Cerca:sha ru

CoOp Presents is incredibly proud to present an all-new compilation album put together by Allysha Joy. This 14-track LP gives us a solid glimpse into the current wave of Antipodean bruk / broken beat artists.

Allysha explains "the connection began with a guest mix for CoOp Presents Worldwide FM radio show. I was asked to guest on the show, so pulled together some heavy unreleased and unmastered "Australian" broken sounds. I immediately called Horatio, Close Counters and Setwun, some of my nearest and dearest inspirations and collaborators to get them in the mix! Within 24 hours I had a brand new beat from Setwun called 'H.B.Y', I ran up some vocals on a Close Counters track and landed a wild jazz-bruk collaboration called 'Fly' from Horatio Luna and Nikodimos! We all felt really blessed to be linking in with some of the innovators of the sound we love!

Also in the mix, I played a track by Lanu a.k.a Lance Ferguson, one of "Australia's" funkiest songwriters and producers. Mike Gurrieri and Chris Gill over at Northside Records had already been scheming to set Lance and I up on a music date for weeks, which turned into writing 'Rewind' . Lanu, along with Ennio Styles, have been integral in the broken beat sound down here from the early 2000s and they connected Jonny Faith in to bring 'Southern Stepper'.

After linking in over the music and working on some collaborations, Alex Phountzi and IG Culture asked me to put together this compilation. The first person that came to mind was Sampology. A wild ride of shifting harmony and incredible vocals, Sam delivered 'Sunny', featuring Maia. Also of Middle Name Dance Band acclaim and a beaming light of creative energy, Kuzko created 'Immunity' for the comp — their debut solo release!

Also up in Meanjin, Special Feelings and Squidgenini were making their own style of jazzy house music and we absolutely knew that they would kill it on the broken beat tip. They sent through 'On Heat' and 'Prophecy' respectively, and inspired me to write and produce 'Listen'. A track about the struggle to be heard as female and non-binary artists. A hard-hitter mixed by co-collaborator Yelderbert of our new duo project, Totek.

As my brother and the one that first introduced me to Agent K, I knew we had to get Ziggy Zeitgeist up in the mix! He immediately sent over a bunch of tunes, and from alongside all of the 30/70 Collective demo drum loops and fresh Z.F.E.X sounds, we selected 'Bruk Samba' featuring Cody Curry, the CC Dance Orchestra.

I had managed to pull together a bunch of tunes for the compilation and after a studio session one afternoon I was walking down Sydney Road and bumped into Silent Jay, Alien and A.KID a.k.a. ACID SLOP at their new spot, the Mandarin Dreams HQ. We were just chatting and above Jay's head I spotted the New Sector Movements record, 'Download This'! To see that they'd just been spinning this record felt so serendipitous, so I had to ask them to be on it! Acid Slop sent me through a tune literally the next day, called 'Everything Falls Apart' and within the week we got 'Walk Away', from Lori and Silent Jay. It felt complete.

The way that this music just effortlessly and lyrically fell together, is a testament to the broken beat undercurrent that runs within the jazz and dance music scene down-under. 'They're Energised' connects a scene of deeply talented and inspired musicians, collectively shaping the new wave of uniquely "Australian" bruk and broken beat music!"

'They're Energised' is released mid-November 2022 on double vinyl and digital worldwide via CoOp Presents.

Restock !

red/clear splatter vinyl

Shake Chain will also be performing at Marina Abramovic’s private view at Modern Art Oxford on September 23rd.

Shake Chain have been busy demolishing audiences and expectations for the best part of three years. Vocalist Kate Mahony sets that standard by starting each live performance by crawling from the back of the room through a disbelieving crowd’s legs in a shiny yellow raincoat. The resulting questions that frantically arise of ‘what’s going on?’, ‘am I hallucinating?’ and ‘is this part of the show?’ are hallmarks of how Shake Chain approach making their unruly, lyric-bespattered rock music.

