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Repress!

EEE cook up another three-course serving of sample heavy heaters, doused in spice and loaded with a serious punch.

The album is the proverbial musical journey, made to be listened to from beginning to end, then flipped over for another spin.

SONLIFE is an 8 track LP that spans genres from Downtempo to Jazz, and is an amalgamation of live instrumentation, field recordings and samples. A lot of the tracks on the album started out as very simple ideas; repetitive, single, distorted loops - “very odd and rough ideas conjured up in the middle of the night in my early twenties”. He originally imagined the project being an experimental solo project in 2015, trying out new sounds and genres. The tracks were back under wraps for a few years when he took a break from making music, and when he returned, they were all reimagined with a brand new life.

The album has heavy influences from the likes of Massive Attack, “Black Sands”-era Bonobo, Portico Quartet and the more dance orientated musicians such as Overmono and Mount Kimbie.

Lovers Grain and The Quiet feat James Mollison
Piecebypiece features Plumm

Staff Pick in DJ Mag (print).

Sleek three tracker from Russ Brooker, a unknown quantity who is swiftly to become the name on everybody's lips, the 13threlease on Rua Sound.

"97-98" is every bit as sharp and shattered as any of the legendary tunes released in that storied era, with moody samples and a break so heavily pregnant with funk that it's a palpable relief when the levee breaks and it gives birth to some heavy rolling amens.

"Microfilm" starts off with a proper spy-flick title and immediately lives up to the name, with a cinematic sequence of cosmic cloak and dagger chimes and pads that quickly sprints off into the Pentagon in a brown flared suit with assorted extraterrestrials and the cast of Scooby Doo in hot pursuit – channelling crusty old Droppin' Science jams to great effect.

"Breathe" drops the tempo down to the 140-odd range with earthy rolling percussion, celestial atmospherics and the kind of studious and deliberate polyrhythmic funk wizardry that most producers don't cook up in a lifetime of releases, never mind on their honest-to-god-damn debut.

Matt Tolfrey’s Leftroom imprint makes a triumphant return here with a remix package featuring Mathew Jonson, Silverlining, Maher Daniel and Sakro, all reworking cuts from his 2020 ‘All Shapes And Different Sizes’ LP. Across the past two decades the UK’s Matt Tolfrey has been at the forefront of the underground House and Techno scene, releasing material on many seminal labels in the industry such as REKIDS, Cocoon, Music For Freaks, Crosstown Rebels, mix compilations for fabric and Classic, and of course his very own Leftroom which returns here following its last vinyl release back in 2020 from Detroit’s Norm Talley and Ataxia.

Up first on remix duties is Canadian machine maestro Mathew Jonson who remixes ‘How It’s Gonna Be’ featuring Tim Fuller, offering up his signature twitchy synth work, robust analogue drums and cinematic leads running alongside the original’s hooky vocal lines. Maher Daniel steps up next to remix ‘Feel The Same’, opting for an intricate electro tinged drum workout, wavey subs and hypnotic vocal chants.

London’s Silverlining then reworks ‘Fantasy’ featuring Shaun J. Wright next, diving deeper via a skippy, swinging drum groove, airy dubbed out chords, snaking bass groove and soulful, intricately processed vocal licks. Lastly to round things out, Sakro remixes ‘Under The Skin' featuring Lil Mark, the Mexican artist reshapes the original with his unique drum-led, groove driven style, fusing crisp snares and shuffled percussion, alongside an amalgamation of choppy bass hits, bleepy synths and sweeping atmospherics.

Classic Hip-hop meets minimalism and dusty vinyl on Anchovies Cali Agents alum Planet Asia is as sharp as ever with his lyrical smithing. Apollo Brown's style is evident behind the dust and grime of these smoky samples. The Detroit producer approached this album like a director would a movie. Apollo painstakingly laid out every detail of the project and knew what he wanted from the finished product. He knew that only one rapper could execute his vision. Enter Planet Asia. The West Coast legend was able to fit directly into the plan and bring his talents to the album, creating a perfect match.
Planet Asia. The West Coast legend was able to fit directly into the plan and bring
his talents to the album, creating a perfect match.

Repress!

Following his versatile Alone With Everybody EP, FD returns to The North Quarter with a stunning 16 track debut album: Better Days.

Largely written in a three month window, FDs (real name Freddie Dixon) new long player on The NQ undoubtedly brings the best of the Zurich-based/London-born producer. Better Days is an album that delivers a rare synergy of drive, harmony between subtle & raw and just sheer fun. A versatile yet coherent project drawn from a large pool of sketches, finalised in intricate detail with focused studio dedication.

