Suche:pan al

Wagram turn their attention to the hip-swivelling world of Afro-disco and Afro-Funk, putting together a sizzling set of pan African sounds covering a whole host of dance styles from all over the continent. Deeper diggers may recognise some of these gems from individual reissues over the last few years, but this is the only time you'll find them all in one place.

Kryptox records was born to show what's happening in the new scene in germany. And David Nesselhauf is the next upcoming artist. Kryptox will release his 6 track EP.?Nesselhauf is a multi-talented artists: bass player, composer, bandleader and man of very original ideas. He was already featured on the Kryptox' Kraut Jazz Futurism compilation vol 1 (2019) and now delivers his first solo EP for the label.

This EP is a follow up in a longer musical evolution that the Hamburg born talent has been making over the past years. A journey that's basically a style he is building that he calls afro-kraut. Before joining Kryptox he already released 2 albums under the Afrokraut title on his own (Bandcamp) before meeting Mathias Modica (head of Kryptox) and they decided to work together.

So on the "Rituals EP“ Nesselhauf salutes his personal pantheon of musical gods once again, leading the listener through his musical Jungle encompassing Krautrock, Downbeat, Drone, Electronica, Afrobeat, Lo-Fi, Shoegaze, Funk and Ambient textures in the blink of an eye.?The 6 new tracks share a common feel, but are colorful individuals at the same time. Some more organic, others with electronic elements.

About Nesselhaufs workflow: Four of these composition are based on quick, playful, raw jams recorded live within hours by a group of Nesselhauf's inner circle musicians. Great grooves played by a heavy rhythm section that he uses also for his live gigs. Just on a few songs Nesselhauf exchanged the human musicians with a legendary Vermona Drum Synthesizer as the main rhythm ingredient.

Guests: One more track was recorded with Julian Gutjahr, Drummer for The Drawbars. Some tracks feature guest appearances by Dennis Rux (he also mixed the EP) and Graeme Currie on guitar. Soulamadou made his way to one of the tracks just by incidentally leaving a very groovy voice message on David ´s phone ("Zeit").

The material was later bewitched into deep, organic swirls: Trippy, psychedelic somnambulistical. The rather mystical, nocturnal reworking process of the recording added even more dimension and depth, leaving the 6 Tracks ready for home listen, but also for an open minded dancefloor and an otherworldly listening experience at the same time.
The next generations of jazz are just waking up. And Davd Nesselhauf and his bunch are one of these new interesting phenomena. Working in the underground since few years, now hopefully there will be more spotlight on these great new innovators.

"A new era of hope, survival, and prosperity comes calling with the release of CRASH OF THE CROWN, STYX’s new studio album, which was written pre-pandemic and recorded during the trying times of the pandemic.
The legendary rockers--James “JY” Young (lead vocals, guitars), Tommy Shaw (lead vocals, guitars), Chuck Panozzo (bass, vocals), Todd Sucherman (drums, percussion), Lawrence Gowan (lead vocals, keyboards) and Ricky Phillips (bass, guitar, vocals)--will release their 17th album on the 18th June, which will be available on black vinyl and CD. The album features 15 new tracks, including “Crash of the Crown”, the first Styx song to feature three vocalists."

Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and producer Tilian releases his brand-new full-length album, Factory Reset, via Rise Records:
Earlier this week, he shared his latest single “Caught in the Carousel” along with a new visualizer. They psychedelic visual emulates the introspective and thought-provoking lyrics of the song, “Am I good enough?”

Factory Reset is both highly personal and wholly universal. Tilian began writing the album just a few weeks after the pandemic forced California into lockdown. “I was searching for meaning in isolation and found it in creating this album,” Tilian shares about the process. He decided to write, record, and produce the album himself, eventually remotely bringing in drummer/frequent collaborator Kris Crummett to help button it up.

Having full creative control allowed Tilian to experiment more than ever, and truly be himself in the process. “I wanted to make the album that I want to hear. ‘What would be my favorite band?’ as opposed to, ‘What is everyone’s favorite band?’” This resulted in his most thrillingly eclectic work to date: a falsetto-laced brand of alt-pop that spans everything from trippy psychedelia and heavy prog riffs to warped hip-hop beats and dembow grooves.

