Search:pure as

In recent times Alex Pletnev has been making his mark on the musical stratosphere with an array of works from from cold wave edits, through gorgeous adaptations of african and world music to tribal techno originals. He joins us as Pletnev for "Aztec Code / Daywalker", a 12" combining his abundant influences to take us to bizarre, far-off places.

"Aztec Code" is a pure dance thing. Inspired by the fat kicks and live bass lines of the Big Beat era, Pletnev combines a jumping beat with african percussion and a charismatic vocal that seems to call out from between the palm fronds of somewhere steamy as we work up a sweat. Tenderly crafted with samples taken from almost 10 records, one-shots, drum layers and melodic licks are treated and mixed, giving rise to a warm, lush atmosphere perfect for circling a fire deep in the tropics.

On the flip, "Daywalker" is a completely original, synthesised outing. A sleazy lead line charms and slithers upwards between layers of syncopated tabla and a sultry acidic groove. The tune spins and twists around this central oriental theme, ever-evolving as layers of detailed percussion and ad-libbed melodies intensify the tone.

Sound artist Eva Geist joins Fleeting Wax label head Mehmet Aslan to spin "Daywalker". The pair create a sonic bridge between the two originals. Their hazy rework dubs out some electronic elements, adding contorted sound design, distant vocals, lofi samples and an italo leaning bass. A mystic incantation for spaced out late morning moments.

Following on from album releases by Medlar and Greymatter, WOLF Music presents the debut album from Frits Wentink 'Rarely Pure, Never Simple'. Frits has steadily built a reputation as one of Holland's finest exports through a string of successful releases on Detroit Swindle's Heist Recordings, Triphouse Rotterdam and of course WOLF Music.The longplayer format has given Frits the ability to show off his production ability with a mix of styles encompassing lo-fi hip-hop and downbeat tracks featuring the amazing vocals of Loes Jongerling as well as Frits signature House sound.

A high-speed car chase between a Dodge Charger and a Ford Mustang, with super-cop Bullitt at the wheel, who forces the hitman off the road and into a petrol station, which explodes and incinerates him. Prior to that, harsh clashes of metal, hubcaps flying all over the place, and the chief character Steve McQueen, who grimly changes gears and hurtles through the streets of San Francisco, wheels screaming and rubber burning. That was how Hollywood staged one of the longest and most dramatic car chases, long before the days of the Anti-Blocking-System and Anti-Slide-Control.

Very up-to-date and just as exciting as the screenplay is the music Lalo Schifrin wrote for the film, which embeds the characters, places and events in a musical context. For example, "Bullitt": the metrically angular main theme portrays a mysterious, cool character who sums up a situation with keen alertness and then makes his attack with the speed of lightning.

Initially the music travels through easy-going Latin terrain. But gradually the rhythmic texture changes and takes a rougher path, with clicks, knocks and hammering. Legendary flute lines create a compensatory placidness with airy clouds floating above the sharp mix. A really special track is "Shifting Gears": here you can listen to Schifrin tuning the car, how he manipulates a jammed springy bossa to take on the sound of clean, smooth-running rock.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Growing up in Jamaica, young Rowland Abrahams loved dancing to James Brown so much that he earnt himself the nickname 'Papas' Got'. He later moved to Paris and in 1979 more or less single-handedly recorded the 'I Wanna Love' LP on the RGR label. Admittedly not an album with a heavy yield, the only pearl being the title track which Rocafort Records are releasing as a 12" with an exclusive Al Kent edit on the B side.

No rocket science involved here, just pure killer afro-disco-funk groove from start to finish.Urgent funky guitar riffs, thumping drums and a strong hint of late 70s euro-disco fueled by the slightly unintelligible lyrics delivered with a Frenchie patois twist

The Lucid Dream return in April with the release of new single 'SX1000', the first taster from the recently completed 4th album. 
Driven by fans raising £10,000 to hell replace all equipment robbed after a Paris show in early 2017, a new album became the instant focus for The Lucid Dream in the summer of 2017.

The track is a slice of pure acid house, and will again see them acknowledged for venturing into pastures new, setting themselves apart from 'genres', 'scenes' or what any other band are currently doing. 

'SX1000', as with the whole album, was penned over the summer by Mark Emmerson (vocals/guitar/synths), using only the classic Roland 303/808 synths, bass and vocals as tools for writing. 
Inspiration for the writing was formed via continuous listening to the Chicago to UK acid house works of 1986-1992, the focus predominantly on the groove. 5 months on from those writing sessions and The Lucid Dream have competed their 4th album in 5 years, this track a perfect indicator as to what awaits. A record made for the dancefloor.

The Lucid Dream formed in Carlisle, Cumbria, in 2008. A string of sold-out 7s was followed by the debut longer player, 'Songs Of Lies and Deceit', in August 2013. The album gained critical acclaim from the likes of Uncut, Q, Rocksound, Clash, The Quietus, and leading French culture magazine, 'Les Inrocks', to name a few. The initial vinyl pressing of the debut album (500 copies) sold out within 2 days, and was backed by a main stage slot at Kendal Calling, and supports to Death In Vegas and A Place To Bury Strangers (full UK tour).

The bands 2nd album ('The Lucid Dream') was released in March 2015 to further acclaim. This included 2 BBC 6 Music sessions, and press from Uncut, The Skinny, Louder Than War, and Drowned In Sound, who named the album #7 UK album of 2015. Further supports to Clinic and A Place To Bury Strangers coincided.


3rd album, 'Compulsion Songs' was released in September 2016, on Holy Are You Recordings. The vinyl pressing of the album sold-out within a day, prompting an immediate 2nd press, with pre-sales of the album topping 1,000 before release. The album was backed by a headline UK tour, and a main slot at Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia (for which they were singled out for major plaudits from The Quietus, The Skinny and Drowned In Sound). The album again received acclaim from the likes of Mojo, Uncut, Classic Rock Magazine, BBC Radio 2 (Huey Morgan) and across the board on BBC 6 Music (Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, Tom Ravenscroft, Gideon Coe, Stuart Maconie).

