Sfere Luminose is a rare and breathtaking masterpiece that stands as a pinnacle of Italian Library music. Featuring the mesmerizing vocals of Nora Orlandi and the legendary jazz drumming of Franco Tonani, this album is an essential gem from the cult label Record TV - Firmamento, a name revered for iconic releases from the late 1960s to early 1970s. The album is produced by maestros Giancarlo Gazzani and Roby Poitevin, with contributions from the acclaimed studio group I Marc 4 and Alessandro Alessandroni.
This stunning work encapsulates the very essence of Italian Lounge music, offering a rich and diverse musical landscape. From cinematic soundscapes and Hammond organ-driven grooves to soft psychedelic arrangements, the album flows with impeccable soul-jazz and bossa nova influences, reminiscent of Piero Umiliani’s finest creations. The signature style of I Marc 4 shines through captivating drum work, while the enchanting interplay of scat vocals and choral harmonies adds a touch of ethereal beauty.
With its refined blend of jazz, lounge, and Morricone-esque beats, Sfere Luminose is an unmissable listening experience for aficionados of the genre. It's a collector's grail and a timeless treasure that captures the magic of Italy’s golden age of music, and we're proud to bring this back on vinyl, remastered from the original mono sessions, including 4 bonus tracks and artwork restoration by Luca Barcellona.
Suche:psy
Roberto Cacciapaglia is an Italian composer and pianist who started out in the fertile Milan avant-garde scene of the 1970s, which included Franco Battiato, Giusto Pio, Lino Capra Vaccina, Francesco Messina, among others. After studying at the conservatory, he worked at RAI's Studio of Musical Phonology – an electronic music laboratory similar to NDR/WDR in Germany, GRM/IRCAM in France or BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Sonanze (Sonatas) is Cacciapaglia's debut album, a monumental work that was recorded over a two-year period and released in 1975 via seminal German label Die Kosmischen Kuriere (Ohr). While a "sonata" is traditionally performed by easily distinguishable instrumentalists (often soloist and accompaniment) and with repeated structural themes, Cacciapaglia flips this hierarchical form on its head – blending harpsichord, strings, brass and analog synths to create ambient mini-soundtracks.
As the composer writes in the original sleeve notes, "I am aware, unfortunately, that I am a few millennia late in how I would like music to be understood, which today I find diluted in its primary powers, in an era that is destructive of essential values. Precisely for this reason, I want to search for it in depth and not on the surface, perhaps alternating the knob of a synthesizer with a marranzano (mouth harp)."
Mixed in quadrophonic surround-sound under the auspices of Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser (celebrated producer of Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel), Sonanze remains on the fringe of Kosmische realms. Each movement explores hypnotic rhythms, intuitive arrangements, musique concrète techniques and a pure psychedelic awakening.
Cross Purposes ist das siebzehnte Studioalbum der englischen Rockband Black Sabbath, das ursprünglich am 31. Januar 1994 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Album markierte die Rückkehr von Tony Martin als Leadsänger der Band nach dem zweiten Ausstieg von Ronnie James Dio. Dieses 2024er Remaster ist das erste
Mal seit 30 Jahren erhältlich und wird auf Ultra Clear-Vinyl sowie als CD-Digisleeve veröffentlicht.
Following his recent EP, The Circle of Life, on Pushmaster Discs, Milan's rising techno star Maike Depas returns with a brand-new release on his renowned The Innovation Studio Records. Titled “Sexy Devil Horse”, it is a powerful 10-track collection, featuring many iconic international artists from the Hard Techno space such as Etruria Beat’s headmaster Luca Agnelli, Dutch-based sensation OGUZ and the “Demon of hard techno” also known as Michael Katana, as well as Southern Italian talents CHRS and Gianni Di Bernardo.
This release marks a pivotal moment in Maike Depas’ journey to become one of the highest rated talents in the Hard Techno scene. It will also be followed by a key paradigm shift his label’s business model in 2025. For this occasion, Maike has lined up an amazing group of artists to celebrate those who have shared his musical vision along the way.
