Max Gardner from San Francisco's Direct To Earth crew debuts on Sonic Groove with 'Echo Archive', a four-track EP of deep, physical techno marked by pulsing low-end bass, warped synth work, and hypnotic, late-night tension. Designed for those who like thought provocation in their techno.
Texas-based producer Declan James runs the VOIDWARE imprint and events, also listing music on labels such as Edit Select Records, Max Gardner's Peer, drxvo's Synergie, and Secus' Rituals amongst others. The Dallas native is making a significant contribution to the upcoming generation of American techno producers with both a domestic and international touring schedule.
Beginning with "Pendulums," a classic sci-fi trip with modular bleeps amidst a slinking, bouncing rhythm section for a perfect lesson in patience and restraint.
"Levitation" has an otherworldly feeling and floats along a sparse track of swirling drones, chugging bass pulses, and classy percussion taps for a mesmerising and introspective journey.
"Transmutate" throws down a stuttering kick drum, haunting tones, and bending modular notes for a grooving yet dystopian analogue concoction.
The final track "Absolved" sees a deep dive into details and dub influences. Where eerie rattles and precision production form a memorable dose of sizzling hot, futuristic, and fantastic techno.
Texas-based producer Declan James runs the VOIDWARE imprint and events, also listing music on labels such as Edit Select Records, Max Gardner's Peer, drxvo's Synergie, and Secus' Rituals amongst others. The Dallas native is making a significant contribution to the upcoming generation of American techno producers with both a domestic and international touring schedule.
Beginning with "Pendulums," a classic sci-fi trip with modular bleeps amidst a slinking, bouncing rhythm section for a perfect lesson in patience and restraint.
"Levitation" has an otherworldly feeling and floats along a sparse track of swirling drones, chugging bass pulses, and classy percussion taps for a mesmerising and introspective journey.
"Transmutate" throws down a stuttering kick drum, haunting tones, and bending modular notes for a grooving yet dystopian analogue concoction.
The final track "Absolved" sees a deep dive into details and dub influences. Where eerie rattles and precision production form a memorable dose of sizzling hot, futuristic, and fantastic techno.
One of Drumcode's solid MVP's Wehbba comes strong with a sci-fi themed trio of tracks to kick off 2023.
The Brazilian enjoyed another stellar year in 2022, with highlights include the excellent 'Dynamo' EP on Drumcode in April, a contribution to A-Sides ‘The Next Step' and collaborating with Adam Beyer to remix the classic Planetary Assault Systems cut ‘In From The Night’.
He likewise played Drumcode's WHP, our NYC event at Avant Gardner and Drumcode São Paolo to round out the year.
His latest EP on Drumcode ‘Premonition’ is an atmosphere-rich, intergalactic-themed trip that plays out deliciously over three cuts. The title track is imagined as a kind of travel through space and time, propelled by sci-fi synths, Wehbba’s trademark full bodied basslines and a cleverly placed sample from a David Bowie interview.
‘The Message’ is a dynamic beast of a track driven by robotic synth stabs, a catchy melodic riff and memorable vocal refrain ‘Mars Needs Women’ sampled from a 1950s sci-fi film. It has all the ingredients to be another classic addition to Wehbba’s discography. ‘Inertia’ is led by a hypnotising riff that builds over six minutes.
“I love to play this track after a series of rave bangers to keep the energy levels up while taking people on a trip,” shares Wehbba.
Extended Field vereint Horse Lords und Arnold Dreyblatt für die achtzehnte Ausgabe von FRKWYS, einer generationsübergreifenden Zusammenarbeit abenteuerlustiger Musiker, die sich von der klanglich strahlenden Welt der reinen Stimmung angezogen fühlen - einem alten Stimmungssystem, bei dem die Tonintervalle aus ganzzahligen Verhältnissen abgeleitet werden. Dreyblatt tauchte erstmals in den 1970er Jahren in New York in diesen Ansatz ein, während Horse Lords fast vier Jahrzehnte später begannen, dessen Möglichkeiten zu erforschen und anzuwenden. Gemeinsam schaffen sie eine lebendige harmonische Umgebung, die von ihrer gemeinsamen Leidenschaft für Rhythmus angetrieben wird und eine Verbindung von diskreter, aber verwandter Ästhetik für die Ewigkeit herstellt. Dreyblatt ist ein Pionier des psychoakustischen Phänomens und war von 1975 bis 1977 Assistent von La Monte Young, bevor er bei dem legendären Alvin Lucier an der Wesleyan University studierte. Er entdeckte die klangliche Kraft angeregter Saiten, rüstete einen Kontrabass mit Klaviersaiten nach und schlug mit schnellen Schlägen darauf, um einhüllende