Drawing influences from Dub, Jazz, Hip Hop, Soul and the Mid 90's Drum & Bass “GoldenAge”, Better Days bridges the gap between genres, as FD enlists carefully considered vocal collaborations. Manchester donny Fox shines on the dubbed out Better Man and Washington DC soul diva Cecily shows shades of Minnie Riperton on Sycamore. Meanwhile Ribs is lifted to one of the album's stand out tracks with Maverick Soul on the keys and the enigmatic Issac Rosie on the boards.

For some the better days in life are in their childhood memories: nostalgia-infused wonderings of the mind to a care-free time without today's online distractions. Although FD’s debut album 'Better Days' is inspired and informed by a period earlier in life, his best days musically are definitely in the present. To put it into the man's own words:

"I’ve been wanting to do an album for quite a while now, but the circumstance never felt right. Once I started working with The North Quarter that all changed – it feels like being part of a team all pushing in the same direction, all supporting one another, all wanting to do the best for each other. Once we’d done the first EP together, for me, it was only a question of when."

George Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist best known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee and learned to play the alto saxophone in his teens. After his work with Ray Charles, George started working with B.B. King in 1953 and switched to playing the tenor saxophone.

George Coleman was a member of legendary outfits such as Max Roach’s quintet, The Slide Hampton Octet, Miles Davis’ Quintet and The Chet Baker Quintet. The list of his collaborations is impressive to say the least, Mr. Coleman recorded and performed with greats such as Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, Ahmad Jamal, Idris Muhammad, Pharoah Sanders, Ornette Coleman, Melvin Sparks, ArtBlakey…and many others.

Coleman was named an NEA Jazz Master, was added to the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015, and received a brass note on the Beale Street Brass Notes Walk of Fame. George Coleman’s performances were included on classic recordings released by prominent labels from the likes of Blue Note, Atlantic, Prestige, Strata-East, Muse, Verve and Impulse!

On the album we are proudly presenting you today: Amsterdam After Dark (Recorded in 1978 at the famous NY Sound Ideas Studio and released on Timeless Records in 1979) the listener is treated to six majestic tracks of the highest caliber and features a remarkable outing of advanced musicianship by jazz-giants in their prime, delivering an inspirational gem of an album.

The all-star line-up includes Sam Jones (Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster) on bass, Billy Higgins (Donald Byrd, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane) on drums and Hilton Ruiz (Roy Brooks, Rashaan Roland Kirk, Sonny Rollins) on piano. Most players featured here were also part of the legendary ‘Eastern Rebellion’ collective responsible for releasing multiple ground-breaking albums over several decades.

Amsterdam After Dark shows off George Coleman’s mastery of the sax, his brilliant vintage techniques and deep soulful tones. Coleman plays from the heart and is on top of his game. Expect both original compositions as well as standards, beautiful ballads with elegant (yet fierce) solos alternating between the instruments, growling blues-oriented themes…this is a contemporary sounding Hard Bop & Post-bop crossover album and a must have for any self-respecting jazz fan or collector!

“A piece of music never truly comes to An end. Revisiting a theme illustrates this idea that life goes on.” These are the words of Wayne Shorter, uttered in 2018 upon the release of Emanon, his final opus. On this record, the octogenarian uses dusky hues to shade in the passions of his youth - drawing and science-fiction, as well as the causes he has defended all his life - the fight against ecological upheaval and structural racism. This sentiment did not fail to resonate with Julien Lourau, who has reached a stage in life where he has begun to look back over certain pages written by the man he has always considered one of the masters of his trade. Five years later, this Parisian native has also chosen to revisit his glory days, offering reworked versions of specific tracks composed by his titular elder throughout the 80s. “When I play this music, I find myself back in my teenage bedroom. These are my standards, and they remind me of autumn in Rambouillet.” At that time, after practising his scales, Julien would also play Dungeons & dragons, and immerse himself in SF as well as heroic fantasy - epic influences which are not without a certain connection to the dreamworlds Shorter conjured up, as another fan of landscapes beyond the grasp of reality.

This album features four themes taken from Atlantis, which came out in 1985, and two from Joy Ryder, released three years later. To these, he has added a composition penned at around the same time for Sportin’ Life, the penultimate LP by Weather Report. This is rounded off by a tune taken

from Native Dancer, the record which, ten years earlier, in 1975, brought together this saxophonist who learnt his trade alongside Art Blakey, before joining Miles’ second quintet, and Brazilian Milton Nascimento.