The title is meant to be provocative and captivating, just like its content: catchy and fresh enough to attract ravers and clubbers from around the world. Its artwork was created by the master Luden Works. It features a plastic female figure with an undefined appearance, yet with sensual curves and a powerful surge of energy, like a wave enclosed in a sphere, representing Maike’s and The Innovation Studio Records’ logos.
From the galloping rhythm of “Sexy Devil Horse” and “Hear The Sound” to the groovy and elegant “Ce Soir” there is an immediate feel about the artist’s singular touch and eclecticism. Same goes for the tangible contrasts which make a key element of this release, where the minimalistic mood of “StarKiller” and its maximalist counterpart “Dark Serenade” carry the listener through a full-spectrum emotional rollercoaster.
Hard Techno and Psy Trance vibes go hand in hand with ‘90s Trance and Rave echoes, creating a blend of recognisable and innovative samples that can resonate with many different types of audience and like-minded artists. This aspect is fundamental in the direction Maike and his team have decided to take.
It all comes from afar: starting with a classical musical background – playing the piano at Conservatory level for many years, including Berlin’s own Funkhaus. This theoretical and practical knowledge, mixed with a long-time passion for electronic music, made it easier for Maike to shape and cultivate his authentic sound since a very young age.
As part of its evolution, The Innovation Studio Records will officially open its doors to new talent and renowned artists starting in 2025. The team’s vision is to create an international reference point for quality and innovation, shaping a brand-new artistic movement based on combining the modern vision of our generation with our cultural heritage from the past, thanks to the team that we put together, both in terms of approach and technique.
It'll be a structure built from the ground up, combining the best of analogue technology in a modern workflow with the highest level of music hardware, audio monitoring and studio design. In their view, there are two types of productions: those that stay ‘inside the box’ and those that get into your heart.
The desire to unite instead of dividing, to join forces instead of competing, is the key to Maike’s success and a real drive to turn the studio lights on every single day. Despite playing a lot with dystopic, cyberpunk-like atmospheres throughout his artistic journey, music doesn’t feel like a means to escape reality for Maike. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
The definition Maike uses the most to describe what The Innovation Studio Records wants to become is “a mysterious display cabinet”: a place where an artists will never know what emotion will arise or what direction will be taken next. Although hard work, professionalism and common inspiration will ultimately still be its main fuel, a true sense of community and empathy will be crucial to shape the future Maike and his team have in mind for it.
In a very romantic way, the idea is to re-create the same atmosphere from the Italian Renaissance masters’ workshops. Places where different artists - with opposite backgrounds and styles - could all mingle and inspire each other, in order to foster the creation of something unique. A collective effort for a greater good.
About MAIKE DEPAS
Young hard techno DJ-producer Maike Depas (born Michelangelo De Pasquale) has seen the future of music and it’s called metaverse: “In the future it will blow up,” he predicts. “And it’s going to revolutionize the way we experience music.” Bowled over by Skrillex and Martin Garrix by the age of eight, and DJing at smaller Milan clubs by the time he was eleven, Depas went on to study composition and piano at the prestigious
Milan Conservatory before learning ‘life- changing” lessons from the best in the business at Catalyst’s 4-week Advanced Sound Design course in Berlin’s Funkhaus . His production gets inspired by huge 90s trance synths as much as pounding hard techno from artists such as Kobosil, In Verruf and Amelie Lens.
2024 marked the launch of MAIKE DEPAS 2.0, a tectonic audio-visual shift that entails a wide array of content from DJ sets livestreamed from Berlin’s Teufelsberg and other dystopic locations around Europe to cyberpunk-inspired outfits designed by Demobaza, a cyberpunk-inspired casual couture brand best known for their sustainable Dune X Demobaza collection. Over the course of a developing metamorphosis from a flesh-and-bone individual to a mysterious CGI character, Depas is another step closer to revolutionize the dance music scene through the metaverse.
The prolific, virtuosic original Bjarki Sigurðarson returns to the concept album format, with ‘A Guide To Hellthier Lifestyle’. It’s the first LP to be released on Differance.
‘A Guide To Hellthier Lifestyle’ explores the psychological landscape of contemporary social issues, offering a sideways rumination on lifestyle dilemmas and wellness obsessions, presenting itself as a response to the modern condition. It combines storytelling with innovative sound textures – encouraging listeners to pause and contemplate the absurdities of contemporary life. Neither a critique nor an endorsement, it represents an honest exploration of our world through Bjarki’s sonic lens, gleaming a heart of darkness, but eventually finding light.
