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Hello Everybody,

In recent years, the introductory texts for the Pop Ambient compilation series, which is released every year on Kompakt as the last release before the Christmas break, often began with the sentence "Every year again...".

“Every year again”, a quiet, almost unnoticed maxim of self-evidentness. Because this is already the 25th issue to be published this year.

25 years in increasingly fast-moving times in the even faster-moving music business is an eternity that doesn't just feel like it. It is all the more remarkable how I, as someone who is always restless and often driven by this fast pace himself, pleasantly almost haven’t realised how - in pop-ambient contexts - time does not pass (or passes differently) in the best sense.

When compiling the 25th edition I was asked, among other things, what it was like that I was still doing this and whether I had a favorite track. In the spirit of bringing all the tracks together I don't have a favorite track, or all of them. But I have a favorite part (moment) that I played. In this case it was a broad chord in a change of key at minute 2:55 in the piece Circles by Max Würden. A moment of majesty and familiarity that, at that moment, contains the entire Pop Ambient cosmos, that just works and doesn't explain anything - and I said: “...that's the reason why I'm still doing this.. .”

Pop Ambient is a statement without demands. Is promise without expectation. Is a path without a destination. Every year again.

Wolfgang Voigt, October 2024

And so to the facts:

01. Leandro Fresco / Thore Pfeiffer – Goldwasserfluss

The intercontinental collaboration between the two long-standing Pop Ambient artists Leandro Fresco from Argentina and Thore Pfeiffer from Mainz is a regular part of the series. They open this year's anniversary edition with the usual filigree.

02. Pass Into Silence – Mirage

The Japanese artist Tetsuo Sakae aka Pass into Silence returns to Kompakt 20 years after his legendary album “Calm Like A Millpond”. A master of tones that are as fine as they are stoic and crystal clear.

03. Tamarma & Sebastian Mullaert – Follow Me

For the first time, the well-known Swedish producer and DJ Sebastian Mullaert will be performing on Pop Ambient in cooperation with the Georgian sound artist Tamara Davitashvili. Their piece “Follow Me” fits confidently into the intimate, familiar sound cosmos.

04. Sono Kollektiv feat. Nathalie Brum – Periadriatische Naht

Sono Kollektiv is now a fixture on Pop Ambient, this time with Nathalie Brum. In particular, Luis Reich's characteristic flugelhorn always gives their sound that special jazzy touch.

05. Thore Pfeiffer – Phase Locked Loop 1

Thore Pfeiffer is a master of shimmering surfaces and hypnotically meandering loops.

06. Andrew Thomas feat. Julia Parr – Sunshine Night

An old friend from New Zealand is back with spherical sounds. Andrew Thomas, in collaboration with Julia Parr, sprinkles finely placed piano tones into distant soundscapes and even more distant voices.

07. Segensklang – Artifacts of Synthesis

We are pleased that Segensklang will be there again this year after his brilliant Pop Ambient debut last year. Deep and beautiful.

08. Ümit Han – Im Delirium

The Cologne producer Ümit Han is back for the third time. While he has so far explored the more emotional, soundscape aspects of the Pop Ambient universe, this year's piece "Im Delirium" rises to a pulsating mountain of sound with pearly, clear, effervescent sound crystals.

09. Würden & Schäfer – Analysis Of Variance II

In their track Analysis Of Variance II, Max Würden and Lukas Schäfer embed a finely placed beat impulse in a soft bed of modulating soundscapes and pleasant psychedelic spaceyness.

10. Max Würden– Circles

Max Würden once again shows his special feeling for one of the core statements of the Pop Ambient style spectrum. The abstract chord and soundscape movement between formal construction and emotional touchability, which seems like “pop music” under the microscope.

11. Blank Gloss – Jennifer’s Convertible

The Californian guitar-ambient duo takes us into their sublimely beautiful sound cosmos with their usual aplomb. Maximum condensed transparency. Lightness - heavy as gold.

12. Hendrik Meyer – Grün War Die Klamm

Another new addition is Hendrik Meyer. The versatile musician, also known for his MYR project distributed by Kompakt, leads us with a glistening, beautiful “wall of sound” determination into the eternity of a sunset that is only ended by the following track. Filmy Music.

13. Triola – Zum Renngraben

Jörg Burger aka Triola combines his typical “handmade” impulses and accents with a multi-dimensional, digital sound scenario in a pleasantly smoky, blurred stonewashed aesthetic.

As always, the indispensable final mastering by Jörg Burger ensures that everything is brought together and the sound is fine-tuned.

And like every year, the 25th edition is of course wrapped in an abstract, floral magic creation by Veronika Unland. Over the years, the grace of her imagery has increasingly merged with the musical aura to form an unmistakable magical symbiosis.

Hallo Leute,

In den vergangenen Jahren begannen die Anmoderationstexte zur Pop Ambient Kompilation-Reihe, die jedes Jahr als letzte Veröffentlichung vor der Weihnachtspause auf Kompakt erscheint, sinnigerweise immer mal wieder mit dem Satz “Alle Jahre wieder...".

„Alle Jahre wieder”, eine leise, fast unbemerkt zur Formel gewordene Maxime der Selbstverständlichkeit. Denn in diesem Jahr erscheint bereits die 25ste Ausgabe.

25 Jahre in zunehmend schnelllebigen Zeiten im noch schnelllebigeren Musikgeschäft, sind gerne mal eine nicht nur gefühlte Ewigkeit. Umso bemerkenswerter wie mir, als ewig Rastlosem und oft selbst von dieser Schnelllebigkeit Getriebenem, auf angenehme Weise fast entgangen ist wie sehr, in pop ambienten Zusammenhängen (gedacht), die Zeit im besten Sinne nicht (oder anders) vergeht.

Beim Kompilieren der 25sten Ausgabe wurde ich u.a. gefragt, wie es ist, dass ich das immer noch mache und ob ich ein Lieblingsstück hätte. Im Sinne des Zusammenbringens von allen Stücken habe ich kein Lieblingsstück, oder alle. Aber ich habe eine Lieblingsstelle, die ich dann gespielt habe. In dem Fall war es ein breit gesetzter Akkord in einen Tonartwechsel bei Minute 2:55 im Stück Circles von Max Würden. Ein Moment der Erhabenheit und Vertrautheit, der in diesem Moment den gesamten Pop Ambient Kosmos in sich trägt, der einfach nur wirkt und nichts erklärt - und ich habe gesagt: „...das ist der Grund, warum ich das immer noch mache...“

Pop Ambient ist Statement ohne Forderung. Ist Verheißung ohne Erwartung. Ist Weg ohne Ziel. Alle Jahre wieder.

Wolfgang Voigt, Oktober 2024

Und damit zu den Fakten:

01. Leandro Fresco / Thore Pfeiffer – Goldwasserfluss

Die interkontinentale Kollaboration der beiden langjährigen Pop Ambient Stamm-Künstler Leandro Fresco aus Argentinien und Thore Pfeiffer aus Mainz, ist regelmäßiger Bestandteil der Serie. Gewohnt filigran eröffnen sie die diesjährige Jubiläumsausgabe.

02. Pass Into Silence – Mirage

Der japanische Künstler Tetsuo Sakae aka Pass into Silence meldet sich 20 Jahre nach seinem sagenhaften Album „Calm Like A Millpond“ auf Kompakt zurück. Ein Meister der ebenso feinen wie stoisch-glasklaren Töne.

03. Tamarma & Sebastian Mullaert – Follow Me

Zum ersten Mal gibt sich der bekannte, schwedische Produzent und DJ Sebastian Mullaert in Kooperation mit der georgischen Klangkünstlerin Tamara Davitashvili auf Pop Ambient die Ehre. Ihr Stück „Follow Me“ fügt sich souverän in den intim-vertrauten Klangkosmos ein.

04. Sono Kollektiv feat. Nathalie Brum – Periadriatische Naht

Mittlerweile eine feste Größe auf Pop Ambient ist das Sono Kollektiv, diesmal mit Nathalie Brum. Insbesondere das charakteristische Flügelhorn von Luis Reich gibt ihrem Sound immer wieder diesen besonderen jazzigen Touch.

05. Thore Pfeiffer – Phase Locked Loop 1 Thore Pfeiffer ist ein Meister der flirrenden Flächen und hypnotisch mäandernden Loops.

06. Andrew Thomas feat. Julia Parr – Sunshine Night

Ein alter Bekannter aus Neuseeland meldet sich mit sphärischen Klängen zurück. Andrew Thomas, in Kooperation mit Julia Parr, sprenkelt fein gesetzte Klaviertöne in weit entfernte Flächen und noch entferntere Stimmen.

07. Segensklang – Artifacts of Synthese

Wir freuen uns, dass auch Segensklang nach seinem fulminanten Pop Ambient Debut im letzten Jahr auch dieses Jahr wieder mit dabei ist. Deep and beautiful.

08. Ümit Han – Im Delirium

Zum dritten Mal dabei ist der Kölner Produzent Ümit Han. Hat er bisher eher die emotional-flächigen Aspekte des Pop Ambienten Universums ausgelotet, schwingt sich sein diesjähriges Stück „Im Delirium“ mit perlend-klaren, sprudelnden Soundkristallen zu einem pulsierenden Klanggebirge auf.

09. Würden & Schäfer – Analysis Of Variance II

Max Würden und Lukas Schäfer betten in ihrem Stück Analysis Of Variance II einen fein gesetzten Beat-Impuls in ein weiches Bett aus modulierenden Flächen und angenehmer psychedelischer Spaceyness.

10. Max Würden – Circles

Max Würden zeigt einmal mehr sein besonderes Gefühl für eine der Kernaussagen des Pop Ambient Stilspektrums. Die wie „Popmusik“ unter dem Mikroskop anmutende, abstrakte Akkord- und Flächenbewegung zwischen formaler Konstruktion und emotionaler Berührbarkeit.

11. Blank Gloss – Jennifer’s Convertible

Das kalifornische Gitarren-Ambient Duo entführt uns mit gewohnter Souveränität in ihren erhaben-schönen Soundkosmos. Maximal verdichtete Transparenz. Leichtigkeit - schwer wie Gold.

12. Hendrik Meyer – Grün War Die Klamm

Ein weiterer Neuzugang ist Hendrik Meyer. Der vielseitige Musiker, u.a. auch bekannt durch sein über Kompakt vertriebenes MYR Projekt, führt uns mit gleißend-schöner „wall of sound“ Entschlossenheit in die Ewigkeit eines nur vom nachfolgenden Stück beendeten Sonnenuntergang. Film(Musik)reif.

13. Triola – Zum Renngraben

Jörg Burger aka Triola kombiniert die für ihn typischen „handmade“ Impulse und Akzente mit mehrdimensionalem, digitalen Soundszenario in angenehm rauchig-verwischter Stonewashed Ästhetik.