The four-piece from London are completed by Robert Syres (guitar, synth), Chris Hopkins (bass, synth) and Joe Fergey (drums), all artists hailing from Goldsmiths College, Nottingham Trent and Wimbledon, University of the Arts. A mutual love of thought-provoking performance art and a yearning for disruption have helped Shake Chain lock into their wayward sound. Twitchy guitar lines jolt and jerk, synths burble noisily and tack-sharp drums pin things down for Kate’s reeling vocal to vault and slur. Kate’s singing has drawn comparisons with Yoko Ono, Su Tissue and even a seance with it’s unique embrace of flights of atonal fancy, head-first repetition and ecstatic frenzy. Opinion-dividing arguably, but singular in making Shake Chain dauntingly brilliant.

Shake Chain’s debut album ‘Snake Chain’ was recorded in the New Forest’s Chuckalumba Studios early in 2022. The tranquil setting only slightly skewed by the intense extratropical cyclone occuring outside. When asked to sum up the album the group collectively settled on it sounding like “crying in a Catholic sex dungeon with Eastenders on”, perhaps only half tongue in cheek given the soapy dramatics of opening track ‘Stace’. ‘RU’ is a stompy triumph of ad lib monotony, heavy and wonky, its vocal slowly unwinding into residual sense. Shake Chain’s songs are populated with cowboys, cherry-pickers, content-addicts, private investments, a careless driver called Mike, architects and by much lamentation at the state of our confusing existencies. This last point underlined in luminous marker pen with slow-building vortex ‘Highly Conpeptual’ and whispered closer ‘Duck’.

‘Copy Me’ races along with radiant headbangs of dynamic abandon, one part tumble, two parts pummel, “hold your breath til something changes” commands Kate whilst everything of course is in hammering flux. ‘Second Home’ is similarly coruscating yet bouyant, whilst ‘Arthur’ feels like it could tear inside in two amid sobbing wails and the twining of its disparate parts. Throughout all the unhinged freakouts, found sounds and blasting rhythms though is Kate’s questioning, resilient presence, anchoring everything. On bruising creeper ‘Birthday’ she asks most tellingly “Do we speak language or does language speak us? Is there a mouth in the middle of the desert? Do you ask how cups are designed? Would you say yes when you really mean I don’t know”? Shake Chain are cathartic and absurd, humorous and deadly serious yet always inspired. Its this tightrope walk which makes their album such a thrilling, vital listen.

Bongos, bouzouki and Farfisa organ galore ! The explosive cocktail of rock'n'roll and traditional Tsifteteli hailing from 1960's Greece is still alive thanks to Deli Teli : the Marseille-based quartet performs a string of forgotten hits that once set Athens on fire, with a contagious energy and a subtle dose of Mediterranean drama.

Half a century ago, while French seasiders would dance to « Yéyé » sounds and dig the Beatles or Pink Floyd, a whole other scene was happening further along the coastline. Notably, Greek artists were a huge influence beyond the Mediterranean cradle ; Aris San's version of « Boum Pam » (a.k.a. « Bros Gremos Kai Piso Rema »), brilliantly interpreted by Deli Teli on this record, was a n°1 hit from Southern Europe to the tip of India ! Far from being an exclusive Greek sound, Tsifteteli music has travelled through borders for centuries and means « double string » in Turkish. In the 1960's, it mixed with rock'n'roll, surf and Latin-american influences, and gave birth to the typical « Laïko » sound.

With their powerful electric bouzouki (Greek lute) and the distinctive sound of the Farfisa organ, Deli Teli have carved their style while digging through the incredible goldmine of the late 60's and early 70's Tsifteteli/Laïko singles. The 4 musicians met in 2019 with a burning desire to dive into electric sensations – bassist Christos Karypidis used to play oud and keyboardist Arthur Bacon played accordion in most of his former projects – and made the most of 2020's « lockdowns » by building their repertoire and thinking up Deli Teli.

On this mini-album, they also interpret Koko's « Chily Chily », a groovy belly-dance mover ; « Ekso Dertia Kai Kaïmi », an intoxicating and frenetic floor shaker ; « Tsiftetelli 1969 », a cool organ-lead surfing instrumental ; and 2 slightly freer and more psychedelic numbers, « Taksim Deli » (improvisation) and « Bournelis », a creative re-arrangement of 2 tracks by Leonardos Bournelis.

