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International Black's 6th release comes from critically acclaimed electro supergroup London Modular Alliance. Operating from a refreshingly simple credo of: 3 men, 0 computers, many patch cables - LMA create their music on the fly using soley modular synthesis. Consisting of Koova (brokn toys), Pip Williams (Central Processing Unit) and Yes Effect, these three experienced producers have blown minds with their ecstatic live performances across the globe. Coming in hot after releases for Kirk Degiorgio's A.R.T. Records and Hypercolour, their release for International Black takes no prisoners. Opening the A side is 'Same Repeated Cycles', an ice cold electro inspired groove featuring LMA's signature modular synthesis. Engineered to perfection and mastered by Matt Colton, this cut delivers a new level of toughness to the International Black catalogue. On the B Side, 'Acid Lab' takes a more gentle approach: slo-mo electro drenched in acid. The lead tb303 riff floats in an abyss of dubbed-out dystopian psychedelia. Closing the record is 'Volatile State' , an otherworldly piece of alien sound design which simmers ominously for over 2 minutes before exploding with an extra-terrestrial electro force which simply can't be ignored. Each listen reveals a new detail of this impossibly intricate yet incredibly effective record. Designed for the club, engineered for the mind.

Portland, Oregon resident Mary Sutton's solo debut materialized in the wake of a performance she gave at a clothing-optional soaking-pool sauna: 'I had never composed for synth before but wanted to make something people sitting motionless and naked in hot bubbly water would want to hear.'
It was while in this headspace that she reconnected with Satie's entrancing cyclical motifs, particularly the way 'he subtly spins melodic fragments, and pivots harmonies and phrases so the repetitions feel new and surprising yet soothingly familiar, as if casting a spell.'
The nine intuitive instrumentals comprising The Deep End accomplish exactly that, threading complementary shades of soft-hued hypnosis, dazed modal introspection, icy amusement park reverie, and lunar lullaby into a prismatic suite of contemplative melody and synthetic communion.
Sutton's songs are active rather than ambient yet their structure is more suggestive than scripted, full of lulls, asymmetries, and daydreams. Each track was written specifically to be played live on an analog synthesizer, with no overdubs or post-production wizardry. The sound of Saloli is one of warm-blooded wiring, turned on and tapped into, emotive and electric, storied machines speaking through all too human hands.

Sao Paulo's acclaimed 10-piece instrumental collective return for their 4th album. Urban Afro-Brazilian grooves, empowered horn-driven melodicism and massive dance floor inspiration. One of South America's

most exhilarating musical propositions. Available on CD or Double 180gr Heavyweight Vinyl that includes a digital download. Quebra Cabe a is a very memorable set of hummable earworms, from the title

cut that opens up the album and continuing, sinewy and cool and relentless, all the way to the final note of 'Portal.' Throughout though, the heartbeat of everything remains utterly African, refracted through the prism of the band's

home in the Bixiga neighbourhood of Sao Paulo. And Bixiga 70 has always been a reflection of the streets where they live. The result still captures the incendiary excitement of Bixiga 70 live, but the

freedom of the studio brings more shade and subtlety than before. The rhythms are more sinuous than ever, snaking through the funk in way that looks more to Ghana or Nigeria than Memphis or Muscle Shoals, while the horns strut in

powerful harmonies. It's music that forges connections and retraces history while sounding absolutely contemporary. But for Bixiga 70, African will always be the root, and Brazil its beautiful, vibrant flower.

Quest, transit, chaos, mutation, transfiguration, ascension and illumination. These are some of the steps followed in the journey of life that are embodied on each track of the album Adonai. The solo debut of the multi-instrumentalist composer Marco Paul condenses a career of more than ten years, in which, the search for the truth of oneself and authentic sound has traveled and nurtured from different genres and cultures. Adonai is an odyssey that combines sounds and images of the earthly and oneiric worlds: an audiovisual work that opens several windows to the different perceptions of the facts that make up the life of the human being.