Für den alles zusammenführenden, klanglichen Feinschliff sorgt, wie immer, das unverzichtbare, finale Mastering von Jörg Burger.

Und wie in jedem Jahr ist auch die 25ste Ausgabe natürlich in ein abstrakt-florales Zaubergebilde von Veronika Unland gehüllt. Die Anmut ihrer Bildsprache ist über die Jahre immer mehr mit der musikalischen Aura zu einer unverkennbaren magischen Symbiose verschmolzen.

**Black vinyl. Gold foil-printed gatefold jacket** With its ethereal, buzzing acoustic riffs, helix of resonant drones and vocal delivery that often sounds like an ancient form of prayer, Julie Beth Napolin’s Only The Void Stands Between Us sure-footedly takes its place in the post-’70s experimental folk lineage. “This is cosmic folk of the highest caliber. Julie’s vocal melodies grow in your mind like they were planted on the shortest day of the year. An absolute treat for all of us temporal adventurers.” – Ben Chasny (Six Organs Of Admittance)

'We are thrilled to be able to bring you Yara Asmar's first two cassette releases in a deluxe remastered double vinyl gatefold package featuring all new art and design from Yara herself.

Both albums were originally released on Hive Mind Records in 2022 and 2023 and received critical acclaim around the world':

“Melancholic drifts sound through the overcast skies of synth waltzes and accordion laments, infusing ageless melodies with a sense of falling backward through time. History is stitched through gilded aural silhouettes and elegiac drones. Asmar’s music is visceral. While electronics beckon beyond the sunrise stretched through a metallic shimmer, synth waltzes and accordion laments sticks with us while we remain lost in the hazy doldrums, always crawling forward tethered to our past lives. Highest recommendation.”
Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis

"...these tracks are a cushion against reality. Asmar creates music that unfurls in evanescent bliss, an invitation to a safe space both isolated and welcoming."
Daryl Worthington, The Quietus

"...a set that transmutes the instrument’s droning tones into a sweep of introspective, breath-catching moments of beauty"
Eric Torres, Pitchfork Best Jazz & Experimental Albums of 2023

"The combination and contrast of highly familiar and highly alien elements give Asmar's music a quality not quite like anything else I can name. The way she channels found voices into her surreal mix of sounds is particularly striking."
Byron Coley, The Wire

We’re happy to cordially invite you to the REGRESSION SESSION, hosted by eternal Philadelphia scene flag bearers ZILLAS ON ACID!

And if you think this sounds awfully lot like a scam, you’re probably right: „Regression Session“ is just a front of their illegal black market operation, trading raw uncut gems on a large scale. Just listen to the opener and title track and you won’t exactly have a strong case for the Zillas selling out, but rough as it is, this thing is capable of destroying any dancefloor it touches.

Looking at their recent releases it’s fair to say the Z’s are on quite a run, putting out music on labels like Permanent Vacation, Throne Of Blood, Multi Culti or Ivan Smagghe’s Disques de la Mort. Tunes like the sneaky rough slow burners „Underling“ or „Start Digging“ sound like they could be lifted from the latter’s infamous DJ sets, while the deceptively titled „Cha Cha Cha“ or closer „Casual Observer“ justify the „Acid“ in the artist name. „Shining Snakes Across The Lake“ is what some years might have been called a mid-tempo house roller and probably counts as downtempo these days. Speaking of tempos, the penultimate „Sweet Days Of Discipline“ starts of masquerading as reaaally downtempo, but ends up throwing 155bpm kick drums at you, so better watch out, all you k-hole ravers! Let’s not forget to talk about „bquiet“, which is what you’d call mid-tempo house these days (125bpm) and uses the eternally banging combination of a jacking beat, a polyrhythmic bass line, some lead-synth stabs and talking vocal slices. You can practically smell the sweat.

So what’s left to say? What you see is what you get: They are Zillas, and they are on Acid. And they provide a collection of eight tunes that probably each don’t necessarily have a double-digit amount of tracks in their DAW projects, and that’s exactly what makes them so forceful. Join the regression session!

After navigating the labyrinthine musical chambers of their 2023 modern exotica album 'Palace Of A Thousand Sounds', Reno. Nevada’s Whatitdo Archive Group has returned with their first-ever holiday offering—venturing into the darker side of Christmas folklore with their new ice-cold 45, 'Wild Man'. Drawing inspiration from a global archetypical myth of the same name, Whatitdo Archive Group examines the ancient story of the Wild Man—the hairy, half-human, half-beast that stalks the shadows of humanity’s shared primeval past. The myth of the Wild Man is a folktale that goes by many names: The Yeti of the Himalayas, the Bigfoot of North America, and, of course, Krampus of Eastern Europe—a yuletide beast with a reputation as a child-devouring "Anti-Claus" who now finds himself the subject of Whatitdo’s latest musical exploration.

‘Wild Man’ gives us a glimpse into the band’s newest sonic direction. With a heavy rhythm section carried by Alexander Korostinsky’s driving bass line, the sticky wah-guitar of Mark Sexton’s L-5, and the acrobatic lines of the Wurlitzer electric piano, “Wild Man” revels in the spiritual jazz flavors of Pharoah Sanders and grooves hard like the classic soul-jazz stylings of Ramsey Lewis. Much like the Krampus myth itself, 'Wild Man' is meant to weave an ominous spell over any Christmas cocktail party long after the kids have gone to bed. Hear the warning for yourself in the song’s haunting chant: "You better watch out for your life, when the Wild Man comes in the night".

But mythology isn’t abandoned on the B-side. The band takes the traditional English folk melody 'Greensleeves' and reimagines it through the musical lens of Ethio-jazz. Recorded live at the Archive Group Studios, the track exudes a dark, roomy atmosphere, drenched in unease and mystery courtesy of the wandering electric piano dancing above the hypnotic rhythm section and mesmeric groove of the distant Batá drums. This fresh reimagining taps into the ancient, cross-cultural lineage of the "Green Man" myth, a pagan symbol of rebirth and the power of the natural world, further blurring the lines between holiday cheer and the primal, elemental forces enshrined in our collective cultural memory.

After the band’s 'Palace Of A Thousand Sounds' was named 2023’s "Best Library Record" by PopMatters Magazine, their new 'Wild Man' 7” capitalizes on the same creative process that shaped their last record, while now exploring new conceptual territory. By drawing inspiration from archaic global folklore and again utilizing their peculiar recording techniques, W.A.G. has crafted a truly unique holiday offering that unearths the darker, more primal undercurrents of the Christmas tradition. The 'Wild Man' 7" is released as part of the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club, pressed on snow-white bio-vinyl and limited to 300 copies.

Dalton was a band from Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. They came together as a band around 1968 when most of the members studied together at the University of Tunis. The band had five members. Faouzi Chekili on guitar, piano and vocals, Ridha Kouhen on bass guitar, Mustapha Rehouma and sax and percussion, Sadok Gharbi on trumpet and vocals and Skaner Alim on drums and vocals. They were active in the local scene, playing music that was heavily influenced by American soul and funk and at the same time regional musical traditions. In the early 70s the band got a regular gig at a beach hotel called Sahara Beach Resort on the coastline of Tunisia. They had six month contracts for a couple of years in the early 70s and during that time they would play every single night of the tourist season. While the hotel gig required the band to play sets leaning towards tourist entertainment, the regular work helped put some money into the band's accounts. Using those funds the band was able to travel to Rome to record their one and only 7' single release "Alech" around 1971/1972. The band eventually dismantled in the mid 70s and returned briefly as a new group with new members in the late 1970s under the name Carthago but that is a different story.
"That "Soul Brother" is my jam.... !!!!" Lefto
The single itself impressed us heavily when we first stumbled upon it through French collector Victor Kiswell. While the b-side "Soul Brother' sounds like a Tunisian version of modern soul / AOR with it's English lyrics and lush arrangements, the title track "Alech' is the one that will get every party started. An infectious 3/4 rhythm, a great horn arrangement and brillantly layered vocals that made us think of Brazillian music or the Georgian groove band Gaya. Luckily Faouzi Chekili, the former band leader and composer uses social media communication so he was easy to track down. He is still active as a renowned musician in the Tunisian jazz scene and remains active recording and playing concerts both in Tunisia and internationally.

Highly regarded as a former resident at Salon Des Amateurs at his native Düsseldorf, Tolouse Low Trax/Detlef Weinrich has carved one of the most distinctive sounds in contemporary leftfield club music thanks to his deeply unusual grooves and hypnotic arrangements over the past 15 years as a solo artist.
Fung Day is his first album with entirely new material since Leave me alone which was released through Bureau B in 2022. Fung Day was written and recorded over the course of two years, slowly mutating and progressing from one state to another. Mixed, produced and finally mastered in Paris, his new domicile by choice.

A few words by Yvan Smagghe about Fung Day:
„He pretended he was in exile from Germany but he was a French lover like all of us; his MPC Sampler was smoking hot, an Enigma machine, an ashtray full of ghosts. I had left Paris for the same reasons he came. I could strangely relate. We’d met before he left Düsseldorf, and I knew of him through his oeuvre, his art over words (they were few) and piercing blue eyes.

He was now texting me on a night train from Warsaw going East, as in a Greene novel, asking me to go over his file. He sent me a spontaneous, fun, brave and bold record which is his new album - one that curiously smelled of mechanical grease - machinery of the soul, broken transport rhythms, samples like memories, noise at peace. Referenced yet uncoded. I don’t believe in ulterior motives and complex explanations. Not here at least. On the other hand, I do believe that works can be exposure - especially with the silent type or mistaken identities - and I knew about these too.“ - London, 2024

From minimalistic murmurings to swarming walls of sound... 113 is an experimental ambient(electronic)/drone(rock) project from The Netherlands. One can liken the Tilburg-based trio Drone Assembly as much to an ongoing science expedition as a musical project. Standing over an impressive assortment of instruments and gear, the members coalesce until becoming - in their own words - a ‘living organism’; synths, looping stations, effect pedals are combined with organic percussion, acoustic instruments and vocals in a probing, conversational way.

Indeed, each performance by Drone Assembly is a completely unique sensory experience. Over the five years since the project’s beginnings, Drone Assembly have performed in all kinds of unusual settings. And in doing so, they defy conventional hierarchies between performer and listener. Each show comes from a level of improvisation, Drone Assembly use the impressive collection of sounds and textures at their fingertips with utmost care and conviction. The result is music that ebbs and flows along the emotional beat of the moment, veering from soft mellow passages, hypnotic swells to resonant walls of noise.

Vinyl release, hand numbered with an unique silk screen printed cover, including insert, download code (also to an exclusive live video of the first four tracks) and sticker.

