NO Return!
"Leave The Ground" the 1st album of the powerhouse live-band Extraviolette. Get ready to groove along the funky rhythm section, the soulful vocals and the piercing brass that transport you back to the heart of the Disco Era. Based in Leipzig these nine musicians want spread their love for the music of the 70ties and are committed to energise their audience with new music they haven't heard, yet.
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Following a successful first volume of the newly launched DC4 compilation this summer, Volume 2 arrives featuring four on-point singles from the label’s extended family of artists, alongside a string of label debutants. Heerhorst & PETER PAHN return to the fold following their contribution to ‘Dark Clouds’ with Teenage Mutants, a former Beatport no.1 and highlight of 2023 for the label. Continuing the celestial themes ‘Crystal Sky’ feels like part 2 to ‘Dark Sky’, a lively electro-tinted record driven by dreamy melody lines and chanting vocals that has plenty of peak-time energy. Italian behemoth’s Mind Against debut on Drumcode in collaboration with Tharat, ‘Cloud’ is one of the most interesting releases we’ve heard on the label in recent times, marked by a head-spinning flurry of stuttering, distorted sounds, all the while maintaining a rolling,
intoxicating groove. Rising German artist Kos:mo mints his first release on DC with ‘Samsara', a fierce acid techno cut that takes on a life of its own in the second stanza, equally fit for a film soundtrack as a dancefloor, such is its dramatic arc. OZBEK & Zafer Atabey are mainstays of the Turkish techno and tech house scene, ‘My Culture’ is drenched in attitude, a slick slice of punchy dancefloor grit, with a foot in house, techno and electro, driven by a rapped vocal line.
- A1: Cantoma - Way To The Sun (Calm’s Mellow Mellow Acid Dub)
- A2: Aura Safari - Sur Mon Balconnet (Calm’s Mellow Mellow Acid Remix)
- B1: Dream Baby Dream - Banana Trance (Calm’s Mellow Mellow Acid Remix)
- B2: Michele Mininni - Vertigo (Calm Remix)
- C1: Meitei Mahi - Dounika Kounika (Calm's Mellow Mellow Acid Remix)
- C2: Gallo - Abysso (Calm’s Beatless Dub)
- D1: Seahawks - Blue Surround (Calm's Mellow Mellow Acid Remix)
- D2: Yuichiro Kato - Kiss Of Life (Calm Remix)
To honour the enduring appeal of a great musical rework, Hell Yeah is launching The Art of Remix. This essential new series collects the best remixes from a range of label favourites. First up is Japanese downtempo master Calm with exclusive, never-before-on-vinyl versions of originals by Cantoma, Aura Safari, DJ Sofa’s Dream Baby Dream, Seahawks, Gallo, Yuichiro Kato and more. The release comes with rich liner notes by the authoritative Dr Rob from Ban Ban Ton Ton, and a second volume from Is It Balearic's Coyote will follow soon.
Remixes have always been at the heart of Hell Yeah's output as a way of reworking classic sounds into different contexts, allowing artists to explore outside their usual remit and also to introduce new talents. Clam has long perfected the art with his famously laidback takes on all sorts of Balearic, house, dub and acid under the Mellow Mellow Acid subtitle. He's remixed many a Japanese legend but also a wealth of artists from across the world, and eight of those reimagined gems balance euphoria with solitude on this first volume.
First, his take on Cantoma's 'Way To The Sun' infuses drones and chimes with bubbly acid. 'Sur Mon Balconett' shimmers with Spanish guitar and sultry sax, ghosts of yesterday still shuffling. 'Banana Trance' jolts with breakbeats while taking a Balearic leap into hedonism. Mininn’s 'Vertigo' drifts dubwise, from monastic chants to operatic bursts. Maho’s 'Bakuhatsu' growls dark and sleazy as acid and riffs collide, 'Abysso' floats with strings and sirens in symphony, 'Blue Surround' lulls before exploding with jazz fire and Kato’s 'Kiss of Life' closes with a cosmic, romantic serenade. Calm's The Art of Remix sets a high standard for a series which will soon turn to Coyote and Scandi-house great Bjorn Torske.
