quête:playground

Soul4Real bring you the last 45 in their trio of previously unreleased Jimmy Gresham Playground Studios recordings from the mid-70’s; a perfect tribute to a great but under-recognized.
“A Million Things” has been a huge collaborative effort, meticulously pieced together in 2020 from an unfinished vocal track. Jimmy’s trademark rich, velvet voice, imbued with soul and inflected with a large pinch of southern grit, has been complemented perfectly by the addition of multitalented Marc Franklin’s evocative vibes, horn and string arrangements. Clayton Lancaster laid down the gorgeous, choppy guitar licks which drive the whole mid-tempo groove, and the absolute pinnacle is formed by the glorious, soaring backing vocals of Jimmy’s sister, Mary.
A recording that sounds as though everybody had been in that same Florida studio in the mid-70’s, bouncing off each other’s talent, on a day when they could feel the electricity in the air and they knew something special had been created.
Flip it over to find Jimmy in a more down-home style on "No Way to Stop It", a worthy track getting its first release on vinyl thanks to the efforts of the Soul4Real team.

British duo The Boy Least Likely To are not new to Christmas music. It started in 2005 with a charming cover version of ‘Little Donkey’ on a give away CD single, followed three year later by the first Christmas original they recorded, ‘The First Snowflake’, that made it into an episode of Grey's Anatomy. In 2010, the band released the album ‘Christmas Special’, with mostly originals, including the single ‘George And Andrew’, that came with a much watched and liked video. Last year, The Boy Least Likely To released a new Christmas song ‘It Will Still Be Christmas’, that reflected the difficult time the world was going through in 2020. What was still lacking in The Boy Least Likely To Christmas discography was a Christmas 7”. That is now also taken care of, as the band recorded two new Christmas songs for the ninth edition of the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club. The nostalgic sounding original ‘Two Christmases’ is typical for the somewhat bittersweet nature of many of the duo’s songs, as it is about a recently divorced couple who, for the first time, will celebrate Christmas separately, one after the other, so that their children can celebrate Christmas with both their parents. On the flipside of the record, The Boy Least Likely To rework Shakin’ Stevens number one hit ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ into an uptempo cross between indie pop and western swing. The record comes on white vinyl and is limited to 300 copies.

The Boy Least Like To are composer/multi-instrumentalist Pete Hobbs and lyricist/singer Jof Owen, both originally from Wendover in Buckinghamshire, England, who met at school and began making music together in 2002. They debuted in 2003 with the 'Paper Cuts' 7” on their own label To Young To Die. In 2005 the duo released their first album, 'The Best Party Ever', that made it into Pitchfork's top 50 albums of 2005. Three more albums followed (2009's 'Law Of The Playground', 2010's 'Christmas Special' and 2013's 'The Great Perhaps') and in 2018 the career spanning collection 'The Greatest Hits', including classic tracks like 'Be Gentle With Me' and 'Hugging My Grudge' was released. Their music, once described in Rolling Stone as sounding like what would happen "if all your childhood stuffed animals got together and started a band.” incorporates influences from all over the indie landscape (twee pop, indie country, jangle pop, piano pop) and blends it into something that is unmistakingly To Boy Least Likely To – often joyous and uplifting, sometimes melancholic, with lyrics that reflect our everyday fears and anxieties, as it’s not all sunshine in our lives. In 2021 the band celebrated the slowly opening world by releasing a new digital single, 'Get Into The Summer', a joyous burst of fresh energy, showing that the band’s music is for all seasons

M_SESSIONS - THE PROCESS

"M_Sessions" is offering a contemporary version of Mania D., Malaria and Matador’s music for the 40th anniversary plus the rare originals. Bringing the past into the now and into the future.
Monika Werkstatt seemed the perfect choice for new interpretations. Founded in 2015, comprising female electronic musicians and producers from the entourage of Monika Enterprise and Moabit Musik. The loose collective played dozens of improvised concerts around Europe and released a studio album and live recordings in everchanging artist constellations.

The M_Sessions involved Pilocka Krach, Beate Bartel, Midori Hirano, Mommo G, Lucrecia Dalt, Antye Greie-Ripatti, Natalie Beridze, Annika Henderson and myself. Here the form of interpretation is focussing on keeping the freedom of their improvised work and adapting it to the collective appropriation of songs. I cannot imagine a better reinterpretation of the material with its real life ups and downs and with its enthusiasm.
The original core team of Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster, Manon P. Duursma and myself selected "Rare Originals" from the repertoire of the 3 bands where we saw special relevance and beauty - these tracks are on LP2. We rediscovered live tracks, living room recordings and demo versions from our times long gone. (G.Gut)

M_DOKUMENTE // THE BOOK - THE RECORDS - THE EXHIBITION

The project M_Dokumente focuses on the All Female bands Mania D., Malaria! and Matador in the West Berlin music and art scene of the late 1970s and 1980s. We celebrate this 40 years retrospetive with a big festival weekend from 21.-24.10.2021 at Silent Green from a explicitly female perspective.
The three bands around their members Beate Bartel, Bettina Köster and Gudrun Gut played concerts in different formations from 1979 on, released records and toured around the world. The self-determined appearance of the musicians was new, raised some eyebrows and was reflected both in the music and the lyrics, but also in their unique style and the genre-crossing approach of "more art in the music, more music in the art". To this day, the bands are considered visionary, they shaped a new image of women in pop culture and are pioneers and role models for the still important and necessary emancipatory movement in the music industry. Far beyond the borders of Berlin.

3Ms

The three, reunited: Malaria, Matador and Mania D, unter einem Dach, but gutted, replaced with electronic hearts, new beats, new beasts, the time has changed, yet the politics, the problems, the heartache remains the same. 2021 sees the anniversary of the 3 M’s and therewith the production of an album of songs, covering a selection of the bands’ finest output, this time assembled by a new set of feminist misfits; producers, fangirls, instrumentalists, under the strict guidance of original members Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. M-Sessions features: AGF, Lucrecia Dalt, Sonae, Midori Hirano, Islaja, Natalie Beridze, Pilocka Krach, Annika Henderson (Anika), Lupe, Gudrun Gut and Beate Bartel. Beginning in West Berlin, in 1979, with the inception of Mania D, spawning Malaria! and later Matador; in a time when music was essential to movement, to escape, to space, to the scene and to the rebellion of the people; three bands stood for trial and error, trial and terror, anti- conformity, and anti-consumerism, for girl power and sticking it to the man, and for just doing whatever the hell they wanted. The three, their existence slightly staggered, with different members, different grudges, different heartbreaks, different instrumental expressions, were joined by a string of barbed wire, piecing pigeon hearts, within the playground that was the desolate ex-capital, now again capital, Berlin; a place where artists and freaks could run free amongst the wrinklies and army dodgers; no microscopes, no rules, no property developers. (ANNIKA HENDERSON)

As escapism from corporate banality turned the corner in the `90s, a new generation of vibrant, software generated soundscapes emerged. Communal access to the internet propagated the new hive mind of ideas online, giving way to smoother, stress-free textures. The PC revolution opened the gateway to ray-traced playgrounds of color and light, allowing for visions of utopic proportions to manifest themselves on screensavers far and wide. Boot up your machine, load the software on this floppy diskette, and drop out of a reality bounded by the physical laws of the universe. Numero 95 is the soundtrack to the screen saver fever dream we're all trying to climb back into. Eight droplets of proto-vaporwave, synthesized in vinyl (or digital) form, fresh from Numero's archive of forgotten sounds. Are you looking for that half way point between smooth jazz and new age? Mac and PC? Quantum Leap and the X-Files? This software is for you. Housed in a replica floppy diskette, Numero 95 explores an early computer music unbound by scene or region. Eight solo pioneers vibing out at home in their headphones, traveling as far as the sound card would allow. This is music that barely escaped the hard drive and yet percolates at the edges of the algorithm 30 years later. Welcome to Numero 95.