Deli Teli preach a collective, sensual and solar hip-wiggling across the continents and beyond ; they are ready to shake our minds and bodies until we all gel together... Join the « Tsifteteli Club » now !

Big Zen makes his entrance on Mood Hut records with Prayer Bass, a freely focused collection of euphoric funk-splashed club-cuts from the much-loved Vancouver underground legend. Those who have seen him play at free parties in the park or at the many under-cover basements of Vancouver City will already know what Prayer Bass is all about.

After many sessions and years of friendship both on and off the dance floor we are pleased to finally work with Big Zen. Following up his recently self-released 'Mirror Cut' 12" here Big Zen continues to swim out into the technicolour deep: Prayer bass is purple, Sugar Coated is frosty cream, Cash Splash is lightning blue, Rumble Ball is tangerine.


Dj support from Shanti Celeste, Hunee, Titonton Duvante, Bradley Zero, Ron Like Hell, Giant Swan, Anthony Naples

imited dark green vinyl

With Jazz Is Dead Series 2, Younge and Muhammad have once again, together with a roster of world-renowned legends, crate digger patron saints, and an exciting vanguard of young talent, delivered another unimpeachable collection of fresh and captivating recordings inspired by jazz's past, present, and future. There are names that some may already be familiar with, such as Lonnie Liston Smith, Jean Carne, and Tony Allen, and those less so, like Henry Franklin, Phil Ranelin, Wendell Harrison, Garrett

Saracho, & Katalyst. What unites each new collaborator is their unbent dedication to remaining original, preserving their creativity, and sharing it with the world.

James Taylor's best-selling record since 1970's hallmark Sweet Baby James, the triple-platinum JT takes its permanent place as one of the singer's most enduring albums — an affair that gorges on country, blues, and rock styles as well as incisive songwriting. As the pre-eminent singer-songwriter's Columbia debut, it catapulted Taylor back into the limelight and re-established his place as the era's leading-edge folk-rock troubadour.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g LP possesses a warmth, immediacy, and intimacy absent from other pressings. The singer's comforting voice, breath control, and enchanting guitar lines sound as if they pour right out of the studio control room. Similarly, the splendid array of backing instrumentation is balanced, vivid, and dynamic. Taylor should always sound this realistic, warm, and lively.

More than any other of his records, JT features all sides of Taylor's lyrical persona. Optimistic, content material fills half of the 1977 set while Taylor reveals a darker, moodier identity on a number of songs that keep the 12-track set alternating between shade and light, shadow and sun. He turns romantic and blissful on the touching ballad "There We Are," praises the power of love on "Your Smiling Face," and enchants with the graceful "Secret O'Life."

In addition to channeling domestic bliss, Taylor expresses surprise and cynicism on "Honey Don't Leave L.A.," delves into despair on "Another Grey Morning," and invites sardonic tones on "Bartender's Blues." The result is a complete picture of an extraordinary songwriter and an accurate sketch of the mixed emotions many of us feel when it comes to romance. Taylor's ability to capture deep-seated feelings and set them to lyrical and musical poetry explains why we relate to him on such a meta-level. It's also why his music, including JT, remains timeless.

Taylor doesn't do it all alone. JT benefits from an all-star support cast. Carly Simon and Linda Ronstadt supply background vocals, saxophone great David Sanborn plays the horn, Russ Kunkel mans the percussion, and arranger David Campbell oversees the strings and woodwinds. It's no wonder why many fans consider this gorgeous collection of Laurel Canyon pop-rock Taylor's finest.

Whether you've never heard this record or know it inside and out, this reissue will open your ears to previously hidden details ranging from pedal-steel guitar accents to honky-tonk tonalities. Taylor's funky rhythms, too, gain in stature, as does his command of pace and tempo.