After 9 years of constant international touring, 6 albums and more than 400 live performances with the bands Sour Soul, Ratbot and Funk My Jesus, as well as the conception and musicalization of the award-winning short films "Undermine" and "24K All You Need Is Gold", Marco Paul decided to retire to an island in the Caribbean, where he found and refined his sound. Thus, between 2014 and 2016 he created the music for Adonai, a work produced by Aitor Etxebarria under the label of Forbidden Colours.

The recording includes guest musicians from different countries such as Aitor Etxebarria (synthesizer, electronic magic) and Hibai Etxebarria (double bass) from the Basque Country; Michael Alan Hams (drums and percussion) and Joe D'Etienne (trumpet) from the United States; and Fatima Gozlan from Hungary (Ney and Derbake).

The consummation of the work is a mid length film created in 2018. It consists of 5 chapters directed by 5 different directors.

The audiovisual journey begins with the conception of the philosophical "Filius", an alchemical symbol that represents the inner child, which transforms the experiences of life into the soul's gold. Later, in "Sylvian" (title that refers to the brain fissure that contains the auditory cortex), by listening to the subtle message that surrounds us, our consciousness and perception expand. Then, in "Tiamat", the pristine chaos that gave birth to the gods, embodies chaos, the confusion generated by the multiple voices: on one hand the moral and imposed precepts, on the other hand, the inner voice that seeks the liberation of the infinite possibilities. In "Hawa", through the recognition of the power of solitude and introspection self-reflective awareness is reached. Finally "Adonai" is the ascension to enlightenment: the further connection with the absolute. As an encore (only available in vinyl) "Teurári" is a gift: a tiny flower where all the points of the universe merge.

righteous expensive: motohiko hamase's 1986 album "reminiscence" scores a decent prize at online vinyl selling platforms and it is worth each coin!

it's a perfect "refuge from nasty reality", as the glorious british 20jazzfunkgreats blog once said. and it comes from a man that knows his trade: bass play - an artisan on which he also already wrote many theoretical books in his more than four decades long career.

in the 1970's hamase was no stranger to tokyo's vibrant jazz scene. together with jazz pianist tsuyoshi yamamoto and jazz-rock guitar-ist kazumi watanabe he played in the isao suzuki sextet and was part of their classic landmark jazz-funk album "ako's dream" from 1976.

in the following years he also participated on records like mikio masuda's latin-funk-jazz gem "moon stone" or japanese female jazz singer, actress, and essayist minami yasuda's last album "moritato". in the early 1980ees his work shifted from pure jazz to electronic and ambient spheres and he started to compose his own music around his deeply emotional bass play.

from 1985 to 1993, hamase released five solo albums. just recently studio mule dropped his first one, "intaglio", in a new recording that sounds as stunning as the original release from 1986.

now the previously mentioned "reminiscence", his second work for the celebrated defunct japanese new age record label shi zen, follows in a fresh shape on studio mule.

as the original, it features deeply touching moments of sheer pristine perfection and distributes hamase's inner emotional landscape with a bewitching bass performance. a soothingly beauty of an album, that reflects hamase's search for spaces of melancholy.

a rhizome of soundscapes that capture, settle and sound elusive while simultaneously being awe-inspiring. as for "intaglio", the 66-years old artist gathered again some befriended musicians, rented a studio, staged his gear and recorded most of the original "reminis-cence" material new, while keeping the moving musical story arc of the original album alive in a fresh wrapping.

the result is a dazzling, blue mood seething, strongly hypnotic longplayer, full of personality and hybrid ambient electronic jazz spheres that open doors to unheard sound universes and that perfectly work for all those stress-relieved souls that love the disclosure of the mind and seek for a "refuge from nasty reality".

When the new Halloween movie hits theaters in October 2018, it will have the distinction of being the first film in the series with creator John Carpenter's direct involvement since 1982's Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Carpenter serves on the new David Gordon Green-directed installment as an executive producer, a creative consultant, and, thrillingly, as a soundtrack composer, alongside his collaborators from his three recent solo albums, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.