Recently, Tilian released two other singles from the album – “Anthem” and “Dose.” These were first offerings since the release of his 2018 album The Skeptic, which debuted on the Billboard charts at #1 Alternative New Artist, #2 Top New Artists, and #5 Alternative. To date, the project has garnered over 40M global streams and two music videos with over 1M views each, proving the excitement and potential for the burgeoning alt-pop artist. More recently, he collaborated with Marigolds+Monsters and Travis Barker on the exciting single “Falling out of Rhythm.”

Rico started his career in the late 1950’s playing with the likes of Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken and Max Romeo as a session musician in addition to creating his own recordings. He moved to the UK in the early 60’s and continued performing live and playing as a session musician. He signed to Island Records in the 70’s, releasing his first solo albums.
In 1979 Rico met Jerry Dammers and began playing with The Specials. He became an honorary member of the band and featured prominently on some of their most famous tracks, along with Dick Cuthell, which produced a distinctive sound. In 1980 he released his first album for the 2 Tone label, That Man is Forward.
Jama Rico was the second album released on 2 Tone Records in 1982. This album felt like a celebration of Jamaican musicians - Jama Rico was an altogether different beast. This was a more resolute statement, more African in its rhythms and a hidden treasure within the 2 Tone label.
This time the recording sessions were split between Joe Gibbs studio in Jamaica and sessions at London’s Town House Studios. The Jamaican sessions again were produced by Dick Cuthell and comprised of musician friends Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Headley Bennett, and Ansel Collins. The London sessions, produced by Dick and Jerry Dammers, featured Specials John Bradbury and Horace Panter, along with Tony Utah and Satch Dixon.
This new remaster, originally released in May 1982, is a part of the ongoing 2 Tone ‘40th Anniversary’ releases.
The package is a 3mm Spined Sleeve, 180gm Heavyweight Black Vinyl, printed inner and bellyband.

RIYL MELVINS/GOATSNAKE/NEUROSIS/ASCEND

Asclepius comprises two long-form tracks, “Healing The Ouroboros” and ‘Dahlia Rides the Firebird’, the latter is based on an old traditional Greek tune. With some members majoring in classics/philosophy, music/composition and studying ethnomusicology - classic mythology has always been a key reference point for the themes of their music. That the new record is named after the god of healing and medicine and arriving at this moment in time is coincidence, as the band comments, “It felt like we needed healing even before this pandemic hit.”

The line-up on Asclepius represents the core of Iceburn through the early formative years. Iceburn, later the Iceburn Collective, initially existed from 1990 to 2001. Later reuniting in 2007 with this current lineup again at the core. The band's initial output slowly evolved from hardcore and metal to free improvisation and noise, The 10 year arc saw the band following their own path and becoming more and more obscure as they got deeper into unknown musical worlds. By 2000 the cycle seemed complete and Iceburn did their final tour in Europe 2001. In 2007 this early core crew reunited to play a local anniversary show focused on the earliest material. Every few years since they would get together for another 'reunion' until that word became more of a joke, it was clear the band was back, getting together every week, and working on new material.

ICEBURN LINE UP:

Joseph 'Chubba' Smith - drums, founding member of Iceburn from 1990-'93 then 2007-present
James Holder - guitar, was also a founding member from '90-'95 and '07 to present
Cache Tolman - bass, '91-97 off and on, and '07 to present
Gentry Densley - guitar and vocals, 1990 to present

Asclepius was recorded and engineered by Andy Patterson (SubRosa, INVDRS, Insect Ark, and The Otolith) a collaborator also for Gentry's other band's Eagle Twin and Ascend.