“Between Native Dancer and Atlantis, Shorter did not release anything under his own name, but he took the time and care to really perfect his writing. Upon his return, he injected a very Brazilian form of subtlety into his compositions, especially rhythmically. And from a harmonic point of view, these themes are extremely sophisticated, and reveal truly singular colours. In fact, he decided to display the score as if it constituted the liner notes of Atlantis.”

Julien Lourau is a fan of every Wayne Shorter era, from his Blue Note days, where Mr Gone defined the bases of a truly unique repertoire, all the way to his final quartet - a reference like no other. He decided to focus on this “highly electric” period, which is not necessarily Shorter’s best known, nor his most widely appreciated - despite being a unanimous reference, Shorter has nonetheless never had a direct descendent. In Lourau’s line of sight there lies a desire to focus on typically South American tonic accents which characterise this repertoire, twinned with the ambition to switch up their actual sound “by attempting to open up onto a production highly influenced by eighties fusion". However, he admits that modifying the structures of these most unique of worlds constituted a fresh challenge. “There’s this labyrinthine harmonic system where you’ve no idea how it holds together, but where it’s actually impossible to touch the slightest element without the whole edifice wavering. It is in fact a very difficult thing to achieve!”

In order to successfully transcribe all this creativity free of obstacles, Julien Lourau once again called upon the help of Mathieu Debordes. From January 2023 onwards, Mathieu endeavoured to break down all the musical elements, on paper, before creating any actual music. The record was therefore constructed on the faith of these scores, without necessarily transiting through a creative residency - just two live gigs, to make sure the setup worked. Besides Mathieu Debordes and his synthesisers, Julien Lourau has assembled an ad hoc team by his side. On the bass, according to the track, we can hear erstwhile companion Sylvain Daniel or a new acolyte on the fretless bass, Joan Eche Puig.

Stéphane Edouard, on percussion, even dives headfirst into an unlikely proto-rap of sorts, on Pearl On The Half Shell (where, on the original version, Bobby McFerrin adjusted his interventions in a rather madcap style). Aesthete and drummer Jim Hart as well as pianist Leo Jassef also figure on this release - both were present on previous project devoted to label

CTI. “At sixteen, I wanted to sound like Michael Brecker rather than Ben Webster - that was equated with modernity in those days”, adds Julien with a smile, as for him, all this rings out a little like a logical next step, a joyful immersion into the fountain of youth. And if, for this record, he plays the soprano more than ever, the saxophone Shorter set in his sights on, he never tries to replicate an unattainable ideal note by note. What would be the point?

“Wayne Shorter is not just a saxophonist’s saxophonist. In fact, I don’t know a single person who has risen to challenge of his solos. I have not done it myself either, but on the other hand, I have retained a lot of his phraseology. His way of approaching the instrument reveals a more evanescent language, a work on colour and shape. Keeping this in mind has allowed me to gravitate towards certain elements, that in hindsight, I find echoes of in my work, even in Groove Gang.” Shorter etches out these phrases, creating a groove within which Lourau had traced subtle punctuation, managing, from a highly written base, to create fresh apertures, promises of a great escape. Emblematic of this standpoint, his regal version of Ponte de Areia, originally a wonderful dialogue between Milton Nascimento and Wayne Shorter. Here, the Frenchman takes liberties with the original melodies, without ever growing distant from the original spirit, extending one section with delicacy, offering a rubato development and then a groove “like a little suite”. Julien Lourau also renews with an accomplice from last century, Magic Malik, who lends his high-pitched vocals to the track. Though they had not recorded together for more than twenty years, the two of them got on as if they had only ceased collaborating yesterday, everything flowed naturally. The track was wrapped up in just one take, much like other themes, such as opener Who Goes There where the flautist deploys smooth, enchanted and smoky wisps.

Fundamentally, reflecting of the sleeve which features a child playing with a ball, image that could symbolise the sun just as much as the moon, Julien Lourau manages to translate the ambiguous candour which characterizes Shorter’s work - solar and crepuscular at the same time, that of a visionary and poet definitively situated outside of all chronology, but with whom Julien shares surprising and ‘timely’ coincidences. Shorter was born August 25, 1933, the same day as Julien’s father, “if we take time zones into account”, and who died on Lourau’s birthday, March 2, 2023. Should we take this as a random fact? Or could we not see here the sign of a destiny connecting the agnostic Frenchman to the man who, as a fervent Buddhist, believed in the transmission of his spiritual flow ?

In his “Pulse Music” compositions of the mid-1970s, composer John McGuire forged a unique interpretation of European serialism. A student of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Krzysztof Penderecki and Gottfried Michael Koenig, McGuire moved to Cologne, Germany in 1970, where he become associated with the world-leading Studio for Electronic Music at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne. Like Stockhausen, McGuire found his musical imagination both constrained and inspired by the technology that was available to him.