Wolken metallischer Obertöne zu erzeugen. Dreyblatts Album Nodal Excitation aus dem Jahr 1982 legte einen klanglichen Entwurf fest, der bis heute das Herzstück seiner pulsierenden Musik bildet. Schließlich zog er nach Berlin und leitete im Laufe der Jahre verschiedene Ensembles, die das kompositorische Gerüst, das er um seine klingenden Töne herum aufgebaut hatte, verstärkten und interpretierten. Im Gegensatz zu Dreyblatts hyperfokussierter Praxis haben Horse Lords einen ganz eigenen ekstatischen, hybriden Sound entwickelt: Hard-Driving-Rhythmen unterstützen eine Kollision aus traditioneller Ritualmusik, Free Jazz und spektral brillanten elektronischen Schauern psychoakustischer Klänge. Nachdem sie sich mit ihrem 2020 erschienenen Album ,The Common Task" eine treue Fangemeinde aufgebaut hatten, zog der Großteil der Band 2021 nach Deutschland, wobei sich Gitarrist Owen Gardner und Bassist Max Eilbacher in Berlin niederließen und Saxophonist Andrew Bernstein nur wenige Stunden entfernt in Bayern. Schlagzeuger Sam Haberman blieb in Baltimore, trifft sich aber weiterhin mit der Band für Albumaufnahmen, darunter das 2023 erscheinende Album ,Comradely Objects", und ausgedehnte Tourneen. Ohne es zu wissen, teilten beide Seiten ein gegenseitiges Interesse an der Musik des anderen. Anfang 2017 schlug Dreyblatts langjähriger Kollege und Freund Werner Durand ihm vor, sich die Band anzuhören. Er erinnert sich: ,Nachdem ich sie gehört hatte, antwortete ich schnell: ,Klingt großartig! Ein bisschen wie meine Musik. Ich habe noch nie von ihnen gehört!` Ich schickte ihnen eine Nachricht über ihre Bandcamp-Seite, und sie antworteten: ,Hallo! Danke für die Nachricht, wir sind große Fans deiner Musik!` Aber erst als Dreyblatt die Band im Oktober 2021 in Berlin sah, kreuzten sich ihre Wege endlich. Einige Tage später schlug Bernstein eine Zusammenarbeit vor. Dieser Prozess verlief langsam, aber sicher; beide Seiten waren sehr beschäftigt, und als die Musiker schließlich zusammenkamen, mussten sie unterschiedliche harmonische Vorstellungen miteinander in Einklang bringen und brauchten jemanden, der Haberman am Schlagzeug ersetzte. Dreyblatt schlug Andrea Belfi vor, einen angesehenen italienischen Schlagzeuger und Komponisten, der in Berlin lebt. In den folgenden Kompositionssitzungen lernten Horse Lords und Dreyblatt die Feinheiten der harmonischen Vorlieben des jeweils anderen kennen und fanden Wege, diese zu einem einheitlichen Klang zu verschmelzen. ,Andrew und Owen schlugen Strukturen für die Navigation durch meine Tonsysteme vor", erklärt Dreyblatt, ,während Max in SuperCollider gewichtete algorithmische Frequenzmuster entwickelte." Viele Bewohner des Stimmungsuniversums haben hartnäckige Überzeugungen darüber, was richtig und was falsch ist, daher ist die Geduld und Offenheit beider Seiten ziemlich ungewöhnlich, wobei die Partnerschaft faszinierende Akzente und Veränderungen hervorbringt. ,Als Fans von eingeschränkter/algorithmischer Kunst (nicht der schlechten Art!) haben wir beschlossen, diese Matrix in den Mittelpunkt unserer Entscheidungsfindung zu stellen, um uns sowohl eine nicht willkürliche Möglichkeit zu geben, die ansonsten unendlichen Möglichkeiten zu begrenzen, mit denen man bei der Komposition mit Zahlen konfrontiert ist, als auch einen Ausweg aus festgefahrenen Gewohnheiten", schreibt Gardner über die Schaffung von Grenzen für ihre harmonischen Welten. Anstatt den Prozess einzuschränken, zwang diese Entscheidung die Musiker, ihre Komfortzone zu verlassen, und erforderte mehr Einfallsreichtum und Bedachtsamkeit bei ihren Entscheidungen. Das Endergebnis ist weit mehr als die Summe seiner Teile, da beide Parteien sich auf die Ideen des anderen einlassen, ohne die Vorrangstellung ihrer eigenen Ideen zu opfern. Der galoppierende polyrhythmische Antrieb, der ein charakteristisches Merkmal der Musik von Horse Lords ist, bleibt allgegenwärtig, und ein Stück wie ,Extended Field" nutzt die numerische Matrix von Dreyblatts System sowohl harmonisch als auch rhythmisch. In dem sich endlos wandelnden Drone-Stück ,Suspension" umschmeicheln Horse Lords Dreyblatts gestreifte Bogenstriche mit ihren eigenen pulsierenden Tönen. Obwohl ihre Rolle in den jeweiligen Werken unterschiedlich ist und sie im Verhältnis zu anderen Elementen in unterschiedlichen Anteilen vorkommen, ist die harmonische Erforschung das Herzstück dieser atemberaubenden Zusammenarbeit. Wie man im Schlussstück ,Impulse Array" erkennen kann, führt das Stöbern der Horse Lords in Dreyblatts Matrix zu den klanglichen Entdeckungen, für die sie leben. Wie Gardner bemerkt: ,Jede Wendung offenbart einen überraschenden, aber irgendwie unvermeidlichen neuen Akkord, dessen Verlauf seltsamerweise an einen Bach-Choral erinnert, der sowohl sehr zielgerichtet als auch ohne Ziel ist."