The new soundtrack pays homage to the classic Halloween score that Carpenter composed and recorded in 1978, when he forever changed the course of horror cinema and synthesizer music with his low-budget masterpiece. Several new versions of the iconic main theme serve as the pulse of Green's film, its familiar 5/4 refrain stabbing through the soundtrack like the Shape's knife. The rest of the soundtrack is just as enthralling, incorporating everything from atmospheric synth whooshes to eerie piano-driven pieces to skittering electronic percussion. While the new score was made with a few more resources than Carpenter's famously shoestring original, its musical spirit was preserved.

Jessica Einaudi is a Berlin-based Italian singer and songwriter. Jessica has had an extensive musical career as half of dream pop duo La Blanche Alchimie. Together with songwriter and producer Federico Albanese she released two albums to much critical acclaim in her home country and toured extensively throughout the whole of Europe and the USA.

Skinny Pelembe has corralled together a cast of talented friends for his new EP. It's the second release from the Doncaster-raised, multi-talented producer-cum-bandleader since signing to Gilles Peterson's Brownswood label in February. This one's a group effort, with each of its tracks featuring a different artist, each of them an act he's met through music or through linking with Brownswood's talent development programme Future Bubblers two years ago.

The EP touches on hip-hop, psych-rock and jazz-influenced sounds, continuing in the gloriously magpie-like approach of his earlier releases. Each of its songs started as a rough idea which was then fleshed out and re-imagined with his collaborators. He says that the title of the EP comes from some advice which he left for himself on an old notebook. The singer-guitarist-producer, born in Johannesburg and raised in Doncaster, signed to Brownswood earlier this year and debuted with the 'Spit / Swallow' single in March. It's seen support from Dazed, The Quietus and Huck. He's been invited as a guest onto Jamz Supernova on Radio 1xtra, as well as Tom Ravenscroft and Lauren Laverne on 6 Music. He recently featured as one of the guests chosen for 6 Music's showcase at The Great Escape. The single release will be followed by Skinny's first UK Tour in September.

Into the Light is launching a parallel and limited series with contemporary material from both Greek and international artists. First stop is the album 'Postclub Prism' by the German producer Cass. offering ten gorgeous ambient pieces about light and romance.
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Since 2012, Niklas Rehme-Schlüter aka Cass. has released albums of varying styles, from the rather organic and loop based ambient pieces on 'Loops & Farewell Sketches' and the 'Red Atlantic' EP on Throne of Blood in 2017, influenced by 80's pop sonics, to the more balearic and percussive recordings on 'The Sound of Glades' together with Wolf Müller in 2016. On his new record 'Postclub Prism' Cass. explores his affinity to calm and atmospheric ambient music at the threshold to the reverberant sound of club music.

Serum, Bladerunner and Voltage take no prisoners with their debut EP as the triple hitting force Kings Of The Rollers. The drum & bass royalty have smacked this one out the park with the aptly named 'Rave Alarm' EP. Stay alert Cerberus, there's a new three-headed beast in town.

Apart from being known for founding the infamous vinyl imprint Subaltern Records and for his residency on SUB.FM, Gabriele Romeo aka. Mentha has made quite a name for himself with his Jazz-influenced bass music productions. This LP is a selection of tracks from his vault, showcasing his musical abilities and tasteful compositions in this self-release.

1 - All Or Nothing
Greeting the listener with melancholic yet optimistic vibes is the first track of the LP, 'All Or Nothing'. Setting the loungey and open space feeling for the release, captivating chords and soothing melodies join a potent sub-bass in this introspective overture.

2 - Same Spot ft. Vale
'Same Spot' picks it right up where the first track left it, emerging further into a vast ethereal space. Charming guitars pave the way to uplifting trumpet lines, masterfully executed by Vale. A meditative bass-line seamlessly merges all elements together into a seductive modal composition.

