quête:rob the builder

MUSICA SOLIDA Vol. 3 finally touches down.

Flexi is wrapping up their 40th-anniversary celebration with a bang, and trust me, the wait was worth it. This VA 12” is a heavy-duty blend of family ties and international heat.

The Breakdown

* Gratts: The Adelaide-based crate-digger returns to Flexi with "Ghost Swell." It’s a deep, atmospheric builder that keeps the soul intact.

* Slowaxx & Ai Lati: Pure "rollin" energy. This Tuscan duo delivers a rhythmic, four-handed organic groove that’s been the secret sauce in the Italian underground.

* Melchior Sultana: The Maltese Deep House maestro brings the sub-heavy vibes. Total class, total depth.

* Robotalco: Fresh off his LP, he drops an Acid House banger. This 303-laced heater is strictly for the warehouse heads.

* DJ Soch: the "Italian Stallion" puts his classic old-school vein aside and reveals a darker, more minimal side: sharp drums, soulful vocal touches, and an essential, hypnotic groove shape a timeless track.

Forty years of curation distilled into one essential plate. It’s raw, it’s solid, and it’s built for the crates. Don’t sleep.

On its latest album »Music For Air«, the Berlin-based interdisciplinary duo Gamut Inc explores new possibilities of the computer-controlled pipe organ — from hypervirtuoso excess to nuanced automation and rhythms beyond the fixed grid. Composed and recorded during a two-week residency in Toulouse, the pieces move between harmony and noise, conjuring a euphorically intoxicating maelstrom of overlapping, accelerating sound.

Gamut Inc’s work with the computer-controlled organ actually began in 2009 with a commission from ON – Neue Musik Köln for the Kunst-Station Sankt Peter — at a time when few congregations were ready to open their instruments to this kind of work. When the duo of Marion Wörle and Maciej Śledziecki officially founded the ensemble in 2013 as an interdisciplinary project, they first developed their own music machines with instrument builder Gerhard Kern, returning to the organ in 2018 when more churches and venues had opened their doors … and Gamut Inc carried their practice across Europe and beyond, developing AGGREGATE (first a concert series and then an annual festival) into a platform dedicated to organ music of the 21st century.

Sharpening a critique of mechanisation, digitality, and the human in between, the project is conceived around the construction of pre-modern instruments and the control of these instruments by contemporary technologies, resulting in an aesthetic that bridges the very old and the very new. Recent works include the human-machine trilogy »Over The Edge Club« (2021), »Rossum’s Universal Robots« (2022), and »Zeroth Law« (2023, performed at Deutsche Oper Berlin with the RIAS Chamber Choir and the Logos Robot Orchestra), and »Black Square« (2025), a wind-dynamic modular organ built by Tony Decap, inaugurated at CTM Festival and broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur and SWR Kultur. Their organ installation AGGREGAT#10, commissioned by Sónar Festival, was acquired for the permanent collection of Palau Güell Barcelona in 2022.

Gamut Inc’s latest album »Music For Air« was composed and recorded during a two-week residency in Toulouse on the wind-dynamic organ »L’Explorateur«, with individually computer-controlled wind pressure per pipe. The seven pieces move between harmony and noise, conjuring a euphorically intoxicating maelstrom of overlapping, accelerating sound and again exploring new possibilities of the computer-controlled pipe organ — from hypervirtuoso excess to nuanced automation and rhythms beyond the fixed grid. Sensual and ecstatic.

Samosa Records brings the heat just in time for the summer months with Volume 3 of the electrifying ‘Earth, Wind & Funk’ series – landing a slick four tracker that will relieve you of your socks and undergarments…

Kicking Vol.3 off is Roberto Telll with ‘It’s Magic’ – an unstoppable, bass driven leviathan of a track with perfectly balanced vocals and groovy, punchy beats. ‘It’s Magic’ straddles that sweet spot of disco flavour expertly infused with a peppery funk spice. Mesmerising.

Track 2 sees the welcome return of label favourites and fellow Italian groove machine Dirtyelements with ‘Get On Down’ (De Gama Re-Groove). The mid-tempo calypso rhythm on this slice of leg-wobbling perfection is outrageously infectious. Dirtyelements has yet another solid, stomping disco builder bursting out of the lab with a mission to cause mayhem.

On Side B, Marco Corona swoops in with his 126bpm sonic torpedo ‘Eat Me!’ From the start, ‘Eat Me!’ drums its way into your subconscious with a powerful bass drum and tribal tinted percussion. Before you know it, you’re over the border into house territory – expertly picked vocal loops and builds make this one insanely irresistible.

