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the producer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ and record collector Gabriel Cyr AKA Teleseen releases 5th album 'The Emotional Life of Savages' via French imprint Goldmin Music.
African rhythms, Latin heat and otherworldly electronics collide like neurons, processed through a New York state of mind. The pancontinental sounds are mirrored in his own life, which has oscillated back and forth between various countries.
A jazz background combined with a love for house and techno are ingrained in the grooves. Also key is the samba, baile funk and MPB that inspired him while living in Rio de Janeiro, plus the sounds he reabsorbed on returning to NYC's club scene.
This wide range of influences spanning the global underground coalesces into a rich, vital and coherent whole. Warm and soulful, but also evoking an intoxicating, heady atmosphere, the hypnotic and ultra-rhythmic tracks subtly shift and build to fever pitch, due primarily to deft polyrhythmic drums and percussion - both played and sequenced.
"Working on this record I finally found myself able to manifest a certain sound I'd been hearing in my head for years, combining the rhythmic intensity of afro-house and afro-Brazilian music with the more cosmic sounds of Detroit and deep house", explains Cyr on his musical vision.
The gentle sundowner glow of 'Myrtle Avenue' with its textured synth waves and wandering Parrish-esque keys acts as a precursor to the potent nocturnal adventure to follow: 'Espelhos' captures a similar essence to Black Science Orchestra's classic 'Save Us (The Jam)', before the heat goes up and heads go down for the eastern-tinged, autotune-laden fire of 'Khalil'.
The album then intensifies further still on the percussion-heavy, big bottomed cosmic throb of 'Jaguar', whilst Brazilian flavour meets tech house rush on 'Fundos', before the party reaches its feverish close on the wiggling batucada- meets-tribal-house of 'Temporada De Seca'.
Born in the north eastern United States, as an adult Cyr has always been nomadic. He has sought to live and immerse himself in other cultures and absorb their sounds, but eventually always succumbs to the Big Apple's magnetic pull. Back home, a key inspirational catalyst for the album was the Brooklyn-based party Africainoir, where he's a resident DJ.
Alongside cutting his teeth producing illbient/hip hop and working as an engineer, he ran his own studio for period, before starting his own label Percepts, on which to release his dub techno style debut. He has since released on 100% Silk, Boomarm Nation and Feel Up Records, and now 'The Emotional Life Of Savages' marks Teleseen's first album for Goldmin.
As a Dutch label, we're proud supporters of the homegrown sounds of guys like Nachtbraker, Frits Wentink and Fouk. Adding another Dutchie to our list of exquisite producers, we present you 'Pitto' with his debut on Heist Recordings. Pitto is a musically omnipotent creature, venturing into deep house with the underground hit 'Richklap' on Wolfskuil back in 2012 and dreamy electronic pop with his album 'Breaking up the Static' on Sonar Kollektiv and Virgin. He has also moved beyond producing his own music, running 'Studio Stekker'; a Dutch music festival that focused on freeform creative interactions between musicians where the artists performing on the festival locked themselves up a week in advance in Kytopia (Colin Benders' synth paradise) to make new music together. Through this, he's worked with people like Kyteman, Matthew Johnson, Sebastian Mullaert and Colin de la Plante, better known as 'The Mole', who is also present on Pitto's Heist debut with a remix.
The 'Late night studio moves' ep is one of varied styles, where Pitto's inspiration from African music, jazzy and soulful samples becomes evident. He finds his 'funk' in repetition, clever sample combinations and combining electronic and live elements in the most organic way.
'Late night studio moves' finds its basic groove in an African percussive loop. Over the 9:26 minutes, the track slowly adds elements, chopped African chants and piercing synth hits. It's all really dreamy and energetic at the same time, but it is when the bass and main keys kick in, that you really feel the euphoric vibe of the track. The Mole chose to remix this track and he turned it completely upside down, both in vibe and tempo. His version is an atmospheric and mesmerizing downtempo track, where the percussion works in an intoxicating way and bells, birds and chants move in and out of the spotlight.
Pitto's second original track on the ep is the mesmerizing 'Treat me like a fool'. 16th hi-hats, claps on the hats, and a chopped piano loop set the mood here, but it's the vocal that steals the show. A mantra like 'You love me' builds up and breaks down into 'you love me like an angel, but you treat me like a fool'. Each time, the track builds and builds, never quite giving in to a massive drop, but instead, focuses on the stripped back soul that is the heart of the track.
'Jazz kids' evolves around a jazzy bass loop and a set of quirky African percussive elements that you could imagine Henrik Schwarz making if he were in a more leftfield mood. A syncopated synth melody filters in and out throughout the track and a basic kick and hi-hat combo keeps the energy going strong on this on.
We're proud to bring you this deep, dreamy and provocative EP by Pitto and hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do.
Mehmet Aslan returns to his own Fleeting Wax imprint, in order to deliver the first in a series of releases as part of a new project, ghost station, including a collaboration with fellow Turkish singer, songwriter and vocal producer, Idil Mese.
Efsun, translating to enchantment in Farsi, is the sound of Idil Mese transforming an understated, somewhat folksy instrumental of Aslan's into a bewitching and subtle musical spell. Initially tense,
Idil Mese's vocal spell wraps beautifully around a brittle guitar motif, inches above a sea of atmospheric ambience. In it's second half, synthesis and sitar unite, taking efsun into more revelatory territory, employing a playful melody and warm, cosmic textures.
Meanwhile, on 'ghost station', from which the project takes its name, layers of meaning and recording slowly unravel, revealing a compelling soundscape. Recorded in one take, and completed across one night, 'ghost station' began with Aslan and his sampler surfing the busy radio waves of Berlin, eventually settling on a beautiful score broadcast on one of the city's classical stations. Just as soon as Aslan had the frequency on lockdown, the signal disappeared unable to be retrieved quickly enough, if ever. Loosely inspired by the work of Swiss visual artist and musician Pipilotti Rist, the track instead unfolds woozily like a dream, undulating through offbeat bleeps, ghostly voices and improvised swells of noise, while still maintaining it's own quietly propulsive groove.
Sounding more like himself than ever on his own Fleeting Wax outlet and incorporating an impressive range of musical techniques over just two tracks, 'ghost station' further establishes Mehmet Aslan as a restlessly inventive musical talent. -Text by John Thorp
'Turquoise', that is Turkuvaz, is a French-origin word inspired by the color of the Mediterranean, located within the borders of Turkey. Meaning; blue is the color that plays the green. At the same time it is relative. Because both colors are in it, if you love blue you will see blue, if you love green you will see it green. It means heaven and earth. The eternity is turquoise... The eternity is infinite. At the same time; the boundary between the earth and the sky. Some will find love in it , some will find serenity, some will remember the loneliness and find sadness, embracing some with zeal and reminiscent of the return to the nest, the power of holding hands tightly with two hands.And according to my opinion, the concept of life, the mortal world, is how we see these lands curtained until the last breath of life that we have been living on for centuries.There are billions of beings in our sky and on Earth that do not attract our attention, We can not see, can not hear, can only feel, there are enough lights to count and never disappear in the stage. This EP that you hold in your hand is a reflection of it.
Music was the easiest way to reach you. In doing so, the motto was 'never disappearing at the stage'. I know, because if nobody hears me, God, the real dominion of light the true owner of all the darkness will hear me.
Each sound I created, I filled it with a light and I added a little more sand to the clock. Sounds I created is to show you your own technique of finding your way to light, to make you understand that you are not alone, and that there is someplace really there for you. Without much effort, resting and reviving.
I believe that every one of us who lives on earth has a specific, holy purpose. The important thing is to find and catch it. Our inner journey is to be able to complete our enlightenment as spiritually as possible. And I still believe that we always need music to do that. Because the sounds; they will never disappear.
Turquoise, which is the work of this enlightenment period, which I have lived and found to be my self, will be a source of light for you and help you find God who lives in you.
Left of centre experiments from the Dutch underground of yesteryear. Muziekkamer was the name of the home recording studio that gave birth to the twelve tracks on 'Popmuziek', an intriguing document of sketch arrangements and primitive, fairytale sampling wave cuts. This is music which excels due to its inherent naivety; the limitless ambition of 'Black Box' almost sounding like a precursor to the 90s ambient techno of Likemind or Stasis. On 'Being Home Tonight' we can hear an early form of what the likes of Tolouse Low Trax have been bringing to the forefront of contemporary club culture whilst the erratic art-rock of 'Walkman' mirrors what Leven Signs & co were doing over the pond. In trying to create something which represented 'intrusiveness' as a contrast to an earlier ambient tape the trio incidentally blurred the lines between various musical fashions to come. An amazing snapshot of time and place!
Sharif Laffrey can charm the snake out of any basket. This is his first offering for the ESP Institute. Side A's Tangier is a long drawn-out exercise, an endurance test of the highest order. Over the span of some thirteen minutes, elements bob and weave intermittently and layers overlap haphazardly—the type of exciting dynamic that's born out of restriction—as if putting down a live jam without enough hands to work the console, yet Sharif perseveres. As touch and go as this arrangement may be, there is something that undoubtedly glues it all in place; the combination of his massive rolling 16th-note bassline and his tough-as-nails drumkit is so good that, upon first listen, we spat out our tea and insisted on its release. On side B, Everything Is Nice carries on with loose arrangement, dirty production and layers of inexplicable spoken- word samples (a Sharif calling card by now) but this time we're lead to a melancholy place, the blue comedown to Side A's antagonistic trial. With his ESP Institute debut, Sharif leaves you mentally unhinged, as if you've smoked something interesting and arrived bewildered in some Saharan labyrinth. These two songs will guide you through the medina to score the black meat.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Applescal is the next in line for a release on DGTL Records, seeing as he has been part of the crew since day one, with multiple appearances at their shows to his name. The Atomnation label-head crafts out three tracks all coming from one single studio jam, aptly naming them Harmony One, Harmony Two and Harmony Three. The record is a special one for Applescal himself as well, as it's his first full EP in two years.
The EP starts off with Harmony One, a dubby and bass heavy track with a subtle vocal sample. It steadily builds up towards a more energetic part with synth stabs and heavy snares, while the pads in the background still make it keep its atmospheric feel. As all three tracks come from the same studio jam, it's obvious that this was the start of the jam, serving as the basis for the other two tracks. The second one, Harmony Two, was previously part of an Atomnation sampler and received a lot of great feedback, as well as airplay from a few big names in the industry. It builts around an arpeggio that playfully progresses and intensifies towards the break, where a raw synth is layered on top for the climax. With a more subtle bassline, but multiple rhythmic elements that add a proper swing, it makes an essential peak-time tune.
The flipside brings Harmony Three, which distinctly sounds as the final part of the studio jam. Hard hitting synth stabs and a rolling bassline set the track apart as the heavier hitter of the three, while still clearly building on the overall theme. It features an arpeggio that progresses along the break and into the main part, with sharp drum samples and tense synths. It wraps up this release perfectly.
In the studio Prototype 909 was a group that rarely agreed on a clear idea of exactly what they were trying to accomplish. The entire project was an experiment, and every time they hit record there was nothing better for them to do than to just try stuff.
Whenever it came time to put together an album they would go through what they had recently done and nd the tracks that seemed to fit together well, or that at least sounded like they were made by the same group. That left on the cutting room foor some really amazing worst that somehow just didn't 'fit" their goals at the time. At Schmer, we remember. P-909 leftovers have Schmer written all over them...
These four tracks were all recorded live in the studio in between their three studio albums 93-97. Brenecki ( half of Ontal ) provided his remix inspired by one of them.
"Hyperdrive" and "Datafash" were recorded shortly after Acid Technology was released in 93. They come from the "lets make Acid Technology Vol 2 approach'. That would have made a really cool record had they done it but they decided on making Transistor Rhythm instead. "ANOISE-NYC" aka "The Tracs that Dietrich Hates" is what you get when you let Jason go nuts on a Doepfer MAQ-16
( they never made that mistake again ). "Bobo" is possibly the most prototypical P-909 tracks ever: it took three guys making their own tracks simultaneously almost ignoring what the others
were doing but somehow mixing them into a flow to make this one, but it all comes together nicely in the end. Its amazing that they never released it before.
You've enjoyed the wait, now enjoy your "new" Prototype 909 while it still is new!
Who Do You Go To For Your Very First Session When You Have Just Been Gifted Your Very Own Top-flight 'stradivarius Of Synth Based Studios' Enter 'the Grid' ...mr David Ball: One Man Band Of Pioneering Electro-pop Distorters Soft Cell, Part Time Psychic Tv Personality, Film Soundtrack Composer And All Round Synth Afficionado & Richard Norris: Eclectic Beat-meister & Ambient Dj, Record Producer, Commited Psychedelicist From 'beyond The Wizard's Sleeve'. The 1990's Saw Worldwide Commercial Success As The Grid Scored 10 Uk Chart Hits, Many A Euro Hit Including 1994's International Mega-hit 'swamp Thing' Featuring A Twisted Use Of Sampled Banjos Lifted From The 1970's Okie Shocker Movie 'providence. In 1996 The Grid Went On A Holiday And They Didn't Return Till 2005. In The Initial Week Of The Moog Sound-lab In Early 2015 As The Studio Was Literally Put Together Around Them, Our Abiding Memory Was Their Absolutely Delighted Grins As Each Moog Unit Was Added To The Lab. Dave & Richard Created This Benchmark Album Of Deluxe 'tronic Trax That Showcased Their Prarie Wide Knowledge Of Electronica & Their Ocean Deep Skills As Both Technicians & Original Soundscapers - Kraftwerk-ian Werk-outs, Space Noise Jams, And Slinky Grooves With Subtle Pop-tones.
Tachyon Audio is a vinyl label that's focused on sounds in the techno realm targeting sweaty, dark dance floors, with large, high-quality sound systems.
Inhabitants come back strong in Mutations Volume II, Tachyon Audio's second offering. These two primates are often found inhabiting dark spaces, forging ahead on complex math equations. Their distinct, driving, mathematical, and drumming techno is a result. Expect more solid work and performances from these two mysterious beings on Tachyon Audio as the label continues its progression.
Tachyon Audio's second release follows a similar format to the first, in that, TAC002 is a diverse EP that touches on techno sounds that are helping to lead the march forward into the future of sound production and style. The second Tachyon Audio release also comes from the mysterious dark studio of Inhabitants, who build off their first, and display their precise, technical forms of production.
The A-side track, Mut11 (A1) is a sci-fi exploration that pleases the ear with thick sub and low basses, along with a pitch-twisted melodic element, and the Inhabitants distinct sound effects and automation. The track has a strong impact immediately, as you can feel the intensity of elements being added, manipulated, and combined, and a sturdy, grimy feel pervades the piece with an interesting driving rhythmic percussion.
Side A ends with two separate open-source NASA samples. The first, Sounds of Enceladus - Radar Echoes from Titan's Surface (A2), is a locked groove and according to NASA, 'was produced by converting into audible sounds some of the radar echoes received by Huygens during the last few kilometers of its descent onto Saturn's moon, Titan. As the probe approaches the ground, both the pitch and intensity increase. Scientists will use intensity of the echoes to speculate about the nature of the surface.'
The second sample, Cassini - Saturn Radio Emissions #2 (A3), is another locked groove. The sound as described by NASA, 'Saturn is a source of intense radio emissions, which were monitored by our Cassini spacecraft. The radio waves are closely related to the auroras near the poles of the planet. These auroras are similar to Earth's northern and southern lights. This is an audio file of radio emissions from Saturn.' These samples are poised for reuse in production and make for good intro and looping material during performances.
The second side of the EP starts with Mut1 (B1), a track that is well-rounded percussively, with a strong kick drum driving the track forward. A simple looping and effected tom drum also helps keep a good movement to the track. An ominously melodic pad that evolves subtly throughout the track helps to keep the Inhabitants err present throughout the track.
Mut8 (B2), is another acidic venture with solid percussion. The looping and other melodic elements provide a solid stricture, with the more adventurous sounds being placed and effected incrementally with distinct Inhabitants flare throughout the track.
- A1: Mattheis - Pt4
- A2: Aera - Glass Channel
- B1: Isole¦Üe - No Let
- B2: Dokumn - Come For You
- C1: Ed Davenport - Mendocino
- C2: The Drifter - Three Words Max
- D1: Human Space Machine - Mitochondria
- D2: Oliver Deutschmann - The Infidel
- E1: Mano Le Tough - An Hour In The Morning
- F1: Nathan Jonson - There's A Pink In There
- F2: Kev Sheridan - Samhain
Maeve kicks off their first label compilation 'Heavy Rotations Vol 1', covering all facets of the labels sound with tracks from Mano Le Tough, Isolée, Oliver Deutschmann, Ed Davenport, Aera and more. Comes as 3 LP in a specially designed cover consisting of 3 differently printed innersleves in a cut out outersleeve.
Paul Dickow Aka Strategy Is A Musical Polymath With A Signature Sound Derived From His Immersion In Hardware-based Electronic Music. He Has Spent Close To Two Decades Traveling Freely Through House, Techno, Rave, Noise, Ambient, And Sounds More Difficult To Categorize. Strategy's Sound Is Inimitable Because It Is Literally Built By Hand - His Hands. Through All Of This Sonic Journeying, Including Multiple Full Length Releases, A Constant Has Been His Love Of Reggae And Dub, Yet Somehow A Proper Dub Album Has Never Emerged - Until Now.
After Two Much-loved 7' Singles On Zamzam - To Say Nothing Of Dubwise Excursions On Idle Hands, Shockout, Peak Oil, 100% Silk And More - dub Mind Paradigm' Is The Fulfillment Of A Clear, Simple Goal. "i Set Out To Make A Full Set Of Dub Tracks Good Enough To Make An Album -- Something That Had Always Eluded Me-- And It Worked, Finally. A Simple Exercise In Seeing If We Could Launch The Capsule To Orbit Planet Reggae And Make It Home Again.'
Reaching Planet Reggae, The Album Explores Analog Caverns Of Dubwise At All Tempos, From The 80s To 140, Full Of The Ghosts Of Ancient And Future Technologies, Glimmering Shards Of Hope Among Heaps Of Folly, Ruin And Rubble. Music Fans With Crates Deeper Than The Contemporary Will Find Shades Of Wackies, Firehouse, Unity Sound, Burial Mix And More, But Only Winks And Nods... No One Sounds Like Strategy, And Strategy Sounds Like No One.
Mastered By Sam Precise.
Art & Design By Polygon Press.
Distributed By Unearthed Sounds Ltd.
Limited To 700 Vinyl Lps - No Repress, No Digital.
Bulkhead present their debut album - Aft Pressure - due June 1st on 2MR Records. In 2015, during the coldest Toronto winter on record, two old friends - Pop District and Patrik Benjamin - locked themselves away in the studio to experiment with a medley of hardware. Both solo artists in their own right, they had overseen their own projects prior, but had never considered how a collaboration might sound. Exploring the polarity of extreme cold and immersive warmth with a distinctly analogue feel, the duo carved themselves an aesthetic. And so Bulkhead was born. Using a raw, organic palette they repudiate formal structure and polish, opting instead for a freeform blend of unhindered mechanical techno and fuzzy ambience - slambient, if you will. Debuting in 2016, their 'Worker's Kampf' cassette album on LA imprint Far Away Tapes sold out quickly, warranting another release on 2MR featuring highlights of the cassette on 12' and digital. Continuing with the purveyance of abstract arrangements and machine wizardry, their forthcoming album - Aft Pressure - is a striking exploration of the intersection between frenzied techno and harmonic warmth.Fragments of techno and EBM mutate without strict guidance, rebuilding themselves into new forms with stunning physical qualities. Whilst many of the tracks might file under dance music, the DIY spirit of the album transcends a nightclub, occupying a peculiar space between the uncensored grit of the post-punk scene and some melancholic form of ambient minimalism. Angular percussion slices its way through dizzying synth leads whilst serene harmonies wander on their own accord. Darting melodies are made all the more powerful by their harsh timbre as drum-less excursions provide a cinematic backdrop. Aft Pressure is a statement of intent, blurring the parameters of dance music culture with equal doses of insanity and serenity. At the same time, it's also a hell of a lot of fun...
Cassette[10,29 €]
Helsinki's We Jazz Records presents "Y-OTIS", the debut LP from Berlin-based Swedish saxophonist/composer Otis Sandsjö, joining forces with keyboardist Elias Stemeseder, bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Tilo Weber. The album is a forward-reaching, multilayered collection of eight originals penned by Sandsjö and produced by Sandsjö and Eldh. What you get is a form of "liquid jazz", born in an era where the understanding of jazz as a musical language has evolved way beyond the concept of the previous "modern". Informed by hiphop and electronic music, "Y-OTIS" is pure jazz in that the quartet stays true to its constant mission of creating a new form of musical communication. Sandjö's circular sax riffs, the album's rich production touch, and the chopped-up jazz form creates a musical concept which stays melodic and beat-laden while being "free" right to the edge of avantgarde. It's as if the music is sampling itself, constantly keeping ahead of the curve in the musical lineage of jazz.
Otis Sandsjö (b. 1987) hails from Gothenburg, Sweden. He is known previously for example for his inspired work on singer Lucia Cadotsch's globe-trotting trio formation "Speak Low", also featuring "Y-OTIS" co-producer and bassist Petter Eldh. Elias Stemeseder was dubbed one of the top 15 young European musicians to watch by All About Jazz in 2017. Tilo Weber ranks among the most creative young drummers in the scene. Stemeseder is currently based in New York, while the remaining three musicians here live in Berlin. Live on stage, the band performing the material on the new release is called Y-OTIS.
Sun yellow vinyl, comes with download.
Airplay: Worldwide FM
The ep comes in 300 copies packed in hand burnt sleeves on the front and a silkscreen print on the back
Eocity is the result of a study on technological failure and the imagination of a non-existent urban landscape.
This project features the use of a Yamaha ex5r, one of the rst synths to ever implement VL synthesis.
The "Yamaha Virtual Acoustic" Synthesis tone generation was born to try to accurately emulate the complex vibrations and other acoustic phenomena of real instruments and their sounds within space, but the dubious results of this technology gave birth to something more.
Its nal output sound happens to be cold and synthetic while being also organic and warm at the same time, welcoming the listeners into a feeling of an arti cial world that is neither digital nor analog.
In this world man is not around anymore and the binary language survived him, communicating with the rest of the natural environment, in respect of its laws and dynamics, becoming one indistinct entity.
Eocity is a place that exists in between the imaginary and the real one, gently oating as a digital tactile experience.
Officially reissued at last! Considered by many to be a genuine 'holy grail' of soul & funk. Featuring 'Miracles' as sampled by Public Enemy, Basement Jaxx, Arrested Development and many more.
Originally from Compton, Los Angeles, the Jackson Sisters were one-hit wonders who briefly shone and made some noise in the early 1970s before quickly fading into obscurity. Their only US chart entry was 'I Believe In Miracles,' a funky slice of bubblegum soul with a catchy, sing-along chorus released on the Prophesy label that briefly saw them make the lower reaches of the R&B charts in September 1973.
FLIES 45-04
BRAEN & RASKOVICHAfro Beat / Afro Flower
7'' Limited Edition 400 copies
Four Flies Records continues its 7" line-up with anotherde rigueur repechagethat will have your dancefloor jump frantically up and down. Two freaky afro- flavoured tracks, written by Giuliano Sorgini and his partner in musical delices Alessandro Alessandroni. Recorded during a non-specified session which may be traced back to the recording of Sorgini'sUnder Pompelmoand Pawnshop's first 7". The sound and the ideas behind the music are exactly the same, even though there's more rhythmic and percussive emphasis on both tracks. Two little precious gems, unreleased to this day, brought back to light and finally available for DJs and fans all over the world.Afrodelic breaks for your pleasure!
Extremely hot on the heels of 'A Library Excursion', Earl Jeffers teams up again with Don Leisure, his partner-in-beats for another EP of Darkhouse Family goodness. Following on from their highly acclaimed debut album 'The Offering' from late last year on First Word, the Cardiff duo have hand selected a group of friends, dons and legends (including DJ Spinna & Kaidi Tatham) to serve us up 'An Extra Offering'. Five remixes curated by the crew.
For the refix of 'The Accession' (which originally featured Kamaal Williams, Dave Newington and Daf Davies from Boy Azooga), label-mate Kaidi Tatham kicks off with some down-low bottom-heavy boom bap, before switching up the tempo mid-way for a blast of his inimitable jazz-funk bruk boogie.
Next up we're honoured to have not one, but TWO tracks from the Brooklyn legend, DJ Spinna. His Galactic Soul rub of 'Another World' flips the original into a deep soulful 4/4 house cut, featuring the lush vocals of Esther (and one Charlotte Church on backing vocals, pop fact fans).
Then there's DJ Spinna's Galactic Funk take on 'Just So You Know' with the marvellous Vanity Jay on vocals. This one is on the same mid-tempo tip as the original, but with that unmistakable Polyrhythm Addict flavour of big kicks, crisp snares, hench bassline and sweet spacey synths.
For the 'GAEA' remix we keep it Cardiff and introduce the man like Alfie Swan. Doubling up the tempo of the original, this adds some seriously wavy sonics and flips the groove entirely, creating a seriously innovative cocktail of riddims. One for those not shy of some jazz ethics in the dance.
And to close out this offering, Andromeda Jones lays down a ridiculously delectable broken beat mix of 'Journey To Love', this one again featuring Vanity Jay. No messing with this one, this is straight dancefloor fire, transforming the hip hop soul track into a future boogie heater. One for the ravers.
