Franky Rizardo announces the launch of his new label, LTF Records with four-track EP ‘Primrose’. The culmination of a number of years hard work, the Dutch DJ, producer, promoter and now label head proudly presents an outlet for his own music.
Encompassing an immersive feeling of energised focus, involvement and enjoyment of his journey within the industry so far, LTF Records (Listen To Flow) is Franky Rizardo’s new platform to transport its listeners and followers into a flow state of mind.
One of The Netherlands finest exports, Franky Rizardo has established himself as an international touring artist, as well as name renowned within his own country. Being an ever present on Dutch national radio station, SLAM! has provided him with the perfect platform to develop and nurture a label that is crafted with clear intentions and identity. Building a career based on strong philosophies, Franky has consistently aimed to do his own thing, keep everything in perspective and most of all, having fun.
From ingraining himself within the ANTS and elrow camps, to releasing on labels such as Strictly Rhythm, Rejected, Saved and 8Bit, Franky has become a name synonymous with deep driving house music that blurs the lines between Techno and House. The multi-faceted Dutch artist has also represented himself and his brand FLOW, at events such as Tomorrowland, Fabric – London, Shelter – Amsterdam, Amnesia – Ibiza and Soho Garden Dubai, further cementing his status as a one of electronic music’s most dynamic individuals.
Across four-tracks on the ‘Primrose’ EP, Franky focuses his energy firmly on the dancefloor, keeping people locked into his flow state. Opening with ‘Primrose’, the tracks low-end rumbles throughout, supplying the perfect atmosphere to keep the crowd moving. ‘Faze’ offers a wonky blissed out vocal alongside stabbing synth. Whereas ‘DC Terrace’ is a nod to the peak-time movements at Ibiza’s famous club, DC10. Closing the EP ‘Clouds’ provides an energised up-tempo focus track to engage to zone.
The label launches at time when authenticity within the industry is key, Franky continues to focus on his own output, never taking himself too seriously and always keeping full perspective on the task at hand. Inviting you to join him with LTF Records, Franky wants you to enter his flow state.
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The consistently innovative Catch Recordings is back with a new EP from Leipzig based producer U+00C5. As always with this label, the music is right from the cutting electronic edge and finds this stylish producer blur the boundaries between ambient, dub and techno in evocative new ways.
Cult favourite U+00C5 is focussed on new musical forms, on modern sounds and redefining the European techno sound. He consistently pushes forwards and is a master of the interplay between hypnotic repetition and otherworldly abstractionism, all while drawing on dark ambient and drone. Once again here the producer who also works as Åmethyst is in fine form across all five tracks.
Atmospheric opener 'Blutdruck' is a deep techno roller that fizzes with a sense of post-industrial dystopia. The shadowy grooves are eventually backlit by subtle chords that bring real warmth and soul. The excellent 'Empfinden' is more high tempo but just as cavernous and absorbing thanks to the rolling rubber drums, distant synth drones and sci-fi motifs that add the all important details which keep your head as engaged as your heel.
The beautiful 'Taumel' is another slice of hypnotic and tunnelling techno embellished with gorgeous ambiance from the outer edges of our galaxy. 'Nichts Ist Wahr' closes things out with suspensory pads giving you the feeling that you are floating in space before the firmly rooted drums rumble on and take you into the next dimension.
This is another fascinating EP of club ready but seriously heady sounds from Catch Recordings.
LostSoundBytes throws us by force into the deep end of a poorly lubricated engine with this 5 tracks mini album. Hear the dirty mechanical rumble of an old abandoned tractor that LostSoundBytes has just hot wired and driven off with, leaving road kill on his way. Driving fast or slow, you may ask. Who cares ! For our beneluxian shaman puts the pedal to the metal destroying the speakers on the way with Rusty Tractor. A certain vision of combustion by our mechanic LostSoundBytes : saturated rhythms on beaten up drum machines dragging us between Brussels and Paris.