The edition that marks the start of the brand-new Comets Coming could not be more suitable: it is that Rodrigo Brandão, like his grandfather Herman Poole Blount, dust of stars that the world knows as Sun Ra, may have his feet on the Earth, but he has definitely a sidereal head.

Brandão arrived recently to Portugal, but already left a strong mark in the most adventurous Lisbon scene, having performed several concerts in which his language has been wrapped in the exploratory sounds of musicians such as Rodrigo Amado, João Valinho, and Hernâni Faustino. The agitator, poet and spoken word artist, brought a vast experience that over the years saw him collaborate with artists as distinct as the members of Metá Metá or Prince Paul (that one!) on BROOKZILL!.

This work, however, came in his luggage, across the ocean, on the rediscovery trip that brought him from Brazil to Lisbon. OUTROS ESPAÇO was recorded in São Paulo in late 2019 with a luxury crew: Tulipa Ruiz and Juçara Marçal added to the microphone, Thiago França played flute and alto & tenor saxophones, Guilherme Granado dealt with the synthesizers and effects, Marcos Gerez measured the overall pulse with his electric bass, Thomas Rohrer played soprano and 'rabeca' (fiddle), and Paulo Santos dealt with the percussion. In addition to the base band, OUTROS ESPAÇO also features some members of Sun Ra Arkestra's current incarnation. Respectively: Danny Thompson (RIP) on baritone and bongo, Elson Nascimento on 'surdo' (tom drum), Knoel Scott on tenor and soprano, with the giant Marshall Allen in a prominent role leading the collective towards the unknown, while playing the alto sax and synthesizer.

In OUTROS ESPAÇO, Brandão reaches for words from different origins, from contrasting times and cultures, all with magnetic resonance imaging: what is not from his furrow comes to him from Candomblé (“Quando Os Orixás Desfilam Sobre A Cracolândia”), from his readings of Sun Ra (“Eu Sou 1 Instrumento” is an adaptation of the poem I Am An Instrument), or from the school's playgrounds (“Jamais Nos Esqueceremos”). And in these words there are teeth and nails ingrained in injustice (“Quantos Coltrane...?, “Todo o Dia Tem +”) and kaleidoscopic delusions that result from the speed of light (“Sol da Meia Noite”).

The crew that travels through these OUTROS ESPAÇO (PT for "Other Spaces") has freedom as the main fuel, jazz as a measure of their reach, and all swings in the world as maps, so they can lose themselves at the end of the cosmos. There is urgency and reflection, craziness and precision, surprise and well-known ancestral raw material, that makes us vibrate inwardly with the same trembling as the comets that are coming.

The visionary and veteran Scotty Hard was responsible for making everything sound like the music of the spheres, dealing with the mixing from his INGUASONIC SOUND studio in Brooklyn, NY.

And lastly, in January, Rob Mazurek, another frequent ally of Brandão, another notorious space traveler, offered a poem that frames this project. Among other things, he writes:

Make this place sing

Make this place thunder

Make this place shake

It couldn't be in any other way.

Release Me 2 is a new collection of ten previously unreleased studio performances from the legendary Barbra Streisand, spanning 1962 to 2014. The album showcases exquisite songs and sublime studio performances recorded over the course of Barbra's astounding career, but shelved for various reasons. In her notes for the album, Barbra says, "For me, the studio is a combination musical playground and laboratory…a private sanctuary, where the possibility of catching lightning in a bottle always exists. Whenever that kind of magic happens, it's extremely satisfying. Sometimes though, when the arrangement doesn't quite gel or the song no longer fits the tone of the album it was meant for, the tapes go into the vault for safekeeping. Working on this 2nd volume of Release Me has been a lovely walk down memory lane…a chance to revisit, and in some cases, add a finishing instrumental touch to songs that still resonate for me in meaningful ways.

Release Me 2 features songs penned by celebrated writers and tunesmiths including Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Barry Gibb, Randy Newman, Michel Legrand/Alan Bergman/Marilyn Bergman, Harold Arlen and "Yip" Harburg, Carole King, Steve Dorff, Paul Williams/Kenny Ascher, and Walter Afanasieff/John Bettis.

Widely recognized as an icon in multiple entertainment fields, Barbra Streisand has attained unprecedented achievements as a recording artist, actor, director, producer, screenwriter, author, songwriter and concert performer. Streisand has been awarded two Oscars, five Emmys, ten Grammys including the Legend Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award, a Tony Award, eleven Golden Globes including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, three Peabodys, and the Director's Guild Award for her concert special -- the only artist to receive honours in all of those areas.

Second release of the year already from the party music people of Abstrack. This time, it’s Brussels based artist Strapontin whose original production is on the menu, with re interpretation from several gifted companions. The multitude here is no excuse for genericity or easy recipes, rather a fertile playground for toying around with a wide range of vibes and moods.

Matches is a poetic, sensual spoken-word piece. The song feels like a flower about to blossom, though with plenty of hybrid DNA in it. In the end it leaves the way wide open for further emotions to get through. And they do.

Sasnal Park is the emotion of wander : looking for something forever, but for what? The drums make you believe that you found it but they turn out to be a mirage, and so does every tangible element of the track. A beautiful journey in the end even if you don’t know where you’ve been.

Family Diner … no ambiguity this time : a mystical roller as dark as it is trippy. Or maybe more trippy. Either way, not sure you can resist dancing to this one played out loud. Lose yourself to screaming halfway through, but only to fall back well rooted in those dancing feet afterwards.

On the flip, remixers put it where they’re expected to : A Strange Wedding takes the wandering “Sasnal Park” on the Edge of trancy club music, closer to the roots of Abstrack parties.

Feon turns the belter “Family Diner” into a road roller : sirens and massive subs engage into a memorable fist fight.

And home man Vidock choses the very dreamlike “Matches”, adding quite a touch of dancefloor but not removing one inch of dream.

Amsterdam producer Kaap steps forward on his own De Lichting imprint with three twisted jams of deep and playful techno. The passionate gearhead, known for his dubby takes on house and techno, started his Working Titles playground back in 2017 by running a niche cassette outlet Yield on the side. In late 2018 he merged into the prolific De Lichting collective and is a frequent guest on Indigo Aera's AEX series. After many years of hard work, Kaap's new solo EP is surfacing, and it's worth the wait. Over the course of three tracks, Kaap shows high levels of creativity. The first track 'Razor' is a bouncy bass wobbler, its rubbery acid lines and crispy percussion make it an ideal party starter. Title track 'Omen' reaches for deeper grounds, a deep and murky groover enlightened by tactical bleepy rhythms. Kaap's love for dub-techno triumphs on the lengthy b-side as a closer on this EP. With over ten minutes of hazy atmospheres and mesmerizing pads, it builds and builds towards the rolling fields of euphoria.

