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Award-winning bassist Daniel Casimir and vocalist Tess Hirst release their debut album via pioneering London-based record labe Jazz re:freshed. Following the success of Daniel Casimir's critically acclaimed debut EP 'Escapee' which featured Hirst on vocals and fellow rising stars on the scene Moses Boyd, Joe Armon-Jones and Shirley Tetteh, this album - 'These Days' is inspired by the duo's London surroundings, delivering thought-provoking lyricism, neo-soul and modern jazz

Casimir, a former Birmingham Conservatoire student, has collaborated with Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Benet McLean, Lonnie Liston Smith, Nathan Facey, Shane Forbes, Chihiro Yamanaka, Ashley Henry, David Lyttle, Nubya Garcia, The Tracey Quintet (Meantime Jubilation), Tom Harrison (Unfolding In Tempo), Jasmine Power (Stories And Rhymes), Camilla George and Art Blakey Jazz Messenger saxophonist, Jean Toussaint.

Named Young Jazz Musician of the Year by the Musicians' Company in 2016, Casimir has received plaudits for his arrangements and recital, while Hirst has made a name for herself with her vocals on the jazz circuit having moved between London, Leeds and LA to hone her craft. What sets Hirst apart as a musician is not only the originality of her music but her perspective of herself as an artist. She is an Ethnomusicology Graduate of SOAS and her writing style walks us through her upbringing in West London and down the halls of academia

Casimir and Hirst fuse traditional jazz sounds into beautiful compositions, narrating their way through a political and cultural landscape across these twelve tracks. The frenzied groove heavy'Security' addresses the need to trust one another and how we protect ourselves personally, while the rich atmospherics of 'Freedom' combined with Hirst's vocals, explore liberation and the rejection of duty - from a female perspective.

At the heart of 'These Days', Casimir plays with a passion and power that resonates throughout each composition. His knack for complex chord changes are highlighted in 'What Did I Do', bringing an energy and enthusiasm to the track while Hirst decries our changing capital. Elsewhere, references to John Agard's poem 'Listen Mr. Oxford Don' in 'The Magic Money Tree', explore the past and its relevance to now while a re-imagining of Charles Mingus' 'Fables Of Faubus' further ensures this theme remains central to the essence of the album.

Daniel Casimir and Tess Hirst have already received radio support from BBC Radio 3, BBC Music Introducing and Jazz FM, along with coverage in the London Evening Standard and Jazzwise Magazine

'Don't Let Them' interpolates elements of 'Fables Of Faubus' written by Charles Mingus (c) 1959. Published by Jazz Workshop Inc. Administered by BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

After a digital single on Optimo Music Digital Danceforce, Optimo Music welcomes Bergsonist to the main label with a full album. Ridiculously talented and prolific, Bergsonist is one of thee most interesting, thoughtful and important artists of our times.

Bergsonist aka Selwa Abd is a New York–based artist and musician originally from Morocco. She is the founder of Bizaarbazaar, a music platform and publication that publishes podcasts and interviews by DJs and producers from around the world.

Under the guise Bergsonist (derived from Deleuze’s Bergsonism),
she uses a variety of media to investigate social resonance through divergent conceptual aesthetics (minimalism, techno, and music concrete, to name a few). Through her work, she explores notions of identity, memory, and social politics.

In 2017, she started Pick Up The Flow, a resource to promote congregation and exchange between peers. Currently, co-run with Stephen Decker. In 2019, she co-founded 3afak with DJ Sanna, a collective that aims to empower Arab women’s creative vision in
New York.


Words about the album:

Middle Ouest is an ode to my history, present and future self. Like a sonic autobiography, It’s the first body of work that realistically depicts my identity. It’s a statement towards all the people who tried to put me into a box. I’m not a box but a genre-less ocean. I don’t make genres, I just make music I feel making in the moment.

It’s all about capturing the moment in a given time. If the aesthetic happens to be house or techno then it is. But I’m not a techno artist... I’m just a free sonic ‘voyageur’. I make music as i feel the world; it can be dark, jovial, weird… I mirror the feelings into sonic compositions. However, the only variables that never change in this equation are the message and intention.

When 'Push Comes To Shove' is the seventh studio album by Artist 'Soft Riot', he's the stylised musical alter-ego of Glasgow-based Canadian artist JJD.

Resonating with references from all corners of the synthpop’s origins (DAF, Fad Gadget and John Foxx to name a few), Soft Riot’s latest release nonetheless manages to retain its own individual voice, melding and reinterpreting its antecedents with a personal twist and an impressive demonstration of synth-craft and programming. Following on from 2018’s The Outsider in the Mirrors, these eight tracks represent a change in themes and an evolution in production and sound.

The forthcoming single and album opener “Taking The Edge Off” sets out the Soft Riot manifesto, a propulsive future-synth tale of forging ever-forwards in an increasingly noisy world.
“It’s No Laughing Matter” is a hedonistic yet propulsive dance-floor slammer — shades of minimal synth and metallic Belgian new beat condense in side one closer “Fate’s Got A Bone To Pick With You” and the dizzying italo-matic muscle workout “Don’t Get Yourself Bent Out Of Shape” is the ultimate self-help smack down.

The outcome has been a sideways step into more new wave pop aesthetics, and a looser sound (underpinned by the warmth of the production). This overall makes the album groove into a more dance-floor orientated full sound, thawing some of the cold-wave angularity The Outsider In The Mirrors.

Soft Riot has previously released six studio albums, including a wide range of remixes for other artists including Lebanon Hanover, Keluar, Celebration and Attrition.
He is also regularly touring the European underground synth/wave/post-punk circuit and sometimes beyond -

(Possession Records with UPC 'PSSN04').

Young cosmonaut having decided to fill the silence of space with ethereal and dreamlike of house Music, his productions resonate throughout the cosmos. Very young, he dreams of interstellar travel through the broader electronic music. He left the high reliefs of the Alps to prepare for New York and began producing music. Quickly recognized in the Hip-Hop industry, he does not forget his dreams of stellar conquest and now comes back to the House Music. This second mission takes Aerial Boy to a new Galaxy where he will face his own demons.

Sound is a potent force that can awaken your purpose and re-balance your spirit. It has the power to relax, as well as inspire you, through the positive therapy of sound vibrations. Elemental Resonance is a trailblazing meditation album where vibrational sound practitioner, Tracie Storey, combines the energy waves made by music, with positive words of love and harmony to produce inner peace, deep relaxation and a higher spiritual connection.

Storey explains “The idea for this album came to me 2 years ago when I was living in Montreal, Canada. I’d been learning to form shapes, textures and colour with sound and going deep within the architecture of my own inner space. These powerful compositions have really helped me on my journey. Creating transformative tools are now part of my life’s work, using the medium of vibrational sound which transcends all boundaries”.

Storey guides you through a series of mindful meditations - each connected to the seven energy chakras - and each supported by sound vibrations, colours to visualise, and positive affirmations to re-balance your entire being and bring you waves of calmness, strength, warmth and joy.

Released on Celestial Being, label boss Felix Buxton (Basement Jaxx), says “I’m thrilled to support this project, everywhere I look people are discovering more about Vibration and how it affects them.
Tracie is leading the way forward for new generations, uncovering more of our potential as humans. This is a great way to switch off the world and switch on to your deeper self.”

Storey has been active as a vibrational sound practitioner, for the past 5 years. Previous to six years training under Master Fabien Maman, who’s one of the world's leading experts on vibrational sound therapy, founder of the Tama-Do Academy.
She also travelled the globe as a DJ on the international dance scene (releasing on Ministry of Sound and producing mixes for the likes of Kiss FM).

Christopher Joseph is back on his Flexxseal label with four enthralling tracks entitled "Eye in the Sky".
He's an emerging talent from from Massachusetts who now resides in Berlin. His productions encapsulate, his vast musical background which includes studying Jazz percussion and living in the vibrant musical hubs of New Orleans and Berlin.

"Eye in the Sky" sees Christopher return to his invigorating Flexxseal imprint following releases from himself and Philadelphia's DJ Richard which together garnered heavy support from the likes of Ben UFO, Call Super, A Made Up Sound, I-F and many more.

"Eye in the Sky" kicks off proceedings with ethereal leads floating underneath electro-fuelled percussion and swirling synths together sending the emotions skyward while vigorously, resonant drums fused with rave- induced modulations and twisted melodies lay the focus in "Lick The Honey".