Another win for the Glowing Pin as Müller & Wandt drop a fresh new age groover on a killer club dub tip. Elsewhere Phazer Boys, Suzanne Kraft, Philipp Otterbach and River Yarra remix the pscht out of their favourite tracks from ‘Instrumentalmusik..’. Expect Goan hits, cosmic trips, loved up rave and chilled out wave on this flawless five tracker.
Growing Bin becomes Glowing Pin for the most anticipated rematch of the century. Back at the beginning of 2018, Wolf Müller and Niklas Wandt went head to head for a box office smash, throwing a high school percussion tray, wall of hardware and voodoo skull into the ring for the tribal trip of ‘Instrumentalmusik Von Der Mitte Der World’. Now the multi-instrumental duo face off once again, but this time it’s a royal rumble with Phazer Boys, Suzanne Kraft, Phillip Otterbach and River Yarra all bringing the noise to the Glowing Pin.
Müller and Wandt dominate the action on the A1, playing loose with sampler vox, serene pads and future primitive rhythms on the unreleased ‘Fun Dub’ of the also unreleased ‘Dub Dub’. Imagine Ferris Bueller’s trampoline tumble trading Chicago to the Weissenhof and you’ll sense the mood of this New Age groove. Germany’s number one party dudes, those freaky Phazer Boys take a break from dropping killer Candomblé cuts to reach for the lasers on the A2, taking ‘Ahu’ to another dimension. Dripping in neon body paint and armed with fire poi, the Düsseldorf duo power up progressive house sequences, didgeridoo bass and thumping tribal house percussion for a wall-shaking, speaker-breaking remix.
The B1 belongs to synth whiz Suzanne Kraft who revels in glistening, gliding glory on an expansive remix of ‘Auflösung’. Sleek, serene and futuristic, the track shimmers like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, free from inequality and rendered with the 5D(ub?) majesty of a DMT breakthrough.
B2 hears Salon associate and serious talent Philipp Otterbach take over on a stripped back and psychedelic post punk dub of ‘Expedition’. Angular bass by Süne Große and a stuttering rhythm underpin astral flourishes and the hazy vocals of Lucas Croon before the African elements begin to move to the forefront.
Last man standing is Australian outlier River Yarra, who leads us into the Krautback with a chugging dub of ‘Weltraumsandalen’. Lent a lysergic sparkle by a percolating one-note bassline, this slow motion stunner masters perpetual motion amid the eerie echoes of the bush, organic percussion and electronic animal cries fading into the night. Let the pins glow again.
Patrick Ryder
10” clear vinyl) Five years on since their last joint outing in Stroboscopic Artefacts Monad series, Speedy J and Lucy team up again as Zeitgeber on 'Seventeen Zero Four', a new three-tracker descending deep into the filthy, tenebrous outskirts of club music.
Five years on since their last joint outing in Stroboscopic Artefacts Monad series, Speedy J and Lucy team up again as Zeitgeber on 'Seventeen Zero Four', a new three-tracker descending deep into the filthy, tenebrous outskirts of club music. Torchbearers of techno as a life-affirming vehicle for human expression, as can be experienced through their multi-dimensional back catalogue of solo records and shared live performances at some of the finest clubs and events including Concrete, Goa Club and London’s E1, it's safe to say Jochem and Luca share a certain taste for taking things off the beaten path and into new perspectives. True to their bold approach towards production, 'Seventeen Zero Four' proudly continues the pair's tradition of chiselled floor-focused shifts and divagations outside the ringfenced domain of no-nonsense 4/4 mechanics initiated on their self-titled debut album in 2013.
Drawing first blood, the title-track 'Seventeen Zero Four' submerges us in a state of amniotic solitude as hell's all set to break loose around. Sonar bleeps drip and dissolve across invisible plateaux as thunder rumbles and roars in the distance, mirroring and shattering all linearity between the bars. 'One Zero Five' then implements a further straightforward groove, sequenced hats and kicks carving out a more familiar scenario for the dancers to appropriate, whilst maintaining that oddball, slightly off kind of minimal, dubbed-out blur. Rounding off the package, 'Twenty Zero Two' throws further jazz into the mix, letting its sine curves hula hoop into the upper layers of the outer-audio-space as a shrewdly engineered industrial swing drops the hammer for an epic last stretch.