‘Miracle’ is the new album from Manchester singer songwriter Francis Lung,
released on Memphis Industries.
“For me, ‘Miracle’ is about the struggle between my self-destructive side and my
problem-solving, constructive side,” says Francis. “I suppose through a lot of
these songs I’m dealing with these emotional problems, acknowledging the
negative aspects of my behaviour instead of burying them, and providing an
alternative point of view for myself.”
Despite its serious subject matter, ‘Miracle’ is far from austere in sound, marrying
the cinematic, dreamlike quality of Francis’s earlier music with the pared-back
charm of great singer-songwriters like Judee Sill, Jeff Tweedy and Elliott Smith.
The album opens with ‘Bad Hair Day’, a relentlessly catchy - and deceptively
upbeat - ode to hangovers and missed connections. “I’ve been calling on you all
night / But I never get through, I just get in the way” Francis laments; “I am a
cloud in the sun’s light / Whatever I do, whatever I say.”
Elsewhere, the title track finds him pondering the fickle nature of the music
industry: “I think of [‘Miracle’] as acknowledging and even encouraging the
feelings we’re not supposed to succumb to - giving up, giving in - just because it
can be comforting to hear it from someone else. ‘Why am I climbing these social
ladders and jumping through the hoops of this creative industry? Does this make
me happy?’”
These themes of longing and lacking, missing and being missed, reoccur
throughout ‘Miracle. “When I die / Will I be missed / Or am I missing the point?”
asks ‘Say So’; while ‘Lonesome No More’, inspired by the Kurt Vonnegut book of
the same name, begs the question: if loneliness was eradicated, would we miss
it?
By confronting these feelings, Francis is able to move forward, as triumphant
album closer ‘The Let Down’ proves. Its lyrics serve as a call to action, as
Francis wills himself (and the listener) to “Get up / Get something going / Do
something, do it / Do it now.”
‘Miracle’ was produced by Francis in collaboration with Brendan Williams (Dutch
Uncles, Matthew Halsall, Kiran Leonard) and Robin Koob (who co-arranged and
performed strings). The opportunity to take creative control was one Francis
relished. “I’m quite bad at delegating,” he admits, noting that he played every
instrument except strings on ‘Miracle’. The result is a cohesive, deeply personal
record, which is as vital as it is vulnerable. “I don’t want to be defined by my
anxiety, my depression or any history of substance abuse,” Francis says, “but I
do want to reach out to other people who have had similar experiences,
especially if it’s in a way that helps them feel a little better. To me, this music is
celebrating healing as much as it focuses on the darker sides of the human
psyche.”

Blackaby - aka London songwriter and multi-instrumentalist William Blackaby - offers-up his first two EPs - 'What's On The TV?' and 'Everything's Delicious' - on limited edition, random coloured recycled 12" vinyl, out 21st May 2021. Blackaby’s 2020 debut EP ‘What’s On The TV?’, released via Hand In Hive, served as a look back at the songwriter’s childhood, recounting hazy playground memories and his messy, formative teenage years. His second collection, ‘Everything’s Delicious’, is described by Blackaby as “another brief flirt with memory lane - not walking down it as much as peering from a safe distance”. In a poem written to accompany the new EP, William writes: “All grown up and what now? Let Time-Out decide. Is that a thin patch? Another day done and dinner’s on. What have I done? Left a mark or a stain?”

For our 5th vinyl release on Bouquet. Recs, Trent is toeing the line between fresh and trippy, but undeniably dance floor heat on his first solo EP, and first release on our label.
We are proud to share his momentous solo effort. Recorded in Berlin between 2018 and 2020, 'Transition 35' takes cues from multiple eras of dance to characterise the ever changing colours of nightlife. C'mon ride the train - final destination? The limits of your sensual abandon. Stops along the way? 90's rave. Psychedelic space station.

Trent is a Berlin-based Italian DJ and producer who co-created the party series and label 'Oscillator' with fellow Italians Dama and Budino.
Alongside resident and cosmic pioneer Beppe Loda, they curated one of Berlin's remarkable events for obscure italo, disco and electro.

Taking lessons from the past Trent weaves together a highly sophisticated yet playful sound for the contemporary club goer. Having spent many years as part of collectives, his solo aesthetic is thoughtfully considered and always surprising.
A longtime fixture of the infamous playground party Cocktail d'Amore, Trent collaborates with Juan Ramos under the shared byname Greenvision, releasing together on Cocktail d'Amore, ESP Institute and Ene Tokyo.
'Transition 35' marks Trent's first solo EP sojourn and a triumphant showcase of his individual voice, on Bouquet. Recs

TRACK DESCRIPTIONS

A1. Like a fast train barreling out the station to destinations unknown, This is a Trip hurtles forward like a 90's rave classic, with new wave and nu beat inflections that keep you hooked through unexpected transitions to its explosive finale.

A2. Gasping lysergically, the sci-fi sounds of Don't Stop evoke ecstasy on the dancefloor. That internal scream as you summon more energy, eyes closed, enjoying the trip with a smile.

B. Touch Me is a spell of primal percussions and ominous warlock voices to make for a dark, hot situation

‘Paths of Color’ is Nina Ryser’s sixth solo album. In
line with her past few releases, ‘Paths of Color’ is
characteristic Nina Ryser: dreamy, wonky, synthbased art-pop that’s bubbly, edgy, sweet and dark
all at once; with elements of post-punk, art rock
and free jazz. But on ‘Paths of Color’, Ryser has
honed her home recording and mixing skills and
refined her home studio set-up, making it her most
polished-sounding work yet. And, along with the
mastering skills of Angel Marcloid (Fire-Toolz), it is
intentionally clearer-sounding than anything she
has yet produced. But she’s maintained that
homemade vibe, as well as the freedom of
childhood expression that is so crucial to her
sound. Her background in contemporary classical
music serves to hold it all together in a taut,
designful balance.
Do-it-all-herself musician and artist Nina Ryser has
been home-recording since she was eight years
old on her Fisher-Price toy tape machine. She’s
also spent the past seven years in the buzzing artnoise-rock trio Palberta (as well as the projects Old
Maybe, Shimmer, Data and Fire Roast).
“As in her band, Ryser knows how to create an
emotional journey from unconventional material; in
this case, the path will leave you with a smile.” -
Fader
“One thing is for sure- Ryser’s style is something
that you will not forget.” - Impose

It Bites fourth studio album ‘The Tall Ships’, originally released in 2008, will be getting a remastered reissue, with the album available on a new CD format, as well as for the first time ever on vinyl. Featuring a new remaster from John Mitchell, the CD edition also includes 2 bonus tracks as well as an additional booklet of liner notes written by the band. The vinyl will arrive as a Gatefold 180g 2LP+CD set including an LP-booklet and the bonus tracks on the CD. ‘The Tall Ships’ was the first It Bites album to feature singer & guitarist John Mitchell, and the bands first new music in nineteen years.