The Chilean/French duet are known for their hypnotic music which incorporates eerie sounds generated by raw and mineral materials (metal, rocks etc) to create tracks that are in turn hyper-rhythmic and dreamy, poised between postpunk rock and electronic dance music. The band have also been very active in the field of multimedia & performance arts, and Xpujil explores that other dimension of their talent. Released on Crammed's revered MADE TO MEASURE series (which is dedicated to experimental, minimal & ambient music), Xpujil consists of a single 40-minute track, which draws the listener into an aural, immersive experience. Based on sounds recorded by Nova Materia during a trip in the Mexican jungle, in Maya territory (Xpujil is the name of an old Mayan city, now lost in the middle of the forest), the album was then produced in the band's Parisian studio, and features contribution by electronic musician/drummer Ikue Mori (of DNA fame) and cellist Gaspar Claus. The album was mixed in binaural, and is best enjoyed on headphones. Nova Materia will be performing Xpujil in appropriate settings (museums, performance arts spaces), with multichannel immersive sound systems. Nova Materia are Caroline Chaspoul and Eduardo Henriquez, formerly with Panico, the alternative rock band they had created in Chile, with which they toured around the globe and released several albums.

Bring me a record, and I’ll show you a record! Laced Records and Gearbox Software have peeped in the oven and the extended Borderlands 2 soundtrack on piping hot wax is nearly ready to serve.

The seminal first-person looter-shooter returned in 2012, expanding upon the first game. Players were pitted against the quippiest antagonist of them all, corporate dictator Handsome Jack, as they battled across Pandora to just find that one killer Maliwan Shock Sniper Rifle...

The game’s music team comprised Jesper Kyd (Assassin’s Creed, Hitman), Sascha Dikiciyan & Cris Velasco (dual and individual credits include Quake 2 & 3, Unreal Tournament, Mass Effect 3, God of War 3, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) and Raison Varner (Borderlands series), all of whom collaborated on the 2009 original. Together they honed the series’ Western-tinged, electronic and guitar-driven sound to create a fan-favourite soundtrack.

46 tracks (23 from the OST, 23 from the extended soundtrack and DLC) have been specially mastered for vinyl and will be pressed to audiophile-quality, heavyweight 180g black discs.

City Slang is thrilled to welcome Pom Pom Squad into the City Slang family. The way Mia can nod to her influences, be they of the iconic 60’s girl group, characters from a John Waters film, or cutting edge fashion from today, while simultaneously spinning a beautiful and original story in her songs, is absolutely thrilling. This is the kind of record that makes you not only excited to see what you can do with an artist in a post-pandemic future, but also how you can build their career in the present circumstances. We cannot wait for you to hear this record in its entirety!

Produced by Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties and co-produced by Berrin herself, it’s a record that plays out like an exorcism in front of your bathroom mirror -- confronting the dark we’ve had planted within us and then ripping it out, all while watching every second of it. It’s vulnerable yet triumphant, deliciously irreverent & inviting yet sneering in the faces of those that had once tried to define her. First single “Lux” was unanimously praised by press including Stereogum who called it “a serrated blast of noise in which Berrin takes someone to task with glee” and The Fader who said “come for the scrappy punk reimagining of The Virgin Suicides, stay for Pom Pom Squad's galvanizing treatise on feminine awakening in a world that would rather keep your eyes shut.”

Mia Berrin spent her childhood trying to find where she fit right in the world, looking to the pop culture icons on TV in hopes of finding an image she connected to. She connected with the films of John Waters and David Lynch, loved the dark campiness found in Heathers, was in awe of the power of women like Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna. Growing up as a female of color who would later in her life unearth and embrace her queerness, discussing and reconciling