Laurine Frost's debut album 'LENA' reinterpretates Dostoyevsky's surreal novel and presents an utopistic self-revelation that leads to an exquisite musical journey. A weird collage of jazz and dub-fusions as an extension of wonky polyrhythmic patterns and the organic abstraction of bass-heavy drums, breaks and percussions. Call it as electronica, IDM or techno – anyhow, you are wrong. This album doesn't seem to fit into any genre. Laurine Frost tends to master his story-telling skills by inviting the listener to 13 imaginary scenes that can be approached, heard and understood from different points of view. A living and stirring masterpiece that is independent from time and actual trends.
After a global trek we're back at base camp with a pair of thrillers from the chiller for your next rumble in the jungle...
Prepare to take a cosmic cruise on the A side with 'Dromedary', a masterclass in daft drum-breaks, Saharan strings and syrupy synth-lines perfect for Arabian nights and disco daze.
This one's been a TD sure shot since our first parties, so it's high time we shared the love boat.
Move to the flip for an interdimensional trip, as TD Transport welcomes you aboard the 'Super Express', a lysergic locomotive burning up the mainline from Mos Eisley to Mumbai.
Linn drum lasers lock into a lurching groove, fuelling the furnace as we blast past Bollywood, take a detour into the Metro Area and arrive right on schedule to save your party.
100% Drum fun guaranteed.
Limited pressing inc. hand numbered insert...
After a few other successful projects, Franck Biyong, French-Cameroonian Afrobeat composer, guitar player and singer is back on Hot Casa with a hot futuristic Afro-Brazilian club anthem. The similarities and filiations between traditional West-African drumming and Afro-Brazilian religious musical rites are many: under colonial rule African people and African slaves outwardly practiced
Christianity but secretly prayed to their own God, Gods, or Ancestor spirits. So we aimed at keeping the gritty urban menacing sound and poetry of Afrobeat with the percussive mass rumble of Batucada and poignant beauty of Carioca. We then got in touch with Cristina Violle, the first lady of “Samba de Roda” in Paris who graced us with a startling inspired and heartfelt melody. The first completed version of the song then briefly went on alternative radio, we also made plans to release a vinyl version, but for one way or another we shelved the project, without thinking we would get back to it again…until a few months ago. We went back to the studio last summer and started ironing the song again from scratch. That same initial spirit and energy caught hold of us again from the day we started and we worked relentlessly to create a balanced but experimental track, showcasing rootsy sound, pop instrumentation, tight world beat drumming, song structure, jazzy horns, spacey synthesizers, choral-like vocal harmonies with call and response figurative vocals.
We now proudly present this brand new record; Like our predecessors years ago, we subconsciously did our best to keep alive a longtime tradition of cultural tradition of African Artistic
Renaissance, pushing further musical themes of contemporary African sound. To be continued…
The masters for this EP were long lost. These recordings have been made by Ron Wells using a high end LINN cartridge, restored digitally (clicks, noise, rumble) using Izotope RX by Robin at Music Preservation Society and Remastered by Subvert Central Mastering by Bob Macc.
White Vinyl
This is "Altair", a collection of kaleidoscopic post-breakcore on Love Love Records from veteran french surrealist Ruby My Dear. Presented with artwork by TAPT on white vinyl.
The lights are out and a strange alien force surrounds the periphery of your hearing.. The sound of a haunting music box flickering in the darkness draws you closer but as you begin to approach everything explodes into dank crossbreed DnB rhythms that punch you in the gut and send you flying. As the bombardment of breaks momentarily subside you realise you've been beamed aboard the mothership and are now surrounded by unknown and indescribable visions.