Just like Freddy Krueger, Final Dream resurrects from the past to haunt your nights and deliver to the masses his threatening message. Author of a mighty album and three collector EP's on experimental techno label Audio Illusion Recordings from 1995 to 2002, British Electro veteran Phil Klein aka Bass Junkie returns with a vengeance under his most frightening alias. 19 years after his last transmission, he serves up a new four tracker full of his infectious strain of corrosive and weird electro.

The A-side opens with the mental "Dark Flow", a pounding tune based upon hammering beats surrounded by sinister strings and a gloomy atmosphere. The title track "Project Fear" coming next goes deeper into the realm, merging lethal frequencies to demonic beats.

The flipside introduces "Force Majeure", a milestone of an instant classic made of robotic drums sequences fused into subtle acid lines while "The Devil's Playground" concludes the 12" with 7 minutes of brain manipulations. Present "Project Fear EP" appears as an opened window to the future, an invitation to foresee what Evil is cooking for you in his laboratory. Just a reminder that there's no way to hide, accept your fate, nothing can stop the darkness!

As escapism from corporate banality turned the corner in the ’90s, a new generation of vibrant, software generated soundscapes emerged. Communal access to the internet propagated the new hive mind of ideas online, giving way to smoother, stress-free textures. The PC revolution opened the gateway to ray-traced playgrounds of color and light, allowing for visions of utopic proportions to manifest themselves on screensavers far and wide. Boot up your machine, load the software on this floppy diskette, and drop out of a reality bounded by the physical laws of the universe.

The eighth entry in Numero’s Cabinet of Curiosities series.

“Gyropedie,” Anne Guthrie’s third record for Students of Decay, takes us further into her hermetic practice, wherein expertly captured field recordings, French horn, and electronics are woven into potent and richly imagined electroacoustic environments. In Guthrie’s own words, “Quite literally a record of pilgrimage from East to West. Remnants of Midwest and East Coast soundmarks, instruments sold to lighten the travel load, sketched out and then buried under the new. Winter birds and crunching snow, frozen playgrounds, broken synths - I spent a year decoupaging over this, but of course it's still there. A second moon appears occasionally in the daytime, and there are frequent, murky transmissions. California has something alien about it I'm still trying to grasp. Primarily vintage, unabashed, corny, I find myself becoming an impressionist.”

Anne Guthrie is an acoustician, composer, and French horn player. She studied music composition and english at the University of Iowa and architectural acoustics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she completed her Ph.D in 2014. Her music combines her knowledge of acoustics and contemporary composition/improvisation. Her electronic music has focused on exploiting the natural acoustic phenomena of unique architectural spaces through minimal processing of field recordings. Her composition has focused on the orchestration of non-musical sounds, speech in particular. Her French horn playing has focused on electronic processing and extended techniques used in improvisatory settings, as a soloist and with Fraufraulein and Delicate Sen, among others. Her acoustics research has focused on the use of ambisonics for stage acoustics.

Limited edition clear white vinyl repress
Marika Hackman returns with a repress of ‘Covers’, a darkly
beautiful, self-produced new album which showcases a
more vulnerable side.
During the extended lockdown period of the last few months, Marika felt that
creating a covers record was a way of exploring new sound ideas and expressing herself without having the pressure of the blank page.
She recorded and produced Covers between home and her parents’ house,
then got David Wrench to mix it.
Support from BBC Radio 6 Music, NME, DIY, Clash, Dork, Line of Best Fit, Gigwise, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, iPaper, The Times, Guardian, UNCUT, MOJO
and many more

Thanks to this strange period of lockdown and concerts cancellation,
Voyou took the opportunity to complete a project that was close to his
heart, around his favorite instrument: the trumpet.

Throughout seven (almost) instrumental tracks, he proclaims his love for
music, for all music - jazz, hip-hop, world - and mixes sounds and
influences, like the spirit of adventure of François de Roubaix, one of
his idols. On these «Chroniques terrestres», the trumpeter walks with his nose in
the air, his hair in the wind and his head in the clouds. This album,
Voyou conceived it as a playground, a space of freedom, for him as for
the listener who will be able to close his eyes and see a thousand and
one images.

And when he invites the Armenian singer Zahklin, escaped from her band
Ladaniva on «Malika», it is to better surprise on a song that borrows as
much from the sounds of Mulatu Astatke as from the visions of Madlib.

In addition to his songs and his brilliant and noisy debut album “Les
bruits de la ville”, Thibaud Vanhooland indulges himself with
“Chroniques terrestres” a calm time and takes side tracks. His trumpet
seems to blow a wind of freedom, one that will surely infuse the
continuation of Voyou’s beautiful musical adventure.

Nils Petter Molvær and Mino Cinelu had both come a long way in their careers before they met. Cinelu gained international renown on Miles Davis’ albums We Want Miles and Amandla, also noted for his playing with the likes of Weather Report, Gong, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Sting, Santana, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, to name just a few. He has also released 3 solo records and collaborated with Dave Holland and Kevin Eubanks on the World Trio album. Nils Petter Molvær, meanwhile, is one of the most outstanding figures in European jazz. In 1997, he made his debut on ECM Records with the album Khmer, combining the Nordic feeling of nature with the Southeast Asian philosophy of sound. His journey into the uncharted areas of music spans almost a dozen records, on which he explores various combinations of acoustic and electrical sounds. He collaborated with Berlin’s electronic producer Moritz von Oswald in 2013, with the reggae philosophers Sly & Robbie in 2018 and with Bill Laswell on several occasions.

Cinelu and Molvær in some senses represent two worlds, which – at first glance – could hardly be more different. Their musical home is the entire planet, but while Molvær's hoarse and cloudy trumpet sound evokes boreal cold, Cinelu stands for the rhythmic fire of Latin America and Africa. On ‘SulaMadiana’, they’ve found their common playground - the album’s title itself a tribute to the two musicians’ heritage. Sula is the Norwegian island from where Molvær grew up, and Madiana is a synonym for Martinique, from where Cinelu's father hails.

SulaMadiana is a cornucopia, spilling out reverberations of Miles Davis, Gong, and previous works of Molvær, and yet Molvær and Cinelu open up doors to entirely new worlds. Cinelu becomes a singer on his percussion, while Molvær's electronically distorted sounds create a driving pulse. Cinelu plays acoustic guitar, Molvær conjures up drones on the electric guitar. The interplay between the two musicians is key, Molvær observing; “We are different, but what we have in common is that we like to give some space to things. I create space for him, he creates space for me, and we both create space for music.” Cinelu adds: “It doesn't matter who has what share in music. We both know each other’s cultures, we find bridges and crossings, and often we walk these paths that lead in the same direction. We wrote everything together and followed our feelings. There are no limits or barriers.”

In the cinema, the composer must go to meet the filmmakers, enter their world, but without giving up his own. This is the difficulty or the paradox of music for the image. By collaborating with directors from a wide variety of backgrounds, I think I have indirectly discovered a lot about myself. It helped me to progress, to explore territories that were not naturally mine. Cinema is a laboratory where I have sought to construct original orchestral formulas combining Corsican polyphonies, musicians from jazz, variety, classical, or even rappers. Like the world today, a fragmented world where all cultures mingle. So said Bruno Coulais, one of the most innovative composers of contemporary cinema, during the tribute paid to him in 2011 at the Cinémathèque de Paris

In 1978, Bruno Coulais, a young composer of concert works, discovered in film music a new means of expression, a way of bringing the demands of his writing to the masses. François Reichenbach, then Josée Dayan, Jacques Davila, Souleymane Cissé or Laurent Heynemann, first on television and then in the cinema, lead him of his own accord in the discovery of this new world.