3 - Sunflower
Showing off his instrumental skills yet again, Mentha delivers a sunny and laid-back masterpiece with an apt title, rounded off by a perfectly executed contrast between bumping subs, crispy drums and radiant spaces. Bossa-inspired rhythms bond with Rhodes, jazzy horns and crystal guitars shifting through the realms of major and minor.

4 - Natural Rain
Natural Rain maintains the meditative vibe while entering mysterious spheres of consciousness. Like sunrise in an enchanted forest, this track is magically captivating and keeps the listener under its spell throughout. Oneiric melodies encounter pads and polyrhythms, leading to a climax which completes this mystical journey.

5 - Water March
Like a light breeze on a hot day, Water March takes it easy. Marked by Mentha's very own signature guitar and trumpet, this peaceful march unfolds playfully. While surprising with energetic bass frequencies and instrumental intricacies, this piece shows an insight of the artist's musical roots.

6 - In My Head ft. Aphty Khéa
A psychedelic masterpiece, 'In My Head' sets a strong statement at the end of the release. The unsettling atmosphere of the track is tastefully matched by Aphty Khéa's pristine voice. Creating an eerie yet soothing vibe, this track lets the mind roam freely through time signature changes, dynamic transformations and instrumental layers which remind of Steve Reich.

Original Soundtrack - Super Deluxe Version, (including 4 tracks never released on vinyl before, this feature is exclusive to this edition, see the tracklisting), 180g vinyl, mastered at half speed, heavy cardboard old Stoughton tip-on sleeve, obi, gold sticker Info We Release Jazz is delighted to present the official reissue of the original soundtrack of Jean-Pierre Melville's 1970 film noir classic Le Cercle Rouge (starring Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volontè, and Yves Montand) composed by French soundtrack master Eric Demarsan, available on limited edition 180g vinyl LP mastered at half speed and including 4 bonus tracks not available on previous pressings of the album. Eric Demarsan's compositions for Le Cercle Rouge draw from the orchestral spirit of the Modern Jazz Quartet (as requested by Melville who loved John Lewis' work), abstraction and minimalism to create a suspenseful and hypnotizing audio landscape which elegantly underlines the tense atmosphere of unavoidable fate that shrouds the movie and the doleful beauty of its characters. Simply put, it's the finest combination of underworld existentialism, coldblooded chic, and crime jazz! Le Cercle Rouge boasts the participation of celebrated jazz players Guy Pedersen (bass), Daniel Humair (drums), Georges Arvanitas (piano), and Bernard Lubat (vibraphone). Starting as a collaborator of François de Roubaix and Michel Magne in the 60s, Eric Demarsan went on to become a mainstay of French cinema soundtracks, composing for directors such as Jean-Pierre Mocky, Costa-Gavras, and Patrice Leconte among others. He also recorded the cult album Pop Symphony (for Pierre Cardin in 1970) under the Jason Havelock pseudonym.

Following a self-titled EP last year, Dario Rojo Guerra aka Natureboy Flako is set to release his second album 'Theme For A Dream' on Five Easy Pieces on 20th July 2018. Exploring the boundaries of music, science and spirituality through a prism of colourfully synthesised-sound, heart-pounding rhythm and cinematic soundtracks; the core essense of 'Theme For A Dream' is the exploration of the human inne space, the balance of musical energies and music's healing capabilities. 'Theme For A Dream' is a more electronic sounding record than his debut. Guerra makes extensive use of old and new analogue equipment such as the Juno 106, Korg's MS-20, ARP Odyssey or Roland's SH-2000 synthesisers, alongside recordings of vocals, guitars and other instruments. This serves to create a dynamic and eclectic sound spectrum, all unique to his musical handwriting. 'Theme For A Dream' will be accompanied by an experimental and interactive website that allows users to preview music while being an immersive, unique multi-sensual 4D xperience of its own. Snippets of the music from 'Theme For A Dream' become audio visual poetry and an immersive exploration of state of the art technology and oneself. 'I don't think technology necessarily means not being natural. Technology can be very much in balance with nature, since it is mostly just trying to imitate or trying to understand something from within nature. Around recording 'Theme For A Dream', Guerra also co-produced/co-wrote and engineered Kutmah's recent debut and Jitwam's forthcoming album, as well as produced almost half of Fatima's follow up album to 'Yellow Memories'. He is currently working on a film project with a London based production company and is already working on a new album, which is expected to bring back his vocal talent, previously released under the moniker Dirg Gerner.