In 1962, Gordon relocated to Paris, where he became part of a vibrant jazz community

He was already a well-established figure in the jazz world due to his groundbreaking work in the 1940s and 1950s. His decision to live in Europe revitalized his career, allowing him to continue evolving as a musician away from the struggles in the USA: he enjoyed enormous respect in Europe, which allowed him to perform freely, often in clubs and on tours, without the burdens of American racism. Paris had long been a haven for jazz musicians: artists like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane were celebrated in Europe, and the French jazz scene, in particular, became a hotspot for both American expatriates and European musicians. Dexter Gordon quickly became one of the leading figures in that scene. Our Man in Paris is a celebrated jazz album and it is widely regarded as one of Gordon's best works. It is considered one of Gordon's finest albums due to its blend of bebop virtuosity, lyrical improvisation, and the tight interplay between world-class musicians: a classic jazz record, beloved for its authenticity and the inspired performances of Dexter Gordon and his ensemble. This album is now considered a classic in the jazz canon that's not only a remarkable album because of its flawless execution and historical significance, but it also captures a pivotal moment in jazz history where American jazz musicians were embracing new experiences and sounds in Europe and captures the essence of Gordon's bebop roots while showcasing the influence of his time in Europe.

Lonely Planets Rec. is thrilled to announce label co-pilot Caim with his luring new EP Medusa Hunter. A deep dive into a sonic realm where ancient myth intertwines with futuristic soundscapes, Medusa Hunter invites listeners on a seductive journey through hypnotising layers of hissing rhythm and smouldering, Goa-inspired techno. This EP pulses with energy, as Caim masterfully blends trance-inducing melodies with venemous driving bass-lines, creating an atmosphere of ancient mystery and suspense. Each track coils and twists like the mythic Gorgo, luring us deeper into her sonic gaze where time dissolves and consciousness drifts. Rhythm and warmth and whisper seamlessly through the mesmeric soundscapes, igniting a primal sense of movement where sound and myth collide.

Jan Anderzén - living in Tampere, Finland - is a collage artist making music, quilts, drawings, mosaics, videos and other things. From him, among a few others, sprang the The River of Finland. A stream that shook the European underground for infinity, back from the years 2005 and up. Jan is/was involved in acts like Kemialliset Ystävät, Avarus, Tomutonttu and The Anaksimandros. When in the past some of that River of Finland tasted like a fermented ocean of mycelia - today it tastes different, like sparkling water.

Halki pilvien - transl. Trough the clouds - brings exactly what one expects from the clouds. It is a collection of soft and gentle movements, as playful as a ‘Jan Anderzén type of music’ is always. A collection of patterns that solidify for just a brief moment in time, before sublimating in the back of the mind. This album is in constant motion.

Push play. A warped piano and cartoonish SFX’s might foretell a hyperreal approach to music. Yet while the champion of hyperrealism, Noah Creshevsky, describes his music as being written in a language we already understand (realism) yet in an exaggerated manner (hyper) - I have to add that things on this album do not sound exaggerated at all. Moreover, i have the feeling that somehow on this work, Jan is trying to underwhelm us. In the best possible way. Because clouds float trough and dissolve. Thus instead of hyperrealism, is Jan maybe speaking to us in a certain Serenerealism? Or Mildrealism?

What Jan’s music does have in common with Creshevsky’s is the no rush part. Listening to Halki pilvien makes time non-directional. The music seems to be designed to be played over and over again. This music has no direct impact like one can experience at a punk show, or at a classical music concert. This music is not that one gigantic raincloud covering the world dark. Quite the opposite, it is a pattern of clouds and clearings, floating over the lands. Trough this music a shadow play appears. This music is durable.

And it is when the sounds are at its faintest, that Jan touches the core: in the smallest detail, we find the fullest musical information.

Black vinyl 180g made only in 100 numbered copies.

This record is different. It is different from what might be expected of Jan Emil Mlynarski by those who know him, from sold-out shows and platinum albums of his bands – Jazz Band Młynarski – Masecki and Warsaw Dance Combo, as an old-timer, curator and reenactor of pre-World War II Warsaw's plush dancehalls and backyards folklore. Quite likely they may not recognize him until the last song, when he removes his shaman mask and bows down: Yeah, that's really me, folks, your good ol' Jan Emil, the entertainer. They might not have even known that he ever played drums because in his flagship bands, clad in a white tux in the former or in a Peaky Blinder hat in the latter, he sings and plays mandolin banjo. In fact, Młynarski has been a drummer for a lot longer than a singer. He stands clear of the jazz mainstream but is active on the progressive scene. A record he contributed to, trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski's 2022 release The Individual Beings, was recognized by Downbeat magazine as "excellent" and awarded the highest rating of five stars.

However, this is the first instrumental record to bear his name. As an album by a drummer, it stands out from other records, especially as it features drums as the principal content rather than the performance by a band with a drummer as the leader. It's all about drums, there is neither an articulate melody – because the melodies that are there are only micro-linesencased in ostinato modules – nor is harmony as an intentional chord progression – because whatever harmony-wise there is, is rather a product of the counterpoint of overlapping voices. All sounds other than the drums make only a riverbed through which runs a raging stream of rhythms. And indeed, this record took off just with this stream. At first all the drums were recorded live onto an analog tape, all at once, without overdubs or editing. After that, synthesizer riffs were added, and the record was ultimately assembled on tape without the use of computers or complex postproduction, which sets it apart from most releases today.

Młynarski the drummer acknowledges that he follows the trail beaten by Art Blakey, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, and Billy Higgins, but he walks it in his own strides. He treats the jazz drumming with specific reversed engineering by decompiling the jazz drum kit originally compiled by the pioneer jazz drummers from an array of instruments that had made their way from a jungle to New Orleans, first to Congo Square and then to street brass bands.

This takes him back to the jungle, his drums don't sound like jazz drums, the snare is rare, and the hi-hat and ride aren't there at all. Instead, there are drums and bells from Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Côte d'Ivoire. He doesn't sound like a jazz drummer either, but like a gang of drummers, each playing their own rhythm, and it's hard to believe that all this is the work of one man.

Not only his drumware comes from the jungle, but also the software – his approach to rhythm and time. Its essence is polyrhythm and ostinato. The polyrhythmic matters were unveiled to Młynarski and Piotr Zabrodzki, his creative partner in many projects and co-composer/producer of this album, by the legendary eccentric veteran-drummer Władysław Jagiełło, who introduced them, aged thirteen, to his concept and practice of "17 Latino rhythms at once". Ostinato, an obstinate repetition of a phrase or rhythm, "arrests" time, turning its linear course into cyclical in-place rotations. This is specific not only to African music but also to cultural music of other regions and differs from Western artistic music in that it does not "run" to fulfil an aesthetic intention but "stays" to provide the framework for recurrent routines of communal proceedings.

So, this record is different. And, if you are different too, this is the record for you.

Gavin Vanaelst runs the space Aboli Bibelot in Antwerp where exhibitions and musical performances can happen side to side with dealings in centuries-old furniture and unique pieces of folk art or volkskunst. Gavin makes music under the aliases DJ Charme, Kassett and So Sorry. This is the first album under his birth name. Takeaway Loops cycles back to the days when Gavin was working as a courier for .

is a food delivery company. Their couriers - ehm, brand ambassadors, as the company prefers to call them - dressed in bright orange, they race their bikes around the city. They deliver meals and groceries for all sorts. Thanks to them, the privileged can stay tucked in their private spaces. Interaction between the two groups - the privileged and the brand ambassadors - is mostly kept to the bare minimum. And sparse communications are often driven by annoyances - “my Coke is warm because you kept it too close to the French Fries.” And on the streets the general public dis-approaches the brand ambassadors with pity. We tell our peers: “That’s not a good job,” and “stay away from the Sharing Economy.” Because, you know, in our capitalistic dollhouse we all stand our grounds and play our parts wholeheartedly.

During his shifts for , Gavin recorded location sounds on his phone at fast food restaurants while waiting on the orders he had to pick up and deliver. Later in his home studio Gavin added piano and electronics to this source material. The result: a gloomy soundtrack for a shadow world. Seven songs in evening blue with a bright orange glare.

A few years ago, our favorite Belgian publishing house Het Balanseer released Seizoenarbeid by Heike Geissler (available in English trough Semiotext(e)). Geissler writes about her job at Amazon in Leipzig. Because her writing and freelance work did not pay the bills any longer, she was forced towards this underprivileged shadow-world of unwanted jobs. Seizoenarbeid shed a light on freedom in an unfree world. A monument of ‘we are all in this, but not together’. Takeaway Loops gives us a similar peak in a world that is at the same time so visible, but then also very veiled for many. A world that we prefer to use, yet that most of us prefer not to see - a world that we don’t like to enter.

Last year at Harbourland subway station in Kobe i was mesmerized by its sound design, created by Hiroshi Yoshimura. For each part of the subway station he composed a short phrase. While walking trough the station, a full composition grows in your head. The looping melodies guide you trough a microworld. Trough a blue world of commuters, of the homeless, of the lonely, of the fast paced, of the tourist. Gavin creates a similar effect with Takeaway Loops. The tonality somehow corresponds to Yoshimura’s work. Yet instead of being guided trough a building, we are now taken to the after dark. You feel the concrete evening heat of the city. You hear the rain. Stiff fingers during cold winters’ nights. You are alone on the bike, cruising. Your maps app telling you where to go. You just left the fake leather bench of the well-lit pastiche interior of a fast food restaurant.

Next order, number ECN44! Please wait outside, sir?

Robin Carolan's latest soundtrack for Robert Eggers' highly anticipated Nosferatu is a haunting, gothic-infused and meticulously crafted work that draws from a vast palette of sounds, instruments, and inspirations. Following their successful collaboration on The Northman, Carolan reunites with Eggers to bring the legendary tale of Nosferatu to life, infusing the film with a score that is as complex and nuanced as the story itself. With Daniel Pioro, one of Britain's most exciting young classical musicians, at the helm as the orchestra leader and first chair for a vast majority of the recording, the soundtrack features a vast orchestration, including 60 string players, a full choir, various horns and woodwinds, a harpist, and two percussionists. Despite the grandeur of the orchestration, one of the most challenging pieces was the music box used at the film's beginning. Carolan and Eggers struggled to perfect its sound, a process marked by their meticulous attention to detail, which Carolan describes as almost telepathic. Set in the 1800s, Nosferatu allowed Carolan to incorporate contemporary instrumentation, though he made a deliberate effort to ensure the score didn't sound overly modern. Letty Stott, who also worked on The Northman, contributed ancient horns and pipes, enhancing the soundtrack's eerie atmosphere. Additionally, percussionist Paul Clarvis custom-built a toaca-like instrument for added authenticity. Carolan's inspirations for the soundtrack were as eclectic as they were profound. He frequently drew upon the works of Bartok and Coil, while films like The Innocents, Angels and Insects, and Eyes Wide Shut provided cinematic inspiration. Additionally, he explored the more obscure side of Hammer Horror soundtracks and found a deep connection to the music of the Ukrainian film The Eve of Ivan Kupalo, which helped shape the score's otherworldly tone. Carolan intentionally moved beyond the typical horror score, focusing on capturing the tale's melancholy and tragic elements while weaving in a sense of warped romanticism. The result is a soundtrack that not only complements the film but also stands on its own as a testament to Carolan's artistry and the enduring power of collaboration.