This EP illustrates once again Darkhouse Family's wide range of influences and sounds, as selectors and as music makers themselves, and is no doubt one that will stay in your box for a very long time...n
- A1: Henry Mancini - The Evil Theme
- A2: Roger Webb - Moonbird
- A3: Eden Ahbez - Eden's Island
- A4: Lee Hazelwood - The Nights
- A5: Nora Dean - Ay Ay Ay Ay (Angle-Lala)
- B1: Yello - Great Mission
- B2: Quarteto Em Cy With Tamba Trio - Aleluia
- B3: Lena Platonos - Bloody Shadows From A Distance
- B4: Ray Davies - I Go To Sleep
- B5: Alfred Schnittke - Piano Quintet, V
- C1: Agnes Obel - Stretch Your Eyes (Ambient Acapella)
- C2: The Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Choir - Pilentze Pee (Pilentze Sings)
- C3: Agnes Obel - Glemmer Du
- C4: Agnes Obel - Bee Dance
- C5: Sibylle Baier - The End
- D1: Michelle Gurevich - Party Girl
- D2: Can - Oscura Primavera
- D3: David Lang - I Lie
- D4: Nina Simone - Images (Live In New York 1964)
- D5: Agnes Obel - Poem About Death
to Me, Sounds Have Always Been More Interesting Than Words,' Says Agnes Obel. i Love It When The Voice Becomes An Instrument And You Almost Forget It's A Human Voice.' Never Is This More Apt Than On This Beautifully Programmed And Bewitching Selection Of Music.
Agnes' 2010 Debut Album Philharmonics Went Platinum In France And Belgium And, Unsurprisingly, Quintuple Platinum In Her Native Denmark, Where She Also Won Five Danish Music Awards (equivalent To The Brits) In 2011. The Follow-up Aventine, Released In Late 2013, Was Imbued With The Same Measured Calmness As Her Debut. It Went Platinum In Belgium And Gold In Denmark And France.
For The Mix You Have In Your Hands It Feels Almost As If Agnes Has Scoured The World Looking For Kindred Spirits - Or Kindred Songs. There's A Quietude About It All, The Antithesis Of A Rush Hour, Like A Frozen Lake On A Sunday Morning. This Is Aided By A Veritable Cornucopia Of New Obel Material, Including A Haunting Reading Of Danish Song 'glemmer Du', Inger Christensen's 'poem About Death' Set To Original Music, And An Agnes Original, 'bee Dance'.
Among Them, There's The Enigmatic Jamaican Singer Nora Dean Who Weighs In With The Hypnotic And Slinky Duke Reid Production, 'ay Ay Ay Ay (angie-lala)' And The Sparse, Sardonic 'party Girl' By Michelle Gurevich, So Good It Inspired The Eponymous French Movie. There Are The Plangent Voices, The Bulgarian Folklore Choir, Nina Simone, Ray Davies And Agnes Herself, Ringing True. Somehow, Ms Obel Makes Even Makes The Electronic Tracks Bow To Her Needs As With Yello Whose 'great Mission' Is More Martin Denny Than Underworld And Cult Greek Composer Lena Platonos' 'bloody Shadows From A Distance' Pulses Gently Rather Than Throbs And Can's Recently Rediscovered 'obscura Primavera', Unusually Hushed.
"i Was Surprised At How Much Time I Ended Up Spending On This. I Collected All The Songs Together With My Partner Alex And We Just Spent Time Listening To Records, Trying To See What Would Fit Together. Some Of The Music I've Included Here Is On Mixtapes We Made When We Were Just Friends As Teenagers. Each One Of The Tracks Produces Stories In My Head." - Agnes Obel, February 2018
- A1: The Hell Raisers - Syd Dale
- A2: The Eyelash - Johnny Hawksworth
- A3: Walk In A Nightmare - Syd Dale
- A4: Beat Street - Johnny Hawksworth
- A5: Walk And Talk - Syd Dale
- A6: Big Bass Guitar - Bill Martin / Phil Coulter
- A7: Mr. Chestertons Dog - Bill Martin / Phil Coulter
- A8: Mods & Rockers - Bill Martin / Phil Coulter
- A9: L.s.d. - Bill Martin / Phil Coulter
- B1: Stand By - David Lindup
- B2: Take A Goosie Gander - Syd Dale
- B3: Juggernaut - David Lindup
- B4: Grand Prix - Johnny Pearson
- B5: Veiled Threat - David Lindup
- B6: Sixth Sense - David Lindup
- B7: Funky Flight - Keith Mansfield
- B8: Raver - Alan Hawkshaw
- B9: The Washington Affair - Syd Dale
Way back in 1967, an animated superhero cartoon was released into the world. It was created by Grantray-Lawrence Animation and was based on a web-spinning, crime fighting blue and red dressed character that had originated in1962, in Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. This amazing series (that we're not allowed to mention the name of for legal reasons) ran on ABC TV in the USA, then Canada, then a few years later started to spread its web further, running here in the UK throughout summer holidays, after school and possibly early mornings at weekends in the late 1970s. The series then got released on VHS video (and probably Betamax too) in the mid 1980s and still continues to spin its animated magic around the world through further broadcasts, YouTube and DVDs.
The series was notoriously low budget, with animated errors everywhere and numerous scenes, sequences and backgrounds being re-used all the time, often across the same episode. Even a certain spider logo on a costume would appear with six legs, then eight legs later on, then back to six again in the same show.
Series One opened with a newly written spider theme, a classic, hooky song all about doing whatever spiders can, and had, as Big George (RIP) once pointed out to me, a set of session singers falling slightly out of time with the backing track after the first verse. Series One also featured background music by jobbing composers Bob Harris and Ray Ellis but these cues and master tapes are now believed to be lost.
After Series One the company Grantray-Lawrence went bankrupt, so the amazing spider series (that we're not allowed to mention for legal reasons) was taken on by producer Steve Krantz. He brought in new talent, including animation director Ralph Bakshi who later went on to turn a Robert Crumb strip cartoon into the feature Fritz The Cat. Krantz also slashed the already cripplingly small spider budget, and brought in the idea of using economic library music. Here, thanks possibly to an independent sync agent (it has been suggested that a company called Music Sound Track Services may have been the one) production turned to the KPM catalogue. This was one of the few really established library catalogues around at the time with a modern edge, it was full of fabulous, modern dramatic music tracks - often all on the same LP. But more importantly all the tracks were far longer than the one minute musical cuts that many of the fledgling USA library companies were issuing at the time. Not only would this KPM music be efficient, affordable and very easy to use, it would also mean syndication worldwide would not be held up by any future musical issues. Krantz produced two amazing spider series (that we're not allowed to mention for legal reasons), and both were smothered with KPM music. In fact barely a spider second goes by without music playing in either the background or foreground.
For many years I - and many nostalgic others - have been thinking about putting this vinyl album together. For many enthusiasts this really is formative music - a junior foray into hip swinging crime jazz and esoteric musical grooviness. I've also read on line accounts by DJs from WFMU on the trail of original spider master tapes, and there's even a whole forum dedicated to Spidey-Jazz'. Then recently I was looking at an old spider tracklist and realized that several of my favourite KPM cues were there including Syd Dale's Hell Raisers' and Walk And Talk', both from one of the most elusive and desirable KPM albums of all time (yes, you just try and find yourself a copy of KPM 1002 right now), so I decided to push on and get the album made.
So, what features on this Spider-Jazz Lp Well it's music from the amazing TV series we are not allowed to mention for legal reasons, BUT, not music from Series One. No, but it is all from Series Two and Series Three. From looking at archival cue sheets, over 50 tracks from various early KPM 1000 series albums were used across episodes. I've distilled this down into one exciting and enthralling LP, and if this works a further Spider Jazz album may well swing in to production. If you're interested (and I'm sure you may well be) cues here came from KPM1001, KPM1002, KPM1015, KPM1017, KPM1018 and KPM1043 and were composed by master library composers of the era - Dale, Hawkshaw, Hawksworth, Mansfield etc.
And if you are listening over there in the USA, you may well recognize many of the cues here not just from the amazing TV series (that we're not allowed to mention for legal reasons) but also from classic 1960s and 1970s NFL highlight shows that we are allowed to mention.
Orestt / Markus Gibb / Disrute / Balaban
This is another incident of despair, hope and rhythmic adventures. Nothing beautiful without struggle.
Only one month after the release of their first ep on MT on May 2018, Vactrol Park continue surprising, this time with a full LP in the shape of 'Music from the Luminous Void'.The album sees VP delve much deeper into more atmospheric realms. Using modular synths and unexpected drum machine sequencing they leave the 4X4 beats behind in favor of off-world rhythms and ever growing bass. Starting with Drops's high frequency tension, laying on top of those heavy kick drums it keeps on growing and growing. From there it moves to the 'End of the party' groove that is Novikov's Notation, and its trippy monotonic rhythm. The A-side ends with the heavy sampled ambient track Macbeth, bringing forward that mesmerizing flute solo by Italian artist Luca Spagnoletti yet succeeding in avoiding the kitsch, and with a touch of class. The B-side delves even deeper into ambience and atmospheric muzak. Starting with Bells, that features again Spagnoletti on flute. Then we get into the real gems of the album - Anstruther and Glove. The first is a pure trip into modular psychedelia and repetitive jazzy-like drum rhythms, creating tension right from the start and plays with it throughout the track before decaying slowly into Glove, which is in sense both the catharsis and the decompression session of the album. Like a 2018 version of Vangelis, this track's soundscape will keep you dreaming with your eyes closed long after the album ends.
180g vinyl
LB aka LABAT is a regular cat in the french circuit with releases on Disques Solaires, DKO or recently WOLF Music. This ep highlights once again his unique style with an all inside MPC production blending samples with sharp signature beats. The opener is stone cold disco house jam in the deep Parrish tradition. Nothing New is a spacey hip hop joint taking you a ride to destination Spice Go- a detroish hip house beat. On flipside, CELESTIAL PLAN is a special party break with deep jazz samples mixed with a mpc signature that gives this track a very uncommon signature and groove. Better be ready for this one before landing to STICKY GREEN countryside.
Colin Potter Is A Sound Engineer And Musician Currently Based In London. He Has Worked Within The Fields Of Electronic And Experimental Music For Over 35 Years, Collaborating With The Likes Of Current 93, The Hafler Trio, Organum, Andrew Chalk, And Most Notably As A Key Part Of Nurse With Wound Alongside Steven Stapleton. He Started The Esteemed Icr (integrated Circuit Recordings) Label In 1981 Releasing A Clutch Of Wonderful Home Recordings Of His Own, Over Half A Dozen Small Run Cassette Only Releases.'the Where House' Was Recorded In 1981 At Ic Studio, A Converted Wash House In Sutton On The Forest In North Yorkshire. The Album Was Self-released On Cassette That Same Year Via Icr. This Expanded Double Lp Edition Features All 13 Tracks From The Original Tape On Vinyl For The First Time Plus 4 Bonus Tracks. 'the Where House' Is A Prime Example Of Early Uk Post-punk/industrial Electronic Music. combining Dub, Electro, And Krautrock Rhythms With Psychedelic, Kosmische Noise In Multiple Mutations Ranging From Almost Pop-wise Songcraft To Horizon-scanning Motorik Flights,' Says Boomkat. Most Of The Damage Was Done By Colin Using Guitars, Synths, Sequencers, Drum Machines, Percussion, And Modified Toy Keyboards With Fairly Primitive 4-track Recording Equipment. He Was Assisted On Some Of The Tracks By Stephan Jadd-parry (guitar, Percussions), Jon Caffery (guitar, Bass, E-bow, Percussion) And Nick Jackson (synth). All Songs Have Been Remastered For Vinyl By George Horn At Fantasy Studios In Berkeley. The Record Is Sleeved In A Replica Of The Original Cassette Artwork By Jonathan Coleclough. Every Copy Includes A Double Sided Postcard Insert With Notes From Colin.
Baiano & Os Novos Caetanos was a band formed by prolific and multi-talented Brazilian comedians Chico Anysio and Arnaud Rodrigues. Satirising Brazil's Tropicalia movement in the 1970s, the duo took a friendly crack at the likes of Caetano Veloso and psychedelic rockers Novos Baianos, with their righteous tropicalista alter-egos 'Baiano' and 'Paulinho Boca de Profeta' poetically denouncing the dictatorship while simultaneously mocking those who took themselves too seriously. Jazz funk legends Azymuth play backing band with keyboard maestro Jose Roberto Bertrami also responsible for the arrangements on the album. Azymuth's free and funky psych sounds combine with accordion, harmonica, brass and plenty of rural Brazilian rhythms, for a hugely varied album drawing on MPB, funk and soulful samba rock. The album also features Orlandivo who co-wrote many of the songs, and renowned multi-instrumentalist and producer Durval Ferreira.
Closed Paradise brings his inimitably smooth ethos to Lovedancing. His sampladelic originals are a pastiche of sources, glued together for the booty and soul. At his request, none other than Whiskey Disco's own, Pontchartrain and The Silver Rider remix to round out and bring added funk and flex to the array.
Rebirth return for the second in their LTD series. Argy opens up the e.p. with an atmospheric arp laden stomper enriched by the magical vocals of Blue Jay. Acid Pauli then take on remixing Modular Project's 'Leaving', coupling glitchy vocal loops and pulsating synths together with a hypnotic groove to create a trippy minimal roller. Closing out the e.p. Tiger & Woods add their trademark touch to Lele Sacchi's 'Dreaming Won't Do', focusing the track around the exuberant piano melodies whilst manipulating the vocal sample into a percussive snare element to give a distinctive feel to the remix. Killer work as always from the Rebirth crew.
Soul Jazz Records' latest album 'Yoruba! Songs and Rhythms for the Yoruba Gods in Nigeria' is newly recorded in Lagos, Nigeria. The album is co-produced by Soul Jazz Records label head Stuart Baker and Laolu Akins (founding member of the legendary 1970s Nigerian Afro-Funk/Rock group Blo). Yoruba! features an array of local master drummers led by Olatunji Samson Sotimirin and singers (featuring the lead vocals of Janet Olufanmilayo Abe) performing heavyweight Afro-rhythms, with talking drums, Bata and Dundun drums and a mass of percussion in these deep spiritual and sacred songs used to honour and worship the traditional and ancient Yoruba gods in Nigeria, West Africa.
The enormous impact of Yoruba and West African music and culture is worldwide - from the first Afro-centric explorations of African-American jazz musicians in the 1950s such as Art Blakey, Randy Weston and Dizzy Gillespie, the explosion of Nu Yorican Latin music in New York City starting in the 1960s - Mambo, Boogaloo, Latin funk and soul - through to the sacred and powerful Afro-derived music of the religions of Santería in Cuba, Candomblé in Brazil and Voodoo in Haiti, which all came into existence on account of the Atlantic slave trade which began over 400 years ago. On a wider scale West African music remains the primary root of all African-American musical forms - from New Orleans jazz to Bronx rap, gospel, soul and more.
This album features songs honouring the Nigerian gods of the Yoruba traditional religion - Yemoja, Obatala, Ogun, Sango and others - as well as a selection of instrumental cuts focussing on the Bata and Dundun drums. The album comes complete with extensive text and photography included in the 40-page outsize booklet/gatefold double vinyl + inners showing the influence of Yoruba culture throughout the world and the social and historical context for the music contained here.
Watch out for a limited edition remix of the project by Osunlade, also forthcoming on Soul Jazz Records.
The remarkable thing about BELP's new album is its two-dimensional function. It works both on a loud and a quiet volume. Some tracks would go down well as a club track, like opener 'Travelling Thru Galaxies'. This track brings back memories of the best work released on the Hyperdub label, with it's fine combination of synths and irresistible, dubby beats. Elsewhere, 'Off Ending' might start off as 'dancehall-but-not-quite dancehall' track but when half way the synths kick in they change the feeling of the track to a more cerebral level.
BELP is the artist name of Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer. Born in Munich, he partially grew up on the Seychelles islands off the coast of East Africa. Educated in classical piano, those two gravitational poles, European and African influences, form the basis for his musical development. Currently he has close ties to the (dub) Sausage Studio in Hackney, London. In his hometown Munich, the Bavarian capital, BELP took a central role in a series of discussions and events aiming to improve the image and possibilities of Munich, which to his regret is a predominantly posh and hedonistic city where optimistic and uplifting music take central role.
In different guises Schnitzenbaumer works as a much needed antidote. Since 2013 he runs the Schamoni label, focusing on supporting local artists like Leroy and Protein. Its sublabel Jahmoni is responsible for recent works by international artists like Aaron Spectre and DJ Marcelle/Another Nice Mess.
BELP's music is dark, serious and layered. His love for dub and dancehall shines through in his broken beats. At the same time the synth layered tracks give the album an atmospheric feeling.
This also is what makes this album essential: it's refusal to be pigeonholed. The last track on side A, 'By Beauteous Softness', is an a cappella rendition of a 17th century Henry Purcell piece, beautifully sung by Alexander Schneider. This track is preceded by 'Transmission', which is a brilliant abstract work, sounding like wind closing on you from all sides. And you can sip a cocktail whilst listening to the jazzy 'Time And Again' (BELP once worked as a jazz pianist).
It's clear to hear BELP took a long time recording this album. Every note, synth, drum beat, is carefully placed. But what the album might lack on spontaneity it more than compensates this with its sheer musical beauty. This also reflects on the abstract sleeve, like 'Elephants' designed by BELP himself.
Enjoy this album on big speakers, as background music or simply on headphones. There will always be new sounds and layers to be discovered!
t's time for magaritas. Dresden's master of the sampler Alexander Scharf chops up cheesy germanness for greater good and varying experiences: Schlager-upcycling it is. »Nur mit Dir« is a lovely summer day's theme, the anthem of freshly found or long lasting love, the hymn for the night with your loved one. »Ode an die Fröbbe« is the morning after. The morning after the morning of too much togetherness: Honestly weird and weirdly lovable. In the end »Grünalge Christian« keeps it all together. Thank you, Christian. Thank you, Schleander.
Lowfish is back! The electro veteran, who's been programming 808s since the early '90s, returns to Suction Records, the label he co-founded and debuted on in 1997, for his first release since 2011. This is suction046 - the 'Hypersensitivity' EP. It's been a while, but as the sprinkling of Lowfish compilation appearances - on labels like Analogical Force and Fundamental Records - over the intervening years have shown, Lowfish isn't interested in radical changes; it's all about quality and consistency. Flawlessly produced 808 drums, meticulously processed for maximum slam, combine with Lowfish's trademark synthesizer melodies and heavily-manipulated dialogue samples... best heard on standout cuts 'Apr294ms' - a melodic techno/electro dancefloor killer - and 'Favourable Reports' - a slice of 808 synthpop with melodic nods to vintage OMD and Gary Numan.
Fresh on Francis Harris' Kingdoms imprint comes Rasmus Juncker's 'Ophold' - six tracks of sublime atmospheres and textures. The Danish musician, sound composer and DJ fits perfectly with the label's aesthetic, joining the dots between ambient, leftfield electronica and modern classical.
Juncker has a background in studying jazz drumming and has been playing improvised music within the jazz domain for many years. He also started to DJ at the age of 14 and was introduced to the world of electronic music production at the same time.
When Rasmus started to think about his debut album he spent several months trying to find his own way to combine his favourite musical influences, improvisation, electronics and classical music. 'Almost a year later', Juncker says, "I went to a sensory deprivation floating tank in Copenhagen while researching for another performance and while I was lying there, floating in the water, deprived from most of my senses, I got the idea to do something drastic in my musical process. Philosophers like Immanuel Kant describe this deprived state as a mental 'Cesura', which became some sort of guideline for the album."
So Juncker decided to start working on the album by leaving the process as well as the final result completely open. 'I wanted to create sounds and music that I had no idea what they would sound like, but would feel like a mental 'Cesura', an 'Ophold' (in Danish)' he states.
He invited musicians, one after the other, to his studio. "I had an electronic musician to improvise patterns and new interesting sounds based on my experience in the deprivation tank. I chose some of the takes and some weeks later I invited a jazz guitarist to listen and improvise on top of what he heard. Then a classical string quartet and a double bass player came to my studio months later, and finally I recorded myself on percussion and drums.
Throughout the recording process I've been experimenting with special microphones in various setups, used noises from the recordings and the room became absolutely essential for the pieces." Juncker states.
"The material I used was all first take improvision which I arranged, layered and edited into compositions. The final pieces were mixed by Andreas Pallisgaard with the same improvised and experimental approach of the recording and the production. None of the musician met each other, but their sounds developed into something completely fantastic I think. The presence of the acoustic instruments and the depth and complexity of the synthesized layers gave some kind of an indescribable sounding music from another galaxy.
Track by track:
'Norddrum' starts proceedings - ethereal, grainy sounds merge and disassociate, as a distant rhythm gradually finds its way to the fore.
The second track, 'Sora' , clocking in at under 2 minutes, is an interlude full of strings, pads, and percussive hits, rich in feeling. This strong sense of sound design and seemingly disparate sounds woven together into a whole carries through into 'Eksotisk Tirsdag' - the strings, plucked instruments and electronics harking back to 4th world adventurers like Jon Hassel and Brian Eno.
'Cyklus' dives into drone textures, pulsing and modulating to create an unearthly soundtrack.
'Havekunst' is another 2 minutes interlude, this time bringing a fully charged rhythmic barrage to the front.
'Cesura', the final track is in essence the EP's centerpiece - a sprawling 8 minute journey that traverses tense, fibrous sections and on into pulsing modular passages, before opening up into glorious moments of wonder and brightness. It's a hugely bold yet fragile endeavour, in line with the whole release.
Jaar's Other People is pleased to present a new solo record of guitar and live custom electronics artist Patrick Higgins, an American avant-garde composer and producer from New York City. Higgins is known for his work in experimental and contemporary classical music, playing guitar and composing in the mythical avant-noise-jazz ensemble Zs. His solo work as a composer unites European avant-garde forms with the post-minimalist howl of New York. His upcoming release on Other People, 'Dossier,' is a four-movement piece performed live without overdubs or edits. All of the samples and synthetic patches were custom built and specifically engaged to become elements of live guitar manipulation. The sound world is post-apocalyptic in spirit but builds to an intimate and reflective end. The material was developed over a two-year period and finalized at the end of 2016. Cover art is by Alfredo Jaar.
Max Loderbauer, who has so far made consistently engaging contributions to the Arjunamusic family, is back to lend his unique interpretive skills to the master recordings for the Brightbird album by João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Mário Franco and Samuel Rohrer. Loderbauer has set himself up for a chal- lenge, since the original album's completely improvised flow of small-ensemble, conversational jazz feels complete enough without outside intervention. However, Loderbauer's role as electronics operator in the similarly attuned Ambiq trio has already shown that, through his mastery of tone color, he has a talent for teasing out the additional hidden details within an apparently 'complete' sonic environment. It's a task he mana- ges to accomplish without ever overriding or contradicting the cohesive message provided by his collaborators.
Adding to the challenge here, Loderbauer chooses to re- mix using only sounds from the original recordings. By doing so, it might seem he is willfully denying himself the chance to use his own signature tools and turn Brightbird's source materi- al into stunningly new electro-acoustic hybrid blooms. Yet Loderbauer succeeds here by becoming something more like a translator than an augmenter - he finds a way to make mea- ningful syntactical changes to the trio's rich and versatile vo- cabulary, and once again unveils a verdant world of hidden details in the process.
The A-side 'Trusting Heart/Cosmos' has an anxious tone introduced by a set of Doppler-effected piano notes that seem to melt in the sun, and is soon complemented by a va- riegated, chattering rhythm line. Here Loderbauer builds up a tactile tension between rhythmic certainty and sharp-angled, de-tuned, and occasionally scrambled instrumentation, framing a disorienting (yet engaging) virtual space where ob- jects' bright hues rapidly change as they contract and expand along multiple dimensions. For the b-side 'Noontide', Lo- derbauer switches to a more focused and streamlined idiom with an uncanny ease, riding along steady waves of sequencer patterning and silvery, resonant shiverings. Reverberating, ho- lographic piano again provides the tonal center here, and the notes ring with a forward-thinking optimism not far removed from classics of the 'Krautrock' era.
Current supporters of all the artists involved will find this to be an invigorating synopsis of their work to date, while newcomers will be treated to a soundworld where skillful fu- sion (the act itself, rather than the music genre with the same name) is constantly on display.
Twenty-eight Years Ago, Pissed-off Twelve-year-olds Around The Universe Discovered A New Planet, A Black Planet. Public Enemy's Aggressive, Benihana Beats And Incendiary Lyrics Instilled Fear Among Parents And Teachers Everywhere, Even In The Border Town Of Laredo, Texas, Home Of The Future Founders Of The Latin-funk-soul-breaks Super Group, Brownout. The Band's Sixth Full-length Album (out May 25th) Fear Of A Brown Planet Is A Musical Manifesto Inspired By Public Enemy's Music And Revolutionary Spirit.
Chuck D., The Bomb Squad, Flava Flav And The Rest Of The P.e. Posse Couldn't Possibly Have Expected That Their Golden-era Hip Hop Albums Would Sow The Seeds For Countless Public Enemy Sleeper Cells, One That Would Emerge Nearly Three Decades Later In Austin, Texas. Greg Gonzalez (bass) Remembers A Kid Back In Junior High Hipped Him To The Fact That Public Enemy's bring The Noise' Is Built On James Brown Samples, While A Teenaged Beto Martinez (guitar) Alternated Between Metal And Hip-hop In His Walk-man, And Adrian Quesada (guitar/keys) Remembers Falling In Love With Public Enemy's Sound At An Early Age. when I Got Into Hip Hop, I Was Looking For This Aggressive Outlet . . . And I Didn't Even Understand What They Were Pissed Off About, Because I Was Twelve And Lived In Laredo . . . But I Loved It And I Felt Angry Along With Them.'
Joseph Abajian (fat Beats' Owner) Must Have Sensed The Deep Hip-hop Well Lying Beneath The Versatile Band's Latin-funk Veneer. i Thought Their Sound Would Work Covering Public Enemy Songs,' Abajian Says, And, it Was Good To Know They Were P.e. Fans . . . We Came Up With A Track Listing And They Went To Work.' Despite The Band's Eagerness To Work On New Original Material (an Album Of Original Songs Is Slated For Next Year), They Couldn't Pass Up The Opportunity To Pay Homage To This Iconic And Influential Posse.