Nach dem Erfolg der ersten zehn Alben der Vinyl Edition von Hyperion (veröffentlicht im September 2024
und März 2025) folgen nun sechs weitere LPs. Alle Alben erscheinen erstmals auf Vinyl und zeigen weltweit
tourende Künstler, mit denen das Label seit langem eng zusammenarbeitet. Jeder der sechs Titel wird als
limitierte 180g-LP erscheinen, die in einem vollfarbigen Gatefold präsentiert wird und mit einem Begleitheft
ausgestattet ist.
Alina Ibragimovas Aufnahme der Solo-Violinkonzerte von Bach mit Jonathan Cohen und Arcangelo wurde
bei ihrer CD-Veröffentlichung von der Kritik durchweg gelobt. Gramophone begrüßte sie als „eine herausragende und unverwechselbare Ergänzung zu einem Katalog, der aus allen Nähten platzt“, und Classic FM
lobte Ibragimova für ihr „Spiel auf höchstem Niveau“.
Als Interpretin von Barockmusik bis hin zu neuen Kompositionen auf modernen und historischen Instrumenten hat sich Alina Ibragimova einen Ruf für ihre Vielseitigkeit und die „Unmittelbarkeit und Ehrlichkeit“
(The Guardian) ihrer Darbietungen geschaffen. Alina Ibragimova ist unter anderem mit Orchestern wie
dem Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks und dem London Philharmonic sowie den Dirigenten
Sir John Eliot Gardner und Jakub Hrůša aufgetreten.
Bart Skils and Weska extend their musical partnership, linking for the superb ‘Torn Clouds’. The duo shares a special sonic kinship, collaborating regularly for outstanding results. From ‘Shades of Summer’, to ‘Polarize’ and ‘Something More’, the duo balance rhythmic flair with timeless melodies for euphoric results. Their fourth offering is no less memorable. ‘Torn Clouds’ rides on a wave of rolling grooves and uplifting melodic tension, capturing the moment the storm clears and euphoria rushes in. It’s accompaniment ‘Dusk till Dawn’ is a late-night anthem built for the long haul — hypnotic, wandering, and made to move the night into light. Together, the tracks showcase the duo’s unmistakable synergy: plump, percussive foundations wrapped in crisp synthwork and immersive vocal layers that have ignited dancefloors including Awakenings, Ultra Resistance, Space Miami, Avant Gardner, Amnesia, Factory93.
Electronic titan Sasha combines with Sentre for the latest in a series of collaborative releases. The release of 'Glastacy' coincides with this year’s Glastonbury festival and comes with something special for fans.
Even by his own high standards, electronic luminary Sasha is in a superb run of form that has already yielded some stellar singles in the last year, both solo and in collaboration with like-minded talents. TheGRAMMY Award-nominated artist is renowned for pushing musical and technological boundaries, as well as for platforming exciting sounds on his Last Night On Earth label. The next release finds him working with Sentre, aka Dave Gardner & Dennis White, who have been electronic mainstays for many years. They have plenty of major credits under their belts, including working with Sasha on his seminal ‘Involver’ album and also 'Track 10' which they made with Sasha many years ago. It was Pete Tong’s Essential New Tune at the time and is one of many gems from these self-confessed studio nerds.
The release of ‘Glastacy’ also marks a new approach for Sasha and LNOE as they extend their relationship with fans beyond just the music. For the first time, along with the single release, fans will be able to collect and own the single artwork for free. The label has always sought to marry together music and art across its releases and now fans get the chance to own a piece for themselves. Using pioneering technology, those who claim the art will also be able to convert it to a smartphone wallet pass which will bring with it future benefits and surprises from Sasha and LNOE.
'Glastacy' is their latest collaboration, and it works angelic, wordless vocal sounds into heavenly loops that shimmer in and out of focus. Deft hi-hits and a supple bassline bring movement as a lead synth motif rises up out of the mix to bring dramatic tension and take dancers to the stars. It's emotive, hypnotic techno of the highest order, with a spine-tingling breakdown leading towards more trance-inducing musical pleasures. The Intro:Outro Mix is an ambient tool stripped of beats.
Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube Records in collaboration with Deep Water Acres and in tribute to Sunrise Ocean Bender Records bring to you: Elkhorn – ‘Other Worlds.’ Drew Gardner and Jesse Sheppard, the two-guitar duo of Elkhorn, share a musical brotherhood that spans several decades. From their nascent high school socialist-realist post-punk band Mayfirst, to teenage scavenger trips to the Princeton Record Exchange and City Gardens, the two came of age goofing along to the Dead Kennedys, the Butthole Surfers, and Sonic Youth in the dank Jersey/Philly-scene music holes. Elkhorn has long traversed the valleys between fried cosmic psychedelia and American Primitive, particularly the latter style’s reverence for a wide range of folk and blues idioms ranging from County Records compilations to the Mississippi Sheiks. While the pair is best known for their acoustic guitar explorations, ‘Other Worlds’ continues their recent experiments with other instrumental possibilities. For instance, on the previous Elkhorn release ‘On the Whole Universe in All Directions,’ Drew switched to vibraphone and drums, with Jesse playing 12-string guitar. ‘Other Worlds,’ on the other hand, finds them in a recognizable ‘rock trio’ format (in improvisational mode)—Drew is on electric guitar, with Jesse playing bass, and they are again joined by Ian McColm on drums, with the free-flowing groove he brings. On the opening track ‘Watching the Skies’ you can feel the forward propulsion this—dare I say—power trio sets up, a cosmic widescreen which Elkhorn proceed to rock and groove across the whole of ‘Other Worlds.’ Three flawless musicians in their own right, together they form a telepathic psychic link that taps into the otherworldly flow that is ‘Other Worlds,’ as the synergy created by Jesse and Ian leaves Drew plenty of space to take off on exhilarating and soaring flights of fuzzy haze fire that results in a musical journey toward transcendence. Elkhorn demonstrate again and again that there is no height they won't scale, no direction they won't travel. Have Elkhorn ever sounded as heavy or as on fire as the recordings laid down here? You be the judge. The trio is multitudes. The trio is one. Mastering - Chris Hardman Artwork - Brett Savage
Dean McPhee’s fifth full length album 'Astral Gold' sees the Yorkshire-based electric guitarist's music continue to evolve beyond the spacious folk-inspired fingerpicking that typified his earlier releases into a heavier sound combining deep bass, textured reverbs and waves of saturated delay. 'Astral Gold' brings together several now out-of-print tracks that were originally released on the Reverb Worship and Folklore Tapes labels, along with two brand new pieces – all recorded live in single takes. There is a cosmic theme throughout, including a track based on the local lore of The Ilkley Alien (The Second Message), a trance-inducing drone piece inspired by the orbit of the 'doomed moon' Triton (Neptune) and a meditation on lunar volcanism combining baroque melodies, EBow bass and found recordings of a crackling fire played through guitar pickups (Lunar Fire). Throughout this intricately layered and beautifully crafted album McPhee draws on a wide range of influences from Kosmische Muzik and Dub to Stoner/Doom Rock, British Folk and underground electronic music, and the result is both intoxicatingly atmospheric and sonically inventive. ‘Astral Gold’ was mastered and cut by Anne Taegert at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin and is pressed on 180g heavyweight vinyl. ‘Astral Gold’ follows Dean McPhee’s recent appearances this year on several well received compilation albums ‘I Thought I Told You: A Yorkshire Tribute to Michael Chapman’ on the Tompkins Square label, ‘Ballads of Seduction, Fertility & Ritual Slaughter’ released by Wasistdas, and Folklore Tapes’ limited edition cassette ‘A Web of Braided Willow (The Folklore of the Wickerman)’. "His take on the late folk guitarist’s ‘Caddo Lake’ could have you believing the pinch of callous on string was birdsong – a meditative gem" (Noel Gardner, The Quietus) "Magpahi's synth-drizzled Maypole, Dean McPhee's Sunset and Meg Baird's Willow's Song are particularly gorgeous" (Jude Rogers. The Guardian) "An excellent new single from UK guitarist Dean McPhee...the A-side is an echo-laden slice of smoldering instrumental guitar, pulling at the mind like taffy and living up to its cosmic title" (Raven Sings the Blues) "Absolutely lovely stuff; shimmering, gorgeous, delicate electric guitar playing of the very highest quality
2023 Repress
Maston’s Darkland is a breezy collection of the material from the Tulips sessions that didn’t make it on to the original LP. Originally a digital-only release for those in the know in the autumn of 2018, after re-issuing Tulips in 2020 it made too much sense for Be With to give Darkland a vinyl release.
Like Tulips, Darkland was recorded mostly in Hoorn, in the Netherlands, between 2015-2017 during downtime from Frank’s touring duties with Jacco Gardner’s band. Bits were also done in Los Angeles on some extended trips back home.
The collection plays like an alternate view of Maston’s instant modern classic Tulips; a companion piece to the LP proper with similar mixture of shorter themes and more full length tracks. As Frank Maston explains: “I think Darkland is the shadow of Tulips in a way… what it might’ve been in a different universe. But the heart of Tulips beats in these songs as well and they evoke the same memories and feelings for me. I see my process playing out across these songs - lots of experimentation and trying out new techniques and sounds and just sort of going for it.”