Robin Carolan's latest soundtrack for Robert Eggers' highly anticipated Nosferatu is a haunting, gothic-infused and meticulously crafted work that draws from a vast palette of sounds, instruments, and inspirations. Following their successful collaboration on The Northman, Carolan reunites with Eggers to bring the legendary tale of Nosferatu to life, infusing the film with a score that is as complex and nuanced as the story itself. With Daniel Pioro, one of Britain's most exciting young classical musicians, at the helm as the orchestra leader and first chair for a vast majority of the recording, the soundtrack features a vast orchestration, including 60 string players, a full choir, various horns and woodwinds, a harpist, and two percussionists. Despite the grandeur of the orchestration, one of the most challenging pieces was the music box used at the film's beginning. Carolan and Eggers struggled to perfect its sound, a process marked by their meticulous attention to detail, which Carolan describes as almost telepathic. Set in the 1800s, Nosferatu allowed Carolan to incorporate contemporary instrumentation, though he made a deliberate effort to ensure the score didn't sound overly modern. Letty Stott, who also worked on The Northman, contributed ancient horns and pipes, enhancing the soundtrack's eerie atmosphere. Additionally, percussionist Paul Clarvis custom-built a toaca-like instrument for added authenticity. Carolan's inspirations for the soundtrack were as eclectic as they were profound. He frequently drew upon the works of Bartok and Coil, while films like The Innocents, Angels and Insects, and Eyes Wide Shut provided cinematic inspiration. Additionally, he explored the more obscure side of Hammer Horror soundtracks and found a deep connection to the music of the Ukrainian film The Eve of Ivan Kupalo, which helped shape the score's otherworldly tone. Carolan intentionally moved beyond the typical horror score, focusing on capturing the tale's melancholy and tragic elements while weaving in a sense of warped romanticism. The result is a soundtrack that not only complements the film but also stands on its own as a testament to Carolan's artistry and the enduring power of collaboration.

Ghostly 25 Year Anniversary Edition. Thus far, Zach Saginaw's releases as Shigeto have been fragments, albeit singularly satisfying fragments -- EP-length glimpses into the Detroit producer's creative psyche. After filling two EPs on Ghostly International, Shigeto's lush, sumptuous take on instrumental hip-hop has fully materialized. Full Circle, the artist's first full-length album, completes the journey begun with Shigeto's Semi-Circle EP, synthesizing the drummer/producer's signature themes of family, continuity, and musical boundary-pushing into a vibrant, fully unified artistic statement.The sounds on Full Circle come from four years of obsessive field recording and collaboration. Saginaw brought his Tascam mini-recorder with him everywhere, capturing the "glasses, chains, breathing, children, family meals, monks singing in cathedrals, walks in the south of France, and good friends offering their musical skill" that would all find homes in the record's compositional nooks and crannies. As a result of Saginaw's constant documentation, the songs on Full Circle play like chapters in an ongoing story--as in "Escape from the Incubator", whose initial rhythmic claustrophobia opens up into a boom-clap nocturnal chase, or "French Kiss Power Up", whose romantic digital strut gives way to discord and fragmentation as the waves of synthesizer give way to a shaky, neurotic coda. Full Circle is framed by the "Ann Arbor" diptych, a pair of beat suites named after Saginaw's hometown (one featuring a sample of Detroit MC SelfSays), all double-thick synths and triple-strength kick drums. Saginaw plays the majority of his rhythms by hand, and Full Circle's consistently deep pocket is the record's secret weapon, thumping and breathing like a living being.Having set the stage with Semi-Circle and What We Held On To EPs--twin treatises on Saginaw's Japanese grandmother's escape from a US internment camp--Shigeto is clearly ready to draw the tale to a close and take center stage. "This release represents the end of the beginning--or perhaps that there is no end and no beginning at all," says Saginaw. Regardless, Full Circle is the start of something great.

If Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira were a utopia instead of its opposite, this EP could be a possible sound track. Using the ingredients of classic house as a platform (pianos anyone?), Nick Nikolov‘s imagination as a producer for his new new NKLV project is far too vivid to stay on the beaten track.

The sound design and nerdy attention of IDM and ambient (Clusters) connects with the brazen boogie approach of the French touch, micro-sampling manifestos have to stand up to the weirder moments of signature sounds like Basement Jaxx or KiNK‘s musical side (Heartbeat). Not too far off from his peer‘s early approach, the Bulgarian‘s take is emotionally charged, play- and powerful.

For instance, Speak to Me and No More hit their respective topical nails on the head and the EPs title track Inbetween is sultry serotonin soul. If you are looking for plain and pure euphoria in between all the hardships, happiness is just around the bend.

Oscar Smit (DJ Oscar) has been a fan and collector of, especially the latest, Christmas music
since the 1980s. As a connoisseur, he is invited almost annually by the national Dutch radio.
As a journalist, he writes for the Christmas blog Christmas A Go Go and music magazine
OOR.
“Nowadays, there are many young acts active in the Dutch underground scene that I find
original and good. I enjoy their concerts, which usually take place in small clubs. Being a
huge fan of Christmas music, I got the idea to ask a couple of my favorite young artists to
record a contemporary Christmas song. They could do this with complete freedom. Dutch
electro-garage duo De Delegatie chose to cover a song by Daniel Lohues (singer of Skik) and
Herman Finkers from 2009. The choice of the Haarlem electro-wave band Dorpsstraat 3
goes even further back. In 1976, Dutch ‘volks’singer Andre Hazes had his very first hit with
this Christmas song. The Amsterdam punky female trio Earwurms recorded a contemporary
and adapted version of ‘Jingle Bells’. Schlager punk trio Yodel Queen also includes two
women. They provide an impression of a flexitarian at the Christmas dinner. Both girl bands
are appearing on vinyl for the first time. XA4 is Xavier Boot. He has already released an
album on Philip Glass’s label and treats us here to minimal Christmas music. In contrast,
there is the maximal danceable dark-electro from the Amsterdammer Raderkraft. He has
already released a few records and is quite well-known abroad. On this record, Stippenlift,
a one-man project from Amsterdam, has the most experience with Christmas music. Every
year, he writes a new Dutch-language track, usually sad or melancholic in tone. This very
danceable song sounds optimistic for his standards. Truus de Groot is a category of her
own. She has been making music since the early eighties, in bands like Nasmak or Plus
Instruments. She is still active and proves that you can still make urgent music after such a
long time. She is an example for many young musicians. Her song is a variant of the music
from the timeless Charlie Brown Christmas film.” — Oscar Smit.

Oscar Smit (DJ Oscar) has been a fan and collector of, especially the latest, Christmas music
since the 1980s. As a connoisseur, he is invited almost annually by the national Dutch radio.
As a journalist, he writes for the Christmas blog Christmas A Go Go and music magazine
OOR.
“Nowadays, there are many young acts active in the Dutch underground scene that I find
original and good. I enjoy their concerts, which usually take place in small clubs. Being a
huge fan of Christmas music, I got the idea to ask a couple of my favorite young artists to
record a contemporary Christmas song. They could do this with complete freedom. Dutch
electro-garage duo De Delegatie chose to cover a song by Daniel Lohues (singer of Skik) and
Herman Finkers from 2009. The choice of the Haarlem electro-wave band Dorpsstraat 3
goes even further back. In 1976, Dutch ‘volks’singer Andre Hazes had his very first hit with
this Christmas song. The Amsterdam punky female trio Earwurms recorded a contemporary
and adapted version of ‘Jingle Bells’. Schlager punk trio Yodel Queen also includes two
women. They provide an impression of a flexitarian at the Christmas dinner. Both girl bands
are appearing on vinyl for the first time. XA4 is Xavier Boot. He has already released an
album on Philip Glass’s label and treats us here to minimal Christmas music. In contrast,
there is the maximal danceable dark-electro from the Amsterdammer Raderkraft. He has
already released a few records and is quite well-known abroad. On this record, Stippenlift,
a one-man project from Amsterdam, has the most experience with Christmas music. Every
year, he writes a new Dutch-language track, usually sad or melancholic in tone. This very
danceable song sounds optimistic for his standards. Truus de Groot is a category of her
own. She has been making music since the early eighties, in bands like Nasmak or Plus
Instruments. She is still active and proves that you can still make urgent music after such a
long time. She is an example for many young musicians. Her song is a variant of the music
from the timeless Charlie Brown Christmas film.” — Oscar Smit.

Oscar Smit (DJ Oscar) has been a fan and collector of, especially the latest, Christmas music
since the 1980s. As a connoisseur, he is invited almost annually by the national Dutch radio.
As a journalist, he writes for the Christmas blog Christmas A Go Go and music magazine
OOR.
“Nowadays, there are many young acts active in the Dutch underground scene that I find
original and good. I enjoy their concerts, which usually take place in small clubs. Being a
huge fan of Christmas music, I got the idea to ask a couple of my favorite young artists to
record a contemporary Christmas song. They could do this with complete freedom. Dutch
electro-garage duo De Delegatie chose to cover a song by Daniel Lohues (singer of Skik) and
Herman Finkers from 2009. The choice of the Haarlem electro-wave band Dorpsstraat 3
goes even further back. In 1976, Dutch ‘volks’singer Andre Hazes had his very first hit with
this Christmas song. The Amsterdam punky female trio Earwurms recorded a contemporary
and adapted version of ‘Jingle Bells’. Schlager punk trio Yodel Queen also includes two
women. They provide an impression of a flexitarian at the Christmas dinner. Both girl bands
are appearing on vinyl for the first time. XA4 is Xavier Boot. He has already released an
album on Philip Glass’s label and treats us here to minimal Christmas music. In contrast,
there is the maximal danceable dark-electro from the Amsterdammer Raderkraft. He has
already released a few records and is quite well-known abroad. On this record, Stippenlift,
a one-man project from Amsterdam, has the most experience with Christmas music. Every
year, he writes a new Dutch-language track, usually sad or melancholic in tone. This very
danceable song sounds optimistic for his standards. Truus de Groot is a category of her
own. She has been making music since the early eighties, in bands like Nasmak or Plus
Instruments. She is still active and proves that you can still make urgent music after such a
long time. She is an example for many young musicians. Her song is a variant of the music
from the timeless Charlie Brown Christmas film.” — Oscar Smit.

Following on from the House-infused punch of her Peach Discs release in June, Bristol’s Daisy Moon treats us to a shapeshifting debut on Timedance - entering a new era with a splash sure to be felt in most abyssal zones.

