physical deconstruction. Inspired in part by William S. Burroughs 1959 novel Naked Lunch, the conceptual narrative of the album follows a humanoid subject through an urban landscape and the exploration of its depravations.

Sampling and filtering sounds from other music, movies and own field recordings, the tapestry of Substance is a three-dimensional world of hard industrial spaces and fluid organic matter. While it's conception is rooted equally in literature and film as well as music, one can draw comparisons in particular to Barry Adamsons 1989 album Moss Side Story, in that it also works as a chronological narrative; the tracks aligning to make a world of its own.

And while Adamson was aiming to create an imaginary soundscape of his native Manchester, the geography of Substance is based on the city of Malmö. Using field recordings from it's city streets, the album paints a rain soaked, neon-clad portrait of the city's hedonistic nightlife.

On the opening "The Marketplace" we are teleported to Bergsgatan at night (the track title a subtle nod towards Eden Ahbez 1960 song of the same name).

This introduction is similar in line with the experience Burroughs once had in 1957 upon entering Malmö for the first and only time, which he details briefly in Naked Lunch: "averted eyes and the cemetery in the middle of town (every town in Sweden seems to be built around a cemetery), and nothing to do in the afternoon (...)"

This image of Malmö portrayed with dread and loathing holds a longstanding narrative tradition over the cultural geography of the town. Yet it is often paired with an image of great promise and bohemian splendor, seemingly a paradox but often perversely intertwined. This duality has always been a vital mindset in the underground music scene of the town and its illegal after hours clubs. Substance is a work steeped in the grayscale prism of techno and its post-industrial fetischism. Yet in picking it apart, one can find elements of everything from post-punk, drum & bass, trip hop and new age.

The theme of depravation that soaks through Burroughs Naked Lunch seems oddly befitting to this side of Malmö (one wonders what the author would have made of it had he stayed longer) Through rhythmic excursions and the exploration of repetition, the tracks of Substance are arranged to convey this self-destructive longing for depravity. Michel Foucault's ideas on limit experiences serves as context for this peculiar form of endeavour, as he puts it: "the point of life which lies as close as possible to the impossibility of living, which lies at the limit or the extreme."

The longtime portuguese dj-producer Dedy Dread lands on DJ's CHOICE label for his first full-on original production. "Don't Wanna Wake Up" kicks off the collaboration with the soulful Hawaiian-born singer Olivia Ruff, a velvety warm r'n'b banger which will certainly tear through the airwaves. On the flip side, a "bikini-dub" version by The Rebel – helped by the sax of Danilo Desideri (Funkallisto) – which will make you wish summer comes sooner rather than later.

Greece is maybe not the first country that comes to mind when you think of Afrojazz. (Interpret 'Afrodyssey Orchestra' unexpectedly hit the scene some time ago after the release of In the Land of Aou Tila, their debut album — while that first album was going to the hands of the few lucky ones who managed to discover the band back then, Afrodyssey Orchestra were already booking more studio time in order to start working on further recordings.

Three years later, we’re proud to present you 'Under the Sun', with seven new compositions, that reflect the logical evolution, the band has experienced during this time, including some fine-tuning in their line-up. A melange of African polyrhythms, jazz, a scent of the Balkans and a fling with Afrobeat that holds hands with their beginnings — all this devised through the prism of the vast Greek musical universe. It's the - one and only - Greek band out there, playing music influenced by the mother continent!

Very limited 12" (200 copies worldwide).

In a perfect world one would expect to find the music of Klaus Waldeck in the genre of electronic music. With his new project "The Waldeck Sextet" he leaves this stereotype behind and surprises us with a very pleasant acoustic experiment.

It all began with an analogue recording session in Vienna´s legendary supersense studios.And although it is hardly a perquisite to form a new project for these kind of recording ventures, Waldeck - quite obviously enthused by the idea of this analogue adventure - founded his new project "The Waldeck Sextet". Such was his excitement that he lost track of the number of musicians and thus founded the worlds first sextet that consists of 10 members, including his main vocalist Patrizia Ferrara.