Perila (Aleksandra Zakharenko) left her native Russia six years ago, landing in Berlin. Finding her place almost immediately - first at Berlin Community Radio and through that amongst a group of like-minded creative individuals (including her current flatmates Special Guest DJ and exael) - she started a regular practice of working on an expressionistic "sonic diary" of field recordings and electronic sound research for her own pleasure. When the opportunity arose to create her own podcast series, WET (or Weird Erotic Tension) was born. Upon hearing her evocative and atmospheric music layered with friends Nat Marcus and Inger Wold Lund's erotic spoken word poetry, Sferic Records asked to release it, and Perila - a project name originally used for her BCR show - truly came to be. Aleksandra, who was raised in St. Petersburg, has been involved in music since childhood thanks to her melomaniac father. She's been both drummer and singer in local bands in Russia, and is also the co-founder of radio.syg.ma - one of the first online stations in Russian focusing on experimental sounds - but Perila is something else entirely. You could loosely describe it as ambient, but her soundworld is so specific and transportative, filled with detail and movement, it's more akin to hauntological musique concrète, touched by song. Her fascination with voice and language - she studied English literature at university - is still evident, although that's now her voice, her texts, her crooning you can hear on the Everything Is Already There cassette (Boomkat Editions, 2020), her processed breaths on the Meta Door L cassette (Paralaxe Editions, 2020). The Wire Magazine got it right when they said about Irer Dent that, "Sensuality is presented as a secret pass to a higher consciousness." For her debut album, How Much Time it is Between You and Me?, released via Smalltown Supersound on June 11th, Aleksandra takes inspiration from the concept of time, which she felt keenly during the pandemic. Recorded primarily in September 2020 in a rural village in France - her only travel during the first year of the pandemic period - surrounded by mountains but otherwise alone with no internet, her perception of time there differed immensely. She describes the trip as, "an immersive experience into self," viewed through a "silence prism" where everyday sounds usually ignored felt amplified. While her work has always dealt in intimacy - be it the private thrills of WET or the audible closeness of our surroundings - the organic response and consistent feedback she gets for Perila made Aleksandra recognize a longing, a need for it in today's world. Intent on creating work based in honesty and tenderness, Perila's practice also explores how we feel music and emotion throughout the body and how sound can help to release it. How does the sound enter a body and travel through it? Where does movement start? How do you reach and unblock emotional clusters with the help of sound and deep listening of the body responses? Aleksandra likes to describe her music and performances as trips - thick narratives drifting along sound to get closer to self. Let Perila guide you through this journey.

A few months ago, Dj Schwa & Name Does Not Matter rumbled through the timbers with their latest EP on RFR Records. For all of you, who like to get physical, we are now offering two Tracks of the digital EP including two brand-new Remixes on Vinyl.

Follow the “Ape King” and jump into the frying acid pan! Straight forward stomping on the beat section, pretty classic when it comes to the bassline. And whilst the 303 is continuously marching towards our cortex, shit kicks in with a nonchalant melody part. Wait, are the old Djax Up days back?

London’s Posthuman is delivering the perfect Remix for “Ape King” qua musical self-definition. His analogue machine park powers the Original with an even deeper drilling bass line, reduces the melody to its essence and nonchalantly sets the groove between classic Chicago and UK Hardcore influences.

“Obsolete” is a true feast for lovers of classic Electro. And despite of the title, all its ingredients are perfectly well balanced. Sounds like Aril Brikha, Nitzer Ebb and Clarence G. (RIP) joined forces in the studio and filtered the essence of one of our favorite genres.

We stay in London. Jerome Hill lays hands on “Obsolete” and proves from the very first second that there is absolutely no space for compromise. This is all about straight Techno and the feeling of being exposed to a stroboscope in a dark basement while the first rays of sunlight are already penetrating through the crack of the door.

After more than a decade at the forefront of the global club music scene withseveral celebrated albums and EPs under their belt, Peruvian duo DengueDengue Dengue's seminal 2014 Enchufada EP 'Serpiente Dorada' is still oneof the most impactful of their exciting career. Capturing the vitality of theirearly genre-defining work, where the traditional and hypnotic rhythms ofcumbia were modernised through a collage of electronic music styles,'Serpiente Dorada' is still at the top of their most played music on streamingplatforms to this day, and has motivated their fanbase to continuouslydemand a physical edition since its initial digital release. The wait is finallyover as in 2021, just as the band completed 10 years of activity, we arepressing a beautiful 12'' vinyl edition in black and gold colours, freshlyremastered for vinyl to give this essential release the quality it deserves. 'Serpiente Dorada' remains an absolutely infectious and colourful mixture ofglobal sounds, where genres and styles are used as a starting point on theirongoing hybrid exploration of the interaction between traditional LatinAmerican music and modern electronic music, where the total is much morethan the sum of its parts.

