quête:sa

Tracks are mixed together.

"In this album, Akira Umeda mixes 42 recordings, dated between 1988 and 2018, which, in a sense, reflect the incredible range of his creative work: from songs, to ambient music; from field recordings to prank calls. The cassette tapes, whose contents make up this double-LP, had been stored in Umeda’s house in São José dos Campos, in São Paulo, Brazil.

Restless, and easily bored, Akira moved seamlessly from one activity to another – he was a little bit of everything (and nothing at all). Such people usually go unnoticed and unrecognized, something which Umeda found perfectly acceptable. Nevertheless, unlike most people, he had no right to see himself in this light – in the light of ephemerality and anonymity –, for in everything he tried his hand at, he inevitably left an impressive and distinctive mark.

The term cruising refers to the practice of seeking and obtaining instant, no-strings-attached sexual gratification with strangers. Akira Umeda was well-acquainted with this term, but his practice of it was not restricted to the aforementioned context. Rather it extended into all spheres of his life and work. A historian by training, he later became a ceramicist, a photographer, a visual artist, a draftsman, a graphic designer, a DJ, a musician, an audio technician, a writer, a researcher... He made forays into a myriad of artistic and academic fields – with a single intention: to achieve a specific objective and promptly exit stage left, as it were."

Seit über dreieinhalb Jahrzehnten hat ihre unterm Strich verrückte Methode des Thrash einige der charakteristischsten Momente in der Welt des Metal hervorgebracht. Jetzt, in der zweiten Hälfte ihrer Karriere, zeigt sich die ganze Erfahrung mit SCORCHED, da es irgendwie reifer, raffinierter klingt und mit Andeutungen von mehr als nur Thrash Metal verschönert wird. „Es ist keine Aggression um der Aggression willen“, erklärt Sänger Bobby „Blitz“ Ellsworth, „es gibt viele verschiedene Elemente auf der Platte. Für mich ist es mehr Heavy Metal und weniger eine reine Thrash-Platte. Da ist verdammt viel Melodie drauf.“

OVERKILL erweitern ihren Aktionsradius, aber lasst euch nicht täuschen, die Band wird die dreckigen, massiven Gossen-Thrasher bleiben, die wir alle kennen und lieben. "Wir sind, was wir sind, und wir wissen, was wir sind, schon seit einer verdammt langen Zeit. An diesem Punkt unserer Karriere in der Lage zu sein, identifizierbar zu bleiben und trotzdem etwas zu machen, das anders ist, ist verdammt aufregend für die Band", schließt Blitz.

Tai Chi Tommy steps out of the crypt to deliver his sultry crooner tones in a collection of Halloween themed doo-wop and garage psych songs live from the Sad Souls Social Club. drawing from the likes of Roy Orbison and The Platters, mixing lush and pleasing melodies with voodoo lure and a 50’s twang.

Love songs for Zombies, Vampires, freaks, geeks and the Strange & Unusual.

"Don't DJ is back with his new album sampler to teach the imitators how it is done.

Leftfield tribalism at it's best, with a pinch of Martin Denny and Les Baxter exotica for some flavour and a little bit of Zoviet France fourth world voodoo for the 5am crew that wants to get hazy in the dance. Florian knows how to incorporate percussion sounds that at first you think that they wouldn't work but it always works and this is only a taste of what is gonna come with the release of his album (soon come).

Morgan Buckley of the mighty Wah Wah Wino crew, takes this deep and intense trip and he goes ballistic while he is playing a live Bodhran to invoke the ancient spirits of Ireland. If the essence of a remix is to keep the original vibe of the tune and add a different flavour to it then Morgan Buckley nailed it in a big way.

Two drum wizards at their best and it's an honour to have them together in one record."

Illustrations by Non Yung Hoon.
Design by NMR.

James Adrian Brown is a British-born songwriter and former lead guitarist from the alternative rock band ‘Pulled Apart By Horses’. After studying art for six years in Leeds (UK), Brown set up his own independent record label in the city and would soon begin carving out a career as a professional musician. After achieving chart success, touring the world and releasing four critically acclaimed studio albums with PABH, James has begun paving a pathway into the world of instrumental electronic music and composing.