In 1995, he composed the music for Microcosmos. This centimeter-scale initiatory journey offers him the opportunity to reveal the full dimension of his writing. He injects into his score a strange lyricism, between wonder and fantasy, confirming the lesson learned from François Reichenbach: "to any documentary image, music brings a part of fiction".

The success of Microcosmos established the musician and made him the indispensable composer of other natural tales, notably alongside Jacques Perrin (Le Peuple migrateur, Oceans, Les Saisons, etc.). Other long-term relationships will be forged, in particular with Benoît Jacquot, with whom he has worked for more than a decade, not to mention Frédéric Schoendoerffer, James Huth or Jean-Paul Salomé.

In addition to great popular successes such as Les Choristes, Brice de Nice or Sur La Piste Du Marsipulami, it is hardly surprising that this insatiable curiosity has found in the animated cinema the most inspiring playgrounds, in particular through his collaboration with two exceptional designers, Henry Selick and Tomm Moore.

The first, American director of The Nightmare Before Christmas produced by Tim Burton, invites Bruno Coulais to sign in 2009 the magnificent score of Coraline (film nominated for the Oscars). 10 years later, he is about to find him for a new and beautiful Wendell & Wild adventure. For Irishman Tomm Moore, Bruno Coulais has already composed the music for two Oscar-nominated films, The Secret of Kells (2009) and Song Of the Sea (2014), and in 2020 he will sign the score for Wolfwalkers.

Whether it is about author's films or more mainstream films, Bruno Coulais maintains the same standards, always considering his art as a window open to the world. Much less wise than it seems, he reveals in it a gift of a modern alchemist and a very personal way of mixing the most diverse cultures in universal harmony at work.

Ralph Heidel is one of the young musicians that represent the spirit of Berlin’s new musical ecleticism better than others. He is part of the avantgarde circles that mix modern jazz and contemporary classical music with elements of new electronica and experimental ambient music. This is the vibe of Germany's next generation.

Heidel creates a sonic universe that is unique. He takes the listener into a deep, atmospheric travel that stimulates emotions and feelings on a different level. Heidel brings together two worlds: what he learned at Musikhochschule München, Germany’s leading academy for classical music where he studied saxophon and composition and the moods happening in Germany's new electronic circles.

On „Relief“ Heidel created six songs. Except one, all of them are instrumental music. Partly composed and often improvised these sounds take the listener into Heidel's specific sonic universe. Raw beat structures, emotive horn lines, strong harmonical tensions and dramatic build ups. Heidel’s signature sound.
In fact Heidel is a multiple influenced artist with a strong personality that absorbs whats around him, connects it with his own wide artistic knowledge and fullfills it into magical musical moments.

Relief is the next step in what could become a longtime artistic career.
After a (very composed) debut album for string quartet and rhythm section for Kryptox (Moments of Resonance 2019), it was important for Heidel, to process current feelings of daily life.
Not just his cultural learnings, but also emotions connected to the hard COVID times and a lot of personal experiences.

Relief are six abstract, distorted patterns. Long deep transitions that lead into euphoric parts of sonic greatness. Heidel's sense for sound design and the soft tone of his saxophone phrases, add a personal note that is somehow alone in the current music scenario. Sampling his saxophone (reeds, keys etc.) to create very organic beats is one of the many techniques to create that special „Heidel“ sound. Also his calm and wide harmonies over disquiet, rough drums are part of his unique ambivalent, disrupted moods.

Most of this EP has been played by Heidel alone. For a few parts he was joined by musicians from the local scene. In fact besides his albums on Kryptox Ralph Heidel is very connected in Berlin’s current cultural playground: He creates music for underground performance art happenings in Neukölln as well as for new German theater (Volksbühne, Berliner Ensemble). Also German rapper Tarek from K.I.Z heard about Heidels string debut album, so they collaborated for an album, where Heidel reworked his record for stringquartet, piano, drums and bass.

""Dad! Look, we can see the moon through the window."

Record made on Earth. All children, young and old, you will hear my heart here without a stethoscope. This record is "home-made with a window open to the world". Inspired by my family and friends, these music tracks are dedicated to them!" The Architect

The Architect takes us on a trip through the world and styles: Hip Hop, Jazz, Electro, Soul, Funk... A true vinyl lover and real digger, turntables have always been his favorite playground. Hyperactive beatmaker, he is also engaged with different side projects such as L’Entourloop and Bloc.

The success of his first EP "Foundations" released in 2013, including several hits such as "Les Pensées" (8M views) or "Dreader Than Dread (ft. Skarra Mucci & L'Entourloop)" (15M views), led him to do more 200 shows around the world and accumulate more than 35M of streams on the platforms.

Seven years later, The Architect finally returns with a new single "Darling", the first single from his long-awaited new album entitled “Une plage sur la lune” to be released on June 12th, 2020. A "home-made album with a window open to the world" as he describes it himself.

From their early singles and their 1993 Mercury Music Prize winning debut album to their break up in 2003 , Suede were a fixture in the single and album charts , and in the music press too . They scored twenty hit singles and five hit albums (three of which debuted at # 1), and a double album of B sides even charted at # 9.

The band reformed for a one off charity concert in 2010 and decided to make it permanent they have released three new studio albums since 2013 .

Compiled by the band , this comprehensive six LP set features the huge 90s hits like “Metal Mickey”, “Animal Nitrate”, “Stay Together”, “Trash, “Filmstar”, “Lazy”, “Beautiful Ones”, “Saturday Night”, “Electricity”, “She’s In Fashion”, “Everything Will Flow” and “Can’t Get Enough”Enough”, along with favourite B sides like “To The Birds”, “My Insatiable One” and “Killing Of A Flashboy”Flashboy”. Also featured are classic album tracks like “The Asphalt World” and “He’s Gone”. The collection brings the story up to date with sixteen tracks from the three recent albums , including “Life Is Golden”, “It Starts And Ends With You” and “ Outsiders”.

The six LPs are pressed on 180 gram white vinyl and are housed in inner sleeves featuring all the lyrics as well as photos of dozens and dozens of items of Suede memorabilia and promotional items , all lent by fans.

From Nantes, France, NABTA is equal to EBM, minimal synth and electroclash as its best. They perfectly define and describe their music as “an electronic ceremony where comets of beats crashes into a oceans of colours, tumbling into the sombre side while sweet darkness binds you in a trance and makes you dance, dance and dance”. We like that vision!. All tracks have been specially remastered for LONG CUT vinyl by Aria Z.

Music From Memory are happy to finally announce MFM045 - VA ‘Music For Theatre And Dance’ (EP).

This will be the first in a small series of EPs which will focus on music which was initially created for or inspired by dance and performance. Created as a dialogue with the avant-garde and highly experimental work in dance, theatre and art evolving at the time, the music was in turn at times greatly innovative.

That it was created for a dance or performance though means that such music was also often highly rhythmic and a number of pieces from this time stand out and seem greatly deserving of a new context.

Whether it’s more ambient or atmospheric works or whether it’s in the more rhythmic or percussive pieces, Music From Memory brings together a selection of tracks which aim to highlight this highly innovative direction in music.

