Factory Benelux presents a new studio album by cult Manchester postpunk group Crispy Ambulance, issued in a
limited edition of 500 vinyl copies to mark Record Store Day 2015.
In many respects Compulsion is the second album Crispy Ambulance might have recorded in 1982 after the release of
The Plateau Phase, with six of the eight tracks written and performed live at that time. To these are now added Rain
Without Clouds, an outtake from The Plateau Phase newly restored from the original multitrack masters, and WMTP.2
with added synth lines by producer-cum fifth member Graham Massey, of 808 State and Biting Tongues.
Almost uniquely, Crispy Ambulance has retained the same line-up since the group was originally founded in 1978: Alan
Hempsall (vocals, keyboards), Gary Madeley (drums), Robert Davenport (guitars), Keith Darbyshire (bass).
'There's a sense of feeling compelled by irresistible forces,' explains Alan Hempsall. 'Compulsion is an apt way to
describe our constant urge to go back and make music with people we've known since childhood. While the world may
have changed, our music continues to be the product of the same influences - the passing of time, the changing of the
seasons, the content of our sleeping dreams, and the existence of space.'
Cover art by Peter Staessens. The package also features a free digital download of the album.
Praise for The Plateau Phase: "One of the best albums Britain's second city has unleashed" (Q, 03/2006); 'Perfect,
wonderful and with a compelling gravitational pull' (Record Collector, 03/2013); "17 years on The Plateau Phase
sounds like what it probably always was: urgent, postmodernist psychedelia with less debt to Joy Division's music than to
the universal abstract existential tension that comes with being young" (Uncut, 12/1999); "Cold and ferocious, but with
enough inventive melody to lighten the black abyss of the overall mood" (Les Inrockuptibles, 02/2012); "An enthralling
glimpse at a moment in musical history when the DIY ethos of punk gradually gave way to experiments with electronics
and song structures" (NME, 01/2000); "Mixes driving rock, gritty new wave and odd atmospheric stuff" (Option, 1990)
Producer CRISTIAN VOGEL, born in Chile and in raised in Bristol, England, represents an inner turmoil within the history of electronic music and techno. Like only a few other artists such as Aphex Twin, he personifies the second wave of techno during which authorship, previously pronounced dead, returned in full force. The former punk, who had completed studies in composition (20th century classical music in Sussex) conveyed a powerful force in his music, which now finds its place very naturally as electronic music; back then, it did more than just shake up the concepts of techno. Complex and intricate rhythms (Süddeutsche Zeitung) dig deep chasms in dark (listening) spaces.
In 1996, together with JAMIE LIDELL as SUPER_COLLIDER, he made a final attempt to breathe life into electronic music, which was still primarily seen as dance/rave/club music, and produced clustered break funk music that was so relevant to its time that many considered it more a music of the future: science fiction for the dance floor. Although the project was not a failure, it did not succeed even halfway in meeting the expectations of an artist who was rather perplexed by the lack of interest he perceived in others in music as art and research. Vogel believes that music has a will to unfold, like a jungle from the undergrowth of industrial cities where music is thought of as an attack and a defense.
Seemingly out of disappointment in the predictably declining hedonism of the scene, he moved to Barcelona and bound his explosive ideas to more accessible formats, founded labels, created networks (No Future, Sleep Debt) and, at the same time, revisited his early days by working more and more on formats such as music for ballet and similar concepts. He also sought freedom precisely in what was referred to as functional electronic music through conceptual and serious endeavors in the artistic sense.
Vogel went under for a time and lived in Vienna before arriving in Berlin nearly two years ago, where he made his first new and daring attempt to assimilate everything that electronic music represented to him on one album: 'The Inertials' on SHITKATAPULT. Shortly after that, his mystical, floating ambient work 'Eselsbrücke' was released, which already spoke the language of the new city.
He now presents a new album on SHITKATAPULT entitled 'POLYPHONIC BEINGS' - a true masterpiece in the inimitable Vogel style, as his fans will no doubt claim. 'POLYPHONIC BEINGS' begins, after two minutes of an irritating noise wave, with a surprisingly classic dub track and grows darker and more abstract from track to track, minute by minute. An eerie and unbelievable sound, with all as it should be: every reverb tail, every movement of the fader, every composed note takes the listener piece by piece into Vogel's own cosmos.
He foregoes interwoven elements for swaying towers of rhythm, powerful sound passages, spaces, roads, mirrors and pathways, leading to a stream of ideas that never wants to end. He aptly quotes Karl-Heinz Stockhausen in the liner notes: These are the "atomic layers of ourselves." And so it is. We are what we hear. This is the definitive CRISTIAN VOGEL.
In what will certainly be ranked as one of his most intriguing releases so far, Kompakt staple MATIAS AGUAYO not only takes a quick breather from his commitment to Cómeme, but also opens up fresh and exciting paths for him to explore with his music: LEGENDE is both the continuation and alteration of Matias' well-established aesthetic canon, drawing from all stages in his production career und ultimately synthesizing various sonic strains into a wholly new listening experience.