Closing out the EP with ‘Hey Jee’ is Italian producer extraordinaire Frank Virgilio. Step into Mr Virgilio’s taxi whilst he whisks you through downtown Manhattan en route to the best night out in town. Soaring strings, slick bass work and nimble beats are the dress code – but, don’t worry, Frank always gets you in.

Raising the Samosa bar yet again, ‘Earth, Wind & Funk Vol. 3’ is a cool antidote for those hot summer nights under the stars – best served with your favourite cocktail.

In Thin Air, forms a musical companion piece to Robert and Jackie's book The Book of Birds - a book that is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. The music was created within the contemplative green oak roundhouse of Ty Sanctaidd (Sacred House) in the grounds of Ty Trefacwn in South West Wales, and recorded at Castle Sound Studio in Pencaitland, East Lothian. As with our other albums In Thin Airhas been recorded and produced by Andy Bell of Hudson Records. Throughout The Book of Birds there runs a gentle mantra - " Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight, Migration -- these are the Seven Wonders that together conjure the miracle of Bird ". Intrigued by this concept, the seven musicians have created an intricate new album that has an overarching narrative, capturing the remarkable world of birds from birth to flight.

In Thin Air, forms a musical companion piece to Robert and Jackie's book The Book of Birds - a book that is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. The music was created within the contemplative green oak roundhouse of Ty Sanctaidd (Sacred House) in the grounds of Ty Trefacwn in South West Wales, and recorded at Castle Sound Studio in Pencaitland, East Lothian. As with our other albums In Thin Airhas been recorded and produced by Andy Bell of Hudson Records. Throughout The Book of Birds there runs a gentle mantra - " Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight, Migration -- these are the Seven Wonders that together conjure the miracle of Bird ". Intrigued by this concept, the seven musicians have created an intricate new album that has an overarching narrative, capturing the remarkable world of birds from birth to flight.

2026 Repress
Twenty five years after its initial release, and accompanying the re-release of 'Internal Empire' Tresor Records is proud to present a new cut and pressing (180gm) of Robert Hood's essential 'Master Builder'.
The ongoing importance of this single and its adjacent album is indisputable, essential both to techno and to Tresor. It is a history intertwined.

This work elevates its maker as master, and remain a cherished moment in the Tresor story, sharing an irrefutable singular magic, sounding as present and indispensable as when first created. To understand this work fully is to stand back and celebrate its impact.
Originally released in 1994, 'Internal Empire' marks a point of transition for Robert Hood moving on from his previous collaborations within Underground Resistance. Robert Hood advanced uncovering the power of true minimalism. Deep soul through a simplicity that showed how much could be done with so little. The devastating rhythms of this album forge the unmatched spirit of this sound, influencing generations to come.

"25 years ago, I was faced with the challenge of following up on 'Minimal Nation'. I cancelled all my tour dates for that summer, setup my studio in the living room and began to work on 'Internal Empire'. My intention was to create something distinctively di erent. Looking out my living room window in Detroit watching people go by gave me a new perspective. It made me look at the world within myself. 25 years later I am still discovering.' - Robert Hood

“Tectonic” is a concise portrait of SIMON BERZ’s geological sound explorations across continents over the last 15 years: drums, electronics, and a set of electronically manipulated basalt stones from Iceland.

SIMON BERZ is a transdisciplinary drummer, sound artist, and music educator based in Switzerland and Berlin. Working at the intersection of improvised music, sound art, and performance, and deliberately crossing boundaries between disciplines, his aesthetics are shaped by a sustained engagement with natural materials, particularly stone, and their sonic transformation through electronic manipulation. Beyond his performance work, BERZ founded BADABUM as an art label and a music school.

For the last 30 years, BERZ has been performing in Japan, China, Russia, the USA, Cuba, Iceland, Turkey, and across Europe. He has collaborated with artists including BILL LASWELL,BABY SOMMER, DAMO SUZUKI (CAN), JAMES TURRELL, JIMI TENOR, JOHN SINGLAIR, JOJO MAYER (NERVE), KONDO TOSHINORI, KIDD JORDAN, LAUREN NEWTON, LEE “SCRATCH“ PERRY, MAURO PAWLOWSKI (dEUS), NILS PETTER MOLVÆR, NIKI GLASPIE, NORBERT MÖSLANG, PAUL LOWENS, PFADFINDEREI, ROB MAZUREK, SKÚLI SVERRISSON, and he was the live drummer for APPARAT. As BERZ understands artistic practice as energy emerging from nature and through dialogue with people, his recorded output is intentionally selective, with one highlight being “Beats versus Breath” with KONDO and LASWELL (2023). Alongside a regular drumkit and electronics, he has developed his own instruments such as the “Lithophon” in which resonating stones are turned into amplified sound through water drops, and “Tectonic”, a set of Icelandic basalt stones shaped through electronic manipulation. These self- built instruments form the material basis for his performances, installations, and sound recordings.