On the flip, "Nothing69" delivers growling resonations, breaks-tinged drums and otherworldly arpeggios that keep you enticed throughout until "Leaving Ringworld" rounds things off with a vintage, warehouse techno track featuring an effervescent, rolling groove sequence, spiralling oscillations and industrial feels throughout.

"The first series comprises six related movements, usually organised in pairs, electronic sounds with instrumental and more rarely, concrete sounds: Incidences/resonances brings into play controlled resonances akin to sounds of concrete origin in a process that helps to expand the variable electronic sound sources.

Here, 'incidents' are opposed to one-off 'accidents' in the second movement: Accidents/Harmoniques (Accidents/Harmonics). In the second movement, very short events of instrumental origin change the harmonic tone of the continuum they interrupt or overlap.

Moreover, the high notes are underplayed, which stimulates the attention given to other phenomena generally hidden by the melodic form applied to the instrumental play. Géologie sonore (Sound Geology) is similar to a flight over an area where different 'sound' layers come to the surface one after the other.

When seen from high above, instrumental and electronic sounds seem to fuse ... Dynamique de la resonance (Dynamics of Resonance) is a microphonic exploration of a single sound resonating through different forms of percussion. L'Etude élastique (Elastic Study) places together various sounds produced by 'touching' elastic or instrumental skins (baloons, doumbeks) or vibrating strings and a number of instrumental gestures close to this 'touch', using electronic processes to generate white noise.

Conjugaison du timbre (Conjugated Tone), the last movement in the series, uses the same substance to apply rhythmic forms onto a perpetually varying tone continuum. "The second series of movements draws its inspiration from concrete and electronic sources rather than instrumental ones. Incidences/battements (Incidences/Beatings) is a reminder of the first movement in the first series which then quickly moves into Natures éphémères (Ephemeral Natures): ephemeral play on instrumental and electronic sounds, singled out by their internal trajectory rather than by the material itself. Matières induites (Induced Matters): just as molecular effervescence triggers a changes of state, it seems that the different states of these sound materials can be generated by each other or through induction processes.

In Ondes croisées (Crossed Waves), the pizz vibrations interfere with somehow 'visible' water drops on the surface of a similar material. Pleins et déliés (Downstrokes and Upstrokes) can be listened to as the energies absorbed in the motion of bouncing bodies, while hollow 'bubbles' and points bring together some people's gravity and others' downwards movements. The work finishes with Points contre champs (Reverse Angle Points).

Here, the notion of perspective of the different sound threads weaving a kind of network, or field, traps the occasional iterative elements in the foreground and progressively absorbs them, giving more space for the angle - and the chanted sound - to grow." (B.P.).

London based producer Christian Piers has a decade of production experience and a discography that spans house, techno and drum and bass. He is a long-term friend of 17 Steps, and became the second artist to release on the label after label heads Dusky back in 2015. Acclaimed releases on Curle and with Leon Vynehall as Laszlo Dancehall have sustained Christians' reputation as a truly versatile producer.

With ‘Virus’, his debut LP under this alias, Christian puts himself forward an exceptional and compelling voice in UK techno, drawing on his experience in drum and bass and breaks, a sample heavy hip-hop inspired approach to production and a dubbed out, industrial techno aesthetic.

Opener ‘Extrinsic’ lays the foundations, combining cavernous drones and rattling breaks over submerged kicks, conjuring up images of chasmal warehouses, dusty basements and rattling window frames. Elsewhere delay soaked stabs bounce off combative breaks. A dialogue between Christians’ influences ensues that’s as captivating as it is individual.

Christian creates passages of intense energy without breaking a sweat. Cold atmospheres are navigated with an unhurried authority and confidence that prevents them from becoming desolate. Behind the gritty haze and forceful bassweight Christian hides the playful, agile rhythms that have become his signature – percussive sounds stumble and roll in the background, whip like snares slice through the fog.

‘Virus’ is an exhilarating ride; right up to the final bars of the teasing, anti-climactic dancefloor weapon ‘Resource Depletion’. The infinite rising tones of the closer are a bold and forward looking statement of intent from an artist whose evolution continues to unfold.

The vitality you hear on Antique Blacks is a testament to the unique energy of the community around The Foxhole Cafe in Philadelphia, as Ra honed his unique brand of Afro-Futurism through the late 60';s and 70's. Cosmic theatre, spiritual chants, and experimental electronics make this record an essential document that was ahead of its time. Ancient to future! BIG TIP !

The 1970s saw change in Sun Ra's recorded output, and as far as we can tell, the content of his live performances. By the middle of the decade, Sun Ra's music no longer seemed comprehensible as part of the jazz New Thing – quirkier, more idiosyncratic elements were more to the fore.

At this time, 1974, every Sun Ra record still surprised, and seemed radically different from everything else he had released up to then. The musical universe proposed by free jazz had never circumscribed Sun Ra. He had been part of the movement, but was able to use the possibilities it suggested without being limited by its conventions.

The Antique Blacks illustrates this well. Recorded as a radio broadcast in Philadelphia, according to Dale Williams, it has a well defined but oddball structure. Sun Ra was a master architect, very concerned to use the unfolding of an album, a broadcast or a live performance to create a satisfying structure.

Song No 1 starts on an upbeat note, it's a lively, tonal introduction, featuring John Gilmre on tenor saxophone, Sun Ra on roksichord, Dale Williams, then aged 15, on guitar, and Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet.

Sun Ra's poetry is featured on There Is Change In The Air, a track which has on occasion been used for the album title: in its original incarnation as a Saturn LP, there was no dedicated sleeve artwork, and this record appeared under many names. Ra's poetry is allusive, elusive and paradoxical, and this was its first major appearance on a record. During instrumental passages, Dale Williams' guitar is heard, along with the saxophones of Marshall Allen and Danny Davis.

The Antique Blacks is a similar setting for a Sun Ra poem, which encompasses "spiritual men", and Lucifer as a dark angel. The Arkestra is heard in conducted improvisational ensembles, in between the sections of the poem.

This Song Is Dedicated To Nature's God has Arkestral vocals, with John Gilmore's voice in th foreground. Williams' guitar is once again prominent in the instrumental passages.

Sun Ra's poetic declamations provide the structire for The Ridiculous I and The Cosmos Me, which also has a fine unaccompanied tenor solo by John Gilmore, keyboard improvisations by Sun Ra, and closes with bass clarient from Eloe Omoe.

Sun Ra's keyboards are heard with minimal Arkestra support on Would I For All That Were – a fine synthesiser improvisation, with electric piano left hand accompaniment.

Tension is resolved by Space Is The Place, which rounds the album out in an upbeat mood, with Akh Tal Ebah, James Jacson and Sun Ra prominent among the vocalists. The closing section includes the chant Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space, often used at the close of live performances. This isn't strictly live, though: in one line the vocal is played backwards on tape!

Sound has the ability to heal. This is the primary tenet that has been driving Karma Moffett for over 35 years. Pure tones, resonant harmonics, the sounds of the earth. At the dawn of the 80’s, as the burgeoning movement of privately-issued New Age was taking hold, Karma Moffett was a pioneer. Eschewing the use of synthesizers and other increasingly-available electronic technology, Karma crafted his meditative, introspective music using ancient instruments. Primarily utilizing Tibetan Bells, and Singing Bowls, Karma Moffett crafted sounds that led the listener on an inward journey.

1982’s Sitting Still Within/Sitting Still Without s Karma Moffett’s earliest triumph. Combining the aforementioned Tibetan Bowls & Bells along with naturalistic field recordings, Karma’s first album is a testament to the power of minimalism and repetition. An ambient voyage that truly draws the listener inwardst, and outwards, Sitting Still Within/ Sitting Still Without is music for healing.

Through the combined brilliant minds of Fabrice Lig, Kiko Navarro, Karim Sahraoui and Jean Vanesse, the new musical force known as Quadra 163 has arrived. Working together in Jean Vanesse's Belgium studio, their debut EP, "Spin Coaster EP" was born.

Through intense live collaboration over 3 full days, the results are these incredible original tracks and a remix from the American house legend, Osunlade (Yoruba Records). Belgium's Elypsia Records have an absolutely essential release here for those looking for proper club weapons - each track dreamt up by a crew of producers with decades of critical acclaim and club credibility.

Osunlade kicks off the release on A1 with his rework of 'Spin Coaster.' The remix is a late night machine jam saturated with sharp synth textures and a shuffling rhythm which will lock the dancefloor tightly in place. A perfect blend between House and Techno, it's a shining example of Osunlade's keen ability to capture imagination with function, tension with release.