You are given a brief moment to contemplate before your legs are swept from underneath you by a flurry of amens that would fry the minds of the hungriest of junglist's epicures. Journeying deeper into the heart of the beast you become aware of distant and immense rumbles but are stopped in your tracks by grinding brutal machinery rising up on all sides. As quickly as it appeared it starts to collapse and you are plunged into near darkness once again.
Pulses of light slowly begin to stab rhythmically from behind clouds and you feel yourself begin to move faster and faster through a void that is now streaked by a spectrum of colour. Floating debris starts re-arranging around you at light speed and every fiber of your being is simultaneously stimulated with needle-like accuracy. As the last string plucks play out the darkness falls away and the cover artwork comes back into focus. You immediately leave wherever you are and encourage someone else to experience this music.
'For his first EP in two years, and second release on Leicester's Grade 10, Forever returns with a six track exploration of hazy, dub-inflected sounds entitled 'In Your Own Time'.
On the A-side, the tense atmospherics of 'Depth Charge' give way to the sun-kissed chords and dancehall-esque rhythms of 'Watch This', finally being rounded off with the record's title track - a sub-driven 7 and a half minute roller, where percussive patterns and dusty chords drift and weave amongst each other.
Side B continues on to more dub-leaning tracks, with 'Alpine' picking up the pace and echoing pulsing synths in to the abyss, followed by a drugged out 'Opioid mix' of the title track - a drum and bass combo sat somewhere between Memphis rap and classic soundsystem rumblers. Closing out the record is 'UR', plunging in to the depths with sonar-like samples and echoing vocals like ghosts trapped in the machines.'
Southern Lord announce the next Caspar Brötzmann Massaker reissues in the ongoing series, continuing with Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore and Koksofen this July. Read on for more insight into these albums, and for information about incoming live dates supporting Sunn O))).
Caspar Brötzmann is one of the most unique and innovative guitarists of the last 40 years. With his Berlin-based trio Massaker, he evolved a whole new autonomous approach to writing rock songs, starting from sounds that were widely considered ornamental if not detrimental ‘sonic waste’, such as shrieking feedback and droning overtones. This plethora of sounds were arranged into tracks to sound like breaking concrete, grinding metal, or bursting glass, at once monumental and threatening, impenetrable and hermetic, yet also archaically tender and loving.
Even today, as the art of noise has reached a level of sophistication that no one could have imagined 30 years ago, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker’s music is resoundingly singular. Ultra heavy riffs and beats, ominous tribal chants and a raw physical force is conjured up by these three sinister and proud minds of their era. Their unhinged, unified stream of energy is captured on these remastered reissues and the results are thrilling.
Koksofen (which translates as blast furnace), originally released in 1993, has become one of Massaker’s most popular albums. Like it’s predecessor, ...Schwarzen Folklore, the album took shape in Massaker’s rehearsal room below the Berlin subway station Schlesisches Tor, and was recorded at Conny Plank’s studio near Cologne, with Plank’s former associates Ingo Krauss and Bruno Gephard producing.
There’s a different kind of intensity to Koksofen. The features of Massaker’s sound are in full bloom. Mountainous noises tower up and crash down, and tormented sounds rise from ominously seething grounds, haunting the entire song-scape. The feel of doom and dread hangs heavily over the five songs, and the title song rumbles, shrieks and wails, plagued by Caspar’s guttural growls of war, suffering and death.
Caspar recalls one anecdote from shortly after the original release whereby Bassist Edu Delgado called him asking to turn on the TV, thus discovering that “Hymne“ was being used as background music to a report about the death penalty in the US. A different kind of intensity indeed.
Reflecting on the album to this day Caspar remarks “Koksofen is still a mystery to me,'' he continues “I can still feel the troubled times in these songs.” - the effects are certainly potent for the listener too. And the album undoubtedly affirms Massaker as the fiercely original and compellingly raw musicians that they are.
