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Moritz Simon Geist, media artist and robotic musician, publishes his first record. It is the world's first techno record played entirely by self-made futuristic robots. This is the 4-track EP to the following full-length album out 16. Nov. 2018. All of the sounds on his records are played by robots: small motors that beat on metal, futuristic 3D-printed robo-kalimbas, salvaged parts from old hard drives that click and cut. It took Geist several years to build, tweak, test and play all his DIY robotic instruments. His 'Sonic Robots' try to push the boundaries of the imaginable. He did so already in 2012 with his well-known oversized 808 robot - an iconic drum machine gotten real, 4 by 2 meter, filled with robotic parts which play the instruments live and in front of the audience. Now, Moritz Simon Geist goes even further to discover the unknown and futuristic world of techno robotics. For this quest he teamed up with the berlinian sound wizards from Mouse On Mars and dug deep in the history of mechanical music and experiments of early electronic music.

On the 4-track EP 'The Material Turn' Moritz Simon Geist turns materials into sounds. The opener 'Entropy' is a bassy club-track, played by futuristic bass-kalimbas, a psychedelic pattern of tonal glasses and pneumatic hi-hat patterns. It is core piece to this EP and is also featured in the main video. Even without a visual part, listening to his music, a sound world opens up which is unheard before: in definition, reference and organic nature. Geist: 'When you listen to robots playing, you realize, that they sound precise, but in contrast to digital sounds they transport an immense organic feeling. No beat is like the other, everything is played with actual acoustic physicality and thus actual error. On the same time, the repetitive nature of the robots make it perfect for playing electronic music. Its industrial and organic at the same time.' The second track 'Under Deconstruction' is a metal-on-metal slammer with a heavy beat played on a big sheets of metal. 'I often try to compose a track around one instrument', explains Geist, 'letting the sounds take a lot of room so they can stand out.' The B-side starts with 'Supercharged' - a heavy drone, reminding of the darked sides of music concrete. Here, tuned air fans, and a metallic percussion robot create the texture. 'Detok' closed the EP with an up-tempo club track, featuring complex rhythmic textures and well defined robotic percussion elements. What Moritz Simon Geist came up with is a stunning record of what is possible today - to explore the sound of mechanics that keep on filling our world. Geist creates a smashing soundtrack for both the precise automation and physical fragility that shapes today's society.

LL1219 is introducing a new duo from Cape Town, South Africa: ATELIER. Their 'Something To Fill An Hour' EP is a prelude to a full-length player which will be released early next year. On the EP you will find the beautifully crafted and organic sounding original which is backed up by two remixes coming from the super in-demand and always tasteful PEREL and the label heads Thomas and Mathias as SBTH.

2018. What the fuck is going on Hatred uprising, the resistance growing. Adelphi Music Factory: musical brothers. Javelin: A gospel piano weapon filled with love. Brotherhood. Sisterhood. Freedom. Peace.

DJ Support:
The Black Madonna
“I love the record so much!!! I cannot tell you how many people have asked me about the Javelin tune!!! Thank you for this wonderful record”

Annie Mac
“it’s a BANGER - absolutely love it”

Denis Sulta
"This is a certified BANGER. I’ll be playing it all summer."

Skream
“Loving this! Will support 100%”

Seth Troxler
“I like the dub”

Fourth Kind the self titled mini album on Omniverse Records. It's hard to pinpoint a genre with records like this; produced by Marc Mac of 4hero and similar to some of the 4hero output, it defies genre and fits somewhere in-between many. The production is heavily reliant on synthesisers and vintage drum machines in places but is full of real life and organic movements, this is partly down to the signature drums played by Luke Parkhouse. The only other guest spot is filled by Nu Jazz Funker Pascal Strauss aka Luman Child who plays bass guitar on "Take Me To Your Sky" which along with "Afterglows" are the closest we get to dance tracks, in most parts a 70s fusion feel is present. The short interlude type tracks tie the journey together and I would go as far as to say vital to telling the story. Moogs, Arps and Solina strings weave patterns throughout, all in all, across the 10 tracks the album is a journey of mood and emotions. 180g Pressing. Released 28th September 2018.

A year after his debut outing on the label, Max Essa makes a welcome return to Hell Yeah with the Han zon Roc EP, which is another of his impossibly laidback offerings.Essa is of course the long time UK talent who has become a part of the Balearic mafia thanks to releases on labels like Aficionado, Music for Dreams, and his own Jansen Jardin. This is the second coming together of artist and label and is another timeless excursion far out to sea.
Opener 'Han zon Roc (Midori Coup)' is an epic 12 minute adventure that slowly awakens your spirit with new age guitar plucks and heavenly ambience before organic drums slowly being to drift into earshot. They grow ever larger as synths start to spray about the mix, hand drums pitter patter and big chords bring the soul-shine. It's like the soundtrack to an afternoon boat party all condensed into one brilliant cut. 'How You Showed Me Everything' then gets super chill with lazy drum tumbles, bendy guitar lines and scattered hits. Withering cosmic chords colour the airwaves and its a track that will slow your heartbeat to nothing. Last of all, 'Rain Bird's Alfalfa Jam' is a analogue drum work out with early 90s hip hop influences and diving basslines. It's light and airy, nimble and playful and of course filled with the sort of tropical rays that make all of Essa works so brilliantly escapist.

In the summer of 2017 Australia's premiere swamp/grunge/punk/noise band The Scientists unexpectedly sprang back to life and started playing shows and making new music again. Kim Salmon is back with his Scientists - Boris Sujdovic, Tony Thewlis, and Leanne Cowie (the mid-80s line-up) -- and are delivering their first recording in 30 years. For this occasion Scientists have recorded Braindead, a reworking of song from their 1987 Human Jukebox album, and a brand new track called Survivalskills. If you love the band's original fuzz-filled swamprock you will not be disappointed. The band will be touring the US for the first time ever and plan to release a follow up to this single on In The Red later this year.

This summer, My Favorite Robot Records release another of their excellent and immersive full lengths, this time from German production outfit, Rework.

The trio of Daniel Varga, Michael Kuebler and Sascha Hedgehog AKA Rework, describe their musical aesthetic as "cabaret-independent-house" and combine icy minimal structures with catchy euro-girl vocals, Anglo-French funk antics and a dash of dance floor melancholy. Playhouse, Meant and Items & Things have all released their work, which includes three albums before now. This latest is another musical adventure filled with surprises.

This is an effortlessly diverse album that brings a wide range of influences to the table and ties them all together with Rework's unique sense of style and cool.

ALEX is a dark, haunting and brooding synthwave record that sets the night on fire, taking you from darkness all the way to the shining lights of Broadway. With hints of cyberpunk, outrun and other 80's inspired retrowave influences, ALEX has developed a true signature sound that is funky, groovy and totally rocking. X takes you on a futuristic, electronic music trip that's filled with nostalgia and suspense. Artist bio: In the last few years, Ireland's Bart Graft has been releasing healthy amount of great music. His signature sound of pastel coloured and retro inspired synth music is stellar synthwave from the top of the shelve. Along with bigger names in the genre such as Mitch Murder, Waveshaper, The Midnight, and others, he truly is holding up the genre's current producer flame high. Inspired by the works of Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, Talk Talk, Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, Tear For Fears, The Ward Brothers, Peter Gabriel, Frank Zappa, INXS, and many more... Nostalgic synth stabs accompanied by pulsating guitar licks, energetic drums roll around yet a bunch of track are plain chill. This album is a trip to the rooftops of 80s and 90s culture. From the fast-paced rock track, to ambient vaporwave, the balance is just right as 'Modern Life' cements Bart Graft as a force to be reckoned with.