Mannik has already blown peoples minds with his debut track on Death To Digital (KF70). And his first full EP delivers on that promise. Pure, original hardcore, as it was meant to be. Unusual in concept, sonically devastating, and showing a rare confidence and power for a relatively new artist. This EP sounds like it is 1992 again. It fits somewhere between Sublove, Automation, Hyper On Experience and all NRG without sounding like any of them. Along side Idealz's 'Run The Tune' EP (KF72) they are showing how this renaissance of old skool hardcore can grow and develop without being a simple copy of what came before. This is forward thinking yet rooted in the ethics of the past. This is what Kniteforce is about.

Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others

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

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

Next to the entire All is an astonishing work by Danish experimental sound quartet We like We, consisting of Katrine Grarup Elbo (violin), Josefine Opsahl (cello), Sara Nigard Rosendal (percussion) and Katinka Fogh Vindelev (voice).

Although classically trained, all four share a desire for exploring, experimenting and shaping a sound of their own, something which is truly present on this album. Both instrumentation and composition feel glued together with an abundant sense of playfulness and vision. The record starts with the beautiful I'm not for More which sets the tone for the 10 pieces, hurling you back and forth in a whirlwind of sound and musical intuitivity.

Genre bending as the record can be, it can be seen as somewhat of a contrasting work - as much of northern folk traditions as of an avant-classical work in the spirit of György Ligeti and Meredith Monk. Forest Sketches, as an example, starts with minimal woodblocks and percussive rattling while slow building violins, cello and vocals pull themselves in through the unknown before bursting into a Pagan sounding wormhole of screams and looped cellos. The piece ends with minimal vocal sound scapes fading away into almost pure silence. It could be mirrored with a merger of both the opening and closing scene of Kubrick's classic movie 2001 - creating the sense of beginning of humanity versus the far future, with abstractation and the unknown.

Next to the entire All is both a mind bending and grounded piece of work fitting naturally next to other Sonic Pieces releases such as Hauschka & Hildur Gudnadottir's Pan Tone or Christoph Berg's Conversations, while adding a northern minimalism. A record as hard to shake off as it is to describe.

more talking all that jazz, more high aiming music by fumio itabashi: mule musiq is ready to release another record by the legendary japanese jazz pianist, born in ashikaga, tochigi in the year 1949.
this time his first solo record ever: the heavy jazzing 'nature', which has never been reissued on vinyl since its birth in 1979. it has been recorded at nippon columbia 1st studio, tokyo from march 13 to 15 in the year of its release.
it features itabashi making feverish love with the piano and sharing the studio with the great bass players hideaki mochizuki and koichi yamazaki, drummers kenichi kameyama and ryojiro furusawa, soprano saxophonist yoshio otomo and vibraphone wizard hiroshi hatsuyama.
they all joined him to perform his very own songs, composed by itabashi himself and produced by ryonosuke honmura, who also produced japanese jazz heroes like saxophonist keizo inoue during his career.
but enough background information. what counts is sound. it is fresh, propulsive, twitchy and melodi-ous from the first to the last tone. sometimes the instrumentalists play a classic solo in an overall deep modal jazz atmosphere that seems to be made for cats that love the good old stars and inventors - from john coltrane to mile davis, from thelonious monk to art blakey.
'nature' also shows how deep itabashi studied the history of the genre, while keeping his very own vision of jazz alive. the man that made his professional debut as a member of the sadao watanabe quintet in 1971 and that also was a member of the elvin jones jazz machine world tour from 1985 to 1987, plays the piano in all tempos: nervous high-flying quick, deeply blue blues style slow.
besides the traditional jazz flavours, you get a feeling of mind-expanding spiritual jazz, that grand mas-ters like pharaoh sanders or gary bartz turned into a sacred music genre. a master-class record in ravishing big city jazz music, adventurous, sometimes meditative, sometimes faster than the speed of light, always grooving with a bright, pure-toned sensibility and deeply soulful melodic imaginations.
it extends the jazz history with a fine balance between tradition and innovation. and it stays infectious all the time while sounding surprisingly fresh due to a lot of thrilling musical spontaneity that touches profoundly even though all notes have been written down by fumio itabashi before he and his combat-ants entered the studio.
and maybe that's the mystery of these timeless five at times epic recordings: all notes been written on paper but each musician had the freedom to dance with them in his very own unique way. so, turn the volume loud and get ready to be steamrolled by fumio itabashi's 'nature', an inebriant album that is talking all that jazz deeply!

Capra Black remains one of the seminal recordings of jazz's black consciousness movement. A profoundly spiritual effort that channels both the intellectual complexity of the avant-garde as well as the emotional potency of gospel, its focus and assurance belie Billy Harper's inexperience as a leader. Backed by an all-star supporting unit including trombonist Julian Priester and drummer Billy Cobham, Harper's tenor summons the brute force and mystical resolve of John Coltrane but transcends its influences to communicate thoughts and feelings both idiosyncratic and universal. This is music of remarkable corporeal substance that somehow expresses the pure language of the soul.

Snad aka Shyam Anand is an artist from Chicago of Indian descent. He just moved to Berlin. And this is his first release on Suol.His debut EP for us is a three-tracker and absolute quality. Its title 'Home Away From House' alludes to a musical career spanning three continents and to the 'most enlightened circles', as Snad puts it, 'who still travel the Silk Roads and who take their underground seriously -- wherever they call home'. What this means becomes apparent quickly as the title track drops us straight into a softly stabby, hypnotic little sequence on top of an elegantly subtle combination of a drum machine groove and synth bass. Things build up patiently with luscious delayed chords before rising strings transport us to a beautiful place where the Goa sun shines onto the streets of Chicago. Just like all tracks on the EP, 'Cut!!!' is purely instrumental but it doesn't need words to tell its story. Clever drum programming and cool reverbs are in perfect harmony with a melodic bass riff and a silky, modulating analogue lead that guides us to the end with a smile.

'Deep Looking', the EP's final track, has a solid groove at its centre and some delicious ear candy around it. Syncopated toms and claps join forces with a fast hi-hat pattern to provide plenty of momentum for this otherwise dreamily floating acid house number.

Lagaffe Tales co-founder Jónbjörn drops four tracks on Iceland's FALK Records beat driven sub-label, FALK DISKS.