“Tectonic” is also the title of BERZ’s latest work: a summary of his geological sound explorations across continents. From Iceland to Indonesia and Bali, from New Orleans to China, in caves and at shores, BERZ carried his millions-of-years-old basalt stones as both instrument and collaborator. On Java, he met Baron, a builder of stone gamelan instruments. At the Pacitan Tabuhan Cave (Indonesia) he performed with MISBACH BILOK and WUKIR SURYADI (SENYAWA) who work with corals as instruments. BERZ brought these encounters and “field recordings” to the Stöðvarfjörður studio in Iceland, where he recorded with his “Tectonic” set-up, drums, and electronics. The music was later mixed in Berlin by DIRK DRESSELHAUS (SCHNEIDER TM). The resulting album moves from club-driven tracks to ambient passages, from gamelan-inspired textures to HipHop-like beat patterns. It resists easy categorization while staying direct and physical in its impact.

This is that absolute stank-face filth: hard, espionage drama-soul and tough, jazzy street-funk. Hogan, The Hawk & Dirty John Crown sounds like the soundtrack of a blaxploitation movie from the early 70s and, packed with funky fusion and smoother orchestral numbers, it is basically that.

Featuring a veritable who's who of killer library break snakes - Alan Parker, Alan Hawkshaw (under sneaky alias William Parrish), Simon Haseley, Reg Tilsley and Gordon Grant - it's not hard to see how this commands over £350 on secondary markets.

This beautifully presented reissue, part of Be With's fresh campaign with the legendary library label Music De Wolfe, is well overdue.

Recorded for De Wolfe in 1972, Hogan, The Hawk, Dirty John Crown is a fantastic start-to-finish listen. The flute-funk of Hawkshaw and Parker's opener "The Hawk" comprises driving, fuzzy, wah-wah-drizzled bell-laced breaks with synths and basslines to murder for. Up next, Haseley's "The Happening" is a carefree, rhythmic builder with strings and horns. Let's face it, it doesn't prepare us for the monster that follows...

Hawkshaw and Parker's amazing "Main Chance" is likely the reason you're here; it's a moody, beaty proto-hip-hop banger; all rolling drums and flute-laced, organ-drenched, synth-funk breaks. Just sensational - you'll want to play it again and again and again.

The cool AF "Hogan Baby" has a soft, rounded, bluesy feel - it's a lighter number and Haseley's work here sounds more than a little indebted to Burt Bacharach. It's melancholic, reflective and contains ace breaks with beautiful flutes and wistful horns. It's just gorgeous. Grant's pounding "Dirty John Crown" brilliantly conjures swirling string-swept serenity atop driving, incisive drama-funk breaks. Sublime. Hawkshaw and Parker come roaring back with the murky, creeping crime-funk of "Swarf" with killer basslines underpinning slow-mo high-class flute-funk.

Reg Tilsley enters the fray with the bright, snappy, carefree "Turnover". It's lightweight but still retains some nice orchestral movements. The brief “Tarantula” gets us back on track - from the pen and chops of Hawkshaw and Parker, are we surprised? - with the driving crime funk breaks, super clean yet brooding. Synths, sax and 'nuff guitars. YES.

Side 2 opens with the car chase swag of Haseley's dramatic, driving "Precinct". Jazzy, instrumental flute funk over great percussive breaks. We love this. Haseley's rolling "Sidewinder Version 1" is robust and exuberant with bouncy horns before a cracking Parker-Hawkshaw one-two featuring the tense "Pressure" and the deeply soulful "Call Me", a relaxed, medium-tempo organ feature. With building piano and strings Gordon Grant's excellently titled "Scorch" is as aggressive and dramatic as you'd hope. Hawkshaw and Parker's furtive flute-funk of "Digger" precede the light, melodic and romantic themes of Tilsley's "Marianne" whilst "Sidewinder Version 2", a faster iteration of Track B2 sees Haseley close out this remarkable set in bouncy, bright fashion.

The audio for Hogan, The Hawk, Dirty John Crown has been meticulously remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Bringing together over 50 of Jamaica's greatest session musicians, whose work spans from the birth of reggae in the late 1960s until today, Roots Architects is the largest gathering of Jamaican musical talent on one all-instrumental album. Never before have so many veterans, who helped create the immortal rhythms that made reggae internationally successful, been assembled to play on new material without vocals. This project aims to celebrate and pay tribute to the unsung heroes of reggae music: the rhythm builders or Roots Architects. Following the outstanding success of the first chapter of the project, From Then 'Til Now (2024), Fruits Records is pleased to reveal the dub album From Dub 'Til Now. A veritable immersion in the mythical sound of Kingston studios in the late 1970s. Dub master Roberto Sánchez sublimates the work of the Roots Architects with wildly inventive sound experiments. Reminiscent of the finest years of King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry and Scientist.

