Search:re us

Taavi Suisalu is an Estonian media artist particularly interested into complex and adventurous sounds, field recordings and harsh audio emergencies, organized under the form of symphony or as a result of performative interactions.

In 2014 Suisalu received the Young Estonian Artist Prize as curator of Project of In-existent Villages, an articulate exhibition full of installations and site-specific sound performances. The use of peripheral spaces and the crossovers, sometimes extremely creative, of human interactions, data, sounds and technologies, are recurring in the works of Suisalu, whose subjective perspective unconventionally investigates different social and cultural phenomena. He is always attracted by the different forms of technologies. It can be an old seismograph he reconstructs to record the underground vibrations of a volcano, or, it can be some 3D models he uses to analyze a grain of soil coming from the ancient Pompei. The results of the researches would lead to the installations. The whole set of data is often the premise of a narration, a datafiction, as in the case of the signals recorded from some abandoned satellites, who are later presented with a speed set by the position of other satellites gravitating above the gallery hosting the event.

“Noisephony of Lawn Mowers" was originally composed in 2013, but it was unreleased until now, when Staalplaat, a fundamental label for its unusual experimental connections and for the sound events performed in unconventional spaces, decided to publish it. It's a score for lawnmowers, whose making is given to a conductor and executed by a group of artists. Suisalu reminds us that historically, lawn has been a symbol of power and wealth as it required substantial upkeep and unused land. Today, it still indicates wealth, but is mainly maintained by the owners themselves. This puts us in a schizophrenic situation where we strive to be privileged by taking the role of the servants.

“Silver Meets Ted” is the other track included in the selection. It's a recording of over ten minutes, whose trend cryptically moves on and with some unsettling minimal tolls, always more metallic. Some deaf beats follow, and then we have a splash of water and some slightly hinted neighs, chirps, different spills of liquid, more intense and measured, clackings and vibrations, some hardly identifiable frequencies and again a series of punctuated metal bells. The work by Taavi Suisalu stands out as a calibrated combination of mathematical coherence and elements of surprise, automatized and causal processes, some small oblique utopias, that work well together by improving highly subjective resources and create some slightly unsettling final results.

Offering a three track EP on Token, emblematic UK producer James Ruskin proves his capability and linear focus once again through 'From the Ashes'. Looking past trends to create a lasting record rich in texture and thick with impact, the project affirms what the scene has already known to be true about his work for the past 25 years.

Setting his intentions from the A1, Ruskin wastes no time by creating an intimidating introduction. Saturated percussion and stuttering keys whip through a 4 minute masterclass of sound system focused production. Adventurous in structure, Ruskin remains unquestionably in control of a bursting, almost chaotic track. 'From the Ashes 2' picks up what was left off, containing a hard-set groove with hi hats slithering in progressively from the stereo image to slightly destabilize an impressive club-heavy tool. With intricate work being done in the ambience, the EP's hard hitting second track booms through a cavernous acoustic, giving the record not only body, but dimension. Switching up the rhythm and focusing on more mental synth work for the third act, Ruskin quickly and mercilessly rips through his work with a shrill pad, creating overwhelming tension to be released in the first third of the recording. He brings a dosed dissonance between his elements, reflective of the qualities of vintage techno with today's capabilities and arrangement. Pushing intensity through waves, Ruskin leaves us in anticipation of a fourth track that is never given.

Ancient A&O is a selection of unreleased tracks and dubs we like from our old DAT tapes all created during our early years between 1989 and 1993. It includes Here For A Reason, a rare unreleased track featuring Nishka. We're very pleased the great Lantern Rec are releasing the vinyl and we hope you like it, many thanks... A&O"

Introducing ‘Duality’, the new double album from Andrew Bayer. Two musical threads weave through the collected works of Andrew Bayer. One thread gave us the downtempo masterclass of 2013’s ‘If It Were You We’d Never Leave’ and the brilliant 'In My Last Life' LP. The other thread produced arena-sized anthems like 2014’s ‘Once Lydian’, his epic 'Super Human' with Asbjørn and the club remix project 'In My Next Life'. From the introspective to the explosive, these records are our community’s shared soundtrack: we’ve all got a favourite Andrew Bayer record. But they have come in so many forms and styles. It leaves us asking the question, who exactly is Andrew Bayer? It’s a question he’s asked himself. “Since day one, I have always struggled with how to present myself. I love making these experimental home listening albums of electronica and indie sounds, but I also love DJing and making trance bangers. On my last album I had to remix the album in full after it was released to make the worlds fit. This time around I wanted to capture all the breadth, depth and tension within that duality under one single project” - Andrew Bayer ‘Duality’ brings these two creative threads together under one album for the first time since his debut album 'It's Artificial'. Crafted over three years, Bayer is joined by an eclectic cast of collaborators old and new. ‘Duality’ pt. 1 explores Bayer’s passion for downtempo and indie-pop, while ‘Duality’ pt. 2 takes on his forward-thinking trance and progressive sond. Both are tied by Bayer's unique vision, a shared sensibility and same group of collaborators. Today, you can hear a sample from each side: ‘Equal’ (with Asbjørn), and ‘Midnight’ (with Alison May). ‘Duality’ is the true follow up to my first album ‘It’s Artificial’. It is by far my most raw and honest work, and I can’t wait to celebrate the album around the world with you all on tour” - Andrew Bayer

Tom Trago returns to Rush Hour after 10 years with a wonderfully accomplished mini-album, tip!

During the years he spent living in Amsterdam, when his DJ career seemed to become an unstoppable juggernaut, Tom Trago was a regular visitor to Deco Sauna, a local institution that helped him “decompress” and de-toxify his body. Eventually, a more extended period of “decompression” was needed, with Trago moving to the coast to reassess his priorities and spend more time with his young family.

‘Deco’, his sixth album and first for Rush Hour in a decade, was recorded following an extended absence from club dancefloors, as Trago cut back on DJ commitments to prioritise family life. When he returned to the studio, often with his daughter by his side, Trago initially struggled to get back into the groove. The desire to make dancefloor-focused music had – temporarily, at least – deserted him; instead, he found himself drawn towards a desire to create “electronic lullabies” and music that reflected his more pastoral environment (his home backs on to a patch of woodland in which he would walk every day).

Returning to his most familiar synthesisers – and specifically the first synthesiser he bought, on credit, as a young DJ and wannabe producer – Trago set about navigating different musical routes without the straight-jacket of club-focused dancefloors. Occasionally, old friends from Amsterdam would join him in the studio – Tracey and Maxi Mill, both of whom are part of his Voyage Direct label roster, contributed to tracks on the album – but for the most part the production process was a solo endeavour: musical therapy for an artist determined to do things differently after years spent making club hits and sweat-soaked peak-time workouts.