The Song Says - Bruno Pronsato´s label restarts after 4 years of hiatus with a Vinyl Version of his seminal "Lovers Do"

It's been fours years since the original release of Lovers Do. For the first time now finally released on vinyl. In the meantime he's kept very busy--primarily with side projects. First there was Others, his experimental house outfit with Daze Maxim. Then came Public Lover, his duo with the French artist Ninca Leece that debuted last year on thesongsays (Bruno's label). He's continued to join forces with Sammy Dee as Half Hawaii, playing live shows around Europe and putting out tracks on Perlon and Diamonds & Pearls. As half of the duo Ndf, he coproduced Since We Last Met, a single that marked his debut on DFA and landed in Pitchfork's top tracks of the year. But while he was juggling all these different projects, one piece of music was slowly taking shape: his third and most immersive album, Lovers Do. Like much of Bruno's work to date, Lovers Do is experimental without being snobby--or to use his own term, accidentally avantgarde'-- but this one takes it further than the others. It has a looseness that's truly rare in techno, scrapping formulaic verses and breaks, it winds along like an abstract sketch, guided by intuition instead of logic. Some songs are fraught with nervous tension, others are soothing and rich with detail, from dappling rhodes to orchestral swells, jazzy drum fills and wet hand claps. Human voices swirl in and out of the mix, serving only to make things more surreal. Many of the tracks stretch well beyond ten minutes, one bows out after less than three. The album overall is delicate and subtle, but it also features Bruno's best club tune in years, the eerie and delirious Feel Right.' Brian Eno once described his own

Jonny Drop's debut, Sub Plot, was the very first album release on the fledgling Albert's Favourites label at the beginning of 2016. The initial offering, a 7" of album favourites Mind Field and This Is The One had quickly been picked up on by the good people at BBC Radio 6 Music as well as some of Drop's personal heroes including Kenny Dope, Mr. Thing and Nightmares On Wax.

But when the infectious rhythms and warm production of the beat tape landed, its impact was greater than anyone at the label could have hoped.

Although Jonny never stopped producing beats in the following years, he was also kept busy as a drummer, playing live for Andrew Ashong, The Bongolian and Connie Constance, whose Boring Connie EP he also laid down beats for.

Then in early 2018 his band The Expansions delivered their celebrated Murmuration LP. All the while, with the support of his label family, Drop had been evolving his solo sound too.

'The Only Sound sees a huge progression in my writing direction, as I collaborated with multiple vocalists and musicians, instead of the usual 'one-man band' approach.

The development of these processes make this LP a steady departure from the beat-tape influence of my past releases, and hopefully, showcase the more original sound I've been working to achieve over the past few years.'

The new album is more atmospheric, emotional and expressive. It is filled with beautiful vocal performances, musical contributions from label partners and close friends Deoke and James O'Keefe, and inspirational London jazz composer, flautist and master saxophonist Tamar Osborn (Collocutor/On The Corner).

Voices here include Shea Soul, Grace Walker, former Myron and E soul man Eric Boss with his Lucid Paradise and Pendletons partner Ishtar, plus First Word Records producer/Golden Rules collaborator Sarah Williams White.

While there are thoughtful, down-tempo moments of electronica in abundance here, Drop brings his favourite elements of disco and soul into the picture too.

And there's no shortage of low end throughout. The Only Sound is a welcome next step from Jonny Drop, the sound of a beat maker not just finding his feet as a composer, but thriving in new territory.

Huey Morgan (BBC Radio 6 Music),

Music Is My Sanctuary premiere for All This Trouble, Bonafide Magazine premiere for Looking Glass
'A really talented musician, absolutely loving that" Lauren Laverne on This Is The One, BBC Radio 6 Music

Off-kilter Broken Beats From A Collection Of Up & Coming Artists From Around Europe And Beyond.

A1. Twelon - Quad

Twelon Heralds The Start Of The Ep With A Builder Track Perfect For Openings And Breakdowns Mid Set. Industrial Creeps And Hisses, Spliced With Intricate Percussion.

A2. Nollern - Sitar Pro

Nollern's Eff_el & Dan Beaven Burst Forth To Bring An Upfront, Yet Minimalistic, Glitch-rife Drum Track - Perfect For The Players Wanting To Layer An Element Of Sparse, Brutal Breaks Into The Mix.

B1. Tlk - In Your Shadow

Tlk Brings Us A Beautiful, Emotion Filled Arp Track. 'one Of My Goals When Making A Track, Is To Only Use One Sound: To Make One Synth Sing.' - Linkwood. This Is The Inspiration That Tlk Used For In Your Shadow.

B2. Xantrax - Xtk

A Trippy, Jazzy Combination Of Atmospheric Synthesis, Acoustic Drums And A Heavy Bass-weight Underlay, Giving The Ep A Raw, Yet Balanced Finish.

Repress

Modularz Label owner Developer presents his first LP Sold in Three Parts A,B&C
The Title named "In Pure Form' is a real wealth of work that developer has been creating over the last year. Its a fairly large catalog of music focusing on raw rhythms, strong tools and powerful funk fueled techno.
We do advise that this is not your average concept album with ambient and break beat type pieces that the market is flooded with - but instead a more straight to the point no filler type of LP.
This is a massive selection of functional tracks direct from the Developer factory of techno. Already a huge amount of support and positive feedback received on this release from the global heavyweights currently playing a selected amount of tracks from this killer release.
First pressing CLEAR vinyl

Ascetic Limited is shifting gears, focusing on solo EPs dedicated to the artists that form the collective. To kick it off they present an EP from renowned Milanese techno producer Wrong Assessment, who throughout his career in techno has proven himself to be one of the most interesting producers coming out of Italy. From his collaborative works with the late Max_M as Overall Severity to his solo works as Wrong Assessment, his tracks are always unique. Influences ranging from minimal to hard pounding techno bangers, through house grooves and ambient arrangements, he still is able to transmit his sound and vision with his music.

Wrong Assessment's 8th Floor EP is comprised by (A1) Asceta - an ambient downtempo immersion that washes over the listener in preparation for what's to come. (A2) Empire, is a clear example of the great sound that Wrong Assessment has developed throughout the years, winding synth lines and driving techno beats with a great minimalist approach to sound. The title track, (B1) 8th Floor - a bouncy, playful track filled with great ambiance that can fit into any DJ set and will drive the audience to the dance floor. Ending the EP on a heavy note, (B2) Radial brings heavy kicks and strong ambient works mixed with intense techno beats and brooding synth lines that will have the dance floor going insane.

Ascetic Limited presents Wrong Assessment's 8th Floor EP as their 5th release and second EP on the label

Out-ER sub-label Pregnant Void is proud to announce the release of hi.mo's debut album Urtiis. Landing on double vinyl in June 2018, it is a fantastically absorbing showcase of the Italian's weird and wonderful fusion of various strains of sound from jazz to hip hop to classical. "The alteration of conventional musical patterns thrills me," says the artist who is classically trained in piano and uses that knowledge to play with rules, structures and forms. Influenced by IDM, African drums, jazz and the interplay of chords, rhythm and harmony, hi.mo infuses his electro-acoustic productions with found sound samples and analogue and digital tools. This is a spelling-binding and intimate album that is filled with invention, but never at the expense of the overall experience, which is beautiful and beguiling throughout.

'Turquoise', that is Turkuvaz, is a French-origin word inspired by the color of the Mediterranean, located within the borders of Turkey. Meaning; blue is the color that plays the green. At the same time it is relative. Because both colors are in it, if you love blue you will see blue, if you love green you will see it green. It means heaven and earth. The eternity is turquoise... The eternity is infinite. At the same time; the boundary between the earth and the sky. Some will find love in it , some will find serenity, some will remember the loneliness and find sadness, embracing some with zeal and reminiscent of the return to the nest, the power of holding hands tightly with two hands.And according to my opinion, the concept of life, the mortal world, is how we see these lands curtained until the last breath of life that we have been living on for centuries.There are billions of beings in our sky and on Earth that do not attract our attention, We can not see, can not hear, can only feel, there are enough lights to count and never disappear in the stage. This EP that you hold in your hand is a reflection of it.
Music was the easiest way to reach you. In doing so, the motto was 'never disappearing at the stage'. I know, because if nobody hears me, God, the real dominion of light the true owner of all the darkness will hear me.