Brown's solo work is heavily electronica-based utilising analogue synths alongside tape machines, piano, strings and walls of ambient atmospherics. His work focuses on the analogue side of capturing and creating sound in the real world with physical hardware.

He’s received support from the likes of Gideon Coe at BBC 6music and also Chris Hawkins who championed him as creating ‘Massive electronic soundscapes in a Mogwai kind of world’. James was also featured on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Unclassified’ show by the show host Elizabeth Alker.

Taking inspiration from influences such as Boards Of Canada, Rival Consoles, Floating Points & Thom Yorke. Brown is discovering, advancing, and pushing his songwriting into new sonic domains.

“There is Space Under Your Seat” is a beautifully constructed piece of electronica which is inspired by a longing to create mental space and pause emotions when things become overwhelming. The title was penned after James found himself on a sold out air-flight with disgruntled passengers complaining of little to no space for their luggage.

James recorded the tracks at *ICP Studios in Belgium after crafting the demos in his own studio in the Yorkshire Dales where the compositions were tracked to his tape machines. It was decided by (Producer) James Mottershead they’d breathe new life and space into the tracks in a new environment/studio, which saw them head to Brussels to complete the recordings.

The 7” is released as a deluxe red vinyl single with numbered photo/inserts selected and created by James. The single is issued in a limited edition of 200 copies.

Acclaimed Stirling-based group Constant Follower, led by Stephen McAll, and renowned folk guitarist Scott William Urquhart have today announced their forthcoming collaborative album, ‘Even Days Dissolve’, which will be released on 14 April 2023.

The album follows on from Constant Follower’s lauded debut long-player ‘Neither Is, Nor Ever Was’, which was released in 2021 and nominated for the 2022 Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award.

‘Even Days Dissolve’ is an enchanting, deeply absorbing, and meditative album, the product of a musical affinity between two thoughtful and uniquely talented Scottish songwriters and musicians.

The songs that make up ‘‘Even Days Dissolve’ were inspired by ‘the grand old man of Scottish poetry’, Norman MacCaig (1910-1996), whose work is characterised by its gentle humour, precise observation and love for the natural world, which forms another key theme for the album.

MacCaig’s poetry holds great significance to McAll, as it formed a major source of comfort and support to him during a long period of recovery following a violent and unprovoked attack that left him with catastrophic head injuries, partially paralysed and unable to write or play guitar.

‘Even Days Dissolve’ is McAll’s nod of respect to McCaig, and the great man’s unmistakable words and inimitable voice feature on two of the tracks - single ‘Wildlife Cameraman’, and ‘Comes A Silence (Basking Shark)’ – sensitively set over the backdrop of beautiful and exquisitely crafted songs.

Scott William Urquhart’s masterful acoustic guitar playing is a stunning centrepiece of the album, imbuing the songs with a moving sense of atmosphere, and sounding at once both elegant and robust. Urquhart’s unassuming yet compelling vocals also feature throughout ‘Even Days Dissolve’.

Speaking about ‘‘Even Days Dissolve’, Stephen McAll said: “The magic in music for me is all about collaboration. Finding people who inspire me to make better music, then working with them and creating something between us that’s better than what either of us could have made alone. It’s been an honour to work so closely with Scott William Urquhart on this album. He’s someone whom I’ve admired for some time - unquestionably up there with the best acoustic guitarists at the moment in Scotland, and such a beautiful writer of songs.

“Bringing two of these songs together with the voice of our beloved Norman MacCaig has been a real highlight of this project. His poetry was introduced to me by my high school teacher Mrs Tatarkowski, and it was the first prose I was able to read and understand when I was recovering from a traumatic head injury. So his work holds a deep space in my heart. I don’t think any poet or songwriter has matched his ability to capture the space and wonder of the natural beauty of Scotland.”