Plura Plura bends Electronica, Breaks and melancholic sensibilities into tracks that feel instantly familiar, like resonating memories from a life you never actually lived. Warm melodies collide with juicy, restless breaks, creating a
sentimental ecstasy that pulls you into the undertow.
Somewhere between comfort and unease, his second album captures a moment where everything seems okay — except it isn’t.
Suburban Architecture continue their series of sought after 4 track EP releases with their 8th offering, 'Purpose'. This latest release is the most stylistically varied of the duo's releases to date, drawing on inspiration from a multitude of styles which emerged during Drum & Bass's mid to late 90s golden years.
The E.P opens with title track 'Purpose', clashing Jazz influenced instrumentation with deep atmospherics and sharp, angular drum programming, not to forget a tone-setting vocal sample. 'Tones' meanwhile puts the drums at the forefront: Lush keys, melancholy horns and subtle, shifting synth lines underpin an unconventional drum track, packed with rattling percussion and raw energy.
Over on the flip 'Focus' goes harder and darker. Eery synths, atmospherics and a driving drum track set the scene for an explosive second half drum switch. 'Stairways' closes out the EP, marrying uplifting atmosphere with live instrumentation in a style which will appeal to fans of 4hero and the like.
Black Vinyl[14,50 €]
repressed !
It's been a busy 3 years since Danny Berman aka Red Rack'em released on his own Bergerac imprint.
Since then he's toured relentlessly, released a whole album of live music based disco/punk funk for Sonar Kollektiv as Hot Coins, managed to completely update his biggest track 'In Love Again' to make it a hit the second time around plus released spaced out, wonky party smashers on Wolf Music, Phonica, City Fly and Telefonplan.
While all this was going on Bergerac was largely on ice but now Berman is turning his energy back to the label with a vengeance.
Wonky Bassline Disco Banger is accurately titled. An uplifting intro breaks down into a slamming disco house number and just when you think you know what's going on...
Then the trademark Red Rack'em wonky bass drops in. 150% Guaranteed party smasher... Jazzy House Extension is super vintage Red Rack'em from around 2004 - something for the jazz heads out there - cracked out piano and far too loud double bass come together to birth a euphoric yet banging snapshot of a producer learning his chops. Destined is a slightly demented leftfield house number featuring mangled, pitch shifting fretless bass and vocals samples discussing someone's destiny.
A woozy end to the EP.
- 1: Tame In The Water
- 2: Dazed And Confused
- 3: Fighting Your Shadow
- 4: Woman Got Soul
- 5: Ain't Enough
- 6: Fool
- 7: Late Nights & Heartbreak
- 1: In Your Arms
- 2: Still In My Head
- 3: Callin' Me Back
- 47: Am To Seville
- 5: Another Sunrise
- 6: Your Luck Can Change
Record Kicks freut sich, die Vinyl-Neuauflage zum 10-jährigen Jubiläum von ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" zu präsentieren, dem Durchbruchsalbum von Hannah Williams & The Affirmations, auf dem der Song zu finden ist, der zum emotionalen Rückgrat von Jay-Zs wegweisendem Album ,4:44" wurde. ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" kam 2016 raus und wurde von Kritikern gelobt. Seitdem ist es ein moderner Soul-Klassiker. Sein Vermächtnis wurde besiegelt, als Jay-Z den Titelsong von ,4:44" komplett um Hannah Williams' Originalaufnahme herum aufgebaut hat. Der Song, der als unverfälschtes Geständnis der Untreue genutzt wurde, war Jay-Zs Antwort auf ,Lemonade" von seiner Frau Beyoncé und machte Hannahs unverwechselbare Stimme einem weltweiten Publikum bekannt. Aufgenommen im Quatermass Studio in London - der Heimat der Kulthelden The Heliocentrics - zeigt ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" Hannah, begleitet von ihrer neu gegründeten Band