Translating Sample-based Music To A Live Band Turned Out To Be More Of A Challenge Than They Anticipated. Adrian Tried To Get Inside The Bomb Squad's (public Enemy's Producers/beat-making Team) Head In Order To Find The Inspiration To Reinterpret P.e.'s Songs: imagine The Bomb Squad Going Back In Time And Getting The J.b.s (james Brown's Funky Backing Band) In The Studio And Setting Up A Couple Analog Synths And Then Playing Those Songs.' While Some Songs Closely Follow The Original Musical Blueprint, Others Use The Source Breakbeats As Jumping-off Points Later Sweetened By Trombonist Mark speedy' Gonzales' Horn Arrangements, Synth Wizardry Courtesy Of Friend-of-the-band Peter Stopschinski, And Dj Trackstar's Turntable Scratches. But Don't Listen Expecting To Hear Paint-by-numbers Recreations Of Classic Public Enemy Jams. our Approach Is Never In The Tribute Sense,' Adrian Explains. we've Always Taken It And Made It Our Own, Whether It's The Brown Sabbath Thing Or This Public Enemy Thing.' Coming Off Numerous Tours As Brown Sabbath And Even A Stint Backing The Late Legend Prince, Brownout Is Arguably The Tightest And Funkiest Band On The Road Today And They're Psyched To Bring This Revolutionary Music To The People. For A Band Without An Overt Political Agenda, They Collectively Couldn't Resist The Opportunity To Play This Music Live, Especially Now. if There's Any Way That We Can Use The Already Political And Protest Nature (of P.e.'s Music), We Would Like To Try,' Beto Says. the Album's Title, Fear Of Brown Planet Is Definitely A Relevant Idea Today And We're Not Afraid To Put It Out There, Because We Want To Speak Out.' By Reinterpreting These Hip Hop Classics In Their Unique Style And Channeling The Spirit Of Public Enemy That First Echoed Around The World And Captured Their Imaginations All Those Years Ago, Brownout Is Doing Exactly That.
Following their work compiling last year's hugely well-received Ten Years of Jaunt EP, Blackhall & Bookless return to their label with four varied, equally confident shades of their distinct, versatile dancefloor vision. 'Forward' is an instantly enveloping slice of big-room techno that's entirely club ready and yet focused on atmosphere and tension, taking no prisoners and yet unfolding on it's own terms. That same ecstatic and almost ethereal club pressure reemerges on 'Voyager', under which gently unleashes a skittering landscape of blissful breakbeats and Vangelisesque synths. Inspired by the unforgiving sea that borders their hometown in the North East of England, 'Ocean' is perhaps the most intense moment on the EP, dragging listeners into wave after wave of undulating dub chords, always underpinned by driving, raw and percussive drums. Ending in forgiving ambience, this moment of respite leads to the conclusion, 'Occupy'. A beatless send-off, it nonetheless remains equally compelling and vast in it's filmic and complex sound design, showcasing Blackhall & Bookless' finely tuned meld of the substantial and the subtle. Tinged with the North Sea air and the pulse of Detroit, Blackhall & Bookless continue to master the sound of agile, accessible yet uncompromising club music.
After a first EP, Chasse is coming back with a new release on Javi Frias label 'Night Shift Records' including 4 groovy tracks. Influenced by the old school sounds of Chicago, the duo offer us a powerful and disco EP, where sampling is at its peak. Their efficient beats mixed with samples from disco to funk make us remember the old times of House music. Once again, the belgian boys got the job done!
Second EP of the label Lowlife Cartel. An all star, six-track release from sixl key artists in various genres, from cutting edge techno to leftfield house, confirmes the versatility of Lowlife Cartel.
The EP begins with "Butt Dub Pregost", dubby downtempo atmospheric track, by one of most innovative and versatile artist of the last years: Buttechno (Rassvet records, Collapsing Market..)."Out For A Walk" by Fmy (Too Rough 4 Radio) is a leftfield house track, face covered and steps muffled through a deadening blizzard of tape saturation and white noisey envelops that find a balance between deepening the sense of immersion and a retained rhythm. "Unusual Mondai", hypnotic track by Sammy T Thompson, an alias of S.Olbricht (UIQ, Opal Tapes..), fits with an introspective melody and atmosphere.
"Mr Hodge Appreciation Society" is a quintessential Machine Woman (Ninja Tune, Peder Mannerfelt, Where to Now) club track, spanning sexy house and bold techno.
"Celestial Body" by PRESENTE oscillates between jungle and drone like a futuristic comet.
"Y'alll" by the rising producer Voyd, is a abstract house piece. Setting skittish drums and altered vox sample, smothered against a grey-ish canvas of blurry, washed-out pads.
Raw and indisputable quality of production.
Following two previous excursions into degraded tape loops, fuzzed-out ambience and bittersweet moments of tenderness, O$VMV$M return to Idle Hands to complete a trilogy of LPs with 12 vignettes from the underbelly of the Bristol scene.
Bound to Young Echo's ever-swelling cult of wayward sonics, individually Amos 'Jabu' Childs and Sam 'Neek' Barrett have plenty of irons in the fire. Childs deals in forlorn, vocal-led introspection alongside Alex Rendall and Jasmine Butt as Jabu, while Barrett can be found laying down punishing modern grime variations alongside Kahn, or delving into more traditional soundsystem sonics in Gorgon Sound. Meanwhile the pair were clearly heard laying down some of the tones that seep out of the uncredited Young Echo collective LP from earlier this year. Their production work behind Rider Shafique's killerLion7" on Lavalava was unmissable, and their blunted beats behind Manonmars' debut LP are awaited with anticipation.
As O$VMV$M, the pair enter a particular sound world that mixes cosy nostalgia with creeping dread. Even at its most mellow, a sense of unease hovers beneath the surface, and that's what makes their approach so compelling. The sound palette is broad, from pitch-shifted RnB vocal licks to foggy trumpets crawling at half speed, but over it all a dense blanket of dust gives the sensation of peering back through time.
Putting paid to the idea that immersive music needs to be long and drawn out, the dose response on these condensed mood capsules is quick and strong. In a little over 20 minutes O$VMV$M take you far and wide. The trip over the past three LPs has been an adventure for both label and artists - Sam and Amos have shaped out a style that now feels like a fully formed entity independent of their other ventures. We look forward to seeing where O$VMV$M heads from here.
South African Mbaqanga And Bubblegum Instrumentals For The Dance-floor. First Time Available Outside South Africa. Cult Favorite Among Collectors. Follows The Successful Reissue Of bafana Bafana' Last Year. Professor Rhythm's 1991 Recording Professor 3 Is A Vivid Reflection Of Urban South Africa As Apartheid Was Ending. Thami Mdluli's Production Project Had Young And Old Dancing To A Sound That Sought To Unite Blacks Within Southern Africa. our Music Gave Hope To The Hopeless,' He Says. Mdluli's Third Instrumental Album (which Contains Some Background Vocals, To Be Exact), Portrays The Moment When The Dominant Mbaqanga And American R&b-based Bubblegum Sounds Being Produced In Johannesburg And Other Urban Centers Were Transforming Into House And Hip-hop-inspired Kwaito. The Pop Of The 80's And All That Went With It—from The Models Of Synths And Drum Machines To The Lyrical Style—gave Way To A Changing Melodic Emphasis And New, Much Slower Tempi Using A Completely Different Rhythmic Skeleton. Upbeat, Chipper Bubblegum, Often With Double-time Breakdowns And Upstroke Syncopations, Faded And The Sounds Began To More Closely Resemble Those Of Contemporary Black America—where Hip-hop Was Slowing Down And The Bass-lines And Melodies Were Getting Moodier, Darker In General. At The Same Time House Music Had Briefly Reached Mainstream Acceptance In The States And That Popularity Continued To Feed Into Awareness Overseas. These Two Influences Blended With The Burgeoning House Music Scenes In Johannesburg And Pretoria As Professor Rhythm 3 Was Being Produced In March 1991 (the Same Year Apartheid Ended). Mdluli Explains, we Were Influenced By Foreign Bands And So People Updated Their Sound.' According To Mdluli, The Evolving Sound Was Bolstered By Widening Availability Of House And Rap Records From Abroad While, Most Importantly, An Increasing Sense That Apartheid Might Soon Be Finished Was Met With A New Positivity Vibe Society. 1991, '92, '93... Mandela Was Released. People Were Upbeat, They Were Happy, The Music Was Good.' Professor 3 Came Out On Vinyl As The Lp Business Was Dying In South Africa And Sold Around 20,000 Copies. It Was Mainly Distributed On Tape, Which Sold Closer To 100,000. With The Help Of Engineer Fab Rosso, The Recording Features Backing Vocalists From Mango Groove. After Making A Half-dozen Records As Professor Rhythm, Mdluli Once Again Shifted His Focus Musically. By The Mid-90's He Had Veered Off Gospel Music— And Left Playing In Bands And Started Making His Own Solo Recordings. His Enormous Success In The Gospel Realm In The Years Since Is A Remarkable Story In Its Own Right, But For Now We Are Only Dancing.
- A1: A Min We Vo Nou We - Les Sympathics De Porto Novo
- A2: Asaw Fofor - Ignace De Souza & The Melody Aces
- A3: Dja Dja Dja - Stanislas Tohon
- B1: L´enfance - Elias Akadiri & Sunny Black´s Band
- B2: Mé Adomina - Picoby Band D´abomey
- B3: Nounignon Ma Klon Midji - Antoine Dougbé
- B4: Moulon Devia - Orch. Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou
- C1: Paulina - Black Santiago
- C2: Glenon Ho Akue - Lokonon André Et Les Volcans
- C3: Sadé - Sebastien Pynasco And L´orchestre Black Santiago
- C4: Baba L´oke Ba´wagbe - Super Borgou De Parakou
- D1: Gangnidodo - Cornaire Salifou Michel Et L´orchestre El Rego & Ses Commandos
- D2: How Much Love Naturally Cost - Gnonnas Pedro And His Dadjes Band
- D3: Idavi - Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou
African Scream Contest 2
A great compilation can open the gate to another world. Who knew that some of the most exciting Afro-funk records of all time were actually made in the small West African country of Benin Once Analog Africa released the first African Scream Contest in 2008, the proof was there for all to hear, gut-busting yelps, lethally well- drilled horn sections and irresistibly insistent rhythms added up to a record that took you into its own space with the same electrifying sureness as any favourite blues or soul or funk or punk sampler you might care to mention.
Ten years on, intrepid crate-digger Samy Ben Redjeb unveils a new treasure- trove of Vodoun-inspired Afrobeat heavy funk crossover greatness. Right from the laceratingly raw guitar fanfare which kicks o Les Sympathics' pile-driving opener, it's clear that African Scream Contest II is going to be every bit as joyous a voyage of discovery as its predecessor. And just as you're trying to get o the canvas after this one-punch knock out, an irresistible Afro-ska romp with a more than subliminal echo of the Batman theme puts you right back there. Ignace De Souza and the Melody Aces' Asaw Fofor" would've been a killer instrumental but once you've factored in the improbably-rich-to-the-point-of-being-Nat-King-Cole-influenced lead vocal, it's a total revelation.
The screaming does not stop there, in fact it's only just beginning. But the
strange thing about African Scream Contest II's celebration of unfettered Beninese creativity is that it would not have been possible without the assistance of a musician who had been trained by the Russian secret services to "search and destroy" enemies of the country's (then) Marxist-Leninist president Mathieu Kerekou.
Already familiar to fans of the first African Scream Contest as a mainstay of ruthlessly disciplined military band Les Volcans de la Capitale, Lokonon André vanished in a cloud of dust at Ben Redjeb's behest with a list of names and some petrol money, only to return a few days later having miraculously tracked down every single name he'd been given. The source of this Afrobeat bounty-hunter's impressive people-finding skills - his training with the KGB - highlights the tension between encroaching authoritarian politics and fearless expressions of personal creative freedom which is the back-story of so much great African music of the 60s and 70s. Happily, in this instance, Lokonon was tracking the artists down to oer them licensing deals, rather than to arrest them.
Where some purveyors of vintage African sounds seem to be strip-mining the
continent's musical heritage with no less rapacious intent than the mining companies and colonial authorities who previously extracted its mineral wealth, Samy Ben Redjeb's determination to track this amazing music to its human sources pays huge karmic dividends.
Like every other Analog Africa release, African Scream Contest II is illuminated by meticulously researched text and eortlessly fashion-forward photography supplied by the artists themselves. Looming large - alongside Lokonon André - in the cast of biopic-worthy characters to emerge from this seductive tropical miasma is visionary space-nerd Bernard Dohounso, who laid the foundations for Benin's vinyl predominance by importing and assembling the turntables that would play the products of his Bond villain-acronymed pressing plant SATEL, a factory that would revolutionise the music industry in the whole region.
The scene documented here couldn't have been born anywhere else but in the Benin Republic , and the prime reason for that is Vodoun. It's one of the world's most complex religions, involving the worship of some 250 divinities, where each divinity has its own specific set of rhythms, and the bands introduced on the African Scream Contest series and other compilations from that country were no less diverse than that army of dierent Gods. At once restless pioneers and masters of the art of modernising their own folklore, the mystic sound of Vodoun was their prime source of inspiration.
One especially irascible Vodoun-adept was Antoine Dougbe, who styled himself The devil's prime minister' while turning ancestral rhythms into satanically alluring modern beats. As Orchestre Poly-Rythmo songwriter Pynasco has observed sagely, Evil is not elsewhere, evil extends into the house'. And African Scream Contest II is a gloriously cinematic road-trip through an undiscovered realm of music lore whose familiarity is every bit as thrilling as its otherness.
Written by Ben Thomson, March 2018
Prairie is the project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Marc Jacobs, hailing from Brussels with roots in The Netherlands. He previously released an EP (I'm so in love I almost forgot I survived a Disaster - 2013) and an LP (Like a Pack of Hounds - 2015) on the Berlin imprint Shitkatapult. On stage, Prairie plays with two or three musicians and together they re-create a free association of musical ideas and atmospheres. Prairie has played in selected venues and festivals across Europe and toured with Apparat in 2016.If the apocalypse was painted in several layers of pastel gouache, its soundtrack might be PRAIRIE's Flash Flood. Listening to the album, we drift through a series of frozen landscapes that gesture at a post-apocalyptic ambience. This is a kind of blackened music that has been left to sediment, excavated from traces in ice core samples. Flash Flood showcases a deep sensitivity to narrative and rich cinematic textures as Marc Jacobs returns with palimpsestic sonic layers. It has been three years since PRAIRIE's last release—the 2015 Cormac McCarthy-inspired Like a Pack of Hounds—and it is clear that it has been several years of pensive reflection. Now, PRAIRIE takes the sentiment of his 2012 debut, I'm So In Love I Almost Forgot I Survived A Disaster, several steps further: it is after the apocalypse, and no one has survived. And yet with Flash Flood, we can hear the hum of this impossible future.
'After the Flash Flood' introduces the sonic ruins of distorted guitars, field recordings, drum programming and synths that create the textures of the entire album. The melancholic and subdued black metal churn of 'Raindeath' becomes the cold backdrop for unnerving, paranoiac speech. The third track, 'Sisters', foregrounds this coldness while slowly moving away toward alternate vistas where the acoustic timbres of the saz-driven 'A Permanent War Economy' take over. 'Underwater Body Hunting' and 'Rabid Ibrahim' are hard hitting beat-oriented tracks that insist on burning slow. There is a patience with PRAIRIE's FLASH FLOOD that is difficult to deny. The lamentation of 'Elephants Will Rise Again' perhaps signals that it is not only the human that is lost after catastrophe. The album closes with 'Hard Water: Cracked Ice' and 'Hayashi Clock'. The former is a beautiful coalescence of clean harmonious tones and softly overdriven drums, while the latter brings us back to a meditative state, drifting through the final pastel tapestry.
"... his cosmos is located somewhere between Bohren & der Club of Gore and Sunn O))), ambient is as familiar to him as brachial sounds, and he is as much acquainted with guitars as with synths and modern technology" (GROOVE)
"... Like Ben Frost, (Prairie) exudes a certain harshness while tempering his work with moments of sublime beauty. This isn't club material, it's music for the hammer in one's hand, the confrontation of the demon, the soul-shattering revelation." (A Closer Listen)
A near-perfect record, White Magic was the lauded CD-only debut album by Sorcerer (Californian native Dan Judd, one half of Windsurf with Hatchback). Just in time for Spring/Summer, we present the first ever vinyl issue, released as a deluxe double LP.
Back in summer 2007, this majestic set gently nestled itself into the Balearic soundtrack-to-summer slot for many, making him a household name for Cosmic Disco heads alongside the likes of Lindstrom, Metro Area, Todd Terje, Mudd, Studio and Quiet Village. In the intervening years, exceptional producers have created vibrant variations on the dreamy, dubby, melodic nu-disco theme. Happily, the emergence of such luminaries as Jex Opolis, Harvey Sutherland, Suzanne Kraft, Tornado Wallace et al has only served to make the master - Sorcerer - sound ever more brilliant and vital.
Utilising his array of guitars, drum machines, synths, and trusty MPC, the loved-up Sorcerer sound inspires halcyon memories of warm days, endless sunsets and pure youthful abandon. Influenced by surf, 80s dance pop, acid-R&B, space jazz, krautrock, disco, dub, and am radio gold, his music maps a tour through a uniquely Californian lifestyle. Yet when music so vividly captures a vibe and a feeling, it can make writing about it appear almost redundant. Instead, to glean the full colour of what your turntable will soon gratefully radiate, we prescribe the generous soundclips presented here.
And, for a unique insight into the process behind the wonderful sounds conjured up, here's Sorcerer himself:
"White Magic is a reflection of personal freedom and discovery. Having been in bands for years, this was a chance to develop music that stood alone and for me to be in full control.
I was living alone and worked on jams whenever I could. I was highly inspired by a new openness to music as a pure inspiration, not being part of any scene. I tapped into the mixes I was hearing coming out the UK where deejays were playing "cosmic" sounds that were so strangely familiar.
I was picking up all kinds of $1 vinyl and throwing bits of it into my sampler almost randomly to see what would come out.
In my mind, I was making music to be played at my friend's Broker/Dealer Pop nights where they fused golden German techno sounds with the new disco emerging at the time. Also, I took vacations and reconnected with the Pacific Ocean where I spent so much time as a kid: it spilled out into the sounds.
Lastly, I forged a partnership with Hatchback (Sam Grawe) who was working on music in the same way. I learned so much about arrangement and the colors of music. We began recording together as Windsurf and released our own stuff. It all seems like a small glorious moment in time, so I am so excited to keep the legacy alive and I continue to work on my music with these spirits inside of me."
Lovingly remastered by the esteemed Simon Francis, cut reassuringly loud on to heavyweight double vinyl and presented in a deluxe gatefold jacket with freshly commissioned artwork throughout from original designer Rich Robinson, this limited edition of 500 copies is sure to fly.
A continuation of his kaleidoscopic sun-dappled cosmic-disco, Neon Leon was the much-loved CD-only sophomore album by Sorcerer. Just in time for Spring/Summer, we present the first ever vinyl issue, released as a deluxe double LP.
A perfectly formed suite of ten tracks featuring soft guitars, subtle synths and lightly grooving percussion, Neon Leon magically evokes that elusive summer feeling throughout. The guitar-driven "Algorhythm" serves as the album opener, blasting bold, sun-drenched jazz chords atop bright synths and groove-based drum programming. "Ride The Serpent" and "Distort Yourself" are guided by a more sultry, slo-mo disco impulse whilst the staggering "Chemise" and strident "Face It" merge 80s West Coast production sheen with Sorcerer's trademark laid back, gentle disco. "Raydio"'s undeniable head-nod groove adds a rare vocal to the proceedings, joyously combining with the bubbling cosmic funk.
Since its initial release in 2009, exceptional producers have created vibrant variations on the dreamy, dubby, melodic nu-disco theme. Happily, the emergence of such luminaries as Jex Opolis, Harvey Sutherland, Suzanne Kraft, Tornado Wallace et al has only served to make the master - Sorcerer - sound ever more brilliant and vital.
Utilising his array of guitars, drum machines, synths, and trusty MPC, the loved-up Sorcerer sound inspires halcyon memories of warm days, endless sunsets and pure youthful abandon. Influenced by surf, 80s dance pop, acid-R&B, space jazz, krautrock, disco, dub, and am radio gold, his music maps a tour through a uniquely Californian lifestyle. Yet when music so vividly captures a vibe and a feeling, it can make writing about it appear almost redundant. Instead, to glean the full colour of what your turntable will soon gratefully radiate, we prescribe the generous soundclips presented here.
And, for a unique insight into the process behind the wonderful sounds conjured up, here's Sorcerer himself:
"Neon Leon's is the name of a bar in a Elmore Leonard book I was reading on a vacation to Belize with my future wife. I was soaking up his brand of noir during the making of the songs on this record, along with another favorite Ross Macdonald. We were living in a small apartment in the Mission District of San Francisco where i had my own room to jam. It was painted Orange and Turquoise and was a very inspiring place to create and focus. I could walk out of my house to any number of hole in the wall bars where people were deejaying, hanging-out, and knew about me and my music.
After White Magic I developed more confidence in my style and process so I stuck with it and I believe it shows in the tunes I selected for the record. The sounds are rich and I dug deeper into sampling from obscure dollar records and getting looser musically. I made a handful of collage videos for the tracks at this time as well, which represent where my mind was at visually. In my mind it's Cosmic Funk that rules the day and I am thankful to have the opportunity to share it with the world again."
Lovingly remastered by the esteemed Simon Francis, cut reassuringly loud on to heavyweight double vinyl and presented in a deluxe gatefold jacket with freshly commissioned artwork throughout from original designer Rich Robinson, this limited edition of 500 copies is sure to fly.
WHEN YOU'VE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND THE WEBSITE, YOU CAN FIND US ON THESE SOCIAL CHANNELS
- A1: Misdemeanor
- A2: Big Tings Come In Small Packages
- A3: I'm Your Puppet
- A4: Mockingbird
- A5: I'll Get You In The End
- B1: Hey Little Girl
- B2: Happy Face
- B3: Swooperman
- B4: More Love
- B5: Only My Love Is True
- B6: Lullabye
Classic funk-soul album, featuring "Misdemeanour". Sampled by Madlib, Black Milk, Pete Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Danny Krivit and more.
Brilliant funk-soul from 1973. Written by Leon Sylvers III, and produced by a heavyweight line-up comprising Jerry Butler, Keg Johnson and Michael Viner.
Official reissue in replica of original artwork
'Erpland' was the band's eighth release and was originally released in 1990 and is considered by many fans as one of their finest works. The album will be re-issued on 180g heavyweight audiophile vinyl in this 2 LP set presented in a wide spine packaging.
One of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK's festival scene, the Ozrics layer ambient and ethereal landscapes with freeform dub trips, incredible rave grooves and psychedelic progressive rock. It's an open exploration of music and the soul.
For over 30 years, the Ozrics have experienced the vicissitudes of the rock and roll life. The band has flourished through a number of line-up changes and sold over a million albums world-wide. And yet, the basic motivation behind the band's existence has never wavered. Their signature blend of hippy aesthetics and raver electronics with spiraling guitars, textured waves of keyboard and midi samplers, and super-groovy bass and drum rhythms continues to delight fans across the world to this day.
- A1: Moment Of Collapse (Feat. Heidi Vogel)
- A2: Palmares Fantasy (Feat. Hermeto Pascoal)
- A3: Waltz For Hermeto (Feat. Hermeto Pascoal)
- A4: The Blonde
- B1: Montreux (Feat. Hermeto Pascoal)
- B2: Said (Feat. Hermeto Pascoal)
- B3: Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser (Feat. Sabrina Malheiros)
- B4: The Conversation (Feat. Hermeto Pascoal)
For his third album for Far Out Recordings, London based multi-instrumentalist and one of Europe's finest saxophonists Sean Khan ventures to Rio de Janeiro to collaborate with iconic Brazilian polymath Hermeto Pascoal. Taking its title from the escaped slave settlement 'Palmares' in the Northeast of Brazil during the 1600s, Palmares Fantasy is Khan's utopian jazz message for the world, and features Azymuth drummer Ivan 'Mamao' Conti, bassist Paulo Russo, guitarist Jim Mullen, and guest vocals from Brazilian chanteuse Sabrina Malheiros, and Cinematic Orchestra frontwoman Heidi Vogel.
Like Hermeto Pascoal, Sean Khan is a self-taught musician. Never able to afford his original dream of studying at Berklee, and having been turned away from Guildhall School of Music for being 'too raw', he became disillusioned with what he saw as the exclusivity, elitism and dangerous institutionalisation of the jazz world. Yet Sean's love for music and the drive to create never faltered.
Hermeto Pascoal, the man Miles Davis once dubbed the most impressive musician in the world', is a similarly independent artist. A true maverick whose ingenuity and freedom from conventional restraints is so great that he has essentially conceived his own musical language, made him the dream collaboration for Sean.
Aspiring to inclusivity and equality also informs the message in Khan's music. Inspired by the 17th Century settlement of Palmares in Brazil's Alagoas region, which was free from the Portuguese crown's murderous exploitation of South America for a century, Khan notes his fascination with the fact that while majoritively made up of escaped African slaves, many deserter conquistadors also joined the settlement.
Hearing the deep-grooving title track with this history in mind, the listener is transported to a futuristic musical eden, with Mamao's insatiable 10/8 rhythm back-boning Hermeto's wild improvised vocals, rhodes and whistles, while Sean's harmonically brilliant sax and flute add more layers of moody, characterful expression. 'Moment of Collapse' is Sean's poetic study on the uncertainties of modern day western civilisation, delicately presented by the gorgeous vocals of Heidi Vogel and drenched in lugubrious strings and Alice Coltrane-esque harp. The two covers on the album are of Hermeto's own 'Montreux' (on which Hermeto plays solos on a teapot and a pint of water), and an uplifting soulful jazz-funk take on Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges MPB classic 'Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser' featuring the vocals of pioneering nu-bossa voice Sabrina Malheiros.
The recording sessions for the album were part of an intensive and hugely productive eight-week excursion to South America for Far Out boss Joe Davis in the summer of 2016, which also saw the sessions for Azymuth's Fênix and a forthcoming album from Uruguayan fusion legend Hugo Fattoruso.