180g double LP, black vinyl, 45 RPM. Berlin-based psychedelic post-punk group The Third Sound (led by Brian Jonestown Massacre guitarist Hákon Adalsteinsson) are set to release a new Fuzz Club Session LP on December 9th. Recorded live at Berlin's Marie Antoinette club, the 10-track double album sees The Third Sound perform a discography-spanning set with tracks from last year's highly-praised 'First Light' LP (2021), 'All Tomorrow's Shadows' (2018), 'Gospels of Degeneration' (2016), 'The Third Sound of Destruction and Creation' (2013) and 'The Third Sound' (2011). The session is released on vinyl, digitally and as a series of videos by Fuzz Club Records. It's number 19 in the London label's ongoing Fuzz Club Session series which has also seen the likes of A Place To Bury Strangers, Night Beats, Holy Wave, Heaters, The Entrance Band, The Myrrors, Lumerians, The Underground Youth, 10000 Russos and more.

Florence Cats is a poet, visual artist, sound composer, performer and acupuncturist. Born in Vilvoorde (Belgium) in 1985, she is currently living and working where Brussels merges with the Sonian forest.

Florence Cats’ working process involves things about to appear or disappear, and echo one another : air, light, wind, tone, print, voice, water, color, dust, junk, rumor… She creates eclectic pieces related to travel, porosity, natural energies and celestial events. Each proposal is in tune to a context, a space, an environment.

Ys is a generous debut. Raw, courageous.

Sunken Cathedral is Florence interpreting Claude Debussy’s La Cathédrale Engloutie (trans. the Sunken Cathedral). The track reminds me of one of those fabled Charles Ives home recordings. Where he records himself on Speak-O-Phone - an old brand of recordable aluminium phonograph discs - while practicing and composing his music. But unlike Charles Ives treating these home recordings as personal sketches, Florence Cats shares her captured moments as compositions for the public.

Similar to the Speak-O-Phone recordings, we now meet the piano as a physical expression - not as an archetype. We are together with Florence in a room. The pedal. The keys. The hiss of the room. Learn, repeat.

Trough Florence’s hands and feet, La Cathédrale Engloutie is brought out of its pupa stage to become a presence. Instead of being grounded in luxurious concert halls or on high end recordings, the piece is now natural. Sunken Cathedral is a template, an affirmation for amateurs.

The piece was originally created for the group exhibition "Here Comes the Wave” at Project(ion) room, Brussels, February 2020.

In Fall Call, we find ourselves at QO2, a sound art initiative in Brussels. This piece was captured during a residency Florence took over the summer of 2022. We listen to the moment when a summer storm just washed the city.

Fall Call is a testament to Florence’s magical - humanistic way of playing her custom-made theremin. By pushing the controls of the instruments so high, her whole body starts to control the instrument - instead of just her hands. So when she walks around in the room, the instrument answers in full color.

And then, a phone-call. Giving it a bit of a Poulenc vibe.

For the last piece, Drop Out, we find ourselves in Florence’s apartment. When Florence opens the windows, the ambience of the surrounding Sonian Forest seeps in. This is an adorable moment. It predicts new beginnings. The smell of wet dirt and dripping leaves in the air. The poetry of rain.

A new entity has made musical contact with Shipwrec. Alpha Vistor. The newly minted moniker of musician and sound designer Ivan Zapico, this four tracker debut is steeped in the traditions of electro. In the ghostly "Ciudad Fantasma" threats lurk in the murky shadows of basslines and beats, an unsettling atmosphere of menace penetrating speakers from the outset. Clinical percussion and an overarching unease introduce "20202020." Dark undercurrents of melody brood below shimmering glass chords in this foreboding work. The flip comes to life with "Malos Tiempos para la Guerra," an ominous prescience coming to bear in the track title. A hi-hat haze is broken by sweetened strings, a kick drum maintaining the intensity. When a snare arrives, it is accompanied by greasy acid basslines; brightness countered with shadow. The final encounter comes with "Templo de Cova." A soaked beat surfaces amid stabbing sythlines and twilight tones that break to triumphal highs, a reflective culmination to this ruminative record.

Rich-poor divide widens. Unemployment soars. The East and West eyeball each other on the brink. 2022 isn't too far off the 1980s. Contort Yourself know this.

Following the huge success of the prophetic 80s Underground Cassette Culture Vol 1, Vol 2 is set to hit shelves and screens with the same brand of distortion soaked didactics.