The Affirmations. Produziert wurde das Album von Malcolm Catto, der für seine Arbeit mit Künstlern wie Mulatu Astatke, Orlando Julius, Floating Points, Quantic, DJ Shadow und Madlib. Das Album wurde komplett analog gemischt und auf Band gemastert und bietet einen rohen, druckvollen und zutiefst eindringlichen Sound. Auf 13 Tracks erkundet ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" viszeralen, kraftvollen Soul mit einem subtilen psychedelischen Touch. Von der eindringlichen ersten Single ,Tame in the Water" bis zum unerbittlichen achtminütigen Groove von ,Still in My Head" zeigt das Album die schiere Kraft und Kontrolle von Hannahs Stimme in ihrer elektrisierendsten Form. ,Woman Got Soul" liefert fünf Minuten mitreißenden, kraftvollen Funk, während tiefgründigere Stücke wie ,Another Sunrise" und ,Your Luck Can Change" einen üppigen, emotionalen Hintergrund für Themen wie Liebe, Lust, Sehnsucht, Wut und Verletzlichkeit bieten. Alle Songs sind Originalkompositionen, die von dem in Bristol ansässigen Kollektiv um The Affirmations unter der Leitung von Musikdirektor James Graham geschrieben wurden - mit Ausnahme einer atemberaubenden, psychedelisch-souligen Neuinterpretation von ,Dazed and Confused", die stark von der Originalversion von Jake Holmes inspiriert ist. Hannah Williams, die schon früh von der verstorbenen Sharon Jones gesegnet wurde, eroberte 2012 mit ihrem Debütalbum ,A Hill of Feathers" die Soul-Szene. Die Single ,Work It Out" wurde ein Indie-Radiohit und ebnete den Weg für eine Karriere, die von moderner Soul-Mythologie geprägt ist. Aufgewachsen in einem musikalischen Haushalt, sang Hannah ab dem Alter von sechs Jahren im Kirchenchor und konnte Noten lesen, bevor sie richtig lesen konnte. Heute ist sie eine unaufhaltsame Kraft - eine Künstlerin mit einem seltenen Talent, wie es nur einmal in einer Generation vorkommt. Zehn Jahre später kehrt ,Late Nights & Heartbreak" in dieser speziellen Jubiläumsausgabe auf Vinyl zurück und bestätigt erneut, warum Hannah Williams & The Affirmations nach wie vor zu den kraftvollsten Stimmen des zeitgenössischen Soul gehören.
- 1: Lost In The Sun
- 2: Out With A Theory
- 3: One Last Blow
- 4: We Outlast Them All
- 5: A Grand Ceremonial Jester
- 6: Dagon?S Plunger
- 7: Advance Without Dropping
- 8: No Shoe Fits (Floating Babies)
- 9: Arthur Square
- 10: Landscaping
- 11: (How Would You Like A) Chariot Ride
- 12: When You?Re My Clown (Nothing Happens)
Guided By Voices’ last album Thick Rich And Delicious (October 2025) was lauded by NPR’s All Things Considered and picked #1 on Magnet Magazine’s Best Albums Of 2025. The single “We Outlast Them All” from this latest, Crawlspace Of The Pantheon, is an anthemic victory lap on album #44 from the indie rock stalwarts. Robert Pollard told Rolling Stone: “ ‘We Outlast Them All’ could be our ‘We Are The Champions’ but it’s not necessarily about us.
It’s about anyone who perseveres over a long period of time.” On Crawlspace Of The Pantheon: “I worked much more diligently on this set of lyrics. I chiseled away at lines and sections and phrasings...I wanted them to have an overall emotionally conceptual feel. At times it feels somewhat autobiographical.” Guided By Voices will not be on tour in 2026. Pollard recently told Magnet: “Why would we stop playing live and make these kinds of records? I don’t know. We do what we wanna do.” “Pollard is the greatest rock lyricist of all time.” —Dennis Cooper
Transamericas reissues Atom™’s Kraftwerk-goes-chachachá classic
After 25 years out of print, El Baile Alemán — the cult album by Señor Coconut (one of Atom™’s many aliases) — returns on vinyl via Transamericas. What began as a half-joke (“The only way I’d cover Kraftwerk is as chachachá or death metal…”) became a fever-born epiphany: Kraftwerk’s electronic minimalism recast through a tropical imagination — where chachachá, mambo, and cumbia intertwine with glitch, breakbeats, and distressed samples.