The project is the brainchild of Swiss keyboardist and producer Mathias Liengme. In 2013, he travelled to Kingston, Jamaica, to produce The Inspirators project, an all-star album gathering Leroy ”Horse-mouth” Wallace, Lloyd Parks, Earl ”Chinna” Smith and Sangie Davis, the four of them acting both as musicians and vocalists. This first experience in Kingston studio life paved the way to what would become the Roots Architects project. In February and March 2017 Mathias Liengme travelled for the fifth time to Kingston to record as many of reggae’s greatest living veteran musicians as he could. With the help of a few of these Architects like Robbie Lyn, Fil Callender or Dalton Browne, he managed to gather over 50 session musicians aged 60 to 85 on nine instrumental songs.

Roots Architects are legends back together in Kingston studios doing what they do best: creating in-strumental music all together!

Modern Obscure Music is proud to present Pierre Bastien & DJ Low's "Swing Low", a work that fuses the poetic inventiveness of Pierre Bastien with the visionary legacy of the late DJ Low (Tom Deweerdt), a central figure in Belgian independent music and founder of the influential Lowlands label. This album, which interweaves memory and experimentation, represents Bastien's debut on the Barcelona label's catalog and a testament to the creative bond between the two artists.
The album, composed of seven pieces, stands out for its hybrid nature: five reinterpretations of Bastien's previous works, some of them coming from his influential Mecanoid (originally released by Rephlex), and two unreleased improvisations, A Pupa and Reviver, which seal the unique character of the project.
Pierre Bastien, recognized as a composer, inventor and builder of sound machines, has been a tireless explorer of the frontiers between the mechanical and the musical. From his contribution to the Belcanto Orchestra, his collaboration with the PRSNT project to his participation in Pedro Vian's Earth, Our Planet or his collaboration with Tomaga for the Other People label, his career illustrates a constant commitment to experimentation and the intersection of disciplines. Among the artists he has worked with are names such as Robert Wyatt, Jac Berrocal, Jaki Liebezeit and designer Issey Miyake. His works have found homes on iconic labels such as Marionette, Morphine and Discrepant to name a few.

The album is presented with a visual design by Koen Bruyneel, reinterpreted as a tribute to Tom Deweerdt, a decade after his departure.

Bringing together over 50 of Jamaica's greatest session musicians, whose work spans from the birth of reggae in the late 1960s until today, Roots Architects is the largest gathering of Jamaican musical talent on one all-instrumental album. Never before have so many veterans, who helped create the immortal rhythms that made reggae internationally successful, been assembled to play on new material without vocals. This album aims to celebrate and pay tribute to the unsung heroes of reggae music: the rhythm builders or Roots Architects.

The project is the brainchild of Swiss keyboardist and producer Mathias Liengme. In 2013, he travelled to Kingston, Jamaica, to produce The Inspirators project, an all-star album gathering Leroy ”Horse-mouth” Wallace, Lloyd Parks, Earl ”Chinna” Smith and Sangie Davis, the four of them acting both as musicians and vocalists. This first experience in Kingston studio life paved the way to what would become the Roots Architects project. In February and March 2017 Mathias Liengme travelled for the fifth time to Kingston to record as many of reggae’s greatest living veteran musicians as he could. With the help of a few of these Architects like Robbie Lyn, Fil Callender or Dalton Browne, he managed to gather over 50 session musicians aged 60 to 85 on nine instrumental songs.

Roots Architects are legends back together in Kingston studios doing what they do best: creating in-strumental music all together!

The Slow Show melden sich mit ihrem emotionalen und kraftvollen neuen Album 'Subtle Love' zurück!

Mit ihrem fünften Album 'Subtle Love' präsentieren The Slow Show eine Hommage an die Liebe und ihre bislang kraftvollste und vielfältigste Songsammlung. 'Subtle Love' lebt so nicht nur von ihrem üppig instrumentierten Indie-Pop mit Rob Goodwins beeindruckender Stimme, sondern erkundet auch neue Horizonte mit Elementen von Folk und Rockhymnen. Über die zehn Songs begibt man sich auf eine Reise von der Vergangenheit der Band bis in eine verlockende Zukunft - ein zutiefst melodisches und bewegendes Erlebnis.