The album utilises hyper-stereo techniques, soothing melodies, complex audio structures, AIgenerated voices and sampled vocals – influenced by Coil, Genesis P- Orridge, and Paul Lansky. Bjarki investigates how specific frequencies can impact consciousness, awareness, mood, and mental state, thereby influencing our perception of reality. His vaporous sound design provides a listening experience that bridges the physical and imaginative realms; sometimes placing the listener in contemplative sanctuary, and at others making them lost – somewhere strange, uneasy, disconnected.
Bjarki on his Guide To Hellthier Lifestyle
“This new album has been two years in the works. It’s sort of my take on all the social weirdness and wellness obsessions happening right now. It kicked off with a track I started in California – the story of a soul that got born into the wrong womb. During that time, I was noticing more and more of this whole ‘wellness religion’ everywhere – people trying to sell you ‘good vibes’ and random people offering you life coaching sessions on Instagram who maybe have less life experience than a houseplant. All these apps that track our every move; it’s like they’re repackaging control and calling it ‘self care’. Capitalism in yoga pants. Thats when I started putting ‘A Guide To Hellthier Lifestyle’ concept together. A never ending, self improvement rabbit hole. We are all being sold this idea that we are not quite enough and we need to buy our way out to being better.
At one point, I took a break from the album and started working on another album full of satirical speeches, AI generated voices, where I create my own voices and type in some ideas of speeches, taking the piss out of wellness gurus and life coaches. I messed a lot with these AI voice generators, creating these deep, faux serious monologues. Proper weird stuff, but it cracked me up. Reminded me of the early days, when I was 13, making tracks on Fruity Loops, mucking around with text-to- speech generators. After the break I came back to finish ‘The Guide’ on a much deeper level.
I moved part of my studio to Latvia and continued in the countryside for few months. I realised that I just wanted something beautiful. So, yeah, this album is all of that. It’s spiritual, bits and pieces from the past, all these weird cultural moments, and whatever strange places my head goes. It’s a reflection, a rebellion, a bit of a piss take. But mostly, it’s just me, doing what I do.” - Duncan Clark
The album will be released only in its entirety, December 13th digi, with no advance singles.
- A1: Poppy Jean Crawford - Glamorous (Compiled By Angel Olsen)
- A2: Coffin Prick - Blood
- A3: Sarah Grace White - Ride
- A4: Maxim Ludwig - Make Believe You Love Me
- A5: Camp Saint Helene - Wonder Now
- B1: The Takeover (Poppy Jean Crawford Cover - Performed By Angel Olsen)
- B2: Swimming (Coffin Prick Cover)
- B3: Sinkhole (Sarah Grace White Cover)
- B4: Born Too Blue (Maxim Ludwig Cover)
- B5: Farfisa Song (Camp Saint Helene Cover)
A few years ago, Angel Olsen quietly formed somethingscosmic, a new imprint and a home for Olsen to have “the flexibility to release when and how I want to with the help from my longtime partners at Jagjaguwar.” Somethingscosmic’s second release, ‘Cosmic Waves Volume 1’ is a compilation reimagined as a dialogue; side A features artists chosen by Olsen, with each artist choosing their own song for the collection. Side B is a collection of songs from the same artists, but chosen by Olsen and recorded by her. Each song, unsurprisingly, illuminates a new artist Olsen finds spectacular. Hearing Olsen refract the artists’ songs back to them reveals the depth of Olsen’s imagination, while spotlighting multiple exciting artists at work.
“As someone that emerged into the music scene through a small tape label,” says Olsen, “I’ve wanted to continue the spirit of discovery and of my debut release, ‘Strange Cacti’, while supporting and collaborating with artists and friends whose music I have been moved by. I feel there is something unique and special about covering another artist's song,” she continues. “We all make it our own, or we try to, but I personally always learn something new about the process when I’m engaging someone else’s words and melodies in such a close way. Time and again I find that putting myself into various different styles of songs can lead to new ways of thinking and creating.”