Long before reggaeton and trap filled stadiums and playlists, Señor Coconut was already mapping the fault lines between Latin rhythm and electronic form.
Originally released in Japan in 2000, El Baile Alemán caught the ear of Kraftwerk’s Florian Schneider, who unexpectedly championed the project. This reissue has been cut from Atom™’s 2022 remasters, preserving the album’s detail for a new generation of listeners. In the second half of 2026,
Transamericas will also reissue El Gran Baile (1997), his first outing — a rawer but equally idiosyncratic fusion of what Atom™ was going to frame as electrolatino.
Emotional Rescue returns after a much-needed year hiatus, refreshed and ready, as it moves into its 15th year, to further explore the environs of oft-forgotten musical secrets and present them to new heads and minds.
To celebrate, the label looks back to one of its favourite collaborations, the music of French ‘Ethno-Industrialists’ Vox Populi! in presenting a truly unique EP of “In Dub”, inspired remixes by 4 fellow Paris based artists of today in Full Circle, Froid Dub, Krikor and Shelter.
“In Dub” takes a selection of songs from the series of albums reissued or compiled on Emotional Rescue and sister label, Platform 23, and gives the Master tapes to this talented ensemble to offer their own, unique dub reworks. The project explores the on-going advances in technology offered, mixed with pure talent and a respectful homage.
Formed by Axel Kyrou and including wife Mitra, as well as long-term music and art partners Pierre Jolivet aka Pacific 231 and Francis Lafont aka FR6 Man, they forged a path from obscure, drum and drum-based cassette releases on to fully realized albums and compilations on their now cult Vox Man Records.
Alexis Le Tan and Joakim’s Full Circle project starts, with their electronic dub remake of Soleyman Dub from the ‘Alternatif Réalisme’ compilation (ERC079). With releases on Good Morning Tapes, Offen and their own “Released” label, their plaudits as master diggers and producers of dubby tripped-out inspired electronics – releasing slowed Trance some 10 years before anyone else – is inspired. Tuning in and turning on the original dub into a mantra style slow-breaks (Digi)dub is the perfect experimental flavour.
Jube Man is next, a twisted, psychedelic dub out by rising stars Froid Dub. The stand-out from the ‘Magiques Creations’ release (ERC052), an album that explored Vox Populi’s furtive post-industrial period of 1984 to 1988, Jube Man was the perfect selection by the duo of François Marché and Stéphane Bodin.
Froid Dub have steadily developed their “cold” Digidub style to acclaim –
releasing a steady flow of dub inspired electronics on their own label Delodio, as well as recently appearing on sister label Emotional Response’s 10th year anniversary collection, ‘All Trades’. Their haunting, shuffling and murky acid / piano dub, with the drifting “Space Echoing” of Mitra’s vocals from the live desk mix, creates a ghostly version to effect.
Next, master mixer, producer and engineer Krikor serves a steppers remake with his “OverDub” of Zen-Dub. With a career that spans releases on Tigersushi, LIES and Soul Jazz, his sound has developed from Electro, House and Techno, to Acid, Bleep, Dancehall, Dub and touches of Gabba.
Taken from Vox Populi!’s master-opus Aither (ERC030), the first of our reissues dating back to 2016, Zen-Dub’s pacey, lo-fi dub experience is transformed and overdubbed into an incessant sound system throb, a true bass quaking “steppa”.
To close, Micro Climax is put through Shelter’s increasing avant dub exposition. Appearing on the likes of Growing Bin, Emotional Response and his own Protopost, as well for – and being in-house designer – on the much-missed Séance Centre, Alan Briand aka Shelter productions have developed from Balearic, Edits and House to explore Avant, Raga and live Dub productions.