Since 2008 FALK (Fuck Art Lets Kill) has become a creative hub for Icelandic and international artists involved in experimental and electronic music, spanning noise rock through to power electronics, underground hip-hop to DIY techno and electro. 2017 saw FALK continue with releases from Icelandic hip-hop producer LORD PUSSWHIP, techno/electro producer ThizOne and Canadian industrial techno musician //HUREN//. Berlin based Icelandic producer Jónbjörn, known for curating Reykjavík record label Lagaffe Tales - one of the main pillars in the Icelandic house scene - now joins FALKS' club focused sub-imprint with a robust four tracker.

Moving away from the deep house sound he's renowned for towards a darker and leaner night time aesthetic, 'Amsiak' inaugurates the release with an infectious electro groove as gurgling pings and acidic clangs and drones are liberally dropped throughout the track. 'Aspekte' is a spacious track with blown-out bass sounds that morph and glide across a tempered, slow burning planar rhythm.

On the flip, Jónbjörn goes for a harder techno sound influenced by his relocation to Berlin. 'Sunnudagskaffi' is a bendy, 4/4 roller that contains hidden grooves below the basslines and the acid pings that wouldn't be out of place on a Livity Sound release. Meanwhile, 'Holy B' is pure warehouse creeper techno, complete with machinic tones and the atmospherics of sweat and grime on dungeon brick walls.

Wild Oats is happy to present this debut release entitled Pure Amethyst' from Caron Miller aka Q'uran D'Mar aka Q'D' who is another gifted young brother from Detroit. Our hope is this record adds some thoughtfulness, love and intentionality to your inner world at the beginning of this Lunar new year.

February's birthstone is the Amethyst so we found it very synchronistic that this debut is released in February.
The Amethyst crystal guards against psychic attack and transmutes that energy into love. From The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall, she also states this valuable piece, This stone facilitates the decision-making process,bringing in common sense and spiritual insights,and putting decisions and insights into practice. Mentally it calms and synthesizes, and aids the transmission of neural signals through the brain.'

Pure Amethyst Sonically personifies this internal shadow dance that one must participate in in order to get to a grounded and positively intentioned state of being. Questioning ones motives, accepting and releasing the blame of past traumatic experiences as the reasons for deficiencies inspires you to find a new way forward from where you are. Ultimately realizing it is you today who is going to inspire the goodness in your life. As the great Arthur Ashe states, "To achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can."

Sincerely, Kyle J Hall

A multi-platform production that explores the overlap between the digital and the organic through field recordings of Inuit throat singing may sound, on surface level, to be something that is a rather niche. However, Zoe Mc Pherson's exploration of this world on String Figures is a deeply rhythmic, immersive and forward-thinking piece of electronic- leaning music that remains just as danceable as it does experimental.
The album is fundamentally one of duality, exploring the traditional and the contemporary, organic and electronic, audio and visual, history and the future. Rooted in this duality is also a core theme around string being one of the most ancient and playful art forms and the seemingly infinite possibilities it offers in terms of shapes, structures and figures lines up with this as a trans-global art project. One that over time will involve video art, choreography, 3D motion design, macro film, instrumental and electronic sound. Although for now is being presented through an AV performance, films and a record with Mc Pherson collaborating with director Alessandra Leone.!
Over the seven tracks (which are laid out as chapters) the record explores glitchy electronics, dub-tinged grooves, polyrhythms, and a huge array of instruments that takes in quiet blasts of atonal sax alongside wonky synths. This of course cross-pollinates with the throat singing and experimental field recordings to create an utterly inimitable sonic sphere. For Mc Pherson it's about mixing worlds, histories and timeframes and she uses a 1991 quote from Laurie Spiegel to hit home how she has elaborated upon this original thought of history and future overlapping. 'Folk music is considered anonymous common property in a culture and that's what a lot of computer music and other kinds of music data may end up becoming.' However, there's also a purer reason for the exploration of these worlds and colliding them together. 'Basically I thought that electronic music that is only digital is a bit boring and as I'm connected to jazz music for many reasons, I wanted it to sound organic: real instrumentation, field recordings.'

Driven by a vicious and visceral soul, The Buttshakers are known for their fierce and fiery music: turntables steam from the heat of their records, dance floor buckle under the blistering pressure of their infectious grooves, a group with a burning Midas' Touch.

Yet after nearly a decade of touring and recording, it was with a different musical vision that they approached Sweet Rewards, their first collaboration with Underdogs Records.
Accustomed to the raw, primitive sounds of 60s garage rock and the crude sexuality of pre-Motown soul music, the Buttshakers have created a reputation as a must see live band perfectly aligning loud rock riffs and lustful desires. A sound they could have continued to dig into again and again. Instead they decide to take another route. A creative shift, a return to a style of soul music that no longer has to rely on pure energy alone, a sound that concentrates on the quality of writing composition and interpretation rather than pure virility.

Two Dutch institutions in Delsin and 2000 And One team up for a reissue of the 1994 EP Belongings. It was an early release on 2000 and One's influential 100% Pure label and found him in full on space-techno. The EP has been fully remastered and sounds as gloriously futuristic now as it did more than 20 years ago. 'It Belongs To Me (Version)' is an intergalactic techno track with pads drifting off to an infinite horizon as a soft acid line burrows into the big, icy hi hats and punting drums. It's perfectly spacious and sombre, while 'It Belongs To Me (Reprise)' is a much more downtempo and thoughtful version of the track where pained leads synths take the lead and the drums are off in the distance. It's the sound of resignation and dejection in techno form. 'Crystal' then layers in new age harmonies as classic dusty break beats do their dance below. Again the synths are smeared and grand in scale and the whole thing feels like a blissful rave comedown. Last of all, 'Bowed' is a happy and manic melodic track with warped bass and fluttering snares that carry you away to the stars.

As always, a label about quality music and quality packaging without compromise. B12's sub-label FireScope Records is proud to present Darren Nye, the next producer to add a beaming pulsar to the expanding FireScope universe.

Titled 'Emotional Intelligence', FS010 is Darren Nye's first-ever vinyl release and a voyager discovery into five of his finest work. A UK producer who has been writing music since 1995, Darren's emotional and heartfelt work with influences from B12 among others fully represents our ethos of proper techno created today.

First landing — 'Things She Said', where swirling pads wrap themselves around perfectly programmed drums and percussion, complemented by wonderful basslines. 'Emulated Emotion' speaks for itself next. A highly emotive tune with gorgeous pads and percussions carrying the track through while an undulating bassline burbles underneath — a personal spin on B12 influences.