‘Shadow Of Silhouettes’ showcases a singular exploration of tough yet scintillating sounds, between wiggy electro, bass-laden grooves and inspired bursts of FWD techno- pop.

In this diverse body of work, Daisy’s vocals are the glue tying things together. They appear like sonic silhouettes, abstracted through sound design and unveiling a taste for the experimental. In other moments they are stripped from their abstract form and float above the surface, revealing Daisy Moon’s blossoming talent for ear-worm melodies.

qebrus (pronounced Ké-brusse) was a project by Thomas Denis, an enigmatic French musician and producer born in 1981 and based in Caen, France, before his untimely passing in February of 2018. His undefinable otherworldly compositions and internet glitch trickery turned many heads catching the attention and support of esteemed artists such as Aphex Twin, Four Tet and Venetian Snares. The appeal of his music to other forward-pushing producers was emblematic of the uniqueness of his productions and led to collaborations with the likes of Tom Middleton, Otto Von Schirach and Mr Bill. His only release on Love Love Records, 'ᐔ ᐌ ᐂ ᐍ ᐚ', proved to be one his furthest reaching, originally released on CD during a flurry of musical productivity during 2017. Those 6 tracks of intricate extraterrestrial electronics now get the vinyl treatment, having been lovingly remastered or this reissue and pressed on green coloured wax.

The qebrus guise was that of an alien stranded on Earth and this concept was consistent throughout. The project gained notoriety almost exclusively on the internet, with many people's first experiences of his persona coming from the use of chaotic ASCII syntax in track titles which at the time 'broke' many of the websites he used to host his music. This theme of incomprehensibility extended to the sonic qualities of his music, foregoing any shred of familiar sounds in favour of an entirely electronically synthesised sound palate resulting in jarring and frenetic works full of near-imperceptible micro-details.

qebrus rarely performed live with one of the few occurrences being at an after-party following the now legendary Day For Night Festival 2016 in Austin, Texas where Aphex Twin played some of Qebrus' music to a crowd of 20,000 as Thomas watched on in what was undoubtedly an otherworldly experience for him.

Despite his vision being entirely self-driven without a care for popularity or recognition, there were many people across the globe that connected with the sheer weirdness of it all. 7 years on 'ᐔ ᐌ ᐂ ᐍ ᐚ' still sounds wholly futuristic and will likely remain so for centuries to come. In a time where it seems everything has already been done before Thomas leaves behind a legacy of an artist who was truly 'doing their own thing'.

Thomas is survived by his two children who will be receiving his proceeds from sales of this release.

“really alien sounding music”
Aphex Twin —

“Did you know that guy, Qebrus? He was on his own shit, he was making some really out there music, his music was incredible”
Venetian Snares —

“Listening to intelligent dance music producer Qebrus feels a lot like entering another dimension, his music stumbling its way through electronic chaos, leaving the listener unsure over what just happened.”
Thomas Hobbs — Crack Magazine

Hitting their tenth release, Heels & Souls Recordings journey to South Africa reissuing Hot Slot Machine’s pioneering and sought after self-titled album from 1992. Cultivating a sound and vibe that took South Africa by storm in the early '90s, the six track LP took influence from the genres that drifted over the Atlantic from the US and UK. From house and R&B, through to soul, hip-hop and reggae - creating a rhythm-driven, bass-heavy blend of them all, repackaged with a township flavour.

Known to many as Joe Nina, Makhosini Henry Xaba’s early forays into production would help lay the foundation for the infectious, groove-laden genre that would go on to be labelled as kwaito. With two albums already under his belt as T. McCool and King Rap, aged just 16 Makhosini wrote and produced Hot Slot Machine with the help of Gerdes Chessman - an LP that was far beyond both its time and his youthful years.

Striving to imitate the heavy house sounds inbound from the UK and America, artists like Blackbox and Ten City became big influences. Hot Slot Machine radiates with those impressions, providing something unique in South Africa in the early ‘90s. Leaning more into house and hip hop than the disco-flavoured bubblegum rhythms, the tracks were richer in sound, heavier on the synths and powered by rattling basslines.

Undeniably infectious and unquestionably well put together, the album contains six hits and no misses. With the chunky hip house grooves of ‘Rhythm’, ‘Unchain My Heart’ and ‘Shake Ya Down’, running side by side with the low slung, magnetic bounce of ‘Lookin’ Mix’, ‘I’ll Be Ready’ and ‘Lovin’ Mix’.

Sadly the tapes were long lost, so the wizards Sean P and Justin Drake ripped and restored the album, with Justin giving it a well-deserved remaster. Licensed from Gallo with the blessing of Makhosini, this truly must-have LP now comes complete with a printed inner sleeve housing liner notes and never-before-seen photography.

Original copies changing hands for £50+ on Discogs. Remastered and reissued for the first time since 1992!

lim. to 200 180Gr Vinyl!

Schnieke is rich and fruitful, yet carries a sadness within. A 5-string violin charts its melodious journey from Istanbul to Belin, accompanied by electronics, breakbeats, live drums and percussions. An authentic oriental funky mood keeps you in a trance or gets your body moving tribally…

This is Schnieke, a.k.a. Özgür Akgül, with his first studio album Hediye, or Gift. The album is intended as a gift to Özgür's grandmother, Hadiye, who was very important to him and to whom he dedicates a song. But his debut album will also come as a gift to anyone interested in how a sophisticated musical sensibility brings together electronic elements with stringed instruments of all kinds. Özgür plays the violins himself, as well as the analogue synths and drum machines. Guest musicians include Hasan Gözetlik (trumpet and trombone), Göksun Çavdar (saxophone), Korhan Erol (electric guitar and bass), Burhan Hasdemir and Baris Güney (live percussion), Zafer Tunç Resuloglu (live drums), John Gürtler (church organ) and the Istanbul Strings, Turkey’s most vibrant string ensemble.

Their diverse influences create a wide emotional range on Hediye - sometimes dark and melancholic, sometimes wild, groovy and danceable, somewhere between jazz, dub and electro, each song surprising in its own way. Despite the variety of the individual songs, a captivating pulse runs like a thread through Schnieke's first album. Incidentally, Özgür came up with the band name during a night out in a bar, when a friend explained to him what Berlin slang he absolutely had to know. He liked the sound of the word ‘schnieke’ – it means something approximating ‘snazzy’ - and perhaps he secretly also wanted to flatter himself a little! Well, shouldn't we all do that much more often?

Hediye consists of eight tracks, three of which are traditional: Aman Doktor comes from Istanbul, Özgür's birthplace, and is a homage to his own origins. Kadioglu comes from the Aegean region and features the zeybek dance form which, despite its ‘standardisation’ in recent times, still summons up the ecstasy, inspired improvisation and musical finesse of its historical roots. The other five tracks are Özgür's own compositions, with Pasali providing the soundtrack for the 2010 Turkish feature film Memleket Meselesi. Creating compositions for film has been Özgür’s primary passion since his time as a student at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. You can hear that in his music, because on his debut album Özgür does completely without vocal support, the instrumental depth stands for itself, and, in the style of The Cinematic Orchestra, space is created for us to develop our own images while listening – it is a soundtrack for the film we want to make of it.

Less than a year after Botanical Illustration takes patience and Skill EP, Giovanni Natalini aka CO-PILOT, comes back on Simona Faraone’s label, New Interplanetary Melodies, with the Green Machine album, which is its natural prosecution: inside it we also find the three tracks previously published by the same label in audio cassette format only (NIM001- MC).

Green Machine is a concept album, which takes up and develops the ecological issues already treated by the artist in his previous work, namely the increasingly tricky dichotomy between nature and machine and the harmful impact of humans on it.

The A side opens with the already published Botanical Illustration takes patience and Skill (A1), an 8 minutes suite in which the powerful Live drum breaks are perfectly combined with synths and vocal samples, transporting us to the tops of exotic mountains, to continue with the ecstatic Himawari (A2) that sounds like a “desert session” made on Mount Fuji, for a result of pure musical mysticism and finally, Mother Love Nature pt.1 (A3), a track that takes us back to more familiar territories, winking at the most experimental British trip hop of recent memory and Mother Love Nature pt.2 (A4) characterized by a background of modular synths and nature sounds effects that precede Giovanni’s powerful drums, underlining once again this perfect fusion of organic and synthesized sounds.

Side B opens with the psychedelic choruses of Dancing Like Fela (B1) supported by synthetic arpeggios and a frenetic drumline sounds like a breakbeat. Continuing along this side, we come to the unsettling use of vocal samples on the beautiful Halo (B2), the ethereal and danceable art-pop of Lost You - In Translation - (B3) to conclude with the evocative Playing the Zurna in Ulan Bator (B4), a track with a pressing rhythm and elegant arrangements that once again underlines Giovanni Natalini’s mastery in mixing sounds and suggestions that are apparently far away but that always find the right place.

Green Machine sounds like a valid attempt to finally find a “solid” balance between humans and nature, but it also demonstrates how the continuous mixing of sounds is the most effective way to escape from the homologation that is increasingly widespread in contemporary society.

Jonas Munk closes his ambient trilogy with mammoth drone pieces, multi-layered guitars and hymnal krautrock. "Mirror Phase" concludes a trilogy of minimal ambient albums in Munk's (Causa Sui) own name. These eight compositions, based on guitar and synthesizer loops, marks a return to the warmer sounds Munk is often associated with. Sonic structures that slowly and gradually evolves and changes, like cloud formations in the sky. The title track, "Mirror Phase", is Munk's most expansive drone opus so far. It's a carefully arranged piece where sounds that oscillates with the same interval, but at different phases, are continuously added, hence creating shifting patterns throughout the track's nearly 18 minute duration. Elsewhere, in "Transition", multi-layered guitars creates the sonic equivalent of waves gently splashing on the shore. "At a Distance" creates a haunting, and hypnotic, soundscape by using slightly out-of-tune analog synthesizers, summoning the transcendent krautrock of Popol Vuh. And "Rise", as well as the closing track, "Return to Nowhere", recalls the glistening sounds of his Manual releases. "Mirror Phase" might just be Munk's ambient oeuvre reaching its zenith. The CD edition comes with an extra CD with Jonas Munk's 2021 album, "Altered Light", which has previously only been released on digital download and streaming.

Blake Lee has always been fascinated by the unknown, and space, in its isolating, mysterious vastness, embodies this theme immaculately. The open void, captured so memorably by Stanley Kubrick in '2001: A Space Odyssey', is Blake's far-reaching canvas on 'No Sound In Space', a cinematic meditation on the cosmos that's painted in nuanced, emotionally sincere colors. The Los Angeles-based composer has been contemplating his full-length debut since 2021, using his guitar as a sonic paintbrush rather than find himself snared in its traditional aesthetic constraints. Transforming its characteristics with effects and subtle processes, he layers sustained tones and intimate improvisations, creating richly visual polychromatic utopias teeming with unknown life.