A conversation with sculptor Hans Karl Burgeff led McGuire to think beyond the horizon and into limitless space. For “Vanishing Points” (1985–1988), McGuire used an entirely digital set-up for the first time: a digital sequencer, eight Yamaha DX-7 synthesizers and a Studer 24-track digital tape recorder. The piece was conceived as a “sequel” to the Pulse Music series, but also a step forward from it. Whereas the Pulse Music pieces had employed steady streams of pulses, with Vanishing Points McGuire employed pulse layers that accelerate or decelerate against one another, vastly increasing the resulting rhythmic complexity.

McGuire's exploration of music technology continued in “A Cappella” (1990–1997), written for his wife, the soprano Beth Griffith, known for her recording of Morton Feldman’s “Three Voices” made in 1983. Using samples, he created a four-voice choir of voice samples and arranged them into interacting parts. The composition faced challenges due to the organic nature of the human voice compared to the precision of synthesized sounds. This process involved extensive editing and a negotiation between the "material" and the "original conception". This sort of negotiation applies as much to the composition of a single piece as it does to the work of two decades.

Omnivore Recordings Reaching For The Stars:Trios/Duos/Solos mit elf weiteren, bisher unveröffentlichten Aufnahmen.

In den Trios spielen Henry Grimes (Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins) und Kalil Madi (Freddie McCoy, Mongo Santamaria - sowie Hasaan's Metaphysics) sechs Titel ein (vier davon erschienen in ihren Studio-Versionen auf The Max Roach Trio Featuring The Legendary Hasaan).

Hinzu kommen drei Songs mit der Sängerin Muriel Gilliam, alias Muriel Winston, und zwei Solo-Porträts des Meisterpianisten. Produziert von der Grammy®-prämierten Produzentin Cheryl Pawelski und dem ASCAP-prämierten Autor Alan Sukoenig, enthält Reaching For The Stars ein neues Essay von Pianist, Komponist und Autor Ethan Iverson. Wie bei den früheren Veröffentlichungen von Omnivore Hasaan Ibn Ali wurde auch diese Sammlung sorgfältig restauriert und von dem mit dem Grammy® ausgezeichneten Toningenieur Michael Graves gemastert.

Diese Sammlung ist ein weiterer Einblick in die bisher ungehörten Aufnahmen von Hasaan Ibn Ali, dessen verschollene Aufnahmen beweisen, dass er nach den Sternen griff und sie alle berührte.

Morikawa Seiichirou, vocals, bass
Yamagiwa Hideki, electric & classical guitar
Takahashi Ikuro, drums & percussion

je prie pour que la goutte ne tombe pas
(I pray that the drop does not fall) is the first international release by Japanese trio Chi To Shizuku. While they have released five albums and a 7” in Japan, their spectral, haunted rock songs haven’t yet reached a much wider audience overseas. With this album, then, a live recording taken at Koenji HIGH, Suginami, Tokyo on 23rd November 2021, the unique, quartz-like character of Chi To Shizuku’s music is writ large, the bleak bliss of their songs carved onto twelve-inch vinyl.
Perhaps the best-known member of Chi To Shizuku, at least for audiences with an ear turned to Japanese psychedelia, is drummer Takahashi Ikuro, known for his membership of almost every group worth a damn from that scene – Fushitsusha, Nagisa Ni Te, Ché-SHIZU, Kousokuya, High Rise, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, LSD March, the list goes on. But the core of Chi To Shizuku’s music is the collaboration between vocalist, bassist and lyricist Morikawa Seiichirou, and guitarist and arranger Yamagiwa Hideki. Morikawa is a member of long-running punk/goth group Z.O.A., and has also played with YBO , Zzzoo, and as collaborator with Takeshi and Atsuo of Boris in A/N; he’s also recently been performing with Mitsuru Tabata. Yamagiwa’s history takes in stints with Katsurei and Cock C’ Nell, and he also recently guested with la scene 裸身.

All this contextual information does relatively little, though, to prepare you for the unique vibration of Chi To Shizuku’s lustrous songs. They shimmer in the same half-light, perhaps, as Shizuka and the quieter moments of LSD March, sharing a similar poise and classicism, and there’s a tenderness and wracked poetry to Morikawa’s voice that reminds of the emotional intensities both of traditional Japanese folk, and of British folk music: on “Musuu No Nemuri No Naka De Kumo Wo Tukamu”, the combination of his singing, backed with gorgeously plangent guitar, reminds of no-one so much as it does The Pentangle or Spriguns Of Tolgus. Chi To Shizuku’s love for the ballad as form gifts their music an archaic, sometimes arcane resonance, and from what you can hear on this album, it’s clear they’re in love with graceful melancholy.