The voyage continues on the flip with 'Plasmid Soul', pure techno soul in its finest form with familiar drums and strings comprising the right ingredients to a timeless tune. Inspired by a photo from a day out in Greenwich and a bad feeling, 'Fragments' is an unexpected side excursion, with its quirky, disjointed bassline recalling the fragments of the past, of yesterday. 'Disconnected Reality' sonically encapsulates the emotions of sadness presented with a ray of hope. A track I wish I wrote!' — Steven Rutter.

No matter how strong we think we are, the words from one person can affect us in ways you'd never thought possible, making us feel disconnected from the world. Our emotional state will never be the same, and the fragments of the past will forever haunt our souls.

Finished in glorious white/blue marbled vinyl with exclusive full colour artwork by the amazing J. Mccreadie.

Next up on Francis Harris's newly-founded record label Kingdoms comes something very special from Brooklyn-based film composer, songwriter, producer and performer Léah Lazonick. Movimenti della Luna D'Oro ('Movements of the Moon of Gold' translated from Italian) is a four-track EP from one of the most exciting musicians and performers around - a beautiful quartet of contemporary classical music with a twist. Lazonick is something of a polymath, having composed and conducted orchestral and electronic scores for short films and commercials as well as being a classically-trained pianist. Lazonick is also a connoisseur of analog synths and vintage drum machines, and will release a second EP focussing on these passions during the course of 2018. Here we are treated to three luscious works for piano and string quartet, written for a one-off performance at Studio OFF Interarts, an art gallery in Montreal. The piece was performed in a forest-like immersive environment, and was originally called In a Forest (A Piece in Three Movements). Lazonick performed the piano parts along with a string quartet she had assembled for the performance/recording. Lazonick explains: 'As opposed to most of the other songs/compositions I have written, I have no concrete sentimental story behind writing this piece. The motivation, inspiration and overall idea behind composing it was of a more technical nature; attempting to relay the music in my head at its purest form, without any compromises, by primarily making use of melodic and harmonic dissonances whilst still keeping the content captivating, musical and continuous.

Special remarks : 12 Vinyl, 180gr, limited to 300 pieces Tracklist A1 Der Merowinger (Original) B1 Pure Awareness (Original) B2 Second Track (Original) Info: The second outing on his Midnight Themes imprint, Marlon Hoffstadt touches on featherlight acid, proto trance and jacking house across three tracks, also brimming with sub and dub. Fresh from recent releases on Hot Haus, Ransom Note Records and his own Retrograde, Marlon Hoffstadt is reemerging as a defiant staple of dancefloors far and wide. With his newest release, the Berlin producer encourages listeners to engage with the music without the parasitic interferences of 21st century life. So for the next 20 or so minutes - screens off and blinds down to enjoy some pure awareness. Vital Sales Points: ' 2nd release on Midnight Themes ' previous releases on HOT HAUS, Ransom Note Records, Retrograde, Axe On Wax, Dirt Crew ' Radio & Press PR by 'The Rest Is Noise

The latest vinyl slice from FBNM sees us head to the depths of central Africa via Paris to track down a feast of rare seventies afro funky jams from Cameroonian master musician EKO. We've brought FBNM favourite Riccio along for the journey too, who has provided us with a fantastic Rerub coaxing out some modern dancefloor sensibilities and production sparkle.

Eko Roosevelt Louis has had a music career spanning over forty years, born the grandson of a Kribi tribal chief, his musical persuasion beginning humbly with his village's local church before his formal education at the Senegal conservatoire and Paris' École Normale de Musique. EKO made a number of jazz funk and disco records in the mid seventies during a stint recording and touring in and around France before returning to Cameroon to take over his grandfather's tribal chieftaincy, a role he still holds today! Alongside this position of office EKO has continued to work with music, performing, teaching and even leading Cameroon's national orchestra!

The tracks we have selected for reissue are all taken from EKO's third album, Funky Disco Music which was recorded in Paris and released on his own Dragon Phenix imprint. Sung in a combination of English and EKO's native tongue we've lined up a real excursion in feel good afro-jazz, funk and soul made purely for dancing feet and boogying butts!

All tracks have been officially licensed and lovingly remastered for this special release by Andreas (Lupo) Lubich (CALYX Berlin), packaged alongside Riccio's sympathetic work in the cutting room on 12" vinyl with a special interview with Eko Roosevelt Louis himself!

Tevo Howard was a new name when he originally dropped Without Me on his own label Beautiful Granville back in 2008. Since then the US house music hero has graced labels as respected as Rush Hour, Permanent Vacation and Buzzin Fly with his warm, charming and deceptively simple confections, but in the swirl of the considerable catalogue Howard bas built up in the past eight years it's a welcome treat to wind things right back to the beginning. This reissue of Without Me serves as a potent reminder of the gift the man has for heartfelt melodies and unfussy compositions that speak a pure and instinctive message from beginning to end.

An ethereal, unresolved presence fading into the stereo field, Hilja breathes into life with a haunted synth line and self-sampling vocal hook that instantly creates an enchanted space. Hilja is the debut album by Glasgow-based musician Maria Rossi aka Cucina Povera. Named after a style of southern Italian traditional cooking associated with precarity and making-do, a philosophy of simplicity and stoicism that applies perfectly to the spare but beautiful music Rossi experiments with. Hilja's marriage of minimal synth, field recordings and the hymnal dexterity of Rossi's vocal performances creates a new language, sometimes literally, to be spoken in some mythological Fourth World we've yet to create.
Originally from Finland, Rossi brings an acute sense of space, surroundings, and practicality to her working practice, with each composition often relying on a limited sound palette to create deeply affecting messages which transcend language. Cucina Povera's power is to communicate purely, often down to the solo-choir nature of Rossi's multi-layered voice, an achingly beautiful instrument which has seems to have an innate spirituality in its grain. The tension between the means and the end is at the heart of Cucina Povera, the invocation of a kind of secular spirituality at times using nothing but Rossi's voice. Indeed there's almost a Dogme-like purity to the arrangements: Elektra is a soothing song based around the lapping waves of Rossi's wordless backing vocals and a simple field recording of stones knocked together. Kehoitus is completely a cappella, a haunted fairytale told in glossolalia, evoking a quasi-religious experience with very little.
For music often minimal and simple there's a boldness that belies Hilja's status as a debut. Rossi allows each word, each sound and rhythm to exist in its own space, finding its own relationship with its surroundings. Mesikämmenen Veisu is perhaps the most ecclesiastical sounding composition here, burbling water trickles below a virtuoso vocal, with incredible arrangements in several registers undulating above. A meditation to relieve hunger and restriction, it's a perfect summing up of Hilja, a music ambient but completely earthed, finding enchantment in what you have to hand, the realism of magic, the magic of realism.
First Press limited to 300 with hand-screened sleeves.