Contagion Vapors was recorded between May 2020 and March 2021, in tandem with 'Transgressive Transmissions'. Both albums have been released by Castles in Space, however they feature completely different sonic energies.

Caught up in the first wave of pandemic doom/gloom which resulted in a bizarre creative bloom for Patrick, both albums have unique sounds anchored in the immense Patrick R Pärk/Kösmonaut discographies. This one is definitely a Kösmonaut record, however.

Patrick’s Contagion Vapors is a vaporwave sonic adventure which
soothes the worn soul like an icy balm with its motorik repetitions and sonic patterns and swirls.

Uncharacteristically upbeat and always positive, the album was a personal exercise in not becoming consumed by COVID isolation and misery. Major influences were Patrick Cowley, Cybotron, Automat, Cluster, and Harmonia and the entire album was recorded / mixed in the midnight witching hours over the course of only 2-3 days.

Ever prolific, Patrick is currently deep diving hard into post Y2K New Age conjurations with his massive Galactic Mirage project which should see another CD box set later this year. There's also some forthcoming Teeth Of Glass vinyl coming from Library Of the Occult later this year and plenty of Patrick’s self released "chrome sonic babies" in between.

Back in 2011 when I was tentatively looking for a second release for my fledging record label Clay Pipe Music, I stumbled upon a mysterious MySpace page by a group called ‘Tyneham House’, the page was decorated with artwork by Rena Gardiner (who was unknown to me at that time) and the music was an otherworldly mix of field recordings, Mellotron and acoustic guitar. It turned out that Tyneham was promised to Glen Johnson’s Second Language label, so I offered to do the artwork, and in January 2012 the two labels co-released it on tape and CD in a cardboard box with a handmade booklet of my illustrations.

In 2016 Clay Pipe reissued it on 10” vinyl, in an edition of just 300, which has since become sort after. The new 2023 pressing is on blue and transparent marbled vinyl, with a reverse board cover and inner sleeve, and the booklet of illustrations has been given a complete redesign. Frances Castle 2023

The pastoral, wistful yet ineffably disquieting music of Tyneham House is made by artists who wish to remain anonymous here, save for their eponymous title. The musicians are happy, however, to let it be known that these recordings have been around for some years (many of them complied from old cassettes) and that they take inspiration from the 1960s/’70s/’80s work of the Children’s Film Foundation – a body who really ought to have made a film about this mysterious West Country curio. At least now we have its endlessly poignant soundtrack.

The small village of Tyneham, on the beautiful Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, was once a thriving little community – that is until the British Government requisitioned it for training manoeuvres and other ‘strategic purposes’ in the run up to WWII. This was supposed to be a temporary measure, but the area remained in military possession long after hostilities had ceased, causing distress among former inhabitants, many of whom were farmed out to prefabs in nearby Wareham and Swanage.

Tyneham was characterised by its red telephone box, a tiny parade of shops – Post Office Row – and a grand country pile which stood about half a mile away from the village: Tyneham House. The army removed the building’s oak panelling and ornate decorative details and promptly set about using it for target practice. So great was the shame expressed locally about the damage inflicted upon one of Dorset’s grandest houses that the powers that be decided to grow a copse around the remains of the structure to give the impression that it was no longer there. Despite this, a substantial part of the structure remains intact, including its Saxon hall.

Land access around Tyneham was opened up in the 1970s, but admission to the house remains strictly verboten. Those who’ve been found around the premises, especially anyone wielding a camera, have felt the full weight of military trespass law. Tyneham today is regarded as a nature reserve by some – as a national embarrassment by others. It’s still a political hot potato, in Dorset at least.

Wildflower is a trio comprising Idris Rahman (sax), Leon Brichard (bass) and Tom Skinner (drums).

The trio takes you on an intense, meditative and spiritual musical journey that embodies the spirit of freedom. Based around hypnotic grooves laid down by Brichard’s unswervingly solid bass lines, drummer Skinner plays around artfully with the beats, grooving hard in constantly shifting, unexpected turns of rhythmic play. Rahman’s contributions range from subtle conversational interplay to loudly expressed angry passion to the most delicate of whispers, conveying a depth of emotion and a deep sense of musical structure withIn an ever changing sea of musical conversation.