Repress

Baris K and Jonny Rock don their incognito aliases for the second Disco Hamam release. Straight up ottoman disco business strictly from the vaults. Killer artwork, killer music. ( Baris Manco, Timur Selcuk, Istanbul Calgicilari etc)

Papiro’s approach to music is never technical, but always personal. Since the mid-Nineties, he has released a handful of noteworthy albums, each carefully put together and seemingly self- contained, yet all sharing an unmistakable musical language and a certain escapist aura.

La finestra dentata (The Toothed Window), is no exception. It includes both studio and concert recordings from 2016–2020. The sounds on this album appear infinite and full of marvels, ingenious in portraying imaginary creatures and environments.

The title track and Anelli take up most of the first side and include live outtakes. Papiro likes to describe his performances as therapeutic. These swirly symphonies are specifically intended as immersive deep-listening experiences for concert venues, and have been edited for this album to meet the physical demands of vinyl and domestic use. Imagine the younger cousins of Laurie Spiegel’s Concerto Generator performance, or Terry Riley’s Shri Camel.

However, those who know Papiro only from the stage might be unaware of a different side to his oeuvre; starry-eyed miniatures that may appear frivolous in comparison to the more heady stuff, but are nonetheless well worth discovering. Each piece adds a chapter to a phantasmagoric world populated by such characters as "Giant Duckling", "King Hard-Beard", or the "Bodulator". Tracks like the opener Odilon or Il triciclo nascosto, meanwhile, emanate a candor rarely found in the domain of serious music, and revisit Papiro’s early days of instrumental storytelling.

About Papiro:

Marco Papiro is a Swiss-Italian musician, composer and graphic designer. He teaches at the Schule für Gestaltung in Basel and is known for the posters and album covers that he's created for a number of prolific artists (Sun Araw, Sonic Boom, Panda Bear, Oren Ambarchi)

Good things come to those who wait! A commonplace that is also true in the case of Perel’s Running Back debut. Ever since „Die Dimension“ appeared on DFA, our own CEO couldn’t wait for a call from the lady herself. Star is the consequence of said call and not only that.
Picturing Perel’s development as a recording artist on the one hand and the hardships everyone had to experience since the world has been changed by a pandemic on the other, making it - in her word words - „an EP about crossing the „physical distance between the people I miss and love“. Opening with the riveting vocals of Star („This song is literally a love song for my people“), the three pieces also show Perel's growing versatility as a producer. The tried and tested neon disco lights interchange with darker tones, uplifting and affirmative moments (Tour De Perel) rotate with contemplative and pondering intervals (Internal Monologue). Yet, by no means Perel is whistling a sad tune. Her melodies are as always deep, distinguishable and delightful to dance to. Wherever that may be.

The Scientists’ powerful brand of deranged swamp-rock returns with
a vengeance as In the Red Records unleashes Negativity, an allnew
magnum opus featuring the first new full length album by the
Australian band’s penultimate line-up in thirty-five years.
The bruising eleven-track collection features a Scientists
configuration much beloved by connoisseurs of the band’s work:
singer-guitarist Kim Salmon, lead guitarist Tony Thewlis, and bassist
Boris Sujdovic, all veterans of the group’s defining 1981-85 outfit,
and drummer Leanne Cowie, who replaced drummer Brett Rixon on
the storming 1986 release Weird Love.
A solid crop of fresh originals is highlighted by the opening
statement of purpose “Outside”; the offbeat, yowling waltz “Naysayer”;
the hilarious, self-mocking “Suave,” which Salmon says was inspired
by the work of his countrymen the Moodists; and the utterly surprising
“Moth-Eaten Velvet,” a Velvet Underground homage in ballad form
that features a three-piece string section. Instrumental guests on the
album include producer Mumford, who contributes trombone on
“Make It Go Away,” and Salmon’s daughter Emma, who essays piano
and background vocals.
Negativity is the third Scientists release and the first fulllength
album for In the Red. The current quartet cut the single
“Braindead”/“SurvivalsKills” in 2018 and the five-song 2019 EP
9H2O SiO2, the title of which translates (in a hat tip to the lyrics of
the group’s classic “Swampland”) as Nine Parts Water, One Part Sand.
Those recordings were issued in conjunction with the group’s first two
U.S. tours during that period.
Raw, freewheeling, and spattered with the high-voltage sound, the
Scientists have drawn from such influences as the Stooges, Suicide,
the Gun Club, and the Cramps, Negativity is jubilant, unpredictable
listening.