Fantastic' Gilles Peterson
Loving this!' Opolopo
Thank you!' Sassy J
Proper! Great track.' Colin Dale
this is great!' Yannick Elverfeld (RBMA / Needs Records)
I've enjoyed Sean Khan's earlier releases, but this really seems like he's grown into his fairly considerable talent.' Mark Sampson (Songlines)
His last album was his best so far, but I think this one may be even better.' Laurence Pragnell (Soul Brother Records)
dope!!!' Kyri (R2 Records)
this is great - really cool vibe!' Sam Redmore
wonderful track - can't wait to hear the lp.' Simon Harrison (Basic Soul Radio)
This is very tasty indeed.' Gavin Boyd (Soul Has No Tempo)
Stunning!!!' Mark Milz (Further In Fusion)
Oi Oi' Samuel Lloyd (Balamii Radio)
PRESS / ONLINE
VINYL FACTORY (UK) News (Anton Spice) 09/03/18 online
SOUNDS & COLOURS (UK) News (Gabriel Gahan) 09/03/18 online
THE WIRE (UK) Review confirmed (Joseph Stanard) print
EVENING STANDARD (UK) Review confirmed (Jane Cornwell) print + online
ECHOES MAGAZINE (UK) Review confirmed (Laurence Pragnell) print
LIBERATION (FR) Feature confirmed (Jacques Denis) print + online
MUSIC IS MY SANCTUARY (CA) Premiere confirmed (Mike Jones) online
JAZZ MAGAZINE (FR) Review confirmed (Frederic Goaty) print
SHINDIG! (UK) Review confirmed (Grahame Bent) print
MUSICA MACONDO (UK) Premiere confirmed (Tim Garcia) online
RAWCKUS MAGAZINE (USA) News (Randy Radic) online
KIND OF JAZZ (UK) Review confirmed (Fernando Rose) online
TONART MAGAZINE (DE) Review confirmed (Michael Moehring) print
WORLD MUSIC NETWORK (USA) Review confirmed (Raul Da Gama) online
BADD PRESS BLOG (USA) Review confirmed (Kevin Press) online
ORKESTER JOURNALEN (DK) Review confirmed (Patrik Sandberg) print
LIVE
WORLDWIDE FM (UK) Sean Khan live session confirmed (Gilles Peterson)
RADIO
BBC RADIO 6 (UK) Gilles Peterson - Palmares Fantasy (24/02/18) link
OTHER
BRITISH AIRWAYS On board BA flights (June 2018)
A split release on Nation's sublabel, Kode. Two exclusive tracks from Transformation & Beau Wanzer..
Transformation:
This 2nd document of their time in the makeshift studio for another 15 minute psychedelic slo-trip continuing steps in creativity, gaining access to various pieces of musical equipment, hitting the garage, practicing and recording in hopes of making it, entitled "Sketch 4"
Beau Wanzer:
Beau Wanzer returns to Nation on a split release with Transformation. Over the past year Wanzer's output has been fueled by deformed synths, grim vocals, and hard hitting drums more suited for dungeon dance floors than heady home listenings. For his next release he offers an icy subdued drum machine workout. 'Oklahoma 3' was recorded in the winter of 2009 while visiting his parent's house over the holidays. A combination of roland drum machines, sampled jazz tones, and ambient atmospheres the track sets a tone for a bleak winter in the countryside.
- 1: We Can Make It If We Try
- 2: Through The Love In My Heart
- 3: Handle It
- 4: I'll Never Let You Go
- 5: Cry Of A Dreamer
- 6: Stay Away From Me
- 7: I Don't Need To Prove Myself
- 8: Let It Be Me
- 9: Love Me, Love Me Not
- 10: I Remember
- 11: Yesterday
A true funk-soul masterpiece. Sampled by Madlib, Homeboy Sandman, Ghostface Killah, Black Milk, Roc Marciano, 9th Wonder, and more.
Beautiful, golden-era soul written by Leon Sylvers III, produced by Jerry Butler and Keg Johnson.
The Sylvers were a family from Los Angeles who were very successful during the 70's and into the early 80's, with chart hits - deep into pop-disco territory - including 'Boogie Fever', 'Hot Line' and 'High School Dance'. This is the group's second album, from 1973, and is one of their strongest.
Opening with the awesome mid-tempo 'We Can Make It If We Try' the record moves through funk, boogie and deep soul moods, finishing on a hazy, acapella version of The Beatles 'Yesterday'.
Official reissue in replica of original artwork.
- A1: My Home Is In The Delta
- A2: Long Distance
- A3: My Captain
- A4: Good Morning School Girl
- A5: You Gonna Need My Help
- A6: The Same Thing" (Bonus Track)
- A7: You Can't Lose What You Never Had (Bonus Track)
- B1: Cold Weather Blues
- B2: Big Leg Woman
- B3: Country Boy
- B4: Feel Like Going Home
- B5: My John The Conquerer Root" (Bonus Track)
- B6: Short Dress Woman" (Bonus Track)
- B7: Put Me In Your Lay Way" (Bonus Track)
æ Productions in association with Sure Shot! are pleased present the new single from Oxygen and Paul Nice.
The main cut 'Body Language' has Oxygen weaving tales of New York City nightlife over a hunk of obscure b-boy Funk from the crates and sampling wizardry of Paul Nice. Perfect record bag flavour for Hip Hop DJ's!
The B-side 'Feel Good Music' has been rescued from the Paul Nice vaults and thankfully given a vinyl release. The microphone mastery of Oxygen has the perfect bedrock of a familiar laid back Funk groove that will have your neck snapping within seconds!
Available on black vinyl 7' in a limited run of 350 retail copies not to be repressed and presented in full colour sleeve designed by Mr Krum with artwork by the incomparable Dan Lish. Also available on download.
After an excellent 12inch on Rosten label SSTROM drops his first full length Otider, which is by far the most diverse offering of the project encompassing elements of different genres and putting them in woolen and dense sonic textures. Otider could be loosely translated as un-times or non-times. It positions the tracks out of specific context and rather represents them as some rediscovered artifacts relating to personal experiences of the artist. Otider slightly distances SSTROM from techno label as the compositions elegantly drift between lush transparency and thick grooves of outsider/lo-fi house as in Kronofobi or Svvaren or sensitive, yet subtly monolith and mellow techno on Damm and I Huvudet. In Modernisten we can even trace echoes of coldwave/synth aesthetics with melancholic guitars sweeping over hypnotic rhythmic patterns, while closer Sov Nu introduces something which reminds a darker form of garage music with light synthpads constantly surfacing among raw mechanical beats. All the tracks were created over a relatively long period between 2010 and 2017 by employing the process where he let his hands work automatically without interference from his head. This freedom could be felt across the release, which juggles with different musical forms so lightly and organically, but at the same time maintains a coherent vision, which illustrates the vast scope and diversity of the artist.
- A1: Odonata
- A2: Shaping The Mud
- A3: Nymphs Dance
- B1: Pond Mood
- B2: Standing/Crumbling
With this new work Maurizio Abate recovers the discourse started with Loneliness, Desire and Revenge (2016) but with a different narrative sensitivity. The symbolic air that you breathe suggests a personal and universal experience in which thoughts and perceptions remain as enveloped in an eternal cosmic wheel. It's a condition that flows sincerely into an emphatic introspection and identification between the stasis of an inner soul and the flowing vitality of stagnant aquatic landscapes. In this direction the music of Abate always condenses multiple ranges of different emotional spectra evoked by profound naturalistic references. The airy openings of the strings, the distant whispers of the harmonica, cascades of phrasings more calm or more torrential can lead into the magnificent climax of the Nostalgia. The string arrangement for violin and cello by Lucia Gasti introduces in a dimension of idyll, in elegiac passages of touching poetry almost of chamber music but at the same time wet by the pastoral and bucolic moods of autumn landscapes, they are paintings imbued with different flavors and colours that recall the light and the candor of the Venetian tonalisms or the moving paintings full of meaning of Tarkoski. In the darkest and saddest moments the open chords are like suspensions of unresolved questions and torments, but the cathartic finale with a free and minimalist piano prelude to possible future glares, almost to perceiving that even where there's stasis the sun can still shine the hope for the new on the clearing of the pond. Remains the feeling with that stylistic "freedom of expression" dear to the visionaries Fahey and Basho, but also a clear interpretation of the expressive possibility of the lead guitar, absolutely lyrical and contemporary for refinement of the crystalline sound, which places this work in parallel with the basic acoustic tests of others great like Jim O'Rourke, Jack Rose or James Blackshaw.
2023 Repress Spice 1 is an undisputed West Coast legend, who first hit the scene after the N.W.A. and – closer to home – Too $hort explosion of the late ‘80s. As history showed, he continued that bloodline with finesse and authority. His nasal flow is menacing and strong, and fans have been consistently captivated by his ‘hood tales since his self-titled debut in 1992. If you want thematic range with your MCs, Spice isn’t that dude – he is all about crime tales and the perils of ghetto life. And he attacks that storytelling sweet spot with each new cut. Spice 1 boasted four singles by the time it was all said and done, and breezed to Gold status on the strength of cuts like the catchy “East Bay Gangster”; the heartfelt tales and truths of “Welcome To The Ghetto”; and the thick, grooving “In My Neighborhood.” He even produced the alcohol-themed “187 Proof,” another of the album’s singles, and the hands-down cleverest vocal outing on the LP. Sonically, the backdrops on Spice 1 range from plunky, keyboard-bassline funk to deeper, fuzzy ‘70s samples – and he sounds strong on top of both. “Break Yourself” is fueled with an electro-funk drive; “1-800 Spice” brings reggae flavor; and “Peace To My Nine” gets chunkier, with a well-placed P-Funk “One Nation Under A Groove” sample. Presented here on official retail vinyl for the first time since its initial release 26 years ago, Spice 1’s debut holds the test of time and carries the California gangsta flag with pride. Some colors just don’t fade.
One of the most unique albums on the Strata East label - and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the creative energies flowing through that legendary jazz outlet! Descendents Of Mike & Phoebe is a righteous little project put together by Spike Lee's father, Bill Lee, and his brothers and sisters (Cliff Lee, Grace Lee Mims, and Consuela Lee Moorhead) - working here in a group named after their slave ancestors, who are paid tribute in a beautifully flowing batch of tunes! Lee's round, warm bass tones are firmly at the head of the group on most numbers - recorded at a similar level to his excellent work with Clifford Jordan on Strata East during the same time - and other instrumentation includes piano from Consuela, flugelhorn from Cliff, and percussion from Sonny Brown and Billy Higgins - all used in a wonderfully evocative style that's even better than some of Lee's later soundtrack work. A few numbers feature vocals from Grace - singing wordlessly and with a really heavenly sort of quality - and together, the whole group have an undeniable sense of power and majesty, yet also one that's touched by a really personal sense of poetry too. Titles include a great version of Lee's "Coltrane", which was more famously recorded with Clifford Jordan.
By Drago Museveni
Lord Tusk has associated with acts like Klein, John T. Gast, Dean Blunt, Yasiin Bey AKA Mos Def, and released on Jon Rust's Levels, Funkineven's Apron, Soul Jazz Records and Low Income $quad.
Communiqué is made of breathy, glossy Sci-Fi electro, bitcrushed drum samples and Minneapolitan funk feng shui, the hits and stabs of new jack swing and FM boogie, all pieced together with a one-take energy but a meticulous attention to detail. It's songwriting for a miscellaneous kind of soundsystem music, body music, flamboyant across tempo, from the yearning thump of Shyne Eyed Gal to the puffed-up strut of Champion Lovers (sounding like a home-taped Electrifying Mojo opener), the staggered slink of Beyond Limitation's unfiltered tones to the 4x4 uptempo skid of Don't Be Shy or the veering slap-bass groove of Elevation. It's a record that shoots around corners, conjuring lazy romances and smokey vistas, lit by the nocturnal shimmer of an electrified city, streaked with gargantuan, shrill, birdlike call-and-response riffs and visited by the astral bodies of Teddy Riley, Gerald Donald, Prince.
Lithuanian based label Sodai started its journey in 2016, making it a label still in it's infancy but making a big impression. Owned by artist Gardens Of God, who started the label to create his own 'no limits' platform for his experimental sounds and projects. While at the same time a platform to give other artists the chance to also have freedom with art and music.
With releases from Raxon, Few Nolder and Alex Krell under their belt, they can announce the exciting debut from UK producer Third Son this April. 'I've been an admirer of Gardens Of Gods' music for a long time, when he asked me if I could do something for his imprint, I was more than thrilled!' adds Joseph.
'Syncope's' synths spread far and wide, making this a journey of a track, modulating and panning in and out, pushing and pulling along a percussive drive. His broad musical range can be felt in this mix, with its slightly hypnotic tones.
'Irony' has a punctuated low end, which creates a deep and dark groove. The synthetic elements in this track gain in attitude, on top of ambient pads, leading nicely into 'Bach' to close out the release. It's driving and determined bass makes the backbone of the track, with a modulating hook line, along building and expanding frequency ranges.
The whole package makes for a very strong first release from Third Son, and Sodai are excited to be welcoming him to the family.
After his debut single "Tell Me That You Love Me" on Timmion's Stylart imprint, Jonny Benavidez is back with a tighten uppish slab of Texas tinged soul. In "Let's Get Together" Jonny pulls out his best dance craze chops and delivers a positive message over the rolling northern soul rhythm track by Cold Diamond & Mink.
It doesn't matter if you get down to soul music in leather soled slicks or sneakers, this 45 should be your ticket to dance floor heaven. With these two tracks under his belt Jonny is set to continue melting hearts and moving feet anywhere you hear him on record or a live performance.
Bar by bar it starts to come clear that Jonny's gentle voice has some of the same emotive depth as legendary cats like Richard Caiton, so it's nice to know that he has fresh material in the pipeline. If you enjoy the crossover soul sounds of classic indie labels such as Ovide or San Antonio's Dynamic, you will undoubtedly get along nicely with this blast of sunshine.
Since his 2015 Night School debut E.P. Nouveauree, James Donadio - aka Prostitutes - has been traveling stages and rigs from Los Angeles to Berlin, from prestigious festival slots to slimy Glasgow basements, burning his own path through the modern techno and electronic scenes. On Aluminum Garage, Donadio is at his most playful, laying down unmistakably mid-tempo BPM early-electro jams indebted to early sampling before crashing the soundsystem with frantic, detourned Gabber. Unlike his previous LP for Spectrum Spools or indeed his Night School debut which rankled with austerity and minimalism, here Prostitutes is instinctive, multi-layered and unashamedly, brilliantly borrowing from myriad genres.
In past 3 years, Donadio has racked up critically praised releases on labels like Diagonal and CGI, refining his wares into a precise, bludgeoning toolkit that surprises and develops with each release. Aluminum Garage creeps into life with Born Wanderer, before a sub-heavy kick and bongo pattern blasts into a heavy break that feels like the earth moving from under your feet. With the utmost clarity, the track builds disparate layers - a white noise solo, warped sample piano chords straight from 1986 - into a Rave-o-matic climax, holding steady with the BPMs and immeasurably funky. Jah Elegant further blows apart any image we have of Prostitutes' music as austere' with a loping intro based on teased drum samples and a ghost MC. The Jungle break comes in by stealth before the heavy drop blasts the music into Drum + Bass momentum. It's both blistering fun and undeniably cheeky, a driving track that cuts up Remarc on a dimly lit table in suburban Ohio.
On Side 2, Errant Seagull takes the genre mess into techno territory though put through a heavily distorted grinder. Built around a skeleton of sampled bass guitar and thumping kick, the track layers drums upon drums, building in saturation until a searing synth strafes the criss-crossing rhythms. The effect is dizzying, insuring both a propellant, heavy forward motion and a grimey, angst-ridden climax. Before we're at the end of the track, the stereo field is so filthy with distortion and analogue muck the listener is desperate for a palette cleanser. Final track Shroud of Cellophane however, doesn't let up. With a ramped up BPM we're in a Cyberpunk Gabber club, nothing but 160 beats per minute, layers of frequency-tweaked noise and the light at the end of the tunnel racing towards us. It's sweet oblivion and we've earned it.
With MEL011, it is Melodies International's immense pleasure to direct their focus towards both Soul and House royalty, selecting and reissuing two of Frankie Knuckles' scarcer remixes of an all-time classic: Womack & Womack - MPB (Missin' Persons Bureau). Now known as Zekkariyas and Zeriiya, partners Cecil and Linda Womack, two eminent members in an extensive lineage of music artistry (i.e. Bobby Womack was Zekkariyas' brother, Zeriiya is Sam Cooke's daughter) engaged in one of music history's most successful and exciting singing and song writing partnerships in the early 1980s. Zeriiya says her process with Zekkariyas flowed like water, their shared complicity and talent led them to write and produce strings of chart topping hits and classic albums as Womack & Womack but also for other renowned artists of the time such as Patti Labelle, Teddy Pendergrass and the O'Jays to only name a few. The original version of Missin' Persons Bureau was first released in 1988 on 'Conscience' (Island Records), a classic album with impeccable instrumentation and thoughtful and relatable narratives that reflect on the nature of life, true friendship, love or in the case of MPB, it's subsequent loss. Following the release of the LP, Island records founder Chris Blackwell introduced the idea of getting Missin' Persons Bureau reworked by House legend Frankie Knuckles and whilst the Womacks weren't originally set on the idea of having their songs remixed by other artists, Blackwell, who Zeriiya describes as a 'record label manager seriously involved in making sure the project is what the creators really want it to be", had earned their trust. With these remixes, Frankie managed to turn a radio hit into underground club classics. The Paradise Ballroom mix conserves the essence of the original, reinterpreting the rhythm section whilst drawing it out over 8 minutes, with expert tension building and release clearly aimed at the dance floor.
Repress
We are extremely happy to welcome yet another talented crew from Italy in the Moonshine family. D-Operation Drop is a project born in 2010 thanks to the encounter of 5 university students wich found themselves sharing the same house and more importantly, love for music (In 2013 Zeemo joins the Crew, modifying the formation from 5 to 6 elements). After a couple of early collaborations, almost casual, Uniradio Cesena gives to D-Operation Drop the chance to lay the foundations of an underground music program on air twice a week. Thanks to this experience the group officially finds its frame and looks forward to its new goals such as producing, dj'ing and vj'ing. To date D-Operation Drop, after almost seven years of experience, has received support from Artists like J:Kenzo, Distance, N-Type, Icicle, Radikal Guru & many others. Releasing music with notable labels such as Lion Charge, Artikal Music UK, Subaltern and now Moonshine Recordings.
4 track 7" with a printed sleeve in his classic WAGON CHRIST alias style. "Throw your hands up" funky crate digging breaks, lush French horn anthems, Indian scat jazz samples, classic hip hop loops and downtempo sci-fi efx. "TURN", "BM" b/w "JJP" (feat. JEAN JACQUES PERREY) and "JUICE".
HOGG returns to SCRAPES with a full-length recording made at Electrical Audio. Self-Extinguishing Emission captures the physicality and energy of a HOGG performance over the last several years, while the song-writing and production show a refinement and development that is uniquely HOGG. The songs are built around a spare foundation of heavy electronic pulses punctured by occasional stabs of distorted guitar, floor tom, and biological samples. Dueling vocals of diverse sonic and emotional quality render each song into a pleasurable exploration of internal conflict within a brutal psychological atmosphere
That Which Is Not Said is an album about learning to accept oneself within, and accept the reality of all that comes from without. It's an eponymous abstract exposition on navigating the realms of intimacy that the living world inevitably unveils and their equally inevitable fallout, the panic of abandonment and the loss of desire, and dragging oneself back up the hill once the lonely valleys lose their allure. Written and recorded over the course of two years in TWINS home studio in Atlanta with various synths, samplers, drum machines, and his very own flesh-and-muscle vocals, That Which Is Not Said is the result of countless studio sessions and experiments that were refined and distilled into the songs presented here, rigorously worked out through live performances and repeated critical overhaul. The material was all conceived more or less the same way: a mood or feeling would be channeled through whatever machines were plugged in at the time and eventually a foundation would be developed upon which a loose structure would be improvised. Experimenting and
throwing around vocals came next, making up phrases and lyrics on the fly until something clicked and a pathway cleared through the fog and mist.
Caused Corruption & Spilled Blood is a soundtrack to the tragic drama of humanity's fatal flaws. Inspired by an anecdote shared across the Abrahamic faiths, the release is a meditation on humanity's destructive
potential. It forces us to confront the ugly side of our nature and pose the question, were the angels right to fear our creation would cause corruption and spill blood
Same Script, No Solution provides one answer. The sonification of 'Ordo ab Chao,' the opening track guides the listener through the process of public manipulation, providing a backtrack to the obstruction of the truth for personal gain.
Third Degree Arson touches on humanity's second vice: the affinity for intentional destruction. Is there hope against these demons of our own nature
No Divine Savior suggests not. If we cannot rely on divine intervention for our salvation, that leaves only ourselves to overpower our own vices.
Yet with the discord of the final track, Sects, the listener is reminded of the deep cultural fissures that keep us from doing so.
The Caused Corruption & Spilled Blood EP is a powerfully provocative examination of human nature, a compelling first release from the collaborative efforts of Chafik Chennouf & Katsunori Sawa.
The Safe Trip Organisation Has Been Broadcasting Their Musical Version Of A Traditional "numbers Station" On The Frequency 5079. Human Intelligence Suggests The Agent Behind Four Regular, Ear-pleasing Transmissions Is The Safe Trip Associate "artis".
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Using A Specially Modified "one-time Pad", We Were Able To Decipher These Undercover Operatives. The Ethereal, Dreamy, Arpeggio-driven Throb Of "panthera Pardus", With Its Poignant Tone And Undulating Lead Lines, Was Clearly Meant As A Warning.. The Same Could Be Said Of "cetacea", Where Melancholic Synthesizer Sounds And Meandering Electronics Gently Wind Their Way Around Hybrid Electronic/acoustic Percussion.
Panic Set In Once We Deciphered "giganthopithecus", A Composition Littered With Frequent Increases In Percussive Intensity And A Mind-altering Melodic Refrain. Our Hunch That Artis Was Ordering Immediate Action By Agents Was Confirmed By "delphinae", Whose Colourful Melodic Fluidity, Futurist New Age Construction And Layered Wooden Drum Hits Deeply Affected Our Researchers. We Ordered Our Own Agents To Raid The Station, But Artis Had Long Since Scuttled Off Into The Hazy Morning Sunshine.
The anonymous underground figure of Phoboz is associated with one colour - black. Not only is his online presence a mystery, with alternative stage names such as Doghead, Phaseliner, and Parseq. He is also connected to the well-respected Motorlab label, whose releases from the outset have been devoid of portraiture, biographic information, or textual support. Black covers, a few silver symbols of factory hardware, and nothing more.
Nonetheless, one Russian venue online has referred to Phoboz's earlier work as 'digital music for sentient people.' There's a vague connection between darkness, industry, and Russian feelings of late. Actuality is black.
These same emphases define the newest release by Phoboz on Resonance Records, entitled 'Flow' and overseen by Moscow's techno kingpin Nikita Zabelin. Forty minutes of resonant, insistent beats, straight from the gut of some abandoned factory. A heavy, even thunderous tradition fades to black, leaving the echo of prior decades to repeat itself, over and over. Even the titles of this release speak of something lost in the dark: 'Forgotten Planet' or 'Shifted Bias.' One tradition has evanesced; a future equivalent remains vague.
Phoboz gives voice to that shift from erstwhile desire to present-day drive, from industrial progress to post-industrial flow. The sounds of a forgotten culture.
eturning with renewed force after Henning Baer's unbreakable debut LP, MANHIGH's sixth release comes from a name already well-known in techno circles. Sciahri is the Italian producer whose luminous 2014 debut on the celebrated Ilian Tape's ITX experimental series immediately announced his presence, followed by another on the label and two EPs for the highly-rated Black Opal offshoot of Opal Tapes by 2016. He was simultaneously occupied with his ambient-leaning UNKNOT duo with Emanuele Porcinai, better known as WSR on Samuel Kerridge's Contort label. 2017 saw the launch of his Sublunar imprint and a tripartite release from him featuring a more streamlined sound than the craggy broken-beat style familiar from Ilian Tape. Sciahri's MANHIGH EP opens with 'Demur', showcasing his most dour, industrial sounds, scraping metallic highs against the unrelenting impacts of reverberating kicks and subbass drone. 'Forbidden' holds its forces more in reserve, the cycling, mechanical soundscape maintaining a spacious, ambient aspect, worked against a broken rhythm more implied than explicitly stated. Returning to full intensity for 'Reliance', he tightly coils the core elements around deftly-deployed percussion and a militaristic, pounding rhythm in the bass and kicks. Henning Baer's reinterpretation of 'Demur' saves little from the original apart from its overriding tension, instead adding a layer of nearly-tonal pads and an unremitting acidic bass throb pushing forwards inexorably.
Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London
For a label that wasn't around long, Strata East achieved the same sort of label recognition that Impulse! or Blue Note managed to build. In other words, you knew what you were getting when you bought a record on the label, even if you didn't know the names on the outside of the cover.
"Don't Look Back" is an album led by American saxophonist Harold Vick recorded in 1974 and released in the wake of Harold Vick's recovery from a heart attack, which may partially explain the passion with which he approaches his playing throughout.
One of the best-ever Strata East sessions! The album's a masterfully conceived session by reed player Harold Vick - best known to the world as the funky tenorist from albums by John Patton and Jack McDuff in the 60s, but emerging here as an incredibly sensitive soul jazz player, capable of turning out some incredibly sophisticated and emotional compositions. Vick produced and wrote all the material on the album. A treasure all the way through. (Dusty Groove, Inc.)
Ein 44 Minuten starkes Instrumental-Album inklusive eines Akere Vocal-Features.
Es ist Ansichtssache, ob ein Antlitz unfassbar schön oder besonders verstörend sein kann, sodass der bloße Anblick den Betrachter seiner Handlungsfähigkeit beraubt. Man sollte sich jedoch nie einzig von einer Erscheinung erstarren lassen.
Also heißt es:
Augen schließen und die Schönheit einer Mischung aus zeitlosen Vibes, warmen Klängen und verschobenen Rhythmen irgendwo zwischen Trip Hop, Boom Bap und G-Funk auf sich wirken zu lassen. Die Reise führt durch Höhen und Tiefen, beeinflusst von Musik aller Himmelsrichtungen und Sonderbarkeiten verschiedener Genres.