Record Kicks proudly presents "SuperStudio" the new single by legendary Italian cinematic funk combo Calibro 35 sampled by Dr.Dre and Jay-Z, taken from their forthcoming new studio album DECADE

"SuperStudio" - available on a super limited edition 45 vinyl and digital download together with bonus track "Gomma" - is Calibro 35's first single and anticipates their new album DECADE that hits the streets next 9 February. Quoting the band "SuperStudio is the main theme for a movie that doesn't exist, starring Clint Eastwood and Pam Grier saving earth from the invasion of deadly robots from another planet" and it's pure Dynamite. On the flip you'll find "Gomma", the bonus track out of the album which is an irresistible funk groovy shaker.

Recorded at the legendary Officine Meccaniche studios in Milan by CALIBRO's usual suspect and Grammy Award winner Tommaso Colliva, "DECADE" marks 10 years of Calibro 35's releases and it's the very first album recorded by Calibro with an orchestral-inspired enlarged line-up. Active since 2008 CALIBRO 35 enjoys a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent band around. During their ten years career, they have been sampled by Dr. Dre on his Compton album and Jay-Z, they shared stages worldwide with the likes of Roy Ayers, Muse, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sharon Jones, Thundercat, Headhunters and as unique musicians they've collaborated with, amongst others PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish and Stewart Copeland and Nic Cester (The Jet). Described by Rolling Stone magazine's as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing, that happened to Italy in the last years", Calibro 35 now count on a number of aficionados worldwide which includes VIP's fans such as Dj Food (Ninja Tune), Mr Scruff and Huey Morgan (Fun Lovin' Criminals) among others.

Air Lows is the debut solo album by Silvia Kastel. The Italian artist has been a fixture of the underground since her precocious teens, clocking up many miles in Control Unit with Ninni Morgia ('It's like Catherine Deneuve dumped two cases of post-Repulsion psychiatric notes over Pere Ubu's Dub Housing, lit the fuse and, ahem, stood well back" - Julian Cope), including collaborations with the likes of Smegma, Factrix, Gary Smith, Aki Onda and Gate (Michael Morley of The Dead C). Both solo and in her work with others, Kastel has explored the outer limits and inner workings of no wave, industrial, dub, extreme electronics, free rock and improvisation. Air Lows is both her fullest and most refined offering to date, a work of vivid, isolationist electronics which draws deeply on her past experience but assuredly breaks new ground. Prompted by a late-flowering interest in techno and club music, Kastel sought to create something which combines a steady rhythmic pulse with the otherworldly sonorities of musique concrete, and avant-garde synth sounds inspired by Japanese minimalism and techno-pop (Haruomi Hosono's Philharmony being a particular favourite). The formal artifice of muzak / elevator music, the intros and outros of generic popular songs, the extreme light-heavy contrasts of jungle, the creative sampling of hardcore, and the very 'human' synths in the jazz of Herbie Hancock's Sextant and Sun Ra: all were touchstones for Air Lows' conception and composition, and all strains of music addressing - or complicating - the relationship between the human and the technological. By extension, visual inspirations also proved important: anime, and the avant-garde fashion of Rei Kawakubo. What does that shirt or dress sound like Though used sparingly, Kastel's voice remains her key instrument, whether subject to dissociative digital manipulations as on 'Bruell', delivering matter-of-fact spoken monologues, or providing splashes of pure tonal colour. Recorded between her expansive Italy studio and a more compact, ersatz set-up in Berlin, Air Lows gradually takes on some of the character of the German capital: you can hear the wide streets and uninhabited spaces, the seepage of never-ending nightlife, the loneliness. Air Lows is The Wizard of Oz in reverse: the glorious technicolour J-pop deconstructions of its first half leading inexorably to the icy noir of 'Spiderwebs' and 'Concrete Void'. These later tracks are reminiscent of 2015's magnificent 39 12', Kastel in the role of numbed, nihilistic chanteuse stalking dank, murky tunnels of reverb and sub-bass. But in fact there is contradiction and emotional ambiguity to Air Lows from the outset, and throughout - a sense of both infinite space and acute claustrophobia; energy and inertia; fluency and restraint.

* Fully embracing its penchant for explorative music, DAC Records invites Alex Augier.
* His work offers a cross-cutting musical perspective, allowing hybrid aesthetics that includes sound and visual components. These components interact within the stage area, taking the form of singular audiovisual performances.
* This time, Germination, his first solo EP, is purely musical work composed of organic, visceral, living sounds, both fragile and mighty. The electronic music is free of constraints imposed by the dedicated instruments. Embodied by large dynamic ranges and a constantly moving temporality, Germination tells an evolving process, in full bloom, with its share of mutations and strange directions.
* Germination is composed of four tracks, including one remix by Roly Porter. In the same vein as Alex Augier, the co-founder of Subtext Recordings explores the experimental music boundaries, both electronically and instrumentally

* Making his debut on Subaltern with SUBALT014 is Estonian producer Bisweed, famous for his trippy and intricate sound design and original take on bass music. A psychotropic journey into the weald, this is a typically dark and surreal release from the well-established Subaltern imprint.

* Shelter
Sinister sounds welcome the listener to the journey as we enter the weald. Dark synths lead into weighty bass-lines, embedded in driving percussive elements and a spine-chilling atmosphere. Tasteful orchestral elements accompany before reaching a climax of tribal percussion and pure bass. Bisweed's musical sensibility and dance-floor know-how blend symbiotically to create this heavy yet soulful bass music masterpiece.