The artists on “Cosmic Waves Volume 1” draw from a sprawling, myriad sounds, eras and inspirations. Poppy Jean Crawford’s magnetic growl and guitar-god heaviness; Coffin Prick’s reckless, psychedelic fuzz; Sarah Grace White’s hypnotic voice and melody; Maxim Ludwig’s expert minimalism; and Camp Saint Helene’s beautiful, big sky folk. “Thank you for listening and supporting this experiment,” Olsen says. “If you like what you hear, please support these artists by buying some of their music, merch, a ticket to their show, or telling your friends about them. It goes a long way. Love, Angel”
In making his long awaited return to Periodica, Milord steps away from the mysterious electro and new age mysticisms of past releases, and instead delivers the freaked out boogie funk free-for-alls brain-bending disco dubs, and summertime pop perfections of ‘Party Line’.
The club mix is an extended excursion through hypnotizing and ever-evolving club psychedelia, with wild phonecal detritus accenting a riffing and body-rocking banger led by svelte lyricisms, energized chants, and future gazing vocoder treatments. Elsewhere, the dub is a building body bomb of Afro-tribal grooves techno bass, echoing cascades of drum fx, and pianos soaked in interstellar aether. And for the ultra infectious radio mix, touches of Kraftwerk meet sunshine pop jam band as a molten bubblegum bass guitar bounces on an earworm drum groove, while all around, vocals soar and six-strings jangle through solar-soaked licks.
Pacific Rhythm returns with a heady new offering entitled the “Deep Hows EP" from NYC based Producer and DJ, Arsenii under his Bliss Street Queens moniker. The EP effortlessly trips through the cosmic and psychedelic sounds of the hazy and hopeful 1990's in a refreshing and modern style, all while shining a light on Arsenii’s undeniable ear for rhythm, energy, and feeling on the dance floor.
This one can carry you from the chill-out room to the main stage and is an essential pick-up for all of the Interesting Audio enthusiasts out there looking for machine funk of the highest caliber!
LIL PEEP; PART ONE war das erste große Projekt von Lil Peep, das in seinem Schlafzimmer in Long Island, New York entstand. Es markiert einen
bedeutenden Moment in Peeps Karriere, da es den Grundstein für seine einzigartige Mischung aus Emo, Punk und Hip-Hop legte. Das Projekt enthält
rohe, emotionsgeladene Texte gepaart mit eindringlichen Melodien, die Peps Kämpfe mit psychischer Gesundheit, Herzschmerz und
Drogenmissbrauch widerspiegeln.
Das Projekt enthält einige seiner populärsten Songs, darunter „Praying to the Sky“ und „The Way I See Things“. Außerdem enthält es einzigartige
Samples von Künstlern wie Thirty Seconds to Mars, Flyleaf, Lil B und dem Titelsong von Fullmetal Alchemist. Zur Feier des 9-jährigen Jubiläums wird
LIL PEEP; PART ONE auf Vinyl und CD veröffentlicht.
Cosmic Breeze takes listeners on a neverending love trip through the cosmos, channeling the warmth of 70s funk grooves, the lush textures of modern Indie-Rock, and Knowsum's signature experimental flair. With it's infectious rhythms, raw synths, and psychedelic melodies, the album creates a soundscape that feels both nostalgic and futuristic.
Mörk Gryning ist ein Heiligtum für die rohe, ungezähmte Essenz des schwedischen Black Metal-Genres. Gegründet in der kalten Umarmung der 90er Jahre, haben sich diese dunklen Herren ihren eigenen Weg gebahnt, indem sie sich von Trends abgewandt haben, um einen Sound zu schaffen, der den Vorgängern huldigt und gleichzeitig unerbittlich nach vorne drängt.
Ihr neuestes Werk, Fasornas Tid, ist eine viszerale Reise durch die Abgründe der menschlichen Psyche. Mit Tracks wie „Tornet“, bei dem C von AVSLUT als Gastsänger auftritt, und „Before The Crows Have Their Feast“, das mit apokalyptischen Harmonien aufwartet, verbindet das Album melodischen Black Metal mit der Grausamkeit des Death Metal. Aufgenommen, abgemischt und gemastert in den Wing Studios von Sverker Widgren und mit einem Artwork des rätselhaften C-G versehen, beschäftigt sich Fasornas Tid mit Themen wie innerer Zerrissenheit, dem ewigen Konflikt zwischen Gut und Böse und dem unstillbaren Hunger nach Selbstzerstörung.