Each sound I created, I filled it with a light and I added a little more sand to the clock. Sounds I created is to show you your own technique of finding your way to light, to make you understand that you are not alone, and that there is someplace really there for you. Without much effort, resting and reviving.

I believe that every one of us who lives on earth has a specific, holy purpose. The important thing is to find and catch it. Our inner journey is to be able to complete our enlightenment as spiritually as possible. And I still believe that we always need music to do that. Because the sounds; they will never disappear.

Turquoise, which is the work of this enlightenment period, which I have lived and found to be my self, will be a source of light for you and help you find God who lives in you.

"After a deceptively quite 2017, Especial picks up the pace pace by welcoming back the peroxide, youth filled Fairplay (re)version and a 2nd EP of old-skool-meets-the-new-school flavoured House and Breaks to lock, jock and spin.

After the criminally overlooked 'How Do You Like Me Now' EP - how is Classic Version not a...classic...version - Junior gets back on the (lino) floor. The EP starts with a look north to the 'other city of 7 hills' that birthed a Warp'd British retake on House in his bleep-dub ode, End Of Love. The autobiographical title belies a forward approach with his trademark echobox kick'n'hats underpinning uplifting keys and nodding bleep finger solo.

Who to join the party then, than another man of mystery, Roy Of The Ravers. After his debut EP on sister label Emotional Response became a most played from Aphex et al, it is only right bring him to E'Special. His brooding, hoover rush Remix 1 heightens the vibes with a heads down bleeping half-steppa. Righteous!

The flip is given over to Junior's roots, bringing the hip-hopper back with the anthemic The Shazsquatch Goes Back Into The Woods. No shoc(k) horror here, just more upwardly mobile breakbeat meets UK techno licks. You can hear Fairplay at one with man and machine, pushing a sound that looks back but most definitely goes forward with 'Sunrise' on the mind.

To close is the swagger of EP title cut, Faxes From The Future. Hair of the (black) dog fuses a swinging break with proto-dub-meets-Giallo stylings to rework the senses and say, now is (still) the time!

A return to making the noise while keeping tongue planted firmly in cheek. What are u like Top. Buzz."

Raga Yaman
1) Alap
2) Jod
3) Jhala
4) Gat (Composition in Chautal)

Zia Mohiuddin Dagar : rudra veena
Manik Munde : pakhawaj
Gayathri Rajapur & Annie Penta : tanpuras

Recorded by unknown at the University of Washington, HUB Auditorium, Seattle, Washington 15 March 1986 , concert co-sponsored by the UW Ethnomusicology Division and Ragamala.
Original digitally processed audio recording made with Panasonic PV-9000 VCR, Sony PCM-F1, PZM mics. Mastered & Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering 1117 & 0318.

Liner notes by Renaud Brizard, Stephen O'Malley & Ian Christe.
Front and back cover photos by Niranjan B. Benegal, Seattle Center Folklife Festival 1979. Elizabeth Reeke & Annie Penta on tanpuras.
Inner gatefold photography by Niranjan B. Benegal & Ira Landgarten.

Around ten years ago, deep into a cozy and hazy night following a concert with my sound brothers Daniel O'Sullivan and Kristoffer Rygg in London (as Æthenor), they graciously introduced me to a recording of rudra veena (a kind of noble deeper bass relative to the sitar, in a way) as performed by dhrupad master Zia Mohiuddin Dagar.

Dhrupad, for those who do not know, is a branch of Hindustani classical music said to "show the raga in its clearest and purest form". It's pacing concentrates heavily on the slow, contemplative alap section and works with specific microtonal gestures and deep characteristics of resonance ... in short I was hooked on this new (to me) and ancient form of music from the first listen, and feel that a more or less continual listening & reviewing of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's recordings in the years that followed have influenced my own approach to music quite heavily (if, albeit, indirectly).

In early 2015 I was able to make contact with Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's son Bahauddin and some of his American students/disciples, primarily Jeff Lewis. Over time we developed a friendly and educational exchange, access a massive archive of recordings and developed these two paired titles for my label. It's been a long path to arrive at actually releasing them but also probably in many ways one of the most significant releases I've worked on. And I'm proud to be able to reveal these to date unreleased archival recordings of one of the masters of dhrupad, Z. M. Dagar, to the public for the first time.

Zia Mohiuddin Dagar was the nineteenth generation in a family tradition known as Dagar gharana, a rich lineage which continued and performed the musical form of dhrupad (Bahauddin Dagar continues the lineage as a master rudra veena dhrupad player of note today). Initially, dhrupad was a rigorous, austere, devotional genre that was sung in Hindu temples. But between the 16th and the 18th centuries, it became the preeminent genre in royal courts in North and Central India, and the Dagar gharana developed and continued publicly following the eventual loss of court patronage for dhrupad in the 19th century. The French ethnomusicologist Renaud Brizard covers the story of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's life and teaching (a long story also in Seattle, my hometown!), the Dagar family and gharana, the rudra veena and more topics in an extensive set of liner notes in this release.

Raga Yaman was recorded at a public concert in Seattle at the HUB Ballroom at the University of Washington in March 1986 (the week after the accompanying release SOMA028 Ragas Abhogi & Vardhani was recorded) at the end of his last tour of the United States. Yaman was a special raga for Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, one of his signature raags. For centuries, Yaman has been considered as one of the most fundamental ragas in Hindustani music and is one of the first ragas which is taught to students. A deep knowledge of Yaman gives a key for understanding many other ragas. It's filled with tranquility, contemplation, pathos and spiritual yearning. .

-Stephen O'Malley, March 2018, Paris, France

"It was the most beautiful summer of my life."

Memories — places, vacancies, allusions — are fundamental characters in Mary Lattimore's evocative craft. Inside her music, wordless narratives, indenite travelogues, and braided events skew into something enchantingly new. The Los Angeles-based harpist recorded her breakout 2016 album, At The Dam, during stops along a road trip across America, letting the serene landscapes of Joshua Tree and Marfa, Texas color her compositions. In 2017, she presented Collected Pieces, a tape compiling sounds from her past life in Philadelphia: odes to the east coast, burning motels, and beach town convenience stores. In 2018, from a restorative station — a redwood barn, nestled in the hills above San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge — emanates Hundreds of Days, her second full-length LP with Ghostly International. The record sojourns between silences and speech, between microcosmic daily scenes and macrocosmic universal understandings, between being alien in promising new places and feeling torn from old native havens. It's an expansive new chapter in Lattimore's story, and an expression of mystied gratitude. A study in how ordinary components helix together to create an extraordinary world.

Awarded a residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Lattimore spent two summer months living with 15 fellow artists — writers, playwrights, musicians, poets, painters, activists, curators — in a cluster of old Victorian military buildings on the Northern Pacic Coast. Days offered solitude, Lattimore set up in a spacious barn, able to arrange her instruments at will. Nights welcomed new perspectives. "Hanging out with a lot of accomplished artists with poetic ways of looking at the world was really inspiring. My heart was in a bit of a tangle after leaving Philadelphia. I was holding onto things instead of moving forward. My time there was a nostalgia detox, a way to press reset in a healthy way. Also breathing in the freshest air in America, straight off of the ocean, felt good."