Frank goes on: “It was all from the same pool of material, like 30+ ideas. I was making a lot of little demos… some would be more fleshed out and become songs and others would just be a cool riff and not go anywhere. When I started trying to form it all into an LP I went through all the sessions and ideas and collected the ones I thought were the most fleshed out and cohesive together as a whole. There were a fair amount of songs that were finished and in hindsight really should have been on Tulips (like what would’ve been the title track). And the rest of these songs are either very early versions of tunes that ended up on Tulips or some cool ideas that just ended up being dead ends. It definitely shows how wide my net was in the beginning before I narrowed the record down stylistically.”
Darkland opens with its ornate 39 second title-track before striding into “Tulips”, that full-length title-track that never was. It’s a real head-nod, percussive-rich electric piano stunner that would’ve been a comfortable standout on the album proper. But now this “downlifting” gem is given ample room to shine on this record.
The funky organ-led bass and drums workout “Immaculate Conception” will keep your neck gently snapping while MPC fiends go reaching for their sampler. And that’s gospel. “Love Theme No 3” cuts a breathtakingly stylish vibra-slapped swathe through the middle of the opening side before we’re startled by the pronounced bass and twinkling percussion of “The Owl In Daylight”. Charming digi-drums underpin the wonky synth (quiet-)banger “Innovative Patterns” which has a lovely melodic switch-up in the final third before the tempo (and hairs on your neck) rise on the faintly creepy yet imminently groovy “Osiris”. The gorgeously soft-focus “Groove Experiment No 3” closes out the first half in slow-mo wonderment.
The lushly melancholic “Raincloud” ushers in side B before the emotionally-stirring “Phonic” taps at the door, coming on like the long lost sister to Pet Sounds’ “Let’s Go Away For A While”. Next up, the swooning beauty “Love Theme No 2” keenly sways in front of you, growing ever more insistent and hypnotic. The too-short “Italian Summer” conjures the same flirtatious imagery as the title hints at whilst “Endless” is a fascinating “piano-pella” alternative version to “Rain Dance” from Tulips. “Wonder Theme” has a nostalgic, exotic 60s swing and album closer “Willow” is a hushed, campfire folk gem. The gently circular strumming is just magical.
Speaking to Aquarium Drunkard back in 2019 about the sessions that became Tulips, Frank noted: “I was really surprised by the lack of sunlight during my first winter in Holland, so I would call it Darkland which then became the name of the first demo I wrote during that time. It was also the working title of the record when I first started writing. Some are full songs that didn’t make the cut (including what would have been the title track), some are just ideas that I never finished.”
Whilst we were working on Darkland’s vinyl release Frank explained more specifically about the music that didn’t make it on to Tulips: “When I was putting together the tracklisting for Tulips I was already thinking that whatever didn’t make it onto the LP would be cool to release eventually somehow. The response to Tulips has been so passionate over the years that it’s nice to be able to offer another piece of that world. And for me personally it’s amazing to have more of my work out there in the world. Most common bit of feedback was that many of these songs should have been on Tulips. The odd friend says it’s much better than Tulips.”
Just like Tulips before it, Simon Francis’s vinyl mastering for Darkland has been cut at 45rpm so you can trip out to this as well at a woozy 33 1/3. The artwork too has been designed by Frank himself as a literal visual continuation of the Tulips cover.
We couldn’t possibly say whether Darkland is better than Tulips, and luckily we don’t have to decide.