This very high quality double-sided 45 features Billy Byrd's throaty vocals on two classic songs. Top drawer modern soul with an irresistible heavy beat, courtesy of producer Calvin Arnold, the Georgia native, known for his pretty diverse and very well crafted soul and funk output. The music was arranged by Tommy Stuart & Frankie Wynn. Most likely it was Arnolds influence that gave this record such a solid, intense rhythm. Yes, it's the beat that really counts. Few records of this nature have such an incessant, thumping groove that has so much appeal to the dancefloor. Upon its release in 1973 this record went nowhere and has remained extremely scarce ever since. At times, pristine original copies on the Scream Records label sold for up to $2000... Now this modern soul rarity is officially reissued, fully licensed and restored from the original master tapes and available for everyone to hear.

Hieroglyphic Being / Jamal Moss visted the Moog Sound Lab in the end days of 2016. Testing the lab through his prismatic rhythmic cubism meets synth expressionism methodolgy. 21st Century Afro-Futurism to the max. Both parties expressed their satisfaction with the encounter. I believe Bob Moog was (in the late 20th century) creating his modular system 55 synthesiser for artists yet to come....artists like Jamal Moss' (Eldon Tyrell)

It's been over 10 years since the release of Gui Boratto's breakthrough full length debut 'Chromophobia'. As to what its title suggests, he shook up the techno game with a contrast of lushly coloured minimal grooves and melody, whilst many will recall that the album included the highlight single Beautiful Life' which became a dance floor anthem for that era. Four albums in and countless EPs and remixes under his belt, the Brazilian producer's unique savoir-faire in carving out a functional album out of diversely routed singles and features is back at it on his fifth studio LP, 'Pentagram'. Here Gui Boratto lays down a nuanced 12-track narrative that reinvigorates his signature sound into a refreshingly different perspective that feels all too familiar - including the return of Beautiful Life' vocalist (and Gui Boratto's wife) Luciana Villanova on the single "Overload".

Through his signature kaleidoscopic approach, Boratto delivers an album built as a far-reaching hub-and-spoke system, broadly inclusive as can be. From the opening cut, 'The Walker' - hot on the trail of Tears For Fears 'Elemental' (one of Boratto's "favourite 80's bands") - to the hi-NRG euphoria of 'Forgotten' and its pounding tech alter ego 'Forgive Me'. "I was going into 2 different directions", Boratto says, "the typical indie- electronic-rock' Boratto kind of production like It's Majik' or Like You' and a much more techno approach." He goes on, "I decided to split them into two twin sister songs. When I play live I always put these two songs together."

The Brazilian Producer further embraces the pop-friendly essence of his past work on tracks like 'The Phoenix', featuring vocalist Nathan Berger, and 'Overload', both melding acidulous synthlines with laser-precise breaks, vox hooks and drops calibrated for extended radio and club use, although sieved through his distinctive rainbow-hued musical prism. For the symbolists out there, the album's pared-down closer '618' duration accidentally happens to equate the proportions of the said pentagram. "Coincidence" Boratto questions, and capsulises, "not so ufanista and supporter of Brazilian neo-concretism, but I guess the brazilian sculptor Lygia Clark also inspired me a lot. Not the meaning of her sculptures, but the shape of the hinge of most of her work. I've wanted to transmit the scientific pentagram's point of view. It's not a religious kind of thing."