Throughout the shifting locales there is one consistent companion Lattimore engages: a 47-string Lyon and Healy harp. The instrument wires directly into her psyche. Pitchfork's Marc Masters posits, "she can practically talk through it at this point, she's created a language." The space and stillness of the Headlands afforded Lattimore freedom to her expand her vocabulary, to stretch out and experiment with layers of keyboard, guitar, theremin, and grand piano. Lattimore's voice sweeps beneath the plucks and washes of opener It Feels Like Floating,' enraptured by the winding current, and reappearing in the second minute of the immense "Never Saw Him Again." The track elevates towards a shimmering apex of static and percussion before organ drone yields to signature halcyon utters. As with much of Lattimore's work, the track titles are telling, "Baltic Birch" is a somber windswept march that sways gracefully out of step, a remembrance of a recent trip to Latvia where she was struck by the abandoned resort towns along the Baltic Sea. Hello From The Edge of The Earth' is an earnest reection of Lattimore's love of the natural world, recognizing the thresholds of varying terrains.

The album's fth track borrows its name from Lattimore's favorite line in Denis Johnson's short story Emergency' from Jesus' Son. A character, lost in a blizzard, reassesses a disjointed universe, a clash between curtains of snow and angels descending out of a brilliant blue summer: it isn't an apocalypse, it is a drive-in movie, with stars hovering above the lot, off the screen, in the throes of the Midwestern storm. This mix-up is disorienting and existentially tragic, Lattimore's darkly strummed piece is a melancholic parallel, mimicking Johnson's elegant suture attaching two remarkably discontinuous spaces.

Micro-revelations, not quite as bright as torn skies but nonetheless enlightening, were everyday occurrences during Lattimore's residency. Living small days with small tasks — feeling little dramas within the arcadian universe of a national park — rendered her the sense that disjointed spaces can be interconnected no matter the enormity that divides them. It's in this elastic scale of perception that something as simultaneously simple and intricate as Hundreds of Days can ourish.

- Second solo album for Ghostly, past releases on Thrill Jockey
- Recently toured w/ Sharon Van Etten, Jarvis Cocker, Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, Julia Holter, Iceage
- Mary Lattimore has been featured on Pitchfork, NPR, The Wire Magazine, and more

For the second release, we bring you obscure 1985 North Carolina boogie/gospel/electro banger filled with crazy bass synths, piano chords and rhythm machines. Very proud we managed to put out this unique record.

Also supported and played by Peanut Butter Wolf from Stones Throw!

Few words from the man himself:

"I was 32 years old when I did "Come Together", I recorded it in the studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. It was my first studio project. I wrote it to reflect on how we all are God's creation and we all need each other no matter our skin color or background, we should love each other as God tells us to. I always wanted my music to go mainstream and worldwide to reach everyone. Shurfine gospel record company picked up my record and the rest is history..."

Second release from Delusion, presenting a various artists dancefloor orientated four tracker including tracks by Michal Jablonski, Philip Firek and Delusion residents Stefan Tews and Smbr.

Uncompromising techno tools filled with pushing sub basses versus playful acid and epic pads.

Second pressing, 300 copies on blue marbled vinyl

The newest studio material of Steven Wilson's experimental drone project, especially recorded for Substantia Innominata series! Based on ethereal vocal choir material the four parts of "Sisters Oregon" reach transcendental beauty of the highest degree.

Much more than a mere side-project, Bass Communion could be regarded as Steven Wilson's discrete medium for manifesting his most daring, challenging and obscure musical ideas.

After a planning phase of several years, we can finally present the newest studio material of Bass Communion, a wonderful, mysterious experimental drone / ambient work that is mainly based on a recording of a boys choir (recorded at Air Studio in London 2014). Other sound sources or the meaning of the title "Sisters Oregon" were not revealed so much of this music is dependent on the listener's own imagination.

The four parts on this long play 10" are filled with sonorous drone expanses, tiny microsounds, deep bass eruptions and sudden breaks, ranging from an otherwordly subtleness to a most spacious finale, reaching a transcendental beauty of the highest degree.

Second pressing is limited to 300 copies on blue marpled vinyl, with full colour sleeve feat. stunning artwork by Carl Glover, underlining the mystery of this release.

Get in the car, we're goin' to the Cirque Du Freque, starring Normal Ones, Deepchord, and Lost Lake. A journey from the murky depths to the boogie caves, from your pals at Make Mistakes.

On the A side, Deepchord crafts a driving, shifting, wall of noise. Melodic stabs and resonant fuzz coat a pulsing beat and

bass. Hypnotic and divine, Deepchord's take on the original is a potent, psychedelic tool for the late night warehouse dance floor.

The original shines bright, a playful groove with an undercurrent of menace. With that sweet, sweet growling bass, and tip-a-tap percs, skittering all about, Cirque Du Freque brings the dirty heat. Cirque du Freque carries an old school vibe, with modern sensibilities; a memorable jam for sweaty frantic, nights.

Every time the label features Lost Lake, he delivers an original, compelling dance floor jam, while retaining a warm, familial vibe. You'll know it when you hear it, as Lost Lake's pure electro funk works its way through your soul. One of those tracks you drop down into to relieve some pressure in the room, a deep sigh of release in preparation for the next round.

As always, Make Mistakes brings high quality and varied content to the table. Cirque du Freque is another versatile, high quality record, that any DJ can stick in their crate knowing it'll find a way to fill a special moment in any night.

Haiku's Raw Waxes label is delighted to welcome the famously unconventional Stanislav Tolkachev with a new track EP of experimental techno and IDM sounds. Entitled Champions' Breakfast and with brilliant artwork from German Benedikt Rugar, the releases features six cuts, one of which is a previously digital-only track landing here on vinyl for the very first time.

Haiku has long been a fan of Ukrainian Tolkachev having previously collaborated on a remix for the label, while Tolkachev has also released on Haiku's other label Inkblots. This new EP is one that not only shows off the label's willingness to take risks and put out diverse and interesting electronic music, but also one that proves Tolkachev is a truly unique artist with his own musical voice. He has been that way for more than a decade now, and has put out three long players as well as countless EPs that get heavy support from the tastemakers of the day. This latest offering contains his take on the essentialness of groove, enriched by his use of atonality, dissonance and acid-not-acid textures, all in a minimal style.

The deep 'Shady' kicks things off with spangled synth lines and eerie pads off in the distance. It's a lonely and insular piece with kinked rhythms that keep you locked. The excellent 'The Main Thing Is To Survive' is then less constrained, with kicks that rock back and forth as off kilter synth lines warp and wrap around each other in mind melting and tripped out fashion. Switching up the mood with ease, 'Fuck This Guy' is a dark and musty passage of humid ambient techno with static electricity buzzing about over smeared pads that are filled with menace, then the curious 'Hair In My Mouth' is about blurting, busted frequencies, loose and scattered drums and glassy melodies. It's a mangled and mashed up track that sounds like little else. 'Negative Space' is horror soundtrack techno with urgent, driving drums and nervy sound design that keeps you on edge, and closer 'Self Destruction' is built on broken, bristling beats. A rhythm slowly emerges from the haze and it is one that is physical and restless and sure to make a big impact in the club.

This is a varied and vital EP that oozes essential electronic invention.

ALEX is a dark, haunting and brooding synthwave record that sets the night on fire, taking you from darkness all the way to the shining lights of Broadway. With hints of cyberpunk, outrun and other 80's inspired retrowave influences, ALEX has developed a true signature sound that is funky, groovy and totally rocking. X takes you on a futuristic, electronic music trip that's filled with nostalgia and suspense. Artist bio: Originating from Edinburgh Scotland, ALEX is a Scottish born electronic music producer, composer and DJ. After spreading his sound to every channel and label possible, ALEX broke through in the most significant way possible. If you get the attention of Playmaker and NewRetroWave in the Synthwave scene, you're doing something right, and ALEX's unique approach to composition and production led to his debut release with NRW, the 'Blood Club' EP. And things haven't slowed for the young producer, with two more EP's and an album since his debut, each showing another side to the artist. After the release of his Drive inspired EP 'Youth', fans of the powerful vocal tracks 'Rebel of the Night' and 'Youth' can get excited for the pair of major budget music videos ALEX has in store, with filming having taken place in Russia and New York City. ALEX grew up listening to the likes of Daft Punk, Justice, Underworld, Chromatics, Deadmau5, absorbing the sounds of Disco, House, Hip-Hop, and Rock, cherry picking his favourite elements to blend into the new retro haze of his own material. He also cites film composers, such as Disasterpiece, John Carpenter, Vangelis, Johan Johansson, and John Williams.