The results are rarely less than spellbinding. Trago sets his stall out with opener ‘Dark Oak’, a gorgeous, colourful, sun-bright scene-setter co-produced by Tracey that layers tumbling lead lines, chiming melodic motifs and kaleidoscopic chords atop the gentlest of bubbly beat patterns. Maxi Mill lends a hand on ‘Central Park’, a deep and hypnotic excursion marked out by rhythmic bleeps, minimalistic beats and layered melodies, and the summer sun-down rush of ‘Never Peace a Puzzle’, where kaleidoscopic synth sounds, meandering solos and looped electronic stabs rush towards a dancefloor of the mind.

Trago’s desire to create “electronic lullabies” for his young daughter comes to the fore on ‘To Be Left Unlocked’, a hypnotising fusion of spacey electronic motifs, Steve Reich style (synth) marimba melodies and slowly building musical intensity, while the echoing Fender Rhodes riffs, squelchy synth-bass, glistening guitar notes and sparse, snappy post hip-hop beats of ‘When The Sky Is Watching Us’ doff a cap to the producer’s roots as a bedroom beat-maker.

Given the project’s genesis, it’s perhaps fitting that Trago chose to conclude proceedings with ‘It Might Be Forever’ and the digital only ‘Blue Dope’, the album’s most rejuvenating, immersive, and vibrant moments. Both feature sustained chords painted with vivid aural brush strokes and come blessed with the merest hint of a rhythmic pulse – a thread that subtly runs throughout Trago’s most mature and musically rich album to date.

Matt Anniss

Since relocating to Brazil some years back, Needs Music co-founder Lars Bartkuhn has returned to his long-held love of musical improvisation. Although it’s a product of his jazz roots and classical training, the German producer has constantly found new ways to apply it to his work in the sphere of electronic music.

‘Dystopia’, his first solo album for almost nine years, was born out of two interlinked ideas: a desire to create improvised music without the aid of computer sequencers or an electronic drum set, and a deeply held love of storytelling through sound. Bartkuhn set to work improvising with modular synthesizers, acoustic instruments and hand percussion, later adding light-touch overdubs to a handful of pieces. When he listened back to the recordings, an aural narrative emerged, and you’ll hear it if you listen to the album from start to finish, as is intended.

As you’d expect from a musician and composer of Bartkuhn’s undoubted ability, ‘Dystopia’ is a stunning album – an undulating, expansive ambient journey packed with emotional resonance. While Bartkuhn naturally sees it as a logical progression of his previous ambient-leaning work with Kabuki as The First Minute of a New Day (and particularly their self-titled 2020 album Séance Centre), ‘Dystopia’ also features subtle nods to many of his long-held musical loves, including John Hassell’s ‘fourth world’ recordings, the impossible-to-pigeonhole 1970s catalogue of deep jazz imprint ECM, and the far-sighted American minimalism of Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

The album’s emotional depth is evident early on, with the slow-burn title track – all bubbling electronics, billowing chords, clarinet-style notes and gently strummed guitars offering the most melancholic and bittersweet of openings. The becalmed ‘A Drop Of Water In The Ocean’ follows, with discordant aural textures and hand percussion mimicking the rolling ocean, before ‘Largo (Calm Before The Storm)’ hints at unsettling times ahead.

‘Water and Warm Air’, the only track on the album whose starting point was not Bartkuhn’s cherished modular set-up, bleeps and bubbles across the sound space, adding a starry and otherworldly slant to proceedings, while ‘Disembodied Journey (Parts 1, 2 and 3)’ is a sublime, slowly unfurling journey in three movements – all Tangerine Dream style synthesizer motifs, Pat Metheny-esque guitars and jazz-fusion instrumentation.

So the album continues, with the poignant warmth and looped motifs of ‘Still Existing’ and the sparse, dubbed-out minimalism of ‘Do You Know How To Get Out?’ – a kind of 21st century jazz-fusionist’s take on sparse electronic hypnotism – giving wat to closing cut ‘Into The Waves’, a gentle combination of undulating electronic arpeggios and echoing instrumentation that offers a hopeful and undeniably picturesque conclusion.

Fittingly, the album cover features a painting by the late Dutch artist Franz Deckwitz (1934-94), whose images of alien landscapes were used by Phillips on a series of music concrete compilations. The image featured on the cover of ‘Dystopia’, depicting a deep blue ocean and shoreline, was painted by Deckwitz in Amsterdam in the late 1970s and inspired by a trip to the island of Ponza, Italy.

Matt Anniss

Volta Cab transports us, once again, into his own-defined post-punk universe, bringing nostalgia from 80s synthwave and 90s beats in his own modern context.Throughout his new EP “Alphabet of Humanity”, Volta Cab creates raw emotions from the first track to the last. There is a before and an after when listening to the subtle arrangement and dynamics of each tune, as the atmosphere that embeds his music can only let our imagination flow.

The EP also features astonishing artwork by Anthony Burrill.

Essential UK experimental composer Richard Skelton returns to Phantom Limb for new album selenodesy, interweaving his newfound love of electronics and synthesis with mastery of gritty organic texture.

Skelton’s music has always been rooted in landscape, in the loam and grit of the earth: from his 2009 Pennine Moors-inspired modern classic Landings to his more recent Moraine Sequence of geological excavations, his work has been bound inexorably with the stark and untended wilderness of northern landscapes. With this new album, however, Skelton shifts his gaze skyward — in part the result of a move in 2017 to the countryside near the Kielder Observatory, and to a so-called ‘dark sky’ region of the UK. In this remote landscape, light pollution is minimal, allowing the austere majesty of the night sky to be seen with greater clarity.

The resulting album, selenodesy, reveals a new, reverberant spaciousness to Skelton’s use of electronics. It marries the twin worlds of his previous Phantom Limb release - 2020’s These Charms May Be Sung Over A Wound, and its abandoned-factory threnody - with the landscape-revering arcana of his earlier work, which saw him bury instruments in the soil to return months later to recover and record with them, newly imbued with the land they occupied. selenodesy was prefigured by a period of insomnia and the relief found

in stargazing, during which Skelton tried to transcribe his hypnagogic visions: “much of this music came to me in the early hours, in that nowhere state between dreaming and waking. I’d look out the window and the night sky would be swirling with stars. Mars or Venus would be hovering in the corner of the room. I’d lie there and watch the Aurora Borealis dance across the ceiling.”