Using simple, arresting melodies as a starting point, the trio create freely improvised waves of emotion ranging from powerful climaxes to hauntingly beautiful breath-like passages and everything in-between, creating unique forms and structures that react to the acoustics and the atmosphere of the situation.

Taking inspiration from the spiritual jazz pioneers such as John and Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef and Sun Ra, compositional influences range from Gnawa music to modal jazz to Bengali folk music but the scope is wider still and the important unifying factor is the spontaneous communication and interplay between the three musicians. Rather than having a tight rigid structure, the tunes are allowed to breathe and develop into new unexplored forms, allowing fresh interpretations that make each performance a unique experience.

The album is a collection of live and studio recordings that have been recorded and mixed by the band.

"We entered the shadowy mouth of a new space, descending into a realm that precedes the underworld, the arcane, far from our time. We met beasts that gave us lessons about their language which we started learning without grammar."


'The animal world is a constant in the work of Milan improvisational duo Rosso Polare. If Cani Lenti was guided by the diaphanous birdsong integrated into their sparkling mix of folklore, ambiences and occasional humming, on Bocca D’ombra the themes go darker, textures are harder to pin down and the animal presence takes on new connotations.

Instead of an anonymous, patchworked outdoors we enter a cavernous space that invokes the collective unconscious with bestial and funereal undertones, as the animals take on the role of the psychopomps, ancient guides through the shadow realm.

The album is influenced by Timothy Morton’s Dark Ecology, a thinker who sees the constant exchange between the human and natural world as an ongoing dialogue, the two influencing each other, in a series of reverberating loops. This looping is also reflected in their compositions, where improvisations with traditional instruments like electric and acoustic guitars, monophonic synths, horns or flutes meet natural noise-making tools like branches, rocks or nuts that amount to lugubrious, often dissonant textures. Bocca D’ombra is built on a series of whispers, breaths, panting and rustling, creating a feeling of closeness sometimes verging on the claustrophobic, ingeniously set against sounds evoking space – fireworks crackling, crows echoing, church bells reverberating, indistinct cries from a children’s playground.

Distance and repetition are deeply ingrained in their own understanding of sound and their surroundings, becoming the building blocks of their practice. Just like Gregory Bateson in the ‘70s, the duo believes in a more romantic approach to ecology, seeking a porous border between self and environment, human and animal, internal monologue and external ambient hum.

If earlier releases were noisier and denser, Bocca D’ombra is tight and focused - every sound and melody is given room to breathe and develop on its own, enhancing the haunting, otherworldly aspect of the music. The result is heady, intoxicating mix which sublimates chaos into sparkling compositions of contemporary animism.'

Sampled by Jay-Z and Dr Dre, Italian band Calibro 35 announces the release of the new album NOUVELLES AVENTURES. The album will be available abroad on limited edition Crystal Clear vinyl next June 30th via Record Kicks.

Italian cult cinematic combo Calibro 35 are back with their new studio album NOUVELLES AVENTURES. The new album will be available abroad on a limited edition Crystal Clear Gatefold LP on June 30th, distributed worldwide via Record Kicks. The crystal clear vinyl edition is a Record Kicks exclusive and is limited to 1000 copies, which makes it an instant collector's item.

After last year's Scacco Al Maestro, the 2 tribute-albums dedicated to "il maestro" Ennio Morricone, followed by the "Calibro 35 plays Morricone" tour and the releasing of the ost of TV drama series Blanca, Calibro 35 are back with NOUVELLES AVENTURES, a new studio album of original material. NOUVELLES AVENTURES was recorded in Naples at Auditorium Novecento, the former Phonotype Records, one of the most legendary and fascinating Italian recording studios. The new LP sees the group making full use of their knowledge and resources, refined and enriched over the years, back to making "Calibro's music": a unique mix of funk, progressive rock, alternative jazz and wide-spectrum cinematic music the public has known them for in fifteen years of career.