L One´s Medusa ist durchaus in der Lage den Hörer in den Bann zu ziehen. Jedoch ergibt sich dadurch keine langfristige Betäubung, sondern vielmehr ein Moment, der sämtliche Wahrnehmung der äußeren Welt an einen Ort unendlicher Möglichkeiten lenkt. Wo es hingeht und was passiert, bleibt jedem selbst überlassen. Quasi ein Mythos!
Medusa ist nach der Farska LP bereits die zweite Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem jungen Münchner HipHop Produzenten und dem jungen Münchner Label Beat Art Department und erscheint in Kooperation mit dem renommierten HipHop Label 58Beats, dem Label der Band Main Concept.
The artist run gallery Schloss, inhabiting the space of a defunct Porsche repair shop in Oslo, has birthed a record label under the same name. Run by the visual artist Ida Ekblad and the DJ/ producer Karima Furuseth. The first release is by Londoner Max Fowler,who has a certain affinity for ageing samplers and dusty samples.The B-side features a remix by Stockholm mainstay and, among other, The Trilogy Tapes-affiliate Samo DJ.
Mixed and mastered by Matt Karmil.
Mercury Music Prize album of the year 2014
Deluxe remastered gate-fold double-LP with three bonus tracks (black vinyl version).
Noted for their hypnotic melodies, visceral bass-lines and tidal rhythm, Manchester-based leftfield piano trio GoGo Penguin are pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner. Their music has been described as acoustic-electronica but they draw equally on rock, jazz
and minimalism, game soundtracks and glitchy-electronica to create their unique music. They are now one of the most successful bands in contemporary music, topping the jazz charts globally and playingsold out shows around the world and have just announced their biggest tour yet including the Royal Albert Hall in London (Nov 12).
Originally released in March 2014, v2.0, was their breakthrough album and the first to feature the rebooted line-up with new bassist Nick Blacka, pianist Chris Illingworth and drummer Rob Turner. It was named a Mercury Prize album of the year 2014 alongside albums from Damon Albarn, Young Fathers and Jungle.
The extended version was first released on 2xLP for RSD 18 on clear vinyl. This version features the same extended tracklist on black vinyl.
Newly remastered for vinyl (by the original engineer)
2xLP deluxe gatefold edition.
v2.0 includes the hit singles, Hopopono, Garden Dog Barbecue and Kamaloka as well as the remarkable One Percent and live favourite To Drown in You. Included here for the first time is theincessant 'Break' featuring a killer groove that offers a notdto the one and only Squarepusher, 'Wash', a haunting slice of the band at their most ambient and the wonderful 'In Amber', the first track that the new line-up wrote completely together.
On The 50th Anniversary Of The Band's Inception At An Event In Harlem, Ny To Commemorate Malcolm X's Birthday On 19 May 1968, Influential Spoken Word Artists, Poets And Commentators The Last Poets Are Set To Make A Glorious And Relevant Return With Their First Album In Over 20 Years, 'understand What Black Is'.
Produced By Ben Lamdin (nostaglia 77) And Brighton Legend Prince Fatty, Whose Speciality Is Traditional Reggae And Dub Production's, 'understand What Black Is' Is A Ten-track Album Which Speaks Of A Revolutionary Struggle Defined By Both Race And Identity, That Has Never Sounded More Relevant. Released On Studio Rockers, There Will Also Be An Accompanying Single Featuring Remixes Of The Title Track "understand What Black Is" By Mala (south London Collective Digital Mystikz) And Uk Dance Music Innovators Dego And Kaidi.
Since The Initial Line-up Of Dahveed Nelson, Gylan Kain And Felipe Luciano Formed In East Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, The Last Poets Have Produced Under Various Guises Over The Subsequent Years. However, It Was Their Seminal Output, Namely 1970's 'the Last Poets' Under Both Umar Bin Hassan And Abiodun Oyewole That Secured Their Legacy, Becoming One Of The Most Important Influences In Early Hip Hop.
Throughout The Last 20 Years, The Band Have Remained Largely On Hiatus. But Their Influence Could Still Be Felt With Their Tracks Being Sampled By The Notorious B.i.g, Nwa, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr.dre And Snoop Dogg. Umar Has Recorded Various Solo Albums And Featured On Common And Kanye West's Grammy Nominated 'the Corner'. Abiodun Appeared On The Red Hot Organization's Album, Stolen Moments Which Was Named "album Of The Year" By Time. He Also Conducts Weekly Open House Poetry Readings, Where He Constructively Critiques Upcoming Poets, Helping To Nurture Them. He Has Also Conducted Classes At Columbia University, Where He Teaches Creative Writing.
The Inauguration Of Donald Trump As Us President In 2016 Inspired Hassan And Oyewole To Resurrect The Group To Create A Brand New Record, Modern And Edgy, And Deeply Relevant And Reflective Of Our Times.
Tracks On 'understand What Black Is' Include 'how Many Bullets', Which Bridles With Defiance As Oyewole Works Through A Litany Of Injustices Suffered By Black People In The Us: " You've Tried
To Blow My Brains Out With Bigotry, Chopped Off My Wings, So I Couldn't Fly Free, And Dared Me To Be Me, Took My Drum, Broke My Hands, Yanked My Roots Right Up Out Of The Land, And Riddled My Soul With Jesus" 'what I Want To See' Describes A Utopia - A Refuge From Hurt And Those Who'd Make "our Vision Blurred, And Our Faith Obscure", Whilst The Title Track 'understand What Black Is' Aims To Transcend Ethnicity: "understand What Black Is....it's The Source From Which All Things Come...black Is A Hero, Not A Villain."
The Album Even Takes Reference From Prince's 2003 Album Of Instrumentals, 'news', Which Hassan Drew Comparisons From With His Own Childhood Experiences: "that Poem Took Me About A Year To Write....i Just Kept Writing And Writing But Not Getting Too Far And Then I Heard That Album And The Musicianship Was Amazing. I Was Left Wondering If It Was Jazz, Classical, Rock Or Maybe Something New But All Those Images That I Write About Came To Me From Listening To That Album. I Loved Prince In That Movie Purple Rain Because My Father Was A Talented Musician But He Was Into Brutalising Mama At Times And In The Movie There's A Jerome And My Name Is Jerome, So It Was Like He Was Telling My Life Story As Well."
The Album Acts As A Body Of Work Between Individual Members Each Speaking Of Their Own Personal Journeys, But Feeding Into The Much Larger Narrative Of Struggle And Oppression, Alongside A Fervent Hunger For Social Change. These Are Struggles And Tests Of Personal Resolve That Have Directly Shaped And Moulded The Bands' Unique Sound Over The Course Of An Impressive 50 Years, And Their Powerful And Influential Commentary Remains As Relevant As Ever.
Ismo Laakso's very well produced and spaceously mixed Ofelia (from 1996-99) is a blend of industrial, avant garde, modern classic, bleeps and clicks. The narrative of this album sometimes undefinably blurs the lines between recorded material & samples, and also juxtapose the main grooves with highly psychedelic sound effects and (beautiful) melodies.
- A1: Pollen
- A2: Chowsy In Upstyled Onesy Minor
- A3: The Perfect Adult Man
- A4: Le´ Cave´ Isnt It Funny To Think Once Apon A Time People Thought The World Was Blue White Flat And Square
- A5: 808 Frapé
- B1: Reecard Farche The Torture Of Credo Mutwa And The Theft Of The Necklace Of Mysteries_Noel
- B2: Industrial Kingpins Und Drachoen
- B3: Sharkblood Sure The Sharks
- B4: Golife Refracto Relationé
- B5: Attilas Own Photos From The Shoot
Anklepants Introduces His Brand New Album For Detroit Undergroud, A Collection Of Ten Cuts, Made With His Very Own Arsenal Of Digital And Hardware Toys, Most Of Them Self Made And Customised For His Purposes. This Multi Faceted Artist Creates A Blend Of Twisted Ryhthms, Synthetic Melodies And Weird Textures And Noises, Yet Danceable Stuff But With Heavy Focus In Experimentation And Risk.
Pollen Opens The Release With A Weird Arabic Style Riff And Arpeggiated Clean Synths Over A Simple Beat, Until More Melodic Layers Complete The Equation.
Chowsey In Upstyled Onesy Minor Follows With Sampled And Morphed Traditional Instruments, Laying Over Destructed Beats And Rythms.
The Perfect Adult Man Relies On Atmospheric Stabs, Four Four Kick And Analogue Bubble Bassline, Dark, Grey And Melancholic.
'lé Cavé_isnt It Funny To Think Once Apon A Time People Thought The World Was Blue White Flat And Squaré' Is Made Of Twisted Samples, Asymetrical Grooves, Organic Instruments Decimated And Multiple Sound Layers.
808 Frapé Is An Homage To The Classic Drum Machine, Electro Shaped Drum Patterns, Floating Sounds And Crispy Metalic Glitches Dance With Random Sequences And Bleeps In A Robotic Exercise.
Reecard Farche The Torture Of Credo Mutwa And The Theft Of The Necklace Of Mysteries_noel Goes Again To Weird Random Bleepy Fields, Alien Grooves, Heavy Sound Processing And Glitched Details.
Industrial Kingpins Und Drachoen Is Dark, Obscure Number, Clear Rythms, Strings And Resonant Bassline Collide, The Groove Transforms To Broken Beats After The Break Bringing New Life To The Overall Feel.
Sharkblood, Sure The Sharks, Repeats This Phrase In Different Pitches Over A Solid Kick Pattern While More Vocal Layers Are Added Progressively In A Voice Madness.
Golife_refracto Relationé Again Plays With Samples In A Mad Style, Altering Every Parameter, Creating Granular Efects, Destroying The Audio Files Creating An Asymetric Tune.
Attila's Own Photos From The Shoot It's The Epilogue, In A Relaxed Mood, Sound Textures, Various String Samples Melting In Different Pitches And Crunchy Atmospheres.
Division of Laura Lee are a musical tornado from Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2003, Lovitt and Division of Laura Lee teamed up to release the compilation album 97-99, which compiled early singles and hard to find tunes. Now, twenty years later, it's time to do it again. This will be the band's first release since 2013's full-length, Tree.
'Year 2018. To be fair, we haven't made an awful lot of noise lately. Our last album went by quite unnoticed, and some folks even thought we'd closed shop. To straighten things out we decided to record some new sounds.
The first tune revealed is called Hollow Pricks. A song about staying true to your beliefs. Written in the same fashion as usual, just like we have been doing it for twenty fast years. We are also thrilled that it is released in the US by Lovitt, based in Washington, D.C., our home away from home. The world needs a new haircut. This just might be the first song from our new album.'
-- Jonas Gustafsson
Per Sta°lberg - Guitar,Vocals Jonas Gustafsson - Bass,Vocals Viktor Lager - Guitar ha°kan Johansson - Drums
Osaka based producer 7FO. Having previously released a cassette on RVNG International, and a 7'' single on Bokeh Versions in 2017, this is the Japanese producer's debut full length vinyl release. The tracks, recorded between 2012 and 2017, have been tweaked, remastered and recorded to vinyl for the first time.
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The mysterious figure recorded the tracks at home, processing guitar sounds, using a sampler, synthesizer and junk equipment. Following in the footsteps of the ambient giants of his native lands, 7FO's music continues this illustrious heritage whilst offering something fresh, modern and beautifully rendered. He describes his own sound as 'gorgeous sustained tones and dreamlike oscillations that drift through the inorganic/electronic world reverberating through our subconscious creating sonic fables in our minds'.
The 12'' comes with artwork designed by label head & visual artist Jack Hardwicke. To accompany the release Greek filmmaker George Kountouras, who also collaborated on the artwork, has directed a gorgeous video for the title track 'Moment'.
2018 repress of the debut full length LP from Spencer Doran and Ryan Carlile's Visible Cloaks project. Initially recorded in 2013 and issued on cassette by Sun Ark in 2014 (as Cloaks), this first offering uses conceptual processes to weave many of the same threads as their later work; synthetic FM tones, tuned mallet percussion, and electronically modulated voice, all arranged in a gossamer web, spun with neon electronics. On this release the duo set off on the sonic journey they are still on today, refracting their influences through East West feedback loops, augmenting traditions with technology. Remastered 45rpm DMM version with additional surprises!
Enjoy the new and unformated dub style from Concrete Elephant... Sound builder of the everyday life... Sampled and replayed through the filtaz.
It's rare to come across a debut album that delights and surprises in equal measure, but that's exactly what you can expect from Human Call, the first full-length excursion from daydreaming dancefloor fusionists Earthboogie.The East London-based duo of Izak Gray and Nicola Robinson has previous form when it comes to creating beautiful, funk-fuelled fusions of soundsystem-ready rhythms, humid instrumentation and intergalactic audio explorations. To date, they've released a pair of fine EPs on Leng, both of which did a splendid job in showcasing their unique musical vision.Even so, this vision has never been clearer than it is on Human Call, a vibrant eight-track missive that fixes the sticky tropical cheeriness of African and South American dance music - be it Afro-disco, Afro-funk or samba - with a wide range of complimentary sounds, styles and influences, from spacey analogue electronics, sun-kissed Balearica and hazy West Coast jazz-rock, to chunky dub disco, snappy retro-futurist house and bouncy, dub-fuelled club workouts.Throughout, Gray and Robinson showcase an impressive level of musicianship, variously combining crunchy drum machine hits and dusty old synthesizers with razor-sharp electric and acoustic guitars, rich bass, cascading saxophone solos and hazy, life-affirming vocal harmonies.The result is a string of memorable highlights, from the sticky tropical-house-meets-dub disco futurism of 'Human Call' and fuzzy disco-funk righteousness of opener 'Overground', to the post-punk disco jauntiness of 'Stargazing' and samba-infused dancefloor bliss of Nina Miranda collaboration 'Silken Moon'. Cheery, absorbing, imaginative and hugely entertaining, Human Call offers a perfect snapshot of Earthboogie's distinctive musical world.
A thrilling 9-song set, Murmurations is as perfectly pitched for headphones as it is for clubs, named after giant cloud formations of starlings and themed around the stunning emergent behaviors that appear within them. To mirror these movements in the sonic landscape and visuals of Murmurations, SMD's James Ford and Jas Shaw collaborated with the celebrated Hackney-based vocal collective The Deep Throat Choir, as well as creative directors Kazim Rashid of ENDLESSLOVESHOW (Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawk) and Carri Munden.
Finding time in between Ford's work as a producer and Jas' club gigging last year, the duo arranged a session in Shaw's countryside studio. Via an introduction from a friend of Ford's wife, The Deep Throat Choir's director Luisa Gerstein and SMD began swapping some production and melodic ideas. They decided to bring the whole East London-based choir into the studio to experiment, and the results were intense. Jas says, 'Listening to them moving their voices around a tone, altering the timbre, making chords, was like working with an incredible new synthesiser.' Rashid and Munden explore related ideas centered on kinetic energy and communal movement throughout the visuals of Murmurations. Rashid says of the collaboration, 'We were both having discussions around the purity of collective human experience and how transcendental this can be. Techno and the dance-floor is one of the last true expressions of this euphoria.'
From the beat-less introduction 'Boids' onwards you can hear uncanny patterns and sounds rising up from the sea of voices -- not traditional chords or harmonies, but complex interference patterns that play tricks on the mind and merge perfectly with SMD's distinctive synth tonalities and instinctive dancefloor nous. At times you might hear hints of Bulgarian choral music, or Cocteau Twins, or avant-garde composers like Iannis Xenakis or Pauline Oliveiros - but really, thanks to the creative freedom of SMD's working methods, it is a sound completely of its own, something all too rare in an age of retro and reference.
Ford and Shaw still have the same love of pure sound, human harmonies and electronic possibilities that they did when they first met at university, and it's clear that their career path has allowed them to nurture this love and express it as vividly as ever before.
Matt Edwards' newly launched reissue label, R-Time Records, prepares its third release, the second instalment of Sir Lord Comixx 'Retroactive'.
R-Time Records shines a light on classic tracks that didn't always get the recognition they deserve, with the label's first two releases coming from Sir Lord Comixx and FBK. Real name Amoon Andrews, Sir Lord Commix's discography has been in high demand for many years, evident by soaring market prices. The A-side of 'Retroactive (Part Two)' features two tracks from a rare untitled release on 'Hard Up', whilst the B-side is made up of 'Chicago Jazz' from the 'Funk Box EP' on Eukahouse (under his a.Moon' moniker in '98) and 'Motionvibe' from 'Azid Jazz EP' on Cynic in '05.
Cosmic synths join wonky arps in 'UR My Omen' before moving into the more up-tempo 'Fog Horn' with its robust drums, off-beat bleeps and filtered effects. 'Chicago Jazz' takes things into deeper territories with crystalline Rhodes and jazz-influenced samples until 'Motionvibe' concludes the package with its syncopated structure comprised of twisted sounds, murky atmospherics and effervescent nuances.
Finally Copenema drops on vinyl. This special limited edition vinyl EP especially for those summer beach bar vibes.
The EP includes the much loved Te Faz Bem which became a Balearic classic in Ibiza last summer after DJ Harvey regularly played it at his residency 'Mercury Rising' at Pikes . This caught the attention of Pete Tong who played it on his BBC Radio 1 show multiple times.Deixa Música Tocar (Let The Music Play) on the B side is the second single (currently unreleased) and carries on the same classic Balearic vibe from Te Faz Bem.
Super strong remixes from Riccio & Kenneth Bager complete the 12' nicely. The single representing 'the other side of Ibiza' is receiving strong support from Pete Tong, DJ Harvey, Ruf Dug, Peaking Lights, Alfredo, DJ Pippi, Phli Mison, Jon Sa Trinxa and other Balearic inspired DJs and echoes a renewed interest in Latin and Brazilian inspired sounds across the beach bars of the Mediterranean in summer 2017. Copenema (Copenama = Copenhagen Vs Ipanema) is a collaborative project between artists from Denmark and Brazil with the album partly recorded in the living room of Brazilian star Rodrigo Sha in Rio Di Janeiro, and finished at the legendary Volmers studio in Copenhagen.
Copenema is the latest incarnation of Music For Dreams' label boss Kenneth Bager in collaboration with artists and friends Rodrigo Sha, Danish composer Troels Hammer and producer Thomas Schultz from Ambala. The lead single 'Te Faz Bem' was the last track recorded during the sessions and will be the first single released on Music For Dreams this autumn.
Greenvision is the collaborative brainchild of two ESP Institute artists, Juan Ramos and Luca Trentini AKA Trent, both longtime fixtures of Berlin's infamous playground known as Cocktail d'Amore. Separately, these two explore their own very personal avenues of expression, putting their time in the trenches and endlessly polishing their works (this makes Juan's third release with the label), but when their efforts overlap we're gifted a view into their uncanny synergy. Juan and Trent channel an exorbitant amount of smoke-fueled creativity, building layers upon layers into music so dense that the bulk of their studio time might then be spent navigating and formalizing their output into tangible tracks. Greenvison's collective debut with the ESP Institute showcases three intense cerebral workouts, Banana Paradiso, Rambutan and The Color Of Maracuja, an array of experiments pulling from all the corners of the duo's imagination—it is disorienting, cacophonous, introverted and psychedelic, but at the same time playful, melodic, euphoric and undoubtably arresting—guaranteed to induce hallucinations under proper circumstances. We welcome the induction of Greenvision to the ESP Institute, and with us as your guide, we welcome you to accompany on our descent into their abyss. Try not to get lost.
CALIBRO 35's new single "Psycheground" flipped by the unreleased Polymeri (Afro-Utopia Vers) on limited edition 45 vinyl.
Psycheground is the new single from the Italian cinematic funk cult combo Calibro 35 available on a super limited 45 vinyl and digital download on May 04. Taken from their heavily acclaimed new album DECADE, Psycheground is an afro-funk stormer that sounds like Tony Allen involved in writing a score for a vintage Hollywood production. The new single is flipped by an alternative and hypnotic afro/tropical version of Polymeri. Don't sleep on it, all Calibro 35's previous 45s went sold out in a few days.
CALIBRO 35 enjoys a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent band around. They have been sampled by Dr. Dre on his Compton album, Jay-Z Love Child & Damon Albarn, they shared stages with the likes of Roy Ayers, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sharon Jones, Thundercat, Headhunters and as unique musicians they've collaborated with, amongst others PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish and Stewart Copeland and Nic Cester (The Jet). Described by Rolling Stone magazine's as the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing, that happened to Italy in the last years, Calibro 35 now count on a number of aficionados worldwide which includes VIP's fans such as Dj Food (Ninja Tune), Mr Scruff and Huey Morgan (Fun Lovin' Criminals) among others.
Foxy Red Recordings is proud to announce their first vinyl release consisting of four deep & funky House tunes by TiTLEZ!
If you're up for the warmth, depth, and feel of the classic House sounds of Chicago - look no further! TiTLEZ's new EP delivers the goods while going for a diverse, organic, and eclectic productionapproach. You can expect punchy drums combined with live(ly) percussion samples, jazzy piano chords, and spacey pads, among otherstudio trickery.
The tracks on TiTLEZ's new EP are carefully produced and naturally dynamic, not only mesmerizing the audience with beautiful
soundscapes but also telling powerful stories in a heartfelt, honest, and emotional way. 'Family Affairs' is all about taking the listener on an atmospheric journey and exploring the needs and desires of human beings... while bringing massive grooves to the floor!
Side A features 'Longing' and 'Love', two tracks that focus on the story of love and loss, making for a dreamy, spacey, and nostalgic tone and stretching out the line between love that imprisons and the one that sets free. On side B, 'Fame' and 'Richness' tell the story of wealth and recognition, putting a modern twist on the classical notion of these concepts.
TiTLEZ is a driven, talented, and diverse music producer and his sound is influenced by Afrobeat, Latin grooves and jazz, which all play a vital role on his tracks.
As a result of his kaleidoscopic influences, TiTLEZ developed a unique blend of deep house with a tech and afro twist with an edgy and authentic feel. His work is all about telling stories and conveying that deep, warm feeling to his audience. TiTLEZ's tracks stand out for their diverse approach and catchy vibes, showcasing world-class production aesthetics and excellent musicianship from this promising artist.
Over the course of four unforgettable EPs released on Throne of Blood since 2013, Hardway Brother Sean Johnston has cultivated a broad international following for his singular brand of dancefloor fodder.
Best known as one half of legendary DJ team A Love From Outer Space alongside the one-and-only Andrew Weatherall, Johnston's roots in the dance music scene include a clutch of leftfield 90's era bangers on labels like Sabres of Paradise and Flashcomm. Beyond his original output, Johnston has also remixed the likes of Man Power, The Asphodells, Museum Of Love, Split Secs, Clandestino and many more.
The Laser EP is peaktime Hardway Bros business. 'Friedman Feedback Loop Revision' (a nod to TOB boss James Friedman's highly-valued opinions) is a masterclass in efficient simplicity, elevating a few basic loops into an exhilarating 8 minute monster. 'The Laser' rounds out the a- side with a classic electro rhythm/bass/vocal sample combo could easily have landed in retro territory. Instead, Hardway Bros easily flips a clutch of oldschool tricks into an utterly modern execution. The b-side finds TOB's label manager Max Pask injecting 'Friedman Feedback Loop Revision' with his love for all things analog and Italo. With his impressive collection of synths brought to life by Chinatown Records' Brennan Green, the song is transformed into an epic set- closer that's already devasting dancefloors like Berlin's Panorama Bar. The EP closes with 'Afro Sirene,' a midtempo groover with melodic arpeggios built for the discerning DJ's warm-up set.
Born in 1990 to a truck manufacturer in Nara Japan, Youtaro was attracted to HIPHOP early on. First engaging with the culture through break dancing and then by making beats by 2010. In 2012 he began to release his MPC2000XL beats on Bandcamp -beats with heavy basslines and rough samples, described as a CHILL that intoxicates.
"Theoretics, the theoretical part of a science or an art. Hugely inspired by early house & garage, Berlin based Nat Wendell serves up 3 raw-emotive, straight to the point house joints to launch his new imprint; Depth of My Soul - which is his art in physical form. With swinging snares and it's subby bass; "The Way (Part 2)" is an energetic, club ready track with a driving kick & consistent lead that's progresses as the track builds. Theoretics kicks off the B-side and delves deeper whilst still maintaining its dancefloor-ready appeal. The subtle euphoric vocal samples & prominent chords give you something to hold onto, whilst the rhythm keeps you moving. Providing you with a more soulful offering, "Release Your Soul" is reminiscent of a classic 96' style house track, with all the right elements to match. Snappy snares, smooth chords and a warm baseline.
Aus Music follow up a string of exclusive releases from Primitive Trust with Tee Mango (one half of PT) Having released on Clone in 2017 Tee Mango comes back to AUS for his second EP in as many years. EP#2 carries forth much of the the same classiness he's well know for. A side 'Come A Little Closer samples a personal favourite 'Make It Last Forever' by Inner Life which is paired with playful drum rhythms and smooth rhodes chords. Prototypical opts for punchy drums and a swinging bass, a track that would work as well peak time as it would warming up. Wazoo rounds off the perectly balanced EP a deep cruiser with a pinch of acid.
Red hot drum lead track backed by boiling point late night to early morning long haul truck driving or dancing music. Shazam!
Vital Sales Points:
(Drum track playing loudly)
The saws and sines have aligned! It's HOW007 time.
The release in front of your face is called The 417. It is three songs by Daniel Savio released on 12" vinyl strictly limited to 200 copies + an everlasting (we'll see how that works out) digital version of those same songs.
This recording was conjured up on machinery people are known to touch and sell. MK1 menu diving desktop stuff. Stuff that is ten years old, stuff that may be older. Stuff that purrs, rocks, bounces and skates. Machine prototypes on trade show floors will not be able to make songs like these. Unless you would hand them to Daniel which would lead to all sorts of inconsistencies in time.
Last year Daniel Savio's "Race To The Bottom" and his "Plejjern från Plejaderna" album took Swedish house music by storm. It is now with great delight that we hand you this 12", acclaimed by well-informed DJs. Music centred around feelings for what is in front of our faces at the moment. HOW007, get in while you can.