'Ghetto Beat' steps up as the A2, with a drum heavy cut full of off-kilter hits and tones which twist and turn in frequency and timbre. It's the type of track that will get the crowds cheering and jackin' and dancing without a break. A proper tool to slam into the set whenever energy levels need to lift higher and things need to get slightly twisted.

Title track 'Spin Coaster' sets up the B-side with a master session of prime time techno making magic. A playfully thick bassline resonates in and out of the analog rhythms while a synth tone builds tension over the track's entire duration. A few breaks for the clubbers to catch their breath are placed in the perfect spots - but only for a brief moment before things kick back in.

Rounding out the release is 'Ghetto Train,' an absolutely mental banger designed to melt the minds of those fortunate enough to be on the dancefloor when it's dropped. Relentless rhythms, huge hand claps and a sharp staccato shuffle drive the tune whilst synth stabs grow filthier with each passing phrase. Clearly the results of an insane studio session from the crew.

Europe’s leading reggaeton experimenters DJ Clara! And Maoupa Mazzocchetti. exert a tripped-out spin on modern Latin dance and vintage Galician folk styles for Low Jack’s boundary-stepping club division of Editions Gravats. Following the duo’s 2018 debut EP
and Clara!’s ‘Meiga de Acero’ single in 2019 for Les Disques De La Bretagne, ‘Luna Nueva’ binds the duo’s astrological, spiritual and romantic dancefloor cues in a significant new take on Caribbean futurism.

Designed to make you sweat - and maybe check your head -
the album pairs Clara!’s effortlessly nimble vocals with lean and spacious co-production by Maoupa Mazzocchetti in a way that faithfully and daringly plays with reggaeton convention, and, by extension, offers a critique of global electronic dance music currents.

Based in Brussels, Belgium, but originally from northern Spain, Clara! brings a strong knowledge of reggaeton, perreo and trap absorbed from beach parties and clubs back home to a wickedly offset batch of productions by Maoupa, who’s arguably earned a mean reputation in recent years for his killer mixtapes with the PRR! PRR! gang, as well as a slew of 12”s for everyone from Unknown Precept and Mannequin to Arma since 2014.

Together they throw down eight distinctive vocal cuts on disc 1, while disc 2 is loaded with their singular instrumentals. Clara! dispatches ice cool but barbed bars in diverse flows, bewitching Maoupa’s rhythms with on point style in the dramatic ‘Badman’ - a bullet for the male gaze - while layering herself in choral cadence on a spellbinding cover of Faltiquera’s Galician folk song ’Sum Sum’ over unusual tablas and drones...

But while the finer details of Clara!’s pointed but humorous lyrics may be lost on non-Spanish speakers, her co-productions with Mauopa are bound to resonate regardless of tongue, with strong, dare-to-be-different highlights in the hard and psychedelic drive of ‘Gaviléan’ and the bolshy bashment grind of ‘Virgo’, along with straight up freaky gear such as ‘Baja Y Suda’, plus their cold fusion of reggaeton and Mahraganat influences in ‘Secreto Ritual’, and warped hypermodernism in ‘Clarividencia.’ No matter what angle or
language it’s approached from, ‘Luna Nueva’ cycles fresh and luminous with a steadfast yet experimental call to the ‘floor while the world collapses around them.

Amos’ Flat is a three part album by VASE in collaboration with Opal Tapes & INDEX:Records: an odyssey of sonic manoeuvres through ambient, bass and IDM. This trilogy reveals VASE dissecting compositions down to sparse rhythmic explorations, disruptive power shifts and nebulous bass bliss.

Amos’ Flat: Room 1 will be sculpted into the physical form of a 12” vinyl record, released by INDEX:Records, followed by Opal Tapes reeling out Room 1 & 2 on double Cassette Tape.

Room 3 transcends into the digital, where VASE passes the brush to fellow artists, to rework into their own decorative pieces. Featured artists for Room 3 include Basic house, Fis, Katsunori Sawa, Shelley Parker and PYUR.

20 years of Pop Ambient. Already? One didn’t notice. It’s an anniversary which comes quietly. An anniversary with quiet tones.
In the spirit of the special restraint of pop-elegance, it has no reason to drawn attention to itself with a big „Tam-Tam“. Or better: „Bum-Bum“. The bass drum stays outside. Nevertheless, in fast-paced, overstimulated times of moving forward, it’s a joyful occasion to look back.
What strikes most by putting or listening to 20 years of pop ambient in a row is the central theme that holds together the dense aesthetic concept like the pearls of a necklace.
Floral beauty for digital naturalists. Music like flowers, that don’t wilt. Timeless. Ageless. But with all of the conceptual unity and resolution, Pop Ambient would not be Kompakt without the break, the friction, the expansion of musical boundaries in between tradition and innovation, in between conspiracy and the openness of the discourse.
Aestheticism, escapism, acting in the spirit of „nevertheless“. Swans drifting by, clouds pass over, everything is floating and: „Boredom is a stylistic device“ (Andy Warhol).

Pop Ambient Music is medicine against illnesses, that you don’t even suffer from. It’s giving everything, demanding nothing.
Musical lotus leafs, off which the virtual wastewater of our time is rolling like the reality is dripping off the matrix.


In this sense, we’re happy about the pop-ambient anniversary greetings from new and old companions like Thore Pfeiffer, Max Würden, Yui Onodera, Jörg Burger, Thomas Fehlmann, Morgen Wurde, Leandro Fresco aswell as contributions from T.Raumschmiere, Andrew Thomas and, after a long break, from friends from early days like Joachim Spieth, Markus Guentner und Klimek.

Pop Ambient 2020 is released digital, as CD and of course as a chic double vinyl. Also included in the package: The whole distinctive cover-series as an art book of 44 pages. And for all of the old and young fans and collectors there is the Pop Ambient 2001 in a overhauled original version out on vinyl for the very first time.



Breath in. Breath out. Thank you.



Wolfgang Voigt, September 2019.

20 Jahre Pop Ambient. Schon? Hat man gar nicht gemerkt. Ein Jubiläum auf leisen Sohlen. Ein Jubiläum der leisen Töne. Und ganz im Sinne pop-eleganter Zurückhaltung, kein Grund, großes Tam-Tam zu machen. Oder besser gesagt: Bum-Bum. Denn die Bassdrum bleibt ja draußen. Dennoch freudiger Anlass genug, in reizüberfluteten, schnelllebigen Zeiten auf dem Weg nach vorne einen Blick zurück zu werfen. Wenn man 20 Jahre Pop Ambient Platten hintereinander legt / hört, sticht einem zunächst der sprichwörtliche rote Faden ins Auge und ins Ohr. Der Faden, der das dichte, ästhetische Konzept zusammenhält wie die Glieder einer Perlenkette. Florale Schönheit für digitale Naturalisten. Musik wie Blumen, die nicht welken. Zeitlos. Alterslos. Aber Pop Ambient wäre nicht Kompakt, wenn nicht bei aller konzeptionellen Ge- und Entschlossenheit, auch der Bruch, die Reibung, das Ausweiten musikalischer Genregrenzen zwischen Tradition und Innovation, zwischen Konspiration und Diskursoffenheit, inkludiert wäre. Ästhetizismus, Trotzdemismus, Eskapismus. Schwäne treiben, Wolken ziehen, alles fließt – und: »Langeweile ist ein Stilmittel« (Andy Warhol).

Pop Ambient Musik ist Medizin gegen Krankheiten, die man gar nicht hat. Gibt alles und verlangt nichts. Musikalische Lotusblätter, an denen das virtuelle Schmutzwasser der Zeit abperlt, wie die Realität an der Matrix.

In diesem Sinne freuen wir uns über pop-ambiente Jubiläumsgrüße von neuen und alten Weggefährten wie Thore Pfeiffer, Max Würden, Yui Onodera, Jörg Burger, Thomas Fehlmann, Morgen Wurde, Leandro Fresco sowie Beiträge von T.Raumschmiere, Andrew Thomas und nach langer Pause, von Freunden aus frühen Tagen wie Joachim Spieth, Markus Guentner und Klimek.

Pop Ambient 2020 erscheint Digital, als CD und natürlich als schickes Doppelvinyl. Mit im Paket: Die gesamte unverwechselbaren Cover-Serie als 20-seitiges Kunstbuch. Und für alle neuen und alten Fans und Sammler, erscheint zeitgleich Pop Ambient 2001 erstmalig auch auf Vinyl, in generalüberholter Originalversion. Das Ganze gibt es zudem im schicken Jubiläumsschuber in limitierter Auflage und farbigem Vinyl, exklusiv erhältlich nur auf kompakt.fm …

Einatmen. Ausatmen. Danke.