But this is not a folk album, by any means; it just shivers with the same eternal spirit. There are also hints of prog rock, and you can catch some passages of scratchy, distended free rock, on the extended spirit invocation of “Nanhito Hanhito”. je prie pour que la goutte ne tombe pas is an extraordinary album, a melancholy surprise, that reminds dedicated listeners of the seemingly bottomless well of great music to be found via the Japanese underground in its many forms. Perhaps Michel Henritzi says it best, though, in his liner notes, when he writes, “Chi To Shizuku’s music reminds us that our life is a dream that lasts only a season, and that oblivion will follow.”

Recorded at Koenji High Suginami, Tokyo, 23 November 2021
Mix & Mastering: Taku Unami, photography : Noriko Akiyama
Liner notes by Jon Dale Printed by Alan Sherry

New Zealand indie trifecta Mermaidens, are set to make a resounding splash in the music scene yet again with the announcement of their fourth self-titled album and release of the project's first single ‘I like to be alone’. The trio, comprising of Gussie Larkin (guitar/vocals), Lily West (bass/vocals), and Abe Hollingsworth (drums), has been on an impressive journey of musical excellence, boasting three critically acclaimed albums, international tours, and a slew of accolades to their name. With a sound that is both bold and adventurous, Mermaidens' music is a testament to their unwavering creativity and relentless work ethic. Their upcoming self-titled album, a product of the band's tireless efforts between 2019 - 2022, promises to be a captivating sonic journey, delving into themes of self-awareness, introspection, long-term love, and even channelling political anger and frustration. Recorded mainly at Surgery Studios in Wellington, with the engineering prowess of Lee Prebble and produced by Samuel Flynn-Scott of The Phoenix Foundation fame, the album also saw the band stepping up their production game with Gussie and Lily working their magic with Protools in their DIY home studios, showcasing their growth and versatility as artists. “Working with Sam has really been a round-trip in our creativity,” as Lily explains, “we grew up listening to Sam’s early records and here we are getting the inside scoop on how to make that kind of magic. Listening to Pegasus today still transports me to a time when I listened to music on a Walkman. In the best possible way - sometimes it felt like we’d added an evil genius to the mix, we’d be working on a song and he’d come in like a mad scientist with fresh ideas to try.” To give fans a taste of the upcoming album's brilliance, Mermaidens have released new single 'I like to be alone.' The song has been part of the band's live repertoire for a while and explores the fulfilling contentment of being alone and the struggle to convey this sentiment to a partner. Its relatable lyrics capture the essence of cherishing solitude while navigating the complexities of human connections. Gussie's candid and honest approach to self-discovery is complemented by the song's, Michel Gondry inspired video, as Gussie explains: “The giant jean pocket and denim world were created by Hannah Webster, a textile designer and illustrator based in Wellington. Hannah took all the wild ideas for props and made them come true! I’m still in awe of how she managed to sew a 6x6 metre backdrop for the denim world out of whatever scraps she could find. The video captures our playfulness and sense of humour, and is a hint of what’s to come for the rest of the music videos. I love the way the story wraps up with the three of us together, literally playing “in the pocket”. Mermaidens' self-titled album will be released on Friday 3 November 2023 and is available for pre-order now. UK listeners will be able to pick up an exclusive Rough Trade vinyl pressing in transparent red, along with an A3 poster and jumbo bumper sticker. Having released their last two albums through iconic local label Flying Nun, Mermaidens will be released independently. Creative control is an important pillar for the band, who are hands on in every facet of their projects. Mermaidens gather their community close via their hugely popular multi-city boutique festival Mermgrown, hosting peers including Womb, Hans Pucket, Vera Ellen (Girl Friday) and Kōtiro from 2021 onwards. They've been invited to share the stage with Death Cab For Cutie, Sleater-Kinney, Gang of Four, Parquet Courts, Lorde and The Veils, and have toured extensively in Europe, the UK, and Australia.