Just act like it didn’t happen…
Reznik & Mikesh crack open a fine vintage bottle of conspiracy with the scorching truth bomb ‘The Moon
Landing Was A Hoax’. Following their remix of Telepopmusik last year, the freshly-formed duo of
Keinemusik affiliates deliver such an acid weapon Justin Strauss insisted they release it after it caused
total Panorama Bar meltdown for him.
In case you missed the inaugural edit, ‘The Moon Landing Was A Hoax’ takes off with pure 303 bounces
before sharp vocal cuts pepper the mix leading to a heaven-opening breakdown. Total euphoria; it’s so
powerful it totally misses the lunar landscape and spins us back around our own planet faster and faster
with every emphatic layer. Reznik & Mikesh’s ‘Area 51 Infinite Mix’ adds three more minutes of feels,
creating this immense drama that sits somewhere between Chemical Brothers and Two Lone
Swordsmen.
It’s backed by a giant leap of a remix by Justin Strauss himself. Teaming up with Throne of Blood’s Max
Pask, they take it up through the gears, ramping the rolling acid tension until the last two minutes pays
out the euphoria jolt we’re waiting for. File under rocket-fuel.
There are no small steps elsewhere on this trip either; ‘The Nostromo Swerve’ goes intergalactic with
such tense, epic acid techno thunder it could dodge entire black holes while ‘Kiss My Axe’ goes all-out
Stingray-style electro with its gravity-defying breakbeat swing and sweeping layers of melancholy
synths. Total celestial immersion: in space, no one can hear you scream, dream or even make up
hoaxes… Happy landings.

Dimi is the new solo project and label of (Dimitrios Ploumpidis) one half of techno duo, AnD.

The Dimi label will be an exploration in sound, pushing techno, rave and dance floor sounds with a raw and powerful attitude.

DIMI001 kicks off with "Time Travel". Pulsating kick drums and vocal cuts interweave, creating groove with the snappy snare and lashing hi hats. When the huge synth stab and melody drop to take us straight to a hedonistic past put looking clearly into the future.

"Bang Your Face" enters the room with a tight, hard-hitting kick and serrated rave sirens building an infectious groove before being banged in the face with the old school euphoric synth line that drops in and out of the mix creating tension and dramatic shifts in the track.

"Groove Away" a throbbing bass and kick drum drop with a sinister stab for this funky techno monster. Hard in dynamics but with a maximum amount of groove this track thumps and slams while the spaced out synth line and rave stabs help keep this funky banger grooving all the way to outer space as the alien melodies propel us for take off.

"All In" syncopated delayed synth stabs build in this track with tight rhythmic percussion and distorted kick drum. The snare enters like a punch to the face but only solidifying the swing while the main synth line opens building tension ready to destroy everything in its path. This is Dimi showcasing his direct and unique take on techno music.

LIMITED EDITION 300 ONLY WHITE VINYL

There was a terrible egregious shift in vibration the day the transmission arrived. It came to me in a dream, as was natural for these particular occurrences, and left no time for preparation. The sound was unmistakable, a low baritone that echoed wildly and reeked of ancient fumes. A deeply monumental and monolithic apparition stood before what appeared to be a crowd of hexagonal beings. The vibrations worked through them in an apparent communicatory way, though would be impossible to translate in any logical linguistic fashion. I don’t know how but I knew they were aware of me, though their disposition was imminent of their consciousness as being collective, rather than individual; and were largely unbothered by my presence.
 
Once the transmission had finished it was clear that there had been a tamper. The kind of which Id seen  before, and had resulted in definite yet undefinable change in the fabric of reality.
 
I initially stumbled upon the odd and highly dangerous musical practices of Perhaps while on an assignment in Bermuda. There had been rumors of a local tribesman partaking in occult practices, of which I knew was native strictly to the Goat Bleeding Bad Men of the Congolese jungle. These rumors intrigued my journalistic nature, so I took the afternoon off in the hopes to possibly glean something that would be an easy pitch to a tabloid back home.
 
Upon arrival it was clear there was a strange foreign intervention within the community of the tribe, which was largely uninhabited upon first glance. Much of the surrounding foliage had been strung with the entrails of various animals and there were several disturbing fixtures composed of bones and various organs lining the commune. I managed to track down the tribesman, who appeared to be in some deep trance and was entirely unable to communicate, though seemed to be fixated on a single task: the drawing of a peculiar symbol. My researching the symbol resulted in only one hit, a piece of musical literature by a band Perhaps, who I later found to be recording in the area just weeks before.
 