Wolfgang Voigt, September 2019

Back with a vengeance, Cimm returns to the imprint with a highly anticipated succession to his Sentry debut from last year, stamped on a irresistible 2 x 12" vinyl release. Infernal halftime beats and top-notch Dubstep shells, firmly entrenched at the frontier of sound system music and its invaluable heritage. The London-based producer and DJ rose to swift and significant acclaim in the last few years with releases on institutions like Tempa, J:Kenzo's Artikal and Wheel & Deal as well as notable residencies at Rinse FM and the renowned Fabric night club, among other recent achievements. Now coming to a turntable near you, Cimm delivers four bespoke cuts, primed for the dance and your enjoyment, battle-tested by the scene's foremost tastemakers.

Diving into unidentified transmissions, 'Unknown Caller!!' sets the pace with eerie reverberations and filtered resonance. Amid the faint hiss of machinery, larger-than-life drums set up shop alongside subterranean pressure emissions. Hefty breaks, hold tight! Retro synth melodies keep us on track within the monstrous switch-ups and unquestionably meticulous arrangement, sure to shut down any dance in style. Cutting no corners with the B-Side, Cimm teams up with veteran vocalist Rider Shafique for a dystopian sub-bass onslaught, swaggering militant chants and the apocalyptic ambience to go with it. Steaming low-frequency oscillations bubble and hurl their weight, stripped of all restraints, coveted in freezing harmonies and ethereal atmosphere. Vibrating in a more uplifting spirit, the dedication to the Jamaican roots of sound system culture unfolds in the Londoner's signature style - dubbed out soundscapes ahead. 'Tosh Dub' keeps it a laid back, with vintage instrumentation, scattered skanks and swirling organ chimes. Taking an ultimate trip through unremitted grit and off-kilter grooves, 'I Am Jack Travis' lures us in with rainy undertones and hypnotic foley sampling. Promptly revealing its true nature with plenty of pressure and scrupulous syncopation, a ghostly heavyweight ensues and closes the deal.

“Experimental trio Giraffe crystalize time on ‘Desert Haze’, their new LP on Marionette. Giraffe is the musical project of Sascha Demand (guitar), Jürgen Hall (keys), and Charly Schöppner (percussion). Sascha Demand is a composer that comes from a contemporary and improvised musical background, collaborating with the likes of Ensemble Integrales and Vinko Globokar. Jürgen Hall works in electroacoustic experimental projects, theatre and film scores, with releases on Staubgold and Edition Stora. Charly Schöppner is known for his popular music releases such as Boytronic on major production companies in the 1980´s and composes for theatre, dance, and film scores. With only a couple of releases to date on the wonderful Meakusma imprint as well as an EP on Marmo, little is known about Giraffe. After letting go of other artistic projects, the trio now focuses solely on Giraffe by continuously searching for and finding their own unique language.

Sascha, Jürgen and Charly have quite diverse musical backgrounds, though morphing into Giraffe they tower into one single composer. Their music is a critical statement, not in a political sense but rather an artistic one. Being mindful about what it means to create and how to position themselves as artists nowadays (without the constant hassle of being en vogue and short-lived trends) shaped their rather rare and stoic artistic stance. It is refreshingly honest to see their expression develop so naturally.

On Desert Haze, they’ve created a vibrant and minimalistic tribal sound that feels inspired by the Saharan traditional music of the Tuareg, Jazz, and German psychedelic krautrock. Giraffe themselves also list the radical music of the Viennese School (Schoenberg along with his pupils Berg and Webern) as well as the Köln School with its early electronic experiments as their main influence and inspiration. More precisely the composition process and the organization of musical material within space and time, where a conceptual and intellectual approach melds with an experimental yet expressive sound searching method.

Side A focuses on the trios studio work; it is built around tone color and pitch analysis of resonating prepared guitar sounds. Through a unique mixture of free improvisation and a serialism "rule set”, they develop instrumental layers and structures to form their tracks. Side B sees Giraffe playing more freely with a reduced setup - representative of what you may hear when listening to them live.
Desert Haze, along with its track-titles, showcases an almost mimetic approach to art. The haptic music grabs the listener not as a passive recipient but as an active resonant body to vibrate through. One can almost feel the Elements, pressure and heat forming a diamond, hypnotic overtones ringing through windy caves, shamanistic rhythms conjuring up mysterious and ancient landscapes - where the constant cycle of sedimentation and erosion reveals structures of fragile beauty - always gentle to the hand’s touch and the mind’s eye.”

"Kiska" is the lead single off Kedr's sophomore release, Your Need. The album is a celebration of life and rebirth. It's about a fighter's spirit, and if you will, a little audacity and courage. DJ'ing and early forms of dance music inspired a furious burst of creative energy after months of melancholy, sadness and reflection to record the album in only a matter of weeks. After her breakout album, Ariadna, which put her on the forefront of Russia's burgeoning electronic scene, Kedr felt lost with her identity and was searching for the direction of her next chapter. For a while she felt trapped by her own image and needed quite some time to resolve this internal dissonance - to grow, to evolve. DJ'ing was the main catalyst to pull her out of this rut. The art form shifted her inspiration to mainly old school styles of dance music: ghetto, house, breakbeat and UK garage. For the prior year and a half she was listening to ambient, kraut-rock and more experimental genres - one can hear the brighter, more energetic influence of early electronic music in the songs on Your Need. One day she was talking with her friend Flaty (Zhenya), a very talented artist from St. Petersburg who's signed to the GOST ZVUK label, and they decided to do a single together. He came to visit her in Moscow, but they ended up spending 10 whole days writing music together, from dawn to dusk. They vibed off each other's musical ideas perfectly and understood each other even without speaking. Zhenyais a beatmaster and pays attention to even the smallest details of a track. He brought incredible richness to the composition and Kedr considers him her teacher in this area. Kedr was in charge of the melodies and vibe of the tracks, and the vocal elements. Your Need is like a chapter of life. It's a story that illustrates different scenarios and moods that our mythical hero experiences, living in an urban jungle. From lost love to a bad trip on the dance floor, from euphoria to deep introspection. Our hero sometimes feels bold, lost or devastated, but also tender and full, like all of us at some point in life. The ending is joyful and bright. The last song gives hope and faith that a new day will come and wash away the old. You can feel like new every day. Your Need reflects an array of genres and a mix of cultures - a harmonious combination of differences. Everything Kedr loves about ghetto music, in the traditions of house, dub, breakbeat, 90s electronic music and modern sounds - she's embraced and expressed it all throughout. Your Need is Kedr's ode to music from different eras and changing periods.

In her most personally narrative work to date, A Fossil Begins To Bray is the follow up on Dais Records for NYC producer Hiro Kone, furthering the dialogue set forth on her 2018 release, Pure Expenditure. While the statements on Pure Expenditure rallied behind a point of dangerous excess and injustice, the material on A Fossil Begins To Bray embark upon a journey of discovery and selfanalysis, proposing a potential reorientation towards absence in hopes of illuminating potential futures.

In Mao’s own words, “This album considers the power of absence as neither a lack or deficit, but as a quiet, indeterminable force to cultivate in this time of looming and unrelenting techno-fascism. It asks that we take pause to consider our learned languages and actualities and to better consider how desire shapes our recollections and interpretations of this ‘existence.’” This allegory is expertly applied to every song on A Fossil Begins To Bray. Mao has established a long history of employing absence in her productions to maximum effect. With a vast assortment of diverse elements at play, no single track ever feels overly convoluted and further illustrates Hiro Kone’s skillful attention to dynamic tension and flow. Tracks such as “Fabrication of Silence” and “Submerged Dragon” perfectly represent the power of absence, utilized in a matter to create unique amalgams of decisive, cinematic techno rhythms from the electronic void. As the melodic elements contained within A Fossil Begins To Bray begin to unravel and slowly take form, the unaware are rewarded with a driving yet tangible refrain that offers resolve in contrast to the dense, textureladen backdrop that forms the album’s foundation. The first single, “Feed My Ancestors”, expands upon Hiro Kone’s signature take on electronic music structures. Seemingly free from the predictable contracts imposed by any one genre’s stereotypes, Hiro Kone throttles the foreboding bassline in favor of more calculated, abstract cut-ups that gracefully hold the track in place between hopeful utopia and something more ominous.