Very limited vinyl pressing, 500 copies, housed in a full colour sleeve & printed inner sleeve & download. CD in a 4 panel digipack with a 4 page lyric booklet. New Heavy Sounds are always on the lookout for new bands that are looking to push the boundaries of what is considered as inhabiting the ‘heavy’ or ‘metal’ spectrum’. Stuff that pricks up the ears, a bold new voice within a maelstrom of genres and sub-genres. We believe we have found such a band. New York-based GUHTS (pronounced ‘guts’) declare themselves to be an ‘avant-garde post-metal project, delivering larger than life sounds through, deeply emotional music’. We are thrilled to be able to deliver that statement in the form of their debut album ‘Regeneration’. By their own admission, GUHTS' musical style is influenced not only by iconic metal bands like Gojira, Cult of Luna, YOB and Deftones, but more unconventional acts like Bjork, Subrosa, Isis, Julie Christmas, and even PJ Harvey. It’s undoubtedly heavy, with a strong feminist streak, it’s cathartic and weighty, a formidable debut for such a new band. Founded in 2020 as a passion project by Scott Prater (Witchkiss), and Amber Burns (Witchkiss) and then Dan Shaneyfelt (Black Mountain Hunger), GUHTS became its members’ main focus following the release of their first EP 'Blood Feather' which itself received rave reviews from the likes of Decibel Magazine, Invisible Oranges, The Obelisk, Cvlt Nation, and more. Brian Clemens Sleaping Dreaming) & Daniel Martinez (Nefariant) joined GUHTS in 2022 and the band swiftly started booking tours and making plans to record 'Regeneration'. Since then GUHTS have been steadily making a name for themselves with their powerful live performances., sharing stages with the likes of Yob, Cave in, Marissa Nadler, plus appearances at the Maryland Doom Fest, Crucial Fest and Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest. ‘Regeneration’ is set to cement their status as one of the coolest and most interesting bands on the scene. Of the album, vocalist Amber says. "Regeneration" symbolizes the power of self-renewal, often overlooked. Embracing it means shedding old layers and welcoming new beginnings. Without this, life stagnates and is “sustaining”. Through regeneration, change becomes empowering, allowing new facets to emerge. It's a courageous, transformative process, inspiring others to overcome fear and embrace change. The album embodies the human spirit's resilience and capacity for growth. Musically ‘Regeneration’ is a powerful and intense series of songs, topped off by some seriously powerhouse and expressive vocal performances. It’s slow-moving chords, moving like sheets through sludge. High guitar lines above, ranging from piercing and shimmering to nasty. Drums pound but not without groove. There are strings, pianos and synths widening the palette. Atmospheric sludge, Metalgaze, maybe, but there’s also that link to the New York Noise lineage from The Velvets and Sonic Youth, becoming a type of post-hardcore in the process, while gaining a connection to metal partly due to the sheer heaviness. A raft of creative experimentation that pushes beyond the realm of post-metal. And then of course, the very first thing that hits you is Amber Gardner's unbelievable, hypnotising vocals - as scary as a banshee while also intimate and persuasive. Amber means it for sure and almost dominates the proceedings. Her lyrics are eclectic, thoughtful. Immersed in women's narratives frombooks like "Women Who Run With the Wolves" or works like "On Our Best Behavior" by Elise Loehnen. Amber advocates stepping beyond comfort zones, believing it's transformative for individuals and vital for Earth's future. Hokey occult rock it is not. In short ‘Regeneration’ is a bold and startling debut, that will reward and enthral listeners the deeper they delve into its many layers.
Beautiful, soulful jazz record by Jimetta Rose and The Voices of Creation, a Los Angeles-based community choir, a mainstay of the local scene. Highly recommended!!
The Voices of Creation are a community-based choir led by vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and mainstay of the Los Angeles scene Jimetta Rose. Made up of a multigenerational group of mainly non-professional singers backed by some of the city’s finest musicians,their music marries hip strains of gospel with layers of jazz, soul and funk. While aspects of their music might recall Kamasi Washington, The Staple Singers or Sly Stone, Jimetta’s unique vision has resulted in new spiritually-charged forms of music whose whole-hearted embrace of love, joy and peace act as sonic healing balms for the soul.
For Jimetta - whose resume includes collaborations with Miguel Atwood Ferguson, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Angel Bat Dawid, Shafiq Husayn, MED and Blu - the very act of creation was part of a healing process: “I was very low at the time and I wrote most of the songs going through hardship. But I found comfort in the songs and a way to adjust my mindset to where things got better. So I thought ‘if this music works for me, maybe it will work for other people’ I believe that every person has their own voice and their own note and that we can use our voices to heal ourselves. That’s the intention behind creating the project.”
After putting out a call on social media for people interested in joining her choir she was met with a sea of replies. Members were chosen in less-than conventional fashion: “I recruited people based on their interest in healing themselves and others, not necessarily on their musical experience or being seasoned performers” she says. Among those accepted into the ever-evolving collective, which was begun initially as a community choir, were the likes of Sly Stone’s daughter Novena Carmel, better known as a radio DJ for KCRW’s flagship breakfast show. Jimetta’s upbringing in the Pentecostal church, where she was a youth choir director, fed into her otherwise intuitive teachings of her songs and arrangements to the inexperienced members with help from the group’s seasoned organ player/co-musical director Jack Maeby.
Produced by Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys, Seu Jorge) and his wife Samantha Caldato the results show the incredible sense of togetherness and communal spirit that the group had built up over time in the rehearsal sessions. The six tracks of their debut album, a mixture of originals and rearranged covers, are performed in a wide-eyed mix of styles that reflect Jimetta’s vision for borderless music: “It’s new black classical music,” she explains. “It’s all the hodgepodge of being an African American but also with creativity and vision for the future. It has a taste of what is to come and what we can do. What we have gone through and who we are now.”
The group’s propensity for warm and buoyant sonics finds representation on album opener Let The Sunshine In, a sparkling rework of the Sons and Daughters of Lite’s deep jazz classic. Their version finds the group’s dynamic group harmonies offset with Allakoi Peete’s nimble afro-percussive touches and plenty of soul- drenched keys courtesy of pianist Quran Shaheed and organ player Jack Maeby. A similarly uplifting take on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s choral jazz classic Spirits Up Above follows, with Maeby’s groove-laden organ lines inspiring some gorgeous group harmonies as well as prime solo turns from the likes of Kellye Hawkins, Zavier Wise, Tamara Blue, and Khalila Gardner.