In selenodesy, we find the lingering, distorted sine waves of album opener “Albedo” that thrum and fizz with an icy, foreboding moonlight, rays of subtle movement that illuminate and darken alternately. Next follows lead single “The Plot of Lunar Phases”, whose passive shrieks echo about a cold, yawning space, reaching an ecstatic crescendo of hissing sonics and swirling celestial drone. Its dynamic range acts like the light of a lunar passage, from utmost darkness to radiant luminosity. Elsewhere, the pulsing, precessional bass of “Faint Ray Systems” gradually opens to reveal mournful, elegiac synthesis that reaches high into the night sky with an unearthly beauty. It is as if, during those long months of lockdown in the Scottish countryside, Skelton tapped into a series of sidereal electromagnetic transmissions, and transposed them into musical form.

Today sees Belgian-Caribbean provocateur Charlotte Adigéry and her long-term musical partner, Bolis Pupul announce their debut album Topical Dancer, due for release on March 4 2022 via Soulwax’s iconic label DEEWEE.
Cultural appropriation. Misogyny and racism. Social media vanity. Post-colonialism and political correctness. These are not talking points that you’d ordinarily hear on the dancefloor but Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul are ripping up the rulebook with their debut album Topical Dancer. The Ghent-based duo, who broke out with their 2019 Zandoli EP, are rare storytellers in electronic music: they take the temperature of the time and funnel them into their playful synth concoctions – never didactic and always with a knowing wink.

Their debut studio record – which cements them as a duo under both their names for the first time and is co-written and co-produced by Soulwax – is both a triumph of kaleidoscopic electro-pop and “a snapshot of how we think about pop culture in the 2020s.” It captures Charlotte and Bolis’s essence as musical collaborators and the conversations they’ve had over the past two years on tour, as well as their perspectives as Belgians with an immigrant background, Charlotte with Guadeloupean and French-Martinique ancestry and Bolis being of Chinese descent.

Beyond the album’s thematic heft, Topical Dancer reflects Charlotte and Bolis’s idiosyncratic sound: it’s thoughtful but it bangs. Their take on familiar genres is always off-kilter; songs sound undone or a little wonky; but these are nocturnal heaters to make the club throb. “We like to fuck things up a bit,” laughs Bolis. “We cringe when we feel like we're making something that already exists, so we're always looking for things to combine to make it sound not like a pop song, not like an R&B song, not a techno song. We’re always putting different worlds together. Charlotte and I get bored when things get too predictable.”

Topical Dancer is fizzing with ideas – there’s certainly no filler among its 13 tracks. But above all, perhaps, it has a restlessness, a desire not to be boxed in and to escape others’ narrow perceptions of who they are. It’s summarised by the refrain of their new single, ‘Blenda’: “Don’t sound like what I look like / Don’t look like what I sound like.” “One thing that always comes up,” says Bolis, “is that people perceive me as the producer, and Charlotte as just a singer. Or that being a Black artist means you should be making ‘urban’ music. Those kinds of boxes don’t feel good to us.”

‘Blenda’ in particular references how “I am a product of colonialism,” says Charlotte, “and I feel guilty for taking up space in a white country.” The song was inspired in part by Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People About Race. “It talks about the colonial past and post-colonial present in the UK,” Charlotte continues, “but that isn’t merely a British or American problem, Belgium is part of that as well.” She says that her home country is likewise “oblivious to a big part of its history” which “results in general ignorance and a lack of understanding and empathy towards Belgian inhabitants of immigrant descent.”

On Topical Dancer, it’s less about finger pointing or being dogmatic about all the things they speak about. It’s about emancipation through humour. “I don’t want to feel this heaviness on me,” says Charlotte. “These aren’t my crosses to bear. Topical Dancer is my way of freeing myself of these issues. And of having fun.”

Essex-based trio Statues have made their presence felt with a string of impressive singles for a variety of labels from Sweden's Lovely and Plastic Idol in the US. Here they offer up their timely summer breezer 'Clear Skies' with crystal cleat synth lines evocative of John Carpenter or Tangerine Dream powered by a simple but effective groove. Coyote Ambient are the first of two guests invited to remix it, and theirs is more of a classic 90s chillout reworking, while Vendetta Suite combine a similar vibe with some soaring solar guitars and live drums. Another original from Statues, 'The Creek ', completes the package, with arpeggios melded with organic voices and guitars.

RAWAX prouldly welcomes Cesare Marchese aka Cesare vs Disorder to the label family!

We are more than happy to present you early 2022 his outstanding debut for us.

"Robot Backpack EP" is a fantastic release full of warm, deep and powerfull breaks/ electro sounds.

LA-based event series and DIY music collective New Palm began back in 2017 and in the six years since has turned plenty of heads. It is now a core part of that local underground scene and so here it makes the natural next step of starting its own label. The imprint kicks off with a fresh EP by resident and label co-boss Charles Edward. He shows off his love for dubbed-out rollers with music that captures the essence of the New Palm parties - heady pads, smooth grooves and classy moods. Here's looking forward to many more.

hand-numbered 12" limited to 300 copies

It’s back to the heart of disco with the next release — our sixtieth! — in Most Excellent Unlimited’s long-running series of collaborations with master editor Danny Krivit, this installment on long-play 12-inch vinyl.

Our A-side features the work of Euro-disco maestro Alec Constandinos, whose symphonic suites and long form arrangements for stars like Cerrone and Don Ray made him an essential ingredient on many a glittering dancefloor in the late ’70s. Love & Kisses was one of his earliest disco projects, and one of his most popular. Their song (the “band” was a studio fabrication of Constandinos) “I Found Love” stretches across the entire side of an LP in its original form, but for discerning disc jockeys who leaned towards the funkier side of the spectrum, the percussion and bass breakdown is where it’s at. And if you are a long-time follower of Mr. K, it will come as no surprise that it is here that he focuses his metaphoric razor on the iconic breakdown, and we are left with a tough, driving track that will suit throwback sets as well as slot nicely into modern uptempo programming. As an added bonus, stick around to the very end when Krivit lets the song’s memorable acapella sample (“And I suppose you thought it was all over??”) finish it out.

It simply does not get much bigger than Donna Summer in the world of disco. Her song “Heaven Knows,” a duet with Brooklyn Dreams singer “Bean” Esposito, is one of the many gems in her catalog, and one that still evokes powerful reactions in heads, both old and new. Produced by the dream team of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, the power and groove are propulsive and indisputable. Krivit begins with an extended "Mac Arthur Park" horn crescendo that teases the emotion before introducing a newly stripped down singalong verses and chorus of “Heaven Knows”. As the song progresses, a fabulous building effect until the end, a six-minute run through the clouds, enveloped in the ecstasy of that same horn crescendo. A sudden finale, fading into the ether, takes us out and leaves the listener (and DJ) with an open path of which musical road to take next, a master’s touch from an editor who excels at his craft.