- A1: Youaresurrounded (The Intro)
- A2: This Is Life (Featuring Rapper Big Pooh & Sly Johnson)
- A3: Boom Bap Love (Featuring Lisa Spada)
- A4: Leiho (Featuring Pumpkin & Sly Johnson)
- B1: N.t. (Featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow)
- B2: Lost Art (Featuring Finale & Sly Johnson)
- B3: Danceonitifucan
- C1: Ame Son (Featuring Tiemoko)
- C2: F___ It (Featuring Sly Johnson & Saga)
- C3: Raponitifucan
- D1: Retrograde (Steven Beatberg's Raw Mixxx With Sly Johnson)
- D2: Run To The Sun (Featuring Elodie Rama) D.b.b.s.m. Remix
- D3: La Dune Noire (With Dilouya)
From Hip Hop to Soul, then from Soul to Beatmaking, Sly Johnson never really changed universe. Today, it's immersed in the mechanics with processors and printed circuits that we find him, under the alias of TAGi, producer-beatmaker who, for the occasion, has joined the services of Steven Beatberg. It's together, in artistic autarchy with the only presence of softwares, samplers and sequencers, that they have built their pieces in the light of their computer screens.
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After three EP dominated by instrumentals, the duo finally chose to realise their dream: to craft a multi-voice album where customized production for each guest would guide the creative process.
Rapper Big Pooh, the former member of the Little Brother group (With Phonte & 9th Wonder), the contemporary soul of Lisa Spada, but also the rapist #madeinfrance Pumpkin (worthy descendant of MC Solaar, Fabe ...), multi-faceted Georgia Anne Muldrow, the MC Finale, the new rising wave of artists of the Hip-Hop scene in Detroit. Tiemoko from Paris, Saga an MC who follows the pure tradition of the New York Hip-Hop, the very smooth-jazzy Elodie Rama and Dilouya, the producer of the previous record of Sly (The Mic Buddah), are of this casting where men and women share the roles and where TAGi as soon as the mic presents itself to him, becomes again Sly Johnson for some refrains, choruses or solo rereading of the sublime "Retrograde" of James Blake.
Guided by Hip Hop since the 90's until today, worked in great detail, YOUARESURROUNDED highlights vintage keyboards on granular rhythms, injecting a lascivious Soul, P-funk, electro futuristic or melancholic in black and white touches on 13 tracks that are as atmospheric as they are emotional.
As the title suggests, Rejuvenate marks a rebirth for South London musician Paul White. Abandoning sampling altogether, White wrote, played and produced all of Rejuvenate's music himself, and the result is an album of playful, psychedelic pop.
It would have been far easier for White - previously described as a 21st century DJ Shadow, often compared to Madlib and best known as Danny Brown's go-to producer - to construct an album of loop-based, hip-hop-orientated beats. Instead, taking an ambitious left turn, he worked on honing his songwriting and instrument playing abilities and embarked on creating a totally original record worthy of sitting alongside those he'd usually sample.
Rejuvenate's broad sonic palette includes cosmic rock, ambient, electronic, jazz, folk and more. Retaining a groove-heavy, psychedelic aesthetic throughout, White successfully melds these various influences in to his most cohesive, fully-realised offering yet.
Paul White is joined on this sonic trip by a trio of likeminded souls; British-Jamaican singer Denai Moore adds heartwarming, crystalline vocals to the aptly named Set The Tone and See Through, Zimbabwean musician and poet Shungudzo (aka Shun) shares nuggets of wisdom on Spare Gold and dreamy, melting vocals for Ice Cream Man. White reunites with his sister, Sarah Williams White, and the pair draw on childhood memories for Laugh With Me and All Around.
Paul White's previous output includes a treasure trove of mostly instrumental solo records, plus collaborations with Charli XCX, Jehst, Homeboy Sandman, Guilty Simpson, Jamie Woon, Obongjayar, Eric Biddines (as Golden Rules) and Open Mike Eagle. More recently, White reconnected with frequent collaborator Danny Brown, producing most of the Detroit rap maverick's mind-blowing Atrocity Exhibition album.
Ryuji Takeuchi provides Instruments Of Discipline with an EP of noisy, hypnotic tracks, ranging from giddy, stomping, left-field techno to melancholic ambience; the EP's title 'One's Sentiment' provides a thoughtful angle to this at times cacophonous collection, for while they are bristling with noise there is something contemplative about the pieces, expressed in a way that suggests more than one thought trying to take life at the same moment, Ryuji finds space for conflicting voices both spatially and in terms of mood, the first three tracks, 'Ambivalence', 'Sadness' & 'Sorrow' crawl with competing elements, synth lines drool over and meld with throbbing kick patterns, anxiety & excitement are tightly wound in focus as tracks build and develop, leaving the listener to navigate these abstract planes, intoxicated; while the final track 'Regret' is a compelling piece of noisy, ambient minimalism that allows for an austere pause after the eruption of the initial works. It becomes evident that Ryuji's journey as a producer, through periods of hard-techno, deep-minimalism and the more abrasive ventures on HueHelix, has created a powerful and nuanced voice that is fully on display in 'One's Sentiment'.
Ryuji Takeuchi - Artist Bio
Ryuji Takeuchi (Local Sound Network / LSN, HueHelix) was born in Osaka, in the late 90s, he moved to the United States where he discovered Techno, House and Electro Music, influencing his desire to produce & DJ. His first wave of releases on LK Records, Arms, Mastertraxx, FK Records, SWR, Innervate, I.CNTRL, Impact Mechanics, Silent Steps, GSR & Brood Audio to name a few, were straight-up, hard techno,
In 2011, Ryuji started his own imprint, 'Local Sound Network / LSN', a platform for a new generation of both Japanese & global electronic music & later on, in collaboration with Tomohiko Sagae, Go Hiyama & Kazuya Kawakami, the label, 'HueHelix / HHX', developing further the voice of Japanese techno & experimental electronics, with a focus on distorted, industrial sounds.
In 2012, Ryuji launched the 'Local Sound Network Digital Solutions / LSNDS' series born from a desire to both discover and introduce a wider range of electronic music to the world.
Ryuji Takeuchi provides us with an EP of noisy, hypnotic tracks, ranging from giddy, stomping, left-field techno to melancholic ambience; the EP's title 'One's Sentiment' provides a thoughtful angle to this at times cacophonous collection, for while they are bristling with noise there is something contemplative about the pieces, expressed in a way that suggests more than one thought trying to take life at the same moment, Ryuji seems to find space for conflicting voices both spatially and in terms of mood, the first three tracks, 'Ambivalence', 'Sadness' & 'Sorrow' seem to crawl with competing elements, synth lines drool over and meld with throbbing kick patterns, anxiety & excitement are tightly wound in focus as tracks build and develop, leaving the listener to navigate these abstract planes, intoxicated; while the final track 'Regret' is a compelling piece of noisy, ambient minimalism that allows for a pause after the . It is testament to Ryuji's journey as a producer through periods of hard-techno, electronic minimalism
Japanese vocal performer Hatis Noit will release her enigmatic EP Illogical Dance via Erased Tapes worldwide on 23rd March 2018.
The arresting 4-track record creates unique song-worlds with transcendent vocal interpretations that at once deconstruct and recombine Western Classical, Japanese folk and nature's own ambience atmosphere. Illogical Dance also features Björk-collaborators Matmos, who were so impressed with Hatis Noit's recordings, they volunteered to edit the lead track Illogical Lullaby.
Hailing from the distant Shiretoko, a small town in Hokkaido, which is the largest island in north Japan, Hatis Noit's accomplished range is astonishingly self-taught, inspired by everything she could find from Gagaku — Japanese classical music — and operatic styles, Bulgarian and Gregorian chanting, to avant-garde and pop vocalists. The sounds she created on Illogical Dance, co-produced by Haruhisa Tanaka and Matmos, bring to mind the experimental vocal patterns of Meredith Monk with the attentive production of Holly Herndon.
It was at the age of 16, during a trek in Nepal to the Buddha's birthplace, when she realised singing was her calling. While staying at a women's temple in Lumbini, one morning on a walk Hatis Noit heard someone singing. On further investigation it was a female monk singing Buddhist chants, alone. The sound moved her so intensely she was instantly aware of the visceral power of the human voice, a primal and instinctive instrument that connects us to the very essence of humanity, nature and our universe.
The name Hatis Noit itself is taken from Japanese folklore, meaning the stem of the lotus flower. The lotus represents the living world, while its root the spirit world, therefore Hatis Noit is what connects the two. For Hatis Noit, music represents the same netherworld with its ability to move and transport us to the other side, the past, a memory, our subconscious. It is the same for Illogical Dance, a set of transformative songs that taps into our most primal instincts.
The human voice is our oldest, most primal yet most powerful instrument. I use it to describe nature's many sounds, a language that isn't logical. Yet it forms a beautiful conversation that isn't restricted to words like the human language is. I want my music to remind us of that.' — Hatis Noit
Wanting to interpret and mimic the sounds Hatis Noit hears in nature, Illogical Dance is as unpredictable, beautiful and mysterious as the world around us. Each track is made up from multi layers of vocals, all improvised and without words, before being carefully pieced together. Astonishingly no samples are used throughout, even the sound of crushing leaves came from Hatis Noit's own vocal chords.
The result is a stunning array of sound sculptures that see her switching between multiple styles with great ease. From the sweet operatics on Illogical Lullaby, the manipulated vocal loops duplicating electronic production on Anagram c.i.y. to the primordial chanting call to arms of Angelus Novus, a 10-minute odyssey that features whispering and leaves crunching, it showcases Hatis Noit's full range and introduces a truly original artist.
Previously only available in Japan, Illogical Dance will receive a worldwide release on 23rd March 2018 including a first edition on 12' vinyl. After participating in a ceremony for memorial and appreciation tailored to the withdrawal of the evacuation area in Fukushima on 31st March 2017, Hatis Noit collaborated with renowned visual artist Nobumichi Asai on a project titled INORI (prayer) which they premiered live as part of an Erased Tapes showcase at Mutek Japan in Tokyo.
Having recently moved to London and performed a first string of UK shows, followed by a special live performance at the Milan Fashion Week and Mutek Japan appearance, Peter Broderick has invited Hatis Noit to support him at the Jazz Cafe on April 15th. She's also been announced as part of this year's Sea Change Festival line-up, and asked to participate in a workshop with the London Contemporary Orchestra.
Detroit producers Omar S & Brian Kage team up to bring you Thru the Madness EP.' Thru the Madness' has all the elements of a classic dance music collaboration.
The tune showcases Omar S raw and funky analog bass playing and drum programming combined with Brian Kage signature warm melodic synth lines and chord structures. The clever use of a catchy 90's vocal sample helps solidify and unify the composition.
Thru the Madness (Honk & Nik Mix)' takes a deeper approach by adding a deep Detroit-style DX pad, Nile Rodger-esque funk guitars parts, and vintage drum breaks that will keep the party moving into the late night hours. Like Dutch & Dillon from Predator, some times you gotta Get Thru the Madness!'
"Hi again!
It's been a couple years, but I've put together a new record, this time with my neighbor Stu and a few other friends. Stu's been tuning the piano Linda and I were using for our Lejsovka & Freund and Trouble Books recordings, and I've always enjoyed the test scales and vignettes he would run through checking his work.
I floated the idea to collaborate on a sort of 70s/80s ECM kinda vibe, and soon started bringing my laptop and a couple microphones over to his house to collect his improvisations and have him add to pieces I had started. Other friends from the neighborhood dropped by to add parts here and there as well.
The recordings were made primarily in the summers of 2016 & 2017 (with a break in-between to mourn the triumph of neo-fascism as well as the passing of beloved pets). Ultimately I tried to follow the feel of those summer nights and the tranquility they offered. Open air or at least open windows, drifting along, you know"
-KF, Spring 2018.
Aqueduct Ensemble is a collaboration between Ohio based artist Keith Freund - who has previously released music as part of both Lejsovka & Freund and Trouble Books - and his neighbour Stu, who is a piano tuner and professional pianist. Their debut album together, "Improvisations On An Apricot" is the second release from label Last Resort, and follows G.S Schray's "Gabriel" (2017) - the sleeves for which were both designed by Keith, who does does all the art direction for the label. Beginning life in 2013 as an NTS radio show of the same name, Last Resort is run by Tom Cathcart from his home in London.
Black To Comm's Marc Richter returns under his Jemh Circs guise for a 2nd album of sonic abstractions. In contrast to Black To Comm's analogue tape and vinyl based sound, in Jemh Circs he works with digital sources by primarily sampling modern Pop Music (and various other oddities) on YouTube (et al.) and sending chunks of it through a variety of arcane transformations and mutations.Using similar esoteric methods as on his 2016 debut album but with very different results the record deconstructs the hypermodern sound of Pop Music with a Post Punk attitude, energy and primitivism. Richter's combining disparate elements that shouldn't really work together but somehow all the chaos is making strange sense creating a collection of oddly diverging sonic vignettes with a surreal and anarchic spirit. This is music deeply rooted in the present but still difficult to pinpoint to a certain year or style."(untitled) Kingdom" converts a seemingly one-dimensional concept into a complex puzzle of ideas, sounds and narratives, completely assimilating the original sources and transforming them into novel entities with an unexpected melodic and rhythmic quality.Some press clips for previous releases:The overall effect is quite remarkable. Each track is like a hologram of pop music itself, a tiny part that reflects the whole. You almost feel that you could open them out and re-create entire popular music cultures. We'll be grateful for that when the next solar storm fries all of our hard drives. (Ian Sherred / The Sound Projector) In that way Jemh Circs is a record about process - not just how Richter loops and distorts and mutates his samples, but how the sounds of pop music create a particular sonic signature, one that gets more interesting the farther they're pulled from their original context. (Marc Masters / The Out Door) Recycling random audio off YouTube, Jemh Circs' process couldn't be less sentimental, but the results turn out to be sneakily emotive. (Philip Sherburne / Pitchfork)
Using a modular system comprised of Make Noise modules (as well as a Prophet 5 synthesizer), Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith created Abstractions as a live score for the film of the same name by visual artist Harry Everett Smith. Comprised of a single track across the record's two sides, Abstractions presents a unique experimental release within Kaitlyn's stellar catalog of contemporary electronic music. This Make Noise Records release was Digitally Mastered by Shawn Hatfield at Audible Oddities
Pressed to 12" Clear (140gm) vinyl and inserted into a black inner dust sleeve and Matte Jacket featuring artwork by Harry Everett Smith (comprised of film negatives from Abstractions, licensed from the Harry Smith Archives), assembled by Sean Curtis Patrick.
- A1: Band One - Stories / Cairo Wonk / Ballache Mansions
- A2: Band Two - Jazz Pact / Feelin Dank / Industrial Giant Colour
- A3: Band Three - Theme From The Tincleton Now / Man Next Door
- A4: Band Four - Now There's Pain / Art Slab
- B1: Band One - Teahead Of Time / Western Monk
- B2: Band Two - Carnaby St Caper / Gongs2Go / Turnintuit
- B3: Band Three - Bontempi Ventures / Speltre Flecks
- B4: Band Four - Kitten Kindred / Zvuk Poisk / Cimbolism
- B5: Band Five - Baked Tapes
Glyn Bigga Bush has been producing electronic and sample-based music since the early 90s when he formed Rockers Hi Fi, going on to release numerous albums. Since the turn of the century he has produced and DJ'd as BiggaBush as well as various side projects such as Lightning Head (Sonar Kollektiv), the Dandelion Set (Buried Treasure) and the Magic Drum Orchestral (Tru Thoughts).
Bigga's latest project 'Sunken Foal Stories' represents a departure from much of his other work in that it is not primarily based on beats. Instead, his working method was to go with fascinating samples, accidental juxtapositions and irregular loops - inspired by pioneers of sound such as Faust and the audio experiments of Julian House as well as early stereo test records, soundtracks and library music.
The 21 concise tracks of Sunken Foal Stories link into two 15 minute segments on the LP. Bush explores the random elements created by overlaying disparate samples, where chimes of baroque psychedelia clash with ascending classical strings, or a haunting Eastern European folk song is looped into an eternal cadence of longing. Various voices float over the speakers, lost poets, disturbing therapists, dreaming vampires, chuckling cabaret singers. Sourced almost entirely from charity shops and carboot sales, the source material speaks of a forgotten yet relatively recent period, when stereo was something new and exciting, when home entertainment first came into its own and suburban homes thrilled to the exotic sounds of home organs, primitive beatboxes, LPs bought in unusual holiday destinations and 'glamorous' soundtracks.
Welsh producer Odeko first appeared on Mr. Mitch's forward-looking Gobstopper imprint with the A.I. influenced EP "A History With Samus" in 2016 immediately snagging a "producer to watch" tag from Fact magazine and a premiere at SPIN. In early 2017, his second EP "Digital Botanics / Construct Conduct" arrived confirming his sound and setting the stage for him to start working on this - his debut album "Rose Tinted Vision Implant" that is set in a post-Ballard, post-Gibson, post-Miéville, alternate reality. "Rose Tinted Vision Implant" sees the Bath-based producer creating a cutting edge sonic world inspired by "speculative fiction, time/reality shifting stories and dystopian shit." The entire record is structured around, and expands upon his passion for the "future," underpinning the music via a underlining narrative. "Rose Tinted Vision Implant" starts with "The User" (aka the listener/ protagonist depending on your perspective) of the 'Optic.Rose' going through the process of getting an implant is made by a mega corporation, (think "whatever Elon Musk's legacy will be 200 years from now" says Odeko "not necessarily evil or good, just a world owning superpower."). And then we follow "The User" who has unfortunately received a bad egg through stages of that devices degradation. Sonically we're there to observe. We open ("Anomaly Detection") with a precursory scan and move onto installation ("OpticRose_0_1_Installation")
through to a battery change and a recalibration. From this point, the 'presence' begins to take over the implant and the tracks verge into a more cerebral range. Odeko notes "its a bit of a satire on corporate brands pushing these great products that everyone is obsessed but that are detrimental to both the world, and how we perceive reality. Our relationship with social media and tech could go down a dangerous path if we loose sight of things. I'm going quite far here for the sake of the concept, but things like VR, AR, the want for body tech, mixed with our desire to be connected, emotionally, digitally, physically, wirelessly could lead us to a world where everyone has implants, or some kind of tech built into them." Sonically its a record that explores a post-IDM, post-Grime, post-Ambient, post-Glitch, post-Retro-House, post-Instrumental Grime, take on electronic music, like Gobstopper's Mr. Mitch himself and his label mates Orlando, Lloyd SB, Tarquin, Clu, rAHHH and Loom, Odeko is making a kind of post-genre music. Yes it's a cerebral concept under the music but as popular shows like Black Mirror have shown - critiquing our new future can be fun, unusual and highly rewarding. Welcome to the world of Odeko.
On "down In 1150" Vienna Based Crate Digger, Producer, Dj And Secret Crunch Head Honcho Roman Rauch Pushes His Distinctive Style Of House Music Forward. The Ep Eatures 5 Tracks Of Pure Funky Vibes, Rugged Beats And Catchy Vocal Sampling. Check "don't Tell" On A-side For An Euphoric Soulful Opener, Or "bumble Beat" For A Slower, Groovy Disco House-pleasure. Catchy "don't Know" Gets An An Exzellent Remix Done By The One And Only Intr0beatz From Island. In The End "down To Love You" Features A Funky Bassline Zapp & Roger Would Be Proud Of.
It's a pleasure to get behind your friends from around world, in fact that's the motive behind the breadth of the ESP Institute catalogue, but its truly a special feeling to represent your friends and your neighborhood at the same time. Producers Sonns (Alexandre Mouracade) and the mysterious Venice Beach native Tavish Graham are both long time friends of the ESP Institute family, we break bread, we take care of each other, and we cherish our collaborations more than anything, but we're also neighbors. That said, ESP is proud to announce a homegrown endeavor, the debut of Sonns & Tavish. The two have long been stewards of the Los Angeles underground, but after loads of early morning banter and the camaraderie that comes with this smoke'n'strobe life, they've now committed their singular vision to print—two epic cuts that make us proud. Side A's title track Trycksaker is a thumper, a mid-tempo big-drum-laden beast that chugs the whole way through carrying an array of eerie bleeps and fleeting sighs. Side B's Roguish Days pulls together influences from various corners of the pair's DJ repertoire, gelling a wicked breakbeat with a wormy acid bassline and even more exotic sighs, something that might possibly grow into a signature of sorts. This release is ready just in time for the Spring/Summer exploits, and we couldn't be more proud to finally enjoy hearing these heavy-hitters in the club. Tip!
S3A, a fundamental player in the French house scene and resident at Paris' famous Concrete between 2012 and 2016 has been making serious waves with releases on labels such as Gerd's 4lux, Local Talk, Hold Youth, Lazare Hoche, Quintessentials, his very own Sampling As An Art records and in 2016 he debuted with his track "Antois Benime (Austral Parc)" on the second release of Quartet Series. This cut became a major summer hit, played by nearly every house music DJ, including Byron the Aquarius during his wicked set on the Boiler Room stage at Dekmantel in 2017. We decided this greatly deserved a follow up and we're proud to finally present Climax EP with S3A's signature sound written all over it....
Opening on the A side is "Presentiment", a collaboration with Mika Blaster. Starting off with majestic strings then suddenly dropping into a massive beat with haunting samples flourishing over the thriving percussion telling you to dance... THOU SHALT DANCE!! The second track "Something More" picks up where Antois Benime left off. A genius mix of uplifting samples and 909 percussion makes this another club ready weapon, bound to leave smiling faces on the dancefloor.
When flipping the record you'll dive into S3A's deepness with "Wu Impact". Soft and sweet Rhodes chords, an insanely groovy bass line with percussion and those mellifluous strings again. Finishing off the release is a deep slammer that goes by the name of "Influences", again a display of S3A's ability to use a wide array of elements within a single tune, molded together to one coherent, lovable and danceable piece. Boy did we wish we had the sampling skills of this master.
A must have record for any House Music lover. On y va!
Fromtheoldtothenew was originally released in 1996 and is the second full length on Peacefrog from Steve
'Stasis' Pickton.
Growing up as a teenager in East London, break-dancing and writing graffiti with B12's Mike Golding, Steve
Pickton's musical education moved along a familiar path, from hip-hop to Electro and onto Techno. Schooling
himself in music theory and purchasing a sampler Pickton set about making his own music.
Releasing on a whose who of seminal UK electronic labels including A.R.T., Likemind, Otherworld and B12 under
various pseudinums Pickton's UK take on lush Detroit melodies fused techno, funk, hip-hop, dub, blues and jazz
into a dense concoction all of his own making.
Fromtheoldtothenew saw Pickton slip off his earlier techno shackles and head for uncharted electrconic waters.
The echo chamber dramatics of Gun and wayward lurch of Ale House Blues were a long way from Detroit, while
few tracks have demonstrated the sheer breadth of electronica more dramatically than Utopia Planetia. All in all it's
more jazz, less tech without losing the soul
Re-issue of forgotten minimal techno abstraction from Hamilton, Ontario. The unsung genius of Secret Werewolf is fully on display on this 1996 gem.
Rubbery and polymetric, akin in mood to Robert Hood/Metroplex productions of the same era, but full of eerie metallic timbres and flexing grooves which combine into a lysergic hypnosis unlike anything else from then or now.
A taste of the forthcoming Geej re-issue project surveying the Steel City Records catalogue, a wellspring of unsung, singular dance music that arose from the abandoned industrial spaces and uncompromising producers of the fertile but secluded techno zone of Hamilton, Ontario Canada circa 1995-1997.
First time pressed in over 20 years, vinyl only.
- A1: Watermelon Man (Taggy Matcher Disco Mix)
- A2: Sambadi (7 Samuraï Disco Remix)
- A3: Stand On The Word (7 Samuraï Electro Dub Version)
- A4: Do The Disco Skanking (Taggy Matcher)
- B1: The Fool (John Milk Disco Reggae Mix)
- B2: Queen Of The Minstrels (Taggy Matcher Disco Mix)
- B3: Happy (Mato Mix)
- B4: I'll Do Anything For You (Mato Reggae Remix)
- B5: Tainted Love (Grandmagneto Original 7' Version)
Volume 1[18,95 €]
Stix Records is a sub-division of Favorite Recordings specialized in the exercise of producing covers with a Reggae twist. Acclaimed in 2013 with a first official single by Taggy Matcher Birdy & Nixon (STIX033), quickly followed by the first volume of Disco Reggae (STIX035) compilation, Stix is back in 2014 with a scorching Disco Reggae Vol.2.
Following the success of its first volume, the Disco Reggae series also expands with this 9 tracks compilation, composed with 8 new and exclusive versions by artists such as Taggy Matcher, 7 Samuraï, Mato, or John Milk, and the classic cover of Tainted Love' by Grandmagneto. But this time, if they still explore famous hits like Watermelon Man' by Herbie Hancock or Happy' by Pharrell Williams, they also dug within the home labels' catalog,
taking over some of the finest titles by Mr Day, Lee McDonald, Lucas Arruda or The Joubert Singers.
Again this time, their swaying renditions seem straight out of the smoky studios from Kingston or Montego Bay, while also remembering the 80s Pop-Reggae sound of artists like Grace Jones or the less famous Earons.
Everything is mastered and cut at Carvery Records (UK), known for their expertise in Caribbean and Disco music. The vinyl LP comes in a deluxe version, housed in an old-school tip-on jacket.