For over a decade, Dean Johnson’s rustic tenor and simply strummed acoustic guitar have been perking up ears around the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Johnson has gradually built a devoted fan base — strictly through live performances and word of mouth — singing existential cowboy waltzes, ballads about wishing one could find a way out of heaven, honest confessionals, and other heartbreakers from a unique perspective. The phrase “hidden gem” would seem appropriate here, but it’s a misnomer when talking about Dean Johnson. He shines bright, in plain sight, and it was only a matter of time before people stopped to take a look. Dean’s gentle and passionate approach to songwriting has inspired many, and his work provides the listener the opportunity to believe once more that a song can be more than the sum of its parts. If you catch even a phrase of his melodies or the sobering tone of his voice, it waltzes its way into your heart like a letter written, signed, sealed, and delivered just for you. His debut album 'Nothing for Me, Please' (Mama Bird Recording Co.) was recorded at Mashed Potato Records in New Orleans with the help of Sam Gelband and Charlie Meyer, Dean’s bandmates in The Sons of Rainier; as well as Mashed Potato regulars Sam Doores (The Deslondes), Duff Thompson and Steph Green. The record is a hazy, relaxed daydream – anthems for those who know the sweetness and coldness of quiet moments, the power and the pain of love. Whether you’ve been waiting patiently these many for Dean to release these songs, or you’re just now coming across his work for the first time, the name Dean Johnson, much like his songs, won’t soon leave your mind.

Two unreleased tracks from Brazilian Thrash Punk Metal gods, Ratos de Porao, recorded in 2022 on the same sessions as their "Necropolitica" album. Accompanied by beautifully shocking full color artwork this mean 7" presents two unreleased tracks by the kings of venomous metallized Hardcore Punk. Recorded in the same sessions as their "Necropolitica" album, these two bangers show a band at the top of their game after 40 years of career, as aggressive, rebellious and powerful as ever. Long live Ratos de Porao!

Limitierte Deluxe-Edition zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum des Snow Patrol-Debütalbums 'Songs for Polarbears' (1998), von dem damals nur 1.000 LPs erschienen. Die Jubiläums-LP kommt als Arctic White-farbiges Vinyl mit zusätzlichem Art-Print, basierend auf dem Original-Werbeposter 1998 samt Textzitat auf der Rückseite. Das von James Watson produzierte Album enthält die Singles 'Velocity Girl' und 'Starfighter Pilot', Mitglieder von Belle & Sebastian waren an mehreren Songs beteiligt.

When Kronos plays a piece, they become fellow composers, true collaborators. Without them, we wouldn’t have the kind of string quartet playing that we find around us today. There are two kinds of string quartet playing: the ‘Before Kronos’ and the ‘After Kronos’.” – Philip Glass

‘Kronos Quartet has broken the boundaries of what string quartets can do.’ – New York Times

Nonesuch releases Kronos Quartet’s acclaimed album Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass on vinyl for the first time to coincide with Kronos Quartet: Five Decades, a year-long celebration marking the quartet’s 50th anniversary. Originally released in 1995, the album features David Harrington (violin), John Sherba, (violin), Hank Dutt (viola) and Joan Jeanrenaud (cello) performing Quartet No. 2 (Company) (1983), No. 3 (Mishima) (1985), No. 4 (Buczak) (1990), and No. 5 (1991), the first piece Glass wrote especially for Kronos. Recorded at Skywalker Sound in California, the album was produced by Judith Sherman, Kurt Munkacsi and Philip Glass. The cover art features Francesco Clemente’s painting The Four Corners (1985). At the time of the album’s release, the New York Times said, ‘It contains some of Glass's best music since Koyaanisqatsi. His ear for sumptuous string sonorities is undeniable,’ while the Washington Post called it ‘An ideal combination of composer and performers.’ It was a top 10 hit on Billboard’s Top Classical Albums, and spent 12 weeks on Billboard’s Classical chart.



In his original liner note, critic Mark Swed wrote, ‘Glass’ string quartets may contain his most intimate music. They are works through which a very public composer, perhaps the most important opera reformer of our age and a longstanding collaborator in large-scale music theater, holds up a mirror to himself and his way of composing. “In an odd way,” Glass explains, “string quartets have always functioned like that for composers. I don’t really know why, but it’s almost impossible to get away from it. It’s the way composers of the past have thought and that’s no less true for me. It’s almost as if we say we’re going to write a string quartet, we take a deep breath, and we wade in to try to write the most serious, significant piece that we can.” Glass says that as he sat down to write String Quartet No. 5, he had discovered that perhaps not taking a serious tone might be the most serious way to deal with it. “I was thinking that I had really gone beyond the need to write a serious string quartet and that I could write a quartet that is about musicality, which in a certain way is the most serious subject.”’