Recital publish the newest record by Canadian composer Sarah Davachi. Currently working on her PhD in Musicology at UCLA, her trajectory has been unorthodox. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, which, if you've never been there, doesn't really scream "Avant-Garde" (Calgary is the rodeo capital of the world). From a young age, Sarah was a driven pianist (and figure-skater, although that's a story for a different time). It is important and interesting that she chose to study esoteric music; as Sarah could have easily been a cowgirl or a concert pianist had her ingrained love of synthesis and sonic phenomenology not taken the wheel.

Sarah is a considered person. I find few people that have the diligence and resolve to take their time with music... especially in a live context. I respect that about her. The first time I saw Sarah perform, I presumptuously told her that her music reminded me of my favorite Mirror albums (the exceptional project of Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann). Sarah was not familiar with Mirror, so the compliment was initially lost on her. Years back I was in the same situation when a review compared my music to Andrew Chalk, who was unknown to me at the time. So I felt a kinship in our magnetic drift towards unspoken and clustered beauty.

Let Night Come On Bells End The Day follows the release of her "sound-wheel" LP All My Circles Run, which examines the isolation of different instruments. Let Night Come On..., recorded mainly with a Mellotron and electronic organ, feels like a return to the nest. Burrowed in the studio, Davachi was the only performer on this album. She both splays her compositional architecture and re-contextualizes the essence of her early output. She chiseled careful and shadowed hymns; anchors of emotion.

Two pillars of this album are "Mordents", which to my ears drops hints of her love for Progressive rock music - and "Buhrstone," comparable to a sombre funeral march of piano and flutes. These two examine punctuations of early music, gently plucking melodies and movements. The three other compositions are tonal works, blowing slow jets of lapping harmonics.

Writing this description now, I find it hard to separate "At Hand" from filmmaker Paul Clipson, who made a melancholic film for this piece of Sarah's. A fitting title for Sarah and Paul's relationship - frequently working in orbit of each other, meticulous and tactile. I cherish this track as a memory of Paul.

This is a lovely album to fill an evening living room with. A blanket, a cup of wine, a dim bulb, a wide window.

Three beautiful photo-prints by Davachi are included with Let Night Come On Bells End The Day. Frames are not included.

- Sean McCann

‘Green & Gold’ is the second collaborative release from Mr Key & Greenwood Sharps, the long awaited follow up to their
critically acclaimed 2015 album ‘Yesterday’s Futures’. The record was written and recorded between Greenwood Sharps’
cottage in the verdant English countryside and the off grid Finca in the foothills of the Andalusian Sierra Nevada, Spain where
Key is based.
The title has multiple meanings none of which are anything to do with weed or money. First and foremost, green and gold are
the colours which synesthete (a person who sees sound) Greenwood Sharps, composed the record in. It also alludes to the
dialogue between the green of the UK and the dusty gold of Andalucia which created the project. Finally green and gold speaks
of the dynamic between the sun and photosynthesising organisms, the driving force of life on earth.
‘Yesterday’s Futures’ took the listener on a meandering journey through a vast landscape of moods, sounds and ideas,
leading ultimately to redemption and the possibility of resolution. Thematically, ‘Green & Gold’ picks up where ‘Yesterday’s
Futures’ left off, but structurally it takes the opposite tack; an extended exploration of a single ubiquitous idea: universal love for
all things and all people and the challenge of maintaining these shiny ideals in day to day life, as our cynical side reasserts itself.
Key’s first output after an extended hiatus from releasing music makes it obvious that during this time he continued honing his
craft. The unique perspectives and disarming honesty which set him apart from his peers remain, but his technical prowess and
capacity to convey sentiment are notably enhanced. The same applies to Greenwood Sharps, who’s masterful production has
risen to new heights yet still maintains the rich and subtle sonic palette he has become known for.
Dropping alongside the EP is a short film featuring the works of long time collaborator Jamie Johnson, the man behind the
artwork for both ‘Green & Gold’ & ‘Yesterday’s Futures’. The short film is the visual counterpart to the EP and serves as the
perfect introduction to the world of ‘Green & Gold’ as it visually explores all the themes present in the music & provides a snap
shot of the incredible tracks on offer.
In a troubled and busy world, marred with anxieties and uncertainties, ‘Green & Gold’ comes as a breath of fresh air and offers some valuable food for thought for those searching for real heart felt substance rather than the sanitised, individualised &
commodified norm we have all become accustomed to.

Melodize is a brand new label that kicks off with a mighty EP from Beartrax that includes a remix from US house legend John Tejada. Beartrax has already rebased on Motek Music, Lost Diaries and Deeper Love and makes a real impression here.

The US house legend and Kompakt regular that is John Tejada opens the EP with the moody and synth laden Clarity remix. It is a roller that takes you deep and has lush chords stretching to the heavens. Clarity in original form is a tender, piano laden tune with a vulnerable vibe and deep, resonating bass. Last up is Haunted Chalice, a track with a rasping lead synth that mesmerises as the warm drums roll on below.

This is a classy EP to kick off this exciting new label

feedback so far:
- Animal Trainer - "Haunted Chalice sounds awesome!"
- Huxley - "Like the remix."
- Nick Warren - "A fine mix from John and Haunted has great charm."
- Jamie Jones- "Sounds cool, will give proper feedback if played."
- Joyce Muniz- "John Tejada remix is sweet!“

Time for the host to show up: HomeMadeZucchero co-founder Giesse gets in the game with a one track EP plus Demdike Stare's rmx able to fully scan one composition from two absolutely different perspectives. Main track Goji is a deep and overwhelming embrace among decadent IDM sounds, grooves oscillating between jungle and drum'n'bass, and rarefied atmospheres based on vague hip-hop reminiscences turned into echoing and saturnine shards.

The remix brought by Demdike Stare, strips the original piece to its bare bone by subtracting elements and shaping everything in three different blocks, working like independent acts that climax in a stunning drums maelstrom and resolves into a dramatic ending tending to a relentless sonic collapse.

The Vibe Drops (Emcee G Roc Gayle & Moar) presents Higher Frequency vinyl LP. The album features guest vocals from Rita J and Finsta (Finsta Bundy). Also live instrumentation from Remi Schnell on guitar and Jean Louis Potin on the Flute. The Vibe Drops explore with various sound vibrations, live instrumentation, turntablism, records, sampling and advance lyrical content: rhymes, word-play and poetry, blended to perfection with the beats. The Vibe Drops drops first musical offering Higher Frequency
will have the listener fulfilled, hoping the message comes across and resonates to move, elevate, in order to cope and defeat the everyday stressors of life. Higher Frequency delivers boom bap, jazz hop and soulful Hip-Hop stimulation for the mind, body and soul.

Detroit imprint My Baby returns with its third musical offering, a split release from two Motor City heavyweights, in the form of Rex Sepulveda and Acid Pimp.
This fledgling vinyl only label has got off to a superb start showcasing music from Detroit locals on its first two stellar Eps. With a focus on the underground sound of the city it resonates with global fans of quality house and techno and continues to do so here with four outstanding new tracks.
First up is Acid Pimp, a DJ & producer who has been an integral part of Detroit’s music scene since the early 90s. His distinct sound saw him release a string of classic twelves on the Cheshire imprint, whilst his DJing took him from the warehouse parties of the city to international clubs like Tresor. He founded the ‘Friction Detroit’ night in his home town, hosting the likes of Ben Sims, Regis and Chris Liebing, and he co-founded the M-Nus sub label D- Records with Richie Hawtin and two other friends. The first of his two offerings is the superb ‘Re-Ak-O-Pan’, seven minutes of intense, industrial tinged techno with taut drums working alongside panning synths and static machine noise to superb effect. This is complemented by the looped excellence of ‘Lupe 09’, a rolling groove that is sure to lock in any dancefloor.
The flipside sees another of Michigan’s sons in the shape of Rex Sepulveda. Rex has a musical history dating back to 90s, he was one of the aforementioned friends that launched D-Records with Acid Pimp and Richie Hawtin and has released original and remix material on a number of imprints. His first cut here is ‘Rex presents Dvda’ a deep, brooding affair populated by rubbery, acidic synths and razor-sharp percussion. This is a pure early-hours number that is sure to twist up the floor wherever it’s dropped. Closing the package we have ‘Rexie’s Orgasm’ a spacious, and understated track that perfectly captures the echoing sounds of a cavernous warehouse space.
This is a sterling package of quality underground sounds from the city that sparked the fire.