LTD editon - Orange vinyl and high quality download codes

Homemade synthesizers, banjo, guitar, recycled toys and broken electronic beats .. there’s more to Solo Moderna than just an unconditional love for analog tweaking. From his native town of Tilburg, Netherlands, Multi-instrumental virtuoso Bas Voorn is peaking in on all corners of the world, infusing Mento, ska, cumbia, Balkan, dancehall, dembow or afrohouse, into his minimal, joyful, 8-bit, approach towards electronica, to create strangely syncopated, ridiculously infectious grooves. It’s as if Kraftwerk and Señor Coconut went on a trip to Africa, the Balkans, the Caribbean and South America, and "Republica Moderna" emerged from these adventures. From the Balkan-Dembow of “Escúchame Como Soy” and the cumbia of the Washington-based Empresarios in “La Bandolera”, to the sun- kissed, afrohouse vibe of “Sonido SID Africano” and the west African “Republica de chonta”, Solo Moderna gleefully shifts from the acoustic to the synthesized to create a surprisingly coherent work. For Solo Moderna, life is not something to be taken so seriously. Instruments are toys, and Earth and it’s cultural diversity a playground. It is this unique lightheartedness and flippancy, moving you to smile, dance and enjoy life as it is, that makes Solo Moderna one of the few artists you can recognize immediately after an 8- bar snippet of a song heard in any club around the corner. Republica Moderna, his 3rd album to date, is a vibrant, delightfully upbeat, timeless homage to the world’s musical diversity.

This is GCLP157
It's an Orange LP and brings download Codes

Christophe Chassol is reshuffling the deck. After making his name worldwide with three magnificent ultrascore compositions (Nola Che?rie in 2011, Indiamore in 2013 and Big Sun in 2015), working with Solange and Frank Ocean, and playing the most prestigious halls, he's taking his quest to arrange reality even further with Ludi, his new project that includes an album, film and show. It's play - an all-important word in music - that underscores this impressive, masterful construction freely inspired by Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game. Everything is part of the melody: a playground or basketball players in the suburbs, an arcade in Tokyo, a roller coaster, singer Crystal Kay and rapper Kohh. Solo musicians were filmed in rehearsal, like flautist Jocelyn Mienniel and the composer's partner, drummer Mathieu Edward, who managed to reprise on stage

Chassol drew from the great German author's utopic book, where music, mathematics, aesthetics and spirituality intermingle, to create a passionate work produced by Bertrand Burgalat's label Tricatel that once again justifies his special place in the musical landscape.

With Ludi, Chassol directs his own round of Hermann Hesse's game, taking on the title of Magister Ludi, master of The Glass Bead Game. With this double album, Chassol realises his ambition: to compose unprecedented music that fills us with joy and prompts reflection.

Exhilarating, previously unreleased recordings by Derek Bailey and his guests at Company Week in 1983: Jamie Muir, Evan Parker, Hugh Davies, Joëlle Léandre, John Corbett, Peter Brötzmann, Vinko Globokar, Ernst Reijseger and J.D. Parran.
What’s remarkable throughout this album is the respect and affection the musicians show for each other, exemplifying the dictionary definition of ‘company’ as ‘the fact or condition of being with another or others, especially in a way that provides friendship and enjoyment.’

It starts with Landslide, a brilliant, spiky, spluttering, twanging reunion of Music Improvisation Company members Evan Parker (tenor sax), Hugh Davies (electronics) and Jamie Muir (percussion). Next up, Seconde Choix, with Joëlle Léandre’s close-miked prepared bass and Bailey’s acoustic guitar seemingly heading in different directions before coming together miraculously in just four minutes.

The opening of First Choice, a duet between Bailey and Muir, is a revelation for those who moan that the guitarist plays too many notes. His patient and truly exquisite exploration of harmonics is beautifully counterpointed by Muir’s metallic percussion.

On Pile Ou Face (Heads Or Tails) Davies concentrates on his high register oscillators, carefully shadowed by Parker’s soprano until Léandre’s deft, springy pizzicato lures them into the playground. JD In Paradise is a surprisingly delicate wind quartet, with John Corbett’s trumpet, fragile and Don Cherry-like, punctuating the sinuous interplay between Peter Brötzmann and J.D. Parran (on sopranos, flutes and clarinet), while trombonist Vinko Globokar growls approvingly in the background.

Igor Stravinsky’s definition of music as the ‘jeu de notes’ comes to mind listening to Bailey’s duet with cellist Ernst Reijseger (executing fiendish double-stopped harmonics with staggering ease). Technical virtuosity has never sounded so effortless – it is, as its title Een Plezierig Stukje simply states, a fun piece.

On the closing La Horda, Bailey and Reijseger team up with the horns for what on paper looks like it could be rough and rowdy sextet but which turns out once more to be a thoughtful, spacious exchange of ideas, shapes and colours.

I have had the name and the idea for this release and upcoming series for years, but it wasn´t until now I felt the time and music was right. This new series will be my personal playground with no specific concepts and musical genres. Following my heart and ears. Being present. Being Noir. These tracks were created from a lot of live sessions and not so much from programming. I felt that gave my "man vs. Machine" interaction more nerve and real dynamics. V1 is emotional and dark. Gritty and raw. A true reflection of how I like my music in 2020. Each track has personal depth for me and feels like the perfect fit for my first edition of the Stimulateur series.

Visible Spectrum is the newly launched creative playground of Yuri Boselie, also known as Cinnaman. Since donning the Cinnaman alias nearly two decades ago, he’s become a well known figure of the Amsterdam nightlife scene with long running residencies at the city's most lauded clubbing institutions like Club 11, Trouw and most recently De School. Next to his DJ sets, he's made early moves in label curation with A&R work for Rush Hour and Kindred Spirits offshoot Nod Navigators, and with his own Beat Dimensions compilations in the late 00s. With Visible Spectrum — defined as the electromagnetic frequencies visible by the human eye — a new chapter is born. It is an outlet for electronic music in the widest sense. Each sleeve will have its own unique screen printed artwork by Marilyn Sonneveld.

The first EP comes from Mor Elian, the Berlin based artist and owner of the Fever AM label. Here she offers the loose and hypnotic rhythms of 'Clairvoyant Frog' which is deep and atmospheric, like some sort of primordial techno soup. 'Shoshana's Roses' then picks up the pace with layers of rumbling drums, wooden hits and snaking synths taking you into a steamy, humid jungle before closer 'Planet Kismet' is a much quicker and more urgent bit of enchanting break-beat techno with pummeling minimal drums and warped synths and perc getting you under their sci-fi spell. A fascinating first outing that sets a high standard from the off.

Fresh from the release of their third album ‘Autonomy’ earlier this summer, comes Autonomy Variations: four brand new perspectives from four exciting, innovative kindred spirits of the avant-pop duo.

South London’s Medlar breaks the seal. Following a series of incredible live collaborations with Dele Sosimi (Fela Kuti), he’s has turned ‘Autonomy’ into a minimal, percolating house track. Swapping the acid spikes for analog bleeps, Medlar’s signature can be felt every step through this vivid energetic stomper.