Whereas 'Spur' (a field-tested 808 and 909-heavy "purist track", "very, very old school" Boratto insists) and 'Alcazar' are sheer smooth-edged four-to- the-floor epics, the album also shares its lot of startling moments, such as with the John Barry'esque 'Scene 2' (with a hint of Amon Tobin, 'Easy Muffin' style, throw in) and its refined string-laden buildup, 100% fitted for a 007 opening credit sequence, or with 'Hallucination' (feat B.T.) and the further James Holden-ish title-track 'Pentagram' (think 'The Idiots Are Winning'), "one of those exercises I did when I got my Buchla modular synth" Boratto analyses, "I think I've used more then 30 different snares, with different delays and reverbs. The whole song is alive". And so is 'Pentagram' in its entirety: alive and definitely just as manifold and hopeful as its architectonics are the stuff of science and dreams all at once.

Es ist zehn Jahre her seit der Veröffentlichung von Gui Borattos bahnbrechendem Debütalbum - Chromophobia . So wie der Titel vermuten ließ, war das Album mit seinen kontrastreichen Minimalgrooves und den üppig gefärbten Melodien ein Schocker im besten Sinne. Ihr erinnert euch sicher noch an die Hit-Single - Beautiful Life , eine Dancefloor-Hymne aus dieser Zeit. Nach vier Alben und unzähligen EPs und Remixen ist das einmalige Savoir-faire des brasilianischen Produzenten, aus vielfältigen Singles und Features stimmige Alben zu schaffen, auch auf seinem fünften Studioalbum - Pentagram zu hören. Hier legt Gui Boratto ein Zwölf-Track-Narrativ vor, das seine Handschrift auf erquickende Weise wiederbelebt. Wiederbelebt wird auch die Stimme von - Beautiful Life (die der Frau Gui Borattos gehört) auf dem Stück - Overload .

Durch seinen charakteristisch kaleidoskopischen Ansatz liefert Boratto ein Album, das gebaut ist wie die Speichen deines Fahrrads, von dem Opener - The Walker - direkt auf der Spur von Tears For Fears - Elemental (einer von Borattos - favourite 80's bands ) - zur Hi-NRG-Euphorie von - Forgotten und seinem stampfenden Counterpart - Forgive Me . - Ich bin in zwei unterschiedlichen Richtungen gegangen , sagt Boratto: - den typischen ,Indie-Electronic-Rock'-Weg wie in - It's Majik oder - Like You und den Techno-Weg. Er fügt hinzu: - Ich hab mich entschieden jedem Track seinen Zwillings-Track an die Seite zu stellen. Immer wenn ich live spiele lege ich die zwei Stücke zusammen.

Der brasilianische Produzent erschließt weiter die Pop-Essenz seiner vergangenen Arbeit auf Tracks wie - The Phoenix (feat. Nathan Berger) und - Overload . Beide kombinieren zwitschernde Synthi-Melodien mit lasergenauen Breaks, Hooklines, Drops und sind wie gemacht für die Rotation und den Club. Und für die Symbolisten da draußen: die Länge des reduzierten Closers - 618 beträgt zufälliger Weise genau die Proportionen des besagten Pentagramms. - Fügung , fragt Boratto und fasst zusammen: - Ich bin kein Anhänger des brasilianische Neo-Konkretismus , aber ich glaube die brasilianische Künstlerin Lygia Clark hat mich sehr inspiriert. Nicht die Bedeutung ihre Skulpturen aber die Form der meisten ihrer Arbeiten. Ich wollte den wissenschaftlichen Blickwinkel auf das Pentagramm übersetzen. Nicht im religiösen Sinne oder so."