Dream Ticket celebrates 10 releases on this planet with a VA matching old label favourites with fresh new blood. Multidisciplinary artist Koolmorf Widesen kicks things off with a madcap acid squirmer that will terrorize your sense of direction as much as it moves your
body, before DT stalwart Binary Digit hits us with his latest signature braindance pounder.

On the flip, Ryan James Ford, another DT alumni, brings us a techno banger that marries the best of Detroit and Berlin, then newcomer ZDR closes things out with stuttering, dreamy piece of jungly dnb magic. Here’s to the next 10!

Clear Vinyl

* Eomac has injected a new level of consciousness into beat making by recording water drips and drops. This edge of real life and water frequencies feels like opening a door in your mind and taking a rhythmic sound shower, finding tiny minimal melodies within the water itself.

*Distorting reality, in the most beautifully crafted and playful manner, Eomac’s Water Tracks are made with natural sounds of water and they not only make your body want to dance, they are a joy for the minds ear; sound design full of life and character, refreshing for the soul too. If hyper-real Techno was a genre - perhaps Eomac has invented it here - the idea to use micro melodies found in drips, drops and sploshes of water feels clever and inventive, Swimming up-stream against the standardized sound of Techno’s machine-made Electronic presets.

* Eomac is a project from Irish composer and producer Ian McDonnell, releasing genre-spanning electronic music via Planet Mu, The Trilogy Tapes, Bedouin Records, Killekill, Phantom Limb, Emika Records and more. Eomac’s sound draws from obscure samples and raw sound design in a continuing exploration of the furthest reaches of intense, visceral music for body and soul. He digs deep into light and dark mysticism for the dancefloor, as experienced in numerous performances at festivals and clubs across the globe.

Distorting reality, in the most beautifully crafted and playful manner, Eomac’s Water Tracks are made with natural sounds of water and they not only make your body want to dance, they are a joy for the minds ear; sound design full of life and character, refreshing for the soul too. If hyper-real Techno was a genre - perhaps Eomac has invented it here - the idea to use micro melodies found in drips, drops and sploshes of water feels clever and inventive, Swimming up-stream against the standardized sound of Techno’s machine-made Electronic presets.

Eine Entdeckung für Fans von klassischem World- und Folk-Pop a’la Paul Simon, Van Morrison u.a. „Come Back To Me“ ist nach langer Pause das Album-Comeback von Peter One, in den 1980er Jahren
Folk-Pop-Star in Westafrika. Er spielte er in großen Arenen und erreichte mit TV- und Radioshows ein riesiges Publikum. Anfang der 1990er Jahre entschied er sich, in die USA auszuwandern. Unter dem
Eindruck der damaligen Krise des Musikgeschäftes wechselte er in einen Job in der Krankenpflege, schrieb allerdings weiterhin Songs und spielte Gitarre.

Seine Berühmtheit holte ihn in den USA wieder ein, als dort ein Album von 1985 neu aufgelegt wurde und zur Wiederentdeckung seiner Musik führte. „Come Back To Me“ ist jetzt das offizielle Comeback von
Peter One, mit eingängigen neuen Songs in Englisch, Französisch und Peters afrikanischer Muttersprache.

Nachdem sich The BossHoss kürzlich in ganz neuer Stärke zurückgemeldet haben, stehen die Berliner Country Rock-Outlaws nun wieder voll unter Strom! Gemeinsam hat das Septett seine Stahlrösser aufgetankt, um es nun als „Electric Horsemen“ auf seinem 10. Studioalbum so richtig krachen zu lassen!
Gute fünf Jahre mussten ihre Fans nach dem letzten Longplayer, der 2018 releasten Top 1-Scheibe „Black Is Beautiful“ auf ein neues Album warten – jetzt endlich hat das Warten ein Ende! Auf „Electric Horsemen“ bleiben The BossHoss sich und ihrem typischen High-Voltage-Sound treu, haben aber auch einige ganz neue Stilelemente mit dabei, die man definitiv nicht von der Formation um Alec „Boss Burns“ Völkel und Sascha „Hoss Power“ Vollmer erwartet hätte. Auf dem zwölf Tracks starken Longplayer stellt die Formation nun einen energiegeladenen Hybrid-Style irgendwo zwischen funkelndem Las Vegas-Glam, tanzbarem Studio 54-Groove und geerdetem Country Rock vor.

Natürlich haben die elektrischen Reiter auf ihrem neuen Album wieder jede Menge kompromissloser LiveBanger für die kommende Sommer-Tour im Gepäck. So wie den funkensprühenden Glamrock-Bootyshaker „Dance The Boogie“, das treibende Hillbilly-Metal-Brett „Nice But No“, den packenden Feelgood-Ohrwurm „Ride With Us“ oder die kraftvolle Country-Hymne „Best Friends Forever“.

Unreleased but perfectly formed "hidden" album, recorded in 1989-90 by Nuno Rebelo on the wake of his "Sagração Do Mês De Maio" double LP (composed in 1988 as soundtrack to the third Manobras de Maio fashion event in Lisbon). The tracks convey a sense of investigative curiosity regarding computer composition and they sound wonderfully artificial. Titles as "Moon OK", "Tiny Space Ships" or "Dança Das Creaturas Elásticas" ("Elastic Creatures Dance") embody this idea of otherworldness, a kind of music actually coming from another place, composed and played by elastic creatures. It displays the functional qualities of Library Music, illustrating playful as much as moody and dense moments. In this way the album comes across as a soundtrack for moving images, sure, but with unusual framing and sharp angles. A unique object in the Portuguese avantgarde, keeping its distance from Academia but also from contemporary independent releases ("Plux Quba" by Nuno Canavarro comes to mind). António Duarte's 2019 mastering enhances this collection of music liberated from the archives of one of the most brilliant, active and challenging musicians of his generation.

Nuno Rebelo was born in 1960, graduated in Architecture, founded Street Kids and Mler Ife Dada, played in the "transitional" line up of GNR in 1982. His creativity expanded into improvised music. Performances and recordings with other musicians multiplied. He composed music for theatre, dance, jingles and, on an almost contradictory scale to his underground credentials, soundtracks for the Expo 98 and Porto 2001 mega events.