Collocutor to release new single ‘The Angry One’, announce gigs at Jazz Cafe and We Out Here Festival
Tamar Collocutor is back with her Collocutor ensemble for On the Corner’s first 7”
’T.A.O’ is a rage, a visceral expression of what gathers within, and the counter-reaction to our times. Verve, distorted psych guitar in combat with a flaming, rolling, discordant, flowing barrage of horns. This single is the anomaly from Collocutor’s forthcoming third album. Rooted in personal loss, it is a scream of bewilderment that builds to encompass the social, political and environmental crisis of our times.
The flip sees Tamar and Magnus P.I. (ex-Collocutor) sparring in an in-the-moment sonic Rumble in the Jungle. Lunging off of T.A.O’s bass line, Tamar tares hard up-river to follow the calling of ancestral drums into a cacophonous parade. Trance inducing rhythm and screams. Across winds of wood and brass Tamar’s voice weaves a rich vein of quality throughout the resurgent UK jazz/instrumental music scene.
The forthcoming LP (autumn 2019) is Tamar’s most personal yet, a reflection about grief. Artistic vision stewed in an emotive concoction. Loss, life changes and ‘Continuation’ paralleled at the macro level with unimaginable political malaise.
The record is an attempt to give voice to the (sometimes surprising) emotional states of being experienced, coloured further by the discordant machinations of our times.
From the inner microcosm of self to the (macro) overarching societal crisis Tamar has fulfilled her vision ‘of writing music that wants to be written’ with her ensembles third LP.
The four tracks on this EP represent a bit of a transitional phase for Louis Jaquet (aka Kid Who), marking a move from a basic setup with an MPC2000XL sampler and a computer to a fully-fledged hardware studio. The initial versions of these tracks were quick jams that he had made early on in this change, but which had lay dormant on his hard drive for some time, before being revisited and reworked for this release with the new equipment.
'Rhythm Code' began life as an exercise in using only freely distributed software synths, and the majority of those sounds are still there, bar some additional acid sequences and tweaks to the rhythm parts.
On 'ZF Cut' his focus switched to samples, in an effort to squeeze the most he could out of his MPC, which at the time had only recently been upgraded. The unassuming beige box gives colour to anything you feed into it (breakbeats in particular), and a host of basic onboard effects add further quirky character, in this case hollow drones and rumbles which are the core of the track.
One of Kid Who's early purchases was a cheap old Yamaha multitrack cassette recorder, which presents many opportunities for sound manipulation. Different tape speeds, tape types and manual manipulation during playback open up a world of noisy, woozy atmospheres, some of which formed the basis of 'Spool Night'.
Of all four, 'Timescape' required the least revising, and the version presented here is very close to the original, 100% computer-based draft. Although the beat was built with Roland 707 drum machine sounds, a staple of early Chicago house records, he wanted to juxtapose these with a more up-to-date techno aesthetic, with a handful of final touches added in the new studio to finish
The four tracks on this EP represent a bit of a transitional phase for Louis Jaquet (aka Kid Who), marking a move from a basic setup with an MPC2000XL sampler and a computer to a fully-fledged hardware studio. The initial versions of these tracks were quick jams that he had made early on in this change, but which had lay dormant on his hard drive for some time, before being revisited and reworked for this release with the new equipment.
'Rhythm Code' began life as an exercise in using only freely distributed software synths, and the majority of those sounds are still there, bar some additional acid sequences and tweaks to the rhythm parts.
On 'ZF Cut' his focus switched to samples, in an effort to squeeze the most he could out of his MPC, which at the time had only recently been upgraded. The unassuming beige box gives colour to anything you feed into it (breakbeats in particular), and a host of basic onboard effects add further quirky character, in this case hollow drones and rumbles which are the core of the track.
One of Kid Who's early purchases was a cheap old Yamaha multitrack cassette recorder, which presents many opportunities for sound manipulation. Different tape speeds, tape types and manual manipulation during playback open up a world of noisy, woozy atmospheres, some of which formed the basis of 'Spool Night'.