Es ist eine dystopische Symphonie, die an ihre ikonische Tusen år har gått...-Ära erinnert, doch sie ist unverkennbar ein Produkt der Gegenwart - ein Schlachtruf für die Verlassenen.
Für Fans von Dissection, Dark Funeral, Marduk
Mörk Gryning ist ein Heiligtum für die rohe, ungezähmte Essenz des schwedischen Black Metal-Genres. Gegründet in der kalten Umarmung der 90er Jahre, haben sich diese dunklen Herren ihren eigenen Weg gebahnt, indem sie sich von Trends abgewandt haben, um einen Sound zu schaffen, der den Vorgängern huldigt und gleichzeitig unerbittlich nach vorne drängt.
Ihr neuestes Werk, Fasornas Tid, ist eine viszerale Reise durch die Abgründe der menschlichen Psyche. Mit Tracks wie „Tornet“, bei dem C von AVSLUT als Gastsänger auftritt, und „Before The Crows Have Their Feast“, das mit apokalyptischen Harmonien aufwartet, verbindet das Album melodischen Black Metal mit der Grausamkeit des Death Metal. Aufgenommen, abgemischt und gemastert in den Wing Studios von Sverker Widgren und mit einem Artwork des rätselhaften C-G versehen, beschäftigt sich Fasornas Tid mit Themen wie innerer Zerrissenheit, dem ewigen Konflikt zwischen Gut und Böse und dem unstillbaren Hunger nach Selbstzerstörung.
Es ist eine dystopische Symphonie, die an ihre ikonische Tusen år har gått...-Ära erinnert, doch sie ist unverkennbar ein Produkt der Gegenwart - ein Schlachtruf für die Verlassenen.
Für Fans von Dissection, Dark Funeral, Marduk
- From Outside A Window Sill
- Side By Side
- The Bug
- Amama
- Genie
- Crushxd
- Nighlty News
- (Alone In) Brussels
- Sleep Talk
- Dust Bunny
- Swarmed
- Xxx
New York psych-pop band Crumb return with AMAMA, their most carefree and open-hearted album to date. A soundscape full of playful and patchwork experimentation _ glitchy pitch-shifted vocals, cell phone recordings, nautical blips, sax mouthpiece solos, blasted drum samples, and piano strings dampened with Silly Putty _ AMAMA continues to deepen the band's hypnotic sound in a cohesive line back through 2021's Ice Melt, 2019's Jinx, and breakout EPs Locket and Crumb. Without a doubt, AMAMA is Crumb _ singer and multi-instrumentalist Lila Ramani, keyboardist and saxophonist Bri Aronow, bassist Jesse Brotter, and drummer Jonathan Gilad _ at their most animated.AMAMA exists at the crossroads of psychedelia, pop, jazz, and rock, and cements Crumb as a band uniquely their own. Released independently on Crumb Records and produced alongside Johnscott Sanford and Jonathan Rado in Los Angeles, AMAMA is an incandescent statement about searching for solid ground, connection, and clarity in a life of nomadic upheaval.
- Dreams Of Dreams
- Careful Crossers
- Daisy
- Life Coach
- Sideswiper
- The Illinois
- Treeton
- Davy Crockett
- Welcome Wagon
- Dorian
Fang Island's debut record, long out of print and back in stock as daisy pink splatter coloured vinyl in gatefold jacket LP via Joyful Noise, defined the sound of danc-y/math-y indie rock of the early 2010s alongside contemporaries Lightning Bolt, Titus Andronicus, and Japandroids. Fang Island described their music as the sound of "everyone high fiving everyone." No matter where they went, Fang Island's up-with-people approach made them a subversive art project by default. At a time when the belligerent noise-rock of Lightning Bolt and The Body defined Providence, Fang Island played major-key guitar harmonies and flashy tapping riffs. When people tried to call them "math-rock," they thought of themselves as "recess rock." Fang Island shared bills with uber-buzzy bands like Yeasayer and Chairlift at Cake Shop and Santos Party House, crucibles for Brooklyn hype at the turn of the aughts; but their most impactful co-sign came from Andrew WK. At least until Fang Island earned an unexpected Best New Music review at Pitchfork; in the style of the time, the group - now including drummer Marc St. Sauver and guitarist Nick Sadler - were thrust from playing "literally empty shows" at hot dog stands in Ohio to becoming the toast of SXSW and starting their North American tour with psych-rock idols the Flaming Lips in an Atlantic City casino. They would later play sprawling amphitheaters with Stone Temple Pilots, and in perhaps the best demonstration of their ability to wield pop smarts to guitar pyrotechnics, both Matt & Kim and Coheed & Cambria.