A cool film needs a cool soundtrack, right And none come cooler than ATOMIC BLONDE. A double LP filled to the brim with needledrops of some of the '80s best known cuts, as well as some under the radar gems, and a smattering of brand new tracks recorded especially for the movie.

David Bowie, George Michael, The Clash, Nena, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and A Flock Of Seagulls of course need no introduction, and they all contribute absolutely killer songs here. Rubbing shoulders with these A-listers are lesser known acts such as Re-Flex, whose track 'The Politics of Dancing' was a minor hit in the UK and is a pure '80s synth-pop banger from start to finish. After The Fire went from playing uninspired prog rock to recording the should-have-been classic 'Der Kommissar,' full of funky guitar licks and a chorus so hook-laden it should be illegal. 'Voices Carry' by American new wave band 'Til Tuesday features Aimee Mann on vocals and is an all-timer everyone needs on vinyl.

In a scenario of overwhelming number of instruments, musicians often do not take the time to deepen and explore the creative possibilities of each gear they possess. One Instrument aims at counter-acting this tendency by challenging and limiting each artist in producing a composition by using only one instrument of their choice.

The LP opens with a composition by In Bloom, the new project of Martino Bertola, who drives us directly into a melodic ambience. To follow it is the dense, polyrhythmic experiment by Fabian Kempe's project 'Korridor'. Serena Butler's piece is built around spacey sounds and breezy rhythms.

Yhdessa, the newly born Dutch-Italian duo formed by Grand River (Aimee Portioli) and Enrica Falqui, leans towards ambient atmospherics and ominous sonorities with a refined Northern European touch. Yair Elazar Glotman ventures us across his contrabass player skills giving an acoustic touch to the record.

Swedish producer, Fjader (Ida Matsdotter), handles the flip with a moody techno cut filled with evasive analog acutes.

Claudio PRC delivers an electroacoustic soundscape created with a tiny, graceful drone machine.

The Dutch duo, Wanderwelle, closes the LP with a dreamy and delicate excursion evoking the mysterious sides of nature.

There are some records that manage to sound both of a time and utterly timeless and Bon Voyage Organisation's Jungle Quelle Jungle (a nod to Supertramp's Crisis What Crisis) is one of those albums. Its silken-smooth production, irresistible grooves, funk-tinged guitars, lush soundscapes and general glowing presence could easily lead one to believe that have dug up a lost disco gem from the 1970s. However, behind the disco-pop gleam lies eerie dystopian sci-fi ruminations of a futuristic bent and tones that can often feel as French as they do Asian or African.

This sort of cross-continental exploration is an expansion on BVO's previous two EPs, the man behind the Organisation, Adrien Durand, says. 'I tried to continue the musical expedition between dystopian Science-Fiction Haunted Africa - plus Haitian Vaudou on 'Soleil Dieu' - and futuristic Asia. Addressing, in a double entendre manner, some of the political issues that I am sensitive to.' In fact the jungle in question in the album's title is a metaphorical one and one that creates a vast series of environments for Durand to explore such subjects as world trade, utopian ideals and themes of idols, as well as of time and communication. However, one will need to speak French to decipher such explorations, as well as shake off the natural impulse to move with every glorious beat on its 13 tracks, of which are moved along by Maud Nadal and Agathe Bonitzer's golden vocals.

Durand is a full-time producer based in Paris, working with the likes of Amadou & Mariam, so it makes sense that this record would absolutely sparkle in this department. Durand feeds off the variety of musicians coming and going during recording sessions as well as the rotating members and numbers of people involved with the band but fundamentally he writes all songs on piano first before bringing them to record live. 'We recorded a rhythm section of five - drums, percussion, guitar and myself on bass/synth bass and keyboards - at La Frette which is a studio located in a mansion outside of Paris and fitted with a beautiful 1973 NEVE desk. We only used analogue gear, by taste really, and found it a pretty reliable way of doing things. This simply consists of putting good players together in a room and waiting for the right take to happen.' Two four-day sessions and a 'cooling off' period (to let the recordings settle) soon followed before Durand picked the material back up to give it a final polish.

The resulting album is one loaded with intricacies and idiosyncrasies, something that Durand puts down to his own unique approach. 'I don't consider myself much of a songwriter but I love arranging rhythm sections and I'm pretty proud of the ones on this record.' This applies when it comes to working with such musicians as Inor Sotolongo Zapata, who with Durand used traditional Cuban percussive instruments and explored Haitian rhythms. When Durand expands on some of the ideas and influences that were funnelled into the record, you begin to get a sense of the vastness of the sounds that fill his world, from Trevor Horn's production work on ABC's Lexicon of Love, to the literary work of JG Ballard to the visual flair of the original Blade Runner and even the Tuareg sounds of Tinariwen, due to the fact that his studio neighbours their manager's and he would hear their rhythms bleeding through the walls. You therefore end up with an album that offers tracks such as 'GOMA' that fuses Chinese and African rhythms as well as 'SI D'Adventure' a piece of pop music that is dazzlingly hook-laden.

As a result of this cooking pot of sounds, influences, thoughts and creations, Durand has more of a gumbo approach to making this music than a set-out scientific formula. 'There is no definite recipe for me to like the production of a record,' he says. 'Of course it really sticks out that my work is really influenced by the 1978-1983 period, the golden age and last stand of analogue studios and session musicians.' Whilst Durand adores the traditional and conventional music, he really views this as something bigger and wider. 'I have a taste for the otherworldly vibe from records coming from less sought-after musical scenes, particularly Poland, Haiti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo and early Cantonese pop. Languages and the rapport of the people involved in the making of those records really inspires me. I particularly hate the use of the word 'World Music' as a potpourri for everything that doesn't sound quite western enough.'

Artwork by Jennifer Nastanovich

Iron Curtis has felt like a Polytone artist for quite a while now. He recently delivered a breathtaking remix for Matthias Vogt, and shared a split EP with the man himself, Terrence Dixon. He's also played several label nights, but indeed 'Unwind' is his first very own EP on Polytone. The opening track 'Riders' is our floor filler here. A subsonic bass experience of the more intensive kind. It´s a pure groover, with a surprisingly long lasting breakdown that never lacks on intensity. 'Cream' on the A2 is a stellar ambient joint, with rhythmic elements and cosmic pads. On the flip we have the title track, 'Unwind', with an unconventional basic groove, bleepy touches and trademark 707 drum machine sounds. Pure and stunning deepness. The Final track is a remix from Force/Emerge and leads 'Unwind' into techno territory. Polytone stands for diversity, and again demonstrates the labels vision of versatility here.

It's already been two years since Leonardo Martelli's debut with the four-tracker Menti Singole. He has since been following the direction he took with this first release, at a rather slow path, releasing a lone and haunted mini-album, Previsto, in the meantime. With Menti Singole Vol.2, Martelli establishes a picture of his music, an update of his aspirations in the feminine.
.
Sparse, clear-cut and slightly nerve-racking, Micaella opens the record with the precision of a neurosurgeon. The song can be seen in many ways as a good introduction to the music of the Italian musician - past and probably future. Ethereal string machines balance the nagging acid leitmotiv: as often with Martelli's music, there's something going on in the background, some anonymous forces operating off-screen.

We can make the same assessment with Alice, the most obviously desperate tune on the record: the sad synth melody comes in as if it was trying to fill an emotional void, but the supposedly reassuring sentence is not complete, notes are missing. On Laura - just like with Alice - Martelli keeps on playing with the potential of abstraction of rap samples, a process we're familiar with since Previsto.