Appearing on the recent ‘Ethniques Pyschedeliques’ compilation on Platform 23 (PLA032), in original form Micro Climax is a sprawling 10-minute ethno-dub of whispered vocals, drone and sub bass. Shelter strips it back, keeping background effects, adding live bass and percussion to create a wonky, slow, shuffling ska-lite excursion to complete a true “In Dub”.
- 1: Clive Zanda - Ogun
- 2: Michael Boothman's Family Tree - Tabu
- 3: Lancelot Layne - Umbawa
- 4: Andre Tanker - River Come Down
- 5: Black Truth Rhythm Band - Save D Musician
- 6: Art De Coteau - Kerieka Woman
- 7: Mansa Musa - Beat The Drum
- 8: Sensational Roots - Calypso Zest
- 9: Frends - Mystery Music
- 10: Abdul Malik De Coteau - More Weight
Kaiso Power is a collection of rare jazz, calypso and percussive gems from Trinidad and Tobago from the revolutionary generation of the 1970s, bringing radical new political vision and reclaiming ancient spiritual consciousness through music. At the dawn of the 70s a shift was taking place all around the world. The streets of Port of Spain thronged with Black Power marches, trade union demonstrations and Carnival protest bands - one epicentre in a growing global exchange of ideologies and strategies among Pan Africanist circles in Jamaica, Guyana, London, New York, Montreal, Lagos, Accra and beyond. And when the meetings were over, the revolution moved to the cramped secret dance halls, the Carnival fetes, the steelband yards. The music always had a sharp edge. Searing commentary has always been part of the various types of music in Trinidad, and in the absence of lyrics, the defiant use of the drum maintains the resistance, as well as the re-framing of the playing of European instruments to the needs of the message. Lancelot Layne, Delano Abdul Malik De Coteau, Andre Tanker, Clive Zanda, Mansa Musa were more than artists, they were teachers, community workers and advocates for justice. These recordings are as raw as an all-night Carnival jam, the horns loud, the percussion ringing out, the bass dripping with joy and rebellion. Under the modern influences is a solid rhythm, an unbroken connection to Africa, the songs and keys and cadences brought across the middle passage. These songs are a peep into the untapped treasures of a revolutionary generation, looking at the world with fresh eyes and believing that music was a central part of the mission to build consciousness and regain confidence.
Black Vinyl[38,03 €]
Die hochgeschätzten Euro-Metal-Pioniere Oz wurden ursprünglich 1977 in der kleinen finnischen Stadt Nakilla gegründet. Die Band bestand aus Mark Ruffneck (bürgerlicher Name Pekka Mark) am Schlagzeug, Sänger Ape De Martini (Eero Hämäläinen), Bassist Tauno Vajavaara sowie Kario Elo an der Gitarre.
Fünf Jahre nach ihrer Gründung legten Oz ihr Debütalbum vor. Mit Krachern wie “Saturday Night”, “Capricorn Man” oder dem schlüpfrigen “Second-Hand Lady” avancierten Oz schnell zur HM-Band Nummer eins in Skandinavien.
In der Folge zog man nach Stockholm um, wo 1983 der gefeierte Zweitling »Fire In The Brain« entstand. Die Platte enthielt höchst energetische Heavy-Metal-Hymnen wie “Fortune”, “Megalomaniac” oder “Gambler”. Der kanadische Journalist Martin Popoff verteilte in seinem »Collector’s Guide To Heavy Metal« 9 von 10 Punkten und schrieb: »Fire In The Brain« ist eine düstere, fast depressiv wirkende Platte, die den Hörer wie ein Güterzug trifft. Es ist ein sehr europäisch klingendes Werk – vom apokalyptisch anmutenden ‘Searchlights’ über das zähflüssige ‘Black Candles’ bis hin zum gewaltigen Titelsong werden absolut keine Gefangenen genommen.“
High Roller Records, silver vinyl, ltd 450, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover with 5mm spine, lyric sheet, 12 page booklet, poster
Philip Glass, the great American composer, was already in his mid-30s before his first album appeared, and then only because he produced the double LP himself. Music With Changing Parts was the inaugural release on his own Chatham Square imprint in 1971.