- 1: Arndale (Part )
- 2: Arndale (Part ) Back Patches
- 3: Arndale (Part ) Gm Bus 184
- 4: Minut Men Totems
- 5: Hole In The Road
- 6: Salford Shopping City
- 7: St Peter’s Precinct
- 8: The Education Shop
- 9: Hole In The Road (Part 2)
- 10: Armada Way (Pt. 1 Freedom From Fields)
- 11: Pond Street (Urban Studies)
- 12: Luminous (Plymouth Market)
- 13: Space Age (Merseyway Shopping Centre)
- 14: Outdoor Electronic Escalators
- 15: Oldham C&A In Winter
"This record explores the relationships between mid century architecture, consumerism and community. The gradual or sometimes brutal removal and change of places in the name of progress. These changes leave traces that people have to deal with on a psychological level but probably never really acknowledge. This record explores loss of community and loss or unsympathetic altering of shopping spaces. When something is unceremoniously knocked down or altered and something else replaces it then the thing before it becomes ghost like and is at risk of being forgotten. Not dissimilar to when the Christian faith built their buildings upon Pagan sites. It has a similar purpose (to pray or to shop in this case) but the older thing becomes dreamlike and is confined to folklore. The community is always fed the propaganda of progress but looking back, I certainly cannot deny the beauty of what has now gone. Maybe there is a sense of dissolution and denial about such matters. The record is also interested in the sense of community of these past spaces and how shopping centres have generally declined mainly due to the rise of neo liberalism and tech giants. When you see old footage of these spaces in their prime, you get a sense of a space age future, everything looks new but paradoxically the people look to be from an older time. Today I can see real poverty and complete disenfranchisement from being in these new spaces. It's not all doom and gloom though as spaces, especially the ones in Plymouth are not that much altered and could be brought back to the architects original dreams."
David A.
- Seven Sisters
- Gargantua
- Lost Gravity
- Schall & Rauch
- When Time Stood Still
- Flight Ht360
- The Gateway
Weißes Vinyl, limitiert auf 350 Exemplare. TRANSIENT nennt sich das neue Album der Heavy Psychedelic Rock Band GREAT RIFT aus Wien. Die Band erzählt in sieben Songs eine Geschichte über den ewigen Aufbruch aus der eigenen Vergänglichkeit. Das Leben als turbulente Odyssey, begleitet von Gefahren, Ängsten und Sehnsüchten, sowie als Reise der Hoffnung, Mutes und Zuversicht in unserem unendlichen Universum. Dieses schwer anmutende aber auch zeitlose Thema, schafft GREAT RIFT auf TRANSIENT musikalisch in ein Klangbild zu verpacken, welches nahtlos an seinem Vorgänger UTOPIA anschließt. Die Band ist darin sogar in der Lage, ihre Weiterentwicklung auf musikalischer Ebene eindrucksvoll unter Beweis zu stellen.