Of all four, 'Timescape' required the least revising, and the version presented here is very close to the original, 100% computer-based draft. Although the beat was built with Roland 707 drum machine sounds, a staple of early Chicago house records, he wanted to juxtapose these with a more up-to-date techno aesthetic, with a handful of final touches added in the new studio to finish
- A1: The Capital
- A2: Mission (Feat. Inja)
- A3: Spheres (Feat. Keeno & Pippa Violets)
- B1: The Edge (Feat. Lakeway & Degs)
- B2: Slingshot
- B3: Doin' It For Time (Feat. Kwam)
- B4: Fever
- C1: Triple Duppy Demon (Feat. Hugh Hardie & Truthos Mufasa)
- C2: Dismissed
- C3: Darkest Night
- C4: Notorious (Feat. Sense Mc)
- D1: Virgo
- D2: Shards (Feat. Mr. Porter)
- D3: Amulet
Following his incredible debut album 'Talisman', Whiney has stepped back into the lab to cook all manner of big, beefy dancefloor beasts. The 'Waystone' LP boasts his most widespread set of influences yet with drum & bass fusions of trip-hop, grime, UK hip hop and ambient across 14 outstanding tracks.
Album highlights include the tumbling jungle rumbler 'The Capital' that scatters down with snappy amens in a perfect storm. Plus the unmissable 'Triple Duppy Demon'; a menacing tribal stalker rearing its head in a display of raw beats and bars from Manchester's own Levelz crew member Truthos Mufasa, alongside a production pairing with Hugh Hardie.
'Waystone' also sees the triumphant return of the dream-team-supreme! Hospital's wordsmith Inja joins forces with Whiney on 'Mission'. This certified heater is a grisly tirade of dancefloor chaos, a worthy successor to fan favourites 'Flashlight' and 'She Just Wanna Dance'.
Of course Whiney's second long-player is also packed with showstopping solo productions such as 'Dismissed', 'Slingshot' and half-time triphop switch up 'Darkest Night'
Revisiting another classic for this issue of Len Faki's edits, he chooses Kotai's 2002 track BA3 Breathing, a standout-cut for it's ringing vocals and ominous bassline rumbles. With the original clocking in at the 10-minute mark already, Faki's tribute mix is not much shorter, but manages to fill the spaces between beats with lots of fresh details, lifting the song's energy to a new level, while retaining the soft but sexy vibe of Kotai's compostion. Tightening up the mix and making away with vocals alltogether, the Hardspace Tool-version then solely puts its focus on busty beats and percussive prowess, staking its claim as contender for bossiest bassline of the night.
As with all releases of LF RMX, the proceeds of this record will be forwarded to the Berlin organization Straßenkinder e.V. to be used in actions against child poverty.