Glass’ first numbered quartet was written in 1966; however, he did not return to the string quartet medium until 1983, when he provided incidental music for a dramatization of Samuel Beckett’s prose poem, Company. During those 17 years, Glass had formed an ensemble and developed his style in a series of increasingly elaborate pieces for it. String Quartet No. 3 is also adapted to dramatic music, this time from his score to the 1985 Paul Schrader film, Mishima. It was with the music of Mishima that Kronos became associated with Glass, recording the string quartet sections of the soundtrack and subsequently working extensively with the composer on all five of his numbered quartets. Kronos also gave the first concert performances of Company and Mishima. String Quartet No. 4 was composed in remembrance of the artist Brian Buczak, who died of AIDS in 1988.



As Kronos’ anniversary season continues with further concerts around the world, Nonesuch will reissue Black Angels on vinyl on February 16. First released in 1990, the award-winning album includes George Crumb’s title piece, which inspired David Harrington to found the quartet. Called ‘an unusually elevated and searing Vietnam War protest’ by the New York Times, it sets a dark, powerful tone for this collection, which addresses the political/physical/spiritual consequences of war. Also featured are works by Charles Ives, István Márta, Thomas Tallis, and Dmitri Shostakovich. ‘Stylishly packaged, intelligently programmed, superbly recorded and brilliantly performed,’ proclaimed Gramophone. ‘In short, very much the sort of disc we’ve come to expect from the talented and imaginative Kronos Quartet.’ The Evening Standard included it among its ‘100 Definitive Classical Albums of the 20th Century’.



Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1937, Philip Glass is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Juilliard School. By 1974, he had created a large collection of music for The Philip Glass Ensemble. The period culminated in the landmark opera, Einstein on the Beach. Since Einstein, Glass’s repertoire has grown to include music for opera, dance, theatre, orchestra, and film. His scores have received Academy Award nominations (including Kundun and The Hours, as well as Notes on a Scandal) and a Golden Globe (The Truman Show). Recent works include his memoir, Words Without Music, his first Piano Sonata, opera Circus Days and Nights, and Symphony No. 14. Glass received the Praemium Imperiale in 2012, the US National Medal of the Arts from President Barack Obama in 2016, and 41st Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.



Nonesuch’s relationship with Glass began in 1985, with the release of the score for Paul Schrader’s Mishima featuring Kronos Quartet. Over the years other Glass works on Nonesuch have included Einstein on the Beach (1993), Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass (1995), Music in Twelve Parts (1996), Glass Box (2008), as well as the soundtracks for Powaqqatsi (1988), Kundun (1997), Koyaanisqatsi (1998), and The Hours (2002), amongst others.



For 50 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet – David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Paul Wiancko (cello) – has challenged and reimagined what a string quartet can be. Founded at a time when the form was largely centred on long-established, Western European traditions, Kronos has been at the forefront of revolutionizing the string quartet into a living art form that responds to the people and issues of our time. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our era, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 70 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, and collaborating with many of the world’s most accomplished composers and performers. Through its nonprofit organization, Kronos Performing Arts Association, Kronos has commissioned more than 1,000 works and arrangements for string quartet – including the Kronos Fifty for the Future library of free, educational repertoire. Kronos has received more than 40 awards, including three Grammy Awards and the Polar Music, Avery Fisher, and Edison Klassiek Oeuvre Prizes.



Kronos is prolific and wide-ranging on recordings. The ensemble’s expansive discography on Nonesuch includes three Grammy-winning albums: Terry Riley’s Sun Rings (2019), Landfall with Laurie Anderson (2018), and Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite featuring soprano Dawn Upshaw (2003); the 40th-anniversary boxed set Kronos Explorer Series; Nuevo (2002), a Grammy- and Latin Grammy–nominated celebration of Mexican culture; Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase of African-born composers that simultaneously topped Billboard’s Classical and World Music charts; and Folk Songs (2017), Nonesuch’s 50th album with Kronos, which featured Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, and Natalie Merchant singing traditional folk songs.

Echoes, Spaces, Lines collects Trans-Millenia Consort, Plot Zero, and Spectre, the first three albums by the late West Coast composer, healer, and medium Pauline Anna Strom. Exploring all corners of the multiverse through transpersonal form and freedom, Strom’s first three albums share a singular sensibility, different streams flowing from the same oracular font. Echoes, Spaces, Lines establishes Strom’s rightful place in the canon of great synthesists. Restored and mixed from the original reels by Marta Salogni, newly remastered, and adding Oceans of Tears, a fully realized but previously unreleased album exclusive to this box set, these are the first official reissues and the definitive encapsulation of Pauline Anna Strom’s prolific and visionary early work. These four-disc LP and CD box sets include 12 and 16 page booklet containing liner notes, an unearthed interview with Strom, and unseen ephemera.