“Improvisações Cristalizadas” by Nuno Rebelo:
Short electronic pieces composed in 1989-90 using the Atari 1040ST computer with Steinberg Pro24 Software, Two Yamaha Sound Modules (TX81ZX and TG55) and Ensoniq Mirage Sampler with keyboard. The composition method for each piece evolved from a short improvisation on the Mirage keyboard, recorded in MIDI to the computer. Counterpoint permutations (inversion, reversion, inverted reversion, transpositions) were then applied through the software, distributing the variations of the initial improvisation by other timbres. No other musical material was used.

Machine Gun Kellys zweites Punkrockalbum „mainstream sellout“ ist nun auch als Vinyl erhältlich!

Das Punkrock-Masterpiece besteht aus 16 Songs, unter anderem mit Features von WILLOW, Lil Wayne, blackbear, Bring Me The Horizon, Gunna und Young Thug. Produziert wurde „mainstream sellout“ von niemand geringerem als dem Schlagzeuger Travis Barker. 2021 gewann Machine Gun Kelly einen Billboard Music Award als bester Rock Künstler. Grundlage dafür war sein 2020 veröffentlichtes, erfolgreiches Album „Tickets To My Downfall”, das als erstes seiner Alben auf Platz 1 der US Billboard Charts einstieg und sich seit
Release in 2020 immer noch in den Charts hält. In Deutschland hatte Machine Gun Kellys Album ebenfalls sein bisher erfolgreichstes Chartdebut, auf #11 der MC-Charts.

Die vorherigen Alben des Sängers haben in den USA alle Gold- oder sogar Platinstatus erlangt.
Machine Gun Kelly ist neben seiner musikalischen Karriere auch ein erfolgreicher Schauspieler, wie sein Mitwirken in „Bird Box“ an der Seite von Sandra Bullock oder auch seine Verkörperung von Tommy Lee in der Bandbiografie über Mötley Crüe zeigen.

DRAIN – the Santa Cruz, CA based hardcore band, whose energetic live shows have propelled them to peak underground popularity (during a global pandemic) and they are ready to break wide open in 2023.

Living Proof is the band’s Epitaph Records debut and follow up to their 2020 breakout release, California Cursed.
The new album is a testament to the hard work and heartfelt ethos that’s at the center of DRAIN’s good-time psyche. There are a couple surprises on the album. Rapper Shakewell appears on the track, “Intermission”.
There’s also a cover of “Good, Good Things,” a nearly four-decade old melodic punk carol by the Descendents: slam-pit forebearers to DRAIN if there ever were any. “It’s crazy because the song’s been out like forty years, but lyrically it’s a DRAIN song!” exclaims vocalist
Sam Ciaramitaro.
“It just hits on everything that I love, that I’m about.”
What Sammy’s about is plenty wholesome. “I hope with this record that when someone hears it, it gives them hope,” beams. “If we were able to get through the tough times, anyone can. I can’t wait to play these songs and hear a room full of people singing back to us. We’re what the title says, the Living Proof.”

Produced by longtime friend and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Young (God’s Hate, Suicide Silence), then mixed by John Markson (Drug Church, Koyo), this is hardcore for everybody.
“As the band gets bigger, I try and keep that feeling alive,” says the smiling singer. “Every night I set up the merch and run it until it’s time to play. I want to be the guy that everyone says hello to. I want to thank every single kid that comes out for being there.”

On Everything Harmony, the fourth full-length studio release from New York's The Lemon Twigs, the prodigiously talented brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario offer 13 original servings of beauty that showcase an emotional depth and musical sophistication far beyond their years as a band, let alone as young men. Everything Harmony successfully blends the brothers' distinct personalities while giving voice to their eclectic influences. Opening the album with the unassuming acoustic folk of plaintive "When Winter Comes Around," which echoes the sophisticated grandeur of classic Simon & Garfunkel recordings, they immediately switch things up to the sunny classic pop motif of "In MyHead." "Corner of My Eye" channels an Art Garfunkel-like vocal melody over a moody, vibraphone-tinged backing track suggesting the chamber pop of Brian Wilson. While they had no grand concept for Everything Harmony, both the D'Addarios felt a "palpable mood of defeat" prevailed while writing and recording it. "New To Me" was inspired by their shared experience with loved ones suffering from Alzheimer's, "What You Were Doing" is dressed in the tortured jangle of vintage Big Star, while "Born To Be Lonely," written after watching John Cassavetes' Opening Night, deals with what Brian calls "the fragility that often comes with age." Everything Harmony is a unified song cycle born of shared blood andcommon purpose. With two musical heads being better than one, there's no shortage of ideas to draw on. Their only impediments are time and the challenge of keeping up with their own prolific musical inspiration. "We share an intuition and tend to be influenced by one another," says Brian, "so the lyrical ideas on this record tend to complement each other. Writing has never been the issue for us. It's completing, editing and compiling that takes the time. We're trapped in a web of songs!"

Clear Vinyl

On Everything Harmony, the fourth full-length studio release from New York's The Lemon Twigs, the prodigiously talented brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario offer 13 original servings of beauty that showcase an emotional depth and musical sophistication far beyond their years as a band, let alone as young men. Everything Harmony successfully blends the brothers' distinct personalities while giving voice to their eclectic influences. Opening the album with the unassuming acoustic folk of plaintive "When Winter Comes Around," which echoes the sophisticated grandeur of classic Simon & Garfunkel recordings, they immediately switch things up to the sunny classic pop motif of "In MyHead." "Corner of My Eye" channels an Art Garfunkel-like vocal melody over a moody, vibraphone-tinged backing track suggesting the chamber pop of Brian Wilson. While they had no grand concept for Everything Harmony, both the D'Addarios felt a "palpable mood of defeat" prevailed while writing and recording it. "New To Me" was inspired by their shared experience with loved ones suffering from Alzheimer's, "What You Were Doing" is dressed in the tortured jangle of vintage Big Star, while "Born To Be Lonely," written after watching John Cassavetes' Opening Night, deals with what Brian calls "the fragility that often comes with age." Everything Harmony is a unified song cycle born of shared blood andcommon purpose. With two musical heads being better than one, there's no shortage of ideas to draw on. Their only impediments are time and the challenge of keeping up with their own prolific musical inspiration. "We share an intuition and tend to be influenced by one another," says Brian, "so the lyrical ideas on this record tend to complement each other. Writing has never been the issue for us. It's completing, editing and compiling that takes the time. We're trapped in a web of songs!"

AsOne² introduces the addition of Catherine Siofra Prendergast to the As One line-up after a series of successful live shows together with Kirk Degiorgio. The live duo entered the studio to focus on adding a melodic sensibility to the harmonic structure of the existing AsOne sound. The resulting album once again finds it perfect home with the Belgian record label De:tuned.