Twenty one tracks from across the globe make up this second installment with nothing being constant. Instead, the overarching message is one of wanton abandonment; burnt-out artists peddling an electronic punk profanity, marginalised musicians spitting on the establishment and industry.

Rusted guitar strings, cobbled drum machines and fire in the belly; this is the recipe.

A soundtrack of despondent despair, a lament of languid lechery, an anthem of what was then and still is now.

Pianist, drummer, composer and producer Hamish Balfour presents jazz funk, soul and electronic music, bridging the gap from classic Blue Note to Warp via Sonar Kollektiv on Running Colours, his electrifying debut album for London's Shapes of Rhythm Records.

Praised by Jazzwise for hissolo flourishes and sidestepping harmonies, Hamish Balfour should be a recognisable face to jazz addicts. The go-to keys player has performed and recorded alongside American jazz drumming legend Harvey Mason, Tenderlonious, The Temptations, Odyssey, Faze Action, Yolanda Charles' Project PH, Bassically, Nim Quartet and Yam Who. Popping up not only in the credits of many sought-after albums, but also Channel 4, ITV and BBCprogrammes for his compositions on various shows.

Over the course of eleven tracks, Balfour folds in and explores his influences, with a wide yet highly cohesive and strong palette of sounds, whilst interacting with high caliber guest vocalists such as spoken word artist and broken beat icon, Lyric L(Seiji,Nathan Haines), London Elektricity and Hospital Records' star vocalist Elsa Esmeralda, award-winning and chart-storming singer-songwriter Belle Humble (Freestylers, Paloma Faith) and soul and house mainstay Andre Espeut (Afriquoi,Simbad,Faze Action).

Responsible for all piano, synths, percussion and production on the album, Balfour's musicality shines through, a reminder of how overdue this debut album as leader is. However, in addition to the incredible vocalists, he's joined by some of the UK's finest jazz musicians: James Copus (trumpet), Pete Matin (bass), Laurie Lowe and Saleem Raman (drums) and Rob Updegraff (guitar).

Elsa Esmeralda implores us 'not to be afraid' on lead single and title track Running Colours. A perfect invitation to get stuck into this many layered album. Balfour compliments Esmeralda's soothing vocals with delicate piano intro before Lowe's bruk-easque drums and lead an irresistible groove bedded in warm synths and guitar licks.

Yes or No showcases Loose Lips legend Lyric L contemplating the uncertainty of love over a swinging mid-tempo jazz funk boogie groove propelled by tight drums and Hammond chords, closing with a flying trumpet solo from Copus, weaving around Balfour's nimble keys.

Wealth, featuring singer/songwriter Belle Humble, displays incredible depth and restraint. Humble delivers the enticing vocal with ease, as it slides over the intricate webs of jazz fusion and electronics.

Mogul is arguably Running Colours' curveball. An eastern-inspired whirlwind of all manner of synths and twisting drums which constantly morph throughout. Guitars and trumpets take turns to solo on a track that feels like a series of questions that we never quite get answers to.

Balfour's ability to merge free wheeling jazz and fusion with timeless electronic production and soulful compositions is also apparent on instrumental pieces such as Reflector 28. Here, we find the musicians upbeat, uplifting, progressive and playful, showcasing the keys whilst the bass underpins the groove.

South Of The Sun is Running Colours' laid-back moment with Roy Ayers-type vibrations as bass and drums sit in the pocket (at least to begin with), whilst a Rhodes weaves its magic. Like many of the album's tracks we take a few twists and turns before returning to our main feel-good motif.

Hamish's long awaited debut is sure to exceed the expectations of those who know him already, whilst introducing a whole new audience to his wealth of talent and originality.

The official retrospective on one of Somalia's most famous and beloved private bands, Iftin, and a companion compilation to our Grammy-nominated "Sweet As Broken Dates". Digitized from cassettes recorded between 1982 and 1987 at the legendary Al-Uruba hotel's secret studio and the jams for the masses performed in the basement of Somalia's national theater. Banaadiri rhythms from Somalia's south, Mogadishu's finest vocalists, Dhaanto reggae-like guitar licks, and smoldering brass blend seamlessly with the sounds of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa to form one of rawest, most cosmopolitan eras of music anywhere. Iftin's Mogadishu is where the world's sounds begin and end.