Hadsel ist das erste neue Album seit Beiruts 2019 veröffentlichtem "Gallipoli". Aufgenommen auf der norwegischen Insel Hadsel, kurz nachdem ein körperlicher und mentaler Zusammenbruch Condon dazu zwang, seine Tournee für 2019 abzusagen, suchte er nach einem Ort, an dem er sich erholen konnte, nachdem er sich in einem Zustand des Schocks und der Selbstzweifel befand. In der Isolation arbeitend, erklärt Condon: "Ich war in einer Trance verloren. Ich stolperte blindlings durch meinen eigenen mentalen Zusammenbruch, den ich seit meiner Teenagerzeit verdrängt hatte. Er kam und läutete mich wie eine Glocke. Ich quälte mich mit vielen Dingen der Vergangenheit und der Gegenwart, während die Schönheit der Natur, die Nordlichter und die furchterregenden Stürme um mich herum ein beeindruckendes Schauspiel boten. Die wenigen Stunden Licht brachten die unergründliche Schönheit der Berge und Fjorde zum Vorschein, und die stundenlange Dämmerung erfüllte mich mit gedämpfter Erregung. Ich würde gerne glauben, dass die Landschaft irgendwie in der Musik präsent ist. Das Ergebnis ist eine Sammlung von Liedern, die diese Verletzlichkeit, den Sinn für Selbstbestimmung und den Glauben daran, dass man nach einem Zusammenbruch wieder lernen kann, allein zurechtzukommen, auf wunderbare Weise widerspiegeln."

Hadsel ist das erste neue Album seit Beiruts 2019 veröffentlichtem "Gallipoli". Aufgenommen auf der norwegischen Insel Hadsel, kurz nachdem ein körperlicher und mentaler Zusammenbruch Condon dazu zwang, seine Tournee für 2019 abzusagen, suchte er nach einem Ort, an dem er sich erholen konnte, nachdem er sich in einem Zustand des Schocks und der Selbstzweifel befand. In der Isolation arbeitend, erklärt Condon: "Ich war in einer Trance verloren. Ich stolperte blindlings durch meinen eigenen mentalen Zusammenbruch, den ich seit meiner Teenagerzeit verdrängt hatte. Er kam und läutete mich wie eine Glocke. Ich quälte mich mit vielen Dingen der Vergangenheit und der Gegenwart, während die Schönheit der Natur, die Nordlichter und die furchterregenden Stürme um mich herum ein beeindruckendes Schauspiel boten. Die wenigen Stunden Licht brachten die unergründliche Schönheit der Berge und Fjorde zum Vorschein, und die stundenlange Dämmerung erfüllte mich mit gedämpfter Erregung. Ich würde gerne glauben, dass die Landschaft irgendwie in der Musik präsent ist. Das Ergebnis ist eine Sammlung von Liedern, die diese Verletzlichkeit, den Sinn für Selbstbestimmung und den Glauben daran, dass man nach einem Zusammenbruch wieder lernen kann, allein zurechtzukommen, auf wunderbare Weise widerspiegeln."

Hadsel ist das erste neue Album seit Beiruts 2019 veröffentlichtem "Gallipoli". Aufgenommen auf der norwegischen Insel Hadsel, kurz nachdem ein körperlicher und mentaler Zusammenbruch Condon dazu zwang, seine Tournee für 2019 abzusagen, suchte er nach einem Ort, an dem er sich erholen konnte, nachdem er sich in einem Zustand des Schocks und der Selbstzweifel befand. In der Isolation arbeitend, erklärt Condon: "Ich war in einer Trance verloren. Ich stolperte blindlings durch meinen eigenen mentalen Zusammenbruch, den ich seit meiner Teenagerzeit verdrängt hatte. Er kam und läutete mich wie eine Glocke. Ich quälte mich mit vielen Dingen der Vergangenheit und der Gegenwart, während die Schönheit der Natur, die Nordlichter und die furchterregenden Stürme um mich herum ein beeindruckendes Schauspiel boten. Die wenigen Stunden Licht brachten die unergründliche Schönheit der Berge und Fjorde zum Vorschein, und die stundenlange Dämmerung erfüllte mich mit gedämpfter Erregung. Ich würde gerne glauben, dass die Landschaft irgendwie in der Musik präsent ist. Das Ergebnis ist eine Sammlung von Liedern, die diese Verletzlichkeit, den Sinn für Selbstbestimmung und den Glauben daran, dass man nach einem Zusammenbruch wieder lernen kann, allein zurechtzukommen, auf wunderbare Weise widerspiegeln."