Idealist, Patrick Zigon, El Choop and Van Bonn took their hands on Insect O.’s full length album ‘Atacama’. Zurich based Idealist turns the epic ‘New Dawn’ track into a raw techno mover with acidic chords and an air cutting hihat. For his remix of ‘Resonance’ Biotop label head Patrick Zigon spices up the melodies with some disharmonic sounds and embeds it on top of a shuffling groove foundation. El Choop got on remix duties for ‘Atacama’ and hit the ground running. Using multiband saturation and a granular software to create a pad, he’s turned it into an entirely new exploding techno track. Van Bonn rounds up the remix edition. Using some trippy fx, he lays the chords and field recordings on top of a very deep dub beat in his mystic remix for ‘Forest Of The Monkeys’.

Yoshi Wada's Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile, originally released in 1982 on India Navigation, remains one of the most remarkable flowers to grow in the rarefied air of American minimalism – akin to Terry Riley's Reed Streams and Pauline Oliveros' Accordion & Voice, yet with a wild, liberated energy all of its own.

After graduating from Kyoto University of Fine Arts with a degree in sculpture, Wada moved to New York City in 1967 and quickly fell in with the community of artists known as Fluxus. In the early '70s, he began building his own instruments and writing musical compositions, studying with La Monte Young and Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath.

Recorded during an epic three-day session in an empty swimming pool in upstate New York, Wada's first album brings together two of the oldest drone instruments – the human voice and bagpipes – to simple and glorious effect. A visit to the Scottish Highlands spurred Wada's interest in bagpipes, which the composer integrated into these sparse, otherworldly sounds heard on Lament.

"That swimming pool was quite hallucinatory," recalls Wada. “It was another world. I felt it in terms of resonance. I slept in the pool, and whenever I moved, I woke up because of the reverberations.... The piece itself is an experiment with reeds and improvisational singing within the modal structure."

This first-time vinyl reissue is limited to 750 numbered copies. Comes with poster.

Before an upcoming album in 2020 on Heavenly Sweetness, Mama is the first single. A track in which the balafon’s woody resonance, the meditative flute and the female choruses return to the Creole roots of David, recall the memory of his Caribbean grandfather exiled to New York but, above all, a title dedicated to his grandmother, who after the last soaring electro-disco, she comes to declaim the text on the ultimate measures. David Walters will have thought of it, conceived and realized in close collaboration with Patchworks. Then, in the wake of the single Mama released in the month of each of them took the title, isolated himself in the studio with instruments and machines to come out only with a total reinterpretation, but especially personal, of the title. Hammering bass drum and snare drum bursts, David has entrusted the direction of operations to the rhythmic, and it is one after the other that digital elements were invited to transform the original maternal softness into a boiling soundsystem. Synths their strings on the hum of the bass, the hypnotic power of the riddim remains.
Two remixes, two atmospheres. The Patchworks scene is set in a jazz-funk setting, an heritage from Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith. Powerful drum, enrobing bass, the Fender Rhodes becomes a soloist, motivated by this irrepressible groove, first become a soloist. And that the meshes leave the hands of the balafon player to pass in those of the vibraphonist.

A mind-bending blend of modular synth performance, Anthony Baldino’s dynamic Twelve Twenty Two LP is a treat for all ears. Baldino’s transcendent album is available both digitally and on vinyl on Thursday, October 24 via MethLab Recordings.

“The record focuses heavily on the modular synth as a composition tool and instrument. I originally approached this as a collection of tracks that were recorded straight out of the machine with little to no editing. The work flow of generating a complex patch and then figuring out the overall arch and performance of the piece was really exciting. The Tip Top Audio Circadian Rhythms was a key compositional tool in this process and was used to organize the overall structure of these pieces. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon a patch, the opening synths in ‘Fading Quickly Now,’ that I went back to how I used to write and shifted to harvesting sounds and rhythms from the modular and arranging and editing them in the box. That patch was originally created for a different track on the album, which I’ll let you find, but IH ad accidentally changed the clock rate before tearing the patch down. Hearing it in that new way triggered a whole new thought process and emotional reaction for me.” - Anthony Baldino

Originally approached as a collection of tracks recorded straight out of Baldino’s machine with little editing, Twelve Twenty Two is a complex piece of thoughtful modular work. A truly stunning display of masterful sound design, Baldino’s sound resonates with listeners from first note to last. Existing in a unique space where ambient sounds meet vivacious bass, Baldino seemingly exists in an impressive league of his own, with Twelve Twenty Two standing apart powerfully from the masses. With an already powerful arsenal of artists and releases, MethLab Recordings adds a brilliant 10-track addition to their already wild playbook.

“From the beginning, it was important for me to keep this record musical and emotional and not just an exercise in technicality, so using both the modular and the computer to arrange felt really good both emotionally and sonically and created a different balance to the record that I really liked. Switching the process up a bit halfway through kept things interesting and I think the body of work really benefits from it. This record is split in half with performance based/straight out of the machine tracks and the other half organized in the box. But when listening back, the two approaches overlap so much that it’s hard to tell where one approach ends and the other begins.” - Anthony Baldino


About Anthony Baldino:
Born and raised in New York, Anthony Baldino is an LA-based composer and sound designer whose work spans an enormous range of production avenues. The likelihood that you haven’t heard his world is nearly impossible, with music and sound design in too many trailer campaigns to list, including Prometheus, Interstellar, Ex-Machina, Star Wars: Rogue One, and Avengers: Infinity War and End Game just to name a few. From there, his work ventures to the opposite pole of production with custom sound design based compositions for Dolby Labs mixed in Atmos, beautifully glitched out remixes, and continues on to mind-bending modular synthesizer performances.

With his debut artist release, he delivers a devastatingly beautiful album grounded in IDM that focuses on modular synthesizers/ While a vast amount of modular synth music is currently being released, this album goes far beyond the typical beeps and boops that one may expect when they hear “modular IDM record.” This record is as technical as it is emotive. Tasteful and incredibly detailed, Twelve Twenty Two bridges the gap between sound-design laden beats and cinematic motifs and ambiences. This record does not disappoint and is sure to become a favorite of electronic music fans.

The album opens up with a slowly unfolding melody that seems to be within grasp, but never actually repeats itself. Incredibly tasteful glitchy sound design leads us into a build that one would only expect to be in a movie, and then drops into a full-on sonic assault of impeccable drums and rich synths. From there, the record traverses a wide array of texture, time and technique. Closing with a track that makes you feel like you could actually reach out and touch the sound and float in its space, the sonic landscape created in Twelve Twenty Two is a true treat for ears.

‘Synth Expressionism/Rhythmic Cubism’ LP from Chicago’s Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being is a collection of idioms that have no past and no future, his jarring use of polyrhythmic polyphony imbues a sense of timelessness.

The prolific catalog of Moss’ covers many musical dialects from his hometown and beyond. Never standing in one artistic sphere for too long, this adventure for On the Corner Records sees Hieroglyphic Being exploring a multitude of expressions of the American Avant-garde.

Abstractions Of The Future Past — Afro-Cubism: The Designation, conceived by an African With A Mainframe — An Etude Of Effigy — A Hieroglyphic Being.

Rhythmic Cubism: In this ‘Dissertation Of Disorientation’ Neal Andrew Emil Gustafson temporal considerations are put aside as polyrhythmic propulsion is the current flowing through the work. As prelude the fastidious ‘Rhythmic Cubism’, Moss enacts a flurry of white noise and musical coda as it phases in-and-out of synchronicity.

The disjointed dance of an alternative Black Music, ‘The Spiritual Or ‘Electromagnetic Worlds’ takes the meter down a fraction to exonerate a granular groove of visceral refracted complexity. Sonorus static sits alongside spastic shards of synthesis to reveal a melancholic medley before its conclusion.

‘Apocrypha’ collages distinct rhythmic source materials in an entrancing abstraction of ‘Hypersonic Hemiola’. An assertion of Art Blakey proportions. Perpetually pushed forward through the building of distorted percussion, Moss precludes into syncopated synapsis before and end of reductive symmetry.

Evolving into a studdered off-kilter groove, ‘The Redemption Project’ flows as a dissipating organ medley dissolves into a deluge of layered sonic textures, creating an indiscernible metric center before fading to a distant vanishing point.