Having established a firm artistic presence in the annals of electronic music through iconic collaborations like Closer Musik or his genre-defying solo work, MATIAS AGUAYO is an artist well known for his deep investment with innovation in club sounds and a keen sense of the varying social context that informs them. This led to the inception of Cómeme, internationally acclaimed label by day, breeding ground for the revolution by night, sonically and otherwise. One can safely assume that - besides constant performing and travelling - this makes for a pretty busy schedule.
Almost exactly three years after the first, Redshape has readied his second Red Pack, due for co release by his own Present imprint alongside his frequent Dutch home, Delsin, in June.
Whilst the world is still enjoying the German's latest album "Square", the man himself has typically moved on once more. On Red Pack II he offers up six tracks new of hugely atmospheric and romantically industrial techno across two pieces of vinyl.
First up, 'Disco Marauder' has raw, jangling beats, traumatised vocal cries and plenty of sci-fi ambiance all coalescing into a filmic techno tapestry, before 'Path Dub' goes deeper and more streamlined with rattling claps peeling off taught synth cables in hypnotic fashion. The same track also comes in an original version, which is a much more jagged, roughshod and textured affair.
'The Source' is a track slowed to a crawl that almost seems to want to collapse under its own weight. Machines gurgle and gargle, the beats march on with a heavy heart and widescreen synths all that ever present sense of cinematism that makes Redshape such a unique producer.
Standout track 'Daft Mode' features a beautiful Reese bassline and rich layers of classic Detroit chords of the sort Inner City once championed. Redshape then pairs them with slicing percussion and loose limbed but tough edged beats and lets them roll on to a blissfully emotive oblivion... Fans of 'Mucky Bones' from the first Red Pack might see this track as a close relative. Last track 'Bulp Head' is one of Redshape's more euphoric tracks thanks to the glistening and pixelated melodies which rise up and up through choppy, metallic percussion. It closes out another release from Redshape that offers six more classic pieces that are as idiosyncratic as they innovative..
Six years have passed since the last album by Andi Otto alias Springintgut, ("Park and Ride", City Centre Offices, 2007). In this period, Otto has done nothing less than inventing a new instru- ment: His "Fello" is a cello with movement sensors attached to the bow and a corresponding software. The development has been kicked off at STEIM in Amsterdam already in 2007. Since then, Otto has achieved vital refinements of the system, cooperated with artists of various fields as diverse as choreographers in Macedonia, theatre in Nigeria and Techno DJs in the Berghain Kantine in Berlin or the Fusion Festival. He even played solo with his instrument on different continents. For this third album, "Where We Need No Map" Otto takes the "Fello" to his studio in Hamburg for the first time. He records his instrument which has until today only been presented live on stage. In these Fello Sessions, the bow gestures immediate- ly modulate and process the amplified cello sound. In the subsequent editings he selects and cuts these sessions and merges them with other styles, such as Skweee, House and Jazz. Springintgut's trademark sound, this unique playfulness, is pre- sent throughout, while the live-processed cello adds an unrivaled deepness. The artist's expeditions even add more colour. Two tracks have been recorded in India. The lead voi- ce in "Bangalore Kids" is a field recording of a schoolboy in Cubbon Park, Bangalore. Andi Otto spends three months in Japan as artist- in-residence in the Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto. Du- ring this concentrated period he produces the more contemplative tracks of the album, like "Ka- mogawa Cycling" and "Western Kyoto". In Sri Lan- ka, finally, he meets Sasha Perera, the voice of Berlin's Dub Techno band Jahcoozi. They record two songs together. Especially in "Bullet" one can sense the lazy, muggy, peaceful heat of the after- noons in which this beautiful track has been com- posed. These stories may help to locate the music's orig- ins but still the sound of "Where We Need No Map" points us to unknown territories. The journey itself is the reward, let's listen!
Sechs Jahre sind seit dem letzten Album "Park and Ride" (City Centre Offices, 2007) von Andi Otto alias Springintgut bereits vergangen. Diese Zeit hat der Pingipung-Mitinhaber genutzt, nicht weni- ger als ein eigenes Instrument zu erfinden: das "Fello", ein Cello mit Bewegungssensoren auf dem Bogen und einer dazu gehörigen Soft- ware. Die Grundlagen dafür entstehen bereits 2007 am STEIM in Amsterdam. In der Folgezeit gelingt es Otto, das Instrument immer weiter zu verfeinern, mit unterschiedlichen Künstlern zu kooperieren und international aufzutreten. Für "Where We Need No Map" trägt Otto das Fello erstmals ins Hamburger Studio und nimmt unzählige Sessions auf, in denen die Gesten des Bogens direkt den verstärkten Sound des Cellos verändern und neu formen. Diese Fello-Sitzungen werden anschließend editiert und mit anderen Ein- flüssen vermengt, die von Skweee über House bis hin zum Jazz reichen. Der Markenzeichen-Sound von Springintgut, diese ureigene Verspieltheit, ist weiterhin vorhanden, gewinnt durch das live-pro- zessierte Cello aber eine bisher unerreichte Tiefe. Weitere Farbe erhält das Album durch Ottos zahl- reiche Tourneen in ferne Länder. Zwei Stücke ent- stehen in Indien. Die Stimme von "Bangalore Kids" ist eine Feldaufnahme eines Schuljungen im Cubbon Park in Bangalore. In Japan verbringt Andi Otto drei Monate als "Artist in Residence" in der Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto. Während dieser kon- zentrierten Zeit entstehen die ruhigeren Tracks des Albums wie "Kamogawa Cycling" und "Western Kyoto". In Sri Lanka lernt er dann Sasha Perera kennen, die Stimme von Jahcoozi. Sie nehmen zwei Songs zusammen auf. Vor allem in "Bullet" kann man der faulen Nachmittagshitze nachspü- ren, in der die Stücke entstanden sind. So lassen sich die vielfältigen Entstehungspunk- te von "Where We Need No Map" zwar karto- graphieren, aber der Sound des Albums schickt einen trotzdem in unbekanntes Terrain. "Der Weg ist das Ziel, frag nicht viel, hör mal..."