Sofia gives a particularly striking example of this weird game he likes to play as Biggie Smalls' words get progressively eviscerated from their meaning. Backed by bare percussive samples (a numerical metronome, copyright-free digital ersatz of percussions), Sofia depicts - without any artifice - despair in a post-industrial world, where everything has lost any sense of materiality - while Previsto was still set in a industrial world of steaming factories. Disarmingly simple, Menti Singole Vol.2 offers electronic mourning music at its most elegant.

Blue fabric-covered deluxe replica gatefold with circle cut on the front and white hot stamp, printed paper inner-sleeve and black vinyl. includes CD (inserted in a clear pvc wallet) the new album! vinyl tracklisting : Side A: Sous le sable, Lasso, Fontaine de lait, Seeds, Les loups, Je ne mâche pas mes mots Side B : Twix, Nuit debout, Piscine, Fille à papa, Langue The internationally celebrated artist, award winning singer and composer Camille releases 'OUÏ' her fifth studio album and first for Because Music on June 2nd. Recorded over a year in La Chartreuse, a 14th century monastery-turned-artist's residence in Avignon, France 'OUÏ' is a cornucopia thrumming with folk, hymns, ballads, pop, lullabies and breathtaking a cappella. 'The story of the album is like this, moving from the arcane drums' - percussion is used throughout as the bedrock - 'to the treble and harmonics and light in my voice.' An instrument of exhilarating range and phenomenal power, Camille's voice provides all the vocal parts on 'OUÏ'. 'All the voices are telling a story,' she says, 'and I am all the voices. Co-produced by Camille with two of her longtime collaborators, composer and multi-instrumentalist Clement Ducol and sound and mixing engineer Maxime Leguil, and featuring the versatile Moog analogue synthesiser, 'OUÏ' is a work with a pulse. 'It really resonates,' says Camille, 'On some songs there are no drums, just this sub-bass like a kick drum, which leads the way and gives it a beat.' While she sets out to write politically charged songs inspired by drum-driven French traditional dances, that reflect upon the country's recent, tragic events, she was equally led to something peaceful, vowel-oriented and vibrational in her exploration of sound. The latter explains the album's title, 'Oui' - ooo...eee - a playfulness with sounds and language, a breaking free from its oft imposed restrictions.

Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin.

Hana's first and self-titled LP was recorded in Autumn 2010 at Facta non Verba and consists out of 5 tracks which are techno oriented with disposal of experimental and abstract elements.

Reviews

OMG Vinyl
Hana s S/T LP is easily the best promo records we ve gotten in months. This Greek duo has somehow, almost entirely below the radar, released one of the most exciting electronic records of 2011. Their wobbly brand of techno sometimes chugs ahead at full-speed, other times easing back into a wider waver, almost resembling some weird, warped IDM. I will be shocked if this record doesn t get wider appreciation very soon. Whether that happens or not, we fully recommend it, track one down.

Cyclic Defrost by Oliver Laing
Granny Records duo Hana come correct with their first album, offering a refreshing take on techno and IDM variants in the vein of Jan Jelinek, Raime, Actress and hints of the mighty Chain Reaction label. Mastered at Berlin s Dubplates and Mastering by none other than Rashad Becker, a name that often appears in the run-out groove of artists who inhabit a curiously funky techno-not-techno netherworld Hana s debut self-titled release grows in stature and listening enjoyment with every spin. With a sense of fun and adventure inhabiting the grooves, Hana (who are also part of label-mates, Good Luck Mr Gorsky), explore experimental timbres and ghostly vocalisations with a lightness of touch that belies their recording credentials.

Starting off with an abstract, Clicks and Cuts style intro, Liv slowly finds the sweet spot between mutant Detroit electro funk, a hint of the indie/dance territory of Matthew Dear and the abstract, yet rhythmic 12 releases on the Beatservice label, by Norwegian duo Information from the mid 90s. Obermaier implies the groove to begin with, until a wrong-footed man-with-two-left-feet rhythm leads into minimal acidic flourishes. Album opener SM heads in a Ricardo Villalobos vs. Nonplace Urban Field direction, as the lopsided rhythm and sepulchral vocals add a haunted edge to proceedings. CR80 uses beautifully syncopated live drums and urgent female vocals, and adds a driving, belligerent synth riff falling somewhere in between DMZ and Gary Numan. Echoic, boingy sounds threaten to derail the beat, but somehow it manages to maintain, reminding me of Shed and A Made Up Sound; more in overall feel than in the specific sounds. For those that enjoy abstract electronics that work just as well on headphones as on the dance floor, Greece s Hana are a duo to watch.

Textura
Hana's self-titled debut album arrives saddled with a (literally) cheeky front cover one would more associate with a 70s band like Wild Cherry than a Greece-based techno outfit formed in Thessaloniki last summer. Recorded in fall 2010 at Facta non Verba, the five-cut release finds Good Luck Mr Gorsky members Thanasis Papadopoulos and Thanos Bantis hunkered down in their chemical lab concocting formulae to go along with their material's stripped-down techno beats. Using analogue synths, samplers, and sequencers, the duo brings a decidely experimental edge to their productions, sprinkling as they do liberal doses of burble and flutter over bass-heavy techno rhythms.
The opening track, Sm, sets the scene with a heavy low-end pulse thudding alongside a steady kick drum and joined by acidy synths and percussive effects that suggest a lighter being repeatedly flicked open. On a slightly more aggressive tip, the B-side's Cr80 adds truncated vocal yelps to its bleepy, elephantine throb. A dubby dimension emerges in the track, too, when echoing waves drift repeatedly across the huge bass that slithers across the track's underbelly. The album's most elaborate track comes last. Liv opens beatlessly with flickering shudders and what could pass for the amplified workings of an ant community but then progressively fills in the dots with an insistent beat pattern, voice fragments, and even the demented meander of accordion playing. Though Hana hardly rewrites the techno guidebook on the release, it's nevertheless a pleasurable listen, in part due to the multi-dimensional experience provided by the vinyl format and the always superb mastering work done by Rashad Becker at Berlin's Dubplates & Mastering.

Henrique Oliveira aka HNQO, is the man responsible for this exciting full album release on DOC Records.

HNQO

is one of the fastest rising young stars in the techno, house and indie dance scene in Brazil.
Causing much attention and hype with his recent EP release on DOC Records (Balinese Death - also featured in MAGNUM VOL 1) and having reach the

#1 spot at Hot Creations Top selling single, it is time to introduce his first album "The Old Door", (influenced by Marlin Stimming and Anders Trentemøller, two of his heroes).
A weird string sound marks the opening of "The OId Door".

By mixing old sounds with new ideas, while recording different instruments, the track shows HNQO's life and it features Urzula Amen in the vocals.

"The Death of the Elephant' is a soundtrack to remind us how destructive human kind has been to the nature. Using sounds of Pizzicato Violin, "40s Cartoon' continues to take us to a journey through the artist's imagination.


The album is filled with the Henrique life moments during the year it took to produce the album.

For an example in "Egyptian Lover" HNQO describes how nice it would have been to have a lover flying overnight.

On this track Russian singer Cotry interprets the lyrics.

"Fallen Angel" is a dramatic piece telling a story still about flying.

"If" is another collaboration with the amazing Urzula Amen.


As we get closer to the end, when its finally time, 'Light a Cigarette' reaches a melancholic state where all melodies were recorded with eyes shut and in complete darkness.

A spiritual moment that became Henrique's favourite track of this project.

The scratch of a match, the flame and then a foggy synth that releases all the feelings in sound waves.
The album cover was inspired on a door.