* Swamp
Going deeper, haunting textures guide the listener into a pulsating implosion of low frequencies, which is bound to shake up the dance as well as your expectations of a quiet night in. Rumbling and chopping wobbles complete a captivating piece of sound system music. Tread lightly so you don't sink in too deep - the swamp might just consume you.

* Dolmen feat. Mentha
Like stepping into a clearing, Dolmen lightens the mood - but only ever so slightly. Chanting voices hail the listener, as wide planes of sound unfold into a bass-heavy yet deep stepper. Subtly and slowly, Bisweed is masterfully transitioning into a soothing and melodic vibe, featuring label head honcho Mentha on Guitar.

Hany Mehanna, beloved musician and composer of the greatest artists from the Arab world such as Oum Kalthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez, shows himself from a more experimental side on his solo albums. Originally released in 1973, 'The Miracles of the Seven Dances' is a pure work of genius: hypnotic organ grooves, psychedelic guitars, mystic strings and haunting percussion. Belly dance as good as it gets! High quality pressing. Artwork and label design by Pieter Heytens

Around the time of this recording, Stanley Cowell had achieved a degree of prominence as the pianist for the advanced bop quartet Music Inc., which he co-led with trumpeter Charles Tolliver, as well as for unusual projects like his Piano Choir. With Regeneration he chose another path, essentially trying to produce a jazz-infused pop album with strong African roots, perhaps owing a little bit to Stevie Wonder. He assembled an extremely strong cast of musicians for the venture, including Marion Brown, Billy Higgins, and Ed Blackwell, as well as several African string and percussion masters and, by and large, succeeded conceptually if not commercially. A few songs use vocals in a fairly standard pop framework, and, while they are performed capably enough, the lyrical content leaves something to be desired in typical mid-'70s fashion. But much of the rest of the music makes up for this with, among other things, a delightful fife and drum piece by Brown and strong bass work by Bill Lee (Spike's dad). Regeneration is an interesting, often enjoyable album which, aside from its own small pleasures, provides a snapshot of some of the cross-fertilization in genres occurring at the time.

It's impossible to talk about this album without acknowledging the spectre of death that hangs over it - not only is it the third entry in Strata-East Records' Dolphy Series, a collection of archival recordings from some of the label's close associates honoring the recently deceased multi-instrumentalist, but it is actually dedicated to two members of the band, Wynton Kelly and Kenny Dorham, who died in between the recording sessions and its release. The point is driven home even further by the fact that the album begins with a tribute from Payne to the fallen Martin Luther King, Jr., a piece that acts as a de facto solo for Dorham - his playing all rosy elegance and regal warmth - before shifting into the lighter (though equally coolly-paced) "I Know Love," a showcase for Payne's sax. While not the most somber jazz track ever recorded, this opening suite is a low-key and mournful way to open the affair, but thankfully the album really picks off and shows these musicians more in their element the rest of the way.

"Girl, You Got a Home" is a funky piece, beginning very soulfully with some tight interplay among the rhythm section of Kelly, bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Albert Heath. Ware is in especially fine form on this track, tying together the disparate passages of the piece by grounding the more ponderous moments in a deep funk, while Kelly's playing is especially ear catching in the way he stabs at his piano like it's an organ. After the first two tracks take up nearly twenty minutes, the four-minute "Slide Hampton" feels almost impossibly brief, a feeling that's enhanced by its quick, jittery, and infectious rhythm, driven by some really dexterous work from Kelly. The final track, "Flying Fish," may be the album's highlight, a Caribbean-inspired composition that casts the rhythm section as flighty ground for both Payne and Dorham to vamp on. The track is oddly danceable for something released on Strata-East, maybe the most fun moment ever for the label, and relentlessly uptempo. Though this release may be in part defined by the deaths that preceded it, it's clear that the recording process was actually a lot of fun for everybody, as their enthusiasm and energy jumps right out of the speakers. This is one of the first Strata East records I really got into and is still one of my favorites, a must-hear for any fans of the flightier moments of Dorham or Kelly's career, and a fitting tribute for both master musicians.

Masaki messaged Blueberry Records Soundcloud and signed an EP within a week. I guess sending demos is still a thing.

The concept of the EP is to demonstrate all the colors in Masaki's rainbow. A truly gifted studio engineer, there are many styles in which he moves across the mixing board.

Ark and Blessing are pure sound design ticklers. As if he decided to make an updated Blue-Ray instructional soundtrack. Soaring melodies and sub bass anchors the listener is literally pinned done by the pressure and beaten with an ugly beauty unique to Masakis style.

Dolci and Ilah both radiate on the dance floor like lost dark rollers from an updated mid 90's

Estelia and Fraewnuil demonstrate the beautiful thoughtfulness Masaki also possesses. Like a hidden runout groove, Masaki leaves the listener pensive and wrapped in a warm embrace.

D x

Most of the musicians who gathered to record this fantastic spiritual jazz record for the Strata-East label on May 24th, 1974 had crossed each other's paths in various musical pairings over the preceding few years. Husband and wife team Dee Dee Bridgewater (vocals) and Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet) had been working together on albums like Frank Foster's "Loud Minority", and Roy Ayers' "Coffy" and "Virgo Red". Ten weeks before the "Freedom Of Speech" session, the couple had been joined in Tokyo by Cecil's brother Ronald Bridgewater (tenor saxaphone) to record Dee Dee's debut album, the beautiful "Afro Blue". Also in the studio on May 24th, 1974 was Donald Smith, (piano, vocals), fresh from recording on his older brother Lonnie Liston Smith's "Cosmic Funk" - on which Ronald Bridgewater had also played percussion. Cecil McBee (bass) was also there - just two weeks before, he'd completed his own Strata East date "Mutima", and in February he'd played on Mtume's "Rebirth Cycle" - with both albums also featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater on vocals. He'd also played on Lonnie Liston Smith's "Astral Travelling".

So 1974 was a huge year for all five of these people. Donald Smith and Cecil McBee were six months away from recording on Lonnie Liston Smith's massive "Expansions", with McBee fitting in a few Pharoah Sanders albums in between.

AND THEN, THE MYSTERY ... So with all this fervent activity, the question has to be asked ...Who was Billy Earl Parker Jr (drums), the leader of this session

Billy Parker remains unlisted as a musician on all major jazz sites. His only other recording appears to be as a percussionist on Charles Tolliver's "Impact" in 1975. Then there's nothing.