- I See Through You
- Waiting For Blood
- Deaths Door
- Shockwave City
- 13: Candles
- Dead Eyes Of London
- Pusher Man
- Ritual Knife
- Slow Death
- Crystal Spiders
- Blood Runner
- Desert Ceremony
- I'll Cut You Down
- No Return
14 songs deep and proudly devoid of gimmicks or distractions, Slaughter On First Avenue is a riveting and raw account of Uncle Acid in full flight. From early classics like I'll Cut You Down and Death's Door (both from Blood Lust), to more recent works of lysergic aggro like Shockwave City (from Wasteland) and sinister epic Slow Death (from The Night Creeper), this amalgamation of two fiery and unforgettable live shows has a mesmerising momentum all of its own. A throwback to the days when live albums were magical things, rather than cynical stopgaps, Slaughter On First Avenue is a jolting dose of dark electricity and psychedelic terror. Swollen with the greatest of riffs and performed with grit, power and haughty disdain, it loudly confirms that Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats have the raw, fuzzed-out power to drag everybody into their bewildering, bewitched vortex of doom. A dazzling, devilish squall to mark the beginning of a new chapter, Slaughter On First Avenue also clears the decks for this band's next malevolent move. Don't say we didn't warn you. "Yes, There will be another record which will hopefully appear at some point without warning or explanation," Kevin Starrs avows. "It will be completely different to anything else we've done. You can think of it as a late-night detour. Its appeal will be extremely limited but that's OK... 'When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it!'".
In the fall of 2022, celebrated UK chill-out institution Seahawks landed in Los Angeles for the first time in their 15-year history, with plans to record a sweeping new age downtempo "exploration of visionary California."
Instead, they immediately fell ill with flu (Fowler collapsed next to a taco truck; 911 was called), and were bedridden for the better part of a week. Upon recovering, they resituated at the synthesizer sanctuary of Brian Foote (Peak Oil, Kranky, Leech), channeling their post-sickness psychedelia into one of the band's lushest and most elevated creations to date: Time Enough For Love. Inspired by the "groove and mood" of Harry Nilsson demos, as well as its wider 70's wavelength - Rhodes, Wurlitzer, wood paneling - Seahawks transposed their classic post-rave ambient exotica onto a warm and woozy Golden State palette. Buoyed by the liquid touch of English maestro Kenny Dickenson on keys, the results rank high among the duo's smoothest and most multi-sensory voyages. "Sail Across The Moon" delivers on its title, a simmering, phaser-smeared cruise through the beauty of the night. "Messengers" echoes the cosmic lounge of Air's Moon Safari, shuffling, weightless, and ethereal, while "Falling Deep" reaches for the stars, pure cascading bliss, the ecstatic moment writ large.
The album skews steadily more astral as it progresses, drifting towards jazzy, galactic outer reaches. "Like A Grain Of Sand" opens with a spoken sample by the celebrated late American poet Rachel Sherwood ("The children watch, breathless / with the birds / They feel an emanation / from this shuddering place"), before taking flight on a Balearic trip through island house, PM Dawn gold dust, upright bass meditation, and kaleidoscopic light. A remix of the title track by Chicago trio Purelink closes the record in a suitably subdued and skittery state of mind. Time Enough For Love radiates color, complexity, and positivity, infused by the "life enhancing" nature of the band's time in Los Angeles - sunsets, sound systems, and sativa, framed by coastlines and cloudbanks, the city's mystic sprawl glittering beneath purple dusk.
Well-versed in vintage vernaculars, Oakland-based producer/musician Mike Walti is about to return with his sophomore offering under the Organi moniker – as new album “Babylonia” follows 2020’s “Parlez-vous Français?,” a landmark in vibe acquisition ever since.
Wyldwood Studios is a portal. It’s a secret gateway to analog spheres. Cross the threshold and you’ll feel the difference: you can pick any ol’ time, any place, any tongue or vibe, in fact. Hit the dancefloor in 1967, feel that plushy loveseat in the early 70s. It’s a welcoming place where better, saner vibes are still within reach. Fueled, at least in part, by those long-classic 12”s on the walls – just imagine the sepia-tinted countenance of Melody Nelson alongside actual Birkin sans wig, right next to Shadow’s immortal crate diggers, forever blurred –, and channeled through ancient time travel devices such as the MCI 416B only to arrive on classic 2-inch tape (MM1000 aka Ol’ Bessy), it’s a haven for all things organic, for all things imbued with that warm élan. Built and run by Oakland’s own Mike Walti, countless artists from many different genres have felt that flair, creating sonic spheres and moving back and forth along the malleable axis that is space-time. Capturing magic.