A door that HNQO was able to enter by playing certain keys on his synths, percussions and strings that allowed him to reach a organic level while making it all a bit more human in terms of groove construction.
A poem from Rai Knight was perfect fit to give the density for the digital bonus track.
To get a better feel of what this album has to say, HNQO invites you to open 'The Old Door"

recorded and produced by christina nemec in vienna and horner wald 2016
mastered and cut at dubplates & mastering, berlin 2017

artwork by susi klocker

On her latest release, chra aka Christina Nemec is sketching out a psychogeographical map, that guides you to the border of the internal and external world - 'on a fateful morning' lets you enter a sphere where the imaginary and the subliminal cross. Evoking abstract images that transcend reality, chra installs an autarchic time-and-space-continuum of vague, nocturnal beauty. Pastose bass drones, airy ambient synths and processed audio-samples form a hypnotic stream that lets you enter an altered state of mind. By subtly intertwining musical and non musical sounds chra is weaving an intensely atmospheric, poetic tableau of emptied spaces left to our imagination. It's the pulse of arcane memories that is filling these sonic landscapes, operating deep within our subconscious.

'on a fateful morning' is haunting music to play in the dark - conspirative, uncanny, with a dystopian smack.

Les Disques du Crepuscule presents an expanded edition of classic festive album Ghosts of Christmas Past, featuring favourites from the original 1981 and 1982 editions now joined by newer tracks by Crepuscule artists.
Sometimes witty, sometimes melancholic, the original version of Ghosts of Christmas Past in November 1981 featured exclusive contributions from luminaries such as Tuxedomoon, The Durutti Column, Paul Haig, Michael Nyman, Aztec Camera, Thick Pigeon and The Names. Subsequent editions in 1982 and 1986 added songs by Antena, Mikado, The French Impressionists, Pale Fountains and Winston Tong.
For this new double CD version in 2015 Crepuscule have now added more chantons noel by Blaine L. Reininger, Section 25, The Wake, Marsheaux, Deux Filles, Stanton Miranda, Virna Lindt, B Music and Ultramarine.
'Crepuscule's Christmas cracker is here to rescue the festive season from the fogies and bores"(Melody Maker); "Aztec Camera's Hot Club of Christ is a busy, Django-esque run through a few well-known Christmas ditties, Michael Nyman's Cream or Christians is a silly but loveable fragmented organ collage in a typical English eccentric tradition, Tuxedomoon are in playful Residential mood' (NME)
Cover art by Jean-Francois Octave. The remastered 2xCD is sleeved in a deluxe 6 panel digipack.

Disc 1:
1. Section 25 Jesus Sweetly Sleeps
2. Miranda Dali Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
3. The Wake Jesus From the Block
4. Marsheaux We Met Bernard Sumner at a Christmas Party Last Night
5. Ultramarine Winter Circle
6. Isolation Ward Lamina Christus
7. Thick Pigeon Jingle Bell Rock
8. Aztec Camera Hot Club of Christ
9. Paul Haig Scottish Christmas
10. B Music Rocking Carol
11. Tuxedomoon Weihnachtsrap
12. Virna Lindt Festivo
13. Blaine L. Reininger Jingle Hell
14. Blaine L. Reininger Silent Blight
15. Blaine L. Reininger Xmas Blooz
16. The Durutti Column Snowflakes
17. Monks in the Snow A Theme for This Special Evening

Disc 2:
1. Hillcrest Club Breakfast at Christmas
2. Paul Haig Christiana
3. The Names Tokyo Twilight
4. The Durutti Column One Christmas For Your Thoughts
5. White Birds Possessed By the Stars
6. The Swinging Buildings Praying for a Cheaper Christmas
7. B Music Ode to Joy
8. Antena Noelle a Hawai
9. The Pale Fountains Benoît's Christmas
10. The French Impressionists Santa Baby
11. Simon Topping Peep Show International
12. Thick Pigeon Silhouettes
13. Deux Filles The Snow Falls and the Village Is Overflowing With Children
14. Mikado Message de Noël
15. Winston Tong The Twelve Days of Christmas
16. The Arcadians Write Your Letter
17. Michael Nyman Cream or Christians
18. Magazzini Criminali Honolulu 25 dicembre 1990
 
 

In 2017, the musical term electronic' is nearly obsolete given the ubiquity of computerized processes in producing music. Even so, the prevailing assumption is that musicians working under this broad umbrella must be inspired by concepts equally as electrified as their equipment. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has demonstrated in her still-blooming discography that this notion couldn't be further from the truth, and that more often than not, rich worlds of synthesized
sound are born from deep reverence of the natural world. Smith (who by no coincidence, cites naturalist David Attenborough as a contemporary muse) has embodied such an appreciation on
The Kid in as direct and sincere a way as possible by sonically charting the phases of life itself.
The album, which punctually follows up her 2016 breakthrough EARS, chronicles four defining cognitive and emotional stages of the human lifespan across four sides of a double LP.
The first side takes us through the confused astonishment of a newborn, unaware of itself, existing in an unwitting nirvana. Smith's music has always woven a youthful thread befitting of the
aforementioned subject. Here she articulates it in signature fashion on the track An Intention,' which serves not only as a soaring spire on The Kid, but on her entire output. There is playfulness here, but it's elevated by an undertone of gravity into something compelling and majestic that is fast becoming Smith's watermark. The emotional focus of side two is the vital but underreported moment in early youth when we cross the threshold into self awareness. The subject is profound enough to fill an entire album, but rarely makes its way into a single track, indicating Smith's ambition to broach subtler and deeper subjects than the average composer. This side offers up another highlight in the form of In The World But Not Of The World' which serves its subject well with epiphanic, climbing strings and decidedly noisy textures over a near-Bollywood low end pulse.

Side three emphasizes a feeling of being confirmed enough in one's own identity to begin giving back to the formative forces of one's upbringing, which is arguably the duty that all great artists
aim to fulfill. This side ends with the exploratory album cut Who I Am & Why I Am Where I Am' recorded in a single take without overdubs on the rare EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer. This humble
piece of sound design serves as a contrast to side four's verdant orchestral moments, all written and arranged for the EU-based Stargaze quartet by Smith herself. This final side represents a
return to pure being, the kind of wisdom and peace that eludes most of us until the autumn of life. On To Feel Your Best' this concept is voiced in the bittersweet refrain one day I'll wake up
and you won't be there' which Smith intended to be a grateful acknowledgement of life rather than a melancholy resentment of loss. The song has both effects depending on the mood of the
listener, and both interpretations are equally moving.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith belongs to an ilk of modern musicians who are defined by their commitment to creating experiential albums despite the singles-oriented habits of modern listeners,
and here she represents her kind proudly. The subjects on The Kid are not simple to convey, and yet through both emotional tone and lyrical content, Smith does just that. There is a similar
gravity to both birth and death, and rarely is that correlation as accurately and enthusiastically mapped as it is here.

Alan Watts, another logical inspiration of Smith's, once expounded that people record themselves to confirm their own existence, and as such, echoes and resonance are reminders that we are alive. You're not there unless you're recorded,' Watts muses, if you shout, and it doesn't come back and echo, it didn't happen.' The Kid speaks to this idea directly. As Kaitlyn Aurelia
Smith explores her existence through music, she guides us in gleefully contemplating our own.

Grammy-winning singing sensation Gregory Porter - one of the most successful jazz artists of his generation - is back with a new album, 'Nat King Cole & Me', to be released on Decca/Blue Note on 27th October. It is a deeply personal tribute to Nat King Cole - the legendary crooner who ignited Gregory's love of music. It's only natural that I go to the root of my inspiration and where I come from. And that root would be my mother and gospel music and Nat King Cole,' he says.

Recorded at London's AIR Studios, the 12-track album features some of Gregory's favourite Nat King Cole tunes including 'Smile', 'L-O-V-E' and 'Nature Boy'. There is also a Nat-inspired arrangement of Gregory's own song 'When Love Was King', originally released on his million-selling hit album, 'Liquid Spirit'.

For Gregory Porter, the influence of Nat King Cole on his life and music runs deep, a through-line that reaches back into some of his earliest childhood memories, and culminates in the release of his new album 'Nat King Cole & Me'. Gregory explains, At five or six years old, Nat's music filled a void in me. My father wasn't in my life and wasn't showing interest in me or raising me and Nat's words were the life lessons, words of wisdom and fatherly advice I needed.'