Departing with a common-time ‘Timbuk2’ takes off like a classic Chicago Acid track, then makes a left turn towards the center as it drives the rhythmic motion into a dystopian dreamland, as the sax line surges forcing the track to break free from it’s charted course.

The Fragmented Fantasy of The Synth Expressionism/Rhythmic Cubism LP is a conclusive work that has no end, a conundrum of conceptual calculated improvisation. Drifting through time, this fragmented abstraction of Afro-Cubism leaves room for posterity, as each listen summons a new perspective on the suite. Something ever so common in the work of Jamal Moss. Charting new sonic directions, the very nature of its precedent makes it a truly Hieroglyphic affair.

Words By Neal Andrew Emil Gustafson

Destiny is made. Realised. Driven by the acts of vision. Hireroglyphic Being is a seer. Atomic resonance echoing from the big bang defies the conceptual reality of purity. The nuclear static of ‘white noise’ is HBs canvas. Channeling poly rhythms into the universe. Experience, repetition and eternal decay. From purity back to the absolute by way of a deluge of slurry across time. Infinite layers of distortion and refracted complexity. This is HBs canvas. Sound of eternity channelled through a bass bin, represented by its own impure reflection and fragments. Always more than it's whole but never as was before.

This album seeks to reach beyond ideas and emotions, beyond the comprehension of a human archetype. Beyond ultimate history, forwards and back. To ends and a singular beginnings. Timbuk2 is the frenetic intersection where the call and response of these ideas lock and dissipate back into the void.

Dutch techno duo D&S - or Dennis & Stephan to their parents - hail from Rotterdam and have a penchant for the classic sounds of Detroit. Their previous releases on SK Black, Orbis Records, Indigo Aera's AEX compilations, ARTS and Girada Unlimited have earned them support from the likes of Adam Beyer, Marco Bailey and Ilario Alicante, and this tasty new EP for Abstract Reasoning looks set to find similar favour.

The pitter-patter of classic drum machine hi-hats drive the title track along with swooping, filtered pads and gentle licks of acid, the track gradually evolving into a veritable bubble bath of 303 goodness and gated synth swells. Incidence continues the theme, with gentle cymbal rides splashing over continually evolving acid blips and bleeps while mystical waves of chord melody envelope your senses in a foggy haze.

The second half of the EP flips the script beautiful with two broken beat tracks that show they have a real prowess for melody as well as rhythm. Lost In Sequence's thumping kicks are punctuated by the rolling tribal percussive elements and looming, sorrowful pads. Intricate rhythms and beautiful use of reverb and other FX create a dreamy atmosphere throughout. Partisan sees a morphing, resonant synth motif pulse over another pleasingly thick kick rhythm, and swirling, ethereal layers of atmosphere. All in all it's a superb release that has something for the dancefloor as well as the home stereo.

DJ Richard's first release of 2019 sees him drop four invigorating electro tracks on Flexxseal titled "Eraser".

Emerging from the Providence noise scene, DJ Richard forges a path of disciplined selectiveness as a producer and DJ with his idiosyncratic style allowing him to make impressive, self-assured connections between 80s EBM, new beat and Italo disco, electro, techno and "post-minimalist" house. DJ Richard's feral approach evolved from the roots of his White Material imprint which quickly achieved cult status after early releases from himself and co-founders Galcher Lustwerk and Young Male.

As a solo artist, DJ Richard continues to push the boundaries of his talent and influences reflected in his two utterly distinctive and bewitching albums released in alliance with influential German electronic label, Dial. "Eraser" sees him join up with fellow American Christopher Joseph and his Flexxseal imprint as DJ Richard masterfully maintains his skill in propagating ephemeral and raw sounds with his aptitude for electronic body control.

"Critical Damage" kicks things off with resilient oscillations fused beautifully with angelic leads and thudding percussion reflecting a post-punk aesthetic while "Eraser" delivers tough, acidic swirls undulating beneath sharp, broken grooves and growling undertones.

On the flip, a slow, chugging drum sequence balanced with haunting modulations and machine-like vibrations that echo throughout take the focus in "His Threshing Floor" before "Casca's Theme" concludes the EP with meandering, robotic synth flutters and distorted bass resonations driven by hypnotic rhythms and world-ending atmospheres in this powerful electro cut.

FPO (onesheet currently in development):

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The digitally remastered release of JAK3's Moonlight Radiation is a menagerie of cyberpunk mutations arising out of the Memphis revival rap movement. The album's big, blown-out sound might have seemed an incidental result of an analog recording process in its original cassette release. Now, rendered in digital clarity, listeners can better perceive how JAK3 sculpts varying degrees of panic, aggression and resolve very intentionally through the hard mix of industrial noise, inventive beats, flush synths and recordings from a slew of rappers including Freddie Dredd (Toronto), Apoc Krysis (Memphis), and fellow Waistdeep Clique members Agnarkea and Calsutmoran.

The short format of Moonlight Radiation's 16 tracks allows JAK3 to cover a lot of ground, and even within a single track he keeps one guessing. Track 2, "2FAKE," goes from an atmospheric burn, to a slow drive with the snappy flow of Moistbread, and then abruptly crashes back into an oozing vortex of synths. The penultimate interlude "Return from Hyperspace" sounds like one is being forced through a hellish modem, only to land in a haunted and abandoned transmitter for the closing track, "This Night Will Never End."

Between, those tracks, one gets a tour of the wild possibilities that could come next from this producer and the sounds emerging from the Memphis chopped-and-screwed scene. In a milieu that is retreading the past, the mutants of Moonlight Radiation may seem to be arriving a little prematurely. But you can't stop evolution when the field is so wide, and young producers like JAK3 are moving fast.

Taking inspiration from a vast musical sphere, the Munich-Vienna pair Jorkes are widely recognised for their open-minded and passionate approach to electronic music which is translated through their Freeride Millenium imprint and own unique productions. ‘Cross The Line’ will be the duo’s first outing since 2016 seeing them join up with the Italian pair Hard Ton who are known for releases on Wonder Stories, Luv Shack Records, Toy Tonics and many more. Jorkes invite Live At Robert Johnson artist Massimiliano Pagliara and Philpot founder SoulPhiction aka Jackmate for remix duties which tops off this distinctive release highlighting the openness and sensibility of their musical philosophy.
‘Cross The Line’ begins the EP with alleviating pads balanced harmoniously with alluring, heart-warming vocals and gentle keys drifting throughout before Massimiliano Pagliara delivers an infectious remix focusing on hypnotic bass grooves, effervescent drums and undulating pads fluttering naturally with the stirring modulations.
‘Jackmate’s Dub Mix’ deploys low-riding resonations fused with muffled tones and thrilling, shuffling rhythms within whereas ‘Jackmate’s 90s Mix’ focuses heavily on organic percussion rolling throughout with robust musical elements and looping vocals. SoulPhiction’s ’Dub Mix’ completes the pack with a tranquil take on the original laying focus on funk-infused instrumentals and subdued jazz drums.

With its fourth catalogue number, Steinlach returns to the vinyl format with a remix EP. On board are international friends of the label, who layed hands on Wice's originals with outstanding re- interpretations. While the A-side contains two groovy and club-oriented remixes of "Just kiddin", the trippy flipside focuses on the second outcome of the label and refers to the two pieces "Absent" and "Hertz".

The record opens with a fast-paced and jacking "Just Kiddin" version by Deep'a and Biri. The two guys from Tel Aviv re-interprate the clubby aspect of the piece, furnish it with a portion of percussions and accompany it with a volatile beat. Discharging the track with a big bang, they're leaving the listener with no chance but to move energetically to the groove patterns while cherishing the original lead melody.

Just like Deep'a and Biri, Jon Hester bets on the energy and the recognition value of the original synth line. As typical for Jon, he gives a more Chicago-style housey and bouncy touch to the composition. The lead is getting chopped, re-interpreted and re-arranged into a new groove and melody pattern, sure to inspire the floor to shake and to catapult everyone around into a frisky dancing mood. Suddenly, the well-known arpeggio of the original comes in and makes for the climax of this brilliant remix.

With side B, the club aspect of the record might not be left behind, but moved into more stripped and trippy terrains. The B1 track is fashioned as a ruthless "Absent" version, unmistakably having Refracted's writing all over it. The smallest variations of the synth line, drones, and pads, without resorting to typical drum rack aspects, find their way deep inside the listener's head, and draw them into their subtle rhythm. The unapologetic roughness of the interpretation is striking and makes it a brilliant peaktime weapon.