Double LP gatefold with a 12" x 12" poster. Hardcover bookcase CD with 12 page booklet.

Svart Records unleashes a heady brew of nocturnal Post-Punk atmosphere and avant-garde Metal from Swedish Goth-tinged Doom Rock band Shaam Larein. The new album, “Sticka en kniv i världen” literally meaning: “stick a knife into the world”, is a ravishing, cut-throat statement of Shaam Larein’s heavy intent, that casts a new shadow of stunning darkness. Formed in 2018, Shaam Larein released their debut album “Sculpture” in 2020 to raptured underground praise, earning them an instant booking to the prestigious Roskilde Festival and planting them on the radar of cult artists such as Chelsea Wolfe. Now signed to Finland’s Svart Records, whose reputation has been forged on bringing new heavy rock artists such as Messa, Green Lung and Beastmilk from the underground into the limelight, Shaam Larein is soon to be hot on the tongues of the cult grapevine. Named after their auteur-like visionary singer Shaam Lerein, who was brought up on Russian classical art and the cinema of Tarkovsky, composes and visualizes their dark materials, cementing Sticka En Kniv I Världen” as an utterly unique take on bat-winged heavy rock. With a devout appreciation of the mystic powers inherent in heavy music, Shaam Larein will ignite memories of Swedish Metal artists such as In Solitude, who swayed towards the eclectic and gothic atmospheres Shaam’s music touches on in their later days. With artist friends from back home in Uppsala, Pelle Åhman making the Album cover and his brother Gottfrid Åhman, both of In Solitude fame, making four videos for Shaam Larein, the links weave closer, but it is to artists like Chelsea Wolfe, Ruth Rundle & Marissa Nadler that you can imagine fans drawing parallels and opening their heart to the enigmatic sound of “Sticka En Kniv I Världen”. Shaam describes her music as “a touch of aggression mixed with passion” and “Sticka En Kniv I Världen” for her is about finding the light through a sea of darkness “accepting the melancholy and seeing the beauty of what lies underneath our mysterious sound”. For a world of heavy rock hungry for a new wave of something dark and mysterious, Shaam Larein has it all in unparalleled dosage, just waiting to be discovered. “Sticka En Kniv I Världen” is released on December 9th by Svart Records.

Svart Records unleashes a heady brew of nocturnal Post-Punk atmosphere and avant-garde Metal from Swedish Goth-tinged Doom Rock band Shaam Larein. The new album, “Sticka en kniv i världen” literally meaning: “stick a knife into the world”, is a ravishing, cut-throat statement of Shaam Larein’s heavy intent, that casts a new shadow of stunning darkness. Formed in 2018, Shaam Larein released their debut album “Sculpture” in 2020 to raptured underground praise, earning them an instant booking to the prestigious Roskilde Festival and planting them on the radar of cult artists such as Chelsea Wolfe. Now signed to Finland’s Svart Records, whose reputation has been forged on bringing new heavy rock artists such as Messa, Green Lung and Beastmilk from the underground into the limelight, Shaam Larein is soon to be hot on the tongues of the cult grapevine. Named after their auteur-like visionary singer Shaam Lerein, who was brought up on Russian classical art and the cinema of Tarkovsky, composes and visualizes their dark materials, cementing Sticka En Kniv I Världen” as an utterly unique take on bat-winged heavy rock. With a devout appreciation of the mystic powers inherent in heavy music, Shaam Larein will ignite memories of Swedish Metal artists such as In Solitude, who swayed towards the eclectic and gothic atmospheres Shaam’s music touches on in their later days. With artist friends from back home in Uppsala, Pelle Åhman making the Album cover and his brother Gottfrid Åhman, both of In Solitude fame, making four videos for Shaam Larein, the links weave closer, but it is to artists like Chelsea Wolfe, Ruth Rundle & Marissa Nadler that you can imagine fans drawing parallels and opening their heart to the enigmatic sound of “Sticka En Kniv I Världen”. Shaam describes her music as “a touch of aggression mixed with passion” and “Sticka En Kniv I Världen” for her is about finding the light through a sea of darkness “accepting the melancholy and seeing the beauty of what lies underneath our mysterious sound”. For a world of heavy rock hungry for a new wave of something dark and mysterious, Shaam Larein has it all in unparalleled dosage, just waiting to be discovered. “Sticka En Kniv I Världen” is released on December 9th by Svart Records.