At this point, Einstein on the Beach, Glass' first opera, was still five years away. Yet in Changing Parts, one can already hear much of his vocabulary in full bloom: the buoyant arpeggios, the melding of electronic and acoustic instruments, the elongated drones of human voice, the primary emphasis on pulse (an interest he shared with fellow composer Steve Reich) and the ecstatic potential inherent in repetition.
The album features the original Philip Glass Ensemble – the composer himself, along with Jon Gibson, Dickie Landry, Art Murphy, Steve Chambers and Robert Prado – playing Farfisa organs and woodwinds as well as Barbara Benary on electric violin.
As Glass describes in his memoir Words Without Music, he secured a $500 interest-free loan for the recordings' initial release from the Hebrew Free Loan Society – an organization intended to help immigrants from the Old World upon arrival in the US. Though Glass was merely the grandson of immigrants, the venture wasn't far off the society's charter as Changing Parts helped usher in a new world of sound that would become known as Minimalism.
Chatham Square went on to release albums by other composers in Glass' circle, including Gibson and Landry. The label was named after the Manhattan intersection where Landry had a studio and the ensemble rehearsed.
Born in Baltimore in 1937, Glass first moved to New York to attend Juilliard at just nineteen, having already graduated from the University of Chicago. A staple of the Downtown scene, he can perhaps be appreciated as akin to the likes of sculptor Richard Serra or filmmaker Jim Jarmusch: mavericks who became major cultural figures entirely on their own terms.
This first-time vinyl reissue reproduces the original side-breaks and gatefold sleeve.
More Modern Soul madness from the team at Celestial Echo. No Stranger To Love is one of those rare tracks that crosses over both Modern and Northern scenes & has long been a favourite of collectors and selectors with original copies regularly changing hands for £100 + on the second hand market.
This lead to the synth laden funk track being picked up by Dam Funk & the Stones Throw crew, who shone a new light on the track via online mixes which has only increased the demand.
Officially reissued for the first time in 40 years and as always, officially licenced and remastered by Celestial Echo Records. Needless to say, buy or cry.
Repress on Transparent Red Vinyl
MUSIQUE POUR LA DANSE presents The Unreleased Themes From Hellraiser expanded ritual by Coil
Back in 1987, Clive Barker's supernatural body-horror classic Hellraiser hitted cinemas worldwide and introduced audiences to the demonic Cenobites. Barker was a devoted COIL fan (Peter Christopherson and John Balance), and he famously said they were the only band he'd ever heard on record whose music he'd had to take off because, in his words, "theymade his bowels churn.". He initially invited them to compose the film's music, and the group began recording cues. But the producers at New World Pictures ultimately rejected the material in favor of a more traditional approach, bringing in Christopher Young, whose final score remains excellent, if less experimental. What remains from Coil is an unfinished soundtrack with surviving fragments and rough ideas, abruptly left behind mid-process, a glimpse into an alternate Hellraiser movie, one we can only fantasize into existence.
Nearly 40 years later, key long-term collaborators and Coil's "secret third member" Danny Hyde located the original Hellraiser studio session tapes, and the bonus material recovered from them is presented here as an "expanded ritual" edition, reassembled into a standalone, possibly defnitive and strangely beautiful nightmare suite. Play it in the dark and experience the consequences of raising hell...
Notes by Danny Hyde
Original artwork by Trevor Brown
For fans of pain & pleasure, Throbbing Gristle, lost horror soundtracks & haunted electronics.
Positions is the second collaborative single of Adam Port, Stryv and Malachiii and the follow up to their highly successful Move release. And now, Positions is finally available as a limited vinyl edition. 114
2026 Repress!
The story begins in 2000 in Britany (France). Two guys decide to create a sound system with the aim of sharing their common passion for roots reggae and early digital. Rootystep (selecta) and MacGyver (operator) begin to collect records and purchase music equipment. They are quickly joined by Pupajim who becomes the MC, the singer and the dub builder. The Stand High Patrol first toured the land of Brittany, gradually moving towards stepper dub production emanating from the English stage. Fifteen years later, the sound is more present than ever. Stand High has created a true identity and has established itself as one of the essential sound systems of the French dub scene. In 2009, Stand High Patrol creates his own label "Stand High Records". In 2012, after releasing several records, the Dubadub Musketeerz present their debut album "Midnight Walkers", 13 exclusives & wicked tracks inna pure Dubadub Style. In 2015 the dubadub experience takes on new dimensions with their second album : "A Matter Of Scale". In 2017 they are back with "The Shift" a third LP totally dedicated to Boom Bap & 90s Hip Hop. Words, blue notes, boom bap and bad news: here comes "The Shift", the third album of Stand High Patrol.