- A1: The Sound Of Confusion
- A2: 2.35 (Version 1)
- A3: Losing Touch With My Mind
- A4: Amen
- B1: That's Just Fine (Vocal Version)
- B2: Come Down Easy
- B3: Mary Anne
- C1: Feel So Good
- C2: 2.35 (Feedback Version)
- C3: Hey Man
- C4: It's Allright
- D1: 2.35 (Version 2)
- D2: Things'll Never Be The Same
- D3: Transparent Radiation (Organ Version)
- D4: Repeater (Demo)
Double LP on heavyweight 180 gram audiophile black vinyl in a wide spined sleeve with new artwork layout. Re-mastered by John Rivers at Woodbine Studios especially for vinyl release. Includes a bonus track not on the CD version and new artwork design. Never has a record been so aptly titled, or so perfectly descriptive of a band's particular vision of the universe. For all that, the original appearance of Taking Drugs was in fact a bootleg on the semi-legendary/semi-notorious Father Yod imprint in 1990, later supplemented with contemporary outtakes and cuts for the Bomp reissue in 1994 and one further song for the Space Age version in 2000. The original seven tracks, dated January 1986 and the first recordings to feature Pete Bain on bass, are collectively known as the Northampton Demos, understandably named for the recording location in a studio outside said English city. Both Sonic and Pierce have been on record as long preferring these takes to the eventual versions that surfaced for the most part on Sound of Confusion. Certainly it's a fine set of performances, showing a definite step toward the more familiar sound of the group and away from the rougher takes on For All the Fucked Up Children of the World. "The Sound of Confusion," aka "Walkin' With Jesus," rips along with fierce energy, Pierce's singing and the rampaging, primitive wail and rumble of the band just wonderful. "Losing Touch With My Mind" takes things to an even higher level, a huge wallop of feedback and beat (Natty Brooker's drumming in particular delivers just what the doctor ordered), Pierce delivering the lines with a flat, cutting drawl. On the slightly lighter tip, "Come Down Easy" is more or less fully in place (aside from singing about it being 1986!), possessing a more upfront but less vocally distinct feel than the Perfect Prescription take. The tracks that surfaced on the later reissues come from a variety of different sessions, including the original take on "Feel So Good" and a good live version of "Things'll Never Be the Same," one of several cuts featuring Brooker's drumming replacement Rosco.
Warsaw based duo Private Press join Rekids Special Projects this July with four deep techno cuts entitled 'Zero Sum EP'.
Hailing from Poland, Adam Brocki and Jan Wóycicki make up Private Press - a project that's released sought after cuts on labels like Technosoul and Indigo Aera. The duo is also known by the name Raw Feelings, however many will be familiar with Brocki's Newborn Jr. alias, which has dropped releases on Rhythm Section, Echovolt, Dopeness Galore and Les Yeux Orange. 'Miracle Man sets the tone with delayed resonant synths accompanied by crunchy and distorted snares before 'Becomes The Prime' opts for a lo-fi sound with filtered synth blips and enigmatic vocal slices. On the flip side 'Tooms' delivers heavily reverberated horn-like stabs, modulated synth lines and an underpinning bass that rumbles throughout as 'Clan' offers a fast paced cut with high pitched whistling that echoes alongside a thumping kick drum and organic percussion to bring the package to a close..
- A1: Discovery
- A2: Floating World
- A3: The Fire
- A4: Life By The Sea
- B1: Harmony
- B2: Shanghai Gesture
- B3: Leave Her To Heaven
- B4: Light
- C1: Music For Someone
- C2: Calcutta
- C3: Nightshift
- C4: The Astronaut
- C5: Spectators Of Life
- D1: Life By The Sea (Peel Session)
- D2: Discovery (Peel Session)
- D3: Shanghai Gesture (Peel Session)
- D4: Harmony (Peel Session)
Factory Benelux presents a new vinyl edition of Swimming, the debut album by Belgian new wave group The Names, originally issued in June 1982, and now issued in a limited edition of 300 copies on clear vinyl.
Between 1979 and 1982 The Names recorded a string of excellent records for Factory, Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crepuscule, all helmed by legendary producer Martin Hannett. Recorded at Strawberry Studios in Manchester, Swimming has come to be regarded as a European cold wave classic, combining strong songwriting from Michel Sordinia and poised, tasteful delivery by guitarist Marc Deprez and keyboards player Christophe Den Tandt.
"Exhibits many of the fine qualities of early 80s avant-rock: icy brutalism, spectral reverb, tormented vocals, techno-tribal rumbles" (Uncut, 12/2000); "Swimming retains a gorgeously shrouded, sepulchral mood" (Mojo, 12/2011); "Intelligent and imaginative" (The Face, 7/1982)
Bonus tracks include the popular singles Calcutta, Nightshift, Spectators of Life and The Astronaut, as well as the band's John Peel session from February 1982 - the first ever recorded by a Belgian band. The gatefold sleeve features original artwork and poster design by Benoit Hennebert, and photographs by Marc Portee.




