Another Sons and Daughters of Lite cover follows as Jimetta leads the choir in the groove-drenched ode to self-affirmation Operation Feed Yourself. Written as a series of mantras for everyday living, the Jimetta-penned composition How Good It Is harnesses the full transformative power of music to generate a stirring and joyful ode to positivity - it’s chanted declarations bringing out some of the group’s most deeply-felt and affecting vocal performances over some superlative piano and organ accompaniment with a surprise feature vocal from Novena Carmel.
Jimetta’s talent for re-imagining songs in her own light is highlighted in Answer The Call, her vivid re-telling of Funkadelic’s Cosmic Slop: “When I listened to the original song, the Mom in the story was really going through it. I thought of how I could turn this into a song that can encompass the glorification of all mothers and I thought of the Egyptian cosmic goddess Nut. To that mother we’re all the seeds planted in the garden. Answering the call in your life is literally that. Finding out exactly what you’re here for through your heart.”
The album finishes with the standout original gospel number Ain’t Life Grand. Over swaying organs and clapped percussion Jimetta’s lyrical mantras serve to emphasise the good feelings that come to those with a grateful heart. Good feeling is an apt descriptor for the mood of the album as a whole. Its shining positivity provides a welcome ray of light in an increasingly dark world. “It’s a shortcut if you will to the better feelings” Jimetta says. “The hope that we need to keep pressing forward. We are saturated and inundated with images of chaos and destruction, death and hatred. There’s so much we can witness. So, I want to make sure that there is a representation sonically of the other parts that are still there to witness so that we can continue to build those things. So that the systems we support actually reflect what we want to experience. So it’s like: “Don’t give up and Let The Sunshine Into You” and then find out what your purpose is and answer the call.”
Horse Lords return with Comradely Objects, an alloy of erudite influences and approaches given frenetic gravity in pursuit of a united musical and political vision. The band's fifth album doesn't document a new utopia, so much as limn a thrilling portrait of revolution underway. Comradely Objects adheres to the essential instrumental sound documented on the previous four albums and four mixtapes by the quartet of Andrew Bernstein (saxophone, percussion, electronics), Max Eilbacher (bass, electronics), Owen Gardner (guitar, electronics), and Sam Haberman (drums). But the album refocuses that sound, pulling the disparate strands of the band's restless musical purview tightly around propulsive, rhythmic grids. Comradely Objects ripples, drones, chugs, and soars with a new abandon and steely control. This transformation came, in part, due to circumstance. Sidelined from touring their early 2020 album The Common Task in a world turned upside down, Horse Lords promptly returned to their Baltimore practice space and began piecing together the music that became Comradely Objects (Bernstein, Eilbacher, and Gardner have since relocated to Germany). Removed from their tried and true method of refining new music on the road, the quartet invested less energy ensuring live playability and more rehearsing and recording. The deliberate writing and tracking process, a rarity since the band's earliest days, led to a collection of pieces that signal a new peak of creativity and musical heft without devolving into studio sprawl or frippery. Comradely Objects reflects familiar elements of Horse Lords' established palette_the mantra-like repetition of minimalism and global traditional musics, complex counterpoint, the subtleties of microtonality, a breadth of timbres and textures drawn from all across the avant-garde_with some standout stylistic innovations. At different moments, the album veers closer to free jazz than anything else in the band's catalog, channels spectral electroacoustic tones, and throbs with unexpected yet felicitous synth. While these new elements are evidence of additional studio time and care, Comradely Objects retains the dizzying obsessive rhythmic energy that galvanizes the best moments of the band. Music for people who like Mdou Moctar, This Heat!, Battles, Ndagga Rhythm Force, Can, Captain Beefheart, Art Ensemble of Chicago, LaMonte Young.
Horse Lords return with Comradely Objects, an alloy of erudite influences and approaches given frenetic gravity in pursuit of a united musical and political vision. The band's fifth album doesn't document a new utopia, so much as limn a thrilling portrait of revolution underway. Comradely Objects adheres to the essential instrumental sound documented on the previous four albums and four mixtapes by the quartet of Andrew Bernstein (saxophone, percussion, electronics), Max Eilbacher (bass, electronics), Owen Gardner (guitar, electronics), and Sam Haberman (drums). But the album refocuses that sound, pulling the disparate strands of the band's restless musical purview tightly around propulsive, rhythmic grids. Comradely Objects ripples, drones, chugs, and soars with a new abandon and steely control. This transformation came, in part, due to circumstance. Sidelined from touring their early 2020 album The Common Task in a world turned upside down, Horse Lords promptly returned to their Baltimore practice space and began piecing together the music that became Comradely Objects (Bernstein, Eilbacher, and Gardner have since relocated to Germany). Removed from their tried and true method of refining new music on the road, the quartet invested less energy ensuring live playability and more rehearsing and recording. The deliberate writing and tracking process, a rarity since the band's earliest days, led to a collection of pieces that signal a new peak of creativity and musical heft without devolving into studio sprawl or frippery. Comradely Objects reflects familiar elements of Horse Lords' established palette_the mantra-like repetition of minimalism and global traditional musics, complex counterpoint, the subtleties of microtonality, a breadth of timbres and textures drawn from all across the avant-garde_with some standout stylistic innovations. At different moments, the album veers closer to free jazz than anything else in the band's catalog, channels spectral electroacoustic tones, and throbs with unexpected yet felicitous synth. While these new elements are evidence of additional studio time and care, Comradely Objects retains the dizzying obsessive rhythmic energy that galvanizes the best moments of the band. Music for people who like Mdou Moctar, This Heat!, Battles, Ndagga Rhythm Force, Can, Captain Beefheart, Art Ensemble of Chicago, LaMonte Young.