Lost soul phenomenon Lewis Taylor's Numb finally arrives on double vinyl! One of UK soul’s most fascinating artists, most enigmatic figures and most under-appreciated talents, Andrew Lewis Taylor is a prodigious multi-instrumentalist and eclectic polymath. He enjoys a fiercely loyal following which, over the years, has included celebrity champions like Bowie, Elton and D'Angelo. Numb is Taylor's sixth album, initially released on his own label Slow Reality (an anagram of his name) and licensed to Be With for this long-awaited physical edition. It captures Taylor's wholly unique, intoxicating take on lush, late-night psychedelic soul music.

Lewis wrote and recorded these 10 brand new tracks after a 17 year break from making music, although the album came together over a two-year period. The years away have done nothing to dull Taylor's unique musical vision. He still astounds. The lyrical themes, however, have shifted. Understandably, more than a decade and a half of soul searching and unflinching self-examination cannot fail to influence this most honest of songwriters, and boy does it show. Numb marks a return to the darker, more mysterious side of his output: "Brian Wilson-channels-Smokey Robinson atmospheres", as Mojo put it recently.

After playing a rapturously received gig at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC in 2006, Lewis unceremoniously walked away from music and disappeared completely. An interview in 2016 shed light on some of the reasons for Taylor’s withdrawal from the business, but there was no hint of a return anytime soon. Then in June 2021, news emerged out of the blue that he was readying new music alongside Sabina Smyth with whom he had worked first time around.

On Numb, Lewis deftly balances stark, soul-bearing lyrics with moody mid-tempo pop-soul sheen. He deals candidly with depression, mental turmoil, even thoughts of suicide - clearly more personal than Taylor's earlier songs. The music is rich, warm and layered, with infectious melodies and hooks that stick with you. A true grower of an LP, it really does reward repeated listens. As Jim Irvin in Mojo reflected, "despite the depths these plumb, it's a curiously uplifting experience, unfurling like a concept album about life's challenges with an optimistic beauty at its heart."

Triumphant dubwise horns ring out yet, almost instantly, “Final Hour” takes on a dark, downbeat vibe. With lyrics that confront (and, seemingly, confound) death head-on, Lewis ensures the groove is still there, the beats still swing and your head still nods, strings glissade. Woven around delicate yet insistent piano and subtle strings over a killer bassline, the title track “Numb” is a good example of the lyrical themes throughout the album. As Taylor reflects, "So removed I feel no pain / And for all I know I could be having the time of my life" with a coda that feels very much in conversation with Brian Wilson's finest harmonies. "Feels So Good" is sophisticated 90s-sounding soul of the highest order. The music and vocals feel simultaneously optimistic and despondent. Downlifting. A neat trick, and one Lewis has been so adept at over the years. "Apathy" is a mini-epic, a symphonic-soul gem which builds and glides and, eventually, soars. “Worried Mind" is another slow-builder, creeping out the gate in a sketchy, discordant fashion before climbing to half-crescendo but never quite breaking free of its disorientating restraint.

The brighter "Please" presents a more hopeful mood, with the refrain "I still believe" ringing out as Lewis harmonises with himself. "Brave Heart" quietly struts from step one, as Lewis's falsetto swaggers over a downtempo backdrop with ace echoey drums, beautiful strings and serene electric guitar. Closing out Side C, "Is It Cool" answers its own (non-) question with a spellbinding five and a half minutes of swoonsome deep soul that oscillates between a restrained, barely-there backdrop and a lushly full musical accompaniment of acoustic and electric guitar and organ over bass and slick drums. The penultimate track "Nearer" is a magical, soul-stirring ballad in which Lewis sings of reaching a sweet salvation and achieving a peace of mind. If the hairs on the back of your neck aren't standing up by the midway point, you might need to check your pulse. Album closer and true tear-jerker "Being Broken" places Lewis's gorgeous voice high in the mix and the wordless falsetto and melodies invite you to ponder what Pet Sounds might sound like if it were refashioned as a dubby 21st Century electronic soul album. Astonishing.

Simon Francis’s vinyl mastering spreads out the ten tracks over a double LP so, as ever, nothing is compromised. And as usual, the records have been cut by Cicely Balston at Air Studios and pressed at Record Industry. Turn it up and let the Lewis Taylor sound envelop you.