Emerging from this unique portal back in 2020, Walti’s aka Organi’s first studio album was a stunning answer to its titular question – “Parlez-vous Français?” It was a soothing, somewhat psychedelic trip so magnétique and alluring that it immediately brought back those bits of Franglais you never knew you remembered. Whereas the debut LP indeed felt like a spontané voyage to the French Riviera ca. 1968, its follow-up “Babylonia” is so much more than linguistic confusion and ancient Akkadian Rhythms. Using that hidden portal near Alameda’s finest port to access all kinds of remote regions and sonic spheres, it’s super tight and feels, well, decent, even though, just like the ol’ Babylon, it’s full of surprising tongues and dreams, schemes and melodies.
“Where do we go from here?,” someone asks in opening “Organii-“ – all majestically cinematic boom bap, buoyant bass, sick strings. A fittingly massive opener that feels like cracking open a cold one after long weeks at work (that ecstatic “ahhhh”), it perfectly sets the tone for another half hour of pure time traveling, globe-spanning bliss. Whereas that certain prédilection pour all things French makes “La Rockette” so tempting and tantalizing (think MalMalNonBien), the sophomore album’s Berlin-based guest singer Nana Lacrima soon takes us elsewhere: title track “Babylonia” spins ever so softly, like a magic lantern, with images of dreamier Stones Throw funksters or Savath y Savalas looming over the steady flow of an arrangement that washes you clean like an ancient, unpolluted River Euphrates or Brazil’s actual Amazon. A sexy Portuguese-flavored anthem, occasional guest singer Alix Koliha also enters the scene to add yet another layer of French chic to this Brazilian landscape. Next, we’re back at the Riviera, but the “Italiano” version of it, splendido sunsets and bell towers in the distance, the ragazze laughing and shaking it up, perhaps even some Portofino Gin so you can really feel that “me ne batto il belin,” as your fingers align form some half-serious “ma che vuoi?”
Tim Maia-penned “Padre Cicero” (1970) deals with the stunning transformation of the titular hero – “De reverendo a lutador,” and what a soaring, sensual hook –, and Organi’s take on Elephant Memory’s “Old Man Willow” (now an “Old Man Waltz”) perfectly underlines what Walti’s Wyldwood endeavor is all about: Easy-Going Experimental Dream Pop, fueled by Gainsbourg, Broadcast, Stereolab, etc.
Later on, even though something seems to be tres complique in “Remembering Anna,” it all sounds carefree like a spontaneous Friday afternoon with a bottle of fine wine. Right before the outro, key album guest Yea-Ming Chen (of Yea-Ming & The Rumors) returns to the mic, adding her dark and dusky trademark timbre to melancholy anthem “Pictures Of Your Face”. Reminiscent of Nico and Trish (rip & rip), it’s a track that’s both dark and strangely propelling, hypnotic and hip-shaking.
A third generation Bay Area native, Mike Walti aka Organi has been running Wyldwood Studios in Oakland CA for some 15+ years (recording artists like Tommy Guerrero, Spelling, Why?, Latyrx, Del, Dan The Automator, and Big Freedia, to name but a few). A multi-instrumentalist who’s obviously in love with the 60s/70s, he loves to work with analog equipment (“We just love us some analog!” “Just listen to those relays purr…”). Recorded and mixed by Mike Walti at Wyldwood, “Babylonia” will be released on vinyl/digital by Alien Transistor.
Philipp Greter is a genius. He is not only the keyboardist of the acclaimed swiss Dub band Dub Spencer & Trance Hill he is also the producer and mastermind behind the band and responsible for the crisp project "William S. Burroughs In Dub". Philipp has worked with and for The Young Gods, Yello mastermind Dieter Meier, Lee Scratch Perry, amongst many others. "Greter Than Dub" is being released on Liquid Sound Design, the psychedelic dub label of Grammy Award winning producer Martin "Youth" Glover: highly respected songwriter/producer, sonic pioneer, and founder and bassist of Killing Joke. Almost everything on this album is grooving, swinging, vibrating and echoing in delay. It is not only an album for the dancefloor it is also a soundscape travel for the comfortable sofa trip.




