Following on the heels of the teaser EP featuring the duo's acclaimed 'Descent Module' - AsOne² is a blend of vintage, warm analog gooeyness and pristine post-modern production techniques. Prendergast's melodic additions veers the AsOne sound towards a more accessible arena without compromising on the core AsOne sonic signature. Yearning chords, sparkling lead lines, bubbling funk basslines and ethereal ambient washes merge to form a coherent whole in this new advance in the development of AsOne - now in its 30th year.

Kevin Foakes (Openmind, DJ Food, Ninja Tune) created all the graphic work. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis and pressed on 180 gr vinyl. A separate digital release will also be available at the usual digital shops. Stay tuned!

AsOne² introduces the addition of Catherine Siofra Prendergast to the As One line-up after a series of successful live shows together with Kirk Degiorgio. The live duo entered the studio to focus on adding a melodic sensibility to the harmonic structure of the existing AsOne sound. The resulting album once again finds it perfect home with the Belgian record label De:tuned.

Following on the heels of the teaser EP featuring the duo's acclaimed 'Descent Module' - AsOne² is a blend of vintage, warm analog gooeyness and pristine post-modern production techniques. Prendergast's melodic additions veers the AsOne sound towards a more accessible arena without compromising on the core AsOne sonic signature. Yearning chords, sparkling lead lines, bubbling funk basslines and ethereal ambient washes merge to form a coherent whole in this new advance in the development of AsOne - now in its 30th year.

Kevin Foakes (Openmind, DJ Food, Ninja Tune) created all the graphic work. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis and pressed on 180 gr vinyl. A separate digital release will also be available at the usual digital shops. Stay tuned!

Ltd Edition! 15 Years Drumpoet!

Die Compilation besteht aus 100% exklusiven Tracks von Künstlern wie Jimi Jules, Matthew Herbert, Roman Flügel & Frank Wiedemann, Kalabrese, Lauer, Fred Everything, Manuel Tur u.v.m.

Alles begann mit einer Gruppe von DJs und Beatmakern, allesamt inspiriert von den Techno- und House-Platten aus Detroit und Chicago und verbunden durch eine tiefe Leidenschaft - sowohl für UK Bass-Musik als auch US-Hiphop und 70’s Soul-Jazz. Diese Crew aus Zürich bündelte all diese Inspirationen und Einflüße zu einem Sound, den sie als B-Boy-House und Teknowsoul bezeichneten. Bereits die ersten Releases auf Drumpoet brachten den internationalen Durchbruch und Künstler wie Soultourist, Quarion, Cavalier, Dplay & Manuel Tur oder auch John Daly weckten weltweit großes Interesse in der Szene für elektronische Musik und hinterließen einen bleibenden Eindruck. Drumpoet ist sehr stolz darauf mit dieser Compilation das 15-jährige Labelbestehen zu feiern. Hier werden die über die Jahre entstandenen Freundschaften und die Geschichte des Labels genauso reflektiert wie eine tiefe und ehrliche Liebe zur Dance Musik. Das spiegelt sich natürlich auch in den exklusiven Tunes von Ikonen wie Herbert, Roman Flügel und Frank Wiedemann, Manuel Tur, Lauer, John Daly, Kalabrese, Manuel Fischer, Nicola Kazimir, Ripperton und Jimi Jules wieder.

Format: Streng limitierte schwarze 3LP im Inside Out Cover + Drumpoet Bandana in japanischer Cello Hülle (die ist bestickert).

Beta Librae returns to Incienso with her third album, “DAYSTAR”. Whereas her previous album for the label, “Sanguine Bond” was an altogether more heady affair - “DAYSTAR”, like the name implies, is a bright and bold waypoint in the ever expanding Beta Librae universe.

On eight songs, including a striking collaboration with james K on the lead single “Late At Night”, Beta gathers up new elements of sound and pairs them her unmistakable rhythmic shapes to bring us the most wide-ranging and cohesive B.L. album yet.

Six years, more than fifty releases, countless artists and multiple subsidiaries; the Oyster Cult’s reach extends far beyond what sceptics once thought possible. It’s only fitting, then, that we gather some of our finest under the Kalahari banner in celebration.

The anniversary release is upon us. Six whole years since Jacy helped inaugurate the label with a spin on Midwestern house, OYSTER40 signals a landmark occasion. 18 tracks, quadruple vinyl boxset action, and in true Oyster Cult tradition, it comes bearing pearls.

Dancefloor squarely in focus, the Cult assembles on a compilation spanning alumni and new inductees alike. It’s an assemblage of the fractal, explorative and ritual-ready; at once a focused distillation of the Kalahari sound and celebration of its many acolytes. Big on atmosphere, heavy on groove, we delve deeply into the musical DNA shared by all who grace the label.

Tough, direct cuts (Sansibar, Roza Terenzi, Big Zen, Maara & Priori) to the pristine and widescreen (S.O.N.S., Volodymyr Gnatenko, Adam Pits), this is all quintessentially Kalahari. Elsewhere though, the likes of D. Tiffany and SW. journey further into realms of abstraction: the former opting for hi-tech, dreamstate IDM, while the SUED co-founder dissolves a house template into dubby introspection.

Calling upon contemporary talents for the most part, there are also exceptions. Raymond Castoldi - the one-time house producer best known as Madison Square Garden’s music director - returns with an unreleased nugget from ’91, while an ‘Aliens’-sampling track from Detroit-indebted techno outfit Syzygy gets the reissue treatment.

DEAD SEA APES are back with a passion to deliver their most essential and cohesive album to date. Formed in 2009, DEAD SEA APES have become a fixture of the psych scene, sharing stages with the likes of Part Chimp, The Heads, Acid Mother Temple and Mugstar while producing a distinctive body of work, ranging from psychedelic punk to experimental dub, from freeform jams to constructions of loops and drones. Following a slew of collaborations and split releases, REWILDING sees them return to a power trio of Brett Savage (guitar), Jack Toker (bass) and Chris Hardman (drums). From the chaotic blast of opener ‘Denialist’, beaming out like a maniacal emergency broadcast, through to the monolithic pounding of the title track, REWILDING is unrelenting, taking in blown-out guitar wails and jet black psych noise while the irrepressible rhythm section moves from claustrophobic motorik beats to a thunderous rolling juggernaut. These blackened pearls have been recast and refined over the course of the past three years, strung out deeper than the night and now embodying our present uncanny, disorienting times, as we emerge into an altered world to find Mother Nature reasserting herself while the human madness intensifies, locally and globally. Savage and uncompromising, this is DEAD SEA APES at their most direct and visceral. REWILDING is released by Cardinal Fuzz (UK/Europe) and Feeding Tube Records (USA) as an edition of 750 on black vinyl.