Limited Gold Vinyl

Son Lux reemerge with their forthcoming fifth full-length LP, Brighter Wounds, finding the trio in command of a daring, multidirectional sound, expressing naturally the proclivity for surprise and contrast that characterize the project's output. The new release explores the violence of love, the beauty of sacrifice, and the specter of impermanence.Anchored by its cinematic heart, All Directions,' the album ranges from the thunderous charge of Dream State' to the sputtering, soulful lilt of Slowly.' Ryan Lott's devastating vocal on "Aquatic," guitarist Rafiq Bhatia's blooming flower melismas on "Labor," and drummer Ian Chang's nearly inhuman rhythmic calculus on "The Fool You Need" illuminate a curious and delicate balance of precision and pain.Since 2015's Bones, the band's profile has grown in the worlds of music, dance, and film. Each member now charts their respective solo paths, and their individual adventures find a home within the purview of Son Lux. On Brighter Wounds, collaborators range from longtime cohorts Rob Moose (Y Music, Bon Iver, The National) and DM Stith (Sufjan Stevens), to new friends trumpeter Dave Douglas and reedist/instrument builder Arrington de Dionyso.Son Lux has made invention its hallmark through continued exploration and experimentation. With Brighter Wounds, the triad NPR proclaimed the world's most lethal band" now grips exhilaration and heartache in full embrace. In the words of the album's closing refrain, "is this what the resurrection feels like"

Matmos are one of the most prominent experimental electronic artists working today, crafting work by creating new conceptual frameworks & immediately testing those frameworks absolute limits. For Regards / Uklony dla Boguslaw Schaeffer they've focused on another artist known, in large part, for doing the same. Boguslaw Schaeffer was one of the first Polish artists creating electronic music. In step with American contemporaries like John Cage and Morton Feldman, he worked across the boundaries of classical composition, electronic experimentation, and radical theater in playfully form-breaking ways. Matmos are not the first ones to recognize the power of his catalog, from Solo (a 2008 documentary that garnered numerous international awards), to the annual Shaeffer's Era Festival (most recently celebrated simultaneously in Warsaw and Los Angeles) his work continues to inspire. Regards.. however, was not just inspired by his work, Matmos were given access to the entirity of Schaeffer's recorded works to use as they saw fit, commissioned by the prestigious Instytutu Adama Mickiewicza. They re-assembled & re-combined these recorded works with modern instrumentations in a way that only Matmos could, and what emerges is a composite portrait of the utopian 1960s Polish avant-garde and the contemporary dystopian cultural moment regarding each other across a distance. To facilitate the transcultural exchange that is the album's essential premise, all song titles and liner-notes are provided in both English and Polish. The album was mastered by Rashad Becker and features illustration and design by acclaimed artist Robert Beatty (Tame Impala, Osees, Mdou Moctar). Like the anagrams of the letters of Boguslaw Schaeffer's name that were re-assembled to create some of the song titles, the album itself is a musical re-assemblage of component parts into possible but unforeseen new shapes. Adding harp from Irish harpist Una Monaghan, erhu, viola and violin from Turkish multi-instrumentalist Ulas Kurugullu, and electronic processes from Baltimore instrument builder Will Schorre, and Horse Lords wunderkind Max Eilbacher, the resulting arrangements constantly toy with scale as they move from the close-mic-ing of ASMR and the intimacy of chamber music to the immensity of processed drones and oceanic field-recordings that close the album. Offering a "life review" of production styles, Regards / Uklony dla Boguslaw Schaeffer builds temporary shelters out of the panoramic wreckage of modernist composition, sixties tape music, seventies dub, eighties industrial music, nineties postrock and dark ambient, 2000s era glitch fetishism, and contemporary post-everything collage sensibilities.

Matmos are one of the most prominent experimental electronic artists working today, crafting work by creating new conceptual frameworks & immediately testing those frameworks absolute limits. For Regards / Uklony dla Boguslaw Schaeffer they've focused on another artist known, in large part, for doing the same. Boguslaw Schaeffer was one of the first Polish artists creating electronic music. In step with American contemporaries like John Cage and Morton Feldman, he worked across the boundaries of classical composition, electronic experimentation, and radical theater in playfully form-breaking ways. Matmos are not the first ones to recognize the power of his catalog, from Solo (a 2008 documentary that garnered numerous international awards), to the annual Shaeffer's Era Festival (most recently celebrated simultaneously in Warsaw and Los Angeles) his work continues to inspire. Regards.. however, was not just inspired by his work, Matmos were given access to the entirity of Schaeffer's recorded works to use as they saw fit, commissioned by the prestigious Instytutu Adama Mickiewicza. They re-assembled & re-combined these recorded works with modern instrumentations in a way that only Matmos could, and what emerges is a composite portrait of the utopian 1960s Polish avant-garde and the contemporary dystopian cultural moment regarding each other across a distance. To facilitate the transcultural exchange that is the album's essential premise, all song titles and liner-notes are provided in both English and Polish. The album was mastered by Rashad Becker and features illustration and design by acclaimed artist Robert Beatty (Tame Impala, Osees, Mdou Moctar). Like the anagrams of the letters of Boguslaw Schaeffer's name that were re-assembled to create some of the song titles, the album itself is a musical re-assemblage of component parts into possible but unforeseen new shapes. Adding harp from Irish harpist Una Monaghan, erhu, viola and violin from Turkish multi-instrumentalist Ulas Kurugullu, and electronic processes from Baltimore instrument builder Will Schorre, and Horse Lords wunderkind Max Eilbacher, the resulting arrangements constantly toy with scale as they move from the close-mic-ing of ASMR and the intimacy of chamber music to the immensity of processed drones and oceanic field-recordings that close the album. Offering a "life review" of production styles, Regards / Uklony dla Boguslaw Schaeffer builds temporary shelters out of the panoramic wreckage of modernist composition, sixties tape music, seventies dub, eighties industrial music, nineties postrock and dark ambient, 2000s era glitch fetishism, and contemporary post-everything collage sensibilities.