Gregory's love for Nat's music blossomed so much that he wrote a semi-autobiographical musical, also called 'Nat King Cole & Me', which premiered in 2004. After the play, I felt a lighter feeling about my father and a deeper appreciation for both my mother and the great music of Nat King Cole,' says Gregory. He also found his voice through his own songwriting - It wasn't until I wrote the musical that I was fit to call myself a songwriter. Before that, I would write different poems but they had no music.'

'Nat King Cole & Me' is the follow-up to his Grammy-winning albums 'Liquid Spirit' (2013) and 'Take Me to the Alley' (2016). 'Liquid Spirit' took Gregory from being the biggest name on the jazz scene to being one of the most sought-after singers around today, performing sell-out shows across the UK and being invited to perform on high profile TV programmes including The Graham Norton Show, Strictly Come Dancing and the BBC Music Awards. He has become an adopted national treasure in the UK, having sung for the Queen multiple times, as well as major music festivals including Glastonbury, where he performed on the Pyramid Stage alongside the likes of Muse, Adele and Coldplay. Gregory's ability to transcend genres even extends to his surprise dance hit 'Liquid Spirit Claptone Remix' which became one of the most popular tracks in Ibiza.

After winning over audiences with his rich and soulful voice, there can be no better time for Gregory to return to the music which first inspired him to become a singer. On Nat's legacy and influence Gregory affirms, He was one of a kind. He left such great music - such beautiful things to listen to that you can't help but be influenced by that extraordinary timbre, style, and ultimate cool.'

The first time I heard of Mattes Schwarz, someone called him 'Stecken-Mattes'. Stecken was a defining, if almost secret, Cologne dance music venue of the 2000s and early 2010s, a minuscule basement without curfew and seemingly any other restrictions, where the up to twelve hour long DJ-sets felt like a tightly knit circle of friends just playing records to each other: The selectors from the night before and the one after reliably sitting right in front of the just over one meter long stretch of the bar that formed its booth, never missing out on a chance to see their mates play, heads nodding and hands clapping through the smoke-filled air, until someone started to sing along, and eventually everyone got up for a few hours of moves on the 15 square meter dancefloor, on a grey Wednesday or Saturday morning at 7 or just as well 10 am.
Mattes Schwarz started DJing in 1982 at age twelve, inspired by, as many West-German kids, the GI-DJs of the roller skating rinks around US army bases. While he got heavily involved in Cologne's BMX scene of the 90s, he never really stopped, and during the main years of being known as Stecken-Mattes and playing there each Friday night, he coincidently lived in Magazine record's homebase, North- Eastern Cologne's old harbour.
One day after Stecken's closure had sent restructuring ripples through the city - I imagine him getting up in the morning and taking a deep breath - he decided to send Magazine a few tracks.
'I Don't Know' is Mattes Schwarz' first release.

It is summer time in Nang land which means the dials are being set to Balearic. Step forward our all-around good chap, friend and producer buddy Pete Herbert. He has teamed up with Bali based musician and keyboard player Martin Denev to deliver an album of the finest Bali-inspired Balearic House. Hot and balmy evenings here we come.

Recorded on the tropical island of Bali, the album swings from Balearic grooves, to sun-filled terrace house, seaside electronic and swimming-pool funk. We open up with "Batu Karang", summery key stabs, lazy drum machine set the album tone hot, low-slung and swimming in positivity. Things take a more electronic turn with "Time" with its twisting synth-lines and locked on sun-drenched groove.

House music royalty Robert Owens swings by the cabana for a very special guest vocal appearance on "Pass Me By" next. His smooth and powerful soulful vocal compliment the pool terrace house grooves and sneaky thumb piano. As ever, Robert does not disappoint. To close off Side A the title track "Made In The Shade" gives us a slice of Nu Disco summer swing with funky strat and more cowbell of course in for good measure.

The flip side of the album opens up with a hands in the air terrace anthem. House pianos, punchy synth hits and beach disco groove all the way. "Sun Fish" takes things again in an electronic direction. Meandering lead synth lines, walking synth bass giving the perfect back drop to this island hopping anthem. Recent single "Night Boat" is next. Darting firefly arpeggios and lush keyboard layers prevail here. We end on a high with the up-tempo Gamalan inspired "Ruby Star" sending us out on a ocean deep wave..

Welcome to Nang Balearic airlines. Your pilots Pete and Martin hope you enjoy your flight.

Over the years, Phil Mison has become the go-to selector for those looking for Ibiza-themed compilations. None of his previous collections, though, have been quite as personal as Out Of The Blue, a compilation inspired by his first spell behind the decks at the Café Del Mar in 1993 - and the remarkable chain of events leading up to it.

Mison made his first trip to Ibiza in the summer of 1991 and quickly fell in love with the magical music being played by Café Del Mar resident DJ, Jose Padilla. On his return to the UK, Mison began to cultivate his own take on the laidback, open-minded style, recording mix-tapes of Ibiza style chill out' tunes to give to friends.

In November 1992, Mison was hanging out in Tag Records, Soho, when Padilla walked in. He plucked up the courage to speak to the Spaniard because earlier that summer Mison had given one of his friends some tapes to take out to Jose in Ibiza so he wanted to see if he had got them. During the conversation Mison invited him down to his next DJ set at Nicky Holloway's club, the Milk Bar and less than three months later, and clearly impressed by what he'd heard on the tapes, Padilla invited Mison to fill in for him at the Café Del Mar, beginning in April '93.

It's that first trip to DJ in Ibiza - a crazy six-weeks spent dividing his time between spinning records at Café Del Mar, hanging out in Jose Padilla's house in the hills, and meeting some particularly eccentric White Isle residents - that proved the inspiration for Out Of The Blue.

The compilation contains a mixture of records that Mison played in his earliest Ibiza sets, those that remind him of that period, and recent discoveries that boast a similarly warm, loved-up vibe. Mison is at pains to point out that it's not a track-for-track representation of his first sets, but rather a collection inspired by this most momentous of experiences.

As you'd expect from a selector of Phil Mison's standing, Out Of The Blue is an outstanding collection. Some will no doubt hear the influence of his mentor - the man he credits with effectively turning his DJing career around - in the undulating rhythms and new age melodies of Kamasutra's Sugar Step', the meandering synthesizer solos and Spanish language vocals of Congarilla's sublime Sacred Tree', and the lilting flamenco guitars of Gambarra', an unreleased mix from Mison's popular Cantoma project.

Elsewhere, listeners can marvel at the starry ambient bliss of Belgian legend Frank De Wulf's The End', recline to the saucer-eyed fusion jazz of the Christoph Spendel Group, shuffle along to tactile, hard-to-find period deep house from Language, Moodswings and Don Carlos, and marvel at The Cactus Rose Project's ridiculously rare Jelly', a sparkling, disco-era jazz-rock outing partly inspired by the Doobie Brothers' Long Train Running'.

Out Of The Blue may well be a very personal selection of tracks celebrating a moment in time, but it's happily one that we can all enjoy.

August 2016 saw Running Back release a first volume of live tracks from Redshape, but January 2017 sees the much loved artist return to Delsin, his most regard label, for a second offering of the same. This time the EP has one track made in Paris, and one in London, and both are filled with the sort of beautifully bleak and lo-fi sounds that have made this man such a standout artist over the years. Up first is 'London,' a chugging track that builds in pressurised layers of coarse hi hats, gurgling bass and pinging kick drums. It is a hypnotic groove that teases you as elements drop in and out and hisses of static and broken little guitar riffs add some cheeky funk. On the flip-side, 'Paris' is much more playful, with colourful pixelated melodies dancing about the mix, industrial drums working down low and steppy synths fleshing things out. Overall it sounds like a future disco for inebriated robots and is one of Redshape's more party starting tracks.