Fabric resident Anna Wall follows with another beautiful subversion as ‘New Politik’ is given a smouldering take. Moody, intimate, downtempo; there’s some serious late night HTRK-esque vibes to Anna’s twist.

Further into the remix trip we glide to find Dischi Autunno, Ombra International affiliate Curses pulling ‘Electric Light’ into the fringes. Taking the upbeat, crystalline pop of Penelope and Stephen’s original and flipping it into a stark postpunk Bauhaus-inspired take, Curses’ live bass and driving new wave beat shine a whole new light on the original and write it a whole new chapter.

Finally, brand new act, Isolating have the honour of closing the EP with industrial modular apocalyptic take on ‘Infinity’. A vast playground of contrasts, at points it’s dirty and pounding. At others it’s quiet and menacing. File under ‘Dystopian Techno.’

Four extensions on one of the most interesting electronic albums released this year, if you haven’t treated yourself to ‘Autonomy’ yet, you’d be wise to. DJ Mag stated it’s The Golden Filter’s best work yet while Clash called a it a bruising return. These remixes follow with complete forward-thinking consistency. Enjoy…

Selvamancer proudly presents its first release by Finnish producer Boneless One. The Barcelona-based label with Dutch roots is aiming to release pounding dancefloor mantras. Selvamancer is heavily influenced by mysticism as well as futurism, trying desperately to maintain its balance on a psychedelic tightrope throughout the multiverse. Its first release results in an exciting melting pot of vintage synthesizer jams and modern acid bleeps, the perfect playground of Helsinki based Boneless One. After releasing on Snuff Trax and Tabernacle Records sublabel Ride The Gyroscope he joins the Selvamancer family and cooks up four tracks of acid, rave, distorted techno and industrial-tinged dancefloor burners on his Woofers EP.

It's a strange new post-everything musical landscape we occupy.
The machines - you could argue - have been playing the humans for some time, and the conversation became pretty one-sided.
But you know, not everyone is singing from that hymn sheet. That Man Monkz enjoyed the apprenticeship at House PLC more than the opportunity to progress to middle management. Itchy musical feet meant extended exploration of fertile avenues of interest like the Madison Washington & Pan Amsterdam Hip Hop projects, meanwhile the pull of the 4/4 was never far from the studio door, and all accomplished with an assured versatility that shines.
Musical alliances formed in the disparate but related playgrounds of Detroit, Sheffield, Berkeley and Atlanta, all underpinned by an emphasis on seeking out collaborations and gigs, which represented a real exchange of energies, rather than a bank raid.
Letting things percolate in this more measured way means we've arrived here, a follow up of sorts to 2016's 'Columbusing'
This is Monkz allowing the ear ringing of gigs to feedback organically into bright dance floor flashes, which by virtue of their careful crafting are destined to last much longer.
On Zero Sum, we get a much greater economy of elements on the pared down dance floor ammo like 'Freaks N Prophets' & 'Chai Tea', a perfect counterpoint to beautifully realised pieces like 'Them Thangs feat Ms Fae' & 'After Dark with Nikki O' interspersed with funk-heavy workouts and sample jams like 'Easy Still', 'LvnLmtd' & the unashamedly KDJ influenced shamanism of 'WhatUthinkIDo'
It's a pick 'em and stick 'em ride of individual gems and a cohesive whole too. The opposite of thrown together, this has been worked and weathered, naturally. The House always wins, but sometimes...just sometimes.

Schwarze Schweiz is a compilation, split in two records, which gathers together Swiss active musicians working in those obscure territories that have been Lux Rec playground for so long. Trostlosigkeit, Elend und Isolation. Ärger, Schwermut und Dunkelheit. Their statement to this country. Part 1 includes a text insert by Bjørn Schaeffner (Bern).

Alexander Gentil is as polished at compiling his futuristic sounds and unique fresh vision into tracks that leave listeners yearning for more. The Journey starts with a field recording of children playing in a playground, as the laughs and joyfulness evolve, it is taken over by dark atmospheric textures & a haunting melody line that flies throughout the record. Continuing the experience minimalist Composer & part of the Soundwalk Collective Kamran Sadeghi gives the record a new twist and a more dancefloor-oriented approach, Following it The record Inertia, is a dark and groovy record with a 303 acid Motif all throughout and beautiful reverberated sax melodies that keep the listener locked in. Salvation keeps things mysterious and concludes the EP as a bonus track only available for the vinyl release.

Amsterdam based imprint Taped Artifact welcomes Erik Anthony to their label. With only one contribution to the Dynamic Reflection label back in 2017, very less is known about the young Amsterdam producer. But here he makes a stellar techno debut with his first solo EP backed with a Vril remix.

On the a-side things kick off with 'Board Walk', haunting vocal chops combined with droning kick drums combined making it a serious big-room techno jam. 'Oclose' brings more soul to the game, subtle basslines and dreamy synths create an uplifting and joyful playground for endless dancing. Vril then stirs things up, his take on 'Oclose' has more punch, a different energy and his trademark hazy dub-techno twist. Last track 'Separate' is an emotive yet powerful techno workout that closes the four track affair that can be seen as a promising allround debut release.

All of the music featured here on this new Soul Jazz Records collection was created by Brazilian
artists in the USA in the 1970s.
In the early 1970s North American jazz musicians were eager to work with upcoming Brazilian
musicians. Miles Davis invited Airto Moreira to join his new ‘electric’ band, Dom Um Romao (part of
Sérgio Mendes’ legen
dary Brazil ‘66 in the 1960s) joined the fusion group Weather Report, Flora
Purim and Airto both became a part of Chick Corea’s new project Light As A Feather, Wayne Shorter
collaborated with Milton Nascimento, George Duke recorded Brazilian Love Affair, and so on.
With all the attention placed on them from these important jazz artists, North America became the
new musical playground for a large number of these Brazilian artists – Airto Moreira, Flora Purim,
Sérgio Mendes, Luiz Bonfá, Eumir Deodato, João Donato and many others.
Most of these musicians had already experienced success through the earlier popularity of bossa
nova in the 1960s, either at home in Brazil or in the USA. But by the end of the 1960s many
Brazilian artists had left their own country, as the military dictatorship became progressively more
authoritarian and repressive. In the USA, through their critically acclaimed work for Miles Davis,
Weather Report, Lightj As A Feather etc., all of these artists were now given reign to explore new
musical terrains away from the restrictions of both a musical genre and a state censor back in Brazil.
This collection brings together some of these finest works and comes complete with extensive notes
that explains the path these musicians took from Brazil to the USA and shows the political and
musical links between Brazil and the USA that created the conditions for this unique fusion of these
two distinct cultures, North American Jazz and Brazilian music, that occurred in the 1970s.
The album comes as a deluxe gatefold double vinyl LP, complete with download code, full sleeve
notes, exclusive photography, double inner sleeves.

New LP from French beat-makers La Fine Equipe featuring Illa J, T3, 20Syl, Mr J Medeiros, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Fakear ...

Let's be clear: La Fine Equipe is a band. The numerous hats wore by its four members are so various that it could mislead one's. Indeed, surrounding Blanka, oOgo, Chomsky and Mr. Gib, there are recording studios, collaborations, lives, side-projects... There is also and especially a whole universe built during the past ten years around their passion for beatmaking, embodied by the release of « 5th Season », new album.
So yes, La Fine Equipe is a band, but it's also much more than that.