Finally, by backtracking one of those Zoom info pages, I found a summary of a "SUNY Rockland Community College" 2002 press release that no longer exists :

"Billy Parker's Fourth World Legacy Concert ...The concert, Billy Parker's Fourth World Legacy, is the eighth annual tribute honouring the late percussionist and RCC educator, Billy Parker. A long-time Rockland County resident, Parker began his affiliation with RCC in 1987, building its jazz program and maintaining his life-long tradition of teaching and inspiring others. A lifelong student himself, Parker was near completion of his doctorate in music education at New York University when he died in 1996.

But then people began to read this blog post, and in the comments, Aaron Fuller said :

"Billy Parker was my uncle. He was an incredibly talented, smart, and kind man. I'm very happy to see that folks are still enjoying his masterpiece. Just to give you a bit more information about him... He was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and then attended college at Michigan State University. He met my aunt in Lansing. They lived in NY and toured in Europe for quite a while. Sometime later they relocated to Nyack, NY and he ended up on the faculty of the community college while he pursued advanced degrees from NYU. He was an Ellington scholar. Although his name isn't well-known even among the most avid jazz fans, I think that if you were to talk to some of the great NY musicians that were around in the late 60s and 70s you would find that most knew him. He also had a huge impact as a music educator and I have no doubt that his former students are all over the place, continuing to put his love of the art into practice."

Melodies International proudly moves forward with an elusive piece of mid-tempo Chicago soul originally performed by Gloria J. Jennings in 1977.

Gloria was signed to Stage Productions as a gospel singer with pure and raw talent she had developed in the choir of her father's Southern Baptist Church. She was 16 years old at the time. To tutor her for R&B vocals, Willie C. Nance of Stage Productions spent 3 months taking the artist back and forth for vocal training 25 miles each way, 3 days per week.

At the time, Mr. Nance had made plans to work with singer and songwriter Theresa Eagins to record Know What You Want'. However, two days before the recording was set to begin, Ms. Eagins refused to move forward with the recording as she chose to take her religious faith more seriously and forgo the singing of secular music. Hence, Stage Productions turned to Gloria Jay to perform a song that would go on to move people thousands of miles away, many years later.

One of them was Patrick Forge: Back around 1990 I had a residency upstairs at the Wag Club on a Friday night alongside Paul Martin (he was Gilles P's A&R right hand man at Talkin Loud), the night was called Respect and we played mainly Soul, Boogie and Jazz-Funk. Many years later I bumped into Paul at a record shop and he quizzed me about a tune I used to play at the end of the night at Respect. Hhe described it as being an independent Soul seven inch on a red label, slow to mid tempo... and more to the point a bullet of a record. It piqued my curiosity so much I burrowed through my seven inches and even made Paul a compilation of likely contenders, his response was lovely selection, but it's not on there!'. Damn, a mystery! Many moons later whilst I was living in Japan, my tenant in my London flat said she'd found an old mixtape I'd done for her way back when and was desperate to know the identity of something she was calling the choo choo song'. Eventually when I was back in London she played the mixtape and I quickly identified her tune as Fabrica' by Cesar Mariano, however letting the tape play some time later a familiar descending chord sequence catapulted me back to those Friday nights at The Wag, and Gloria Jay's plaintive vocals reminded me of a record that had been absent from my life for far too long. I've no idea what happened to my original copy, I hunted another one down straight away, and I've kept it close ever since. Know What You Want' is a song that goes deep in such a simple, unaffected, almost naive way, Gloria's voice is both sweet and raw, it's built on simple chords and obvious instrumentation, but it's so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Know What You Want' is soul music, pure and unadulterated, there's nothing getting in the way of the feeling, it's straight from the heart.' Carefully re-mastered from the tapes, MEL008 comes forth in its original 7' format with a 14'x14' poster.

Release number 2 for Burnin Music sees two local heroes of the London underground house music scene, Leonidas and Kay Suzuki, joining forces for a unique project : Synqlock vol II

Hard to describe in a few words 11:24 of pure sonic bliss. With 'Interstellar Meditation' the artists seem to have reached a certain wisdom in the making: rain falling, organic sounds of the forrest and a beautiful analogue symphony. A very very emotional track. A unique journey.

Asteroid (Jackin' Acid Dub) is a short pumped up techno tune which manages to keep the soul from 'Asteroid' (on the flip side) while adding acid elements.

Undercurrent opens the B side with layers of analogue synths on a beatless groove. It feels like the start of an epic journey into sounds where time and space are relative.

With 'Asteroid' you get to full speed: again layers of analogue synths respond to a breathless beat. The hypnotic bassline pulls you to an 'emotional' dancefloor: it is not only a 'dance' track but also feels like an emotional experience.

Two of Hospital Record's most electrifying artists have formed an allegiance for a true coming together of titans. Bournemouth's Krakota and Sao Paulo's Urbandawn have combined their production talents to create the five-track 'Focus Shift' EP - a real drum & bass mash up of styles and sonic sequences.
The aptly named 'Coyote' is an absolute howler, unashamedly powerful and loaded with energy, distorting and plunging itself into new streams of audio chaos throughout.
'Laguna' fits with their alter-egos - sweet, pensive and majestic. Operating within a more classic Hospital framework, this rolling stroke of musical bliss will leave no party unsatisfied.
Sitting in the middle of this concerted creation is title track 'Focus Shift'. Informed by both liquid-funk and tech styles, it's gelled together with scathing bass riffs and high profile percussive chops.
'Epigram' has all the bassweight you'd expect from such a monolith collision of production powerhouses. Crisp and sinful, with a consistently militant atmosphere this song is pure depth, darkness and danger, with a genuinely intriguing sonic progression that renders this track as devastating as weapons grade plutonium.
Seeing the release home is 'Paladin'. An ardent dancefloor destroyer that fuses the power of the stepper with the groove of a roller, that even angels would find themselves bustin' a skank. Uplifting and powerful with cosmic subtleties in the low end twinned with sombre melodies and skittering drum-work all tempered in unison to create a certified banger.