Since 2011, Blake has been most known for being the guitarist and a music director for Lana Del Rey, notching up three songwriting credits on her acclaimed ‘Ultraviolence’ full length. He sees his solo work is a form of escapism, a place where he can experiment and find comfort and catharsis outside of expectations and formal structure. The album was written instinctively, and Blake made sure he didn't force anything, letting go and getting out of his own way, listening intently as sounds and textures materialized organically. "I didn't want to ruin it by being a perfectionist," he laughs. And his collaboration with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, who runs the OFNOT label and contributes to two of the tracks on the album, occurred similarly organically.

Blake was moved to reach out to KMRU when he caught a performance of 'Natur' at Los Angeles' Zebulon in 2022, leading to a prolonged back-and-forth. They didn't meet in person until earlier this year, by which time they'd become firm friends, continuously sharing music and conversation. KMRU had lent a valuable ear to Blake, who sent early playlists of 'NSIS' that, over the months, slowly evolved into the finished album. It's the first release on OFNOT that's not by KMRU himself; the label emerged last year with the release of KMRU's own 'Dissolution Grip', and Blake's debut immediately expands its sonic universe. Alongside the playlists, Blake also provided KMRU with the tracks' raw stems, which KMRU began to edit and expand in his Berlin studio. 'Miura' and 'Waiting' are the result of this process, two sublime abstractions that augment Blake's dreamlike, euphoric tones with KMRU's pebbly distortions and booming low-end rumbles. And this same playful sense of freeness seeps into Blake's other compositions.

On the misty 'In A Cloud', he surrounds cascading string tones with soft-focus pads that swell until they're like crashing waves, and on the two 'Echoplexx' pieces, he uses delay and reverb to smudge his sounds until they're viscous residue, the harmonies obscured by whooshes of white noise and distant chimes. The mood is quieted somewhat on 'Moving Air', as Blake's swirling tones form half-heard lullabies, coalescing into a dense, melancholy crescendo, and he fills out the sound with reverberant airport recordings on 'Pan Am', letting pitchy My Bloody Valentine-esque drones warble beneath the transitory chatter. Each track melts into the next, forming a billowing, cryptic narrative that leaves more questions than answers. Blake is constantly searching, and fills his unoccupied space with warmth, perception and sensitivity.

Blake Lee has always been fascinated by the unknown, and space, in its isolating, mysterious vastness, embodies this theme immaculately. The open void, captured so memorably by Stanley Kubrick in '2001: A Space Odyssey', is Blake's far-reaching canvas on 'No Sound In Space', a cinematic meditation on the cosmos that's painted in nuanced, emotionally sincere colors. The Los Angeles-based composer has been contemplating his full-length debut since 2021, using his guitar as a sonic paintbrush rather than find himself snared in its traditional aesthetic constraints. Transforming its characteristics with effects and subtle processes, he layers sustained tones and intimate improvisations, creating richly visual polychromatic utopias teeming with unknown life.

Since 2011, Blake has been most known for being the guitarist and a music director for Lana Del Rey, notching up three songwriting credits on her acclaimed ‘Ultraviolence’ full length. He sees his solo work is a form of escapism, a place where he can experiment and find comfort and catharsis outside of expectations and formal structure. The album was written instinctively, and Blake made sure he didn't force anything, letting go and getting out of his own way, listening intently as sounds and textures materialized organically. "I didn't want to ruin it by being a perfectionist," he laughs. And his collaboration with Kenyan sound artist KMRU, who runs the OFNOT label and contributes to two of the tracks on the album, occurred similarly organically.

Blake was moved to reach out to KMRU when he caught a performance of 'Natur' at Los Angeles' Zebulon in 2022, leading to a prolonged back-and-forth. They didn't meet in person until earlier this year, by which time they'd become firm friends, continuously sharing music and conversation. KMRU had lent a valuable ear to Blake, who sent early playlists of 'NSIS' that, over the months, slowly evolved into the finished album. It's the first release on OFNOT that's not by KMRU himself; the label emerged last year with the release of KMRU's own 'Dissolution Grip', and Blake's debut immediately expands its sonic universe. Alongside the playlists, Blake also provided KMRU with the tracks' raw stems, which KMRU began to edit and expand in his Berlin studio. 'Miura' and 'Waiting' are the result of this process, two sublime abstractions that augment Blake's dreamlike, euphoric tones with KMRU's pebbly distortions and booming low-end rumbles. And this same playful sense of freeness seeps into Blake's other compositions.

On the misty 'In A Cloud', he surrounds cascading string tones with soft-focus pads that swell until they're like crashing waves, and on the two 'Echoplexx' pieces, he uses delay and reverb to smudge his sounds until they're viscous residue, the harmonies obscured by whooshes of white noise and distant chimes. The mood is quieted somewhat on 'Moving Air', as Blake's swirling tones form half-heard lullabies, coalescing into a dense, melancholy crescendo, and he fills out the sound with reverberant airport recordings on 'Pan Am', letting pitchy My Bloody Valentine-esque drones warble beneath the transitory chatter. Each track melts into the next, forming a billowing, cryptic narrative that leaves more questions than answers. Blake is constantly searching, and fills his unoccupied space with warmth, perception and sensitivity.

Dischi Fantom’s Sussurra Luce series, blurring the boundaries between text, music and voice, returns with their fifth instalment, an expanded version of Hanne Lippard’s “Talk Shop”. Sculpting a fascinating bridge between radically experimental sound practice, conceptual art, and sound poetry, across its two sides the Berlin based multidisciplinary artist taps an almost dada sensibility, delivering a suite of poems and texts where singular words and sentences are looped and repeated creating a sensory experience of the efficiency and stress found in our private as well as public life.

Roughly a year ago, we had the pleasure of exploring the first two releases from Dischi Fantom’s emerging Sussurra Luce series, Ginevra Bompiani, Caterina Barbieri, and Tomoko Sauvage’s “Il Calore Animale” and Francesco Cavaliere’s “Zoomachia Disc 1”. An extension of the Milan based cultural platform Fantom’s broad and diverse activities (exhibitions, installations, performances, etc.) across numerous artistic disciplines, the series, curated by Francesco Cavaliere and Massimo Torrigiani, delves into the “science of imagination”, working with contemporary authors to explore and blur the boundaries between text, music and voice. Now the brilliant series returns with its latest entry, the Berlin based multidisciplinary artist Hanne Lippard’s “Talk Shop”. Released in a limited edition of 200 copies and coming with an LP-sized booklet, it combines orality and textuality with the idea of loop and repetition to explore the notion of time, and it’s a stunning gesture of performative poetics that plums a startling range of subjects through its sonorous forms.

Working across the fields of text, vocal performance, sound installation, printed objects and sculpture, for more than a decade Hanne Lippard has deployed language as the raw material for her work. Working within a practice that rests at the juncture of the spoken and written word, drawing upon content appropriated from the public sphere (found text) intertwined with her own words, Lippard’s work investigates how the rise in digital communication and mediation reprograms our relationship to language, presenting the subsequent fragility of language - its flaws, oddities, and potential for misinterpretation - and its attempts to convey meaning and sense.

“Talk Shop”, the fifth instalment of Dischi Fantom’s Sussurra Luce series and Lippard’s third recorded release - building upon the ground of 2020's “Work”, issued by Collapsing Market, and 2021's “PigeonPostParis”, released by Boomkat Editions - began as a live performance. Combining orality and textuality with the idea of loop and repetition to explore the notion of time, its relationship with the world of work today, and its personification through the experience of the human body - anonymity as the spearhead of the digital economy - the conceptual underpinnings of the piece depart from the notion that the human voice has become commodified by the ubiquitous nature of contemporary productivity, and intertwined with the mechanics of capital - the voices of satnavs, smart speakers and voicemail systems - while the written word has become increasingly anonymous online.

Addressing vocal anonymity as a spearhead of the digital economy, Lippard’s “Talk Shop” - regarded by the artist as “a compilation of poems and texts where singular words and sentences are looped and repeated creating a sensory experience of the efficiency and stress found in our private as well as public life” - taps an almost dada sensibility through its unexpected layers of meanings drawn from a maximalized approach to the potential of the human voice, creating an engrossing and challenging listen from the first sounding to the last, that continues to reveal itself and unfold with every return.

Sculpting a fascinating bridge between radically experimental sound practice, conceptual art, and sound poetry, it culminates as one of the most strikingly singular creative gestures we’re likely to encounter this year. Highly recommended and not to be missed.

Hanne Lippard (Milton Keynes, 1984) explores the social forms that govern discourse. Her artistic practice, which mainly takes the form of reading and sound installations, investigates the voice as an instrument of emancipation and alienation in times of hyper-connectivity. By mixing personal thoughts and appropriating texts from advertising, slogans and newspaper articles, the text becomes a mix of private and public that regains inventiveness and authorship through the use of the voice, becoming a body of its own. Her recent artistic research has focused on the use of the female body as a container of sounds, on the conscious and unconscious automation of speech and language.

Lily Seabird is a perceptive songwriter who can channel moments when everything feels raw and overwhelming into something healing and galvanizing. With Alas, the Burlington, VT-based artist's sophomore album, she confronts grief with palpable clarity on tracks that careen from delicate folk to blistering indie rock. While it's her second LP, it serves as a proper introduction to an undeniable and idiosyncratic voice. "Alas, sounds way more like me," she says. "This is the album I wanted to make in the first place." Though Seabird is now known as a solo artist and collaborator in Burlington's vibrant music community as the bassist for Greg Freeman and other acts, her journey started in Pennsylvania when she picked up the saxophone as a kid. At 14, she learned guitar and started performing as Lily Seabird. After a brief stint in New York City playing in bands, she moved to Vermont, which has been her home since 2018. "When I came to Vermont, I was playing solo a lot but then I started a band with Greg Freeman," she says. "Since 2018, it's been me and Greg and a bunch of different casts of characters have been in the band since then it's an ever-evolving thing. It's just us playing my songs."The songs on Alas, came from a particularly unmoored period for Seabird. "I wrote this album in 2021 and 2022 on the road, trying to figure out who I am," she says. "A lot of them also deal with the time when my close friend passed away. The title Alas, meant a lot to her." Even if the songs don't always directly tackle this specific loss, there's a sense of mourning in how relationships change and dissolve. Take "Grace," a reflection on female friendship, which features the lines, "I hope she's happy now she should be 25 / She taught me something that I thought I'd always hide." Elsewhere, the knotty and unpredictable "Dirge" finds her singing, "I don't know if I believe in god / I don't know if I know how to go on." Seabird and Benny Yurco produced Alas, which was recorded at Burlington's Little Jamaica Studios with Freeman and drummer Zack James (Benny Yurco). It's a quietly expansive album full of subdued, organic textures and moods. Songs like "Cavity" are lush and inviting with silky guitar and Seabird's expressive saxophone playing. The 10 songs on Alas, stretch out and leave space for introspection and deep listening with some tracks taking nearly seven minutes to mesmerizingly unfold. It's a remarkably assured and vital statement from one of the most promising new songwriters alongside peers Merce Lemon, Squirrel Flower, and Allegra Krieger."The album is about loss, coming of age, and sadness but there are also all these moments where happiness takes over," says Seabird. "It can be two things at once: life isn't just pain and sadness, there's also joy. They can all exist at the same time. Alas, is an expression of grief but it's also for letting go."