"After a couple of intense and stimulating years playing Morricone and writing music for the TV drama Blanca", Calibro 35 said, "we had a great desire to make new inspired music. To do so, we left home and we shut ourselves up in the splendid space-time capsule that is the Auditorium Novecento studio. The result is a series of musical voyages in which we concentrated all our artistic and human experiences. As in Verne's imaginary and extraordinary journeys, we explored distant places where we had never been before. We then happened to return to more familiar shores and discover them with new eyes without realizing it. We borrowed the title NOUVELLES AVENTURES from György Ligeti, precisely because after fifteen years of building ourselves, we are ready for new adventures".

NOUVELLES AVENTURES was anticipated by the first extract "EXTRAORDINAIRE", an almost 6-minute song that once again confirms the band's aptitude for the exploration of unpredictable sound territories: a music that, on one hand sounds liquid and abstract, while on the other, it cuts through the psychedelic mists, with a complex architecture.

Described by Rolling Stone as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing that has happened to Italy in the past few years", Milan-based Calibro 35 enjoy a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent bands around. Active since 2007, during their long career they were sampled by Dr. Dre on Compton ("One Shot One Kill" feat. Snoop Dogg), Jay Z ("Picasso Baby"), The Child of Lov & Damon Albarn ("One Day") and Demigodz ("The Summer Of Sam"). They played major venues and festivals all over Europe and as unique musicians they collaborated with, amongst others: PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish, Stewart Copeland and Rokia Traoré.

Bollywood rarities handpicked and remastered on a double LP release with laminate gatefold and multi-layered flower petal foldout. Featuring rare, overlooked or not-previously-on-vinyl music from Bappi Lahiri, R. D. Burman, Ilaiyaraaja, Kalyanji-Anandji, Anand Milind, Raamlaxman and Kirti Anuraag released between 1982 and 1986. Mastered for and cut to vinyl by multi Grammy-nominated Frank Merritt at his mastering studio The Carvery.

Naya Beat is incredibly proud to present the first in our series of ‘Awaaz’ (‘sound’ in Hindi) archival projects focused on uncovering the sounds of 1980s Bollywood Original Soundtrack Recordings (OSTs). Series 1 focuses exclusively on the musical output of CBS Gramophone Records & Tapes (India) Ltd. Active during India’s peak disco era – a time when synthesisers and drum machines became a mainstay in Indian popular music – CBS India became a home for established composers to be experimental, up-and-coming composers to get their start, B-movie soundtracks, and straight-to-VHS releases.

Expertly curated by Naya Beat co-founders Turbotito and Ragz, who were given unprecedented access to the original label archives, this compilation is not just a collection of four-to-the-floor Bollywood disco (although there are plenty of those). ‘Awaaz’ is designed to take listeners on a musical journey that includes everything from leftfield electronic and mood music to outrageous proto house.

Be it classic and hard to find cuts like Ilaiyaraaja's "Aye Zindagi Gale Lagaa Le" and “Mere Jaisi Mehbooba” (Bappi Lahiri’s Hindi remake of Herbie Hancock's “Rockit”), or the instrumental mood music of Kirti Anuraag’s VHS movie soundtracks, to the proto house of Raamlaxman’s “Dil Gadbad Jhala” and Kalyanji-Anandji’s “Aage Bhi Dushman,” or the synth and guitar drenched breakdance madness of R. D. Burman’s “Dekho Idhar Jano Jigar,” the music on this compilation captures the output of a label that was unique as it was unconventional.

An homage to the genre, every detail in this stunning release has been lovingly crafted. From the laminate cover to the absolutely incredible foldout, to the cut-out and collage design, to the font type and layout, there are countless authentic details and nods to classic Bollywood releases of the era. As much of the album has been made in India as is possible. The sleeves have been handmade in New Delhi. The liner notes have been compiled by music archivist Nishant Mittal (aka Digging In India).