Das bahnbrechende Debüt von WIND ROSE zieht als brandneues Re-Release in die Schlacht!

Das Debütalbum von WIND ROSE setzt die musikalische Tradition von symphonischen Power Metal Bands
Rhapsody of Fire, Kaledon und Thy Majestie fort und präsentiert progressive Power Metal mit schnellem
Riffing, schweren Gitarren, eindringlicher Atmosphäre und fantastischen Texten. Shadows Over Lothadruin
enthält lange und monumentale Stücke wie das fast zehnminütige ”Majesty” und wechselt in ”The Fourth
Vanguard” und ”Close to the End” von fließender Sanftheit zu schweißtreibender Schwere. Claudio Falconcinis Gitarrensound überzeugt mit packenden Riffs und mitreißenden Soli, während Federico Merandas
Keyboardspiel die perfekte Atmosphäre für das Album schafft. Daniele Viscontis Schlagzeug treibt mit
schnellen, galoppierenden Abschnitten voran unterstützt von Alessio Consanis Bassarbeit. Angeführt wird
das Quintett aber von Francesco Cavalieri, der mit seiner kraftvollen Stimme in die Schlacht führt und den
Kriegern befiehlt, für Ruhm zu kämpfen!

Die "Blue Record" EP enthält 5 Songs: die beeindruckenden Akustikversionen von drei Songs des 2013er Albums ,II" sowie zwei fantastische Coverversionen, "Swing Lo Magellan" (DIRTY PROJECTORS) und "Puttin It Down" (BECK). "Ich habe erst im letzten Jahr damit angefangen, Akustikgitarre zu spielen. Die Idee, dass eine Gitarre Sound in Elektrizität übersetzt und es dann richtig laut wird, mochte ich schon immer. Ich dachte, dass die Akustikgitarre vielleicht ein bisschen zu niedlich für mich ist. Doch nachdem uns einige Gelegenheiten geboten wurden, Akustiksets zu spielen, um die neue Platte zu promoten, habe ich beschlossen, das Ganze als Herausforderung zu betrachten und zu versuchen, akustisch zu spielen und dabei nicht langweilig zu klingen. Schließlich fand ich es schon immer toll, wie Arthur Lee akustisch spielt und fragte mich, ob ich das wohl überzeugend hinbekommen könnte. So wurde ich praktisch durch ein paar Radiosessions dazu gezwungen, mir die Akustikgitarre anzueignen und beschloss, ein paar Songs akustisch aufzunehmen und zu veröffentlichen, weil den Leuten das anscheinend gefiel. Alles wurde in meinem Keller mit nur einem Mikro direkt auf Band aufgenommen." - Ruban Nielson, UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA ENG "I only started playing the acoustic guitar last year. I'd always preferred the idea that the guitar converts a sound into voltage and then becomes really loud. I thought the acoustic guitar was a little bit too twee for me or something. But after being offered some opportunities to play various acoustic sessions to promote the new record, in situations where it wasn't possible to record the whole band, I decided to treat it like a challenge to try and play acoustic and not have it be lame. After all I was really into Arthur Lee's ability with an acoustic and started wondering if I could make it sound convincing. Anyway, after being somewhat forced to develop some skill on the acoustic through these various radio sessions and things like that I decided to record some songs acoustically and release them since people seemed to be liking the way I was doing it. Everything was recorded straight to tape in my basement with a one mic set up." - RUBAN NIELSON, UMO


[a] 01. SWIM AND SLEEP (LIKE A SHARK) [ACOUSTIC VERSION]
[b] 02. FADED IN THE MORNING [ACOUSTIC VERSION]
[c] 03. SO GOOD AT BEING IN TROUBLE [ACOUSTIC VERSION]

On their third album, »Rideau«, Swedish trio Tape made their great leap forward. Released in 2005 on Häpna, following two albums of pastoral folk meets electronica, »Rideau« saw the trio of Andreas and Johan Berthling, and Tomas Hallonsten, working with an outside producer, Marcus Schmickler (best known for his post-rock outfit Pluramon). On »Rideau«, Tape’s music opened out considerably, embracing traditional minimalism, and luscious melodicism. Now, seventeen years later, »Rideau« has a new home with Morr Music, who are reissuing the album on vinyl, marking its first appearance on the format, including an extra track.