The Ethiopians are one of the great vocal groups to come out of Jamaica. Singing songs of life and times as they found them, themes that resonated with the people of the Island that made them such a treasured group. Lenard Dillon (b. 9 December, 1942, Port Antonio, Jamaica) the founding member of the Ethiopians began his singing career at Clement 'Coxonne' Dodd's Studio One. Initially he recorded under the name of Jack Sparrow, and backed by the Wailers, cutting 'Ice Water' and 'Suffering In The Land'. Under The Wailers encouragement, he went on to form his
own vocal group. Recruiting singers Stephan Taylor (b.1944, Portland, Jamaica) and Aston 'Charlie' Morris to become The Ethiopians. They cut 'Live Good', 'Why You Gonna Leave Me Now' and 'Owe Me No Pay Me'. Although receiving favourable response, Aston Morris decided to leave the band and the remaining pair carried on and cut 'I'm A Free
Man' and 'Don Dead Already' and 'For You'. On meeting contract builder Leebert Robertson who had recently returned to live in Jamaica, ashad he wanted to get into the music business, a session was booked for Treasure Isle Studios. The session produced their seminal 'Train To Skaville' track, which became an immediate hit in Jamaica and in the UK, when in 1967 it reached number 40 in the charts. They also cut 'Engine 54', which became the title of their debut album. Its
follow up 'I Need You / Do It Sweet', did not fare so well and the band moved over to Sonia Pottinger's stable, where they cut 'The Whip / Cool It Amigo' which revived their fortunes and proved another big hit for the band. Two more hits followed 'Stay Loose Mama' and 'The World Goes Ska', after which the band decided to return to a trio, adding
Melvin 'Mellow' Reid to the line up. The band now hit another run of successes with producer JJ Johnson 'Everything Crash, 'Gun Man', 'Hong Kong Flu' and 'The Selah'. Many hits followed leading the band to work with a variety of Jamaican producers. Such tracks as 'I Want To Be a Better Man, ' Conquering Lion', 'Fire A Mus Mus' Tail', and the timeless 'Reggae Hit The Town' to name a few. Two albums 'Reggae Power' (1969) and 'Woman Capture Man' (1970), pulled a lot of these tunes together. Sadly Taylor was killed in 1975 after been struck by a van in a road accident. Dillon returned to Port Antonio till 1977, when he was persuaded to return to Treasure Isle studios with producer Niney The
Observer and cut the Rasta based album 'Slave Call'. Additional members who joined for this album were Bro Fatty, Bro Ewing, Bro T, Mello and Hychi Dread. An album that showed all the Ethiopians magic had not been lost.
For this release we have included the full 'Slave Call' set, 'Ethiopian National Anthem', 'Slave Call', 'Guilty Conscience', 'Hurry On', 'Mus Follow Babylon'(on CD Edition), 'Train To Skaville (1977 version, on CD Edition), 'Culture', 'Obeah Book', 'Let It Be' and 'I Love Jah'. Alongside some of the bands early hits including the original version of 'Train To Skaville', 'Engine 54', the great and poignant 'Everything Crash', 'Reggae Hit The Town' and 'The Selah'. An interesting set to remind us what a great group the Ethiopians really were.