Die schwedische Industrial-Kultband DEATHSTARS meldet sich mit ihrem neuesten Output "Everything Destroys You" endlich zurück.
Verstärkte Angst, zerstörerische urbane Partynächte, Dystopie und glatter Glamour - ihr vielfältiges musikalisches Spektrum reicht von elektrischen, blitzschnellen Highways voller Spaß, Action und Adrenalin bis hin zu Dunkelheit und tiefschwarzem Humor.

"Der Grund, warum es so lange gedauert hat, ist, dass wir einfach eine Pause wollten - und brauchten - nach dem intensiven Touren und so weiter, und obendrein ist die Pandemie passiert, so dass die Touren verschoben wurden und die Veröffentlichung mit ihnen, so dass es sich fantastisch anfühlt, endlich 'Everything Destroys You' präsentieren zu können", sagt Nightmare Industries.

"'Everything Destroys You' ist das Gesicht der Exzesse unserer opulenten Nächte in der Stadt. Wir schreiben immer über unser Leben, und es gibt keine Fiktion, Spiritualität oder Seele im Mark von DEATHSTARS", sagt Whiplasher. "Es ist einfach nur das vernarbte Großstadtleben im Rohzustand."

Das fünfte DEATHSTARS-Album wurde von Nightmare Industries bei Black Syndicate in Stockholm, Schweden, produziert und von Jay Ruston (Stone Sour, Uriah Heep, Anthrax, Steel Panther, Fall Out Boy) in Los Angeles, USA, gemischt und gemastert.

"Westerman — the London-born, Athens-based pop maverick — has returned with his new album, ‘An Inbuilt Fault’.

The album's nine songs took shape throughout the depths of the pandemic and soundtrack Westerman’s reckoning with two years of intense isolation, loneliness, heartbreak, and dread. The phrase “an inbuilt fault” itself is an examination of the inherent and innate flaws that make us human – a visceral response to Westerman’s disillusionment with AI and social media during this time period.

Through it all, the album is visceral and live-sounding, full of the sound of breath and the idiosyncratic gestures of acoustic instruments. It creates a spatial feeling, sounding like musicians assembled in a room, passing evolving ideas back and forth. Co-produced with producer and percussionist James Krivchenia (Big Thief), and featuring an extended crew of Los Angeles associates, 'An Inbuilt Fault' exhibits music that is heavier and more sonically daring than Westerman’s previous releases, and it is the most adventurous and unselfconscious songwriting of Will Westerman’s career.

‘An Inbuilt Fault’ follows Westerman’s acclaimed 2020 debut ‘Your Hero Is Not Dead,’ a graceful and self-reflective project which earned him a spot as one of the most talked about new artists of the year thanks to profiles from Pitchfork (‘Rising’), Stereogum (‘Artist To Watch’), and Rolling Stone (‘Artist You Need To Know’)."

Ltd coloured 2LP edition, w/ etching on side D! "I'm obsessed with late 90's Meshug- gah, early Dillinger Escape Plan, and early Cult of Luna," explains guitarist Pierre Carroz deftly about the influences behind the sound of his brainchild. Combining the sonic agility of the American math-core pioneers with the relentless ferocity of the Swedish progressive metal innovators, Herod produce a brand of heavy music that is truly face melting. Having played with le- gendary metal acts like Obituary, Napalm Death and Carcass, Herod are no strangers to the international metal scene, and it shows in the calibre of their music. Their upcom- ing third album The Iconoclast puts the full power of their artistry on display, redefining musical heaviness and atmosphere at every turn imaginable. Iconoclast sees the Swiss quintet paint with a consistent palette of groovy syncopated riff- ing, heavy breakdowns, and a diversity of vocal techniques and deliveries. Using similar col- ours and textures to create many different pictures, it's an approach that feels almost experi- mental. Like great abstract painters like Kazimir Malevich or Jackson Pollock, Herod continue to develop their technique and method throughout their oeuvre. Iconoclast is a creation of pure magnificence, combining an undeniable artistic mindset with the best of what modern metal has to offer. «The Edifice» features the incredible Matt McGachy from Canadian technical death metal legends Cryptopsy while the album closer sees the band collaborate with long-time friend Loi"c Rosetti: «The Prophecy» poses him against a most ferocious backdrop, capturing two amazing vocalists of the past and present Ocean Col- lective teaming up and facing off, since Herod's vocalist Mike Pilat was the main vocalist on The Ocean's «Precambrian» album (2007). FOR FANS OF Meshuggah, Gojira, Cult of Luna, LLNN, Vildjharta, Primitive Man, Uneven Structure

We Are Vinyl label release - 30th anniversary edition. Considered to be one of his most successful and popular albums, Osbourne’s sixth solo studio record was originally released in September 1991 and featured four songs co written by Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister. The album went on to become quadruple platinum in the US, becoming one of Ozzy’s two best selling albums alongside his groundbreaking solo debut "Blizzard of Ozz". An 11 song double album pressed on 180gm black vinyl. No download code.

A precedent of sorts to, erm, Armand van Helden vs Fatboy Slim’s 1999 bout, ‘The Heavyweight Sound Fight’ takes pride of place among iDEAL’s hall of oddities with one of the zaniest recordings by three international leaders of the avant-garde. Double LP with an LP-sized 12-page booklet designed by Sean McCann of Recital.

Adapting all the pomp and ceremony of a boxing match to ludicrous ends - including a flier depicting each artist with their dukes up - they produced what sounds like a great night out for NYC’s experimental cognoscenti with Charlie Morrow (USA) vs Carles santos (Spain) each backed by a band - Soho Baroque Opera Company with the assistance of the New Wilderness Foundation - while Sweden’s Sten Hanson acts as referee, and Armand Schwerner takes the role of announcer in thick, nasal New York brogue. It’s brilliantly daft and subversive but accomplished in a witty way that maybe escapes too many solemnly po-faced avant-garde conceptualists nowadays, and remains a strange outlier in the history of NYC avant garde and beyond.

“Operating as an aural window into an happening that occurred more than 40 years ago, “The Heavyweight Sound Fight” unveils a different context of experimental music than is not often encountered today. Running across the album’s four sides, within all the seriousness of art and technique, is the unmistakable presence of humor, play, and the absurd. The audience can’t help but laugh and cheer as the announcer - effecting a deep New York accent and nodding toward notable attendees like Allison Knowles, Dick Higgins, and Jackson Mac Low - takes an active role in the fight, each artist delivering an array of vocalizations - from extended technique utterances to rants - against the next, with the bands weighing in and engaging in their own battles, ranging from big band dirges and marches, to outright experimental electronic madness. It’s a trully raucous affair that brings that radicalism carried by its sounds into entirely new zones.