"Emotional Rescue begins the first in a series of reissues looking at the music of guitarist Carl Weingarten and his Multiphase Records label, starting at his highly sought after collaborate album with Walter Whitney, Dreaming In Colors. With an early interest in photography and Super 8 film leading to a degree in cinema production, Weingarten's other, self-taught, love was the slide guitar. Taking its blues roots and merging them with his visual arts background created a unique "painting in sound" style of playing. While looking to break into the film industry he began writing and recording his own film scores and other music for modern dance companies. From this, he founded Multiphase Records in St Louis in 1980. By the time of Dreaming In Colors, the label had released a series of cassettes and vinyl albums offering abstract, experimental, jazz-fusion, new wave and increasingly, new age compositions. Throughout this period the work of engineer, keyboardist and programmer, Walter Whitney was often present and by the 1985 release of Dreaming In Colors the duo had collaborated for a number of years and released several projects together, most notably as members of the Delay Tactics band. Recorded during off days from the Delay Tactics sessions, the album came together at Whitney's Subterranean Sound studio with a focus away from the bands guitar driven instrumentals to explore a multilayered approach to synthesis, blending textures with Whitney's original samples and sound design, while Weingarten's guitar moved from shining solo moments to complimenting the overall oeuvre, all with heavy washes of delay. This ecumenical approach led to the creation of this compelling album. A masterful conceptual whole that is linked by rich melodies and a concise playing style, heavy on substance while never forgoing the uplifting vibrations. "
This publication from Blind Allies is comprised of 6 tracks. This is the first release from series where records are made on modular synthesizers. It includes a part from live jam by Philet, journey to the world of obscure feeling from Igors Vorobjovs & Void Cells and cosmic adventure by redstripedown. Dancefloor killer by Tunnel, a tale from HHNOI and a flashback to soviet electronic music from Marta SmiLga. This release will take you away to a parallel universe.
Vinyl only.
2018 has a lot in store for London spiritual jazz outfit Emanative, with a full double LP and several remixes forthcoming, as well as some full live band appearances and DJ gigs. 'Planet B' is the band's first release of the year and it takes them in a slightly different direction, on a completely different vibration entirely, with an epic nine minute, almost post punk, afrobeat, disco and jazz inspired piece aimed at the leftfield dancefloor. The idea for this project grew from our interest in releasing the live version of the Ahmed Abdullah-written 'Lions Of Judah' (Steve Reid & The Legendary Master Brotherhood) , which appears on the B-side and was recorded live at London's famous Cafe´ OTO, an institution for experimental live music and free jazz. The version has become a Gilles Peterson favourite and a regular on his 6Music and Worldwide FM shows. Nick Woodmansey, the head of the group, wanted to include an original piece as well and so went in the studio with the band and a clear concept for recording 'Planet B'. Inspired originally by a Greenpeace poster and advert of the same name, as well as current adverse planetary situations. Musically it follows the spirit of Arthur Russell's leftfield disco of Dinosaur L project, no wave band ESG, and Sun Ra.
The 2nd release on Steady Work By Dear Friends features Conti with his exceptional consignment to all lovers of left field approaches to house and bass loaded music. Contis MA Lumps EP allows you to get a feeling for the crocking of the toxic but cheering industrial spheres of the city of Mannheim. This Ep is an emulsion out of distorted beats, field recordings, sampled baselines and vocal snippets, processed through a mpc, tracks in a rough tape compression mix style. Funky-But-Not-Funky-Kraut-Hop-House at it`s best. Slope down from your faith by those lumps.
* Dj Ham returns to Kniteforce with a superb 10' vinyl. Now largely known for his releases as Hamilton on D'n'B titan RAM records, Dj Ham has always been one of the most talented producers in either scene, and is respected as a pioneer and producer of some seriously classic tunes. His new Kniteforce 10' showcases his skill while keeping firmly within the old school soundscapes. Most Impressive is both dark and technoish, with twisted mentasms and a dark lords samples, while the inexplicably named Chicken Tune is a breezy, uplifting summer vibe anthem.
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
- A1: Coco Feat. Lilja Bloom
- A2: Hurt
- A3: For Rose
- A4: True Romance Feat. Lilja Bloom
- A5: Distance Feat. Lylith
- A6: Wake Up Sister Feat. Max The Sax
- A7: Let's Roll Feat. Blaktroniks
- B1: Sunny Bunny Blues Feat Veda 36
- B2: Dandy Feat. Yola B
- B3: Your Man
- B4: Promises Feat. Klaus Hainy
- B5: Letoile Feat. Max The Sax
- B6: You And Me Feat. Lilja Bloom
- B7: The Mojo Radio Gang (Radio Version)
- C1: Ragtime Cat Feat. Lilja Bloom
- C2: Silent Snow Feat. Max The Sax
- C3: Libella Swing
- C4: Catgroove
- C5: Matilda
- C6: The Flame
- D1: Fleur De Lille
- D2: Hotel Axos
- D3: Monster
Coco finally available on double vinyl for the first time. With his unmistakable sound-mix of Jazzand Swing samples and electronic music, Parov Stelar has secured his own unique position in the world of music.
The double vinyl starts off where his former successful LP's ended. On the other hand he is consequently developing his established jazzy sound, by adding new stylistic elements to his tunes. Also his dancefloor-productions, which
have been published only as singles, now find a debut to a greater extent on this album. They meet with Stelar's melancholic-melodious trademark-sound, which is well known from his earlier albums, but now also spiced up with Hip-
Hop beats and synthpads. An electrifying album to fall for. The two vinyls are originally thought of as one with tracks that can be danced to and one with tracks just for listening. Nevertheless the line between those two approaches becomes blurred in Parov Stelar's newer compositions. The
album makes your feet tap more and more with every track. The musician himself sees the LP as a 'book for musical readers' which is classically defined in introduction, middle part and end. Because of streaming hit singles the
consumer behaviour changed, people don't listen to albums the same way they used to. The whole experience that includes refelecting on less prominent tracks somehow got lost. Parov Stelar sets 'Coco' as a statement against this habit.
After a period of hibernation, aperture records awakens with a bang and a compelling program in the pipeline.
Following their first album released on aperture at the tail end of 2015 'no.3.obliate', the Italian duo T.e.s.o. bring us their second full-length album 'costruzione 04'.
As the title suggests, the album centres around an underlying theme of construction, inspired by radical architecture, brutalism and collages from Superstudio. The concept and title evolved from the nature of the album and the process of building up tracks from a number of separate samples, much like the singular elemental materials used to assemble a structure.
Alongside their music production, the duo have previously created a multimedia installation that investigated the geometric studies of Le Corbusier in parallel to the musical production of Erik Saite and Matteo Castiglioni continues to create impressive audiovisual installations such as the recent 'Freddo Flusso' and 'neon(i)', as well as a collaboration with Danilo Randazzo. T.e.s.o also continue to perform absorbing live sets of their own inimitable range of musical perspective and vision.
Intense, visual and structured, 'costruzione 04' again showcases T.e.s.o.'s complex, obscure and dominant beats and their oblique and sometimes challenging style.
In recent times Alex Pletnev has been making his mark on the musical stratosphere with an array of works from from cold wave edits, through gorgeous adaptations of african and world music to tribal techno originals. He joins us as Pletnev for "Aztec Code / Daywalker", a 12" combining his abundant influences to take us to bizarre, far-off places.
"Aztec Code" is a pure dance thing. Inspired by the fat kicks and live bass lines of the Big Beat era, Pletnev combines a jumping beat with african percussion and a charismatic vocal that seems to call out from between the palm fronds of somewhere steamy as we work up a sweat. Tenderly crafted with samples taken from almost 10 records, one-shots, drum layers and melodic licks are treated and mixed, giving rise to a warm, lush atmosphere perfect for circling a fire deep in the tropics.
On the flip, "Daywalker" is a completely original, synthesised outing. A sleazy lead line charms and slithers upwards between layers of syncopated tabla and a sultry acidic groove. The tune spins and twists around this central oriental theme, ever-evolving as layers of detailed percussion and ad-libbed melodies intensify the tone.
Sound artist Eva Geist joins Fleeting Wax label head Mehmet Aslan to spin "Daywalker". The pair create a sonic bridge between the two originals. Their hazy rework dubs out some electronic elements, adding contorted sound design, distant vocals, lofi samples and an italo leaning bass. A mystic incantation for spaced out late morning moments.
Ghent based pianotrio Steiger have earned their place in the ever growing peloton of young Belgian jazz innovators. As a result, they won the Young Jazztalent price at the 2017 Gent Jazz Festival. With their luscious and rigid grooves in minimalistic framing, they cose themselves between SCHNTZL and De Beren Gieren, likewise minded young Beljazzbands that don't take it so closely with traditions. They play jazz with a rock'n'roll attitude. Sdban Ultra is very pleased to present a sampler of their debut album 'And Above All' on a limited 10" vinyl for Record Store Day 2018. This release marks their introduction on Sdban Ultra, their sophomore album is expected next fall. And Above All' houses both jazz and modern compositions, avant-garde and experimental electronics. Steiger takes inspiration from jazz and refers to the traditions but equally pulls those apart, for example in the chaotic miniature 'Bachfag' and in the intimate 'Inverse/Reverse'. With 'Berlin Revisited' the band clearly chooses electronic instrumentation. It is reminiscent of the electronic jazz of the noughties: bands like Triosk, Sofa Surfers and Flanger did not so much work towards jazz but used the genre as a stepping stone to dive into the cosmos. Steiger are launching themselves into infinity on this track with a pounding beat, shrill cymbals, overdriven keys and an unwieldy bass.
2x12"
Losoul returns to action with his first long player in almost ten years, and delivers a stunning collection of compositions for the Hypercolour released 'Island Time'. Otherwise known as Peter Kremeier, the German producer has mesmerized us for many years with his organic and emotive house music, largely released on the influential Playhouse label, but of late has seen him release singles for Karat and Tardis Records, as well as his very own Another Picture label. Fans of Losoul won't be disappointed, as a diverse yet utterly familiar sound aesthetic pours out over the album's seven tracks in his own inimitable style. The jazzy broken beats of 'Gold Tooth' shine with their micro-sample chops, whilst 'Mean Time' is a dense and dubby slow stomp, teasing the drums with space echo and injecting sparse bass work where it matters. Inventive, spongy house grooves are delivered on 'Boppin Lower' and 'Square Down Smoother' whilst the album closer, 'Lava In You' is a master class in ambient sonics and shimmering keys over a lo-fi swinging groove. It's been over 20 years since Losoul's signature single 'Open Door', and the German producer continues to pour out honest and rewarding music.
The band Gruppenbild was named after Heindrich Böll's famous novel and was the first musical output by the versatile Stijn Meuris (Noordkaap, Monza). Drummer Frank Coonen would later go on to be a member of 90ties indie powerpop trio 'The Romans'. Also joining in here are Luc Vrancken (Bass), Marc Guffens (Guitar) and Stijn's brother Koen Meuris on the Keyboards. As legend has it Meuris got the idea of starting his own band through his history teacher in the small provincial town of Overpelt. Said teacher was the bass player of 'De Brassers', a by then already notorious new wave punk band who had made it to the finals of Humo's Rock Rally in 1980. Blown away by the sheer simplicity and power of De Brassers music, the teenage 5 piece Gruppenbild was formed that same year. Taking inspiration from both British postpunk cornerstones as well as Belgian bands like 'Siglo XX', 'TC Matic' and the Dutch band 'De DIV' 2 years later they too found themselves in the finals of the Rock Rally. Noordkaap (Stijn's future band) would win the contest in 1990. Onbereikbaar On the Gruppenbild 7' one can already hear Meuris' melancholic singing style and his ability to write excellent lyrics in Dutch that would define the future of his musical career. The Tranquillity EP was originally released on Blitz Records in 1982, this was the band's first & only release & has become quite the rare collectable that is fetching hundreds on the second hand market. Now finally back available as a limited 7' EP (500 copies), released exclusively for Record Store Day Belgium 2018.
This August sees Stone Foundation release their fourth studio album 'A Life Unlimited' featuring ten new original recordings.
Last year's album 'To Find The Spirit' was easily their most successful seeing the band reach No. 33 in the Independent Charts, receive regular Radio 2 play, achieve glowing reviews in The Mirror, Scootering, R2, Jocks & Nerds magazine and saw the band tour Japan twice where the huge attendances helped secure them a recording contract with the prestigious P-Vine label and an appearance at Fuji Rocks festival.
'A Life Unlimited' features contributions from Graham Parker (The Night Teller), US soul stalwart Nolan Porter (Beverley), vocal harmony group The Four Perfections (Pushing Your Love) and Blow Monkeys frontman Doctor Robert
Howard (A Love Uprising). 'A Life Unlimited' sees Stone Foundation develop their unique style of soul, funk & jazz to a much broader scale. Horn driven arrangements add colour to an inspired display of songs that are unquestionably the group's strongest to date. Thought provoking lyrics and strong melodies sit upon a stylish musical bed.
The first single from the album 'Beverley' was the title music in the award winning (best film at the Portobello film awards & East End film festival ) Cass Pennant & Alexandra Thomas film of the same name starring Vicky McClure (this is England) and Laya Lewis (Skins)
Das HER DAMIT Tonarchiv zeichnet den Sound des Festivals auf und startet die Archivierung mit einer vierteiligen Serie. Auf der Logoseite vertont Bleak den nächtlichen Bunkerfloor mit - Poly Invaders und - Lovecraf Function , zwei effektiven Techno-Workouts aus nachdrücklichen Percussions gepaart mit atmosphärischem Tiefgang. Oliver Deutschmann zeigt mit seinem Ambient-Track - The Source den Bunkerfloor im Morgennebel, während sich die freundlich treibende Techno- Exkursion - Space Unfolding über dem aufheizten Betonfloor aufblättert. Ein Moment, bei dem sich Ausgeschlafene wie Durchgefeierte einig sind.
#HER DAMIT Tonarchiv aims to document the sound of the HER DAMIT festival and kicks things off with a four-part vinyl series. Located on the logo side is Bleak who scores the nightly bunker floor with Poly Invaders' and Lovecraf Function - two highly effective techno workouts made of punchy percussions tied up with atmospheric depth.
On the info side of the record Oliver Deutschmann's The Source' portraits the bunker floor filled with morning fog, while his friendly techno driver Space Unfolding' evolves upon the heated concrete dancefloor.
A moment where the breakfast and all-nighter crew sing from the same hymn sheet.
Although better known for his euphoric uptempo European disco edit style across labels such as Public Possession, Ostra Discos and most recently Bahnsteig23, here the Melbourne based collector and DJ steps away from the dancefloor and presents two slower paced and (dare we say) more mature, sample-based efforts on this double-A side limited edition 7''Temple' continues the Middle Eastern influence Hysteric has been working on since several years, with a dark and hypnotic Egyptian melody accompanied by tough drum programming.'Tranquil' is a peaceful and melancholy arrangement based around an oriental melody to float away on. Recommended listening for your next visit to the local opium den.
Three years since Profane's seminal album 'V.illan Mills' was recorded for Inperspective and it's long overdue that he returns to the label. This canadian native's unique style that somehow fuses the hip hop sensibilities of J.Dilla, the jazz/funk ideologies of Danny Breaks and the experimental truth of Squarepusher has been a breath of fresh air in recent years on the Underground D&B scene and these two new cuts from him are no exception. The experimentally epic breakbeat off tempo monstrosity of 'Drughmada' is a heady, giddy tapestry of beats and breaks with a sleazy sample and panic led overtones. 'West Newton Views' is a darker more minimal affair. A clunky, dubstep vibe which maintains moody intensity throughout. Tense and suspenseful.
The other side sees the triumphant return of Rome's Lynch Kingsley. This young, precocious talent has been a good friend to the label for a number of years and after making waves with his debut 'Eden EP' it was only a matter of time before his return. We are pleased to present 'Void', a dark journey through the breakbeat, sci-fi escapism of early 90's D&B which in time develops into a deep, break laden workout with gorgeous synths and fantasy atmospheres. A joy to behold.
- A1: Some People Ft. Demolition Man
- A2: Amazonite
- A3: Iâ£Iâ£I Ft. Eva Lazarus & Troy Berkley
- A4: Stop Ft. Jamalski
- A5: When Gunshot Burst Ft. Echo Minott
- A6: Launch Is Global
- A7: Step By Step Ft. Sr Wilson
- B1: Seen Interlude
- B2: S=K Log W
- B3: Don't Feel No Way Ft. Demolition Man
- B4: Original Sample
- B5: Nu Specimen Ft. Troy Berkley
- B6: Who Runs Science
- B7: Some People Dub
Double Vinyl edition of 300 copies w/ download code and etched d-side.
Breaching is the debut album from Leeds-based, 6-piece, post-metallers Hundred Year Old Man. Hot on the heels of recent EP Rei, Breaching emitsthe same heaving intensity and unforgiving, wall of sound approach. Dense and billowing riffs are intertwined with field recordings and spoken word passages to form an unyielding, sprawling piece of work that delivers the bands artistic vision perfectly. The more ambient, drone sections of the record compliment and allow the real songs to take flight. Debut single Black Fire is reworked to give the track a new lease of life, whilst the other heavy hitters here; The Forest, Long Wall, Disconnect and Ascension are a continuation of the excellent work found on the Rei EP. Breaching contains masses of atmosphere and is a ferocious and immersive listening experience. An epic, monolithic voyage full of texture, depth, aggression and emotion. This is an album that should be approached as a whole, with patience and attention. The rewards will deliver a unique, crushing and quite simply superb record.
Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist are from San Francisco, CA, though Rostami has recently moved to Brooklyn, NY. Rostami and Blomquist's work occurs in two stages: the gathering/preparation of source material and the live performance. Rostami and Blomquist's source material primarily focuses on the exchange of information, repetition and decay, and surrendering aspects of creative control. The source material is either sampled and altered by Blomquist or composed and recorded by Rostami. Sometimes this material is repeatedly passed back and forth to be altered, others, it's barely touched.
Following prior albums on Glacial Movements and Jacktone, the duo return with their third full length, "Distant Companion" named after the multiple star Polaris. Comprised of Polaris Aa in orbit with Polaris Ab which in turn, are in orbit with a distant companion, Polaris B. Polaris, aka The North Star, was the star that American slaves followed to freedom. It carries with it a history of Civil Rights, a cosmic history of our origins, as all stars do, and a glimpse into the past as it floats light years away. The first two songs of "Distant Companion" were recorded during a protest performance at Grey Area Foundation of the Arts in San Francisco that featured artists representing communities, cultures and countries on the travel ban list (Executive Order 13769.) For this performance they sampled voice recordings of Persian poets Rumi, Hafez and Forough Farakhzad. Every generation seems to find, in their own way, that the pursuit for equality is not linear, but that we must know our pasts, be in tune with the present and have a will for a better future. This record stands on the shoulders of communities, artists and movements that have made art in protest of oppression, and we hope, in some way, to make a contribution to this conversation. All songs have been mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Cover artwork features a collage by London-based artist Anthony Gerace, and each copy includes a postcard featuring a photo of the duo.
*`King and Queen is the 6th release from Alpha and Omega on Partial Records, following on from `Pure and Clean', `Rastafari', `Show Me a Purpose', `Jah Protection' and `Almighty Jah' which all sold fast.
* This is a prime example of the heavyweight 1990s UK dub style, with this track dating from 1991, originally appearing on the LP of the same name (`King and Queen'),
* On 7' for the first time, backed with a previously unreleased dub version.
* A bonefide Jah Shaka Sound System classic from those times.
Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku, is a term that means taking in the
forest atmosphere.' It was developed in Japan during the 1980s and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine.
Taking in the forest atmosphere' became the inspiration for A
Hawk and A Hacksaw's newest album. Their forest bath of choice is the Valle De Oro National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. This new album features ten original compositions by Heather Trost and Jeremy Barnes. The opening track Alexandria' features Barnes on the Persian Santur, an ancient hammer struck dulcimer, and Trost's string and woodwind melodies. The composition evokes the long trader's route between what is now Bulgaria and the wealthy cities of Istanbul and Alexandria.
The band has always had a bird's eye view of this part the world—
looking for the connections between places and even eras: a belief in the power of music to reach across borders and unite.
The band is based on the idea of collecting music and inspiration
through travel. They are not of a place, but their music evokes places along a route. This is not urban music. It's rural: songs of the woods and roads where there are no sidewalks or street lamps to light your way.
While the bulk of the music heard on this record is played by Barnes and Trost, they do have some incredible guest performances, namely the clarinet virtouso Cüneyt Sepetçi, from Istanbul, Hungarian cimbalom master Unger Balász, and closer to home, Chicago trumpeter Sam Johnson, Deerhoof's John Dieterich and Noah Martinez, of the band Lone Piñon.
* In come the first of three releases celebrating a decade of pioneering label Kapsize. Fronted by leading light of Bristol dance music, Joker showcases one of his most iconic sounds to date.
* Suave sophistication not out of place in a Bond or Bourne film, backed with dancefloor aggression, 'Anamorphic' oozes the hi tech international espionage Purple sound Joker has carved out for himself. Opening with plush synth and horn washes, leading into unmistakable arpeggiators and guitar riffs, 'Anamorphic' manages to combine Joker's signature sexy RnB vibes into perfectly engineered system smashing bass lines with ease and style.
* 'Forever' explores the same theme with soundscapes and synth washes that Vangelis would be proud of. A textural flight over the landscape Joker painted with 'Anamorphic', 'Forever' gives listeners a chance to take in the sights and sounds of the neon cities and skylines that Joker made his name on.
* Joker continues the exploration and continuation of the sounds that made his name, elements of 'Snake Eater', 'Tron' and 'Neon City' can be found here with a new slant. A showcase of a unique pioneer at the top of his game.
Instant is the trio of Bernd Schöll (Bass, Vocals, Rhythm), Mike Hauer (Guitar, Synth, Percussion), and Marion Siekmann (Vocals) from Munich, Germany. They formed in 1980 after meeting through mutual friends attending the local art and graphic design school. The trio were dissatisfied with their surrounding musical environment. Inspired by the Velvet Underground, Kraftwerk, and Giorgio Moroder, they set out to create their own brand of Neue Deutsche Welle fusing Dada, disco, and Krautrock.
Over the course of 2 weeks in Summer 1980 the band teamed up with local producer Mario Strack to record 6 songs. These would make up their debut eponymous album that was originally self-released on 10' vinyl in 1981. They utilized a simple set up of guitar, bass, and keyboards, plus the BOSS DR-55 Dr. Rhythm drum machine. Metal scraps clanging appear on the tracks 'Do Not' and 'Optimate Minimum', and a washing machine was sampled on the track 'Joyboy', which features Marion reading from the appliance's instruction manual. The A-side features 4 tracks in 11 minute, while the B-side hosts 2 songs in the same stretch of time. 'Charade' features no wave saxophone accompaniment from Kai Taschner of Munich New Wave band Luna Set. Marion's vocals are between Nico's Teutonic chill and Alison Statton's (Young Marble Giants) playfulness, while Bernd takes a monotone approach. Lyrics for 'My Boy' and 'Everybody's Gotta Mutate' were adapted from 'Rotwang', a fragmented novel written by Tim Hildebrandt, one of the brothers famous for illustrating the works of Tolkien.
All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a replica of the original jacket design, which features a neon red screen-printed drawing of a cut-out doll family on a stark white background. Each LP includes a postcard insert with lyrics.
Scacy and The Sound Service performed top 40 material at Byrne Manor and other cabarets around DC along with fellow go-go pioneers The Soul Searchers, The Young Senators, and Black Heat and opened for artists such as Stevie Wonder, Rufus Thomas, and War. Eager to put out a record Irving Haywood asked his bandmates if anyone had written any songs. Bennie Braxton, the band's new organist had weitten a song titled "Sunshine" which Scacy and The Sound Service recorded in1972. It was sampled by Outkast on his tune "Mighty O" in 2006. 12 years later the original finally receives a proper re-issue on 45rpm single.
Sam Vicary A.K.A Hunrosa (meaning "to dream") is an electronic music producer capturing the wild organic senses of his childhood and anchoring it with a darker 2am undercurrent. Based in Manchester, he is principally a bassist and currently a member of The Cinematic Orchestra, Paper Tiger and The Dominic J Marshall Trio, as well as performing with Manu Delago, Imogen Heap, Matthew Halsall, Anil Sebastian and Stuart Macallum.
His latest offering 'Ransome' is a heavily rhythmic journey, full of textured hand percussion and soaring strings, accompanied by the beautifully melodic vocals of Alice Higgins drifting overhead. The Clap Clap remix sees the Black Acre mainstay exploring expansive territories, polyrhythmic hand percussion and textured electronica perfectly intertwine, drenched in dub ambience, heightened by scattered arpeggios and swirling synths. The music is inspired by a coastal upbringing, represented in the music via field recordings, as well as being aided by visual stimulus throughout the writing process.
- A1: I'll Bet You
- A2: I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing, Everybody Got A Thing
- A3: Funky Dollar Bill
- A4: I Wanna Know If It's Good To You
- B1: Hit It & Quit It
- B2: You & Your Folks, Me & My Folks
- B3: A Joyful Process
- B4: Loose Booty
- C1: You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure
- C2: Cosmic Slop
- C3: Red Hot Mama
- C4: Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On
- D1: Let's Take It To The Stage
- D2: Get Off Your Ass & Jam
- D3: Undisco Kidd
- D4: Maggot Brain (Live)
* Out of print since 1997
* Sixteen carefully selected tracks including their most renowned work
* Covering Funkadelic at the height of their career (1970-1976)
* Double LP set that comes with OBI-strip, Limited to 1000 copies
Tidal Waves Music proudly presents: FUNKADELIC Finest
Compilations are tricky and hard to get right ... Finest is that rare one that knocks it out of the park. This release focuses on George Clinton and crew at the height of their career & on their most renowned work.
Comprised out of sixteen carefully selected tracks and covering a six-year period (1970-1976) Finest may be the best-assembled Funkadelic collection from this period yet, as both renowned band standards share space with several oft-overlooked tracks.
The early tracks "I Got a Thing" and "I Wanna Know if It's Good to You" show the band-members still honing their rich 'n' funky sound, before they hit their stride with selections from the classic 'Maggot Brain' album. As a result, you get a healthy sampling of some of the best funk the '70s had to offer, including "Hit It and Quit It," "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks," "Loose Booty," "Cosmic Slop," "Red Hot Mama," and "Get Off Your Ass and Jam."
Finest is an exceptional sampler for those discovering the wild and wacky universe of Funkadelic. Out of print since 1997 and transferred from the original analogue master tapes, now finally back available as a deluxe Double-LP set with some of the craziest psychedelic crumb-style artwork you'll ever see.
Naïf 008 opens a series of five ep´s that will be released around the release of the DJ-Mix-CD also named - naïf which has it´s release in April 2018
The first strike comes with two blinding Techno tracks: Running man is a contribution by the - Gentleman of Techno Steve Bicknell. The other comes from the young swedish Producer that goes by the name of KUF and who is part of the Arsenik Crew.