Während - Spur (ein erprobter - purist track auf der Basis von 808 und 909, - sehr, sehr old school , wie Boratto betont) und - Alcazar glatte Vierviertel-Epen sind, hält das Album auch Überraschungsmomente bereit. Z.B. das John Barryschen - Scene 2 (auch eine Spur von Amon Tobins - Easy Muffin ist darin zu hören) und seinem Streicher-Aufbau, der hundertprozentig geeignet wär für eine Eröffnungssequenz in einem Bond-Film. Auch - Hallucination (feat. B.T.) oder der James-Holden-hafte Titeltrack - Pentagram (wir denken da an - The Idiots Are Winning ) wäre da zu nennen. - Einer dieser Übungen, die ich gemacht habe, als ich meinen Buchla-Modular-Synthesizer bekommen habe, war , erinnert sich Boratto, - mehr als 30 verschiedene Snares, Delays und Reverbs zu verwenden. Der ganze Song sollte am Leben sein. Und so ist - Pentagram im Ganzen: lebendig und sicher genau so vielfältig wie sein Bauplan, der auch der Wissenschaft und den Träumen zugrundeliegt.

Only those who read all the credits on record liner notes will know the full details: Areski is of course Brigitte Fontaine's partner in life, but also her creative alter ego, and the composer of the music of most of her songs. Even though it was his wife Brigitte and not him who wrote the lyrics, Areski is a poet in his own right. Furthermore, he is polyvalent: composing, arranging, singing, improvising, playing every possible instrument and even acting! Areski, to sum up, is the perfect mix of the tradition of Munir Bashir with the European sophistication' of someone like Jean-Claude Vannier, one foot permanently in Versailles (where he was born) and the maghreb. Areski, is left bank French songs without the stylistic effects, revised and updated through contact with arab-andalusian music. He is a Living Theatre style happening with a dose of cosmic free jazz, surrealist poetry viewed through the prism of Kabyle culture... All that and a lot more!

Areski honed his talent observing the stars of traditional chaâbi, testing it out in bars and dives before meeting, during military service, the singer Jacques Higelin with whom he would record his first cult album, and who would present him to his wife-to-be, Brigitte Fontaine. Between 1969 and 1980, with her, Areski would contribute an essential chapter to French underground music including classics such as Comme à la radio (with the Art Ensemble of Chicago), Je ne connais pas cet homme, L'Incendie, Le Bonheur and Vous et nous. For all that, Areski has never really tried to have a career under his own name, in spite of the wonderful Un Beau matin first published in 1970, and which it is high time to de (re)discover (better late than never). Those already in the know will not be surprised to see, especially, Jean-Charles Capon, author of the inspired L'Univers-solitude, Brigitte Fontaine of course, or Daniel Vallancien, author of a no-less inspired duo with saxophonist Philippe Maté. All contributing to an acerbic poetic universe, concerned but never militant, and open to worldwide influences long before they became a fashion.

Inspired, poetic, in a word essential: Un Beau Matin is one of the best albums of the French underground produced by Pierre Barouh on his label Saravah, alongside those by Maurice Lemaître, Catharsis, Claude Yvans, Mahjun, Barney Wilen, Cohelmec Ensemble et Michel Roques.

Following their work compiling last year's hugely well-received Ten Years of Jaunt EP, Blackhall & Bookless return to their label with four varied, equally confident shades of their distinct, versatile dancefloor vision. 'Forward' is an instantly enveloping slice of big-room techno that's entirely club ready and yet focused on atmosphere and tension, taking no prisoners and yet unfolding on it's own terms. That same ecstatic and almost ethereal club pressure reemerges on 'Voyager', under which gently unleashes a skittering landscape of blissful breakbeats and Vangelisesque synths. Inspired by the unforgiving sea that borders their hometown in the North East of England, 'Ocean' is perhaps the most intense moment on the EP, dragging listeners into wave after wave of undulating dub chords, always underpinned by driving, raw and percussive drums. Ending in forgiving ambience, this moment of respite leads to the conclusion, 'Occupy'. A beatless send-off, it nonetheless remains equally compelling and vast in it's filmic and complex sound design, showcasing Blackhall & Bookless' finely tuned meld of the substantial and the subtle. Tinged with the North Sea air and the pulse of Detroit, Blackhall & Bookless continue to master the sound of agile, accessible yet uncompromising club music.