Rambal Cochet (aka St Petersberg’s Konstantyn Isaev aka Volta Cab) lands on Wrong Era with four electronic snapshots suited to the more robust dancefloor. Opener,Leptis Magna, builds and twists through subtle plateaus’ towards a storm of climactic strings that clear to reveal momentary elation. Elation becomes soundtrack suspense on Fabrizio Mammarella’s remix, stripping back the parameters (while bringing the rhythm to the fore), resulting in a driving, tunnel trancer. Enter The Infinite is a steady builder; each tweak charming you towards twilight’s dancing silhouettes. Cyrillic balearic vocal’s melodise The Hidden Magenta, which locks you in it’s groove’s exotic, growing, immediacy.

With a fundamental emphasis on the encouragement of genre hybridization, Evar Records, the Los Angeles-based imprint co-founded by Trickfinger (John Frusciante) and Aura T-09 (Marcia Pinna), continues its momentum with an expansive 9-track collection from Netherlands-based luminary, Limewax.

After making a strong first impression with its 2020 debut offerings, Evar Records has recruited Limewax to carry forward its mission of blurring boundaries and challenging conventions in electronic music. The Ukranian hard drum and bass hero happily obliged, referring to signing with Evar as a breaking point which allowed him, finally, to take full stock of his background in classical and electronic music simultaneously. Although Maxim Anokhin is widely known for his hard-edged breakbeats, releasing on labels such as Tech Itch Recordings, Position Chrome, Freak Recordings, and PRSPCT, the full scope of his artistry shines through on Untitled.

The opening cut, "Porcelaineworm," is a futuristic electro cut recalling IDM classics like AFX's "XMD5A." Of course, the virtuosic drum programming and hectic D&B sound which Limewax has built his reputation upon is here in spades on tracks like "Stay Lackey. Cuts like "Ushio" and "Whay1" are fascinating studies in contrasts—the former balances bludgeoning techno of the Ansome and Perc variety with a resolve that recalls Fennesz's pastoral glitch abstractions. "Whay1," meanwhile, is sub-rattling drum and bass nuanced by cinematic string themes. "Getupa" is an experimental beat track that truly bangs, its layers of texture and field recordings placing Limewax in the company of bleeding-edge acts like SVBKVLT's breakout star Hyph11E. The very next track, "19NB," is a subtle update to the original minimal technical template established by Detroit icons Robert Hood & Jeff Mills.

While most of the album hurtles forward at hard techno and D&B tempos, "Maleisae" is a sensual 70 BPM track mixing ghostly R&B and acid. That spectacular cut heralds Untitled's intricate denouement. The brief "Wernmqbram" effortlessly reconciles a baroque minor-key piano theme with the renegade snares of classic jungle. "Hasan" is a true "closing credits" master stroke, half-time acid giving way to gorgeous IDM-meets-Blade Runner synth leads.

Far from a genre-jumping hodgepodge, Untitled is a remarkably coherent full-length by a virtuosic artist free to explore the entirety of their creative influences. The Tilburg-based artist cites the poets Marina Tsvetaeva and David Whyte as influential on Untitled and also listened to works by 1771-1862 works by organ builders when crafting the album. The end result reveals Limewax as a masterful, diverse artist, capable of any style he pursues. It's a clear indicator of the boundless promise of Evar's core principle—a staunch refusal to put artists in boxes.

Originally released in 1978, Music By William Eaton is a private-press album from the accomplished experimental stringed instrument builder. The atmospheric recording techniques, mixed with a hint of Fahey/Takoma-lineage make for a listening experience akin to the mountainscape drawing represented on the album cover. The experience may seem simple at first, but like any great trip in nature, new details consistently reveal themselves upon each listen.

“When I started building instruments, playing guitar took on a whole new dimension. From the conception to the birth of each instrument, new layers of meaning unfolded. Cycles, connections and interdependencies became apparent as I contemplated the growth of trees from seed to old age, and the transformation from raw wood to the building of a musical instrument. I sought out quiet natural environments to play and listen to the “voice” of my 6 string, 12 string, 26 string (Elesion Harmonium) and double neck quadraphonic electric guitar. Deep canyons contained a beautiful resonant quality and echo. A starlit night with a full moon provided all the reflection and endless space by which to project music into the cosmos. The sound of a bubbling stream and singing birds added a natural symphonic tapestry to a melody or chord pattern. As I perceived it, everything was participating in a serendipitous dance. Everything was part of the music.

During this time, I decided to record an instrumental album of music. The idea was simple; it would be a series of tone poems with no titles or any information attached, only the words ‘Music by William Eaton.’ While some of the songs evolved out of composed chord progressions, most of the songs were played spontaneously, only on the occasion of the recording. These improvised songs haven’t been played since.” -- William Eaton

Recommended for fans of John Fahey, Harry Partch, Robbie Basho, Laraaji

Enjoy the new and unformated dub style from Concrete Elephant... Sound builder of the everyday life... Sampled and replayed through the filtaz.