Auf ihrem zehnten Langeisen zeigen sie mehr Bandbreite denn je und begeistern mit einer wilden Achterbahnfahrt durch punkige Hymnen wie dem Titelsong "Choices Made In Anger" oder den eingängigem "Liberty Cuffs", über gute Laune Rock’n’Roll ala "Sun‘s up, tops down" bis hin zu klassischem Hardrock wie "Rock Above Love" oder dem überragenden Abschluss des Albums "Sing Like You Mean It“. Nicht zu vergessen ihre Homage an die eigene Unbeugsamkeit "Wankers Forever", der mit dem passenden Video Clip schon eine Vorschau auf das 25 jährige Bandjubiläum im kommenden Jahr gibt. Die V8 Wankers, gegründet im Jahr 2000, sind Deutschlands Speerspitze des harten Motorrocks. 10 Alben und unzählige Veröffentlichungen auf Vinyl zeugen von ihrem unbeirrbaren Weg durch die Abgründe zwischen Punk und Rock. Er führte sie ins Vorprogramm von Bands wie Motörhead, The Exploited oder Gluecifer. Auf Europatourneen mit Rose Tattoo, Girlschool und W.A.S.P. sowie rund um den Globus, von den USA über Südamerika bis ins ferne Australien. Weltweit kennt man die Faust des Rock’n’Rolls. Ob große Festivals wie Wacken, With Full Force oder Mighty Sounds. Ob Autotreffen, Tattoo Conventions oder Biker Parties, die V8Wankers rocken jede Bühne mit Vollgas! Also verpasst nicht die nächste Gelegenheit Offenbach‘s Nummer Eins live zu erleben!

The complete, known recordings from Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock • Available on CD and 3-sided LP with laser etched 4th side. • Liner notes from acclaimed author and multiple-Grammy winner Colin Escott Reflecting on The Flatlanders in 1990, Jimmy Dale Gilmore said, “The band probably has a higher reputation now than it ever did. Every time Butch Hancock and Joe Ely and I go out on the road, people want to know about The Flatlanders. We always say it was more a legend than a band.” And against all odds, the legend has grown. –Colin Escott You know how it is when you can’t stop talking up a record. Someone will say, “Okay, but who do they sound like?” Or, “Let’s go see them.” Flatlanders fandom hits a wall right there. By the time the first compilation of Flatlanders' work appeared in England in 1980, they'd been apart for seven years, and another ten before their music was available in the US. Sort of… Recorded in 1972 and scheduled for release the following year, All American Music was put on hold and went unissued, save for a few copies that were released on 8-Track. It took a 1980 UK compilation to collect all of the known Flatlanders material, with a now out-of-print German collection unearthing one more. Now, Omnivore Recordings brings all known Flatlanders tracks back to CD and on a three sided LP with the musical saw etched on side four. (Did we mention the musical saw yet?...). All American Music features 18 tracks, newly remastered by multiple Grammy-winner Michael Graves, with packaging featuring liner notes from author and Grammy-winner Colin Escott, helmed by Grammy-winner Cheryl Pawelski. As Escott says in his notes – "More than a half-century later, The Flatlander's' original music still sounds fresh. It was truly a sound like no other. It's a stretch to call an artist 'prophetic' if no one heard them, but in some ways The Flatlanders foretold the grab-all that became Americana Music."

12” paddling pool blue vinyl, is an edition of 500. CD Digifile. Following the runaway success of their critically acclaimed 2021 second album Contender, the question for fast-rising London four-piece Fightmilk was always going to be “what next?” With a tight indie-pop sound that defined their early recordings, the answer was obvious to a band who seem hellbent on the notion of evolve or die… The band originally formed in 2015 in a Brixton pub garden by Lily and Alex, who had both, separately, just been dumped and thought being in an angry punk band would cheer them up. Then they found Nick and Healey to hold the rhythm down and make them sound good. With three albums under their belt, they’ve perfected their chaotic, melodic brand of joy and rage-filled pop with full-throated yelling and sparkling guitar riffs as their trademark. They’ve graduated from angsty whippersnappers in their mid-twenties to overgrown teenage 30-somethings with mild ongoing back and shoulder pain. Their previous 2 albums Not With That Attitude (2018) & Contender (2021) marked them out as an ambitious and rising prospect, and now on their forthcoming new album No Souvenirs the band eschew their former Britpop ties and edge further into DIY punk and heavier rock influences to reveal a leaner, meaner, more abrasive side to their cathartic lo-fi anthems. Whilst collectively diving into their passion for Jimmy Eat World, frontwoman Lily Rae made a conscious decision to strengthen her “big loud yell” with influence from Alicia Bognanno (Bully), Nat Foster (Press Club), and Missy Dabice (Mannequin Pussy). “My voice is the biggest it’s ever been and I’m constantly thrilled when people are surprised at how loud I am, considering I’m so small in stature,” she grins. “Lyrically I always look to Bruce Springsteen for inspiration but I also really enjoyed the angsty candour of Sour by Olivia Rodrigo, and Kacey Musgraves’ impeccable one-liners.” There are a few genre experiments on the record—Yo La Tengo in ‘Paddling Pool’, ‘Canines’ is part The Strokes and part Neu!, and ‘Back From Tour’ was heavily influenced by long term friends Johnny Foreigner. “You could probably make a case for ‘Inferno’ having a bit of Counting Crows to it, but we were never writing to emulate,” explains guitarist Alex. “The references and touchstones just happened along the way. As far as we’re concerned, they just sound like Fightmilk - and that’s a really nice place to be nearly a decade in.” “That said, we’ve also been REALLY picky with the songs that made it onto the album - there’s probably an-other album’s worth of songs that didn’t feel right, even if we loved them. We got really good at finding the “magic thing” in each song that made it work.” Spilling over with candid lyrics about death, doomed love, and dog bites, framed by endless punk energy and the kind of full-throated riff-rock that sounds just at home in a giant stadium as it does in a sticky-floored toilet bar, No Souvenirs is a triumphant return from the band, who are equally enthused by the album. “I only realised after we put the songs together how personal to me this album was,” explains Lily. “Not just because I’m writing about extremely specific sitcom episodes in my life (getting fired from bridesmaid duty, being bitten on the arse by a dog, being relentlessly asked when I’m going to have kids), but because whilst we were making it, I turned 30. It’s a significant age for women, especially in music, because aside from being something called a ‘geriatric millennial’, there’s an unspoken rule that there’s a cut-off point for you to have ‘made it’ and after that you have to settle down and be normal.” For Lily, writing for the album also aligned with the 10th anniversary of the death of a close friend, with the resulting track ‘No Souvenirs’ lending its title to the album as a whole. “It had taken me that long to write about it in a way I felt ok with. But I realised that I couldn’t have written it before,” she explains. “I needed that distance, and that maturity, to be able to articulate those feelings. It feels to me now like the album is about scorched earth, moving on, taking nothing with you for the next ‘thing’ - and realising that getting older is a privilege.” Bringing a huge amount of energy and joy with them whenever and wherever they hit a stage, interacting with the audience is a vital part of the Fightmilk live experience. “Without people singing and dancing at us we wouldn’t have gigs at all, so we want everyone to get involved!” says Lily of the band’s future tour plans

The complete, known recordings from Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock • Available on CD and 3-sided LP with laser etched 4th side. • Liner notes from acclaimed author and multiple-Grammy winner Colin Escott Reflecting on The Flatlanders in 1990, Jimmy Dale Gilmore said, “The band probably has a higher reputation now than it ever did. Every time Butch Hancock and Joe Ely and I go out on the road, people want to know about The Flatlanders. We always say it was more a legend than a band.” And against all odds, the legend has grown. –Colin Escott You know how it is when you can’t stop talking up a record. Someone will say, “Okay, but who do they sound like?” Or, “Let’s go see them.” Flatlanders fandom hits a wall right there. By the time the first compilation of Flatlanders' work appeared in England in 1980, they'd been apart for seven years, and another ten before their music was available in the US. Sort of… Recorded in 1972 and scheduled for release the following year, All American Music was put on hold and went unissued, save for a few copies that were released on 8-Track. It took a 1980 UK compilation to collect all of the known Flatlanders material, with a now out-of-print German collection unearthing one more. Now, Omnivore Recordings brings all known Flatlanders tracks back to CD and on a three sided LP with the musical saw etched on side four. (Did we mention the musical saw yet?...). All American Music features 18 tracks, newly remastered by multiple Grammy-winner Michael Graves, with packaging featuring liner notes from author and Grammy-winner Colin Escott, helmed by Grammy-winner Cheryl Pawelski. As Escott says in his notes – "More than a half-century later, The Flatlander's' original music still sounds fresh. It was truly a sound like no other. It's a stretch to call an artist 'prophetic' if no one heard them, but in some ways The Flatlanders foretold the grab-all that became Americana Music."

Ramkot is a wrecking ball from Ghent, Belgium, playing powerful yet danceable rock music. After two EP’s and building a reputation as one of the most exciting live bands around, the spring of 2023 sees the release of debut album In Between Borderlines, a razor-sharp 25-minute uppercut aiming for both head and hips. They tour extensively, playing a hefty 100 shows in just one year: from steamy venues and sun-drenched festival stages (Pinkpop, Down The Rabbit Hole) to even opening for Metallica in Amsterdam. For their sophomore album, instead of producing it themselves again, Ramkot enlist producer Alain Johannes (QOTSA, Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures), who invites them to the Joshua Tree desert. For three weeks, Ramkot reside in the legendary Rancho De La Luna studio, famous for QOTSA frontman Josh Homme’s The Desert Sessions. ‘We pulled out all the stops, not pushing our foot down on the accelerator all the time, which allows the music to breathe more. There’ll be a couple of softer songs the fans will not be expecting from us.’ But rest assured, every single note still sounds very much like Ramkot. The band will only play a handful of shows this year, including 2000 Trees (UK), Sziget (H), Pukkelpop and Lowlands.

A Universe of Pop: Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night Features Meticulous Production, Includes the Hits “Big Love,” “Everywhere,” “Seven Wonders,” and “Little Lies”

Experience the 1987 Album in Audiophile Sound for the First Time:

Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Captures the Perfectionist Details

1/2" / 30 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

The perfectionism involved in crafting Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night reached a level of intensity experienced by few artists before or since. Commercially and creatively, the painstaking efforts paid off. Recorded over the span of 18 months, the triple-platinum album spawned four hit singles and put Fleetwood Mac back at the center of mainstream conversation. Its demands also ultimately forced its primary architect, guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingham, to leave the group shortly after its completion. Was it all worth it? A thousand times “yes.”

Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Tango in the Night presents the 1987 record in audiophile sound for the first time. Everything co-producers Buckingham and Richard Dashut sought to instill in the music — the exacting tones, gauzy textures, plush atmospherics, shifted harmonics, unique pitches, pristine acoustics, biting rhythms — can now be heard with elevated accuracy, range, depth, and detail.

Made under challenging circumstances, Tango in the Night is as much a universe of sound as it is an album. This reissue conveys that sonic spectrum in exhaustive manners that go beyond prior editions by playing with a combination of transparency, imaging, openness, and dynamics that provides uncanny insight into the meticulously layered vocal and instrumental tracks. Equally important, it also amplifies your connection to the elaborate melodies, contagious hooks, and airy highs that account for the album’s ageless pop brilliance.

As for the wondrous array of percussive accents, synthesizer elements, interlaced guitars, and lush choruses — all seemingly occupying the exact right place amid the soundstages and taking on shapes and forms that lend them a living, breathing quality? If your audio system is up to the task, the realism, presence, and warmth of Mobile Fidelity’s collectible edition will have you considering Tango in the Night from a new perspective — one that puts its lavish, gorgeous creations on a par with those from Rumours and Tusk.

Unlike those records, Tango in the Night began from a more individualistic perspective in that it sprang from what originally was intended to become a Buckingham solo effort. Instead, it remains the final album credited to the peak Fleetwood Mac lineup involving Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie. Though the participation of all the members varies from track to track, the cohesive arrangements and alchemic production on Tango in the Night suggest a unity that remains on a par with the band’s other landmark works.

Largely constructed from laborious methods that involved recording at half speed to achieve the desired sonics and tonal nuances, piecing together verses and choruses to attain seamless synchronicity, and Buckingham using a Fairlight CMI synthesizer/workstation in visionary ways, the songs pair electronic and acoustic elements to radiant effect. Tango in the Night also possesses light dance structures that resulted in several tunes being recast as dance mixes on extended-play singles. Above all, however, this is music that appears to float and cast dreamy spells.

Surrender to the frisky interplay of the opening “Big Love,” big pop punctuated with Buckingham’s back-and-forth “oh-ah” sighs that ping the Top 5 smash with innocuous sensuality and toe-tapping momentum. Delight amid the shimmering lights of “Seven Wonders,” whose shades and shadows shift amid Nicks’ raspy vocals and a large group chorus. Wrap yourself in the warmth of the weightless “Everywhere,” a flawless slice of hummable pop that topped with Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks and towers as an ode to the love everyone desires. Stare into the mysterious landscape of the title track (and dig the synthesized harp) just before it explodes, briefly ceding to a terse riff and locked-in grooves.

Tango in the Night teems with delightful surprises and well-honed specifics, especially when Buckingham and Christine McVie team together. In addition to the aforementioned “Everywhere,” the singer born Christine Anne Perfect plays a major role on four more cuts — all highlights — from the breathy, head-over-heels emotionalism of “Mystified” to the sweet, sweeping escapism of “Little Lies,” a cover-up of romantic despair aided by Nicks’ irreplaceable background vocals.

“If I see you again/Will it be the same,” asks Buckingham on “When I See You Again,” finishing up a song a longing-sounding Nicks had started while voicing words that many likely knew would resonate far beyond the confines of the heartfelt song — a goodbye wearing a faint disguise. Though Fleetwood Mac would never again reach the heights maintained throughout Tango in the Night, and members would go their own way, the album towers as a paean to what’s possible in the fields of pop, rock, and studio wizardry.

Clothilde’s new album sounds like a constant departure from almost everything. Up until now, her music pieces seemed uncontrolled, a total commitment to the machines. She was, somehow, in between us - listener, audience - and the idea of a machine producing sounds she doesn’t seem to control. Of course, none of this was entirely true, she was mostly in control, but the fantasy, the orchestration of it was beautiful. It was sci-fi-ish, Metropolis-magnificent.

In “Cross Sections” everything is purposely under control. We feel, without being told, that Clothilde is directing the narrative, inviting us to partake of this raw and austere electronic sound, forcing us to learn to enjoy it. This is new. Whereas before she would expect you to stay put and listen, eventually you would understand and give in. Or your body would. Now she is telling you to be there, she doesn’t want to be alone, she wants us to feel this subterranean urgency at all costs.

The real eureka moment comes with “Medullary Rays”, when we start cohabiting with the sounds, when they feel familiar. The darkness becomes real; it is palpable how she is stretching each sound and making them come to life at every moment. It is violent, brutal. Like every track, it's a relief when it ends, it's like coming out of a car crash alive. Much of the A side of is Clothilde pushing the boundaries of her sound. She is not testing but finding new ground and sharing it with us. She is exorcising, demolishing and building over and over again, she is crying and screaming, dozing off with the demential levels of bass, making us constantly listen to alarm bells. She is scaring the shit out of us.

The B side keeps the levels of anxiety high up, especially on the 13-minute “Ring”. Surrealistic drones come and go, every second sounds like the end of something, the accumulation of tension is torrential and it never, never stops. We hope there is a conclusion to this. But there is not. “Cross Sections” builds and feeds on this darkness but, in a way, it is self-contained. Never explodes, never releases itself from itself. It is a continuous process of catharsis that it is never over. It never aims to be. Like, you know, life itself.

We've all been there. It feels familiar. Now it has a sound, or sounds. It can be heard and it is outer dimensional. “Cross Sections” is a tremendous effort from an artist trying to survive something. You never know what is. You don’t need to know what it is. It is just there. Cliché but it has to be said: highest possible volume on this one.

arottenbit is an electronic music project born in 2008 by Alessandro 'Otto' Galli (FOH Sound Engineer for Messa, Deafheaven, Pallbearer, Truckfighters, Bongzilla, Fuoco Fatuo). Playing solo with a 1989 NINTENDO GAME BOY or accompanied by hardcore punk drummer Guido Montanarini (PARADISE LOST, IMPLORE, THE SECRET), he soon found himself opening for some of his favorite bands like MELVINS, ATARI TEENAGE RIOT, THE BODY, MELT BANANA, AUTHOR & PUNISHER, FULL OF HELL and performing at major international festivals like ROADBURN 2022, HELLFEST 2022. "You Don't Know What Chiptune Is" is a bold exploration of the chiptune genre, pushing the boundaries of 8-bit music with an experimental and innovative approach. Each track on the album is a unique specimen, meticulously crafted to showcase the versatility and depth of chiptune sounds. The album is characterized by its inventive use of 8-bit sound chips, evoking the essence of vintage gaming consoles like Game Boy. arottenbit skillfully manipulates these sounds to create a wide range of textures and atmospheres. The lo-fi, raw quality of the 8-bit era is preserved, while contemporary production techniques enhance the overall listening experience.

Joel Sarakula's new album "Soft Focus" is a mid-career album spanning his many influences and genres including Soft-Rock, Funk and Indie Pop, all brought under the umbrella of his gentle gaze and a 'soft' aesthetic. "Soft Focus" is also the name of a photographic technique born out of a spherical abberation of the lens where the image is a bit blurry and undefined: it's both flattering and forgiving on the subject. It's an apt title. As a lifetime wearer of (vintage) glasses, Sarakula knows a lot about spherical abberations. Perhaps he produced these songs with his glasses off as these are abstract and warm vignettes, never overstaying their welcome and for this reason Sarakula manages to feature twelve new tracks on "Soft Focus".

Highlights include one of the two Shawn Lee produced tracks "I'll Get By Without You", the rockier, iberic beat of "King Of Spain", the soulful affirmation of "Back For Your Love" and the psychedelic-tinged "Bird Of Paradise" and "Microdosing". This is a lovingly crafted album, well polished and it feels like the culmination of Sarakula's adventures in soulful soft-rock and his defining statement in the genre. While comparisons will be made with contemporary projects like Shawn Lee's Young Gun Silver Fox, Drugdealer, Benny Sings and Prep, echoes of soft-rock icons Ned Doheny, Boz Scaggs, Todd Rundgren and Michael Franks also ripple gently through the album.

Imagine if Ray Manzarek was the frontman for the Bee Gees... It's a neat visual introduction to Joel Sarakula, a UK-based Australian artist who writes, produces and sings Soulful Pop, gazing out at a contemporary world through vintage glasses, vintage threads and long blond hair. His music is informed by a rich, 1970s-inspired palette, drawing on soft-rock, funk and disco influences: sunny, uptempo jams for darker times. Self-aware that he looks and occasionally sounds like the love child of Ray Manzarek and the Gibb brothers, his self-deprecating sense of humour is always there just below the fringe.

Born in Sydney, based in UK and international in outlook Sarakula is a songwriter who has travelled the world in search of his muse, experiencing everything from being a victim of Caribbean carjackings to performing in the remote fishing villages of Norway before finally establishing his career in the UK and Europe. Since then he has released albums such as "Island Time" (2023), "Companionship" (2020), "Love Club" (2018) and "The Imposter" (2015) that have racked up plays on rotation across national UK and European radio and got him noticed in The New York Times, The Independent (UK), The Irish Times, Rolling Stone Germany, El Pais (Spain) and Sydney Morning Herald. It's- been a long road finding his current cult status starting out at the piano from a young age in suburban Sydney, writing and singing songs by the time he was a teenager and onstage by fifteen years old playing jazz standards in his local golf club. "I came from humble beginnings, it's best not to mention" as he sings in his 70s boogie influenced song "I'm Still Winning". Joel Sarakula is a fixture on the festival and club circuit having previously performed at SXSW, Primavera Sound and Glastonbury festivals. Ever the internationalist, he tours with pickup bands sourced from each territory he plays in: a Barcelona band for Spain, a Berlin band for Germany and so forth. This cross-cultural exchange is another echo of the 1970s when world travelling soul and pop artists from the US did the same and guarantees that his live shows remain fresh, exciting and absolutely contemporary.

Giuseppe Crisci is a musician and composer who splits his life in between London and Naples.
Known for his previous Acid House projects under the pseudonyms of DoTheDu and Crishi, he released several records on labels like Senseverse Records, Stealth Mission, and Pareidolia Recordings.

Conceived and written in his apartment in London and mostly recorded in his studio in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, this album proposes the sound of an evolving artist who drags himself into the deepest corners of heart and soul using profound synthesisers sounds which are coloured by intimate saxophone solos and rusty piano chords that enfasise strengthen the true sentiment of his lyrics narrated in English and Neapolitan dialect.

“My aim is to reach people’s soul and humbly influence them positively by trying to express what I feel deep inside myself, beyond meanings and words”— Giuseppe Crisci