There is no end to composer Peter Broderick's creative output, and so we present to you his new album titled All Together Again — available worldwide on November 17th 2017 via Erased Tapes.They say music takes you on a journey, and this collection of commissioned work by Peter quite literally does that. From a ferry boat ride in Istanbul, to walking down the aisle at a wedding, these songs were created for particular situations, yet Peter found a way to work without any sort of limitations and on his own erms. The result is an assortment of works from the past ten years, coming together as one: Peter's new album. Words from Peter, October 2017: Ever since I started releasing records in 2007 (10 years ago now!), people have contacted me periodically to ask if I'd be interested in making music to accompany their projects. Most of these projects have been things like films, dance pieces and theatre plays . . . but every so often I get the odd request for something a little different. Peter, would you write a song for my wedding My one year anniversary A ferry boat ride
In early 2015 I was asked to perform 12 minutes of music during a runway show as part of New York Fashion Week. I agreed and began composing a 12-minute piece which I could perform on my own with a few different instruments and some looping pedals. I made a recording of the piece and sent it over to my contacts at the fashion show . . . but a few days before I was to fly out to New York, they wrote back and told me they actually just wanted me to play a few older songs that they were already familiar with. Feeling slightly disappointed, I shelved the other piece, giving it the title If I Were A Runway Model.It is with great pleasure that I now present this piece in a collection of commissioned works spanning the last decade . . . it's All Together Again. This group of oddball works does indeed include a couple pieces written for weddings (Our Future In Wedlock and The Walk), and a song someone asked me to write as a gift for his wife on their first year wedding anniversary (Emily). And indeed, there's a 17-minute piece written to accompany a ferry boat ride in Istanbul (A Ride On The Bosphorus). A few of the pieces were written for films (Robbie's Song, Atlantic and Seeing Things), and one for a kind of interactive installation (Unsung Heroes).In my early days of recording, I took pride in playing all the different instruments myself and doing the recording myself as well. And then at some point I started branching out, working with other musicians and recording engineers. But this record is very dear to me in that it's a return to that original approach . . . playing all the different instruments myself, working with my limits on each one, and my own limits in recording and mixing. I've always held a broad curiosity for all different instruments and all different styles of music, and if nothing else I hope this record will portray that curiosity, and my pure love for this thing we call music. Can you dig it The cover art was made by Peter himself in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, by cutting and sticking different coloured paper fragments to depict the individuality of each track.

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

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

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

Following a run of local transmissions from A Sagittariun, Crump, Rob Smith and Atki2, Idle Hands turns its attention to Berlin and the straight-up, no-nonsense techno thrust of Johanna Knutsson and Hans Berg. Both respected artists and DJs in their own right, the pair have been turning out 12"s together for The Free Spirit Society, Klasse and Crime City Disco over the past few years, but most importantly they've been steering the excellent UFO Station Recordings as a vessel for their punchy, primal techno tracks.

The sound on this EP taps into the pure form of stern, dark dancefloor tackle favoured at Idle Hands - no extraneous filler, plenty of space in the mix, but equally built with warmth and personality rather than monochrome functionality. If you need further proof, just look to the fact the EP is named after a Swedish soap opera from the 90s.

The bleeps and bass tones that pulse through "Taggen" are so finely crafted they need not skip and dance around the arrangement. The melodic interplay on "Klimax" is subtle but ultimately uplifting and optimistic where so much techno concerns itself with oppressive gloom. "Bimbo" finds the pair embracing a more psychedelic approach, but even here the modulating effects processes are kept within certain boundaries so as to not dilute the impact on the floor. After all, this is music to dance to, to be felt over a large system (where possible).


Moving from leftfield bass excursions to minimalist 2-step, UK techno and now onto this much more continental sound, theMälarviken EP continues to widen the range of Idle Hands' musical tastes without losing sight of the complete picture.

After more than a year of silence, the French duo VTCN RADIO releases its debut album "'Mydriase"

Mysterious and audacious odyssey, 'Mydriase' presents itself as a sensory and confidential journey. Fruit of a nocturnal composition guided by a need of musical introspection and a decisive encounter with an owl, the writing of this album will cut off its creators in an alternative reality for three years. Behind VTCN RADIO are the French producers Nathan Bokobza - a pianist fascinated by the romantic repertoire and the harmonic research of the impressionists - and Louis Martinez, a guitarist passionate about digital technologies and their uses in the process of sound creation. The group revealed its existence at the end of 2015 with the esoteric Riddle Song and continues to surprise the spirits with the release of the compositions Late Night Shuttle and Venus Flytrap in 2016, before creating in 2017 their own label "Five to Six Records". VTCN RADIO presents with Mydriase an experience based mainly on the dialogue between two entities - a dark, deep and a purer and luminescent - to constitute an elegant music, and ambivalent by its capacity to propose different interpretations. This self-produced album marks the first release of their label Five to Six Records, and presents us for the first time in a broader way the hallucinatory and singular universe of VTCN RADIO.

We are honored to have one of the best forward thinking artists in the roster back in our catalog, This time on Collective. ASC is back to with 3 original cuts that define hypnotism on another level. The record contains also a very rare gem, Acronym is back on the label, his remix of the title track 'Sentinel' is pure class.

Optimo Music is delighted to continue its fruitful relationship with The Golden Filter with the release of this fantastic 4-track 12' EP.
We always prefer our artists to speak for themselves and avoid bullshit PR hype so here is what they have to say about this EP -
We're quite agnostic, and unreligious, but if there is any vibes associated with the EP (and maybe all of our music) it is very Buddhist in its ideas. Mindful. Aware of impermanence.
The whole EP is about being with the one(s) you love when everything else around you breaks down. Looking inward, with pure love, in the hope to radiate outward, rather than pushing for a fight, or running away. Recorded, written, and produced in isolation by Stephen and Penelope on our own in East London Studio space.
The EP starts with the song 'End Of Times' which is a dramatic, Shangri-Las influenced take on feeling powerless in a chaotic world, but still high on love. Happiness can be found in analog reverb. This is followed by 'Serenity', a hard and tranquil meditation of past + future.
Side 2 leads with 'Heart Control', with a slight nod to Pink Floyd. A nine minute plea to ourselves to keep it all focused and under control... The EP closes with 'Darkness Falls'. The lyrics for this came from an apocalyptic dream that Penelope had, and wrote down in the morning. the music is 100% purely modular, er, except for the tiny bits of guitar at the end.