Up and away / To your journey to the sun / Drink your rocket juice / Fly away (Hey, Shooter).
High up in the skies, amongst the clouds, Rocket Juice & The Moon was born. Literally. It happened back in 2008, when Damon Albarn, Flea and Tony Allen convened on the same Lagos flight, to play and exchange musical ideas in that city as part of the Africa Express collective. Relishing a shared enthusiasm for one another's work, and bonding immediately, there and then the triumvirate laid down the blueprint for Rocket Juice.
Still, more than a year passed before conditions were set for three weeks together at Albarn's West London studio, recording and refining two-dozen startlingly out and deeply funky instrumental grooves. The next stage was to invite onboard some extremely talented friends, with further sessions in Dallas, New York, Chicago and Paris... Erykah Badu, no less, queen of contemporary soul. Three companions from Africa Express: Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, whose debut album has topped World Music charts since its release last Autumn; her multi-talented compatriot Cheick Tidiane Seck, whose prodigious keyboardism has lit up releases by artists ranging from Youssou N'Dour to Hank Jones; the young, Ghanaian rapper M.anifest, quizzically existential, switching seamlessly between Twi and English. And the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, long-time stalwarts in the Honest Jon's set-up — since one of the team discovered them busking near the shop in Portobello Road, on his lunchbreak — with a second album for the label due in May... Finally, the tracks were dispatched for mixing to Berlin, to be meticulously honed, polished and envenomed by Mark Ernestus, one half of the legendary Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound partnerships.
The result is Rocket Juice & The Moon — out March 26, 2012, on Honest Jon's Records — a triumphant exploration and proliferation of kinetic Afro-funk rhythms: organic, exuberant, communal music-making, evidenced by the project's live debut on stage as part of the Honest Jon's Chop Up in late 2011, which hit London, Marseille, Dublin, and Cork to such great acclaim (witness the flurry of smart-phone film-clips uploaded in the days thereafter).
From the inaugural bars — that absurdly funky slice of instructional timekeeping, 1-2-3-4-5-6 — the liquid pulse of Fela Kuti's classic recordings drives the action through a suite of 18 shape-shifting compositions. The greatest drummer in the world has never sounded so good as he does here. His intricate cross-patterns jostle and lock with Flea's nimble, rumbling bass riffs. Joined by Seck on There and Extinguished — 'when you dispose of something burning, be sure it's out' — Albarn's keyboards spray synth fusillades up top, over, and under... splicing into the mess of wires running between the freaked Afro-disco of William Onyeabor and the space-jazz-moog of Sun Ra. The HBE brings extra intensity and drama to Leave-Taking — likewise Flea's trumpet to Rotary Connection — teasing out the haunting melody coiled in the mix.
Where the best of vintage Afrobeat sides sustained their concentrated energies over the course of sprawling, marathon jams, RJ & TM manages something altogether different: the group bottles the idiom into capsules of funk... and real songs. Beautifully buoyed by Erykah Badu's unmistakable vocals, Hey, Shooter brilliantly traverses metaphysical spaceways sans any semblance of noodling. Lolo and Follow-Fashion — featuring the open-hearted sensuality of Diawara's singing, M.anifest's quick, brawny science, and more brass blasts — play like its musical cousins or codas. Indeed, the album's shrewd sequencing creates the composite effect of tracks working both individually or within the context of an extended song-cycle.
The lovely ballad, Poison, is bittersweet and ruminative: 'If you're looking for love, beware the signs / They will paralyze you one by one / Poison, it will only break your heart.' Down-tempo and dubby, Check Out and Worries amplify the range of styles and moods. And by the time of Fatherless — a chugging Afro blues that evokes John Lee Hooker lost in Lagos, one gets the sneaking suspicion there's very little outside the reach of this collective's inventive musical grasp.
There is, in fact, a palpable openness pervading Rocket Juice & The Moon — the sense of a limber willingness to follow creative impulse — right down to how the group acquired its name. When Ogunajo Ademola — the Lagotian commissioned to do the album's cover artwork — dubbed his submission 'Rocket Juice & The Moon', it quickly morphed into the formal name of the project, like trying to hold onto mercury.
Surely, the stars above also approved.