Azure, Vinyl Williams' fifth album was released on French label Requiem
Pour Un Twister in 2020
Azure marks a point of higher equilibrium for songwriter Lionel Williams, using far
more restraint and speed than his earlier releases, as well as a concentration of
unifying paradoxical qualities. Vinyl Williams' Opal (2018) was critically acclaimed
and his earlier releases, Brunei (2016) and Trance Zen Dental Spa (2015) - a
collaboration with Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi - are fan favorites for their incessant
bliss and driving rhythms. Vinyl Williams' live shows are a spectacle of
pearlescent sights and sounds, with all of Williams' work combined and
synchronized together in rapturous hyper- dimensional moments.For fans of
Morgan Delt, Toro Y Moi, Ariel Pink, Part Time, Maston, Jacco Gardner, Arthur
Verocai, Sunbeam Sound Machine, The Free Design, Curt Boettcher, Chris Cohen,
Dungen.
Azure, Vinyl Williams' fifth album was released on French label Requiem
Pour Un Twister in 2020
Azure marks a point of higher equilibrium for songwriter Lionel Williams, using far
more restraint and speed than his earlier releases, as well as a concentration of
unifying paradoxical qualities. Vinyl Williams' Opal (2018) was critically acclaimed
and his earlier releases, Brunei (2016) and Trance Zen Dental Spa (2015) - a
collaboration with Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi - are fan favorites for their incessant
bliss and driving rhythms. Vinyl Williams' live shows are a spectacle of
pearlescent sights and sounds, with all of Williams' work combined and
synchronized together in rapturous hyper- dimensional moments.For fans of
Morgan Delt, Toro Y Moi, Ariel Pink, Part Time, Maston, Jacco Gardner, Arthur
Verocai, Sunbeam Sound Machine, The Free Design, Curt Boettcher, Chris Cohen,
Dungen.
Azure, Vinyl Williams' fifth album was released on French label Requiem Pour Un Twister in 2020 Azure marks a point of higher equilibrium for songwriter Lionel Williams, using far
more restraint and speed than his earlier releases, as well as a concentration of unifying paradoxical qualities. Vinyl Williams' Opal
(2018) was critically acclaimed
and his earlier releases, Brunei (2016) and Trance Zen Dental Spa
(2015) - a collaboration with Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi - are fan favorites for their incessant bliss and driving rhythms. Vinyl Williams' live shows are a spectacle of pearlescent sights and sounds, with all of Williams' work combined and synchronized together in rapturous hyper- dimensional moments.
For fans of Morgan Delt, Toro Y Moi, Ariel Pink, Part Time, Maston, Jacco Gardner, Arthur Verocai, Sunbeam Sound Machine, The Free Design, Curt Boettcher, Chris Cohen, Dungen.
San Francisco Moog: 1968-72 documents a missing link in the history of electronic music, as well as the little-known moment when psychedelic music went electronic.
In 1968, Bay Area native Doug McKechnie got hold of one the very first modular Moog synthesizers ever made and began finding his own way to play it. Soon, he was hauling the finicky instrument around to perform improvised concerts at colleges and ballrooms, as well as an ill-fated appearance on the bill at Altamont. Many of the performances were recorded, and the surviving tapes—never before released—capture a free- flowing, transportive sound that fills in the gap between the austere mid-century academic avant garde and the expansive cosmic suites of Tangerine Dream and the rest of the Berlin School in the ‘70s.
This is not another corny old Moog record. San Francisco Moog sounds as fresh as anything by today’s analog-synth heads while bringing to life a lost moment in the development of the music.
All pieces were created improvisationally in an atmosphere of exploration and discovery on a Moog Modular Series III synthesizer and recorded live with no overdubbing to Ampex PR-10, Nagra 3, or TEAC four-channel recorders.
Produced by Doug McKechnie, Lee Gardner, and PJ Dorsey
Mastered by A.F Jones at Laminal Audio
Art direction by Frank Hamilton and Nolen Strals
Mandala art by Richard Winn Taylor