It didn’t take long for me to become fully fixated on Perhaps, who were anything but coy about their whereabouts and metaphysical practices. Wherever they went a small commune followed, which was typically composed of deranged acid freaks, occultists, and Norweigian dairy farmers who had sold all their assets to follow the band after “hearing their music speak from the mountains”. After managing to crack into one of their camps that was stationed in an abandoned motel, I spoke with Jim Haney of Perhaps regarding their cultish practices, who gave little in way of detail but claimed to be working towards a deconstruction of reality through a linguistic utilization of vibration.
 
My stint with the cosmic beings through the telekinetic transmission had lead to one conclusion; that Perhaps have been in the works on something new. It seems as if they may have landed on the result which Haney had mentioned years ago. Through my continued interest I’ve procured the names of other members of this current project, which include: Sean Mcdermott, Tom Weeks, Ricky Petraglia, David Khoshtinat, Ben Talmi, Makoto Kawabata, Lucas Brode, Isiah Mitchell, Olivia Kieffer, Tyler Skoglund, Chang Chang. Though I can’t say exactly what is to come, it seems as if the ideas that were proposed during my initial meet may have been surpassed. Perhaps’ plans have begun to surface, and we are all at risk, for whatever that means. The great column and the vibrational prismic beings have shifted their attention to earthly matters, it would be foolhardy to not heed their warning. Though, self-preservation may be an impossibility.
 
Sam Hailstone Dec 24/ 2019

Apparel Music is the platform, Chevals the protagonist, vinyl the material, end of March 2020 is the period of time decided for the landing of the Frenchman’s first solo body of work for the “lovers dogs” label. “Be Yourself” is the title of the four tracks EP by the artist which, by the headline itself, sounds like a declaration of intentions, an acknowledgement of his qualities as a producer, shaping up four different aspects of his creative attitude in a remarkable musical effort. The EP takes off with the title track which is a perfect display of Cheval’s capabilities when it comes to the art of developing intersecting harmonies and melodies, setting up the perfect ground for a smooth vocal line that keeps on repeating the concept in a hypnotic loop: “just be yourself”! With “Keep On” the Bpm increases to design a beat driven track that winks to northern European rhythmics in an apotheosis of upbeat acid lines, a vibey overlapping of loops we advise against light-sleepers! Side B starts with a more rhythmically classic composition called “Good Good” which is also the last of the three original tracks; here the strings section mashes up with the vocals, as usual expertly crafted by Chevals and again some hints of acid bass line to form a proper dance floor hit. B2 is dedicated to Madcat’s remix of “Good Good”, where the French producer explains his point of view with a more funky oriented version of the track but keeping the essential parts intact. Impossible not to be excited by this EP by the Parisian producer who finally slams his fist on the table in what is his best musical statement so far. Bare with us until the end of March to listen to this pearl.

Afro futurist sensations Onipa unleash their debut album, combining Afro grooves, electronics and fierce energy for an effervescent celebration of cultural and musical encounters.ONIPA means ‘human’ in Akan, the ancient language of the Ashanti people of Ghana. It’s a message of connection through collaboration: from Ghana to London, our ancestors to our children, Onipa brings energy, groove, electronics, Afro-futurism, dance and fire! Born out of deep collaboration between long-time friends K.O.G (Kweku of Ghana of KOG and the Zongo Brigade) and Tom Excell (MD, guitarist and writer of acclaimed jazz/ soul afrobeat pioneers Nubiyan Twist), the group features KOG on vocals, balafon and percussion, Tom Excell on guitar, percussion and electronics, Dwayne Kilvington (Wonky Logic) on synths and MPC and Finn Booth (Nubiyan Twist) on drums.

The group have worked closely with Ghanaian star Wiyaala who features on three tracks, singing in the Sisaala language from the North of Ghana. The album also features collaborations with South African rapper Spoek Mathambo, Lesotho star Morena Leraba, Ghanaian percussion master Afla Sackey and Tanzanian sisters Pendo & Leah Zawose, each adding their own flavour to the project. “Through the musical prisms of London and Ghana our influences join together to create, a fundamental thread of traditional African rhythms, instrumentation and storytelling, interwoven with electronics, urban soundscapes and synth bass. We use technology, but it should never use us, our music is live and about deep human connection.” (Onipa)