According to Marrow, he was deemed “winner” in an “off-script” move by the judges, and Santos never spoke to him again, continuing the wild and wonderful mystery and humor of the performance into the present day. Who knows what Santos, who sadly passed away in 2017, would say.”

Voice Magnetic by Hainbach is the enigmatic Berlin based artist’s sonic diary of 2022. On his sixth release on Seil Records, Stefan Goetsch collages the sounds he made and the ones that surrounded him over the course of twelve months into a powerfully intimate ambient experience.

In his studio or on travels — Hainbach always is working on new material and allows the locations he records his tracks in to find their way into the music. Consequently, on many tracks you can can hear the outside bleeding in — seagulls and waves on "Izmir", the voices of his children while record the piano or the sirens of Neukölln’s police cars in background.

The connecting threads between these pieces are magnetic tape and the human voice — hiss and breath. The result are 15 immersive ambient pieces that make up Voice Magnetic. Often short like the moments that spark them. Fading and intricate, honest and pure.

Based out of Berlin, Germany, electro-acoustic music composer and performer Hainbach creates shifting audio landscapes, using esoteric synthesizers, nuclear test equipment, magnetic tape and a collection of idiophones. Hainbach has become known for his immersive live shows and an unique sound that is both abstract yet very much a corporal experience. Otherworldly and intimate, raw and heartfelt. On his wildly popular YouTube channel, Hainbach shares his love for experimental music techniques and his passion for forgotten machines with a wide audience. Inspiring over one hundred thousand each week to explore synthesis, electronics - and to leave beaten paths.

This release features two sides of their consistent repertoire. A contemporary Reggae re-work of William DeVaughn’s US 70’s Soul Classic, “Be Thankful” and also a re-work of the Yabby You 70’s Roots Reggae track “Deliver Me”. “Be Thankful” also has the Hornz Inst Vs from Alvin Davis and “Deliver Me” the Dub Version from Alien Dread. Tracks are also available on CDEP (IRONCDEP 024). That features 8 tracks and includes a Guitar Vs (Steven “Marley” Wright) & Dub Vs (Alien Dread) for “Be Thankful” and Hornz & Flute Vs (both by Alvin Davis) for “Deliver Me”.

Lost in the depths of space, AAKAARA takes listeners on a journey to the outer limits of the sonic universe with their latest album “Obsidian Promises”. Blending influences from punk and metal, EBM, architectural design and certain celestial objects, AAKAARA offers a fresh take on industrial techno.

This body of work is dark and brooding, full of haunting and thought-provoking soundscapes. Metallic and cold one moment, blisteringly hot the next. Pounding drums create searing rhythms, acid-drenched synths weave abrasive textures, and noise permeates the stereo field. Inspired by the mysterious and alluring world of black holes, the producer explores the beauty of extremes through sound. “If you know my work or me,” AAKAARA says, “it’s no secret that I have a spiritual connection to, and an obsession with, black holes.

It’s not about doom and gloom, but about beautiful extremes: infinite calmness, ultra-high energy, being deeply centered, and inevitable attraction.” “I try to sonify this in a naive sense. It isn’t an attempt at science; it’s a way for me to practice a makeshift spirituality about these entities through craft and functional dance music for people.”

Spirituality and stellar inspiration were essential to AAKAARA’s life during the three years they spent between Los Angeles and London, while writing this album. It provided a sonic home during a period of transition, when they didn’t feel at home and didn’t have access to a studio.

Everything was made “in the box” using only Ableton 10. After collecting guitar pedals and amplifiers for years, AAKAARA has shifted away from a hardware-focused mindset and is now more invested in the conceptual framework, narrative, and cultural implications of their work. Visuals also play an integral role in this maximalist experience.

The outer sleeve (front and back cover) conveys the “big ideas” visually, while the companion poster includes custom typography, detailed drawings, symbol design, and poetry. The poetry provides a textual counterpoint to the lyric-less music, written in parallel but later stages of the production process. The visual identity of this work is inseparable from the music, describing it in an integral way. It’s the other side of the coin, not simply an accompaniment. With its spiritual connection to the infinite and mysterious, “Obsidian Promises” harnesses the beauty and intensity of celestial entities as musical inspiration, transforming the science into mystical, narrative-driven sonic experience. Get ready for a ride through the unknown as AAKAARA’s latest offering takes you on a high-energy trip through the black hole’s playground.

Never one to pull inventive punches, Left Coast electronic music producer Dave Aju reassembled this notorious cast of characters for a remarkably fitting album package made during one of the most strange times our world has ever faced in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. While things were essentially shutdown, reopened, cycle-repeat worldwide, and every other species in mother nature's kingdom temporarily rejoiced while humans remained still in their caves, Aju and The Invisible Art Trio, his formidable if not-seen-in-a-minute musical team behind such underground anthems as "Be Like the Sun", went to work in the final days of the glorious G-Son studios in Atwater Village LA to record this LP.

Indeed, the same four/five walls and vocal booth that saw the Beastie's iconic Check Your Head and Hello Nasty come to life, became the birthplace of Glossolalia, Aju's fifth studio album and appropriately impressive seven-song set. As always, myriad musical styles and influences are strung together and boldly combined here, to the degree that drawing comparisons or attempting genre references feels futile. There are, however, clear visceral expressions of political provocation, hope and anger, fear and joy laid over twisted yet dedicated grooves in a lockdown era where Aju's imaginary collective dance floor feels in the temporary absence thereof and bizarro sixth-world unification strategy of recording every song's lyrics in complete non-languages aka total gibberish, feels right at home. Even the vocal guests join in the literal chant here, granting us diverse spell-casting and sensual nonsensical lyrical lines over tech-funk mother lodes, before closing the otherworldly proceedings with a powerful grand finale tribute to the US of A's proud boys-in-blue in the wake of George Floyd's very public assassination.

Equal parts timely anti-establishment and uplifting call-to-action, Glossolalia serves as a decidedly coarse yet crucial reminder of the possibilities in collaborative and devoted noise-making, booty-shaking, and alternative world-building during greater global disarray - beyond stylistic, nationalistic, and linguistic dividing lines. An overtly universal and unifying message liberating us from any fixed cultural identities and thus differences, to instead just focus on how the music delivers and we physically respond, together, as the foundation. Perhaps also an inspired response to the talking heads in every corner of the world's media, spewing useless and politically-tainted mouth data at us amidst these turbulent times.