Chart-breaking German folk rock institution SUBWAY TO SALLY have carved a unique live experience in stone with their upcoming release, Eisheilige Nacht: Back To Lindenpark, out on BluRay/DVD/CD on June 18, 2021 via Napalm Records. Since their foundation in the early ‘90s, SUBWAY TO SALLY have established themselves at the top of the scene. Having released thirteen studio records so far, the seven-piece featuring the remarkable Eric Fish on vocal duties never fails in surprising their devotees with an ingenious symbiosis of folk, heavy metal and rock. In the course of time, it became a tradition to celebrate every year with numerous fans and a final live show on December 30. What started as Eisheilige Nacht - with sold out solo-gigs in the band's hometown of Potsdam at the venue Lindenpark - turned into a whole annual festival tour shortly after, where top-notch bands heeded the call to join SUBWAY TO SALLY for some magical evenings. Due to the pandemic, 2020’s edition couldn’t take place in its usual form. As a result, the German folk rock unit decided to offer an unforgettable lockdown live event which they hope will be a unique way to fill the gap until they return to the stage. SUBWAY TO SALLY returned to Lindenpark and - supported by many great artists like Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost), Joachim Witt, Feuerschwanz, Schandmaul, Saltatio Mortis, Major Voice and Patty Gurdy - created an extraordinary live experience. In an intimate setting, the recording starts with “Messias” and “Königin der Käfer” from the band’s latest chart-breaking full-length, Hey! (DE #5). SUBWAY TO SALLY then continue to not only travel through their own discography with songs like eerie “Unsterblich”, animated “Tanz auf dem Vulkan” and live-sensation “Grausame Schwester”, but also present a bunch of enchanting features as well: Don’t miss when highly talented Birgit Muggenthaler-Schmack and Saskia Forkert (Schandmaul) join SUBWAY TO SALLY for Schandmaul’s “Dein Anblick” and a premier version of “Kleid aus Rosen”, or when the band sets the exceptional stage on fire for an explosive performance with Saltatio Mortis on their hit “Sie Tanzt allein” - just to name a selection.

Black Truffle is pleased to announce the first-ever vinyl reissue of Remko Scha’s Guitar Mural 1 featuring The Machines, originally published as a rare cassette edition by Taal Beeld Geluid in 1982. A computational linguist by profession, Scha played an important role in the development of sound, installation, and digital art in the Netherlands from the late 1970s onward, co-founding the performance and exhibition space Het Appolohuis in Eindhoven in 1980. Alongside Paul Panhuysen and Jan Van Riet, Scha was a founding member of the radical improvisation group The Maciunas Ensemble, though he is best known for his work with mechanised electric guitars, documented on the legendary 1982 LP Machine Guitars.