Rounding up the whole EP, the last remix of the record is a wonderful re-interpretation by the talented Australian that is Mosam Howieson. He ministered to Wice's personal favourite piece and crafted a loving and deep version of "Hertz", which translates the magic of the original into own words and emotions, adds a subtle groove to it, then invites to listen more carefully. One quickly dives into a hopeful world in which a certain magic seems to be present, and where everything seems to be alright. Be it as a perfect last piece after a long fulfilling evening, or as the outstanding means to make the sun rise in the morning-Mosam's interpretation sure hits the spot.

Special thanks go out to our close friends Simon Sandleitner who is always in charge of the great artworks and Roger Reuter (Roger23) for having always an open ear, his helpful advises and his thought-out criticism.

Rolf Hansen, who as a guitarist is originally rooted in jazz, has been one of the most in-demand studio and session musician in the Danish rock, pop, and folk scene. Between 2010 and 2017, he toured under the name Il Tempo Gigante as a solo artist and released two albums: »Lost Something Good« (Speed of Sound, 2010) and »Watch It Watch« (Resonans, 2014). With subsequent tours throughout Europe, he made a name for himself in the alternative folk scene.

After a phase of reorientation, he now releases his first purely instrumental record under his real name through the Berlin-based Karaoke Kalk label in September. On his third album »Elektrisk Guitar«, the many different influences Hansen has gathered as a composer, solo performer, session musician and producer shine through.

The concept of limitation - an album composed for and played with solo guitar - is being mirrored in the conception of the album itself. Not only does Hansen resolutely constrain himself to a sole instrument, he also eschews traditional composition techniques and follows an experimental approach.

»Elektrisk Guitar« is an album that enters into a dialogue with its conscious and attentive listener. Pieces whose melancholy is carefully weighed meet complex musical structures that again and again provide new challenges. In just 43 minutes, »Elektrisk Guitar« offers a plethora of ideas, impressions, details, and inspiration. And even more so, it opens up a room for its listeners to explore, precisely because its minimalistic compositions create a lot of space in which to get accommodated in.

Apart from his solo projects, Rolf Hansen has for several years been connected to Donna Regina as well as Anders Mathiasen (formerly Murder, now Vessel, DK) and Henriette Sennenvaldt (formerly Under Byen, DK) through close collaborations.

Razen celebrate their 10 yr anniversary with “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk”, an album that takes a paragraph from CG Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections as a reference point to set off a journey that goes from light to dark, from day to night, from life to death, and back.

As much a reflection of primal imagery and rituals of knowledge as a way of coming to terms with anxieties about the chaos of the night, the album concerns itself with the question: who - or what - are we in the moments before (re-)birth, before waking up, in the state inbetween darkness and light?
On “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk”, the wind instruments and organ stabs of band leaders Kim Delcour and Brecht Ameel are expanded with Pieter Lenaerts’ five string double bass and sarangi, Jean-Philippe Poncin’s bass clarinet and chalumeau, and Paul Garriau’s hurdy gurdy.

The album sees the group explore new straight-to-the-gut emotional territory, while simultaneously showcasing Razen’s intuitive, continuous investigation of the acoustic properties and resonant possibilities of churches and chapels in the countryside around Brussels; after “Remote Hologram” (2014) and “ The Xvoto Reels” (2017), this time the St Agatha Church (St.-Agatha-Berchem) functions as the conduit for Razen’s acoustic sound jolts.

With the past ten years entirely devoted to the search for archetypical timbres and connotations by improvising on Early Music instruments, it’s no wonder that the world of Razen would one day collide with the world of CG Jung and take his writing as an inspiration.

A sonic hex tour de force from this unique ensemble, “Ayîk Adhîsta Adhîsta Ayîk” is a present-day, nocturnal emitter of the Coleridge quote that opens Jung’s Memories:
‘He looked at his own soul with a Telescope. What seemed all irregular he saw and shewed to be beautiful Constellations and he added to the Consciousness hidden worlds within worlds’.

With the release of their first two albums and live shows supporting Snarky Puppy, Roy Ayers, Marcus Miller, Larry Mizell & the Blackbyrds, Butcher Brown, Yellowjackets and more, Resolution 88 have already established themselves as one of the UK's leading exponents of funk jazz. Their music is synonymous with the silky, buttery sound of the Fender Rhodes. They're also a bona fide band, a refreshing change in a musical world increasingly occupied by online collaborations and viral videos. They're best mates who love to hang out, play together and make their own music - that sincerity is evident in their songs and their chemistry on stage.


'Revolutions' represents a lot of firsts - the first time Resolution 88 have recorded to multi-track tape, the first time that they've included a real string and brass section, the first time they've included special guests on record and the first time they've pressed an album on vinyl. Imagine a combination of an undiscovered Herbie Hancock album from the mid' 70's, rare-groove samples from the golden era of hip hop (ATCQ, Pharcyde etc) and the new London sound of bands like Yussef Kamaal.

Every track on'Revolutions'represents an aspect of music on vinyl. On'Pitching Up'you hear the DJ pitch the record up from 33rpm to 45rpm.'Out Of Sync'simulates a clumsy attempt at beat-matching. The hypnotic, circling sax line that opens the title track'Revolutions'(echoed by the strings at the end) evokes the mesmerizing sensation of watching the record label artwork whirling as it spins on the platter.'Runout Groove'fades in and out; the drum beat mimics the distinctive, perpetual rhythm tapped out by the stylus as it reaches the runout groove. On the second side,'Sample Hunter'unexpectedly deviates from the main section into Rhodes-drenched interludes; the type of moment that producers searched high and low for back when hip hop was great.Marcus Tenney's (Butcher Brown) lyrics on 'Dig Deep'are all about the thrill of digging for records and'Matrix'is inspired by the hidden messages sometimes left in the matrix markings on record pressings. On'Tracking Force', you can hear the beat twist and morph as the stylus skates over the record. Finally,'Warped Memories'closes out the album with a wistful, melancholy melody. Sit back with a glass of Japanese whisky and a Cuban cigar (or whatever your chosen poison is), stick the album on and enjoy it from start to finish - although if you're listening to it on vinyl, you'll need to get up to turn it over to the B-side ;)

Free Love, the artists formerly known as Happy Meals return to Optimo Music with ‘Extreme Dance Anthems’ a phantasmic mini album from their hearts to yours.

They say – “We recorded EXTREME DANCE ANTHEMS in our recently moved studio, ‘Full Ashram Celestial Garden’ which is now situated in a building that holds both a church below us and a sex club next door. Most of the tracks were formed from late-night sessions that we started to kind of ritualistically hold inspired from a particular thought or idea that we later cut down and did a live mixdown of. The music is about physicality and the metaphysical – it is about a recontextualisation of the ineffable as a centre point of existence which in turn influences how we engage with everything around us. A celebration of the unquantifiable, unspeakable, indivisible EXPERIENCE as the throne from which all ideas are derived. Even though the world is fucked- we are here.

On the face of it – I realise that this description might just seem like apolitical hippy bullshit but fuck that – as a deliberate result of the modern political landscape, our societies’ individual and collective disengagement with the metaphysical has led us to treat other humans, animals and our environment like resourceful statistics rather than something that actually holds any inherent value. An Inner Revolution of the foundations of our reality in a way that reintroduces the essence of existence, and not merely its describable derivatives, into the conversation of how we should live our lives INFORMS our perception of the world in a way that demands us to ACT. The record is about a kind of gradual awakening between the two of us – a reconnection with the magic around us.

The ineffable is not without moments of illumination- mostly in the form of immediate absurdity: ONE DAY WE WILL ALL BE DEAD BUT HERE WE ARE ALIVE INSTEAD.

The record is called EXTREME DANCE ANTHEMS because it made us both laugh”.

The french and fresh production team Mochi Men (Young Pulse & ATN) is back on wax, releasing their 2nd official remix on Mochi Records ! After making a great impression with their previous and
sold out release (the deep house – UK jazz funk remix of Resolution 88’s "Taking Off), they return with a monster nu disco boogie nugget, remixing “Boys and Girls” from the famous french latin funk sensation, Setenta ! With a strong reputation since their first hit “Funky Tumbao”, followed by 4 LP's, a collaboration (on record and on stage) with Nuyorican legend Joe Bataan and even a remix
by Kenny Dope Gonzalez (Masters At Work), the Parisalseros of Setenta entrust their latest hit to the Mochi Men funky rascals.
The result is a heavy boogie bounce of a real party jam, that hits hard on the dancefloor