It’s only logical that »Rideau« should reappear via Morr Music. Like Tape themselves, Morr Music was a significant part of the worldwide gang busy reconciling electronica, pop, and acoustic, group- oriented sound across the 2000s, and »Rideau« sits neatly alongside other releases of similar heritage. And yet, »Rideau« feels contemporary, suggesting the creative discoveries made by the trio have ongoing resonance; their elliptical poetry echoes through recent music from the likes of Tara Clerkin Trio, and Tape’s sometime collaborators, Tenniscoats.

Asked about the album, Johan Berthling recalls, “»Rideau« was a special album for us to make”. While they had previously recorded their albums in rural Sweden, for »Rideau«, the trio decamped to Schmickler’s Piethopraxis Studio in Cologne. The creative space that Schmickler carved out for the group allowed them to explore this new material to its fullest. For his part, Schmickler found himself drawn to Tape’s music –“Their focus was a combination of seemingly timeless folk influences with noisy electronics and field recordings,” he explains. You can hear Schmickler’s influence at an almost molecular level – Tape had never sounded quite so graceful and assured with their compositions. “Marcus really shaped the music, working architecturally to build the form of the pieces,” Berthling recalls.

»Rideau« represents a collective exhalation for Tape, with the trio exploring more involved, longer pieces, which situates them in yet broader musical contexts. There are clear connections with the history of minimalism, for example, via the repeating organ phrase of »Sunrefrain«, and the insistent piano arpeggio of »A Spire«, which builds into a Reich-ian dream song, with sensuous electronics and glinting vibraphone dappling abstract shapes across the song’s stretched canvas.

Reflecting on Tape’s essence, Schmickler isolates their “uncompromised ethos, caring about small details.” This echoes most radically through the twilight environment of »Long Lost Engine«, which sets the listener adrift on impossibly radiant drones, while a gentle, almost Feldman-esque melody plays out over the song’s surface. It’s followed by the reissue’s extra track, Japanese electronica quartet Minamo’s remix of »Roulette«, a connection that would lead to a Minamo/Tape collaborative album, »Birds Of A Feather« (2007).

For now, though, here is the gorgeous, penumbral abstraction of »Rideau«, an album of whispers and clues, quiet moments and grand gestures, reintroduced to a welcoming world.

Judas Triste is a metatechno band based in Porto, created by David Machado, Dora Vieira and Nuno Oliveira to announce a new era of darkness to planet Earth. Born in the shadows of Favela Discos, this prophetic trio of alchemist-musicians transfigures electricity operating an ensemble of electronic appliances and objects mechanically abused. Between explosive discharges of distortion and mysterious atmospheres, the ruthless art of Judas Triste is harsh, perverse and heavily based on improvisation. 

After their debut self-titled album released in 2018, Antropomância is their second Sacrificial editorial release, an ancient lost rite of divination through human entrails. This was materialized in a 7’’ Vinyl through a Blood Pact between the record labels Love And Hate and Favela Discos.

Antropomância encapsulates two Bestial musical profanations named "Antropomância" and "Corpo Aberto", written and produced during Seven sessions of musical experimentation and technical violation. The cover was psychographed by the painter João Alves, and the Abject contains in its inside a 16 pages facsimile of Book of the Open Body.

An outstanding 2LP compiling the best instrumentals of the greatest white rap group ever: the Beastie Boys. New Yorkers Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D crossed over into the mainstream in the mid 80s with their full-length Licensed to Ill and exploded any notions of one-dimensionality with its ambitious followups such as Paul's Boutique, On Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Taking influences from hardcore and hip hop, these innovators performed most of the music while integrating an array of rock samples, 808 beats and witty wordplay into an ever-intriguing sonic smorgasbord.