Since their creation in 2006 and their first album « La Boulangerie » two years later, the four producers became inevitable when you think about a new scene breaking the barriers between musical genders. Hip Hop is at the heart of their craft, corner stone of their musical background and inspirations where the paths of J Dilla, Madlib, Flying Lotus, Kaytranada and the turntablists A-Trak, C2C and Birdy Nam Nam are crossing ways. Two things gather La Fine Equipe and those big names, the constant need of collaboration with other artists, and this thirst of discovery, main feature of the digger.

From 2008 to 2014, La Fine Equipe mastered its craft with the « Boulangerie », compilation gathering 34 beatmakers on 113 tracks. They also work on the creation of the label Nowadays Records (Fakear, Skence, Unno, Clément Bazin, Leska, Douchka...) and released more than 75 EPs and LPs in five years.
With an outrageous number of shows across the world, tour in Asia, South America, collaborations with several international artists... Their success changed the game: Whereas many producers coming from this environment where isolated, La Fine Equipe federated a growing scene and became its reference.
After years spent paving the way for other artists and creating a structure that could support the growth of a musical scene, they decided to go further and launch a new era with « 5th Season ».

Because the band works with eight hands and four brains, there's nothing surprising in the fact that the album sounds like a condensed of each and everyone inspirations and experiences, from hip hop and sampling, to electronica, jazz and Latinas inspirations. If homogeneity is the new trend, La Fine Equipe isn't ready to sacrifice its wishes to fit the mould.

« 5th Season » is also a glance at the world looking over our planet's current state, the cosmos, the vegetal and these things that are greater and stronger than us, and the things and behaviour that could led to our loss.
It's an almost apocalyptic vision of our future, but full of optimism at the same time. There is something solar and cinematographic in this album, a format that goes beyond the one chosen before, closer to playlist and compilations such as the three Boulangerie opuses remind us.

Loyal to their status of ambassadors, the four beatmakers keep on inviting other artists to complete their universe. Illa J and T3, respectively brother and partner (Slum Village) of the late J. Dilla, make the connection between a glorious past and the future embodied by La Fine Equipe on the track « The Source ». With « Aurora », it's the solemn and mystical voice of Madjo that take this electro-pop track to another level. The American rapper Mr. J. Medeiros on the boom bap anthem « What Eva », the Montrealer ZeFire on « Typical », each and every artists brings its stone to the edifice of « 5th Season », giving to the album a limitless and freed musical richness.

But to release an album isn't enough. In parallel, each member of La Fine Equipe continues to fulfil its multiples tasks and work on a new concept live show bringing a scenic and visual show in addition to their music. It is what the artists looking toward the future do, and La Fine Equipe is looking straight ahead.

_________________________________________________________________________

TRACK BY TRACK

AURORA (Ft. Madjo)
Already remixed by the quatuor on the beautiful track « Choose The Heart », it's Madjo's turn to be invited by La Fine Equipe for a collaboration. Her mystical voice, which fragility paradoxically seems to strengthen its power, turns the track into an epic pop anthem.

NOBU (Ft. Grems & 20syl)
The association of these three names seems obvious, like a family reunion. Grems did the visual of the anniversary box of La Boulangerie, 20syl (C2C, Hocus Pocus) was one of the beatmakers who took part in the project.
This time, the two big brothers are side by side behind the mic, for the first French speaking collaboration of La Fine Equipe.
On this trapy/footwork beat, the two rappers ring the alarm before it's too late to save our house, the earth.

THE SOURCE (Ft. T3 & Illa J)
In the family of Hip Hop jewels of 5th Season, here is one coming from the USA. Fans of J Dilla and Slum Village since the first hour, La Fine Equipe pays its respects to its influences by inviting T3 and Illa J. Respectively member of Slum Village and brother of the legendary Detroit producer, these two MCs build a bridge between the eras and let their sharpened flows confuse our perception of time.

5TH SEASON (Ft. Fakear)
A second collaboration with their little brother from the Nowadays Family, Fakear. Eponymous title, it represents the universe of both entities, true road trip through Fakearians melodies and La Fine Equipe's funk declined in five seasons.

TYPICAL BOY (Ft. ZeFire)
With « Typical Boy », La Fine Equipe express its love for House music with chopped rhythms and a heavy but swaying bass line. The freed track oscillate between power and lightness. A beat that quickly becomes ZeFire's playground. The Montreal singer, already heard on Her's tracks, brings a missing r'n'b touch to create the perfect chemistry.

Switched-on Eugene Documents The Eugene Electronic Music Collective And Some Of The Many Synthed-out Figures In And Around Oregon's Iconic Hippie Stronghold During The 1980s. Whether Connected By Membership, Geography, Or The Tape Trading Scene, The Artists In And Around The Eemc Shared Compelling Visions Of The Future We Now Inhabit, Vividly Captured On Home-recorded Tapes And Distributed Via Zines, Classifieds, And Local Radio. Switched-on Eugene Is A Deep Dive Into A Heretofore Forgotten Sonic Microcosm Unlike Any Other.

HINOSCH are a duo of Koshiro Hino from Osaka and Stefan Schneider from Düsseldorf, they first (met and) began their collaborative work of musical interaction and exploring contrasting possibilities in 2017. After a number of concerts in the EU and in Japan a debut EP (HINOSCH EP/TAL05) was released in late 2017. Fully instrumental, their first full-length album HANDS offers a more steeply focussed approach than its largely improvised predecessor.

Encouraged by the momentum generated during a number of on-the-spot recordings in Osaka, where Schneider had held a residency in April 2017, the overall sound of the album has been honed down through meticulous studio engineering. One of the outstanding qualities of HANDS certainly is an unprejudiced approach of sound and song structures. The instrumentation is condently reduced to a small range of analogue and digital machines. Snatches of tape-loops deliver lower-pitched vocal and drum machine samples. This characteristic technical set up soon proved ideal in order to dene a tactile vocabulary of fully unsynchronized rhythm patterns. The word tactile perfectly conjures that quality which is the very essence of HANDS. It is the result of the manner in which interdependent threads of rhythm units are deliberately disconnected to form a cohesive, soulful and exible whole. Most tracks on HANDS are devoid of a central motif and examine an unpredictable dialogue. A fantasy of constant change and a search for musical suggestions is the most vital ingredient in this abstract environment.

The album title HANDS refers to physical aspects of electronic music production. Every live concert of Hinosch usually starts out with a hand shake between Hino and Schneider. The general process of collective music making, programming, button pushing, playing, recording, decision making, all demand utmost concentration. The image on the front of the abum sleeve (designed by Takashi Makabe) reects the general approach of HANDS: layers of tuckled fabrics confronting one another to articulate a form for themselves to no other end than their own orchestration.

After having emerged from the ever thrilling Osaka music scene onto the international playgrounds of electronic music just a few years ago Koshiro Hino's solo activities as YPY and his involvement with the band GOAT have already garnered him a very favourable international reception. Stefan Schneider has over the years produced and collaborated with a.o. Joachim Roedelius (Cluster), Arto Lindsay, Klaus Dinger (NEU!), Dieter Moebius (Cluster), Alexander Balanescu, John McEntire (tortoise), Katharina Grosse, Bill Wells and St.Etienne.