IN 2017, TRYING TO MAKE BOOM BAP FROM THE 90s, INSPIRED BY JAZZ FROM THE 60s, MIXED WITH MACHINES FROM THE 50s
Lyrics, Boom bap and bad news: Stand High Patrol present their third album 'The Shift' and confirm their attachment to 90s hiphop.
/// First track, Symmetry, debuted on BBC Radio 6 New Music Fix, 10th February: "A beautiful, beautiful album" /// I got my life back. On 17 February 2025, 1024 rays of ultra sound converged at an operation table in Bern, Switzerland, and disconnected a noisy circuit on my brain. 90% of the manifestation ceased – of a disease that I no longer wish to mention by its name. During the same period, I completed my new album: Self Help Manual. I’ve read more current research about the nameless disease than my neurologist, who despite that I didn’t follow his advice on suitable treatment, called me after the successful operation: a brave, brave man. I have composed the music in the same way as in my previous album – Songs for the Nervous System – through layers upon layers of improvisations in dialogue with my synthesizers, most of which are the same age as me. I made the majority of the songs in my studio in the remains of Old Hagalund in Solna. I edited the recordings in my bed during the waking hours of clarity at night. Some songs – NAC, Ketosis, Overkill – were recorded in the basement of my childhood home in Skutskär, in Norduppland, where I’d returned to be nurtured by my retired parents – who during a night when I couldn’t turn over in bed, or pull the blanket over me – made a list of what would happen to my belongings. To my friends who have stood out with me despite my disease, I want to state: you will not inherit me yet. On the new album, the electric bass takes on a leading role. ESG and Liquid Liquid have been important when I reinvented my baselines, limited and liberated by my poor fine motor skills. Plasma is my homage to Summertime Rolls by Jane’s Addiction, that I listened to frequently in my youth. I guess that no one will hear the resemblance. In several songs, the Fender Rhodes plays an important role, a magical instrument that I bought shortly after my diagnosis over a decade ago, and for a long time didn’t dare to touch out of respect for Herbie Hancock and Fela Kuti. A couple of songs draw inspiration from the Horn of Africa – Inner Nile and Delta. At first, subconsciously in the reverb-drenched Inner Nile, then more consciously in Delta. I’m sorry it doesn’t swing the right way, but it was my attempt to return to the cradle of humanity. Longevity is possibly my favourite. The melody is played by an arpeggiator that I controlled by pressing down different keys in an exhilarating sense of freedom. One song in particular, the second track – One – has caused friends to associate freely: one thought it sounded like Patrick Cowley, another like Sly & Robbie meets Kraftwerk, a third like Air – Moonlight Safari. I made one song just before the surgery: opening track Symmetry. It’s the mightiest and most minimal song. I made one song after the surgery: finishing track Self Help Manual. My previous medication pump is heard through the microphone of my Ovation Magnum. It’s the most hopeful song on the album. I took the cover photos with my Hasselblad during walks in Tokyo suburbs of Ōmori and Kamata more than ten years ago. It was something about the faith of the traffic cones that fascinated me – born in the same streamlined form, they had over the years become increasingly individual and lovable. The mixing was finalized by Christoffer Roth in the newly built Studio Dubious in Nacka. Rashad Becker, who in an interview said that he listens as much with his mouth as with his ears, mastered the album at Clunk in Berlin. Right now it feels like anything is possible. My recovery is perhaps a small step for mankind, but a giant leap for me. I hereby leave the music to you. Joakim Forsgren




