Besides that we find two compositions by Phillip Sollmann himself that show his abstract and experimental Approach.
While - Aliasing Bells is a texture of sampled tibetan bells - Tag3 by his side-project - Autolyse is a jam on a light-sensor-controlled custom-made synth. Perfect for layering on top of a mix.
After more then three years of silence as a producer, Efdemin a.k.a Phillip Sollmann returns with a striking hybrid concept that merges the album format with the continuous DJ mix' format, presenting completely new material in a seamless manner. The CD-mix, named Naïf, officially reinstates his label of the same name and is a sprawling tour of inner space featuring 19 distinct tracks from fellow producers along with an additional ten that feature Efdemin himself (either as soloist or collaborator). The release condenses his decade-long DJ-ing journey and evolution as a producer into a single potent elixir of contemporary techno.
Naïf consists of completely unreleased material from both himself and valued collaborators, all of which will eventually manifest as EP releases: five on his own Naïf label and two more on Curle.
Curated by Phillip Sollmann, Berlin 2018
Mastering and Cut: Kassian Troyer
& © Naïf Recordings 2018
Here Appear is an invocation, a salutation, and a celebration — of past and perfect lives, forgotten and remembered, exchanged and borrowed. Eve Essex's solo debut is a multi-instrumental fea(s)t combining synthesizer, drum machine, alto saxophone, piccolo, electric organ/harpsichord, harmonica, slide whistle, bells, guitar pedals, and voice— composed, arranged, and performed by Essex herself. What began as an improv set at Berlin's Harlekin bar, developed over the past two years into a complete body of work evoking multiple time periods, genres, characters, and sonic landscapes. The seven tracks that make up Here Appear harness elements of classical, drone, avant-jazz, and distorted pop, coupled with an ambitious vocal delivery that draws on the phrasing and articulations of Essex's own woodwind playing, to create a quasi-narrative me´lange retaining the vulnerability of live performance. On the opening track Grind Away,' otherworldly harmonica strains set the stage for lyrics citing Chinese sci-fi novel The Third Body Problem as source material. Saxophone and piccolo interludes Immediate Communicator' and Colorless Stone' move between medieval-tinged melodic inventions and textural noise, recalling a Pharoah Sanders-influenced fever dream, while the linguistic abstractions of Russian conceptual poet Lev Rubinstein guide the looped, layered, and textured vocals of title track Here Appear.' The album closes with a languid take on Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom's 1978 composition Clear Light' from My New Music, recently reissued by Unseen Worlds. Here Appear owes its minimal production to the conditions of its genesis, evidencing the restrained process of the solo artist, instrumentation is confined to what can be played simultaneously. True to the album's avant-garde roots, each song involves an element of improvisation, often taking the form of prompts or variations on a melody rather than explicit compositions. Even its most structured pieces make use of live-sampled loops, which inject a spirited unpredictability into the songwriting process and subsequent performance. Classically trained in bassoon at New England Conservatory before receiving a BFA in sculpture from RISD, Eve Essex has performed as a solo artist at Artists Space, Commend, Safe Gallery, Signal, Trans Pecos, and U.S. Blues, in New York, Harlekin/Mathew Gallery and StudioAcht in Berlin, and the PUFFERSS Festival in Providence, RI. In addition to her solo practice, Essex regularly performs as one half of Das Audit (with Craig Kalpakjian), as well as in trios Hesper (with James K and Via App) and HEVM (with MV Carbon and Hunter Hunt-Hendrix), and has collaborated extensively with Juan Antonio Olivares as installation/performance-art duo Essex Olivares. Prior to the LP release on Sky Walking (April, 20), Here Appear arrives via New York City-based label Soap Library on March 9, 2018 in both cassette and digital format, mastered by Helmut Erler at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin and recorded by Al Carlson at Gary's Electric, Brooklyn.
Samosa Records return with De Gama's new 'Funktastic' EP, a disco and funk groove machine of an EP. Ever since his game changing 'Afrika' release back in 2010, De Gama has been turning heads and this new EP shows why he continues to do so. Not only is it filled with fantastic music but it is only the fourth release on his own label, Samosa Records. Continuing his own form, it is also shows a continuing commitment to great music from the new label and is sure to keep everyone watching to see what they do in the future.
The EP opens with 'Son Of A Slave', a deeply grooving and moving throwback to heyday's of funk. The multi-layered groove will call to mind the heights of dirty groove typical of the Ohio disco-funk bands in the second half of the 70's, reimagined in a way thoroughly suited to the modern dancefloor. '1972' follows, a nod to the same era. It opens in a far murkier manner than 'Son Of A Slave' and exudes a far more modern feeling than the opener. Before long, the irresistible Afro-carribean grooves join in and get your head and shoulders swaying and bobbing, the kind of sound which characterized the Cosmic Wave era. Keys join in and plant a firm smile on your face. This is the other side of soul music.
De Gama closes off the EP with 'Star-Buk' and some handheld percussion. Funky guitar follows in before the big synth and kick join in. Where can the groove go next The bassline answers this question by taking it into outer space. 'Funktastic', it does what it says on the tin.
* TNO project is only 18 years old, and hails from Germany. Yet his music sounds like he lived through the old skool years, rather than being born after they had passed. His sound is deep, thoughtful. It maintains the happy vibe, but there is always a thread of darkness running through. Having done various remix work for Kniteforce, this, his debut EP, really showcases his ability to combine dark and light element to great effect. Heavy basslines and menacing samples with unusual arrangements and subtle tricks within the mix give a truly different take without straying too far from the traditional rave sound of the mid 90's
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
After a long hiatus, Lux Rec is ready with its next release. Veil Of Light and Sleep Forever, both from Zürich, share the two sides of LXRC32. Music for broken, estranged, regretful times. Shipwrecked and completely obliterated. This is the first part of a series of three, called Unsung and Defeated, which focuses on local musicians delving in the darkest possible corners of electronic music.
Tokyo based DJ/Producer Tsuyoshi Ogawa presents "Seven Samurai". This vinyl-only label has been founded in 2018 and it is operating in Tokyo, Japan. It pays tribute to the Japanese legendary movie director 'Akira Kurosawa'. Therefore, the name of the label comes from his film 'Seven Samurai' and the tracks on the vinyl have been recorded using sound effects from the original movie's scenes. 'Seven Samurai 001' is the memorable first EP produced by Tsuyoshi Ogawa. The 1st track, 'Seven Samurai', was recorded using the voice sample from the movie "Seven Samurai' by Akira Kurosawa: 'Everything's riding on this battle!', which brings us a sign of the start of the samurai battle. Here, the 2nd track 'Shadow Enemy', expresses the fear and tension of invisible enemies, whereas the 3rd track 'Kannon Soleil' leads to the end of the battle by Buddha who comes from the sky. This EP is dedicated to Kurosawa as a new spiritual soundtrack for Seven Samurai.
The latest release on Serotonin brings recently remastered versions of four classic Synapse tracks from the early years of the label together into the "Cosmic Freak Gas Bubble" EP
Side A features two tracks from SER004 "Get the Freaks and Get Some". Side B contains two tracks from SER-002, a split EP with Auto Kine c.
"Cosmic Connecton" is classic Synapse electro-chill, featured
back in the day on the infamous late night German television
series 'Space Night' and related compilatons. This track is a call
to intelligent extraterrestrial seekers of intergalactc FNK. Fse
this as your beacon, broadcastng across the galaxy and bringing the aliens to you.
"The Freak" is an undeniable body mover and was featured on the legendary DJ Assault mix CD "Straight Up Shit Detroit Vol 3". An homage to straight up Detroit funk is exactly what Synapse was going for and with 'The Freak' they clearly hit the target.
Back in the rave days 'Gas" was an electro/breaks cross-over 'hit" in the FSA, getng play in dirty warehouses across the naton in 996. A randomly
selected spoken Japanese vocal clip provides a repetetve, non-sensical hypnotc hook. The sample apparently has something to do with environmentalism and sounds cool. The hybrid style of "Gas" hits a lot of the Serotonin values, from funk to new wave melody to breakbeat rave energy.
Just when you think you've fgured out what Synapse is all about, 'Bubble" presents yet another hybrid. The hypnotc dub techno chords create a dream state in which to lose consciousness of the fact that the infectous beat already has you rocking.
The "Cosmic Freak Gas Bubble" EP from Synapse is one record to have when you need some funk to match any occasion.
- A1: Gee Gee Shinn & Boogie Kings - Fever
- A2: Connie Kaye Trio - I'm A Woman
- A3: Bus Brown - Mr. L.b.j
- A4: Earl Demus Band - Her Spare
- A5: Chuck Finney Combo - I Want A Man Like You
- B1: Chick Willis - Sometimes Soon
- B2: Australia - Wide Awake
- B3: J.r. - Any Time Now
- B4: Joe Akens - Nice
- C1: Hummingbird 4 - Cho Cho San
- C2: Evangeline Made - Burnt Flesh
- C3: Dario & The Inferno - Brother, Where Are You
- C4: Swoop - Upside Down
- D1: You - You Got It
- D2: Hot Cakes - Harlem Shuffle Theme
- D3: Reunion - When The Well Runs Dry
- D4: The Counts - Get Up, Get Dancin
2x LP + 7"[22,65 €]
IT'S TIME TO PAAAARTY! Why The Universe knows that Tramp is celebrating their 40th trip around the sun in 2018. And what about planet Earth Well... it is as blind as it is in so many other situations. Therefore, it is time to shine the light on Tramp for all of its unremitting efforts. As musical diversity is vanishing, especially in the field of African American music from the 1960s/70s, it is our duty to stop the extinction of threatened species of music in the same way an animal welfare activist would do anything to save a gorilla's life. Tramp Records keeps this beautiful heritage alive, every single day, again and again and again. So we are here wondering why Earth people and especially to those from our beloved home country, why why are you just sitting there, going about your life unaware of this historic event What a pity!
The announcement is especially striking when it comes to the prestigious "Movements" series. Like all its predecessors, this ninth volume contains Rare Groove nuggets recorded between the early 1960s and the late 1970s. The fact that only one of the songs appear anywhere else is a jaw-dropping phenomenon! The chronological track listing starts with two amazing cover versions: "Fever" by Gee Gee Shinn & the Boogie Kings and "I'm A Woman" by Connie Kaye Trio. Bus Brown, Earl Demus and Chuck Finney remain in the same direction although their contributions are slightly jazzier. Chick Willis' gut-wrenching "Sometime Soon" easily rivals James Brown's "It's A Man's World" and the recordings by Australia, J.R. and Joe Akens are beautiful examples of privately produced soul from the 1970s. The latin-soul of "Cho Cho San" by Hummingbird 4 heads the sound in another direction for the next three tunes, highlighted by one more stunning cover version, Oscar Brown Jr.'s "Brother, Where Are You". The album closes with some pre-disco tracks from The Counts, Reunion and Hot Cakes' dance floor bomb cover of "Harlem Shuffle".
Over a hundred great unknown songs have been re-released on the first eight volumes in the "Movements" series, the majority of which can not be found elsewhere, and Vol. 9 is no exception. The work of Germany's tiniest but grooviest record label is still incomprehensibly underestimated. We know you diggers, collectors, mavens, aficionados, fanatics, completists, enthusiasts, and just plain record geeks know what's up and we heartily salute you! Without your support there would be no Tramp Records. But now it's time for a broader cultural shift for good music and a sweeping move to uphold the legacy of the unsung heroes of funk and soul. Therefore, we humbly petition you: in 2018, Don't keep all this glory to yourself! Turn your friends and neighbors on! Thank you!
- the double vinyl LP comes with a full album download code
- deluxe double-gatefold LP with detailed liner notes, label scans & unseen photographs
- all but one song appear on vinyl-LP for the very first-time
Mouse on Mars' Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner return with their most
inventive album to date, Dimensional People. The electronic music pioneers
have been critically acclaimed for their playful and inventive sound and
production techniques on releases spanning from the early '90s to now. In
demand from a surprising array of artists their most recent contributions are
featured on the Grammy award winning album Sleep Well Beast by The
National.
The duo are joined on Dimensional People by an impressive list of guests
: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Aaron and Bryce Dessner (The National), Zach
Condon (Beirut), Spank Rock, Swamp Dogg, Eric D. Clarke, Lisa Hannigan,
Amanda Blank, Sam Amidon, Ensemble Musikfabrik, and about 20 more
musical collaborators. The cast of characters are as unique as they are vast,
clearly a rich quarry for the prodigious duo.
Dimensional People is by it's nature a collaborative album. Originally
premiering as a spatial composition using object-based mixing technology
playing with the possibilities of sonic design (4D Sound) and collective
musicianship, the recording expands upon these ideas. Dimensional People
expresses itself as a dynamic 50-piece orchestra, telling a story in sound.
Mouse on Mars offer sound as a means to encourage open-minded societies,
aided by cutting-edge technology including their own MoMinstruments
music software or a spatial mixing technique called object based mixing,
with which a spatial version of the work was created. It is a conceptual
puzzle composed around one harmonic spectrum within one rhythmic
scheme, mostly in the tempo of 145bpm (inspired by Chicago footwork,
so the dance oor is not entirely absent). Looking ahead, Dimensional
People will also be realized through installation, presenting the work as an
immersive listening experience, as well as performance.
- Printed Inner Sleeve and Heavy Weight Outer
The now legendary ' Abbey Road' version of 'the Isness' was the originally conceived version before last minute wholesale changes resulted in new tracks , different mixes and/or edits appearing in a wholly different order for the commercial release of 'the Isness ' in 2002 . The 'Abbey Rd 'version had been initially promo'd to ecstatic reviews, receiving an unprecedented 6/5 stars from Mixmag 'it's like a beam of white light from heaven'.
This is the first time the Abbey Road version has been officially and commercially available .The band themselves ' the Amorphous Androgynous ' ( a psychedelic supergroup conceptualized and produced by the Future Sound Of London ) are said to have always regretted the last minute changes to the album ,the creation of which took five years from 1996-2001 post production of the FSOL album ' DEAD CITIES' and marks an important chapter in the production duos history and 5 year disappearance where rumours of madness and disbandment were rife among fans of the band only for them to finally appear with this radical new vision and what is now considered something of a psychedelic masterpiece which along with subsequent albums ' Alice In Ultraland ' ( on Harvest Records ) and their 'A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble ( Exploding In Your Mind )' Dj series ( which chronicle and redefine the history of psychedelia from the 60s to the present ) did much to activate a third wave of global psychedelic sonic revolution .
The Isness is a vast samplerdelic sonic galaxy where a huge range of instruments ( from sitars and numerous eastern instruments to flutes, banjos and conventional rock n roll instrumentation) and countless musicians are employed ,collaged and twisted using the studio as instrument ( much in the tradition and lineage of the Beatles and other 60s exponents) to form a startling new vision of cosmic space music and to redefine the possibilities of what ' the song ' could be in the new millennia with its by turn : cosmic , wildly surreal , absurdist lyrics on epic songs such as ' the Galaxial Pharmaceutical ' ' the Mello Hippo Disco Show ' ' Divinity ' and many others !
Born in Cameroon, Vicky began banging the drums at the age of 9. By 13 he had moved onto bass and within a couple of years he was playing every night from 10pm to 5am in the Castel Douala Cabaret. At the age of 19 Vicky moved to Paris to study Banking and Commerce and cram in even more music. He took classes at Épinay-sur-Seine Conservatoire music school and it was here that he met Bandmates of his Dikalo project.
Word spreads and he soon becomes one of the most sought after bass players in the Afro arena. His session work features on many scenes stars, Manu Dibango, Eko Tala AM, Kemayo, Sammy Massamba, Toto Guillaume and many more. A chance meeting with the Gibson brothers also see him play on two of their hit albums. In the 80's Vicky moved to the US for spell and excels as a session bassist and touring musician.
We pick up the story in 1981. With his stature as a musician and bass player riding high he takes a detour to Nigeria to record with the Afrodisia label in Lagos. The "Thank U Mamma" album is the result. It is repressed for the first time, here in 2018 on the revitalised Afrodisia label.
Musical proceedings open up with the heartfelt ode to his mother "Thank U Mamma", smooth pop meets afrobeat boogie. "Marina Drive" slows things down with its smoldering jazz. Side Two opens with "Its Not Serious" a catchy vocal number underpinned with funky guitars and striding basslines. "Stormy Rain" is lazy guitar jazz swansong. We close off the album with the ever so funky "You". Slick funk grooves powered along with a dose of slap bass. As a side note Vicky actually plays left handed but with a "upside down" right handed bass. This upside-down precursor making his effortless slap playing even more impressive.
Vicky went on to record a two other albums and still tours and plays as an ever-in-demand session musician.
As the title implies, it's the fourth installment in the series of the same name, which kicked off in 2016 and has since comprised the bulk of Parrish's output. This one includes the full mix of "Leave The Funk To Us," a track that initially appeared on Gentrified Love Part 2. The full version features contributions from Amp Fiddler, John Douglas and Ideeyah.
Wælder are moving between ambient, industrial and pop. Their rhythms and soundscapes of voices, obscure samples and distorted field-recordings build spaces of barren material and soft ground, which teem and crawl - strange and harmonious. To present their music live, Wælder are mixing analogue and digital effects with guitar, synthesizers, vocals and loops. Rhythms and atmospheres blur, dissolve and re-assemble. Their live shows are often framed by visuals, generated in collaboration with various visual artists.
In those times of newfound experimental conformity, it is sometimes needed to go back to simplicity. This may be where DJ OIL is leading us to. You think you know what you can expect but common ground is not always in your head, it is sometimes under your feet.
This is the second 12' of the BREF AVENIR collection (to be released digitally later this month), our Southern activist using well-known tropes and samples to provide necessary confusion.
TELEPHUNK is nothing else than a monster breakbeat funk (away from the new Lynn Collins dictatorship), unfashionably cool if you see what we mean. If PARESSE is its twin dark sister, locking electro in its black music roots whilst remaining strangely 'European', then FALL is its downer baggy brother.
What makes a house tune a unique house tune Secret Crunch Volume 5 focuses on the basics principles of making house: We are talking about an unique groove, we are talking about the original use of samples and we are talking about a soul thang. Secret Crunch Volume 5 presents four cuts of fresh and undiluted house music.
On Side A Felipe Gordon from Columbia opens with the cool jazz infused stepper "Teusanquilo Step", while Ashley Stevenson contributes to Crunch with his new project The Last Trip To Gandahar. His track "Planet Music" captivates with earwig vocals and a catchy groove. On the b side Vienna's finest Jeremiah delivers an exciting acid experience building from the beginning to the end. Newcomer Gus Nobel finishes the EP with "Radical Science" in style - and yes, it´s a crunchy banger.
* Luna-C says this was one of the most challenging EPs he has ever made, because he made a record almost exactly as he would have if it was 1992 again, only with considerably more knowledge. This EP was made almost entirely with hardware, using a real mix desk and all the original synths and modules that the Kniteforce studio used back in the day, along with some new bits picked up over the years. This EP was a deliberate attempt to go back to the roots of the sound, to start again musically.
All four tracks are proper underground in style, deliberately avoiding the common break beats and standard sounds of current 'new' old skool music, to achieve something more authentic. It features all new samples, and no reliance on old tricks or techniques. This one is for the real underground, the real old skool, and the sound of it demonstrates that!
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
* Idealz has been involved with Kniteforce since the early Influential days, all the way through KFA and into this new relaunch of Kniteforce Records. This EP is a long time coming - Idealz should always have had a Kniteforce release under his belt, as he has always been, and remains, a distinct sound within the label. This EP brings his unique sound to its perfect place - proper Jungle / D'n'B, but in the old style, and on vinyl where it deserves to be. Run The Tune is one of the best examples of this style released this year, and would fit in perfectly in any 1994-96 jungle set. It is a classic slice of precision jungle, one that moves the dance floor and the mind equally.
On the flip side, Ice Breaker and War On Jungle take the same themes but twist those vibes into other directions. This release, and Mannik's (KF73) really put the flag in the sand for Kniteforce. We do old skool the way it should be done, and embrace all the styles. This is a proper EP for the real underground!
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
* Paul Bradley is a long time hardcore soldier, someone who has lived and breathed the breakbeat scene since its inception, and who finally took the plunge into producing relatively recently. His music is direct and uplifting, with no time for subtlety or overly clever trickery. Each track on the EP is dedicated to moving the dancefloor into a state of euphoria, frenzy, or both. Pounding breaks and piano lines are compliments by some strange and amusing sample choices, leaving you never quite sure of what will happen next.
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker and many others
* The Timespan was a regular artist on the famous Kniteforce subsidiary label, Remix Records. One of Luna-C's many aliases, The Timespan has always been on a mission to make simple, effective hardcore. This EP takes that formula and applies the years of knowledge gained since 1994 to make something that sounds...almost the same as it would in 1994. Only better. Full on pianos, running break beats, happy vocals, hip hop snippets and hectic stab patterns, this EP was made almost entirely on hardware rather than software. The result is that it contains not only the ideas of the old skool, but the warm analogue soundscapes from that era. It also features a 'revisit' by label mate Cru-l-t of the Timespan's classic track 'Music' - an updated and rebuilt from the ground up version of that tune.
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker and many others
Hailing from sunny California, Subtle Mind have been making not so subtle waves in the US bass scene for quite some time. Their debut release on Subaltern Records brings in a different style to the imprint with a flavourful, melodic yet weighty selection.
Tracklist:
A: Ambitions feat. Ill Chill
Opening the EP, and featuring Bay Area artist, 'Universal Future MC' Ill Chill on the vocals, lounge vibes greet the listener before sinking into a bathe of bliss and bass. Words and synth lines transcending with low frequencies and space, 'Ambitions' is floating above clouds and diving in the deep ocean at the same time.
AA: Gelato
Subtle Mind are putting the classic 808 drum kit through its paces in 'Gelato'. Mellow pads disguise the heaviness at first, but once the ground shaking bass-line hits, there is no doubt that this one is a tactical weapon; it carries the dance easily while satisfying your melodic desires.
AA2: Standard Strain feat. Saule
With this high-grade collaboration we are welcoming the incredibly talented San Francisco-based Saule to the imprint. Carried by airy bells and soulful vocal hits, Standard Strain brings a jazzy twist to the table. Contrasted by dark synth shots and a bumping bass-line this track is an excellent showcase of the producers' musicality.
2023 Repress !
Lp + Downloadcode
Als eindeutiger Fan-Favorit hatte GUSGUS' letzter Langspieler ARABIAN HORSE (KOMPAKT 231 CD 89) sämtliche Erwartungen übertroffen und gilt bis heute als einer unserer größten Bestseller der letzten Jahre. Nach nahezu zwei Jahrzehnten an der vordersten Front der internationalen elektronischen Tanzmusik verfügt die Band über eine beachtliche Anhängerschar - und das zu Recht. Jetzt kehrt die Kerntruppe von Birgir Thorarinsson, Daníel Ágúst, Högni Egilsson und Stephan Stephensen mit dem neuen Meisterwerk MEXICO zurück: ein ungemein befriedigender Nachfolger zu vergangenen Großtaten und ein weiterer Schritt in die Zukunft hymnischen Pops.
Wie die digitale Vorab-Single CROSSFADE (KOMPAKT DIGITAL 39) und das dazugehörige Set an prächtigen Remixen (KOMPAKT DIGITAL 40) bereits zeigten, sind GUSGUS unbeirrbar darauf aus die überragende Qualität ihres Songwritings fortzuführen. Dementsprechend weist das neue Album den gleichen Glanz auf wie die vorangegangenen Werke, kann sich jedoch auch am Schwung und der Güteklasse aktueller Ausschweifungen messen lassen. Bandmitglied Birgir Thorarinsson bereitete sich auf die anstehende Aufgabe bereits mit der Produktion von John Grants brilliantem 2013er Release "Pale Green Ghosts" vor, einem Meilenstein elektronischen Songwritings und das ideale Übungsgelände für MEXICO. Von der Eröffnungshymne OBNOXIOUSLY SEXUAL bis zum existentiellen Shuffle der abschließenden Ballade THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU MESS WITH LOVE setzt dieses Album auf dem Weg zu klanglicher Wonne alle Hebel in Bewegung und taucht mit jedem Track tiefer in die eigene zeitlose Melodieseligkeit ab.
15th release of the strong Barba records! And its FBK who's back featuring a remix by none other than Claude Young - a Detroit heavy-weight who's been particularly selective with his output. Kevin's previous record for Barba, a 2016 twelve titled "Screaming Her Name", also featured a remixes by Terrence Dixon and Plural. Between then and now Kevin managed to put out a track for "The Cast Project" VA and a solo EP for Radio Slave's "Rekids" imprint. As we mentioned earlier, "Eclipse" features two original tracks, the title one and "To A Place I Know". "Eclipse" track is closer to the sound we've come to associate to FBK's productions - equally banging and meditative. This track takes you for a spin with hypnotizing lead synth, distorted acid lines and drums that intensify the vibe as the track progresses. It's dark and moody, but perfect for those moments when the dancefloor is ready to dive really deep. "To A Place I Know" starts on the similar note but as soon as the sampled vocal loop takes the lead it takes the song to a much happier place. Hypnotizing element is still unavoidably present but here the synth line is more subdued and plays a supporting role to the vocals. Something you would play when you need to dive out from the deep and feel some sun on your skin. Finally, Claude Young's remix of "Eclipse" is a fairly different affair, focusing on the meditative aspect of the original quite literally, and taking it to a whole other level. It is an exercise in restraint and patience, with a slowly-rising tension masterfully achieved by a piano line, ambient pads and synth textures subtly exchanging roles throughout the whole length of the song. Simply wonderful. All that, pressed onto a heavy duty 180 gram vinyl and beautifully packaged in an original artwork traditionally featuring local artists
































































































































