Guitar Mural 1 documents an installation of Scha’s mechanical guitar ensemble The Machines held at a Groningen gallery space in 1982. Five electric guitars hang from the wall, their strings sounded by rotating rubber strings and a sabre saw controlled by a mechanical apparatus, as well as four ropes criss-crossing the five instruments on the wall. Once the mechanism was set up, Scha’s only intervention was to vary the speed at which it operated. Where Machine Guitars presents short excerpts clearly distinguished by rhythmic and timbral variation, here we are confronted with four enormous side-long slabs of percussive string attack and the resulting clouds of harmonics. Variation is minimal across the duration of each side, making for a sculptural listening experience, as if we are patiently examining each facet of a static object. But significant variety exists between the four sides, each of which shows off a different facet of what The Machines were capable of. The first two excerpts feature open strings sounded at rapid tempos, dissolving the percussive attack into a continuous stream of sound reminiscent of Charlemagne Palestine’s ‘strumming’ technique. On the third side, the strings are partly muted and the tempo slightly lowered, resulting in layers of relentlessly chugging rhythm somewhere between an ensemble of hand drums and an early Velvet Underground bootleg. On the fourth side, havoc breaks loose in percussive waves of asynchronous repetition that bring Scha’s sound world close to that of another pioneer experiment in musical mechanisation, the Solar Music of Joe Jones.

Presented as a limited edition 2LP set in a deluxe gatefold sleeve accompanied by stunning visual documentation of the original installation, remastered audio and new liner notes from Alan Licht and Van Lagestein, Guitar Mural 1 is an exhilarating document occupying a unique space between kinetic sculpture, hardcore minimalism and rock & roll.

Here’s a monster of its own. Not to be confused with Trevor Jackson early 2000 project (even if the british producer has obviously been informed by post-punk, dub, post-industrial and the likes) Playgroup was more than anything a collective, based somewhere around Bristol and London. Drummer Bruce Smith was the key figure behind the project. Neneh Cherry husband and fabulous motorik force for The Pop Group, The Slits, New Age Steppers, African Head Charge and – more recently - Public Image Limited, Bruce brought the post-punk aura into the realm of controlled chaos with several partners in crime.

Playgroup is the so-called English version of Jamaican dub, informed by the industrial revolution and the studio wizardy of On U Sound acolytes. Crucial Tony (Creation Rebel, Dub Syndicate, Singers & Players) on bass and guitars, Sean Oliver (New Age Steppers, Rip Rig & Panic) on guitar, the almighty Style Scott (Creation Rebel, Dub Syndicate, New Age Steppers) on drums and percussionists Eskimo (African Head Charge, Creation Rebel, Mark Stewart And The Maffia) and Bonjo I (African Head Charge) are among the main conspirators here. Produced by none else tham Adrian Sherwwod Epic Sound Battles Chaper One still resonates with its original dark humor and guerrilla warfare tactics.

Peshekhod, the debut album from Dima Pantyushin and Sasha Lipsky, oscillates through an immaculate synth-pop ecosystem in which every shift feels both accurate in its absurdity and divinely danceable.

The album (“peshekhod” translates to “pedestrian”) investigates the inner narrative of a Muscovite as he wanders through the city, recalls his work, and contemplates his existence. It’s roughly autobiographical in scope— Pantyushin was born and raised in Moscow, co-runs Cafe Enthusiast in the city center, and is a visual artist by trade—yet explores feelings universal. His lyrics conjure the nostalgia and joy of parenthood in “Ray of Sunshine,” the paranoia of metropolitan life on “Pigeon,” and the slippage of time on “Chess.”

Fellow Moscow native and longtime friend, Sasha Lipsky, who writes and performs with his brother in Simple Symmetry, joins Pantyushin on production. Lipsky weaves entire sonic ecosystems for Dima’s instinctual observations and adroit lyrics. The result is a musical landscape that bounces between the terrestrial and the divine as Pantyushin’s croon and Lipsky’s synth-heavy compositions swell with aliveness.

Pantyushin and Lipsky graft genres to their electronic framework throughout Peshekhod. “Nature” summons 1950’s pastiche complete with upbeat mellotron, while “Time” and “House (With an Attic)” go from ethereal ambient to subterranean techno and back again. But every oscillation and shift feels part of the same system. Pantyushin never strays too far from his pedestrian protagonist. He knows the best stories are the ones in which we can see ourselves, while Lipsky dresses each observation with earworms you’ll struggle to shake, even if you don’t speak the language. Peshekhod is a picaresque in miniature. A record that considers the stations of the day in deft detail, for all to tap into.